Vocal Coach Review

Chris & Carole Beatty, Vocal Coach creators and founders, have taught singers of all ages for over 40 years. I received the downloadable version of  their Vocal Coach Singer. This program retails for $119.99 for CDs or $99.99 for MP3s and is geared for students junior high through adulthood. This is what you'll get for your money:

7 Training CDs:

• Getting Started
• Complete Breathing
• Complete Warm-Up
• Complete Tone
• Complete Expanding Your Range
• Complete Diction
• Complete Performance

4 Workout CDs:

• Daily Workout High Voice 1 & 2
• Daily Workout Medium/Low Voice 1 & 2

Plus these great educational tools:

• Guidebook – Full-size Instructional Guidebook to Ensure Success
• Printable Lead Sheets – each exercise in our course, plus track lists
• Personal Singer's Journal (Getting Started Journal & Workout Journal) to Track Your Progress
• Vocal Coach Song Evaluation – Evaluation form to enable you to make more intelligent song selections

I think I sing fairly well. I can tell when I'm off key anyway. :) This program helped me be a better singer by teaching correct posture and breathing to start with. I have pretty bad posture so this is a challenge for me. I also am bad with setting a long period of time to practice, so 10 minutes at a time, focused on what I'm doing, is what works best for me. If you can work for a longer period of time, you'll get through the lessons faster and accomplish more. However, any amount of time as long as it's uninterrupted, is good.

I did find out that I can sing contralto / mezzo soprano. I used to sing soprano or what we considered to be soprano.

I enjoyed working through this program and recommend it. To read other reviews, please click on the banner below.

Disclaimer: As a member of the TOS Crew, I received this product, at no cost to me, in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

Growing Up Wild Review

Growing Up Wild is a video series giving you a glimpse of the lives of the Wild brothers and their family as they serve as missionaries in Indonesia. I was given two volumes to review with my family. Since my second child is serving as a missionary herself, we thought it would give us a glimpse of what her daily life could be like if she were led to go to Indonesia.

Volume 1 is about their home (hut), their supply trip, and their electricity using sun and water. This DVD was very educational and we enjoyed it a lot.



















Volume 4 is about the animals around them, the adventures in their culture, and "tribal calling". This DVD was very educational as well, but was one that I would recommend you watch before you show it to your kids due to the piercings that are shown. Although I watched the scenes, it was done with a lot of cringing.



















Each volume sells for $18.99 plus tax and shipping. There are 5 volumes and each volume has 3 episodes. Each episode is about 15 minutes. If you buy all of the DVDs at the same time you can save 15%.

Activity guides are included on a separate CD and really help your students connect with the lessons. You can view a sample here.

I really like their "Purpose & Vision" from their website so I've included it below:

The "Growing Up Wild" DVD series was developed for the purpose of introducing children to the work going on in foreign mission field. Our hope is that "Growing Up Wild" will educate and challenge your children, and be used by the Lord to play a part in raising up the next generation of missionaries!

"Growing Up Wild" was developed to compliment a Home school or Sunday school curricula. It can be used by elementary age students (ages 5-12) but is entertaining and educational for all ages.

It can also be useful for summer programs, youth groups, extra semester study, private or christian schools, or anyone wanting to learn about the "in's and out's" of modern day foreign missionary work.

We hope and pray that "Growing Up Wild" will bless and challenge your children to see what part they can play in being obedient to God's word in seeing the nations reached with the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ!

 Everyone in our family who watched this series enjoyed it and learned something new. We recommend this for anyone who wants to learn more about how missionaries in foreign lands live their lives.



Disclaimer: As a member of the TOS Crew, I received this product, at no cost to me, in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

Journeys of Faithfulness Review

Apologia is one of my favorite publishers. Having just read Journeys of Faithfulness, written by Sarah Clarkson and published by Apologia, I can say that this publisher has not let me down. Journeys of Faithfulness drew me in on Chapter 1, Part One with the story of Mary & Martha. Part Two is about Mary, Mother of Jesus; Part Three contains stories of Esther; and finally Part Four is about Ruth. These women's stories show how God can use an ordinary girl to "bring His beauty and grace to bear in this world."

Although this is geared towards young women, I, a 40-something year old woman, thoroughly enjoyed reading this. So maybe 40ish is considered "young"!? :)



The chapters begin with a story of how the women in the stories could have responded to their circumstances and the people in their lives. Following the intriguing story, a devotional, Bible study, and journal pages follow. I highly recommend this book for any age and will be buying my girls their own copies so they can journal freely. The book retails for $13.

Disclaimer: As a member of the TOS Crew, I received this product, at no cost to me, in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

Samson's Classroom Review

Samson's Classroom is an online program to help young students (K-5) become better readers by helping them with sight words, spelling and reading comprehension.

