Lesson Planet - A Review

Product: Lesson Planet

Price: $39.95/year
Site offers a free 10-day trial

Owner: Education Planet

Want to try it out: 10-day Free Trial

Brief Overview:
Lesson Planet provides access to teacher-reviewed online curriculum resources. The site gives you access to over 150,000 teacher-reviewed lesson plans and 75,000 worksheets.

In-Depth Look:

This site was developed to provide teachers with an easier way to sort through websites and find the lesson plans that they are looking for. One site, one search, tons of results.

For example, I searched for "Colorado Indians". Lesson Planet provided links to 398 lesson plans and 6 worksheets. The result gives a lot of information before you even click on the link. Here is an example:

PDF] Indian Children Learn by Doing

Grade Range

3rd - 5th

Rating

Rated 3.0/5 Stars.

File Format: PDF/Adobe Acrobat - Quick View

Students acquire information through the use of primary sources concerning how work is divided in the Colorado Indian tribes. They discover that Colorado Indian students learn through play and imitation of adult activities.

Subject

Language Arts, US History

Design

Small Group, Individual

Method

Research/Writing

Technology

Internet Research

Key Terms

learning

Source/Host

University of Northern Colorado

Author

Lethia Lee, Bonnie Lavin

Year

2003

Addresses

Assessment, Standards, Web Required

Reviewer

Denise Beasley

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The site gives lots of options for narrowing down your search results. For example, I limited my search for "Indians" to "3rd-5th grade" with a 3-star rating and an essay format. Lesson Planet found 22 worksheets.

My favorite part of the site is the "Calendar". Pick a day on the calendar. It will list special things about that date in history. And then also suggest some related topics. I picked today's date, April 25. It is the day that Daniel Defoe published Robinson Crusoe in 1719. The related search is Daniel Defoe. Clicking on either will bring you to a listing of lesson plans and worksheets.

If you decide to try the 10-day free trial, remember that your credit card will be charged if you don't cancel before the trial period is up.

More reviews are here.

Disclaimer: I was asked to review this website as part of the TOS Homeschool Crew. The above is just my opinion. Please remember that opinions may, and do, vary.

Super Star Games - A Review

Product: Super Star Games

Price: $3.50/each instant download

Company: Super Star Speech (Deborah Lott)

To Purchase: CurrClick

Other Products Available: Speech Therapy Materials


Brief Overview:

Deborah Lott has designed down-loadable games to help reinforce lessons that children are learning in various subjects (grammar, history and science) on a variety of topics (American Revolution, Inventors, Insects, Continents, etc.).

In-Depth Look:

Our family tried out The Insect Game and The Road to the Revolution.

The Insect Game is geared towards 2nd-6th grade. It will help reinforce your insect studies. Children answer questions. If they get the answer correct, they earn the insect part pictured on that card. If they already have that part, then they just don't get a part that turn. Same if they get the question wrong. The first player to earn all 11 parts completes their insect and wins the game.

The instructions suggest printing on card stock. I used plain printer paper, because that is what I had. Then I glued the insect parts onto cardboard and cut them out. Card stock would have been easier.

My 8 and 11 year olds enjoyed playing this game. Picture the Cootie game from our youth. Fun and cute...plus you learn and reinforce some insect facts along the way.


The Road to Revolution game is geared towards 3rd-8th grade. The game comes with 48 multiple choice questions to help reinforce Revolutionary facts.

Players answer multiple choice questions. If they answer the question correctly, they roll a die and move that many spaces. We made small squares numbered 1-6 and then picked a card to determine how many spaces to move. Along the way, you may land on spaces with instructions such as "Boston Tea Party - 1775 - Take another turn". The first one to get the finish line wins the game.

I like that the questions are multiple choice. I like that the game had a "game board" feel to it with a race to the finish.

We store our game pieces in sandwich bags. I found the games easy to download, print, setup and to store. All the way around, simple and easy! I think the $3.50 is a very fair price.

Would you like to read more reviews? Some of the crew members also reviewed the Super Star Speech Therapy products.

Disclaimer: I was asked to review these games as part of the TOS Homeschool Crew. The above is just my opinion. Please remember that opinions may, and do, vary.

"What Am I" Reader - A Review

Product: "What Am I?" - a collection of short stories
All About Reading Level 2 Vol 1
by Marie Rippel and Renee LaTulippe


Price: TBD (Book hasn't been released yet)

Company: All About Learning Press, Inc.

To Order: All About Spelling Website (Book is not yet available)

Brief Overview:
The "What Am I?" reader is a collection of 10 fully-illustrated short stories. It is Level 2, Volume 1 and it corresponds with the same sequence and word lists as All About Spelling Level 2, Steps 1-14.

In-Depth Look:
A few months ago, my family received the Beehive Reader 1 from AAS. My then 7 year old daughter claimed it as her own and fell in love with the beautiful book with its adorable stories. You can read my review about it here. So, I was happy to learn that we would be receiving their new reader, What Am I? hot off the press, before it was even available for purchase.

