Review of Write with World

Like many homeschoolers, writing is a difficult subject for me to teach.  I am a freelance writer and have always loved writing (and considered myself proficient at it), but it is sometimes hard to teach writing systematically.  Too many programs focus on creative writing almost exclusively.  In my experience, most children write creatively with no instruction at all.  I feel very strongly that the focus of a writing program should be academic writing - writing that will prepare a child for college and life beyond.  After all, if you can write well, odds are that you'll have an advantage over many others.  I was very happy, then, (DISCLAIMER!) to receive free in exchange for my honest review Write with World (year one) , the new writing program from the publishers of God's World News and World Magazine.

Write with World is a two year writing program for middle school students designed to teach them how to communicate effectively in the context of a Christian world view.  The student book (sample here) is divided into 16 lessons fit into 4 units.  The teacher book has the full content of the student book, along with teaching tips and extra information.  If you are not supremely confident of your ability to teach writing, the teacher book really is quite an asset. It explains the objectives and methodology for every exercise.  It enables you to understand why you are teaching your child what you are teaching her.

The exercises in Write with World are relatively short and wonderfully varied.  My favorite aspect of this program is the fact that all of the writing exercises are relevant (no creative writing just for the sake of creative writing.  It's not that I think creative writing is unimportant - quite the contrary.  Academic writing programs should be academic, though).  Students are asked to analyze ads, interpret magazine covers, and describe themselves - all in the first two weeks! Every single exercise meets the criteria of begin able to answer in the affirmative when your child asks you, "will I ever use this in real life?" And that's the genius of this program.  Your middle schooler will learn to write in ways that count.

My 10 year-old daughter loves to write.  She is always writing *something*.  She does all of her history as written narrations, and through that process, she has learned much about the technicalities of grammar and writing.  She has not, however, had a formal writing curriculum to this point.  Write with World came to us at just the right time.  Because the assignments are short but very interesting, T can't wait to do writing.  I have never had to ask her to do an assignment more than one time.  She loves this program and, really, that's the best endorsement I can give it.  For a better understanding of what is covered in the program, see the Table of Contents.

Write with World is available from God's World News for $95 per year (includes teacher manual with online access and student book), or $165 for both years together.  This is the writing curriculum for us.  To see other opinions, visit the Crew blog.

Disclaimer: As a member of the TOS Crew, I received this product, at no cost to me, in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are mine.

Review of TruthQuest History Guides

Awhile back I discovered TruthQuest History Guides and I was very pleasantly surprised! I was thrilled, then, when (Disclaimer here!) I was given free TruthQuest's guide "Age of Revolution III: America/Europe 1865-2000" free in exchange for my honest review.

TruthQuest History Guides are more than just a list of sources, although they certainly are that! Actually, these guides do what I think most homeschooling moms would do if they had the time (but who does?): they narrow the field.  Perhaps it's because I have a degree in history.  Maybe it's because of my Type A personality.  When it comes to teaching history, I want to teach it ALL! How can you study the Civil War without hashing out every battle, meeting all of the generals, studying the effect of the war on civilians, etc? Heck, my study of the Civil War could well take more than a year.  For most of us, though, it is not realistic to spend that much time on one little part of history.  Most students will not get the chance to study any one part of history that in-depth until college.  For these years at home, though, it is more important to give our children a wonderful overview of history (I'll admit my bias in focusing on Western Civilization, but it is good to touch on the East as well).  TruthQuest History Guides allow you to do just that.

Each TruthQuest guide is hundreds of pages long.  Each section is preceded by an introduction which narrows the focus and sets the scene.  Then, in outline form, the topics for study are presented, each with a list of resources.  The resource list is composed of core texts (almost always living books), related fiction, and topic specific books.  It is stated vehemently that the books are suggestions and that one should not attempt to read everything! Best of all, you can choose which topics to study and which to skip.  In my daughter's case, we spent a couple of weeks on Queen Victoria, but less than a day on Disraeli and the Crimean War.  There were enough resources, though, that we could easily have devoted an entire week to Disraeli! There is just so much flexibility!

Everyone will use a TruthQuest guide differently, but in my case this is what I did. First, I downloaded the PDF format of the guide to my iPad and imported it into a program that will allow me to write on the PDF.  I then pulled up my library website to see which books were immediately available versus which could be ordered, noting all of the call numbers directly on the PDF.  Then, when I went to the library, the only thing I had to take with me was my iPad.  After I had the first couple of weeks' (according to my projections) books in hand, I sat down with my daughter to lesson plan.  Then, she knew what books to read on which days, and what her assignments would be.

