Chess Made Easy - Chess House Review

I have always wanted to learn how to play chess, but for some reason have been a little intimidated.  I have always thought of chess as being too hard to learn to play.

Several weeks back we were sent a Starter Chess Learning Kit from Chess House. Our kit included:

Elliot's Chess School Level 1 DVD "Pawn School"

1 Vinyl Chess Board

Full 32 Piece Chess Set (plastic)

Travel Bag to hold the board, pieces and DVD (several color choices are available)

Two of my children have had a real interest in learning to play chess.  Once our package arrived Computer Girl and Alpha Boy wasted no time and dug right in.  The package was open and the DVD was playing with in minutes of the UPS man leaving our house.  

Chess School is taught by National Master Elliot Neff, who has been coaching students in chess for the last 18 years.  The Chess House teacher, shows beginners the in's and out's of chess in this 49 minute video.  The DVD is broken into 10 different topics, which explain the value and best strategy for each chess piece. 

• Intro to Chess (board, names of pieces, values)
• Pawns
• Rooks
• Bishops
• The Queen
• The King
• Knight
• Castling
• Pawn shields and when to break it
• Development

The Chess School Level 1 video simplified learning the game of chess for us.  The video gave us enough knowledge, strategy, and confidence to now be able to play chess with ease. 

We felt that the DVD was very easy to understand, as well as easy to rewind if we missed something {wink, wink}.  I liked how this DVD takes you step by step with each piece, so that you really have good foundation for understanding the game of chess.

The chess set that we received has a vinyl board that rolls up easily for storage and travel.  The board is 20"x20" and features a built in grid.  I love that it comes in such a portable bag!

My children that used the chess set and DVD are 10 and 7, but this starter kit is really for all ages. 

This Starter Chess Learning Kit was a blessing to us!  We have unsuccessfully tried to learn to play before from a book, but the DVD was much easier to understand.  The kids are happy to pull out the chess set and play, now that they know how!

The Chess House Starter Chess Learning Kit that we received is available online for $39.95, plus shipping.  It would make a great

We would like to continue learning with Chess School, they actually offer four levels in this series.  They are available as a set, or individually.  

• 1 of Elliott's Chess School #1 PAWN Level DVD ($20.00)
• 1 of Elliott's Chess School #2 KNIGHT Level DVD ($40.00)
• 1 of Elliott's Chess School #3 BISHOP Level DVD ($40.00)
• 1 of Elliott's Chess School #4 ROOK Level DVD ($50.00)

Be sure to checkout what other TOS Crew members are saying about Chess House!

A chess board that is odor free and made in the US

A full plastic chess set that is durable and has easy to replace pieces

A handy carrying case that holds all 32 chess pieces, the roll-up game board, and the DVD all in one handy place.

- See more at: http://schoolhousereviewcrew.com/chess-house-review/#sthash.rBuvrTo3.dpuf

ludes:

• Elliot’s Chess School DVD one ‘Pawn level‘
• A chess board that is odor free and made in the US
• A full plastic chess set that is durable and has easy to replace pieces
• A handy carrying case that holds all 32 chess pieces, the roll-up game board, and the DVD all in one handy place.

- See more at: http://schoolhousereviewcrew.com/chess-house-review/#sthash.rBuvrTo3.dpuf

ludes:

• Elliot’s Chess School DVD one ‘Pawn level‘
• A chess board that is odor free and made in the US
• A full plastic chess set that is durable and has easy to replace pieces
• A handy carrying case that holds all 32 chess pieces, the roll-up game board, and the DVD all in one handy place.

- See more at: http://schoolhousereviewcrew.com/chess-house-review/#sthash.rBuvrTo3.dpuf

Running for President in The Presidential Game

We love games!  They are a wonderful way to get in some family time.  If you were to come to our house, you might possibly notice that we have a whole 3 tiered shelving unit solely dedicated to games.  We like action games, card games, board games and last but certainly not least, educational games!

Recently we were given the opportunity to review a game called The Presidential Game.  The Presidential Game

I thought it would fit in nicely with our study of the states and presidents this year.

