Read for the Heart ** TOS Review**

We were so very blessed to be able to review the book Read For the Heart from Apologia.
This book is a guide to the best in children's literature and so much more.
From the Website:
A great book spurs the imagination in childhood, inspires our dreams in adulthood, and nourishes the soul with depictions of life fully and courageously lived. Among the greatest gifts you can bequeath to a child are a love for reading and a passion for books. But how do you sort through the many thousands of books available to your children to find those that are worthwhile? Apologia has the answer. Keeping Read for the Heart close at hand is like having a children's librarian for a best friend! Let Sarah Clarkson be your guide to the best in children's literature for your family. From timeless classics to modern favorites, from picture books to adventure novels to read-aloud favorites, more than 1,000 wonderful stories for young people are recommended within these pages. Now you can make great literature a lasting part of your child's life and education.

My Experience:
First of all let me say if there is only one thing you purchase because of my review please let it be this.
No other book has changed my views on schooling as much or been as helpful of a guide as this one book has been to me. This book goes so far beyond a simple guide to which books to read it's unbelievable.
Sarah Clarkson shares not only her knowledge and wisdom as an adult but also her very compelling experiences as a child growing up in a home filled with good books.
She not only tells you which books she recommends but tells you WHY. She tells you exactly what to look for in books in every genre. She gave me the tools to go through and look at the books we own and make an educated decision about which books are good for not only my child's education but their heart and soul as well.
I have read many a book-list and purchased countless fabulous books off of those lists but I myself felt helpless when it came to picking a book not on a list somewhere. This book empowered me to know what it is I'm looking for and how to find it. I have a whole new feeling of empowerment now as an educator and a mother to be able to find the books that will be best for my children.
After reading this book I went through the many, many books in our home and put each and every one to the test according to the knowledge I gained from this book. Let me tell you I thinned out our books by at least a third BUT I am so happy with what we now have. There is not a single book in our picture books that I wouldn't be happy to read to my children over and over again. There aren't any chapter books that will make me inwardly cringe when I see my 14 year old reading it anymore. I once thought that since family and friends had been so very generous with books for my children that I was required to keep each and every book.
After reading Sarah's book I knew that it was my job to weed out what I do and do not want my children to be exposed to.
Let me tell you what has happened since I took out the books that did not fit the criteria I decided upon. My children are reading more than ever. Every time I turn around someone has a book in their hand. A good book at that. A book that is filling their mind with good things, filling their heart with virtue and uplifting their spirit all at once.
Another thing Sarah has inspired me to do is to drastically cut out the electronics in order to allow more time for reading and imagination. I am still working on getting where we need to be on this one but let me tell you, soon I know I will see the tremendous fruits of this effort.
As for the actual books that she recommended, first we have loved every one we have read on her lists. Second unlike most book lists she doesn't simply give you the names of books to read, for each book she gives you the author, date of original publication, awards received if any, illustrator when applicable,  the general age category, a short review of the book(my favorite part) and cautions regarding mature or questionable content when needed.
There are so many parts of this book that I would love to quote for you but let me just say, there are too many to include in this post so please if you are a homeschooling parent, not a homeschooling parent, a grandparent, or in any way involved in the educating or raising of a child I urge you to read this book and I promise you won't regret it.

Read For The Heart is available here for just $17.00
You can see the table of contents or a sample chapter there as well.

I received a free copy of Read For The Heart in exchange for my honest review. No other compensation was received.

Considering God's Creation ** TOS Review**

We were able to review a Science curriculum produced by Eagle's Wings called Considering God's Creation.
Considering God's Creation is a simple hands on approach to natural science for second to seventh graders.
This program contains 36 lessons that start with the basics of creation and go all the way to the creation of Man.
The topics covered are Creation, The Universe: Stars, Sun and Planets, The Earth, Non-Living Things: Rocks and Minerals, Weather, The Plant Kingdom, The Animal Kingdom, Animal Anatomy & Physiology, and Man: Made in God's Image.
Each lesson starts with a section entitled preparation. This section lets you the parent know what you will need to gather for the lesson. One of the great things about this program is everything is simple things you should already own. No need for fancy kits or special trips to the store.
Next is Vocabulary words for the lesson then an introduction to the lesson that relates the basic information that the children will be learning.
Next there is a song or poem to go with the lesson. The audio CD is included in the back of the teachers manual.
Then your child will complete a simple hands on Activity related to the lesson.
There is a section entitled bible reading which gives your child biblical reference to support the lesson being taught. Then they will complete their notebook pages for the lesson.
There are evolution stumpers included in each lesson to help reinforce your child's understanding that we were created by a higher being.
Review Questions follow so you can be sure that your child understood the concept.
Last is the Digging Deeper section with ideas on ways you can learn more.

