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-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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Allsaid & Dunn, LLC The Magic Stories Review

My family had the privilege of trying The Magic Stories from Allsaid & Dunn, LLC, publishers of The Reading Game and authors of the Wordly Wise series 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.

The Magic Stories are 6 downloadable PDFs that each have a thought-provoking story with good morals and character built into the plots. These are about 20 pages long, are typed in a larger font that is easily read, and should be read in sequential order. These stories have black and white drawings and sketches that can be colored by the child as well.

Each story comes with a set of "Naughty 40" word flash cards and four worksheets. The "Naughty 40" are words that kids have difficulty reading. They can be printed and cut out for use. The exercises in the worksheets include: maze, finish the sentence, imagine, and finish the story.

There are optional worksheets on the website for free to download available under the “Free Resources” section of their website. The Instructions for The Magic Stories will tell you what to do with this set to optimally teach your child with it. The Pre & Post Sight Word Assessment Worksheets help determine whether your child is familiar with the "Naughty 40" words from each story. This tests vocabulary acquisition growth. You check mark if your child recognizes the word, can read in a sentence & understands the meaning of the word. This is done before reading the story and after. If your child needs more help you can use the flash cards to work on these more. There are also Running Record Evaluation Worksheets for each book that is a 100 word section of each story to test your child's reading fluency.

This set develops comprehension, writing skills, creative writing, perception, reasoning, and memory recall. This supplemental reading program is recommended for 2nd/3rd grade reading level. These can be used as a follow up to The Reading Game, but the game is not a prerequisite. These are optimized for iPad or computer screen and can easily be printed on standard 8.5" x 11" paper or cards.

Titles of The Magic Stories:

1. The Magic Hole
2. The Magic Ax
3. The Magic Joke
4. The Magic Hotdog
5. The Magic Boots
6. The Magic Box

Teela doing the worksheets for The Magic Stories.

How We Used This and Our Thoughts:
My daughter Teela is in 4th grade and my daughter Zari is in 1st grade this year. I knew that my daughter Teela would be too advanced in her reading to really benefit from this completely, but I also thought she might enjoy reading the stories and possibly doing the activities. Zari is not reading too much yet as she is just beginning reading, so I had Teela read the stories out loud to her so that she could enjoy them as well. These stories are well written and have a great moral ending to each one. For example: The Magic Ax is about a boy that learns the value of hard work and The Magic Joke shares with us that it is better to end a war than win a war. These could be printed, but we decided to just have Teela read them from the computer. We very much enjoyed reading these stories. My favorite was The Magic Ax, Teela's favorite was The Magic Hotdog, and Zari's was The Magic Boots.

The "Naughty 40" word flash cards have the word and a sentence with the word in it on them. These are words a typical 2nd - 3rd grader might have trouble reading because of how they are spelled or because they don't follow the rules. Each story has a set of 40 of these words and these are listed at the end of each story. The flash cards are in their own PDFs for printing out easily. We used these decks very little at this point because Teela was already well versed with reading these words and Zari still had trouble reading most the words in the stories by herself. We will probably utilize these at a later point when Zari is in 2nd or 3rd grade and feels more independent at reading more words.

The worksheets were also in their own PDFs. These we printed out and had Teela do each one after she read each story. She liked doing these and thought the activities were fun. I liked that they made her recall the story and tested her comprehension of it.

I would recommend these to those who like fun stories and are 2nd - 3rd grade reading level...although I enjoyed them as well. I believe that those grades would benefit most from the complete package. These are a great supplemental reading program for homeschool setting.

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BUY IT
Purchase The Magic Stories set for $16.95 or the stories individually for $3.95. My readers a 25% discount should they choose to order The Magic Stories.  To receive the discount, enter “raisingreaders” in the coupon box upon checkout.

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Homeschool Copywork Lifetime Membership Review

My family had the privilege of trying the Homeschool Copywork Lifetime Membership for this review to use in conjunction with our own homeschool curriculum. This gives us a variety of e-books for copywork and notebooking pages such as the Claude Monet Copywork Artist Study, the Leaves Notebooking and Coloring Pages, and the Star Spangled Banner Copywork. This is a Schoolhouse Review Crew Review. All opinions expressed are my own or those of my family.