The Presidential Game is really neat, it is fun and it gives the kids a really good understanding of how the election process works.  It is a strategy type of game that teaches kids (and lets face it, adults too!), exactly how those electoral votes work.  The object of the game is to get to 270 electoral votes to take the win, well the Presidency.

All of the kids, ages 5-12, have played this with me, but it is suggested for ages 11 and up. 

At the start of the game you decide how many weeks until the election, the amount of weeks you choose are actually the amount of rounds you play the game.  You split into two teams, Republicans and Democrats - this actually opened up a great discussion of what each party stands for.

There is also an optional WebMap Calculator that is available online to use during the game.  This calculator is a map that calculates the electoral votes each party has, as well as who is leading in the state or if it is still neutral.  The WebMap was a great visual for the kids, and it really added to the fun factor.  I thought that the WebMap was also a great way to help with keeping score.

This is the WebMap Calculator that can be used online.

To get started you pick teams, ,roll and the high rolling team goes first.  During each turn, the playing team can choose to campaign or fund-raise for their party.  Both of these choices include rolling the dice and placing votes, well chips, on various states.  For each turn your team rolls three dice, when you are campaigning the each one of the dice rolled end up being the amount of votes that you can place on three states of your choice. 

When you fund-raise, you can pick either Texas, California, New York or Florida.  You roll the dice and then you can use all or at least half of your total roll for votes in that state.  We seemed to be in constant battle of the state of California, because they have the most electoral votes.  One of the added benefits of fundraising is that you get to draw Politics Cards, depending on the card these can help or hurt you.  Here are two examples:

Wisconsin Teachers Union lays off 30% of it's employees. Your opponent adds 2 votes to Wisconsin.

Your opponent appears as a guest host on a popular late night comedy show and is very stiff and not very funny at all.  Pick up 5 votes to be used any way to like.

During each turn you have the opportunity to win the vote of different states, even those that are controlled by the opposing team.  We really enjoyed this part of the game, and we all became quite competitive too! The team controlling the state is the team that has the most votes, or coins on that state.  If you add votes to a state that an opponent "controls," each chip you place on that state knocks out one of their votes or chip.  So, if you have enough chips you can take the lead and control the state. 

After the allotted weeks, or turns are up, then all the teams each roll the dice to decide who wins the neutral states.  The team with the highest number of electoral votes wins the game, and takes the presidency.

Once you understand the game, and play a few rounds it is a lot of fun!  The kids and I all really enjoyed this, but they did mention that they preferred to play with about 15 weeks verses 30. 

You can purchase The Presidential Game online for $35.00.  It makes a great addition to any study on U.S. History, presidents, states or elections.  This game would also be an excellent choice for family game night.  My favorite games are the kind that are fun and have educational value, this game has both! 

Check out what other TOS Crew members have to say about The Presidential Game!

Seed Sowers, Gospel Planting Adventures

I love reading about missionaries and how the Lord uses them for His work.  To read accounts of their trials and triumphs in spreading the gospel has been a huge blessing to me over the years.

Several weeks back, we were blessed with the book Seed Sowers by Gwen Toliver.  Gwen is a state based missionary at the Wycliffe Linguistics Center in Dallas, Texas along with her husband.  She is also a homeschool mom to eight children and a fellow TOS Review Crew member.

A few years ago Gwen started a two year project of collecting information from various retired missionaries and Bible translators of their gospel planting adventures to share with others.  This collection became known as Seed Sowers, Gospel-Planting Adventures.

This book has 165 pages and contains a collection of 21 stories that move and touch the heart.  These stories remind us of God's mighty hand in the mission fields.  It has been amazing to read of these men and women that, with the Lord's leading, up and move to a completely foreign country, sometimes not even knowing how to speak the language. AMAZING!

One of the stories in the book that really captured my heart was about Bob and Jo Ann Conrad, called Never Give Up!  This couple's story was pretty fascinating to me.  The Conrad's gospel planting adventure took them to Papua New Guinea.  They went to live with and learn from a tribe, the Iwans, that just seven years prior befriended and then massacred many people simply because they were not part of their tribe.  Oh, and by the way the Iwans were cannibals!!  What courage the Lord must have given this couple!

