NatureGlo's eScience: MathArt Online 4-Class Bundle Review

Recently the members of the Homeschool Review Crew were given the opportunity to review a new online learning program from NatureGlo's eScience that combines both math and art.  The course that we reviewed is called MathArt Online 4-Class Bundle.


All of the courses are taught by Gloria Brooks who has a bachelor degree in K-12 education.  She is very knowledgeable about math and science and you can truly feel her passion as you look over her website and watch her courses.  

The four classes incorporated in this MathArt 4-Class Bundle include:

• Math Connections with the Real World: The Golden Ratio and Fibonacci Numbers
• MathArt in Ancient Cultures
• MathArt in the Arts and Sciences
• MathArt - Patterns in Nature

I love Fibonacci Numbers so we began with Math Connections with the Real World.

Math Connections with the Real World is a 6-week course.  The lesson plans are summarized below.

• Week 1 - Introduction and History of the Golden Ratio and Fibonacci Numbers
• Week 2 - The Golden Number and Fibonacci in Art, Architecture, and Nature
• Week 3 - Fibonacci Numbers - Flower Petals, Seed Heads, and More!
• Week 4 - History and Golden Ratio of the Great Pyramid of Egypt
• Week 5 - Quasicrystals and the Golden Ratio
• Week 6 - The Mathematics of Music

For each week's lesson, there are beautifully illustrated slides that your student can look through online. I chose to print the slides and put them in binders so each of my children would have their own copy to flip through as we watched the videos and they could take notes on them as needed.

There is also a study guide for each week's lesson that reviews points covered in the lesson.  The student can use it to take notes as they watch the video or they can use it as a study tool to prepare for the quiz at the end of each lesson.

The course website also has third party resources for each week's lessons which include informational text, videos, fun Quizlet matching games, and even instructions for making Fibonacci cookies!   There is truly a wealth of information there.

The four individual classes are $149 each for one year access.  But if you want all four classes you will save money on the bundle for just a single payment of $536.40.  This allows for one year access to all of the course materials and can be used by multiple students in the same household.

Our schedule did not allow us to participate in the live class but each class is recorded so they can be viewed on your own schedule.  I am very grateful for this feature.  We watched the first three weeks of lessons but my children found the recorded online classes to be slow and frustrating at times so we did not continue.  They said it was distracting to have to listen to other kids slowly reading aloud the information on a slide or watching them use a drawing program to drawing boxes around the slide pictures for emphasis.  They would have preferred to simply have the teacher teaching the information to them rather than overhearing an online class that they aren't participating in.  They preferred to use the slides and website for the remainder of the course.

If you would like more information about these online classes, please check out NatureGlo eScience on the following platforms:

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/natureglo1/ 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/natureglo1   

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/nesschool/pins/         

Google+:  https://plus.google.com/u/2/110614921959731305213  

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/1hasc   

If you would like to read other Homeschool Review Crew members' reviews about the MathArt Online 4-Class Bundle, please click on the banner below:

Printables for Your Homeschool - Super Teacher Worksheets Review

As a homeschool mom, I have found that it helps to add a variety of learning tools to our school day.  Our regular curriculum is wonderful but the kids love it when I change things up a bit and add something new and different.  Rachel especially likes hands-on activities and worksheets.  

As a member of the Home School Review Crew, we were given a one year individual membership to their online subscription to review Super Teacher Worksheets in our homeschool.  The printable worksheets cover a wide variety of subjects including math, reading, writing, phonics, literature, handwriting, grammar, spelling, science, history, geography and MORE!  They also have many worksheets available in Spanish.

Rachel is working on the Insect badge for her American Heritage Girls troop.  For the requirements, she needed to learn details about one particular insect.  She chose to learn about the monarch butterfly.  I was excited to see that Super Teacher Worksheets had several nature science items to help her out.  In their science section, I found an article that was all about monarch butterflies and it had some wonderful colored pictures as well. 

Rachel read aloud the article to me and then completed the corresponding worksheets.  Just having the article to print out for her to read was great because I didn't have to go searching all over the internet or make a trip to the library.  The worksheets helped to get her thinking about what she had read and served as a good review for her.

I also printed off the Butterfly Life Cycle booklet.  Rachel loved this!  She colored the pictures, cut out the pages, and stapled the booklet together.  She wanted me to make a video of her reading aloud her booklet so here she is...


As you can see, Super Teacher Worksheets is more than just fill in the blank kind of worksheets.  They have several cute booklets that kids can make.  They also have worksheets that have pieces that the child can cut out and use in matching games.  We also found this really fun QR code reader worksheet.  Rachel had never seen QR codes before so I explained that she would use the QR code reader on my ipad to scan the code on the worksheet.

