Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Brag Time Thursday ~ April 26

Chestnut Grove Academy
Come link up your Homeschool related posts to 'brag' about the great things you and your kids are doing! Browse around and see what others are up to as well!
(Please link up the direct URL of the post you are 'bragging' about!)
Please Follow your hosts and Grab our Brag Time Button
to display in your post or on your blog so others can join in the fun as well!
(Failure to follow these specific guidelines will result in your link up being deleted, so PLEASE be sure to 1) link up the direct URL of your post and 2) post the hop button on your post or blog (where we can find it).  We also kindly ask that you follow us, we WILL follow you back!) Thank you!

Chestnut Grove Academy

Photobucket
Link-up is live from 11:00 PM Wednesdays  EST to 11:59 PM Saturdays EST each week!


Pin It!

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

TOS Review ~ Amazing Science DVD Vol. 1


Photobucket

Photobucket

ScienceandMath.com sent us the Amazing Science! Volume 1 DVD to review. For some reason Science seems to get left out in our household so I was very excited to get this product to review.
Photobucket
In a Nutshell
~$24.95 regular price (at the time of this posting sale price $19.95)
~created to be a stand alone product
~23 experiments on 2 discs
~material list, demonstration and explanation given for each individual experiment
~Experiments Demonstrated: Color Changing Milk, Egg in a Bottle, Build a Lemon Battery, Lift an Ice Cube with a String, Unburnable Money, Cloud in a Bottle, Floating Eggs, Dry Ice Bubbles, Ocean in a Bottle, Simple Lava Lamp, Invisible Ink, Soda Can Fizz and much more!
~All experiments demonstrated by Jason Gibson who has advanced degrees in Engineering and Physics and worked as a Rocket Scientist for NASA
Photobucket
PROS
~stand alone product (nothing else to purchase except materials to replicate experiments)
~easy to use (just pop in a DVD player
~most materials for experiments are common or inexpensive household products
~step-by-step demonstrations
~the science behind why the experiment works is explained

CONS
~The only thing that I would really like to see is a complete list of materials either on the DVD or downloadable on the website.

Our Thoughts
Unicorn and Ladybug really enjoyed this product. They loved watching the experiments and are excited to so Summer Science Camp with daddy and these experiments! Unicorn's favorite experiment is "Dry Ice Bubbles" and Ladybug's favorite is "Unburnable Money". Because of our recent move we haven't had much time to try the experiments but the video does a great job of taking you step-by-step through the  experiments and explaining why they work. I love that I can grab the video and pop it into any DVD player and my kids are getting exposure to Science. We used the DVD's in the car as we drove between our old house and our new one. We have watched many of the experiments multiple times. 

Click here to see the many other math and science DVD's available at ScienceandMath.com.

Click here to see what my Crew Mates have to say about this product.

{Disclaimer: I received this product in exchange for my honest review. I received no other compensation and all opinions are my own.}
Pin It!

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Brag Time Thursday ~ April 19


Chestnut Grove Academy
Come link up your Homeschool related posts to 'brag' about the great things you and your kids are doing! Browse around and see what others are up to as well!
(Please link up the direct URL of the post you are 'bragging' about!)
Please Follow your hosts and Grab our Brag Time Button
to display in your post or on your blog so others can join in the fun as well!
(Failure to follow these specific guidelines will result in your link up being deleted, so PLEASE be sure to 1) link up the direct URL of your post and 2) post the hop button on your post or blog (where we can find it).  We also kindly ask that you follow us, we WILL follow you back!) Thank you!

Chestnut Grove Academy

Photobucket
Link-up is live from 11:00 PM Wednesdays  EST to 11:59 PM Saturdays EST each week!


Pin It!

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

TOS Review ~ Christian Kids Explore Earth & Space (Bright Ideas Press)


Photobucket
Photobucket
Today I am excited to share with you a wonderful Science product from Bright Ideas Press (you know, the ones who publish The Mystery of History and WonderMaps)! 
Christian Kids Explore Earth & Space is a wonderfully through yet simple text for teaching children about Earth & Space. 