Copywork is a Charlotte Mason homeschooling technique of practicing handwriting, but it is really more than that. The child who does copywork will reap the benefits of copying a piece of well-written work by composing what is written in the child's best penmanship onto paper or in a notebook in the same exact manner to create a copy. Besides handwriting, copywork also improves spelling, grammar, punctuation, vocabulary, memorization, reading skill, and comprehension.



Homeschool Copywork is a online membership website that was put together by Amy Belvins, a homeschooling mother of six after seeing an improvement in her own daughter's work with this technique. Amy has developed a number of copywork e-books that you can access and use as a member, for your student on the Homeschool Copywork website. The copywork e-books come in printable PDF format. They have handwriting worksheets for different grade levels such as: early elementary, upper elementary, and Junior High through High School. Their subjects for the copywork have a variety of topics including: Holidays and Special Occasions, Artists, Music Composers, Poets, Inventors, Bible Scripture Study, Character Building, Nature, and Science. These include quotes, poetry, hymns, famous documents, or scripture verses to copy onto included lined paper as well as pictures to either look at or color. Some have multiple line styles to copy onto, handwriting styles to copy, dashed lines for tracing the letters that form the words and copywork in print, manuscript, and cursive. These copywork e-books vary in length and content, but have plenty of handwriting practice. There are also coloring books and notebooking pages included in some PDFs as well. This is a great addition to homeschool curriculum when this type of practice is needed for learning.

How We Used This and Our Thoughts:

We received a Lifetime Membership which gives us access to every copywork e-book that Homeschool Copywork produces instantly when it is ready and access to all the material that was produced, downloadable from both their free and paid membership area, plus any and all bonuses for as long as the Homeschool Copywork website exists. This is great option that only costs $45 total. They also have a Free Membership which only includes free products and a Full Membership which only includes one year access to the membership area. The Full Membership is $29.95 for one year.

Claude Monet Copywork and Artist Study

Leaves Notebooking and Coloring Pages

I used to do copywork lessons with my boys when they were younger and needed more handwriting practice. I hadn't yet started doing copywork with my girls and I am glad I got the opportunity in using Homeschool Copywork because they have very nice e-books and I love their selection. My daughters Teela and Zari used this exclusively for their copywork. I had Teela work on the Claude Monet Copywork Artist Study and Zari do the Leaves Notebooking and Coloring Pages. I loved that the pages to the e-books could be printed individually or as a complete book. This made it easy to pick out the correct script to use and line size for my girls.

Teela working on the Claude Monet Copywork and Artist Study

The Claude Monet Copywork Artist Study was perfect for Teela who is in 2nd grade right now. We printed the pages out in color because they have 6 full-color printable artwork cards for study and pictures of some of Monet's paintings throughout that you are supposed to study and answer questions about. This e-book has 31 pages that include a brief biography with activities, and 6 quotes presented as copywork in manuscript lines, cursive and print. Teela hasn't done any cursive yet, so she wasn't as good with this than the other practice.

Zari working on the Leaves Notebooking and Coloring Pages.

For the Leaves Notebooking and Coloring Pages that I had Zari do I had her write the leaf name on the lines that were provided over and over at least 4 times in print on the first line size. She also colored the leaves how she wanted to and I think this was her favorite part of the pages. Zari is in pre-school so she did the best she could at printing each letter on the lines provided and leaving the appropriate spacing between each word. This e-book has 24 pages of leaves to color with writing paper in various line sizes or by themselves. You can use this writing paper in notebooking projects, nature journaling, writing projects, or even spelling! This would be awesome for autumn/fall and/or nature studies.

I am excited to have Teela also work on the Star Spangled Banner Copywork when it becomes closer to the Forth of July. You can get your FREE copy of the Star Spangled Banner Copywork if you click the picture of it above by clicking the picture and signing up for the Free Membership option. This copywork e-book is appropriate for students age 7-16. It includes 12 pages from the first verse of our United States National Anthem.

