A Net in Time

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Review: MathArt by NatureGlo’s eScience

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My son was very excited when he watch the trailer for NatureGlo’s eScience MathArt courses.  The idea of combining math with art, science, history and more was very appealing to him.  The MathArt Online 4-class bundle is proving to be just the ticket for him.

NatureGlo's eScience, a cross curricular math program, online, self-paced and encouraging of independent thought

Gloria Brooks developed these classes with the idea of encouraging students to ask questions.  As such she doesn’t say you have to do this, and then this, and then that.  But rather sets out the teaching aspect and then encourages her students to follow up with what they want to learn more about.   There is a lot of freedom in her classes and she builds the learning up one step at a time. 

What course did we take?

My son has been busy learning about Fibonacci and the golden ratio. How it can be found everywhere in the world.   He’s been enjoying this mostly on-line program with PDF’s.
NatureGlo's eScience, math connections with the real world

This course includes

#1: Introduction & History of the Golden Ratio and the Fibonacci Numbers
#2: The Golden Number & Fibonacci in Art, Architecture & Nature
#3: The Fibonacci Numbers in Nature
#4: The History & the Golden Ratio of the Great Pyramid
#5: Phi & Quasicrystals
#6: The Mathematics of Music

How did we use this?

My original goal, based on watching the overview and the free sample, was to have my lad do two lessons per week. We downgraded my expectations to one lesson a week, once we truly understood Gloria’s methodology.  We chose to spread out the workload thereby allowing my lad to really dig into the parts that he was most interested in.   It was great to be able to slow down and research terms we were unfamiliar with.  To break down the lesson into the bite sized pieces that my lad so enjoys.  It’s been so interesting watching him learn and what has peaked his curiousity. 

The first lesson, my son required a fair bit of hand-holding as he figured out how the program worked and that it was okay to stop and just research unfamiliar terms. It was a hard lesson for us, but we learned a lot!  We actually emailed Gloria and told her what we were struggling, and then had the joy of seeing how responsive Gloria was to questions from her students.  She reworked the first lesson plan just to help my lad better understand some terminology.  Isn’t it wonderful when a creator is able to do that?

Our Basic Routine went as follows:

Mondays my son would watch the video or read through the slides.  

The slides were basically the video without the audio component where she would read the slide and basically talk her way through them.   As you can see, the slides are very clear.

Tuesday and Wednesday

He would read through project possibilities and start to work on them.  Either by doing some research, watching videos and/or printing off materials needed and working through them. 

The student is able to pick from a variety of options for their project.  They can either choose to do a big project where they do a little bit every week, OR they can choose to do a smaller project every week.  My son chose the options of working on something smaller every lesson. 

One of the projects my son chose to do was making this tool to demonstrate the measuring for the Golden Ratio.

 

Thursday quizzes

My son made me laugh.  We discovered the quizlets…and he sits beside me excitedly telling me that he beat his last score!   “Mom, do you think I can get down to 10 seconds?”   As you can see from the picture below they have different quizlets: Match, Learn, Test, Flashcards and Spell.  Each of these quizzes teaches or tests the material the student needs to know for the lesson test.  

I love having all the PDF’s, being able to download them and save it all the computer. Being able to print off JUST the pages that I want.   My son enjoyed being able to print off the tests as well as being able to do them online. He didn’t like that the online tests would mark the answer as wrong if you capitalized the word rather than leave it as lowercase.

On the otherhand, he loved it, if he got an answer wrong, that it would tell him what the correct answer was.

I found that the PDF’s were very thorough.  From the student workbook delineating projects for the class, to the study guide that goes through the powerpoint presentation, and lesson quiz (along with the answers), Gloria covers all the bases that she can.

Tip One:

When looking for the course you want and you can’t see it, click the “all courses” button. 🙂 For me, since I also have the free class listed as one of my courses, the all courses button screen looks like this:

Each class (Math Connections with the Real World, MathArt in Ancient Cultures, Mathematics in the Arts & Sciences, MathArt – Patterns in Nature) is six weeks long, my son is thinking he’ll work through the ancient cultures one next. 

Tip Two:

Make sure you utilize the side panel. Makes working your way through the course a whole lot easier. As you complete each lesson and mark it off, the colour fades and gets crossed out. This does not mean you cannot refer back to lessons. Each link remains active.

Benefits:

NatureGlo’s  eScience program is something a whole family can do together (at least the students 10 and up).  One price for the whole family.  It can be used by Christian and non-Christian families equally as origins are not discussed.  It’s interactive, and self-paced. You can see where you are in the course and go back and forth as many times as you need to. You get a slideshow with PDF downloads showing those slides one page at a time, as well as great study guides and workbooks to help you work through the material.  It all builds upon each other.  Gloria is very responsive to inquiries which is completely wonderful.  Content is provided for students who want to work beyond what is presented.  Students can approach this course in a manner that best suits them.

