Review by Mama Smiles

Kumon Folding Books

I’ve tried and liked a few Kumon workbooks, so when I was looking for quiet activity for Johnny (five years old) and Lily (three years old) I decided to give their Let’s Fold books a try. The kids love them, as you can tell from Johnny’s pleased expression with the bouquet of flowers (above) and Lily’s little video clip below!

The books are pretty small, which means you can easily put them in your purse for when you’re out. You do have to cut out each folding square, which means you also need a pair of scissors. I like the cutting as a way to extend the activity, but perforated edges would make this a more easily portable (and airplane-friendly) activity. A couple of the pages have white edging (you can see this on the flowers). The instructions don’t say to cut it off, but I think it looks better (and it keeps Johnny busy a little longer).

I highly recommend limited how many pages your child can do at a time – Johnny would have torn through one of these workbooks in an hour, if I had let him, but each page tells a little story that engages kids’ narrations skills and gets them thinking. This means that this workbook is actually not a great quiet time activity, but it does make for excellent one-on-one parent-child time.

Each of the folding books starts off very simply and gets increasingly complicated. Activities move from a single fold to multiple folds that even Johnny struggled to figure out on his own. I think I would prefer to have one of the books be easier, and a second that was harder – so I could give a simpler book to Lily and a more challenging one of Johnny.

These didn’t turn out to be the best choice for their intended quiet time use, but my kids really do enjoy them. I’m still on the hunt for good quiet time workbooks for my kids – do you have any recommendations?

As a member of Timberdoodle’s Blogger Review Team I received Reward Points in exchange for a frank and unbiased review.

Review by Bow of Bronze

Product Review: Block Builders Architecture by Fat Brain Toys

Every once in a while, Timberdoodle Company has a damaged products sale.  I have been ordering from the Damaged Sale for years and I will let you in on a little secret.  Timberdoodle discounts “damaged” products that other companies would keep on the shelf and sell as new.  They keep very high standards!  This works out great for customers in two ways.  One, when you buy full-price products you get pristine products.  And two, when you buy damaged products they are in beautiful condition!  I have never once gotten something from the Damaged Sale that I thought was seriously damaged . . .

A while back, I ordered the Block Builders Architecture 3 set from Timberdoodle in the Damaged Sale.  I have been saving it in the back of my closet for a rainy day.  Today wasn’t exactly rainy, but I did have a headache and everyone was grumpy so I decided that counted.  It was the perfect day to open a new toy.

How fun!  I thought this toy would be a big hit with my little guys – the twins – and in fact I almost gave it to them as a gift for their birthday.  At the last minute, I removed it from the birthday list and stuffed it to the back of my closet.  After we played with it a few minutes today I realized it was more suitable for my older children.  My seven-year-old loves the challenge, and even my twelve-year-old is having fun tonight as I type even though the challenges are pretty easy for him.  My four-year-olds were able to get a couple of the challenges, but for the most part they are too difficult.

Block Builders Architecture takes a set of architecturally designed blocks that fold on hinges and arranges them in patterns.  On one side of a challenge card you can see the silhouette of the blocks, and on the other side is the solution.  The set has 50 challenge cards, an instruction card, six blocks, and a nice storage box.   All of the parts are sturdy and will be around for a long time even in our household of six kids.  The instructions also suggest free play – or in other words build your own structure.  This seemed to be the perfect mode of play for my twins.

Caleb (age 7) is sitting on the table with his big brother playing with Block Builders Architecture 3 as I type and he keeps saying “I did it Mommy!”  and “Mom, Look at this!”  He is very excited and proud of his puzzle solutions and he just created a bird himself.  Cute.  Of course, as he plays he is learning to problem solve, think spatially, and balance objects with care.  Fat Brain Toys always teach through play and that is a concept I love.

My Bottom Line: In ten years of purchasing from Timberdoodle Company I have never been disappointed.  This toy is fun, challenging, brain-building, and definitely boredom-busting.  Block Builders Architecture 3 is perfect for ages 5-12 and costs $29.75.

Review by Sam’s Noggin

Biology 101

I am so excited to share my latest Timberdoodle review with you, Biology 101!

