TOS Crew Review - PG Key

PG Key is an internet security device designed to assist parents in assuring that their children are safe while online. As opposed to other internet monitoring services, which often require a monthly fee, for PG Key, you pay $49.99 once, and you receive a USB plug-in that you can use for any number of users on your computer!

I'll admit, I was a little unsure about the PG Key before trying it. First, I am not technologically savvy, so I was nervous about whether or not I'd be able to set it up easily and figure out how to use it correctly. Second, my computer is "ancient" in the computer world (over 8 years old!) and doesn't have the "get-up-and-go" that it used to, and I was worried about how having a USB key plugged in all the time would affect it.

Thankfully, none of my concerns were a problem. The PG Key was super easy to install - I just plugged it into my USB port, and it took care of the downloading. I had to register it with a password and restart my computer, and ta-da! It worked instantly. What a relief! It also hasn't been a drain on my system at all - the computer has been running the same as ever, which is another huge relief.

Some features included with PG Key include limiting time access for each user, restricting which websites can be accessed, restricting words that can be used in searches, a Safe Search engine, as well as being able to go back and view the activity on the computer, almost like a movie! (Too see all of the features offered through PG Key, be sure to check out their Features page on their website!)

I really liked several of these features, and others I thought could use improvement, so I'll touch on each.

My favorite aspects of the PG Key were:

• Being able to restrict which websites are accessed. This could be done in two ways - specific websites can be blocked, OR the settings can be set so that only specific websites can be accessed. So if I were to set one of the children up with one of their online learning websites, to ensure that they don't accidentally "click" and wind up somewhere else, I can establish the settings to only allow access to that one online learning website. If another website is attempted to be accessed, a blank screen opens letting the user know the website has been restricted. If I had older children who had more free reign on the internet, but I didn't want them to be wasting time on social networks or computer games, the feature that allows you to block certain websites would come in quite handy!


• The time limit feature is another one I appreciate a lot - not just for the children, but for myself, as well! I've mentioned before that sometimes the internet can be a time vortex for me, and establishing a time limit for myself is a good thing! When the time limit for a user is reached, a pop-up window opens letting the user know their time is up. There's an option to enter in the PG Key password to adjust the time limit, or to switch users, but if none of those things are chosen, the user can no longer use the computer until the next day.


• My favorite is the "replay" feature, which is basically a recording of ALL activity on the computer in a day - no matter which user is logged in. For example, if your child accesses chat or networking sites, it is easy to go back and view all content of chats or messages sent or received, even private messages. Not only is this feature good for safety monitoring, but it is also an excellent feature for homeschooling parents whose children do alot of online or computer work. It helps the parent to go back and make sure the child stayed on task, or view areas of their work they may have had trouble in. I can also see this feature being helpful for adults - if a person has had trouble with temptation online in the past, having this monitoring system in place can help hold them accountable to an accountability partner if needed.
  


• Since this is a USB device, my first question was, "Can't the child just remove it to eliminate the safety restrictions?" But one of the cool things about PG Key is that if a protected user removes the Key from the USB port... the computer won't work. Plain and simple. Brilliant!
  

The few aspects that I felt needed improvement were:

• The "restricted search" feature - it requires you to enter in words/phrases that are not allowed to be searched for. Honestly, I have no idea what words (other than the basic, obvious ones) that kids might use to search for inappropriate material, so I think it would be difficult to list out each individual word/phrase that should be restricted.


• Not being able to assign different levels of accessibility to different users. You can choose which users are monitored and which are not, but if the user is monitored, it has the same across-the-board settings as all of the other monitored users, there's no way to be specific about it. For example, if I wanted Joel (5) to be able to use the computer to play one of his online reading games, I could establish a restriction that only allowed access to that one game site, to avoid accidental opening of other windows. However, under Isaac's (9) user, he would have the same restriction, which is pointless. So I'd either have to broaden Joel's restrictions to include things Isaac needed access to, or let Isaac use the computer unmonitored, which defeats the purpose on both ends, in my opinion.

All in all, I was pleasantly surprised by the PG Key. Honestly, we have never used an internet safety device, because, frankly, my kids just don't use the computer without me nearby. However, I know that as they get older, this will be changing to fit their schooling needs, so it is good to know that there is an effective, affordable security system available that will help me in protecting my children! I appreciated this quote from their website, and felt it really summed up well the purpose of PG Key:

Strong and effective parenting is the most critical part of any strategy to deal with these challenges. They have designed PG Key to be the all in one technical product for this purpose.

Simply plugging PG Key into a child’s or teen’s computer allows parents to follow the advice so often given by law enforcement and parenting experts: 1) Control when and how long the computer is used, 2) Properly setup your system with filters and web site blocking, 3) Create the “over their shoulder” environment that encourages kids to act the same way “on line” as they do in every other part of their life.