The TruthQuest guides do not have assignments, per se. Instead they serve as broad outlines of periods in history with every outline bullet containing great books to read (along with grade level recommendations, making them perfect for large families).  Periodically throughout the book there are "ThinkWrites" - prompts for writing assignments.  They are nice to have, but the curriculum is great without them.

TruthQuest is known for its Christian orientation, but I think these guides would be just as useful for secular homeschoolers.  There are plenty of book choices for different worldviews.  As a Catholic, our focus (and our take on some periods in history - like the Reformation) sometimes differs from Protestants.  For instance, Protestants tend to study missionaries while Catholics often study Saints (many of whom were missionaries!).  Protestants, Catholics, and non-religious homeschoolers can all use TruthQuest equally successfully.  As a Catholic, it is very valuable to me to be able to say that.

We are loving using Age of Revolutions III.  In fact, at the same time, I started using American History for Young Students II with my younger children (yes, you absolutely can use one guide for all ages - I was just already doing American History with my younger kids).  I have already purchased additional TruthQuest guides for next year.  Even if all you use them for is the book lists, organized very specifically by topic, you will get your money's worth.  If you use them for the full history curriculum they are, you'll be getting a huge bargain.

TruthQuest Guides are available for the following areas:

You can view samples here.  The guides are available from TruthQuest for $24.95 - $34.95 for the printed book or $19.95-$24.95 for the PDF version.

We love TruthQuest! For other opinions, see the Crew blog!

Disclaimer: As a member of the TOS Crew, I received this product, at no cost to me, in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are mine.

Review of Amazing Animals by Design

In February, I received a free copy of the ebook version of Amazing Animals by Design by fellow Crewmate Debra Haagen in exchange for my review.  This book aims to fill a gap that Debra noticed when teaching her own children about creation and intelligent design.  When she couldn't find a satisfactory explanation for why and how animals are the way they are, she wrote the book on it!

The book follows two children on their journey through a zoo.  The children learn the answers to such intriguing questions as why elephants have trunks and why zebras have stripes.  While I knew the answers to these questions, I did not know why a caracal (the animal pictured below) could jump up twelve feet in the air backward! Sorry, I can't tell you! You'll have to read the book for the answer to that question!

The premise of the book, told through a 24 page storybook, is that God created each animal in a special way so that it could do what it needed to do to survive - a theory often called Intelligent Design.  The pictures are beautiful and the story is sweet.  For very young children whose parents want a concise explanation of animals and their design, this book is a good place to start.

While my children liked the book, I think at 7,8, and 10 they were too old for it.  Also, because I teach my children evolution, the answers to the questions were a bit simplistic.  A word about my view on Creation: I absolutely believe that God created the universe and everything in it.  I also believe, though, that it is beyond the capacity of our human minds to understand how God accomplished his creation.  Whether it took a gradual 4.6 billion years, or a literal seven days does not matter: the important thing is that God created all of it.  I am completely aware that many Protestant denominations firmly believe in a young Earth.  The Catholic Church, however, does not speak specifically on a young or old Earth.  All Catholics are required only to believe that which I stated above - that God created all.  I actually think that evolution is further evidence of God's amazing majesty.

So, even though the book was too young for my children, that doesn't mean that it wouldn't be a wonderful jumping-off point for other families who want or need to have the Intelligent Design conversation with their children.  It really is a charming story!

Amazing Animals by Design is available in ebook form for $7.99 or as a paperback for $8.99.  You can join Debra's FB page for the book here.  You can purchase the book here.  This is just my humble opinion...for others, visit the Crew blog.

Review of I See Sam

All of my kids are decent readers, so I was a little skeptical when I set out to review Academic Success for All's Little Books.  I wasn't really sure that they would help my kids.  However, after taking the assessment, it was clear that these books were perfect for Michael (7).  Although Michael reads beginning chapter books, he does not read with confidence and, I've found out, he sometimes skips over words he doesn't want to bother sounding out.

This reading program is a set of 141 color-coded books. There are up to 27 books in each of 8 sets.  The sets range from a reading level of K-3.6 and are correlated to the No Child Left Behind standards.  The Scope and Sequence of the books can be seen here.  We received the books for levels 1.3-1.6 and 1.6-2.0

As I had initially suspected, these books were pretty easy for Michael to read, but I trusted the assessment.  To get help finding out what level your children might need, contact the company here.