Reading these stories about missionaries that leave every thing they know and dive head first into the unknown for the sake of the gospel just does something to me.  These stories really help me to put my life's little problems into perspective.  They also help me to evaluate what I am doing and NOT doing in sharing the gospel. 

Back to Bob and Jo Ann, as they lived among the Iwan people they we able to learn their language and culture.  While in Papua New Guinea, the Conrad's developed a written alphabet for the Iwan language, taught them to read it and and translated the gospel of Mark for them.

Eventually, Bob and Jo Ann had to leave Papua New Guinea, but God continued to use them to spread the gospel!  You can read about the rest of their story, along with many others, in Seed Sowers, which is available for $12.50 through Grace and Truth Books.

Seed Sowers is written to about a sixth grade level.  It makes a great afternoon read for an independent reader or as a family read aloud.  Either way, it is a great addition to the family library.  

Gwen has even offered a sample chapter for you to check out called The Whistling Man.

Check out what other TOS Crew members think about Seed Sowers. 

Logic of English

Logic of English is a fun, multi-sensory program that takes a systematic approach to teaching reading, writing, spelling and grammar.  Logic of English was created by home school mom and ESL teacher, Denise Eide, as she searched for a program to help her own struggling readers and spellers.

There are several components of the Logic of English curriculum, that accomidate varying ages and skill levels.  We were given Foundations Level A, which teaches students letters A-Z and consonant blends, for review.

Foundations is geared for students ages 4-7.  This curriculum has four levels, A, B, C and D.  Level A, the one are reviewing, is for beginning readers. The following products were sent to us for our review:

• Foundations Level A - Teacher's Manual and Manuscript Workbook (cursive is also available) $56.00
• Foundations Reusable Resource Set - which includes Phonogram Flash Cards, a Student Whiteboard, Tactile Handwriting Cards, 2 Sets of Phonogram Card Games.  The cost of this set is $40.00
• Phonograms App - available for iPads, iPods and iPhones through iTunes for $2.99

  

The Foundations Level A Teacher's Manual and Manuscript Workbook contain 40 lessons that offer a various learning games and activities.  The teacher manual is very user friendly, I think it is laid out nicely and easy to understand.  The student workbook is a colorful, attractive and fun to use book.  It includes phonics activity pages, handwriting pages, pull out reader books and games.   Some of the games include blending games, phonogram bingo, phonogram tic-tac-toe, and charades. 

Let me walk you through one of the lessons to give you a feel for how they are laid out.  At the top of each lesson you can read the lesson objectives for handwriting, phonemic awareness and what Common Core Standards they are meeting, along with the matierals needed.

Lesson 9 focuses on the phonogram C, listening to the beginning sounds of words and practicing blending sounds into words. 

First you would start with phonometic awareness and work on beginning sounds.  The student would open their workbook to lesson 9.  As you read beginning sounds like ch in chair and d in desk they would find the picture that begins with that sound.  There is also a fun challenge to do.  You would say a sound like d, and have students find an item in the room that start with that sound like a desk or a door. 

Next, you and your child would move onto a blending treasure hunt.  As a word is sounded out, your child would run and find that object.  Like if I sounded out p-e-n-s-i-l, they would go and grab a pencil. 

You would then spend some time on phonograms.  You would practice all prior phonograms learned up until this point, and learn the phonogram c.  I love that each time you learn a new letter sound she gives you fun ideas to go along with that letter.  For c she suggests eating cake, carrots, ice cream cones, cabbage or corn.  Kids could play cars, pretend they are camping, practice counting or cut out circles.

After learning the sound of the letter c, now your child will learn how to write it.  The Foundations currciulum encourages starting with cursive handwriting, but also offers manuscript workbooks.  The teacher manual gives instructions for both cursive and manuscript.  The teacher manual gives step by step instructions for forming each letter.  The tactile cards are also helpful at this point, students can practice tracing the letter c with their finger.

