Homeschool – Page 14 – Little Learner and Mom

Genius Games : Periodic: A Game of The Elements Review !

October 28, 2021March 11, 2023 Little Learner and Mom

Complimentary product received from Genius Games.

Looking for a fun game that teaches you and your kids the periodic table? I was sent the Periodic: Game of The Elements to review from Genius Games. As a science-loving family and we love any opportunity to game school.

The Periodic: Game of The Elements is a great way to introduce the periodic table to your budding chemist. My son has a little knowledge of the elements but not much and he has recently shown interest in learning them. Periodic: Game of The Elements is for students ages 10+ , 2-5 players, and gameplay is 40-60 mins. The game board is sturdy and the elements are in bright colors. Players will move around the board using 1 of the 5 Erlenmeyer Flask as they research and learn the elements and their atomic numbers.

The goal of the game is to move along the periodic table and collect elements in order to score goal cards. Periodic: Game of The Elements is a strategic game and you have to plan your moves so you can complete goal cards for points. The game has two game movements one is moving your flask around the table and the second movement is moving your microscope around the board and completing your secret agenda cards for extra points. Players also have to decide on how to spend or gain energy to activate trends. The person with the most points wins the game. Periodic: Game of The Elements comes with 172 small pieces, 1 game board, and a rule book.

I really like this game for teaching the elements and their atomic mass. The game offers a great lesson in teaching students about protons and neutrons. The goal cards have different combinations of elements on them and what they become when combined. on the back of the Periodic: Game of The Elements box, you will find a QR scan that makes it easy to retrieve the rules of the game and video of game play.

Periodic: Game of The Elements does has had a lot of moveable parts and does require a certain level of mental play, and logic skills. This game is defiantly for older kiddos I highly recommend it for kids ages 12+. There are a lot of rules to remember and follow to be successful at the game. My son did find it a little confusing as we played the game but, I decided to scale the game back a little for him. We only did the primary movements of the game. Keep in mind my son is just 1 month shy of being 9 years old and he has a strong background in science. He really likes the game board, learning the table as well looking over the goal cards, and researching. We just tweaked the game little for him, I also had a little trouble following the gameplay rules, but the video was very helpful.

I would recommend Periodic: Game of The Elements from Genius Games for students 10+. I wouldn’t recommend to children younger than 9 years. We did enjoy the game and I am sure we will continue to grow into it over the years. At the time of this review the cost of Periodic: Game of The Elements is $39.99 plus taxes and shipping.

Social Media Sites

Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/GotGeniusGames

Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/gotgeniusgames/

Twitter – https://twitter.com/GotGeniusGames/

Pinterest – https://www.pinterest.com/gotgeniusgames/_created/

4th Grade, Art, Geography, Homeschool, Reviews

Eat2Explore Review!

September 5, 2021 Little Learner and Mom

Disclaimer : This is a contribution post for the Melanated Gold Review Squad all the statements are my honest review and products were purchased with my own money.

Cooking is a favorite activity in our home and anytime I can pair a unit study with a Eat2Explore box I jump at the opportunity. When the Melanated Gold Review Squad was given the opportunity to review Eat2Explore I was more than happy to contribute to the team. We have been Eat2Explore subscribers since 2019 and we really enjoy receiving these boxes. Eat2Explore is an award winning culinary box subscription for families. The boxes are sent out monthly or you can select individual boxes to purchase. Families are taken on a culinary adventure to learn about the country of interest . I love when these boxes arrive, they smell so good. The authentic smell of spices kickstart your adventure and then you dig into the box and find all these exciting cooking supplies and lessons.