I am not a science person, or at least I wasn’t. Watching these videos makes me realize I could have been into science, if this is what my public school teachers had used.

Biology 101 gives and in-depth overview of biology with a biblical, Creation and God honoring perspective, with classification broken down by Creation days.

Hosted and developed by homeschooling father Wes Olson, Biology 101 is education-packed, but is presented in such an interesting way that they feel more like entertainment than a high school course!

There are interesting video clips, informative diagrams, and tons of facts, all delivered in a guided presentation by Wes.

My thoughts:

This DVD course is very interesting. Although it is targeted for the high school student, it is suitable for any age student {or parent}. There was no point in any of the DVDs that I wished that the pace was any different from what was offered, and when I was playing the first few in our living room, the little ones came in, looked at the television and stayed to watch!

I was nervous about the disc that goes over human development, so I previewed that one alone. Conception is mentioned, but the process itself is not. {Thank you!}

The part that may be harder for your younger kids to grasp is genetics, and the path that our world has traveled away from God and toward cloning, stem cells and the like, although it is still very reachable to most audiences.

I love how this curriculum approaches teaching biology. It feels as though someone you know {who happens to be science-y} is discussing biology with you, and they brought a lot of visual props. Wes doesn’t dumb the course down, but he also doesn’t teach over your head, or make you feel like he is superior in knowledge. The whole series is down to earth and inviting.

What’s included:

4 DVDs-

Disc 1 includes Introduction and Plants

Disc 2 contains Aquatic and Avian Creatures

Disc 3 covers Land Animals and Mankind {each containing two parts}

Disc 4 covers Genetics and also contains a PDF guidebook and accreditation

My thoughts on the guidebook and accreditation:

The guidebook contains all of the important information given in the DVDs, no need to take notes furiously while watching our lesson, just sit back and enjoy! Each section in the guidebook matches the DVD section, and ends with a quiz. I’ll be printing and binding this for our home. {114 pages}

The accreditation booklet will chart your course and track your hours, as well as provides a 27 week schedule. {12 pages}

Grade Level:

9-12, but appropriate for all ages to enjoy.

Price:

$50.95

Final thoughts:

Get this!! I can’t tell you how much I have enjoyed this course, and how enjoyable learning biology has been. Knowing that this series is honoring to God is refreshing. Even though the children have enjoyed portions of the DVDs, this one is going onto the official course list for our eldest’s 10th grade courses next year.

Check out the other title from Wes Olson and Westfield Studios, Chemistry 101, or peruse Timberdoodle’s extensive science section.

I was provided a copy of Biology 101 as part of the Timberdoodle’s Blogger Review Team in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own, and no other compensation was given.

Review by A Families Love

Raising Real Men: review

Well, a month ago I received the book Raising Real Men, by Hal and Melanie Young to review.  I have read it, reread chapters, marked it up, bent over corners, discussed it in depth with Hubby, and put into practice many of the books suggestions.  Now I am ready to review it.

Raising Real Men, surviving, teaching and appreciating boys by Hal and Melanie Young is one of many books available currently that seeks to assist parents of boys, in growing our sons up into godly, strong men.  It is “A practical guide to equipping the hearts and minds of boys without breaking or losing your own”, this is the back cover quote, and it holds true for the book, front to back, cover to cover this book delivers!!!  Many books claim to give you the tools to help raise up your sons, but this book, and these parents, are actually there in the trenches, giving you the tools, ideas, anecdotes, heartaches and Biblical foundations to back it all up.  Suggestions, and the explanations of why these concepts might help, abound throughout the book.  This is not a look at “neveau parenting” techniques, but at boys, and how God made them, showing you how to work with them is the goal of the book in a practical and inspiring format.

I will admit, this book was a godsend to me, and a bit of a stumper at first!!  I am one of 2 girls, had no close boy cousins my age, and lived in the middle of nowhere, so boys did not abound in my small world for a long time.  This book was eye opening to me in how the boy mind works, how the male dominance drive distinguishes itself early on, and develops as the young  man grows, seriously eye opening stuff!!!  Raising Real Men laid it all out for me, helping to explain all of the odd bents of my son(and hubby:-) without making me feel like I should have known this all along, which is always a nice bonus, to not feel like a dummy for not “getting it”!