In a Nutshell
~$34.95
~Geared towards Grades 3-6 (easily modified for both younger and older students)
~Paperback 
~351 pages (6 Units, 24 Lessons, Glossary, Maps, Coloring pages, Scriptures, Recipes, Book and Resource lists, Answer Key and more)
~Topics Include: Earth's Creation, Earth's Structure, Plate Tectonics, Caves, Volcanos, Earthquakes, Rocks, Oceans, Groundwater, Glaciers/Icebergs, Atmospheric Pressure, Humidity, Air Composition, Weather/Seasons, Clouds, Precipitation, Thunderstorms/Tornadoes, Hurricanes, The Sun, Earth's Moon, The Other Planets
~There is some teacher prep necessary however most items needed are common household items or can be easily/inexpensively found.
~Activity Book ($12.95) available as a download (great for printing copies of Maps, Activities and Coloring Pages)

For links to Sample Lessons, Materials Lists, Table of Contents or to order click here.
Structure of the Earth Activity

My thoughts
My kids and I really enjoyed working through this text. The amount of information was just perfect for my kids' attention spans (ages 4, 6 and 12). We had fun doing the hands-on activities...in fact we had so much fun I don't have many pictures! My favorite part of CKE Earth & Space is that I can use one curriculum for all 3 children! One thing I don't really like is that the Activity Book is a separate purchase. All the pages in the Activity Book are included in the text so you can just photocopy them so you don't need the downloadable version. However, the download is very convenient for printing so you don't ruin the spine of the text. I would love to see the Activity Book download included in the price of the text or at least under the current $12.95 price tag.

Click here to read what my Crew Mates think of this and other CKE Science texts from Bright Ideas Press.

{Disclaimer: I received this product in exchange for my honest opinion. I received no other compensation and all opinions are my own.}
Pin It!

Thursday, April 12, 2012

TOS Review ~ Write with WORLD


Photobucket
Photobucket
Looking for a Christian-based, real-world writing curriculum for your middle school student? Then you may be interested in Write with World.
Photobucket
Nuts & Bolts
~Grades 6-9 (Advanced 5th could also do it or HS students that haven't had much writing experience)
~Written directly to the Student
~Short, daily lessons that relate to the real-world
~additional supplies: one (1) notebook to use for journal assignments as well as access to magazines and newspapers
~Teacher manual included
~Year One Contents: Developing Critical Readers, Developing Writers (paragraphing), Writing an Autobiography, Crafting Narratives
~$95 per year ($165 for both years)
~Cost includes access to website with additional prompts and helps (online in Sept. 2012)
~Sample Lessons/About the Authors/to Order/More Info

PROS
~written to the student
~encourages independence
~mini-lessons that break down larger writing goals
~assignments have meaning
~reusable
~little to no teacher prep

CONS
~set-up as 5 mini-lessons per capsule (so 5 assignments/week) I personally prefer 4
~only available as text (at this time...they MAY develop a downloadable version if there is enough interest)
~only a Middle School curriculum (at this time...again, with enough interest they may develop a HS curriculum)

Our Thoughts
Unicorn and I really liked that the lessons were short and sweet. I also liked that she could do the lessons on her own. 

Click here to read what my Crew Mates thought of this product.

{Disclaimer: I received this product in exchange for my honest opinion. I received no other compensation and all opinions are my own.}
Pin It!

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Brag Time Thursday ~ April 12


Chestnut Grove Academy
Come link up your Homeschool related posts to 'brag' about the great things you and your kids are doing! Browse around and see what others are up to as well!
(Please link up the direct URL of the post you are 'bragging' about!)
Please Follow your hosts and Grab our Brag Time Button
to display in your post or on your blog so others can join in the fun as well!
(Failure to follow these specific guidelines will result in your link up being deleted, so PLEASE be sure to 1) link up the direct URL of your post and 2) post the hop button on your post or blog (where we can find it).  We also kindly ask that you follow us, we WILL follow you back!) Thank you!

Chestnut Grove Academy

Photobucket
Link-up is live from 11:00 PM Wednesdays  EST to 11:59 PM Saturdays EST each week!


Pin It!

Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Brag Time Thursday ~ April 5


Chestnut Grove Academy
Come link up your Homeschool related posts to 'brag' about the great things you and your kids are doing! Browse around and see what others are up to as well!
(Please link up the direct URL of the post you are 'bragging' about!)
Please Follow your hosts and Grab our Brag Time Button
to display in your post or on your blog so others can join in the fun as well!
(Failure to follow these specific guidelines will result in your link up being deleted, so PLEASE be sure to 1) link up the direct URL of your post and 2) post the hop button on your post or blog (where we can find it).  We also kindly ask that you follow us, we WILL follow you back!) Thank you!

Chestnut Grove Academy

Photobucket
Link-up is live from 11:00 PM Wednesdays  EST to 11:59 PM Saturdays EST each week!


Pin It!