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A Net in Time

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Language Arts

Absurd Words

February 9, 2022 By Annette1 2 Comments

Disclosure: I received this complimentary product (Absurd Words) through Raincoast Books.  Affiliate Links will be used, thank you for your support of my blog, costs you nothing to do so, and is so much appreciated. 🙂 

Oh, I love this book!  Ever since I was young I loved using interesting words much to the chagrin of my Netherlands-born parents!  Through reading books I met a lot of interesting words and how to put them all together. Absurd Words would TOTALLY have been up my ally as a child.  This is a fun and hilarious look at all sorts of great words!  Though not a good as reading a great novel, it’s an excellent way to meet new words quickly! 

absurd words

Learning More about Absurd Words

Absurd Words: A kids’ fun and hilarious vocabulary builder for future word nerds was put together by vocab virtuoso Tara Lazar!  From start to finish, all 320 pages are filled with words.   You’ll find idioms, factoids about word usage, history, root words and so much more!  Illustrations are sprinkled throughout the 32 chapters bringing in colour and life, and just a little bit of fun.  🙂   You have to admit… learning new words can be a blast, why not enjoy the journey even more?    

I am reviewing an ARC version from Raincoast Books. 

What you’ll find in Absurd Words

Although the copy I received was predominately in grey scale, included where a number of full colour pages.  What a bright a colourful book this will be!   Even the table of contents suggests what a fun book this will be read for learning new words!

Having a fun way to learn new words is just fantastic don’t you think?  A well-rehearsed vocabulary just helps you to accurately convey your thoughts don’t you find? 

I remember reading a story about a family of brothers, who once their parents passed, decided to educate their younger sister as best they could.  Part of that was to choose one word a day.  Learn it’s definition and use it in as many sentences as they could each day.  The next day they would add another word.  They wanted their younger sister to have every advantage, and knowing how to talk well was just part of that.   I took that thought and ran with it with my lad while homeschooling. We had fun with a lot of words!  🙂 If we’d had Absurd Words on hand it would have made it really easy for us. 

I love the sheer variety of ways that words are presented.  From definitions above to words used in specific situations.  The book is well-divided into categories, so if you were doing a section on mysteries, or measurement or any of 32 different categories, the work is done for you!

What else will you find?

Throughout this tome you will find yourself encourage to think outside the box, try on different words for size, and have fun with the words that you use!  Although geared for youth 8-13 years old, adults and others will also find it highly engaging.  Being a word nerd is fun, and this book totally exploits that! 

Tara Lazar makes sure that the reader learns how to pronounce each word, gets the definition, how to use it in a sentence and synonyms. 

Interspersed with all the new vocabulary you will find the roots of words, word comparisons, tables, odd words, history, graphs and so much more! 

Discovering illustrations on every page that suit the flavour of this read. King Kong is a great example of pop culture don’t you think? 

Should This be on Your Shelves?

If you are raising a word nerd, if you ARE a word nerd, or just simply want to be inspired, pick up Absurd Words today!  Laugh, be surprised, expand your word knowledge and usage.  Throughout it all, be delighted as you have fun following words from one place to the next.  Find new words you can use to influence those around you (or confuse them if you must!).  🙂 

As Tara Lazar says right from the get go : “Words are amazing things! After all, without them you wouldn’t be able to read this sentence. In fact, this whole book would be black and white scribbles that mean absolutely zero, zilch, nada.     So hooray for words!” 

Let’s celebrate words together shall we? 

Filed Under: Homeschooling, Reviews Tagged With: Book Review, Books for Middle School, Language Arts, Raincoast

Word Travelers

January 8, 2022 By Annette1 2 Comments

Disclosure: I received this complimentary product (Word Travelers) through Raincoast Books.  Affiliate Links will be used, thank you for your support of my blog, costs you nothing to do so.

Ooohhh… an adventure story for elementary students!  🙂   What fun!  Eric and his best friend MJ love having sleep-overs and despite their differences remain great friends.  It all starts with yet another sleepover and a question… “What do you think the word pajamas means?”  Before you know it, the children are off on an adventure.

word travelers the mystery of the taj mahal treasure

What I am Reviewing

Word Travelers: the Mystery of the the Taj Mahal Treasure was put together by Paj Jaldar.  Raj Haldar is a New York Times bestselling author.  He also wrote other books that I thoroughly enjoyed such as No reading allowed and Pterodactyl the worst Alphabet book.  Given that fun of that particular read I was intrigued by the possiblities of this one.  It is the first in a series of Word Travelers.   The next one takes us to Mexico.  

