MathTutor has created one of the most beautiful math programs for young children that I have ever experienced. I find it difficult to describe the visual and auditory beauty that you experience in “Young Minds Number and Counting.” I have a three year old son and although we all found the cover intriguing with the tree frog, Michael hasn’t expressed any real interest in “formal” learning. We don’t have cable (hence we have not television) so he hasn’t been exposed to much Sesame Street and the usual suspects.
But once the video began, he was entranced. I mean, the perpetual motion boy just sat and watched the entire presentation without a word. On the next pass (he insisted on it being played again) he kept jumping up to make sure that we were watching the many animals that were being counted while beautiful classical music played in the background. The music chosen were selections from Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, Vivaldi, Brahms, Pachelbel and Chopin. (Sometimes I just put it on to listen to the music!)
This is a basic counting DVD, but because of the extraordinary images and music it is more of a feast of numbers than I would have thought possible. I mean, how interesting can you make counting to 15? If you really want to know you need to watch this video.
The Basic Math Word Problem Tutor
While not as colorful or musically inspired, this eight hour video course is very thorough and an excellent way to explain word problems to your children. The instructor begins at the beginning and builds on each foundation. My oldest daughter has trouble with word problems (as it seems a lot of kids do), but she really enjoyed watching the video and working alongside the instructor. Actually, I was surprised that she wasn’t goofing around while the DVD was playing. Instead she ran upstairs got her notebook and took notes on what the instructor said and did. Her word problem skills still need work, but she seemed to really appreciate the way that the teacher explained things.
I personally found his explanations and illustrations to be quite clear. And he went through the entire strategy for tackling a problem. If there were more than one way to arrive at the correct answer he explained each of them while helping the student to focus on key words that supply the clues to what you’re supposed to accomplish. Overall, I was quite impressed and even re-learned a few things that I had forgotten about. I know that these three DVDs will hold a prominent place in our bag of math tricks.
I just received this notification from Mathletics about registration for Math Day. Registration ends on March 1st, so be sure to hurry over and get signed up. Here are the details:
Over one million participants have registered for World Math Day! Join us in a celebration of numbers as children from across the globe unite in their quest to set a world record in answering mental arithmetic questions. Be a part of this great education event involving over a million students from hundreds of countries, even parents and teachers can participate this year! There is an exciting new format for 2010 with all new levels so make sure you and your child register today and get plenty of practice!
Why should you take part?
• World Math Day is the education event for the world!
• Your child will love it! Be part of setting a world record!
• It will create an amazing buzz around Mathematics in your home.
• Designed for all ages and ability levels.
• Simple to register and participate.
• Great prizes. And it’s absolutely free!!
How will it work?
• Register your child online. Students already subscribed to Mathletics can use their existing usernames and passwords.
• Students take part in real-time mental arithmetic challenges.
• Students play live with other students around the globe.
• In 2009 more than two million students from 204 countries combined to correctly answer 452,681,681 questions. Can we break the record this year?
• All you need is internet access.
• Students can compete at school or at home.
Have you heard the phrase, “I am a man of my word”? Or heard people say, “I give my word …” ? Now, we understand that the giving of one’s word means that you’re making a promise to do something. However, I think that in today’s world the phrase has lost much of it’s original meaning. You know, it’s like saying, “Bless you” when someone sneezes. Most people don’t really mean “May God bless you and protect you ” when they utter those words.
So, what does it mean when you say, “I give you my word”? As I spend more time reading history and the personal writings of people in history this phrase has taken on new meaning for me. When we say, “I give my word” that is more than a half empty promise. Actually it’s more serious than a promise. It is a binding and unbreakable contract between people. When you give your word you are binding yourself morally to a course of action. It is a matter of honor and not convenience.
How far we, as a society, have fallen from that original meaning. As a matter of fact we have even coined phrases that cover the way people treat their spoken word. If someone promises to do something, we’ve become so skeptical of people carrying through that we say things like “talk is cheap” and “put up or shut up.”
And that’s what a promise has become — something of no consequence. Basically, as a society, we are teaching our children that “promises are made to be broken”. Through the media and sometimes our own example we are teaching them that honor is a nice concept, but not practical in today’s world. I mean, “You meant well…” or “You tried…” and that excuses us from any responsibility.
In our training and educating of our children, this matter of “Keeping Your Word” is one of the most important lessons that we can impart. And here’s why:
Morally: People (but especially children since they’re more likely to follow through) need to understand that they have an obligation to someone other than themselves. Being aware of our obligations to others helps the community function more smoothly, generates trust which in turn alleviates a lot of conflicts. How many relationships could be saved if we truly trusted that the other person would keep their word and they knew that we would keep ours?
