New Review!!! Illustrated Bible Dictionary for Kids!

Well, hello there!!!  I'm so glad you stopped by!  :)  I bet you'd like to get my posts delivered right to your inbox, now wouldn't you?  So why not sign up for Feedburner?  Check it out, it's right there in my sidebar!  Thanks!!  :)

About the product/service: As part of the TOS Homeschool Crew I received a free copy of The Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary for Kids from Lifeway Christian Stores so that I could check it out and let you know what we think! 

While I'm at it, I thought I'd let you also know I checked out the website and Lifeway Christian Stores look like a great place to buy Christian resources.  You can shop online, or if you're lucky enough to have one in your area, you can shop in one of their stores.  They sell just about everything you can think of from books and DVDs, to church supplies and furniture!



Anyway, getting back to the book, it's a beautiful hardcover book with over 200 pages which explain over 700 Bible terms.  There are lots of photos, illustrations, and maps which make everything easier to understand.  The book is geared towards ages five to ten, but is valuable for anyone wanting to learn more about the Bible! 

What are the pros of this product?  This book has lots of color and is layed out so that it is very visually appealing.  Even though it is a dictionary, it has a bit of an encyclopedia feel to it.  With all the tables and illustrations and such, it's much more than a book with words and definitions.


What's not to like? I think the only thing not to like is the fact that it's marketed to young kids.  I think it should be marketed to families!  It's great for adults too!


The Crazy Mom take:  This is a fabulous resource.  It was kinda funny, because Sane Man usually don't get too involved in the products I review, but he happened to be home when the book came and he opened it up.  He must have spent an at least a half hour looking through the book!  He kept finding things and showing them to me!  Of course the kids enjoy thumbing through it too, and so do I!  A fabulous resource.  :)

Happy Bible Studying!!!




What's the bottom line? $14.99

I am going to give Alphabet Beats 5 out of 5 smileys!!!

Check it out!  http://www.lifewaystores.com/lwstore/product.asp?isbn=0805495312&mscssid=PNLFDPCKDV5X8H1692U2Q99SWK3TD72A



See what my fellow TOS Crew members have to say @

http://homeschoolblogger.com/homeschoolcrew/783689/





*The Smiley System:

I can't really recommend this product.

I doubt this product would be helpful to many people.

This is a good product, but isn't right for everyone.

Most homeschool moms will find this useful.

This is great, and I would recommend it to anyone!!!


Disclaimer!!! I reviewed this product because I am a member of The Old Schoolhouse Homeschool Crew. I was given the product by the vendor to use and evaluate in my home so that I might share my insights with others. Other than receiving the product, which I kinda have to to be able to assess the product, I am not compensated for my reviews in any way. I am in no way obligated to give a positive review. I do try to point out negatives when I see them, though I am admittedly a pretty easy going gal! What you read are my honest assessments of the products I receive.

As with all products, you must do the research before buying. Please visit the the other crew members' blogs, the vendor websites, and any other review sites you might find before buying. I can't guarantee that a product will work for you. You must decide what will fit with your teaching style, and your child(ren)'s learning style(s). I do not judge anything other than the educational value of the products I review. I am not qualified to make judgements as to the safely of any product, and I make no guarantee that the products I review are safe for you, your family, or anyone else. I am simply giving my opinion; only you know what is best for you and your family.

Don't use your blow dryer while you sleep or take a bath. Don't read my reviews in the tub either, and please do not read them when you are asleep, though I do not guarantee that you won't fall asleep reading them!

Copyright 2010 Ramblings from the Crazy House 2

New Review!!! Speakee TV!

Well, hello there!!!  I'm so glad you stopped by!  :)  I bet you'd like to get my posts delivered right to your inbox, now wouldn't you?  So why not sign up for Feedburner?  Check it out, it's right there in my sidebar!  Thanks!!  :)

About the product/service: As part of the TOS Homeschool Crew I received a free two month subscription to Speekee TV.  This site offers over two and a half hours of video featuring native Spanish speakers speaking directly to the viewer about things kids like, such as going to the park, zoo, or beach.  There are also worksheets you can download that go along with each episode.  The program is geared to young children.  I'd say roughly from two to ten.  The star of the show is a puppet named Speekee, pictured below. 

What are the pros of this product? Spanish is taught in a much more natural way than simple trying to learn each word by rote memory.  Words are learned in context and I love the video format.  Having the worksheets to go with the video is also a great idea for kids who learn best by writing. 



