Our next “Wednesday Winners” prize will be awarded Wednesday July 15, 2009. Our winner will receive a…

One online course of the winner’s choice from Progress Academy
(Value: $199)

Progress Academy was founded by Tim & Niqui Chatfield, the parents of 5 school age children, who simply wanted options when it came to education. “Parenting for 14 years has given us unique perspective on education; our children educating us on parenting, and us introducing the world to these five newcomers. We have made many educational choices, and the best thing we discovered was that as parents we DO have choices in educating our children.

We have developed key strategic partnerships with some of the best known and most respected educational organizations in the industry. This enables Progress Academy to provide an innovative and comprehensive learning system to families seeking a better-quality educational experience.”

__________

Would you like to enter our “Wednesday Winners” contest for a chance to win homeschool products and gift certificates? Just enter your email address into the blue “Sign up for the ChoosyHomeschooler Email Newsletter” link at the right. After confirming your subscription to our newsletter, you will automatically be entered to win each week!

For complete contest information, see our contest announcement and our official contest rules.
__________

Wednesday July 1, 2009

Laura Schicatano of Pennsylvania has won a…

Nikki Phipps is a freelance writer of numerous articles and other publications, including the premiere issue of Perspectives Magazine. She also maintains a gardening site, GardenCrypt in her spare time. Drawing inspiration from family and past experiences, Nikki believes everyone has something to say that can benefit others, which is why she turned to writing.  “There’s no better tool for learning than that of personal experience.” Nikki resides in NC with her children.

Link to Product/website: http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/

Description of Product: From National Geographic magazine—“We make it fun for kids to explore their world.” National Geographic Kids “features different people, animals, and places each month with facts, games, activities, and related links.”

Nikki’s Description of Product: The National Geographic Kids website provides everything you’ve come to expect from National Geographic magazine—lots of educational facts and information overlapping with breathtaking photographs. In addition, this kid-friendly environment engages children with educational games and activities. The site is designed specifically with kids in mind, grades K-12. It’s easy to navigate and free to use. There’s no sign up required unless your kids want to have their own “my page,” which allows them to personalize their screens on National geographic servers, bookmark favorite NG kids sites, and send electronic postcards to their friends. The site does require Adobe Flash Player for videos as well as some of the games.

Homeschool Uses: I think the National Geographic Kids site is a great tool for making learning fun. It can be used to supplement homeschooling curriculums like science, history, geography and more. Since the site is updated regularly, it makes an excellent source for teaching current events. The videos can be integrated into a multitude of subjects with interactive games and hands-on activities used to increase learning attentiveness. Everything on the site, including complex topics, is easily explained in ways that children understand, which may also be especially helpful for homeschooling those with special needs.

Content and Safety: Again, National Geographic Kids was designed just for kids; therefore, it’s a very safe learning environment for children. Even the blogs, which allow children to share thoughts and experiences online, is safe and monitored by NG Kids staff. The site was also recognized as the “Parents’ choice recommended winner 2008.”

Nikki’s Experience Using the Product: As I explored the National Geographic Kids site, I was amazed at all the information it offered. There were educational materials on a variety of topics—people, animals, nature, history, geography, science, etc. It offers different sections for individual interests and learning. There are educational stories and videos that contain current and past events on nearly any subject. Kids can learn about people and places or animals, which include wildlife and their habitats from across the globe. They can view amazing photos that heighten the learning experience as well. The activities section offers various craft projects, experiments, recipes and more, while the interactive games section includes some great geography learning tools. Parents can opt to subscribe to the NG Explorer magazine too (for ages 6-14), and there’s even a NG little kids just for preschoolers. Little Kids will also enjoy the Print ‘n’ go coloring book. I loved the site. It brought out the kid in me.

Summary: The site is a great supplemental resource for engaging children in a learning environment, and I believe that it can be weaved into various homeschooling subjects.

Editor’s Note: Check out these FREE online tools for Geography:
Take a virtual tour of the Interactive Maps of the World (Field Museum, Chicago)
Free 3D photos of U.S. National Parks, virtal tours, and more!
FUN Geography Videos!

Debbie Chikousky is an agricultural columnist that has combined her love of farming with her love of homeschooling. Her writing allows her to be a stay at home farm mom with four children ages 20,19,17 and 15. Although the two oldest went through public school, homeschooling has always been her preferred method of education. Combining homeschooling with a busy day of farm chores and teenage life can be a challenge but it is always fun. She utilizes free tools as much as possible in her endeavors to keep learning connected to life.

Name of Product: Math Playground

Link to Product/website: http://www.mathplayground.com/logicgames.html

Description of Product: “Math Playground is an action-packed site for elementary and middle school students. Practice your math skills, play a logic game and have some fun!”

Debbie’s Description of Product: At Math Playground, there is no sign up or membership fees of any kind required for families to be able to find engaging logic games, including old favorites like Sliders and Tower Puzzle. The purpose of this site is to provide you with these games to use as tools for enhancing your child’s mathematics experience. Playing these games will help sharpen your child’s ability to use critical thinking skills that are an essential part of mathematics and are an important part of learning in all subject areas. Parents will need to download Adobe (free) in order to play the games. Although this site is rated for elementary school-age children, the logic puzzles are definitely aimed at grade six and up.  For younger children, the games could still be played interactively with parents or siblings to ease any frustration.

Homeschool Uses: By including logic puzzles found at Math Playground in your curriculum, you will strengthen your child’s capacity to independently develop problem-solving skills and apply strategic thinking skills. The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics has done research on the benefits of more exposure to solving “multi-step and non-routine” problems–i.e. logic puzzles/games will not only enhance a child’s mathematical abilities, but his or her ability to perform in sciences, such as physics, will also improve. Therefore, playing these games will not only benefit your child in mathematical studies; these games could help in many other subjects as well.

