Category: Writing

1st Grade, 2nd Grade Curriculum, 3rd Grade Curriculum, Curriculum, Education, spelling, Writing

Reading Kingdom: Spelling Ninja Review !

Little Learner and Mom

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

We were sent a 1 year subscription to Reading Kingdom Spelling Ninja for us to review as a supplement for some interactive spelling fun!

Spelling Ninja is an online spelling program that encourages students to use their phonics skills to help them decode words to spell. The program is for children ages 5-10 years and the program does have a prerequisite that students need to have completed Level 2 in Reading Kingdom or be able to read. There is a parent dashboard so you can make changes to your students settings. From the parent dashboard you can also print diplomas, progress reports and track your students progress.

How Spelling Ninja Works

Spelling Ninja gives students a sentence and picture for them to copy. The system reads the sentence to your student and then the students have to copy it. The sentence or parts of the sentence is still visible to the student as they type. Students have to make sure they are adding capital letters where needed and spaces between words and correct punctuation. The words, spaces and punctuation are colored coded as a helpful alert to the student that they are missing a letter or space as they type. The pictures matching the sentences feature diverse graphics, the screen isn’t very busy so it is not distracting to those students who are easily distracted. Before students start playing they can choose between and on screen or off screen keyboard.

Now my son wasn’t not really eager about Spelling Ninja because he didn’t like the timed response time and how it would ding him. He became quite discourage by this and didn’t want to continue the program. I was able to slow that timer down, but personally I wish it could have been turned off. Spelling Ninja also requires that your student has some knowledge of keyboard typing. I found this a little odd especially for a program targeted at students as young as 5yrs. Without a student having some basic knowledge of typing your student will be discourage.

The overall concept of using decoding and phonics is a great way strengthening spelling skills. We will use this program as a way to supplement spelling and give him some typing practice. The cost of Reading Kingdom Spelling Ninja at the time of this review is $19.99 for a years access. Be sure to check out the other crew’s of Reading Kingdom programs by clicking the banner below.

Social Media Links:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/readingkingdom
Twitter: https://twitter.com/readingkingdom
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/readingkingdom/
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/readingkingdom/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/ReadingKingdom

1st Grade, 2nd Grade Curriculum, 3rd Grade Curriculum, 4th Grade, Curriculum, Education, Homeschool, Language Arts, Math, Reviews, spelling, Writing

Reading Eggs and Mathseeds Review !

Little Learner and Mom

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

Reading Eggs and Mathseeds has been one of those programs that have been around for a very long time in our homeschool. Reading Eggs and Mathseeds were my son’s first online programs when he was 4 years old. The crew was given the opportunity to review Reading Eggs and Mathseeds I thought this would be a great time to revisit one of our old favorite online platforms.

Reading Eggs is online phonics, grammar, and spelling program. Recently the company introduced a new area called Fast Phonics and before this program, the company released Reading Eggs Jr for ages 2-4 years. The original Readings Eggs (ages 3-7) and Eggpress (ages 7-13) has been a frequent flyer in our home. Mathseeds is another great program that is on the platform it is for ages 3-9.

We have used Reading Eggs and Mathseeds in our home school for many years. Both of these programs provide a great foundation for literacy, grammar, and math skills. The lessons are fun, quick, and easy for the kids to maneuver with little parental assistance. Reading Eggs offers parents placement so the system can place your student in the best place on the map. Reading Eggs is a literacy program that will take your student from the very basics of lof letter recognition, sounds, blends, sight words, and reading. Students will have opportunities to earn golden eggs, students have tons of activities to keep them busy with learning and reading. One of the features I really liked about Reading Eggs is the driving test and story factory.

Mathseeds works very similarly to Reading Eggs the students can take a placement test or they can just start from the beginning and move through the path. Parents can also manually place their students in the lesson they think best for them from the detailed parent dashboard. Students will work on number recognition and mobe through topics covered up to 3rd grade.

Reading Eggs and Mathseeds is a wonderful introduction to online learning for younger students and there is something for everyone. We have really enjoyed using these programs over the years. The parent resources offer full curriculum printables and they also include a wonderful scope and sequence you can follow. The company has excellent customer service. Just when I thought my son had outgrown Reading Eggs he was able to use Reading Eggpress for higher-level grammar and spelling to review.

