My ride with TOS Crew is done!

Wow it has been an amazing, taxing year riding with the TOS Homeschool Crew of 2009/10. It has been exhausting at times and yet fun at others. Deadlines to meet have made me think back to the days when I used to have to study for exams with 'swot' cards (index cards with facts written out on them) and cramming late at night and early in the morning.


I have been able to use some products at pleasure and others in a fast period of time. Products that we received at the beginning of the year and that we are still using are All About Spelling, Mammoth Math, Rays CD of Math, Critical Thinking, Quarter Mile Math, Math Galaxy, Children's Bible Hour Books, Nutrition 101, Sue Gregg Cooking Breakfast Foods Cookbook, StudyPod, Super Star Speech, and Guardian Angel Publishing. Most of the online subscription websites we had access too the time has now expired for us to have access.

I have many things to use and work with for the next Homeschool year that in essence will be free. Being on the crew has enabled me to 'meet' many wonderful women and men across the country and to see how their homeschool works and their families mix their school and family life together. many of us have experienced crisis in our lives and even during this past year. We have had the chance to pray for each other and support each other during those times. There are of course those days when our children or programs just aren't working right (Do children ever work just right?). We have been able to assist others through computer glitches as some crew members were more computer savvy than others like myself. Thank you to my fellow Crew Members and all the best to those who are staying on as leaders and guides for the new crew that begins in June.

If you keep tabs on The Old Schoolhouse Magazine then you will see the ads early in January/February next year come up for try-outs for the next crew for 2011/12. if you wish to try out for that then keep your eyes open. It is an enjoyable experience that I will value for years to come. It has shown me the tremendous variety of curriculum available out there and even some products that are only for personal use too.

Thanks to Heidi and Brenda for their encouragement and especially for all of their hard work. I know that each of them has had a difficult year in their personal supplies but it has not really slowed them down from doing their Crew work. Thank you Ladies.

Yes I will end by saying that I am going to start work during the summer on a book about my transfer to the USA to live and work, as well as Brendon's life and death, the grief process, and how to live through all of those changes it entails whilst homeschooling. Thank you my friends for encouraging me through this process as it will entail some difficult days and nights.

I just love writing so here goes for the summer! Oh yeah we will still be homeschooling most of the summer as well as doing swim lessons, tennis lessons, and some fun and vacation in between. Talk to you soon.

Thanks to all the soldiers I know personally who are serving today and in the past in the military. I think of Jim right now who is in his last month, and Matt who served a few years ago overseas.

Happy Memorial Day everyone.

Review: Cerebellum DVD's : US Gov and Politics

Well Ladies and Gentlemen, this is the very last review I am doing for TOS Crew for 2009/10 and it has proved to be a rather intriguing and perplexing one too. I received a DVD and CD ROM package giving you a crash course on the U.S. Gov & Politics for the AP Exam. Now I have done tests on the US Government and it's structure before so that I could become a citizen of the USA , but this is intense. I am glad that I did not have to learn all this information for my US Immigration test.

The DVD covers the Headline information that you need to know for the Test as well as how to work through the actual test on the day you take it. The information for the US Gov and Politics test is presented on the DVD is a very efficient and entertaining manner. The students that present this information are dressed well and definitely not sloppy and are representatives of all nationalities I noticed. They are reading off of a teletype I presume but they seem to know what they are talking about. This does help the non-student enjoy this DVD a little more I would say.

The 30 major questions that you will be asked in the US Gov and Politics exam are covered in basically 30 answers in about 30-45 minutes. The detail is presented on the screen as the presenter is reading it, and it can also be found on the CD Rom which may be in your computer at the same time as you view the DVD. The origins of our government, constitution, civil liberties, courts, Congress (including House of Representatives and Senate), Special groups, and much much more is all covered in this presentation and its notes.

I did enjoy watching this. My husband did watch with me and we both realized how far this country and it's government have moved from how the government is supposed to be run - no matter who is in power. We did observe that more than one of these procedures that is supposed to be how the government is formed and supported does not really happen. How sad for the USA.

