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Talking Shapes is Now Online {Talking Shapes Review}

August 4, 2016 by Emilee Evans

Recently, our youngest son (age 6) has been exploring a familiar phonics program in a different setting. Previously for our Talking Shapes review we reviewed this program as an app on their iPad. Now Talking Shapes: A Supplemental Curriculum for Early Literacy is available online. This phonics supplement from Talking Fingers Inc. is ideal for the Preschool to Kindergarten age range that teaches children that letters are “talking shapes” that stand for speech sounds.
Talking Shapes Review
Our previous Talking Shapes review was just over two years ago, and our youngest son wasn’t quite ready for it. Although he has started using it on the iPad, he was really excited for the opportunity to use it on the computer. We have been using it on my touchscreen laptop running Windows 10. The program is accessed online by signing into your account and clicking over to it. The progress is continually saved so you can start off where you left off. We have been using it in Google Chrome. Sometimes it does take a while to load, so I simply let it load before telling Chaz we’re ready to begin.
I personally love the concept of the letter shapes. So many times letters are associated with pictures that don’t represent the letter itself. It doesn’t simply use a picture to represent the letter. It actually creates the letter within the picture. It’s a great way to create a visual while also representing the sounds letters make!
Talking Shapes {Talking Fingers Inc. Review}
Talking Shapes tells a story of two sisters and how they “invented” the alphabet long ago. It includes seven stories total that introduce all the speech sounds and letters in the English Language. With each story new speech sounds are introduced to build upon what they have learned. The layout is great for reinforcing what they’ve learned while easing into new letter sounds as well.
In addition to learning letter sounds, Chaz has been learning to write the letters as well. Talking Shapes focuses on the capital letters, though, which contradicts most other phonics programs we have been using. Although it is designed as a supplement, I do find it can be confusing if it’s being used at the same time with another phonics program that focuses specifically on lower case letters.
Talking Shapes {Talking Fingers Inc. Review}
Talking Shapes also offers various activities including putting together 3 letter words using the sounds they’ve learned. There are reading games at the end of each story that offer the opportunity to further reinforce putting together the sounds to make words. Chaz particularly likes the games where he puts together the letter sounds into words because each time it is correct a bird lays a golden egg. If all answers are correct it will complete the puzzle and the babies hatch. If not, he can go back to fix any he missed.
Additionally, there is a game to help reinforce the learning of these words. It will read a story and create blanks one at a time. Balloons with the words fly overhead, and he has to pick the one that has the word. Unfortunately, this proved to be frustrating for him. It was challenging for him to try to read moving words, but it also took a few clicks to get the balloon to pop. I even attempted to have him point it out so I could click on it, but I had the same problem.
Talking Shapes {Talking Fingers Inc. Review}

Talking Shapes Review

Overall, it was interesting to try Talking Shapes on a computer, but Chaz and I mutually agree it’s better on the iPad. Despite having a touch screen, the only touch features that worked were clicking over to the next page. He was unable to write the letters with his finger and had to use the touchpad. Since that was too difficult he would simply “color it in” rather than writing it. To encourage writing the letters, I would have him write it with his finger first and then use the touchpad. I attempted to follow instructions for resolving these issues as they have been making updates, but they were unsuccessful at this time.
Despite some of the technical difficulties, the program as a whole loaded and ran fairly well. It was nice seeing the story on a bigger screen. I loved that it saved our place so we could simply hop on and start where we left off. Plus, Talking Shapes really does allow children to go at their own pace. Chaz liked to listen to the whole story and complete all the activities and games for that story all at once. It could definitely be broken down into multiple days, though.
I do appreciate the concept and find it’s a great phonics supplement when used at a different time than other phonics programs. I do agree with other programs that lower case letters should be taught first as they make up a majority of our words. Some children may not have a challenge with learning both at the same time. Due to our son’s special needs and developmental delays, though, it’s not ideal to use this program while he’s learning letter sounds and writing lowercase letters.

