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A+ TutorSoft Online Pre-Algebra ~ review

Written by Joy
5 Comments
A+ TutorSoft Online Pre-Algebra ~ review

For my oldest daughter, math has always been a challenge and having homeschooled 10 years, we have tried several different math curriculum’s to try and figure out the best one.  Recently, we had the chance to try A+ TutorSoft Online Pre-Algebra.  The first day my daughter worked on it, she turned to me and said, “Mom, I think I can do this!”  For a positive comment to come out of my daughter’s mouth so quickly, truly made me happy.

The first thing you do when you buy the online curriculum, is set up an account for your student.  You will give them a log-in and a password. The student is then able to log-in and begin the work.  The student has problems that they can work out.  They also can listen to someone explain how to the work as well.  If the student needs more help, there are worksheets that you can download for them to work on.

One of the things I like most about this, it is uses audio, computer animated visuals and text to help teach the math.  It also has an interactive review to help not only the student, but the parent as well, so the parent can also help the student.  Go watch this video  that explains just what all A+ TutorSoft offers.

Do you know what else I like about A+ TutorSoft?  The owners of this wonderful program and how committed they are to their product.  When I began looking for another math program, I e-mailed Vinod Agrawal and he responded in  a very timely manner.  Not only did he email me, he also called me so that I could ask him questions regarding the online program.

Are you worried about spending money and the program not working for you?  You don’t have to worry about that!  They will give you a free one month online subscription!  Just sign up here!

Sarah doing a math lesson.

Overall, my oldest daughter and I really like A+ Tutor Soft a lot.  I am excited to see that they have an Algebra course for when we finish Pre-Algebra.  It is really nice to see my daughter not put off doing her math now.  While she still doesn’t care much for the subject math, it is no longer a struggle getting her to do her math.  For that, I am grateful.

 

**disclaimer: I was given a trial subscription of the A+ TutorSoft Online Pre-Algebra.  All opinions expressed are my own.  No other compensation was given.

 

 

 

2013, homeschooling, review, , , ,

Made in Heaven ~ a Mom of Master Books review

Written by Joy
Made in Heaven ~ a Mom of Master Books review

I am so excited to be a part of the Mom of Master Books review team!  This month, we are reviewing Made in Heaven by Ray Comfort and Jeffrey Seto.  I couldn’t wait to get Made in Heaven in the mail.  Ray Comfort and Jeffrey Seto do an amazing job in this book.  They share with us how scientists look at God’s creations and study how they work.

Here are just a few things that scientiest have learned from observing different  things from God’s creation.

  • Body Armor – Strength of Fish Scales
  • Human Eye – A Better Camera Lens
  • Anti Lasers Learn from Bird Feathers
  • Mosquitos Studied for Painless Needles
  • Wasp Nests and Papermaking

Go check out the video about this book!

These are just a few of the topics in this amazing book.  I know my kids and I have enjoyed reading how many things have been discovered just by people watching and learning from things that God has created.

Now for the fun part!  Moms of Master Books is having a Book and Bite Facebook Party and you all are invited!  It will be on March 21st at 9pm (EST).  There will be several prizes, which include:

  • a copy of Made in Heaven
  • a copy of The Defneder’s Guide for Life’s Toughest Questions (a new release of NLPG)
  • and a $25 gift certificate

Will I see you there?

 

disclaimer: I was provided a copy of this book for review. I didn’t recieve any other compensation for the review.  All opinions stated are my own.

2013, homeschooling, review, , , , , , , ,

See The Light Van Gogh and Sunflowers Project ~ Review and giveaway!

Written by Joy
25 Comments
See The Light Van Gogh and Sunflowers Project ~ Review and giveaway!


Back in January our family went to see the Van Gogh Exhibition at the Denver Art Museum and loved it. So when I was asked by See The Light if I would review the Van Gogh Sunflowers project, I excitedly said yes!   While I knew that the project dvd by See The light might be a little difficult for my younger two kids (it is recommended for ages 10+), I knew my oldest daughter could do it.   When the dvd arrived, I don’t know who was more excited, me or my daughter!

Sarah tracing out her design

The Sunflowers dvd is divided into 4 lessons.  Each lesson is about 25 minutes long.  The first lesson, Pat Knepley begins talking about Vincent Van Gogh and a little bit of his life and how be began drawing and painting.   Van Gogh had a troubled life, but Pat explained about his life in such a way, that truly just shared about his talent and gift of drawing and painting.

Sarah working on the vase.

She began the picture, by doing a basic composition or drawing lightly the outline of what the picture would be.  Once she did that, they began the task of filling in with color in the short stroke technique that Van Gogh used in some of his paintings.  This was just a basic color to get the outline of the vase, flowers and leaves.

Sarah listening and watch the dvd while filling in some lines.

Once she finished that, she then started adding in more colors to fill the picture out and blending in the colors together.

Sarah working on the leaves.

My daughter truly had a wonderful time with this DVD.  Van Gogh is one of her favorite artists and it just helped her to understand Van Gogh a little more, by attempting  a technique that he used.  When I first suggested her doing this DVD, she didn’t think she could do it.  My daughter is very talented with a pencil and paper, but she has never tried any other art medium like this before.

working on blending in the colors.

Once she started, Pat Kenpley gave my daughter the confidence that she needed to where now, she is looking forward to trying different mediums out.  I also love how in every lesson, Pat brings out her bible and reads scripture from it.  There is always a bible lesson in every art lesson that See The Light does.  I, for one, am very thankful for a company standing firm on the word of God.

Listening to final instructions on the dvd.

