Review: Christian Kids Explore Chemistry

If there is one thing that excites me, it's seeing Bright Ideas Press on our list of possible reviews.  I have a few of their products and I love them all.  I was practically giddy when I learned that I was getting the opportunity to review one of their science products from the Christian Kids Explore series.

About the Christian Kids Explore series

The award winning series includes four books that cover one year of Biology, Earth & Space, Chemistry, and Physics.  Designed to be used twice a week, these books are specifically tailored to the homeschool audience - multi-grade, easy prep, and a combination of reading/research and hands-on projects.  

Our Experience

We were given the chance to use the PDF version Chemistry program.  I don't believe that the PDF version is currently available for purchase yet but I hear it's in the works.  It's worth the wait.

I love the way they set up the program via the PDF.   It so user friendly and easy to navigate.  Instead of having having to scroll your way through the book they offer this handy dandy resource CD so all that you can find what you need with just a simple click.  Just check out this screen shot.  They are genius!!  I heart the set-up.  A lot!

Love!!!

The lesson plans themselves were my next favorite thing.  They include memory work, review items, required reading, supplemental reading, vocabulary, hands-on projects with materials list.  All neatly organized on one page.  So fabulous!!

Christian Kids Explore Chemistry is made up of five units with 5 lessons per unit.  Near the end of the study there is a wonderful literature guide for the book, Piece of the Mountain.  I love using literature to help cement concepts.
Reproducibles include Review It! pages, Activity charts, follow up questions, and coloring pages.

 The text itself is well written and easy to understand. The lessons were short and informative.  My daughter looked forward the readings and often volunteered read them on her own. LOL No my dear, I can't review it if I'm not involved.

Supplies needed to complete the hands-on portion were easy for this hate-to-find-supplies momma to find.  Yay!  The directions were clear and we were able to complete them without any problems.  The only thing I would've liked to have seen was a section that explained what we were supposed to see.  There was one activity in particular where we questioned whether our results were correct and could've used some further explanation.

Separating compounds

Learning about the periodic table

All-in-all, we were very pleased with this product.  We were only able to complete the first unit during the review period and are thinking about finishing it up at a faster pace this summer.  I think the idea of Mackenzie having a bit of a chemistry background before she hits high school.   

F.Y.I.

Website:
main site  http://www.brightideaspress.com/
Chemistry page https://www.brightideaspress.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=6_54&products_id=98
Age Range: Fourth through Eighth grade
Price:  $39.95 for printed text
Samples:  Text, Table of Contents, Materials List

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Disclaimer:  I received a free download of this product for review purposes.  All opinions are my own or that of my daughter.

Review: AIMS From Head to Toe

You know what I love?  I love it when a review item fits right in with what you are currently studying.  And that's what From Head to Toe by the AIMS Education Foundation was for us.  Here we were in the middle of a year long study of anatomy when we were blessed with this wonderful guide to add to our study.

About AIMS

AIMS is a non-profit foundation dedicated to helping teachers give students a solid conceptual understanding of math and science.  



We create hands-on math and science activities that engage your students in learning and deepen their understanding. See how in these free sample activities.


As a non-profit foundation, we're committed to doing what's best for students. Join us and rekindle the joy of learning.


They promise to...

• - make learning engaging.
• - make our activities affordable, and the required materials will be readily available.
• - make our activities easy to use, without compromising their conceptual development or    effectiveness.

Our Experience

We received a print copy of From Head to Toe activity book.  It came with a cd of the printable pages.  I loved that I could just print what I needed right off of the cd instead of having to copy pages from the bulky text.

From the website:

This revised edition of From Head to Toe, which includes 25 new activities, will guide students in explorations of the systems and senses of the human body. Students will look at how the nervous, circulatory, respiratory, digestive, urinary, and musculoskeletal systems work together to keep us alive. They will also explore how our sensory organs provide us information about our world.

