A Stable Beginning: reading

Showing posts with label reading. Show all posts

Thursday, November 17, 2022

The Quest for the King's Crown ~ a TOS review

Disclaimer: I received a Complimentary 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. All opinions I have expressed are my own or those of my family. I am disclosing this in accordance with FTC Regulations.

Morning friends! I am excited to share with you a new book we received from Tyndale House Publishers and Focus on the Family, called The Quest for the King’s Crown. I've been reading this book aloud to my two youngest, McKenzie (13) and Micah (8) and we are hooked! Let me tell you a little more about it.

The Quest for the King’s Crown tells the story of four friends, Mike, Winnie, Ben, and Spence, who are known as The Last Chance Detectives. One day, the friends come across an ancient artifact whose treasure could unlock their wildest dreams. However, a mysterious break-in is threatening the dreams of the Last Chance Detectives all the while leaving the local sheriff puzzled as he tries to solve the case. With several twists and turns to the story will the four friends have what it takes to solve this heart-pounding mystery?

The Quest for the King’s Crown is the seventh book in The Last Chance Detectives series that is written for upper elementary-middle school, roughly 8-12 year old students. Don’t let this books position in the series stop you from reading it. The great thing is that you do not have to read the previous books to fully enjoy this story.

We found this book to be fast paced and filled with drama and excitement! The story easily kept our attention as the plot twisted and turned throughout each chapter. It is well written and Micah has added the previous six books to his Christmas wish list for his “something to read” gift category. Each book is affordable at just $7.99 for a softcover or $9.99 for an ebook. You can purchase the entire seven set series as well for $55.94.

I love being able to add quality Christian fiction books to our home library and I am pleased to say that The Quest for the King’s Crown has earned a spot on our jam-packed bookshelves. I definitely recommend The Last Chance Detectives series for anyone looking to provide wholesome fiction stories for their children. Don’t just take my word for it! Check out what twenty of my other CrewMates thought of this book by clicking the banner below.

Company ~ Focus on the Family

Product ~ The Quest for the King's Crown

Format ~ softcover book

Price ~ $7.99

Ages ~ 8-12 year olds

Find Tyndale House on these Social Media Links:

Facebook: ~ Instagram ~ YouTube

http://astablebeginning.com

Tuesday, October 25, 2022

Read to Learn with Reading Eggs ~ a TOS review

Disclaimer: I received a Complimentary 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. All opinions I have expressed are my own or those of my family and I pray you, the reader, find them helpful on your homeschooling journey. I am disclosing this in accordance with FTC Regulations.

Hello friends! Over the course of the 14 years we have been homeschooling we have used a lot of curriculum when my kids were younger and learning to read. I have learned that what works for one child, may not necessarily work for another, but when it does it is great! We are no stranger to the world of Reading Eggs, the online learning site, having used the program with both Montana and McKenzie when they were younger. We have been working with the program over the last few weeks with Micah, my 8 year old third grader. He loves his morning computer time and logging into his Reading Eggs profile to complete the fun online learning games and activities.

Since everyone needs to learn to read, why not make the process fun and engaging? With Reading Eggs you can do just that! Reading Eggs offers online learning games and activities with Reading Eggs and Mathseedsto spice up the learning process. Micah is already a strong reader, so we used the program where they assessed him at for the Reading Eggspress program that is geared for 7-13 year olds. I found, that while Micah is a great reader, he sometimes struggled with the reading comprehension of some stories. I am glad that the Reading Eggs program pointed this out to me so that we could make sure we slowed down to get the concept done.

As I mentioned the Reading Eggs program provides a fun and interactive way to get kids to learn how to read and how to practice math with their Mathseeds program. By introducing beginner readers to the world of reading through interactive stories and games with fun characters your child will be soaring off into their reading adventures in no time!

Reading Eggs has five distinct components to the program including:

~ Reading Eggs Junior for children aged 2-4 years: Reading Eggs Junior is the perfect amount of stimulation for your young toddler who is just beginning their learning journey. With a huge library of read-aloud books, songs, alphabet games, and the all-important phonemic awareness activities your toddler will be engaged from day one.

~ Reading Eggs for children aged 3-7 years: With Reading Eggs your children aged 4-7 will learn everything from letter recognition, phonics, to reading early readers while using this program. To capture and hold a young child’s attention and make the reading experience multi-sensory there are also puzzles, games, and songs to make the process F-U-N! Not to mention the chance to win golden eggs and rewards to help the child progress toward the end goal and feel proud of themselves.