Last, but certainly not least is the phonogram practice section.  This section is kinda like the cherry on top of a sundae!  In other words, for the kids it's the best part.  This part of the lesson includes games like phonogram aerobics, where kids practice writing their letters as big as they can in the air.  Phonogram hopscotch (both indoor and outdoor versions included) and a phonogram relay race.  My kids love these active games and I am a firm believer that kids learn best when they are actively doing something. I really appreciate that she has included these games to help reinforce what the children are learning!

I hope that gives you a general idea as to how Foundations is laid out.  Not everyday is the same, some days include reading and spelling practice, and there are many different games and multi-sensory activites sprinkled through out the curriculum.

You can view a few sample lessons (samples are on the right side column), as well as the scope and sequence here. 

I like Foundations.  It does require a fair amount of one on one teaching time, as do most reading programs.  I feel that it is a solid, well rounded program that include lots of interactive, hand-ons activities that are wonderful for active children.  This is one of those programs that children look forward to doing.  Mrs. Eide has done a great job in combining phonic skills with fun activities.

 

We have also enjoyed using the Logic of English App called Phonics with Phonograms.  This App has a pretty simple format, it kind of reminds be of electronic flash cards.  It is an interactive way to practice phonograms, but I think my son would have liked it better if it were a game.  He didn't dislike it, it just didn't seem to be something to hold his interest for very long.  It does however get the job done. 

I would recommend Foundations.  As I said, it is a solid program with lots of fun hands on activities for phonetic practice.  My only hesitation is the price.  I felt it was a little on the high side.  But in saying that, she has eliminated a lot of work for mom.  I am always looking for fun things to add to our phonics program, but with Foundations the work is already done that for me. 

Click here to read more reviews from the TOS Crew.

Look Left, Look Right, Look Left Again

We live on a pretty busy street, so I am always concerned about my little guys when they play out front.  Many, many times have I told them about the dangers of our busy street.  I do not believe that anything I have said to them has come close to grabbing their attention like the book Look Left, Look Right and Look Left Again by Ginger Pate.

 

Look Left, Look Right and Look Left Again, published by Greene Bark Press, is a cute, informative board books that teaches street safety.  Wally Waddlewater, an adorable little duck, learns about street safety around cars, stop lights, emergency vehicles and balls in the street.  He learns to look left, look right and to look right again, when crossing the street.

This simple story has stuck with my little guys, my youngest now recites part of the book whenever we go to cross the road. 

This book is for children ages 3-8, both my 5 and 7 years old boys both enjoyed it.

I recommend this book, it is a great way to teach street safety habits.  It is available though Greene Bark Press for $8.50.

Click to read more reviews from the Schoolhouse Review Crew.

 

Beauty in the Heart, A Study of Godly Beauty for Young Women

               

Doorposts is a company that we have known, loved and trusted for quite some time now.  Their Bible Based Parenting and Character Training materials have been a blessing to us.

Knowing that they stand firm on biblical truths, I was glad to have my oldest daughter use one of their newest Bible Studies, Beauty in the Heart - A Study of Godly Beauty for Young Women.

The Beauty in the Heart is a Bible study for young ladies, about 12 and up, that was written by Pam Forester.  The goal of the study is two fold, to focus on a girl's heart, and not just their outward appearance while showing young ladies the importance of true godly beauty.  This study also focuses on teaching Bible study skills.

We received the soft cover booklet, there is also an eBook available in PDF form, which is 128 pages long.  The chapters are as follows:

1. Beauty in Submission: An Inductive Study in 1 Peter
2. Beauty in the Heart: A Verse Study on 1 Peter 3:3-4
3. Beauty in Trusting God: A Character Study of Sarah
4. Beauty in Humility: A Book Study of Esther
5. Beauty in Modesty: A Verse Study of 1 Timothy 2:9-10
6. Beauty in Serving: A Word and Topical Study
7. Beauty with out Discretion: A Verse Study of Proverbs 11:22
8. Beauty in Crisis: A Chapter Study of 1 Samuel 25
9. Beauty in the Gates: A Book Study of Ruth
10. Beauty in Review

Also included are alternate questions for young men that are doing the study.  I thought these were very helpful if you were to do this study as a family.  

As you can see this is a meaty study! Through this study children learn to use a concordance and marginal study notes.  They study specific topics and characters to show examples of the godly beauty that we should adorn.