This particular book is geared to 7-10 year olds, it’s an early chapter book.  An ARC copy was provided for me by Raincoast Books. Sourcebooks Explore is the publisher and it runs at 132 pages.  Illustrated by Neha Rawat.

Learning more about Word Travelers!

Two good friends find themselves on an adventure complete with clues to solve.  Do you stop and solve the clue before continuing on with the story?  It’s sometimes a hard choice to stop or just continue, I find myself mixing it up when I come across clues in books. This one I even knew the answer to beforehand!

You’ll find images scattered throughout, every page has something to further expand on the story. Neha Rawat does an excellent job of bringing out the emotions of the characters.  

I love that the bad guy is bad.  He is, but he’s not a slimey, horrible bad guy.  Just a guy out to make money and try to mess over the goals of the kids. Being kids helps them out in the end as the bad guy simply can’t do what they can do!  The angry face and the dark clothes makes him very obvious, good for a children’s book.  

You’ll find the writing suitable for children 7-10 with any unusual words being defined, not only within context, but also in the glossary at the close of the book.  This book is part adventure and part education, woven together into a fun, fast-paced story. 

Add it to your shelves?

Will your 7-10 year olds enjoy Word Travelers: The Mystery of the Taj Mahal treasure?  I think so.  The writing is easy, new words are explained, and there’s a mystery to solve by two best friends!  This all makes for a fun and interesting read.  Having to solve clues…. even better!    

Having lots of pictures (even the grey scale ones in my copy) just help bring the story to life, all the better for young readers! 

Homeschoolers might love this book if studying India or the origin of words.  You’ll find it a good introduction to the world of etymology… and who knows where that interest might lead. 🙂 

Filed Under: Homeschooling, Reviews Tagged With: Book Review, Books for Elementary School, Language Arts, Raincoast

Progeny Press’s Frankenstein E-guide

November 3, 2021 By Annette1 2 Comments

DISCLAIMER. I received this complimentary product through the Homeschool Review Crew.

Do you know what Progeny Press does well?   They make study guides for books.  The goal?  To help children/teens think critically, with a faith emphasis, about the books they are reading.  This saves homeschooling parents so much time!  They do all the work for and it’s great! Progeny Press’s Frankenstein E-guide helps your high school student dig deeper into this classic work

Progeny Press's Frankenstin Eguide

The Details about the Frankenstein E-guide

You will receive a 79 page downloadable file that you have one year to download.  Within the pages of the guide you will discover information about the author, pre-reading activities, note to the instructor, a brief synopsis of the book studied, background information as well as study question.  These study questions cover vocabulary, various literary techniques and discussion questions.  The PDF e-guide can be editted or printed off depending on what works best for your student.  It sells for $21.99

So what do you get from Progeny Press?

I love all the before you get the the study material.  It’s fantastic to have a biography of author, as well as historical information and more. It all helps to get the most out of a study don’t you find?

I also love that the PDF’s are fully editable.  How fantastic for a student to simply fill it out online negating the need to print it off.  In our house, anything over 30ish pages means we send it out for printing (old printer) … and not having to have that expense is wonderful! 

Specific Elements

I also have never thought about doing pre-study, studies.  Seeing some of the warm-up options encourages me to try these with some of the books I have planned for my lad this year.

Each lesson contains vocabulary lessons.  I appreciate that these vocabulary lessons aren’t the same lesson to lesson.  Sometimes they look at a word in context, other times fill-in-the-blanks, and yet others something like the synonym study below. 

As you progress thru Progeny Press’s Frankenstein e-guide you will discover various literary techniques.  Some of these techniques are : In context, dictionary, characterization, allusion, foreshadowing, adjectives, Gothic novel, versimilitude, compare/contrast, metaphor, and contrivance.  Many other techniques are studied as well.  I’m amazed at just how much they cover and I think you will be too! 

Digging Deeper

Plenty of opportunities are provided for students to dig deeper and think deeper about what they are reading.  Frequently students are encouraged to add faith into the mix.   In the introduction, instructors are encouraged to have a thesaurus, bible concordance, dictionary and Bible easily at hand.  In this manner, students are encouraged to apply their worldview to the materials they interact with. 

You know what’s rather nice?   Essay options!  It’s hard to come up with an essay topic on a book study (been there, done that).  It’s tough.  Progeny Press takes that pressure away by providing several options for students to choose from.  They can discuss critique Shelley’s writing style, or consider the moral framework of the book, or even write about what Frankenstein offers current biologists!  More than 10 essay topics are provided. 

