NEW BEGINNINGS

I have to confess that other than making some fudge at home, I had never really made candy. Does that count as candy making? So I was thrilled to finally be able to do this review for our dynamic sponsor, Glee Gum.  I put off this review until after the co-op because I really wanted us to savor the sweetness and enjoy the process and we did. Glee Gum has diy candy kits and gum. But the beauty of these sweet treats is that they are made with all natural ingredients.

Tiny has been eyeing the Make Your Own Gummies From Scratch Kit by Glee Gum since we got it.  Gummy worms and bears are some of Tiny's favorite candy so he did the picking.  Kelley got the Make Your Own Chocolate From Scratch Kit to eat review. She is going to tell you below how she enjoyed her kit.

 Me? I want to tell you about how we had fun with ours. We got our choice between these three diy from scratch candy kits: Make Your Own Chewing Gum Kit,  Make Your Own Gummies Kit and Make Your Own Chocolate Kit.  Also, they have all natural gum and I knew then I was on board.

I couldn't pass up the opportunity to savor one of life's sweet delicacy. And oh yes I can make anything a history lesson. The American Indians chewed gum and then when we studied about the Ancient Maya and Aztecs in our rainforest unit we learned that eating chocolate was a part of their diet. It was such a nice fit when they invited us to try their products.

A few other things that caught my eye is the fact they had flavors of gum that were sugar free but without aspartame. I confessed openly about a month ago that I am a gum chewer but I prefer sugar-free. Knowing they didn't have aspartame in them was another plus for them because I try to stay away from the stuff if I get a choice. If you like your gum like I do, then you will enjoy the 8 different flavors Glee Gum has which are: cinnamon, peppermint, tangerine, bubblegum, spearmint, triple berry, sugar-free lemon-lime and sugar-free refresh-mint. Yummy.

But in making the candy is where we had our fun. I was confident that I could do the kits because they come with everything in the box to do it yourself. That is my kind of hands-on project, easy and tasty.  What is not appealing about making your own candy from scratch and with natural products? So Tiny followed the directions and he gathered some things in the bottom of his toy box and in our schoolroom to use as a mold. Some of these toys he doesn't use anymore. Not having made this before, I encouraged him to get a good variety of shapes and depths in case some don't work.

Simply press the molds or toys into the molding starch. Yep that came in a bag too. Pour it out onto a plate and that's it. The hardest part was getting Tiny to decide which molds to use.  The steps are even numbered on the instruction sheet and it only took 10 minutes for the candy to set up.

{I managed to snap this picture but after they ate the "hand mold" they made.}

He got instant gratification. Of course, if there is a sweet product to review Mr. Awesome is sure to make himself available as a "taste taster". This got a thumbs up from Tiny. I was prepared for complicated on this project and it was so refreshingly easy to do in the afternoon. Too, I didn't know that when we got the instructions with the kit that we would have a mini lesson on the benefits of seaweed too. More on that in a minute.

Then it was on to my favorite part, the gum tasting. They already had them poured into the sharing bowl for everybody to try. As I thought after having tested the candy, they were equally delish!

Did I mention another reason that we decided to try this out is because Glee Gum is about promoting education as well? They have a lot of free lesson plans and links on their sites to understand the background of chocolate and candy histories.

Having the convenience of everything packaged for you and the ease of the steps along with the natural and flavorful candy makes this an attractive product. Homemade anything, you know, is better than store bought.

Keep reading as we see what Kelley's family thought about the kit she got.

Kelley here. I will admit that I was tickled pink when we received the Make Your Own Chocolate from Scratch Kit to review.

We love chocolate and the timing was perfect. I had been reading up on chocolate and looking at recipes when I got to thinking about actually making a batch a chocolate from scratch.

I was impressed when I opened the package and saw cocoa butter in a bag, just what I had been trying to find, along with the other ingredients needed to make chocolate. Everything was nicely packaged and the instructions are nice and detailed. In the instructions it even talks about what "tempering" is and why chocolate crystals are needed to make the chocolate. Love the bit of science added in.

Now having a teen, I stepped back (ok I tried to, but it is chocolate after all) and let her make the chocolate. She chose the microwave method and followed the instructions. Now she has lots of patience (not me), I kept swinging by the counter anxiously waiting for the temperature to fall so the final ingredient could be added. I will admit that I had to taste everything as she went along.

Finally we have chocolate ready for use. Whew. It tells you it can take 15 minutes for the mix to cool enough to add that last ingredient, but I thought “no way”, “YES WAY”, who knew chocolate would cool soooo slowly. It was so worth the wait though.

We made a few plain pieces, but we were looking for all kinds of add-ins to use. We used almonds, cashews, candied ginger (my fave), cacao nibs, almond butter, peanut butter, pink peppercorns and pretzels. We had a whole plateful of chocolate pieces when we were finished.
Can you say YUM? Of course we managed to not eat all of them at one time and saved some for later. Not much later though.

My daughter and I decided this was a kit well worth getting again. The instructions are great and I really like that it gives you the option for microwave or stovetop. No guess work involved.

Like Tina mentioned in her review above, I appreciate the fact that Glee Gum provides educational material as well. On the back of our instruction sheet they have a whole page of history and information about chocolate and then refer you to their website for more educational materials.

Thank you Glee Gum for the opportunity to make and learn about one of my favorite foods.

Tina here again. We are just trying to test you out on this review to see if you can keep up with us as we go back and forth.

I have listed some of our favorite things about this product below.

• With all those "secret" ingredients I can't even pronounce in food right now, I have gotten more picky about even our snacking. I like the fact that the candy and gum are both all natural products and plant based.
  
• The candy kits are loads of fun, easy and make great gifts or a fun project to do with a unit study. The chocolate kit would be great to add to your next rainforest, Maya or Aztec unit study. The gum kit would be great too.
  
• I didn't forget to tell you about the seaweed. I learned something new which is that we all use seaweed more than we realize and it makes a gel that is able to be utilized in the gummy worms we made. From their instruction sheet: Gelatin is a substance that is made by boiling animal bones. YUCK! So carrageenan is a natural plant based gel from seaweed. Pretty cool uh? What a healthy substitute.
• They are not just interested in selling you something but educating you about how their products are plant based, environmentally friendly and your children obtain an education while having fun. Check out their free lesson plans here which have lesson plans on the history of chewing gum to chocolate to facts about the rainforest. We personally enjoyed the free educational tour of From Tree to Glee.
• You will love their tidbits of science and history behind the projects you make.
• Another fact I did not know: Glee Gum is the only gum in North America made with chicle, a tree sap harvested sustainably to aid rainforest conservation in Central America.
• I love, love the fact that I can get the gum in mixed flavors. I know it says it's a great gift option on their site but for a family it can please everybody as each one gets the flavors they like the best.
•  Mr. Awesome and Tiny wanted you to know their favorite flavors. Mr. Awesome's favorite gum was triple berry and Tiny's favorite gum was bubblegum. Me? I chewed some of ALL of them.
  

We are proud to represent Glee Gum and know you will enjoy their delicious and easy to make sweet treats.

Last but not least, Glee Gum has generously allowed us to give away 2 kits. So 2 winners and it is open for continental U.S. residents only.

Giveaway Ends Monday May 13 at 8:00 p.m. CST. Winners will be notified afterwards.

Add your comment now.

My rules are always simple. 

1. Comment here on the blog.

To do that, come to the blog, click on this post to comment here. Remember, though I always love getting your emails, you won't be entered in this giveaway if you send us an email. Note:{Update on our site: Though we have turned off the member section on our site, a mailing list still exists. We have left this feature on our site for the time being. So you may be asked by email after you comment to confirm to be on our mailing list. We don't like captchas either and are working on turning that feature off soon.}

2. You can comment twice.

Winners will be chosen by Random.org and notified.

That's it!

Hope you win!

Hugs and love ya,

Product Name: All natural Glee Gum and Make Your Own Candy Kits

Website: Glee Gum

Social Media: Follow on them on facebook and be sure to get their newsletters for coupons and savings. Follow them on twitter too and Glee Gum is on Pinterest now.

Price:  Candy Kit - $13.95 per kit/ $11.95 case of 12 boxes of gum. Attention:Gum Chewers - They have many options for pricing on their site. Click here to go there.

Ages: 8 to everybody!

Type of Product:  Edible and delicious diy candy kits and gum using all natural products.

 Current Newsletter. Click here to get it.

Customer Service:  Our products came exactly when it was promised and any questions I had were promptly answered.

Warning: Picture overload!

  We just had our year end co-op. How do you choose a few pictures from all of the hard work of each child? As each family shared what delighted them, I have tried to scatter as many pictures as I could throughout this review.

