Math-U-See Accelerated Individualized Mastery (AIM) for Multiplication with a Bridge to Division Review #ComplimentaryProductReceived

 

Disclaimer: I received this complimentary product through the Homeschool Review Crew in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way.

My family had the privilege of trying the Accelerated Individualized Mastery (AIM) for Multiplication with a Bridge to Division from Math-U-See for this review to use in conjunction with our own curriculum at home. This is a Homeschool Review Crew Review. All opinions expressed are my own or those of my family.

The Accelerated Individualized Mastery (AIM) for Multiplication with a Bridge to Division Set has everything to teach older students who are struggling with math, specifically with a mastery of multiplication facts. This instructor-guided intervention program is generally targeting students age 10+. With the use of proven methods and manipulatives from Math-U-See, AIM strives to give students the confidence to learn better methods to succeed in multiplication and thus excel in more complex math continuing on in their education. Accelerated Individualized Mastery (AIM) for Multiplication with a Bridge to Division has 10 lessons for multiplication learning and 2 lessons with a bridge to division.

• Accelerated – The opportunity for students to move quickly through a skill set they have not yet mastered, without extra distractions.
• Individualized – Each student is different, as are their learning preferences. Using as many approaches as possible, the program creates an environment for a student to master the skills they still need at their own pace.
• Mastery – In this program, mastery means that a student can recall all the math facts using as little mental energy as possible to remain engaged in the process of problem solving.

 

Accelerated Individualized Mastery (AIM) for Multiplication with a Bridge to Division Kit

 

Accelerated Individualized Mastery (AIM) Contents:

• Resource Guide Step-by-step guide that includes the techniques, components, and instruction for presenting fact strategies and practicing for mastery. Includes 10 lesson plans for multiplication and 2 with a bridge to division.
• Integer Blocks Proven Math-U-See manipulatives illustrate strategies and are integrated within the instructional materials.
• Fact Check Cards Set of cards used for planning instruction and assessing mastery.
• Math Facts Strategy Posters Individual posters illustrating the Math-U-See multiplication fact strategies.
• Digital Pack Set includes code to redeem access to the AIM for Multiplication with a Bridge to Division Digital Pack. The Digital Pack includes lesson videos, instructions, solutions, and
  printable resources required for successful implementation of the AIM for Multiplication
  program. This gives you access to all the online and downloadable activities and resources. Internet access is required to utilize the Digital Pack. 

 

Lesson 2 in the Digital Tool-Box.

Getting to and using the Digital Pack that comes with the kit after it has been purchased is easy. Once you have purchased the Accelerated Individualized Mastery (AIM) for Multiplication with a Bridge to Division and it has arrived at your home you will receive a Digital Access card inside the box. This will give you access to the Digital Tool-Box online, just follow the directions to sign up. There is a pull down menu to select a product on the left. Pick Accelerated Individualized Mastery (AIM). On the right hand pull down menu select Multiplication. Once you select a lesson you can play the Streaming Instruction Video and/or click on the pull down menus underneath each video with printable PDF links for a Lesson Summary and Lesson Solutions. There are also Additional Activities and Resources that you can also print out.


How We Used This and Our Thoughts:

I used this program with my daughter Zari, who is 11 years old. She takes a long time with solving multiplication facts. Zari and I are familiar with Math-U-See and how the program works because we had used the Primer kit when Zari was in preschool and the AIM for Addition and Subtraction last year. Now that she is in 4th grade I believe the Accelerated Individualized Mastery (AIM) for Multiplication with a Bridge to Division will get her back on the right track for math and help her become more positive in her skills.

First Zari did the Before-AIM Assessment so that we could see where she was with her multiplication facts. This assessment is an important step to evaluate your student's progress and mastery. There will also be a After-AIM Assessment that will show you if your student achieved the goals. In this assessment 81 multiplication facts are asked verbally to the student in a stress free environment. Make a slash through the facts they answer correctly. Students being assessed can take a break after 1-2 minutes. You will then tally up the number of correct answers at the end.

This is what I did before most lessons:

• Watch lesson video
• Read lesson instructions
• Study example problems
• Gather lesson materials

These are the sessions of most lessons:

• Session A: Present Lesson Instruction
• Session B: Demonstrate Understanding
• Session C: Transition Math Facts to Visual Memory
• Session D: Assess for Mastery

 

Color by Block Value Activity

Lesson 1 was all about the integer blocks. This was review from last year. Zari loved the activities and resources parts of the instruction the most. In Lesson 1 her favorite was the color by block value activity. I thought she did very well with the activity sheets too in getting to learn the colors that went with each integer block. After mastering them again we moved onto lesson 2.

 

Zari watching Lesson 2 in the Digital Tool-Box.

Lesson 2 was all about rectangles, factors, and product. This lesson only has a session A. This lesson was also review for her. She also reviewed about area of a rectangle. After this we went onto the Digital Tool-Box and did the activity sheet that went along with the lesson. She did the Build, Write, Say method with the sheet. There are activities A-C on this sheet. Zari did very well with this lesson and knew how to solve for the area of a rectangle, and so we moved onto the next lesson.

