Islands and Enemies from Tyndale Book Review

Disclosure:  I received this complimentary product through the HOMESCHOOL REVIEW CREW.

We were blessed to receive Islands and Enemies from Tyndale for review.  This is Book #28 in The Imagination Station series from Adventures in Odyssey.

Our hardback book

 

Our book is ~ 150 pages with 17 chapters.  It is recommended for ages 7 and up and is on a Grade Level of 2.7 difficulty.  It makes for a fabulous read aloud as well!

E devoured this book in one sitting!  She loved the story and adventure.

I'm currently reading it aloud to the younger boys and they are really enjoying it!  I really like that when we are finished, they can go back and read it on their own.

There are various black and white illustrations sprinkled throughout the story and the kids really enjoy them.

What's this story about?  Cousins Patrick and Beth step into the Imagination Station and we all know what happens with that!  They journey back in time to 1521 and board the Victoria on its journey to sail around the world.  The youngsters meet Captain Ferdinand Magellan.  Things go awry when they are accused of being witches and they find themselves having to prove their innocence.  I always love the historical elements as I really enjoy historical fiction works.

 

If you are looking for a fun book for your kids or extra summer reading, the Imagination Station series from Focus on the Family is a great one to obtain.

Want to know more?  Be sure to click on the banner below to visit the Homeschool Review Crew blog to read even more reviews of Islands and Enemies.

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Timberdoodle's 2022 Summer Reading Challenge: Read Across The U.S.

I wanted to share this with you!  Timberdoodle has another fabulous summer reading challenge - and like last time, you can win prizes along the way.  Check it out by clicking the graphic above.  The kids and I are looking forward to it!

Timberdoodle's Flags of the World Sticker Poster Review

 

I have a fun product to share with you today from Timberdoodle, Flags of the World Sticker Poster!  It is manufactured by Poppik and is geared for ages 7 and up or 1st grade and beyond.

Inside our Flags of the World Sticker Poster set

What's included in our set?  There is an educational poster of the world that measures 1 m x 68 cm (1 side is in English while the other side is in French) that has blank spaces for each flag.  Out set also contains 197 repositionable stickers of flags of the world along with a small booklet identifying each country with it's flag.

 

Flag Stickers

 

This booklet shows you which country (and it's capital) each flag represents in alphabetical order from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe.

The World Map

How are we using this set?  This set provides an easy, colorful way to learn and reinforce world geography and that's how we are using it.  The younger boys are learning about countries, their location on a map, and each country's flag.  We are currently going through the countries in alphabetical order and finding them on our map and placing the flags in their designated locations.  Once we complete all of our flags, I plan to go through them with the boys by continent.  This is such a great resource to help make geography fun!

F is adding our first flag, Afghanistan.

G adding Albania.  While some flags go on top of the country, some do not have enough room so they are arranged at the bottom of our map.

F is adding Bahrain and you can see how these flags line up nicely underneath the map.  Every country and flag has a number associated with it so you can still find the country easily for the flags that are arranged at the bottom.

G holding up the Barbados flag.

Flags of the World Sticker Poster is currently included in Timberdoodle's 1st grade curriculum kit.  If you are looking for a fun way to teach your kids about geography, this set is great!

Disclosure:  Huge shout out to Timberdoodle for selecting me as a Timberdoodle Blogger.  I received Flags of the World Sticker Poster in exchange for my honest review.  All opinions are my own.

A's Graduation Party

 

With her diploma!

A has officially graduated!  Our 1st graduate of Cummins Academy.  If you had asked me many years ago if we would homeschool our kids all the way through high school, I would have thought you were crazy.  But here we are and I'm so thankful for this journey.  I'm so proud of A and the amazing woman that she is and we are so excited for her adventure in the fall as she heads off to college.

 

A with our homeschool mascot, the capybara. 

 

David and A made a homemade vanilla cake.

 

We also ordered a cookie cake and I love the way it turned out!

 

A with family

I'm so thankful for everyone who was able to drop in and celebrate with us!  I'm also super thankful and grateful for all of those that have been a part of A's life in some form or fashion over the last 18 years - thank you!!

