Home School Product Reviews

TwigJig

I bought TwigJig for my 14yo son for Christmas and he has really enjoyed it.  I wasn’t sure if the forms would work as well as they do in the video but they do!  You can make some amazing structures with this. My son has made two bridges and a tower. I only wish there was booklet of projects that came with the kit. He just made his designs up as he went (which is probably better for him in the long run ).  I see above where it says the kit comes with plans for a bridge but I don’t think we got that with our kit – maybe it is a new addition?  TwigJig is well worth the money and I highly recommend it!

Peace Hill Press

The year that we used Story of the World 1 and the corresponding Activity Guide was our best out of our ten years of homeschooling (so far!).  The children learned more about world history than I had learned in all of my own public school years, and, due to the activities and resources in the Activity Guide, found it to be great fun.  Four years later, my upper elementary and middle school children want to go back and do the maps, coloring sheets, and projects from The Story Of The World 1 again, as they’d enjoyed it so much the first time.  I was very impressed by how much we all learned from The Story Of The World1 and by what a pleasure it was to teach.  However, using The Story Of The World 1 takes more work on the part of the teacher than workbook based or pre-packaged curricula.  The Activity Guide makes recommendations of resource books to be purchased or checked out from the library and art projects to be done.  Planning ahead to acquire the supplemental books and project materials is necessary for success with this program.  Interacting with the students in narration and discussion is also necessary, so this is not a good program for a hands-off parent/teacher.  This program should work well for a family of any size. Older students can read about related topics in more depth from other resources while the younger ones read the The Story Of The World text, then the whole family can enjoy the hands-on activities together.  The Activity Guide gives resource ideas for a variety of levels and abilities, which makes this easier.  I’d gladly use this program again!

Learn more about The Story of the World series from Peace Hill Press.

Bartholomew's Passage

Not as good as Jotham’s Journey

When our family had such a great experience using Jotham’s Journey, we read Bartholomew’s Passage the next year. The sequel is definitely not as good as the first! The storyline is much weaker, and there were a number of times where some quick editing of the lesson had to be done as we did not agree with the theology being presented. After finishing the book, we decided this was nice to go through once but not a book to keep in our family library. If you choose to use the book, keep in mind that you will need to preview the lesson portions and edit out liberal theology.

Switched On Schoolhouse Science

Are you having science guilt??  Here is your answer!

I have two girls, ages 8 and 10, and we are into our second year of using this product.  In fact, my younger daughter asked me if she could start the program.

I am not a science minded person and worried about how I was going to adequately cover our science subject.  My girls will mention, Oh yah…I learned about that in my science.   I also love how it seems that each year builds on the year before, expanding on and covering new information.

I also like how each lesson is graded.  I can quickly ask them, “how did you do on your lesson?” and if they got a “C” or lower, I take the time to sit and redo the lesson with them.  A+++

Sequential Spelling

There was once a time that I wholeheartedly recommended this spelling program. However, that is no more. I used this program with three different students for about a year. They were three very different students- one ace speller, one in need of serious remedial spelling help, and one who was right on track in spelling. I recommended this program before because it was fun, easy, the boys enjoyed it, is relatively inexpensive, requires no teacher prep, gives immediate feedback, can be used for multiple students easily, is not consumable, and was pretty easy to complete each day. Turns out, it was too good to be true. My ace speller was terribly bored. My remedial speller made very little to no progress. My on track speller began slipping behind. I believe this is because this spelling program is completely lacking- spelling rule training phonics training segmenting/syllable training My students learned little other than how to change a few letters to make a new word in a word family. This training didn’t stick. In their daily writing I often saw misspelled words that we had already covered in their spelling tests. I wouldn’t even recommend using this program along with a supplemental program that covers all it’s missing. In my opinion it’s simply missing exactly what it claims to teach- spelling training.

13 other homeschoolers gave Sequential Spelling an average 4 stars. Read their reviews and see if this is the spelling program for you!

Horizons Math Grade 2

My daughter finished another Christian curriculum’s 2nd grade math early and I wanted to review her skills before moving onto 3rd grade level work.  I’ve heard good things about Horizons and decided to try out the teacher’s manual and 2nd grade, book 2 (for the 2nd semester).  Horizons covers more things and in a better way than our previous curriculum.  We used to use an Asian math curriculum alongside an American Christian school’s curriculum which was supposed to be very advanced/accelerated.  Horizons covers the topics in a better way.  I will not longer need to supplement with the Asian math curriculum as Horizons covers the how-to’s and the word problems effectively.  I’m planning on ordering the 3rd grade math ASAP.

Jotham's Journey

Jotham’s Journey was one of the best stories to read during Christmas season as it fleshes out the feel of what it would have been like to actually be there when Christ was born and the story is so exciting (some parts are a little scary) my children couldn’t wait to read the next one.  The reflections at the end of each chapter truly bring Christ into the season.  Years after reading this book, the part of the “runaway” crying out for Jehovah still speaks to my heart.

Jotham’s Journey and the sequel Batholomew’s Passage are now instock at www.timberdoodle.com.

Lightwedge

I hesitated to buy the LightWedge book light because of the cost, but I have always trusted the Timberdoodle reviews.  This is the best book light ever!  Everyone in our family uses it whether reading in the car or late at night in the bedroom.  It is also great for reading while waiting on the boys at various practices when it is dusky out but not quite dark!  Other family members have seen it and wanted it as well.  I plan to buy three for Christmas presents this year!

Galloping the Globe

I have really enjoyed using Galloping the Globe. I have my kids pick a country then we use this book along with any information we can find over the Internet or at the Library for a great study. We have lots of fun. Having a large family with kids in several different grades I am always glad to find good programs that I can use for all grades. I can make copies and create a special folder for each child. Saves me lots of $$.

For a complete listing of great homeschool geography games, workbooks, and textbooks visit www.timberdoodle.com.

Rolit Junior

We are always looking for a game that allows our little brother Matt (who is 3 1/2) to play with us on our “Board Game Day” that wouldn’t be boring or too easy for the older siblings in the family to play.  Rolit Junior solves all of our problems.