Intellectually: I was chosen to review a language art curriculum called “The Madsen Method”. This is a neurologically complete program based upon the methods used during Colonial times. It engages and strengthens all four areas (Say, Hear, Do, See) of the brain. Basically this means that when you say something, you hear yourself say it, then you do what you heard yourself say and see your results. Using this method of instruction, the United States colonies were the most literate people in the world. Why? Because their whole brain was fully utilized to learn a skill — they had “backup systems” that strengthened their retention of all lessons learned. And isn’t our goal to create people with thinking ability and life skills?
Physically: Now the importance of this process is that when you give your word, your body and mind are all waiting to accomplish the stated goal or task. But if you balk and do not follow through with your stated intention, you are causing neurological issues within yourself. Imagine how much confusion a person who never follows through on his stated intentions. The stress level must be enormous! We know that stress creates higher blood pressure levels, headaches, irritability, inability to concentrate, etc.? So when we don’t follow through our entire nervous system is affected.
Our bodies are designed to tell the truth, so why don’t we? It’ takes far less energy to tell the truth and follow through than making a myriad of excuses, lies and half-truths (and remembering them!) does. Being a person of your word means displaying moral courage. If someone asks you to do something that you don’t want to do just say so. At times people will be disappointed with your decisions, maybe even angry.
But at the end of the day, even your bitterest enemies will have respect for the fact that you stood your ground. They may never come to like you, but they will always respect you. Keeping our word is the best lesson that we can teach our children if we want them (and us) to have lead happy and (relatively) stress-free lives.
By demonstrating this type of moral courage we will be helping to shape our children (and hopefully others who observe us) to be leaders and not to be afraid to be honest about their thoughts and feelings. This honesty will create strong relationships that will spill over into all aspects of their lives and ultimately lead them to the level of success that they wish to obtain. Isn’t that a goal worth working towards?
That’s right the TOS Crew is looking for a few good families to come aboard and help us on our mission. Are you a homeschooler who loves blogging, writing, tweeting, and Facebooking (is that really a word?) ? Well, if so I’ve got good news for you. Beginning today through March 12, 2010 The Old School House are looking for new crew members to join our ranks and you could be one of us!
I joined the crew this past year and I must say that it has been an adventure for me and my family. Doing the curriculum reviews has actually helped me to identify my children’s strengths and weaknesses and use different tools to help them along their way. I’ve met amazing curriculum advisors who have taken the time to answer my questions and teach me a lot about how to be a more effective teacher to my children.
On a personal note, I’ve made friends with many homeschooling families that I may never have met during the course of a normal cyber-day. Overall, this has been the best experience that I’ve had in a long time. I’m doing the things I love (teaching and writing), exposing my children to different ways of tackling problems and best of all having a lot of fun!
So don’t be shy! The deadline for applying is March 12, 2010. Step right up and see if you have what it takes to begin your maiden voyage with the TOS Crew. You can learn more about the selection process by visiting The Old School House. Jump right in, the water’s fine! I hope to see you next year.
Tektoma, in case you don’t know, is a company that teaches children how to create computer/video games for fun. I think it’s a great concept because it’s a fun introduction to programming and is a practical application of logic skills. Having failed computer programming back in the dark ages of punch card readers anyone who can make programming enjoyable gets a standing ovation from me!
My girls are very “fluent” (i.e., will go overboard with playing them if I don’t stop them) in computer games and video games so I thought that this would be a slam dunk success. Boy was I wrong! They absolutely couldn’t stand it. My youngest daughter politely told me that she wasn’t interested and never touched the program again. You may recall that in a previous video review my oldest daughter announced that she wanted to create a video game. So, she should have been thrilled to pieces, right? WRONG!
When we first downloaded everything and were getting setup we had a few hiccups because I didn’t read through all of the instructions and missed a download area. Okay, things were still going well — excitement was high and Jade’s games were going to be the next Animal Crossing meets Final Fantasy. And then we started getting into the actual work. By the end of the first week she was through. One of her main difficulties stem from an auditory delay earlier in her life. Although she’s a strong reader, listening and watching the video requires her to listen to the instructions and then execute them in order. So many times she would begin the process correctly, forget or misplace a step and get frustrated. Having to do the troubleshooting really drove her crazy. (Hey, that she gets honestly — I could never debug a program in a million years either.)