I highly recommend Reading Eggs and Mathseeds for homeschooling and for those students who attend traditional school. Be sure to check out the other crew’s reviews by clicking the banner below.

Social Media Links

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/readingeggsUSCA
Twitter: https://twitter.com/readingeggs
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/readingeggs/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8ED-7e2xA3fxgrM7Wq2XGQ

4th Grade, Critical Thinking and Logic, Education, Family, Homeschool, Language Arts, Morning Basket, Uncategorized, Writing

The Fallacy Detective Review!

Little Learner and Mom

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

My son is very inquisitive and we have make a point for him to always search for the truth of the world around him. We are also continuing to incorporate logical thinking skills in our home school lesson. One thing that has been helping us the last few weeks to help feed his need to search for the truth of events and improving his critical thinking skills/logic is the Fallacy Detective .

If you aren’t familiar with the term fallacy “A fallacy is an error in logic – a place where someone has made a mistake in his thinking.” Fallacy Detective is meant to be used with students with students ages 12 and up (but can work with as young as 8 IMO). The books has 38 lessons that are divided up into 5 areas of study.

  • The Inquiring Mind
  • Avoiding the Question
  • Making Assumptions
  • Statistical Fallacies
  • Propaganda

Fallacy Detective starts with a brief introduction about the book and how to use it. Students are given a short passage about the topic of study for that section along with examples of the topic. Students move onto the 1st lesson in that unit and they are given short scenarios and then they have to decide which behavior best fits that scenario. The book have fun illustrations and some are comic strips.

How we used the book!

My son and I do the book together during our table time. I refresh his memory about the unit topic and then I proceed to the lesson with him. The answer key to all the lesson questions are located in the back of the book. What I like about this book is that it provides excellent conversations for him and I. There were times when he felt that the answer key was wrong and he defended his reason why he felt this way. To be honest with you I also found myself thinking the answer to a few of them didn’t fit well. On those days we felt that the answers could have went one way or another I put stars next to the suggested answer and our answers.

I love how this book really got my son to thinking and asking more questions. He also took a lot away from each lessons. I heard him one day tell Francine a character from the cartoon Arthur she wasn’t using an inquiring mind. Lesson 2 hit home for him and I it was about “Love to listen. Do we struggle in this area in our home absolutely….LISTENING IS A DAILY STRUGGLE FRIENDS…. We read the exercise and he said mom this kinda sorts sound a little like how I do things sometimes. I reassured him and that even adults struggle with listening and we all need to continue practicing this skill. I was very happy to see him make the connections to real life situation.

Final word!

The Fallacy Detective in my opinion is a book best done along side a small group and family. The lessons are great conversation starters and I feel like they can lead to further deep discussions. The unit topics can be applied to everyday life happenings. The book really encourages the student to us their critical thinking skills. It also teaches student to look at situations from a different prospective.

I really like Fallacy Detective it will be in rotation for our table time activities. The cost of the book at the time of this review is $9.99 plus taxes/shipping. Be sure to check out the other crew’s reviews by clicking the banner below.

Social Media Links:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fallacydetective
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hansbluedorn/

Curriculum, Homeschool, Reviews, Writing

The Crafty Classroom Superstar Spelling Review!

Little Learner and Mom

Disclaimer: I received this product free through the Homeschool Review Crew.

Spelling is not my kiddos favorite subject as much as he loves to read him and spelling have still yet to become best friends. We currently have a spelling curriculum that we use and I really love, but my son says he wishes it had some more fun interactive spelling activities. The crew was given the opportunity to review several of products from The Crafty Classroom and I chose to review the Superstar Spelling K- 5 curriculum.

Our family no stranger to The Crafty Classroom we have used several of the companies products, one of my favorites is Interactive Math: Kindergarten . We have used almost everything the company has published over the years. The Crafty Classroom Superstar Spelling K- 5 curriculum brings the same fun graphics and variety. What I like about this curriculum is I can add my OWN WORDS ….you have no idea how grateful I am that this curriculum is editable. Just being able to plug in my son weekly spelling words is a true blessing, because a lot of digital curriculum you have to use their word list.