Content and Safety: Math Playground, according to their privacy protection page, works hard to ensure the anonymity of students that are using this tool. If families have any confusion with math concepts, Math Playground has a section that allows you to send math problems to them for help. The form does require the first name, school name, state and grade level. However, last names, email, and personal addresses are not requested; therefore, they have no way of contacting a child directly.

Debbie’s Experience Using the Product: After reading the research done by the The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, in which they state: “One of the reasons I find the Sokoban puzzles so especially interesting is that the puzzles can help students develop the type of visualization and spatial reasoning skills that could serve them well when they later study high school and college physics. Not only can the puzzles help students learn about the concept of “forces acting on a body,” but the puzzles can also help sharpen and hone students analytical abilities,” I was excited to find Math Playground. This site has everything that a math site should. It has drills, tests, and videos, as well as a large selection of logic puzzles. My children and I tried them all and found that they all loaded fine on our dial-up connection. They were all challenging, especially for mom, and the different activities were well explained in the instructions.

For added fun, my children like to challenge each other with competitions. Who can get the least amount of moves in Sliders, for example. Up until now, I never considered how much forward thinking was needed to complete these kinds of games. We will definitely be playing them more often and including them in preparation for stretching our son’s mind so he will have an easier time with science topics, such as physics.

Tutorial or Promotional Video of the Product: For families that enjoy tutorial videos, there is a wide selection of them made by students (for students) on the site. Families can also submit mathematics problems by email and they will create a step-by-step math video to teach how to solve it.

Summary: Overall, we found Math Playground to be a fun and a very useful tool. The games were all age appropriate, they all worked and the site was easy to navigate. I would recommend adding these games to your child’s school lessons.

Editor’s Note: Read these FREE Logic and Critical Thinking Skills Tools:
Free online mind mapping tool - great for all ages and learning styles!
Learn Basic Physics Principles through Interactive Games - FREE tool!

Jennifer Bolton is married with two boys, both special needs. She is the author of the book: We Learn Everywhere! and owner of the Special Needs in Homeschooling. Jennifer uses free resources for teaching whenever she can, to keep her boys’ interests and to tailor their learning experiences to their individual learning styles and special needs.

Name of Product: TEL·A·VISION

Link to Product/website: http://telavision.tv/

“Watch. Listen. See the Possibilities.”

Jennifer’s Description of Product: TEL·A·VISION is just that-Tell A Vision-in a movie. It seems to be popular with students and they have many examples of teachers using it in the classroom, sorted by topic. The idea is to think up 10 goals that you, the world, or anyone else, would like to achieve. Write each goal in the present tense, like it is achieved already. The fun part is finding photographs and images that match your goals, which can be done through url, photobucket, flickr, your own upload, or from their stock content (requires sign up). TEL·A·VISION has a premium service that offers more, which is great if I was going to use the site often or if I had many children utilizing it–like a group homeschool project. But since I just have my two boys, the free version offers more than enough for us!

When your photos are uploaded, you are ready to spruce up your video with special effects (and there are a LOT of special effects). They show the premium items first, so keep scrolling in the drop down menus to see everything offered for free. Each image can have a different special effect too. For example, if one image is snowboarding as your goal, then you can add the winter effect of snow (which is listed under Christmas) and if the next image is cooking, then the snow effect would be silly but you can change it to Sparkles. However, you don’t have to have any special effects, as these are optional.

Afterward, choose a soundtrack that you enjoy or find inspirational, and then make your video! You can add up to three songs per video! The song list they provide is quite extensive and neatly sorted by category. They also allow you to listen to samples before adding to your video! I did find adding music a little confusing. For instance, when I clicked on music, I got an auto-generated sample soundtrack. In order to change that to something else, I had to click on the words ’sample soundtrack.’ I was looking for a link that said ‘music’ or ‘change song’ or something like that. Once I figured it out though, I had fun picking out the songs!

Once your video is finished, you can grab the url and email it out to share with others. They provide codes so you can post it to MySpace, BabyCenter, Blogger, LiveJournal, or eBay. If you prefer, an HTML link is provided that includes a thumbnail image of your video, which can be posted directly to a web page.

Homeschool Uses: As we started 2009, I wondered if my boys would be willing to make goals. They are both visual spatial learners and abstract thinkers. Finding real goals, the kind that do not include getting a specific game coming out soon, is difficult for them. This site allows children that are visual in their thinking to put abstract thoughts into imagery. If a child’s vision is to become more kind, then a picture of someone helping someone puts that thought into an image. Also, I think the site is great for special needs. Finding images that match emotions and making different videos on being happy, angry, or sad is a great way to help match abstract emotions into imagery. Taking pictures of a field trip and making a video with special effects and music is quite fun too! In the words of TEL·A·VISION, it “easily integrates into curriculum. Due to the interdisciplinary nature of creating Vision Videos, TEL·A·VISION can be applied to a variety of subjects, including social studies, health, media, English, history, etc.”

Content and Safety: From what I can tell, there are no email addresses exchanged and no real names used anywhere. I do have pictures of my boys in the video, but that is optional. As I stated above, you can use any images you would like! Parents can visit the site’s privacy page to learn more about how they ensure safety and use registration information.

Jennifer’s Experience Using the Product: I found it can be used for so much more! I made a basic video of my boys over the last year and now I have a keepsake video to post to our online journal!

As stated earlier, my boys are abstract visual spatial learners! My youngest son decided he had one goal this year, to learn about animals. He discovered the fireworks for special effects and I’m not sure about his choice of song (It is funny!):

Tutorial or Promotional Video of the Product: You can find tutorials for using this tool on their site at following pages: Tel.A.Vision Tutorials and Tel.A.Vision How To Video.