I love Homeschool Copywork! They have more than 54 e-books and they add more all the time! I believe copywork is essential for homeschool or supplemental learning. 

Amy Belvins

BUY IT

• Free Membership: (includes free products only) Free. Members who choose a Free Subscription will have access to their growing free section of copywork and Charlotte Mason resources. You will have to go through the checkout process, but you will not be redirected to PayPal since there is no charge for this membership level.
• One Year Full Membership: $29.95 for one year. Those with a Full Membership will have full access to the member area for one year.
• LIFETIME Membership: $45.00. LIFETIME Members enjoy access to all of the products in the free membership area and the paid membership area plus any and all bonuses for as long as Homeschool Copywork exists.

Click on the picture and become a member!

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Demme Learning's Math-U-See Primer Digital and Physical Pack Review

My family had the privilege of trying the Demme Learning's Math-U-See Primer Digital Pack and Primer Physical Pack for this review to use in conjunction with our own homeschool curriculum. This is a Schoolhouse Review Crew Review. All opinions expressed are my own or those of my family.

With Math-U-See Digital Packs you can have access to which ever Digital Pack you purchase from any web browser for 12 months. These contain streaming instruction videos along with other items you can also access online for helping your student learn the math they need to. However, Digital Packs do not include the student workbook or tests, these can be purchased separately from the Math-U-See Catalog. I received access to the Primer Digital Pack.

Primer Digital Pack Contents:

• 12-month Access to Primer Streaming Instruction Videos
• Instruction Manual PDFs
• Lesson Solutions PDFs
• Skip Count Songs MP3s and Songbook PDFs
• Other Online Resources
• Math-U-See Digital Manipulatives, using Chrome or Safari browsers

Getting to and using the Digital Pack after it has been purchased is easy. Once you have purchased the Digital Pack you can login to your account on Demme Learning's Catalog homepage by clicking the Login link at the top of the page and entering your email and password. Use the password you used when you registered. You will automatically be directed to the My Dashboard page which you can view order information and recent account activity as well as update your account information. Once there you will see a link that you can click on named, "View Digital Packs" or alternatively you can click on the link at the top of the page called "My Digital Packs" while you are anywhere on the website. After you get to that page you can select the correct digital pack you will want to work on in the pull down menu under Select a Level. Once that is done another pull down menu will pop up to Select a Lesson. Before you do this; however, you should watch the Digital Manipulatives Demo so you can get the hang of using this interactive program. After the demo you can open the Digital Manipulatives by clicking the link above the demo. The Digital Manipulatives will open in a new page. I want to mention that I use Firefox and I had no problems while using the Digital Manipulatives. Once you select a lesson you can play the Streaming Instruction Video and/or click on printable PDF links for a Lesson Summary and Lesson Solutions. There are also Additional Resources that you can also listen to or print out.



We received the Primer Universal Set (Physical Pack) which has everything to teach an introduction to mathematics for preschoolers through kindergartners. It teaches major concepts and skills that include: counting objects and developing numeracy, understanding place value, recognizing number names and symbols, reading and writing numerals, understanding addition and subtraction with concrete and representational models, understanding and writing the symbols +, – and =; and addition and subtraction of select numbers. It also covers additional concepts and skills that include: telling and writing time by hours and minutes, recognizing & drawing rectangles, squares, and circles; measuring length by repeating units, introducing halves and fourths, counting by 2s, 5s, 10s, and 100s; learning basic geometric shapes, and reading, writing & interpreting word problems.