Over the years I have shared my passion for history that is both hands-on and interactive because it breathes life into lifeless events of the past. So when planning our year end history co-op, I decided to use the Great Empires Activity Study, which is an activity study by Home School in the Woods. I have to say a fair amount of swooning was involved because of the scope of empires that the Great Empires Activity Study covers.

Great Empires Activity Study by Home School in the Woods covers fourteen empires: Ancient China, Ancient Egypt, Ancient Greece, Ancient Rome, Arab-Muslims, English Empire, French Empire, German Empire, Japanese Empire, Mongols, Russian Empire, Spanish Empire, United States and Viking. Not wanting to make a choice using the eeeny, meeny, miny and moe method between any of these swoon worthy civilizations for our history loving co-op, I decided to cover a little about each of these empires through hands-on projects.

Organizing and assigning hands-on projects for our Great Empires co-op was easy and enjoyable because of how the information is laid out. After reviewing the download of the material I received, I noticed the files are organized by master, texts and projects. The projects page for each empire, I found extremely useful in wading through all of the excellent material. The project page is like your weekly lesson plan at a glance page and the master is your lesson plan for the day. The master pages include a helpful teacher's key reference, which is a map marked with key areas, boundaries and other helpful features for each region covered by that empire. Glancing at the project page, we could select all the hands-on activities that we wanted to do and find them among the 107 master pages.

Too, background information on each empire is vital in covering the topics like we did because we wanted to savor a morsel of each empire. The text pages for each empire are 2-3 pages. However, one gem about the text pages is that they cover the empire at its height. Non-history loving folks don't like history because they can get caught up in a quagmire of details that can drain the life out of a history lesson. Unsure of which invention, event or key point to highlight, a budding history buff may come away more confused. However, the text pages by Home School in the Woods shaves off non-essential details for the elementary age child but builds appreciation by covering key events that are significant for each civilization. If you are a give-me-the-facts-only type of person, you will enjoy reading about each empire in the condensed text because you won't come away feeling overwhelmed. Beyond covering key events for each empire or covering significant inventions, the text unifies the past to the present. Your child comes away with a better understanding of the impact previous civilizations made in today's world. Keeping it simple without being boring makes the text a nifty feature.

However, if you already have a basic framework of history knowledge and want to explore beyond that foundation, you will enjoy the additional reading suggestions in each projects page and the extensive links found in the text which directs you to a website page at Home School in the Woods. Easily, you could spend a week on each empire.

Because the Great Empires Activity Study is about exploring, discovering and hands-on learning, you will find plenty of activities for each empire from making scones when learning about the English empire to making an Egyptian cartouche. Activities vary with each empire from learning about history through cooking, painting pottery like the Greeks and printing minibooks about famous people to Japanese kiragami.

You will not find cheesy analogies of history clip art in this product. All of the clipart, projects and pictures have amazing detail. If you are a non-artsy person you will enjoy assembling the easy to do projects because a lot of them are printable. You decide if you want to color or not.

Here is what I find most appealing about this product:

• The scope of empires covered. If you have been lagging behind in covering history topics or are trying to follow the 4 year cycle used by a lot of homeschoolers and it is going slower than you would like to, using Great Empires Activity Study would be a useful tool if you want a bird's-eye view.

• It can be used as a stand-alone history curriculum because you have the option with additional reading material listed in the projects pages and links provided by Home School in the Woods to extend each empire. With the abundance of reading recommendations and because we love history, I personally would take two weeks to cover each empire if I were using this as a stand-alone curriculum. Doing one hands-on activity per week would not be overly time consuming and you could easily end up with a year's worth of history.  What a bargain for the price and you are using it for all of your children.

• If you are using a history text and would like the flexibility of adding in an activity to enrich your reading, then Great Empires Activity Study would be a nice fit.

• Great Empires Activity Study allowed a lot of room for flexibility in our co-op setting because it allowed each family to focus on the topic that interested them.

• History clip art matters to me because pictures are important in history. The fine detail and high quality pictures can be used for a timeline, history notebook or to add to a lapbook.

• Many of the creative activities can be printed and do not involve a lot of teacher supervision or tons of crafty artsy items on hand to do them.

• The constant in all the empires is the beautiful teacher's key map. Providing a key map for each empire is like having a mini geography curriculum as a bonus.

I feel that persons can vary tremendously on what each one thinks is a disadvantage in a product. I prefer using the word considerations because it gives you pause for thought to see if your circumstances fit that product.

Considerations for this product would be:

• There is not a lesson planning guide or checklist for each day's activities. For some homeschoolers that may feel like freedom to explore and breathe but for others having a to-do checklist each day may feel a bit more secure.

• Some of these activities are ones that history lovers may have already done if they have been homeschooling for a while or find them easy but again the product is aimed at the elementary aged child.

Download Free Notebook Cover here.

You know I have to organize most products I get and this one was no different. I have created a printable for you to use as cover page for your binder when covering these empires.

{Tiny had a wonderful time at the co-op. I'll share with you soon how we made his easy, easy Roman costume,helmet and shield.}

{A huge dose of thanks and love to Cynthia and Kelley. Cynthia did the beautiful Egyptian pillars. Would you like to know how she made them? I'll share that in an upcoming post too. Thank you to Kelley for the beautiful Great Empires Co-op banner with those smokin' hot wooden letters.}

Home School in the Woods is an excellent example of showing how history does not have to involve a textbook or always acquiring random uninteresting facts. With background information on each past civilization and several creative activities to choose from on each empire, you will not be disappointed with Great Empires Activity Study. Whether you are studying about the legends of Crete or are exploring the adventures of Captain John Smith, adding in hands-on history along with a huge dose of field trips and a history co-op or two is a sure way to making learning about the past meaningful.

Thank You Amy Pak and crew for keeping history fun through the Great Empires Activity Study. My kids loved it!

Product Name: Great Empires Activity Study

Website: Home School in the Woods

List Price: Download Version $18.95; CD Version $19.95

Grades/Ages to use it for:  Elementary grades. I see though that with the links and additional reading, that you could use this with multiple ages.

Type of Product:  CD or Download.

Customer Service: My download was emailed to me in a timely manner as promised.

{There are so many games to go along with these empires. A variety of games from each empire would be: Knucklebones, Roman Ball, Disc, Rota, Ephedrismo, Abarisa, Balonmano, Cinco Marias, Blind Man, Catch the Dragon and Chinese Ball to name a few.

Above: The kids are playing Catch the Dragon.You have to love homeschooling when even the older kids don't mind teaching the younger ones how to play the game.}

{Mummy Wrap game. Okay, not so ancient, but fun!}

Hugs and love ya,

All product information is correct and accurate as of the date of this review.

Note: As in the case with homeschool co-ops, it is the work of many hard working hands. I would not been able to lead this co-op and organize it if Kelley, Cynthia and the generous families in our co-op had not all contributed. So Thank You to all of you! But also a special thank you to Amanda Howard. She has been a valuable part of our co-op for many years and we always enjoy all the pictures she takes. She made it hard on me to choose from the over 200 pictures that she took. Just about all of the pictures at the co-op are from her. Thank You Amanda.

Finding pleasure and delight in penning thoughts is my premier goal for my sons in a writing curriculum. So during the last few weeks, I have been absolutely thrilled that The Power in Your Hands: Writing Nonfiction in High School by Writing with Sharon Watson has been our writing mentor because it has surpassed my expectations.

I was apprehensive at first when I chose to review The Power in Your Hands: Writing Nonfiction in High School because Mr. Awesome would rather tell a lively story with a few of his close friends gathered around than to write about it. Because I do not want to extinguish his love for a well told story, it has been almost impossible to find a writing curriculum that fosters in him a desire to balance his story telling skills with the skills vital for nonfiction writing. Exploring options in writing curriculum that do not use a matter-of-fact approach to teaching nonfiction writing is a second goal. If you are looking for a writing curriculum that abandons the lack luster approach to teaching nonfiction writing then The Power in Your Hands: Writing Nonfiction in High School by Sharon Watson is a great tool.

From my homeschool teacher's view, I am inspired by all the evaluation forms, samples and step-by-step instructions. However, more endearing to me was hearing the constant chuckles from Mr. Awesome when he used the curriculum.

One of the most appealing features of this writing program is the witty remarks found throughout the student workbook. For example, in the first page or two of the book there are self-checking boxes to aid your teen in identifying his writing self. A couple of the descriptions are: I would rather walk across a burning desert at high noon with buzzards circling overhead while I drag a bone-dry water bottle than write anything whatsoever and You gotta be kidding. Checking this box is enough writing for me for one day.

Mixing in the right amount of humor but not turning writing into a comical event makes The Power in Your Hands: Writing Nonfiction in High School stand apart from the many homeschool writing curriculums I have used from Kindergarten till now. Showing how humor can be an effective teacher, it sets the bar for other homeschool writing programs.

