College Prep Genius-Review

The newly revised and updated College Prep Genius: The No Brainer Way to SAT* Success is a DVD, textbook, workbook set that prepares your students for taking the SAT (and PSAT).

The textbook is a 6 part book:

PART I: Introduction to the SAT
PART II: The Critical Reading Section
PART III: The Math Section
PART IV: The Writing Section
PART V: Scholarship Search
PART VI: Journal for Test Success

The book ends with 3 appendices.  Appendix A includes a list of prefixes, B is a list of math terms and the final Appendix is a motivation test to help you "create a game plan that will help you chart your course to stay on track and reach your test score goals."

The textbook is a 325 page book FILLED with everything you need to know to prepare for the SAT.  Beginning with information about what the SAT (and PSAT) is and then going through each section of the SAT.

The DVD portion includes 4 DVDs with 12 lessons (approx. 45 minutes each):

Lesson 1: Introduction the the SAT
Lesson 2: Critical Reading-Long Passage
Lesson 3: Critical Reading-Short and Dual Passage
Lesson 4: Critical Reading-Sentence Completion
Lesson 5: Math-Multiple Choice
Lesson 6: Math-Multiple Choice Practice Problems and Answers
Lesson 7: Math-Student Response
Lesson 8: Math-Student Response Practice Problems and Answers
Lesson 9: Writing- The Essay
Lesson 10: Writing- The Essay
Lesson 11: Writing-Sentence Error
Lesson 12:Writing-Improving Sentences and Improving Paragraphs

Each DVD also includes a section of acronyms that are used to help the student remember specific strategies for each section. This is an important part of the course and students are encouraged to memorize them.

The DVD is an invaluable part of this program. As author Jean Burke teaches the course she tells you when to turn off the DVD and then when you turn it back on she goes through each problem step by step. She also debunks many of the myths associated with the SAT.  I learned a few things about that! Did you know that the SAT is really a logic test and NOT a test of knowledge.  I  had no idea about how a great score on the PSAT (and SAT) can make scholarships available to your students.  I also found out how much the test has changed since I took it in 1986. :)

In the DVD students will learn how to best approach each section of the test with strategies for each. I wish I had this course when I took the SAT.I always liked taking those tests where you have to bubble in your answers. I would love to know how I would do on the test now. (nutty, I know..LOL)

I have to say these DVDs are not "fun" to watch.  They aren't funny or overly interesting but I think the information in this course is vital to anyone preparing to take the PSAT or the SAT.  I think this course is reasonably priced and would be extremely helpful to anyone planning to take the SAT.  I do not currently have anyone preparing to take the SAT but my 9th grader will likely take the PSAT next year so I intend to have her use this course to prepare.  I would definitely recommend this program.  I would advise buying all of the components (DVD, text and workbook).  You will get the most benefit this way.

I looked into SAT prep courses in my area and didn't find ANY that were as reasonably priced.  The least expensive one was $125 at our state community college (which would involve gas money and travel time).  I like this option better.  Most of the courses cost much more.


A newsclip with author Jean Burk: (don't miss this!)

The complete program is $99.00 (25% discount over products ordered individually). To order individually, prices are as follows: College Prep Genius Second Edition Textbook $49.95, College Prep Genius Second Edition Workbook $19.95, College Prep Genius Second Edition DVD $59.95

Also available is the Vocabcafe series of books that help students learn SAT level words while reading an original story. (see reviewes on the TOS crew blog)

College Prep Genius offers a 100% money-back guarantee. (see website for details)

You can read what others are saying about College Prep Genius on the TOS crew blog.

disclaimer: I received a free copy of College Prep Genius in exchange for an honest review.


*The SAT and PSAT/NMSQT are registered trademarks of the College Entrance Examination Board and the National Merit Scholarship Corporation, which does not endorse this book.

Keyboard Town Pals Review

Keyboard Town PALS is a typing program for children. It is different from other typing programs because there is no emphasis on making mistakes (they are OK and you learn from them) or on timed typing.  They actually deactivate the delete and backspace function so you can't fix mistakes (which drives me personally crazy but I think it's a good idea.) They do not want the students to dwell on mistakes.  If you make a mistake there is no annoying sound to tell you so.  That is kind of refreshing!

One other difference is that Keyboard Town PALS teaches typing one finger at a time rather than a row at a time.  When I learned to type it was ASDFJKL; (I can still hear my typing teacher repeating that over and over.)  The students learn one finger at time up and down the keyboard.  I'm not sure if this is better but I think it is effective.

A video overview of Keyboard Town PALS:



A sample video of the first lesson:

Emma (8+) finds Sunny to be annoying and felt it a little babyish BUT she did stick with it and learn to type.