Students will be engaged as they create models for each system and see firsthand how things really work. In the activity “Breathe In, Breathe Out,” students will use a two-liter bottle, balloons and straws to build their own set of “lungs” and to see what happens as air is inhaled and exhaled. In the activity “The Food Tube,” students will work as a team, creating a life-size tracing of a classmate and calculating the length and location of the digestive tract; they will be amazed as they discover the crepe paper used to represent the small and large intestines measures up to five times the height of the body.

Teachers will enjoy the flexibility that From Head to Toe offers, as they can adjust the depth of each unit to fit the needs of their class. They will also find the rubber band books—small books the students assemble and hold together with a rubber band along the spine—ideal in providing necessary content and relevant information.
Whether building a model heart or acting out the actions of neurons as they transmit messages to and from the brain, From Head to Toe provides a broad, complete look of the human body that will engage students as they learn about their magnificent bodies.

Creating a model of the
circulatory system.

The book contains tons of activities that cover the following systems: Nervous system, Circulatory System, Respiratory System, Digestive System, Urinary System, Musculoskeletal System, and Sensory Organs.  This book is jam packed!!

Each lesson includes key questions, learning goals, and a materials list.  Plus a billion lists that include national standards and the like for traditional classroom settings.  (Deja Vu!  All that mumbo jumbo brought me back to my college and classroom teaching days. LOL)

Your student will make a rubber band book that contains facts and information about the topic at hand.  We made those books first and then dove into the activities.  And every unit contains an activity that will have your child building a model of that system.

Our model of a lung

Since we had recently finished studying the circulatory and respiratory systems, we worked on projects from those units.  You can just pick and choose the activities that you want to do.  No need to "go by the book."  Just pick a unit, select your activities, print out what you need from the CD, and gather your supplies.  You're ready to go!  Most of the activities require supplies that are easily found around the house or at your local craft store; yarn, empty soda bottles, balloons, paper, etc.

This guide is just a wealth of hands-on activities and a wonderful supplement to any science curriculum.  It really helps bring science to life.  I've got activity a huge list of projects that I plan on doing as we continue on with our regular science curriculum.  It is a fabulous resource to have for our homeschool.

And guess what?  AIMS offers dozens and dozens of these amazing guides to help supplement your math and science studies.  Just about every topic you can think of.  My wish list has grown quite long.

F.Y.I.

Website:  http://store.aimsedu.org/aims_store/
Age Range: AIMS offers guides for grades K-9, the one we reviewed was geared toward 5th-9th
Pricing: Depending on what you choose $18.95-$24.95.  From Head to Toe was $24.95


Click the Crew Banner to read more about these fabulous activity guides.

Disclaimer:  I received a free copy of this product for review purposes.  All opinions are my own or those of my daughter.

Review: Write With World

The publishers of God's World News and WORLD Magazine have created a new, two-year writing curriculum for middle schoolers called Write with World.  We were recently given the opportunity to pilot edition of year one.

About Write with World

From the Website...

Write with WORLD is the middle school writing curriculum developed by education and media professionals. Use it to inspire and train your students to become proficient communicators who can meet educational requirements and navigate today's growing new media and conflicting worldviews.

Write with WORLD exposes students to:

• reading and critical thinking that develop discernment
• contemporary subjects and professional guidance to pique interest
• flexible exercises to build confidence and skill for using today's new media
• a thoughtful and meaningful Christian worldview

They have a very definite purpose for creating this program:

Writing skills are commonly deficient among students entering college, but the problem and its fallout begin years earlier. Poor writing skills hurt a student's performance on exams and in courses requiring composition. For Christian students, poor communication hinders the believer's voice from influencing their social circle and, ultimately, the broader public square.

Christians in particular should try to be the best communicators. They possess the truth and need to articulate a biblical worldview. Just as important, today's students must be discriminating media consumers - able to read, hear, and watch what the world is saying and to recognize the truth.

