And You Thought Puzzles Didn’t Travel Well {Review}

You know by now that we are full-time RVers. What you don’t know is that when we had a house, we owned a lovely little collection of puzzles and were avid puzzlers. Some RVers take puzzles on the road with them, but not us. That is, until Enlivenze LLC gave us this Solar System FlipStir Puzzle in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.

What is a FlipStir Puzzle?

A FlipStir Puzzle is a puzzle contained within a cylinder. A hooked stick protrudes from one end of the cylinder. You use the stick to put the puzzle together.

Can you picture that?

FlipStir Puzzles Reviews

The knob pulls the hooked wand in and out to navigate the puzzle pieces. Oh, now you get it!

We have the solar system puzzle, but they also have a Tyrannosaurus Rex, Rainbow Pencils, and the Statue of Liberty. I chose the solar system because we are studying astronomy right now…and dinosaurs are scary. Rar.

Rex and the Rainbow contain straight pieces, but Lady Liberty and the Solar System contain curves, making them even trickier. Doable, but tricky…for some of us.

Now, there’s only so much you can do with a puzzle–assemble…disassemble…assemble…disassemble…. As my fellow RVers can attest, there is little room in a travel trailer for anything that does only one thing…except, of course, a popcorn popper. Mmmm…popcorn.

So that the puzzle could make the travel space cut, we came up with this list of things to do with a FlipStir…I mean besides pausing directly halfway through the trailer door and assembling it and totally forgetting you’re supposed to be doing your math.

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Here are other things you can do with it:

  1. Assemble it–duh.
  2. Record your time and try to beat your personal best.
  3. Compete with one another’s times.
  4. Reward a student working hard at astronomy by letting them “play” with the puzzle instead of doing lessons or at the end of a lesson–that’s actually reviewing the solar system planets, but they don’t need to know that.
  5. Sit in a circle, place a piece, and pass it on.
  6. Do number 5 to a timer and try to beat your team’s high score.
  7. Blindfold one participant and have another tell him what to do.
  8. Put the puzzle together with your weak hand.
  9. Put it together backwards. One side of the puzzle is white, so if you angle it properly, you’ll end up putting together a pictureless puzzle. Tricky!
  10. Buy two and race head to head. Woo hoo! It’s like the Olympics all over again, without the tape to hold your body together.
  11. Use it as part of a race–run down to a table with the FlipStir on it, put one piece in position, run back, tag the next person. It’s best with two teams and two FlipStirs, because racing against air is lame.
  12. Assemble it behind your back while someone else tells you what to do. I think that’s ridiculously hard, but I have yet to assemble it frontwards. My kids and hubby can do it. We all have our gifts.
  13. And my favorite: not groan over missing pieces. Woo hoo! Let’s have a cookie over that one, shall we?

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Hey, fellow RVers, here’s something you’ll appreciate. The puzzle is lightweight for the most part, but it holds up to the abuse that life on the road (at least our life on the road) throws at it. The flip and stir stick is metal, which translates into sturdy, so when your one-year-old hypothetically throws that baby across the trailer, it should hold up. Don’t you love vivacious one-year-olds. So full of life, such good pitching arms–they’re excellent FlipStir Puzzle durability testers.

And conveniently, these fit into Christmas stockings. There you go. Now you all want one.

Look…he did it! Clever lad.

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He doesn’t get that from his mama. Everyone played with the puzzle. Everyone except one person solved it. Thus ends the discussion of the FlipStir Puzzle.

Connect with Enlivenze LLCLLC and FlipStir Puzzles on social media:

FlipStir Puzzle accounts:
Facebook: www.facebook.com/flipstirpuzzle
Twitter: www.twitter.com/flipstir

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Twitter: www.twitter.com/enlivenz

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Spanish Curriculum for Beginners–Easy as Tarta {Review}

While our favorite way to study Spanish is to hang out in the southwest parts of the USA and speak a little Spanglish with the locals every day, we currently happen to be a little further north and find the Spanish speakers a little less everywhere. That means it’s time to turn to the curricula. Coincidentally, Foreign Languages for Kids by Kids hooked us up with Starter Set 1 of their Spanish program in exchange for this review. Bueno, eh?

What is Foreign Languages for Kids by Kids?

The premise behind Foreign Languages for Kids by Kids (hereafter known as “it”) is that your students are on a flight to various Spanish-speaking countries. The flight attendant introduces the filmed segment and announces where you’re headed.

If you’re a good parent, you look the country up on the map, check some library books out, and make an ethnic meal. Then there’s me. Someone hit play, wouldya? (Did you just totally picture me in sweats with rags in my hair and my feet on a table with three mangy dogs chewing on our schoolbooks while the kids eat stale pizza and Spam from two days ago and I only move to scratch myself or shoo flies away from my beer with my stoagie? Yeah, I did, too. That’s not really me. We did look countries up on the map, but I didn’t make any ethnic meals…yet. And I don’t smoke stoagies…or anything…except the kitchen when I burn dinner…again.)

