Reviews and Giveaways Archives - Page 3 of 188

Online Art Lessons with Cross-Curricular Connections {ArtAchieve Level II Review)

May 1, 2017 by Emilee Evans

I, personally, enjoy art much like my daughter. Even my boys have been enjoying it more. It’s surely not because I come up with a bunch of great ideas, though! Last summer we had the opportunity to share our review of online art lessons from ArtAchieve. We really enjoyed it and were looking forward to moving on to the Entire Level II for this review! It offers a variety of great art lesson ideas from around the world!

ArtAchieve makes teaching art easy by offering online art lessons with detailed instructions available in both a Power Point and video format. Currently there are five levels available that are suitable for a variety of ages (including adults). It requires no background in teaching art so anyone can both take the lessons or “teach” them! What makes ArtAchieve even more unique, though, is that it goes beyond just teaching art to actually teaching culture as well. Plus, it breaks down resources to include Writing, Science, Exercise, Literature and more! One art lesson can break down into a whole day of learning through these various suggestions!
ArtAchieve lessons are accessed online through an internet based account. Once logged in to the account, you can access all of the lessons you have purchased. Lessons can be purchased individually or as a package. Each lesson has a drop down that shows the components which includes the video lesson, Power Point, a Warm-Up and a Printout. Plus, when you click on the individual lessons it brings up a page that features the Description, List of Supplies, Suggestions for Cross-Curricular Connections, and the Approximate Time for the lessons.

Online Art Lessons – ArtAchieve Level II

My daughter (age 9) has been using ArtAchieve Level II online art lessons which we access easily through a laptop running Windows 10 and using the Google Chrome browser. I’ve even done a couple myself! Because the lessons don’t build upon each other, there is really no specific order that must be followed. So she has just been choosing the lessons that interest her most. She started with a cat, which was no surprise! Really there is no “wrong” place to start. I find the Lesson Description helps because you can see what medium is used (and therefore what supplies are needed). Plus you can see how long it is estimated to take and go from there! I find for us, personally, these are the main points we used to determine which lessons to do on particular days.

Because we had shared an ArtAchieve review in the past, I used the methods we found best for us last time. What I discovered was we weren’t really choosing between either the video lesson and Power Point. We use both for each lesson. For each lesson I play the video, and she follow along as instructed. We pause when necessary and refer to the Power Point during those times when she needs a still shot of the project. This works well for her!
The Power Point is mostly just the steps needed for the project. I definitely wouldn’t use it by itself, but it’s definitely great to use along with the video. Within the video is not only the steps for the project, but the cultural references and information are woven throughout the video. He talks about it as well as even showing things like flags and maps.

Warming Up

Although the lesson times vary per project, I have found they are pretty similar in length. The Warm-Up is usually fairly short. She completes a quick activity to help prepare her for the lesson. Plus I love that it also recommends way to relax to help prepare. This has just helped in general as she does sometimes have a hard time focusing. Plus these are skills she can use to prepare for any subject!

Lessons

The video lessons themselves are generally between 20-30 minutes. She does pause as needed to complete steps. So overall, the lessons for her take a total of around 45 minutes up to an hour at the most. That may seem like a lot for one art lesson, but it’s not *just* an art lesson. With all the other elements woven throughout she’s learning so much more! Generally, she does complete 1-2 lessons per week.

ArtAchieve Review

Overall, I think ArtAchieve is a fantastic online art program. No art experience is necessary to use it. It can be accessed from wherever you are with internet access. The art and corresponding mini lessons within the art lessons are presented in a way that is easy to follow. Plus it’s fun and unique! It’s definitely a great fit for our homeschool.

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A Fun Puzzle App with Bible Verses {Planet 316 Review}

April 27, 2017 by Emilee Evans

We love puzzles around here. I don’t always love finding all the missing puzzle pieces, though. So, being able to do puzzles on an app is a great way to enjoy the challenge of a puzzle while also winding down. Daily Bible Jigsaw from Planet 316 offers great puzzles daily that include a Bible verse. The app is available on the Apple App Store, Google Play, Facebook and Facebook Gameroom. For my Daily Bible Jigsaw puzzle app review I have been using the app on my iPhone.

Planet 316 believes a joyful heart is good medicine. That is why they offer fun apps and experiences that make the Bible approachable. Families can have fun together while prompting discussion about the Bible. I know my kids love to talk about the games they’re playing, so if they’re playing games that help them learn more about the Bible it’s a win-win!
The Daily Bible Jigsaw app is a free app that offers a free puzzle daily. Each puzzle is presented as a single puzzle piece on the calendar. So not only have we been completing daily puzzles, but for each puzzle we complete we add a piece to the monthly puzzle as well! Although a free puzzle is offered daily, if a previous day’s puzzle is missed, you can purchase the previous puzzles with coins. Coins can be earned in the game as well as purchased.

