I received two wonderful books to review for Bright Ideas Press.

A Young Scholar’s Guide to Composers filled a big gap for me. I had scheduled our Composer study for every Friday, but was having trouble piecing it all together. This book is one-stop shopping! It is written for grades 4-8, but is easily adaptable for younger grades. It is a full year’s curriculum, but it will last us much longer since we are just doing it one day a week. All of these wonderful resources are included:

• 32 weekly lessons
• 26 Bios of Famous Composers
• 6 Eras of Music Explained
• Easy-to-Use Comparative Timeline
• Easy-to-Use Maps
• Composer Info-Cards & Game Directions
• Note-Taking Pages
• Quizzes
• Answer Keys Listening Suggestions
• Intricate Coloring Pages
• Resource Books

The only thing I am not crazy about is the binding. It makes copying pages difficult – I will eventually have the spine cut off of mine. It is available in CD-Rom, but I like having the book in front of me while teaching. You can view sample pages HERE.

The Nitty Gritty:

• CD-Rom       $29.95
• Paperback  $34.95

Things I Like:

• Lessons are written from the viewpoint that music is from the Lord.
• The composers are in chronological order.
• There is a good variety of activities.
• It is a very complete curriculum.

Value: Worth every penny.

(I am looking forward to the release of A Young Scholar’s Guide to Poetry!)

Over Our Heads in Wonder was the perfect way to kick off our school year. It is a lovely little science book that shows God’s power through studying the weather and the sky. These topics are discussed:

• Clouds
• Rainbows
• Sun
• Stars
• Snow
  
• Wind
• Storms
• Air

This book was written for grades K-5. We used it for our morning devotional time & it worked great for my whole gang. I think it could serve as a science curruculum for the younger grades. You can view sample pages HERE.

The Nitty Gritty:

• $9.95 Paperback

Things I Like:

• The experiments use items commonly found around the house.
• Each section has its own Table of Contents. It is very easy to mix & match the lessons.
• My kids loved heading outside each day to observe God’s world in a new way.

Value: I think this is a great deal!

See what my TOS Crew Mates have to say about Bright Ideas Press!

I am an internet resource junkie. I love to find fun educational websites, and even set up a site to house all my links.  I’ve visited abcteach many times to make use of their 5,000+ free printables.

I’ve always wondered about the 35,000+ printables available to members … were they really worth the cost of admission? Well, I got to spend a month poking around on their site for free and found some wonderful things.

Here is a sampling of the resources to be found in the abcteach member area:

• unit studies
  
• file folder games
  
• science diagrams
• puzzles
• learning centers
• writing prompts
• poetry guides
  
• tons of seasonal/holiday activities.

Many of these types of activities can be found in the free section, so you might be wondering what good a paid membership would do you. Well, I’ll tell you in one word: customization. You can design your own worksheets, puzzles, notebooking pages, shape books and copywork.

There are several different fonts to choose from. This is a big deal to me because I have one child who uses traditional cursive, one who uses HWT cursive, and one who is still in manuscript print. I can easily whip up a copywork page for all of them in the style they prefer. You can try out the abctools here.

The Nitty Gritty:

$40 for 1  year / $70 for 2 years  **buy through Homeschool Buyers Co-op by November 30th & get 50% off your membership!!

Things I Like:

• There are so many activities from which to choose.
  
• Many of the pages have multiple uses.
• The ability to customize!!!!

Value: This will depend on the individual, but for me it is worth every penny if the only thing I ever use it for is making copywork sheets. (But I will be using it every week for all of the seasonal/holiday fun.)

See what my TOS Crew Mates have to say about abcteach!

I was very excited to receive my package from Virginia Soaps & Scents because I LOVE handcrafted soap. Are you wondering what reviewing soap has to do with homeschooling? Well, sometimes Mommy just needs a little Calgon time after a long day of teaching her little stinkers blessings. Oh. . . and it might be because the soap is made by homeschoolers LOL. My box held four samper soap bars and a laundry kit.

My soap sampler contained three soap bars and a shampoo bar. I smelled the Orange and the Coconut Lemongrass soaps (they smelled nice!) and then I never saw them again because the kids claimed them as their own.  I held on tightly to the Oatmeal, Milk & Honey soap because it was mine, all mine!! It reminds me of an oatmeal cookie and is exactly what I imagine Autumn would smell like if you could gather it up and turn it into a bar of soap. Since this soap has natural oils in it, I decided to try it on my face. It left my skin so smooth and soft!

I really want to try the Christmas Scents, and speaking of Christmas, these would make very affordable gifts. You can buy 10 full size bars for $35.00, or purchase a Sampler of the smaller bars to split up for stocking stuffers.

The Shampoo Bar was a new thing for us. I only had so-so results with my thick, coarse hair, but I will definitely be buying this for my daughter & hubby. My daughter has a very sensitive scalp and most shampoos make her itchy. She loved the shampoo bar from the very first use and it makes her hair very soft & wavy. My husband picked it up one day & decided to use it on his face to shave. For the first time in years he wasn’t bleeding after he shaved! (His beard is extremely tough – he has a 5 o’clock shadow by noon. LOL)

I was amused by the clever little Laundry Soap Kit. It is a good way to try out their Cleaning Bar without investing in all the products. One kit makes enough for 64-72 loads of laundry and works in top- and front-loading washers. I think this would be a cute addition to a gift basket.

The Nitty Gritty:

• Soap – $4.50 each or 10 for $35.00
• Shampoo Bar – $5.50 or 2 for $10.00
• Laundry Soap Kit $4.95
• See website for more products & prices

Things I Like:

• The ingredients are pure and natural.
• The scents are strong enough to be smelled on the skin after washing, but they are not overpowering.
• Their products have multiple uses.
• They make beautiful and affordable gifts.
• My purchase supports a homeschool family.

Value: I think the soap is a great value! The cheapest I have ever seen handcrafted soap in our area is $6.95 a bar.

See what my TOS Crew Mates have to say about Virginia Soaps and Scents!

My Access! is a web-based writing tool for kids ages 8-18. The student can choose from  a large selection of topics (or the parent can assign a topic), write about that topic, and then submit the writing to be scored. My Access! provides instant feedback and shows how the writing can be improved. The parent can easily keep track of each student’s progress. All parts of the writing process are covered:

• planning
• organizing
• drafting
  
• revising
• editing
  
• publishing
  

I really thought we were going to like this, but it just didn’t click with my family. It seemed a bit overwhelming. Many of my fellow Crew Mates seemed to enjoy it though, so we are going to give it another go and I will update with our results. You can check out some demos HERE.

The Nitty Gritty:

• $99.95   12-month subscription for 3 children
• $129.95 12-month subscription for 6 children

Things I Like:

• Each step of the writing process is covered.
• It is easy to keep track of all your kids.
• The program sets goals for the revision of the writing.
• It is very self-motivating.

Value: I really think this depends on your need and the amount of students you have, but in my opinion is it a pretty good deal for up to 6 kids!

See what my TOS Crew Mates have to say about My Access!