Summary: The boys and I really enjoyed this website. I’m not sure it will be something we will go back to repetitively. We certainly enjoyed playing around and learning what other people had for their visions! TEL·A·VISION has a neat feature; their goal is ‘to bring people together’ and they have a created an events page, which includes a contest. Be sure to check it out.

If you try TEL·A·VISION, then leave us a comment on what you have done with this tool!

Editor’s Note: Read these FREE Image Reviews:
Make and share online posters. Great project tool for ages 8 and up!
Free photo video project for homeschoolers!
Calling all creative minds! Homeschool possibilities are endless with this FREE tool!

Join our Editor,  Jennifer K. Gray on Blog Talk Radio!

Our Editor, Jennifer K. Gray, will make a guest appearance on Dana Caroll’s The Homeschool Mommy blog talk radio show TOMORROW, Tuesday, June 23, 2009 at 1:00pm (Eastern)!

Tomorrow’s show: Encouragement from the Heart with Jennifer K. Gray. In this show, we have a very special guest, Jennifer Gray. Jennifer home schools her three super fun and very active boys. Their family enjoys taking educational “field trips” to destinations throughout Europe (specifically the Netherlands) and have visited many of the Caribbean islands. Jennifer is the editor of ChoosyHomeschooler.com. This site was created as a way for Jennifer and her staff to learn more about other parents’ experiences with educational products, programs, services, software, websites, reference tools, and other learning management tools. The product reviews on the website are written by parents who have used these products and can give valuable insight into the effectiveness, usability, and relative price/value of each product. Come join us as we get to know Jennifer and learn how Choosyhomeschooler.com can help benefit all of us as we delve into the awesome task of choosing curriculum for next year.

Please join us tomorrow, Tuesday June 23, 2009 at 1:00pm (Eastern)! http://www.blogtalkradio.com/The-Homeschool-Mommy.
If you would like to call in to ask questions during the show, please call (347) 834-4747

The Homeschool Mommy is a program for new and seasoned Homeschooling parents. We will be discussing vital issues concerning the homeschooling community today. Each show will begin with a foundational scripture that will provide encouragement relating to the program’s topic. We will end with questions and comments from our listening audience. So, grab a cup of coffee,come on in, and sit down for some encouraging words from our host and hostess.

Debbie Chikousky is an agricultural columnist that has combined her love of farming with her love of homeschooling. Her writing allows her to be a stay at home farm mom with four children ages 20,19,17 and 15. Although the two oldest went through public school, homeschooling has always been her preferred method of education. Combining homeschooling with a busy day of farm chores and teenage life can be a challenge but it is always fun. She utilizes free tools as much as possible in her endeavors to keep learning connected to life.

Name of Product: Edheads

Link to Product/website: http://www.edheads.org/

Description of Product: “Edheads helps students learn through educational games and activities designed to meet state and national standards.”

Debbie’s Description of Product: Edheads is a free-to-use website. There is no need for an account and no passwords to remember; however, it does require a Flash Player download. Once users arrive at Edheads, the graphics immediately grab your attention. The activities use both visual and auditory tools to make learning complex scientific concepts such as forensics, medicine and weather forecasting understandable.

Homeschool Uses: Edheads can be used either as a solitary learning experience or in groups. It is not a social site, but families with more than one child can do activities together interactively. In the teacher’s guide area, there is a full assortment of resources to choose from, along with how this site rates with the Ohio and National Science Standards. Since the site is geared for grade levels 4-9, parents may have to help some of the younger children with the language/reading involved in the activities.

Content and Safety: According to the site, “Edheads.org meets the guidelines of TRUSTe’s Children’s program.” They do collect contact or personal information without prior parental consent or parental notification. They do not publicly post or distribute identifiable contact information without prior parental consent, and will not ask for more information than is needed to participate in any of the given activities.

Debbie’s Experience Using the Product: When our family explored the virtual surgery activities, we found some graphic photographs of real life surgeries. They were a fantastic learning tool for children interested in medicine or even to use to prepare them for a surgery on themselves or others, but the photographs may be disturbing to some younger viewers, or the faint of heart.

Living on a farm, the weather is a daily concern and one that my husband avidly checks. So it was natural that this was the activity that we spent the most time at. The weather activity involves learning about both reporting and predicting weather. Each area has three levels where the children learn all the intricacies of weather forecasting and predicting. The most important skill for these activities is language comprehension, which the weather glossary can make easier. The Teacher’s Guide can also help users navigate through activities, providing useful tips and more.

In the reporting activity, we learned what all the symbols on weather maps meant and through the dialogue, learned how things like a low pressure system affects the weather. When you click on the weather symbol, the “Weathertron” shoots it out on the screen for the child so he or she can then drag it to where the dialogue tells him or her it goes. At the end of the activity, a report card is issued, which can be printed if desired.

We found the predicting activity to be a bit more challenging. For example, you need to be able to multiply by two digits to calculate wind speed and keep track of many weather symbols and facts. There is a calculator option to use on the activity so you don’t have to have one ready. The only part my son (age 15) found frustrating was that when he made a mistake the Predict-o-Matic didn’t tell him what the correct answer was supposed to be.

Summary: Whether your interest is in crime scenes or weather reporting, Edheads will be able to help. We found the site to be both engaging and fun. In addition to the weather, my husband and I found the virtual surgery activities to be educational as well.

Editor’s Note: Read this FREE Weather Review:
Learn About the Fascinating World of Weather with Weather Wiz Kids!

