Living in Love - A Review

Living in Love, by James and Betty Robison.
The Co-hosts of TV's LIFE Today share keys to an exciting and fulfilling marriage

James and Betty have been married for nearly 50 years and say "we are more in love now than ever before".  What did I like about this book?  Their honesty.  They don't just talk in general terms.  They speak from their hearts about experiences in their own marriages.  They talk about where they have been and how they have got to where they are.




I particularly liked the section on dealing with the baggage that we bring into our marriages, how it effects our marriage and ways to help let it go.  I also enjoyed the section about building up our spouses, to never betray your spouses trust.  If you seek counseling, make sure you are there to get better, not to gossip and tear-down your mate.

Also, remember that no one is perfect.  Sure your mate has faults.  But so do you.  So remember to be forgiving and supportive.


I enjoyed reading this book and gained some insight and encouragement that will be useful in the years to come.



I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review

Considering God's Creation - A Review

Product:  Considering God's Creation

Price:  $29.95 (Workbook, Teacher's Manual, & CD)

Age Range:  2nd - 7th grade (with adaptations)

To Order:  Buy Now

Company:  Eagle's Wings

Other Products:  Several subjects are available
The state capital game looks very interesting.  I just may have to get that one.

Brief Intro: (from the website)

A creative in-depth encounter with natural science from a biblical perspective.
Adaptable for Second to Seventh Grade. A gigantic 272-page book plus Teacher's Manual with free audio CD!

In-Depth Look:
We have had a lot of trouble finding a science curriculum that we enjoy.   So we have used living books and unit studies, for the most part.  When this book came up for review, I jumped on board.

You will receive a very detailed teacher's manual, a workbook full of reproducible printables, and a CD of songs/poems to go along with several of the lessons.

Eagle's Wings is a Christian program.  It includes a short Bible lesson corresponding to each lesson and an occasional Evolution Stumper.  So depending on your Worldview, this may or may not be a good fit for your family. 

The book has a nice variety of topics, starting with Creation.  From the solar system to genetics.  From food chains to clouds.  Since we only had a limited amount of time to try out the book, I chose the topics I thought would be of interest to the girls.  We studied clouds, whales, amphibians, and more.  Their favorite one was about whales.

In any given lesson, you will find vocabulary words, a brief lesson, a tie-in to a Bible lesson, some really neat worksheets.  The lessons are not very long, but the hands-on activities are a nice touch.  And the teacher's manual includes ideas for deeper study and more projects.  If you used the book and all the given resources, it would be more than enough for a very nice unit study on a wide variety of topics.

I would have liked for the lessons to have a little more detail, to be a little more in-depth.  But as I mentioned, that is where the additional resources come in.  And it would be difficult to cover so many topics in one book if they had provided a lot more depth.

The worksheets were my favorite part.  They are really nice.  Many of them have a lapbook feel to them.  The workbook is reproducible.  So you just make as many copies as you need for your family.

An added bonus is the CD containing songs written for and relating to several of the lessons.  Music does wonders for helping learn and remember facts.  Science is no exception.  You can listen to some sound clips on the right-hand side of this  page.

If you have more questions, you might find them on the FAQ page.

Read other reviews here once available.

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

Word Qwerty - A Review

Product:  Word Qwerty

Price:  $25 for a 5 year subscription for 1 student, $40 for 2 students

Age Range:  2nd - 3rd grade




To Purchase:  Store

Company:  Talking Fingers, Inc.

Other Products:  Read, Write, & Type
                          Jingle Spells 

Brief Intro:  (from the website)

Wordy Qwerty – Foundations for Reading and Writing Fluency, takes 7-9 year olds through the next steps of reading and writing fluency, and picks up where our award-winning software, the Read, Write & Type Learning System leaves off.
After successfully completing Read, Write & Type!, most 6-7 year olds are able to write any word they can say. But they may not spell them all correctly, because they need to know a bit more about spelling conventions and about how words are constructed in English. This is where Wordy Qwerty comes in. In 20 consecutive lessons, woven together with fun-to-play games and delightful songs that will stay in their heads (and an audio CD they can play in the car or on their audio CD player).