I had the Lil' Chef use this study for her personal Bible study.  At first she was a little over whelmed with the different things involved in the inductive study.  I encouraged her to stick with it.  As with most things, once she got used to the study she did fine, and is moving along quite well. 

Each chapter is broken down into 7 Days of study.  In Study 1, Beauty in Submission, the week breaks down like this:

Day 1 Pray and Read
My daughter read the entire book of 1 Peter and answered several questions about it.  

Day 2 Observe
Here she was asked to answer who, what, when, where, why and how questions from select passages. She studied the background of 1 Peter and did some highlighting in her Bible.  

Day 3 Organize and Observation
This part of the study had her charting some of her observations from her study done the previous day.

Day 4 More Observation
She answered several questions, like What did Jesus do? What did Jesus NOT do?  Why did Jesus act this way?

Day 5 Interpret
Here she defined several words from her study, like submit and subjection.

Day 6 Interpret and Apply
This part taught her clue words that helped to interpret what she was reading, like therefore, so and likewise.  Explaining these clue words, and going back over the previously read scriptures really helps a reader's understand.

Day 7 Conclusion and Application
To wrap up this study, the reader answers several questions from certain passages like, What does Peter tell the reader to do? Then readers are to pray and summarize what they have learned through this study. 

Not every study flows exactly like this, but I thought this would give you a general idea of how the study is laid out.  


This study would be perfect as an independent study for a young girl aged 12 and up.  It would also be an excellent bible study for girls to work on in a group setting, or as a mother/daughter study.  

I highly recommend this study.  The godly examples that are studied, like discretion, modesty, trust, humility and service, are the character traits that we need to instill in our girls.  

You can purchase your own copy of  Beauty in the Heart, A Study of Godly Beauty for Young Women
through Doorposts for $14.00

There is also a study for young men called Because You Are Strong, A Study of Godly Strength for Young Men that was written by Daniel Forester.  It teaches young men to use their strength wisely for God's glory while reading about the lives of David, Samson and other "mighty men of valor."  It is also available for $14.00

Click to read more reviews from the Schoolhouse Review Crew!

Back 2 School Special from GeoMatters - Ends 8/21/13

 

 

 

 

 

Hey Trail Guide to Learning fans, GeoMatters is having an AWESOME special this week, it runs through August 21st. 

Here's the deal, if you Purchase ANY of the Trail Guide to Learning Complete Packages, you can choose between one Pre-Printed Student Page Pack OR the Lapbook CD for FREE!  Each of these have a $60 value. 

 

Also, if you use the Coupon Code LSG15 to purchase Any of the Trail Guide to Learning Complete Packages you will receive $15 off! 

Taking Another Look at Reading Kingdom {Review}

                 

You may remember that a few years ago we had the opportunity to review Reading Kingdom, an online program that teaches children ages 4-10 to read and write to a 3rd grade level. 

Well, to be honest, at the time Reading Kingdom was not one of our favorites.  I used it primarily for Computer Girl and Alpha Boy, who were 7 and 4 at the time.  They did not really enjoy Reading Kingdom which I attributed that to the lengthy Reading Skills Survey, but I noted in my review that I believed this was a good program and could be a good fit for other children. 

It turns out that Little Bits is one of those "other" children.  He LOVES Reading Kingdom and is doing really well with it. 

Little Bits likes to build words and sound them out with Reading Kingdom. 

Little Bits just turned 5 in July and started kindergarten about 6 weeks ago.  Up until now, we had not done much in the way of formal phonics with him.  At this point he is learning phonics, but we are moving at a gentle pace.  He has been doing Reading Kingdom several times a week, as a supplement to his phonics program. 

Let me tell you a little about how Reading Kingdom works.  Reading Kingdom is based off of the research and experience of Dr. Marion Blank, "a world renowned expert on literacy and the Director of the Light on Learning Institute at Columbia University," who developed this 6 skill model approach to reading...

The Reading Kingdom approach goes beyond the phonics and whole language approaches, and includes several other necessary skills for reading and writing success.  By focusing on all six of these skills, children can master both reading and writing more easily.  Reading Kingdom is currently the only program that includes all six of these skills in their approach to learning to read and write. 