Simply put - PG Key does NOT replace parenting with technology - It ENABLES parenting with technology.

PG Key is so easy to install, that any Parent or Grandparent, – no matter how “technically challenged” can plug it in, and within a few seconds have everything they need to apply their parenting skills and strategies, to their kid’s “online” world.

Be sure to check out what other members of the TOS Crew thought about PG Key by checking out the TOS Homeschool Crew Blog!

Disclaimer: I was given this product specifically for the purpose of reviewing here on my blog as a member of TOS Homeschool Crew. I received no other compensation in regards to this review.

TOS Crew Review - BrillKids Little Reader

Brill Kids Little Reader is a program designed to teach young children (ages 6 months - 3 years) how to read. There is a Basic ($149) as well as a Deluxe ($360) version - this review is for the downloadable Basic version. Here is a chart outlining the main differences between the two versions.

The program is composed of two lessons a day, and each lesson takes less than 5 minutes each. First, words are flashed on the screen while a word is spoken - similar as if you were to use flashcards. (When I say the word is spoken outloud, I mean a voice on the program says it). Then, there is a mutli-sensory portion, during which a word is flashed on the screen, spoken outloud, and then a corresponding picture or short video clip is shown, with more audio (for example, when "cow" is shown, the picture is of a cow and the audio is of a cow mooing). The final part of the lesson is pictures flashed while the word is spoken outloud.

A neat feature to this program is the "personalize" feature. Unfortunately, because my computer is ancient and already rather slow, I did not take advantage of this option. However, this feature allows the user to upload their own photos for the words in the lessons - for example, for the word "smile", the parent can upload a picture of their smile, so their child has an extra association and connection with the word. You can also choose specific words to be taught.

According to the developer of Little Reader, this sequence of repetition, the timing of the intervals between words and pictures, as well as the variety of words, pictures, video, audio, and voices used, all help a baby or young child to quickly learn word associations, effectively "reading" over time.

My thoughts on it? Well, I only had 5 weeks to try it before reviewing, and needless to say, Judah (18 months) is not reading in only 5 short weeks. The program is designed to be a year-long program, so perhaps after more time I would have seen something that resembled reading. I did find doing the lessons to be very easy - they were short enough to fit in anytime during our day when I had a few minutes to spare, and the kept Judah's attention well.

Beyond just keeping his attention, Judah loved, loved, loved his "reading time". He would see me starting it up, climb into my lap, and clap and jabber away with excitement waiting for it to load. Then when it started, he would squeal with delight! He very quickly caught onto repeating the words, and could easily identify the picture by saying the word or doing the motion described.

Interestingly, for the first 9 Lessons, the words were from the same group. In Lesson number 10, a brand new group of words were introduced, and Judah reacted immediately - when he heard the new words, he looked concerned, and after hearing several new words, he said "Uh-oh!" when each new word was said! So even though he wasn't recognizing written words, he definitely had an association of words he knew with the program - and once those changed, he noticed! But after several lessons of the new word group, he was comfortable again.

I give credit to Little Reader to helping expand Judah's vocabulary at this young age. I believe the multi-sensory portion of the lessons helped a lot in that area - for example, he had seen pictures of pigs before, but once "pig" was on this program, followed by the sound of a pig snorting, and a video of a pig in the mud, what a pig was suddenly "clicked" with him and now points them out in books. The same can be said with many other words, such as "frog", "point", "laugh" and "drink". He isn't reading them, but connections were definitely made in his brain and he is saying and acting/pointing them out with much more comprehension than before.

Want to give it a try? You can sign up for a FREE 14-day trial to see what you think! You can also download free teaching tools, such as activity sheets, flashcards, and powerpoint presentations to use with your baby or child. Also be sure to check out what other members of the TOS Crew thought by going to the TOS Homeschool Crew Blog!

Disclaimer: I was given this product specifically for the purpose of reviewing here on my blog as a member of TOS Homeschool Crew. I received no other compensation in regards to this review.

TOS Crew Review - Read, Write and Type

Read, Write, and Type is a typing instruction program from Talking Fingers. It is uniquely designed to not only teach typing skills, but also teach or reinforce reading and spelling skills as well! It is best suited for children ages 6-9.



It is very straightforward - the keys to be used are clearly taught, the hand positioning is discussed and demonstrated in the graphics, and the letter sound is repeated throughout each lesson. For example, instead of teaching the letter "f" by its name, it was taught by using the "ffff" sound - reinforcing phonics! One of the games also has the student typing a letter when a picture beginning what that sound is shown, but if a different beginning sound word is shown, the student presses the space bar - more phonics reinforcement. These types of games are what make up the lesson, so there is definitely strong phonics instruction, achieving the goal of teaching typing, reading, and spelling. Brilliant!

