In the Reign of Terror ~ Review

Heirloom Audio Productions is one of our favorite companies. We were beyond excited to receive for review their most recent audio CD, In the Reign of Terror.  This is a two CD set that has an audio time of two and one half hours. I love the motto of this company, "Building character in the next generation by bringing the lessons of history to life".  What a wonderful motto to teach by. This is a very exciting production about the Reign of Terror that took place during the French Revolution. The Reign of Terror lasted one year in which upwards of 30,000 noble men, women and children were killed in horrific ways, including the guillotine. 
This is an exciting story about a young Englishman named Harry who lives with a French noble family during the reign of terror. The family starts out leading the normal lives of the well-to-do. However, the story quickly turns very dangerous for the family as they face prison and potential death at the hands of angry mobs, for no better reason than being noble. Harry becomes loyal to the family and does everything in his power to keep them safe as they try to escape Paris. There are many harrowing twists and turns throughout the story that kept us on the edge of our seats. 
We listened to the story while traveling on our vacation. I must admit that the story was so engaging that it may not have been advisable for the driver to be listening, since the story was so compelling that it was distracting. I will say that this time period is horrific and it clearly came through in the story. I am not sure that it would be appropriate for the youngsters who might be frightened by the details and horrors portrayed so brilliantly by the actors. I know it gave me chills at times. I love the moral lessons that are portrayed in this story. Harry resists becoming violent against his attackers and instead uses his wits and intelligence to outsmart them. He also relies heavily on his faith in God and his belief that God would not want him to become a murderer. His selflessness is contagious and commendable. 
Besides the wonderful audio production, we were given access to a great unit study. It is filled with excellent discussion questions and lots of Expand Your Learning opportunities. We immediately searched for all of the recipes and decided which one we would make. We made brioche following one of the recipes in the study guide. My kids love to do cooking projects that are connected to their learning. Heirloom Audio Productions also has a Live the Adventure Club, which is an exciting new way to get involved with the stories. This audio and study guide gets a huge thumbs up from our family. We really enjoyed it. The acting is excellent, the story is engaging and the moral lessons are timeless.

To see what other members of the review crew had to say, click on the banner below.
Blessings, Dawn 

Review ~ ArtAchieve

We were very pleased to receive Entire Level III of ArtAchieve. This is an exciting online art program that really brings different works of art to life and then teaches students in clear, step-by-step instructions on how to make their own art.


I must admit that my daughter (13) is not a huge fan of producing art. She enjoys learning about art and doing picture studies. However, when it comes to creating her own art, she lacks confidence and wants her art to be perfect, just like the masters. For this reason, she shies away from doing many art programs. ArtAchieve is different. She likes the explanations and very clean, step-by-step instructions. She still would prefer to skip art, but with this program she doesn't struggle against doing the assignment. 

Each lesson begins with a warm-up that helps the student get prepared to create. Then there is a short lesson on the piece of artwork and the history or cultural background of the artwork. My daughter especially likes that part of the lesson. Having the artwork tied into its culture is interesting to her. Next, the lesson goes through step-by-step instructions. Each lesson can be viewed in two ways ~ either through a video or a slide show. My daughter prefers the slide show, because it is less overwhelming and the pace is completely controlled by her. 

Each level presents a large variety of projects. There are 13 lessons in Level III. The lessons expose the student to different mediums and cultures. My daughter worked with pastels, watercolor and acrylic paints, as well as both colored and drawing pencils. There is even a project that works with aluminum foil, which my daughter did not choose to do. The lessons do not have to go in order. I also love that the projects are unique. I haven't seen the same lessons anywhere else on the Internet. 

I really like ArtAchieve. A student can work with this program completely independently as long as the materials for each lesson are provided by the parent. The majority of the materials required would be found in a homeschool classroom. I love that a bit of history and culture are provided throughout each lesson. This program fits very nicely into our little homeschool, because the lessons can stand on their own and fit into whatever we are currently learning. If we are studying Russia, I can send my daughter off to learn how to draw the Russian Matryoshka.  If we are talking about Canada Geese and why our homeschool is called Geesecrossing Homeschool, I can send her to do the lesson on Canada Geese. 

I love it when I can tie several different resources together to make a full and rich experience for my kids. This program is a wonderful asset to my home. I also feel that each level can be picked based on the projects you want to do with your child. They do not get that much harder from level to level, so a middle school student could start in any level.  To see what other crew members on the homeschool review crew have to say, click on the banner below. We review different levels.  Blessings, Dawn