Each Eat2Explore box comes with:

3 Recipe Cards
Spices/Sauce/Grain Mixes
Shopping List (LOVE THIS!!!!)
Informational Country Card
Educational Lessons
Special Cooking Tools
Country Passport

I love how the company uses stickers on the outside of the box to remind you what country you are visiting that month, this makes for easy organization. Can you believe you get all those items in that one box, just add the fresh ingredients needed. Eat2Explore offers a option to reorder the spices, sauce and grains. We loved the Ethiopia box so much we defiantly took advantage of the box refill option. Having the option to order extra supplies is great if you have a large family or just don’t want the hassle of trying to find the spices yourself. We are a family of 3 and boxes can feed a family of 4. The company does offer vegetarian option boxes and the boxes are easily modified to fit your dietary restrictions.

How I Use:

We use the Eat2Explore as part of any of our geography unit studies. I look to see if we have a box to that fits our geography unit study. If we dont have a box I look for a box in the region of study. We have several of the boxes on hand but there have been a few times I needed to grab a box from the Eat2Explore website. Eat2Explore has excellent customers service and shipping time. We dont cook all three recipes in the boxes every unit study, Let him pick which one he wants and we plan the day for cooking. The recipes we love we keep them in rotation for our monthly “International Dinner Night” and I purchase a spice package from the company. The Eat2Explore boxes adds that extra twist to our units and we look forward to trying new foods and learning about the culture and foods. There have been a few boxes we have had to add some extra seasoning to it for our own taste.

In April we cooked from Singapore box and made the Soy Chicken for dinner and the Ethiopia box is serious hit in this house. My son is learning about Kenya this month so we will taking out our Kenya box picking a something to make. One of the biggest reasons why we have continued to patronize the company is their commitment to detail and diversity.

Eat2Explore boxes can be purchased in bundles or annually subscriptions, the monthly cost of boxes are $24.95 plus shipping. You cancel or pause your subscriptions at anytime, the company also has an add on binder to help you store your recipes. September box is Israel and the October box is Singapore.

Don’t forget to check out the other Melanated Gold Review Squad members reviews by clicking the banner below. You can also check out Eat2Explore Instagram , Facebook , and Pinterest social media pages.

4th Grade, Education, Family, Math, Reviews

CTCMath Review!

July 9, 2021July 14, 2021 Little Learner and Mom

I received this complimentary product through the Homeschool Review Crew.

This one of my favorite reviews to write every year with the Crew. My son has been using CTCMath for the last 4 years and couldn’t be happier with this online full online math curriculum for grades K-12 including Calculus. We received a 12 month online subscription that we are going to full take a advantage of this school year.

CTCMath is a complete math curriculum right at your child’s finger tips. There is no extra textbook to purchase or tutor to hire. Students will get the benefit of working at their own pace and knocking out their math requirements. The program is easy to use and the parent dashboard gives you detailed reports on your students progress and areas of weakness to help you plan and adjust your lessons plans. The program is not just for homeschoolers, if traditional students need extra practice in math or more rigor they can use this program.

The CTCMath gives you access to all grade levels, no more being locked in a specific grade, parents can have their students practice lower grade levels or higher grade levels as they may need. The online per-recorded instructional videos prepares your student for the concept they will be working on. If a student needs some 1:1 help you can customize worksheets using the Questions Bank Wizard.

Now that I have given you a little insight into CTCMath let me tell you how we have been using it and what my plans are for the rest of the year. We have math curriculum that is our spine but CTCMath has been included into that spine as well. CTCMath will be used to help introduce new upcoming concepts to my son on the weekends. I know what you are thinking she really has him doing school on weekend, um YES ! CTCMath exercises are quick and take maybe at the most 10-15 mins to complete so at some point over the weekend I ask my son to hop on and do the area I have assigned for him. That brings me to another great capability you can assign areas you want your student work. Why do I do this because it lets me know exactly how much he already knows and where I need to focus my attention on.

What I like about CTCMath is their philosophy about math “We believe in the importance of teaching Math the traditional way, so we are not aligned with common core.” This philosophy alone is what makes this company stand out they are committed to meeting students where they are at and letting them learn math the traditional way.