The QR code took her to a specific list of three words to choose from to answer the problem on the worksheet.  In this case, the worksheet asked her to write the word that is a synonym for the word "fast".  When she scanned the QR code, the following list popped up.

Rachel absolutely loved this.  She now loves QR codes and she wants all of her work to use them in some way!

Over the summer, we studied US states and capitals.  There are a lot of games and printables on Super Teacher Worksheets that I used as a review for her.  Her favorite one was the "Cootie Catcher".  Do you remember playing with these as a child?

She would pick a color then move the paper puzzle back and forth for the number of letters in the name of the color.  When she stopped, she could pick a state and she had to name the capital.  She picked Idaho and then opened up the pocket to see "Boise".  How fun is that for reviewing states and capitals!

We will be going to see the play Mr. Popper's Penguins next week so we are reading the book now.  I just realized that the Chapter Book section of Super Teacher Worksheets has lots of great printables for this book.  They include bookmarks, vocabulary words, word search, and more all related specifically to Mr. Popper's Penguins.  Resources like this make my job as teacher so much easier!

Finally, there are also some fun things to find at Super Teacher Worksheets.  We played this Halloween Bingo game over and over the other day.  I think the addition of candy for game pieces may have made it even more fun.

I have really enjoyed having Super Teacher Worksheets to turn to for supplements in our school day.  An individual membership costs only $19.95 for a full year.  This gives you complete access to all of their great printables.

If you would like to read other Super Teacher Worksheets reviews from other Home School Review Crew members, please just click on the banner below:

Math Mammoth Review

We had an opportunity to try out a homeschool math curriculum called Math Mammoth as part of the TOS Home School Review Crew. The curriculum encompasses 1st through 7th grade.  It was written by Maria Miller who has a Master's Degree in Mathematics.


Math Mammoth can be purchased in two different structures.  The Light Blue Series which we used for this review is a complete year of curriculum including tests and cumulative reviews.  It comes 2 worktexts per grade level, A and B, to help divide up the year.  It also includes answer keys, tests, cumulative review lessons, and a versatile worksheet maker (Internet access required).  We reviewed Light Blue grade 6.

The Blue Series is arranged by topic and generally spans about 2-3 grade levels.  The Blue Series is best used for a math supplement, to help in areas where a student might be struggling, or simply a review.

Both the Light Blue Series and the Blue Series are presented in a worktext format.  This means that it encompasses the textbook teaching material as well as the workbook all in one.  The material is "self-teaching" so, especially for older kids, independent students are able to read the material and learn on their own.  There is no need to purchase a separate teacher's manual because the worktexts are all-inclusive.  There are even some teacher notes included at the beginning of each chapter in the worktext. 

My son has been able to work through the lessons in the entirely on his own but I'm available to help him if he has any questions.  The blue teaching boxes at the beginning of each lessons are simple and easy to understand.  He simply reads through the instruction material then works the problems. 

However, if the worktext explanation isn't clear enough, Math Mammoth also offers some free videos on their website to help further explain the concepts.  Here are some of the pre-algebra videos that my son and I have reviewed - http://www.mathmammoth.com/videos/prealgebra/pre-algebra-videos.php

If you are unsure where your child should begin, Math Mammoth offers free online placement tests.   But if you are still unsure if this is the best homeschool math program for your child, feel free to visit the Freebie section at Math Mammoth to learn more.  You can even download a few of the worktexts for free and let your child try them out for themselves.

Math Mammoth can be purchased at MathMammoth.com.  A full year of the Light Blue series is only $37.50 for the download.  However, you can purchase just part A or B which is nice if you want to try it out before buying the whole year or if you are starting the program mid-year and only need the second half of the program.  You can also purchase a CD if you don't want the download.  There are also pre-designed lesson plans for families who use Homeschool Planet as an online planner for their homeschool lessons. 

Please take a moment to click on the banner below to read more reviews from other TOS Home School Review crew members.

Learn Multiplication with Times Alive {Review}

As a member of the TOS Homeschool Review Crew, I was asked to review the Times Alive online subscription from Times Tables the Fun Way.  I was excited to let my daughter Rachel try it.  She's 8 years old and just starting to learn her multiplication facts.  This seemed like a fun way to supplement her regular math curriculum.


Times Alive teaches multiplication facts through online lessons with animated songs and stories to learn times tables the fun way.  No boring flash cards to memorize here!  
  
Want to see what I mean?  Take a look at this sample video for learning the fact that 6x6=36.