{crazy kid}

Did I mention too that you do not have to have a DVD to inspire laughter and create a fondness for writing? The Power in Your Hands: Writing Nonfiction in High School has a teacher's guide and student workbook, but it is not DVD based.  Simple and clear to understand, the student workbook is a refreshing change to learn about how to write.  An unexpected remark from Mr. Awesome was that when using the DVD based program that we presently have, he has to constantly refresh his memory on where he is at in the program. The pick up and go style used in The Power in Your Hands: Writing Nonfiction in High School is another unique feature. I have learned through this experience with Mr. Awesome that some changes in the homeschool world to create DVD based writing programs are not always good. DVD based learning can be an aid but too it can turn into a crutch for both parent and child. When I started homeschooling, teaching writing was much more hands-on. I desire to continue that but with the format used by The Power in Your Hands: Writing Nonfiction in High School because it appeals to my son's strengths.

Because I don't want to miss one important detail, here is what is included with the format The Power in Your Hands: Writing Nonfiction in High School curriculum.

Student Workbook

• Font and type style are easy to read and beautiful
• The student is easily able to see the difference between a practice session and instructions because contrasting colors of soft black and soft gray are used
• Step-by-step instructions
  
• Over 100 daily lessons
• Complete instructions for 22 essays and reports with a checklist for each assignment. Examples of some essays and types of assignments are a biography, newspaper writing, devotional, literary analysis and SAT essay. Instructions for assignments are included for all nonfiction writing modes: persuasion, exposition, description, and narration
  
• It uses an incremental approach that includes a beginner writer all the way to preparing him for college readiness
• Plenty of room on the side margins allowed Mr. Awesome to not fret about always having to retrieve an extra sheet of paper for the practice that day
• A reference section or toolbox that encourages your student to be his own editor, nonfiction evaluation form, a how-to/process writing evaluation form, do and do not list for persuasion and many more
• It is designed to be used as a college readiness program but it is a solid and rigorous writing program to use in the high school years too
• There is no guessing as to the meaning of skilled and advanced writing because examples of professional writing are placed throughout
• Appealing to the visual learner in each of us, icons are used in the student workbook so that the student is clear as to whether he is digging deeper into a topic or if it is time to use the toolbox
• The book is designed with a tight binding and is 422 pages. Like my other curriculum, I use coil binding on our copies because we prefer for them to lay flat

Teacher's Guide

• Major writing assignments are listed in the beginning to help you plan and to guide your teen if they need assistance
• Objectives are clearly stated. If you have to record keep in your state, I find this section a handy reference. If you are new to teaching writing, study this section and learn right alongside your teen
• How to give grades is one area parents of high school teens struggle with. Explaining how to earn an A, B,C, D or F are sections that are extremely practical and useful
• Included are writing prompts called 14 minute power surges. It is like having another whole curriculum built into this program because it can be used aside from the program. Writing prompts are listed from September to May with four weeks for each month
• A lot of teacher guides are practically useless, but with the details and extras found in this teacher's guides you don't want to miss it

One more feature dear to my heart is the fact this writing program is written by a homeschool mom. The longer I homeschool, the more I value my homeschool roots. When I review programs where an author has produced a curriculum to gain a market in the homeschool world then he quickly moves to becoming a homeschooler, it is quite obvious. That is not the case with this program. Sharon Watson has homeschooled all of her children for 18 years and has taught high school composition, fiction writing, and literature to local homeschool students. Though, not all features of a program where the author has recently turned homeschooler is a deal breaker for me, politically correct writing prompts and essays designed to evoke independent thinking from the Creator are. Again, you will not find that in this curriculum. Ms. Watson's curriculum reflects a Christian worldview but her Christian-based content is sprinkled ever so lightly that I feel a secular homeschooler would not be offended. It certainly has a lot of flexibility in topic choices if you choose to substitute another one. I declare my obvious prejudice for curriculum written by homeschoolers for homeschoolers.

Overall, I am extremely pleased with The Power in Your Hands: Writing Nonfiction in High School, but more so because Mr. Awesome has decided to switch from his present DVD based workshops to using it as his writing coach. Writing is an art and The Power in Your Hands: Writing Nonfiction in High School has given him the impetus to challenge himself further. When you have tasted excellence such as The Power in Your Hands: Writing Nonfiction in High School it is hard to not become queasy at other mediocre writing curriculum. Thank you Sharon Watson!

Product Name: The Power in Your Hands: Writing Nonfiction in High School

Website: Writing with Sharon Watson

Price: Student Workbook $39.98 Teacher's Guide $14.98

Grades/Ages to use it for:  Highschool. The Teacher's Guide states: Students in classrooms and co-ops will most likely finish this course in one year. Students in homeschools can use this course for two years if they pause the lesson for the week it takes to research and write their essays.

Type of Product:  Physical Books bound

E-Book Format: Not Available.

Free things you'll love:  The Author is online! Visit the website,  Writing with Sharon Watson, for weekly writing prompts and tips.

Customer Service: My books arrived in secure shipping packages in excellent condition and was received at the time it was promised.

Hugs and love ya,

All product information is correct and accurate as of the date of this review.

{Be sure to click the graphic at the bottom to have access to a special sample page that was set up just for our readers.}

If reviews ended up being about homeschool confessions then this would be one. I am the first to admit that I am a hands-on teacher. So turning over the teaching reins to somebody else, even in the form of videos didn't interest me, or so I thought.

I had heard of  Supercharged Science  before, but I didn't really understand the e-science program until now. I think what really piqued my interest in wanting to take a gander at reviewing the e-science program was the way it is laid out. It utilizes a unit study or theme approach and when I heard that I just had to give it a look. The program touted too that learning isn't based on an age or grade level but on the child's intrinsic value. I couldn't agree more because science textbooks would have us believe that science know how needs to be canned and boxed by grade level.

I think, in public school, is where my science aversion started because of tiresome textbooks. Science programs would have you believe that it has to be austere or rigid in order to learn. And, that unless you are just reading tons and tons of snoring boring pages you will not get it. That couldn't be further from the truth. Though I love to read, I am a visual and hands-on learner too and the textbooks did not satisfy my desire to learn about science. My phobia of science is not a virtue that I want my sons to follow. So I have spent my homeschool journey poring over programs that were both rigorous and hands-on while keeping it dynamic and fun.

So I don't  want to make you wait for my eat humble pie confession very long so I will say right now that Supercharged Science has to be one of the best science programs we have ever used. I feel it is important to tell you why though and I will in a minute.

Getting the whole picture of why my first impression of Supercharged Science was not exactly favorable may help you to understand this confession session. First, I was under the impression that the e-science program was a video only program.  Like you, I homeschool my kids because I want to be a hands-on teacher. It is equally important to me that I understand what concepts my kids are learning.  I can't help but to vision this picture in my mind about kids perched on a chair with eyes glued to the computer watching videos. It always reminded me of mummy learning and not mommy teaching.

Second, what usually follows my video only thinking is that there are no lesson plans, vocabulary or quizzes that are printable. Now, you know I got off the public school treadmill a long while back and I am not interested in repeating what we left behind, but I do want tools so that I can expand on what my kids are learning.  Sometimes I even prefer to make my own printables or lapbooks, you know that. What I am saying is that having printable lesson plans and tools is equally important to me.

Both of those things I had all wrong about Supercharged Science. It had enough printable .pdfs to make the organized lesson planning teacher part of me happy downloading while the boys could watch any video or topic of their choice. For example, though I wanted to start on an easier topic,  Mr. Awesome and Tiny chose Unit 7 or Astrophysics. I promptly downloaded all 73 pages of the pdf and reviewed it. That is just a standard I set for myself as a teacher because I want to know what they will be learning.  The difference between Supercharged Science and other video based ones I have used before is that Supercharged Science recognizes that some parents want to be involved. As homeschool parents we don't want to be on the sidelines but in the middle of the lesson planning. The only way to do that is to see how these concepts are being built on by being able to both print the information when desired and to watch alongside our children. I was warming up quickly to Supercharged Science.

The e-science program is not a video only mummy watching process either because I determine when and how long my kids watch. I can still have our 1:1 time that I cherish so highly while using the engaging and exciting Aurora Lipper to teach us all.

There is no doubt you could get easily overwhelmed on the site but that is because you see the heart of Aurora Lipper written all over it. I don't know about you but I will take an enthusiastic teacher who obviously loves the subjects she teaches over a bit of having to swim through a lot of content.  This is a curriculum that you definitely have to start with the Getting Started section. It may sound like that is so basic but it went a long way in me understanding how to get the full benefit of the e-science program.

Don't just read what she says either, but watch her video as she expresses best how to use the site. Doing that we were able to pick a couple of the easy "hook me onto science" projects like the flying contraption and microwaving soap. The emphasis that science is about doing and not just reading is thinking that I agree with.

