Samson makes learning fun online #hsreviews

Have you met Samson?
Samson's Classroom is a fun interactive learning program focusing on Dolch sight words, spelling, and Reading with comprehension.
Sometimes I think I take our schooling too seriously, thankfully  Samson's Classroom is fun and silly engaging the boys without a lot of stress.
I started out with a single sign on  to give it a test drive myself and the boys, it didn't take long for them to ask for their own accounts. The idea that a single program can incorporate three critical areas of learning in one sure makes this Mom excited.
The prices for Samson's Classroom also excited this Mom. With packages starting at only $30 a year and a family package for $50 I can see the value as this trio of subjects really are critical to successes later in life. Since my oldest is inthe 4th grade, it isn't a program that I will continue much farther with him, but my 2nd grader engaged and enjoyed this program enough that I am seeing his attitude toward reading improve.

The games are colorful and fun as well as encouraging. The boys are eager to do the assignments to earn more chances with the games.

Sight word activities that teach listening and visual recognition also encourage more learning.

More games that encourage learning while improving computer skills.  This game in particular is challenge with the keyboard to move Samson around the board and once all the letters are collected  and arranged into the spelling words.

I know we as a family have been blessed by the change in attitude because of this program, a willingness to learn and enjoy the learning is a such passion for my husband and I.
Don't take my excitement for this program as the final word, check out what the rest of the crew thought, here


disclaimer: I received an online subscription to Samson's Classroom in exchange for my opinion here, no monetary compensation was received. 

Is your child a zoologist? #hsreviews

This summer we have been blessed with a variety of computer based learning activities. I want to tell you about one in particular , ZooWhiz. I originally planned on using it with Cameron only but the company blessed us with an account for both boys so Nathan got to join in the fun. 

ZooWhiz is an online learning environment for children between the ages of 5 and 15 that incorporates reading , phonics, grammar, vocabulary, and math skills while collecting coins to play arcade style games or purchase a variety of animals for their own zoo. ZooWhiz has a free account options as well as a subscription option for $14.95 a year which is an awesome value for an online based educational program.
Since the program is still being developed, new games and features are being added.
Some of the features we really enjoyed include:
The Animal Shop , where the boys were able to pick their own animals to "buy" with the coins they had earned.










The Arcade, where the boys played a variety of games (truth be told Mommy played some of them too when the boys would let her.)

I am using a stock image as the boys asked me not to share their progress chart

and finally the ability to see their progress (that was Mommy's favorite feature)











The boys were able to pick their own characters from a variety of "zoologists".

Since we are adjusting to the fall term I decided to incorporate our various activities into Nathan's planning board. I printed the icons for the different programs he was playing online and created magnets that could be moved into place. 

I also created a logon card for each program including ZooWhiz that included his username and password. Doing these two things gave both boys a sense of independence. 

Cameron was able to do most of the activities himself with little to no help from Mom or Dad. Nathan on the other hand needed a little more help with the Math activities especially if there was reading involved, but mostly he enjoyed doing the activities with little involvement from Mom and Dad and would holler at one of us to read him a problem, he even resorted to asking his big brother to help (that was a huge step forward in their relationship that we hadn't seen).

Since this program is was developed for a world wide audience their is an option of British English or American English spellings, we didn't run into that issue as we were using lower grade levels but I can see that being an issue later on. The boys enjoyed the accents of the voices and kept calling the female voice Aunt Kelly (a friend of Mommy's from New Zealand) which gave a much more personal feeling to the experience for them. 

If you are at all interested in checking out ZooWhiz, I highly recommend the video tour or checking in to their Facebook page

Don't take my word for the fun we had check out the rest of the crew's thought of the program

disclaimer: I received a subscription to the above product in exchange for our honest opinion of the program as member of the Schoolhouse Review Crew.

Pearson Homeschool's Reading Street a new location for learning

I am always looking for reading programs that will help inspire the boys to love reading and help give them a strong foundation in the basics on reading, phonics, and grammer, so when Pearson Homeschool came up as part of the Schoolhouse review Crew I was immediately drawn to the idea of the full year reading curriculum. especially after reading the info From their website: Build the reader in your child through motivating and engaging literature, scientifically research-based instruction and a wealth of reliable instructional tools. The Scott Foresman Reading Street program prioritizes skill instruction at each grade level, so the focus is on the right reading skill, at the right time, for every child.

