Review of TOS Unit Study Zombie Fire Ants

Recently, our homeschooling family completed a unit study on Zombie Fire Ants, part of the collection of unit studies from The Curiosity Files.  When we first began the journey of learning more about zombie fire ants, we had no idea what was in store!  I thought zombie fire ants, seriously???  Why in the world would anybody want to learn anything about those pests?  After all, our first experiences with fire ants had been nothing but annoying and aggravating, not to mention painful.  Nonetheless, we began our adventure on the learning path to increasing our knowledge of what else but the zombie fire ants.  

This was our first experience with unit studies, as well as with learning more about those pesky bugs.  What is a unit study?  Well, a unit study is a well-organized and comprehensive combination of various readings, worksheets, internet links and activities that are combined into a unique learning experience.  For our family of four homeschooling students (ages 14, 12, 10 and 2) the unit study is a true blessing!  After working on this unit study, we found a way to accomplish a great deal of our homeschooling work in a very timely yet worthwhile manner.  AND, EVERYONE ENJOYED IT (even mommy!).  Where has The Curiosity Files been all this time?  Yeaaaa!  I can't believe we've finally found a system that is not only educational but also fun to begin and complete for everyone involved.  I'm truly serious when I say that I did not have to prod, poke or admonish anyone into completing this unit study.  The kids truly enjoyed and looked forward to working on Zombie Fire Ants each day that we worked on it.

The actual Zombie Fire Ants unit study is 91 pages long from front to back.  It has cute and entertaining illustrations throughout, enhancing the fun of completing the unit study. Just looking at the table of contents will spark your interest in learning more about these unique little insects.  It begins with an introduction to zombie fire ants and their Biblical purpose.  This is followed by several math activities that are appropriate for all age groups.  Writing, spelling and vocabulary exercises (including word searches and crossword puzzles) are next, broken down into elementary, junior high and high school categories.  Copywork ( several bible verses that your student can learn and copy), science activities (including instructions for making your own ant farm!), arts and crafts activities, additional information on the zombie fire ants, mini quizzes and answer keys are just a few of the things that you will find in this superb unit study.  I wish I could list and describe all that you would find, but then again, that would take away from the surprise!  An additional plus to this unit study is the option of selecting what exercises/activities you want to do - you may choose to do everything in the unit study, or only a part of it.  You can also set your own pace for completing the unit study.  This makes it very easy to use as it can be modified to fit your family's needs.   Believe me, you will find it well worth your time to take a look at this unit study from The Old Schoolhouse's The Curiosity Files.  

To learn more about the Zombie Fire Ants unit study, visit the Old Schoolhouse Magazine's website at http://thehomeschoolmagazine.com/ and click on the store tab.  There you will find the Zombie Fire Ants unit study is available for $6.95.  You can also explore the other Curiosity Files unit studies that are available, as well.

I truly hope that if you decide to explore the world of Zombie Fire Ants and other unit studies, you will find this review was helpful to you!  We will definitely be pursuing the world of The Curiosity Files and other unit studies in our future homeschool adventures, and hope that you will find them to be as much a benefit to your homeschooling studies as they have been to ours.

I was not compensated for this review.

Review of Virtual Nerd

Virtual Nerd is a website geared towards those students who are struggling with mathematics.  A conglomeration of online video resources are used to assist the student in solving a variety of mathematical problems.  In addition, a white board and a live teacher are additional  up to date benefits that work to help the student feel ready and capable of learning.


Both my son and daughter have used Virtual Nerd since we were asked to review the website.  My son and daughter, who are in the 8th grade and 6th grade respectively, were both impressed with the Virtual Nerd website.  They found it to be easy to use and also to understand.  My daughter especially commented after watching the video on numerical and algebraic expressions that she found it easy to understand what the teacher was explaining.  My husband, a former math and science teacher, also looked through the website and viewed many of the videos.  He found that Virtual Nerd would be a useful tool for teachers, parents and students to use.

Virtual Nerd is available for $49 for a month long subscription.  Other pricing options are available as well if you are in need of a different time frame.  To find out more, visit www.virtualnerd.com.


I did not receive any compensation for this review.

See n Read review

I was presented with the opportunity to review the product See-N-Read, which is a reading tool developed by CadenaSmith Enterprises.  Dr. Sylvia Smith tells of her daughter Robin's difficulty with reading in school, and how the development of the See-N-Read system helped her daughter overcome numerous obstacles in reading and make great achievements in her academic career.

The See -N-Read reading tool comes in a book size, which is 5 1/2" wide for smaller books and in a document size, which is 8 1/2" wide for larger books or documents.

 In addition, there is also a MemoryMark version, which is the same see-n-read tool with the clear window cut out for the reader to have the option of highlighting the passage read without moving the tool.

Another option is the eSee-N-Read, which is the See-N-Read version for the computer.