Because I have to organize things and because I know I didn't fully understand the flexibility of this program, I made this simple chart so that you can see the many options of this program.

Glance above at this How to Use Supercharged Science Chart and you will see that you can use it any way you want to. For Unit 7, we started by literally jumping right into it.  We chose a topic and instantly began viewing the videos. Mr. Awesome couldn't wait to learn about time travel and both Tiny and Mr. Awesome were ready to get started after they completed a few hands-on activities.

The first option above was the part that I did not understand that was offered by the e-science program. For me, there are moments in science when I want the boys to ponder what the Creator has done. I want to discuss with them and have them dwell on their Bible based beliefs before I give them the answer or before they watch a video. Choosing the first option gives me the flexibility to decide when that is important to me.

It's relative to mention right now too that Supercharged Science does not profess to be secular or Christian which I too happen to appreciate. From the website: (Note: We focus on how to build the robot, take data and measurements, work a microscope, launch the rocket, why a laser works…basically sticking to the physics of what’s going on and how to build the projects. The e-Science program does not cover creation nor evolution so all families may participate.)

It covers K-12th grade Physical Science, Chemistry, Life Science, and Biology. The beauty to this program is that it takes all the work out of lesson planning unless you want to lesson plan. The themes referred to as "Study Units" range in topic from mechanics, motion, energy, sound, astrophysics to life science, chemistry and biology.  There are over 900 experiments to choose from and enough to keep us busy for hours as we pore over science topics.

I know exactly what I want from a science program and that is key to determining if this will work for you. If you are not sure what you want from a program then all of them will be similar. I know hands-on is key for me like I mentioned in the beginning but also I want rigorous standards. So it is a bonus that Supercharged Science meets and even exceeds some state's standards and is aligned with the National Standards for Science. Not to be overlooked by any means is the engaging attitude of Aurora Lipper as she leads the lessons. She is not like any science teacher I ever had in school. Both Mr. Awesome and Tiny find her witty, entertaining and likable. Did I mention she use to work at NASA and teach at a university? She is not like any professor I knew either.

Not only do the units range in variety from topics about life science to  energy and robotics but there are over 1000 videos. So one secret I have been keeping from you are all these pictures of hands-on projects we have been doing. The boys have been so thoroughly captivated by all of the hands-on projects in this program and we have not been doing much else.  I do think this why I am behind on finishing my Home Management Binder but I don't mind. The boys have literally been jumping from project to project and I have been letting them do so because of their curiosity and thirst for these topics.

The last thing I need to talk about is one slight rub about this program. I received 18 emails in the 5 weeks I reviewed this program. Each email is filled with nuggets of information I want to glean for the benefit of my kids. However, with the other emails I need to read for homeschooling in addition to those, many of them got overlooked. Now, I have created a special file in my inbox and just move them over in there as they come in to save and read later. I know that I would appreciate a newsletter maybe once or twice a month regularly that can be anticipated and planned instead of many emails scattered each week. If new members signed up, they could access the archives as an added membership bonus in case they joined in between emails.

It is no doubt Aurora Lipper is one of the best science teachers my boys have had and her talent shows in her emails. The communication emails could be such a treasure trove if they were all bundle up as science reading tips on a regular basis.

It has been hard to label my metamorphosis about this product into anything other than a mini story.  Summing this all up, this is what I heart about Supercharged Science.

• At every step of the process, I can adapt the e-science program to how I want to use it. I do not have to give up the teaching reins but use Supercharged Science as a superior tutor.
  

• I do not have to give up the time I spend 1:1 nurturing my children, but add to their love of science by using engaging and well thought out topics to ignite their passion for it.

• As Not Technical Tina, I cringe when Mr. Awesome and Tiny said they wanted to make the Hydraulic Pneumatic Earth Mover. However, Supercharged Science took us step by step through the process in the video. We could watch and pause the video and come back anytime. We probably have the most colorful hydraulic pneumatic earth mover ever but my sons won't ever forget it.

• I appreciate that we don't have to keep pace or in sync with any lesson plans. We determine which unit we start on and decide how long to stay and when to move on. We can spend as much or as little time on each topic.

• All lesson materials are there for me as the organizer so I can print off contently in my curriculum planner and plan. In addition, there is a material lists that can be printed off for each unit.

• One of the best parts we are finding too is that so many of the experiments can be done with simple things you have around the house. For example, when making the hydraulic pneumatic earth mover, we used diet coke lids as wheels. Dad had clear tubing from our bathtub business and the one thing I had to pick up were syringes from the pharmacy. Everything else we had among the junk stuff in our home.

• I appreciate the fact evolution or creation is not addressed because I have always preferred adding our own Bible based views.

• The program can be used by ALL the children in your home without paying extra. What a deal. Whether you have 3 or 6 kids, it can be used for all ages.

• Even homeschool moms need substitute teachers once in awhile.  With Supercharged Science I can let the kids watch the videos, do the hands-on experiments while I take a teaching break.

• Last but certainly, not least with over 900 experiments to choose from and with study units still coming like Bonus Advanced Astronomy, Earth Science and Advanced Robotics Lab, Supercharged Science will keep science both fun and captivating for my boys.
  

Thank you to Supercharged Science and to Aurora and Al Lipper. My family was completely immersed in this review and it is our privilege to be part of this wonderful e-science program. All of your hard work and dedication to the children and to science is obvious once you enter the warm and inviting doors of your website.

{Remember to go to the bottom to click the graphic to try a sampling of the e-science program.}

Product Name: e-Science Program

Website: Supercharged Science  - www.sciencelearningspace.com

Price: $37.00 per month for the K-8 or $57.00 per month for K -12. {Note: During the first month of e-Science K-8 and e-Science 9-12, members get access to the first 7 units, plus additional sections like “The Scientific Method”. In addition, if there is a later unit or two that someone wants to access early, they can just drop us an email and we’ll give them free access to it immediately. This way, if someone is working on a certain topic, they are never made to wait months to have access to it.}

Ages: My review was for K-8, but the program includes K-12.

Type of Product:  Online video curriculum for K-12 graders BUT LOTS of pdf downloads and teacher's notes for the teacher in you.

Free things you'll love:  Get Your FREE Homeschool Science Guide With Over 30 Fun Activities!

Customer Service: My email with download arrived promptly as promised and I had a log in problem that was corrected immediately. Customer service was prompt and excellent.

Religious Perspective: From the website: (Note: The e-Science program does not cover creation nor evolution so all families may participate.  The focus of the program is on how to launch the rocket, build the robot, use a microscope, take measurements and data, etc.)

iPad or iPhone: Not available yet, but they are working on it.

Technical Requirements: The e-Science program works well on a variety of computer and browser platforms. E-Science supports the following operating systems with the latest available versions of the indicated browsers: Windows Internet Explorer 8, 9, 10Mozilla Firefox 10.0 or higher, Macintosh OS X Safari 3.0, 4.0, 5.0Google Chrome OS Google Chrome

Hugs and love ya,

All product information is correct and accurate as of the date of this review.

This is at last bone of my bones

And flesh of my flesh.

This one will be called Woman,

Because from man this one was taken.

I cannot think of any more delightful language to fill the mind of all of my sons with from an early age than those uttered first so long ago.

Poetry has always been important to me during my homeschooling journey. Expressing emotion through artfully contrived words though, I feel, can be a lost art in homeschooling because of the sheer number of subjects that creep up into our day. For the last 4 weeks or so we have savored every lesson as we used The Art of Poetry Bundle by Classical Academic Press. The Art of Poetry bundle includes a Student Text, Teacher's Edition and DVD set.

Beautiful words have a way of painting a conversation with so few of them. I have always admired such clear thought that can be dwindled down to a few lines of poetry. I am pleased more when I have the privilege of reviewing products like The Art of Poetry that can capture not just the common elements like rhythm and meter, but that can lead you step by step to understanding and skillfully teaching poetry.

I have added a snippet above of the table contents for you to peek at. By breaking each element of poetry down into a chapter, you and your children have more than enough time to relish each word, line and punctuation. Poetry unlike reading prose calls for an unhurried pace so that all the parts are analyzed for beauty and hidden meaning.

Using figurative language and metaphors is not something we always use in everyday writing. At first, studying poetry can feel strained until you realize that writers have to write with their hearts and not just their minds. So The Art of Poetry  begins by helping you to understand the importance of paying close attention to reading, then covers the elements of poetry and gives you a history and timeline of poetry.

A very useful feature and one we enjoyed was the short biographies of poets that is in the back of the book.  Helping your children to appreciate that poets are real people and their lives, their environment and opinions influences their emotions enriches our understanding of each word.  Whether a poem is silly, happy or sad, our children see that other poets may have experienced some of the things that we do.

If you want to take a closer look at the table of contents, click here for a free pdf of the table of contents with the Teacher's Edition.