I will start by mentioning this product is a bundle and includes a DVD-Rom , a CD, a teacher's guide, and 2 student books (volume 1 and volume 2) and will retail for $124.95 during the 2012-2013 school year. While it is a complete program since the worksheets and other teacher resources are a the media discs there will be quite a lot of printing involved in using this product, so that is something to take into consideration when looking at the price. 
We currently use old school McGuffey's readers so this was something totally new for the boys. I decided to let Nathan try the worksheets and some of the reading even though he is only starting 2nd grade. I went ahead and let Cameron read and do many of the worksheets as he just finished 3rd grade but was a late reader.  We were able to read the stories and extras in the textbook and use the various worksheets which included fun activities as well as the traditional dry worksheets.  
I printed up a set of various worksheets for the First Unit weeks 1-5 and we began our journey. I put all the worksheets into a file folder and would pull from that. I also printed the word lists and flashcards only I printed them at 1/2 and 1/4 size so the boys could make collages from the words. 
Overall, the boys didn't mind the program and given that I was able to use the program with both the boys was a nice bonus. I can see using this throughout the rest of the year and even into next year for Nathan as a way to break from the norm a little bit as the stories are fun and engaging for the kids.  I am considering put some of the teacher resources on my laptop (especially the flip charts) so we can use them without printing them. I can also see having the flash cards on the laptop as a way to flip through the flashcards on the screen.  The fun word search worksheets were a hit with Nathan so I will most likely go through and print those first since these are harder and above his grade level.
The program is secular but I didn't find anything in the first volume that would be an issue. My boys are use to me creatively adjusting time lines when it comes to evolution within a text book, it has actually become a silly thing for them. Honestly, I can't say if I would have purchased this program, the price is higher than I would consider reasonable for our budget, but if I look at the life use of the program I could see value there. 


Pearson Homeschool has a variety of curriculum in a variety of grades from elementary through high school and covering Math, reading, science, and social studies.  Their website also has links to state resources if you are unsure where to find your state's guidelines. The site is still under some construction but has a lot of information. I also enjoyed searching other online sources including Teacher's blog to see how others were using the program. Since the edition we reviewed is the newest edition the lesson didn't always line up with what I was finding online, but I was inspired to think outside the box a little and see how fun we could make it.





disclaimer: As a member of the Schoolhouse Review Crew I received the above product bundle for free in exchange for my honest opions, unless mentioned within the post all opinions are my own.

Lesson Planning Count Down

So I realized today I have 2 weeks (actually less) until we start back to school... My lesson plans are mapped out as a guide but not finished.
Today I'm lesson planning and doing it here on the blog.

August 1st will be the beginning of the school year for us.
Here is what I have planned:

Cameron:
Monday: Scripture Verse, Math-U-See Review lessons 19/20 in foundations, Animal Classification Review and Notebook set up,  Read Animal Book from Basket and fill out Book Form, Phonics and Grammar (????)

Tuesday: Journal Prompt from 730 Journal Prompts (Two for Every Day of the Year) : August 2nd: "What is your favorite cool drink in the summer? Explain how to make it." , Math-U-See Lesson 20, Animal Activities, Read Animal Book from the basket and fill out Book Form (I'm going to make a themed form if I can't find one is a book), Phonics and Grammer (Primary Concepts Activity Board)

Wednesday: Journal Buddies,  Math-U-See Lesson 20,  Game Day : I Spy Animals, Phonics and Grammar : Primary Concepts Activity Board for review.

Thursday: Journal Prompts: 730 Journal Prompts Aug 4th "Would you rather be a starfish or a seahorse? why?", Math: Elephant game from Linking attribute Elephants,  Animal Notebook page for Elephants, Read an Animal Book from the Basket, Grammar (Montessori Sentence diagrams,)


Nathan:
Monday: Morning Message, Scripture Verse (Copywork), Math-U-See Foundations lesson 13, Introduce K-W-L (still looking for a small science journal),  Harvest unit

Tuesday: Morning Message , Phonics Activity Board, Math-U-See lesson 13, Magnetic word wall activities with word families, Harvest Unit

Wednesday: Morning Message, Math-U-See Lesson 13,  Word Families Readers, Harvest Unit

Thursday: Morning Message, Elephant Math Game with Cameron, Harvest Unit, Word Family Games


There , ok that wasn't so bad... I now have it written down and can start filling the folders.  I picked up a multi-colored file folder pack at Walmart the other day so I could pull the blue and green folders out for the boys. I am keeping the black ones for myself but the turquoise and red will go to Mike for the shop files.