crew review

See The Light Paper Jungle {Crew Review}

June 5, 2013 by Dana

See The Light: Drawing Children to Him is a video art curriculum like no other. See The Light makes Art easy, even for the most challenged artist. See The Light, truly brings Art to life.

See The Light is a Christian Art curriculum. It focuses on teaching the student art principles while also teaching them the to see the beauty of God’s creations. We chose to review See The Light Paper Jungle for this review. I chose this because I know my budding artist thoroughly enjoys working with paper in her artwork. Paper Jungle allowed her to do this, while learning new techniques to use on her own.

When this video program disk arrived in our mail box, I wasted no time handing it over to Emmalee. I knew she would get started right away and she wasted no time in rushing to the bedroom to watch this DVD on her PlayStation 2. It wasn’t long before she came running back to gather the necessary supplies to work on her project.

Paper Jungle requires the student to have various materials for completion: construction paper of a particular size in various colors, scrapbooking or similar paper, white glue or a heavy duty glue stick, scissors, a Sharpie marker, a pencil, a white eraser, leaves to study and a photo of a wild animal of the artists choosing. Through watching the video the project comes to life, along with learning about the specialties of God’s creation. Paper Jungle focuses upon the artistic styling of Henry Rousseau.

The video is broken down into four lessons, which a student would normally follow along with once a week or so for Art Class. My artist is not so patient and had viewed the entire video in one day! She also completed over 75% of her project on this first day. It took a few hours the next day for her to fine tune it to what she wanted her finished product to be.

Before the week was up, my artist had created several masterpieces. Over the review period, she watched our Paper Jungle lesson video as many times as possible until she basically has it memorized. It wasn’t long before she began pushing her brother and sister to watch it, too. She led lessons with them on how to do the things she had learned through See The Light Paper Jungle and before long we had a ton of Paper Jungle projects being posted around the house.

See The Light has quickly become a favorite around our house and we look forward to purchasing more of these wonderful videos to use at home. My artist already has her eye on See The Light’s Horsing Around, as horses are also a favorite of hers. At $14.99 a video, See The Light won’t break the budget and will bring Art fun home for any artist.

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Simplified Pantry {Crew Review}

May 30, 2013 by Dana

Simplified Pantry helps make homemaking easy! Mystie Winckler took her love of cooking and home organization and created a project that everyone can benefit from. Simplified Pantry is a way of life for Mystie and she has chosen to share her lifestyle with us through her website and available e-books.

Mystie began tweaking recipes and cooking from scratch when she realized her son had a mild allergy to corn. Since most products and recipes are corn-based, Mystie had to adapt recipes and create her own so that her son, along with the rest of her family, could eat good tasting foods without stirring up his allergy.

Recently, I discovered my own youngest son has an allergy to sweet potatoes, which means I also must tweak recipes and check labels to see that he doesn’t intake any food containing them. It’s not as easy as you’d think since many pre-made foods contain sweet potatoes. This could trigger a violent reaction in my child that I long to avoid, much like Mystie wished to avoid with her own son.

Mystie’s recipe books, Simplified Dinners and Simplified Dinners Gluten Free have helped me to be able to make this transition to sweet potato free recipes a little easier by showing me how to create simple and easy meals from scratch with easy to use ingredients. Through Simplified Dinners, I have been able to provide wholesome foods for my baby that I know I can trust.

Another bonus of Simplified Dinners is that they are quick and easy to prep and plan for. Her Master Pantry List covers everything imaginable that you could need to make even the most unexpected meal. Her ideals on meal planning keep you on track so you don’t have to wonder what’s for dinner tonight.

Each section of the book is broken down into a main ingredient type that you can adjust to your dinner tastes for the night. So say you take out chicken but have no idea what to make, you can take a look at your Simplified Dinners e-book and whip up a meal in no time! The meals are full of flavor and absolutely delicious. They are also adaptable to your families flavor preferences. The ease of Simplified Dinners is something that everyone can appreciate!

Simplified Dinners is amazing alone but it’s even better when paired with Mystie’s other e-book, Paperless Home Organization. Paperless Home Organization teaches you how to better utilize your digital products to manage your day to day life. Paperless Home Organization does away with the pen and paper method, allowing you to track everything you do with your computer, phone and/or tablet if you have one.

Paperless Home Organization teaches you how to use simple free programs and apps so that you can have all your necessary information at your fingertips at all times. She covers everything from email to note taking to using your calendar and contacts to organize your life efficiently without having a ton of paper to keep up with.

I followed the program as suggested by Paperless Home Organization and found it to be very helpful in many aspects but not directly as the program was written. I had to adapt this program to better fit me, utilizing the email program that I already use and also using my personal calendar already in use. I did and still love using Evernote with this program and find that it works wonderfully for me for keeping up with snippets online that I need. The program also helped me to really get motivated to keep up with appointments and scheduling better than I had before using it. It has also helped me to get better control of my multiple emails.