My Thoughts:

It’s organized in a way that my son can mostly work through the material on his own.  He tends to call me in when he’s working through a test, or trying to confirm just what a project is calling for.  I loved that his first journal project included a topic he loves… he found the Fibonacci sequence in spiders!   He was so delighted.  🙂

NatureGlo's eScience MathArt

 

Quotes from My Lad:

“Natureglo, so far I like it.  I like that I can either watch the video or I can just go through the slide show pictures on my own.   Sometimes I like to listen and other times I like to just read.” 

“One of the things I would have liked.  With the slide show videos, because she did them live, it would be nice if she could edit out where the students are circling things.”

“I really like that it gives me a choice as to what project I can do.” 

“I plan to work my way through all these courses Mom, I really like them.  Make sure you tell them that!”

 
NatureGlo's eScience.
MathArt Online 4-Class Bundle.
Gloria Brooks
Class length vary.
Four Bundle unit of online combination math, 
science, art classes
Pricing: See here.
For PC, Mac, Linux, iOS or Android platforms.
One year subscription.
Ages 10+

70 families from the Homeschool Review Crew Checked out NatureGlo’s eScience courses.  Click here or below.

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Review: Mighty Big and Super Great

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When I was asked to review the picture book Mighty Big and Super Great: Texas is the Lone Star State I leapt at the chance.  Who wouldn’t take an opportunity to learn about a place where a good friend lives?   She’s intrigued me often by the places she goes with her children so it’s only right to learn more eh?  

Mighty Big and Super Great, Texas is the Lone Star State book cover. My review.

Anyways, Mighty Big and Super Great is written by a lad who obviously have a love for her state. Written in rhyme, set in an aa bb meter, we are introduced to heroes of old, the economics of Texas as well as the people and culture.   The graphics bring the land to life, showing the wide open spaces, the bluebonnets, Texas’ motto, the oil rigs and the cattle.   We are introduced to places of beauty and the capital city.

Does it have EVERYTHING about Texas in it?  No.. I saw no big cities, swimming pools or movie stars.  No pictures of big business…but I was shown the heart of Texas and that’s a lovely thing to see.  🙂

If you are of a mind to start learning about the State of Texas, this heart felt book is a great place to start.   Maybe it will get you in the mood to start exploring this state eh?

At the close of the book you will find a number of facts about Texas pages, including the Texas song and pledge and a map of the state. 

Mighty Big and Super Great, Texas is the 
   lone star state.
Amber Manning (author)
Kory Fluckiger (illustrator)
Bluebonnet Kids.
Hardcover, ages 5-10, 32 pages
Non fiction, USA, geography, poetry
Where to find: Amazon Link.

Review: City Trails – Tokyo

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City Trails is a series of books from Lonely Planet Kids that leads the reader through different cities around the world.  Today we are looking at Tokyo.  In it we will learn the secrets, stories and other cool stuff found in this magnificent city. 

My review of the book city trails tokyo, seeing tokyo in ways unexpected.

In the beginning of the book we get the table of contents, along with a map showing the points of interest.  We get to watch a fish feeding, learn about earthquakes, visit Robot world, see the cars of the future and go to the theatre.   All the major points of interest are highlighted to give you a well rounded view of the city.

In the process of visiting these points of interest we are also introduced to Japanese culture (such as it’s polite to talk quietly in public and one doesn’t express feelings of emotion in public). The fun of the kite festivals and so much more. 

Sample pages from City Trails - tokyoAs you can see, the pages are in full colour, with a mixture of photos and drawings. The image of the Robot Park made me want to go visit it.  Would be fun to see it you know?  The reader is taken down into the fabric district, the traditional food streets, and all the places dedicated to animals.  

What I thought:

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, it showed me parts of Tokyo I hadn’t even considered.  Who would think of a museum dedicated to parasites?  Or learning what traditional Japanese underwear was?   It was just filled with interesting tidbits about the city and the Japanese culture.  Just a fun book.  Made me want to go visit Tokyo so I could see all these sights for myself.. perhaps one day. 🙂  This would be a great book to hand to an upper elementary to middle school student if you are doing a country study, or wanting to visit Japan.  They could easily pick a few items out that they wanted to know more about. 

cover of book City Trails Tokyo 
City Trails: Tokyo
Anna Claybourne
Lonely Planet Kids
104 pages, 8-12 years.
Board cover with flap, geography
Series: City Trails
Reviewed for: Raincoast Books. 

