Wordy Querty

We gave Read, Write, and Type a test drive last fall. For spring, we had the opportunity to use the next step, Wordy Querty, an online, at-the-keyboard program to help children age 7-9 with spelling (and as a by-product, strengthens reading and keyboarding as well).

I deliberately stepped back from actively choosing review items during the big move that happened much more quickly than any of us anticipated. I volunteered for Wordy Querty (and was happy to have been chosen to review it) for a couple of reasons. One, we liked Read, Write, and Type. Two, I hoped we could use this one during our transition time on the road, in the hotel, and while we were unpacking and settling in.

And we did. Well, Li'l Bit did. I'm not a huge fan of having her doing a lot of independent work. She needs practice at interaction and reciprocity and I very intentionally choose products that she and I can use together, resources with the relationship in the forefront and academics as a background activity.

HowEVER, at this time in our school year, with this move, I really needed, wanted some items she could do independently so that I could take care of business, getting utilities connected, getting the sibs in school, to and from school, and ultimately unpacking and beginning to try to cook at home again.

I let Li'l Bit loose on Wordy Querty while I worked near her. She sat down for it willingly and worked through lessons with very little complaining (that is huge). The activities are familiar; they repeat themselves throughout the letter patterns. She popped balloons with individual words that created phrases, having to discriminate among homonyms and words that look similar; she typed words and sorted them by category; she filled in the blank; she completed game after game after game without my help.

She completed them all. All 20 lessons.

And as I quiz her by repeating games and using words from the online program, she is able to spell quite a long list of words that I did not realize she is able to spell.

She also knows spelling rules that she didn't know before. "I before e except after c" is one of them.

And as the student plays games, she wins points that give her more spheres in a visually appealing music machine that is really fun to watch. (It is kind of way-cool stimmy for those of you who understand that term.)

I like this program. The lessons are short. They're well presented, simple enough to spotlight the lesson of the moment without being too babyish. The pace is excellent for a child like mine who needs processing time. The instructions do not drag, but they don't move too quickly, either. The patterns quickly create something the child recognizes - I've played this game before, only with different words or letters. Variations on a theme. Same but different, different but same. I look for that in a product. It's here.

The program gives the student the correct answer when the student makes a mistake. The correction is given in a no-nonsense, no judgement tone. "Type 'this'" the voice tells my girl. And she does. And she gets it. I love love love the fact that there's no "uh-oh" or other word or sound to spotlight when the child presses a key that is incorrect.

We get the opportunity to re-do any lesson, so we are not done, yet, as I choose skill practice for my girl to repeat. I can ask her to do another "wh" lesson or the one that works on double consonants, to keep the repeated lessons varied.

I do think we created some splinter skills, particularly with the spelling rules, and we'll have to fill in some foundations now. We'll see how that goes.

The process of accessing the program online has been simple. We had a few freeze-ups in the hotel during our transition time, but have been fine here at home.

The price is right (I cannot believe this price): $25 for one year online access. Interested families can take advantage of a free demo.

I would not limit this one to children in the 7-9 age range. If you have a child with unique learning needs like mine, one who is academically delayed, you may like Wordy Querty as much as we have. Take a demo for a test drive. You may find this as helpful as we have.

We were given an online subscription to Wordy Querty for review purposes. I received no payment for this review. I am not obligated to provide a positive review.

Circle C Beginnings from kregel and author Susan Marlow; A TOS Crew Review

kregel PUBLISHING, author Susan K. Marlow, and illustrator Leslie Gammelgaard bring us a new series of fiction for beginning readers.

I reviewed an older reader from Susan Marlow a year ago. I enjoyed the story, but the book level was too challenging for Li'l Bit, too wordy for even a read-aloud.I was tickled to see a new series from Susan Marlow for children who are reading at younger levels, and was pleased to be chosen to receive one. Our family received, "Andi's Scary School Days", an 80-page paperback priced at $4.99, that is the story of young Andi's experience conquering the uncertainty of something brand new, in this case, going to school. (I did think that reading about a school-building school, even a one-room schoolhouse from the 'olden days' was a bit odd for my homeschooler.) Every reader or listener can make a text-to-self comparison to Andi's fear of the uncertainty of something she's never experienced before.

Li'l Bit is not reading chapter books like this one yet. Reading is still too much work for her in many ways.

We used it as a read aloud. She followed along the text as I read aloud, and I occasionally paused to give her an opportunity to read a line if she chose to. We worked on tiny narrations (I have to be careful not to turn the narration moment into a Q&A session.)

I especially like the free 20-page activity packet of extras that are available for download online. (The packet for the book we reviewed is here.) I printed some of them from the hotel business center when we were in transition during our move, and Li'l Bit dove into them. I never know what information she absorbs. Her auditory processing gives her some challenges. She tackled the word match and knew more of the vocabulary than I anticipated. I'm sold.

The Andi & Taffy web site is here.

Special needs perspective:

The story is engaging, and is from a time long before electricity and the things that come with it. (Hard to imagine, isn't it?) Expectations of childrern were very different. We have had a few conversations about the differences between then and now. There are opportunities for the imagination to dream about that time and to try to perspective take.

The words on the page are large, not too many words on a page for children who see a crowded page and automatically think "too hard". The free activity packet download offers added value to aid comprehension in addition to providing background information.

I very much enjoyed the two books I reviewed and will probably order more of the younger readers to use as we begin school again in the fall.

To read what my crewmates' think about this and other Circle C Beginnings titles, please go here.

Thank you, Susan Marlow, for creating this series for younger readers!

kregel PUBLICATIONS sent me "Andi's Scary School Days" to review at no charge to me. I am not paid for this review and am not obligated to provide a positive review.

See The Light, a TOS Crew Review

Teaching children on the autism spectrum can be challenging. Some of us have a relationship focus in the foreground with everything else as a background activity. I'm learning to use homeschool resources for those background activities, and I have found that art programs are well suited for experiencing the relationship pieces with the academic piece alongside.

See The Light Art Class, Volume 1: ART LESSONS is the first video-based art resource we've used. I was given two DVDs: a DVD of preview clips, which I viewed first, to get a feel for the lessons, and to review, Volume I, The Basics. The entire 9-disc course is priced at $99.99.

I immediately liked the way the Master Artist Pat Knepley paces her thoughts as she speaks. (The lessons are not closed captioned. Li'l Bit has been watching a few videos recently with the closed captioning on. Maybe it helps her comprehension.) The lessons are short (approximately 10 minutes long). I do not hide the fact that I am still learning to keep lessons short for my homeschooler, and Pat Knepley models for me "just enough" in terms of content and time. I encourage you to see for yourself. Request your FREE DVD here. There are free lessons here.

