A+ Interactive Math Family Math Package Review

{Disclaimer:  I received a FREE copy of this product in exchange for my honest review.  I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way.}

I was blessed to receive a Family Math Package from A+ Interactive Math!  This package includes 8 different grade levels of math including 1st-6th, Pre-Algebra and Algebra 1 and can accommodate up to 10 students!  

 

F has been using this program for 1st grade math and he has really enjoyed what he has completed so far.

About A+ Interactive Math

This curriculum contains video lessons, practice worksheets, interactive reviews, chapter tests, solutions, progress reports, automatic grading and tracking and more.  It really has it all! ✔

Benefits I personally love

• Allows students to be independent learners and frees up my time so that I'm not teaching every subject. 
• Accelerates learning because students can go at their own pace.
• Helps improve student's confidence in Math
  
• Comprehensive and teaches a solid foundation in Math which is extremely important
• User friendly
• Lessons utilize audio, visuals and text for a variety of learners
• Instant auto grades as well as tracking and progress reports
• Has parental controls that allows you to customize features specifically for your student
• Printable worksheets and tests for use offline as well
  

How is this program set up?

Students will watch the video lesson first.  Then they will participate in an interactive review or question and answer section.  In this review, the program will automatically reteach material if the student answers questions incorrectly.  This immediate reinforcement is fabulous.  After the review, students will complete an online worksheet.  They will practice the learned material.  After the worksheet is complete, students can review the step-by-step solutions when needed.

 

Table of contents

Above you can see that Chapter 1 of 1st grade math includes counting numbers to 100, reading and writing numbers to 100, identifying numbers to 100, finding the missing number, reverse counting, one more and one less, skip counting by two/five/ten/twenty-five, name the number and identifying numbers past 100.

F scored 100% in the interactive review above.

After completing all the lessons within a chapter, students will take a chapter test.  If gaps are revealed after this test, students can go back and review and/or relearn that material.  This is a great way to make sure that your students are understanding all the material.

If you are looking for a Family Math program then I would suggest checking out A+ Interactive Math.  Be sure to use the referral code CumminsLife and let me know what you think!

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Ultimate PreK-12 Annual Membership from SchoolhouseTeachers.com 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.  This post contains affiliate links.}

We are loving the variety of Elementary Homeschool Courses, Middle School Homeschool Courses and High School Homeschool Courses available with our Ultimate PreK-12 Annual Membership from SchoolhouseTeachers.com.  This is not our first time to review our membership but for those that don't know, this is an online membership that includes downloadable, printable elements as well as online classes and video components!  There is a lot to choose from and this site is an amazing resource.  I really appreciate that SchoolhouseTeachers offers a full curriculum for every grade starting with preschool all the way through high school, including electives.  I think it is important to note that every course is designed with a Christian worldview, which is great for us!  With our Ultimate membership, we have access to all the site's content which works well for large families like ours.  I really appreciate that we can customize classes and courses for each of our children as we desire.  While SchoolhouseTeachers can be used a a primary curriculum, we mainly use it to supplement as needed in our own homeschool.

 

Video Library

I definitely want to mention the video library.  With our membership we have access to hundreds of streaming videos that span multiple academic areas along with entertainment, marriage, parenting, Bible study, music and so much more!

Some of these videos of parts of the courses that SchoolhouseTeachers offers.  The video library rounds up all the videos in one convenient location so that you can watch them for fun as well.  I really like the looks of the Digital Art and Product Design for Small Business video.

 

Literacy Center

The Literacy Center is another fabulous resource.  It is designed to help you figure out where to begin reading instruction with your student.  Are they are pre-reader, emerging reader, early reader, growing reader, or fluent reader.  It also has a section on comprehension skills which are essential skills to have in order to understand passage content.  And if you can't get to a library, you will find downloadable books to enjoy.

 

 

D has been using SchoolhouseTeachers for her Science program this year.  She is taking the course Exploring God's World with Sixth Grade Science Lessons by Deana Pittman.

 

 This course is divided into 36 lessons within multiple units.

D has been learning about life science, plants, animals, anatomy, Earth science and more.  I made a folder for her with her syllabus, schedule, and class materials that I printed out and she has a corresponding science notebook as well.

 

D with her science folder.

 

This class uses a lot of online resources such as World Book.  She is enjoying the course and I look forward to hearing her thoughts when she completes it.

