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Luv'N Lambert Life

Luv'N Lambert Life

A blog about living with Epilepsy, IBHS, Homeschooling and so much more

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Math

Math Meets The Real World {Crew Review}

March 14, 2018 by Dana

Mathematics is my least favorite subject.  I have one child that excels at Math and another who, like me, just doesn’t get it.  I am always looking for ways to make Math understandable and make relate to the real world for us, especially as homeschoolers.  For this review, we were given an online subscription to NatureGlo’s eScience MathArt Online 4-Class Bundle.  
The MathArt Online 4-Class Bundle contains the following courses:
Math Connections with the Real World: 6 Week Online Class
MathArt In Ancient Cultures: 6 Week Online Class
MathArt in the Art & Sciences: 6 Week Online Class
MathArt – Patterns in Nature: 6 Week Online Class
Each of these courses are separately awesome and, of course, we could not complete them all in the time allotted for this review.  You can buy each of these courses separately for $149 a course or you can buy the entire bundle of all four courses for $199 a month for three months or a one time fee of $546.40, which gives a 10% discount for your purchase.
Gloria Brooks founded NatureGlo’s eScience.  Her love of teaching brought her to sharing her courses online.  As a full-time RVer, Gloria travels often and shares her knowledge with students as much as she can.
This is a course that you can easily use as a family.  There are no limits on age or educational value.  Each course is different and well developed, with lapbooks, study guides, videos and more.  The courses are each broken down into several lessons.  Those lessons each have different activities to complete.  Games are also included.  Best of all, there are also fun craft activities to make learning real.
For this review, we worked on Math Connections with the Real World.  This course taught us the history of the Golden Ratio and the Fibonacci Numbers.  Can I be honest?  I briefly remember learning about these in school but I didn’t remember much past the words themselves.  As I said in the beginning, Math is not my thing.
In Mathematics, the ratio is Golden if their ratio is the same as the ratio to their sum to the larger of the two quantities.  Fibonacci Numbers are an integer sequence that increases as you add the last two numbers in the sequence.  At least that’s how I understood them.
None-the-less, my kids got it.  They learned a lot from this course and I’m glad.  It was awesome to see how Math relates to our world, to things we see everyday.  The videos discussed how everything has a pattern, everything in creation and without those patterns things in this world simply would not exist.  I look forward to learning more with the kids using the MathArt courses as we continue to learn.
MathArt Online 4-Class Bundle is for everyone.  You will greatly enjoy these classes.  We look forward to learning more.
You can find NatureGlo’s eScience online at:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/natureglo1/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/natureglo1  Tag: @natureglo1
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/nesschool/pins/
Google+: https://plus.google.com/u/2/110614921959731305213
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/1hasc

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MathArt Online 4-Class Bundle {NatureGlo's eScience Reviews}

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Filed Under: 2018, crew review, escience, Math, Math Connections with the Real World, natureglo escience, online learning, real world

No-Nonsense Algebra {Crew Review}

August 8, 2017 by Dana

Have you been looking for a great way to teach Algebra to your student?  Maybe you’ve been searching for a great Algebra review to prepare for the SAT or the ACT?  Math Essentials No-Nonsense Algebra is a wonderful product for both purposes!
I chose this review for two reasons:  I needed a good Algebra review book for myself to prepare to teach my older children more about Algebra and I needed a great book about Algebra to teach my children!  I was not disappointed at all in this choice.  It’s met every purpose that I was looking for.
This text is made for one student but I was able to make it work for our needs by using good, old fashioned notebook paper like the public school does with their textbooks.  I had my students and myself, read through the text and write out their equations on paper.  And ohhhh, how I forgot about SCRAP PAPER for math equations!!  Scrap Paper is a definite must for Algebra by all students, in my opinion.
This is a simply formatted and straightforward book.  There’s no fluff or fun.  It jumps into learning and is serious stuff.  You begin with Adding Integers.  There’s a great little number line that helps you learn this concept.  The lesson covers the How-To, then shows examples of the work being taught.  This is followed up by exercises to complete what the student is learning before moving onto the next step.  Lessons are short but as a bonus there are free online video lessons included with the course book.
This book makes a great review for you as the parent to use for teaching students Algebra as well.  I took Algebra 1 and 2 in High School but honestly I cannot tell you much about my lessons.  So this book was an awesome refresher course for me to help prepare me for teaching the kids these same math concepts and skills.  It was also great to see that I haven’t forgotten as much as I though I had.
Now for the kids:  I was able to put them to work with this course book right away.  The video lessons really helped them learn without me having to put in a lot of effort.  They sometimes learn better from a different instructor anyways and this was the case with this course.  Then they took what they learned between the video instruction and information in the lesson to figure out the answers to the questions for each lesson as we worked through.  Of course, this is a full-length Algebra textbook so we are still working our way through.  I’m slightly ahead of the kids on these lessons but we’re both learning so much from the course together.
The book is 10 chapters of Algebra and 280 pages in length.  It can easily be carried along with you for schooling on the go.  It’s a great review for students preparing for the SAT/ACT and other tests as well.  It’s a great review for parents preparing to teach students Algebra.  And of course it’s a great course for new Algebra students.
No-Nonsense Algebra is available from Math Essentials for the low price of $28.95.  Y’all this is an amazingly LOW price for a coursebook of this type!  And it can be used for so much too!  It’s a great deal you don’t want to miss out on!
Find Math Essentials On Facebook:
 https://www.facebook.com/math.essentials/
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No-Nonsense Algebra {Math Essentials Reviews}