See The Light classes (club sessions) are more than just art classes. Knepley weaves scripture and relates art concepts to Biblical concepts as she talks to viewers through the lessons. (This is an issue for us; my daughter is scared of God.)

The materials Knepley recommends are common art supply items (you'll probably have the urge to run out to your craft/hobby store for new materials when you see the video), and are relatively inexpensive.

Special Needs Considerations: If your child learns better from a video format, you may really like these videos and I encourage you to view the freebies that are available to you. Take them for a test drive. If your child has attention and visual challenges, where they don't know exactly where to look, your child may not focus on the right part of the video picture in order to follow directions. If your child is working on visual attention, these videos may be an excellent experience for him or her.

Additionally, Knepley introduces concepts and vocab that are sometimes taught in isolation or out of context to children w/ special needs. I really, really like the experience of learning concepts IN context, and these videos are wonderful for introducing things like compare and contrast (example: dark line, light line, curved line, straight line). She introduces names and works of famous artists, too.

For parents who are working on early levels of joint attention with a child, you may choose to watch the video alone and teach your child without the video.

The relationship and social experiences can be quite varied in using these videos, from shifting gaze and attention to appraising your attempts to do what Knepley directs, and your child learns some concepts of art and drawing, too. There are opportunities to experience and practice perspective taking and experience sharing.

If you have not used art with your child with special needs, I encourage you to consider it. See The Light videos, the first one, anyway, is a good introduction that gives parents and students much more than simply art and how-to-draw lessons.

I was given a See The Light DVD for review purposes. I was not paid for this review, do not benefit if you purchase the product, and am not obligated to provide a positive review.

Reading Kingdom, a TOS Crew Review

I am always looking for resources that will strengthen my homeschooler's reading skills. She is quite behind, academically, and as her comprehension of real-life events around her grows, her reading comprehension also grows (although real-life comprehension is ahead of reading comprehension, which, I believe, is typical).

My homeschooler is, by age, older than the targeted age range, yet she falls within the developmental range for the product, and I asked if we could give it a try. I'm glad we did; Reading Kingdom has a lot of the right components that make it very friendly for a child who can shut down with anxiety when a resource is too busy or feels too challenging.

Here's the company description, straight from the Reading Kingdom web site:

The Reading Kingdom is a fun, easy-to-use online program that teaches children 4-10 years old how to read and write to a third grade level.

• It customizes itself to each child



• Most children can do the program on their own after just a few weeks



• It's fun and children enjoy doing it



• It's created by Dr. Marion Blank, one of the world's top experts in literacy



• It works with any other curriculum a child may be using



• And, it's the only system that teaches all 6 skills needed for reading & writing success

Here's a link that takes you to a description of how the program progresses.

Setting up my homeschooler was easy. She completed a screening and the program placed her at the beginning, which surprised me; I thought she would begin at a higher level.

She began the lessons at the beginning, which is Letter Land. My little protester and resister complained about having to the lessons, but once she began, would work through them without too much complaining. (thumbs up!) The lessons are short, which I think is a huge strength to the program for us. I felt she was moving too slowly, though, wondering if we'd ever get out of Letter Land with one short lesson a day (stuff I thought she already knew), and I had her complete two lessons a day.

I've seen very little of the program so far as my girl plugs through one or two daily lessons. Seems like a slow process to me, but she needs that, and I'll be the first one to admit that I've been known to move too quickly for her.

She's always been a strong sight word reader; right now, she is getting experience identifying sight words; filling in blanks to complete the spelling of sight words; using sight words repetitively. She is reading two sentences at a time and playing games (activities) that boost practice with what she's working on.

The program uses words learned in new lessons, always keeping past lessons in the mix.

There is a lot of repetition between tasks and activities, variations on a theme, and that is a positive for a child on the autism spectrum. My girl is able to see those patterns and complete tasks and activities because she's played the same game before using different words or letters or sentences.

I like the multi-sensory approach, reading, listening, typing. She must use several "channels" of attention at the same time to complete the short lessons (10 minutes or so).

My one complaint is the fact that the child must wait until the program is ready for a response. Typing a half-second too soon = an incorrect response. That frustrates me, although my daughter seems to have adjusted to that aspect of the program.

Does it translate into better reading and comprehension for my girl? Is it helping us close foundational gaps for us? Or will it add to her sight word list without building the comprehension she needs? I don't know yet. We haven't gotten into a high enough level yet to get a feel for that. I have to trust the progression of lessons. I do know that the activities require her to pay attention and focus, and she needs that, even when reading and spelling words that she already knows. We will keep working with Reading Kingdom, because it keeps her in a place where she is competent and it moves her gently forward. I look forward to seeing where it takes her.

Reading Kingdom is priced at $19.99 a month or $199.99 for a year-long subscription, after a free 30-day trial. Scholarships are available for families who can't afford the subscription.

Read my Crewmates' reviews of Reading Kingdom HERE.

I was given a 13-month online subscription to Reading Kingdom for review purposes. I was not paid for this review, do not benefit if you purchase the product, and am not obligated to provide a positive review.

The Reluctant Reader Solution, a TOS Crew Review

My child regressed into autism around the same time as her first birthday. By her second birthday, we had intervention in full swing. After three + years of behavioral intervention, we made a big switch to a developmental intervention when she was five years old. Instead of programming her behaviorally, using a lot of rote memorization of facts out of context, a developmental approach has set us back on a typical pathway, with the same milestones and discoveries that typically developing kids experience with their parents, their teachers, and themselves.

My child's developmental pathway is her own. She's on a different timetable than most kids her age. While she is delayed, she is reading and comprehending more than she realizes she is. She hasn't yet made the self-discovery that she is a reader. Instead, reading is a catalyst that sends her anxiety soaring and her comprehension shutting down. As her parent and teacher, I have to think outside the box in terms of opportunities for her to read that keep her anxiety from skyrocketing. The more positive opportunities that I can provide for her, the closer she will get to making the self-discovery that she is indeed a reader.

This TOS Crew review item, The Reluctant Reader Solution, provides the perfect resource for those positive reading opportunities.

The Reluctant Reader Solution is a package of what I would describe as clever mini-unit studies that add up to 365 pages of fun and a year's subscription (12 months) of an equally fun monthly digital newspaper called Kid Scoop.

For $97, purchasers have access to downloadable packets of worksheets covering almost 60 topics that are kid and parent friendly and a year of monthly 20-page online Kid Scoop newspapers in full color.

Packet topics cover a wide variety of interests for boys, girls, and for parents.

