TOS Crew Review - Memoria Press First Start Reading and Classical Phonics

Memoria Press is a company that produces Classical-style curriculum for Christian homeschoolers and private schools. Their program for teaching children to read encompasses two products - First Start Reading, and Classical Phonics. Both can actually be used independently of each other, but work wonderfully when paired together.

First Start Reading includes 3 student workbooks and one Teacher's Manual.  The Teacher's Manual walks the instructor step-by-step through each lesson, giving a script of what to say, as well as helpful hints to encourage the students.  It is written to a classroom environment, but is easy to adapt to a one-on-one homeschool instruction situation.  The student workbooks focus on learning new phonics sounds and then learning how to blend those sounds with earlier learned sounds - in fact, by the 5 Lesson, the student is reading their first simple sentence!  The workbooks include handwriting practice for each sound, word, and sentence, helping to make the curriculum mutli-sensory - hearing, seeing, and writing the letters.  There is also a space in each lesson for the student to color pictures and draw their own pictures, incorporating the material taught in the lesson.

Here are some sample pages of the Workbook:

• Lesson 1, Book A
• Lesson 3, Book B

Classical Phonics is a handbook of phonetically organized word lists (that coincide with the order of sounds and words taught in First Start Reading), which can be used to help a student practice the new sounds and words they've been learning, or to test them on what they already know.  Below are some sample pages (you can click to enlarge the images):

I used First Start Reading and Classical Phonics with my 4.5 year old, Nathan.  While I felt the method of teaching was good (teaching several phonics then moving into words that use those phonics), for us, the workbook required a little too much writing coordination for my little boy.  He got frustrated by his lack of ability to write well, and was not overly interested in coloring or drawing pictures.  All of these things I find typical for a boy his age, at least in my house, so I don't know that those things would be a struggle for an older beginning reader, or perhaps a girl.   I didn't see this as a negative against the curriculum, just more of something that made it not quite the right fit for us.  Overall, I thought the quality of the program was very good, and would recommend it to those who have young early readers who enjoy handwriting and drawing! 

The Classical Phonics book was a helpful, non-workbook way to reinforce what we worked on in First Start Reading, and could easily be used on it's own to teach basic phonics and reading. However, it is not scripted like the First Start Reading Teacher's Manual, which doesn't intimidate me, as I've taught reading a few times by now, but if you happen to be one who wants some guidance as to what or how to teach, I'd recommend First Start Reading.  But, if, like us, you have a student who is hesitant to do a lot of writing, and you feel confident teaching early reading without a script, Classical Phonics is a great tool!  I feel both programs together give the perfect blend of styles and reinforcement.

First Start Reading is priced at $29.95 (that includes the Teacher's Manual and all 3 Workbooks), and Classical Phonics is $14.95.  Both are included with Memoria Press' Classical Kindergarten Curriculum, as well.

Be sure to see what my fellow Crew Mates thought of First Start Reading, Classical Phonics, and other Memoria Press materials, 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 the TOS Homeschool Crew. I received no other compensation in regards to this review.

TOS Crew Review - Say Anything

Say Anything is a fun family game from North Star Games, who also make the game Wits and Wagers (which I had the enjoyment of being able to review last year).  It is for 2-6 players, ages 8 and up, although my 6 year old was able to play easily, as well.  (It is helpful for all players to know how to read and write.)  It's a game that not only tests how well you know each other, but also can reveal things you might not have known about each other!

What's in the box:

• 60 question cards, with 360 topics
• Wipe-off answer boards and makers for each player
• Wipe-off scorecard
• 12 tokens (2 per player)
• Spinner (officially called the "Select-O-Matic 6000")

The question cards all start with "In My Opinion..." and then has three scenarios on each side of the card that the reader can choose from.  The youngest player starts first, and reads one of the scenarios.  For example, it might say, "In my opinion, this is my favorite rainy day activity...".  The rest of the players have to write on their answer cards what they think the reader would finish the sentence with.  When each player finishes, they place their answer card into the middle, face up.  Once all of the players have finished, the reader then (without showing anyone) selects the answer they like best on the spinner and places the spinner face down, so that the other players can't see what's been chosen.  Then, each player places a token or two on the answer(s) they think the reader picked.  Once all the tokens are placed, the reader shows their answer on the spinner, and points are awarded based on the amount of tokens on the answer.