Now, for us, in a practical sense this book is great, but for me as a mama, it is hard.  Let me explain a bit, our son has a physical disability, making him weaker on his right side, less mobile and balanced as well.  This has never stopped him from doing anything, but it has stopped me from allowing, and even pushing, him to do certain things.  Well, after reading this I have come to realize that if I want him to develop into the man God wants him to be, I have to push him forward, stop doing for him, and allow him to follow his own inclinations to care for us, no matter how scary, dangerous, and difficult I think the situation is.  Hal and Melanie Young have helped me to see where I was holding him back, and how, if I continued to hold him then he would in time stop reaching and pushing forward.  He would just remain incapable of so many things, when really, in my heart I want him to reach for the stars, and fly to the moon, find a beautiful wife and be a good provider and loving father.  All of the things I want, he cannot achieve if I hold him back and do for him, sigh, this book was hard, but soooo good for me!  So now there is even more sword fighting, climbing, leaping, spying, and racing up steep hillsides going on in my world, gulp!

We have begun to move Little Man forward, Hubby has given him goals to reach, we have worked to make sure he knows how to do the tasks set out for him, and he understands our expectations of him, he has the tools, and so far, we have seen progress!!!  He is now trying harder to care for us, holding doors for his sisters, carrying bags and things around the house, stepping forward to assist when he sees I need help.  It is slow, some days better than others, but he is really starting to care more for us than for himself, to be a kind and gentle leader to the little ones, and to use self control more.

Over all, I would say, if you have sons, and you want them to reach their God given potential, pick up a copy of this book, read it, mark it up, keep it close to revisit when the going seems rough.

I was not paid for this review, I received a copy of this book, as a reviewer from Timberdoodle and am unbiased reviewer, and that should cover the legal schmeagal stuff completely!!;-)

Review by A Families Love

A Young Scholar’s Guide to Composers, my review…

So, here it is, my first review, and for legal reasons I now need to disclose that I do not get paid to review this item, and I received the Young Scholar’s guide to Composer’s free, and in return we tried it and are now ready to give our unbiased review if it!!  Phew, there, that is out of the way, now onto the good parts:-)

Young Scholar’s Guide to Composer’s was really great!!!  It was written for a slightly older age/grade level than we are at, but we found that the program is flexible enough it was not a problem.  There were parts, like the folder book, that the girls needed my help on, researching the composer’s works or religious views, but other parts were great, and all ages found them enjoyable, like the musical suggestions, and the coloring pictures for the cards, were great!

The program, available here, is a very comprehensive one, we have only just begun to scratch the surface of what you can get out if it, with games, whole folder books and other neat branches you can explore for every time period.  It easily adjusts to a deeper study of the time period, and the artists, musical instruments and culture are all touched upon, as well as lesser known composers.  We did not even begin to explore fully the maps that are available, with all of the connections between artists, influences and styles intertwined, as I said, a really comprehensive program.

Like I said, we really liked the program, and will likely redo the whole thing again once we finish it the first time, (sometime next year at the pace we are currently moving through it at!!:-)  We will redo it though, so the girls can study the art of the time period, and how politics influenced artists of all mediums, including music, and so that Gabe can do more than enjoy the musical side of the program.  Reviewing it next year will also give the girls a chance to delve deeper into the research side of the composers and what influenced their styles.  I really like that, so far about this program, we can redo it, and get more out of it, go deeper, and explore the composers lives more, the program seems to be geared for however deep you choose to go, with many levels and layers possible.

There is only one complaint that we had at all for the program, and it’s this: For the early parts of musical history, the Gregorian Chants, madrigals etc, there were no coloring pictures or folder pages.  We loved the coloring pages when we listened to the music, and there were none for early music, so the kids found it a bit more tedious to listen to the written lesson, but once the music played, they were entranced, then Gregorian chants are a huge favorite in our house!!!

Over all, we give The Young Scholar’s Guide to Composers a big thumbs up!!!  It has great information, in a fun and interesting format, with a bit for every learning style and grade, making for happy kids, and it exposes my kids to favorite composers in an easy to use format, with lots of readily accessible resources, making for a happy mommy, awesome!!!