Next you launch into the everyday life of three brothers and their antics. Each brother has a different personality or interest which is represented by the shirts they wear, the props they carry, and the activities they undertake–like eating, reading, and playing basketball. The dogs have interests, too…like sleeping and stealing the kids’ desayuno (breakfast).

The conversation is entirely in Spanish…and entirely entertaining without being too terribly in-your-face like Dora the Explorer who yells all day long! It does elevate to that at times, but not too much…and it workds.

There is the occasional adult–only one that I’ve noticed, actually–but she is never fully seen. Only her voice is heard. Think Peanuts: “Mwa mwa mwa mwa mwa mwaaaa…” except in Spanish which probably sounds like mwa mwa mwa mwaaa if you are a bit rusty on your Spanish.

Starter Set 1 includes the following:

  • A DVD with three flights or levels
  • A separate teacher’s guide for each level, including lesson plans, DVD schedule, and extra activities.
  • Consumable workbooks for each level
  • Vocabulary flashcards and card games
  • Spanish stickers for all levels

Beginner Spanish Foreign Languages for Kids by Kids Review
How do we use it?

The program is simple to use. At the bare minimum, you pop in the video and watch it. Easy peasy. You do not need to know Spanish to use this curriculum, and you don’t need to grasp each word the first time. It is expected to take several viewings to learn each word, which is good, because then the students are hearing the Spanish spoken repeatedly. If you don’t learn something just by viewing, you must have slept through class. Hey, I’m not judging. I totally need popcorn to stay awake through any film.

The program also includes stickers you can paste around your home so everyone in the family is seeing and learning the same words. That way you’re all using them and solidifying the language in your head forever! I know this works, because my brother and I did this when we decided to learn French 30-odd years ago–we can both ask where the telephone is in France, although, unfortunately, I still can’t understand a Frenchman giving us directions to the toilet.

If you don’t want stickers all over, or, as in our case, there are more stickers than you have worldly goods, use them in a sketch pad or notebook. Place the sticker at the top of the page and have the child illustrate the word. You could also play a game where you stick a previously unseen Spanish sticker on your forehead, and you have to guess what you are by asking other players questions about yourself…in Spanish. Try it!

The course also includes vocabulary cards, games, and ideas for further cementing those words into your vocabulary. It’s all explained in the included teacher’s guides–one for each of the three videos. Of course, the best way is to simply use the words all the stinkin’ time, but the games are a fun addition for the reluctant speakers.

What did we think?

Our 10 and under crowd think it’s fantastic. They even request it on non-school days. Points!

We already know Spanish and use it a bit (not extensively by any means), so some of us knew quite a few of the words that we were taught in the first two of the three videos in the series. Three pushed them a bit more. The words they did not know have been solidified by watching the short videos again and again.

After reviewing the videos a few times, they have had no trouble whatsoever with the workbooks. As an aside, the workbooks are very high-quality with excellent printing, color, and images. I appreciate the variety of activities, the lack of parental involvement required in many of them (because the kids need to eat, right?), and the cultural and geographical information they include. Also, the pages don’t tear when a toddling brother steals them and hides them in the litter box. They wipe off easily, too. I wouldn’t mind more workbook activities–I know, I know. I’m the anti-workbook person and I’m totally playing both sides here. Hey, it’s situational.

The ages that are actively using the program here are 4 (and a half, Mommy! Tell them I’m four and a half!), 8, and 10…and a half. My older kids recently finished another Spanish program, but they’ve watched the videos once or twice and had a refresher on some topics…and a huge pronunciation and regional languages discussion.

What I like most of all is that this course includes the spoken language, so they are hearing the words, seeing them, speaking them, writing them, and sticking them…both around the trailer and in their brains. That’s really what sets this program apart from others and adds value for this price range. It’s natural and effective, and I’d love to go further in this curriculum.

A Simple Spanish Curriculum

A word about the extras:

I personally don’t like programs that have a lot of extras. Again, I know–I’m weird. But seriously, people, it’s just more stuff! Stickers, vocabulary cards-there are Spanish words everywhere! I’m even dreaming in Spanish! But wait. Isn’t that the point? To expose your children (and your own self) to Spanish so frequently that it becomes second nature?

Why yes. Yes it is. Point to the curriculum.

In this case, honestly, the extras work. The kids can do the vocab cards in the van, they can stick stickers to their hearts’ content, and when I say “Spanish time, chicitos!” they come running. Points for that, too.

A word about the videos:

These are not Hollywood Blockbusters, but they work. My younger kids enjoy them, and my older kids didn’t run away screaming or vomit on the screen. They are done well and my children are learning and hearing the words pronounced by someone who isn’t their mom.

A word about the pronunciation:

There are some words that are pronounced differently than I learned in my Mexican Spanish training. This obviously is due to pronunciation and word usage variations across the world in Hispanic speaking countries.

It is a little confusing if you already learned Spanish another way, but don’t even worry about broaching that at this point. Whether you pronounce the word “ella” as “elya” or “eya” or “edja,” no native Spanish speaker is going to scold you any more than a Nevadan might scold a Bostonian for “warshing” his hands.

Additional thoughts for my fellow roadschoolers:

There is no internet access required to use this program, because it is physical, so we’re good there.