Simplified Dinners, Simplified Dinners Gluten Free and Paperless Home Organization are available from Simplified Pantry. Simplified Dinners and Simplified Dinners Gluten Free are both available as a PDF for $12.99. Paperless Home Organization is available as PDF or on Kindle for $3.99.

Scaredy Cat Reading System Level One {Crew Review}

May 24, 2013 by Dana

Over the years, I’ve heard a lot about Joyce Herzog and her amazing educational products. A dear friend began using the Scaredy Cat Reading System with her son this year and I thought to myself, “I wonder just how well it works”. I was excited to find that Mrs. Herzog was to be one of our review vendors with The Old Schoolhouse Magazine this year and my product choice was, of course, the Scaredy Cat Reading System.

I chose the Scaredy Cat Reading System Level One – Letter Names and Sounds for my review product simply because I wanted to start from the very beginning with it. This program is for both beginning and struggling readers, both of which I have at home. I can tell you, it works amazingly well for both types of readers.

The Scaredy Cat Reading System is fun and not overwhelming for the student or the parent to use. Lots of fun game activities keep the child intrigued and involved in their lessons, instead of allowing them to become bored and ready to quit. It honestly reminds me a lot of school work when I was a child, before children were required to sit at a desk for most of the day.

The Scaredy Cat Reading System Level One comes fully equipped with an extensive teacher’s manual which explains how the program works, what is needed for the program and it’s exercises/activities/lessons, and printables which can be reproduced for use with the lessons throughout the program. This guide prepares the teacher for what’s to come and gives a good start to being prepared to use the Scaredy Cat Reading System the best way possible.

The Scaredy Cat Reading System also introduces the Story of the Letter Master, which children must know to understand the purpose of the system. The Story of the Letter Master is introduced in Comic Book style to the readers. Included as a bonus is a CD with the story and other important level one songs.

Other things included with this program are the ABC Reader which is written in an easy form for children to absorb and understand. Letters are introduced in fun fonts and styles. Song lyrics are included in this reader for the student to follow along. Stories and bible verses are also provided for the little readers to see the words in print.

The student activity book for this program is HUGE. It’s jam-packed full of activities and lessons. Much like the reader, the activities come in differing fonts and styles to keep the student intrigued. Stories are kept simple for early readers and many lessons focus on letter introduction, allowing the student to really grasp each letter they are learning. Lessons are easy to teach and follow along with, allowing the student a firmer understanding of what they are learning throughout the program.

Additional things included with this program are Reversal Prevention Charts which come in a clear page protector for your use. Letter charts to cut out and use with your student. The games needed to complete the program and a game spinner for needed activities.

The Scaredy Cat Reading System is extensive and thorough. It doesn’t take long to put it together and put it in place in your educational programming. It’s a complete program and well-worth it’s investment at $75. Additional student books can be purchased for $30 each which is a steal considering the size of the book and the extensiveness of the program. Sample downloads are available on JoyceHerzog.com.

This is a program that we have enjoyed. I worked with both my struggling and my new reader on this, which they really enjoyed doing together. Several times a week, we’d pull out the reader and student book but what they really loved was the games we played. Even my advanced reader enjoyed joining in with us on those. This is something we will definitely be continuing to use in our homeschool.

To learn more about Joyce Herzog and her amazing educational tools and programs, please visit www.joyceherzog.com.

Science Naturally! {Crew Review}

May 22, 2013 by Dana

Science Naturally! provided the crew with their very awesome One Minute Mysteries: 65 MORE Short Mysteries You Solve With Science book, written by Eric and Natalie Yoder. This wonderful award winning book makes you think about science in a unique and fun way. One Minute Mysteries: 65 MORE Short Mysteries You Solve With Science is a book you’ll read again and again.

The stories throughout this book are short. Each page contains a totally different science mystery written for children in simple language that is easy to comprehend. One the front of each page, there is a mystery while on the back of each page the reader finds the answer. And the answer isn’t written in just a blah reply of science, but is presented in an intriguing and fun answer that leaves readers wanting to know more. Added bonus is that each mystery takes a minute or less to read even with the answer!

We used this book together and alone. I chose to read several entries just for fun during for science one day. It made a great read aloud and left the kids wanting to read and learn more. And each one did! My older daughter took the book to her room to read at bedtime where she often reads her favorite fact books. She also read it aloud to her brother and sister, asking questions about each one before moving on to discover the answers.

This fun book is one that will remain in our library. We will probably add other books from Science Naturally! because it does fit in so well with our laid-back eclectic and unschoolish educational style. It would be a great edition to any homeschool though, as it can be used as a read-aloud or as a chapter book for your students.

One Minute Mysteries: 65 MORE Short Mysteries You Solve With Science is available at Science Naturally! for $9.95 plus shipping. This is definitely one book you will want to add into your homeschool!