That might sound a tad bit complicated written out like that, but it's actually really, really easy to figure out and get the game going.  Not only is it really, really easy, but it's really fun, too!  It's a challenge to try to figure out what might get the reader's votes and always interesting to see what they've picked! (Hint - since I play with all boys, I always write down something having to do with Legos, Star Wars, or bodily functions - those get chosen a lot!)  The game tends to go by pretty quickly, which is nice for a quick afternoon pick-me-up, and we just play double or triple rounds for family game night.

Because the questions are all based on personal opinion, as well as the wipe-off answer boards, this game is virtually reusable forever!  It's a different game each time, which means it never gets old.  Young and old alike can enjoy playing Say Anything.  All of these factors add up to make Say Anything an awesome family game!  Another two thumbs up for North Star Games from our house!

Say Anything is available at different retailers, both online and in stores, and the price is averages about $20 or so.  Well worth it for an enjoyable family game!  Be sure to find out what other Crew Members thought by visiting 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 the TOS Homeschool Crew. I received no other compensation in regards to this review.

Wordless Wednesday - Peas

Seven Quick Takes - Volume 12

*tap, tap tap* Is this thing on?  Is anyone out there?  I know my blog has been super quiet lately (did you hear crickets chirping?)!  Real life flies by at the speed of... well, life! I've been going along for the ride, with little time to take care of things like blogging!  For a quick recap of the past few weeks for us, here's my Quick Takes!

We celebrated Michael's 33rd birthday last week!  He took the day off of work and we went up to the mountains to play disc golf (what else?!).  The course up there was very challenging (disc golf in the mountains, what else could be expected?) but we had a great time as a family, enjoying the beautiful fall weather and each other's company!  Here's the birthday boy man and his boys!

Notice anything different about Isaac in the picture above?  Here's another picture for a closer look:

For a little while, he had been complaining about road signs and various other long-distance things being fuzzy... finally it got to the point where I thought I should probably take him in to get his eyes checked.  Sure enough, he's got his mama's eyes and needed some glasses.  Thankfully, it's not nearly as bad as my eyes, and we're hoping it stays that way!  He loves his new glasses - for one, because he can actually see again (go figure!) and two, several of his friends have glasses, so it's the "in" thing in his crowd.  I'm really happy that he's happy about them!

We've made an official upgrade!  We've enjoyed our wonderfully steady and reliable Suburban for 6 years, but with Rachel joining our family, we had officially maxed it out.  We all fit, but there was no room at all for anyone else, which got tricky at times.  After a few months of casual looking around, we came across a 15-Passenger van that met all of our criteria, and was in our price range!  And it's a pretty fun color, too!

I'm doing something that I swore up and down I'd never do.  No, it's nothing all that terribly exciting, but it has made a big difference - I'm running at night!  Instead of trying to beat Miss Rachel's wake-up time and getting up at insane hours in the morning, I've found it's so much easier to wait until everyone is in bed to hop on the treadmill.  I've always thought it would be way too difficult, because I'm really *not* a night person, but I'm finding it alot more enjoyable, since I don't feel a huge pressure to RUSH or stress about possibly being interrupted.  I had slacked off for about a month, but with some external motivation (training to do a 5K with friends!) and this new adjustment, I'm getting back into a good routine.  And getting to sleep in a little later!