Was it the Tektoma’s fault? Not at all. The videos are very easy to follow. The pace is just right — not too fast, not too slow. The samples and pictures were very clear, which I appreciate. I’ve worked with some video tutorials that were very fuzzy and frustrating. The lessons are setup to gradually progress from a simple racing game to the more complex fantasy/adventure type games. The graphics remind me of my favorite Kings Quest games from Sierra, kind of blocky shapes, but easily recognizable and customizable too!
They also have a community that you can share your creations with and ask questions about things that you may be having problems setting up. Tektoma’s customer support was very good.When I had questions about that file I missed, I received an answer within the same day with tips and reminders that if I had any questions to please let them know. And best of all as the children grow in proficiency with their programming skills, they can share their own creations with other children within the community. A great boon for parents who have children who blow through store bought video games! Next time they claim they’re bored, just send them to the forum and let them download another kid’s game.
So to be fair for the review, I asked one of my neighbor’s son to take a look at the program and play around with the interface. He loved it! He thought this was the best thing since chocolate cake and was disappointed that I wouldn’t let him take Jade’s computer home with him so that he could continue working. He had no difficulty working the program and was able to correct his mistakes quickly and easily. Just different strokes for different folks I guess.
Tektoma offers two different ways to for you and your family to get involved. The first way is through a monthly subscription of $14.95/mo. or $140/annually. This gives you access to the tutorials, forums, file sharing, etc. They also have a summer camp option for children 7 and up called “Bits, Bytes & Bots Computer Adventures®” where the children learn about robotics, stop-motion animated movie making and game creation.
So, although Tektoma was a bust for my family, I do think it has a lot to offer to children (and even adults) who feel that creative computer gene growing restless. They allow a 14-day free trial of the program, so you can see which category of interest your child(ren) fall into before you make the investment. If you want to learn more, just click Tektoma’s banner below and it’ll take you to their home page.
I just got this in my email and I wanted to make sure that I get the word out about a convention that highlights the necessity and rewards of saying what you mean. If you have a chance, check it out. It’s Virtual & Free! Thanks Teri for letting me know about it! And Teri is also one of the many homeschooling business sponsors.
The Say What You Mean Convention is being hosted by JoJo Tabares and it’s happening on Wednesday, February 3. It’s absolutely free and completely virtual so you can attend even in your PJs! This year’s theme is The Three Flavors of Communication: Writing, Speech and Conversation. Tune into the live events on Wednesday, February 3rd. There will be a total of six live events, seminars and workshops throughout the day teaching various aspects of communication beginning at 8am PST/9am MST/10 am CST/11 am EST.
P.S. Teri has a brand new re-designed newsletter a little bit. Check it out at: http://www.knowledgehouse.info/KHnews/02-2010.html. You will find a biography of a famous homeschooled photographer, lots of downloadable freebies and interesting links!
Kinderbach is a lovely program for parents who want to expose their children to the wonders of music. It is designed for children three to seven years old and is a great introduction to more formal piano lessons. But don’t mistake this to be one of the “cutesy” toys parents buy their children to pretend that they are learning music. This is the real deal. Children will be learning about sharps and flats, keyboard placement, rhythm and notereading. But it’s done in such a gentle and fun way that even parents with music-phobias are able to relax and enjoy themselves.
Kinderbach musical curriculum consists of videos (available as online or DVDs), ebooks and a piano keyboard. For this review I concentrated on my middle daughter’s enjoyment and learning experience since she’s six years old. She was immediately engaged with the videos of the teachers. She finds them to be very entertaining and in many cases funny. She especially likes the way that the instructors teach the concept of higher and lower. They use this beautiful golden retriever and a set of stairs. As the dog goes up or down, the male voice has to pitch his voice accordingly. Those lessons give her a full case of the giggles. She also enjoyed doing the workbook pages which include coloring and minor craft work.
I liked the way that the instructors taught the children to remember the names of the keys on the keyboard. I found it interesting that they started with Dodi the Donkey (key of D) because when I was taking piano lessons many eons ago Middle C was king. But after watching the subsequent videos it made a lot of sense. Children need reference points, especially if they aren’t reading yet. So having illustrations like Dodi’s house for the key of D and making tents for Dodi all over the keyboard really is quite ingenious.
It was never a chore to get her to do her lessons and she learned a lot. Even her “over the hill” sister (at 10 years of age) took part in many of the activities because they were just so much fun. My three year old son, who is a perpetual motion machine, really enjoyed doing some of the musical routines that are in almost every video. We even formed a little band of drummers, piano players, singers and kazoos.