I think that Zari is having fun doing these lessons and learning multiplication without taking so long. The instruction of the Math-U-See Accelerated Individualized Mastery (AIM) for Multiplication with a Bridge to Division is outstanding and well put together. I highly recommend it if your student needs this to succeed in math.


BUY IT
You can purchase AIM for Multiplication with a Bridge to Division for $45.


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Math Shed/Spelling Shed Review #ComplimentaryProductReceived

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of this product through the HOMESCHOOL REVIEW CREW in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way.

My family had the privilege of trying a one-year subscription to both Math Shed and Spelling Shed by EdShed for this review to use in conjunction with our own curriculum at home. This is a Homeschool Review Crew Review. All opinions expressed are my own or those of my family.

Math Shed and Spelling Shed is an online subscription from EdShed a.k.a. Education Shed Inc.. Besides Math Shed and Spelling Shed they also have Literacy Shed and Literacy Shed Plus. These are programs for first through fifth graders. They teach in a interactive online game format so your little one stays engaged. The subscription gives you a whole year access to the Teacher Hub and Web Game for up to 5 students. The Teachers Hub allows simple management of student records, student groups called leagues, assignments and student achievement data, teachers and classes. The Web Game works on all current desktop, laptop, tablet and mobile devices. Each user/student gets to create their own individual login.

You can switch easily between Spelling Shed & Math Shed by clicking the three lines at the top.

Spelling Shed includes a whole-school spelling curriculum. This covers 100% of the Common Core and state ELA spelling standards. You can create your own unlimited spelling lists and also search for others' lists within the program. With subscription you have the ability to set and monitor homework assignments for example; weekly spelling lists. Besides the online game there is an iOS app for students to use to practise spelling at an additional cost. Whole-class Hive Games that allow all students to play alongside each other instead of doing a weekly spelling test. This can be used as a whole-school curriculum or as a supplement with other spelling programs.

Math Shed works in conjunction with Spelling Shed to help develop learners retention and recall of number facts. This includes mastery teaching slides that follow a whole-school approach and White Rose math without worksheets. Math Shed covers a broad set of math skills including number-bonds and times-tables. With subscription you have the ability to set and monitor homework assignments for example; weekly multiplication tables practice. Besides the online game there is an iOS app for students to use to practise math at an additional cost. Includes a Year 4 multiplication tables check simulator to help students practise for the assessment. Math Shed can be used with a small group to improve a specific skill or across an entire school with different number skills that are targeted across many year groups.


Who This Would Be a Good Fit For and Our Thoughts:

Spelling Shed and Math Shed are great online programs for 1st to fifth grader or kids that need to brush up on their spelling and/or math. My daughter Zari who is in 3rd grade and I tried these platforms out. She was right in the age bracket for these.

After I created an account for my daughter in the Teachers Hub and created my avatar, I logged out and she logged in. She had her own account with user name and password that I set up for her. The first thing my daughter Zari did was create her personalized avatar. We noticed that some of the things that they had to pick from were locked because she didn't have any points yet, so we went with the basic free stuff. We learned that to upgrade the avatar with some of the more costly accessories you would need to earn Honeypots by answering questions correctly within the game.

 My and Zari's Personalized Avatars.

If I log back in it will automatically go to the Account Home. From there you can find additional resources. The Quick Start Guide is very helpful and is a great starting point. You can also watch a Training video, but this is very long and is geared towards classrooms with larger numbers of students. The Teacher Hub and Web Game can be accessed from here. The Resources at the bottom are very helpful as well. For Spelling Shed there is Spelling Curriculum and Spelling Lists. We downloaded the Stage 3 spelling curriculum because Zari is in grade 3 and this pertained to her. These can be downloaded in PDF or PowerPoint format. Each curriculum has 36 weekly spelling lists based on state standards and is downloadable. For each spelling list, they include a 20-30 minute lesson plan, resources to aid in giving the lesson, one spelling practice sheet, and one homework sheet. Under Spelling Lists you can view the lists that pertain to your student's stage. I wish you could download and print these out within the program. For Math Shed there is teaching resources from reception (pre-k) to year 6 (grade 5). Each year has an Autumn term, a Spring term, and a Summer term. These terms further break up into different blocks (usually 4-5 of them) of narrowed math topics, like place value or addition & subtraction. When you pick a block it will give you a list of around 4-13 teaching slides for the subject to be narrowed down further. These slides are in PowerPoint for each concept in math that is taught for that term. Since Zari is in 3rd grade this would be the equivalent of year 4. There are also additional resources for Literacy Shed, but since that platform is something we didn't get I am not going to go into those.

Account Home page with Guides at the top and Resources at the bottom.

Spelling Shed Spelling Curriculum and Spelling Lists for Stage 3.

Math Shed Teaching Resources, Year 4 Autumn Term Block 3 (clockwise).