Our next “Wednesday Winners” prize will be awarded Wednesday July 1, 2009. Our winner will receive a…

Middle School Life Science kit INCLUDES DIGITAL LAB MANUAL
(Value $149)

Middle school is a great opportunity to get students excited about science. The Life Science kit, available for the fall 2008 semester, has been developed to enrich students’ growing understanding of the diversity of life and to encourage them to draw parallels with other subjects, such as renewable resources. The series includes labs on the scientific method, the basis of life, the kingdoms of life and environmental science. This series provides the fundamental skills and knowledge students need to meet and exceed their states’ 8th grade science standards.

Note: The lab on Evolution is optional. Please contact eScience Labs at 888.375.5487 if you wish to receive this kit without the Evolution lab included.

INCLUDES DIGITAL LAB MANUAL

Every kit purchase includes access to our online content designed to supplement the hands-on experiments, provide pre-lab exercises and re-enforce important concepts. Registered users also have access to a monitored blog where they can compare results, pool data and communicate with other students. Volume and institutional discounts available.

For more information view:
Table of Contents (opens in PDF)

Sample Lab (opens in PDF)

Denver-based eScience Labs, Inc., is the pioneer of the next generation of at-home lab kits. With a unique blend of hands-on activities and online content, our kits provide interactive, safe and complete experimentation tools for the modern student at the middle school, high school and introductory college level. Designed to complement any curriculum or teaching style, the kits serve as supplemental course content and provide teaching aids that make scientific exploration both engaging and fun for online, distance and homeschooled learners. To learn more about eScience Labs and our products, please visit http://www.eScienceLabs.com.

Read a review of eScience Labs’ Introductory Biology Kit, to be published in the March/April 2009 issue of Home School Enrichment Magazine! (Opens in PDF)

Have you used eScience Labs? Write YOUR review on ChoosyHomeschooler!

__________

Would you like to enter our “Wednesday Winners” contest for a chance to win homeschool products and gift certificates? Just enter your email address into the blue “Sign up for the ChoosyHomeschooler Email Newsletter” link at the right. After confirming your subscription to our newsletter you will automatically be entered to win each week!

For complete contest information, see our contest announcement and our official contest rules.
__________

Wednesday June 17, 2009

Chrysinda Myers of Oklahoma has won a…

“VOCABULARY CARTOONS, SAT WORD POWER” OR “VOCABULARY CARTOONS ELEMENTARY EDITION”
(Value: $12.95 Each)

Nikki Phipps is a freelance writer of numerous articles and other publications, including the premiere issue of Perspectives Magazine. She also maintains a gardening site, GardenCrypt in her spare time. Drawing inspiration from family and past experiences, Nikki believes everyone has something to say that can benefit others, which is why she turned to writing.  “There’s no better tool for learning than that of personal experience.” Nikki resides in NC with her children.

Name of Product: Sense and Dollars

Link to Product/website: http://senseanddollars.thinkport.org/home.html

Description of Product: “Walk through a ‘virtual life’ and see if you have the skills to survive on your budget…Sense and Dollars was designed to give kids in middle and high school effective ways of earning, spending, saving and investing money in a safe interactive environment.”

Nikki’s Description of Product: Sense and Dollars is a free educational site that teaches kids about money management. At the Sense and Dollars Clubhouse, they can learn about various topics pertaining to money. Earning Money shows them different ways for raising or making money, while Spending Money teaches them about spending their money wisely, including how to manage money and how to understand credit. Saving Money gives them different ideas for saving or investing money. In addition to these tutorials, kids can take part in fun, interactive simulations that mimic real-life situations and test both their current finance knowledge and math skills. In these activities, kids will balance their needs and wants with realistic income and expenses in order to make financial decisions.

Homeschool Uses: This site can be incorporated into math or economic subject matter. Important life skills can also be instilled. The site offers a Teachers’ Guide as well as a Parents’ Guide, which can be used to help your children understand the value of money along with ideas for integrating these concepts with curriculum topics. While the Sense and Dollars site is aimed at older kids, you can still apply many of the concepts used with younger children. For instance, use play money to explore the basics of the monetary system with your child.

Using various items from your home (food, shoes, toys, etc.), place yard sale stickers or masking tape on them and write a specific dollar amount on each one. Then give your child “X” amount of money and allow him or her to shop for items within that budget. For additional learning, have him or her “earn” this money by completing age-appropriate household tasks like folding laundry, washing dishes, dusting, etc. Other ways to incorporate these concepts into homeschooling may include taking trips to the bank or grocery store where your child can watch how mom or dad handles money.

Content and Safety: Sense and Dollars was designed with kids in mind, and therefore, is suitable to most age groups. However, younger children may require help from a parent in order to understand certain terminology.

Nikki’s Experience Using the Product: I explored each of the interactive activities on the site. First was the Check it Out, where kids are given the responsibility of a job and household budget. This activity includes one month’s income and the bills that go with it. Kids are encouraged to meet their monthly obligations without overspending their budget. Next was the Plan Your Prom (wish my daughter would have done this one last year).

Here, kids are given a set amount of spending cash for planning their prom. They must choose what to wear, how to travel, where to eat, etc. without going over that amount. In the Charge it section, kids learn about credit and how much an item costs over time. They decide how much to spend each month when charging an item and whether that cost is worth the “convenience” of buying on credit—definitely a good exercise for my daughter to explore since she’s now on her own!

Summary: I really enjoyed this site and feel that kids, including younger ones, can benefit from these simulations and learning concepts. We all know times can be tough, especially now, and knowing how to budget money and understanding one’s finances is certainly a skill that children should acquire for their future endeavors.

Editor’s Note: Read these reviews of FREE Math tools:
EcoKids - FREE Online Games and Activities for Learning About the Environment
Explore earning, spending, saving and investing with this FREE tool for children!
Money, banking, saving, and investing - teach critical life skills with this FUN tool!