Primer Universal Set (Physical Pack) Contents:

• Instruction Manual with Complete Solutions: Physical instruction manual with lesson-by-lesson instructions for the teacher and answer keys.
• Instruction DVD: Lesson-to-lesson video instruction on DVD.
• Student Workbook: Physical workbook for students with lesson-by-lesson worksheet pages, review pages, and application & enrichment pages.
• Integer Block Kit: 133-piece plastic manipulative block set that includes 20 ones and tens, 13 fives, and 10 each of twos, threes, fours, sixes, sevens, eights, nines, and hundreds blocks, plus the Decimal Street™/Block Clock poster all in a box with handle to keep them tidy. Use from Primer through Algebra 1.
• 12 months of access to the new Primer Digital Pack: See above.
• Skip Count Songs MP3s and Songbook PDFs: Help your student learn skip counting. Two versions of the songs available on the MP3, one with Christian lyrics, and the other with the lyrics taken from science and literature. Song lyrics and music in the PDF.

How We Used This and Our Thoughts:

I thought Primer would be nice to start this program with my daughter Zari who is in preschool since I was unfamiliar with it. She has been learning to recognize and write her numerals and count to higher numbers. I thought it would be a great introductory math for her too.

Demme Learning's Math-U-See Primer Workbook using the Physical Integer Block Kit

Because we have never used Demme Learning's Math-U-See programs we received the Primer Universal Set (Physical Pack) to compare to the Digital Pack on its own. I wanted to see for myself how these were different. Also I thought that having a set of the actual manipulatives would help us with the hands-on aspect better than the online version. The Digital Pack doesn't come with the student workbook or tests even in PDF format, so I am glad I received the Primer Universal Set in addition because it does come with those and oddly enough includes the Digital Pack with its purchase as well.

Demme Learning's Math-U-See Primer Digital Instruction Videos

We loved that the Digital Pack was all online. You have everything except for the student workbook at your fingertips online so that it is easier to take everything on the go if needed. The streaming math instruction is the same as what is on the instruction DVD that comes with the Universal Pack. These along with the instruction manual were helpful in Primer, but I could use the student workbook without them. However, I could see that these would be so much more helpful in the older math packs and why visual people would love the streaming video better than the manual. The Digital Pack has PDFs of the Instruction Manual and solutions instead of the physical book that the Universal Pack comes with. I do like using the physical integer block kit better than the Digital Manipulatives. I also wish the Universal Pack came with the CD and physical music book to the skip count songs because these are offered to purchase separately, but it only came with the MP3s and PDFs that the Digital Pack comes with to listen to by streaming online and look at.

Demme Learning's Math-U-See Primer Digital Manipulatives

The physical integer block kit that the Universal Pack has is a lot easier to use with the text than the Digital Manipulatives. The Digital Pack streaming video and Instruction DVD which are basically one in the same in different formats refer to the physical integer block kit a lot in the teachings. I like having a more hands-on tactile experience while teaching my very active preschooler. She learns better when she can touch an object and the manipulatives can go over the empty squares or pictures of blocks in her workbook too. I, however; didn't like that the physical integer blocks in the kit weren't made of very good quality. They did not want to snap together and stay that way until you took them apart like some I have seen. The Digital Manipulatives were fun to play with though. You could drag them into a snap grid on the screen, click twice on them to flip them over, and right click to turn them. I used these in addition to the physical ones to show Zari how to manipulate them on the screen by herself and let her draw pictures with them and the mode that it could be switched to draw or write with colors. I liked to enforce the written numerals with the blocks so I had her use the mouse to draw the number with a color I chose and put how many ones blocks it was on the screen beside it.

I am excited to use more of the Digital Pack along with the Universal Pack. In my honest opinion though I think that it would be better to purchase the Universal Set or Level Up Set (if you already have blocks) than just the Digital Pack because it comes with everything in the physical format too. But if you do get the Digital Pack and Student Workbook only you will have everything you need on-the-go with internet access from any browser, so it might be just the ticket for you. This digital math is great for homeschool math especially!

BUY IT
See the individual prices and descriptions for Primer here. The Primer Universal Set (Physical Pack) is $131. If you would like to get the Primer Digital Pack it is a very affordable $31, but does not include the student workbook or tests. You can purchase the Primer Student Workbook additionally for another $33. If you already have the physical Integer Block Set ($80) I suggest that you purchase the Primer Level Up Set which is $62 to save some money.