The Reading Kingdom believes that every child is different.  Instead of fitting each child into a "one size fits all" box, children are given a thorough Reading Skills Survey test to properly place them in the program. 

Once children are tested on their reading and writing skills, they can then beginning learning from their personal reading level.  Children do not have to continue going over something that they already know, which can lead to boredom and lack of interest.  Nor are they pushed a head to a level they are not ready for, only causing frustration.  I believe that with the help of the very thorough Reading Skills Survey, Reading Kingdom can almost perfectly place a child in the right reading level.

Children also learn their way around a keyboard while they are learning to read.

My little guy is just learning his letters, so after taking the Reading Skills Survey test he was placed at the beginning of the program.  He started out doing visual sequencing and keyboard skills.  He is great with a mouse but is still getting used to when the letters on the keyboard are, which is a big part of Reading Kingdom. 

Little Bits has been having a good ol' time with Reading Kingdom.  He is currently "making words," as he calls it.  He gets pretty excited and likes to call me over when he learns a new word. 

My little guy has been processing well with Reading Kingdom.   I plan to continue out the 12 month subscription with him, along side his regular phonics program. 

A Reading Kingdom subscription is available for $19.99 per month, or $199.99 per year per child.  The yearly subscription gives you a 20% discount.  Additional children are given a 50% discount at a rates of $9.99 per month or $99.99 per year. 

Reading Kingdom offers a 30 Day Free Trial that you might want to check out prior to subscribing. 

Visit the TOS Crew Blog to see what others are saying about Reading Kingdom!

Notgrass American History {Review}

 

 

A few years ago a friend of mine mentioned the Notgrass Company's History Curriculum, America the Beautiful and how her kids really loved it.  After hearing her rave review, I knew that once my kids were old enough I wanted to check it out.

The America the Beautiful History Curriculum from the Notgrass Company was given to us to review for the TOS Crew.  Let me tell you what we were given to review and what we thought of them.  

 

America the Beautiful Parts 1 & 2

These two hardcover textbooks are the meat and potatoes of the curriculum.  They are beautifully bound hardcover books with pictures on most every page, some black & white and some color.

Part 1 takes you from 1000 to 1877, and Part 2 continues from the Late 1800's the Present.  Together they tell American history from a Biblical Worldview.  

I have to say, I am not usually a fan of textbooks, but these are pretty impressive.  

The books are set in chronological order and consist of 15 units each, making a total of 30 units.  There are several different types of lessons in the America the Beautiful books:

• Our American Story - These lessons are about the major events in the time period the unit is based on.
• God's Wonders - These lessons teach students about God's creation, like the Chesapeake Bay, Yellowstone and the great Mississippi River.  
• American Landmark - Here you learn about important sites in American history, like Plymouth, the Erie Canal and the Alamo.
• American Biography - This focuses on a particular person that lived during the time period being studied.  In these lessons you get to learn more about people like John Jay, President of the American Bible Society, George Washington and Robert E. Lee.
• Daily Life - These lessons give a glimpse into the day to day lives of the people of the time period.  In the unit on the Civil War, the daily Life lesson is called Two First Ladies.  Here we learn about Mary Todd Lincoln and Varina Howell Davis.

I liked the layout of the books.  I found them to be very informative and enjoyable.  I do however wish they were a little more on the conversational style that we are used to.  

If you have read some of my other reviews, you probably know that I love to learn from living books.  I think using only a textbook can quench a child's love for learning.  In saying that, I do feel that there is a time and a place for a textbook.  Currently, the kids and I are starting to read about the American Revolution.  We are learning a ton from biographies, chapter and picture books, but there were several things in the America the Beautiful that did not read about in our other books. 

   

After reading each lesson, there is a list of several activities, usually about 4-6, that include writing, vocabulary, timeline, map, and workbook assignments.  There are also Thinking Biblically assignments that have the students looking up scriputre to answer questions.  There are literature assignments from We the People and recommended living books, like Amos Fortune, Across Five Aprils and Little Town on the Prairie.  You or the student can pick one or several of the assignments to be completed for the day. 