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 SchoolhouseTeachers.  I hope that you will see just how valuable this tool can be for your own homeschooling needs.

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Math Shed and Spelling Shed 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.}


My kids really enjoy when I add digital learning resources to our homeschool.  Math Shed and Spelling Shed have been a hit around here for the last month and I have a feeling the kids are really going to appreciate it even more as we head into the summer.

A peek at both Spelling Shed and Math Shed

We received a 12 month subscription to both of these programs for up to five kids {C, D, E, F and G have accounts}.  They each created a personalized avatar and had a lot of fun with this.  They can personalize their skin color, eye shape and color, mouth, hair color and style, background color, and shirt color.

 Above you can see some of the avatar options.

You can purchase upgrades for your avatar with honeypots.  Honeypots are earned within the games when questions are answered correctly.  Upgrades available include shirt upgrades (pockets, buttons, and various designs), background upgrades (stars, various stripes, and various scenes), and accessory upgrades (glasses, masks, wand, headbands, hats, etc.).

Above you can see some of the background upgrades available.

The kids current avatars that they created.  A few of them have purchased new backgrounds.

Our subscription gives me access to the Teacher Hub and the kids have unlimited access to the web games.  I like that they can easily alternate between Math Shed and Spelling Shed as they like.

Math Shed Games

There are several games available in Math Shed for students to play:  Number Bonds, Times Tables, Powers of 10, Add and Subtract, and More.

 In Number Bonds, students can chose to have just addition, just subtraction, a mixture, numbers that add to 10, numbers that add to 20, or numbers that add to 100.

Students are to answer as many questions as they can in 1 minute.

In the easier levels, problems appear like above.

And this is what they look like in more difficult levels.

 Similarly in Times Tables students can choose to work on just multiplication, just division, a mixture and a variety of number choices.

 Again, students are to answer as many questions as they can in 1 minute.

Here is a problem from an easier level.

 In Powers of 10 students can chose between whole numbers and decimals as well.  You get the idea.

 And Addition and Subtraction includes single digits - 4 digits.

Here is an example problem within an Addition and Subtraction game.

The kids find these math games to be fun.  They also appreciate that they can choose what math operation they want to work on or practice at.  I like that these games challenge the kids to see how many problems they can answer in a minute and that they help the kids practice their mental math skills while having fun.

Spelling Shed Game Stages or Levels which increase in difficulty as the number increases.

Spelling Shed Games

Bonus Games

There are several games available in Spelling Shed for students to play:  Play, Create Hive, Bee Keeper and Missing Word.  In Play, students practice spelling a list of words while being timed.  In easier levels, students are given the letters needed to choose from and place in order.

The student is asked to spell from.  You can see that only the letters needed are provided.  Students can click on each letter in order, or they can use the keyboard to correctly spell out the word.

In harder levels, students must choose the correct letters needed to spell the word from numerous letter choices.

Above, the student is asked to spell allowed.  You can see lots of letter choices available to choose from.

In Bee Keeper, students guess words by choosing letters - think hangman.  You lose one bee for each incorrect letter guess.  When you find a word you will get three bees back and earn a honey pot.  The goal is to see how many words you can find before you completely run out of bees.

Playing Bee Keeper.  You can see all the faded letters have already been chosen.  The word is going to be field.

In Missing Word you might have to chose the correct word between two choices or you may have to spell the word yourself depending on the level of difficulty.

Hive games are fun because students can play with each other inside the program.  One student selects a stage and difficulty level and then creates a hive.  They are given a hive code number.  Another player can go to their menu, select join a hive game and enter in the given code.  Then both players can race against each other.

Setting up a Hive game.

My kids like to do this with each other and it's fun to watch.  They have to be on two different computers or devices in order to make this work.  And on that note, my kids like to use these programs both on our desktop computers and on our iPad.

I previously mentioned that students earn honey pots as they play games and answer questions correctly.  The honey pots accumulate together for both Math Shed and Spelling Shed.  There are other awards given that are specific to the program itself - stars, medals, and trophies.

Above you can see screenshots from F's account.  

He has 578 honey pots in Math Shed and Spelling Shed (remember they accumulate the same amount for each program).  He doesn't have any stars for either.  He has 37,490 medals in Math Shed and 33,000 for Spelling Shed.  And he has 715,296 trophies in Math Shed and 193,000 in Spelling Shed.