When we received The Art of Poetry, both the Student Text and Teacher Editions were bound beautifully. You know my obsession by now though. I need books that lay flat on my table. So I coil bound both the Teacher's Edition and Student Text and began our lessons. I heeded the suggestion given right away and that is to begin by reading Chapter 8:Putting it All Together.  Using this with both Mr. Awesome who is high school level and Tiny who is elementary level, helped me to get an overall pulse of their understanding of poetry up to this point.

After each poem there is a set of questions in the Student Text for you to consider. The Teacher's Edition is a must have in this bundle because of the sheer volume of teaching tips and answers to the questions. It is more than an answer sheet. More on that in a minute because I certainly want to give you more details on it.

At the end of the chapter there are activities that vary anywhere from reading a poem of your child's choosing, to hands-on activities to writing a poem. There were more than enough activities to choose from at the end of each chapter so that I could mix and match for both levels.  Also vocabulary words and their definitions are provided throughout the Student Text.

It did not take long for Mr. Awesome and Tiny to understand that poems are about laughter, enjoyment and they can also bring tears. They are about unveiling emotion that we only thought oral conversation could do.

We did several of the activities suggested in each lesson plan. As suggested in one of the activities, I found free emotion facial cards online so that Tiny could pick the emotion he was feeling as Mr. Awesome read the poem.

I also received Disk 1 from the DVD set as part of my review package. The quality, sound and clarity of the lessons was superb.  A video sample is on their website for you to view.

 I think one of the parts Mr. Awesome enjoyed the best about this program was watching the DVD as Christine Perrin teaches four students.  Mr. Awesome gave up his normal DVD laptop player and confiscated my computer with the bigger screen. Because he is high school level, he does get to use the Teacher's Edition too if he needs it but just followed along in the Student Text as he watched her conduct the class. He felt a connection with the other kids there realizing they didn't have all the exact words to express their feelings about each poem.

I have not forgotten to tell you about the comprehensive Teacher's Edition. Just in case the homeschool world decides to start nominating candidates for the top of the line teacher's editions and gives them a 5 star award, I will already have The Art of Poetry Teacher's Edition nominated.

Previously I mentioned the timeline in the Teacher's Edition, but I have to admit that some swooning was involved when I saw it. In our unit studies and everyday learning, I am always looking for ways to connect language arts to a history timeline. In the Teacher's Edition, there is a timeline that has time periods with the following four sections, except for the postmodern period: forms and genres, writers, literary value and historical context. It is a nice visual aid to enriching your language arts.

 You know one of my pet peeves about teacher's edition that I blogged about last year was that a lot of them are nothing more than answer sheets. Helping many new home educators and ones that are struggling, I hold Teacher's Edition to a standard of excellence. Dramatic as it sounds, I happen to believe they can successfully help you homeschool or be a deal breaker.

Teacher's Edition should equip any teacher, not just the ones who have a background or degree in that area, to explain clearly what is being taught. A teacher can't do this if she is only given an answer sheet. Background information to edify the educator is a must too.

The Art of Poetry Teacher's Edition contains gray bordered pages immediately following the lesson that gives detailed explications and background information where needed. That means this section clarifies and breaks down the process of teaching into the most minute pieces. We need that when we don't know what we are doing or like me, if you want to pick up the curriculum and teach with minimum preparation time.

Here is what this Teacher's Edition includes. I took this from the website so it is finely tuned.

• Detailed and fascinating explications of thirty-nine poems from the student text

• A complete answer key to accompany Anthology exercises

• A poetry time line showing the different periods of poetry, including the period's forms and genres, writers, literary value, and some historical context

• A quiz for each chapter, a cumulative book quiz, and answers keys for all quizzes

• An introduction for the teacher with tips and suggestions for teaching poetry

• The entire The Art of Poetry student text

I have to add one more point though that is particularly valuable to me in using many, many teacher's editions and that is how the student text page and teacher's edition page numbers align. Though the table of contents lists the Teacher's Edition last entry on page 271, there are well over that amount of pages in the Teacher's Editions. However, because they retained the same page number alignment, you can easily tell your student which page you are on because you start on the same one. A small thing not so small in keeping me organized and saving time flipping through student texts and teacher's editions that have different page numbers.

Effort counts in poetry.  Turning thoughts into creative words is not an easy task, but any reader of poetry appreciates thoughts that are composed in an artistic way. Both Mr. Awesome and Tiny enjoyed the activities of not only writing their own poetry but sharing it with each other as well as their drawings illustrating figurative language. Closing our eyes and mentally reflecting on the sight, sound, feel, taste and aroma of each poem we read as we were guided along by The Art of Poetry this month has been some of our most pleasurable lessons so far this year.

I cannot hide my praise for this product. I purchased the whole DVD set because I was so pleased with this curriculum. Classical Academic Press sets the bar of excellence for language arts that I am use to in my many years of homeschooling and The Art of Poetry equals that standard. Thank You Classical Academic Press and Christine Perrin for not only a practical guide but an excellent program to serve the homeschooling community.

Product Name: The Art of Poetry Bundle. Includes The Art of Poetry student text, The Art of Poetry Teacher's Edition, and The Art of Poetry DVD Set.

Website: Classical Academic Press.

Bundle List Price: $124.95 Bundle

Price Separately:  [$24.95 - Student Text], [$29.95 - Teacher's Edition] and [$89.95 - DVD Set].

Grades/Ages to use it for:  Grades 6 and Up. Middle School to High School.

Type of Product:  Physical Books bound

E-Book Format: Student Text available in Amazon Kindle and Apple iBook

Free things you'll love: Free Resources such The Art of Poetry Audio Files and The Art of Poetry suggested schedule. Check it out and see if it is for you.

Customer Service: My books and DVD arrived in secure shipping packages in excellent condition and was received at the time it was promised.

Notice of Price Change effective April 1st: The price will be $99.95 for the Bundle and the DVD set will be $69.95.

 Hugs and love ya,

All product information is correct and accurate as of the date of this review.

Learning how to choose well spoken words when you converse is an art, but penning those thoughts into a coherent manner so that a reader understands you is equally important. So when it comes to a writing program, I have certain things that I look for that would make it work for our family. I had the chance to review Eleventh Grade Essay/Research Paper Curriculum by Essentials in Writing and was eager to see if it would fit my criteria.

When we received our DVD, right away I printed out the whole workbook and used coil to bind it. Mr. Awesome and myself both like to look over everything in one glance so we can get a feel for the program. Essentials in Writing states that it is a complete language arts program with a emphasis on composition.

Here is how the program is laid out.

Section 1 gives instruction on sentence structure. Both the workbook and video give detailed explanations. I could see that if your teen needed instruction in the mechanics (grammar) of sentence structure this would be a nice foundation. If your teen had a strong grammar foundation, then it would make a nice reference tool.

Section 2 covers paragraphs and again I have to say that both the workbook and video give very detailed explanations on the how-to’s of composing a paragraph. I really like that there are plenty of examples and even a chart to use to dissect an example paragraph. This is a wonderful visual tool that will help the student plan their paragraphs and an excellent feature.

Section 3 covers essays and you will find plenty of detail and instruction on composing expository, persuasive, process analysis and response to literature essays. I appreciated the emphasis on reading aloud during the revision process. This is a key part of finding errors and correcting them. The emphasis put on reading aloud is a significant downfall in other writing programs so I was delighted to find this in this writing program.

Writing prompts are given for the expository essay and I used some of them but others I did not feel were appropriate for Mr. Awesome or this age. For example, the first writing prompt is about the possible causes and effects of divorce. Explaining the causes and effects of divorce is not something I consider appropriate for homeschooling families. Perception, I feel, is needed to judge situations in life that are right and wrong, but it is not just writing about them that helps the teen to apply his knowledge.  A teen has to put himself in that life situation. For our family, this is not information I wish that he would apply to himself.

 Also, the example used on the topic of bullying is not one, as a homeschool mom we have encountered. Perhaps if we had just left public school, we could see a connection to our life's experiences.  Homeschool parents are normally attentive and focus on issues about kindness versus cruelty that come up in a co-op, field trip or other social event. I understand bullying is a huge cause for concern for public schools, but these topics have me confused as to who is the author's audience.

Lesson 1 on writing a persuasive essay had one writing prompt that left me appalled. Asking a teen to persuade his reader to agree with his view on whether or not it's acceptable to help someone die is not necessary to help my teen strengthen his critical thinking skills.

I felt that for the persuasive paragraph lessons that I would give my son other subjects to write about instead of what was given by author because I feel we need to safeguard thinking ability.

What I do appreciate is the fact that writing prompts are given and this can go a long way in helping the writing process to flow.

Section 4 is focused on writing a research paper. An assignment at the 11th grade level it is to write about a career study. This seems like a nice choice for this age and I can see the benefit of my teen researching a career choice to see what all is entailed in that career. This section too is full of step by step instruction.