What's not to like? Some kids, might not like the character Speekee or just might not have an interest in learning Spanish. 


The Crazy Mom take: I had great hopes for this program, but my kids just were not interested.  I had them watch several times but it was like pulling teeth.  (Too bad the Tooth Fairy doesn't pay them for watching!  LOL)  I sometimes think that my older kids were much more open-minded when they were younger than my littles are now.  They had no older siblings to pronounce things "dumb" and sway their thinking.  My older kids didn't like Speekee, so my seven-year-old "decided" that he didn't either.  I figured he'd be thrilled to get to go on the computer to "watch TV" but he wasn't. 

Personally, I love the idea of the videos because they are much closer to presenting Spanish in the way one would learn it naturally than any textbook I've ever seen.  I'm currently teaching Spanish in our co-op and I realize how frustrating it is trying to simply use flashcards to learn hundreds of words.  I know that if my students had to live in a Spanish speaking environment for a few weeks they would learn far more than I can teach them in a year.  I was really hoping my kids would love this and they would get a head start on learning the language.  It was not to be.  However, my kids are not your kids and they might love this!  How about introducing them to some of the kids on the video here.  Or sign up for a FREE TRIAL.


What's the bottom line? $7.50 per month

I am going to give Speekee TV 3 out of 5 smileys!!!

Check it out! http://www.speekee.co.uk/




See what my fellow TOS Crew members have to say @

http://homeschoolblogger.com/homeschoolcrew/783681/





*The Smiley System:

I can't really recommend this product.

I doubt this product would be helpful to many people.

This is a good product, but isn't right for everyone.

Most homeschool moms will find this useful.

This is great, and I would recommend it to anyone!!!


Disclaimer!!! I reviewed this product because I am a member of The Old Schoolhouse Homeschool Crew. I was given the product by the vendor to use and evaluate in my home so that I might share my insights with others. Other than receiving the product, which I kinda have to to be able to assess the product, I am not compensated for my reviews in any way. I am in no way obligated to give a positive review. I do try to point out negatives when I see them, though I am admittedly a pretty easy going gal! What you read are my honest assessments of the products I receive.

As with all products, you must do the research before buying. Please visit the the other crew members' blogs, the vendor websites, and any other review sites you might find before buying. I can't guarantee that a product will work for you. You must decide what will fit with your teaching style, and your child(ren)'s learning style(s). I do not judge anything other than the educational value of the products I review. I am not qualified to make judgements as to the safely of any product, and I make no guarantee that the products I review are safe for you, your family, or anyone else. I am simply giving my opinion; only you know what is best for you and your family.

Don't use your blow dryer while you sleep or take a bath. Don't read my reviews in the tub either, and please do not read them when you are asleep, though I do not guarantee that you won't fall asleep reading them!

Copyright 2010 Ramblings from the Crazy House 2

New Review!!! Early Modern History Schedule from Easy Classical!

Well, hello there!!!  I'm so glad you stopped by!  :)  I bet you'd like to get my posts delivered right to your inbox, now wouldn't you?  So why not sign up for Feedburner?  Check it out, it's right there in my sidebar!  Thanks!!  :)

About the product/service: As part of the TOS Homeschool Crew I received a free download of the Early Modern History Schedule from Easy Classical.  In this case I did not actually use the schedule as I am not a classical educator, nor are we studying early modern history.  My job for this review was to simply review the schedule itself and let you know what I think!  :)

First I should tell you that this is not the only product available from Easy Classical.  Easy Classic not only sells complete schedules, main schedules, science schedules, and of course, history schedules, they also sell writing guides, copy books, and curricula that incorporate geography.  

As far as the schedules go, they basically take an entire year's worth of work and break it down into daily lessons for a 36 week period.  Sure you could do this yourself, but I imagine it would be quite time consuming if you had to try to pull from different resources and then somehow coordinate the subjects so that it all "gelled." 

The Early Modern History Schedule (Explorers to 1815) interconnects history with geography, art, writing and read-alouds.  It comes in both a download version and a hard copy version that comes in a 1" three-ring binder.  This schedule was developed for students in K-6 and includes over 45 pages of lesson plans, charts, and sheets to aid you in teaching.  There are projects, activities, and ideas that are included to compliment all learning styles.  There are also review questions and answers, quizzes, and even a handy shopping list for each lesson so that you can prepare ahead.  Check out a sample of the schedule here.  Check out sample lesson plans here.  Click here to see a page that not only lists all the required and supplemental resources, but actually has links to where they can be purchased.