Connect with Talking Fingers

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Other members of the Schoolhouse Review Crew have been using Talking Shapes app with their children of various ages and stages as well. So be sure to see what they thought by clicking on the banner below!
Talking Shapes {Talking Fingers Inc. Review}
 
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Homeschool Copywork Review

April 14, 2016 by Emilee Evans

Copywork is something that we need to do regularly in our homeschool. Our kids have writing challenges, and copywork is a great way for them to practice writing. Our copywork usually consists of my writing something on the white board, and they copy it. It’s not ideal because they have to keep looking at the board. So when I was presented with the opportunity to Homeschool Copywork, I was definitely excited!
For our review we received the Lifetime Membership, which includes instant access to all eBooks. The eBooks vary in age and ability from Preschool with basic letters to older students with unlined print and cursive.
Homeschool Copywork Review

Homeschool Copywork Review

After receiving my membership, I logged in and took a look around. The website can be accessed via the internet, and the eBooks can be downloaded as PDFs. There are so many great eBooks to choose from that I wasn’t quite sure where to start. The dashboard is really easy to use. All the functions are on the toolbar at the top, and it solved my problem with where to start! In the toolbar you can select Junior High – Highschool Copywork, Upper Elementary and Early Elementary.
Homeschool Copywork Review
All the Active Resources are also available on the page, but I found the grade divisions were a great place to start. Each eBook is then listed by title with a basic description. I did decide that rather than mixing them up, we would choose one eBook to start and stay with that one until we finish it. After looking at and reading about all the options, we decided to start with Dragons of the Bible.
The style of the eBooks have a similar format as Dragons of the Bible. All eBooks have a theme. On the page is a Bible verse (or poem or other script) that relates to the theme with dashed lines of the same size below the verse. There is also a picture on the bottom that fits with the theme as well. For Dragons of the Bible there are various Bible verses that have “dragon” in them as well as a picture of a dragon. The verses are written in the King James version.
Homeschool Copywork Review Dragons
I love that there are a variety of eBooks available and even writing styles. There is so much freedom with copywork. You can stick to one eBook like we’re doing or do a page or two from different eBooks. We generally stick to one page per day because our oldest son’s hand does start to hurt while writing, but this has been a great way to practice writing. Plus, it’s easier for them because the words are right there on the page to copy rather than having to look at the board.
Because the Dragons of the Bible is in the King James Version it has been harder for our kids to understand. After looking through the other eBooks, though, I discovered the eBooks that have Bible verses are not all in the Kings James Version. The other more common version is the ESV.
Some of the eBooks (including the Dragons of the Bible) have coloring pages as well, and many of the eBooks have different styles available as well. For example, some of the artist studies in print, d’nealian manuscript, lined cursive, regular cursive, and regular print.
Overall, Homeschool Copywork has been a great addition to our homeschool. Our kids can practice writing in a way that is easier while also learning Bible verses. Plus, as they progress they can practice different writing styles.
Connect with Homeschool Copywork
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Members of the Schoolhouse Review Crew had the chance to review Homeschool Copywork and all the various eBooks available. Check out their reviews by clicking on the banner below!
Homeschool Copywork Review
 
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An Alphabet Book for Young Children { WordsBright Review }