Rachel enjoyed watching the silly stories and she didn't even realize that she was memorizing the math facts while she watched!  The stories are presented with a colorful video, words to the song, and the words read aloud.  This makes it great for students who are visual or auditory learners.  And with the words being read aloud, even a struggling reader can still learn from this program.

You can begin your student with a placement test to see how much they already know and where they need the most help.  This is also a neat way to go back and test what they have learned after completing the course.  

There are 18 lessons to work through and each lesson contains quizzes and reviews from previous lessons.  It's all presented in a fun way, just like the animated stories.  Here is a quiz asking the child to recall which silly story taught the facts for 7x7.



Then the child tries to remember the story to solve the multiplication problem. They fill in the answer and then they can check their own score to see if they answered it correctly.


It is recommended that a child use the program for 20 minutes a day or one session per day for a minimum of twice a week.  Your child might have so much fun with it though that they just want to keep going.  That's fine because they can go at their own pace.  A student could possibly complete this program in as little as a month.  But if they need more time than that, it is a monthly subscription so you can just extend it for as long as needed at $9.95 per month.

I only needed to use Times Alive for one of my children but if I wanted to use it for multiple children, I could.  I would just have each child assigned with their own log in and then they could each progress through the course at their own pace.  I would be able to track the progress for each of my children individually.  
Here is an example of the progress report.  It shows what the student has attempted, completed, skipped, and how they scored.


We have enjoyed using Times Alive and while multiplication is still new for my 2nd grader, I can see that this program could also be used to help an older child who is still struggling to memorize their multiplication facts or even as a review.

To check out Times Alive for yourself, visit their webpage or Facebook page.

If you'd like to read more reviews from the Homeschool Review Crew about Times Alive, click the banner below.

SchoolhouseTeachers.com Review

I've looked at SchoolhouseTeachers.com several times over the last few years and have considered signing up for a membership but just never took the plunge.  As a member of The Old Schoolhouse Homeschool Review Crew I was recently given the opportunity to review a Yearly Membership with SchoolhouseTeachers.com.  Wow! Now that we've had a few weeks to get a feel for the site and all that it has to offer, I'm kicking myself for not joining sooner!

The new SchoolhouseTeachers.com website is amazing!  It is easy to use and navigate.  They offer Online Classes and Online Electives to use in your homeschool, either as your full curriculum or as a supplement to what you are already using.  There are Scope and Sequence charts, lesson plans, and printable certificates of completion. 
Homeschooling children of multiple ages?  No problem!  They have course work for students preschool - high school. We have used several of their history lessons while studying the Renaissance.  There are weekly lesson plans, lapbooks, notebooking pages, as well as links to videos and related maps as well as hands-on activities like games, recipes, and crafts to really bring the Renaissance to life for my kids.  
In addition to the courses, we have also enjoyed some of the special online access to products included in our membership like The World of Animals through the World Book eBook Library and learning about how Christopher Columbus discovered American through watching the amazing video series called Drive-Thru History.  These have been so much fun for my kids to explore!
Just take a look at the subjects below that are covered in the SchoolhouseTeachers.com courses:

In addition to the wealth of curriculum on the site, there is also an abundance of homeschool parent support resources on the site.  As a member you can download several different planners.  Here are just two of them which are for homeschool parents to help organize their homeschool as well as manage their home. However, they also offer primary, intermediate, and high school student planners, as well as a planner for special needs students.

There is also a Custom Schedule Builder to help you organize your homeschool day as well as online access to Applecore Recordkeeping for tracking your students' portfolio, coursework, grades, and attendance.
SchoolhouseTeachers.com really has everything you might need for your homeschool!
Be sure to join SchoolhouseTeachers.com during their Super Christmas Sale and save 50% by using code: CHRISTMAS for $9.95/month or CHRISTMASYEAR for $90/year.  This is really a great deal!  The sale ends on January 15th so HURRY and lock in your promo rate.

To read more reviews for SchoolhouseTeachers.com from other members of The Old Schoolhouse Homeschool Review Crew, please click on the graphic below:


My kids and I have thoroughly enjoyed using SchoolhouseTeachers.com in our homeschool and I have written my honest opinion about this product.  Although I was given a free Yearly Membership in order to research the product and write this review, I have benefited so much from it that I will definitely renew our membership when this one expires.

Dallas Arboretum Homeschool Day

I was so excited when I learned that the Dallas Arboretum was having a special Homeschool Day.  Not just because we love an excuse to go to the Arboretum but also because the kids have been learning all about botany so this would be a great way to wrap up their science for the year.  It was a fun review for them.

