Deeper Roots Jr. High Bible Curriculum

We were blessed by having the opportunity to review a Bible curriculum, Discovering Our Amazing God, from Deeper Roots Publications. We received the 7th – 9th grade curriculum, so my oldest son was able to jump right in.

This volume includes 10 total lessons, counting the introductory lesson. Some of the topics are Discovering God’s Wisdom, Power, Creativity and Love. Each lesson starts with a Memory Verse and questions to allow the student to begin thinking of the subject. For the next 10 to 14 days, the student is challenged with a scripture passage and questions.

There is a study sheet at the end of each lesson, as well as journaling pages for the student to write his thoughts on what he has studied. An added bonus to the book is the study of different people groups between lessons. Some of those covered in this volume are the Muslims, Hindus, Chinese and Buddhist.

I think my son and I were both pleased with the content of this study. It is challenging to the student, makes them think, but isn’t so time consuming that it ever feels like work. It is very meaty, meaning it doesn’t just skim the surface, and doesn’t require the student to merely learn facts and spit them back. The student is challenged to apply the things they are learning to their life situation.

Deeper Roots offers 3 other volumes for the 7th-9th grades and I am sure they are of the same quality and content. You definitely would not be disappointed with any volume. They also have a high school aged book, Rooted and Grounded. Go to their website to see all the great materials they offer.

For other reviews on their products, check out the TOS Homeschool Crew page!

All About Homophones

All About Homophones is an e-book that we were asked to review. It comes from the author of All About Spelling, which is an excellent spelling program for your kinesthetic, visual, or auditory learner.

Homophones are words that sound alike, but are spelled differently, and have different meanings. An example is there and their. Or blue and blew. The list goes on and on.

The e-book is 240 pages and is full of great tools to teach children about homophones. There are worksheets, crossword puzzles, card games and much more. It really is a fun way to learn.

Learning about homophones isn’t just for the elementary students. The word lists shows homophones for grades one through eight. You go from to and two in the first grade to assistants and assistance in the eighth.

You can purchase this ebook here! To learn more about All About Spelling, click here. To read reviews on this and other homeschooling products, go to the TOS Homeschool Crew blog.

Homeschooling ABCs

Knowledge Quest Homeschooling ABCs course is an online e-course for new homeschoolers written by veteran homeschooler Terri Johnson. Each week you will receive an email with a link to your current lesson. Many of the weeks you receive bonus materials along with your lesson.

Some of the topics covered are:
B is for Basics
G is for Get Together
I is for Internet and Library
N is for Nature Science

Each lesson is packed with information, helps and tips and is very well written.

The cost for joining the class is very reasonable. It's only $10 per month which works out to $2.30 per class. You will definitely not be disappointed in the information you will receive.
I would have loved to have had access to these classes when I began the homeschooling journey. I would have saved myself hours of research and reading and would have learned so much more. This lesson series has definitely been one of my favorite things to review so far.

Check out this great product at http://www.homeschoolingabcs.com/ today! For other opinions of this product, go to the TOS Homeschool Crew blog!

All About Spelling

All About Spelling is a program that teaches spelling “hands on”. It works great for those kids who are kinesthetic and visual learners. It does for spelling what Math-U-See does for math!

The program uses phonogram cards and letter tiles to give the learning a hands-on approach. There is a CD of The Basic Phonograms for those students who are auditory learners.

There are four levels available with two more to come. The author suggests starting with Level One, no matter what type of speller you have. Some older students will progress through Level One pretty quickly but doing it will definitely not hurt. You never know when you may touch on a concept that was not quite grasped when the student was younger.

The program may look overwhelming at first, but it is definitely worth the investment in time for the student who struggles with spelling. My son that I worked with this program on typically is one who dreads most things to do with school. After a couple of days, he was asking when we were going to do spelling.

To get a great understanding of the program, check out their website! For reviews of this and other homeschooling products, go to the TOS Homeschool Crew blog!

Kinderbach

Kinderbach is an online music curriculum designed to teach an introduction to music using the keyboard or piano. For this review, I primarily used my 5 year old daughter, even though my boys watched a little. (Quickly after beginning, the boys opted out, feeling they were a bit old for this.) Our family has been a Kindermusik family for many years, so I was curious to see how Kinderbach compared. I was pleasantly surprised.

Kinderbach is advertised as being for 2-7 year olds. I would agree, and maybe even say 2-5 if the child has had any kind of music class, such as Kindermusik. We reviewed the online class, which consists of four 15-minute lessons per week. There are 60 weekly lessons. The lessons have PDF worksheets that you can print out. The course covers such topics as rhythm, note reading, singing and identifying patterns. The tunes are catchy and my daughter seemed to enjoy the time she spent watching.

One of the things to keep in mind is that to really use the program as designed, you need to have a keyboard or piano nearby the computer. I don’t have a laptop, so this was an issue for us.
The cost for the program is $85.95 for the year, if paid at one time. You can also pay $14.95 per month. They also offer a DVD program to purchase if you’d like to use for years to come.

Check out Kinderbach and the reviews from other members of the TOS Homeschool Crew and see what they think about this program.

TIme 4 Learning

Time 4 Learning is an online educational program for ages pre-K through 8th grade. It covers math, language arts, science and social studies. For homeschoolers, I feel that the program is used best as supplemental instead of the main curriculum. (Just my opinion. Others may find that they can use it for the bulk of their studies.)

For this review, my main guinea pigs were my two oldest boys. They are the main computer users (meaning, they can navigate pretty well without my constant supervision).

There is much to cover with this program, but I’m going to try and hit the main highlights.
Initially, the parent fills out a questionnaire about the student being signed up. The questions allow for a grade level to be assigned as a starting point. The program is very flexible, and can be started at any time, including mid-year.

The student can choose from a subject, then concept, and work on the self-guided lesson at their own pace. A check mark indicates when the concept has been completed and a percentage given indicating the level of mastery.

Both of my boys seemed to enjoy the site. As for the teacher, there are printable lesson plans that show the concepts being covered and progress reports showing each student’s progress in the individual subjects.

I do need to point out that this is not a Christian curriculum and it does not claim to be. Having said that, you may want to preview the science sections before allowing your child to complete them. As with any site, I want to know what my children are seeing and learning. Just because it is “educational” in nature doesn’t mean that it is something I want my children to learn.

Though I do like it, this site is a little out of our price range. The monthly membership fee is $19.95 for the first child and $14.95 for each additional child. So for only two out of the four, I would be spending approximately $35.00. Being the bargain shopper, I can find many other resources for learning that are far less than that amount.

To read what others are saying about this site, go to the TOS Homeschool Crew’s review links.

Puppetools is a website whose mission is "to open the door to sweeping change in education by advancing the principle of play in teaching and learning." The founder of Puppetools, Jeffrey Peyton, has done much research on using puppets and play in education. The majority of homeschoolers that I know definitely agree that children learn by playing.

The site allows teachers (public school, private school, homeschool, Sunday School, etc…..) access to many types of puppets that can be downloaded and printed out for their students use. Mr. Peyton has developed a “hinged” type mouth for the puppets that is very unique. The possibilities are endless when you search through the many printables on this site.

Puppetools offers a yearly subscription for $20, or you may get a group subscription for $99 (for up to 30 subscribers). The group subscription would work great for a homeschool group or co-op.

Take the time to check out the website and see for yourself. If you’d like to read other reviews, then look at what the other TOS Homeschool Crew members are writing about this site.