May 15, 2015 by Emilee Evans

Teaching the alphabet doesn’t have to be boring. Although I find our preschooler does love repition, I find just singing the alphabet over and over again isn’t ideal for either of us! That’s why I was excited to check out S is for Smiling Sunrise by WordsBright!
WordsBright Review
S is for Smiling Sunrise is the debut book for WordsBright. It is a book written by a father sharing sing-along alphabet rhymes he wrote for his daughter. It is a hardback book with brightly colored and illustrated pages. Each letter has its own page with the corresponding rhyme. What I find unique is this isn’t just an alphabet book. There is also an mp3 song version of the book available as well as a Teacher’s Guide.
I have been using the S is for Smiling Sunrise and resources mostly with our preschooler (age 5), though our daughter (age 7) likes to also jump in and read to her little brother as well as sing the songs. I have been reading the book 3-4 times per week and work on focusing on one letter at a time as suggested in the guide. He insists I read the whole book each time, though, which is often the case with playing the songs as well. So I will read it all the way through one time and then go to the page with the letter on which we’re focusing.
Although I think just reading the books and listening to the songs would help reinforce learning the alphabet, I definitely find the guide to be helpful. It focuses on concepts, asking questions, talking about vocabulary, and even suggests complementing activities. I have found the book, in general, has been great at extending our vocabulary. Sometimes the picture itself can be deceiving. Chaz would try to guess what the word is but would realize it doesn’t start with that sound, so he got to learn some new words just based on the main word for the letter!
S is for Smiling Sunrise - WordsBright Review
S is for Smiling Sunrise definitely isn’t your “typical alphabet book.” There isn’t the “A is for Apple.” It uses a rather broad vocabulary, and has helped expand not only our preschooler’s vocabulary, but some of his ideas as well! Using the guide has definitely helped in this area to really reinforce what we are learning.
Overall, we have really been enjoying S is for Smiling Sunrise. I initially found I stumbled over some of the words in the rhymes as they didn’t flow how I expected, but reading them over again as well as listening to the songs definitely helped. Chaz really likes the pictures and the music, and I love that he’s learning new words in addition to reinforcing his learning of the alphabet. I think S is for Smiling Sunrise is a good book not only for preschoolers, but for Kindergarten and early readers as well!
For more information be sure to connect with the S is for Smiling Sunrise author Vick Wadhwa on Facebook.
Many members from the Schoolhouse Review Crew had the chance to review S is for Smiling Sunrise by WordsBright. See what they thought in their reviews by clicking on the banner below!
Wordsbright Review
 
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Math and Language Arts – IXL Review

November 12, 2014 by Emilee Evans

Math curriculum

We had a chance to review IXL. IXL offers Math curriculum for Preschool through 12th Grade as well as Language Arts for grades 2nd through 8th. We had the opportunity to review both the IXL Math and the IXL Language Arts. IXL offers skills that are available for state standards, which I have found really helpful in guiding our learning.
We received a one-year membership for our review. Because we had the opportunity to review it last year as well, we continued our current membership with all three children. This is one resource we have continued to use, and I was definitely excited for the chance to review it again! With an IXL account, each child (and myself) are designated with a specific icon, so even younger children are easily able to identify their account.
IXL Review