Write with World includes:

• Separate teacher/student books and online content for first and second years
• Web site (Sept. 2011) for updated examples, writing prompts, published student work, and helpful teacher forum
• Students will need their own notebook/journal to record their work

Our Experience

I used the year 1, pilot program with my 11 year old.  The book was very user friendly and easy to use.  There are four units for the entire year.  The units are made up of four lessons which contain five learning capsules.  The pages themselves are pleasing to look at. You can take a peek at a sample HERE. 

The teachers guide contains the entire student text plus additional notes in the margins with suggestions on how to help the student.  I found this very handy.  I could read her assignments and the suggestions on the same page.  

Another nice thing for teachers is that many of the assignments only use "low-stakes" evaluation.  "Low-stakes grading requires less critical evaluation and more helpful general evaluation.  Instead of awarding a final grade, low-stakes grading offers students minimal grading- at most, a general evaluation (excellent, satisfactory, weak or +/-). Offer students specific and tactful ways for improving their response: explain how they can turn a weak response into a satisfactory one.  Use low-stakes grading to encourage your student develop as readers and writers who take time to practice."  I like that because it takes a lot of the pressure off of struggling writers and gives me a break from wielding the red pen. 

The lessons themselves easy to read and the conversational tone of them is wonderful.  There are many examples of writing from published writers, mainly from WORLD Magazine.  Basically the student reads the lesson in the book and then is given an assignment in their writers journal.   The assignments were clear and well laid out.  Rarely did my daughter have to have help in figuring out what to do.   Lessons also include a bit of vocabulary and grammar too.  I really liked it.

There were only a couple things I had issue with.  I am not a natural writer myself so I could've used some more concrete suggestions on a few of the assignments.  There is eventually going to be a website that includes more examples, teacher helps, writing prompts, etc.  It will even publish the students work! Unfortunately it is not up and running yet, so I wasn't able to take advantage of the extra help. 

The other problem was Mackenzie.  She didn't really care for it but wasn't really able to articulate why.  My best guess is that it wasn't black and white enough for her.  She is very logic-minded and likes everything else to be that way too.  Many of the journaling assignments require some inferring and reading between the lines which just doesn't gel with her.  

While it didn't work well for my daughter's learning style, I still think it's worth taking a look at.  It might be something that works for your child.  In the meantime, I'm thinking about working through it myself.  Who wouldn't like some writing tips from professionals?  =o)

F.Y.I.

Website:  http://www.learnwithworld.com/writewithworld/

Age Range: Middle School

Pricing:  $95 for one year, $165 for both years.  This includes student and teacher guides as well as access to website.  Please note that curriculum will not be available until summer 2012.  Order Here. 

Helpful Info: Table of Contents, Sample Lesson

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Disclaimer: I received a free copy of Write With World for review purposes.  All opinions are my own or that of my daughter. 

Tot School: A Whole Lotta J

We've been in relaxed mode the last couple weeks so we took two weeks to complete our J unit.  The weather's been nice, what could we do?  It's great to have options.

Raising Rock Stars Preschool

We've been working on the letter J this week.  Our verse was John 14:6. She liked the verse, especially the song we sang to go along with it, but she was not thrilled with it's length when she taped it together.  The craft was a big hit.  She loved that it was a door that she could open.  It received a place of honor on our closet door.

  

  

All About Reading

We were working on J, of course.  We did some rhyming, which she's getting really good at, made a jack rabbit craft, and used the gel pad (from our Grasshopper Prep kit) for our tactile activity.  The gel pad didn't work quite like I thought it would.  I thought you'd be able to see the letter once you traced it in the get but it didn't work out like that.  Bummer!!!  A ziplock with paint or gel in it would probably work better.  She didn't mind too much because she practiced tracing A-K.  She had to do K because it's the most important letter, the one her names starts with.  She never leaves out K. lol

  

 You Can Read

We started the second unit in YCR, with four new words.  During our first week working with them I wasn't sure she was going to get them.  But she has them down this week.  She built the words, did a word hunt, played "roll & slap", spelled them with stampers, and made some sight word puzzles.