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HelpTeaching.com Pro Plan Review

My family had the privilege of trying the Pro Plan of HelpTeaching.com for this review to use in conjunction with our own homeschool curriculum. This is a Schoolhouse Review Crew Review. All opinions expressed are my own or those of my family.

HelpTeaching.com Landing Page.

Whether you homeschool, tutor, are an elementary educator, or just want to have an educational activity for your kids to do after school this year, HelpTeaching.com has got you covered with their vast selection of printable worksheets, printable activity pages, lesson plans, online quizzes, and self-paced online lessons. This website offers hundreds of online printable pages in PDF format and other educational resources accessible through their membership database. This database covers a huge range with subjects in: Arts, Early Education, English Language Arts, Life Skills, Math, Physical Education, Science, Seasonal and Holidays, Social Studies, Study Skills/Strategies, Common Core English Language Arts (ELA), and Common Core Math. They also have Math Worksheet Generators, Printable Game Generators, and Test Maker. They offer content for Pre-K through 12th grade.

HelpTeaching.com Test Maker

HelpTeaching.com Pro Plan is a very affordable option and gives you access to many great features. The price for a Pro Plan membership for teachers and parents is only $24.95 (U.S. Dollars) per year which gives you access to all grade levels. You can create up to 500 student profiles with the Pro Plan and have unlimited access to Test Maker, to create custom tests and worksheets. You can create them with multiple choice, true or false,  fill-in-the-blank, open-ended, or short answer. You can create the tests and worksheets with up to 100 questions and have images in them as well. You can select from their vast library of 1000+ images or upload your own. You can save the custom tests and worksheets as PDFs and have the ability to print them as well. Pro Plan also includes access to the HelpTeaching.com Test Room which lets you administer online tests and lessons. You also have access to premium pre-made content in the subjects above. Their library has over 20,000 Common Core State Standards (CCSS)-aligned questions by standard that you are able to browse and search with Pro Plan. HelpTeaching.com Pro Plan has all these great features for this affordable price.

HelpTeaching.com Tests & Worksheets.

How We Used This and Our Thoughts:

Since TOS wanted this review of the HelpTeaching.com Pro Plan to focus on the older materials I had my boys who are in 8th and 9th grades use it 3 days a week on average since we got signed up. The middle school and high school sections of HelpTeaching.com focuses on language arts, math, and science. Besides math, ELA, and science we also found tests and worksheets for other subjects too. All printables are listed by grade and subject so they are easy to find. We found a lot of content that went well with what they were already being taught and enhanced their learning even more with media and hands on learning. We were a little disappointed that the Math and English are Common Core Based though.

HelpTeaching.com Online Self-Paced Lessons.

The middle school and high school lessons are meant for self-directed online learning and are set up similarly throughout all subjects. You can easily assign lessons to your student(s) by emailing them. All you do is choose the lesson you want your student to learn, click on the Assign tab or the Share Link tab at the top and follow the instructions. Each lesson starts out with a short introduction. Some contain embedded videos from different sources. They also contain links to other free online resources to help explain the lesson better, online practice questions, and printable worksheets and tests. You can also see which students have taken the lesson if you click the Report tab at the top (of note you do have to set up your individual students through the Online Testing tab first to see this correctly). I love the ability to be able to have my boys work online or have the option of also printing out the worksheets, quizzes, and tests as well.

Since my sons and I are very visual learners we love videos and images that amplify this. We absolutely loved that a lot of the lessons on HelpTeaching.com have embedded videos to help visualize better what is being taught. These videos come from reputable sources like: Khan Academy, Educator.com, Flocabulary.com, Grammar Bytes, and Bozeman Science. They also have original videos from HelpTeaching.com too. If the lesson has media from these sources they have icons for each that easily tells you that they do and from where they come from. Also if they don't have videos the lessons sometimes have images to help visualize too. If you do follow a link off the site just be aware that there might be 3rd party ads.