Neither Mr. Awesome nor I felt engaged by the video. Yes, it does give lots of detail, but the overall quality was not there. There is a huge problem with the sound. Mr. Awesome used a portable DVD player and headphones. He just about jumped out of his chair the first time playing the DVD. The music plays very loud and the actual instruction plays very low.  You can imagine the jolt from having to have the volume up so loud to hear the instructor to when the music came on after the lesson was complete. I checked using my computer and regular DVD player to make sure it wasn’t just his device, it wasn’t. I feel the music could have been left out completely or the volume at least adjusted before releasing for sale.

My overall thoughts and impressions are mixed. This program with very detailed steps and visual helps has a great appeal compared to others I have used. It is very practical to both teacher and student. I happen to love detailed, step by step instruction, and I felt this program provided that for the writing process. There are also graphic organziers, paragraph organizers, charts and checklists given to help with the writing process. The writing prompts, while appreciated, were not always ones that I would use. On the other hand, the feel of some of the other writing prompts and not just the ones I mentioned leaves me feeling uncomfortable in recommending this to the homeschool community.

I probably would just use the workbook portion and not the DVD unless I felt that further instruction was necessary. The workbook portion is the gem of this program and I know that I can easily use this as a reference tool.

Product Name: Eleventh Grade Essay/Research Paper Curriculum

Website: Essentials In Writing

List Price: $40

Grades/Ages to use it for: Highschool level. 11th grade.

Type of Product: DVDs with lesson-by-lesson video instruction and a CD-ROM with printable worksheets/assignment sheets/answer key in PDF format. OPTIONAL: Buy Pre-Printed Workbook 11th Grade. If you don't want to take the time to print worksheets, purchase a pre-printed workbook for $20. It is noteworthy to let you know that the delivery format will be changing soon.

Here is a note from the publisher:

In order to keep our prices affordable, Essentials in Writing will be shifting PDF workbook file delivery away from the CD-ROM to a digital version. In the future, when an order is placed, an email will be sent to the purchaser that includes a link to access the PDF workbook files for each grade level ordered. To clarify, this means that Essentials in Writing will no longer include a CD-ROM containing PDF workbook files with future orders. Instead, customers will receive an email containing a link to access the PDF workbook files once an order is placed. Grades 1-5 have already been updated, and the rest will be updated in the coming weeks.

 Customer Service/Shipping: My DVD arrived with part of the DVD container broken. It did not cause the DVD to not work but I feel more care could have been taken to choose a different container for shipping purposes.

 Hugs and love ya,

Disclaimer:  I received a free copy of this product through the Schoolhouse Review Crew in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way. All opinions I have expressed are my own or those of my family. I am disclosing this in accordance with the FTC Regulations.

All product information is correct and accurate as of the date of this review.

At the beginning of the school year I shared with you how I was determined to add more fine arts to our school day. So when the call when out to review Middle School 6-8, Book One: The Elements of Art and Composition - 3rd Edition by ARTistic Pursuits, I was all over that.  Secretly, I would rather pine over studying anything related to history or geography than to teach my kids fine arts.

I have often wondered why I dread teaching art and I think I have figured it out. It is all related to having the right tools. Also, because Mr. Senior 2013 and Mr. Awesome had a private art teacher that was so inspirational when they were younger, I really felt the need to be sure that Tiny gets the best art instruction possible too.

All of this swirled around in my head as I anticipated receiving Middle School 6-8, Book One: The Elements of Art and Composition - 3rd Edition.

My test for ARTistic Pursuits was to see if they could deliver an art teacher in a book. I wanted something that didn't just tell me to focus on the process and not the product. That may be fine if you are artfully inclined but for the rest of that are artfully challenged we wonder what the process is and where to start.

Tiny wasn't convinced either if learning about art and drawing was for him. His arms went inside his shirt as I showed him what we were going to attempt. Poor thing, he has his momma's apptitude for art.  ARTistic Pursuits, I feared met their match with Tiny.

When I got the book, I was first impressed with its appearance. I knew the book was quality because I had seen it before at homeschool conventions. It has comb binding so it lays flat which is always a huge deal to me when teaching. Each page is filled with drawing and sketching examples in pencil as well as color art when I flipped through it.  I was not disappointed. Then did I mention this is a BRAND SPANKING new edition - the 3rd edition? Things started off good and they just got better.

I focused on allowing the book to do the teaching. The getting started section to the students named:What Students Want to Know perked up Tiny. Out came one arm and then

the other arm as the book literally explained in a 1, 2, 3 approach about art. He figured out this may actually be an enjoyable and delightful process, and not the gut wrenching agonizing tortuous event he had conjured up in his head. He went from not wanting to do any lessons in the first week to spending several hours in one day doing multiple lessons.

Right away, I saw in the unit there was a  lesson for geography or history. Oh Yipppee for me. Give me some background so I can connect it to something I know too. For example, Lesson 2 explains about art in India. Some of the other cultures are Japan, China and Europe. I could see this book being used for a geography co-op. Discovering or exploring geography through studying world art would make a wonderful title for your co-op.

Here is a peek at the table of contents. It has 16 units with each unit having 4 lesson plans. You are encouraged to not rush each step as you learn and we didn't. We savored each step.

Besides having our rapt attention with the background information and learning the elements of art, another favorite part about the book is that it has such a warm conversational tone. The explanations about each element of art are detailed in bite sized pieces but it also inspired Tiny to not compare his work with others. To explore his own creativity is encouraged. There are just enough guidelines to not overwhelm him but to give him  clear instructions on what to expect. That was another concern of mine because of his non-art background. He needed some guidance. Receiving guidance instead of being told to just create this or draw something in your imagination rates this as an A+1 program. He needs models and examples and that is what ARTistic Pursuits did in each lesson. Afterward, the freedom to choose something he loved and then to draw it made for a very happy beginning artist

If you need to assign grades, it comes with an evaluation sheet too. For me, because we had such mental hurdles to overcome and because Tiny has set a standard of near perfection for his art, we didn't focus on grades. We do need to focus on the process now that we know what it is. Now, it takes even longer to observe and look closely at each object he wants to draw.

I wasn't sure when I started this review if Tiny would let me share any pictures with you.  However, he is so proud of himself and hand-picked these masterpieces to share with you.

I am so pleased with this book and I just can't think of anything that needs to be changed. From the way I received the book with shipping care to the timely arrival of it and presentation of the material, I would highly recommend any book in this series. My art teacher in a book is a keeper. Thanks to  ARTtistic Pursuits for this excellent product to serve the homeschool community.

Here are some facts for you in one spot so you can find them easily.

Product Name: Middle School 6-8 Book One: The Elements of Art and Composition

Website: ARTistic Pursuits:The Curriculum for Creativity

List Price: $47.95

Grades/Ages to use it for:  Ages 11 and up.

Type of Product:  Comb-binding book, 92 pages, 68 lessons, 176 illustrations. ISBN: 978-1-939394-06-4, January 1, 2013 3rd Edition

Art Supply Packs:  The art supply packs are a nice plus when you don't know enough about top notch art supplies to purchase them on your own but you know using the right art materials makes an immense difference in the end product.  ARTistic Pursuits  art supply packs come with all the art supplies you need for each book.

Customer Service: My book arrived in secure shipping order and was received at the time it was promised.

 Hugs and love ya,

 Disclaimer:  I received a free copy of this product through the Schoolhouse Review Crew in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way. All opinions I have expressed are my own or those of my family. I am disclosing this in accordance with the FTC Regulations.

All product information is correct and accurate as of the date of this review.

Curriculum collecting junkie that I am, I thought I knew just about all of the homeschool friendly vendors that hail from my home state, the Lone Star state.

So I was plain giddy to review Set 1 of the Science Vocabulary Pictures from Lone Star Learning because I had not heard of them. I know this is not suppose to be a review of all the products they have, but you'll have to take a peek at their other products.  They are so swoon worthy.

Look at this Create-A-Folder. Can you say digital lapbook? I just had to take my time looking at everything on their site while I waited for them to ship me the Science Vocabulary Pictures.

When the vocabulary word cards arrived, the first thing I did was to try to get as many of the Science Vocabulary Pictures, Set 1 cards in a picture for you as I could. There are 40 cards in each set and they are not small either. They are 5.5″ x 8.5″ and in full color.  I am so pleased with the quality of the paper and how durable they are because I know they will hold up after much use.  We could not put them down as we wanted to go over each one and study the pictures.

I think the biggest reason I was so tickled to review these cards was because I wanted to say: FINALLY!