It does, however, come with three teacher’s guides, three student workbooks, a DVD, and the extras. Everything, however, is very thin, so really, no worries. And when you’re finished with the teacher’s guide or not using a level, you can stow them someplace inaccessible. You’ll probably want to keep the workbooks and videos on hand for review.

Beginner Spanish Foreign Languages for Kids by Kids Review

Last words:

You’re not going to be hopping a jet to Peru and speaking fluently after going through this Starter Set, because, hola!, it’s a starter set. You will, however, get your kids speaking some basic Spanish naturally, quickly, and painlessly over the next 20 weeks…although watching the breakfast scene is a little painful at times if you’re hungry.

Get connected:

You can find Foreign Language for Kids by Kids on Facebook here:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ForeignLanguagesForKidsByKids

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Talking Shapes–An Online Reading Program

We were given a one-year subscription to the online version of   Talking Shapes: A Supplemental Curriculum for Early Literacy from Talking Fingers Inc. in exchange for a fair and honest review from my four-year-old daughter, Eliana…with a little help from me. Just a little.

We previously reviewed a Talking Fingers Inc. program called Read, Write, & Type here. Eliana really wanted to try Read, Write, & Type, but was nowhere near that level. Talking Shapes came along as an ideal tool to prepare children for the reading and typing involved in Read, Write, & Type and the other Talking Fingers Inc. programs, but ultimately for reading itself. Happy little Ellie!

Talking Shapes {Talking Fingers Inc. Review}

Tell me about Talking Shapes.

The idea behind Talking Shapes is to help children understand that their mouths make shapes when they make (or read) a sound. That sound is represented by a letter or a group of letters. Those of us who know how to read sort of take that for granted. Pre-readers, however, need to make the connection between what their eyes see, what shape their mouths form, and what their ears hear.

That is the premise behind Talking Shapes, invented by a neuro…neurophy…by a really smart gal who went to school for a really long time. Her name is Dr. Jeannine Herron. She based the program on reasearch intended to help children engage both sides of the brain as they learn.

It’s ideal for preschoolers, kindergarteners, and other younglings who may be struggling to learn to read.

Talking Shapes {Talking Fingers Inc. Review}

That’s all fine and good, but what’s the program about?

Essentially the seven-part story involves two girls who invented the alphabet back when togas were all the rage. Each shape the girls talk about corresponds with a letter and an object or animal that begins with that letter sound.

They also emphasize the shape the child’s lips make when they say that letter by looking into a pond while they make shapes. You can use a mirror if you don’t have a pond handy.

Talking Shapes {Talking Fingers Inc. Review}

That’s great, but does the child like it?

If Ellie is like your kiddos, this program is a hit. It is not dull and repetitive like some phonics programs. It’s a screen–she likes it. I have to put time limits on or she would sit at it all day, even when it gets too hard.

Essentially, she begs to do her lessons. Okay, fine, you can learn, Ellie.

She’s not reading yet, but I don’t push it–I let it happen when it happens. By the end of this program, however, she will know 40 phonograms. Cool, eh? How many do you know? (Are you looking up phonograms in the dictionary right about now?)

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What do I think?

People, you know by now that I’m old school and will take a book over a screen any day. I have learned over the past nearly two decades of homeschooling that it isn’t always my preferences that matter. What is most effective and ensures a love of learning is ideal. Of course, I don’t want everything in the world to have to be entertaining to a child in order for them to participate, so a balance is important. You, of course, have your own screen guidelines for your family, so…there you go.

I would rather have Ellie drawing her letters in the sand or on paper than using the mouse to trace a letter on the screen. If you have a touch screen, this is not an issue, but we don’t. That said, when I saw how she maneuvered that mouse, I was very impressed. There was a lot of hand-eye-brain stuff going on there, so I enthusiastically let her continue. Honestly, though, I would prefer it as a quick and convenient app I could whip out on my phone or a tablet rather than a computer program.

Talking Shapes {Talking Fingers Inc. Review}

Additional thoughts for my fellow roadschoolers:

Internet access–that blessed, cursed subject again. You must have internet access. There are images and movies and this will take a few cookie size bites out of your data. We had a lot of trouble with internet access during this review period, and it did make it difficult. Still, the program wasn’t glitchy or flashing in and out like some do when our “free if you can stand it” access is poor.

Space considerations? None. You already have a computer. Ideally, this would work best on a touch screen, so that’s even less space.

Find out what more conventional homeschoolers think by clicking on the banner below:

Talking Shapes {Talking Fingers Inc. Review}

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YouTube:   https://www.youtube.com/user/talkingfingersvideo
Twitter:  https://twitter.com/ReadWriteType/with_replies

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CTCMath–An Online Math Program Review from an Old School Non-Techie English Major

Note: We were given a free one-year CTCMath Homeschool Membership from CTCMath in exchange for this fair and honest review.

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CTCMath is a top-ranked math curriculum that is available completely online. While there are individual memberships, the family membership that we have is for use with up to 10 children. (Whoa. That’s a lotta kids. I know because we have to feed almost that many.) I think it’s 10 because that’s how many the instructor Patrick Murray has.