Check out the list of fun and interesting topics:

Acting, backpacks, band, baseball, bees, Bigfoot, bubblegum, budgeting, butterflies, cartooning, Cinco De Mayo, clay play, Columbus Day, Constitution Day, Easter, elves, Father's Day, fire safety, fitness, frost, gardening, germs, gorillas, green kids, Halloween, Heifer International, hockey, holidays (traditional winter holidays), immunization, independence around the world, international space station, junkyard sports, kitchen creativity, Louisa May Alcott, Memorial Day, mini-golf math, MLK day of service, Mother's Day, nutrition labels, "Old Stormalong" (sailing), optical illusions, orcas, otters, Owen and Mzee, point of view, skin protection, smores, solar snacks, St Patrick's Day, "State of You", tadpoles, teasing, Thanksgiving, the Maya, Tom Sawyer, Toys for Tots, Valentine's Day, Veteran's Day, and Wangari Maathai.

Each topic is presented in 5, 6, or 7 worksheets packed with information, experiments to do away from the worksheet, games, and puzzles. The pages are inviting and attractive.

My reluctant reader dove right in. No balking. No resisting. No protesting. And I didn't have to sit down at the computer and find all the information, games, etc, and put them together myself. She's learning and enjoying it. She's experience sharing (both directions, not just telling me stuff she sees or knows) and I do enjoy when she shares something with me that she has read. The Reluctant Reader Solution gives us activities to share with one another and activities she can do alone and tell me about.

In addition to facts and information, some of the worksheets offer opportunities to perspective take, to imagine yourself in someone else's shoes. There are activities that grow thinking skills, too, that give students opportunities to apply knowledge and not simply memorize rote facts.

Kid Scoop, the online newspaper, is full color, set up in a similar, but not-exactly-the-same format as the worksheets, filled with information to read, games to play, puzzles to solve, all within a monthly theme. Parents and students can choose to read portions of it online and print just the games and puzzles, or print the entire edition. I think the Kid Scoop newspaper is nicely done. It works the same way my online magazines, do, with the page turns and everything. It's a great introduction to digital magazines and newspapers. My daughter does not like the online newspaper; she resists and protests it. I think it feels overwhelming to her. She welcomes the single pages I've printed from it. Perhaps the smaller chunks don't overwhelm her.

There is an option to listen to the text as it is spoken by a computer-generated voice as well. (I would prefer that a person read the text.)

The download was easy; The Reluctant Reader Solution sits in a zip file on my computer, ready for quick access and a quick print.

Obviously, you'll need a printer and supplies (toner, copy paper) or access to a printer (office supply store), so there are more costs involved than just the $97 package. The worksheets and newspaper pages are great for learners who don't learn from direct teaching in a 'traditional' setting; they're great for car trips, waiting rooms, and sick days, too.

My favorite aspect about both products is the opportunity to float some trial balloons in terms of interests. My girl learns best when chasing an interest, and The Reluctant Reader Solution gives me the opportunity to try a bunch of new topics, topics within topics, too. The Reluctant Reader Solution has given more insight into my child's interests, and that is valuable to both of us, as she is making self-discoveries about new topics, which plays a role into the self-discovery that she is a reader and another self-discovery that she is a learner.

There is only one topic that I will not print, will not use, and I am pleased that I have the option to ignore that one.

I do enjoy the convenience of both products. For a busy day or a day when my girl is under the weather, I can print pages without taking a lot of time and have fun and informational activities (some that we can do in the kitchen away from the worksheet) and we're good to go. I like that I do not have to do the work to create the pages myself.

Kid Scoop is more expensive for me if I want to print it in full color. I've printed pages in both black & white and color; color is much more attractive and fun; b&w is more economical.$97 seemed like a lot of money to me at first until I thought about the cost divided by 12 months. The cost is not so much per month to give my homeschooler and me a peek into what new topics she finds interesting. I don't have time to create sets of worksheets like these, and I don't want to waste my time on topics that are not appealing to my homeschooler. By owning the program, I can print a set, if they aren't interesting, I can set them aside for a later time or throw them away without hesitation because I had no big investment of my time and effort in them, no hurt feelings that she didn't like the topic I chose.

A free sample is here. Individual packets are available here for $2.99 each.

The Reluctant Reader Solution offers a 365-day money back guarantee.

The Reluctant Reader Solution and Kid Scoop web site contains fun ideas, a place to share information and ideas, and some freebies in addition to items for purchase. Sign up for a month of Make Reading Fun ideas sent to your e-mail inbox (free) here; follow Kid Scoop on facebook here.

To read reviews of The Reluctant Reader Solution by my Crewmates, please go HERE.

I was given a copy of The Reluctant Reader Solution for review purposes. I was not paid for this review, do not benefit if you purchase the product, and am not obligated to provide a positive review.

Curiosity Files: The Dung Beetle; a TOS Crew Review

Dung Beetles. Who knew that there is a unit study available about these uh, hmm, well, interesting creatures?

Introducing Dung Beetle from The Curiosity Files, an 80-page download (pdf) unit study (76 pages if you don't count the cover pages and two ads at the end) about an insect that survives on the dung of certain animals.

I volunteered for this particular review because I wanted a peek inside The Curiosity Files. Are they appropriate for a learner with special needs? Are they easily customized? Can I pick and choose parts and leave the others for a later time when my learner's reading skills have matured a little more?

The answers are all "yes".

We have not yet worked through an entire unit study on any topic; we use bits and pieces and create a mini-version of unit studies. Homeschoolers are experts at adapting materials; one thing I've learned is that none of us use products and resources exactly as written. The beauty of unit studies is that they are flexible and easily customized for individual learners, and this one is no exception. There are lots of little pieces about the dung beetle and related to the dung beetle that add up to big learning.

A topic like a beetle that uses poop for survival is interesting to my child who balks at anything that looks too much like "school". We discovered a new interest. (Chasing interests is usually successful learning.)

The study includes facts and information about and related to dung beetles presented in a fun way plus quizzes; science experiments (which we did not do because we have been cleaning and decluttering and being on call at a moment's notice to show our house for sale and I can't get out the modeling clay or egg cartons and hot glue gun); suggestions for working with students with special needs (deaf/blind); puzzles; vocab for younger children and older students; copywork in both printing and cursive. (Note to self: At some point in the near future, create a post of accommodations and compensations for use with a child with developmental delays.)

Something other reviewers might not mention: I like the font size. Font that is too small sends my homeschooler's anxiety rising - it looks like too much, too challenging. This particular study has a good amount of information on a page, but not too much, in my opinion. (I know, I know - my opinion is subjective.)