I do want to point out that HelpTeaching.com doesn't host a complete curriculum of subject matter on their website, so it should primarily be used for supplemental content only. They are, however, adding new content regularly. We hope they add a History section soon to the lessons and more science! Also, you can create your own content through the Pro Plan as well which is a big plus if you don't see what you are looking for already.

Delbin doing a Biology Lesson on Fungi.

My son, Delbin, who is in 9th grade is in Biology right now so even though these lessons are listed for 10th and 11th grade we found them perfect for supplemental learning to go along with what we are teaching him. We didn't find much listed in the 9th grade section, but 10th and 11th grade stuff was more abundant. He loved playing the BioGames and watching the videos. We had him go from the beginning for review and online science practice. We found that their curriculum for Biology is fairly complete.

Jaedan doing a Earth Science Lesson on Igneous Rock.

My son, Jaedan, who is in 8th grade is in Earth Science. He loved the lessons on Erosion, Layers of the Atmosphere, etc. He especially loved the videos and virtual labs that were included with the lessons. There were a lot of interactive things to make the lessons more fun. We also let him go onto 9th grade lessons in Earth Science too because he advanced quickly through the 8th grade lessons.

HelpTeaching.com is great for online math, ELA, and science practice or use for supplement. They have a great selection of middle school and high school lessons, tests, and assessments. We enjoyed using HelpTeaching.com and will continue to explore its growing content.

BUY IT
You can try a limited amount of features out for yourself with a free membership. This gives you complete access to their Test Maker with up to 10 questions, but you are limited to a number of tests/worksheets you can store on their site. The Pro Plan of HelpingTeaching.com is just $24.95/year and gives you up to 100 questions with many other features too. You can pay with a credit card, debit card, or PayPal. They accept Visa, Mastercard, American Express, and Discover. See more specifics here.

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Super Teacher Worksheets Individual Membership Review

My family had the privilege of trying the Super Teacher Worksheets Individual Membership for this review to use in conjunction with our own homeschool curriculum. This is a Schoolhouse Review Crew Review. All opinions expressed are my own or those of my family.

Whether you homeschool, are an elementary educator, or just want to have an educational activity for your kids to do after school this year, Super Teacher Worksheets has got you covered with their vast selection of worksheets and activity pages. This website offers hundreds of online printable pages in PDF format from their membership database. This database covers a huge range with subjects in: Math, Reading, Writing, Phonics & Early Literacy, Handwriting, Grammar, Spelling Lists & Worksheets (Gr. 1-5), Foreign Language, Music & Art, Health & Safety, Science, Social Studies, Holidays, Puzzles & Brain Teasers, Teacher Helpers, Pre-K & Kindergarten, and even Make Your Own Worksheets. The majority of these are geared towards Pre-K through 6th grade.

Super Teacher Worksheets (STW) is a very affordable option for homeschoolers, teachers, educators, parents, and caretakers of children. The price for an individual membership is only $19.95 (U.S. Dollars) per year. This individual membership lets you easily navigate the whole website and download as many printables as you would like during that time to print them out or save them into your own STW Filing Cabinet so that you may download and print them out at a later time if you choose.

Navigation of the Super Teacher Worksheets website is pretty straightforward. Once you log in to the database you will see your name at the top and when your membership is active through. This is a great reminder of when you will need to renew your membership of your account. This along with the STW banner (clickable, to get you back to the homepage), account, renew, logout and filing cabinet buttons, and a search bar are always at the top for easy access. The homepage has some of the main subjects listed as headings with links for more specific categories under them. For example; for the Math heading it would have Addition, Algebra (Basic), Area, Counting Money, Decimals, and so on as the more specific categories with links that head to those pages. If you go to one of these pages you can find even more specific narrowed down categories within these pages, some having links to more pages and others having the view PDF link under them. From beneath most worksheet name, description, and grade level you can select the view PDF button (which will open the PDF file to be able to print it and/or download it), CC icon (if there will open a pop up that tells you about the common core standards alignment; including the code that goes with it and a brief description of what is learned), lang icon (if there will open a pop up that tells you other languages the worksheet is available in; English and Spanish), magnifying glass looking icon (which will open a pop up that lets you preview a tiny version of the file before you open the actual one), and file folder icon (which lets you add the file to your STW Filing Cabinet). Once you have saved a file to your virtual filing cabinet the file folder icon on the page you found the file on will be highlighted so that you will know that you have it already saved. It really is easier to find things than I just described and you can always use the search bar located at the top of each page too.