The program is completely online and covers almost any level of math you could want. I’m not sure if they have Einsteinian genius level, but it does cover kindergarten through calculus. Is there anything beyond that?

There are more topics in each grade than I knew existed! This is great, because you can hone in on where your student needs help and use CTCMath as a tutor to increase comprehension and grades. This is a popular reason why non-homeschooling families use CTCMath.

Think about it. In class, it isn’t possible for the teacher to act as personal tutor to each student. It takes a brave student to repeatedly ask questions and essentially demand that the teacher halt all forward progress until that child’s personal math needs are met. That means if a child is struggling, he will continue to do so without help. CTCMath is that help.

Advanced students can move ahead of the class–nothing holds them back when they have access to CTCMath. No more bored math geniuses.

CTCMath is also popular among homeschoolers because a child can move at his own pace, reviewing as often as necessary to attain mastery. Plus there’s that 60% price discount. Cha-ching! Even my faulty math knows that’s a good thing!

How does CTCMath work?

A child can take the diagnostic assessments to determine where his struggles are, so he only needs to work on those areas and not topics that are already easy for him. I’m big on not boring children by teaching them what they already know.

He can then watch the video lesson, which uses a multi-sensory approach to learning:

  1. Visual. They watch the graphics on the screen as the math is being taught.
  2. Aural. They listen as Mr. Murray explains the approach.
  3. Kinesthetic. (Hands on.) They put their new skills to use immediately with online practice or on printed worksheets.

Obviously, the next step is number 3 above. The student does the online practice problems or printed pages if you go that route. He can also use the online drills to improve quick mind math skills. Who doesn’t forget those when having to give a customer change or when someone finds out your kids are homeschooled and volunteers to test their knowledge? ARGH! I knew this two seconds ago!

What parental features are included?

CTCMath records all the child’s results and sends you a weekly update so you can see where your child needs more practice or whether they’re ready to move on.

The program also allows you to assign tasks and deadlines for each student, and it alerts you to the child’s progress. The child will see the tasks when he logs on.

Did you catch what I just said here? The computer does both the nagging and the record-keeping for you. Sweet!

Can I say something about the budget?

I don’t like online memberships, because you can’t “hand them down” to the next student. Know why that’s a good thing? Not every child learns the same way. In my household, you use the math book your older sibling used because that’s what we have and we want to eat. That’s not the best approach to math curriculum selection.

Want to know why that’s a bad thing? You have to repurchase memberships every year.

That said, if you had 10 kids (or 8 like me), you can really stretch that membership and those homeschool dollars! Not bad. Still, no hand-me-downs.

Our Experience

I used this program with my seven-year-old, which was really a mistake of children to choose for the review period. My ten-year-old was begging to be able to use it, but I said I had access for 1 student. When I came here to write my review, I realized I had access for 10 students. That “0” at the end of the “1” has meaning. This is why I don’t teach math without a curriculum like I do English. Yup. Ten. Not one. Ten.

So, as of this week, my 10-year-old son will be jumping on board. He is doing great in math, so CTCMath will serve as a reinforcement and to spackle some putty in the cracks of his learning. I’m also making it available to my 17-year-old college sophomore who is considering studying calculus “just for fun.”

See that attitude–just for fun? I don’t think calculus is fun. Calculus has cooties. I know, because I had to study it for a year in college to get my English degree and become a writer. I did well in logic, and the philosophy behind that last sentence contains absolutely no logic. Therefore, I throw up in my mouth a little when I think about calculus. But with CTCMath at our disposal, my oh-Mommy-calculus-is-so-fun daughter can take it all by herself without my having to get anywhere near the cooties. That’s like Christmas…except not quite, because it has the word calculus in it…and the cooties.

Back to my original point…

The reason it was a mistake for me to jump in with my seven-year-old is that, with our unexpectedly barely-there internet access over the past couple months and our consequently severely limited online time, I needed to have someone on board who could speed over the technological learning curve that throws me almost every single time I have to do something different online. She wasn’t it. For math, I need a book…with pages…I can turn.

On my tombstone will be written “Here lies Christy. She was old school.”

That in no way detracts from the lessons themselves or the program as a whole. It just points out that I’m a techno-idiot, even on a program that the rest of the homeschool world uses with ease. Yes, I feel dumb. Thanks for noticing.

My kids–they could figure this out faster than I did…and would have, had I know that 1 does not equal 10. All this to say that my learning curve issues will not be your learning curve issues, and you will get to the good stuff a lot faster than I did.

I don’t think I will ever prefer computer math over paper math, because I’m 43.5 and 2 days old, and that’s how I roll. I like the kids to work things out with pencil and paper. It feels right to me. Still, the approach to these lessons is great:

  • They are short.
  • They are interesting.
  • The teacher doesn’t sound like Lina LaMont from Singing in the Rain, which is especially good since he’s a fella.
  • They don’t cover too much in a single lesson.
  • They engage you visually and aurally while giving your hands interactive practice.
  • If you want, you can print out lessons and your kids can work out the problems on paper using a pencil while you sit close enough to sniff the paper and listen to the sounds of graphite gliding across the lightly dimpled surface.
  • They show how the solution is done, in case your kiddo says, “But why, Mom?”

