Salem Ridge Press

I LOVE to read. I don't dare pick up a fiction book more than once in a great while when we're "in session" with school, or I'm no good to the world. School assignments, dishes, and laundry go by the wayside while I delve in to a good plot. This is my distinct joy with the books I was able to review for Salem Ridge Press.

"We are a publishing company, established in November, 2005, dedicated to bringing back quality children’s books of the 1800’s and early 1900’s for a new generation of readers. We strive to republish books that are well-written, interesting and wholesome, and we hope that you enjoy these books as much as we have!" says their website.


Salem Ridge was founded by homeschool graduate Daniel Mills, with the support of his parents. Their mission is to produce books that are high-quality, with a distinctive Christian thread. "While not every title that Salem Ridge Press publishes is explicitly Christian, all of our titles have strong moral values and encourage positive character."
The American Twins of the Revolution, one of our review books, was written by 1900's children's author and illustrator Lucy Fitch Perkins. It chronicles happenings in the life of twin brother and siser from the time of George Washington, and is exciting and suspenseful, and based on a true story! It is filled with complementary line drawing illustrations (my children always clamor to see the illustrations when we read aloud!) and both captures the imagination and teaches as we read! You can even read the first chapter online here if you have Adobe Reader. (Warning, you'll be hooked!)

Other books we've received and can't wait to delve into: (You can read the first chapter of each online at the above site. Grab the kids first!)
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(Girl mommas, especially, check this one out. It's so sweet and old-fashioned, not to mention funny!)

The Little Man in the Map

A box came in the mail one Friday just as my husband was beginning his Friday night taco-cooking-ritual. He's pretty busy during that time, as he chops, stirs, preps a veritable taco frenzy, especially when he's flying in from a late work night. Well, apparently he was feeling pretty confident on this particular night, because he pulled out the book that came in the box and began to read, as he stirred his taco meat. Pretty soon, we sat down at the table and began to eat, and to stimulate our dinner-table conversation, he began to recite the 50 states. All of them... with a seemingly-nonsensical story to accompany his recitation. I'm pretty sure he didn't know the 50 states consistently before this.

The book we received was The Little Man in the Map, written by E. Andrew Martonyi.
"A blank map of the U.S.A.
plus your imagination
are all you need to learn the states
all fifty in our nation,"
the cover says.

The imagination part is not exaggerated. This book is fun and lighthearted, and full of bright, colorful illustrations. The promise that you can learn the states this easily is founded, as well - Anna and each of the boys were spouting off the states and the story from this whimsical book.

Although it's not necessary, and there are plenty of "just do it" parts of our schooling experience, I'm all about a product that teaches a vital aspect of my children's knowledge base with little-to-no effort on my part, no assignment-giving, and just interest-motivated learning!

I love that the book is well-illustrated, that it is hardbound (we keep the books that others, especially in our family, might enjoy), and that it has an accompanying website with lots of extras. The book is $19.95, but I think it's a keeper.

I've Been Tagged!

So my VERY SWEET friend Bren gave me a little extra project this morning. The morning when I stayed home to give little stinker some much needed nap time, and catch up on my way-behind homeschool product reviewing. Well, imagine my surprise when I received this little assignment. I had to go to the 4th folder in my photo supply on my computer, and the 4th picture... then give you a little explanation!

Well, I have to be honest, I have hundreds of photo files, so I "fudged" a bit - I chose the most recent family folder (December), then the 4th sub-folder, 4th photo.

(Just a little encouragement here: if you've gone digital, be sure to organize your photos on your computer so you can find them!!)

I had a little trepidation at what I'd find, but here it is!!

I'm glad this was the photo, because I haven't touched our Christmas photos yet!

This is from Christmas Eve. Every year we attend our church's Christmas Eve service, and come home to enjoy some sweet family time. It's our time to "unwind" from the pre-Christmas rush and get focused again on our precious Jesus. This year we enjoyed most our devotion for the night from our Jesse Tree tradition.

After this, the kids traditionally open one present. A few years back, a fellow mom friend gave us a "pickle ornament," which is a Victorian tradition we embraced. It is hidden on the tree, and the first child to find it gets an extra gift. (Usually that's more of a family gift. This year it was an adorable egg-and-chick-shaped small liquid measuring cup; Joshua got it and loved it!)

"In the beginning," when we first had kids, I made jammies - pants - for each child, then they got those with store-bought t-shirts. That has become the Christmas-Eve gift, and we always take a photo of the kids in their new jammies in front of the tree. As life, and extra hobbies, and new businesses, and church ministry opportunities, have grown and shifted, we've moved into (GASP!!) STORE BOUGHT jammies. I still enjoy sewing. Maybe someday I'll get back to making them. Probably when my kids are married, and I'll be making them and their spouses jammies, and they'll be secretly rolling their eyes. That, or they'll be enamored with their sweet mom-in-law and the love and devotion she expresses through her silly handmade gifts. One can hope!

So here it is, Bren! Thanks for tagging me! (It was fun, but it was 30 minutes. That's because I also photoshopped the too dark photo. You owe me.) Now I'm off to tag some other unsuspecting friends!