There are several reasons I really like these books.  First of all, there are assessments built into each level of books.  For instance, in the yellow set, there are assessments in books 6, 11, 16, and 21.  In this one set, your child learns 109 new regular words and 15 sight words.  The books are very simply presented with black and white drawings and not too many words on each page written in a very clear font.  They are designed to make your child feel successful reading.  One book can be completed in a very short time (depending on the level), and your child then has the satisfaction of being able to say that he read a whole book.  New skills are then reinforced in succeeding books.  The best way to see how these Little Books work is to view the demo, found here.

Each set of Little Books retails for $30 and can be purchased here.  Remember that for that price, you will receive up to 27 books (the number of books is dependent on the level; see the website for details).

The Little Books really opened my eyes about my son's reading level.  After completing sets 3&4, he is reading more confidently and, more importantly, I know how to continue helping him with new words.  We really liked "I See Sam." For more opinions, see the Crew Blog.

Disclaimer: I received these books free in exchange for my review.  The product was complimentary, but the opinion is all mine.

Review of Action Alert Software

Last year, I had the pleasure of reviewing the PG Key.  This nifty little device plugged into a USB port on your computer and acted as a filter on what your kids could see.  This year, the same company has introduced Action Alert, a concept similar to the PG Key, but one that goes that extra step.  Action Alert sends real time alerts on computer activity to your cell phone or computer.  You can see in an instant what your kids have been up to online.  Even more impressive is their screen shot function.  You can set the interval for screen shots to be taken (as often as every few seconds!), and then you can review your child's activity on the computer -- exactly has he performed it!

Action Alert changes your home page to the Action Alert safe browsing page for kids.  It has news links of interest to kids and promises safe browsing.  From there, Action Alert is always monitoring your child's activity online.  When it sends you an alert (which is customizable for multiple users) that "X just wrote "s*x" on the computer", it gives you the opportunity to shut down the computer remotely from the device you're reading the alert on.

Action Alert comes preloaded with thousands of websites it already blocks, but parents can add websites as they desire.  I will admit that I had some trouble figuring out how to customize Action Alert, but their in-depth FAQ offers walk throughs.  Customer service is also very willing to help!

I think that Action Alert offers a great product, but I don't think it is right for our family.  Because my children do all of their computer work in the living room with me there, it is not likely that they will access something I don't want them to see.  Further, the start up page is unnecessary, as I always get my kids started and navigate them to the place online that they need to be.  For parents with older children, though, I can definitely see the screen shot feature coming in very handy!

Action Alert is available in two options:

The free version is completely find for users like me, but other users (like those with multiple children who are online) would probably benefit more from the Maximum Protection version.

Although Action Alert was not right for our family, that doesn't mean that it doesn't have a lot to offer yours.  Read the Crew Blog for other opinions.

Review of Progeny Press Literature Guids

As a homeschooling mom who was public schooled, I sometimes experience conflict about what I did in school versus what I have my children do.  I have no desire to replicate the public school experience at home (although I received a superior education), but there were things about my education that I feel my children are missing.  Specifically, I learned to write well from reading books and then answering comprehension questions about them.  Thanks to what I now call after-schooling, my father used literature and these questions as a jumping off point to teach me to write essays.  I learned how to analyze literature by writing.

My daughter reads voraciously, just like I did at her age.  Because of that, I have never emphasized answering questions and analyzing literature as much as I would have if she struggled with reading (which actually kind of sounds like a backward approach now that I think about it.  However, now that she is in middle school, it has become important to me that she knows how to read and properly analyze literature.  Making this decision is only one step of the process, though.  The next step is choosing the curriculum for the purpose.  While I could write the questions and/or book units myself, I would rather not expend the effort!  Fortunately, I do not have to. Progeny Press has done it for me.

Progeny Press has offered amazing literature units for many years, but their new interactive pdf guides are amazing.  With these guides, your student can type directly on the pdf and then print it out.  Also, more than one child in your family can use the same guide without having to make additional copies.  Each one just saves the guide under his own name.  To see an example of how the interactive guides work, navigate here.

In exchange for my review, I received two of Progeny Press' interactive guides free.  We used Pride and Prejudice in our homeschool.