After having reviewed this product I am certain it would be of some help to a high schooler who needs to take this exam whether they are homeschooled, private or public schooled. I only have an elementary child and a pre-schooling toddler who were both not very eager to watch this show! The easy going manner of the presenters does make it an enjoyable watch even for perhaps a middle schooler who is just learning about the Government and politics. This DVD/CD ROM set from http://www.cerebellum.com/ (Cerebellum Corporation) is an effective tool and can be purchased for $14.98. The prices are running about 20% less expensive than normal at this current time. The other titles in this series are Chemistry, History and English Language and Writing, AP Exam Prep. They are all priced the same.

The link to the reviews for the remainder of the TOS Crew who did receive a variety of the above DVD's is as follows:

http://homeschoolblogger.com/homeschoolcrew/782672/

I have reviewed this product as a member of the TOS Homeschool crew for 2009/10 school year. This is my own opinion of this product and I have not been paid for this review.

Review: Lobster Network

LobsterNetwork makes it easy to share your stuff.
Do you have extra school stuff to sell or possibly loan out for a while over the summer? Do you have too many books weighing down your shelves. perhaps your friends are waiting to read something that is on your shelf but they are living in another state and don't know what you have! You can change that with Lobster Network and their fairly interesting site or unique if you think so. The statement below is from their website (http://www.lobsternetwork.com/ ):


Share your videos, books, video games, audio, tools or anything else.
Let your friends see what you have to share. Find out what they have to share.

Lend it. Borrow it. Trade it. Sell it. Give it away.
All with the click of a button and only with whom you choose.

How LobsterNetwork works:
It's simple. Create a personal library of your stuff.

It's easy. Create friendships with the people you know.

It's fast. Browse your friend’s stuff and request to borrow something.

It's flexible. Approve or reject any request for your stuff.

It's controlled. Decide who sees your stuff. Even create "communities" of friends that only share stuff with each other.

It's helpful. It tracks your stuff on loan and automatically reminds your friends when to return your stuff.

It's secure. Keep a private inventory of your stuff online for insurance purposes. Include pictures too.

It's free. Best of all it's free.


This is a fun site and also practical from what I have seen. The Crew were able to try out their services, which are also free to the public, for a few months. I am still signed up and perhaps am going to put an inventory of our homeschool books in there over the summer. This is one way of checking that you never buy two of the same book again unless it's on purpose.

I would also think that if you know far enough in advance that you are moving house or having to move to a smaller home that you can use this website as well. The TOS Crew have signed up and are now looking at what each other has posted in their items for lending or selling, and then possibly looking over what each other may/may not for the coming school year.

I did research some children's books on here too and have not found anything yet except curriculum. You may start your own community with your Homeschool group, your family or even your neighbors perhaps. You can then enter all the items you wish to trade, borrow, sell or just give away. once you have done that you can send a note out to your friend's email addresses and invite them to join, as well as at the same time, once they have joined they can see what you have to sell.

I know the owners of the site have had fun setting this up, and their son has earned some Wii games with some of the things he has sold or traded through their site. I will end with just a little ad from their site too which is attractive and great to add to your blog. OK the ad saved at the top of the blog post and not down here. Oh well, do you see how fun this all looks. During the summer instead of garage saling then why don't you sell some of your used stuff in good condition through Lobster Network's system. This way you know that trusted friends in your network are going to be grateful for your things. Of course if you sell or loan them junk then they may never visit or talk to you again!

I have reviewed this internet product for my opinion as expressed above in this blog post. I am part of the 2009/10 TOS Homeschool Crew. Please link to Lobster Network's site or to the Crew blog where my fellow crewmates have expressed their opinions too:

http://homeschoolblogger.com/homeschoolcrew/779750/

There are even a few video links on the Crew site and on Lobster Network. Just one more post and I am done with the Crew!