Answer Key

The answer key is provided under separate file for Progeny Press’s Frankenstein E-guide.  This means you can either provide it to your students for self-correcting, or use it to keep answers private until after grading. 

As your students study Frankenstein they will be able to further discuss moral issues and deepen their character and what they value.   Issues/values such as motivation, pride, friendship, guit, ambition, revenge and more. 

The wide variety of activities and writing assignments will provide motivation and prevent boredom.  You will find a well-written study including drama, research and discussion. 

Since having a Christian worldview is important to Progeny Press authors, you will find it present throughout the e-guide.   I appreciate the extra depth added to the literature study. 

What do I think of Progeny Press’s Frankenstein E-guide?

Well done.  After reviewing Progeny Press’s Frankenstein E-guide I’m thinking to add it to my son’s Language Arts program (which I’m currently in process of developing) for this coming January.   I love the variety in questions and discussions, and I find the options for essays varied.   My son would easily to be to take a couple of the topics and write up a three page essay for me.   If he really liked it I’d have no problem rounding out his senior year of study with a good number of them. 

Social Media Links: Progeny Press

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/progenypress
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/progenypress
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/progenypress
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/progenypress

Hashtags:
For use on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook

#hsreviews #homeschool #literature #reading #comprehension #unitstudies #progenypress

Read the Reviews!

41 Reviewers members of the crew checked out these literature studies.

  • Wagon Wheels Study Guide
  • Cricket in Times Square Study Guide
  • Redwall Study Guide
  • Frankenstein Study Guide
Progeny Press Literature Study Guides

Filed Under: Homeschooling, Reviews Tagged With: Curriculum, Highschool, Language Arts, TOS

Words Rock Online by EdAlive

June 29, 2021 By Annette1 8 Comments

Disclosure: I received this complimentary product through the Homeschool Review Crew

For the past few weeks I”ve been looking at a comprehensive literacy programme by EdAlive.  This Australian-based company creates online programs to help students increase their literacy, math, and reading success.  Words Rock Online allows for two methods of play, thereby encompassing a wide range of student needs.   Let’s learn more eh? 

edalive review

The Basic Details

Today I am reviewing EdAlive’s programme Words Rock Online.  They also produce two other games called Baggin’ the Dragon Maths Online and Volcanic Panic Reading Success Online. 

Words Rock Online is a programme designed with homeschoolers in mind. You can play in game mode, which lets you play one round of a game, then asks a question, rinse repeat.  We did not really use this mode in our home.  Then you have the questions only mode.  This mode gives you 10 questions to answer in each block. 

This homeschool languages art program focuses on reviewing all the different aspects of language arts.  You’ll cover advanced grammar, spelling, vocabulary, grammar along with punctuation.  The set-up allows you to zero in on a particular area, or cover all areas at the same time. 

Pricing is tiered.  The more children you have, the less you pay per subscription.  Their pricing page has details.  Pricing starts at $90/year.  Each subscription is suitable for one child due to the interactive elements. 

As you work through the interactive elements you can say if a question is too difficult.  Answers are provided if you get the question incorrect, but no explanations are given.  It’s a “test your knowledge” program, which allows you to research what you don’t understand. 

Words Rock Online is geared for students age 5-15+.   Some of the questions include easy grammar, fun spelling activities, word smart vocabulary, alliteration excises, as well as a variety of fun games for middle school and beyond.  

How Does Words Rock Online Work?

Words Rock Online has two modes.

Words Rock Online - EdAlive

I made a short video to show you what the game mode is like.   In the video mode you can play against other people, or against the computer.   It breaks up the answering questions with needing to hunt for slugs.  How well you perform your the questions affects your gameplay overall. 

In this household, we didn’t use this format very often. 

And also one to show you what the lessons only mode is like.   Lesson mode gives you a series of 10 questions in a row.  If you have chosen the all content you will get questions of all different sorts.  You can also choose to focus on specific areas to strengthen skills.   This was our predominant method of use.

You get two chances to get the work right.  If you are incorrect it will show you what you should have done.  You do need to make sure you read the question correctly and not miss any steps.  Sometimes you will need to capitalize your words or even though you are technically correct you will be graded as incorrect. 

Occasionally you will be asked a question that you don’t the answer to.  In that case you can say “too hard” or you can take a wild guess!  Most of the time you will be asked questions you can easily answer if you just think the problem through and take your time.  There are no time limits, so no pressure is applied that way.