In the Teachers Hub you can make assignments for your student. You can pick what day the assignment is available from and when the assignment (game) expires. You can choose from Spelling or Math. Both spelling and math had where you can pick lists from the curriculum or make your own. For Spelling if you picked curriculum you could pick Spelling Shed, Dolch, Fry, UIL Grades 3-4, UIL Grades 5-6, and UIL Grades 7-8. From there you can select drop down menus to pick a stage or list to have them play in the game. For math you can pick from Number Bonds, Times Tables, Powers of 10, Add & Subtract, and More. From there you can select drop down menus to pick the game to have the student play.

Assignment creator for Spelling Shed (top) and Math Shed (bottom).

The Spelling Shed game has several different stages and difficulty levels that you can pick from within the game. Make sure your sound is on and working before your student plays. First you choose from Stages 1 and 2, Stage 3, and Stages 4 and 5. After you pick play it will ask you what difficulty you would like to play in. You can also choose from easy, medium, hard, or extreme levels within those stages. The easy level says a word out loud with an audio file and shows it to you with the part of speech and definition. When you click go you have to unscramble the letters to spell the word correctly. In the medium level you have to unscramble letters without word shown, but it does have the audio file. The hard level has a audio file of the word with extra letters that you don't use when you are unscrambling the word. The extreme version has all the letters and some punctuation in order of a keyboard to choose from with an audio file of the word. There are also Bonus Games: Bee Keeper (hangman with bees) and Missing Word (spell the missing word in the sentence).

In the Spelling Shed game pick your Stage, hit play, and pick your level.

Spelling Shed game Easy level (clockwise).

Spelling Shed game Medium level.

Spelling Shed game Hard level.

Spelling Shed game Extreme level.

The Math Shed game has several different sections and math practice that you can pick from within the game.  Make sure your sound is on and working before your student plays. First you choose from Number Bonds, Times Tables, Powers of 10, Add & Subtract, and More. After choosing one of these there will be different math topics to choose from within each of these. Most of the Math Shed games have the problem to solve at the top and multiple choice answers to pick from.You have 60 seconds to complete as many problems correctly as you can. The Math Shed games have a fun outer space theme.

Math Shed Game.

For using Spelling Shed with homeschooling I would suggest parents give their students weekly spelling lists and do the lesson in the curriculum that is provided for that week. After that students can play the games that relate to the lessons for that week.

For using Math Shed with homeschooling I would suggest parents have the student watch the PowerPoint lesson of the week and do the activities to practice the new skills. At the end of each lesson there is an assessment to see if the skills were learned. After this students can play the games that relate to the lessons for that week.

We liked both Spelling Shed and Math Shed. I like that there is a curriculum for roughly a whole school year for both spelling and math. This program is not only great for teachers in a public classroom setting, but also great for homeschooling or after schooling as well. I really liked the flexibility and how I can monitor the student's progress. Since we are going into our summer vacation I can see it helping Zari make sure she does not forget the spelling words, vocabulary, literacy, and math facts / problems that we have worked on all year.

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BUY IT
You can try Spelling Shed or Math Shed free for 30 days - no credit card required! If you do want a subscription, it's only $24.95 for an entire year for each program. If you buy them both you get a 15% discount!

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Math-U-See Accelerated Individualized Mastery (AIM) for Addition and Subtraction Review #ComplimentaryProductReceived

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of this product through the HOMESCHOOL REVIEW CREW in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way.

My family had the privilege of trying the Accelerated Individualized Mastery (AIM) for Addition and Subtraction from Math-U-See for this review to use in conjunction with our own curriculum at home. This is a Homeschool Review Crew Review. All opinions expressed are my own or those of my family.

The Accelerated Individualized Mastery (AIM) for Addition and Subtraction Set has everything to teach older students who are struggling with math because they have gaps in their foundational skill set, specifically with single-digit addition and subtraction facts. This is generally targeting students age 8-16. With the use of proven methods and manipulatives from Math-U-See, AIM strives to give students the confidence to learn better methods to succeed in addition and subtraction and thus excel in more complex math continuing on in their education. Accelerated Individualized Mastery (AIM) for Addition and Subtraction has 22 lessons.

• Accelerated – The opportunity for students to move quickly through a skill set they have not yet mastered, without extra distractions.
• Individualized – Each student is different, as are their learning preferences. Using as many approaches as possible, the program creates an environment for a student to master the skills they still need at their own pace.
• Mastery – In this program, mastery means that a student can recall all the math facts using as little mental energy as possible to remain engaged in the process of problem solving.

Accelerated Individualized Mastery (AIM) for Addition and Subtraction Kit

Accelerated Individualized Mastery (AIM) Contents:

• Resource Guide Step-by-step guide that includes the techniques, components, and instruction for presenting fact strategies and practicing for mastery. Includes 22 lesson plans.
• Integer Blocks Proven Math-U-See manipulatives illustrate strategies and are integrated within the instructional materials.
• Colored Pencils Pencils aligned to the color of the integer blocks to help students transition from using the manipulatives.
• Fact Check Cards Set of cards used for planning instruction and assessing mastery.
• Math Facts Strategy Posters Individual posters illustrating the Math-U-See addition fact strategies.
• Digital Pack Set includes code to redeem 12-months access to the AIM for Addition and Subtraction Digital Pack. This gives you access to all the online and downloadable activities and resources. This includes the AIM for Success Videos that highlight the key concepts and components that make up the AIM program.