Speaking of Miss Rachel and her sleeping... something has happened to my wonderfully content sleeper!  From the time she was about 6 weeks old, she had been sleeping like a dream - waking only once or twice, often sleeping 10-12 hours straight.  Such joy!  Right around the 6 month mark, though, something changed.  Call it teething (she did get her two bottom ones in), or milestone development (she is crawling everywhere and pulling up on everything!) or separation anxiety, or... whatever it is, it's amounting to NO sleep.  Naps are a struggle, and nighttime sleep goes well for the first few hours, and then she wakes up to nurse and wants to stay awake and hang out.  For an hour or two.  Or three.  In the middle of the night.  Um... that's not working for me!  This has been happening several nights a week for a while, and I'm a little tired (to say the least), and praying we get over this little hitch soon!

Remember that review and giveaway I did for the digital scrapbooking software, MyMemories Suite?  Well, it's become a slight addiction for me.  I think I do at least one page a day, or work on a page, anyway.  I seriously love it!  Besides just really fun scrapbook pages - like this one:

 

I've also realized what neat decorations and gifts I can make!  This has been my latest project - making name pages for each child to go on their doors.  It's been fun to consider each one's personality and tastes while doing it.  Here they are - click to enlarge if you want to see them bigger!

Take a close look at Joel's - we had a compromise we had to work out over it.  He wanted a monster on the page, and I wanted the grasshopper (Michael calls him "Cricket" so a grasshopper was a close fit)... and we both won.  Can you see his monster?  :-)

Anyway, my point is, that the whole digital scrapbooking thing is more than just a way to present photos - it is actually quite versatile! I love it so much that I'm an affiliate for MyMemories now! So, if you order the MyMemories Suite Software, use can use the coupon code STMMMS71850 to save $10 off the software price and get another $10 credit toward stuff in the MyMemories store... and I'll get a little bonus, too!  They also have weekly freebies and fun challenges on their Facebook page, so check them out!  And if you're still hesitant about buying... and have a lot of patience, I'll be doing another giveaway, probably early in the new year!

In all of my free time (hahahahahaha!!) (no, I mean, the several times a day I sit down to nurse the baby, that's about as free as I get), I've been working through some older literature on my Kindle.  Since so many good, older books are available for free, I decided "why not?".  I started with Anna Karenina by Tolstoy, and while I found the storyline not quite to be my style, I was very impressed with the writing.  Most recently I've been absorbed in Les Miserables - I've been reading it for almost a month now and am only 50% of the way through!  Phew!  But it is soooooooo good!  What has really stood out to me the most from both of these stories is the quality of writing, the use of language, the deep character development - things that are hard to come by in many modern novels that seem to be written with much less depth nowadays.  I've gained a new appreciation for what constitutes good writing... as well as an appreciation for the dictionary feature on my Kindle!  My vocabulary has been challenged, and it's been fun to stretch my brain a little.

There you go!  The basic highlights of life in my world.  Forgive me for not being more regular as of late... and thanks for stopping by!

TOS Crew Review - Educating the WholeHearted Child

Educating the WholeHearted Child (3rd Edition), by Clay and Sally Clarkson, and published by Apologia Educational Ministries, is a 375+ page book written for Christian homeschoolers, as well as parents who are considering homeschooling.

Educating the WholeHearted Child is broken down into four main sections:

• Home - focusing on building a relationship with our children and the reasons to choose homeschooling
• Learning - discussing various homeschooling styles and how to choose the best for your family
• Methods - going into detail about the "WholeHearted Learning" model of homeschooling and how to teach various subjects
• Living - how to balance homeschooling and "real life" - remembering that so much of learning takes place during those "real life" times!

These are followed by 40 pages of resources, including planning pages, character traits, chore charts, and book recommendations. (Click here to see the entire Table of Contents.)   I was not able to completely finish reading the book before this review was due, but after delving into many chapters and skimming the rest, I know without a doubt that it is an absolute treasure-trove!!

Clay and Sally Clarkson's hearts for families is so evident in their writings, you can't walk away from this book without being encouraged and revived in your homeschooling journey!  For just a small sample of how rich this book is, please be sure to read the first Chapter and get a feel for yourself. 