A negative for me: The copywork is entirely too small. I wish the copywork pages were arranged on larger lines for the child who finds small printing a challenge. I have to go to a copywork generator web page and retype the copywork into a lined page that is better formatted for our specific needs. I am not crazy about that extra step.

One of my favorite pages is an untitled one that lists 27 sentences that relate to one another but are not in a particular order. The page is part of a section of fables and stories, and readers learn about a fable, and then get to try one on our own, with the help of those 27 sentences. The instructions read, "Try to combine these sentences below in a logical way, grouping similar thoughts together." I customize this activity by choosing a smaller number of related sentences to group together into short paragraphs. (Wish I'd have thought of that activity myself.)

Dung Beetle offers some math (measuring length, diameter, for example), scripture and related lesson and writing with an emphasis on parts of speech, too. There are file-folder activity template and file-folder activities included (Li'l Bit doesn't like those). If your learner is like mine, you'll need to adapt some of the material or save it during a second trip through the material when your learner has matured.

There's even a section that has us imagining a conversation with a dung beetle - that's some great perspective taking and imaginary play experience!

The pdf file is full color; I sent the file to an office supply store for printing and the cost was almost $50. Switching to black-and-white reduced the cost to just under $9. You could choose to print just the copywork, or the copywork, file folder, and worksheet pages and your costs would be lower. I find it simpler to have the whole study in my hand and choose to print all of it. There are some hyperlinks in the study that require an online connection to access.

I'm impressed. I will buy more studies from The Curiosity Files. Regularly priced at $6.95 in The Schoolhouse Store, Dung Beetle is available along with three other Curiosity Files choices at the moment for a dollar. The Curiosity File selections are also available in bundles in the Schoolhouse Store.

To read Crewmates' review of this and other studies from The Curiosity Files, go HERE.

I was given a copy of The Curiosity Files Dung Beetle for review purposes. I was not paid for this review, do not benefit if you purchase the product, and am not obligated to provide a positive review.

Dig It! Games and Roman Town; a TOS Crew Review

Roman Town, from Dig-It! Games is a computer program that exposes users to archaeology and Roman history while playing games. And it's on sale (see end of post for sale code), too.

I like learning about ancient Rome. I think a lot of us do. It stretches the mind to try to think about it. History is important. Roman Town gives children a peek inside ancient history while using a mouse and working their ways through excavation sites on the computer screen.

This game is really neat for the right age group and for the right kind of learner. I learned a lot of information playing it, and I like how the creators use games to their advantage in way that almost sneaks information in the back door. And not just ancient Roman history, either. Science is taught, too, along with some scaffolding of thinking and detective skills that an archeologist would need in a real excavation.

As I played, I kept thinking to myself, "I did not know that!"

System Requirements for Roman Town: Windows Vista/XP/2000• CPU 800 Mhz; RAM 412MB; Hard Drive 350MB

Here's a peek at a video of the game:

Players have the option to explore a room, clicking on objects in the room to take them to a new page with information about that object. A brief fact is offered about that object, with several "learn more" options available. When the object is a game that was played during that time period, players have the option to click through to a Roman Town version of that game and play it.

Players guide workers to dig through excavation sites and unearth treasures and learn about them. There are games and puzzles to play; broken pieces to put together into artifacts, matching games, old/new, guess what doesn't belong, for some examples. Roman Town offers several different kinds of quizzes to test your knowledge after you've explored a site and a room and done some digging.

Roman Town uses children from that Roman Town to help teach by sharing their experiences, which is a good lesson in perspective taking to think about what life might have been like back then. (Individuals on the autism spectrum are usually delayed in perspective taking, and having this imaginative visual piece on the screen is an interesting way to provide experience in taking someone else's perspective.)

My typically developing middle schoolers deemed Roman Town too young for them, although the targeted grade range is right where they are, 5th-8th. For my homeschooler, who is developmentally delayed in many areas, including academics (like reading) , there is too much information to read. She's a much younger reader than her chronological age. She is overwhelmed by text and big words, and when trying to play Roman Town, she would click through to try to find the games without reading directions, game rules, or the neat facts & information. She was frustrated by it. If the written information were also read aloud as an option on Roman Town, the game might be more attractive to her, and it might reach a wider age/grade range. We will save this one for a time when she's a stronger reader and try it again. This is a "not yet" resource for our family.

Regularly priced at $39.95, there's a discount available to you at this time. Use the code TOS2011 and get Roman Town for a final price of $19.96. Offer expires February 21st.

To read about my Crewmates' experiences with Roman Town, please go HERE.

We were given a downloadable version of Roman Town for review purposes in exchange for an honest review. I was not paid for this review and am not obligated to provide a positive review. I do not benefit in any way should you purchase Roman Town with (or without) the sale code.

City Creek Press; a TOS Crew Review

Times Alive, Times Tables The Fun Way, from City Creek Press is a creative way to learn multipliation facts with visual stories set to music available in two formats, download ($44.95) or CD ($48.95).

We reviewed the version for instant download on a PC. The download was simple. We have had no problems with the product after downloading it onto our computer.


Take a peek at a sample:


Interestingly, my homeschooler memorized most of her multiplication facts from another rockin' video-based resource from my childhood based on rote memorization. She doesn't understand the concepts behind what she memorized, though, and for some odd reason that I cannot explain, she did not learn what I consider to be the easiest multiplication facts, the zero multiplication facts.

She is very particular to what she accepts in terms of material. She's 11, working around a first grade level for the most part, and is really sensitive to anything she deems (her term), babyish. Finding developmentally appropriate materials that she won't resist and protest is a challenge for me (and for many parents of children with special learning needs).

City Creek Press got a thumbs up, here. *smile* The videos are clever and entertaining, using the menomic device of captioned story telling and songs to illustrate multiplication facts. Times Alive reinforces lessons with problems to complete following each story, with worksheets, with pictures to paint on the computer. The stories reinforce what my daughter has learned and create new associations for her. She enjoys watching the videos. If I did not sit with her while she watched the videos, she would quickly skip the worksheets. (Child needs to be able to enter numerals from a keyboard or keypad or have assistance with that.) There is a back button, a do-again button, and a lesson list button to help with that.

The illustration of how to multiply zero has been helpful. When we work on multiplication facts, I can remind her of the Times Alive illustration to help my girl make the association and get the answer.

I am seriously considering purchasing the City Creek Press product for addition facts for my daughter.

More Crew reviews of Times Alive are available HERE.

City Creek Press gave me the Times Alive download for review purposes. I received no financial compensation for this review and am not obligated to provide a positive review.