They gave each child a journal, pencil, and small magnifying glass to use and take home.  There were stations set up in two separate room and it was a "come and go" setting.  We started at the Leaves station to learn about adaptations that help leaves survive and thrive in different areas.

Nicholas was using a cool little Carson MicroBrite 20x-40x Zoom LED Lighted Pocket Microscope to study veins and spores on the leaves.

Rachel used "fake snow" to pile on top of different leaves to see if they would collapse and break under the weight or if they could shed off the snow and not be negatively affected.

At the Stem station they learned about stems carrying water and nutrients through the plant.  They saw how colored water had moved up through the plant to change the color of the plant.  They also learned that cacti will swell when they are full of water and shrink back up when they are dry.

We reviewed rings of a tree and the kids both got to flag on this tree poster the year in which they were born.  It was fun to see how much growth the tree had made in the 7 years since Rachel was born.

They looked at an slice of an alfalfa stem through a microscope.  They could clearly see the Epidermis, Xylem, and Phloem that they have studied about this year.

They dissected a flower and put the parts on a pre-labeled worksheet.

They got to play with the Pollinator Station and match the bee, bird, butterfly, and bat puppets with the types of flowers they are attracted to.

We got to see the spores of a fern in the Phylum Pterophyta.

The kids liked this three dimensional model of the parts of a flower.

They learned about different types of roots.

This demonstration was great because it showed how roots help to hold the soil in place and prevent erosion.  On one try was a container of just dirt and when the kids poured water over it the water that drained out was full of dirt.  But when they poured water over the container that had grass growing in it, the water that drained out was clear because the roots held the dirt in place.

Next they visited the Seed Station.  Here are lots of different kinds of seeds and they each have different ways of being dispersed.

I just love this demonstration below of how a burr can get stuck on an animal's fur (or imagine a kid's sock!) and get transported to another place where it falls off and gets planted.

They dissected a lima bean to see the inner parts of a seed.  Nicholas was quick to find the radicle.

Finally, they even planted their own Lemon Mint seeds in cups to bring home.  Once they had completed all of the stations, we headed over to the Rory Meyer Children Adventure Garden to spend a few hours.

We stopped at the Lay Family Garden just outside of the Children's Garden.  The kids were obsessed with watching the fish.  They put their hands on the water and giggled as they felt the fish swim by.

We learned about how certain fruits and vegetables help different parts of the body.  Since we are here for school, we focused on the ones that helped brain function!  Ok, kids!  We'll be having spinach, collard greens, apricots, cauliflower, and plums for lunch today!

For the tired mama, I couldn't help but take note of the plants that are best for energy - broccoli, bananas, grapes, oranges, and peanuts.  So good to know!

Look at the beautiful blooms on the Strawberry Sequoia!  I've never seen this plant before but I love it!

I've also never seen artichokes growing.  I usually only see them after they have been cut up and marinated in little jars to use as a salad topping.

Ewww!  What's that smell??  I don't know how we've never seen this Smell Station!  The kids took a whiff at each white circle and then tried to guess what kind of food they were smelling.  Then they looked under the red flap to find the answer.  I won't give away the answers but there were some easy ones and some tricky ones.

 

Rachel loved the chime pad in the hedge maze.  If I ever wondered where she was in the maze, I would just wait for a moment and sure enough I would hear her at the pad in a matter of minutes.

Of course we had to take a walk in the clouds at the amazing tree house!

One side of the tree house in completely enclosed in climbable netting.  They love to climb right up to the top of it!

Nicholas found a giant Roly Poly!

And Rachel found...her favorite, Wood Sorrel!!  Yes, she helped pick weeds at the Arboretum!

One of my favorites in the garden is this giant kaleidoscope.  I'd love to have one of these.  It is so fun to look through.

There are three different discs that you can spin to change what you see each time.

We talked about math in nature, the Golden Ratio and Fibonacci Numbers.

Nicholas noticed these creepy little red and black beetles on a cactus plant.  What are they?

We always spend a long time in the physical science area.  Here we were playing with the wind tunnel that blows air around up to 70 mph!

Then they played with some more wind exhibits, mostly just to cool off from the heat.

Or just being super silly!

They like the water power section the best and you can tell because they usually end up getting wet.  They twisted the Archimedes Screw to pull water to the top and fill a bucket that dumped out when it got full.

And they shot water guns to try to make the discs spin around.

Although we've been to the Dallas Arboretum and the Children's Garden many times, today was especially fun because it was our first time to try their educational programming.  We enjoyed it and the kids learned some and got a good review on things they already learned this year in Botany.  I would definitely recommend it.