There are plenty of options for a child to practice each skill that is taught in the lessons, and it is easy for the parent to check the child's progress as they move through the program. Another helpful feature is that parents can set the difficulty level for each individual child - requiring a certain percentage of correct skills before the child can move on to the next lesson. For my older boys, I set this at 80% (meaning, they had to get at least 80% correct to continue) and for Joel I left it at the pre-set 70%. None of them had any difficult meeting their required scores, and I attribute their success to the efficiency of the program!

My three oldest children (ages 9.5, 8, and 5.5) used this program. The two oldest improved rapidly in their typing skills, while Joel, my 5.5 year old, progressed a little more slowly as he is still learning reading as well. They all enjoyed using the program very much - in fact, every day they would make sure to remind me it was time for typing! Each lesson took less than 10 minutes, which is really convenient when there several children clamoring for their turn at typing!

The one difficulty Joel encountered was with the accents of the "hands" that teach the program. Sometimes he didn't understand what they were saying. However, when instructions to a game were given or corrections were made, there is a different, clearer voice used, so he was able to understand that one more easily.

The online version (which is the one we reviewed) is $35 for one user, and $55 for two. At registration, each child gets their own login information, which is super convenient so that the program can be accessed from any computer at any time. The CD version is $79 and includes an activity book, laminated keyboard for practice away from the computer, and stickers. An additional bonus to the CD version is that it can be used by any number of children repeatedly, which can make it cheaper than the online version if you have a larger family.

If you'd like to get a more in-depth look at the program, be sure to check out the Sample Lessons available on the Talking Fingers website! Your child can try out the first 8 lessons for free, which gives you a great idea of whether or not the program will meet your needs. You can also find FAQs, other testimonials, a product tour and research information about the program on the main Read, Write, and Type web page. Be sure to check out what other Crew Members thought at the TOS Homeschool Crew Blog!

Disclaimer: I was given this product specifically for the purpose of reviewing here on my blog as a member of TOS Homeschool Crew. I received no other compensation in regards to this review.

Two Minutes

Do you have two minutes of time to spare to watch some extreme cuteness in action? I caught Judah dancing while eating a snack the other day and couldn't resist the video opportunity! I especially love the 20 second mark when he starts his "interpretive" portion, and then at the end when big brother Isaac joins in!

As always, please forgive the background chatter - in a house with 7 people in it, it is rarely quiet ;-)

To see more of Judah's mad skills, check out this post or this post! We definitely have a music lover on our hands! :-D

Treasures of September

From Breathing Grace, a Life in Bloom:

• Blurring the Lines Between Religion and Politics - I don't post very often about politics, but that doesn't mean I don't have an opinion ;-) I just never feel quite versed enough to express myself as well as others, such as Terry, does.
• A Complaint-Free Day
• The All-Encompassing Beauty of Motherhood
• Save the Males, Part 1
  

From Miscellaneous Musings of a 5x Mom:

• What is Biblical Homeschooling?
  
• What is Biblical Homeschooling? Part 2 - Teaching God's Word

Love is the Answer at Raising Olives

From ...to Love, Honor and Vacuum:

• Getting My Eyes Off of the Prize
• Don't Let Media Steal Your Children
  

Homeschooling with Littles at At the Well

Exposing the Lies at LAF/Beautiful Womanhood

Pride and Humility at A Family Revised

A Very Important Word on Parenting Books, etc. at Inspired to Action

Real, Lasting Rest at Desiring God Blog

When to Call it a Day at The Pioneer Woman - oh, I've had these moments, yes indeed!

Why African Babies Don't Cry at Blacktating - In the movie "Babies", I thought it was very interesting that the happiest baby was the one in Africa, which also happened to be the one whose mother was with her constantly, and was free to breastfeed whenever she wanted. I agree wholeheartedly with the point of this post - if the baby's crying - nurse it! It makes no difference if the baby's just been fed, and it certainly won't spoil the baby - breastfeeding is God's perfect design, not only for food, but comfort, as well!

What I Learned from Survivor Man at Around Here... - Tonya makes some good points regarding struggling with discontentment and apathy!

Worms and a Can Opener at Yarn Harlot - this is a MUST READ!

Large Family Dynamics - A Look Inside at A Wise Woman Builds Her Home

[Tell Me] A True Thing at A Path Made Straight

Patriarchy, Meet Matriarchy at Homeschool World

The Disease of Perfection at Single Dad Laughing (some mature issues are discussed)

How to Raise Boys that Read at The Wall Street Journal - very, very true!

forgiveness...beginnings at Christa Wells