Daily Bible Jigsaw Puzzle App Review

The Daily Bible Jigsaw app offers puzzles that are fun but challenging. If you connect your account to Facebook you can also challenge your friends which is fun! I admit, I’ve been the one mostly using the app, and I love this feature! I’ve been seeing how I place amongst my friends – including fellow Homeschool Review Crew members! The kids have played as well, but they much prefer to just help me rather than playing it by themselves. My daughter has particularly loved the puzzles with cats!
While working on puzzles, there is soft, relaxing music in the background. I have loved using the app at night to wind down for this reason. Although the puzzles are challenging it’s relaxing as well! The most challenging aspect if the puzzles is that the pieces are rotated. So not only are you putting together puzzles, but you have to flip pieces as well. A couple of times I’ve had an entire puzzle upside down and didn’t realize it until the end!
There are various tools available, though, to help solve the puzzles. Sometimes I will see how good my friends’ times are and know I’ll have to use tools to beat it! Tools include: Rotate (flips all pieces to their correct rotation), Sweep (sweeps all pieces off the board, Edges (leaves only the edge pieces until the border is put together), Magnet (connects two random pieces) and Guide (allows you to peak at the completed puzzle). There have been times I’ve used all of them at once – particularly when I was trying to earn the trophies for completing puzzles within a certain amount of time. Yes, you can earn trophies, too! Fun, right? The tools do cost between 2-3 coins depending on the tool.

Additionally, when a puzzle is finished it reveals a Bible verse which can then be shared easily via social media. It’s a great way to share Biblical messages! Once the puzzles are complete you will always have access to the images with the Bible verses.
Plus, as if daily puzzles aren’t enough bonus puzzles are added ocassionally as well! They have 56 pieces. Sometimes they are free but some have cost coins as well. Overall, I have definitely been loving this app and try to do each daily puzzle!

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Members of the Homeschool Review Crew also had the opportunity to share their Daily Bible Jigsaw puzzle app review. Be sure to check them out by clicking on the banner below.

Apologia Readers in Residence Review

April 18, 2017 by Emilee Evans

As someone who particularly loves language arts, I know reading is so much more than just written words on a page. It’s important to truly understand what you’re reading and learn from it. That’s what Readers in Residence Volume 1 (Sleuth) from Apologia Educational Ministries is all about! I was excited for the opportunity to check it out and share our Readers in Residence review.

Readers in Residence Volume 1 is recommended for grades 4 and up. The books suggested for the program are written at about a 4th-6th grade level. It’s noted that this would also be good for older children who struggle with reading comprehension or who are unfamiliar with the skills taught in the program.
I have been using Readers in Residence with my daughter (age 9 and approximately at a 4th Grade level). I found at her age/approximate grade level Readers in Residence has been challenging but in a good way. She is definitely one to resist when things aren’t easy, but with my help, she has kept moving right along and has really started to enjoy it. Additionally, there are areas where they are encouraged to talk with their parents.
Readers in Residence is designed to be flexible so you are able to use it in the way that works best for your child. I am a schedule kind of person. If there is a recommended schedule and it’s feasible for my children to follow it, that is generally what we do. It’s something I’ve always appreciated about Apologia’s curricula. In this case, the recommended schedule is 4 days per week. It breaks up the Modules into multiple, easier to tackle parts. Our lesson times have varied depending on the activities from 30 minutes to just over an hour. The lessons could be broken down further if needed.

What is Included

The Readers in Residence full set includes a large spiral bound Student Text and Workbook and a paperback Answer Key.

Answer Key

To get started, it’s best to start with the Answer Key which is 232 pages. In the Answer Key there is detailed information on how to use both the Answer Key and the Student Text and Workbook. It discusses the schedule, explaining assignments, keeping track of progress and evaluating your child’s work. It explains the rubrics and scoring of the rubrics in depth as well as checklists and guidelines for evaluations.
The Answer Key is full of everything you need to know to successfully use Readers in Residence with your child(ren). It also goes into depth about the who, what and why of the program and how to make it work for your child(ren). It definitely helped me dive into it feeling confident!

Student Text and Workbook

The Student Text and Workbook is 562 pages and includes all of the information and activities children need to progress through the program. It includes a Quick Guide, Preface, Welcome and Suggested Daily Schedule in addition to information for Book Clubs as well as the Units and Modules. We, personally, didn’t have a Book Club. I have been reading along with her, though, so we can discuss the story with each other.

Each Unit covers one book. This may be a specific book or a book of your choice within a specific genre. Each Unit is presented with an Introduction and then breaks down the book by chapters for discussion and activities. I found this particularly helpful especially since Aurora is just getting started with chapter books. It made it much less overwhelming for her.
Each of the suggested books covered in Readers in Residence are familiar books. Even if you or your child haven’t read them, it’s likely you’ve heard of them. I’ve had a great time reading the first book Sarah, Plain and Tall along with Aurora. It’s definitely a book I’ve heard of, but I’ve actually never read it either!