Finally, somebody gets the way that a lot of children learn and that is visually.  I feel teaching vocabulary is not just about writing tons of sentences over and over again as if only using it in a sentence is going to demonstrate mastery of the word and the definition. It makes me think of an example I share a lot in my workshop about teaching a foreign language. If a person does not understand a foreign language, then will showing them more words by flashing them faster in a flashcard set make them learn quicker? Will just displaying a word on a page with the definition make them suddenly "get it". It's crazy, but even seasoned veterans do this when we teach our children vocabulary. We write a word on a page along with a definition but provide no visual association. So the point I make in my workshop is that the age old method of learning a foreign language is picture association. I believe that learning vocabulary is like teaching a foreign language. Picture/word association makes the connection for a learner.

Then my praise for this product doesn't stop here as I recall another struggle in my journey when I taught Mr. Awesome to read. Showing him the "A" flash card, explaining the short a sound and pointing to the "apple" was so much for him to take in. It is like he had too many mental steps to take to get the letter/sound association. Until I switched to alphabet letter people that were "objects or pictures" as one unit, he didn't make progress.

So what I noticed immediately about the Science Vocabulary Pictures was that the word and definition are "one" in picture form. The word is not on the front and the definition on the back. You can decipher the meaning of the word from the shape or picture form of the word. I was elated and kuddos to Lone Star Learning for promoting products that our children can actually learn from.

I think it's important for you to know too that the definitions come with the package but they are all on one card size page. It is more like a list or reference tool for you. If you are thinking about your child copying the definition, the text is not real big on that one page.

If you want your children to have the definition strips and work with matching them up to the word, you can purchase them separately like I did. They are shown here above with the vinyl pockets that I did not get.

The definitions come on a page style with 6 strips per page. I appreciate that because then I can decide if I want them laminated or not.  I will show you in a minute though what I did with these sweeties because you know I have to organize and store them.

We started using the cards right away. Because we were studying the Inuit and about the Arctic, the vocabulary cards worked right into our unit study.  The activities we focused on at the beginning was to sort the words and understand their definition in how they related to the Inuit and the Arctic. So Tiny sorted through the cards, grouping them into two piles.

One pile we focused on immediately because it was related to our Inuit and Arctic study and the second pile I saved later because it was not as relevant to our immediate topic.

Another day we focused on including all of the cards to learn but we used them to try to form acrostics as they related to our unit study. He was tickled to get the word I C E from the cards. If you have not worked with your children a lot on teaching vocabulary words or are coming to that in your journey, then check out the free section that is called Conference Handouts . It has several free downloads but the one titled Vocabulary gives you some tips on how to teach vocabulary.

Before I show you how I am storing the Science Vocabulary Pictures, I need to mention to you that because of a shipping mistake we received the Target Vocabulary Set 1 originally instead of the Science Vocabulary Pictures. Though we both know that any vendor is not required to let you keep a product when a mistake is made, Lone Star Learning did let me keep this second set of vocabulary cards.  It is rare when I am speechless but I was because of the generosity of Lone Star Learning. It sets a tone for customer service that means a lot to me if I do business with somebody.

I was as equally impressed with the Target Vocabulary Pictures, Set 1 as I am with the Science Vocabulary Pictures. The Target Vocabulary Pictures are math vocabulary words presented visually like the Science Vocabulary Pictures. You know I told you we use Math U See for part of our math program and all of my boys, including my high schoolers, had to play with these math cards when we got them. Both sets of cards lends themselves to games like matching. We took 7 of the cards turned them face down along with the definition and then Tiny tried to see if he could match the definitions. Learning is suppose to be fun, hands-on and interactive and Lone Star Learning makes that possible.

We focused on learning the Science Vocabulary Pictures and their definition since there are 40 in the set and we will be working more with the Target Vocabulary Pictures for math more because they are 57 cards in the set we got. I have a complete unit for both math and science with these two sets.

If I could change some things about this product or should I say the description of the products I think I would focus on using the term visual learner. The website says in several places for their digital products that they help with students of special needs.  Maybe so. However, I feel we live in a very visual world and technology is catching up with that because of how many of us use an iPad in our school and use more online resources than ever before.  I don't feel we should ever do away with print or paper as I have always said I am a paper girl living in a digital world. But using a term like visual learner to explain their products, instead of focusing on special needs only, encompasses a lot more us who have strong visual modes as part of our learning style. I think it is best to learn through many modes and visual needs to be seen as more than just for special needs.

Also, I had emailed them a question I had about my product and they informed me that they have been doing some website revisions but I feel, it would be easier to navigate the products if they had more uniform product names. I wasn't sure if that was being worked on or not. Maybe because of my need to organize but I feel the Target Vocabulary Pictures should match in product name to the Science Vocabulary Pictures. Target Vocabulary makes me think of words in general and not math concepts. I may have overlooked the Target Vocabulary Pictures about math just because of the title. A term like Math Vocabulary Pictures makes it easier to remember. Though each math card may not have pictures on them, each word is presented in a visual manner, so the term is pretty consistent with the Science Vocabulary Pictures.

Now if I get to dream of new products on the site, I would wish for sets of cards that would be theme or unit based. I love, love, love the fact that the cards are not grouped by age level or grade but by needs. Would it be a stretch to wish for a "rain forest theme only" set, a "chemistry theme only" set or "plant theme only" set?

Because these two products are keepers in my home and because we will be using all of the cards for a while longer, I needed a place to organize my newest babies. I thought about Avery's Protect and Store Mini 1 inch binder that is 5.5 by 8.5 inches . You mean not everybody  keeps binder sizes in their heads and dreams about what they can store next in a binder? Weird.

Organization heaven. The math cards fit right into the storage pocket on the left side of the binder. Then, I purchased some Avery sheet protectors and added two Science Vocabulary Pictures to each page, front and back. It is the perfect tool for storing these beauties.

The definition strips I purchased separately fit in the pocket and we can concentrate on the ones we want to learn each day by matching them up, taking them out of the pocket or leaving them in so they can be memorized. LOVE IT!!!

Then I had to make a pretty cover so it matches my school room decor. Would you like a free pretty cover for your notebook? I used the title Science Vocabulary Pictures since our focus is on the science.

Download here a front cover, a binder side insert, and a back cover for your mini notebook.

I hope you love the cover. Here are some quick facts at a glance in one spot about the Science Vocabulary Pictures so you can locate them easily.

Product Name: Science Vocabulary Pictures, Set 1

Website:  Lone Star Learning

Price: From $29.99

Grades/Ages to use it for:  They are not arranged by grades but by sets. Again, I love this part. Look over each set to determine what your needs are. So you have an idea though about grade level they are intended Grades 3-8.

Type of Product:  Available in 5.5″ x 8.5″ full color, coated cards that show the word and its meaning in picture form. Digital products available too.

Accessories you will love:  Vinyl pockets, Vocabulary Definition Strips, and Vocabulary Spanish Word Strips.

Customer Service: My question emailed to them was answered quickly and thoroughly the next day.  My experience in customer service was excellent.

I already purchased the definition strips and know that I will be purchasing more items from Lone Star Learning. Overall, I was delighted with both of the products I received and would highly recommend them to you if are struggling to teach your children science or math or if you don't want to begin to struggle. Again, be sure to look over all of their products. I have my wish list going already and I can't help but say that I am proud to give you a shout out about this vendor from my home state.

Hugs and love ya,

{Disclaimer:  I received a free copy of this product through the Schoolhouse Review Crew in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way. All opinions I have expressed are my own or those of my family. I am disclosing this in accordance with the FTC Regulations.}

  Itching to read more about this product? Click below to read more reviews from my fellow School House Review Crew mates.

Hold on to your skirts and try to keep from passing out, but my co-hort Kelley has decided to grace us with her blogging voice today and I am so excited. She just couldn't keep quiet any longer.

Tina is so funny, but I have to admit that when we received the email from EEME asking if we would like to review their Genius Light Project Kit and their online courseware I was excited. I went straight to the website to check it out before I even talked to Tina about reviewing it. I signed up on the website to start viewing their free online video lessons.

I really appreciated {loved} the format of the videos. Instead of an instructor sitting there talking to you and the project sitting in front of the instructor, the camera is situated above the instructor so you are looking down at the project and only see hands and the actual project pieces being used. How smart to film it this way. 

Needless to say I was impressed enough to let Tina know fast, quick and in a hurry that I wanted to do this review. Even though my daughter is 16 and doesn't fall in the age range given on the website, I LOVE this type of project or anything else that gets into the mechanics of how something works. So I knew that this was a review for me. 

I remember in high school not being able to get my first choice of electives (Auto Shop) because that was a "Guy" class and they wanted to give all the class spaces to guys. Go figure. Thankfully I got my second choice, Drafting, which was still a "Guy" class, but they had an opening. I was one of two girls my first year and the only girl my second year. So in light of my experience I have tried to be sure that my daughter was able to try her hand at lots of different projects/subjects that in my day weren't always available. But I digress.

So what is EEME?