Debbie Chikousky is an agricultural columnist that has combined her love of farming with her love of homeschooling.  Her writing allows her to be a stay at home farm mom with four children ages 20,19,17 and 15. Although the two oldest went through public school, homeschooling has always been her preferred method of education. Combining homeschooling with a busy day of farm chores and teenage life can be a challenge but it is always fun. She utilizes free tools as much as possible in her endeavors to keep learning connected to life.

Name of Product: SpellingCity.Com

Link to Product/website: http://www.spellingcity.com/

Description of Product: “SpellingCity is an online spelling program that makes practicing for spelling tests fun.”

Debbie’s Description of Product: A strong foundation in Language Arts is necessary for success in all other subject areas–but homeschool parents face the challenge of making dry learning, like spelling, fun. However, by registering for a free SpellingCity.com account, parents can find many ideas on how to achieve this goal. Parents can search the site for ready-made word lists or make their own.  There is also a forum area where parents and teachers can network. Once parents build their spelling word lists for their children, there are many additional tools to choose from to help children learn. These include ten different word games, some with printable options. If desired, parents can also access lists of spelling words at SpellingCity.com that are posted by public school teachers.

Homeschool Uses: Early year units usually stress the Dolch Word List, which was compiled in 1936 by Edward William Dolch. This list consists of 220 commonly used words that should be recognized by “sight.” Many parents use flashcards to teach these so I was excited to see a special section dedicated to the learning of them. Parents can use the ready-made lists or make their own, adding a few extras if they wish, and use the three options of Test Me, Teach Me, and Play a Game to help their children memorize their words. The same options are available for teaching all word lists.

The Teach Me option allows students to hear and see each word on the spelling list while it is read aloud. This option is valuable for children that are both visual and auditory learners, as well as those learning English as a second language.

The Test Me option allows students to take a test from any spelling list at any time. This test option also allows the children to choose if they just want to hear the word or a comprehension sentence also.

The Play a Game option is where parents can teach spelling in a fun manner. The games allow children to play a variety of learning activities with any spelling list that the parents have entered into their account. Attached to some of the games is the option of printing off a handwriting sheet.

Content and Safety: SpellingCity.com is dedicated to providing a safe, positive experience for children. To ensure this, they do not ask for any personal information and encourage parental supervision.

Debbie’s Experience Using the Product: The first thing we did upon signing into our free account was to go to the Dolch words section. I loaded the Kindergarten list and clicked on Teach Me. The voice was clear and enunciated the words well. The sentences used for comprehension were pertinent. The words were spelled out letter by letter for the child to see, which I thought was helpful because it reinforces letter recognition as well as word recognition.

Then we were off to Play Games. There are games for all ages and grade levels. I tried ones that I thought would be for early years students. I found the mixed up sentence and the fill in the blanks favorites of my own children when they were younger so I tried those. They were great. Graphics were bright and the words were easy to read. Again, the audio was clear and well enunciated.

I think this site could be a fantastic time saver for parents also. No more writing out lists for vocabulary or spelling, just print them off and the children can both study on their own or online with the games and Teach Me option.

Tutorial or Promotional Video of the Product: A unique part of this site is the Make Your Own Video area. There are many tutorial videos already there plus it instructs parents/teachers on how to create their own for showing off their own unique teaching methods to others.

Summary: I think that SpellingCity.com is a unique, time saving, useful homeschooling tool. Everyone is happy when learning is fun.

Editor’s Note: Read these FREE Quiz Reviews:
Challis’ Review of SpellingCity.com: An Exciting and Multi-Sensory Approach to Spelling! ~FREE~
A free tool to learn AND retain vocabulary words!
Free online vocabulary tool with unique features - huge time saving device for the homeschool teacher!
Create Custom Tests and Worksheets for your Children! Easy and FREE!

Debbie Chikousky is an agricultural columnist that has combined her love of farming with her love of homeschooling. Her writing allows her to be a stay at home farm mom with four children ages 20,19,17 and 15. Although the two oldest went through public school, homeschooling has always been her preferred method of education. Combining homeschooling with a busy day of farm chores and teenage life can be a challenge but it is always fun.  She utilizes free tools as much as possible in her endeavors to keep learning connected to life.

Name of Product: Robert Krampf: The Happy Scientist

Link to Product/website: http://thehappyscientist.com/

Description of Product: “Krampf.com is now TheHappyScientist.com! If you got here through a link to Krampf.com, bookmark this page. The videos, experiments, photo galleries, and blog are now all in one place. The new theme has let me cross reference everything, making it easy for you to find what you are looking for. At the bottom of each section, you will find links, such as “energy”, “challenges”, or “science with food.” Those links will take you to other content in the same category. The links only show content that you have access to, so members will see a LOT more content than non-members.”

Debbie’s Description of Product: At Robert Krampf: The Happy Scientist, you will find a cornucopia of science videos depicting experiments, scientific concepts and oddities of nature that encompass virtually every science discipline. It supplies users with information to help fit the material on the site into the required learning for the school year. The free membership entitles you to many videos and articles along with a free weekly newsletter, which includes a science experiment that can be done at home with kitchen supplies. A lot of the material at Robert Krampf: The Happy Scientist is free but for complete access to All videos and experiments, you need to pay the $20.00 fee (For video viewing: If you are using Internet Explorer 8, be sure that compatibility view is ON.).

Homeschool Uses: When science fair season and curriculum showcase events are fast approaching, a visit to Robert Krampf: The Happy Scientist is certainly in order. The best part of the experiments offered at the website, and in the newsletter, is that they use easily found items that are readily on hand in nearly any kitchen. Although they are simple enough for older students to do on their own with little supervision, they are still interesting enough to engage learning. The videos include key concepts to be taught as well and are located beneath the title. For people with dial up, this is a great time saver because you don’t have to download them, only to discover they aren’t what you need.

