My Home School Grades {A Mosaic Review}

Earlier this year I attended a seminar on homeschooling through the high school years. It was great to glean wisdom from a homeschool mother and teacher who has graduated several high school seniors. It all sounded great until the talk turned to transcripts. I think at that point I began to break have a panic attack. The information presented to us made it sound so simple but, I just could not wrap my brain around collecting all that schooling data and making it look "official".

Then I got this great opportunity to review My Home School Grades and my faith in being able to handle high school transcripts greatly increased. First and foremost, this program is so simple to use! You can have all your children entered into the site and ready to begin tracking in a matter of minutes. There are even tutorial videos on the main page of the site which easily walk you through step by step - though I don't know if you will need them, this site is so user friendly.

Several curriculum packages {Apologia, IEW, ALEKS, and Rosetta Stone - to name a few} have already been linked with My Home School Grades which makes it super easy to enter lessons. And, if you have a favorite curriculum they are not currently linked with, you can request yours to be added.

The program is as easy as just entering your child's courses, grades, and activities and then printing a transcript. If you are entering grades at the end of the year you can just enter a final grade rather than every lesson.

You can give it a try yourself for two weeks absolutely free! My Home School Grades does not even require a credit card for your 2 week trial. If at the end you love it as much as I do, you can purchase a LIFETIME membership for just $49.99. With it being the end of the school year and here in Georgia time to write those fun end of the year reports, this is a great time to give this program a try.
 

Waterproof Bible {A Mosaic Review}

I have had the opportunity to review many great products over the last few years but, this one has to be my most favorite so far! The Waterproof Bible published by Bardin & Marsee Publishing is such a wonderful idea. The idea originated from the publisher's desire to "take God's word into all of His creation, regardless of the weather or circumstances". As we head into the summer months I am so excited to be able to have a bible I can take with me - absolutely everywhere! No longer am I worried about my bible getting wet or dirty - it can travel with me to the park, pool, and beach.

We had great fun testing the bible out ... I mean we had to really make sure it was waterproof. I have to admit the first time we poured water over the pages I was afraid to wipe it off. We were pleasantly surprised. Not only did the pages easily wipe dry - you would never have known they had water on them. The pages are made from a synthetic material which makes them waterproof and stain resistant. I just loved they way the pages felt and you can easily highlight material with a dry highlighter, colored pencils, or a ball point pen. From our experience the pages also do not tear - another bonus.

I received a pink and NLT New Testament Waterproof Bible with Proverbs and Psalms. The bibles are available in five different translations and three different color covers. They start at $44.95 for a full version or $24.95 for a New Testament version. You can even have the cover imprinted with your name or initials for just $7.00. What a perfect gift for any graduating senior!

Ooka Island {A Mosaic Review}

I was asked to review a software application called Ooka Island Adventure that helps children ages 3 - 7 learn to read. Though, my youngest is 8 years old - she is always "game" for a fun learning computer application. Ooka Island Adventure ensures skill mastery in five areas of of reading instruction - phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension. It is all based in a fun learning environment meant to adapt to your child's strengths and weaknesses.

So, even though Ava Mae was at the top of the recommended age, she loved the various areas of Ooka Island and couldn't wait to have me write this review. In Ava Mae's words "the books were really fun - I enjoyed that I got to read them! I liked the Seashell Sentences and sailing along on Jet Skis and saying the right phonic sound. I also liked I got to create my own hero at the beginning of the game - I even picked her hairstyle. My mom didn't have to help me sign into the game - I would just pick my character and start back where I left off. I really liked earning stickers and I think kids younger than me will love it."

I liked Ooka Island Adventure as I feel it is one teaching tool that has some great science behind it. Here is a little info on their Learning Flow Cycle - 

What is the Learning Flow Cycle?

There are three distinct parts to the learning flow cycle in the Ooka Island Learn-to-Read System. This unique learning flow is what makes Ooka Island so engaging for young learners and keeps them eager to play and learn on Ooka Island.