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Filed Under: 2017, algebra, crew review, high school, Math, math essentials, middle school, no-nonsense algebra

Math Mammoth: Light Blue Series for Grade 1 {Crew Review}

March 1, 2017 by Dana

As a homeschooling Mom, I am always looking for products which are easy to use with my children but are also thorough for their education.  We were introduced to Math Mammoth years ago through the Homeschool Review Crew.  So when this vendor came up for the year, I knew I wanted to do this review.
What We Chose for Review:
I chose the Math Mammoth Light Blue Series for Grade 1 for our review.  This was the perfect grade level to use with Laycie.  We’ve been working on Math concepts in her homeschooling but I felt she was ready for something a bit more structured and I wanted to cover a few things she still gets mixed up about like money and time.  This grade level provided just the right mix of things for us to work through.
What We Received for Review:

For this review, we received the digital download version of Math Mammoth Light Blue Series for Grade 1.  This was a downloadable link which gave us access to all the files we needed to use this curriculum.  This series is a full curriculum, containing a full set of concepts for the grade level.  Once these files are downloaded you are able to immediately get started.
To begin, you can locate the User Guide file which explains what you need to do to use the curriculum.  This document shares the basic principles for using Math Mammoth then goes on to explain how to use it, how to set the pace for the curriculum, how to use the tests that come with this curriculum and so much more.  There’s also review of the curriculum included and a worksheet maker for extra practice in learning.
Lessons in this curriculum are designed to be used over a span of several days with your student.  Each lesson contains several pages to help your student thoroughly learn the concept being taught.  These lessons are very easy for the parent/teacher to teach the child and help them complete.  In fact, there is no teacher’s guide for the lessons.  You and your student just work through the course.  And yet, these lessons are still challenging enough for the student to learn from.  
Math Mammoth Light Blue Series for Grade 1 contained two worktexts for our lessons: 1-A and 1-B.  1-A was for the first semester of learning and 1-B for the second.  There are also answer keys provided in a separate file.  Tests are also provided but these are completely optional for your use.  They could instead be used as review but there are also review lessons included with the curriculum for you to use.  Editable versions are also included.
The chapter on Money is included in a separate file as well and can be used for different grade levels.  This chapter covers different currancies from different places around the world.  Tests are provided for this chapter as well.
How We Used This Product:

This was a pretty simple product for us to use in our lessons.  I was already looking for Laycie a program for Math and we’ve had such a great experience with Math Mammoth in the past that I knew this would be a great fit for her.  The lessons don’t require a lot of time which doesn’t overwhelm her with her ADHD.  The worksheets keep the concepts simple and the instructions are easy for us both to follow.
Laycie worked on these pages daily for the most part.  There were a few days we missed due to life but overall she worked straight through them.  She enjoyed some of the online games that were included as suggestions to complete and practice throughout the lessons.
Mostly we just enjoyed the simpleness of the program.  The clean lines of the worksheets and the designs of the objects and animals used to represent the math problems kept her from feeling overwhelmed, yet there was enough color to keep it interesting for her.  It fit very well with our laid back, eclectic, delayed academics approach to learning.
Where You Can Buy This Product:

You can buy Math Mammoth Light Blue Series for Grade 1 for $37.50 for the Full Grade Set as a digital download.  You can buy just Worktext Part 1-A or Worktext Part 1-B for $18.75 each.  You can also purchase this product on CD for $42.50.  Printed copies are also available in various places mentioned on the Math Mammoth Website.
Math Mammoth offers other grade levels as well for all grade levels.  The Light Blue Series offers curriculum for grade levels 1-7.  A placement test is also available for help in choosing the right level for your student.
Don’t forget to check out the other Math Mammoth products available as well!
Where Else Can You Find This Vendor:

Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/MathMammoth
Google+ – https://plus.google.com/+mathmammoth
YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/mathmammoth

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Affordable Quality Math {Math Mammoth Reviews}


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Filed Under: 2017, crew review, grade 1, homeschool math, individual math units, Math, Math Mammoth

IXL {Crew Review}

November 12, 2014 by Dana

IXL is one of our favorite websites to use for homeschooling.  IXL offers IXL Math and IXL Language Arts to it’s users.  This program is an educational supplement to be used as extra practice, not as a stand-alone curriculum.
We have been using IXL for years now and this is one vendor we are always excited to see on the Crew Vendor List.  Our membership to IXL has been such a blessing in our homeschooling.  My children enjoy using the website and learning with it.
My children that use IXL are ages 6, 11, and 13.  Each uses IXL at their own pace and can review the lessons they are learning as needed through the program since it is just simple, yet thorough, practice for them.  IXL provides a wonderful place to learn that they truly enjoy.
IXL isn’t a cutesy website.  This website is clean and to the point in lesson style. You won’t find a lot of distraction or over the top imaging on this site but you will find a great deal of learning that is intriguing and fun for your children.
Lesson answers are often multiple choice, making selections easy to make and understand.  Some lessons are easier to answer and complete than others, just as in a textbook.  How quickly and easily your child can use this website will depend on how well your child learns and your child’s maturity level in following directions educationally.
IXL Math covers all grade levels.  Lessons are provided by Letter from Level-A through Level-N.  Most lessons have over 200 skills to be taught through the program. Level-A begins with number concepts and understanding numbers, while Level-N teaches equations of cosign functions and graphing complex numbers.  You will find everything Math covered in IXL Math.
IXL Language Arts begins at Level D and takes you through Level-J skills.  This program begins around a 3rd-4th grade level for students.  IXL does plan to add more to this program over time and have been slowly working on that goal.  IXL Language Arts covers things like identifying plurals, correcting capitalization errors, how modifiers are used, using parallel structure and so much more.
Parents can try out the lessons as well to see what the student will cover.  Simply click the lesson and it will start.  This is a great way to know if this concept is the right one for your child.
Students don’t have to work on a certain grade level through this program either.  You can choose any level at any time and cover that concept or practice.  This is great for independent learners.  It also allows you to adapt the program to any curriculum you are learning through already.
A membership to IXL is available through their website.  A monthly membership for IXL Math or IXL Language Arts cost $9.95 a month.  A yearly membership for IXL Math or IXL Language Arts costs $79 a year.  A combined membership for both IXL Math and IXL Language Arts costs $129.  You may have multiple students use this program and it is designed for students in grades K-12.  There is an additional cost for multiple students of $2 monthly or $20 yearly.
There are also apps available for using this program on a tablet or other digital device.

You can find IXL in the following places online:
https://www.facebook.com/IXL
https://twitter.com/IXLLearning
https://plus.google.com/+IXL
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Filed Under: 2014, crew review, educational supplement, homeschool, IXL, language arts, language arts supplement, learning at home, Math, math supplement, online curriculum, online learning, reading supplement

