TOS Review: Amazing Science, Vol. 1

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                                     That’s AMAZING! 

How often do you hear that in school? Let alone for Science.  My girls L-O-V-E science and their curiosity for discovery and knowledge has grown exponentially within the last few months. Around mid-March we received an awesome video called Amazing Science!, Vol. 1 from Science and Math. Even if you are Science-phobic I think you will LOVE these videos.

Learn fundamental principles of science through Amazing Science Experiments! You'll learn about electricity, magnetism, heat, temperature, pressure, surface tension, buoyancy, and much more.

For every demonstration, a complete materials list is given, and each experiment features multiple camera views so you can see exactly what happens.

Most importantly, every concept is explained in a step-by-step fashion. You’ll not only be amazed – you’ll understand the science behind every experiment!

                                                               ~ excerpt from back cover

                    

Your instructor when watching the DVD’s is Jason Gibson, who earned advanced degrees in Engineering and Physics. While Mr. Gibson has worked as a Rocket Scientist for NASA, his passion has always been for teaching Science and Math. His enthusiasm is contagious and watching the experiment is always fun! At the beginning of the experiment Mr. Gibson,  gives you a quick rundown of what is going to happen. Any materials that are needed are right on the screen.   The experiment is shot with at least three different camera angles and Mr. Gibson explains the why and what of each experiment. Want a sample, watch five of the twenty-three experiments contained on the two DVDs, you can click HERE.

This set of 2 DVDs covers 23 different jaw dropping, AMAZING experiments retails for $19.95 (there is a digital download for $17.95) that will teach you about air pressure, electricity, heat, surface tension, magnetism, and so much more.

The experiments on Volume 1 include:

Disk 1

1. Color Changing Milk
2. Egg in a Bottle
3. Exploring Air Pressure
4. Build a Lemon Battery
5. Inverted Cup of Water
6. Candle Suction Power
7. Amazing Magnetic Force
8. Lift an Ice Cube with String
9. Unburnable Money
10. Matchstick Speedboat
11. Cloud in a Bottle
12. Reversing an Image with Water

Disk 2

1. Floating Eggs
2. Keep Paper Dry Underwater
3. Dry Ice Bubbles
4. Balloon in a Candle Flame
5. Ocean in a Bottle
6. Build a Motor with Lights
7. Simple Lava Lamp
8. Invisible Ink
9. Density Tower
10. Soda Can Fizz
11. Build a Motor #2

We LOVE it! I can not say enough good things about this DVD.  Even if you are not science oriented check it out and you will be amazed!  My girls loved it and for our upcoming trip they have requested this DVD to be one of the movies we bring for the road trip.  Now, that’s Amazing!!! 2 thumbs up from us, it will be the best $20. you spend this year! Check out what my Crewmates thought of this DVD by clicking here.

Company ~ ScienceandMath.com

Product ~ Amazing Science, Vol. 1

Price ~$19.95 or $17.95 digital download

Ages ~ all

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~   Disclaimer ~ I received a copy of Amazing Science, Vol. 1, in exchange for a thorough and honest review. Though I am compensated with free products, I am not compensated in the form of cash for my reviews. The opinions I have given are mine and may differ from others but are not influenced by the company or the free product provided.

TOS Review: God’s GREAT Covenant ~ New Testament 1

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We were first introduced to Classical Academic Press last year when we reviewed their Latin Primer A.  Well, they have done it again and produced an awesome product that we love!  We have had the pleasure of reviewing God's Great Covenant - New Testament 1 which is for grades 4 and up.  I actually used this bible curriculum with my 5th and 3rd graders, my K’er listening in.

Here is an excerpt from the website:

 In God’s Great Covenant, New Testament 1: A Bible Course for Children, students will follow the story of Jesus, the Messiah and King, as He is born and fulfills all God’s promises. But Jesus does not arrive as people expected. The people were looking for a mighty warrior to deliver them from the oppressive Roman government. Instead, He came as the suffering Savior, who would die as the sacrifice for sin and death. He was building a kingdom that was not of this world—it was the kingdom of God. He is the Son of Man, God’s Servant, the Messiah, and the Son of God. Each of the four units in this text emphasizes one of these names of Jesus. God’s Great Covenant, New Testament 1 teaches the Gospels to students in fourth grade and up, using stories, worksheets, memory verses, devotional guides, quizzes, and a little boy named Simon. In the introductions to the text, students will also learn about the historical, cultural, and geographical setting of the New Testament. This book is a most comprehensive and heartfelt study of the Gospels, and many parents and teachers will find themselves learning along with their students.

Broken down into 36 weekly chapters and further divided into 4 themed units this curriculum has it all.  Each chapter includes memory work, key facts charts, and fulfillment of prophecy section.”Think About It” questions do just that. They encourage your children and yourself included to really consider and relate to how God fits into our lives.  If you need more there is also a worksheet and a quiz to test your knowledge further. Want to check it out for yourself? There is also an audio download available which contains a recording of the Story Time section for each chapter read by Christopher Perrin. With  over 3 hours  of audio files in a mp3 format so you can burn to a disk or listen on your ipod/phone/touch and listen anywhere you go! Click here and you can preview the first 32 pages of the book, you will not be disappointed!