1. Guided Play – focuses on phonological / phonic development through skill-building instructional activities.
2. e-Reader – focuses on concept of word, fluency, vocabulary and reading comprehension through the Ooka Island Books Series (85 leveled and sequenced books in total)
3. Free Play – allows children to play activities that reinforce what they have learned, to reread books from the Popcorn Library, or to do just-for-fun activities.

*Helpful Hint – Children can exit out of Ooka Island at anytime and their progress and spot in the program is saved for the next time they log in.

 
Many of the computer based phonics programs we have tried out in the past focus on one area of the learning to read process - Ooka Island Adventure covers it all and can have your child reading within 8 hours of beginning the program. I also felt the reporting end of Ooka Island allows parents to keep track of where their child is succeeding or an area they may need extra focus.

The only area we had issue with was technical in nature. My childrens' laptop would not run the program without throwing us out. I contacted Customer Service and they were awesome both in their response time but, also in quickly finding a fix and emailing me a patch to download and install on the computer. It did help, though we have continued to have spells where it would run slow or kick us out after playing for awhile. 

Ooka Island Adventure pricing begins at just $12.95 a month for one student or $19.95 for up to four students. And, I have been given a special coupon code for 30% off  - good through June 1st.

I think this would be a great summer learning activity for your per-schooler through 1st grader!
 

Saving Memories Forever {A Mosaic Review}

Every once in awhile as I am scrolling through my iTunes library I run across this sound clip of Ava Mae reciting a poem by Robert Louis Stevenson. She was just 4 years old and it is absolutely adorable. I always think I need a way of recording these types of things in a scrapbook of sorts. Amazingly, there is an app for that!

Saving Memories Forever, is a company that offers a way to record and store memories! You can choose to just record some sound blips of a cute child, have a place for a family member who is far away to record a message to a loved one, or a place to record the story of your life.

The quickest way to get started is to download the free app on your iPhone {or Android} and create an account. Then let the app walk you through recording your first sound clip - as you can see below it is so user friendly!
 

When you are done recording just push the upload button and your memory is saved. Don't have a smart phone - you can use the service on your computer. Just head on over to their website to get started.

Saving Memories Forever was begun by Harvey and Jane Baker who understand that a family tree is so much more than just names on a piece of paper - there are stories behind those names. Stories that need to be told and heard.

What a wonderful app to have before you head off this summer to visit family! I think this would be an amazing tool to have at a family reunion.

Saving Memories Forever is a free app but, for some of their premium services {which I would highly recommend getting} there is a fee of $3.99/month or $40/year. You can see a comparison here.
 

Spanish For You {A Mosaic Review}

My children love learning foreign languages - we have been working on conversational Gaelic, Russian, and Latvian {the latter two due to our adoption this summer and spending a month in Latvia}. Spanish is something the kids have been learning for years - I remember being somewhere when Ava Mae was just four and she started speaking Spanish to a woman and her little girl. The mom was thrilled to engage her in some phrases.

We had the opportunity to review Spanish For You! in our homeschool over the last few weeks. Having tried several different curriculums for Spanish - even the expensive go to software for all foreign languages, I feel like an expert in Spanish curriculum. So far, this has been the most child friendly curriculum we have used. In fact, the whole time I was working with the curriculum I kept thinking this would be a wonderful package to use at a hybrid school or co-op.

Spanish For You! is a theme based curriculum. We received the Fiestas package {also available - Seasons or Travel}. So while we were learning Spanish we were also learning about holidays, special occasions, and party themes. For a younger child {younger than 3rd grade} I could see putting together a fun lapbook with this curriculum. The curriculum in our package included a lesson book, downloads of student materials in pdf format {worksheets, flashcards, etc.}, mp3 downloads of the audio files, and a Lesson Guide.

Having never scored well in enunciation during Spanish class myself - I love the wonderful audio files in Spanish. No guessing how to pronounce a word or phrase.