Math

For our IXL review we used IXL Second Grade Math with our oldest two children (ages 8 and 6) and Preschool Math with our youngest son (age 4). We use it in addition to our current Math curriculum as it is intended to be practice to supplement and reinforce learning. The kids practice on IXL 3-5 times per week, though our youngest may only practice 2-3 times per week as he is still on a casual schedule.
Computer time here is a great chance for the kids to learn independently, and IXL has made this easier than ever. Previously, there was the option to have problems read to a child in the younger grades, but they have now expanded this to the older grades, which is a great relief for our family with delayed readers. I simply had to change the setting in the account and it works for both the computer and the app. When a question is answered incorrectly, it doesn’t always read the solution, which can be tricky because I need to be sure I’m paying attention to explain any incorrect answers or they will just move on without even trying to understand why they got it incorrect!
IXL offers different ways to approach practice. What we did for this review is instead of just going to their grade and picking skills from their grade, I referred to the Texas Standards (the state in which we’re living), and would choose incomplete skills from that list. This means some of them may be 1st Grade Skills even though they are in 2nd Grade Math because they hadn’t yet completed it on IXL. They were skills they knew, but again, IXL is for additional practice. So we do 1-3 sessions from list of the standards each time we practice.
If you follow my blog regularly, you know I am not one to get overly concerned with standards, but I do find this is a great guide, and I know it is a feature many families would find useful! From this screen I can see what they have completed, what they have started, and what they haven’t yet started.
IXL Review Texas Standards
IXL uses a “Smart Score” system to help them master a skill. They start by answering basic problems for that skill, and as they progress through the skill the difficulty level increases. As they get the answers correct, their Smart Score increases. If a problem is missed the Smart Score will decrease. Once they reach 100 points they have “mastered” that skill. This has been one of my favorite approaches. Sometimes this takes less than 30 problems or it can take MANY problems depending on how much work they need to learn that skill. Generally, I set a time limit (a timer is shown as the child is working on a skill) or have them finish when they master the skill – whichever comes first. This helps avoid frustration for those that may be more difficult.
The IXL 2nd Grade Math really covers a lot of material. There are a total of 247 Skills covered including Counting and Number Patterns, Comparing and Ordering, Time, Addition and Subtraction (one, two and three digits), Data and Graphs, Properties, Geometry, and more!
There is an Awards system in place, which has always encouraged our kids to keep practicing even if the skill is taking a little longer to master! Even if they don’t master that particular skill the first time, they still may earn an award based on time spent practicing and total number of questions answered. They are always getting excited about what Award they may get, and now that they are in a different grade, it is a whole new Award Chart, so it’s even more exciting! The kids love the sea, so they were definitely excited about the theme of the 2nd Grade Award Chart!
IXL Review - Awards
Although we started the Pre-K Math with our 4 year old last year, he has really gotten more involved with it this year. The Pre-K Math offers a total of 42 skills. It has 10 categories, and 3-4 skills per category. It covers Shapes, Counting, Comparing, Size, Money (basic coins), Size, Classifying, and Positions. Mastering a skill isn’t quite as difficult for the Pre-K level. Particularly, he doesn’t lose as many points with an incorrect answer. I think this is appropriate given how easily frustrating a little one can get!

Language Arts

We have also been using the Second Grade Language Arts with both of our older children. We use the Language Arts for additional practice 2-3 times per week. Language Arts is a harder subject for our children, but definitely important. Because the Language Arts does not read the problems, this is additional time for me to work with them. One on one lessons are a little harder, though, which is why we don’t use it as often.
I am sure not to intervene with the answer they choose even though it is tempting to ask “are you sure?” I know if I intervene it will defeat the purpose of the the way it is set up for mastering a skill. Overall, it does work out well for us, and this time I’m right there to discuss missed questions so they don’t move on without understanding why they got something incorrect.
The Language Arts does not offer the option to view state standards, so we choose skills based specifically on the grade level. The 2nd Grade Language Arts includes a total of 86 skills. Skill include Sentence Types, Subject and Predicate, Irregular Past Tense, Capitalization, Commas, Letters, Titles, Nouns, Pronouns, and so much more!

Parent

Another feature of IXL is the Parent area where I can access reports for all of the children. I can view them as an overview, a proficiency assessment to see which skills they have mastered or which need improvement, performance by category or skill (I often use performance by skill to get a “daily grade” for my personal records because it shows number of answers correct versus number of problems attempted), and more. I can also view their progress, trouble spots, improvement over time, as well as the performance by state standards. I also receive regular email updates when any of the children reach a certain milestone as well as regular updates.
IXL Reports
I am really impressed with everything IXL covers, and I love that it has offered our children the chance to have more independent time and feel accomplished. Plus I get a chance to have more one-on-one time with them as well when we work on Language Arts! The thorough reports are wonderful, and I feel like I don’t have to rush and take notes on what was done that day because I know they will be there for me to view at any time!
A subscription for IXL.com is $9.95/month for only Math, $9.95/month for only Language Arts, or $15.95/month for both. A yearly subscription is also available for $79.00 per year for one subject or $129.00 per year for both subjects. Each additional child is $20/year. IXL also offers an iPad app, which we use frequently and love! Plus they just recently added the Language Arts to it!
Many members of the Schoolhouse Review Crew have been reviewing IXL Math and/or Language Arts for a variety of grades/ages, so be sure to check out all the reviews by clicking on the button below!
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