Content and Safety: Robert Krampf’s Website Privacy Statement states clearly their safety and privacy features. I did not find anything that would be considered harmful in any way.

Debbie’s Experience Using the Product: The day I signed up for our FREE account, I received the first newsletter. To play with the experiments, my son and I decided to perform the Butter Making Experiment. As promised, the list of supplies were all readily available in my home. We needed a quart of cream, which our cow kindly donated, and a glass jar. Making butter is usually part of our daily chores and we found it fascinating to study the why’s and how’s of butter forming when you warm cream to room temperature and then agitate it. Krampf has a unique way of taking ordinary events in life and making the student “see” science in them.

Doing this experiment answered a lot of questions that we have had about butter making. Questions such as “Why does cream turn to butter faster when it is warm than when it is cold?” For another experiment, we could repeat the process, and using a timer, see just how much faster it actually is. Another question: “Why is butter more yellow at different times of the year?” We know now that is it due to the change in the betacarotene, the precursor to vitamin A, in the cow’s food. Fresh green, spring grass makes more yellow butter than winter hay.

This experiment worked for us, which is very important for children. The experiments that were in our Biology text this year were quite frustrating because a lot of them didn’t work or we didn’t have the right supplies. But when I studied the lists of topics and experiments from this site, there were many that could be used to teach the concepts we were studying, so we will be playing with science a bit more over the next week.

Tutorial or Promotional Video of the Product: This site is full of videos explaining the world we live in. Here is the video of Making Butter:

Summary: If there is a way to make science even more fun, than naturally the Robert Krampf: The Happy Scientist website achieves it. All of the material here is highly usable by any grade. I found his love for science to be infectious on the videos we watched and the experiments we explored.

Editor’s Note: Read these FREE Science Reviews:
Learn Basic Physics Principles through Interactive Games - FREE tool!
Learn About the Fascinating World of Weather with Weather Wiz Kids!
Why are Quarries Important? How do they Impact the Environment? Tour a Virtual Quarry to Find Out!

Nikki Phipps is a freelance writer of numerous articles and other publications, including the premiere issue of Perspectives Magazine. She also maintains a gardening site, GardenCrypt in her spare time. Drawing inspiration from family and past experiences, Nikki believes everyone has something to say that can benefit others, which is why she turned to writing. “There’s no better tool for learning than that of personal experience.” Nikki resides in NC with her children.

Name of Product: Xtimeline

Link to Product/website: http://www.xtimeline.com

Description of Product: “Create a timeline! xtimeline is a free web-based timeline. Easily create and share timelines with pictures and videos.”

Nikki’s Description of Product: Xtimeline is a free, web-based tool that makes it easy to create simple timelines and has a built-in feature allowing you to research, embed photos or videos, edit, collaborate and more. There are four ways to explore the Xtimeline site. The Explore page includes featured timelines, most viewed timelines, most recent timelines, most discussed timelines, and the most liked timelines. Under categories, users can choose a timeline based on a particular topic, like Arts entertainment, Biography, History, etc. There is also a search box where you can type in exactly what you’re looking for. Additionally, if you’re looking for a particular group, there is a Groups page available.

There are also several ways you can share timelines with others: URL, embedding, or email. In addition, each timeline has a discussion area so students can debate topics, share additional details, or make suggestions. Unless you only intend to view timelines, registration (which is free) is required to create them and users must be over 13 years of age. However, it is possible for parents/teachers to create one account that each child/student can use.

Homeschool Uses: I think Xtimeline could be used with just about any grade level. Timelines are one of the easiest learning tools available to kids. They can be easily tailored to fit the needs of the child and suitable for nearly any type of subject matter or curriculum. Xtimelines can be great for creating projects as well as for kids to learn more about the history of significant people, events, etc. Students can make current event timelines, historical timelines, personal timelines, life cycle timelines, family history timelines and more. Homeschoolers can even collaborate with other homeschooling families for ideas or events. The possibilities are endless. Check out the Xtimeline blog for great tips on using timelines and other useful info.

Content and Safety: Since an email address is required for registration, you can opt to create a free Gmail account rather than using your personal email. This, in addition to marking timelines private, can add to the security of your children/students’ identities. In fact, you can specify that only certain individuals or groups have access to your timeline(s). Therefore, only invited users can edit, share, or discuss the timeline, making student interaction much safer.

Nikki’s Experience Using the Product: Registration was easy, as was creating a timeline. To create a timeline, simply click the Create a Timeline link and follow the instructions. You will be prompted to fill in the basic information for your timeline, set the privacy, and add events. I created a test timeline for the purpose of this review using the life events of my gg-grandfather. The entire process was quick and painless. It was extremely easy to do and kid-friendly enough for most children to complete on their own.

Tutorial or Promotional Video of the Product: There are a couple of tutorials on TeacherTube that may help you with creating a timeline on this site. The first one, What is Xtimeline, provides a brief description of what Xtimeline is as well as a Google trick for creating timelines. The other one, Xtimeline Directions, provides step-by-step directions for using the Xtimeline tool. You can also tour the site for examples or use the Help link.

Summary: I feel the Xtimeline site is a great tool for students and teachers alike. Timelines can be tailored to fit the child’s interest, grade level, and current topic studied. It’s also a great way for students to learn how certain events shape the world around us.

Editor’s Note: Check out these FREE Reviews of Timeline tools:
Take a virtual tour of the Interactive Maps of the World (Field Museum, Chicago)
Creative Homeschool Documentation! A Family Record You Can Share With Others
Use Digital Storytelling as a creative homeschool tool!