If you are interested in this very cool program you can visit Bright Ideas Press and find out more.

I received this from Timberdoodle, and if you do not get their catalog, sign up, they have to coolest things, we love ‘em!!!!  Their facebook page has lots of free things to win too, from neat watches and curriculum, to world maps and puzzles. also great notices of sales and fun new toys for the homeschooling mommy, kids, check it all out, they are great!!!

Review by Bow of Bronze

Product Review: Wordsmith Apprentice Writing Curriculum by Common Sense Press

My son started using this new writing curriculum called Wordsmith Apprentice from Timberdoodle Company about two months ago. We have been struggling to find a good fit in writing curriculums for a while, and I really wanted something he could do on his own with me checking his work and providing input as necessary. Wordsmith Apprentice has been working wonderfully in this way.

Wordsmith Apprentice helps students in the intermediate grades (4th, 5th, and 6th) get really familiar with words, sentences, and paragraphs through lots and lots of practice. The book is set up so that the student “joins” an unnamed newspaper staff. He is taught by the “editor” through comic strips. Each writing exercise is based on the student’s own real life experiences.

Here is what my son Jonathan (age 11) has to say: “I like Wordsmith. It is a fun and interactive way to learn writing. I like how they make it fun by adding a story to it and I like how they let you write about whatever you want.

Although we were sent the next level of this curriculum (simply called Wordsmith) we started with Wordsmith Apprentice because my son had very little experience with writing paragraphs up to this point. I think the comic strip instruction appeals especially to boys, as does the idea of doing a job with a purpose for writing. By having the student write as though he is on a newspaper staff, the writing curriculum allows for a purpose and a streak of creativity.

The assignments start with the basics of using words. Exercises include filling in a job application, making lists, using a Thesaurus to find synonyms and spice up your writing, and move towards writing full sentences and full paragraphs according to different scenarios and assignments for the newspaper staff.

My Bottom Line: I love how engaged my son is with Wordsmith Apprentice and I anticipate continuing with the series next year. He is enjoying writing and I am enjoying reading what he writes.

Disclaimer: I received Wordsmith Apprentice at no cost to me through Because Mom Said review group at Timberdoodle in exchange for my honest review on this blog. Here you have my honest review.

Review by Bow of Bronze

Product Review: Biology 101 DVD series

Sometimes a review product is an answer to prayer.

The first time I heard about Biology 101 ($50.95), I was talking to a neighbor friend last year who mentioned how much her children were enjoying it. She thought I would have already heard of it before and brought it up because I had just blogged about using dvds to teach science in our home. We talked about it a few times, and we were both just sure it would be a good fit for my family because our sons are so similar. I put it in the back of my mind in the place where I keep ideas for future curriculum purchases when money is available. I also added it to my prayer list of “if this is a good fit for our family, help me find the funds.”

A few weeks ago, Joy at Timberdoodle Company emailed me to ask if I would like another product for review. The product? Biology 101. I was floored! Especially since I still had a different product out for review — this came as a very special surprise.

My friend was using her Biology 101 dvds with the 114 page guidebook containing discussion questions, quizzes, and lab suggestions with her 16 year old, but my oldest student is 13. We decided to go ahead and use the dvds as an overview of Biology without the high school level student work with my 11 year old and my 13 year old. Many times my 9 year old wanders in to see what we are all watching. A few minutes ago I was watching the last dvd by myself to take some pictures and my son came downstairs to watch again…  Yesterday my husband happened to be home from work and couldn’t help but sit down and watch with us. We were finishing up the series by watching the dvd on genetics. That certainly made for an interesting dinner table conversation last night! It was so fun to have something school related that we could all discuss together.

Biology 101 is a creation-based science curriculum with a Christian worldview. The videos are fast-paced and captivating. For the video on genetics, the narrator sat down with 23 cassette tapes and presented a fascinating analogy for cells, dna, rna, and genes. I was surprised at how excellent and varied the filming techniques were for this series. Each video covers a vast amount of information in 35-45 minutes. The set contains four dvds with a total of 9 lessons. Since the videos were so long, we broke each one up into two sessions and at twice a week that covers one semester.