So here is the breakdown Superstar Spelling you plug in your own words and they are generated into the different lessons there is a 20 word limit. The program is designed to be used over a 5 day school week. The words are organized into 4 blocks of 5 and the lessons are clearly marked by blocks. What I did for my son was I gave him a pretest using the included pretest sheets on Mondays. Any words he got wrong those were the words I plug into the curriculum and printed out those activities for him to complete.

My son really only having to really study the words he didn’t know how to spell. Then there is what is called the Starting Line-Up I love this concept because it was really motivational for him because he could clearly see what he knew, warm up words (words he can learn quickly), workout words (words that will give his brain a workout), and the challenging words (words that were going to be the most difficult to learn) . I really like this concept because my son didn’t feel overwhelmed, but motivated.

The Crafty Classroom Superstar Spelling comes complete with games, worksheets, centers, assessments, and review. The program appeals to all learning style and makes it easy to just plug in your words and print. The program completes any spelling curriculum or can be used alone with your own personal word list. If your student is a traditional student you can also benefit with from this curriculum because you can but a twist on studying spelling words with your student. With over 30 pages of activities you are bound to find something your learner will love. My sons favorite activity was the Tic-Tac-Toe.

After using The Crafty Classroom Superstar Spelling I can honestly say my son and spelling have become better acquainted and I will continue to use this the rest of the school year and the upcoming year.

Be sure to check out the other Crews reviews of The Crafty Classroom wonderful curriculum by clicking the banner below.

Until Next Time

Mom,

Social Media Links: The Crafty Classroom

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/The-Crafty-Classroom-121821161222656
Twitter:  https://twitter.com/craftyclassroom
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thecraftyclassroom/
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/craftyclassroom/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/mcclintick02

3rd Grade Curriculum, Education, Homeschool, Writing

IEW Structure and Style Students Year 1 Level A Review!

Little Learner and Mom

Disclaimer: I received a FREE copy of this product through the HOMESCHOOL REVIEW CREW in exchange for my honest review.  I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way.

There is no secret that writing is not one of my sons favorite homeschool task, but I am determine this year to make writing enjoyable. The Crew was given the opportunity to review the Structure and Style series from Institute for Excellence in Writing®. For this review I will be discussing the Structure and Style® for Students Year 1 Level A .

Structure and Style® for Students Year 1 Level A covers 24 weeks of instruction. The series comes with a Student Binder, Teachers Manuel and Instructional Streaming. At first glance I really appreciated the organization of Structure and Style® for Students Year 1 Level A  I like having everything in a binder so it is easily accessible. The Teachers Manual is detail and easy to follow. I was a little confused by how to organized the materials but I was able to figure things out easily. The stream service is really informative as well and I appreciate Mr. Andrew Pudewa funny lessons and great repertoire with children. Mr. Andrew Pudewa instructs the students on their lessons and how they need to be completed once they finish watching the his lessons.

My son was a little reluctant to start the program because of course he doesn’t like to do a lot of writing, but I have been encouraging him to do more and he likes the stream parts of the lessons he says Mr. Andrew is funny. The binder is divided into 8 different tabs which makes it easy for him and I took keep his writing in order. The student binder gives the student a week at a glance so they know exactly what they will be working on for the upcoming week. We happened to have the Fix Grammar book already so I was able to let him us it alongside the program as well as instructed. You do not have to have this, but we had it and so I went ahead and let him follow along. Institute for Excellence in Writing® offers sample pages of Structure and Style® for Students Year 1 Level A  their website for you to look over .

The teachers manual gives the preparation for each weeks lesson which can be easily transferred into your planner. You can also modify the weekly lessons to fit your needs. The Structure and Style® for Students Year 1 Level A  helps build confidence in your students writing and does it at pace that makes it easy for them. Institute for Excellence in Writing® offers sample pages of Structure and Style® for Students Year 1 Level A  ( on their website for you to look over . At the time of this review the cost for the program is $149.00 this includes the stream service. I was very impressed with this program and my son seems to be enjoying it and not putting up a a fight. I did modify the schedule a little for him but eventually we will go back the the way it is laid out to be completed as we move through the program.