Lifeway Stores: Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary for Kids, a TOS Crew Review

My kids love fact books, world records books, picture dictionaries and encyclopedias. We have quite a collection, mostly gathered from garage sales and book fairs. When the Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary for Kids arrived, I knew it would be a hit at my house, because it is so similar to those kinds of books. And I was right. Especially for my homeschooler.

This book has everything my homeschooler needs to be an engaged learner with it. It's inviting and attractive. The pages are laid out in a fun way. There is a good mix on the pages of big boxes and small boxes with little bits of information presented in a way that does not overwhelm her. She can look at pictures or read text or both. I am amazed at the length of time she'll spend looking through it, browsing, reading. She gives it quality time. Every time she picks it up, she sees something she didn't see before, she learns a new fact, and she asks new, curious questions. She and I have had some interesting conversations from the topics in this dictionary. (She's fascinated with Samson.) I am finding that books like these are helpful because they allow me to see my girl's interests; I can look for unit studies and chase interests when I know what they are.

One interesting thing that I noticed is that my homeschooler, who often resists reading with me, will welcome me beside her when she looks through this book. I think it is because we are experience sharing together, pointing out this picture or that paragraph, and I am not asking her to read aloud for me. I'm not trying to "get" something from her. We simply share. She learns much this way.

Peek inside the book HERE. We really like it. I have trouble keeping up with it; it's another item my girl keeps sneaking off with to read alone. ;)

The Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary for Kids is a sturdy hardback retail priced at $14.99.

See what my Crewmates have to say about this dictionary HERE.

Lifeway Christian Stores sent the the Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary for Kids in exchange for an honest review. I am not paid for this review and am not obligated to provide a positive review.

Speekee; a TOS Crew Review

Sometimes, we are assigned review items randomly, and sometimes, we get an opportunity to sign up for a chance to review a particular item.

When Crewmates were given the opportunity to show interest in this item, I asked Li'l Bit if she is interested in learning Spanish. She gave me an excited, "YES!" in return. Fortunately, for us, we were chosen to review Speekee, an online program that teaches Spanish to young learners in fun video song segments that feature children, puppets, and a few adults (mostly children and puppets). The music is upbeat; there is a lot of repetition (variations on a theme - love it!), and the 10 song/video lessons are 10-15 minutes long. The videos are captioned with the option to turn off the captioning.


Along the right-hand "sidebar" of each video, Speekee offers suggestions and links to worksheets that accompany and support concepts taught in each lesson.

Using Speekee with my homeschooler with special learning needs taught me a lot about her. The captioning can be an obstacle to comprehension for her; I am glad we have the option to turn it off. She tries to memorize the Spanish words as sight words instead of relating them to something she already knows, and this is an area where she and I need some practice. Right off the bat, understanding "Mira!" ("look!") and "El parque" ("the park"), relating them to familiar English words, gave her problems, I think, because she was reading the text (the captioning is in both Spanish and English; the actors and puppets in the DVDs speak only Spanish) and not hearing the sounds, and she needs to be able to do both, simultaneously. Ah. Multiple channel processing - here's an opportunity to work on that.

We did figure out how to watch Speekee through the Wii with no captioning; I never figured out how to turn on the captions using the Wii.

Some visuals (and an occasional song or sound) are aversive to my daughter. Some are easy to figure out; some, I have no idea why she doesn't like them. Something on Speekee gave my girl the need to be cautious - maybe when the fruit came out to name colors and fruit (she hates bananas and doesn't like to look at them or smell them), and watching the videos made her extremely anxious. Those of you with kids who have these odd-to-the-rest-of-us rules will understand.

So, we spent our Speekee time two different ways. Sometimes we watched the videos together (she would not watch them without me); sometimes she sat across the room and drew while I watched the video and she simply listened. Quite honestly, I preferred her drawing and listening; she learned more in that setting, than trying to process the visual and auditory simultaneously. I stopped the video quite a few times, repeated the word being demonstrated, and asked my girl to guess what it meant. "Hir-ah-fay" - yep, she knew it was a giraffe. Watching the video after listening to it facilitated the learning experience at my house. If you have a child with special learning needs, know that you can use Speekee as an auditory program, too, even though it is in video format.

Here's a sample:

One late afternoon, I was grabbing my coat to leave for the grocery, and was absentmindedly singing a line from Speekee's videos, "Donde vamos..." (warning: the songs are catchy and you'll probably get them stuck in your head! *smile*), and I heard my girl translate, "Where are we going?" I didn't realize that she was listening (I didn't realize I was singing, either).

I like the Speekee approach, especially the option to listen or the option to watch without captions. This is the way we learn our native language; listening, using it, speaking it, interacting with it. Symbols (letters, words, sentences, paragraphs, etc) are added to what we know after we have a lot of experience using the language to communcate. (In contrast, here's a blog post about how I was taught Spanish in college.) Speekee is a really fun introduction to Spanish via full immersion with simple, common words, phrases, sentences, concepts, presented in context. I like that.

Speekee is designed to be attractive to small children; it's simplicity makes learning easy, even for a mom. The 10 different videos are settings that are common to our routines and include the park, the home, a party, the cafe, the zoo, the market, the garden, the bus staton.

Speekee offers you the opportunity to use the online product for two weeks in a free trial. Click here for details. The cost to subscribe is $7.50 per month.

Read about my Crewmates' experiences with Speekee here.

I was given two months of Speekee at no charge for review purposes. I am not paid for this review and am not obligated to provide a positive review.

Peter and the Wolf from Maestro Classics; a TOS Crew Review

When I saw Maestro Classics on the list of vendors for this Crew voyage, I hoped I'd be chosen to review another audio CD from the Simons.

When I was chosen for this review and saw that the selection is Peter and the Wolf, I was thrilled. It brought back a fun memory. I saw Timothy Dalton perform the part of the narrator in Peter and the Wolf in the '90's at the Hollywood Bowl.

The CD's provide more than a story set to music; the CD's offer music education, information about musical instrumenents; the Simons also give us auditory/listening skill-building experience, and the history of the story, music, and composer within a fun, entertaining format.

Each of the seven tracks on the CD adds layers of learning to the listening experience.

1. Peter and the Wolf

2. The Life of the Composer: Prokofiev

3. A Russian Peter

4. The Magic Maestro Talks About Peter & the Wolf

5. Peter and the Wolf without Narration

6. Invitation to Grandfather's Party

7. Kalinka - Dance Along

I can't decide which 'educational' track I like better; they tie, in my opinion. Bonnie Simon's background about the composer in track two teaches me. I am unfamiliar with Prokofiev no longer. After I hear Stephen Simon's presentation about the music in the fourth track, where he spotlights different aspects to listen for, I hear the music in a new way. The listening experience becomes richer, more special. He spotlights for listeners pieces of the musical part of the story that use a kind of auditory attention that so many individuals with developmental delays need to use and practice and experience.