College Bound

Challenging Word Problems Level 3 from Singapore Math Live Review

Disclosure:  I received this complimentary product through the HOMESCHOOL REVIEW CREW.

I love word problems!  If you know me then you probably know that Scrabble is my favorite game in the world.  Word problems can sometimes be challenging to explain so I was thrilled to review Challenging Word Problems Level 3 from Singapore Math Live.  We received the workbook and access to all the online videos.

 

Our physical book

 

Our online video course

 

In our videos, students watch Brenda Barnett, a homeschooling parent with a desire to help families maximize their Singapore Math skills, work out the solutions on a whiteboard.  Older students can watch these videos themselves and work through all the word problem strategies while parents of younger children may want to watch these videos themselves and utilize the strategies taught to then pass onto their younger children.  Basically, these videos are a great tool or resource to help strengthen your families world problem skills as needed!

What contents or topics does this book cover?  Problems include

• addition and subtraction
• multiplication and division
• metal calculation
• length
• mass and weight
• capacity
• money
• fractions
• time
• data analysis
• geometry
• area and perimeter

This program is designed to enhance a students problem solving and critical thinking skills through daily exposure to strategies and methods in as little as 10-20 minutes a day.  It is a great supplement to any math curriculum.  Students will attempt problems for ~ 5 minutes in their workbook (this is a required component for these videos) and then view the solutions and watch the solutions to learn what stumped them.  I love having these videos, they are super great for visual learners (and audio as well)!

Above you can see some of the practice questions in our workbook.

 

And here you can see the video for the solutions for these practice problems.

The total video for the solutions to these practice problems is just over 15 minutes.  I really like that it shows you were the solutions are for each problem: 1st problem starts at 24 seconds, 2nd problems starts at 3 minutes, 3rd problem starts at 5 minutes and 48 seconds, and so on.  This way, students can easily find the problems that they are struggling with or need more help with.

Completed Practice Questions

As I mentioned before, sometimes students may not need help with certain problems like above and may not need to watch the videos for those solutions.  And that's okay.  They can simply watch the videos of the problems that stump them.  I think these videos are a great resource and tool to have as a supplemental math.

Want to know more?  Be sure to click on the banner below to visit the Homeschool Review Crew blog to read even more reviews of Singapore Math Live, including other levels (Levels 1-6).

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English 1 Language Skills from Paradigm Accelerated Curriculum Review

Disclosure:  I received this complimentary product through the HOMESCHOOL REVIEW CREW.

We were blessed to receive English 1 Language Skills (9th grade) from Paradigm Accelerated Curriculum.  This easy-to-use curriculum requires minimal parent or teacher oversight.  I personally like that all of their courses are available in both print and digital downloads and I love that students can work through this course at their own pace.  This course is designed to give students a strong understanding of grammar, writing and composition.

Above you can see our full course kit!

Inside my Teacher's Resource Kit

Our kit includes a Teacher's Resource Kit as well as 5 chapter books and 5 companion activity books.  Most course chapters include 15 lessons which are divided into 3 sections.  Each lessons begins with a graphic that is designed to help engage both hemispheres of the brain as well as defined vocabulary words.  Lessons feature a character vignette and ends with a life principle.  Students are encouraged to answer activity questions in chronological order as they read through the text.  A quiz is taken at the end of each section or 5 lessons.  So each chapter has 3 section quizzes as well as a chapter test.  I also want to mention that this course is worth one high school credit.

Above you can see part of the text for Chapter 1 and the first activity page as well.

I really appreciate the Teacher's Resource Kit!  It includes all the answers to activity questions, quizzes, and chapter tests.  It also has a plethora of other resources such as a transcript planner, academic goal chart and more.  I love how easy this curriculum is set up.

Want to know more?  Be sure to click on the banner below to visit the Homeschool Review Crew blog to read even more reviews of Paradigm Accelerated Curriculum including other courses.

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Happy 15th Birthday C

We celebrated C turning 15 last Sunday!  We went to Applebee's for dinner and had a very nice evening.  It wasn't crowded at all :).  We are planning to have a celebration with his friends this weekend.  It's crazy that before long, he too will be driving.  C is talented, witty, smart, and an amazing role model for his younger brothers.  We love you Clay!