EEME's hands-on projects teach kids about electronics. Each project is paired with online curricula to not only guide the kids in assembling the project but also to teach the concepts applied. 

EEME has wonderful free online courseware, but what drew me in even more was the fact that there is a project kit that goes along with the video lessons. I'm a hands-on, visual learner so when a curriculum comes my way that feeds both of those I want to try it. After reading the description for the Genius Light Project Kit I could hardly wait to get started on the review.

When the Genius Light Project Kit arrived in the mail for my review I was delighted to see real electronic components. I knew that this kit combined with the online educational videos was a winner in my opinion. 

Why you receive your kit in the mail, don't be surprised to not find instructions. I know many of us as homeschool parents want instructions, but truly with the video lesson and the explanation given of not only the how to assemble, but the teaching of the concepts behind the activities, you don't need written instructions, nor do you need to be well versed in electronics. EEME has that covered for you. 

I have purchased other “electronic learning” kits in the past and was in no way as thrilled as I was when I opened up this box. This project kit is the “real deal,” not just snapping pieces together, not just reading instructions on how to put it together, but real teaching designed to help us as parents teach our kids about electronics.

The Genius Light Project Kit and the instructional videos will take you and your child through six activities. 

One of the website features I really appreciated was that if you needed to stop during the project or if you just wanted to review a part or step, they have made a “menu” of all of video segments/activities/questions. It is located to the left of the actual video lesson and looks like this.

So all you have to do is click on the video/question of your choice and you are good to go. No need to fast forward to get to the segment you need.

The age range on the website says 7 – 12 years old, but after asking my daughter her opinion of the explanations and video, she said that each step was explained very clearly and did not feel that, even at her age (16), that it was too young for her. She did have the advantage of not needing any help from me (boo-hoo) since she is older. So don’t let age or gender keep you from taking a look at the website and project kit.

Now I have to admit, I wanted to do the project myself and just skip having my daughter do it, but I made myself step back and hand it over to her to do.

My daughter set up the laptop and got right to watching the video lessons and following the instructions for the activities as she used the Genius Light Project kit,  

AND

did I mention that there are questions/answers along the way? Love that.

After getting my daughter's thoughts on the project, I knew my first reaction was correct. EEME and the Genius Light Project Kit is a winner in my book. Between the wonderful instructional video lessons and the actual project kit itself I couldn't ask for much more from an activity to help my child learn about electronic concepts. 

If you have a child interested in robotics and want to learn a bit more about electronics I think this kit would be beneficial as well. It is a nice introduction to those foundational concepts in electronics and there is nothing like seeing the light go on, literally and figuratively, when they work through the activities. 

So can you tell that I really like {LOVE} this whole product/concept/project? I am looking forward to purchasing other project kits as they become available, of course I may get two kits so I can get in on the fun as well.

Product Name: EEME Genius Light Project Kit

Website: EEME

Price:  $50

Ages: Website says 7-12, but in my opinion it can be any age, you will determine if your child needs help or not.

Would you like a Genius Light Project Kit? It's time for a Giveaway and Promo. 

Giveaway ends this Thursday @ 7pm CTS.

Our rules are always simple. One winner will receive a free Genius Light Project Kit ($50 value). 

1. Comment here on the blog and tell us how you are following our blog.

To do that, come to the blog, click on this post to comment here. Remember, though we always love getting your emails, you won't be entered in this giveaway if you send us an email. Note: {Update on our site: Though we have turned off the member section on our site, a mailing list still exists. We have left this feature on our site for the time being. So you may be asked by email after you comment to confirm to be on our mailing list.}

2. You can comment twice.

3. Go here to EEME and sign up for the free video lessons.

The winner will be chosen by Random.org and notified by us.

That's it!

PROMO

EEME has generously offered a 50% off promotion ($25 savings) for their Genius Light Project Kit (thank you EEME). 

To take advantage of this promo please email EEME at dad@eeme.co and be sure to put:

"$25 (50%) promo - Dynamic 2 Moms" in the subject line. EEME will send you an email with a promo link for you to use.

{Disclaimer: I have received a Genius Light Project Kit  from the company for the purpose of my honest review. I was not compensated for this review, and all conclusions and opinions are my own}.

Instead of just taking reviews that I feel real comfortable doing, I have made it another goal this year to widen out and take reviews for products or projects that I may have never done otherwise.  Add in some hands-on projects along with reading about the topic and my interest level goes up. 

How to Teach About Electricity for Ages 8-13 by Susan Kilbride is not just a unit study about teaching electricity but a book that helped me to get excited about teaching the many benefits of it.

Reading through the book several times before we did some of the activities, I immediately liked the encouragement at the beginning to have a basic understanding of atoms and molecules before starting the unit. Ms. Kilbride even provides, for free, the chapter on Atoms and Molecules from her book Science Unit Studies For Homeschoolers and Teachers to be sure you have needed background information.

Having gone through topics about energy at the higher levels with my oldest sons, I appreciate the fact that she is steering you to a correct understanding about electricity. Understanding that electricity is a form of energy produced by electrons ties it to something I can even understand better. Though I don't feel it is as important to understand all the words or terms associated with electricity, it is more engaging to figure out the science behind how electricity is produced.

The first topic in her unit on safety and the reminders included with each activity as needed throughout the book teaches your child how to treat electricity properly. The topics covered after that are static electricity, electrical currents, switches, more currents, short circuits, and electricity and magnetism. Including in each topic are several hands-on activities.

But on to my favorite parts of the book.  Providing a list at the beginning of the book so you can collect all the supplies before diving in, I found very helpful.

The topics and activities go from easy to more complex and really take very little time to do. This gives you time to build understanding of each concept before you add another one in and to use the pieces already built like a battery holder and simple circuit for the next activity.

I could see this book being used as a practical guide to teach in a co-op setting, including girls too, that lasted several days. I used it with my youngest son and we grabbed Mr. Awesome to help us out too. 

Also, you know I can't review something without determining if it has pictures or drawings. Simple drawings are placed throughout the book so you can be sure you understand how each activity is made. 

Too, what makes a topic like electricity entertaining is determining what make its work and what makes it not work.  Though the teacher mom in me was interested in Tiny learning some of the vocabulary like conductors and insulators in Topic 4, he was more focused on which materials helped electricity flow.

Like I mentioned before, the emphasis should be on making science fun and that is why I loved the activities like this in Ms. Kilbride's book. For us, the activities in this book motivated my son to want to investigate a little further with the pieces we had handy from our FBI unit study.

If I could change something in the book I would add some pictures of the projects completed or in the different stages. As a non-science mom I like using the pictures to help me understand the activity. Also, one more thing and maybe it's because I like things laid out easy but I think it would be helpful to include a material lists at the beginning of each topic or at least at the beginning of each activity.  When I do a unit study I too gather everything up in the house I need though I don't always leave the materials out. Having a materials list at the beginning for just that activity gives me a quick check off list before I start the activity or better yet to have my son collect them.

How electricity is generated is the spark that piqued my son's interest and How to Teach About Electricity for Ages 8-13 has fueled his curiosity to learn more. Thank you Ms. Kilbride for such a simple but captivating introduction to the fascinating topic about electricity.

Name: How to Teach About Electricity for Ages 8-13 by Susan Kilbride

Recommended for: Ages 8 to 13 years.

Website to Purchase: Amazon Link

Author's Website: Funtastic Unit Studies

Price: $2.99

Format: Kindle book. But there is a free app that allows you to read it anywhere on a Kindle Cloud Reader: Read instantly in your browser, Smartphones: iPhone & iPod touch, Android, Windows Phone, BlackBerry, Computers: Mac, Windows 8, Windows 7, XP & Vista, Tablets: iPad, Android Tablet or Windows 8. Click here for the free app to use to download a kindle book to the device of your choice

Would you like a copy? Time for a giveaway!

Ends tomorrow Monday Jan. 18 at 7:00 p.m. CST. Add your comment now.

My rules are always simple. Two winners will receive a free Kindle ebook that you will be able to download to the device of your choice. You do not need to have a Kindle to participate in this. Use the free app to download to the device of your choice.

1. Comment here on the blog and tell me how you are following our blog.

To do that, come to the blog, click on this post to comment here. Remember, though I always love getting your emails, you won't be entered in this giveaway if you send us an email. Note:{Update on our site: Though we have turned off the member section on our site, a mailing list still exists. We have left this feature on our site for the time being. So you may be asked by email after you comment to confirm to be on our mailing list.}

2. You can comment twice.

Winners will be chosen by Random.org and notified.

That's it!

Hope you win!

In my next post I will let you know what the upcoming unit studies are too in case you want to follow along and do it with us.

Hugs and you know I love ya,

{Disclaimer: I have received an ebook copy from the author for the purpose of my honest review. I was not compensated for this review, and all conclusions and opinions are my own}.