The children had a lot of fun with the program and Alaya, who never got a chance to take in-person piano lessons, was able to play simple songs on the piano after the first week of the program. I think that this is very important because drills don’t give you the satisfaction of being able to play a little tune for yourself or others. I didn’t have to fight with Alaya to do her musical lessons either, so that was definitely a plus.
Kinderbach can be utilized in a variety of ways. If you’d like an online subscription, the cost is $7.99/mo. for the entire family. If your internet connection is shaky, you might want to invest in the various DVD sets. The DVDs start at $55.95 (2 DVD set) and go up to $222.88 for the 10-DVD set. Before investing any money into the program, you can take advantage of the free trial to see if this is something that you and your children would enjoy.
P.S. Kinderbach has also been kind enough to give my readers a 10% discount on their product orders if you click the discount link. And don’t forget to have your kids enroll in the “Dodi Loves D” – Valentine Draw! The contest ends March 1st with the winner of the Everyday songbook being announced on March 3rd. Check out the main page, but your children’s masterpieces can be submitted by email or snail mail. So break out the crayons and begin your musical journey with Dodi. Khalid Family Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars
(I just found out about this fund-raiser, so I apologize for not giving you more advanced notice.)
The Estes Family at HandsandHearts.com are wrapping up a big, huge, wonderful looking package sale TODAY. Over $340 worth of excellent homeschooling AND PARENTING (not just for homeschoolers) resources from well-known homeschool authors and publishers for a tiny fraction of the value. Great stuff!
Here’s our added incentive to you to take a look at this and consider getting it TODAY, the last day this will be available:
If you do purchase this package * TODAY * (and this applies ONLY to folks who purchase this package TODAY) … just email the Erksine family a copy of your Paypal receipt ALONG WITH your snail mail address … let me just put their original email in there so that I don’t mix it up:
To claim your Audio CD “thank you” from us, you just need to email us (homeschooltime_@_gmail._com) your paypal receipt AND your snail mail address. The Audio CD offer is good ONLY for purchases made TODAY. (If you’ve already purchased this, that is terrific, thank you… but we can only make this offer – which comes from US and not the Estes’ – for today’s orders.)
Maestro Classics is a wonderful program designed to brng classical compositions to life by coupling them with traditional stories such as The Tortoise and the Hare (the CD selection that I received) as well as Peter & the Wolf, The Story of Swan Lake, Mike Mulligan & His Steam Shovel, to name but a few of their offerings.
There were a few things about this musical program that really appealed to me. For one thing I loved the illustrations that were used on the CD case as well as in the instructional booklet that is included. And speaking of instructional booklets, this one is a winner. Although it is small (to fit inside of the CD case) it is chock full of activities, information and discussion points for the entire family.
In The Tortoise and the Hare booklet they have information on the musical instruments that were used on the CD as well as a basic intoduction to musical notation and how it relates to math. My youngest daughter loves animals so the section on the difference between turtles/tortoises and rabbits/hares. There is are crossword puzzles, word scrambles and memory exercises to test how well the listeners were paying attention to the story.
The music is beautiful and played by the London Philharmonic Orchestra. So needless to say, the music is of excellent quality and very pleasing to listen to and sing along with for the kids. My almost ten year old daughter (who initially thought this was for the younger children since she’s such an old lady) really enjoyed the “Pretzel Vendor of Paris” song and played that one over and over again. My six year old daughter just loved the whole experience (for her it was an experience!) because it hit all of her pleasure buttons: music, singing and storytelling. Even my three year old son took time off from his job of dismantling my home to sit and listen while the CD was playing. So, the kids give it a definite 5 out of 5 stars.
This is a wonderful addition the family regardless of your educational choices. Hearing and connecting to fine music really is an often neglected activity in today’s hurried world. The stories are narrated in a very funny and entertaining way, but for me it was the music that made it all worthwhile. I love the way that music can change the mood of the story so quickly and expertly. No need for long explanations because you just feel it inside and it resonates with your soul.
Maestro Classics Stories in Music series can be purchased at their website as well as in retail stores. The best deals seem to be on the home website, so I’d recommend going there first. This is a high quality, high class introduction to classical music for the entire family at a very affordable price of $16.98 for single stories and gift sets cost $24.99. They are also adding Spanish language stories to their catalog for all those budding Spanish students and native speakers.
Music IS the universal language and Maestro Classics makes it one that you’ll like to listen to again and again.
Do you consider your home education to be a success if all the check boxes of “what a child should know by 12th grade” are completed or do you have another concept of what would make your homeschooling journey a success? When it comes to educating the children what is your goal?