Readers in Residence Review

Overall, we have been enjoying Readers in Residence Volume 1. As I mentioned, Aurora was a little hesitant at first, but because I am walking along this with her, it’s been great for both of us. She love that there are hands-on projects like creating her own book cover. Plus, I can really see the light bulb going off the further she gets into the program. It really has changed the way she thinks about reading – in a good way! I love to see how deep her comprehension is getting as this can be challenging for someone with ADD. I think this is a great program for helping children really dig deeper into comprehension and critical thinking skills.

Connect with Apologia Educational Ministries

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Other members of the Homeschool Review Crew also shared their Readers in Residence review. See what they thought by clicking on the button below.

Learning Conversational Skills with Color My Conversation {Northern Speech Services Review}

April 13, 2017 by Emilee Evans

Being a homeschool mom with special needs children I often try to weave therapy into our homeschool. I stay aware of their sensory needs and try to work on other areas like fine and gross motor skills and speech. I am definitely not a Speech-Language Pathologist, though, so I feel like although what I’m doing helps it’s not complete. I was definitely intrigued by Color My Conversation from Northern Speech Services which was created by a Speech-Language Pathologist, Rosslyn Delmonico, MA, RSLP, CCC-SLP. Read on for my Northern Speech Services Review.

Color My Conversation specifically addresses developing social skills to have appropriate interactions with others. This includes things like: greetings, back and forth talk, asking effective questions, listening well, transitions in topics, reading social cues and more. It is ideal to use this program over a 14-16 week period though it notes it’s adaptable. It’s very interactive/multi-sensory.
Color My Conversation came neatly packaged and includes everything you need to start and complete the program. This includes:

12 Stepping Floor Graphics
50 Game Tokens
100 Picture/Emotion Cards
50 Dry Erasable Wall Display Cards
2 Dry Erase Pens
CMC Ball
Classroom Poster
Game Board
Cloth Ribbon
Instructional Manual & Music CD’s

Although I had seen the kit online prior to receiving it, I was still quite surprised by how so much stuff was neatly packaged in the box.

Although both of my boys have speech challenges, my youngest son’s challenge is primarily with dictation. My oldest son is on the Autism Spectrum and although he “graduated” speech therapy for delays and dictation, pragmatic speech has continued to be a challenge. Knowing Color My Conversation addresses this specifically I knew it would be perfect to start it with him.
Getting started was a bit of a challenge, though. Although the training videos are online the Manual (as well as printables) are on the CD. It is recommended to start with this Manual. Unfortunately, I no longer have a computer that has a disk drive, so I had to view this at a friend’s house. Once I had it open as a PDF, though, I was able to save it and email it to myself so I would still have it readily accessible without having to borrow a friend’s computer. I definitely do recommend starting with the Manual. It is very thorough!
Within the Manual it contains the various levels of Color My Conversation (Beginner through Expert) as well an Assessment Rubric and either a Student Questionnaire or Caregiver Interview. These documents are important for providing insights on how to best support your child, and they can be found in the Supplementary Section of the Manual. It’s definitely the best place to start. After reading the Manual, completing the Rubric and watching the Training Video Tutorials we were ready to begin!
The levels of Color My Conversation are:

Beginner Level – Ages 5-12. These first three lessons are presented with a kinesthetic element and takes about 5 weeks to complete.
Intermediate Level – Ages 5-12. Here children will learn more conversational features and be introduced to table work in addition to “walking the path.” It takes about 6-8 weeks to complete.
Advanced Level – Ages 8-12. The multi-activity Color My Conversation game is introduced where children will either actively play or observe and comment on those who are playing it. It takes about 3-5 weeks to complete.
Expert Level – Variable Ages. It’s intended for all ages because its purpose is to identify the conversation skills each child is capable of using and transferring those skills from practice into natural settings.

Here is a great general overview from Northern Speech Services:

We began with the Beginner level, of course. We do 2 sessions per week for about 30-40 minutes each as well as regular practice throughout the week. What this looks like for each child can be completely different depending on the child’s needs. Color My Conversation is very flexible and is meant to be used in the way that is best for each child. At first, I found it was a lot about getting to know the program and know what works best for B. This could even vary by day!
The Individual Lesson Training Videos are so helpful. With these videos I found this program to be easy to follow. I think they have helped B as well because nobody can explain it better than the creator! I think, in general, B is more open to instruction from others so this has been a valuable tool in this way as well! Then each level ends with a Wrap-Up.

Northern Speech Services Review

Overall, B has been doing well with this program. When I first introduced it he was hesitant. He has just a splash of the pre-teen attitude. Ha! I knew this would be so good for him, though, as his conversations are usually about the same topics and one-sided. He does not recognize social cues specifically that say “I’m bored” or “I’m not interested.” He often doesn’t try to engage the other person in conversation. Color My Conversation has been teaching him these skills in a way that he truly enjoys. He feels motivated to learn!
Although we just wrapped up the Beginner level, I already see a difference. He has really enjoyed doing the program, which makes a world of difference! We can’t wait to move on to the next level next week!

Connect with Northern Speech Services

Need more homeschool recommendations? Check out more of my homeschool reviews.

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