~ Fast Phonics for children aged 5-10: Most beginning readers need a little bit more practice with phonics when learning to read, so the creators created Fast Phonics to focus on building phonics instruction. The Fast Phonics program helps children to learn the 44 sounds of the English language. The program moves quickly but helps to reinforce reading and spelling skills.

~ Reading Eggspress for children aged 7-13: Do you have an older child or want to continue on the reading journey? No problem! Reading Eggspress {a sister part of the Reading Eggs World} is geared towards older children, aged 7-13, to encourage fluent reading. Using real books for reading this program is jam packed with hundreds of interactive reading activities and games to encourage fluent reading!

~ Mathseeds for children aged 3-9 years: Mathseeds teaches kids 3-9 the core math and problem solving skills needed to be successful. Through highly interactive lessons, Mathseeds keeps kids interested in completing math skills. Mathseeds is also available to play on a tablet so you can take the learning on the go if you have internet connection.

For this review we received a 12- month subscription and Micah has been enjoying it from the start! He has focused all of his time in the Reading Eggspress program. He typically spends 20 minutes each morning while I am working with his older sister. The lessons are engaging and fun so it keeps him interested.

We will definitely continue using the program for the rest of our subscription. All in all, we highly recommend Reading Eggs for anyone looking for a fun and exciting reading or math supplement. Be sure to click the banner below and read what 20 of my CrewMates thought of this program from Reading Eggs.

Company ~ Reading Eggs

Product ~ Reading Eggs

Format ~ online reading curriculum

Ages ~ preschool through age 13

Find Reading Eggs on these Social Media Links:

https://astablebeginning.com

Friday, October 7, 2022

Light of Mine Unit Study - Premium ~ a TOS review

Disclaimer: I received a Complimentary 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. All opinions I have expressed are my own or those of my family and I pray you, the reader, find them helpful on your homeschooling journey. I am disclosing this in accordance with FTC Regulations.

Morning friends! It’s the end of another week and I am excited to share a book review with you. Towers of Light Christian Resources LLC sent us the Light Of Mine Unit Study Premium to review, let me tell you about it.

We received the Premium resource which includes the Light of Mine paperback book, the Light of Mine Unit Study workbook, the Light of Mine Pathway Personal Player + an USB Flash Drive. The Pathway Personal Player comes with headphones, a cord to hang the player, plus a charger cord. Towers of Light Christian Resources LLC was gracious and send us two copies of the paperback book, workbook, and Pathway Personal Player for my two youngest, McKenzie (7th) and Micah (3rd).

The Light of Mine book tells the story of three siblings, twelve-year-old Lauren and her two little brothers, Aiden and Ethan, who set out to guard the Tower of Light that will help guide both of their parents back home to safety after they disappear. The trio fend for themselves and must learn to decipher who is a helper to them and the Tower or who is there to destroy the Light.

We played the Pathway Personal Player and let it read the story aloud to us. My children were both captured by the story from the first chapter that is narrated by Stacey Bradshaw. One day our Pathway Personal Player’s battery ran out mid-chapter. I quickly found the charger plug and we were all thankful and excited that the story picked up just where it cut off. The paperback workbook is filled with pages that contain memory verses, vocabulary, puzzles and coloring pages, comprehension questions, as well as art and science projects to complete.

Since there are so many activities to choose from over the course of the week there is plenty for your child to learn. You don’t have to do them all but choose from the buffet to your child’s ability and learning style. Both McKenzie and Micah have enjoyed the story and hearing how the children are able to battle darkness as they protect the Tower of Light. We also all enjoyed hearing the joke that that included each day in the workbook.

In this time when our children are faced with many scary situations and difficult choices each day, it’s nice to have access to quality literature to sill them with virtue and truth. While we are not quite finished with this unit study, we have enjoyed it tremendously! I love that we have the Pathway Personal Player to be able to take our story on the road as we drive to and from their sports practices. This story is a welcomed listen instead of listening to the radio.

Be sure to check out this unit study by heading over to the Towers of Light Christian Resources website to purchase your copy today. But don’t just take my word for it! Fourteen of my CrewMates have also reviewed this homeschool unit study. Click on the banner below and read their thoughts too.