As my other children move deeper into this program, I will let you know right here what the kids think. Meanwhile my little girl is having a great time with her subtraction facts, and getting quite good at them, although she sheds tears over the diagnostic assessments. Is that just my kids? Really, I want to know.

Additional Notes for my Fellow Roadschoolers:

You know what I’m going to say here. I’m going to gripe about internet connection…and you’re right. We struggled with our ability to use this program due to internet connection. We had terrible connections and limited data during the majority of the review period and couldn’t use the program to its full extent. Sad face. This is a pretty big deal if you paid for a year’s membership and can’t use it for a couple weeks here and there. Sorry kids–no math this week. (If it’s computer math, that makes my kids sad.)

Now bear in mind these aspects of our unique situation that do not apply to the majority of roadschoolers:

  1. We are in a new place every few days. Not every month or even every week–every few days! Sometimes every day.
  2. We are often out in the boonies. (You can look that up on a map. It will say “Boonies.” That’s where we often are.)
  3. We have (actually had until a few days ago, but that’s a review for another day…and another blog) very limited data for roadschoolers with online businesses and a music mission. We had to count our gigs like most people (should) count their pennies.

There is an option. You can print out worksheets and review summaries for your students if you know you will be somewhere that requires old school schooling. Just pop the papers in a flexi-binder and take up a fraction of the space of traditional math programs.

I know roadschoolers who use this program without that issue, so consider your own situation and don’t let ours scare you away by any means!

You know my other major consideration when evaluating roadschool curricula is how much space something takes up. This takes up none. SCORE! There is the option of printable worksheets, which do take up space, unless you’re like me and you throw them away when they’re completed instead of saving them or plastering them on the refrigerator. You also know I don’t like printing in the trailer, because it’s a pain the backside, so you know I didn’t print those pages anyway, which saves even more space. If I’m going to have math papers, they’re going to be in a book. But you…you might not be as math-paper-averse as I am.

So, summarizing:

Internet-dependent, space-liberated.

Want to know what normal homeschoolers think? Click here or on the banner below:

CTCMath Review

Social Presence:

CTCMath has an active online presence. Go peek at them or get totally connected here:

~CTCMath (US and Canda)

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ctcmath?ref=hl
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ctcmathofficial
Periscope: https://www.periscope.tv/ctcmathofficial
Pinterest: https://au.pinterest.com/ctcmath/
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWn5e6974bpIEAe46VnovZw

~Maths Online (Australia Only)

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mathsonline.com.au
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/MathsOnlineAU

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Faith and Courage in the Crux of History

We were super hyped when Heirloom Audio Productions sent us a free copy of Beric The Briton to review. Hyped, I tell you! And for good reason.

Briefly, Beric the Briton is an audio production of the amazing adventure of a 1st century Briton in a Roman world, based on the book by G.A. Henty.

Heirloom Audio Productions does amazing work. As music missionaries with Christian music CDs for sale, we are ear-deep in the Nashville production world. We see the difference between the good stuff that accomplished artists create and the work of the fly-by-nights, and boy-oh-boy-oh-boy, Heirloom produces the good stuff.

Of course, authors like G.A. Henty deserve the good stuff. When you take an adventure like Beric the Briton and you throw in the voices of some of the great, such as Brian Blessed (Star Wars, Tarzan, Robin Hood) and John Ryhs-Davies (The Lord of the Rings, Indiana Jones) among others, you’re destined to have a great product. And the soundtrack–brilliant!

You’ve heard me rave about Heirloom Audio Productions before, so I won’t get redundant. Suffice it to say that Heirloom is excellent, Beric the Briton is magnificently produced, and any of the Heirloom Audio Productions would make an outstanding addition to your history, literature, and character studies. There’s more I want to say, though.

Beric The Briton Heirloom Audio Productions Review

There are two things I want to emphasize:

  1. The value of this study (all the Heirloom Audio productions).
  2. The extensive ways you can use this product (specifically Beric the Briton).

The Value

Have you noticed the similarities between our government and ancient Greece? Between our nation and ancient Rome? Between our leaders and early 20th century Germany?

What we do not see and do not comprehend we are destined to repeat.

From the executive producer of Heirloom Audio, Bill Heid:

The Bible … admonishes us to constantly “remember” and to teach our children to do the same. That’s why it’s so important to know where we’ve come from and who we are as Christians. If we forget our history and allow ourselves to become culturally conditioned by the world, we will lose our greatest possession.

So while we do everything we can to make our stories fun and exciting…there’s a lot at stake here…nothing less than the heart and soul of civilization itself.

Heirloom Audio Productions adventures are an exciting way to “ignite a passion for history and Christian character in the next generation,” and, quite frankly, this old generation, too! They’re that good…and that important.

Using It

So you see the value of this study. How can you make it more than simply an exciting two-hour listen?

Great question.

While the crux of the study is the audio production, there are numerous digital downloadable extras to enhance your experience. Extras include the sound track by John Campbell (hooray!), a digital version of the audio (or you can buy the digital instead), access to the adventure newsletter, the Henty ebook, two posters, a behind-the-scenes production video (love those!), and most importantly, the big boy in the bunch, a study guide.