The layout of the CD's is impressive to me - they follow a developmental progession that grow the listener's experience and knowledge - I really, really like the very deliberate order of the tracks. If the Stephen Simon track spotlighting the musical aspects came first, the CD would lose some value in my opinion. Being able to hear the whole story set to music once, first, and then learning new things to listen for sets the stage for (scaffolds) some neat discoveries about "what I thought I knew but didn't" and "what I hear now that I didn't hear before". Listeners make a discovery that a second look or listen can reveal new, exciting things.

The one negative for our situation is that the story is so long (almost a half hour). We have to listen to one track at a sitting; we can't do the entire hour-long CD in one session. I really enjoy this CD and this story - however, while Peter and the Wolf is just nine minutes longer than The Tortoise and the Hare, those nine minutes make a big difference for a child with attention challenges. Even listening while coloring and cutting, this almost half-hour long story pushes past way my daughter's limits. If you have a child with attention challenges, you might choose to order one of the CD's with a shorter story.

Maestro Classics CD's would be great for trips; for child care settings (MOPS, anyone?); for birthday gifts.

Priced at $16.98 (or three titles for $45), the Maestro Classics CD's provide an entertaining and quality learning experience.

Please go HERE to read my Crewmates' reviews of this product.

Maestro Music sent me a copy of the CD, Peter and the Wolf, for review purposes. I am not paid for this review and am not obligated to provide a positive review.

See-N-Read; a TOS Crew Review

See-N-Read® is a gadget in two forms that assists in reading, both books that you hold in your hands, and digital products, e-books and other materials on the computer.

The slogan within the logo says it all: "Lay it on the page and Simply Read!"

The hold-in-your-hand See-N-Read and Memorymark (either are $2.99) tools are flat, lightly tinted, gray pieces of plastic that you place over the page. There is a horizontal window in the gray piece of plastic that allows a reader to spotlight one line at a time. There are actually two versions; in one, the See-N-Read, the window is solid, but clear; in the other, the Memorymark, the window is actually cut out, to allow for underlining passages and writing notes in your text.

This is a tool for the reader who loses his place easily; for the reader whose eyes don't track smoothly across the page; for the reader who struggles with glare from light bouncing from the page of a book.

They are flat and sturdy and make great bookmarks that are ready to use when you are ready to read.

The digital product, the eSee-N-Read, is a digital version ($29.99) of the plastic piece. I installed it on my computer and I can turn it on and off when I want to. It gives me options so that I customize the tool to what I'm reading (blogs are different from web sites which are different from e-books, etc). Look at this page to see what I'm trying to describe.

I was thrilled to get this product; I thought it would help our situation a lot. I think it would help a lot of people. I know, first hand, many children who don't naturally track, visually, from left to right, and when expected to do that across a page of text, their eyes are all over the place. No wonder they struggle with comprehension if their mechanics are not working for them.

I like the idea of this product so much, I see the benefits for so many readers, that I am reluctant to write anything negative about it. I will suggest that it is something you need to try if you have a struggling reader to rule it in or rule it out as an accommodation for that reader. And please go to our main Crew blog (here) and read the experiences of other families and get a better picture of how this might help your reader.

For us, though, it created some challenges. I thought we'd love it. I wanted to love it. Turns out, we do better with a product that is tinted from top to bottom (with no window) and tinted another color. Moving the plastic piece down every line (to keep the window open on the line being read) when reading a book is an added fine motor activity, another action to take, that added "too much" to reading time for us. It added unneeded frustration.

The digital version eSee-N-Read drove me nuts. I realized that I don't read a computer page from top to bottom and left to right. I scan chunks of a page for information, and I scroll a lot, and the digital See-N-Read slowed my efforts.

Check it out; it is a solid tool that works in a big way for some readers. It could be a fit for your situation.

I was given See-N-Read® tools to use and review. I am not paid for this review and am not obligated to provide a positive review.

Math Facts Now; a TOS Crew Review

I reviewed the Math Facts NOW! download (a CD version is available) with my homeschooler. Math Facts NOW! is a program designed to allow students to practice math facts, addition, subtraction, multiplication, division. The parent or teacher enters the student's name, sets up an assignment that ranges from 5 to 200 problems, plus a time limit per problem (we use 60 seconds) and the number of times the student must correctly type a problem that he or she got wrong (minimum is twice). Then the parent/teacher assigns a name to the assignment (which is saved) and the student may begin.

I like the simplicity of this program. The simplicity is its strength, in my opinion. There are no distracting bells and whistles that pull a student with attention challenges off task. The screen is a rectangular shaped white box with a few words of instruction and your numerals and math symbols, and that's it. Only ONE math problem at a time is featured on the screen, which reduces anxiety for the child who resists when she sees a page or two of one math problem after another. Parents and teachers who have to cover major parts of an 8½ x 11 page of math problems so that the student can see and focus on only one probem or one line at a time will probably like this feature.

I like the fact that I can set the drill to work on just one or two numbers in areas where my homeschooler is weak. My school-building schooler who is weak in multiplication of higher numbers can work on just higher numbers; My homeschooler who is just learning to subtract and hasn't grasped division, yet, can work on just 1's and 2's, if I set up a set of drills that way.

For my school-building schooler who needs some practice with multiplying and dividing higher numbers, I like the option to give a student a short answer time. I want that child to know multiplication facts quickly without trying to calculate them.

I like the way the program spotlights an equation that you missed before, reminding you to be careful.

Great response to customer preferences: I did not like the fact that I was unable to assign just a few problems. When we first downloaded the program, the fewest number of problems I could assign was 50. Fifty problems are too many for some students with attention challenges. I'd like to be able to assign just 10 or 20. My homeschooler begins asking at 20, "Can I be done, now?" When several crewmates desired the ability to set a lower minimum number, Math Facts Now responded quickly by lowering that minumum to 5.

I don't like the fact that I must assign a time limit. I want to sit at the laptop with the abacus and work on subtraction, an area where we need work, where my daughter can look at the problem in her Math Facts NOW! window on the laptop screen and figure it out on the abacus in "manipulative mode". Sixty seconds is too short for a child with processing delays. I want her to experience 4-2=2 and not just memorize an answer, and this program could allow me a wonderful opportunity to do that if I were not limited to 60 seconds to complete a single problem. Additionally, if the student must take a break during the lesson, the math problem that is left open will run out of time and be counted wrong, which means the student will have to type that problem out, twice, when he/she returns. Math Facts Now's Tom Furtado is going to consult the programmer to ask if increasing the time limit is a simple change; stay tuned.