Keyboard Town PALS teaches children to type in about an hour however, that is all you learn.  There is no opportunity for practice or accuracy drills. My 12 year old son thought he would try it too but he couldn't get past Sunny and the puppets.  I do think this is fun for little kids but I think the price is a little steep for what you get.  I think this would be good for young children if you don't mind the price tag.


Keyboard Town PALS can be purchased for $39.95 on the Keyboard Town PALS website.  There is a web-based version or you can purchase the CD-ROM. See the website for other bundle deals that can include stickers and coloring books. You can read what others are saying about Keyboard Town PALS on the TOS crew blog.


disclaimer: I was given a free 6 week trial of Keyboard Town Pals in exchange for an honest review.

Slim Down Sunday

Well, I'm a day late (again) but here goes:

Goal: Continue losing weight at a steady pace. 

Pounds Lost: 54.6 lbs (same as least week)

How is it going this week?  Still going along steadily.

My Plan for the Week Ahead: Just keep doing what I've been doing. I still haven't felt like exercising unless you count knitting as exercise. :)

If you would like some encouragement or to encourage others in their weight loss join us at Heartfelt Homeschooling for Slim Down Sunday.  You can link up here. 

The Person I Marry- Bower Books Review

The Person I Marry is a beautiful 32 page hardcover book from the Bright Future Series by Bower Books. Gary and Jan Bower are a husband and wife team that write (Gary) and illustrate (Jan) books for families.  I am impressed with the beauty of these books.  I was given a digital copy of The Person I Marry for the purpose of this review but I intend to purchase some (maybe all) of the books they have on their website. They are wholesome, godly and just plain beautiful.

From the website:

"Long before thinking of diamonds & glitter, here are some things that I need to consider."

The things that make up a person's outside are shallow, but deeper qualities like kindness, honesty, faithfulness, thoughtfulness, respect are what help build strong relationships. Written in poetry by award-winning author Gary Bower, and featuring the breathtaking oil paintings of award-winning artist Jan Bower, The Person I Marry is an adorable, yet profound, book that will penetrate hearts of men and women, boys and girls. Loved by young children, teens, engaged couples, and seasoned married people.

back cover

The oil paintings in this book are so sweet and the rhyming text is fun to listen to but packed with wisdom at the same time.  In the background of each page (behind the text) various character traits to look for in a mate are sprinkled throughout the book.  There is so much to look at on each page but in a visually appealing way.


Here is a sample:

Go to the illustration page of the Bower Books website to see more of the beautiful art.

Here is a video sample of the book:


The Person I Marry from Bower Books on Vimeo.


You can purchase The Person I Marry from Bower Books for $11.99 with free shipping on orders of $30 or more. Other books in the series include: There's a Party in Heaven, The Jingle in My Pocket and What Do Heroes Wear?  Visit Bower Books to see these and other books. They also sell posters of the art and you can even have a custom portrait made.

You can read what others are saying about The Person I Marry on the TOS crew blog.



Disclaimer: I received a free digital copy of The Person I Marry in exchange for an honest review.

First Start Reading and Classical Phonics

I recently received First Start Reading:Phonics, Reading and Printing and Classical Phonics by Cheryl Lowe and Memoria Press to review. The covers of these books are so inviting. But since you can't  judge a book by its cover, here is what you'll find inside.

 First Start Reading: Phonics, Reading and Printing includes 3 students books and a teacher's manual. This covers beginning phonics in a traditional workbook style.  I really love the black line drawings and simple pages. It covers consonants, short vowels, 45 common words, and manuscript printing. Children begin reading in the first lesson as they progress through 3 student books and 25 phonetic stories, such as "Hogs and Pigs" and "Jog to the Jet." The teacher's manual guides you through the program and provides a lesson outline, helpful assessments and teaching tips.

My just turned 6 year old Jenna has been working in book A and seems to enjoy it.  It is very simple to use with virtually nothing for the teacher (me!) to prep. We like to just pick it up at a moments notice and go through a lesson.  The coloring pages make it fun. Some lessons also include a box for drawing a picture.  For instance in the lesson on A there is a box to draw a picture of a word beginning with A.

Lesson 16 in book A

Book A and B each have 25 lessons followed by word mastery review lists and assessments including dictation.  Book C has 33 lessons followed by over 30 pages of review lists and assessments.  Children begin reading real words by the third lesson.  They begin learning to listen for phonetic sounds that words begin and end with. I think this is important not only for sounding out words but also for spelling later on.

First Start Reading also teaches correct letter formation.  The lessons have letters with numbered arrows, dotted letters to trace and room for making their own letters. Each workbook also has a chart at the back of the book with correct letter formation.

From the website:

The first reading and printing lessons are critical, and although there are many adequate programs out there, we could not find one with the right combination we were looking for–a balanced, age-appropriate approach to phonics and reading and a serious focus on correct pencil grip and letter formation. In addition, many phonics programs today use the ladder approach (consonant vowel blending), which is fine, but we prefer the more traditional (vowel-consonant) approach combined with word families. And one more thing, mastery of the short vowels is the sine qua non of phonics programs, and few programs really give adequate practice in this very important skill.