Where to purchase?   Amazon Link.

Other books that teach about geographical areas:

Following the Great Wall. 
Rocky Mountain Explorer.
Mission to Pluto.

Review: CursiveLogic

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Over the past year my lad has been learning cursive, predominately using CursiveLogic to do so.  He has been cementing his lowercase skills and complaining that he needs to learn his uppercase letters. Recently I received the CursiveLogic Quick-Start Pack and The Art of Cursive.  My son said “YAY!!!   I can learn my uppercase letters!”

Among my homeschool friends I’ve had people ask why I’m teaching cursive to my son since it’s no longer taught in most public schools.   I tell them it’s good for his brain and he needs to learn to sign his signature well.  As I was working through this review I thought it would be good to discuss why learning cursive is so important as well as discuss why CursiveLogic works so well.  

Did you know that teaching cursive has the following benefits?  It helps to develop fine motor skills, reinforces skills learned (such as how to spell words), confidence in signing legal documents (needing to provide a signature), good cursive is an art form (so not my chicken scratch), and if you learn to write it, you can learn to read it which gives you access to historical documents.  Many people still write in cursive, therefore why restrict yourself to only reading printing?  It’s an important skill that we shouldn’t so easily lose. 

CursiveLogic, a logical approach to learning cursive for all ages.

The CursiveLogic Quick-Start Pack

This pack includes a video to teach you how to use CursiveLogic, as well as the CursiveLogic book.  

The Video:

One of the changes that CursiveLogic did to the program from the past, was to add a teacher training video.  This is a video that goes through their methodology.  Here we learn why they chose different colours for learning cursive, and why they group letters as they do. We also learn why they use a catch phrase to help students learn or improve their skills in cursive.  “The goal of CursiveLogic is even, automatic handwriting.  Even means the student makes the same shape every time.”    They explain everything so that the teacher has a good grounding in the reasoning behind their methodology.  From why they group letters as they do, to why lower case letters are taught first and so on.   Just so you know… your average student should be able to master the lowercase letters within a week or two, just needing practice to fine tune their writing.   They are uniform and easy to master, cover 95% of all writing, and therefore builds confidence.   This video walks you through all the lessons and is about an hour long.

 

The System:

• Shape-based approach… if you look at the orange string above you can see how they have similar shape.
• Four letter strings that each share a common shape 
• Students learn to connect letters right from the start
• CursiveLogic uses multisensory approach that uses color, movement, verbal, and auditory tools – appeals to all learning styles
• Students write real words the first week. This means they are putting into practice their skills immediately.
• A logical approach that is easy for students to understand.

Lower case letters (four lessons) are taught first as they make up the bulk of the writing people do. Upper case letters (6 lessons) follow.

The Steps are easy to remember: Make sure you have the proper posture, have paper and pencil/pen. Hold your pen in a triangle hold. The book gives instructions on the best grip and method of writing, even to how to angle the paper for best writing. Each string has a similar methodology to it: use your finger to trace the letter, as you start your letter, say the steps needed to make the letter. For example in the orange string you would say “over, back-trace” Each string has it’s own catch phrase.

Our Usage of the Book:

Lowercase letters are in the first half of the book, just flip a page for the next part.  When you get to the close of the lowercase  lessons, you flip the page around and start working on the Uppercase Letters. 

The lad wanted this review JUST so he could learn the upper case letters really well.  I asked him though to practice his lower case just to refresh his memory. Once he breezed through this I left him to fly with the Upper Case Letters.

The practice lines are well spaced, but my lad for some reason gets twisted in a knot over tracing letters or using practice lines with the middle line in it, so he likes to practice on scrap paper.   Gives him lots of room to make the letters as big as he wants and then as he grows proficient to then fit them into your standard lined paper.    I was happy to see his willingness to make his own sentences after just starting with the first string of capital letters.  Seeing his confidence blossom with his uppercase letters is wonderful!  

The Art of Cursive Logic:

Did you know that CursiveLogic also has a colouring book?  I know!  Rather neat eh?  Here’s a video giving you a bit of the background and purpose of their colouring book. Imagine a colouring book that includes the shapes and letters of writing.

 

I happen to like colouring so I thought I’d give it a whirl.  It is meant for adults rather than children, but if you have a detail oriented child, this colouring book would give them just the right amount of challenge. It was rather fun to do the different shapes in their own colour.  I learned that if I want to make the letter shapes, marker works best.  Using pencil crayon means I’m mostly colouring, whereas using a marker ensures I’m making the shapes of the letters readily.    OH… and cool thing.. each page is made two-sided.  One with the art work, and on the backside, practice letters or quotes. Ergo if as an adult you are learning cursive (or just wanting to touch up your skills) you could use the backsides to learn.  OR.. if you wanted to give your children extra practice you could colour your page and then give the backside to your children. 