Be sure to check out the other Crews reviews on Institute for Excellence in Writing® Structure and Style by clicking the banner below.

Social Media Links:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/excellenceinwriting/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/iew
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iew/
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/iew/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/iewtv/featured

Until the Next Time,

Mom

2nd Grade Curriculum, 3rd Grade Curriculum, Education, Language Arts, Read Alouds, Writing

LitWits Kits Review!

Little Learner and Mom

I love reading aloud to my son, this has been one of my favorite things to do with him since birth. There have been some great books that I would have loved to develop into unit studies or just dig deeper into and make the words come alive for us. I am always on the lookout for ideas on how to get the most out of books we read so I jumped at the chance to checkout LitWit Kits from LitWits. We choose to use the LitWits Kit for Roald Dahl’s Charlie and The Chocolate Factory.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is one of our families favorite books and we always reread it every year around the Fall time. The LitWits Kit for Roald Dahl’s Charlie and The Chocolate Factory comes complete with everything you need to provide a fun filled literary fun.

LitWit Kits includes:

  • Overview
  • Tips
  • Hands On Fun
  • Recipe Ideas (There was no actual recipe included in Chocolate Factory Kit just idea)
  • Take Aways ( Leaving impression on your student)
  • Awesome Pinterest Board

What I really enjoyed about the LitWits Kit for Roald Dahl’s Charlie and The Chocolate Factory is that kit included academic handouts and common core standards for grades 3-5th grade. The academic handouts made it possible for me check of some standards for my son. We explored Narrative Arc ( story action) , Vocabulary words, Characterization and Creative Writing. The best part of the academic handouts all it was about the book which made my son eager to do the lessons.

LitWits Kit for Roald Dahl’s Charlie and The Chocolate Factory also included author background information and other resources if you wanted to do more historical research.

My son really enjoyed the candy invention project that was included in the LitWits Kit for Roald Dahl’s Charlie and The Chocolate Factory. We also decided to make some homemade soup one night for dinner and we ate it over the next few days. We didn’t make cabbage and potato soup, but we did make a vegetable soup and cornbread. I decided to stretch it over a few days because I wanted to drive home how fortunate we are that we can eat variety of foods when some families are limited to what they are able to afford. The LitWits Kit for Roald Dahl’s Charlie and The Chocolate Factory spark conversations about poverty and gratitude. As a family we made some decisions about how would like to give back to the community during this holiday season and keep gift giving to minimal this year. The way we did the LitWits Kit for Roald Dahl’s Charlie and The Chocolate Factory is we did it 1-2 activities a week over a course of month along side reading the book.

LitWit Kits Kits are $18 and they have a total of 45 complete kits and 1 mini kit the can be used at home or in the classroom. The company offers a free sample kit you can review and there is also option to purchase project and activities from the complete kits or just the worksheets. I highly recommend you purchase a complete kit to really get the benefits of the lessons. I look forward to using the other LitWit Kits that the company allowed to us to select. The other kits we selected are:

LitWit Kits are a great way to have fun with books and give your child a more hands on experience of their read aloud and academics at the same time.

Be sure to check out the other Crews reviews of LitWit Kits by clicking the banner below!

Until the Next Time,

Mom and J

Social Media Links:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LitWits/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/litwits4kids/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/LitWits4Kids
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/LitWits/

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2nd Grade Curriculum, 3rd Grade Curriculum, Education, Homeschool, Morning Basket, Writing

Channie’s Visual Handwriting & Math workbooks Review!!

Little Learner and Mom

My son has never been a huge fan of practicing his writing. As we continue along in our second grade year his feelings about handwriting still has changed. I was excited to have him try the Channie’s Dry Erase Flashcard For Alphabet & Number from Channie’s Visual Handwriting & Math workbooks. With fingers crossed I was hoping that he would change his mind about practicing his handwriting with the Channie’s Dry Erase Flashcard For Alphabet & Number .

