No More Training Wheels

 

Today was the first day F rode his bicycle without training wheels and he did awesome!  I have a feeling it won't be too long before he has his bike party.  We shall see.  Enjoy the video below.

Our Chalk Family

Can you spot the bunny that Stevie is chasing?

It was a lovely day yesterday and the kids wanted to play outside so we spent most of the afternoon in our front yard.  The kids rode bikes, scooters, and made themselves into chalk people.  Enjoy!

 Mister G with his chalk self.

 Mister F with his chalk self.

 Miss E with her chalk self.  She loves the ballet shoes!

 D's chalk self

 C is playing baseball!

 A close-up of Stevie Dawg.

Home School in the Woods Composers Activity-Pak Review

{Disclaimer:  I received a FREE 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.}


Home School in the Woods is chock-full of amazing, family-friendly, flexible resources that integrate well into a plethora of school plans.  We are really enjoying our Composers Activity-Pak, recommended for 3-8th grade.

Our Hand-On Digital Activity-Pak for Composers

Our Finished Composers Lapbook

Print Outs from our Composers Activity-Pak

This Activity-Pak is designed for students to learn through hand-on activities and projects.  It can be used in addition to other study or it can be used to launch independent study on the topic, in our case Composers.  This lapbook introduces students to 42 composers from the Middle Ages through the 20th century, beginning with Guido of Arezzo through Bernstein.  Students learn about the periods of music (Baroque, Classical, Romantic, etc.), vocabulary and gain an appreciation by listening to great works by these musicians included in this download.  There are 6 projects included in our lapbook with 2 additional activities - Periods of Music, Keyboard Vocabulary, Collection of Composers, Composers Timeline, Pieces with a Purpose, and Music Appreciation are all inside the lap book while The Orchestra File Folder Display and Composers Cards can be used additionally.

Our Composers Activity-Pak has many sections.

We put together all 6 of our lapbook projects and then we assembled our completed lapbook.  There are great instructions for completing each project individually as well as assembling everything all together.  I appreciate that the instructions include pictures making it crystal clear.

We cut out several of our pieces.

B colored the Composers cover and A colored our music staff.

Creating our Composers Timeline

We cut out all our pieces with a purpose:  CD player, hymn book, money purse, crown, flag and Opera program.

Inside each of our pieces with a purpose we inserted the information.

We cut out all the composers and assembled them into booklets.

Completed Composer Booklets

 Our Finished Lapbook

Let's go inside our finished lapbook!

 What you see when you first open our lapbook.

There are 42 composer books inside our lapbook.  Inside each book you can record the composers year of birth, year of death, country, period of music and compositions and interesting facts.

 

 The keyboard vocabulary is located on both sides of the lapbook.  When you lift up the keys, the word definitions can be found underneath.

 A peek in the middle of our lapbook

 A peek at the back of our lapbook.

Our completed Composers Timeline.

I also love that this digital resource is geared towards multiple students and reproducible within a family so this is perfect for our large crew!  We chose to make a "family" lapbook this go around.  Now that our Composers lapbook is complete we can start to fill out the individual booklets for each composer as we study and learn about them.  This is such a fun resource and I highly recommend Home School in the Woods for quality resources!

Home School in the Woods has a great U.S. Elections Lap-Pak that can be used to introduce your student to the U.S. presidential elections process with hands-on activities.  Home School in the Woods has a great post on how to use this specific lapbook and what it contains, check it out here.  I also really appreciate this post on Why Teach With Lapbooks?

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Math Galaxy Apps and eBooks Review

{Disclaimer:  I received a FREE 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.}


Are you looking for ways for your children to improve their math skills?  Math Galaxy provides a great way to practice math skills with their various Apps (for iOS devices).  We currently have access to their Times Tables Balloon Pop, Add and Subtract Balloon Pop, 3rd Grade Math, 5th Grade Math, 7th Grade Math, 8th Grade Math, Pre-Algebra Fundamentals, Algebra Fundamentals, Word Problems Fun, Fraction and Decimal Riddles, and Whole Number Riddles on both our iPad and my iPhone.  That's a lot of math options for the kids to explore, learn and review!  Math Galaxy has 24 Apps currently available in the Apple App Store.

Our iPad Screen for our Math Galaxy Apps.

 Our Phone Screen for our Math Galaxy Apps

  The second screen page for our Apps on our iPhone.

Math Galaxy is similar to having a tutor for K-12 math in that it guides students through the exercises at their own pace with detailed explanations.  It helps students connect abstract concepts of math with concrete experiences using illustrations (similar style to Singapore Math if you are familiar with it).  Students have unlimited practice within the Apps.  While we have access to our Apps on both my iPhone and iPad, we mostly use them on the iPad as it is easier to navigate and has a bigger screen for the kids.

F playing Balloon Pop Add and Subtract

My younger kids really enjoy both the Balloon Pop Apps:  Add and Subtract Balloon Pop and Times Tables Balloon Pop.

   Inside the Add and Subtract Balloon Pop App (it's on addition)

You select the balloon with the correct answer to the problem above.