CursiveLogic Quick-Start Pack
The Art of Cursive
CursiveLogic
Products and Pricing: see here.
Sale: ends March 31. Save 20% on the Quick-start pack 
    use this code: CREW2018
Reviewed for: Homeschool Review Crew.

100 members of the crew used CursiveLogic.  You can read their reviews here.

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PlayTestShare 2018 and Contest

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I have two FASCINATING items for you today.  Raincoast Books is doing their annual PlayTestShare contest and I get to take part again.  Pretty cool eh?  This year I have two fantastic items to share with you: Alpha Shapes and Which Would You Choose?  Stay tuned because the contest details are coming later on.

Thet annual contest for #playtestshare from Raincoast books

Alpha Shapes

Alpha Shapes is a really neat set of blocks that you can use to make words or letters.   They come in a variety of colours and various geometric shapes.  They are fun to play with, just to let your children explore and then gradually as they explore show them (or let them discover on their own) how you can use them to make words and letters.

This modern twist on alphabet blocks offers a new way to see the beauty of letterforms. Adults and children alike can build letters and words out of the 39 colorful wooden pieces, spelling out names or creating personalized messages for display.   Its fun sometimes just to play with blocks isn’t it?   The letters and words you can create, or the different shapes…

My son and I had fun playing with these blocks.  Making different shapes and then trying to get them back into the box.  It’s a good thing they have a handy guide because when I tried to wing it well… let’s just say the lad shook his head at me and redid my efforts.  🙂

After Dinner Amusements: Which Would You Choose?

Oh my…you want a conversation starter?   Start going through these 50 cards!   You either get two equally intriguing options  or two equally unappealing options.   Then you get the fun of discussing why you made the choice.  My lad and I had such good conversations, we generally disagreed but we did agreed on this one.

You are granted the power of flight, but you can only fly to work.  OR  you are granted the power of invisibility, but you can only use it once a month.    Both of our eyes lit up with glee.. INVISIBILITY!!!!!   Oh the fun we would have!  The jokes we could play, the sneaking around we could do finding ways to be kind right under the nose of someone, the conversations we could overhear…and the cats…what would they think?   Could we fool them or would they always be able to sense us.. cause cats seem to always know things…..

With 50 hilarious and thought-provoking questions asking players to choose between two equally good, unpleasant, or absurd scenarios, this revealing party game leads to interesting conversations and good fun for all ages!  I went through each of the cards and found all to be very family friendly.  Just imagine the conversations and fun you could have around your table?

The Giveaway!

So Raincoast is doing a giveaway for CANADIAN residents 18+ years of age only.  You get to choose from the two I chose OR one of the following.. IF you are the winner!

Llamanoes
A hilarious herd of llamas star in this laugh-out-loud twist on the game of dominoes. From Llama-nardo da Vinci to Super Llama (it’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s . . . a llama?), kids, families, and llama enthusiasts will have a blast matching heads to tails to complete the chain and win! It’s a goofy gift, a boredom-busting game, and a great way to develop matching and fine motor skills, all in one appealing and colorful package.

Pass the Parcel: A Party Game
Everyone wins in this modern take on a classic British party game! Players take turns unwrapping the parcel to uncover cheeky dares that will soon have the whole group beaming. Under the last layer, there’s an envelope containing a special surprise!

Draw Like An Artist: Pop Art
A collection of eighteen fun and colorful activities for aspiring Warhols, Hockneys, and Lichtensteins ages ten and up, or anyone who enjoys working with color, pattern, and pop-culture imagery, and gaining a better understanding of the 20th century’s most popular art movement. Sixteen perforated pages provide plenty of raw material for collage, drawing backgrounds, and inspiration.

The Mystery Mansion
Reviving the Victorian craze for ‘myrioramas’, the 20 picture cards can be placed in any order to create seamless scenes. Almost infinite combinations of cards provide endless storyscaping possibilities. Find sinister suits of armour and the aftermaths of strange accidents, butlers with a grudge and glamorous couples where revenge is never far from the surface. With many games to play and millions of stories to tell, each turn of the card is a new adventure. Where will the story take you?