Papa’s Pearls {Crew Review}

May 13, 2013 by Dana

Papa’s Pearls: A Father’s Gift of Love and Wisdom To His Children and Grandchildren is a loving memoir of the life of Diane Flynn Keith’s father. Mrs. Keith shares the trials and triumphs taught to her throughout her life by her loving, hard-working father Carol Joseph Flynn. Papa’s Pearls shares Carol’s story.

Carol Joseph Flynn was born and raised during the time of the Great Depression. His mother named him for a King but growing up with a girl’s name in America didn’t have royal results. Immediately, Carol learned he had to be tough to make it in life with a name like Carol.

Papa’s Pearls shares how Carol lived, the wisdoms he learned along the way. He hide nothing from his children, sharing with them his experiences in a Boy’s Home, close call with prison and most importantly how he chose to turn everything around to become a better man and the loving father he was to them.

Papa’s Pearls is a wonderfully written memoir that would make a great gift to a troubled teenaged boy, a young man on his way to changing his troubled life or someone who can relate to the stories that Diane Flynn Keith shares of her father throughout the book. It’s also a wonderful read to discuss the time period of the Great Depression, how people lived and survived the era. It would be a great addition to any personal library.

I greatly enjoyed the humor and wit used throughout this book. The chapters were touching, providing great wisdom on everyday matters that can still be applied today. You can purchase an autographed copy of Papa’s Pearls: A Father’s Gift of Love and Wisdom to His Children and Grandchildren on the Papa’s Pearls website for $21.97. Papa’s Pearls, the blog is also full of stories, posts and inspiration much like that provided in the book itself.

LiteracySoft: Phonics and Reading with McGuffey {Crew Review}

May 8, 2013 by Dana

LiteracySoft is a quality company dedicated to developing easy-to-use, inexpensive programs to teach reading to people of all ages. LiteracySoft uses lessons from McGuffey Readers to teach their simple method and get readers reading. Whether through their app or on PC, LiteracySoft is fun for all.

For this review, we were given a free download of the LiteracySoft app to try. Phonics and Reading with McGuffey contains 52 complete lessons for reading. These 52 lessons work to bring the student up to a first grade reading level. It is also a great reading review tool for those struggling with reading at any age.

Phonics and Reading with McGuffey allows the student to work at his/her own pace without having an instructor telling them what they need to do. Taking away the instructor often takes the pressure out of learning to read and puts it into the hands of the child, allowing them to grasp important reading concepts as they work through the program on their own. And what better way is there to do that then with an all time, tried and true great like the McGuffey Reader!

In this app, the student will find all 52 McGuffey Primer lessons, 44 letter sounds of English and their graphemes, over 60 letter sound animations, more than 400 practice vocabulary words, and an over 9000 nonsense word audio dictionary.

After downloading the app, the user will find the unique ABC icon on their iPad page and can immediately begin after downloading is finished. Spoken directions tell the user what to do when beginning. Choose a color button and type your name to get started with this app.

On the next page, the user can then read the Table of Contents, change their settings or begin the lesson. Choosing the Table of Contents allows the user to choose from any of the 53 included lessons on the app. This allows the user to jump around and repeat lessons as needed.

In the User Settings section, the user can choose to skip phonics rules explanations, not to sound out words in a phonics blender, use an Open Dyslexic font, monochrome letters in words and sentences for easier viewing and hide the previous and next lesson arrows throughout the program.

Upon clicking Begin Lesson, there is a brief instructional showing the student how to use the app. At the top, the user can find a repeat button. Below that is a menu button. There is also a previous and next part button to click back or ahead in a lesson. The lessons, as mentioned before, follow those in the McGuffey Primer, so they are simple and easy to follow along with.

Cute actions graphics are included along with the lesson, which also goes along with the original primer lessons in style, only more up-to-date for this time period. As the student works through, the program sounds out the word, completing this with the complete word’s spoken name: cat = c a t (kuh aa tuh) = cat.

As lessons increase, so do the activities included. A jump menu appears to allow the student to work on different activities throughout that lesson. Some of these activities include workings specifically on Letter Sounds, new words, Phonics with flashcards, blending phonics, viewing the lesson’s illustrations closer, practice of reading, quizes, spelling practice and sight word drilling. Students working through can pick and choose the activities they’d like to complete as they work through each lesson.

This app quickly became a family favorite for us. My children’s reading skills and development has increased greatly just in the review period of a few short weeks. This program is something that will be added into our homeschooling for all our readers. The kids all agree it’s a lot of fun to complete lessons. It’s also great for my interactive, video-game learner who hates learning to read anything in a book.

We used this app for several weeks. I was able to create a profile for every one of my children and myself to play with this app. It was very easy to set up lessons for each of them to complete. This app was a little advanced still for my 5 year old but she is gradually growing into it. It was perfect for my struggling reader to work with and he has made a lot of improvement in a short time. My advanced reader also found the app enjoyable and used it to hone in on her personal reading skills and goals.

Phonics and Reading with McGuffey app is available in through the LiteracySoft website. There is a free trail of the first 10 lessons available and also available for trial on PC.