The nine individual segments include:

Introduction: Defining Life and Life Classification
Plants
Aquatic (water) Creatures
Avian (flying) Creatures
Land Animals Part 1
Land Animals Part 2
Mankind Part 1
Mankind Part 2
Conclusion: Cells, Genetics, and a Brief History of Biology

A few weeks ago my friend came home for a visit and I asked her if she wanted to sell her Chemistry 101 set (next in the series!) since she was finished with it. “Oh, no,” she said. “I would have a hard time getting the kids to give that up. They still put those and the biology dvds in and watch them all the time.”  – I guess now is a good time to add the chemistry set to my prayer list …

My Bottom Line: By themselves, the Biology 101 DVDs make an excellent introduction to Biology for the middle school student and can be enjoyed by the entire family. With the workbook materials included, this set is a complete high school level course for Biology. We will be using these videos over and over for the next decade.

Full Disclosure: I received Biology 101 for free from the Timberdoodle Company as part of the Because Mom Said review team in exchange for an honest review on my blog. Here you have my honest reiew. If you’ve never heard of Timberdoodle, you can request a Timberdoodle catalog — they are an amazing company with great products.

Review by In Pursuit of Titus2

Timberdoodle: Chemistry 101 Review

As soon as I received an offer from Timberdoodle to review the Chemistry 101 DVD’s, I jumped at the chance! I had been thinking about teaching my 14 year old son Chemistry for his 9th grade year next year and I felt this would be a great opportunity to “test the waters” so to speak. As soon as a popped the DVD in and saw the introduction to the Chemistry 101 series, I knew that this would be a great fit for him.

Here is what is included on the Chemistry 101 DVD’s:

Chemistry 101 is a complete overview of the world of chemistry from a Biblical perspective, in a set of four DVDs. It is easy to use, understandable, and visually rich.

Disc A

• (Part 1) – The Road to the Periodic Table
• 1. Introduction & The Last Alchemist (35 min.)
• 2. Birth of Modern Chemistry (30 min.)
• 3. The Bold Russian (35 min.)
• 4. Lots of Mystery Rays (45 min.)Disc B
• 5. The Likeable Rutherford (30 min.)
• 6. The Periodic Table at Last! (20 min.)
• 7. The Periodic Table – Main Group (45 min.)
• 8. The Periodic Table – Quantum Mechanics (40 min.)Disc C
• (Part 2) – Chemistry Essentials
• 9. Neutrons, Isotopes and Ions (40 min.)
• 10. Compounds and Molecules Part 1 (20 min.)
• 11. Compounds and Molecules Part 2 (35 min.)
• 12. Balancing Equations (30 min.)
• 13. Essentials Wrap-up (35 min.)Disc D
• (Part 3) – Meet the Elements
• 14. The Four Main Columns (30 min.)
• 15. Non-Metals and Poor Metals (30 min.)
• 16. Transition Metals (40 min.)
• 17. Rare Earth & Radioactive Metals (45 min.)
• (Part 4) – The Future
• 18. The Future of Chemistry Part 1 (30 min.)
• 19. The Future of Chemistry Part 2 (40 min.)

·  Printable Guidebook and Accreditation Booklet

As I noted before, my 14 year old son has a diagnosis of Pervasive Development Delay and Sensory Processing (Integration) Disorder. So whatever homeschool curriculum I choose for him will need to be helpful for those areas of his learning. I find that he tends to do well with subjects that are DVD based, computer based and interactive. He also has a Visual Spacial & Kinesthetic learning style and the Chemistry 101 DVD’s surely helped him in this area.

Now…for the challenge I had to try them on him just to see if it would get his attention and not only that but also cause him to learn while he sat there to watch the videos. Well, to my surprise he not only sat there quietly, he actually processed what the instructor was teaching him. So this was a big plus in my book! Also, to my surprise, my middle son and my younger children all wanted to watch too! I could not believe it but my 4 year old knew some of the questions that I had asked my 14 year old! Ha!

14 year old and 10 year old watching and following along.

He is really into it here! LOL

I am shocked that he is still long enough to watch the DVD!

In conclusion, I will say that I would recommend the Chemistry 101 DVD’s to the age group of 10 and up. I however am going to save these DVD’s for my 14 year for the 2013-2014 school year for Science since he will start High School courses. Please visit Timberdoodle’s website for more information about the Chemistry 101 DVD’s.