Our Experience:
We really enjoyed this program. It is easy to use and a nice amount of information per subject. Not so much they get bored but enough so that they really feel they've learned a lot about the subject.
The notebook pages are done well and my kids really enjoy doing them. I really appreciate the fact that they teach the scientific information without a ton of biblical reference in that section, it stays mostly separated so that you can focus on one thing at a time.
I can say we will continue to use this program but I don't want to give up the program we are already using either. We will probably continue to use our main program and add this one as we want. My kids enjoy it and ask for it. I believe this will be our "we feel like doing extra science" or "we want to learn about something specific" program. Maybe even our "summer break is getting boring" science!
You can see samples of the program here.

Pricing:
Considering God's Creation includes the Teachers Manual, Audio CD and One Student Notebook. $29.95
Additional Student Workbooks are $13.95
They do allow photocopies within a family but the student notebook is so reasonably priced I honestly think it is probably cheaper to just buy the notebook.

To read my crew-mates reviews of this product visit the TOS Blog Here.

I received a free copy of Considering God's Creation in exchange for my honest review of the product.

Pearson Education Reading Street ** TOS Review**

We were given the opportunity through the TOS Crew to review the Reading Street program by Scot Foresman.  Reading Street is a comprehensive reading curriculum originally written to be used in the public school classroom.

Reading Street covers reading different genres such as fiction, nonfiction, poetry and plays. It covers reading comprehension, vocabulary, grammar and writing.
There are two books for unit one, book 2.1 and 2.2. Each book has 3 units and multiple stories and activities in each unit.

The book is very nicely laid out with very nice full color illustrations. It is simple to read with large enough text for the not experienced reader.
If you chose to use this program no other language arts would be needed. This program has in it everything needed for second grade language arts.


Our Experience:
We love the look of this book with it's illustrations and easy to follow formatting. The stories are interesting and engaging and very well done. I would not personally use this book alone simply because I want my children to have quite a bit more grammar. I do like it though for reading and reading comprehension. Will we use it in the future? Probably not. Simply because it is very cost prohibitive in my opinion. If it were more affordable I would love to use this as part of my reading program in addition to living books. Another consideration for my is that the website is not terribly easy to use. If I were not reviewing this program, as a homeschooler the website alone and difficulty in viewing the samples would turn me away.

Cost:
Each Student book is $43.47 available here.

To see what my crewmates thought of this product visit the TOS Blog here.

I received a free copy of Reading Street 2.1 and 2.2 in exchange for my honest review.

Wordy Qwerty ** TOS Review**

We were blessed to get to review Wordy Qwerty for the TOS Crew. Wordy Qwerty is the follow up to the program that we reviewed earlier in the year called Talking Fingers.
Talking Fingers teaches the basics of typing and then Wordy Qwerty continues to work on typing but also works on spelling and reading. Wordy Qwerty is made for children approximately age 7-9.

Wordy Qwerty works with your child on six basic skills.
1 Patterns: teaches children spelling rules and patterns of spelling.
2 Karaoke: This section contains 20 fun and engaging songs to teach your child the spelling rules.
3 Re-cycler: Works with your child on the different ways to spell rhyming words and introduces them to the fact that not all rhyming sounds are spelled the same way.
4 Pop-A-Word: Works on those hard to learn rule breakers.
5 Write Stories: Stories are dictated to your child and they then type what they hear.
6 Read Stories: Just as it sounds with a twist, every once in a while there is a word missing and your child will have to fill it in.
Visit the website here to learn more about these six skills and the games Wordy Qwerty uses to teach them.

Our Experience:
My kids love this program. It is fun, engaging, colorful and easy to navigate. Both my 8 and 9 year old have been using it with much success. Their typing is improving as is their spelling. I cannot recommend this program enough. I have searched high and low for a typing product I love and this one fits the bill. Not only are they learning to type and honing that skill but they are working on spelling, reading and vocabulary at the same time. I also love that the hands are always available to show them which finger to use and how to move it. That limits my having to hover which is always a bonus.