I can not say enough good things about this program, we loved it that much and will sing its praises to anyone and everyone!  We will definitely be continuing to use this valuable resource for the rest of our school year and into next year! Classical Academic Press has not disappointed me with any of there products!  Click here to read what my fellow Crewmates had to say.

Company ~ Classical Academic Press

Product ~ God's Great Covenant - New Testament 1

Price ~ $26.95 Student, $29.95 Teacher, $56.95 Bundle

Ages ~ 4th grade and up

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Disclaimer ~ I received a copy of God’s Great Covenant – New Testament 1, in exchange for a thorough and honest review. Though I am compensated with free products, I am not compensated in the form of cash for my reviews. The opinions I have given are mine and may differ from others but are not influenced by the company or the free product provided.

Strawberry time

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We went strawberry picking today (everyone but Marie. You know the story of The Little Red Hen?  Well it applies to her today, so no strawberries for her)…a first for the girls.  Everyone had a great time and we ate a lot of berries.

 

                                                             My only complaint is that one basketful is not enough, so we will have to go back for more next week :-)

Homemade Sports Drinks

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As we approach the summer months and H-O-T weather I need something to keep my girls hydrated.  My girls love Sports Drinks, but they are so expensive for the amount the girls would need.  So, I found a recipe for homemade Sports Drinks at Stay Fueled.com

It is easy to create your own natural, homemade 6% carbohydrate beverage for use at practice in place of using Powerade or Gatorade.

In general, a 6% carbohydrate beverage can be made by diluting your athletes’ favorite juice to half juice/half water and adding ½ teaspoon of salt per gallon. The addition of salt in the recipe is actually necessary to help the body absorb the fluid at practice and replace the salt lost in sweat. This keeps muscles firing at their best even at the end of a 4 hour practice! Remember to plan ahead so your gymnast does not run short at practice. Your athlete should be consuming a one gallon recipe over the course of 2-3 practices so you may need to make about 2 gallons per week!

Pick your favorite 100% juice and add it to a 1 gallon pitcher. Fill the rest of the pitcher with water and then add 1/2 teaspoon of salt.  Stir well and then refrigerate.

 

Wordless Wednesday

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TOS Review: Christian Kids Explore ~ Biology

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For the past 6 weeks or so I have been trying to narrow down our curriculum choices for next school year.  Science, this year has been the hold out and has had me wracking my brain. When the interest form for Christian Kids Explore series by Bright Ideas Press came out I was ecstatic that I was chosen.  Bright Ideas Press is a Christian company that publishes Christian curriculum for science, history and language arts.  As a member of the TOS Review Crew I received a free copy of the Biology curriculum which is suggested for grades 3-6 and is priced at $34.95.

Christian Kids Explore Biology is a 291 page paperback text which is broken down into 8 Units. Each Unit includes  3-6 lessons which comes out to be 35 weeks of hands on F-U-N science. You can check out the Table of Contents and a Sample Unit by clicking on the links. You and your child will study everything from Creation to Photosynthesis to Monkeys and Apes to our five senses.  This book has you covered for Biology. Everything is broken down and laid out in a easy to follow arrangement with a “Teaching Time” and a “Hands- On Time”, which includes an experiment or a diagramming assignment.  I love the simplicity of this curriculum so that either the parent or the child can read the short  “Teaching Time” section for each particular unit. Best of all is that there is a schedule included so that you can get science done in only 2 days a week! This program also has a Resource CD so you do not have to struggle to make photocopies of handouts from the book.  The Resource CD is available as an instant download for just $7.95 – regularly priced at $12.95.  This is a great plus for me since I am using this program with multiple students.

Christian Kids Explore Biology is written for your 3rd-6th graders. In our homeschool we used this book as a supplement to our current science program with excellent results. Once we received the book I was able to go through the lessons and  place a paperclip on the corresponding  lessons that I wanted to explore a little bit more. We were able to dig a little deeper into certain areas and do different experiments which really helped to cement the ideas for the girls. I should note that because I used this book as a supplement to our current program we did not start at Lesson 1 and progress through, rather we skipped around as needed. I did find that it lacked the rigor that I was looking for in a stand alone program for my logic stage child, however, my both of my girls enjoyed it so much that we are going to continue using this book for the rest of our school year. There are lots of extra’s in this book that you can use to make this more in-depth including the coloring pages and the extra book resources listed in the appendix. We are changing up the way we study science starting next school year so I also plan on purchasing each of the remaining guides including Earth Science, Chemistry, and Physics along with there corresponding resource CD’s. I would recommend this book if you are looking for a great, easy to follow science program. Check out what my Crewmates thought of all the books by clicking, HERE.

 

Company ~ Bright Ideas Press

Product ~ Christian Kids Explore Biology

Price ~ book $34.95, Resource CD $12.95 *on sale for $7.95

Ages ~ 3rd – 6th grade

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Disclaimer ~  I received a copy of Christian Kids Explore Biology, in exchange for a thorough and honest review. Though I am compensated with free products, I am not compensated in the form of cash for my reviews. The opinions I have given are mine and may differ from others but are not influenced by the company or the free product provided.