Review: Ideal Curriculum

For a few weeks I have been looking over Month 1 of the "Ideal Curriculum" package I was sent to review as part of the crew. This is a curriculum geared towards the new homeschooler and one that is perhaps a little fearful of what to teach their Pre-K students. I have seen some things that would work for our family and some that would not. As this curriculum is definitely cheaper if you purchase the download version that is what I would advise. With the download of a product you do not need to print every file or folder or book.

Month 1 of this Curriculum consisted of some Reading, Music, Teacher Guidance and Printing files. The curriculum is sold in a one month at a time package or a full year package. Month one files included the early teaching of the sounds and shapes of words using both the printed out letters, sounds in the 2 different ABC songs heard from MP3's and various fun games that the children play to familiarize themselves with the way words and letters look. It focuses on how the letters are shaped with horizontal, vertical, and curved lines with practice pages in the student manual for those lines.

I found that my Preschooler who only just turned 3 was really only interested in the reading books. He is already recognizing letters and doing sounds/phonics all on his own by listening to his older brother. For a new homeschooler though this method may help you teach your child a methodical way of learning the sounds.

The Teacher Manuals are very thorough about why you are teaching the child the concept of letters and sounds in different ways in order to capture the child's many different learning ways and keeping them active at the same time. Jumping forward one jump at a time when sounding out the letters in the alphabet, or taking a giant step for each letter perhaps.

For Math they use Picture cards and actions to learn the concept of time (fast and slow), about following directions, comparing between two different objects at how fast or slow they move etc.

For Science the Month 1 Curriculum also involved looking at different modes of transportation and comparing them again. the student is encouraged to act out and/or retell the stories that you are reading to them either from the fiction or non fiction books that connect with the subject they are learning. They practice making cars go faster or slower by building ramps. They make collages and other art projects too. There is a book list at the end of the Science Manual on other books that can be borrowed from the library to help reinforce the concept of transportation. The students would definitely have a fun time with all the experimentation on this one I think.

As I mentioned earlier this curriculum can be purchased individually by months or as a whole. the themes of the units are as follows : Transportation, Color, Weather, About Me, A Healthy Life, Animals, People in my community, Traditions in our Country and The World Around Us. That is a broad spectrum of subjects in the Science/Social Studies section. The most positive aspect of this curriculum is that you do not have to print out or do every activity. You may leave out a few if they are too much for your student/s.

There is a one week trial of the Week 1 Month 1 Curriculum available on the site if you sign up for it and you can decide whether this will help you teach your preschooler or not.

A One Year complete Preschool Curriculum costs $526.00. The various curriculum's for Literacy is $270.00 or a Math Program for $60.00. The monthly kits are for Printable $55 per month and $30 for downloadable. The Printable ones will be shipped to you at the correct time of the year depending on when you begin the program. The downloadable product for 9 months is priced at $240.00 if purchased per month (I think that is what it says). More details of all the different packages can be found at http://www.idealcurriculum.com/.

I was given this product to review and my colleagues at the TOS Homeschool blog have posted their reviews too. Click on over there to see who wrote what and compare it with mine I guess too:

http://homeschoolblogger.com/homeschoolcrew/782452/

I have reviewed this product after receiving a one month curriculum for Ideal Curriculum so that I could blog about it here. I have received no payment for this review.

Review: Kregel Publications

I read this wonderful, exciting, fantastic and thrilling book published by Kregel Publications last week. Of course when it got to Sunday afternoon I usually take a nap, but last weekend I had my eyes glued to this book. The title of the book I read is “Andrea Carter and the Trouble with Treasure.”

This book has a cute couple of teenagers on the front looking at a treasure map. I also had read the back of the book for a description of the story. I was curious even though I have not read a book like this for years. “Trouble with Treasure” is part of a series of 4 books about a young lady called Andrea Carter and her adventures. She gets herself into some sticky situations. The author of these novels is Susan Marlow.