Each of Progeny Press' study guides is assembled in essentially the same way: a synopsis of the book, a summary of the author's life, and chapter questions.  Each group of chapters has vocabulary (matching a word to its definition and using the word in an original sentence) and questions.  The questions are not merely "What does Elizabeth Bennett say when Mr. Darcy is rude to her?" or the like. Instead, the questions ask the reader to consider everything from irony to foreshadowing (explanations accompany the questions), finding examples in the text, and asking what certain statements or events in the book reveal about a character? The questions lead a student to a deeper understanding and appreciation of the text.  Finally, at the end of the guide there are multiple essay question options (eight for Pride and Prejudice) for parents to assign to their students, followed by related books of interest and (in the case of Pride and Prejudice) a list of movie adaptations.

I can't say enough good things about these study guides.  I loved them when they were just bound editions of literature studies.  My daughter did not.  There was a lot of writing for her to do, and given that she is younger in years than in reading/comprehension ability, the writing really was onerous for her.  The interactive pdf version of the guide changes everything.  Now, instead of having to hand write everything, all she has to do is type in the fields provided.  She and I are both thrilled! Of course, the thing that really sets Progeny Press apart is its Christian emphasis.  Biblical references are always included, and students are asked to analyze the literature in light of Christian values.  I actually think that a secular homeschooler could use these guides quite happily, just by eliminating the Christian questions.  Christians, of course, will love how any literature is made relevant to their life in Christ.

Progeny Press offers over 100 literature guides, for ages ranging from 5-18 and up.  The entire catalog of titles can be seen here.  The guides range in price from $10.99-$27.99, with CD and print versions running a couple of dollars more expensive than pdf downloads.  One thing that should be noted is that the emailed pdfs are not an automatic download.  They are processed manually and emailed usually a day later.  Progeny Press does charge a $3.00 processing fee for the email downloads, however, the charge is the same whether you order one guide or ten at a given time.  Therefore, if you want more than one guide, make sure to order them at the same time!

My house is definitely a Progeny Press house.  To see other opinions, view the Crew blog.

Review of The Art of Argument

Thanks to the Crew, we already use Classical Academic Press' Latin for Children and Greek for Children, so I was thrilled when a friend of mine (who teaches at a Christian, classical school) told me that the CAP also had a logic program.  I consider it very much a God thing, then, when I was selected to review the same program she was raving about! The Art of Argument is the first book in CAP's logic series.  This book (which has a wonderful teachers' manual available for separate purchase) introduces students in grades 7 and up to the 28 logical fallacies.  Through the use of full-page ad examples, students learn very quickly to identify these fallacies for themselves.  The fallacies are introduced both through an explanation in the text and through a dialogue between Socrates, Tiffany, and Nate.  As the teacher, I always read the part of Socrates, while my daughter is Tiffany.  When Nate joins in the conversation, my son obligingly joins in.

Like all of CAP's materials, The Art of Argument is directed toward students and is almost compulsively readable.  Had I let her, my daughter would have read the whole book in one day.  It was only because I wanted to give her the opportunity to fully marinate in the fallacies that I have insisted that we stretch it out to a more appropriate course length!  Each chapter closes with a few simple questions for students to answer.

The teachers' manual includes the entire student manual, as well as a *lot* more supplementary information.  Even if you've taught logic or taken logic before, you will undoubtedly find much to aid your teaching in this manual.  I have a minor in philosophy, and I was thrilled with all of the information in the teachers' manual.  However, if you are on a budget, the student manual is a complete course unto itself.

CAP also has available for separate purchase, a DVD set of discussions of each of the individual 28 fallacies studied.  While I previewed the first DVD and found it helpful, it is definitely not essential for this course.  If you like a full package curriculum, though (with teachers' manual, student book, and DVD set), then this course is ideal for you! Also, because students do not have to write in the book (separate notebook paper works fine for the questions at the end of the chapters), you will be able to reuse it with multiple children.

I am so thrilled to have been exposed to Classical Academic Press.  Now that we are using their materials for three classes, I already know that when we study Spanish, this will be our go-to company.  The customer service is wonderful, the materials are excellent, and everything is so user friendly! The Art of Argument is available on their website for the following prices:

• Student book (sample here) - $21.95
• Teachers' manual - $24.95
• DVD set - $54.95

We loved The Art of Argument! To see other opinions, visit the Crew blog!