The lesson guide is easy to follow and has short lessons for 4 days a week.  There are 30 weeks of lessons for grades 3 - 4 and 24 weeks for grades 5 - 8. With our mix of ages we chose to just follow the 3rd - 4th grade level and that worked really well for us. We made flashcards, vocabulary cards, played games, and my older two did worksheets.

The only drawbacks I found for the program is that it is not "pull it out of the box ready to go". Sometimes I really need that type of curriculum. There was a little bit of needing to figure out how to use everything that came with the program. Spanish For You! does easily explain on their site how to use everything - it is just a matter of sitting down and going over it. I am also not always a fan of curriculum that you need to print lots of materials out for - though it is not a curriculum where you have to print everything at once - you can choose to print things as you need them.

Spanish For You! was created by Debbie Annett.She has taught Spanish for grades kindergarten through high school for 14 years.  Debbie has also has taught Spanish enrichment classes for grades 1 through 8, and all levels of high school classes for homeschool students. Debbie Annett is an Illinois State Certified Teacher with a bachelor's degree in Spanish from the University of Illinois and a master's degree in Curriculum and Instruction from Northern Illinois University.  Debbie even studied in Seville, Spain.

Spanish for You! is a very affordable curriculum! For $64.95 you receive all materials needed to teach grades 3 - 8. You can also choose to just purchase one level, which costs just $39.95. Teacher lesson plans are available for $14.95 for Grades 3 - 4 and just $12.95 for Grades 5 - 6 or 7 - 8.
I feel that Spanish for You! is a great curriculum for a family looking for something affordable that spans a wide range of ages and learning styles.

The Ultimate Homeschool Planner {A Mosaic Review}

It is that time of year again ... time to revaluate and plan for the new school year. Now, I know what some of you might be thinking - "it's only April - this school year hasn't even ended yet". I used to think that too but, I will say there is freedom in planning your next school year before this one ends. It truly allows for a restful summer and it also gives me an opportunity to shop at the upcoming homeschool convention and used book sales.

I was completely doing the happy dance when I was chosen to review - The Ultimate Homeschool Planner by Debra Bell {$28.00 retail}.What perfect timing!! Though I have a nice homeschool planner I am using this year - I am not real happy with it. And, some of the reasons I have not been happy with it are things The Ultimate Homeschool Planner has done right!

Fist and foremost, this planner allows you to fill in the months and weeks. Now I know this may sound silly but, I don't like flipping through my planner and seeing months with nothing written on them - it just seems such a waste. I like that with this The Ultimate Homeschool Planner I can start our school year in September - and that is the beginning.

I loved that the planner gave a tutorial at the beginning to show how to get the most out of using it. While many of us are seasoned homeschoolers - it is always nice to review and for those that are new to this journey - what a great stepping stone this provides.

As I plan for next year, I like that this planner has goal setting sheets and a way for me to begin planning our year by filling in major events/holidays that I already know will be on the calendar.

I thought the customizable yearly, month, weekly and daily planning forms allow for the most information to be stored all in one place. And, the flow to each of these planning forms make sense.

The weekly planning forms allow you to decide if you want the subjects written across the top or down the side. Also, you can track up to six children - without feeling like you have to double up on subjects and write really really small to make it fit. Also, love that I can track reading lists and have a place for year-end review.

In planning for next year, I know I would like my son who is going into middle school to have more independence and take more responsibility for his daily assignment sheets. It was great to see how The Ultimate Daily Planner for Students, also by Debra Bell {$19.00 retail}, worked alongside my planner.

This planner could not be any simpler ... it allows for the student to once a week copy the list of subjects for the week from the main planner. It also easily allows the student to track their progress and see what still needs to be completed or needs revision. And, though I don't know how much my son will get into filling out the fun questions in the "About You" section of the planner - that is something my daughter would really enjoy. The student planner also has places to record other activities and has lots of study tools, trivia, and helpful tips. After reviewing this product, I will be purchasing one for my daughter also, who will be in 5th grade.

Both planners have great coated covers - which we put to the test when my daughter dripped chocolate ice cream on the outside of my planner. It easily wiped right off. I am so glad to get the opportunity to review this planner and cannot wait to begin our new school year with it!