Lesson 1 and 2 in the Digital Tool-Box.

Getting to and using the Digital Pack that comes with the kit after it has been purchased is easy. Once you have purchased the Accelerated Individualized Mastery (AIM) for Addition and Subtraction and it has arrived at your home you will receive a Digital Access card inside the box. This will give you access to the Digital Tool-Box online, just follow the directions to sign up. This gives you access to lesson videos, instruction, solutions, and printable resources. There is a pull down menu for Math-U-See and Accelerated Individualized Mastery on the left. Pick Accelerated Individualized Mastery. On the right hand pull down menu select Addition and Subtraction. Once you select a lesson you can play the Streaming Instruction Video and/or click on the pull down menus underneath each video with printable PDF links for a Lesson Summary and Lesson Solutions. There are also Additional Activities and Resources that you can also print out.


How We Used This and Our Thoughts:

I used this program with my daughter Zari, who is 9 years old. She uses her fingers and tallying to add and subtract and I would like to get her away from these ineffective strategies so that it doesn't become a stumbling block later. Zari and I are familiar with Math-U-See and how the program works because we had tried the Primer kit when Zari was in preschool. Now that she is in 3rd grade I believe the Accelerated Individualized Mastery (AIM) for Addition and Subtraction will get her back on the right track for math and help her become more positive in her skills.

First Zari did the Before AIM Assessment so that we could see where she was with her single-digit addition and subtraction facts. This assessment is an important step to know whether or not your student will need the Accelerated Individualized Mastery (AIM) for Addition and Subtraction kit. It is something I recommend doing with your child before purchasing. In this assessment 64 addition and 64 subtraction facts are asked verbally to the student in a stress free environment. Students being assessed can take a break after 2 minutes. If the student scores higher than 109 then AIM probably isn't for your student.  However, if the student scores below 108 then AIM will help the student with their math fluency. Zari was assessed as needing this instruction so we proceeded onto the lessons.

This is what I did before most lessons:

• Watch lesson video
• Read lesson instructions
• Study example problems
• Gather lesson materials

These are the sessions of most lessons:

• Session A: Present Lesson Instruction (Lesson 1 only has this)
• Session B: Demonstrate Understanding
• Session C: Transition Math Facts to Visual Memory
• Session D: Assess for Mastery

Zari doing the activities and resources in Lesson 1.

Zari loved the activities and resources parts of the instruction the most. In Lesson 1 her favorite was the matching game where we matched up pairs of numerals to integer block after she colored them the correct colors to match the real blocks with the colored pencils that came with the kit. I thought she did very well with the activity sheets too in getting to learn the colors that went with each block and numeral, 1-10. After mastering them we moved onto lesson 2.

Lesson 2 was all about addition with 2. In Session A Zari practiced counting by twos to ten. Then she practiced counting by odd numbers to 9 and took a break. Then in Session B we used the Build, Write, Say method to solve problems. She builds the equation with the manipulatives, writes it out in numerals and signs, and then says the equation out loud. After doing these we took another break. In Session C I assess whether she can draw, write, and say the math facts from this lesson and if not we work on those. Last, in Session D we use the fact check cards to see whether Zari can recall the facts covered in this lesson. If she can I color one star for each fact known and repeat until all 3 stars are filled in. After this we went onto the Digital Tool-Box and did one of the activities, Sum Solitaire. Zari did very well with this lesson, mastered all the facts, and so we moved onto the next one.

I think that Zari is having fun doing these lessons and learning addition and subtraction without counting on her fingers. The instruction of the Math-U-See Accelerated Individualized Mastery (AIM) for Addition and Subtraction is outstanding and well put together. I highly recommend it if your student needs this to succeed in math. Have them take the Before AIM Assessment to find out.


BUY IT
You can purchase AIM for Addition and Subtraction for $39. Please have your student take the assessment to see if they need this before purchasing.


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Wordless Wednesday Happy New Year!

AtmosFX Digital Decorations Fireworks in my window.

Zari with her silly stash for the New Year 😁

AtmosFX Digital Decorating Kit Review

The AtmosFX Digital Decorating Kit is a all-in-one digital decorating system. It has a high-quality standard-definition (SD) projector that creates stunning displays for Halloween, Christmas, Easter, Valentine's, birthdays, Independence Days, and much, much more! The projector has been preloaded with 14 AtmosFX Digital Decorations: two Christmas themed scenes, eight Halloween themed scenes, and four other seasonal scenes that turn every occasion into a celebration. It also has an SD card slot and USB slots to increase your digital capability, making it easy to add additional AtmosFX scenes.