This review has actually been a bit difficult to write, because all I can think of saying is, "It's awesome!  Get your hands on it!" and how many times can I say that in different ways without sounding like a sales pitch?!  But, it's true!  I would not only recommend, but highly encourage all Christian Homeschoolers, new, veteran, or even "just considering" to read this!

Educating the WholeHearted Child is available from Apologia Educational Ministries for $22.  It is well worth it!  Apologia also offers many other Christian books for parents and children, as well as curriculum.

Also be sure to see Clay and Sally Clarkson's ministry page, "Whole Heart Online" for more encouragement!

You can read other TOS Crew Member's reviews on Educating the WholeHearted Child at the TOS Homeschool Crew blog.  I think you'll be hard pressed to find a negative one! ;-)

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

TOS Crew Review - Visual Latin

Visual Latin is a unique video-based Latin course, designed for ages 9 and up.  Created by two homeschooling dads, Visual Latin offers two levels of instruction -  Level 1 and Level 2, with each level containing 30 lessons, enough for about two year's worth of Latin instruction together.

Each lesson is broken down into three parts - Grammar, Sentences, and Reading.  Each of those sections is taught in a brief video, usually about 6-10 minutes long, and followed by an accompanying worksheet that gives an overview of the lesson and some work for the student to do to practice the lesson.

What makes Visual Latin unique?  Several things:

• Humor plays a big part in each lesson - Dwane, the instructor, has a wry, witty sense of humor that keep the kids interested
• Lessons are short and not overwhelming
• The format is realistic - instead of memorizing complicated conjugations, the lessons use more of an immersion method - grammar is taught, but then the students get to see it and use it in sentences and reading, seeing and experiencing how it actually "works"
• Because it is in video format, it is easier for the students to get a feel for the language, by hearing it and also by having an experienced Latin teacher demonstrate it's usage.  It's like having a private Latin tutor!

(For more reasons from the creators' own thoughts, be sure to check out "The Unique Design that Really Works"!)

For this review, we were sent a DVD for Lessons 1-10 (lessons can also be purchased as downloads in HD m4v and iPod m4v formats).  We followed the recommendations included with the video - we watched the video for one section of the lesson, and then did the accompanying worksheet.  Since each lesson is broken down into 3 sections, we did Latin 3 days a week.  The amount of time spent on Latin each day was probably no more than 15- 20 minutes, if that.

I was very curious to see how Visual Latin would go over for us.  I've never really had a desire to teach Latin, and wasn't sure how enthusiastic the kids would be over it.  And the whole idea of Latin instruction that could be humorous?  I always sort of perceived Latin to be a rather serious, stuffy language, so I was skeptical! 

However, after watching just the introduction Lessons, I was more eager to give it a try.  The kids warmed up to Dwane (the instructor) right away.  He's... funny!  In a very witty way that makes the kids laugh, but isn't corny for grown-ups.  He comes across as a very down-to-earth and enjoyable teacher.  He also addresses the students directly, which I think the kids enjoy.  I also appreciate that he is a Christian, homeschooling dad.  He makes many references to God, as well as jokes about homeschooling.  That makes me feel as if he understands how to relate well to the students he's teaching.   Here are some screen shots (the kids call Dwane "the guy in the blue shirt"- you can see why!):

But aside from the instructor's personality... what about the lessons themselves?  I've been very pleased!  At first I was nervous that some of the grammar concepts would be over the boys' heads, but they took to them without any problems.  I think much of that has to do with not just having it taught, but them actually reading it and having to use it in real sentences makes it much more natural.  Right away they started noticing words that they've learned from their Spanish lessons and seeing similarities.  They think it's almost like a secret code, and enjoy trying to decipher new words they're introduced to.  I find that I'm eager to delve more into learning some Latin myself!

All in all, we've been quite please with Visual Latin and will be continuing the lessons.  That says alot, considering I thought we'd never "do" Latin!