Disclaimer – As a part of Timberdoodle’s Review Team, Because Mom Said, I received Chemistry 101 for free in exchange for using it in my home and sharing our experience and opinions with you. Although I was not financially compensated for this post I did receive Chemistry 101 DVD’s free for review purposes. The opinions are my own, based on my personal experience with the product.

Review by Petra School

Biology 101–9th Grade, A Review

I was pretty excited when Timberdoodle asked if I’d like to review the Biology 101 DVD Series.  I have seen DVD products for High School Science, but had not used any as of yet.

As many of you know, we have been focusing on a Charlotte Mason approach to learning. Living Books.  Tools and Resources. Written and Verbal Narration. Hands On Experiences.

We have collected wonderful living books, along with volumes from Apologia and AIG to help us know the depth of materials we would want to cover before saying – High School Biology Credit Complete. We are not front cover to back cover curriculum types, taking  breaks to research Oceanography, Marine Biology or Chemistry.

The 101 Series DVD’s fits well into how we learn. The Biology 101 is a collection of 4 DVD disks covering the following 9 topics:

• Introduction: Defining Life and Life Classification
• Plants
• Aquatic (water) Creatures
• Avian (flying) Creatures
• Land Animals Part 1
• Land Animals Part 2
• Mankind Part 1
• Mankind Part 2
• Conclusion: Cells, Genetics, and a Brief History of Biology

(Click to their site to see more on “What does Biology 101 Cover”?)

As to High School Credits – I started to get a bit confused when reading the web site and hearing a few comments from friends.  Is the Biology 101 DVD a stand alone credit for high school? After researching and our experience – I’d have to say yes – and no.  Although the review on the website says it will depend on if you want to be college ready or not – I would have to say – that it will depend on your lifestyle at home. At least for Biology. Here is how we have used the materials so far.

We’ve spent a couple of weeks on Classification and Plants.  So far – everything in the DVD has been putting a nice topping to our Nature Studies.  Living in the Pacific Northwest – we have instant access to Biology – Animals, Birds and Plants. We’ve spent the last few years participating weekly in Nature Study. This past year we have stepped up the Narration – asking for more details from the field guides for the specimens that we observe. So – I didn’t know – how much ‘more’ we would need from a text course.

The Video. As soon as we started watching Introduction: Defining Life and Life Classifications – I knew I had the missing piece of our puzzle.  Our family enjoyed the teacher, his voice and his mannerisms.  I enjoyed that he would walk through a library looking at the living books we use at home, pull one out, and help us define a precept. He would then walk through the area outside where the subject was found and show through words and actions what he was talking about using several examples.

Onward to Plants for the next two weeks.  We learned quite a bit about Vascular and non Vascular plants and finally had a scientific set of where to put our Fungi, Moss and Algae. There is simple humor in the film as well – the boys giggled his reference to Algae and Algebra . . . your family will chuckle as well.  Watching the plant video has given us a frame to place the pieces of knowledge into – and a visual photo as well.  Fruit – that part of the plant that forms around the seed.  Then putting it to visual example in trees, flowers, garden varieties, and the grocery store.

Yes, I do believe that with our current Nature Studies and this DVD series we will be able to stand firm in the knowledge that the High School Credit has been earned in Biology.

You might be asking  – how does this help your family – if you have not been participating in Nature Studies?  You live in the city? Do you see more cement than fungi? Does your state require hours to be shared? You have not collected shelves of Biology Resources?  Biology 101 has that covered!

Along with the DVD – you have access to two PDF files.
The Guide Book and Course Accreditation  Booklet.

The Guide Book. As we have watched the lesson we have the Laptop open with the Guide Book to help follow along with the video. I have printed out various parts to put in Nate’s Notebook.