They encourage family discussions about the days lesson.  The book also has family activities, like making an Iroquoian Longhouse, have a peaceful Boston Tea Party, and make a Liberty Bell Mosaic.  

The way that we have been using this, is that my 8th grader has been reading the lessons independently and doing some of the actitivies on her own.  

I have also found myself picking it up and reading it for fun.  Yes really, for fun.  I have also used it to better educate myself on the topics we are studying, so that I can casually pass the information along to my younger kids. 

We the People

This hardcover black & white book is a wonderful collection of writings from America's history, that include historical documents, poems, letters, songs, newspaper clippings and songs. 

One of the assignment suggestions is to read selections from the book that relate to the lessons topic. We like this book and find it to be a wonderful addition to the curriculum.

Maps of America the Beautiful

This workbook has maps that correlate with the lessons.  Students are given assignments to color and label the various maps. 

Timeline of America the Beautiful

Also in workbook form, this black & white timeline allows students to color and label the timeline as they work through history.  

 

America the Beautiful Student Workbook

This workbook includes fun word searches, matching, multiple choice questions and drawing assignment.  Probably best suited for children in 4th-6th grade.  

 

America the Beautiful Lesson Review 

Full of daily lesson and literature review questions to help parents measure children's comprehension of the material being studied.

My 8th grader and I have done several of these together orally.  

 

America the Beautiful Answer Key

You guessed it, this is where all the answers are {smile}.  This includes answers to the timeline, vocabulary, Student Workbook and Lesson Review questions.  

  

Over all, I really love this curriculum.  I know it will remain on my shelf for the duration of our homeschooling years.  It is excellent as a source of reference for American history. It also makes a well rounded American History curriculum for 5th-8th graders, that could be used independently for older students.  I also believe this would work wonderfully for multilevel teaching.

America the Beautiful is designed to be completed in one school year, working on it 5 days per week.  It would, however, be very simple to adjust the schedule to complete it in two years.  

I appreciate the flexibility America the Beautiful offers with the variety of student assignments,  and literature suggestions. They offer all the bells and whistles of a traditional textbook, but also have a unit study type feel to them.  This my friends is a keeper! 

You can purchase the America the Beautiful curriculum, for $99.95.

The Student Workbook and Lesson Review can be purchased separately.

Please see what other TOS Crew members have to say about Notgrass products including America the Beautiful and the Draw the Learn Bible Series. 

Bible Study For All Ages {Review}

I love all things multi-level teaching, meaning subjects that I can teach everyone the same thing, at the same time.  Bible is one of those subjects where I try to keep everyone on the topic or study.  

I had not heard of Bible Study For All Ages, until the opportunity to review for them came about from the TOS Crew.  

The Bible Study For All Ages is a curriculum that has families {or Sunday school classes} studying the same part of the Bible at the same time, but on their own levels.  This curriculum takes you and your family through several parts of the Old and New Testaments each year. 

There are 416 Bible Lessons that take you through an in depth study of the Bible. 

We were given the following materials for this review:

 

Beginner Level Student Pages 

Beginner Time Line

 

Children's Songs CD Set

 

 Advanced Level Student Pages

Bible Book Summary Cards 

Let me give you an example of how the lessons are laid out.  Let's take a look at lesson 14, we are studying Genesis 49-50, which is the account of Joseph.  We have been studying Joseph since lesson 1, which started at Genesis 37.  

Here is a sample of one of the Beginner Student Pages.

Here is the layout for the Beginner Student Pages and how it works for us.

Learn the Basics 

• We review our timeline cards, which we have hanging on a large kitchen doorway.  

These have been really helpful to us.  The kids love to take turns reviewing the cards.

Sing & Remember 

• In this portion we told to review books of the Bible we are memorizing (Matthew - Galatians)
• We sing He's Got the Whole World in His Hands, which is on our Children's Songs CD
• We also do about 4 or 5 review questions.  

The kids love to do the review questions, they especially LOVE THE SONGS!  They now know all of the names of the sons of Jacob thanks to a song we've been singing!  