What are the pros of this product? Well, if you are a schedule person, and are a classical educator, this would be a perfect fit for you!  Everything is laid out very clearly, and there are all sorts of extra helps built right into the schedule. 

Another plus is that Easy Classical Press is not one of those companies that claims to know the ONLY perfect way to homeschool.  The creator of the schedule, Sandra Williams, understands that you will want to tweak the schedule to fit your needs, and it's made to be quite "tweakable." 


What's not to like?  Honestly, if you are a classical kind of gal (or guy) you will most likely like this unless you are not a schedule person.  Somehow I think that most classical educators ARE schedule people.  I have no scientific backing for that, just my own hunch.  :) 

The only classical educator I can think of who might not like this is one who is totally into creating his or her own curriculum from scratch.  If you are one of those people, well, I am sorry for you.  Okay, just kidding, here. But seriously, I think most moms (or dads) would love to have some of the basic organization done for them.  :)

Now, though I'm only reviewing the schedule, I do think it bears mentioning that there are simply loads of resources that are required for this program.  Though many of them are available at the library, it could really get costly to have to buy all of these books.  This is a huge consideration for those who are on a tight budget (or are just frugal like me.) 


The Crazy Mom take: Like I stated above, this is a unique review in that we were not actually required to use the product.  (And, yes, we normally work very hard to actually USE each and every product we get with our children unless it is an absolutely wrong fit.  Even then, we will use it ourselves as thoroughly as possible so we can share our opinions with our readers.) 

Anyway, since we are probably on the complete opposite end of the spectrum as the classical homeschool, I am a bit out of my element.  I tend to use one book for history that my children read through on their own.  I then supplement with lots of biographies and other relevant material.  I don't test much, and to be honest, so far my kids have tested very well in social studies on standardized tests.  Anyway, I just wanted to give you an idea of where I am coming from here.  When I look at the classical way of education I am like, NO WAY!!!  LOL  It is just not my style.  However, if I were to go classical, I would have to have something like this to keep me sane.  (Wait a minute, I'm Crazy Mom, too late for that!  LOL)  OK, I would have to have something like this to keep me from going completely crazy.  I am very sequential and that is the main reason I can't do integrated studies.  I just get too overwhelmed pulling information from so many resources and trying to keep it all straight in my head.  A schedule like this would be a total must. 

So if you are totally not classical, you probably won't be interested.  (Though like I always say, you really ought to check it out yourself.)  However, if you are a classical educator, or would like to be, this might be the best thing to ever happen to your homeschool! 

Happy scheduling!


What's the bottom line? Digital $29.95/Notebook $25.95

I am going to give Early Modern History Schecule from Easy Classical 3 out of 5 smileys!!!

Check it out! http://www.easyclassical.com/index.html


See what my fellow TOS Crew members have to say @

http://homeschoolblogger.com/homeschoolcrew/782787/




*The Smiley System:

I can't really recommend this product.

I doubt this product would be helpful to many people.

This is a good product, but isn't right for everyone.

Most homeschool moms will find this useful.

This is great, and I would recommend it to anyone!!!


Disclaimer!!! I reviewed this product because I am a member of The Old Schoolhouse Homeschool Crew. I was given the product by the vendor to use and evaluate in my home so that I might share my insights with others. Other than receiving the product, which I kinda have to to be able to assess the product, I am not compensated for my reviews in any way. I am in no way obligated to give a positive review. I do try to point out negatives when I see them, though I am admittedly a pretty easy going gal! What you read are my honest assessments of the products I receive.

As with all products, you must do the research before buying. Please visit the the other crew members' blogs, the vendor websites, and any other review sites you might find before buying. I can't guarantee that a product will work for you. You must decide what will fit with your teaching style, and your child(ren)'s learning style(s). I do not judge anything other than the educational value of the products I review. I am not qualified to make judgements as to the safely of any product, and I make no guarantee that the products I review are safe for you, your family, or anyone else. I am simply giving my opinion; only you know what is best for you and your family.

Don't use your blow dryer while you sleep or take a bath. Don't read my reviews in the tub either, and please do not read them when you are asleep, though I do not guarantee that you won't fall asleep reading them!

Copyright 2010 Ramblings from the Crazy House 2