Once again, my now 8 year old daughter was happy to see it. The book is so adorable. This isn't your typical reader. It is hard back and has the look of a classic, even though it is only months old. I don't really know how to explain it; but this book is simply inviting. It draws you in, makes you want to curl up and read together.

If you use the All About Spelling program, this book will correspond with Level 2, Steps 1-14. If you don't use AAS, no worries. This reader can be used independently. My daughter reads it independently, reads it as part of her school lessons, and also listens to it as a bedtime story at times. It is that versatile (and enjoyable).

My 2nd grader can read it independently, well enough to understand and enjoy the stories. There are just enough difficult words to make it more challenging and expand her vocabulary.

The book has 10 short stories. All are fully illustrated, with charming black-and-white drawings. Some of the stories are silly. My girls giggle over them at storytime. Some have a little bit of facts mixed in. Most include an animal or two, of some sort. My daughter's favorite story is "The Bench".

I have reviewed both readers by All About Learning and love them both. I whole-heartedly recommend them both.

I will post some sample pages at the bottom. Aren't the drawings adorable?

If you would like some other opinions, check these out.

Disclaimer: I was asked to review this book as part of the TOS Homeschool Crew. The above is just my opinion. Please remember that opinions may, and do, vary.

The Terrestria Chronicles (Books 4 & 5) - A Review

Product: The Terrestria Chronicles (Books 4 & 5)

Price: $7.99 each
Entire series: $39.99

Company: Dunlop Ministries

Where to Purchase: DunlopMinistries.com

Other Products Available:
Terrestria Chronicles
Tales from Terrestria
Young Refugees Trilogy
Sherlock Jones Junior Detective Series
The 1,000 Mile Journey
Jed Series

Several FREE E-books are also available.

Brief Overview:
Travel back in time to a land of castles, princes, knights, lords and ladies. Along the way, you will be drawn into an allegory that points straight to King Emmanuel. There is NO magic or wizardry in this series.

In-Depth Look:



Ed Dunlop, the author of this series, has a heart to reach children for Christ. He has chosen to do this through crusades, summer camps, training seminars. His family has traveled in full-time evangelism since 1988. Mr. Dunlop also reaches people through the printed word...how-to books for teachers and fiction for middle readers. A brief tour of the website shows just how much Mr. Dunlop loves the Lord and his passion for leading people to salvation.

He has a series called The Terrestria Chronicles. "The Terrestria Chronicles allegory series was written with a three-fold purpose: to honor Jesus Christ as King, to challenge young readers to love and serve Him, and to teach them to guard their hearts for Him. The focus of the series is always on the King."

These stories center around Prince Josiah, a young man recently saved from slavery by King Emmanuel (representing Jesus saving us from the bondage of our sin). He represents the growing Christian, not yet mature in his faith. He faces trials and sometimes he fails. Wiser, more mature Christians (such as Sir Faithful and Sir Dedication) help guide him on his way...encouraging Prince Josiah to surrender his heart fully to King Emmanuel, reminding him to do all things for the glory of God and to keep his focus on things that will matter in eternity. Prince Josiah learns many hard lessons along the way, one of these is the startling realization that our sins don't only affect us. Our mistakes can have a ripple effect and devastating results to those around us. As Prince Josiah learns many hard lessons, grows in his service to his King Emmanuel, and discovers that not everyone in the realm shares his love or loyalty to the King...we can see ourselves in this young prince and be reminded of the same lessons along the way.

These stories portay just how much our King loves us, how much He has done for us, and what He can do through us. King Emmanuel wants to save us from slavery and then do great things for His Kingdom through our wholly surrendered hearts. They also serve as a reminder of how much evil is at work around us and how indifference can be extremely dangerous.

The books include a glossary for medieval terms such as "Saboton - pointed shoes made of steel to protect the feet of a knight in battle". A page of castle facts includes tidbits like "A castle was often a social center for nobility". Best of all, the ABC's of Salvation are explained at the end of each story.

Mr. Dunlop has provided a study guide for all seven books. This can be helpful for devotions or group study.


If your children enjoy "doing something" while they listen to you read, the site also has free coloring pages related to the books.


What I Like:
*This series is set during an interesting time period with castles, knights, lords and ladies.
*This is a Christian series, focused on encouraging young children to be saved and act like it.
*Many lessons can be learned, like the consequences of our sins.
*I believe children (and adults) can see their need for eternal salvation by reading these stories.

What I Didn't Like:
*The character and place names were a bit distracting. Names like Sir Pretentious, Forest of Decision, and the Sea of Conviction can get to be a mouthful when reading aloud.
*The allegory was very obvious, not subtle. I tend to prefer the subtle route.
*Some of the scenes and topics are intense, especially in regards to the evil forces at work. The suggested age range is 10 and up. I strongly suggest that you take this into account and decide for your family.


I would suggest an age range of 13 and up. My daughters are 8 and 11. They had a hard time following what was going on. Because of this, it was difficult for them to enjoy the storyline. I could clearly see where it was going and what it was getting at. But this wasn't the case for my girlies.

Check out more reviews.

Disclaimer: I was asked to review these books as part of the TOS Homeschool Crew. The above is just my opinion. Please remember that opinions may, and do, vary.