Our next “Wednesday Winners” prize will be awarded Wednesday June 17, 2009. Our winner will receive a…

VOCABULARY CARTOONS, SAT WORD POWER” OR “VOCABULARY CARTOONS ELEMENTARY EDITION”
(Value: $12.95 Each)

Vocabulary Cartoons offers:

VOCABULARY CARTOONS ELEMENTARY EDITION: 3-6 GRADE LEVELS, Excellent teaching resource for students of all abilities, particularly visual learners, ESE, ADD & ESL. Contains 210 words every grammar school student should know presented in an easy to read format. Also includes 21 review quizzes with matching and fill in the blank problems.
OR
VOCABULARY CARTOONS, SAT WORD POWER: 7-12 GRADES LEVEL, Students learn hundreds of SAT level words faster and easier with powerful rhyming and visual mnemonics. In independent school tests, students with Vocabulary Cartoons learned 72% more words than students with traditional rote memory study materials. Contains 290 SAT words with 29 review quizzes consisting of matching and fill-in-the-blank problems.

Vocabulary Cartoons works on the principle of mnemonics. A mnemonic is a device that helps you remember something by associating what you are trying to remember with something you already know. A mnemonic device could be in many different forms like rhymes, songs, or pictures–to name a few. For example, “Columbus sailed the ocean blue in fourteen hundred ninety-two” is a classic mnemonic rhyme which helps you remember when Columbus discovered America.

Following the mnemonic principle of association, Vocabulary Cartoons link together an auditory (rhyming) word association and a visual association in the form of a humorous cartoon. These powerful mnemonics help students retain the meanings of words longer and with less effort than trying to memorize definitions straight out of a dictionary.

In the example below, the new word FATHOM is associated (linked with) the rhyming word FAT THUMB, which in turn is then presented visually as a humorous cartoon. The more outrageous and bizarre the cartoon, the easier it is to remember.

Bryan Burchers (Founder): As a high school student in 1980, preparing for the verbal section of the SAT was dull and laborious. Each night after dinner my dad would work with me on improving my vocabulary skills. I dreaded it, until one night I had trouble remembering the definition of the word “aloof.” My dad asked me, “What rhymes with aloof?” I said, “Roof.” So, my dad replied, “Okay, think of the cat on the roof is aloof from everyone below.” Voila! That little mnemonic mental image was permanently embedded in my brain. After that it was actually fun coming up with crazy ways to remember meanings of words.

Years later, it was my dad’s idea to write a book on our mnemonic vocabulary building system. So, my dad, brother and I published our first Vocabulary Cartoon book in 1997. Once in the bookstores, it quickly became a national best-seller in its genre, selling more than 1 million copies and over five thousand schools across America have included Vocabulary Cartoons in their language arts curriculum.

Read a Review about Vocabulary Cartoons on ChoosyHomeschooler!

__________

Would you like to enter our “Wednesday Winners” contest for a chance to win homeschool products and gift certificates? Just enter your email address into the blue “Sign up for the ChoosyHomeschooler Email Newsletter” link at the right. After confirming your subscription to our newsletter you will automatically be entered to win each week!

For complete contest information, see our contest announcement and our official contest rules.
__________

Wednesday June 3, 2009

Melody Varieur of Maine has won a…

A set of award-winning, culturally diverse books from Lee & Low Books

(Value: $100)

Debbie Chikousky is an agricultural columnist that has combined her love of farming with her love of homeschooling. Her writing allows her to be a stay at home farm mom with four children ages 20,19,17 and 15. Although the two oldest went through public school, homeschooling has always been her preferred method of education. Combining homeschooling with a busy day of farm chores and teenage life can be a challenge but it is always fun.  She utilizes free tools as much as possible in her endeavors to keep learning connected to life.

Name of Product: K-Bears

Link to Product/website: http://www.kbears.com/

Description of Product: “We share knowledge and make learning fun! We are parents, teachers and educators just like you. In 1999 we founded KnowledgeBears.com to provide children of all ages fun online educational environments.”

Debbie’s Description of Product: This site has every learning discipline covered. They use graphics, talking cartoon characters, and games that are fun for all ages to solidify concepts. There are games that will help eye-hand coordination, like Bee Swat, which is aimed at young children, and geography games that are more suitable for older children. You can play together as a family or individually, depending on your lesson goals for the day.

Homeschool Uses: What child doesn’t like dinosaurs, animals and submarines?  I know all of mine did. It is subject matter like this, combined with a video game format, that makes using KBears so appealing. If you’re doing a unit study on dinosaurs, there are about forty different species to study on the dinosaur safari. The narrator gives lots of facts to accompany the bright graphics. For the younger set, you can even print off coloring sheets. To enter the animal safari, children can click on a letter of the alphabet and then choose an animal that starts with the letter. They will need a person capable of simple reading with them, but this would be a great way to help with phonics and sight recognition of words. We had fun with the geography area–lots of games and maps. My children have never liked doing black line master maps, and this area of the site enables you to learn geography more like a memory game, first viewing the map with names of the countries and then clicking on the appropriate country as its name comes up at the top of the screen.

Content and Safety: Children can use all the games and activities without having to share any personal information. The only time any personal information is collected is through the adult satellite sites, which is only used for billing purposes; therefore, your children’s identity will be kept strictly confidential.

Debbie’s Experience Using the Product: I found Kbears to be very user friendly. There is a separate link for teachers and parents that has many useful hints and tips on ideas to do with your family. I wish I had known about this site when my children were younger. I remember searching for information for 4-H speeches, and here it is all at your fingertips. If what you are looking for isn’t there, all the areas have extra external links to search as well. In addition, there are different language options available at the bottom left-hand side of the screen. These could help families that are trying to learn a second language. To play most of the games you need Adobe, which is a free install, and even though we have dial-up, I didn’t have any problems loading the activities.