Kids with fine motor challenges may need an adult to type for them, particularly on a laptop with no separate keypad. That's okay with me; it becomes an exercise in co-regulation.

I have to sit with my daughter to do any digital product or she sneaks to some favorite website instead and goes off task. I opted to have her speak the answer aloud while I input the answer. There were times when I gave her the opportunity to input the answer. Some of our laptop keys didn't work 100% of the time with this program. I don't know if we were pressing them too quickly or what, exactly, but we got some wrong answers due to the keyboard.

There is a place to program a reward for your student who completes a set of problems. I have not used that feature.

Math Facts NOW! is priced at $15.95 in either the download or CD. It is a program that I wrinkled my nose at when I first saw it, thinking I would not like it. First impressions are sometimes wrong, and in this case, I was wrong. The simplicity of the program is powerful. Thumbs up.

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS: Math Facts NOW! Version 2.0 runs on Windows 2000, ME, XP, Vista and Windows 7 and requires 7 Mb of free hard drive space. Math Facts NOW! is not currently available the for Macintoch nor Linux operating systems.

To read my Crewmates' review of Math Facts NOW!, please go HERE.

I was given a download of Math Facts NOW! in order to review the product. I am not paid for reviews and am not obligated to provide a positive review.

Bible Curriculum: Positive Action For Christ, a TOS Crew Review

Positive Action For Christ produces Bible curricula for churches, Christian schools, and homeschoolers from a fundamentalist perspective.

I'm still learning how to teach my girl, still learning how she learns, still trying on curricula, products, and resources that are a comfortable fit for us. I look for resources that are easy to adapt to our needs, learning style, attention challenges, developmental delays, etc. This curriculum is something we can use; we are able to adapt and shorten sessions (and take more days than suggested) to complete lessons, take longer to cover material if/when we need to.

Positive Action For Christ sent us an extremely well-packaged teacher binder and student workbook for first grade written by Cherie Noel, Enjoying God's Gifts.

I like this curriculum. I like the intent behind the curriculum. And I like the developmental scaffolding used over time with the curriculum. I'll quote from the materials, "...Students will begin during the second semester of first grade to find easily located Scriptures to answer questions. Second and third grade students will focus on a specific book of the Bible and follow the story line through the book to find scriptural truth. Fourth through sixth grade students will be able to use the entire Bible as their source with passages from various book s used in each lesson." (Preface, page 4, of the teacher binder)

Author Noel spends several pages in the preface explaining teaching strategies that spotlight growing the thinking skills of a child. I'm working with a child with developmental delays who is a very concrete, literal thinker. We have a consultant who guides us in a developmental approach to growing thinking skills. Making the connections that Noel describes is much more challenging for a child with developmental delays. I have to keep that in perspective as we work through the material. Some children w/ special needs may be academically at grade-level, and still have delays in thinking skills; if you're the parent of a learner with special needs, be sure to keep that in mind as you choose a level for your child. You may need to take a step back to get the developmental understanding level.

Positive Action for Christ provides 35 lessons with weekly lesson plan outlines for five, four, and three-day weeks. (I'd like a two-week plan for a child who needs longer to process and learn.) There's a memory verse component; a study skills/thinking component; a character trait component; a life application/thinking component; and vocab. Check out the sample here.

The teacher guide gives me enough direction to get through the lesson and enough leeway to customize for my special-needs learner. I like the way the story is told for me so that I can tell it in my own words, simplifyng where I need to for my learner. The teacher binder gives me ideas to use with a felt board or bulletin board if I choose. We can sketch parts on our big white board, too.

I am trying to be creative with the vocab words and memory verses. I can prep by putting vocab words and definitions or memory work into a copywork generator and have worksheets ready to go. Or I can create a "quiz" where we can match definitions to vocab words. Or I can make a fill-in-the-blank worksheet.

Especially for the special needs learner: I can skip concepts that I think are outside our developmental zone. I am becoming more skilled at picking "good enough" parts and letting go of the rest (thank you, Relationship Development Intervention), and at this point, I think we can go through the curriculum twice, with hopefully enough growth happening that the second time through, we can get the pieces we weren't ready for the first time through.

The character trait component is a challenge for our situation. Sounds crazy, doesn't it?! When a child has poor impulse control, they are sometimes labeled "bad" and a "behavior problem" and are told to be "good". They can develop a kind of pass/fail mentality where if they mess up, they think they are all bad, all failure. Positive Action for Christ begins with "creativity" and "orderliness"; moves to "orderliness" and "thankfulness"; then "thankfulness". Week four is "love"; Week five, "work". Those are easier concepts for us, and I really appreciate how the curriculum begins with those. I feel challenged with "obedience" (that pass/fail, good/bad thing); worship (she can't see anything that she's singing about, praying to); "faith". (An aside: I know this is not a curriculum for students with special needs; I would so love some help teaching, showing some of these abstract concepts to a concrete, literal learner.)

The accompanying 100-page workbook for the student is colorful and inviting. I had to stop Li'l Bit from working through it ahead of me. There are a variety of activities that go along with the lessons. She was drawn to the workbook as soon as I removed it from the packaging. That's a good thing at my house. ;) (The answers to the workbook are in the teacher's binder.) The workbook could be longer; you may want to supplement with homemade worksheets or worksheets from a worksheet generator.

We were not given the music that accompanies the lessons; I'm not sure we would have used it, anyway. Li'l Bit sometimes has sensory issues with songs and music that I can't predict or explain.

When we get to the place in the second semester where the student is supposed to look up Bible verses, I think I will begin by printing out the chapter, or an exerpt of a chapter, on a single page. Using the whole Bible is overwhelming and I think she'll experience less anxiety with one printed page. We'll see.

When I completed a survey for TOS Crew of Reviewers, I specified that I wanted curricula for younger children. My daughter is not ready the material that a lot of kids her age use. Positive Action for Christ sent me a Bible curriculum, "Enjoying God's Gifts," for first graders, which *is* mostly developmentally appropriate. But my daughter doesn't know that. My biggest complaint is the fact that they put "1st Grade" in huge letters on the front of the book. My homeschooler, who is on the autism spectrum and has academic delays, protested having to do work in a book for first graders. (I told her that this is what they sent for us to review and asked if she'd help me with it, anyway, even though she's not a first grader. She agreed.) I would prefer that companies choose some other way to differentiate developmental levels than with school-building-school grades. At some point, as my student becomes more self-conscious about where she is, academically, a product that features the grade level in huge print on the front will be a deal breaker for me.

