Amazing Animals By Design

We have had the pleasure of reviewing a sweet, informative book, Amazing Animals by Design, by Debra Haagen.   Even better --- Debra is a fellow crew mate on the TOS Review Crew!   I'm always impressed when a fellow homeschool mom accomplishes something like this.  

This book explains Intelligent Design to children in a simple and interesting way.   Two friends take a trip to the zoo and through this trip they learn about various animals and how they have been designed especially by God.

  

I received the .pdf version of the story and it was easily downloaded to the iPad.  We very much enjoyed sitting together reading it one morning.   We learned some interesting facts we had not known before. 

The illustrations are well done, with each 2 page spread focusing on one animal and its special characteristics. 


  


It is well suited for children Pre-K - Third Grade.  It is just over 20 pages and can be read in about 10 minutes... just enough time to pack some valuable information into a squirmy little one!


It can be purchased as an ebook .(pdf file) for $7.99 or a paperback for $8.99. 




You can also visit the author's blog to learn more about this book, as well. 

Click here to see what other members of the TOS review crew thought about the book!   

* I received this product via The TOS Review Crew in exchange for my honest opinion.  No other compensation was received.

Web Based Learning

We recently had the opportunity to review K5 Learning.  


K5 is a web based program which includes four reading and math programs:


K5 Reading:  This program covers phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary, sight words, and reading comprehension.


K5 Spelling:  This is a customized spelling program  (our personal favorite of the whole K5 online experience!) with over a 150,000 word database.


K5 Math:  The math program covers all math concepts in depth (number operation, geometry, time and money, measurement, algebra and data analysis.


K5 Math Facts:  This is an adaptive program that moves students forward after MASTERY of their addition, subtraction, multiplication and/or division facts. The visual for facts mastered is very helpful.  

My children tried each one of the areas.   Their favorite (by far) was the spelling.  I could set the level I wanted each child to work at - and then they were given words to spell. After 50 correct words they earned a reward video.   


I felt that the graphics and voices were all well done.  My children did not feel "baby-ed" and were not bored while using K5.  
   

While we are not huge online schoolers, I did appreciate the fact that K5 took my children through basics of their "Skill level" not their "Grade level"  and promoted drill and mastery.   If you would be looking for something that relieves a lot of the planning and time burden on your part then I would highly recommend K5.    

We have reviewed similar programs in the past, but K5 has been my favorite.   


The Break-Down:



You can sign up for a free 14 day trial of K5 learning.  I appreciate the fact that K5 doesn't require any payment information from you for this trial.


With this free trial you receive a free reading and math assessment for each of your children - to me this is worth it... just to get a read on where you child falls. I know as homeschoolers we aren't concerned so much about "testing", but I like to get an idea of how my children is doing in core subject areas. 

A monthly subscription  is $25 for the first child and $15 for each additional child.  An annual subscription is $199 for the first child and $129 for each additional child.  To subscribe, click here.  

Through K5 Learning's home page you can also view sample lesson and find out much more! 


To read more reviews, please visit the review crew blog.  

Disclaimer:I received the above named product from TOS Crew in return for my honest review. I have not been compensated in any other form. 

They've Been Having Fun Reading!

Every now and then I have a review that is truly WONDERFUL.   Reading eggs has been just that.    I will admit I was skeptical at first.  My children already KNOW how to read.  They both read very well.

Reading eggs (and Reading Eggspress), however, is for those learning to read, and for those who LOVE to read.   We have thoroughly enjoyed Reading eggs; it has been a valuable addition to our homeschool for the past few weeks. 

Reading eggs is an online reading program broken into two different parts:

Reading eggs:  This portion is for children preschool-7 years of age (those not reading or pre-reading).  It focuses on introductory activities for reading that are fun.   Since my children are not in this age range we did not use this portion.  If it is anything like the section we were using, however, it was well done, clever, engaging, and motivating.  

Reading Eggspress:   This section is for older children (all the way through middle grades) with hundreds of reading activities and games.   My children LOVED this, so I wanted to share more about it with you.

The whole program consists of a floating island, where there are four different areas to choose from:   The Gym, Stadium, Library and Apartment/Mall.  

The very first thing your child does is complete a reading assessment.   A comprehension/word usage test is given and then their reading level is assigned for all of the games and activities.   I watched my seven and ten year olds take the test, and it pegged their reading levels perfectly. This question was one of the first questions on the test (they get progressively more difficult):

Once the reading level has been determined, your child is free to play  learn!  


In the Library there were activities that dealt with (obviously) books.   Children are asked to make inferences from looking at a cover of a book in COVER STORY, they practice dictionary skills in DICTIONARY, and determine CAUSE AND EFFECT.     


My daughter was learning about a book "Hitler's Daughter" - which sounded so interesting to her we ordered it for her Kindle!  


The Gym offered activities to literally exercise their minds.  One of the games I watched my children play was a memory game which they LOVED.   As my little guy put it, "I get more eggs for doing stuff, so I'm going to play a lot!"


{The "eggs" can be used to purchase things in the apartment/mall.}


Here's the gym:  

 
In the Stadium, students have a chance to compete against the computer or against or other students.   Spelling, grammar, and other questions are completed in a race against others.    This was also a favorite in my house. 


Finally, the Apartment and Mall is the place all the kids want to be.  This where you can customize your avatar , buy things with "eggs", visit the Trophy Room, get Trading Cards, and lots more!  


The biggest thing I appreciated about Reading Eggspress was that it was comprehensive.  In just a short review period I witnessed my children learning about the following:

synonyms/antonyms

grammar usage

comprehension

punctuation

spelling

memorization

inference

dictionary skills

genre

.... and much more!

Pricing:

Reading eggs/Eggspress is available for $75/year.   It can also be purchased for 6 months ($49.95) or monthly ($9.95).  See more details on their pricing page.    

Book packs can also be purchased.   The books were of particular interest to my daughter.  It seems to me we could make an entire reading curriculum from this one resource.  

You can sign up for a 14 day trial.  I would highly recommend this.  I think you might just be sold.  There is also a lot more information on this page.  

Any questions you might have are quickly answered by customer service.  I had a question about my daughter's account and my email was answered within the hour.  

*  I don't often purchase items we have reviewed, simply because we have used them and then we've had enough.  I'm strongly considering, however, purchasing this program because my children loved it so much and were learning a huge amount each time they sat at the computer.  

It is also something that frees me up to do other things... which is always good if a mom isn't feeling well or just needs to fold the laundry!!   For $75/year it might just be a good investment.  

To find out more, visit the TOS Crew review blog to see what my crew mates thought.

Disclaimer:I received the above named product from TOS Crew in return for my honest review. I have not been compensated in any other form.