Home School Product Reviews

I am a firm believer in the importance of proofreading! I tell my children often that we all make mistakes, but it is every writer’s responsibility to check for their own mistakes. Just think how much embarrassment we could save ourselves! Editor in Chief is an interesting, fun way to practice proofreading/editing skills in just a few minutes a day. I like the balance between obvious errors and those that take some time and awareness to find. I also like the fact that they sneak in a lot of interesting information on topics my children might not otherwise read about.

Great Product!

This (Easy Grammar Ultimate Grade 12) is a great PAINLESS product that keeps your older student up to speed in grammar. Heads up to parents… I have found we prefer to purchase ONLY the teacher’s edition as it is JUST THE SAME as the student edition but the brief answer key is ALL in the back of the book. As long as your student is not tempted to look in the back for answers I have found this edition to work well. As a parent, I prefer the ease of answers in the back of the book if I need to check one and my students are not distracted by them. It also keeps me from having to order a workbook AND a teachers manual. Good deal!!

Word Fun

I never studied Latin or Greek, but what can be more fun than submarine means ‘under sea’? So, we have a lot of fun making a game of the cards. My daughter was 8 when we started. We put photos next to a lamp for ‘light’ and we put tele on a shelf far away for ‘far away’ and then put skopeo under reading glasses for ‘examine’ etc, etc, and then we say what the words mean and then make full words ‘telescope’, ‘telephotos’ and say what they mean. It is a lot of fun, but not enough cards. So I am ordering the second set. You need the book for looking up on what card a word is located (saves a lot of time, plus the author will inspire you for the reasons to study word roots). We also make some cards for Latin/Greek roots not in the set. My son is 5 and he is captivated by the fact that Tyrannosaurus Rex means ‘King of the Tyrant Lizards’.

For the teacher, the answer key clearly identified the needed corrections with the explanation as to why the grammar correction is needed. I presented the book as seat work for him to do while I worked with my other student. I let him pick the stories that caught his attention and while we have not started from the beginning of the book it does not take away from the grammar instruction. My son tackled the exercises with enthusiasm. He found the articles interesting and the challenge of finding the mistakes “fun”. He loves to read and this challenged him to pay attention to the readings and to look for mistakes.

I found Wordigo Game to be exactly as advertised – an educational game that’s not so educational that it’s no fun but also not so fun that it’s not educational. Even my poorest speller begs to play. As a parent, I have to be willing to miss the completion points because I’m constantly bombarded with, ‘Mom, is this a word?’ And that’s okay because they’re spelling…and liking it!

Spelling can be one of the most difficult subjects to master. Timberdoodle offers great spelling games, activities, and curriculum.

Word Quest

Word Quest reminded me of all the times when I would be doing a word search and someone would be sitting beside me pointing to words they found before I did.  This game took that principle and made it into a high energy race to find the word before your opponents.  It was exhilarating and playing a regular word search hasn’t been the same since.

Games are a great way to learn while having fun. Timberdoodle carries over 100 educational (and fun!) games.

My son tried Jensen’s Grammar and found it to be tedious and hard to understand.  I look for material that is good for self-study and this didn’t fit for us.

Why does Timberdoodle give Jensen’s Grammar a positive review? Click here to learn more.

Language Lessons for Little Ones 1

If you want to do narration, poetry, and picture study but don’t have the time to pull it all together Language Lessons for Little Ones is a great book to use.  The picture selection held my children’s interest very well and I did not have to worry about inappropriate images that are often found in art books geared to adults.  I did not use the phonics portion of Language Lessons for Little Ones so I cannot comment on that,  but this is a lovely book and I enjoyed using it with my sons.

Preview a sample of Language Lessons For Little Ones.