All About the Study Guide

The study guide is fantastic. It offers historical context, an introduction, three Bible studies, and a recommended reading list, but those are just the bonuses. The study guide itself breaks the story into listening segments of 4-10 minutes. Each section includes “Listening Well” questions to help the child recall and understand what he has learned, which is great for the younger crowd that might not “get it” right away.

It then has questions that require more thought than recall, appropriately named the “Thinking Further” section. These would be great as writing assignments or open discussion with the older set. Then there are vocabulary words–always fun…seriously…because we like words and dictionaries and yes we are geeks thanks for noticing.

Now, to be honest with you, my kids, who were so enthralled with our previous Heirloom Audio adventure The Dragon and the Raven, tore into this and started listening with no pause for the study guide. Yup. But the fun didn’t stop there.

Other Ways to Enhance the Study

Because I am working through this at a slower pace for “official school,” there are many activities that we are doing or have planned. Most of them fit right into the study and may give you an idea of how you can use this program for your own homeschool or some fun summer learning together:

  1. Timeline work–Henty is already in our timelines, but Boadicea and Nero are not in the younger children’s timeline books.
  2. Have a Roman bread breakfast.
  3. Eat as the upper class Romans would have–lounging, not using forks, and having slaves cut your meat and clean up (take turns being slaves).
  4. Study leviathans and dragons.
  5. Launch into readings about Christian heroes (Hero Tales, Christian Heroes series, Ten Boys/Girls Who…series).
  6. Map work–we like to post a map while we’re going through something. Tracing the travels and mapping the battles would be helpful also.
  7. Character “mapping.” We sometimes draw family trees or “relationship trees” or write information about each character on a piece of paper and post it on the wall (a real wall, not like Facebook or something) to help keep everybody straight.
  8. Study the biblical nature of oaths, words too quickly spoken, and keeping your word, and have the children consider establishing a personal principle regarding oaths and promises.
  9. Make and eat Roman apple cake…and did I mention eat it?
  10. Discuss shipwrecks in the Bible and also near my home, which was along a treacherous shipping route known as Death’s Door. Sounds like a field trip when our travels have us back in that area!
  11. Recreate the Roman machines used to capture Beric…if that can be done out of toothpicks, plastic spoons, and whatever else we have in our home-sweet-travel-trailer.
  12. Study Nero.
  13. Study gladiators and the Roman Circus and parallel the fascination with today’s culture.
  14. Compare our God with the many gods of the Britons–somehow I want to make this a visual, but I haven’t figured out how yet. That’s okay; I have until page 24 to “figger” it out.
  15. Discuss the importance of Creation in view of the Gospel.
  16. Make Roman Noodle Bake.
  17. Build a diorama of Rome…and burn it.
  18. Discuss the good that comes from bad, such as the spreading of the Gospel that resulted from Christian persecution. Apply this to life.
  19. Write a story in Henty style, and turn it into an audio drama or reader’s theater.
  20. Eat Swiss chocolate. Why? Because the Papal Swiss Guard is one of the oldest military units in the world, and represent how important rulers often hired foreign soldiers. Any excuse to eat chocolate!
  21. Talk about Christ allegories…and watch Narnia…with popcorn.
  22. Read more about 1st century Rome from the book list at the end of the study guide. (Elijah just finished two books from this time period.)
  23. Watch a movie set at this time period…or at least Charlton Heston’s BenHur, which is close enough time-wise. It gives the imagination a little help for costumes and settings.

I barely tapped into the number of discussions that the study guide encourages. Many of them would make excellent writing assignments as well, never mind the fantastic dinner conversation fodder!

A Couple Thoughts

This, perhaps more so than some of Henty’s other works, has a strong Christian emphasis. It would make an excellent outreach tool as well as a character study and adventurous listen.

The study guide has a Creationist perspective. So does the Bible. Isn’t it great when people stick to the Bible!

The study guide also seems to teach that baptism symbolizes the forgiveness of sins. We understand baptism as a means of grace, not just a symbol. That’s a pretty big deal to us.

Additional Thoughts for my Fellow Roadschoolers

This takes up practically no space and almost no internet connection apart from a few downloads if you want ’em. Seriously good travel listening for the whole family…not like that one annoying song your kids sing over and over and over or those certain audio kids books where the narrator uses a squeaky voice that burns your ears. Nothing like those!

This is one of those “just do it” purchases. Listening to it over and over doesn’t get old either…not ever. I want the whole collection and so do my minions…and my kids.

Here are some thoughts from other Schoolhouse Review Crew members:
Beric The Briton Heirloom Audio Productions Review

Connect!

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Writing With Sharon Watson: High School Nonfiction Writing Course Review

Disclaimer: We received The Power in Your Hands: Writing Nonfiction in High School, 2nd Edition, from Writing with Sharon Watson in exchange for this fair and unbiased review.

I know, I know, I KNOW! I’m the lady that raised and educated a freelance writer without using writing curricula and even had a magazine article published on that exact topic, and here I am reviewing yet another curriculum to teach your students how to write. It’s ironic, isn’t it?