Company ~ Towers of Light Christian Resources LLC

Product ~ Light of Mine Unit Study - Premium

Format ~ paperback book, workbook, USB flash drive, and Pathway Personal Player

Price ~ $54.99

Ages ~ grades 3-6+

Find Towers of Light Christian Resources LLC on these Social Media Links:

Facebook

Instagram

Pinterest

YouTube

TikTok

https://astablebeginning.com

Tuesday, August 16, 2022

Christian Literature Study Guides from Progeny Press ~ a TOS review

Disclaimer: I received a Complimentary 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. All opinions I have expressed are my own or those of my family and I pray you, the reader, find them helpful on your homeschooling journey. I am disclosing this in accordance with FTC Regulations. Progeny Press

Morning friends! We are on the road bringing our two University girls back to school but I am happy to share a review with you from a long standing favorite, Progeny Press. If you have been around the blog for long, then you know our family has a fond affection towards good books. I try to fill our bookshelves full of good books as well as check them out from the local library. We love adding Progeny Press guides to our Language Arts studies, so we were excited to receive the Farmer Boy Study Guide this time to review.

Progeny Press has been a family owned and operated company since 1992. They produce high quality literature guides from a Christian worldview ranging from lower elementary years through high school. They literally have 100+ guides and add 3-6 new titles each year ranging from lower elementary, upper elementary, middle school, and high school. If you are looking for a literature guide, they have got you covered!

Have you ever checked out the literature guides from Progeny Press? I highly suggest you look at them if you are looking to add critical thinking to your child’s learning this year. In our family I have found that literature guides make reading even more enjoyable for my younger children and helps me to check for comprehension.

For this review we received a downloadable interactive PDF copy of the study guide for the second book in the Little House on the Prairie series, Farmer Boy. This guide helps break down the story of nine-year old Almanzo Wilder and is told through Laura Ingalls Wilder’s eyes. With this literature study guide, your child will learn about literary techniques on synonyms, adjectives, characterization, dictionary, mood, paraphrase, in context, thesaurus, similes, metaphors, and theme. More importantly this literature study guide will teach moral and character lessons on attitude, work ethic, patience, the Sabbath, truth, consequences, and loving one another.

I used the Farmer Boy literature guide with my son, Micah who is 8 and in the 3rd grade. This study guide is suggested for children in upper elementary grades 4-6, however, Micah is a strong reader and currently reads at a late 5th grade reading level. Because of his age I am always on the hunt for quality of literature for him to read without being mature themes etc. Progeny Press helps me to provide quality literature books and for that I am grateful! Using this study guide is easy for the child and mom.

During the first week it is best to read the entire book before getting started on the activities within the study guide. Vocabulary is addressed in many ways to make sure the reader has a full grasp of the words being studied. First students are required to define several words, determine word meaning from its context and then double check their guesses in a dictionary. Vocabulary words and definitions are also presented to be matched and there is a vocabulary activity in multiple choice format. Comprehension questions which ask the student to recall events from the book are also included.

Progeny Press’s website is easy to navigate so you can find the guide you are looking for. All of the literature guides on the website are categorized by both genre and grade-level to help with this navigation. Be sure to check out the sample of the types of questions and information contained in the guides at the website. The guides are extremely user-friendly and are currently available as a print version, CD in PDF format, and email as a PDF attachment. We enjoyed using this literature guide just like the others we own. The new interactive format allows the student to type in the answers directly on their computer screen which is awesome! I also love that there is no limit on copying pages for use within our homeschool. Progeny Press

Our family finds that literature guides make reading even more enjoyable! We give this guide 2 thumbs up and I look forward to adding more literature guides to our collection over the course of the school year. Be sure to check out what my Crewmates thought of this guide and the many other guides being reviewed, The Story of Ping Study Guide, The Last Battle Study Guide, and the Fellowship of the Ring Study Guide.

Company ~ Progeny Press

Product ~ Farmer Boy Study Guide

Price ~ $19.99

Format ~ downloadable PDF

Ages ~ upper elementary grades 4th-6th

Find Progeny Press on these Social Media sites:

Facebook ~ Twitter ~ Pinterest ~ YouTube

https://astablebeginning.com

Tuesday, November 2, 2021

Literature Guides from Progeny Press

Now that you have been in school for a few weeks, are you looking to incorporate literature guides into your homeschool routine? If you have been around the blog for long then you know our family has a fond affection towards good books. I try to fill our bookshelves full of good books as well as check them out from the local library.

Have you ever checked out the literature guides from Progeny Press? We love adding Progeny Press guides to our Language Arts studies so we were excited to receive the Wagon Wheels Study Guide this time to review. For this review we received a downloadable interactive PDF copy of the study guide. In our family I have found that literature guides make reading even more enjoyable for my younger students.