We Choose Virtues {A Mosaic Review}

Character training is something we feel is very important for our children but, sometimes fitting that into our school schedule just seemed too hard. I was excited to review We Choose Virtues for the Mosaic Review Team and see how this tool could be used in our homeschool. Heather McMillan began We Choose Virtues out of her love for children and her desire to see them reach their personal potential. Her observation is that children needed to be inspired by simple, positive and consistent instructions, and parents and teachers needed an effective language with which to communicate these instructions.

Our first step was to take the Family Character Assessment which is a free PDF download. We went through the assessment together and, while I encouraged the children to choose best where they felt they were, I also gave some guidance - especially to our 8 year old who apparently felt she was as close to perfect as you can get. Our 11 and 10 year old children did great assessing themselves and when I reviewed it with them felt they really had a good grasp of what character traits they needed to work on.

Next, after looking over the assessments we chose an area that we felt we could all use a little improving - we chose attentiveness. We used the Virtue Flash Cards  {$14.99} to go over what being attentive is - "I watch and listen carefully. I am NOT ... forgetful, distracted or distracting and I don't ignore or interrupt!" Our cards were the NIV version {these are also available in a King James version and a secular version with no bible verse} and also included this bible verse - "Pay attention and listen to the sayings of those who are wise. Apply your heart to the sayings I teach" Proverbs 22:17. The kids copied the bible verse and then colored the page that went along with our virtue from the Kids of VirtueVille Coloring Pages {$3.00} - which is a PDF download, that I copied hole punched and added to our bible study notebooks we use.

I really loved the Parenting Cards {$34.99} which gave tips on - teachable moments, virtue user challenge, what to say after "I'm Sorry", and a little blurb about the Kids of VirtueVille - for Attentive it was Airplane Betty Jane.

Front and Back of Parenting Card for Attentive.

I loved the fact that these virtue lessons took less than 10 minutes a day to review and we began seeing changes immediately. I created a chart and each time I caught one of the kids doing something that showed they were putting their virtue into place they received a sticker. We decided ten stickers would earn them an ice cream cone. Also, really loved the colors and graphics that We Choose Virtues uses - the characters are fun and engaging.

There are many ways to purchase the We Choose Virtues items - as a kit for the homeschool family the cost is $98.99 and includes all of the items I mentioned above plus tools, which though not necessary, would be a wonderful addition. You can also purchase tools individually. As a minimum I feel you really need the Parenting Cards. Also, We Choose Virtues offers a wonderful comparison chart you can find here - that may help you decide which products would work best for your family.

Heather recommends these items for preschool through elementary. Our children are 2nd, 4th, and 5th and I feel were the perfect age for this product. Though, I will continue using We Choose Virtues even through next year when our son moves into middle school.

We Choose Virtues has been so kind to offer my readers a few discount codes which can be used toward purchases - HOME20 will save 20% off of any homeschool kit through the month of April or you can utilize coupon code VIRTUE15 and save 15% off of any purchase - good indefinitely.

A Blog Planner Review {Mosaic Reviews}

I am planner ... I love to plan! In my previous life, {as I sometimes like to refer to life before children} I was a wedding planner, go figure.

As a new member of the Mosaic Reviews I had the opportunity of choosing a blog planner to review from a pre-selected list. Though there were quite a few good ones - Beckie from Infarrantly Creative has a blog planner that is not only nice to look at but, perfect for what I need.

Between homeschooling our three children, teaching at our enrichment school, volunteering as the co-leader of our homeschool group, volunteering at church, and now, working on adopting a child from Latvia - I find that I REALLY need help in the planning department for my blog. If I fail to plan - I better just plan to fail at blogging.

Here is a run down on what this planner offers, in Beckie's own words:

"#1 I try to do three projects a week so I have three boxes for post ideas and projects.  I still blog 6 days a week but a few of those I don’t have to plan out (i.e. giveaways, 5 Ways posts, personal posts or guest bloggers).