Includes:

• Projector
• Professional mounting tripod
• Remote control (2 AAA batteries not included)
• UL power adapter
• Projection material (4' x 6')
• Digital Decorations SD Card with 14 pre-loaded scenes

How We Used This and Our Thoughts:
I set the AtmosFX Digital Decorating Kit up for Christmas this year and since it came with a manual of instructions it was fairly easy to do. I got it out of the box and plugged it in to the UL power adapter and then found a great spot to project from and to. We have two houses on our property and the front one has larger windows and the front window closest to the driveway can be seen great from the road as you come up onto the house. So I opted to use that one for the projection. I screwed the projector onto the tripod and pointed the projector towards the window plugging it into the closest outlet. The tripod was very stable and you could position the projector on it up or down and straighten it out easily on it to get the perfect level.

AtmosFX Digital Projector set up.

I placed the SD card into the slot, turned the projector on, and went through the menu of scenes that were preloaded onto the machine using the up and down arrows. I placed batteries in the remote control thinking that this would be easier to flip through the menu and play the scene that I wanted from a distance, but the remote didn't work at all from a far off range. You had to be super close to the projector and pointing it at it for it to work. The buttons on the projector were a lot less finicky.

I looked at both the Christmas scenes, but ultimately, I picked All Through the House, Part 1 & 2, from Night Before Christmas. It was my favorite of the preloaded Christmas scenes. There were also two different formats to pick from, vertical and horizontal depending upon the configuration of your window. Our window was more horizontal so I picked that one. I placed the projection material over the window on the inside. The window was slightly longer than the material was tall, so I had to mess with it multiple times to get it placed correctly. Unfortunately, this used up more of the 3M double sided sticky squares that came with it than I would have and I ended up having only two to work with when I finally got it placed right. After a while it fell down on one side, so I ended up stapling it down instead.

AtmosFX All Through The House movie clips in my window

The scenes had to be focused with the dial and zoom lens so they wouldn't be all blurry at first. They came with sounds as well and I opted to mute those because they became a bit annoying after a while over and over again of silly belly chuckles from Santa. You can't really hear the sounds from outside the house where you would be seeing the projection anyway. The Santa they picked for the scene was a believable one with a real beard though which was cool. I also loved that the projection made my home look very festive...complete with a Christmas tree with lights and a roaring fireplace. I liked the look of the scene from the outside of my home even though it didn't quite fit my window because the projection was a bit wider still. The image quality was great. It looks best when all the lights are out in the house and it is dark outside as well though.

The other Christmas scene was Deck the Halls, from Santa's Workshop and it was very cheesy with silly looking elves in my honest opinion. I am glad the All Through the House one included because I really liked it a lot. I also loaded a photo I had done two years ago of my horses in Christmas hats eating candy-canes onto a USB thumb drive and plugged it into the projector. When I projected the picture though the words were backwards so I had to flip it with the menu so that it would read correctly to passersby through the window. Thankfully I could do this easily with the projector menu and so I didn't have to re-edit the photo.

My horses Christmas photo projected in my window.

I love this kit! It is wonderful for the holidays. I can't wait to use this for Halloween too! There are so many spooky/scary looking scenes to choose from in this kit.

BUY IT
Purchase the Digital Decorating Kit on the AtmosFX website along with other scenes to add to your collection. 

DISCLOSURE/DISCLAIMER: I received this complimentary product to facilitate this review. My thoughts are mine and my family's own opinion and have not been altered by anyone else. I did not receive any other compensation for doing this review.

Techie Homeschool Mom Ancient Egypt Online Unit Study Review

My family had the privilege of trying the Ancient Egypt Online Unit Study from Techie Homeschool Mom for this review to use in conjunction with our own curriculum at home. This is a Homeschool Review Crew Review. All opinions expressed are my own or those of my family.

Techie Homeschool Mom is created by Beth Napoli. Beth is a self proclaimed “geeky homeschool mom” who is “inspiring digital learning and healthy tech habits for families”. She, having 5 homeschooled daughters decided to make her own Online Unit Studies. Now Techie Homeschool Mom has about 28 unit studies that teach topics like: Famous Artists, Holidays, Famous Inventors, Ancient History, Solar System, Stars, etc.

These online unit studies integrate a variety of subjects for many different ages of students. There are links for websites and videos that will be accessed by the student to help with completion of digital projects. No books or printed materials are needed. The courses are self-paced and the student and teacher can decide when to start and finish. The modules take about 2-3 hours to complete, but this depends entirely on the user. These courses have engaging hands-on projects included as well. Supplies for hands-on projects are listed for easy gathering. These unit studies are great for children mid-elementary to middle school age who can read and navigate the Internet on their own. Younger children can participate with assistance. After purchasing this access won't ever expire and you can use it on any device (PC, Laptop, Phone with internet access, or tablet).

Ancient Egypt Course Contents. Click on image to see larger version.