Not really. First of all, I’m a professional writer with a BA in English, so I know what I like to see in quality writing. Second, I’ve raised writers, so I know what works (with them, anyway). Third, I’m tired, so why not rely on curriculum now and then, eh? (We just left the North Woods of Wisconsin on our travels, so I’m throwing “eh” in at the end of my sentences. It’ll fade.)

The program that my fifteen-year-old daughter, Elisabeth, and I are reviewing is called The Power in Your Hands: Writing Nonfiction in High School. Because high school homeschool purchases seem to carry more weight with parents than the grade school decisions, I’m going to leave my cheesy sense of humor behind and give you a straightforward look at what this program entails.

You’re welcome.

Writing with Sharon Watson Review

Features of The Power in Your Hands:

1. What does Mom or Dad need to do?

The lessons are student-directed. It is written to the student, so Elisabeth can do the lesson with minimal involvement from me. I do have the job of “grading” her or at least checking over her work. Relax. There is a teacher’s guide that explains the entire grading process so you know what you’re looking for and how to help your student improve.

Ms. Watson also includes grading grids or rubrics at the end of each chapter in the teacher’s guide so you know very specifically what to look for in each assignment. This is particularly helpful in the case where your child is working independently. For example, you don’t want to be tearing a paper apart based on something they haven’t learned yet.

2. Who is this for?

While it is advertised for high schoolers, it could potentially be used with a very advanced 7th-8th grader. It’s the other end I’m interested in. I see many, many adult writers (hello blogging world) that really aren’t and truly can’t. This would be a great resource for them, whether to polish up their skills (I’m doing a little polishing myself) or prep for college level essays.

It would also be ideal for the high schooler or college prep student who needs to write essays for scholarships or who doesn’t feel adequately prepared for the required writing in college.

The sections offer dual-level instruction to meet the needs of the beginner to the advanced.

3. What does the program teach?

Part 1

The student begins at the very beginning with the thinking and planning process, which writers know often takes more time than the writing itself. Ms. Watson then works through the structure of an essay and helps students get over common writing hurdles.

Part 2

The student then moves on to persuasive writing in many, many, many forms.

Part 3

The next section discusses proofreading. If I were a poet, I would expound in epic verse on the value of a solid proofreader and woefully lament the hours I spent in my college years editing papers that had obviously not been proofread before they reached me in the writing center. My eyes are still burning. Don’t skip this section! I’m begging.

Part 4

Part 4 teaches a variety of expository writing styles for all the common genres, such as newspaper, as well as the less common writing assignments which most curricula don’t touch, such as devotional writing and emails.

Part 5

Part 5 is the descriptive section, which is small. I’m glad it’s small, because so many other programs we’ve looked at beat that section to death, and that’s annoying. How many ways can you describe your dog before you want to take it out to the back 40 and shoot it–the writing book, not the dog. (You thought I meant the dog didn’t you. You also thought I was serious when I said I was going to leave my cheesy sense of humor behind.)

Part 6

This section address narration. A pet peeve of mine is what Ms. Watson calls Christianese, and here she cautions against it. That means when we get to this section, I get to drag out the red pen and go to town on all the Christianese…except Elisabeth doesn’t write that way, so my red pen will remain untouched.

That brings up another aspect of this program that I really like. Sharon Watson encourages parents to find something positive about each piece of writing, no matter how lame it may be. I’m completely opposed to empty flattery and rewards for merely showing up, but I’m a firm believer in praising the effort (if it was real effort) and applauding the improvement.

Part 7

Here the author gives the students an entire reference section of the many writer’s tools she has helped them build through this program. Similarly, she gives parents their own toolbox in the parent’s guide. This is definitely helpful and saves Elisabeth and me from flipping back and hunting things down.

4. Is this a Christian program?

Yes. You won’t be held under the baptismal water until you confess, though. It does use examples of Christian writing and also includes pieces on tough issues, such as embryonic stem cell research. She asks you to focus on the writing, and not on whether or not you agree with the essay.

Additional Thoughts for my Fellow Roadschoolers:

If you need a writing curriculum for your high schoolers, particularly if they need to hone their essay skills, this is it. While the teacher’s guide isn’t all that enormous, the student book is pretty thick–sorry. You could go digital on this and get the ebook version. I’m not big on ebooks–you can’t smell them. Maybe you like that, though.

There’s no need to worry about internet connections or data usage for this baby, so we’re all good there.

Personally, I think this program is worth the space it takes up. I really do. And from me, that says a lot.

There are several other aspects of this program that I really enjoy as a writer. I won’t go into them all here, but feel free to drop me a question in the comment section below or read what other Schoolhouse Reviewers have to say by clicking right here or on the banner below:
Writing with Sharon Watson Review

You could also follow Writing with Sharon Watson on social media. Jump aboard:

Social Media Links:
Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/WritingWithSharonWatson
Pinterest:  https://www.pinterest.com/writingwithshar

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An Online Art Course with a History Connection

Note: We received free access to ArtAchieve’s Entire Level II in exchange for this fair and honest review.