Bethany used this program occasionally, less than what I would have liked, but I hope to encourage her to use it more because I do believe she can benefit from it.

Once your child has completed some work and is logged in, they can go to My Page > My Scores to see where they need improvement or if they completed the task successfully.

Spelling with Samson: Spelling lists can created by the parent / teacher. The student has an option to choose spelling lists already included or ones you have created. The word list can be printed for studying. Other options to choose from include "Missing Letters" where Samson karate chops missing letters for each word list, "Spelling Scramble" where Samson has to run around and gather letters, and "Crunch Time" where Samson has to jump from one chunk of ice to another and stay dry as your student types the spelling words they hear.

Reading with Samson: You have four levels to choose from and you earn "Hammer Time swings" by mastering reading passages. After selecting the level you want to work on, you choose the passage to read. You will then begin reading the passage and the timer will start as well to show you how long it took for  you to complete the assignment. Perfect scores gets you several hammer swings and hammer swings get you points, which are great incentives for the kids.

Sight Word with Samson: You earn different colored karate belts by completing five challenges per list like spelling words that you hear and identifying words already spelled. The goal is to become a black belt.

Watch this demo to learn more.

For one user, the cost is $30 a year. For a family plan of 4 users, the cost is $50 a year. Other pricing options are available for classroom use.





Disclaimer: As a member of the TOS Crew, I received access to this product, at no cost to me, in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

Sugar Creek Gang Review

Sugar Creek Gang is published by Beloved Books. The cost of Volume 1 is only $54.95 for this series compiled onto 12 CDs stored in a hard case. There are a total of 6 volumes with over 100 hours of audio adventure awaiting your listening ears. The stories on Volume 1 are:

• The Swamp Robber
• The Killer Bear
• The Winter Rescue
• The Lost Campers
• Chicago Adventure
• The Secret Hideout

These broadcasts were originally recorded in the studios of Northwestern College Radio in St. Paul, Minnesota and come from the original books published in the United States by Moody Press. There are a total of 36 books in the series and each story is on 2 CDs, which is 72 CDs in the complete set. Each story is about 2 hours long giving you some wholesome listening enjoyment. :)

I love listening to audio stories. The narrator really pulls you in and you can imagine you are there seeing what he is seeing. My kids aren't as keen on just sitting and listening so we play the cd in my car. By the end of a chapter, they were listening intently. :)

If you'd like to listen to one of the stories for free, click here. There's also a discount code on that page along with more freebies so check it out. 

Disclaimer: As a member of the TOS Crew, I received this product, at no cost to me, in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

National Tax Training Review

National Tax Training School is an accredited correspondence school that offers various tax courses for home users. The Federal Tax Course teaches you how to do your (or other people's / small business) taxes. After you complete the course, you will be ready to take the required IRS Registered Tax Preparer exam. This course is for people like me...little to NO experience dealing with taxes. My husband wants me to go over the taxes each year with him but all I want to do is just sign my name and send it in. Sometimes I don't even want to do that much. :) I'm hoping that this course helps me help him. :)

I received this large binder of lessons with self tests and tests that need to be mailed in for grading. The turnaround was fairly quick for me - I think it took about a week. The company is working on a beta version of the course and I'm sure that will be great for tests but I really like having the binder in my hands to flip through the pages, highlight, and refer back to.



The website states:

This highly acclaimed tax course has taught thousands of people how to become successful tax professionals, specialists in preparing individual and small business tax returns.

Written in an easy, accessible style, this nationally-accredited course guides you through Federal Taxation by way of 20 easy-to-master lesson units, each requiring approximately eight hours of study. A serious student can finish the course and receive his or her certificate in as few as 8 weeks. And you'll be studying in the comfort and privacy of your own home or office. (If you need more time, the School allows you up to one year.)

The cost of the course is $795 including four full years of post-graduate support or $495 which includes two full years of post-graduate support. Payment plans are available.

My thoughts:

I love this program. It is a challenge for me but I'm going to stick with it and complete the course. It will probably take me the entire year to complete the lessons but I will do what I can with the time I have. This is a BIG course with a lot of reading and processing. I don't process very quickly with six kids and a hubby running around the house 24/7. :) One more thing, I love that its BBB rating is A+.

Disclaimer: As a member of the TOS Crew, I received this product, at no cost to me, in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

WealthQuest for Teens Review

I reviewed WealthQuest for Teens with Wesley, my fourteen year old son. This is a 6 week online program designed to teach kids aged 14-19 about financial responsibility. The cost is $39.95. After you purchase the seminar you will receive an email with the link to go to the videos. Once on the video page you can read through the information for that module, print out the module, and watch the lesson. Be aware once you start the video as there's no rewind button, just a start, pause, and stop. If you push the stop button then start, you end up back at the beginning of the video and can't skip forward to where you were. You have 30 days to complete the basic seminar.