CTCMath is a one stop math online math curriculum, it also offer placement test, fluency practice and detailed PDF reporting. With weekly revision sets that help identify learning gaps and great customer service CTCMath is all you need to start your journey of math lessons or just to supplement. CTCMath is reasonably priced and they offer monthly and annual rates, there is even a homeschool family discount. Be sure to check out the other Crews reviews on CTCMath by clicking the banner below!

Social Media Links

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ctcmath
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ctcmathofficial
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ctcmath
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com.au/ctcmath/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWn5e6974bpIEAe46VnovZw

Curriculum, Education, Homeschool, Read Alouds

One More Story Review!

May 27, 2021May 27, 2021 Little Learner and Mom

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

We love a great picture book in our home, but as my son has gotten older and reads more chapter books with less pictures we haven’t read many lately. I was delighted when the crew was given the opportunity to review a one-year subscription to One More Story .

One More Story is an picture book digital platform available on IOS app and website . Students are able to explore to array of picture books that are vividly pleasing . There over 75 books to choose from that are read aloud to your student. When logging in you will immediately notice the books are divided into different bookshelf tabs. Students will see the full display of the book and can have the title read to them by clicking on the books and when the student is ready to read they just click the green button and the book starts.

Students have 2 options when starting the book they have it read to them or they can click “I Can Read” . There also vocabulary button that will show the vocabulary words for that book and students will be able to see and hear the meaning of the word and a preview of the sentence from the story.

One More Story is a great program for early readers or if just want to get in some more read aloud time with your students. The word tracking in the story helps student to learn new vocabulary. I really like how the books have background music playing. Seeing such a great variety of books took use down memory lane.

My son loved using One More Story he at first was hesitant because of course he is a big time 4th grader who doesn’t have time for picture books, but then he spotted one of his favorite picture book Little Melba and Her Big Trombone. This book is what inspired him at 3 years old he wanted to plat the trombone. He was so happy to see the book he has listened and read it to me several times. Then we were doing an art study on Bill Traylor and I forgot to pick up the book to go along with our study and then I saw “It Jas Happened: When Bill Traylor Started to Draw on One More Story . As we were starting to study Asia in geography and in our grammar curriculum we found Grandfathers Journey as well. It has been so nice to be able to have picture books back into rotation in our home. Thanks One More Story for bringing picture books back to our homeschool.

At the time of this review the cost of a one year subscription is $45.99. Be sure to check out the rest of the crew reviews on One More Story by clicking the banner below.

Social Media Links:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LifelongReaders
Twitter: https://twitter.com/EarlyReader

3rd Grade Curriculum, Curriculum, Homeschool, Language Arts, Math, Reviews

Spelling Shed and Math Shed Review!

June 10, 2020June 10, 2020 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.

I love creating variety in our homeschool so my son doesn’t get bored. We received 12 months of access to both Math Shed and Spelling Shed. These are both digital online learning platforms that make it easy to add some fun to your math and spelling lessons. Math Shed and Spelling Shed is for 1st- 5th grade (Spelling Shed can stretch to 8th) and if you have advanced kindergartner this program can be beneficial. Students earn points to they can use to retrieve items for their avatar.

Math Shed is a fun fast paced math fluency practice game. Students are able to practice several skills focusing on :

Number Bonds
Powers of 10
Times Tables
Division
Addition and Subtraction
Year 4 Multiplications
Negative Numbers

Math Shed has designed the program so students can work on the targeted skills in depth by giving the students the option to select concept area and the degree of difficulty (easy, medium, and hard). My son is working on his time tables and I really enjoyed how he could pick from mixed, single, related +decimals, and year 4 multiplication. Having this option has allows him to cover multitude of skills at pace that works for him. The times tables also includes division and the facts 0-12 which I love because kids cover two skills at once.