Crocodile and Friends Animal Memory Game
Fossil, a good-natured crocodile who just wants some peace and quiet, quickly won the hearts of children everywhere in the delightful picture book The Quiet Crocodile. Now Fossil and his friends are back, ready to play, in this fun memory game. The fifty-two cards feature twenty-six charming illustrations of Fossil and his many friends, nested in a handsome keepsake box. An added bonus is a folded poster showing all of the animal friends together, from Fippo the Hippo and Ryan the Lion to Pat the Cat.

In the Ocean: My Nature Sticker Activity Book
The world’s oceans are home to many different species and plants, from tiny organisms like plankton to the world’s largest animal, the blue whale. Deep down in the seas’ depth, you will even find some monstrous-looking creatures that seem to have come straight out of a fairy tale. Vivid digital illustrations help introduce a variety of aquatic creatures in this addition to the My Nature Sticker Activity Book series.

Bob the Artist: Dominoes
Bob the Artist, first introduced in the quirky Bob the Artist picture book, loves to paint with brightly colored splashes, but he has got into a bit of a mess. Help Bob clear up his paints by matching the colors and numbers in this fun game of dominoes. A wonderful concept game for toddlers!

Giveaway.  Remember.. Canadian residents only.  18+ years.  Giveaway hosted by Raincoast.

 

Review: Deep Water

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Based on the author’s scuba diving experience, Deep Water is a case of “what if”. What if you were scuba diving and your boat got lost?  What would you do?  How would you handle it?  Watt Key asks the question.. will you Sink or Survive?

Cover for review Deep Water. good middle school adventure read.

Julie and her dad run a scuba diving business in Alabama. They have an important client and his son to take on a dive, but dad falls ill once they are out on the water.  This means that Julie has to take over the dive, but things go downhill.

Almost before Julie and the divers know it they find themselves in major trouble. What will happen?  (sorry, can’t tell you or I’d have to issue a spoiler alert).Back cover to book Deep Water.

I found the characters well developed, though the character of Dad seemed a bit weak in the defining.  I enjoyed the story, it seemed quite plausible.  The characters were interesting, and a depth was shown that I didn’t expect. I disliked the stereotypical use of sharks, but otherwise found the book interesting to read and informative (never thought about sea lice before) or the difference in colour between deep ocean water and coastal water.  It’s good to learn while reading good fiction is it not?

My thoughts.

Do I think your middle schooler would like this book?   If they like adventure and seeing people do better than expected.. then YES!   If they like learning what happens in hard scenarios with some science behind it.. then YES! If they want to see hope and smart thinking in action… then YES!   If they want everything to turn out well for everyone at the end… perhaps not. It’s not all sunshine and roses.  Hard adventures are sometimes like that.  It was a good read and I’m glad I was introduced to this author….now to see if my lad will enjoy it!

The cover to book Deep water, a book I recently reviewed. 
Deep Water: Sink ... or Survive. 
Watt Key
Farrar Straus Giroux
Softcover, 265 pages, middle school
Adventure, coming of age, divorce, Character
Reviewed for: Raincoast Books.

Where to Find: Amazon Link.

Review: Bizarre Space – a Kid’s Guide to our Strange, Unusual Universe

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Bizarre Space is a great book for children who are interested in our strange and usual universe.   Jenn Dlugos and Charlie Hatton have done a marvellous job in creating a child friendly book to intrigue and educate children about space. Bizarre Space A kids guide ot our strange unusual universe

My son is not what you would call a fast reader, over the course of two weeks I was surprised that he finished it So quickly and came back to me with a glowing report.   Those happy reports are always a good thing you know?

What do you get?

Six sections: The Innies, The Outies, Comets & Asteroids and such, super-duper stars, Life’s better in the Milky Way, and Your Universe and You. Each of these sections has five subsections. Within those sections you will find humour, trivia questions, information, real life images, people who work in the field, diagrams and all sorts of fascinating facts.   If you have questions about space…this book will at least answer some of them, and if you are like my son… will inspire more.

The Lad’s Thoughts:

“I like the book, the language is easy to understand, I liked the images.  I like learning about space.  This was a good book to read.  If you like learning about space you should read this book.”

My Thoughts:

I really like the set up for this book, how it move out into space in a spiral pattern.  The trivia questions get a person thinking, and then searching for the answer to see if you got it right. They weren’t easy guess them questions, but one’s to help you think about the topic being presented.  My son thoroughly enjoyed reading it and has set him on a course of wanting to read more non-fiction books like this one. 

Bizarre Space: A kid's Guide to our 
    strange, unusual universe. 
Jenn Dlugos and Charlie Hatton
Prufrock Press Inc.
300 pages, middle school, non-fiction
Softcover
Reviewed for: Raincoast Books.
Where to find: Amazon Link.