Middlebury Interactive Languages Review

My son decided that he would like to start learning a foreign language this year. We decided that Spanish would make the most sense with his current career desires.We were offered Middlebury Interactive Languages for review. We received one full semester of this online interactive program. We chose Spanish Middle School Year 1. Middlebury Interactive Languages offers German, French, Spanish and Chinese. All of these courses are online and need an Internet connection to work.  This program retails for $119 per semester without teacher support.We reviewed semester 1 without teacher support. If you would like teacher support, the cost is $294. The student will be able to speak lots of common Spanish words, carry on a simple conversation and understand grammar patterns. They currently offer Spanish from elementary through high school. The course is self paced, but it is meant to be used three to four times a week.  I feel that foreign language is one of the hardest courses to find a good fit for homeschoolers. Learning languages is much easier in a group setting, and it can be especially hard if the teacher doesn't know the language. In our family, I have only a rudimentary knowledge of Spanish, but my husband is semi-fluent. My son had very little exposure to Spanish before this program. He only knew a few words.  How my son felt ~ He liked that the program had lots of variety. There are multiple games, presentation styles and videos. The curriculum concentrates on helping the student be able to read, listen, speak and write in Spanish. This is an immersion program and the "teacher" speaks in Spanish from the very beginning. My son found the program engaging. He also found the website very easy to move around. He liked the cultural information that he learned throughout the course. However, he felt like all of the information "was coming very fast and hard to understand". He was a bit intimidated by the format and intensity of the program. On one hand, he liked that it wasn't at all babyish, but he thought that it wasn't for his grade level. He asked me several times why I had gotten a program that was for adults. 

What I thought ~ First, I feel that it is only fair to state that my son has several learning challenges. He is 14 and straddling subjects in 8th and 9th grade this year. He is very bright but needs lots of external support and very clear-cut directions. My son is an extreme visual learner with a strong need for hands-on activities. He struggles with auditory processing disorder. To say that any foreign language is going to be hard for him to master is an understatement. It doesn't matter how it is presented; it is going to be hard. So even though my review of this product would say that it did not really work for my son, I haven't found any foreign language program that clicks with his special needs. 

So all of that aside, I thought the program was well presented. I agreed with him that it seemed very adult like and actually thought I should use it for myself to freshen up my Spanish. I liked the variety and ease of use. I appreciated all of the printouts. I strongly appreciated that throughout the course the speakers were easy to understand. Their accents were not overly strong, and I could clearly repeat the words. Our microphone turned out to be a bit wonky with the program and did not consistently work. This was more likely our fault than that of the company. However, since my husband can speak all of the words easily, he was able to correct our pronunciations.  We liked the program overall.  To see what others on the homeschool review crew had to say, click on the banner below.  Blessings, Dawn

TOS Review ~ The Climbing Knights

I'm reviewing The Climbing Knights,  one of four SimplyFun new releases. I am so pleased to have the opportunity to review this game. What a great board game it is! We were immediately impressed with the materials used to make the game. The box itself is strong enough to last for years to come. The game is extremely sturdy and well built, being manufactured out of a thick, high-quality cardboard. The pieces are durable, so I have no doubt they can be assembled over and over again without wear. I was also impressed with how easy assembly is. My daughter had it all put together in just a few minutes. The game is 29 inches tall when it is fully assembled. It is also a breeze to disassemble and fit neatly back into the box. I found the directions to be uncomplicated, so we were off and playing in no time.

This game is all about strategy and spacial reasoning. Spacial reasoning is the ability to think about objects in a three-dimensional way. People who work at developing this skill will eventually be able to imagine how an object would look if it were rotated. They will be able to manipulate 2-D and 3-D objects in their heads. This skill helps people in many careers, such as engineers, urban planners, computer scientists, industrial designers, cartographers, sculptors, tailors, carpenters, graphic designers, mechanical designers, navigators, physicists, and architects -- to name just a few.

Each player is a knight who is trying to scale the wall of the castle and avoid the guards. It sounds easy, right? Not so -- there are ledges to hide under and windows to move around! But watch out -- with each roll of the die, the guards are able to move and may be able to see you. So you have to keep thinking about what is the safest move with each turn and what future moves the guards may be able to make. If the guards see you, down the wall you fall. Are you wondering how the knights stay attached to the wall? The knight figures are magnetic. Isn't that cool? They stick very well to the wall. My son, who has a tremble in his hands due to cerebral palsy, was easily able to place the knights and make them stick. This drastically increased his enjoyment of the game. I really appreciated the way the designers of the game did such a good job making the game work smoothly. My son Dean (13) said, "This game has really nice mechanics and rules." He especially likes that one of the die choices put the guards to sleep. Anne (12) said, "I like the concept of hiding from the guards and figuring out how to avoid them." Anne must really like the game, because she has asked to play it every day for six days in a row.

In addition to the game being straightforward in setting it up and in breaking it down, it is a relatively quick game. The directions say that the game takes about 30 minutes. We found that it only took about 20 minutes with two people playing. However, when four people played, it took closer to an hour. The extra length of time is probably due to some of my more strategy-driven children thinking through their moves longer than most would.

We are a family that plays games almost every night, especially during the fall and winter months. I would highly recommend this game as an addition to a family's collection. It is fun, easy to set up, and challenging enough to keep kids and adults engaged.

Blessings, Dawn