The teacher manual is priced at $33.95; the student workbook, $12.95. (The teacher manual on CD-rom is less expensive, priced at $19.95. While I do like to hold the curriculum in my hand in binder form, there is enough repetition within lessons that make me comfortable working from a CD-rom; I will likely purchase the next level in CD-rom).

I like this product. I like the Bible study; I like how it guides me; I like the material. The framework is right for me, the mom who is adapting and modifying work for a child with unique learning needs combined with developmental delays. I find it very adaptable for our situation. I do not have experience using Enjoying God's Gifts with a typical first grader, though, and some of my Crewmates do. We reviewed a variety of grade levels, too. Please head over to the main Crew blog and read their reviews of this product.

Positive Action For Christ sent me a copy of the teacher's manual and student workbook to Enjoying God's Gifts so that we may use it and review it for you. I am not paid for this review and am not obligated to provide a positive review.

Wits & Wagers Family from North Star Games, a TOS Crew Review

North Star Games sent me and some of my Crewmates a board game called Wits & Wagers Family.

The age range for Wits & Wagers Family is 8+ and for those of us with more than four in our families, Wits & Wagers is a 3-10 player game (woo hoo!).

The game is easy to learn, easy to set up, does not require a lot of reading and studying the rules before you begin. In a nutshell, you draw a card, read a question from the card, each player makes a guess at an answer, players compare answers, vote on the answer each player (or team) thinks is best using one or two Meeples, check the back of the question card for the correct answer, score.

We learned a lot of history and trivia when we played this game. There are 150 question cards; each card contains two questions (yes, that's a total of 300 questions). Each question is read aloud; each player or team of players guesses the answer (the answer is always a number, how much, how many, how long, how fast, what percent, etc) and then players vote (wager) on which answer is closest to the correct answer without going over.

Right off the bat, we were stumped - the first question we read was about Fruit Loops cereal. I don't buy Fruit Loops because one of my children can't have them (Fruit Loops are not gluten free). Didn't matter that we were stumped, because Wits & Wagers is a guessing game, and we were able to guess, and ultimately score our answers.

My homeschooler and I had fun naming all of the Disney Princessess as we tried to guess how many there are; there is lots of Disney trivia here.

On the answer side of each card, Wits & Wagers Family gives us additional info about something in the question. (Did you know that Joe Jonas auditioned for a part on Wizards of Waverly Place? I didn't, until we got to that card.)

I like the way the game uses kid-friendly questions. I like the fact that we can play a really short game for a child with a short attention span. I like the way the questions are worded, and we talked through the answers aloud, some together (yes, I know that is not the intent of the game, but the questions are worded for "we-go" and collaborating, too, and we are working on that at my house in our autism intervention, and this game is a wonderful activity for that).

We get to work on "guestimating" in a fun way, where we can not be close to the correct answer and still earn points (by voting for an answer we believe is better). Players gain practice and experience making appraisals in Wits & Wagers Family, too. Because a lot of the answers are impossible to know, there's a lot of guessing without pressure in a game, which leads to laughter, when you realize how far over or under your answer is.

I think that we may try to write some of our own questions for the game. Might be fun to measure people or items in our home in feet or inches and make up a question for "our" version of the game.

My teenager wants to play this game with a group of friends in teams. She says that will be "sooo much fun!"

Wits & Wagers Family is a keeper at our house.

Wits & Wagers Family retails for $19.99 and is available at major retailers in stores and online.

North Star Games has a facebook page here.

Read my Crewmates' experiences with Wits & Wagers Family HERE.

North Star Games sent me a Wits & Wagers Family game in exchange for my review and opinion about it. I was not paid for this review and am not obligated to provide a positive review.

KB Teachers; a TOS Crew Review

KB Teachers is a web site that offers printable worksheets and worksheet generators for parents and professionals who work with/teach children.

We don't usually review a product that is a work in progress, but this time, we are. The KB Teachers folks are improving and adding content as I type, with more to come, which means the site will get even better.

Priced at $29 a year, or $49 for two years, subscribers have quick access to developmentally appropriate materials. KB Teachers resources cover all academic content areas and give the subscriber access to fun motifs that allow you to tailor worksheets for your younger children to their interests. (A lot of children on the autism spectrum like dinosaurs; KB Teachers gives you dinasaurs!)

KB Teachers is a big time saver for me, and it helps keep me on track with lesson planning. I know that there are lots of free worksheets on the internet. Using a search engine and sorting through the web sites to find ones we can use or that fit our unit study topic can be a big time waster. Often those searches take you to blogs of other homeschoolers who share materials they created for free. Usually those blogs are new to me and I spend a little time skimming them - when I really don't have the time. Having KB Teachers available means I go to ONE web site, generate the math or money worksheet or a seasonal activity, print what I need, and I'm done. No rabbit trails.

Here's why I really like KB Teachers: I homeschool a child who has big ups and downs. Some days are wonderful, her neurology is working for her, and we get a lot done. Some days, like today as I write his review, her nose is running like faucet, she's got the "sneezles", and her attention and frustration tolerance are much shorter. Days like today, she tends to balk at anything that looks like schoolwork, yet, she'll join me in something that looks "fun" to her. Today is a day that I can head over to KB Teachers and quickly print a maze or a few fun activity sheets. No crazy internet searches that take too much time. One web site, a little looking around for the right thing, print, done. I have had no problems choosing and printing worksheets.

Copywork that I find in unit studies is often not formatted in a way that we can best use it. I do like the handwriting generator that allows me to tak a quote from an existing page of copywork, enter it in order to reformat a quote or passage, putting fewer phrases or sentences on a page.

I also appreciate the e-mail updates from KB Teachers that let me know when new content, especially seasonal content, is added for me to use.

Additional costs: Subscribers will need a printer, toner, copy paper, and perhaps card stock.

Bottom line: I like KB Teachers because of the convenience and the time saving it gives me in our situation. I suspect it'll save me money in the long run; I am not as attracted to all the new workbooks at the warehouse club knowing I can find or generate a worksheet quickly. (Sorting through workbooks for the just-right activity can be frustrating and time consuming, too.)

KB Teachers has materials for older children; I did not use any of them (we're not ready for them at my house), but others on the Crew did. To read other Crew reviews about KB Teachers, go HERE.

KB Teachers has a facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/KBears/54876133457.

KB Teachers gave me a 2-year subscription so that I may use the web site and review it on my blog. I am not paid for reviews and am not obligated to provide a positive review.