Pricing:
Online Subscriptions start at $25 a year for one student
Home Edition CD is $35
You can also do the free Demo here

I received 2 free online licenses for Wordy Qwerty in exchange for my honest review.

Mad Dog Math ** TOS Review**

We were chosen to review Mad Dog Math through the TOS Crew.
Mad Dog Math is a computer facts mastery program. Mad Dog Math takes your child through drills for addition  subtraction, multiplication and division. Each fact family is worked on until your child knows them all in 2 minutes, then 1 minute and finally 30 seconds before moving on to the next level.

From the Website

Mad Dog Math is a supplement to any math curriculum used in any classroom, home school setting, or any home situation. The basic facts are a very small piece of the academic pie, but a crucial piece for future success as children move on to higher levels of math.

We’ve taken the basic facts and broken them down into bite-sized pieces that any child can master. A child progresses through a series of timed drills at his own pace. With each success comes confidence; with confidence comes more success. Students, for the first time, feel empowered by their gained knowledge and are not intimidated by math ever again. Where students once said, “Math is hard; I hate math!”, they now say, “Math is easy; math is fun!”

There is nothing on the market like Mad Dog Math.

Our Experience:

At first I was hesitant about this program. I am not a huge fan of flashcard style drills and I wasn't sure I was going to like this program at all. I can say though after using it with my children I actually am fairly impressed.

It isn't just going through the facts pointlessly ( in my child's mind) it is challenging them to beat the clock, then to beat themselves. It was a little frustrating for my children at first because it is hard to get to that 2 minute mark at first, but now they actually are enjoying the challenge. 

I like it because I can skip the math drills in our math workbook and just let them do this. I know it's mastered when they can hit that 30 second mark and I don't need to try to decide for myself how fast is fast enough. 

As an adult that still has to count on her fingers often and takes 30 seconds to recall some multiplication problems it is very important to me that my children have their math facts down. I feel like this program can help them achieve that and I plan to continue using it until they have mastered them all to the 30 second level. 

Pricing:

One Year License: $19.99

Two Year License: $29.99

Perpetual License: $39.99 

To see what my crew-mates thought of Mad Dog Math visit the TOS Blog Here.

I received a free trial of Mad Dog Math in exchange for my honest review of the product. No other compensation was received. 

Monki See ** TOS Review**

From the website:
MonkiSee is a fun and entertaining collection of baby DVD's that expose babies to upbeat music, original poetry, lovable puppets and real world images.  The MonkiSee collection teaches your baby to identify their body parts, colors, shapes and more, all while learning to read.  TheMonki See series is rich in language and has been proven to increase your baby's vocabulary.  

The MonkiSee Baby DVD series is a fun way for your baby to learn necessary preschool skills such as color and shape recognition.  The concepts are introduced in a fun and interactive way.  Your baby will love to "monkey around" with the lovable Howie and Skip.  

    Each Monki See baby dvd volume introduces new concepts to your baby in a playful and entertaining way.  The MonkiSee collection is truly learning made fun.  You will be amazed at how much your baby learns in this enjoyable manner.  

    Guaranteed to be your baby's favorite series - the MonkiSee line of baby DVD's are products babies love and parents can feel good about.

Our Experience: We received the Baby's First Words video and the Know your Monkey book. The recommendation is to watch the DVD daily 5 days a week. We did not do that because honestly that is just more TV than we allow for our children. My daughter is 3 which is slightly over the recommended age for this dvd but she really enjoyed the movie. She asked to watch it several times and sang back the songs from it. She also enjoyed the book, which was basically a review of the movie. 
I would recommend these DVDs purely for occasional entertainment for your toddler. I would not however recommend them to "teach your baby to read" simply because I do not believe in trying to teach children that young to read. The movies are sweet and catchy and fun for the 2&3 year age group.


Monki See is available for purchase here. 
DVD's are $19.95 each
Books are $9.95 each

To see what my crewmates thought of this book visit the crew blog here. 

I received a free copy of the DVD and Book in exchange for my honest review of the product.

Kregel Publications ** TOS Review**

We were blessed to receive a book from the Circle C Beginnings series by Kregel Publications to review through the TOS Crew.

The book we received was the first in the series titled Andi's Pony Trouble.