 

 

Other Stuff

We did some math activities.  We made some pictures using our Scholastic Magnetic Pattern Block book.  We also played a Missing Number game that I saw on Pinterest. Sadly, it didn't include printables so I had to make my own.  You can download them HERE for your tot.

 

We worked on counting and fine motor skills with the little frog guy from our Grasshopper Prep Kit.  We rolled the die and the frog ate that many bugs.

 

Her Kumon cutting book is starting to challenge her more.  This week she had to cut on a spiral.  She was really concentrating.  LOL

 

And, of course, we did some Easter activities.  We read tons of Easter books, made some crafts, played some games, and watched all of our Easter movies.

We read The Parable of the Lily and then made pink and purple "lilies" with empty soda bottles.  Then we splatter painted a cross using paint inside plastic eggs.  Both were adapted from pinterest finds.

 

From COAH a "He is Risen" magnet page and J is for jellybean sorting.

 

We also did our resurrection eggs but I didn't get any pictures because I was too involved.  We also had fun dying eggs and enjoying Easter day but those will be for another day because the pictures are still on my camera.

I hope you and yours had a blessed Easter.

 

Weekly Wrap-Up: Two Weeks Worth

This week's wrap-up is going to be a two-for-one since I didn't get around to writing one last week.  I'm not sure why. It could've been because life was too busy or maybe it was because I was lazy.  I can't remember. LOL

In Our Homeschool...

The last two weeks, Mackenzie has been wrapping up our study on China.  We will be moving on to Mongolia next.  We were actually supposed to start that yesterday but we fizzled out before we got to history. lol  Since we're having another semi-Spring break next week, we'll just hold off until then. Next week will be another review items only week.  Oh how I love being able to run school the way that I want.

It's been a couple of weeks since we've worked on our Apologia science.  With two science items to review, something had to give.  Although one of items also covers the body so that's been fun.  Here's a pick of what Mackenzie has been doing.

Apparently it's the season for two.  We're also reviewing two writing programs at the moment.  Although I'm in the middle of writing one of the reviews so we'll be back down to just one writing program, much to Mackenzie's relief.  She hates writing. lol  Although she can't complain too much.  I let her do one on the computer and the latest hasn't really had a lot of writing yet.  Mostly just games so far.

Math is going.  We are finally past the half-way point.  Shew.  We'd be almost finished if we hadn't reviewed so many math programs this year.  What we learned from all of that is that the program that we are using was definitely the one for us.

Places We've Been...

I think I just realized why I didn't get around to last weeks Wrap-Up.  Busch Gardens was exhausting.  lol

We hit the zoo.  To the right was the best part. Ha, ha, ha!!!  I'm going back and I'm going to sit there until I see that thing spray.  Camera ready.  Even if it takes all. day.  long.  lol   URINE DANGER!!! Stay alert people!!!  <3

And here's a peek at some of our other zoo fun.

We also made our first trip of the year to Busch Gardens.  Gotta get our riding in before the schools get out for summer. It was a perfect day.  The weather was beautiful and the crowds were few.

In Our Life This Week...

We continue to stalk the building of our new house.  Not only did we go up there Friday, Saturday, and Sunday last weekend, I went again on Monday.  Mackenzie's piano lesson was moved to her teacher's house and we just happened to be driving by...what else could we do?

Last weekend it looked liked this.  ------------------>
The put it the footings and such.  It seems so small and it's hard to imagine how the layout will fit in there. LOL  We also had to go and pick out the cabinets, flooring, counters, etc.  Sooo. Hard. To. Do.

I have serious issues being able to visualize what something will look like from staring at a little square of granite or wood.  To pick out the exterior brick/siding I had to drive around the neighborhood and write down an address and tell them that's what I want for my house.  I guess we'll find out if it looks good once it's all in. lol  I hope so.

This week it looked like this... It's so neat to watch it progress.  I was thinking there wouldn't be any changes since we're not closing until October so they could take their time.

My Favorite Thing This Week Was...

Watching Mackenzie show Kayleigh all the history pockets that she's made over the years.  For thirty minutes that sat nicely being kind to one another.  Praise God!