Get Active 

• This section give ideas to get up and do something. This one has you blindfolding one child and talk about who takes care of us.  

Discover the Bible

• Here is where are read over the scripture for the day.  Most days it is a one chapter in the Bible, today there are two.  
• There are several pictures that show what happens in the scriptures we just read.  Each picture has an explanation and something to do.  For instance, one of the pictures talks about Jacob wanting to be buried in a cave, so the child is asked to color the cave brown.

This is the main part of our study.  We read through the scriptures, discuss and follow along with the activities they has us do.  I fell like this part is really helpful.  

Apply It!

• This part has a picture to color and application questions.

At the end of our study we talk about the picture and go over the review questions together.

Now for the Advanced Student Pages, these pages are set up a little differently.  Here is how we use them...

Remember It?

• This is the portion with review questions.  They are a little more difficult than the Beginner Student Pages.  Today the review is in the form of a matching/fill in the blank activity.

My girls do these on their own.  I do the review questions for the Beginner Pages aloud with everyone.

Memory Workout

• Here the kids are asked to review the New Testament Books and the Genesis Bible Book Summary.

We do the Bible Summary Card reviews together.  These are 8x11 flash cards that summarize the books of the Bible with one or more pictures.  On the opposite side of the picture there is a description that summarizes the book of the Bible that the card represents.
 

Guess What...

• These are mostly Bible facts like what a cup bearer and baker were to the Pharaoh. 

My girls usually read these on their own and share their new fond information with the rest of us.

Discover the Bible

• Just like with the younger pages, this is where we read the scripture and go through the pictures and questions.

We do this part together as a family. The Advanced Questions are more challenging than the ones on the Beginner Pages.  My girls have been fine following along with us for the scripture reading and then doing the questions on their own, asking me for help when needed.

Timeline or Map

• The timeline has several questions that the kids get to answer from reading a biblical timeline on their student page.
• The timeline portion alternates with mapping skills.  Which include labeling areas that were discussed in our Bible readings.
  

My girls do this on their own as well, of course I am available if they have a question. 

Get Active

• This is basically the same activity as the one on the Beginner Page, except this one goes more in depth with the application on blind faith.

We generally don't get to these.  

Apply It!

• This is the application part of the study.  Today's lesson includes re-reading a scripture, answering several questions related to our scripture and a prayer suggestion.

You guessed it, they answer these on their own as well{smile}

Conclusion

I like the over all idea of this program, a lot!  But I found it was hard to get into a "groove" with the different student pages.  It was a little frustrating at first, to be honest.  I felt like everyone was all over the place and Bible was taking a really looong time. 

The way that I tweaked this to work for us was that I stopped reading the scriptures twice.  At first I read the scripture while the boys colored the application picture. THEN, I would re-read the scriptures as we did the Discover the Bible portion of the study.  

I decided to pick and choose what was most important to me and focus on those things.  So we do the songs, timeline and review questions from the Beginner Student Pages.  Then we do the Discover the Bible portion, this is the scripture reading and discussion part.  Then we finish with the application.

At first I was trying to go over all the parts of both levels together, this did not work for us.  I am really glad that I found a way to make this work, because I love many things about this study.  

All of the different components in this Bible Study really set it apart from the rest.  The constant review through questions, songs, timeline and summary cards help the children to remember what they learned even two weeks prior.   I am amazed at what the kids have learned and retained about Joseph by using this study.  I believe my 5 year old could tell you Joseph's whole life story!

Another thing I want to mention, I liked that they did not include scripture on the student pages.  I know that may sound strange, but I think it makes it much easier to use your own Bible version

The student page booklets each have 26 lessons, priced at $5.95 per booklet.  To complete the whole program you would need 16 booklets per student.  First, you need to choose the products that would best suit your family, depending on grade and reading levels. 

I would love to continue with this program, but I am not sure it would not be affordable for us. I am figuring that it would cost a total of $380.00 for all four children to complete the whole study.  

If this was more affordable for me, like say if I could purchase the all the lessons together as a pdf download at a discounted rate, this would be what we used for Bible. 

You can see what other TOS Crew Members have to say about Bible Study for All Ages by clicking HERE!