Home School Product Reviews

Challenges the “norm”…

This is our first year homeschooling our 2 school aged daughters who have already been in public school for a few years. I was so frustrated with how “cookie cutter” public education was, especially when it came to creativity. When I saw this book (Daily 6-Trait Writing Grade 2) I though, “huh, what good will such short lessons do?” I couldn’t have been more wrong!!! These short lessons do NOT take much time but they DO get your child thinking outside of the box and paying more attention to the ins and outs of writing. My 2nd grader is surprised by the challenge, but I love to see her rise up and face it. Thanks for such a great product!

I was really excited when I saw this product, as  I knew it would be great for my 5 year old son who is struggling with his handwriting. I like a gentle approach to handwriting, but who has time to make pudding all day long and let them trace in it?! This solves my desire to let my son have hands on activities for handwriting, yet without the mess.

I would really like it if the pen was attached to the magnetic board. I’m trying to figure out a way to attach it myself.

Even my 13 month old loves to use this! The sound of the magnetics being pulled up keep her happy.

I really hope they come out with a numbers one, I would buy it!

The Magnatab is now available in Uppercase Letters, Lowercase Letters, and Number!! You can find all three at timberdoodle.com

I saw this (Kid-O A to Z Magnatab Magnetic Writing Tablet) and got it thinking it could be a total flop. My four year old hasn’t put it down. There’s something therapeutic about watching each ball pop up… the adults in our house are even found playing with it. My *only* two criticisms are that the pen is not attached with a string (like torture if you’re type A like me) and some of the pen stroke recommendations are ridiculous (e.g. letters G, M, N, W). They actually suggest drawing the vertical lines in the M first and then the middle (???). But that’s it. Otherwise it is a really well constructed, well designed product and I’m thrilled we purchased it. I hope they come out with a lower case version.

This is our first year using this writing program. We’ve homeschooled many, many years, something around 15 now! Anyway, a huge struggle has been finding a good writing curriculum. I’ve found some that are good in one way, but tedious in another, go too fast or too slow, seem to think that writing is first and foremost at all times (it’s not for us), etc., etc. So often it seems that actually breaking down the process to better, or truly, learn the skills is difficult. It is difficult in general, but also difficult to find one that is interesting in the process. I feel this conquers all fronts! It’s marvelously incremental and precise. I, as teacher, don’t have to guess or try to interpret what the writer’s point is; it’s clear! It’s also concise and last, but not least, it’s even interesting in the process. All of our kids have been reluctant writers, though we do have some that actually write for a living! We love this workbook that is small in time requirement, but develops writing skill so well!

This series (Daily 6-Trait Writing) has offered me a solution for boys that hate writing. It covers fundamental writing skills in a manner that has been manageable for my boys. Four days a week, there is a practice worksheet that requires relatively small amounts of writing. For the fifth day’s assignment, the child is asked to bring together the work done earlier in the week. Much of the writing will have already accomplished, and will simply need to be added to and polished a bit. This series is a good way to develop strong writing skills in the elementary/early middle school years. I expect to be able to smoothly transition into a more advanced writing program when the time comes.

Curious Case of the Misplaced Modifier

This book was a pleasant surprise!  It was an impulse decision to buy because it was offered at a significant discount.  I honestly wondered if I had just wasted my money, but The Curious Case of the Misplaced Modifier is a gem and worth the full price!  The book focuses on seven of the weakest areas of most writing:  Passive voice, nominalization, vague -ing words, weak verbs, misplaced modifiers, super-long sentences, and wordy writing.    Each of the seven chapters begins with a mystery that contains several sentences that use the weak writing that will be focused on for that chapter, then it goes on to explain the problem and how to detect and fix it. There are lots of examples, each showing a sentence with the weakness and then how it could be written better.  The Curious Case of the Misplaced Modifier would be great to go with a junior or high school level creative writing class.  Matter of fact, that is what my sister-in-law is doing with it.  I plan on incorporating the ideas into my 5th grader’s writing.  I’d highly recommend it to all homeschooling families who are concerned with their students’ writing or who would like to focus on specific writing issues.

Curious Case of the Misplaced Modifier is on sale for only $5.50. Exclusively at Timberdoodle.com