And above you can see E's account as another example.  Unlike F (when I took his screenshot), E has tons of stars.

Difficulty Levels

Another feature I like is the ability for the student to choose their difficulty level.  In Spelling Shed students can choose easy, medium, hard or extreme.  In Math Shed students can choose between easy, medium or hard.  I like this because it allows a broader range for different ages and abilities.  The older kids need to challenge themselves; whereas, my younger crew need the easier levels at first.  Then, they too, can work their way up in difficulty.

I haven't taken full advantage of the Teacher Hub as the kids have been using these programs just for fun but it has data reporting so you can monitor the progress of all your students.  You can also schedule and track assignments.  This might be something that I look into using more in the future.

I think both of these programs are most appropriate for grades K-5/6.  G is definitely on the young side and I think C is a bit too old for it but that hasn't stopped both of them from enjoying it along with their other siblings.  If you are looking for math or spelling practice for your kids (or even more digital learning resources), these are great options to consider. 

Be sure to click on the banner below to visit the Homeschool Review Crew blog to read even more reviews of Math Shed and Spelling Shed.

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Ultimate PreK-12 Annual Membership from SchoolhouseTeachers.com Review

{Disclaimer:  I received a FREE Ultimate PreK-12 Annual Membership from SchoolhouseTeachers 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.  This post contains affiliate links.}


I am loving the variety of Elementary Homeschool Course, Middle School Homeschool Courses and High School Homeschool Courses available with the Ultimate PreK-12 Annual Membership from SchoolhouseTeachers.com.  This is on online membership that contains downloadable, printable elements as well as online classes and video components.  There is so much available on this site it is truly amazing.

SchoolhouseTeachers.com offers a full curriculum for every grade beginning with preschool through high school, including electives.  This Ultimate membership gives access to all the site's content, allowing customization for every child, all at one price!  That's especially awesome if you have a large family like I do.  SchoolhouseTeachers works great as a primary curriculum and can also be used to supplement as needed.  I really appreciate that every course is designed with a Christian worldview.

Focused Learning Centers

I'm really like the idea of the focused learning centers.  If your child needs help in a particular area whether it be math, reading, foreign language, science, college planning, etc., the focused learning centers can help.  They will direct you to the courses, lessons, and articles that can help you teach your children who are struggling.

Literacy Center

The Literacy Center is also great as it helps you to improve your child's reading and literacy no matter where they are.  You will find links, techniques, and strategies to guide your children in reading instruction.  There's a great guide that helps you pinpoint exactly where to begin based on their ability.  F is considered an Early Reader while G is an Emerging Reader.  I have access to lots of resources to use with them including activity sheets and audio files.

Preschool Playground

I'm really loving the Preschool Playground.  There are tons of tools and academic resources that can help you make the most of your time with your littler ones.  You will find resources for Bible, Language Arts, Multi-Subject, Numbers/Patters/Cognitive Skills, Manners and Healthy Habits, Arts/Crafts/Music, Science, Motor Skills, Social Studies, etc.  And there is always help available if you have any questions or need to chat with customer service at any time.

Here you can see resources available for Preschool Language Arts.

Video Library - Above you can see a few of the options for Kids and Art.

The video library is another wonderful member benefit.  There are numerous videos that span several academic areas along with entertainment, marriage and parenting, and Bible study as well.  You will gain access to hundreds of streaming videos from providers like Creation.com, City on a Hill, Discovery House, Drive Thru History, RightNow Media and more!  The video library rounds up all the videos in one location for easy access.

There are really too many resources to name.  I did want you to know that there is a whole planning section that includes record keeping, scope and sequence, a schedule builder and lesson plans.  Check out the short video below to get an idea of how you can use these lesson plans in your homeschool.



Not only is there a plethora of content on SchoolhouseTeachers, there is also so much flexibility with this membership.  You can pick and choose and build your own curriculum or you can follow the information within the Scope and Sequence to put a subject or grade together - it is super customizable and that's a win for everyone.  I really appreciate that I can search the site by grade level or individual subjects.  I'm really excited about diving in and using this resource more in our own homeschool this year!  I hope you will check it out.  You won't regret it.

{SchoolhouseTeachers.com - Every Subject.  Every Grade.  Every Student.}

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