Some troubles

In this question below the symbol was never defined so I thought the question was unfair.  Unless this is just something people are taught in grammar classes!    Note: I’m not a grammar geek.  🙂   I do wish that for some of the corrections that an explanation could be provided. 

Feedback

I love immediate feedback!  Not only for each question, but also for your overall session.   I also like that you can look back and see improvement if you go to tools and reports. 

If you finish your session you can stop or immediately start a new session.  How long you use the program is completely up to you.  You can finish a game or finish in the middle of a lessons-only series and it does not affect the program’s overall usefulness.  It will start up again when you next log in. 

As you can see it’s really easy to see how you are doing with EdAlive.  Areas that need additional work are easy to spot, as are the areas that your student excels in.  Feedback for student and teacher is very clear.

Should you Get Words Rock Online?

I love the variety of quizzing opportunities available in Words Rock Online.  The fact that you can complete the quizzes in two different formats is absolutely fantastic. Children learn in so many different ways so providing options is essential.   My son would be unimpressed with the game, and would appreciate that he can focus in on a particular type of lesson.  Other children would prefer the games, and/or like to mix up the lessons they get. 

Promoting attention to detail in answering questions was so important, and something I see a real need for in the papers I mark for a high school science class. It’s something I often remind my son to do.  Read the question all the way through.  Write your answer then reread the question to make sure you answered the entire question.   It’s annoying to lose points for not paying attention so I’m glad that EdAlive reinforces that important principle. 

Find EdAlive on Social Media!

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EdAlive
Twitter: https://twitter.com/edalive
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/edalive_onlinelearning/
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com.au/edalive/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/EdAliveTube

Read the Reviews!

36 Members of the Homeschool Review Crew have examined EdAlive. I urge you to check out their reviews by clicking the image below.   We have looked at Baggin’ the Dragon Maths Online,  Volcanic Panic Reading Success Online and Words Rock Online.

click to read

Filed Under: Homeschooling, Reviews Tagged With: Language Arts, TOS

The Wanderer

February 20, 2021 By Annette1 2 Comments

Peter Van den Ende has put together a marvellous wordless storybook for us.  Black and white images flood the pages as we watch the adventures of a little paper boat exploring the oceans of the world.   The Wanderer is filled with imagination and stories.  A delight to behold. Come, be delighted.

Affiliate Links will be used. 

the Wanderer

Children 8 and up who like to explore or make up stories including boats and ships will find The Wanderer by Peter Van Den Erde to be a delight.  I love the imagination shown in this 96 page hardcover edition published by Levine Querido.   

Selling for $15.99 on Amazon, The Wanderer is a black and white journey around the world.  A little paper boat explores the ocean in a meandering voyage through the oceans most interesting places. 

the wanderer map

Wordless images = stories

Don’t you just love books that encourage children to make their own stories?   I would have no compunctions about sharing this book with children younger than 5, but I might skip over a couple of the illustrations.  Some very young children might be alarmed by dark sea monsters and gloomy buildings.  But children 8 and older should have no problems enjoying the possibilities presented. 

I would love to sit down with a group of children and youth and just open up the book and say “so, tell me a circle story, everyone… just one line” and just listen to what they come up with.  

You could use the images to talk about ocean life, pollution, northern lights, pirates, boats, ships, jobs at sea and so much more. A virtual springboard of ideas to delight and educate. 

sample page for the wanderer

There’s the fun of looking for the paper boat on every page, most being standalone two-page spreads.   On some pages the hunt is a bit of a challenge, on others, not at all. Throughout, details feast the mind. 

Should you get The Wanderer?

Yes!  Be delighted with the illustrations, be surprised by unexpected stories.   The Wanderer is fantastic just to look at and consider, and a lovely conversation and/or story-starter.   It has been my delight to review it for Raincoast Books. 

Other wordless books

Other wordless books that I have reviewed.

  • Explorers. 
  • The Fish and the Cat. 
  •  

Filed Under: Homeschooling, Reviews Tagged With: homeschool, Language Arts, Raincoast

No Reading Allowed

October 3, 2020 By Annette1 2 Comments

raincoast FTC

I don’t know if you remember a book I reviewed last year called P is for Pterodactyl.  It is an hilarious alphabet book.  No Reading Allowed: the Worst read-aloud Book Ever is much in the same light.  I WOULD NOT call this a read-aloud book at all!  🙂 Though it would be so much fun to try!

no reading allowed review

What I am Reviewing

No Reading Allowed: the WORST read-aloud book ever!  Written by Raj Haldar and Chris Carpenter, it is hilariously illustrated by Bryce Gladfelter. Running at 48 pages, you’ll find clever word play on every page.   I received an advanced reader’s copy from Raincoast Books for this review. (You’ll find my amazon affiliate links throughout this review). Published by sourcebooks explore, this picture book is geared to children 4-8, but honestly…I think anyone could enjoy this book.  You’ll find that it’s a fun romp playing with words. 