The Ancient Egypt Online Unit Study is a web based digital unit study that has 9 lessons. The student learns about Egyptian Civilization, Hieroglyphics, Rosetta Stone, Egyptian Daily Life, Inventions and Technology of Ancient Egypt, Ancient Egyptian Clothing, Famous Egyptians, Pyramids, and Mummies. There are websites to explore, online projects, hands-on projects, and videos that are watched to engage the student in learning.

Our Cartouches of our names.

How We Used This and Our Thoughts:

I used this with my two girls, Teela who is in 5th grade and Zari who is in 2nd grade. We did about a module a week. The modules were easy to navigate and usually had us go somewhere else online to do an online activity or watch a video.

The first thing we did was learn about The Birth of Egyptian Civilization, the Nile River, hierarchy of Ancient Egypt, and made a pyramid of the social classes in a graphics program called Canva in which we had to make a separate account for. We also learned about writing Hieroglyphs, watched a video of how to make papyrus, and made cartouches out of tin foil. There are many other things we learned and did...these are just a few examples. Also you are supposed to pick a book from the list at the beginning and read a few chapters and then answer questions about it at the end of each lesson in the BookClub section. We already had The Cat of Bubastes: A Tale of Ancient Egypt by G.A. Henty in Audio Book format from Heirloom Audio Productions, so naturally we chose it.

Some of the online activities that are offered.

Canva, the free graphics program that is totally online, was a bit awkward to use with more than one student and time consuming to learn. The Social Class Pyramid took a while for us to figure out even though we have other graphic arts programs at home that we use. We didn't want to take so much time in this, so we skipped the next ones after the pyramid for this review. We will, however; go back and do them at a later date.

My daughters making their own cartouches with foil.

We thought that the Techie Homeschool Mom Ancient Egypt Online Unit Study was a lot of fun and had was very educational. We learned a lot about Ancient Egypt that we didn't know even though we had studied this subject before. We liked that these lessons could be taught to multiple grade levels at the same time. We did have an issue with one of the videos in the Egyptian hair and makeup section that was not available anymore. Also, to view the Curiosity Stream videos you have to get a free trial, but you apparently can't do that without signing up to get a membership with a credit card...no thanks. Overall though the online unit study worked very well and had very few glitches. We loved the projects and definitely want to make the Tiger Nut Sweets when we can get the ingredients. They sound really yummy! We will definitely be checking out some of Techie Homeschool Mom's other homeschool unit studies as well.

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Techie Homeschool Mom Ancient Egypt Online Unit Study is only $35.

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Weigl Publishers AV2 Books Review

My family had the privilege of trying three AV² books from Weigl Publishers for this review to use in conjunction with our own homeschool curriculum. This is a Homeschool Review Crew Review. All opinions expressed are my own or those of my family.

Weigl Publishers started in 2010 with 53 AV² titles. Now they have close to 500 titles in their ever growing catalog. The AV² books have titles that cover science, social studies, language arts, visual arts, sports, etc. These media enhanced audio visual digital books have audio clips, video clips, embedded web-links for further research and interactive activities, 'Try This!' learning activities, key words activity interactive word matching to teach vocabulary, quizzes for self assessment, and slide show. This pairs books with online interactive content that brings the books to life and makes learning more fun. Each book has a digital code that unlocks the multimedia content. You will need internet access to get to the multimedia content. You have access to this content indefinitely, it is not a subscription. This is great for homeschooling for self directed learning.

The AV² Books We Received:

• Glaciers from the series "Earth's Water" published under their imprint Lightbox and intended for a grades 3-6 interest range.
• A Lion's World belonging to their “EyeDiscover" series, intended for a K-2 interest range.
• There Once Was a Cowpoke Who Swallowed an Ant, a fiction title, intended for a K-2 interest range.

How We Used This and Our Thoughts:
We received a PDF for each eBook. Once downloaded this gave us access to the multimedia content associated with each one with instructions inside the eBook to go to a website and enter a code. These looked like so much fun with all of their interactive components. I checked out each of these books and their extra features with my daughters who aged are 7 and 10.

Lightbox Glaciers eBook cover.

The first book we checked out was Glaciers from the series "Earth's Water" published under Weigl Publisher's imprint Lightbox. This is intended for a grades 3-6 interest range. It is a 23 page eBook represented on 15 PDF pages. After going to the link it says in the book you can type in the digital code it gives you. The digital code has to be typed in without spaces. After answering a security question it goes on to the media enhanced book online. This showed us a Lightbox Glaciers Menu that has the same pages as the PDF eBook, but with more interactive content. You can flip through this like you would an online book using the arrows.

Lightbox Glaciers Menu online.