I asked my daughter what her thoughts were on the Van Gogh Project and this is what she said:

“What I really enjoyed about the Van Gogh project was the techniques given in the DVD. They were clearly explained, and I understood how to execute the techniques to finish the sunflowers.The information on Van Gogh’s life was also well explained, and I definitely want to look more into his life as a painter. Honestly, I had never used oil pastels before, and I now I prefer to use them over other mediums. The lessons really helped expand my artistic abilities, and I look forward to learning more!”

 

Sarah’s final picture of her interpretation of Van Gogh’s Sunflowers painting.

As you can tell, my daughter finished and I think did an amazing job.  I am truly proud of her and can’t wait to see the other See The Light Project DVD’s that she does.  We have already ordered 4 more and I do plan on blogging about those as well.  My daughter’s goal is to attend an Art College and we plan on using some of these finished pictures as part of her portfolio.

See The Light has an amazing deal for you all, until March 24th.  You can get the Ultimate Crossmaker Set for only $25.00 (regularly $34.99).  This includes free shipping in the US.   The set includes The Crossmaker DVD, CD of music and audio stories, Black Light with batteries, Fluorescent Chalk and Fluorescent pencils.  Just enter the discount code word, “CROSS”  into the box when you go to check out and hit APPLY!

Now on to some great news!  See The Light art curriculum, has graciously offered to give one of my readers an Ultimate Crossmaker Set!   All you have to do is just leave me a comment, telling me what Easter means to you!  This giveaway will end March 17th, 2013.

**Update** Congrats to Vicki Arnold for being chosen the winner of the Ultimate Crossmaker Set from See The Light!

**Disclosure Policy: I was given this DVD to review, but all thoughts and opinions are my own.  This post contains affiliate links.

2013, homeschooling, review, , , , , ,

Wednesday’s Around the World~ Nahum and Zephaniah

Written by Joy
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Wednesday’s Around the World~ Nahum and Zephaniah

This week for Wednesday’s Around the World, we read about Nahum and Zephaniah, two prophets sent by God to warn of the destruction and doom to those who did not follow the law of God.

Nahum was a prophet God sent during the time of King Josiah.  Nahum was sent to warn the Assyrians.  Do you remember the Assyrians?  They were known to be brutal warriors.  They treated their prisoners horribly.   The capital of Assyria was Nineveh and it was a very strong city.  They had walls that were 100 feet wide and could support three chariots, side by side on top of that wall.  They had 1500 towers that were 200 feet high!

Nahum warned the Assyrians about their wickedness and told the Ninevites exactly how God would destroy them!

Claire sharing her “chariot”.

Zephaniah was also a prophet during Josiah’s time as King.   His message wasn’t towards the Assyrians, it was towards Jerusalem and surrounding nations.   He talked with those who only outwardly showed love to God, but were lost inside, their heart.  Zephaniah loved to write and wrote to those,  giving them hope in things that were to come.  However, just like Nahum, he also told what would happen if they did not turn to their wicked ways.

The activity for this lesson, we chose to build a wall and a tower.  We got the Lego’s and Lincoln Log’s out and the kids had a blast building, especially Sammy!  He loved seeing how high of a tower he could build.

Sammy working on his tall tower.

So what have you been learning about in History and Geography?  I would love for you to link up and share with us!  Also, be sure to check out those who link up.  I know I have learned a lot by reading what other homeschoolers have done!


2013, homeschooling, Wednesdays Around The World, , , , , ,

Wednesday’s Around the World ~ King Josiah

Written by Joy
5 Comments
Wednesday’s Around the World ~ King Josiah

Thankful that the sickness has left our home, we are now back with our Mystery of History lessons.  I enjoyed sharing lessons from other homeschool families and I am now excited to share a lesson this week with you for Wednesday’s Around the World.

I really enjoyed this weeks lesson on King Josiah.  King Josiah was Manasseh’s grandson.  You remember who King Manasseh was?  He was an evil King in his younger years, but finally came back to God when he was older.  He repented and God forgave him.  He then did his best to turn the kingdom around before he died.

Josiah was very young when he took over as king.  He was only 8 years old.  They said by the time he was 16, he really loved God.  King Josiah loved God so much that he started going all over the country of Judah and destroying any false idols, false wooden images and alters to Baal.   When Josiah headed back to Jerusalem, he started to restore the Temple that Solomon had built and made an amazing discovery.  They found the Book of the Law!  That’s right, the first 5 books of the Old testament!

Josiah decided that the book would be read to everyone.  Once that started happening, it is said that a revival took place.  They even held a Passover Feast!

Our project for this lesson was to make scrolls.  Scrolls are what the books were written in back in that day.  The first thing we had to do was make tea stained paper.

soaking paper in tea.

I boiled the water and then put in two family size tea bags.  I let it steep for about 10-15 minutes, then added 6 crumbled up pieces of white paper.  I then let the paper soak in the tea for about 15 minutes and it was almost too long.  The paper started to rip as I was trying to straighten it out.  I then laid it out flat on the dryer, to dry.  This also took longer than what I had planned.

Writing Jeremiah 29:11.

Our next step was choosing a scripture to write on the scroll.  I chose Jeremiah 29:11.

Jeremiah 29:11

11 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.

We then took toilet paper rolls and taped them to the scrolls.

taping toilet paper rolls to our paper

The final step of this project was then rolling them up and tying it with a piece of string, ribbon or yarn.

scrolls rolled up

What all have you been learning about in history?  Have you done any projects lately to help your children understand the lesson better?  I would love to have you join and link up with me!  While you are linking up, be sure to check out the others that have linked up.  We had some great lessons and projects join us this past week!

 


****disclaimer~ This link-up is not officially affiliated with Bright Ideas Press but is my own project. I am a customer and fan. There are affiliate links in this post.

2013, homeschooling, Wednesdays Around The World, , , ,