When we first got it my daughter fiercely insisted she did NOT want to read this book. I told her she had to go read one chapter before she could make any decisions about the book.
She sulkily went up to her room to read and I went to do my chores. Two hours later she emerged and asked me to buy the next book..... she had finished that one!
So it went one book at a time, she finished one and I ordered the next. The days in between were spent with her checking the tracking number and looking on the porch for her next book.
She has now read all of the books in the series and is working on the next series where Andi is a bit older.

She also did all of the activity pages offered here. There are coloring pages, puzzles, and different activity sheets to go with every book.

I also read the first book and was very impressed. The story was wholesome, simple and took the time to teach the children little lessons incorporated throughout the story.
Obviously we love this series and will read all of the Kregel Publications books we can.... we've even been loaning out our Andi books to friends so they can experience these great little books.
I highly recommend these books for your early reader.

At just $4.99 per book they are a great way to add to your young readers library.
The books are available for purchase from the publisher, amazon, or christianbook.com.

To see what my crew-mates thought visit the crew blog here.

I received a free copy of Andi's Pony Troubles in exchange for my honest review of the product. No other compensation was received.

Greek N Stuff ** TOS Review**

We received Hey, Andrew! Teach me some Greek! Level one to review from Greek 'N' Stuff. 
This program is a simple introduction to Biblical Greek. It teaches the Greek Alphabet, How to write it and the sound each letter makes.
Each  lesson starts off teaching the child how to write the letter, next it teaches how to pronounce it and the program includes a pronunciation CD so you don't have to know how to pronounce the letters yourself. Next your child will do a  review of the letters previously learned and then an activity on the weeks letter. The program also includes flash cards to review the letters.
This program is very easy to use and laid out simply enough that my 7 year old daughter was able to do this independently. She does now know the Greek alphabet and it's pronunciation.

Our Experience:

We aren't terribly interested in learning Greek at this time. If we were this is a simple way to do it. Honestly though for our family things that are too simple can sometimes be thought of as boring by my children. This program really wasn't something that was a great fit for our family. We aren't really workbook people and this was a very sit and work type program. I know that is what works for a lot of people so if your children enjoy doing workbooks and you enjoy them then this would be a fabulous program for you. It requires little to no parent involvement and it is effective. 

Level one of Hey, Andrew! Teach me some Greek! is available here. 

There are many different products but what we received is 

The Level one workbook $14.95

Answers only answer key $4.00

Pronunciation CD $10.00

Visit the crew blog here to see what my crew-mates thought of this program. 

I received the products listed above in exchange for my honest review of the program, no other compensation was received. 

Writing Tales ** TOS Review **

We were blessed to receive Writing Tales level one and two to review through the TOS Crew.
Writing Tales is a Classical Style Composition and Language Arts program. This program teaches children from approximately 3rd grade to 5th Grade.
Writing Tales lays the foundation your children will rely on to learn how to write successfully.

Writing Tales is split into 30 lessons each focused around a short story or fable. Each story is studied for two lessons and each lesson lasts a week.
The teachers manual clearly details what you should be doing each day of the week. The curriculum is very open and go and requires no figuring out when to do things on the teachers part.

Day 1 always starts with reading the story for the week. Then you will learn about the author of the story and discuss the story, main characters, the conflict and resolution. Then your children will retell the story to you orally.
Day 2 your student will work on copy-work and grammar.
Day 3 your student will work on vocabulary related to the story.
Day 4 your student will reread the grammar lesson and do practice grammar work.
Day 5 your student will write a rough draft retelling the original story in their own words.
**For clarity's sake I'm going to call the second week of the same story days 6-10.**
Day 6 your student will review the grammar lesson and reread the story.
Day 7 your student will work on spelling
Day 8 your student will have another grammar lesson and write their final draft adding their own creative touches.
Day 9 is more grammar
Day 10 the student will copy over their final version of their story and place it in a special place for safe keeping.

Some weeks their are also games or other fun activities but your student will consistently learn grammar, writing, spelling, vocabulary and do copy-work.

There is also another section in the teachers manual that lays out a plan for using this program in a co-op setting. It lays out what to cover in class and what to send home with your students as homework.