If you've been tagged then this is how you play:
1. Go to your 4th folder on your computer where you store photos.
2. Select your 4th picture (no exceptions).
3. Post the picture with an explanation and a link back to your tagger.
4. Tag 4 people to do the same. I'm tagging Tracy K, Tracy R, Tami, and Julie. Haha, girls, your turn!!

It's a posting frenzy!!

We had the pleasure of enjoying some awesome extended family time over Christmas, as well as amazing growth for Loving Legacy Photography. As a result, I got behind in posting my homeschool product reviews for the TOS Crew! My apologies, both to the Crew for my delay, and to my readers, for the plethora of reviews in one big gulp!! Normally I like to spread out "school stuff" with "fun posts." Hopefully you'll find the reviews of these products to be helpful, though. Blessings as you dive into the new year, whatever your personal, parenting, or schooling journey!! And if you blog, I'll be visiting you soon!!
Hugs,
Angela

Puppetools

Puppetools is an interesting resource available to parents seeking to incorporate more "play" into their learning time.
The site is designed to give a rich resource to parents and teachers, offering education and templates for use in teaching. There is a plethora of research, presented in written and video form, which would be educational to those to whom the concept of creativity in learning was foreign.
There is a forum for discussion of the use of Puppetools. In addition, templates for puppet construction and design are offered. Video tutorials on puppet usage to help with problem solving, journal writing, and other aspects of the learning process are available.
For most homeschoolers, the notion that the traditional classroom is not the ideal place for many students to learn is not new or foreign, and creative play is a natural by-product of the home learning environment. In addition, most of the classroom teachers I know personally strive, as well, to incorporate innovative teaching methods, as well as creative opportunities, into their classrooms.
For this reason, I think this site might be more beneficial as an "eye-opener" to one who is stuck in a teaching rut, and needs both informed instruction and specific ideas to help them move toward a more exciting and effective classroom. The philosophies addressed are very distinct and require some research to determine if they are right for your family.
The bottom line: Check it out. See if it's for you! Individual annual memberships as well as group memberships are available for $20 and $99, respectively.

Aleks Learning

We have really enjoyed our journey as part of the TOS Crew, reviewing products produced specifically to benefit homeschoolers. Occasionally, there is some difficulty for us in reviewing a product. This was the case with Aleks web-based learning system.

We experienced difficulty accessing the program, and after several attempts to correct the problem, I have decided to review what I can access, to help interested parents gain some quick, easy information!

From their site: "ALEKS is a Web-based, artificially intelligent assessment and learning system. ALEKS uses adaptive questioning to quickly and accurately determine exactly what a student knows and doesn't know in a course. ALEKS then instructs the student on the topics she is most ready to learn. As a student works through a course, ALEKS periodically reassesses the student to ensure that topics learned are also retained. ALEKS courses are very complete in their topic coverage and ALEKS avoids multiple choice questions. A student who shows a high level of mastery of an ALEKS course will be successful in the actual course she is taking. ALEKS also provides the advantages of one-on-one instruction, 24/7, from virtually any Web-based computer for a fraction of the cost of a human tutor."

The concept is great - easy access, fair cost, and freedom to work on your own schedule in your own home.

Things that were cool:
Even though we had "technical difficulties," the first-time response was quick and clear.
When signing up, we received a parent account and a student account. This would make for easier management for mom, to oversee all (in our case, four) students.
Students can work at their own pace, and independently of parent time.
There is a large variety of math instruction available, topically, which would be awesome for hand-picking needed instruction.
No textbooks needed!

$19.95 per student per month

$99.95 per student every six months

$179.95 per student every 12 months

They also offer a free one month trial. And they have family discounts. Please see their website for more information.

KidsWealth Money Kit

Last year my husband and I attended Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University. We were overwhelmed (well, most of this comes instinctively to my husband - so I was most overwhelmed) by the simplicity and necessity of basic money-managing techniques. Imagine my excitement when I got my hands on the KidsWealth Money Kit, which is produced right here in Tampa.
Founded by a couple who has lived the "excessive-debt-to-disciplined-living" story, KidsWealth is a curriculum/program designed to help kids develop a wise perspective on money management, and we have been honored to review it for you!

We were so excited to open our box from KidsWealth: each child received their very own kit, which comes with pencils, calculator, activity tracker workbook, calendar, money envelopes, and other goodies, all neatly kept in a sturdy plastic colored binder (so they better know which is theirs!).

Things I love:
The kit itself is bright, colorful, user-friendly, and therefore attractive to my children. (A necessity to capture their interest, in my opinion.)

The concepts are balanced and powerful, and line up very closely with principles we are learning ourselves.

The program gives us a clear, concise "jump start" to principles we have been wanting to teach our children.

Thing (only one) that makes me pause:
This is not an intrinsically Christian program, therefore concepts are not directly aligned to biblical principles. Taking care to teach my children God's perspective on finances will be a concerted effort on top of this program.

Connecting to KidsWealth.com will give a wealth of information, not only on the program itself, but on the philosophy behind it. There is also a parents' forum and a suggested reading list that I have found extremely helpful!

There has never been a more appropriate or necessary time for grounding ourselves, and for teaching our children good financial management skills. This program (because we plan to continue using it beyond our review!) will have the added benefit of helping me keep my "own-self" in line with our family's goals and convictions, as well! Check it out!