We also received the accompanying interactive study guide with our review. It has about 60 pages and includes a separate file with the answer key. The literature guide includes a wealth of information about Jackson, WY, the setting of the book as well as history of the Native Americans that lived in this region. With Bible work, map work, research ideas the guide ties into the story as a whole.

Wagon Wheels is an I Can Read, Level 3 Reading Rainbow book and is recommended for kids in grades 2 through 4. My son, Micah who is in 2nd grade, was able to read this book on his own. The Wagon Wheels story tells the true story of Ed Muldie and his three sons who leave Kentucky and live in a dugout home on the Kansas prairie in Nicodemus. The book has 4 chapters and describes their time during the travel and harsh winter where they were saved from starvation by the Osage Indians. Soon afterwards the father, Ed packs up and leaves Nicodemus and the boys in search of a better place to raise his boys. During that time the boys survive on their own and narrowly escape death from a prairie fire. As soon as a letter arrives from their father the boys pack up their belongings and make the 150-mile trip to their new home. Wagon Wheels is such a great story of perseverance and reliance on God during hard times. The suggested length of time for finishing a study guide is 8-10 weeks, however you can adjust this on your reading voracity. The first week is used to read the book and then each study guide takes the reader through two chapters of the novel at a time and focuses on several different literary concepts. Also included are several comprehension questions which ask the student to recall events from the book and analyze them. I love that each guide takes care to draw the student back to the Bible.

Check out the sample of the types of questions and information contained in the guides at the website. To make navigation on the website easier, literature guides are categorized by both genre and grade-level. The guides are extremely user-friendly and are currently available as a print version, CD in PDF format, and email as a PDF attachment.

We enjoyed our literature guide and have purchased and/or reviewed several guides in the past and will be purchasing more in the future. The new interactive format allows the student to type in the answers directly on their computer screen which is awesome! I also love that there is no limit on copying pages for use within our homeschool. Progeny Press Guides are economically priced from $10.99 to $27.99, Wagon Wheels sells for $11.99. Be sure to browse the online catalog for individual pricing on all the available guides.

Our family finds that literature guides make reading even more enjoyable! We give this guide 2 thumbs up and I look forward to adding more literature guides to our collection over the course of the school year. Be sure to check out what my Crewmates thought of this guide and the many other guides being reviewed, Cricket in Times Square Study Guide, Redwall Study Guide, and Frankenstein Study Guide.

Company ~ Progeny Press

Product ~ Wagon Wheels Study Guide

Format ~ E-guide

Price ~ $11.99

Ages ~ 2nd – 4th graders

Find Progeny Press on these Social Media Links:

Facebook ~ Twitter: ~ Pinterest ~ YouTube

http://astablebeginning.com

Tuesday, October 19, 2021

LightSail for Homeschoolers ~ a TOS review

Hi there! For the last few weeks we have been using LightSail for Homeschoolers that focuses on the four areas Reading, Writing, Vocabulary, and Fluency with Micah. He really has been enjoying this program to work on improving his reading. LightSail for Homeschoolers is a complete language arts program built to advance literary skills of students in grades K-12. There program offers a huge variety of books, audio books, encyclopedias and more to help your child succeed at reading.

The complete platform of learning offers materials in faith based or secular based resources. The faith based resources are broken down into different denominations such as Catholic, Christian, Judaism, Islam, and Orthodox to name a few. I will be upfront and say that the secular based resources contain materials that deal with LGBT, Horror stories, Dating, and such. To navigate this, I used the parental controls and blocked any material that I do not wish for him to have access to. I also stayed close to Micah as he picked his reading activities to make sure they were appropriate for him.

Getting started with the program was really easy! Micah took an assessment that helped determine his first reading level. He was distracted at the time of the evaluation, and I believe he would have scored a bit higher if he was not. However, he placed in the right level and then a few weeks later the program self evaluated him and bumped him up even higher in his Lexile scoring.

Micah reads well for his age and grade. He is constantly wanting to read and learn or listen to the audio book selections. His new favorite are the books on coding since he wants to code his own video game in the future.

The LightSail for Homeschoolers also includes Writing, Vocabulary, and Fluency sections. There is so much to this site we have only hit the surface! I can’t wait to continue this with Micah and McKenzie too as we dive into the program more over the course of the rest of the school year. Be sure to check out what my CrewMates think of this program by clicking the banner below to read their thoughts.