The icons are easy to follow. Each page has a diamond shaped button to go back to the menu and an audio icon that when clicked will have a computer voice read you the book at the top left of the book. You have the option of doing this or reading the book on your own. The voice is robotic sounding so it wasn't our favorite. Some pages have other icons as well at the top left of the book, for example: the triangle icon plays a movie, the earth icon goes to an external link, the pen icon is an activity PDF you can download, the stack of papers icon starts an interactive graphic/transparency, the icon that looks like rectangles lined up opens a slide show, the g icon shows where stuff is on google maps. At the bottom left there are icons for going to the home page and accessing the Lightbox supplementary resources. At the top right there is an icon that shrinks and grows an area of the page if needed to zoom in or out or magnify it. Throughout the book there are underlined bold vocabulary words you can click on and it will popup a definition. Close to the end there is an interactive quiz you can have your student so online or alternatively you can download it in PDF format for printing. At the end there is a key icon that gives you access to a online keyword quiz with multiple choice you can bubble in or you can download a PDF version. There is also a science experiment at the end that you can do. This book is fantastic and very interactive with the reader. My daughter Teela especially loved the interactive transparencies and this book was perfect for her since it was right at her 4th grade level. It is also packed with great content about Glaciers and we learned a lot. This would be a great book paired with a unit study of the same or similar subject.

EyeDiscover A Lion's World eBook cover.

The next book we checked out was A Lion's World belonging to their “EyeDiscover" series. This is intended for a K-2 interest range. It is a 24 page eBook represented on 15 PDF pages. After going to the link it says in the book you can type in the digital code it gives you. The digital code has to be typed in without spaces. After answering a security question it goes on to the media enhanced book online. The first page it brings you to tells the student what they are going to be learning in a pleasant woman's voice, then you can start reading by clicking an arrow. It also has a lion image that moves and roars silently. The woman's voice proceeds to read the book for you if you do not click the audio icon to mute. If you click on the book icon you can see thumbnails of the PDF pages of the eBook. In each page in this media enhanced book you have to mute the lady's voice in order to read the book on your own. You can also make the page full screen by clicking the square with arrow icon. Each page you come to of the online version of this book has high-definition moving pictures. They bring the book to life. The last pages in the PDF show us facts about lions by numbers and keywords by sight words and content words. This wasn't as interactive as the Glaciers book, but it is written for a younger age group so I thought that was fine. We did wish after we muted the voice on the first page it stayed mute when we turned the page, but it didn't. My daughter Zari loves the moving pictures on the pages of the lions and the text was just at her speed since she is in first grade. It had some great facts about lions that my daughter didn't know and it was easy for her to read or read along if she wanted. This would also be a great book paired with a unit study of the same or similar subject.

A Lion's World eBook shows features to the EyeDiscover AV² book.

AV² Fiction Readalong There Once Was a Cowpoke Who Swallowed an Ant eBook cover.

The final book we checked out was a fiction reader called There Once Was a Cowpoke Who Swallowed an Ant. This is intended for a K-2 interest range. It is a 32 page eBook represented on 19 PDF pages. After going to the link it says in the book you can type in the digital code it gives you. The digital code has to be typed in without spaces. After answering a security question it goes on to the media enhanced book online. The first page it comes to has a big start button to click and that will open the AV² book full screen.

AV² Readalong Navigation.

You will have two options to choose from in this book: Read to Me and Read by Myself. The Read to Me version is a lot of fun. My daughter Zari loved this version. It had wonderful narration and fun sound effects. It also highlighted whole sentences/paragraphs as it reads. You can also pause it if needed. The Read by Myself version lets you read the words on the page to yourself or if you mouse over them it will read them as they would be in the other version. My daughters loved the cowboy's voice and even though the pictures weren't animated the sound effects made it more fun. This book was definitely farfetched, but very entertaining and is an spinoff of The Little Old Lady That Swallowed a Fly story. We enjoyed it very much.

Weigl Publishers AV² books are interactive and fun. We are very glad we got to review these and hope to be able to review for Weigl Publishers again. We highly recommend these books for homeschooling or just to purchase for reading.

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You can purchase these or other titles from the Weigl Publishers catalog online.


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Creation Illustrated Unit Studies Review

Some pictures of the Pine Trees and pine cones on our property.

Affiliate links may be in this posting. Thanks for supporting my blog. My family had the privilege of trying the unit studies from Creation Illustrated for this review to use in conjunction with our own homeschool curriculum. This is a Homeschool Review Crew Review. All opinions expressed are my own or those of my family.

Creation Illustrated is owned by a non-profit, non-denominational ministry dedicated to share Biblical truth and character-building lessons about God's creations. Creation Illustrated is a quarterly magazine by the same name that was first published in the Fall of 1993. Each magazine now includes a creation character-building lesson and a coloring contest for all ages to enter. Also new is a nature photography contest and poetry contest to inspire people of all ages to get outdoors and creatively use their cameras and pens. The print version has no ads. Published and edited by Christian homeschooling couple, Tom and Jennifer Ish, this nature magazine provides positive reading material for families all over the world. They also produce DVDs, books, unit studies, cookbooks, and more. These are going to be available in new digital editions soon to the general public to purchase.

The Unit Studies are about individual topics that cover God's creations. There are 8 different ones so far that you can pick from Creation Illustrated. These range from animals to plants and other subjects in between. We received two unit studies in PDF versions: Snow Unit Study and Pine Trees Unit Study. These correspond with the Winter '18 Digital Edition and Fall '17 Digital Edition of the magazines.