I have been homeschooling for a number of years and have never really thought past the academics of it all. However, in October 2009 I went to my first homeschooling retreat down in Destin, FL. And one of the speakers, Rhea Perry of Educating for Success, talked about the importance of “Success Education.” It was great! This lecture made a huge impression on me because I don’t feel this gets discussed in the homeschooling community let alone the world at large. And it should.
Living in one of the more highly regulated homeschooling states it is very easy to get caught up in making sure that your children hit all of the artificial benchmarks set by the educational system. You know, “Let’s study for that PSSA so that you can get promoted to the next grade!” or “Let’s get that portfolio ready for the evaluator to tell us what a good job we’re doing this year.”
That’s all fine and dandy, but what about the benchmarks of life? What about knowing how to be financially self-sufficient? What about having an understanding of how economics works and using that knowledge to create a financially sound lifestyle? What about developing the skills and experience your children need to fulfill their passions and interest in the secular world? How about not just getting by but prospering so that you can freely devote time to helping others? Isn’t that even more important?
The form of education that is dispensed in schools (and unfortunately in many homeschooling curricula) is designed to create workers for the workforce, not to inspire or encourage original thinking and experimentation. It trains people to get the right answers, do what you’re told and keep your head down or you might standout. The goals today are a world apart from the way people were educated in early America. John Taylor Gatto, author of “Underground History of American Education” states:
“In early America young people in America were expected to make something of themselves, not to prepare themselves to fit into an established hierarchy. Young Americans were allowed close to the mechanisms of things. This rough and tumble practice kept social class elastic and American achievement in every practical field superb.”
As discussed at the seminar, a parent’s purpose is to:
Prepare our children for their life’s work so that they can make a comfortable living and be self-sufficient
Their education should have practical real life education and apprenticeships
We need to start with the end in mind and plan appropriately for each child
Our program should provide not only be academic, but include spiritual, emotional and financial education
We’re also here to help them prepare for the future so that they can help others make a difference in their lives.
And most of all not just get by or fall into a job, but to be proactive about structuring their own lives.
So what does all of this mean to us as parents? Our children are NOT too young to begin their life’s work. We need to stop and think about what our goal of home education is. Is it just to complete the “boxed curriculum” that generates worker drones who watch TV and complain about their lot in life? Or is it to train our children to have lives that make a difference in the world?
When we limit them by saying things like, “Oh let them have fun because they’ll be working for the rest of their lives” aren’t we condemning them to the lifestyle of financial struggles that we’ve experienced. Why not encourage them to take what they’re learning and find ways to use it to make their adult lives a balanced journey to be enjoyed and shared with others?
Children have the capacity, and indeed the desire, to contribute to the family’s well-being. Nowadays we think it’s “cute” when they say they want to open up a lemonade stand to help earn money, but in the past they were expected to be an asset to the family. Looking back on history we’ll see:
Abraham Lincoln was 8 when he helped his father build a brand new log home;
Thomas Edison by 14 had hired, fired, motivated and managed more people than 99% of the college graduates of his (and our) day;
When Mary Young Pickersgill was asked to make a flag so big that “the British have no trouble seeing it from a distance.” Her 13-year old daughter helped her. And now that flag is in the Smithsonian in the Museum of American History;
Alexander Graham Bell only attended school for five years from ages 10 to 14, but never stopped learning. He read books in his grandfather’s library and studied tutorials about teaching the deaf;
Sir Isaac Newton was called “a poor student” by his teachers because he was more interested in making mechanical devices than in studying. Amongst his many inventions he made a windmill that could grind wheat and corn, a water clock, a sundial and left the world Calculus amongst many other things.
These children had not only the knowledge that comes from books, but real life experience and application of the information that they learned. And those that can apply knowledge become wise and prosper. For my part, my goal is to provide my children not only with the academics that they need, but to help them find their life’s path through real life experiences. I don’t want them to have to learn about finances through trial and error like I did, but have that education at a young age so that they can begin making wise decisions right now. So what would you choose?
Please feel free to comment on what you think about this type of “success” focus. And if you’ve already been using this as your goal post, what types of things are you doing with your kids to help reach it.
I'm a homeschooling mom with six children: 3 human, 2 feline and 1 canine. I'm also the wife of one very patient husband who seems to like the role of ringmaster to our circus. I am a member of the TOS Crew as well as a virtual assistant who enjoys writing, crafts, music and laughter. I hope you'll visit often.