UberSmart Math Facts {Crew Review}

August 26, 2014 by Dana

For this review, we were gifted a full download with lifetime license code for UberSmart Math Facts from UberSmart Software.  This program was wonderful.  It’s a great way to teach or review Math Facts for any age.
UberSmart Math Facts can be used with people of any age but is specifically designed to be used with students in Kindergarten through 6th grade.  It’s a downloadable software program that can be used with eight or more students.  The software requirements are for Windows 7, Windows 8, XP or Vista only.  The cost for UberSmart Math Facts is only $24.95.  That’s a steal for such a wonderful program to teach your student Math Facts!
The kids liked UberSmart Math Facts a lot.  All three of my school-aged students were able to easily use this program.  They simply logged on and began to work through the Math Facts on their own.
If you aren’t sure what a Math Fact is, they are your simple addition, subtraction, multiplication and division problems that you probably learned in Early Elementary school.  1+1, 1-1, 1×1, and 1/1 are all Math Facts – place in any number you wish to create a Math Fact problem.  Math Facts are important to build a strong Mathematical foundation before heading into higher Math programs.
UberSmart makes teaching Math Facts easy through their many program options.  Your student can practice and learn Math Facts by selecting the Learn tab in the program.  They can then choose to learn with Dots (like those found on Dominoes game pieces) either with or without Numbers or learn with only numbers for the problems they are learning to complete.  The Dots show the amount for each number making it a bit easier for younger students.  This also gives the student visual reminders for the numbers amount, teaching one-to-one correspondence in Math.
After “learning” the Math Facts, students can then Practice their Math Facts by clicking on the second tab in the program which is labeled “Practice”.  Students are then given several Facts to answer in order to practice what they’ve learned.  Math Facts for addition and subtraction go up to the 9’s.  Math Facts for multiplication and division have the option of going to the 9’s or going to the 20’s.  The choice is yours and your students.
There is also a “test” for UberSmart Math Facts.  This can be found by clicking the third tab appropriately named “Test”.  This test is nice for the parents/teacher and student to see if the student is really learning their Math Facts and where they may need review.
The fourth tab for UberSmart Math Facts is a tab called “Compete”.  This allows the user to compete to test their skills against others.  This would be a great option for those who wish to test their child’s skills.  I don’t personally care for this option since we try to avoid competitions in our home but my Emma did enjoy testing her knowledge by using it – she is my competitive child when it comes to learning.
The fifth tab for the program is the Report tab.  This is where the teacher/parent or even the student can check in to see how they are doing with their learning.  It shows the tests, the passed levels of practice and basics of what the student has completed.  It’s a nice option to be able to see where your student may or may not need help.
The last tab is the Maintain tab.  This is where you set up your students and passwords.  You can also find program updates in this section and input your license for the program as necessary.  It’s basically the game settings area for the program.
That pretty much sums up UberSmart Math Facts.  We used this program on and off through the review period.  All three of my school-age children have accounts created and each was easily able to log onto the program.  They worked at Math for varied periods of time and enjoyed using it.  It was a lot like using flashcards, only interactively.  My son loved the program because it wasn’t overwhelming and it wasn’t too fast.  There also wasn’t a lot of reading involved for him to do.
UberSmart Math Facts would be great for public school students who need extra math practice, as well as Homeschool students who may need the same.  It would be a great program to use for early Math learning of Math Facts as well.  We certainly will be continuing to use this program in the future.
To read more reviews of UberSmart Software and how the rest of the Schoolhouse Review Crew used UberSmart Math Facts, please click on the banner below!

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Filed Under: 2014, addition, crew review, division, early math, Elementary Math, homeschooling, inexpensive math, learning math, Math, Math Facts, multiplication, practice, subtraction, UberSmart Math Facts, UberSmart Software