You can also make your own worksheets with the various worksheet generators. You can make your own: math pages, games (flashcards, BINGO), puzzles (crosswords, word searches, word scrambler, missing letters), quiz generators (multiple choice, matching, fill in the blanks, short answer/essay), and teaching tools (classroom newsletter, calendars).  Members can save their generated worksheets in their virtual filing cabinet too!

How We Used This and Our Thoughts:

In my homeschool my youngest two girls are the only ones still in elementary school. My daughter, Teela, is in 2nd grade and my daughter, Zari, is in Pre-K. So I used the Super Teacher Worksheets website with them. They both love homeschool and enjoy doing worksheets and activity sheets.

Zari doing the autumn Super Teacher Worksheets I printed for her.

The Super Teacher Worksheets website has some seasonal pages on their homepage. These rotate depending upon the season that it is in the year. I found some autumn/fall ones that were age/grade appropriate for my daughters and printed them out for them to work on. I am so glad they list what grade level each worksheet is supposed to be for. Zari needed practice with her fine motor skills using scissors and cutting paper so I thought that the leaf and pumpkin mini-books would be great for her because she would be learning counting, colors, and cutting skills. She kept saying she loved her little books she made. I was happy she liked building them so much. She loves working on homeschool work when her siblings are also doing theirs. Zari also did the color-by-number scarecrow. She knows her colors well, but couldn't read the words for each color yet, so I colored each word the color they were supposed to be to help her. She is also working on learning her numbers by sight. The color-by-number scarecrow that I printed for Teela was slightly more advanced and had her subtract numbers to get the number that the section was supposed to be colored. I also printed out a color-by number squirrel that had her subtract numbers to get the answers. These were too easy for her, but she had fun doing them. I also printed out an Autumn is awesome crossword puzzle and pages for reading comprehension called Nature's Rainbow.

Teela working on some of the Super Teacher Worksheets for Autumn.

Zari working on her skills cutting with scissors with Super Teacher Worksheets.

Since Zari needed to learn scissor skills I found pages just for that for her under the Pre-K and Kindergarten section. She loves cutting out things and asked for more pages to cut out. She cut shapes, curvy wavy lines, zigzag lines, and straight lines. She did very well for her first time cutting on the lines.

Make sure to print preview before printing Super Teacher Worksheets.

I printed out an Alphabet Picture Book for Zari as well so she could color, trace uppercase letters and some words that begin with the letters. As I was printing the first page I noticed that it didn't print properly (just printed boxes where other things should have been), so I stopped the printing right away. I am glad I was watching because I would have printed out 28 pages of weird boxes instead of what it was supposed to be. I looked at the print preview and sure enough it wasn't liking something in the code. I instead downloaded the PDF instead of just opening the one directly from on the site, then I printed it and everything printed fine. I am not sure why this happened, but I wanted to make sure my readers knew about this. Before printing out something from Super Teacher Worksheets make sure the print preview is looking good for all the pages you are printing.

Zari working on the Super Teacher Worksheets ABC Book.

We love Super Teacher Worksheets! It is, like I mentioned above, very affordable and they seem to have a worksheet or activity page for everything for elementary school students right in one easy to access website. I love that you don't have to dig around and search the whole internet for something that goes with what you are teaching. We had so many more worksheets and activity pages that we printed for our girls to work on. I also love that most of their worksheets have a answer sheet with them so the teacher/educator can check the student's work easily and quickly. They have so many different worksheets and activity pages to choose from. We are going to use this a lot throughout the year. This is certainly a wonderful resource right at my finger tips.

BUY IT
The price for a individual membership for Super Teacher Worksheets is only $19.95 (U.S. Dollars) per year.

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