Andi and her friend Jenny decide to ride along with Andi’s older brother and a friend for a few days whilst he goes to visit a logging camp in the mountains. Their first day begins with a freak accident with a snake involved and it caused different problems through out the rest of the trip. One exciting adventure after another happens on the riding trip, during their panning for gold in the rivers along the way, eating fresh fish out of the river, and of course just enjoying the scenery. They bump into some really mean people along the journey and you have to read the book to find out exactly what those mean guys did and did not do! The book is also set in the late 1880’s so sheriffs and villains abound!

I was literally glued to my book and loved it. If you have a pre-teen or teenager who likes these adventure kind of stories then I would say this series of 6 books is for him/her. The “Circle C” Adventures have a website in which you can visit to see Andi’s blog and hear about what she and her friends are up to next. Here is the link: http://www.circlecadventures.com/ .With each book a literature unit study is available and there is a link in the back of each book for this.

This series of books are being sold at http://www.circlecadventures.com/ and click on over to Andi’s adventures when you get there and click the Order books button. A brief description of each book is on the site, as well as some information on some Early Reader books coming out in the series during 2010. This will make it easier for your younger readers to join in on the adventure. I just noticed that there are Lapbooks available for some of these titles too. (see above Picture of the Lapbook for this particular adventure!)

The cost of one Circle C Adventure book is $8.00 but the set of Books 1-5 in the series will cost only $30.00 plus shipping and handling. I think this is a decent price for 5 paperback books that will also provide a learning experience for your children. The age level recommended for Circle C Adventure books is 9-14 years. This could even be a book that can go on a Christmas wish list now so you can save money to purchase it later in the year.

The other TOS Crew members have their reviews at this link:

http://homeschoolblogger.com/homeschoolcrew/782677/

I am a member of the Homeschool Crew for The Old Schoolhouse magazine for 2009/10 and have reviewed this product in exchange for my opinion. I have received no payment for this review.

Review: BeeYoutiful

Yeah - Yeah Yeah, I shouted when I was selected to be one of the members of the TOS Crew to try out the BeeYoutiful products. The reason I was excited was because I know what an awesome company this is. Their ethics and work standards are great and their products, in my opinion are excellent.

The product that I was sent in the mail is called Tummy Tuneup. This is a supplement that I have not yet tried but of course after using a few times on both myself and my son I am content to promote it. Tummy Tuneup is full of Lactobacillus acidophilus (and 2 other types), as well as Bifid bacterium (3 types). If you are questioning those big words well don’t. these are healthy bacteria that re-boost your stomach and the your intestinal system. They are probiotic and anti yeast V-caps that can be taken, or the powder from the capsule mixed up with applesauce or liquid for children. The bottle does indicate to take before eating. This definitely does help in the case of if you are about to indulge in rich fatty foods of any kind like Pizza, Spaghetti, and probably cheesecake to avoid the effects that may happen after this kind of meal. One thing I do need to point out is that you can take this product with you anywhere, but do not leave in a hot vehicle or anywhere that it may get overheated at any time.

I have used this for my oldest son particularly as he is partial to getting virus bugs from other children and it has been phenomenal in preventing them. If the digestive system is in good working order then the body can fight back against virus’ of this kind easier. Tummy Tuneup restores the environment to the intestines where it is needed before it is upset. In this country and overseas in 1st world nations it is easy to get a disrupted stomach from rich food when eating out, or even when traveling from a different water supply. I know this from experience. When I was younger I used to get cramps from the hotel tap water whenever we traveled. I do not experience that any longer.

From testimonies on the BeeYoutiful website and from other crew members they have used this when their children have had the diarrhea and vomiting bug during this past winter. It has worked like a charm. I would recommend this product to be something you do not travel without this summer if you are taking a vacation. It would also be handy to have on hand in your home during a long snowy winter where viruses abound.