From the Cover:

You can’t believe everything you hear! A single word can have many different meanings. And sometimes two words that sound alike can be spelled completely differently. Ptolemy the pterodactyl is back to show us all how absurd and fun language can be when homophones, homonyms, and tricky punctuation are at play!     No Reading Allowed allows children and their parents to laugh together while also learning something new.

The Details for No Reading Allowed

As you can see, the illustrations fit really well with the words and how cleverly words can be written to show different things EVEN THOUGH they sound exactly the same. 

Many of the clever sentences are full page, but variety is provided with some pages having multiple sentences on them. 

The font is large and easily held in front of a group for reading, but it’s seriously just a run read to do.   

It would be fun to read a sentence to a group of children (without showing them the images first) and then have them draw out what they think the sentence said.  Would that be hilarious to do?  Seeing all those different interpretations?  What a great way to introduce to children the variety of words we have within the English language? 

Should you get No Reading Allowed?

if you want to read a fun book with some budding authors, or some younger children, go for it.  If you are just looking for a quick and easy read that shows you different interpreations for the same sounds… YES. 

No reading allowed: The WORST read-aloud book ever is a great read, an interesting approach to showing children the fun of the English language.  Using humour to teach helps children see the fun there is in making a mistake with spelling when all they hear is a word spoken.  It helps them to learn to use context to understand what is being said.  A fantastic book, add it to your library today! 

Filed Under: Homeschooling, Reviews Tagged With: Book Review, Books for Children, Language Arts, picturebook, Raincoast

Create Your Own Secret Language

July 11, 2020 By Annette1 2 Comments

raincoast FTC

Don’t you think it would be great to be able to create your own secret language or have the tools to break codes others make?  Imagine you are an archaeologist and you discover hieroglyphs, or other languages on a wall, wouldn’t you like to know if it’s safe to go forward?  Create Your Own Secret Language gives you the steps you need to learn this important skill.

create you own secret language review image

What I am Reviewing

David J. Peterson wrote this beginner’s guide in codes and ciphers for middle schoolers just this year. Create Your Own Secret Language helps the reader to invent codes, ciphers, hidden messages, and more.  Carefully illustrated by Ryan Goldsberry.  You will find 144 purple and white pages broken into 3 sections containing several smaller sections.

One: From Letters and Numbers to Ciphers – 10 subsections
Two: From Ciphers to Codes
Three: From Ciphers and Codes to a Language.

I am delighted to review this MacMillan Children’s Publishing Group book on behalf of Raincoast Books.   

table of contents for create your own secret language

The Details – Create your own secret language

Hidden messages great us as we crack open David J. Peterson’s latest book for middle school readers. Can we figure it out?  How ever will we learn to decode this message?  

First, let’s learn a bit about how language works, some sounds are soft, others hard, and yet others can be sung.  It may be that for all languages, we can use that information to help us decipher other languages.

Using actual made up codes with plenty of space for decoding, the author helps the reader learn to decode these odd codes. 

sample page from Create your own secret language

Actual practical example create the perfect opportunity for the reader to put into use the steps they are given.   The decoded message is always provided so the reader can double-check their efforts. 

 You will learn about substitutions, numeric or picture codes. The fun continues as you discover the fun of sound based codes, scytales, and glyphs.  Learn how to make interesting scripts based off of shapes and positions.  How can a block turn into the symbol of a sound or letter?

Along the way you’ll tighten up your knowledge of the parts of speech and the differences in how the letters of our alphabet sound. It’s rather neat how it fits together… create a new language and learn your own better!

Should you Get it?

I see so much potential in Create Your Own Secret Language by David J. Peterson.  A great addition to a history study on battles and coding, a way to explore your own language and using it to create code, or even using math to create code.   It could simply be a fun summer book for a child to work through, leading to the confounding of their parents!  🙂   It’s a fun, well-made book that should delight many a 10-14 year old. 

Filed Under: Homeschooling, Reviews Tagged With: Book Review, Books for Middle School, history, Language Arts, Raincoast

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