#2 I have a place to track stats.  I try not to focus on numbers too much, but I will say tracking my stats helps me stay focused and not measure myself against other people.  Each week when I write down my stats it helps me measure myself against myself — which I highly recommend.

#3 Blogger to encourage. I have a huge heart to encourage and rejoice in the success of others.  Since my mantra this year is this is the little spot that helps me be intentional in sending a little note to a blogger each week.

#4 A running to do list.  I try to keep this for proactive blogging things.  One of the things on my to do list in February will be to figure out Google +.  One of my past “to do’s” was the create a FB landing page, which I did.

#5 I also have a place for ideas.  This could be future post ideas, tutorials, dreams, goals, etc."

All the areas that I need to be able to quickly focus on. And the best part, Beckie has made this wonderful planner free to everyone! Just click here to head over to her blog and download your own copy.

A huge thank you to Beckie from Infarrantly Creative for creating such a wonderful blogging tool and then letting us all use it for free! While you are over at Infarrantly Creative take a minute to look around her site - she has some wonderful posts!

What Do You Crave?

Thanks to my friend, Robyn, I am now a part of the Cravebox community. What is Cravebox ...

"Cravebox is a wildly popular product discovery service that puts crave-worthy products into the hands of our lucky Cravebox Members. Each month our team of Cravebox Curators scours the earth for the best of the best, and carefully prepares boxes that arrive at members’ homes."

For me it is a fun surprise on my front door once a month! You never know ahead of time what you are receiving. This month's theme to the box was Taste of the Tropics. A perfect box for summer! Pictured above is the box I received, inside were the following products:

Sunsweet Plum Amazins^™

Tree Hut Coconut Lime Body Scrub ~ amazing scrub!

Guylian Belgian Chocolates ~ loved these chocolates!

Skintersection ^™ Intense Repair ~ perfect for dry heels!

Lipton^® Tea & Honey To Go ~ delicious drink mix!

This was a fun summer box to receive ... the body scrub has been perfect to use in the shower after a day at the pool, the Skintersection cream has helped my poor dry cracked summer heels, and we have all enjoyed the dried plums, Belgian chocolates, and the Lipton drink mix.

Here is a link to learn more about the fun products {don't worry you don't have to blog to receive a box} and to learn how you can become a member of the Cravebox community.

TOS Crew Review : Heritage History for Young Readers

I love history and I have so much more of an appreciation for it now - much more so than when I was in school. I think part of this new found interest is because of the great living books we use for history - no boring textbooks here! I will admit we are running out of space on our bookshelves and running out of places to put all the bookshelves we have bought. I was so excited to get the opportunity to review Heritage History for Young Readers - not just because of all the great short stories but, because, I was able to load the CD into my Kindle on my iPad {no looking for extra space on the bookshelf this time}.

The Young Readers Classical Curriculum represents a broad and age-appropriate introduction to all of Western Civilization. Primary subjects include American, European, and Ancient history, Bible and saint stories, legends and literature. The collection of books touches upon all of the major elements of Western Civilization, but in a child-friendly, easy-to-understand manner.
All of the books in the Young Readers library can be read by an older grammar school student, but they are also appropriate for read-aloud to younger children. And although the stories are told in simple enough terms for a nine or ten-year-old to understand, they are engaging enough to be of interest to older students as well.
The Young Readers library is one of our largest collections, with over eighty books to choose from. Many of the books in this collect are simple enough for a fluent reader to complete in only a few hours, so avid readers may be able to read dozens of books from the collection before moving on to more challenging curriculums. Reading a few dozen of these books will expose students to hundreds of famous historical characters and will be an excellent foundation for future learning.

The kids and I enjoyed reading through many of the selections included on the CD. I loved the fact that Heritage History offers a Teacher's Guide {PDF Format} to help put together a plan for reading through all these wonderful books.