In-Depth Look:

My daughter is 9 and in 3rd grade.  She can use some help with spelling skills.  She reads very well.  But with unfamiliar words, she still spells using phonics.  You know . . . spelling it just like it sounds.  Sometimes this works.  Sometimes it doesn't.

I was glad for the opportunity to review a fun online program that helps teach spelling rules for the younger set.  WordQwerty is that program.  It consists of 20 lessons.  These 20 lessons cover the following spelling rules.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This game is geared for 7-9 year olds.  Those who are reading well, but could still use some help with their spelling.  All those tricky things like which words start with C and which ones start with K.  Or which words end with -TCH and which just end with -CH.

I found it to be very user-friendly, walking you through the 20 lessons one-by-one.  A child can easily sit down and use the program independently.   It is colorful and engaging.  The spelling rule songs are catchy.

It seems like a fun program to use that can really help cement the most common and useful spelling rules.

What did my daughter think?  She felt it was too young for her and that she already knew most of what it was teaching her.  But although she complained just a teeny bit when it was time to practice, I caught her many times singing along to the catchy spelling songs.  Sometimes I even caught her dancing around and singing them.  So in my opinion, it had her attention.  I think it has been a help to her.

Have your child try out the free demo.

Read more reviews here.

Disclaimer: I received this online program free of charge to review, as part of the TOS Homeschool Crew. The above is just my opinion. Please remember that opinions may, and do, vary.

Mad Dog Math - A Review

Product:  Mad Dog Math - at Home - Downloadable software

Price:  $19.99 for 1 year license
           $29.99 for 2 year license
           $39.99 for perpetual license

To Purchase:  Order Page

Age Range:  Elementary

Contact Information:  Mad Dog Math

Other Products:
Instructional Systems
Software
Flash Cards
Certificates and Accessories 

Brief Intro: From the Website
For teachers or home school parents, Mad Dog Math - at Home is a student-tested, Windows PC application that provides either an at-home or classroom practice experience that is just like the Mad Dog Math drills. Children LOVE it and can't wait to get their practice minutes in. Try our free trial and we think you'll want your very own copy. This download has ALL the Mad Dog Math levels at one low price. Don't miss it for either your classroom or home computer.

In-Depth Look:

You can find a free trial of the program at this link.  It is a great idea to try out a program before purchasing it, whenever possible.

The first step is to download the program.  I found the directions to be a tad-bit confusing.  I was successful in loading it on my laptop, but not on my desktop.  So instead of spending anymore time trying to figure it out on the desktop, I had the girls continue to use it on the laptop.

The second step is to have your child login on the drill game.  If they aren't logged in, they won't get credit for their drill work and it won't count towards the stickers that they are trying to earn.  My younger was playing the drills without logging in, therefore earning no credit for it.  It would be helpful for the program to load directly to a LOGIN SCREEN; instead, it allows a child to begin playing right away without being logged in.

The child is responsible for continuously clicking to the correct next stage.  Such as going from the ADDITION OF FACT FAMILY 1 TO 4 to the next category of SUBTRACTION OF FACT FAMILY 1 TO 4.  Or of progressing from 2 MINUTES time allowed to 1 MINUTE to 30 SECONDS.    These progressions from one step to the next eventually lead to earning CLUB STICKERS.  I would prefer for the program to handle this for the student, automatically taking them to the next level after completion of the previous level.  Or at least giving an option of "Are you ready for the next level now?"  I found the current setup to be confusing and it took a while for my children to get a feel for it.

This is how it is explained in the directions:

"When you do go on to the next drill, Ruff will show you which family is next.  When he does, click on the math operation tab he tells you, and select the FACT FAMILY he tells you is next."


My children used the program with little complaint.  I am sure it helped with their speed, as they raced against the "time allowed" time and time again, for the past several weeks.   So it is a helpful and inexpensive means of math facts drill.

Unfortunately, it wasn't a good fit for our family.  My daughters didn't enjoy the program.  They also didn't feel the club stickers were a very worthwhile reward for completing the time challenges.

Feel free to read other reviews.  Some crew members enjoyed the program and plan to purchase it.


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