Summary: Even though my family is far past the recommended age level of K-3, we found this site to be both educational and fun. They advertise on the site that they change content on a regular basis so I am looking forward to checking out their new stuff as it comes along.

Editor’s Note: Check out these FREE Geography Reviews:
Fun, interactive and FREE! Learn geography online!
Take a virtual tour of the Interactive Maps of the World (Field Museum, Chicago)
Free 3D photos of U.S. National Parks, virtal tours, and more!

Challis Thasall is the mother of four children and a second generation homeschooler. Both her sons have graduated and her two daughters are just beginning. Challis assists her husband in his business and is the creator/moderator of HS-Plus, an online support group for homeschoolers of special needs children. Her simple and frugal lifestyle is reflected in her homeschooling, as is her belief that even the smallest things have the potential to become great learning experiences.

Name of Product: KidsBank

Link to Product/website: http://www.kidsbank.com/index_3.asp

Description of Product: “C’mon in and learn all about banking at KidsBank.com™! Have some fun in this learning website. We hope to help you and your children explore some of the fundamentals of banking. We explain some of the basics of banking services and hope that your children can use KidsBank.com™ to learn a little more about how savings, interest, checking and other banking things work.”

Challis’ Description of Product: KidsBank.com uses a story format in teaching a variety of banking concepts to both younger and older children. The five characters, Penny, Dollar Bill, Interest Ray, Checks (the KidsBank.com puppy) and Mr. EFT, each have chapters where they explain important parts of the story. At specific points along the way, Mr. Professor, a clickable icon, is available to provide more detailed information. A fun way for the child to review what he or she has learned is by taking the multiple choice quizzes at the end of each chapter. All of the quizzes are quickly found in the Game Room as well. There are two calculators on the Calculators page, where a child is able to enter a goal date and how much he or she plans to save each week, and then see what the total will be when sticking to that plan. One of the calculators is principal-based and the other uses both principal and interest, which helps with planning goals.

Everything at KidsBank.com is FREE and no account or registration is needed. You are offered a choice between Java and Non-Java versions, though there doesn’t seem to be much difference between the two. When getting started, parents are given the option of pre-downloading any graphics for quicker viewing, though there isn’t an actual download (this simply allows faster navigation for the children). The information on where money is made, and the denominations, is U.S. focused; however, the history provided in that section could be of use to everyone.

Homeschool Uses: Covering an array of subjects, including history, economics, math, reading, geography and life skills, this site would be a fun learning tool on its own or added to other studies. While early readers would need more assistance, or need the pages read to them, a stronger reader (even a moderate reader with help in some areas) would do well on his or her own. The calculators offer a hands-on learning tool and allows the user to experiment with different goals, dates and amounts saved each week. Navigation of the site is easy and each chapter is presented in a way that does not overwhelm the user–no long pages to read, no small font to squint over. The story manages to please both the detail-oriented child and the child who’s strengths are in simplicity and ease of information gathering. Being able to select specific chapters, as well as the ability to return to the story another time, would be of benefit to a child who struggles with concentration or is easily distracted or bored.

Content and Safety: At the “KidsBank.com Children’s Privacy Policy,” they explain their strict compliance with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, and I didn’t find anything to suggest otherwise. They do ask for a first name when entering the Game Room, though do not require a real name (or any name at all). The “Game Room” isn’t a chat-like forum and is merely a list of interactive quizzes that only you can see and, at the end, addresses the quiz-taker by the name provided. The site doesn’t use cookies or other tracking technologies. I didn’t find any questionable content on the site, but some of the off-site links on the Links page might warrant parental discretion based on personal preference. It may also be worth noting that KidsBank.com was created by Sovereign Bank, and their site is linked to and mentioned on KidsBank.com.

Challis’ Experience Using the Product: In a simple, straightforward manner, KidsBank.com explains everything from money taking the place of bartering, to ATMs and online banking. Savings and checking accounts, interest paid and earned, how each works and why they’re used, are all among the lessons learned. I was pleasantly surprised by how well the story captured our interest and made learning about banking fun. My young children weren’t bogged down by the details and the adults weren’t bored with the simplicity.

My 5-year-old enjoyed listening to Penny’s part of the story and chose Checks, the puppy, as her favorite character. She had fun picking answers to the quizzes, was tickled when she got a few correct, and giggled with her older sister over some of the silly options given. My 9-year-old enjoyed the site most. She was able to read it on her own, with a bit of help here and there, and showed a lot of interest in the story. The quizzes were her favorite part, and she was excited to hear there were ten quizzes in all. Being a saver and a planner of goals, she enjoyed the calculators as much as I expected her to. Both of my sons were here as well, and I got a kick out of the two of them listening in, even giving a few answers to the quizzes. My 18-year-old later described the site as “interesting” and “cool.” Considering his struggles with concentration and staying focused, I was impressed the story kept his attention as well as it did. My 22-year-old enjoyed the trivia throughout the story, just as I thought he might.

Tutorial or Promotional Video of the Product: There isn’t a tutorial video, though one of the first things KidsBank.com does is invite parents to visit the Introduction and Download Pages, where you’re able to view an explanation and outline of the site.

Summary: No matter the age, KidsBank.com makes it fun to learn about banking. The quizzes and calculators are great, interactive tools that help in the learning process as well as putting new knowledge to work. My daughters enjoyed the site very much, and even I learned a few things!

Editor’s Note: Read Reviews of these FREE Money Tools:
Explore earning, spending, saving and investing with this FREE tool for children!
Money, banking, saving, and investing - teach critical life skills with this FUN tool!
Teach children about money management using this free online tool!