How We Used This and Our Thoughts:
We were given the snow and pine trees unit studies in PDF format to use for our homeschool. We picked the Pine Trees Unit Study to focus on for this review. These unit studies both include lots of fun facts and activities like; links to educational videos, a puzzle, etc. Subjects that are explored in these are: reading, Bible study, science, math, geography, vocabulary, spelling, and art. Both are targeted for grades 5-8, but parts of the lessons can be used for grades 3-4 as well.

My daughter, Teela, who is in 4th grade used this with our botany lessons at home. Teela is ahead in reading and so we thought even though this is recommended for grades 5-8 she would still do well with this study. I love trees and since we have some pines on our property I wanted her to learn more about them. I must say though, I too got a lot out of this study.

Pine Trees Unit Study Cover

Pine Trees Unit Study

Creation Illustrated Fall 2017 Magazine

The Pine Trees Unit Study is primarily for grades 5-8. This 16 page study also has an answer key in the back and goes hand-in-hand with the Fall 2017 edition of the Creation Illustrated Magazine. The nature unit studies we received were in a downloadable and printable PDF format and is taught in a Biblical creation based, Christian worldview.

Table of Contents:

• Reading Resources – 3
• Educational Videos – 3
• Vocabulary & Spelling – 4, 5
• Bible Study – 6
• Geography – 7
• Science – 8, 9
• Math – 10
• Writing & Penmanship – 11
• Art – 12
• Puzzle – 13
• Teacher’s Answer Keys – 14, 15

The Reading Resources were outside links and we found that not all of them worked, but we found them when searching for the title and the main part of the website it was supposed to be on. We thought the Fibonacci spirals in pine cones were really neat. The List of pines by region also was helpful, but we went searching and narrowed it down further to pines in Oregon where we live. The Educational Videos were great. We loved learning about the 2nd oldest tree in the world called Methuselah. We also enjoyed the video on Japan and Pine trees as well. I did not know that the gourmet Matsutake mushroom and calligraphy ink depend upon the pine trees there. The Vocabulary and Spelling were words found in The Enduring Pine Tree article from in the Fall magazine. These helped with spelling and learning definitions of these words. The Bible Study has you look up bible scripture, list what the word is being used for, and mark if it is pine or fir. The Geography unit was all about what country/region went with specific species of Pine. The Science unit has you identify pine trees by characteristics, etc. The Math is a bunch of tree math problems. The Writing & Penmanship is a short essay on Pine Trees. The Art study is drawing a picture. Last there is a word search Puzzle and the Teacher's Answer Keys.

Zari and Teela with a gigantic Pine Cone on display at the Children's Discovery Museum in Kelso, WA.

The 76 page digital version of the creation magazine for fall of 2017 is jam packed with information, stories, full color photography, and a few ads. The digital edition of the magazine lets you digitally turn pages, zoom in and out, make it full screen, and press play to flip through pages automatically. I wish the digital magazine was available to download as well, but currently it is not. This is nicely laid out and went well with the homeschool unit study about Pine Trees. I loved reading about the facts of pines in the article, "The Enduring Pine Tree: Creation Up Close" by Tatiana Claudy. I did not know there were 126 species that botanists have identified and that a few of these trees date back to the era of Noah's Flood which are still standing today. I loved the way this magazine made use of Bible verses throughout its articles so you could look up scripture and have Bible study as well. The photographs are stunning and I agree with others that this magazine is "The Christian answer to National Geographic." The article "The Day the Sun Went Out" by Bobby Harrison reminded me of my experience recently with the Total Solar Eclipse here in Oregon and my trip in 1998 to Curaçao in the Caribbean to watch one in totality. The magazine had other articles as well and some recipes to try. The Vegan Mincemeat Bread Pudding looked really yummy. There is also a short study guide in the back and family activities that you can do.

Snow Unit Study Cover

Snow Unit Study

Creation Illustrated Winter 2018 Magazine

The Snow Unit Study goes along with the Creation Illustrated Magazine, Winter '18 Digital Edition. It follows a similar structure for contents with an emphasis on snow instead of Pine trees. We can't wait to dive into this study closer to when winter is again.

We love these unit studies about our Creator and His creations. These are a great way to have outdoor education with homeschool activities. The Bible-based magazine is a wonderful addition to these as well.

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• Subscriptions to the Ad-free quarterly PRINT editions of Creation Illustrated Magazine are for 1 year and available for 25% Off at: Creation Illustrated under the Subscriptions tab.
• Subscriptions to the quarterly DIGITAL editions of Creation Illustrated Magazine are coming soon.
• Creation Unit Studies are available to download at 30% Off at: https://dv157.infusionsoft.com/app/storeFront/showCategoryPage?categoryId=6

Creation Illustrated Spring 2018 Magazine Cover Sneak Peek

The Unit Study from the Spring edition will be available soon and it is all about butterflies and transformation along with character-building lessons!

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