Homeschool parents often freak out about subjects they are unfamiliar with. Science and math are biggies, and for the non-linguistical, it’s English. Okay, I get that. But one of the biggest freak-outs is art. Art! I hear, “I’m not crafty. I can’t do art.” I hear it all the time, people!

Never fear, ArtAchieve is here!

Art Lessons for Children ArtAchieve Review

ArtAchieve is an online video course for homeschoolers or anyone else wanting to add some real art lessons to their lives.

Learning how to do art versus learning how to draw a picture:

I’m going to ramble a little about piano lessons, but there is a relevant point, so bear with me a moment. (I almost wrote bare with me, but all that bareness would be socially awkward. Narrow escape.)

I took piano lessons as a kid, which was great. Wanting to advance, I took piano lessons in college as well. All the teacher did was find out my current ability level and teach me how to play a stinkin’ song at that level! She just wanted me to sound good for the recital. No theory, no skills training, no ear training. Major boo teacher!

That’s what I was afraid ArtAchieve was going to be like. I thought the kids would learn how to draw one thing in each lesson–a cat, a horse, a bird–but not learn how to “do art.” I thought they would want the kids to look good on the fridge.

I was wrong. Oh, they learned how to draw a cat, a horse, a bird, but they learned art techniques in the process. Major hooray!

Back to piano lessons. One thing nobody likes about piano lessons is when you get one of those teachers who spends so much time on drills and skills that you don’t get to make music. Those are the kids that burn out. Major boo teachers.

Art teachers can have the same issue. Somehow (not sure how), the ArtAchieve program blends technique with creation–the kids learn art techniques as they are creating their masterpieces.

My second daughter, Marissa, is a self-taught artist with an art business, The Art of Marissa Renee. Recently she whipped out a picture of Lucille Ball and used some of the same techniques I witnessed her younger siblings learn from their ArtAchieve lessons. Imagine my delight to see they were learning real, workable techniques.

The Art of Marissa Renee Lucille Ball

Yup, some of the techniques 10-year-old Elijah used to make the dala horse below were the same techniques 17-year-old Marissa used to draw Lucille Ball above. Cool, eh? Totally.

You said something about history:

Yes, the students also learn a bit of history and culture connected to their project.

For example, my favorite project was the dala horse. Three of my youngsters (10, 7, and 4) drew the dala horse as a gift to send to their sister. They learned a little about the Scandinavian culture and the history of the dala.

When our travels took us to the home of a Swedish couple living in the northwoods of Wisconsin, we saw dala horses and other evidence of Swedish culture everywhere! And the kids were not ignorant of it. It was a joy to see them make that connection with that couple and their heritage.

Art Achieve

A personal note:

Something about the instructor really clicked with this boy above. He’s often rushed and focuses on just getting finished, but he really took his time on this project and made it his own. It doesn’t look like the instructor’s horse (which was not the goal). It is his own creation, and it’s charming, unique, and neat…as in tidy, but also neat as in grooooovy.

I was very happy with his efforts.

A note about age:

While we did this with my four-year-old, level II was a little tough for her. She definitely participated and did great, but she got it into her head that her pieces needed to look exactly like the instructor’s, which they didn’t–shocker. Still, she was happy with the end results.

A note about the freebies:

Please try out the free lessons! You will learn some important skills necessary for all art, such as line, shading, and perspective. We already studied these in depth, being an artistic family, and the lessons here are spot on with other things we studied–the benefit is that these are on video, so if you are not artistic, which I am not, you can rely on the teacher to demonstrate instead of trying to demonstrate it yourself with your own ineptness…speaking from personal experience. Go through the beginning lessons, including the Cheshire cat–you will know if this is for you.

Please try the freebies, and then share the freebie links with others as a thank you to ArtAchieve for offering the free lessons.

Additional thoughts for my fellow roadschoolers:

Internet

Blast it all, this course requires a decent internet connection to watch the videos. When we were touring Michigan, our internet connection rocked! Here in Wisconsin, our connection feels like we’re tapping into a rock. We’ve gotten almost all baddies here so far, which is why I can’t pull other project pictures down from the illusive Cloud to show y’all. Boo. Not boo like my college piano teacher, but boo like annoying.

This isn’t something I feel comfortable doing at, say, the libraries with their smokin’ connections, in case one of my kids decides to sign her name on the carpet in permanent marker. It happens. Test the freebies and see how your connection does.

Space

You will need art supplies to take these art classes. Duh. You can do a large number of them with supplies you probably already have on hand. If you advance to level III (that’s 3, not i-i-i), you will need more supplies. Check out the supply lists before you make a decision.

You don’t need a big fat teacher’s manual, so that’s a good thing, right? Of course right.

The end results look great plastered to your RV wall, but look even greater mailed from some random place throughout the country to grandparents and aunts and uncles. Am I right? You know it.

Hey, connect with these people:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Artachieve
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/artchieve  @artachieve
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/artachieve/
Google+: https://plus.google.com/+artachieve
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/johnahofland/

See what other members of the Review Crew think:

Art Lessons for Children ArtAchieve Review

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