Our Experience:
I have used other writing programs and given up on them time and time again because they were just so confusing. Writing is not a strong point for me and teaching it up until now has been nearly impossible. This program changes all of that. It is simple, clear and concise. I am never left wondering what I should teach or how I should teach it. Writing Tales never requires me to spend hours trying to figure it out. Honestly I haven't even had to make a lesson plan. I open the book and do what it tells me to do, it's really that simple.
My children and I have enjoyed every story we have read and have all had fun using this program. No one sighs or moans when it's time to do writing and often they ask if we can do it first when I let them choose what order to do our work in. Best of all my dyslexic son is LOVING writing his own stories. This from the boy who avoids writing at all costs, the boy who would rather do anything else. Last week I told him he had to write his first two sentences and I would write the rest for him if he dictated it to me. He got so involved in his story that he forgot and wrote the whole thing himself!
Writing Tales will absolutely be a keeper for our family, I only hope the higher levels are finished before we need them.

Writing Tales is available here
Level one Teachers Manual is $24.95 and the Student Workbook is $19.95
Level two Teachers Manual is $32.95 and the Student Workbook is $24.95

But wait! Luckily the Writing Tales annual sale is coming up May 2nd through 9th and you can get writing tales for 20% off plus get free shipping, so if you are wanting to give this a try now is the time to do it!

To see what my crew-mates thought of Writing Tales visit the Crew Blog here 

I received Level One and Two of Writing Tales in exchange for my honest review of their product. No other compensation was received.

Nutrition 101 ** TOS Review **

We were blessed to receive an E-book from Growing Healthy Homes called Nutrition 101: Choose Life.
Nutrition 101 is an information packed health curriculum that you can use with your entire family from preschoolers up to the adults in the family.

Nutrition 101 is filled with information not only about how to stay healthy but why. It is divided by sections of the body and tells you how each part of your body works and how to keep it healthy. The sections are

1. The Brain and Nervous System
2. Digestion and Elimination
3. Respiration and Olfactory
4. Muscular and Skeletal Systems
5. Cardiovascular and Immune Systems
6. Endocrine System and Emotions

Each chapter starts off with a thorough description of how that part of the body works, what it needs to stay healthy and different diseases that can affect it. There are also definitions to the side of the text for the more complex words and fun little facts relating to the area being taught. 

Next there are Discussion Questions, Additional Resources if you want to learn more and activities you and your child can do relating to the chapter. 

Last each recipe has a Power recipe made from foods that are good for that part of your body. 

Our Experience:

I am truly impressed with this book. It teaches our children not only how to eat healthy but WHY which is so important. If we only teach our children how to eat healthy but not why chances are it won't mean much to them. I love that the book also teaches them how the body works, understanding what a complex system our bodies are is key in understanding why we must keep it healthy. The book is packed with great information, wonderful pictures and fun activities. The power recipes are tasty and kid approved, so much so that my kids are asking for them to be made again! I meant to get a picture of the kids enjoying one of them but honestly it was like a swarm and it was gone before I had a chance! 

 Some of the information in the book was a little over my lower elementary/preschoolers heads but I actually am thankful for that because that means the book can grow with us. We can do it now and gain some knowledge and do it again and again and learn more each time. I plan on using this as our primary health program for the remainder of our school years. The only con for me was that I truly wish I had received the hardcover book instead of the e-book since this is something I want in my hands and used repeatedly. I love it so much I'm actually considering buying the hard copy for myself even though I have the E-book. 

Pricing

Electronic Version- $79.95

Hard Cover Book- $99.95

Combination of Both- $129.95


Growing Healthy Homes has made a special offer to readers of the TOS Crew for 15% off of their products using the code TOSCREW11 

To see what my crew-mates thought please visit the TOS Blog Here 

I received an e-book of Nutrition 101 in exchange for my honest review of their product. No other compensation was received. 

All About Reading ** TOS Review**

Our family was so very blessed to be chosen to review the All About Reading program for the TOS Crew.
We are already quite familiar with All About Learning Press through All About Spelling which we have used for years and love. Our expectations for this program were quite high and I am happy to report we were not at all disappointed

We were given the deluxe package of All About Reading Pre-Level 1. The deluxe package includes

• Teacher's Manual (208 pages)
• Student Material Packet
• My Book of Letters and Sounds Activity Book (192 pages)
• Picture Cards
• Letter Sound Cards
• Capital Letter Alphabet Chart
• Lowercase Letter Alphabet Chart
• The Zigzag Zebra: a rhyming alphabet hardcover book
• Lizard Lou: rhymes old and new hardcover book
• Divider Cards (keeps your Picture Cards and Letter Sound Cards organized
• "Letter Sounds A to Z" CD-ROM. 
• Ziggy the Zebra puppet
• a charming Activity Box to hold your student's learning cards
• All About Reading tote bag to keep your components organized

I also purchased an additional student workbook so I could do it with 2 kids at once.   A quick note in case you are familiar with All About Spelling and are using one student pack with multiple children, you cannot do that with All About Reading. There are daily activities in the workbooks that are consumable so you will want as many student packs as you have students.