Spelling Shed gives parents a variety of spelling list they can choose from for their student. Parents can choose from these already generate list that are phonics, dolch, fry, and UIL 3rd – 8th. Parents also have the option to create their own list, I personally used this option for my son. I really like the option of creating my own list because I was able to input my sons current homeschool spelling curriculum and have him use the program 3-4 days a week to practice. The teacher hub also allows you to do pre/post test and you can track your students knowledge. The teacher also lets you track all your students activity and gives you the ability to assign activities. Just like in Math Shed students can choose their activities and level of difficulty and earn points. The games offer the students a variety of ways for them to practice their words.

At the time of this review the cost for Math Shed or Spelling Shed is $24.95 a year for up to 5 students, if you decide to purchase both you can save 15% off. Both programs can be used on the computer or tablet. We have IOS system in homes and so my son played on his Ipad and our Macs. Overall these are great programs if you are looking to add some fun to your homeschool and summer enrichment.

Be sure you check out the other Crews reviews of Math Shed or Spelling Shed by clicking the banner below.

Until the Next Time,

Mom

Social Media Links:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EdShed-US-113476190342149/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/EdShedUS
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/spellingshed/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJKXC4Rd29eQQWPbSdITLhw

Education, Homeschool, Math

CTCMath Review

August 21, 2019August 23, 2019 Little Learner and Mom

Math is one of the areas I tend to have anxiety about every school year. This year my son is trying out lessons using CTCMath‘s full math curriculum and I love that we have access to all grade levels with the Family Membership. We were given a 12 month subscription from CTCMath and has been working out great.

As a homeschooling mom it is very important that my son is mastering his early math skills . One of the things I am liking about CTCMath‘s full math curriculum is that it is very detailed and I can see exactly what he is learning in the parent dashboard. There is clear breakdown of each skill area and it’s not just one part of the skill it’s the entire spectrum from start to end. While I know my son loves playing math platforms that have a lot of games and graphics, with CTCMath your child receives a a full lesson of learning without added distractions.

When a student starts any lesson there is an instructional video. Students have the option to re-watch the video before moving on to the actual lesson to demonstrate their understanding. Parents can customize tasks for their student or work the lessons as CTCMath has laid out for their grade. In our case I took advantage of both options because I knew there were skill sets I wanted him to work on for extra practice. Having the ability to fluctuate between grade levels is also a plus because if their skills that your student didn’t quite grasp in the previous year you can have them work that skill.

The parent dashboard is really your best friend in CTCMath because it allows you to be in full control of what and how much your student is learning. . One of things I am really loving is the Question Bank Wizard this feature is EXCELLENT! I love this feature sooo much because I can customize targeted questions for my son. This feature is like breath of fresh air because you can seriously work this to your advantage. You can set the number of questions you want your student to do, time limit and skill type. Then once you generate it you can preview your questions and edit them by adding or deleting questions that may not work. There is even an option to spread the difficulty leveling across your questions. The Question Bank Wizard can be printed or added to task for your student to do on the computer.

So here is the breakdown CTCMath‘s full math curriculum 12-month Family Membership, for up to 5 students will cost your family $148.50 for the year . You will have access to all levels up to Calculus. CTCMath is multi award winning full math curriculum . Parents have complete autonomy of their students learning. You can your students take diagnostic test that will give a you a good idea where your student is academically. There are speed skills for fact and time tables student are encourage to beat their previous scores. There helpful how to videos for parents and detailed instructional lesson videos for the students. Parents have the options to print lessons or assign lessons for their students The Question Bank Wizard feature provides parents the ability to design questions especially for their student . CTCMath‘s full math curriculum can be used as a stand alone curriculum or as a supplement, children are allowed to work at their own pace. Each student can have their own personal login separate from the parents.

We give CTCMath‘s full math curriculum a thumbs up for being a great math curriculum. If you are homeschooling multiple children the price alone will save you hundreds of dollars. You can use this as a supplement or as your spine curriculum.

Be sure to check out the other Crew Reviews of CTCMath‘s full math curriculum by clicking the banner below there are a lot mamas who also agree with me this one is a winner.

Until the next time,

Mom and J