Get a glimpse for yourself - you can view a Sample Lesson, or even download some Free Lessons (4 Intro Lessons and 2 Regular Lessons).  Be warned, though - you might just get hooked!  Who knew learning Latin could be interesting and fun?!

Want to know a few more details?  Be sure to check out their Q&As!

DVDs contain 10 lessons each, and can be purchased singly for $30 a piece, or an entire level (30 lessons), for $80, for single family use (they also have pricing for co-op/class use).  Downloadable lessons are $25 for a 10-lesson set for single-family use.

If you are looking for a enjoyable, easy-to-learn Latin course, I definitely recommend Visual Latin!

See what other TOS Crew Members thought of Visual Latin by checking out their reviews 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 the TOS Homeschool Crew. I received no other compensation in regards to this review.

Wordless Wednesday - Homeschooling Boys

The Winner Is....

I'm happy to announce that the winner of my My Memories Suite Digital Scrapbook Software giveaway is...

*drumroll*

Lisa, from My Homeschool Circus!  Lisa happens to be a fellow reviewer for the TOS Homeschool Crew!  Congratulations, Lisa!

For all of you who didn't win, thank you for entering!  Remember, I have an awesome coupon code you can use for $10 off My Memories Suite AND another $10 Credit to use at MyMemories.com.  That's a $20 value!! Just put My Memories Suite into your cart and enter coupon code STMMMS71850 when you check out!

And, since I'm enjoying digital scrapbooking so much... be on the lookout for some more pages from me!  I'm definitely hooked!  (Here's another one, just for fun!)

Last Day to Enter!

(This Give Away is now CLOSED!  Thanks to all who participated!)

I just wanted to remind everyone that today is the last day to enter my My Memories Suite Digital Scrapbook Software giveaway! (Phew, that's a mouthful, lol!)  There are less than 20 entries with only 12 hours left, so be sure to get yours in!  (Please don't post entries here, make sure to go directly to the original giveaway post!)

And just for fun, here's a page I made just recently:

I'm pretty excited about my new hobby!  It's so fun and easy!  Remember, the giveaway closes tonight at 5pm!  Come back tomorrow to see the winner!

Treasures of September

Freedom at Sonlight Blog

When the Gentle Words Won't Come {Hope for the Weary Mom} at MOB Society

What Our Husband Needs More than Sex at Ordinary Inspirations

Raising Kids is Heart Work at Family Matters Blog

From The Better Mom:

• There Are Rats In My Cellar 
• Battling Toxic Perfectionism
• The Stranger in my Living Room

Abundant Grace and Teaching Moments at Preschoolers and Peace

Heart Talk at (in)courage

The Tunnel of Parenthood at One More Soul

Taking the Fear Out of Your Year at Heart of the Matter Online

10 Things to Do Every Day to Stay Organized at Organizing Your Way

Homeschool Blindspots at JoshHarris.com (I have loved Reb Bradely's ministry, Family Ministries, forever - he and his wife have blessed me tremendously through their teachings!)

From Smockity Frocks:

• How to Stay Married 25+ Years
• Do You Have 5 Loaves and 2 Fish?

Clarfying our Ministry as Moms at Encouraging Moms who Homeschool

Calm in a Storm:  How to Stay Peaceful while Childrearing at Ladies Against Feminism

A Few Introductions at Parenting Post (Parenting.com)

Ask Auntie Leila:  How Do I Tell People We're Having Another Baby? at Like Mother, Like Daughter

Does Peeling an Orange Exhaust You? at Wizzley

The Ripple Effect of One Grumpy Woman at True Woman

From Raising Arrows:

• Do You Like Your Children?  Do They Know It?
• Homeschooling with Joy 

Ungraceful Parenting at Femina


Magnifying God's Glory through My Weakness at Doorposts of Your Home

Are You Raising Warriors or Refugees? at I Take Joy