I originally intended to use this with my 4 year old and 6 year old but when I received it I realized it is a little young for my 6 year old. My 3 year old however LOVES it. It is really just perfect for preschool or a kindergartener who does not yet know their letters. My 6 year old is a pre-reader but she has a pretty decent grasp on her letters and letter sounds so while she sits with us and enjoys the program I would not purchase it for her.

All About Reading starts by teaching upper case letters. Each lesson starts with the alphabet song and finding the letter of the day on your corresponding poster. There are 2 posters one for uppercase letters and one for lowercase.
Then you will read part of a story in one of the readers to your child about that letter.
Next is the craft sheet for the day's letter. It is an outline of the letter along with a cute animal picture that begins with that letter. On the back of each craft sheet is instructions for how to decorate your letter. I won't give away their ideas for the letters but I will say that is my children's favorite part of the day. It's fun, memorable and easy to do for Mom.
Next you choose from a list of activities what you want to do for the letter that day. I love that aspect because some days I want to choose a simple quick activity and other days I have time to spare so I  choose something more involved.
Next you will play a game with your child either with the student cards or the zebra puppet. The games are designed to teach your child skills that they need to learn to be a successful reader such as letter knowledge, phonological awareness,print awareness,listening comprehension, and motivation to read. These are the big 5 skills that All About Reading is trying to teach your pre-reader in order to help them achieve reading success.
Lastly you are encouraged to spend 20 minutes at some point during the day reading to your child.

The next section covers the lowercase letters in much the same way as the first part.
The third and last section of this level covers the sound of the Letters.
This section will teach your child the most common sound of each letter. The program also includes a CD-ROM of the  correct pronunciations so you can be sure your child is always hearing the right sound.  All About Reading uses a multi-sensory approach to teaching these sounds  making it easier for your child to remember them. There is once again an activity sheet for each letter and corresponding games and stories for each letter as well.
The books that you use throughout the program are also available on an audio CD  for independent listening, review or to save Mom's tired voice.

Our Experience: 
I love everything about this program. I intend to use it through every level with my three younger children assuming the levels are ready when we are. The approach is perfect for what I believe my children need. It is simple, fun and engaging. My children beg to do this, if I am busy they will talk their 14 year old brother into doing a lesson with them. Also the teachers manual is so clear and easy to implement that my 14 year old son or their Dad has no problem just picking it up and doing a lesson with them. There is no preparation involved at all.
I wasn't sure at first if I would use the Zebra with them because it seemed a little silly but the zebra is a must I have discovered. The zebra is such a good teacher for my little girls. They love him and never tire of listening to what he has to say. I have never been able to hold their attention for so long before Ziggy began teaching. They love him so much he's even started teaching their math as well... and if I'm not careful he goes missing every chance they get.

The workbook itself is well made and the pictures and craft ideas have been a lot of fun. We actually removed all of the pages from our book and put them into binders so that we can easily save all of our letters to review later. This is also something easy and sweet to keep as a reminder of my children's early schoolwork.

I have been so impressed by this program that I will be recommending it every chance I get!


All About Reading Level Pre-1 is available here.

You can purchase the Basic level for $79.95 which includes everything you need to teach one student or the Deluxe level for $119.95 which also includes the zebra puppet, a box to store your cards in with dividers separated by lesson and a tote bag to help keep you organized. Additional student packs are available for $24.95 each and are the only consumable part of the program.
One of the great thing about All About Learning is that they offer a 100% 1 year guarantee on all of their products. That means there is absolutely no risk in purchasing this program. If you buy it and it isn't a good fit for you or your child simply return it and they will refund you 100%. You really can't beat a guarantee like that!

I do have one  thing I would love to see changed about the program. I would really appreciate an option to only buy the student workbook. It is a pricey although worth every penny program so I would love to see a more affordable option for replacing the consumables to use with other children or adding students. I really don't want to buy more posters or cards because I don't need more than one set of those.

All About Reading has a special offer right now where you can go here and download two FREE All About Reading books that you can do with your children! They also have samples available here at the bottom of the page so you can look before you purchase. 