While we did not use Heritage History for Young Readers as a stand alone curriculum - it was wonderful as a supplement to our Early American History study. We really enjoyed Stories of American Life and Adventure and Stories of Great Americans for Little Americans. Our CD offered 86 books in all but, Heritage History offers four other CD's - Ancient Greece, Ancient Rome, Middle Ages and British Empire. Each of those CD's contains maps, teaching aids, and study guides along with the library of books. 


Each CD is priced at just $24.99 - a bargain price on any budget for all the books you receive on each CD. Orders can be placed directly through Heritage History on their website.


Would you like to read what my fellow crew mates thought of Heritage History? Then head on over to the TOS Crew Blog.

Disclaimer: I am reviewing this curriculum on behalf of the TOS Crew. I received no compensation, other than a copy of Heritage History for Young Readers, for the writing of this review. The contents of this review express my personal opinion of the product.

TOS Crew Review : CapJaxMathFax

With summer here and our school year becoming just a faint memory - one thing I always make sure to have on our schedule is some time for math drills. In the past that has taken the form of either math fact card games or iPad apps. This year we get to add a fun software program to the mix.

CapJaxMathFax is a fun drill program for addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. Created by Jack Fretwell of Starboard Training Systems, CapJaxMathFacts  is a downloadable software program that works with any math curriculum. It is easily customized for each child.

My kids enjoyed "drilling" on the computer and I liked the fact that I could easily set the kids up and have them working in no time. This is definitely a system we will enjoy adding to our mix of ways to drill math facts.

The only drawbacks we found were it took a little more effort to get the program downloaded and installed on our main computer. It was a strange glitch and one the customer support helped us work through. My kids also complained of the screen seeming too "crowded" at times. I think it was just that there were quite a few colors and background data on the screen.


CapJaxMathFax can be purchased, starting at $29.95, and downloaded directly from their site. If you would like to give it a try before buying, here is a link to a trial version.

Would you like to read what my fellow crew mates thought of CapJaxMathFax? Then head on over to the TOS Crew Blog.

Disclaimer: I am reviewing this website on behalf of the TOS Crew. I received no compensation, other than a downloaded copy of CapJaxMathFax, for the writing of this review. The contents of this review express my personal opinion of the product.

TOS Crew Review : Christian Kids Explore - Earth & Space

Bright Ideas Press is well known for their history curriculum - The Mystery of History. I have heard so many great things about it - I was super excited to be able to try out and review their science curriculum, Christian Kids Explore - Earth & Space {just one of the many science books they have to offer}.

"This user-friendly text covers the earth, lithosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere and weather in 24 lessons in 30 weeks. Each unit includes vocabulary words; Scripture quotes; coloring pages; resource list; timeline prompts; reviews; hands-on activities (building models, simulating volcanoes and more)." 

First off, love the way this book was written, nothing can put my kids to sleep quicker then hearing me read from a textbook. Christian Kids Explore - Earth & Space is written like a book, not a textbook. My kids were engaged immediately. {Though it is meant to be used with 3rd - 6th graders our 1st grader had no problem following along.}

Loved the questions at the end of the chapter that I could do orally with my three kids. Also, liked the fact that we were given the opportunity to review their CD-ROM component which gives you the ability to print all of the worksheets and other reproducibles that go along with the book from your computer rather than photocopying from the book.

Also, enjoyed the hands-on portion of the chapters - materials were used that are easy to come by and the experiments are written to easily follow. Pictured below our experiment dealing with Clouds.

Bright Ideas Press is a fabulous company with lots to offer for homeschoolers. We will definitely be using their science curriculum in our homeschool. If you would like to see sample unit or a table of contents just click here.

Christian Kids Explore - Earth & Science can be purchased for $34.95 directly from Bright Ideas Press. The Student Activity Book can also be purchased for just $7.95.

Would you like to read what my fellow crew mates thought of Bright Ideas Press? Then head on over to the TOS Crew Blog.

Disclaimer: I am reviewing this science curriculum on behalf of the TOS Crew. I received no compensation, other than the book - Christian Kids Explore - Earth & Space from Bright Ideas Press, for the writing of this review. The contents of this review express my personal opinion of the product.