Once the correct balloon is selected it bursts and then a new problem appears.

There are a few different backgrounds.

  Inside the Add and Subtract Balloon Pop App (this time subtraction is selected).  It works the same way as the addition, just with subtraction problems instead.

 Inside the Times Tables Balloon Pop App

 Playing Times Tables Balloon Pop

Similarly to Add and Subtract Balloon Pop there are a few different backgrounds here as well.

These Apps are fun for the kids.  I like that they also help drill and improve math facts and mental math naturally.

Our 3rd Grade Math App covers Numbers in Base 10, Operations and Algebraic Thinking, Fractions, Measurement and Date, Geometry and Games.  E just finished her Math program for this school year so I plan to have her spend more time using this App.

E working in 3rd Grade Math.

Inside the 3rd Grade Math App


 Within Numbers in Base 10, one of the concepts is Rounding and Estimating.

 Here are the games available.

 E likes Snakes and Ladders.

We haven't used our 5th Grade Math App as much because D is a bit behind in her current Math program.  It is set up very similar to the other Apps covering various topics including Numbers in Base 10, Fractions, Measurement and Data, Geometry, Algebraic Thinking, Games and Videos.

 

 Inside the 5th Grade Math App

 I really like the videos available in this App.

 This is a peek inside the Multiplying Simple Fractions Video.

Our 7th Grade Math App covers Rational Numbers, Ratios and Proportions, Percents, Expressions and Equations, Geometry, Statistics and Probability and Labyrinth.

 

 C working in 7th Grade Math.

 Inside the 7th Grade Math App
 

Example Problem

 C has definitely played Labyrinth the most of everyone and enjoys it.  He really likes computer games.

As you solve problems within the App, you earn robots for correct answers.  These robots can be used to search various caves to find power packs within the Labyrinth game.  There are various levels to choose from.  It's kind of a built-in reward for students.

C figuring out the "maze-like" challenge to get his power packs.

Our 8th Grade Math App covers The Number System, Exponents, Functions, Expressions and Equations, Geometry, Statistics and Probability, Labyrinth and Videos.

 Inside the 8th Grade Math App

Our Pre-Algebra Fundamentals App covers Decimals, Signed Numbers, Absolute Value, Prime Number and Factors, Powers and Exponents, Order of Operations, 1 and 2 Step Equations, Slopes and Linear Equations, Ratios and Proportions, Percents, Measurement, Lines/Angles/and Polygons, Pythagoras and Right Triangles, Graphs, Data Analysis, Probability, Patterns and Sequences, Labyrinth and Videos.

Inside the Pre-Algebra Fundamentals App

Our Algebra Fundamentals App covers Rational Numbers, Absolute Value, Factors, Exponents and Roots, Order of Operations, Algebraic Properties, Translating to Algebra, Simplifying Expressions, Solving Equations, Solving Inequalities, Linear Equations, Algebra Word Problems, Systems of Equations, Systems of Inequalities, Polynomials, Rational Equations and Labyrinth.

 Inside the Algebra Fundamentals App

Similarly to our 5th grade App, we are just starting to scratch the surface with our Pre-Algebra and Algebra Fundamentals Apps.  I look forward to the older kids covering all the content inside.

Inside the Word Problems Fun App

In this App you have landed on an island and you are looking for treasure in underground caves and labyrinths.  You can chose your level and difficulty.

 You can also choose the topic of math problems that you solve.

 Game Board

 Example of a Problem.  If you answer the problem correctly you can explore the cave for treasure.

 Inside Fraction and Decimal Riddles App

 Above you can see the riddle that I solved.

 Inside Whole Number Riddles

Here is an example of a Number Riddle from the Money Section.

If you cannot access the Apps because you don't have an iPad or iPhone or if your prefer to practice math with worksheets and a pencil, Math Galaxy has many eBooks as well (PDFs).  We have access to several of their eBooks covering topics like whole numbers, fractions, decimals, percents, algebra, etc.  The eBooks are basically math review workbooks.  They are easy to download and your print the pages that you desire as you go along.  We have access to a lot of worksheets and practice pages.  If you scroll to the bottom of the Math Galaxy website, you will see all of their eBooks including an option to download samples.

Our family loves jokes and riddles so I have mainly been printing out these types of worksheets for fun for the kids.

A worksheet from the Reducing and Improper Fractions Riddles eBook

 Another worksheet from the Identifying Fractions Riddles eBook

I really like that students can review and search for specific topics and I especially like the Apps that have video content included.  I feel like we are only just beginning to unlock all that these Apps contain.  I think Math Galaxy's Apps and eBooks are a great way to help children  improve their math skills while having fun.

A took her practice PSAT this year and completed a PSAT/SAT prep course in our homeschool CoOp.  I'm actually interested in Math Galaxy's SAT Math App for her.  I'm going to look into it after we complete our current school year.

Be sure to click on the banner below to visit the Homeschool Review Crew blog to read even more reviews of Math Galaxy, including some of their other Apps.

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