To see what my crew-mates thought about this program visit the TOS Blog here.

I received a free deluxe set of All About Reading Level Pre-1 in exchange for my honest review of their program. No other compensation was received.

Science Weekly ** TOS Review**

Science Weekly is a multi level monthly science newspaper targeted towards children in grades K-6. 

Each edition of the newspaper covers a different topic. There are six different levels available to meet your child's needs. Each level covers the same topic so you can use this with all of your children at once and teach them all the same thing at their individual levels. Your individual subscription includes a teachers guide that covers all of the levels on one convenient sheet.

You can view sample newspapers here and here. There are also five subjects available in their new interactive format here. 

Pricing:

 $19.95 per student for less than 20 subscriptions

 $4.95 per student for 20 subscriptions or more. 

One teachers guide comes with each set of 25 subscriptions.

Our Experience:

Our edition of Science Weekly was on composting. Composting was something I have always wanted to do but lacked the motivation to get started so I was excited to get this edition. We got one of each level on the subject so all of the kids had their own Science Weekly to look at and work on. I was even able to get my teen involved and enjoying it.

Each level shares age appropriate information on the subject and has activities for every child to complete. They also have experiments in every level starting at very simple to the more complex ones for your older child.

All of my children learned a lot from this and enjoyed the activity. When they were done with their Science Weekly they all went and found a container to use as a compost bin and have been diligently composting ever since..... when we remember. I'm sure our garden will thank us for our effort soon and thanks to Science Weekly we all know a lot more about composting and why it helps our garden. 

I would love to be able to subscribe to Science Weekly for my children. They really enjoyed it and learned a lot. Unfortunately at $19.99 a level I just cannot afford it. I would love to see an option available to coop the magazines possibly through your local homeschool coop. I plan on calling them on Monday to discuss this and see if it's a possibility. I will update this as soon as I know. For now we will be utilizing the seven different issues they have available for free on their website and hoping that we can become subscribers in the near future. 

To see what my crew-mates thought of Science Weekly visit the TOS Blog Here. 

I received one of each level of the Composting edition of Science Weekly in exchange for my honest review of their program. 

KinderBach **TOS Review**

We had the opportunity through the TOS Crew  to review an online music program called KinderBach.  KinderBach is a program that teaches children ages 3-7 basic music theory and how to play the piano. It currently has six levels with a seventh in the works.
Each level includes ten weeks worth of lessons doing four lessons a week. You can choose to have an online membership and watch all of your videos online or you can order DVDs of the lessons. Whichever works better for your family.

Each lesson includes instruction from the teacher and some sort of activity. The activities vary from lesson to lesson. Some days it's a coloring page and other days it's doing rhythms on pots and pans or marching high and low to songs, you just never know what kind of fun activity you will get to do. 

Kinderbach also provides PDF workbooks and coloring pages for you child to accompany the lessons. 

Kinderbach uses fun characters to help your child learn like Dodi and Frisco.
The characters seem to keep the kids engaged and really help them learn through fun little memory tricks.

Our Experience:
I started off with the intention of doing this with all 5 of my younger children from 3-9. I was quickly informed however by my 9 year old son that it was just too young for him. My 8 year old enjoyed some things but not others. I can say the three younger children who are 3,4 and 6 loved everything about this program.

The younger girls loved doing the activities and often after doing the days lesson begged to do another. They understood the concepts and remembered them later. I was a bit skeptical about a video piano program but thus far it really does seem to be working and the kids love it!

We will continue to use KinderBach for as long as my children enjoy it and continue to learn. I just can't get private lessons for the price of KinderBach and I honestly think it will provide them with a great base before we begin lessons out of the home.

Pricing:
Online memberships for the video's on the computer are $95.88 annual or $19.99 monthly per family. The yearly membership ends up being only $7.99 a month for all of your kids!I know I couldn't even cover my gas to lessons much less the actual lesson fee for that!
DVD packs are $40.95 per level. Depending on how many children you plan to use it with over what space of time this may be the more cost effective method for your family. I'm still trying to decide what would be the most economical for us. 
The best part is you can try KinderBach totally FREE before you commit just by visiting their website here. There's no risk to you by trying it out for free and then you can decide if this program is right for your family yourself. 


Visit the Crew Blog here to see what my crew-mates thought of KinderBach. 


I received a three month subscription to KinderBach in exchange for my honest review of their product. No other compensation was received.