                                                                        

The See-N-Read is backed by numerous research studies and child-tested reviews that prove the See-N-Read is an assistive device that helps reduce incidence of skipping words and/or lines and pattern glare.  It is proven to work well for all ages and skill levels as well.
Fortunately, my school-aged children are all very fluent readers and do not have any problems with reading comprehension.  Upon trying the See-N-Read reading tool, they commented that they found it to be useful for keeping their place on a page if they had to stop reading and close their book, as well as helping them to maintain their place on a page while reading.  However, our trials with math are quite different.  The See-N-Read reading tool was helpful in aligning numbers while performing all math operations.  It also helped them to maintain focus on one problem at a time, instead of seeing all the problems at once. This reduced their anxiety while working on one of their more difficult subjects, allowing for our school time to run smoothly.   The See-N-Read reading tool and Memory Mark were both very helpful while completing our homeschool studies.  The eSee-N-Read is also an option and can be downloaded for a free trial at the See-N-Read website, www.see-n-read.com.
The See-N-Read reading tool is available in a 6 piece combination pack for $17.99.  It can also be ordered in varying increments if desired.  The Memory Mark can also be ordered in a 6 piece combination pack for $17.99, or in varying increments as well.  To learn more about the See-N-Read reading tools availability and pricing please visit their website at www.see-n-read.com.
Overall, I was very pleased with this product's performance.  It truly lives up to what it says it will do to help with one's reading, in addition to numerous other advantages.  The See-N-Read products are highly recommended by this homeschool family!


I received this product for review purposes only.  I did not receive any compensation for this review.

Review of The Master Ruler from Master Innovations

My family and I had the opportunity to use and review the Master Ruler, a neat and highly useful measuring manipulative from Master Innovations.  We received the standard ruler, the metric ruler, the Marvels of Measurement poster and the Master Ruler workbook.  The development of The Master Ruler came about when a teacher recognized that her students were not able to use a ruler without a lot of confusion.  The Master Ruler eliminates this confusion by giving the user a way to distinguish decimeters, centimeters and millimeters through the use of separate layers on the ruler.  Color coding and index tabs  also make it easier for the student to identify and separate, learn equivalent metric fractions, and learn to measure each part of a meter by using its own layer.  The Master Ruler workbook contains about 22 pages of measuring activities as well as an answer key.  Both the workbook and the Master Ruler are appealing and fun to use.  In addition, the Master Innovations website (www.themasterruler.com) is a useful resource for learning more about using The Master Ruler and the other products offered by Master Innovations.  

My family enjoyed the opportunity to use The Master Ruler.  My husband, who is considered the math expert in our family, found that teaching math and measuring skills through estimation with The Master Ruler was useful in the homeschool setting.   Additional worksheets in the workbook would be useful for providing more learning opportunities and reinforcement of the measuring concepts.

To learn more about The Master Ruler and Master Innovations other products, please visit their website at www.themasterruler.com.

I was not compensated for the review of this product.  

Book Collectorz Review

Book Collectorz is a downloadable program that will allow you to keep track of all your books, cd's, and dvd's.  It is a great idea for the book collector or family that enjoys reading and therefore has a lot of books that they want to keep on hand. 

 Simply entering the book titles or scanning the ISBN barcodes will record the book's information into a database for your reference at a later time.  Situations that may require you to have a list of your possessions for insurance purposes, or even to avoid buying books you already own, would make the Book Collectorz program beneficial for you.  Checking your list of books while away from home is even possible with Book Collectorz.  You can use the Book Collectorz program with a PC or MAC.  In addition, there are various other items of interest to accompany the program that are featured on the website www.collectorz.com, such as a barcode scanner, a user manual and a user forum.  The version of Book Collectorz that I was able to try was the pro version, which sells for $49.95.  You can get a trial version of Book Collectorz for free, or try the Book Collectorz standard edition.  There are also bundles that you can choose from.  Visit the website www.collectorz.com and find out more about how Book Collectorz may benefit your family!

I was not compensated for this review.

PG Key Review

     PG Key is a small device that makes managing computer safety a lot easier!  When we first received PG Key, we were ready to install the key and find out how it would work.  Having tried out some other alternatives to managing the safety of our family computer, we were wondering if PG Key would be able to meet our expectations.
     Installing the PG Key was fairly easy.  It involved simply plugging in the key, installing the software and then subscribing to the PG Key website to access the full function of the device.  Next, we were able to set up blocks of websites and arrange for notifications when a user attempted to access something that was blocked.  Once this step was met, the PG Key then would regularly record all activities that took place while one was using the computer.  It supplies you with a a movie of what the key recorded, which was a very nice feature.Also, the PG Key recorded all keystrokes on an internet log, which could provide parents with useful information if they were monitoring their children's access to sites that require passwords.
     There were only a couple of dislikes of the PG Key.  Because the key is small, of course there is a concern that it may get lost.  But, the PG Key comes with instructions on what to do if this happens.  Secondly, we ran into a situation that required us to unblock a website.  The wait time for this unblock to take effect was quite lengthy, so it wasn't possible to immediately access the website although it had been unblocked.  Also, we decided to uninstall PG Key but found that our browsers didn't recognize that PG Key had been uninstalled.
     PG Key is a good program with a few minor technical issues involving its filtering features.  It would be a great piece of equipment to add to your computer.  Of course nothing is as good as the direct monitoring of your child while he is using the computer, but PG Key comes pretty close to letting you know exactly what took place during others' use of the computer.  I would definitely recommend it!
If you are interested in PG Key, please visit their website at www.pgkey.com.
I was not compensated for this review.

Soli Deo Gloria Review/Young Hearts Longing for God

     Young Hearts Longing for God is a study of the book of Psalms for elementary, middle and high school level students.  In thirty lessons, the student will gain quite a bit of knowledge about the book of Psalms as well as engage in some personal reflections of one's thoughts on the Bible verses found in Psalms.

     My children really enjoyed using Young Hearts Longing for God.  It was simple but not too easy and allowed for some creativity as well.  Based on our experience, I would recommend Young Hearts Longing for God to those looking for a Bible curriculum.

     If you are interested in learning more about Young Hearts Longing for God or other resources from Soli Deo Gloria resources, please visit their website at www.solideogloriaresources.com.

     I was not compensated for this review.