I love BeeYoutiful products and currently our family is using SuperMom and SuperDad tablets/capsules, Cod Liver Oil capsules, different essential oils like Peppermint and Lavender (for headaches and peaceful sleeping), Ultra Immune and Berry Well. Ultra Immune is an amazing product and is taken between meals to help support the Immune system and keep it functioning. Some key ingredients in it are Elderberry, Oregano Oil and Allisure (Garlic). These 3 are important in preventing your body in catching those colds and chest infections. I take this due to the stress level in my life being extremely high. It certainly helps to keep the stress loads down to a minimum. BerryWell is a Herbal Dietary Supplement for people 1 and over (contains raw honey) to help build up a strong immune system. It has been very effective in keeping colds to a minimum this winter in our home - recovery time from a fever or cold is now down to 2-3 days instead of a week. My toddler has no qualms about taking a teaspoon of this every day if I want him too. I call that a successful product.

I could talk for a long time about how wonderful BeeYoutiful products are. They are all tested in a safe environment, and do not come from a manufacturer that is bent on destroying your body, or world in the process. I do feel that during this current minor depression of mine I would not be feeling as well as I do if it were not for BeeYoutiful supplements and oils.

The cost for a bottle of Tummy Tuneup is $18.00 and has 60 capsules. If you have Irritable Bowel Syndrome or a sensitivity to spicy or rich food I would suggest trying it out. If your children are susceptible to infections or getting colds when exposed to other children think about adding this to your medical aid kit and tossing out some store bought stuff! It is definitely healthier.

Some of my fellow crew mates enjoyed other beauty and/or health products from BeeYoutiful and their review links can be found here:

http://homeschoolblogger.com/homeschoolcrew/781123/

If you want to skip the crew stuff then click on over to BeeYoutiful directly and enjoy their site with articles and heaps of information. They have a catalog that comes out quarterly too. Here is the link:

http://www.beeyoutiful.com/

I have received this product in exchange for my review, as I am part of the TOS Homeschool Crew for 2009/10.

Review: Lesson Planet

During the month of March 2010 our family received a subscription for 6 weeks to an online Teacher’s lesson Planning and worksheet website called Lesson Planet. (http://www.lessonplanet.com/ . ) This website gives the teacher access to over 225,000 lesson plans and/or worksheets as well as information on the standards of education for grade levels in each state within the USA. I did not see anything on the site about International States for countries outside of the United States.

A teacher has the ability to pick a theme/subject or math concept and choose the grade and rating level as well as whether you need an advanced lesson or not. Once this is selected the search mode clicks on and finds lessons from websites and/or individual educators from across the United States. These can be detailed Lesson Plans for anything from 1 lesson to 3-4 weeks worth of lessons for the subject.

The home page features some of the major lesson plans by subject as follows: Art/Music; Health and Nutrition; Math; Geography; Science and Technology; Language Arts and a few more. For example, in Geography there are over 11 000 different lessons available for browsing but when you choose the grade level and difficulty rating then the amount narrows down fast. I did find that a lot of these Lesson Plans that I searched were definitely geared towards a regular school setting. I of course did not like that so found them difficult to adapt to a child that does not sit still for long. To find applications that would work for my child who is not a sit down, be quiet kind of child was more challenging.

Many of the books used in the lessons were ‘school’ type books that are usually available only through companies like Scholastic books. I do not have access to this type of book at the current time. There is also a Curriculum calendar with important dates listed on virtually every day - you can click on a date and do a lesson about the important item listed on that day.

There is an extremely wide variety of topics and themes covered. I found it hard to narrow down exactly what I needed from so many choices and was also disappointed that many of these sites are government school programs. I do not like using programs like this but once in a while. I have saved some word searchs and poems to use at a later time.

The cost per year for using Lesson Planet is $39.95. This is a reasonable cost for access to the many thousands of lesson plans and worksheets. I personally will not be using this but am thankful to have had a chance to see what the website is all about. There is a 10 day Full Access Trial of the website available if you would like to see what they have to offer. If you cancel before the 10 days is up then your credit card will not be billed.

Here are 2 links for you to visit from Lesson Planet:

lesson plans

worksheets

My other Crew members this year have experienced using Lesson Planet with their families and you can visit the Homeschool Crew Blog at this link:

http://homeschoolblogger.com/homeschoolcrew/779692/


I have been able to access the above website as a member of the Old Schoolhouse Homeschool Crew for 2009/2010.