Channie’s Dry Erase Flashcard For Alphabet & Number cards are for ages 3+ . They are perfect size for early writers. The lay out of the cards is friendly and color coded to show proper placement of letters and formation. The block spacing encourages consistency of letter and number sizing. I really like the added feature of having pictures to coincide with each letter. On the front of each card alphabet card is the uppercase letter is on and on the back the lowercase. The number cards included I think moms will appreciate that the practice length is perfect for reluctant writers.

We used two different dry erase markers on the cards. We used a high quality marker and lower quality marker and I didn’t see much of difference when we erased them. I used slightly damp rag to wipe them down clearly and my son used his dry eraser to clean them off. The cards are high gloss, sturdy and will withstand the handling of younger student.

Students will cover:

  • Tracing
  • Writing
  • Practice

Channie’s Dry Erase Flashcard For Alphabet & Number worked well for my son because I was able to slide them into his work boxes or folders if I want him to work on certain letters during his writing time. He didn’t put up a fuss about practicing his letters that felt he needed more practice. For struggling writers and those students who are not enthusiastic about writing these are perfect and frustration free.

Be sure to check out the rest of Crew reviews of Channie’s Visual Handwriting & Math workbook by clicking the banner below.

Until the next time,

Mom

Social Media Links:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/channiesworkbook/
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/channiesvisualhandwriting/

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2nd Grade Curriculum, Language Arts, Reviews, Writing

Hewitt Homeschooling Resources Review!

Little Learner and Mom

Today on the blog I am reviewing the language arts curriculum Grade 2 Lightning Lit Set from Hewitt Homeschooling Resources. The company sent us the teachers manual and student workbook. One of the things I have enjoyed about reviewing this curriculum is that it is literature based. We are a homeschooling family that integrates literature based learning in all aspects of our lessons so this curriculum fit right in with our flow.

The curriculum uses a variety of classical books and some new books to help children to develop skills in reading literature and reading informational text. Children are introduced to grammar and composition in weekly lessons. The teachers manual gives very detailed instructions and the ability to modify lessons to best fit your students need. At the beginning of each week you are are given a “week at a glance” to help you prepare for the upcoming week. There are optional materials suggested as well as the grammar and mechanics to be learned in the weeks lesson.

The lesson flow for the week is broken down into 5 days and each day covers the following areas of study:

  • Literature
  • Grammar and Mechanics
  • Composition
  • Reading Journal

In the teachers manual you will find the reading comprehension questions to ask your student after reading the weeks literature book. The Grammar and Mechanics will introduce the concept to practice and learn for the week. The composition portion section each day will work on the creative writing assignment for the week. The reading journal gives the student the opportunity to journal about their thoughts about this weeks. On Day three students will work on vocabulary building and sentence puzzles. Keep in mind this curriculum is versatile and can be easily modified to your learners pace and tolerance levels. There is no pressure to follow the layout, but to make this lesson as frustration free for you and your learner.

We used the curriculum as laid out in the book and my son really enjoyed this new way of learning language arts and writing. I went through the teachers manual and there is an in depth amount of grammar that will be introduced to the student. There are two chapter books that the curriculum uses for read aloud or for independent reading. On day 4 students are asked a question about what they have read.

The curriculum covers 36 weeks of lessons for 5 days a week. In the back of the book you will find an alphabet, handwriting and writing lines resources that can be photocopied for using with the weekly lessons. The course can be tailored to your students needs which is a huge plus. In my opinion you really don’t need to purchase a separate writing curriculum if you are using this curriculum because it covers this area every week. Students will also increase vocabulary and learn how to diagram sentences. The cost of the Grade 2 Lightning Lit Set is $93.50 plus applicable taxes and shipping the pack will also include Random House Book of Poetry for Children.

Be sure to check out the other Crew Review of Hewitt Homeschooling Resources there are many great reviews ona varitey of products.

I highly recommend this curriculum if you are literature based homeschooler or if you are looking for something a little lighter for learning grammar and composition. We will continue using this for the upcoming school year and for the rest of the summer.

Until Next Time,

Mom

Social Media Links:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hewitthomeschooling
Twitter: https://twitter.com/hewittonline
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/hewittonline/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/HewittOnline
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hewittonline/

Lightning Literature, My First Reports, State History Notebook & Joy of Discovery {Hewitt Homeschooling Resources Reviews}

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