Click here to see a sample from book A and here for a sample from book B. I really like the simplicity of these workbooks

On to Classical Phonics:

From the website:

Classical Phonics is a deceptively simple little book our teachers and families use constantly in both Kindergarten and first grade. It consists of phonetically-arranged word lists for students to practice their growing phonics skills. In a word list there are no context clues, so the learner must rely on his mastery of letter sounds. For instance, if your child can pronounce each word in this list correctly – pot, pat, pit, put, pet – he knows his short vowel sounds, and you can move on to long vowels! If not, he needs more practice, and Classical Phonics is the most effective tool I know of to address the repetition that young ones need when learning to read. Classical Phonics can be used as a supplement to any phonics program and covers nearly all English phonograms and sounds taught through second grade. Classical Phonics is your handy tool for phonics practice and for building confident readers.

When you get this book you will first want to turn to page 122 where you will find Suggestions for Teachers.  There is a note not to put this book into the hands of your students until you have carefully studied this section.  The section is only 4 and 1/2 pages long so it isn't too much and yet the suggestions provided (though I think intended for a classroom) are very helpful.  It gives you tips on each of the 4 parts of teaching phonics: ear training, tongue training, eye training and word training.

table of contents

Classical Phonics is divided into 10 units as you can see in the picture above (click on it to make it larger if necessary.)  It is intended for students in K-2.  You can view a sample here.  The first section has a page for each letter with pictures (black and white) and words to go with each letter.  It ends with a review of CVC words (consonant-vowel-consonant). From there it moves on to more complex words such as you see listed above (long vowel sounds, silent e words, blending etc.)

word lists

sample page

I really like First Start Reading and would recommend it for anyone looking for a traditional phonetic way to teach reading and penmanship.  We will continue to use these books.  I also like Classical Phonics but haven't quite figured out how we will implement it when we are done with the workbooks.  There are no lessons and I like things all laid out for me. I think we will use it for review and spelling. If you have any questions, please ask.

You can purchase First Start Reading is available for purchase at Memoria Press for $29.95 with the teacher's manual and a set of 3 extra students books for $21.95.   Classical Phonics can be purchased for $14.95. Visit the TOS Crew Blog to see what others are saying about First Start Reading, Classical Phonics and First Form Latin also by Memoria Press.

Memoria Press is a family-run publishing company that produces simple and easy to use classical Christian education materials for home and private schools. It was founded by Cheryl Lowe in 1994 to help promote and transmit the classical heritage of the Christian West through an emphasis on the liberal arts and the great works of the Western tradition. Memoria Press is currently developing a K-12 classical curriculum at Highlands Latin School in Louisville, Kentucky, where its popular Latin, logic, and classical studies courses are developed and field-tested.

Read more about Memoria Press or go shopping.  You will find Full Curriculum packages, Latin, French, Copy Books, Rhetoric studies and much more!

disclaimer: I received a free copy of Classical Phonics and First Start Reading in exchange for an honest review.

Menu Plan Monday

This is a pretty unoriginal plan but I haven't done any meal planning in a couple of weeks and I need to start somewhere!

Monday: Italian Sausage and Bean Soup and bread

Tuesday:  pancakes or spaghetti (I'm going out with my friend :) )

Wednesday: Curried Chicken and Broccoli

Thursday: Homemade Pizza and chips

Friday: Fish sticks and potatoes of some kind

Saturday: Pasta and bread

Sunday: leftovers





Link up with your menu plan or see what others are planning this week at orgjunkie.com.

Crocheted Trivet

When I started this blog I originally planned to use it to share projects I was working on but over time it has mainly turned into a homeschool blog because I haven't been doing any projects.  Recently I have become addicted to Pinterest.  I have been pinning lots of things to do and finally decided to make something.  I am not that happy with this project but I am going to share it anyway.

I found this trivet.  In the original directions, it says to crochet over the plastic rings that hold soda cans together.  They really are not round and the first one I made didn't look very good as you can see here:

I spent some time trying to figure out what I could use instead that would be perfectly round and wouldn't cost anything. I finally decided to cut circles from a milk jug.

I made a pattern from the soda ring on cardboard.

I traced them onto the milk jug and cut them out.

One finished ring with the pattern.

See the difference?  The one of the left is with the milk jug circle and
 the one on the right is the soda ring.

My finished trivet.

I'm not sure exactly what I don't like about this.  I think that maybe the circles were a little bit too big.  It is fine for me to use but it isn't nice enough for a gift.  Maybe I would like it better with different colors?  Or if I added a fancy edge?  

The milk jug rings make nice little frisbees. :)