This month, our Wordsmith Lesson is on taking notes from Non –Fiction sources, so we have combined those assignments and he wrote more notes than usual during our second viewing. (Sample Guide PDF from the Plant Study)

Accreditation – Very simple ideas to spread  one video over the course of 2-3 weeks.  There are suggestions for using Field Trips, the Bible, the Encyclopedia, Library Selections, and intentional reading of The Guide Book. Unit Quizzes are offered with Multiple Choice. So far, none of the extra ideas should be outside of your daily habits – they will just help you to bring in the information into your week – with intention. If you are living in the middle of a city – this is the help you may need. Or –  if  science and biology are just not your bag – you will love the Accreditation Booklet. You may click on the sample to see how the hours are laid out to help you keep track if your state requires. (Sample of the Accreditation Booklet)

Is it enough?  You may have a better feel for it as they take the quizzes. You’ll see what points are familiar and which need more research. We needed to research Chlorophyll. Nate knew that the Petiole is the part attaching the leaf, but couldn’t explain why it changes color in the winter to the detail shared in the lesson.  I have talked to quite a few families who have used this program and they gave me a Yes, It was Enough. We were able to chat up our science projects at a reception party of a friend who just earned her Masters in Biology – and she was quite thrilled with what the boys shared. She is arranging a field trip to her college labs to show them around.  She agreed – that what we are doing – is enough – if not more.  I believe – that the DVD, Guidebook, and Accreditation Booklet should cover High School Biology.

However, should you want to look at text book options, if you have not been able to gather those resources – Timberdoodle’s Science options will give you some great choices.  They offer a text book along with Biology 101 in their 9th grade core subjects as well.

I look forward to sharing with you over the next few weeks as we study the Animals, Birds and People!  Thank You Timberdoodle and thank you Westfield Studios for the 101 Series. I’m looking forward to watching more of these!

Disclaimer – As a part of Timberdoodle’s Review Team, Because Mom Said, I was able to have Biology 101 for free in exchange for using it in my home and sharing our experience and opinions with you. I was able to choose this product and asked to be able to review it. I will be able to keep it and share it with Jon when he is in 9th – 10th grade as well.

Review by Home Grown Hearts Academy

Wordsmith Apprentice Review

My oldest daughter and I recently had the opportunity to review Wordsmith Apprentice, a self- directed writing program for grades 4-6 in the Wordsmith Series.

I had never heard of Wordsmith, but after researching it, it looked like it could be a good fit my daughter and I was really hoping she would enjoy it and that it wouldn’t be to difficult for her!

Also, it’s one of Cathy Duffy’s 100 Top Picks for Curriculum!

I have to say that after actually receiving Wordsmith Apprentice, and looking through it myself, that I did have some concerns. While it looked like something I thought my daughter would enjoy, I wondered how much “hand holding” it would require. I also worried that my daughter would find it to be to much writing and maybe a bit advanced beyond her current level of writing.

Boy, was I wrong! When she started into the book, she would hardly put it down.   That was encouraging, especially from the daughter, who does not, and I mean does NOT, like writing. Well I should say, who didn’t like writing, because now she has a new found confidence in her writing.

My daughter enjoyed the fact that she got to be a reporter. This was a new concept to her and one that she surprisingly embraced. This curriculum brought to her attention, the importance of writing and a new found love for our local writers and newspapers. It started out with a pretty basic application for a newspaper position. This is what really caught her attention and made it fun. Here is an example of her application.

The day she filled this out, was a happy day for her. I remember vividly, her dad returning home from work that evening. He was just through the door, when he was greeted with an overjoyed daughter. She told him, that she had a job, and it was an important job. She was a reporter for a newspaper and she was reporting the news!  His smile was enough to make anyone also smile. I remember him looking at me with a look of “What have you done to excite her into writing?” Well friends, I can honestly say it wasn’t me. I secretly hoped that this wasn’t short lived. That it would continue to excite her.
I think it did continue to excite her because Wordsmith Apprentice started out very gently and it was exciting to her. It covered basic sentences, and then covered all four types of writing — descriptive, narrative, expository, and persuasive.  It didn’t just ask my daughter to write ‘such and such’. It taught my daughter the skills to be able to write and to do it independently. Not to forget, it has wonderful comic sections. My daughter, being more of the visual type learner, really enjoyed these sections.  My six year old also enjoyed being read to by her older sister and looking at the pictures.

Legal Disclosure:
As a member of Timberdoodle’s Blogger Review Team I received a free copy of Wordsmith in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.