Learning Wrap-Ups {Crew Review}

June 11, 2014 by Dana

The first time I saw a Learning Wrap-Ups product was several years ago when we began homeschooling.  Our local homeschool used-bookstore had a multiplication set for sale.  A few months later, I was offered a set of Learning Palette’s as well at a homeschool used-booksale. I admit, I turned both of these products down at the time due to lack of extra funds for them but I never forgot the products or how fun they appeared to be.
So when this review became available, I was thrilled.  I had regretted passing up those two products many years before and wished several times over the years that I had made the investments because I had heard such good things about the Learning Wrap-Ups company.  As you’ve probably guessed, because of that I jumped at reviewing Learning Wrap-Ups and we received the following products for this review:
  • Kindergarten Math Learning Palette 1 Base Center Kit – $61.99
  • Kindergarten Reading 1 Base Center Kit – $61.99
  • Learning Wrap-Up Math Intro Kit w/o CD’s – $44.99
  • Learning Wrap-Up Vocabulary Intro Kit – $35.99
  • 10 Days to Multiplication Mastery Wrap-Up and Book combo – $12.99
  • 10 Steps to Addition Mastery Wrap-Up and Book combo – $12.99
  • LearningPalette.com Online Subscription – $59.99 for 5 users: use discount code HOMESCHOOL for a 20% discount!
I also have to say, that even though I knew this product was amazing, and even though I knew we’d be receiving a package full of fun things to do, I never expected to be gifted so much through this review.  This has truly been a blessing for our homeschooling and our home alike.  We’ve greatly enjoyed using Learning Wrap-Ups over the past few weeks and there has been something for everyone from this one box filled with goodies!
For the review, I was able to select which products I wanted.  I chose the items that I listed above because I felt they best fit our families’ needs.  Laycie is in Kindergarten right now and the Learning Palettes were a great way to introduce concepts for her age level without being overwhelming and still keeping it fun.  The Wrap-Ups were perfect for my older children as well, some for review and some for new learning activities during our day to day lessons.
The Kindergarten Math Learning Palette 1 Base Center Kit comes in it’s own plastic carrier so that all the products within stay contained easily in one place.  Inside the bag is a Learning Palette board with different colored plastic circle disks which are used for self-correction as you use the Learning Palette.  There are also five different boxes inside, each containing 12 cards with 12 challenges to complete for learning about various math skills.  The topics cover Matching and Early Numbers, Numbers, Coins and Fractions, Intro to Algebra, Intro to Geometry and Measurement, and Intro to Data.
There are a total of 60 curriculum cards with a total of 720 questions in all.  Each of these cards meet the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics Standards.  They are also Common Core and State Standard correlated.
As mentioned above, these tasks are self-correcting.  With help, children read through the card and make their answer by choosing a disk color that coincides to the correct answer.  Once all the disks are in place on the Learning Palette, the student turns the card over to see if they were right or not by checking if the colors match up.  This can be repeated again and again as needed.  As we answered questions, we would read through the wrong answers to see why they were not right and what the correct answer was.  It was a very easy process for us to work through.
The Kindergarten Reading 1 Base Center Kit is the same as the math but instead it covers Reading as a subject.  The same self-correcting method with colored disks is used.  The subjects covered with this Learning Palette are Alphabet, Beginning Consonants, Rhyming Words, Beginning Vocabulary, and Vowels.   There are also 60 cards with 720 questions covering Reading in this set of the Learning Palette.  Other grade levels are also available for these kits.
Laycie absolutely loved the Learning Palette kits and could not wait to use them every day.  Even today she asks to use them repeatedly and hasn’t tired of learning with them.  I allowed her to do a few a day, helping her as needed and showing her the corrections when she was done.  She is able to open her Palette cover, put in a card and answer the questions mostly on her own, then put it all away when finished.  Very little help is now needed by me for her to do this.  It’s been great to give her a bit of educational freedom as well.
Our Learning Wrap-Up kits are pretty awesome as well.  Both Laycie and her older siblings have enjoyed these.  Some have been great review, while others have been great learning for them.
The Learning Wrap-Up Math Intro Kit didn’t come with CD’s but we are totally ok with that because it was just as great without them.  It does come with a Wrap-Up for Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication, Division, and Fractions.  Each Wrap-Up is a different color and they are super easy to use.
Wrap-Ups are plastic and have numbers on the front with a start arrow to let you know where to begin.  They have a string attached and when you use them you start the string at that arrow.  Then you wrap the answers you are working with, wrapping the string around the Wrap-Up which you are working on.  These are also self-correcting so when you have the Wrap-Up done, you can check the back to see if you had the correct answers or not.  They can be used over and over and are great both for learning and review of math facts.
The Learning Wrap-Up Math Intro Kit was a favorite of Winston’s.  He loves Math and anything to do with Math.  He spent hours going over and over the Wrap-Ups simply reviewing facts and he really enjoyed doing that – he still does it today.
The Learning Wrap-Up Vocabulary Intro Kit works the same way as the Math kit.  The student places the string at start and wraps to the correct answers.  These are also self-correcting and can be reused multiple times.  The Vocabulary kit covers synonyms, homonyms, compound words, and antonyms used in vocabulary.
Emma absolutely loved these!  A bonus was that words she didn’t know, she quickly learned to read and spell by using these Wrap-Ups!  They were right up her learning alley!
Additionally to the Learning Palettes and the Learning Wrap-Ups kits, we received 10 Steps to Addition Mastery and 10 Days to Multiplication Mastery.  Each of these workbooks are 62 pages in length.  They contain many varied activities in relation to Math concepts.  They are black in white print with adorable designs throughout to keep Math interesting for the young users who are working through them.  They are not reproducible and each student should have their own workbook for completion.  I used them with all three students by having each student choose a page to complete separately.  Laycie did more of the additon pages, while Winston and Emmalee completed more of the Multiplication workbook.  They agreed the work was fun but still somewhat challenging for them.
We were also given the opportunity to use LearningPalette.com!  We were gifted with a year’s subscription for up to five users.  This site covers all levels of the Reading and Math Palettes.  It is simple and fun to use, just like the Learning Palettes themselves.  Simply follow the instructions to log in, click the Learning Palette you wish to learn with, and complete the answers right on the website.  This is also a self-correcting format, helping children to achieve success in learning.
I am so thankful for the chance to review this product and the joy it has brought into our home and our homeschooling.  The kids really don’t feel like they are doing school by using Learning Wrap-Ups but instead feel like they are simply playing while learning and nothing makes me happier than that!  Learning Wrap-Ups is a wonderful investment for all families, whether in Public school or Homeschooling like we are!

You can find Learning Wrap-Ups in the following places online:

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

Twitter: https://twitter.com/2010Facts

To read more reviews of Learning Wrap-Ups, please click on the banner below!

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Filed Under: 2014, addition, crew review, division, educational, Fractions, Learning Palettes, Learning Wrap-Ups, Math, multiplication, reading, subtraction, Wrap-ups

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