 



The four items I want to discuss with you are the video, workbook, parent book, and online money management. We'll start with the video. Wesley watched all 7 modules. They are: 

• Welcome, Intentions, & Overview of the Program
• Your Habits & Attitudes Determine Your Net Worth
• The First Thing You Need In Order to Become Rich: Income
• The Second Thing You Need In Order to Become Rich: Knowledge About Money
• The Third Thing You Need In Order to Become Rich: A Great Money Management System
• The Fourth Thing You Need In Order to Become Rich: A Really Good Reason
• A Look at Financial Freedom

Wes believes these videos are like most other financial help programs in that they teach you how to save money long term. However, he didn't learn anything new since he's been in several financial classes in the past. He said the videos look a bit outdated and were a bit boring. (Remember, he's 14.)

The teen workbook has 33 pages. You will need to download and print this so your student can read and fill it out daily. It asks questions, gives a money tip, and guides your child through what he's been learning.

The parent guide is a 60 page book that you download and print if you wish. I highly recommend you read through this as it helps you to know more about the program along with some do's and don'ts. 

The online money management system lets the kids set up their six accounts (referred to as the silo system): Future Financial Freedom, Heal the World, Saving for Big Ticket Items, Learning, Fun Money, and Necessities and keep track of the amounts in them. I set our account up in the beginning but didn't get back around to utilizing it so I can't really tell you how much I liked or disliked this part of the program due to use. It was fairly easy to set up though. :)

I leave you with this: kids will learn how to manage their money effectively with this program. Giving them an allowance is encouraged. However,we do not give our kids allowances on a normal basis because when we did, they did half-way jobs and didn't deserve the money. Now, we just pay for certain jobs that we want done that are extra, like cleaning out the garage, cleaning off the porches, and reorganizing the kitchen cabinets. It doesn't really matter what they do to earn the money as long as they put the practices that are taught in this program to use. As I stated previously, they will learn money management one way or another. This program will help steer them in the right direction.  



Disclaimer: As a member of the TOS Crew, I received access to this product, at no cost to me, in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

Dayspring Christian Academy The Pilgrim Story Review

I reviewed this product, The Pilgrim Story by Dayspring Christian Academy. This is one product that I am glad we were chosen to review - especially this close to Thanksgiving!

This is a self-paced and interactive unit study on The Pilgrims. It begins with an introduction to The Pilgrim Story and concludes with a virtual trip to Plymouth, MA.

From the website:

Access to the course begins within 48 hours from purchase. You will have access to the program for six months from the date of registration. The course does not meet at a specific time. You may access it at any time that is convenient to your schedule.

The Pilgrim Story teaches children about one of the most important times in our nation’s history. It is America’s foundation. This self-guided, interactive history course teaches students the true history of the Pilgrims from original sources. The Principle Approach method of education is used, which holds a providential view of history. Students are taught the importance of Christian character and other biblical principles, such as self governance, hard work, and perseverance. Students also learn the biblical principles of Christian liberty.

Lessons include: King Henry, Geneva Bible, Liberty of Conscience, Leaving Leiden, Conditions on the Mayflower, Building Christian Character, the Mayflower Compact, and much more. Students witness the providence of God in the lives of the Pilgrims and the founding of America. This interactive, self-paced course consists of five units totaling 17 lessons complete with assessments and ideas for further study. Appropriate for grades 3-6.

Activities in the course include crafts, application, live action, map-making, and much more—all designed to get students involved in the learning process. Principle Approach students are taught to think and reason from biblical principles and apply them to every area of life, so reasoning questions are also included.

Each lesson takes between 30 and 45 minutes to complete. Enrichment activities will take additional time. Students learn to manage the notebook, an important element of a Principle Approach education. Each lesson also comes with student note sheets and a vocabulary list.

This engaging online course culminates with a virtual field study to Plymouth, MA.

We sat down and watched the videos but chose to not use the printouts as Bethany preferred to watch instead of write. I will say that when it's time to fill in the blanks on the worksheets (which are downloadable in each lesson), the slide shows you precisely what to write and when. Very easy to follow along. Vocabulary words are printable as well.

Reviews and tests are included interactively. The tests can be taken as an essay or as multiple choice. We always chose multiple choice. :)

Would I purchase this for us? Probably not. Not that the content isn't good because it is, but because if I'm going to spend $99 on a product, I want lifetime access to it. That's just the frugal side of me I guess. :) However, if it's in your budget, I highly recommend you check this product out.


Disclaimer: As a member of the TOS Crew, I received access to this product, at no cost to me, in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

ZooWhiz Review

From ZooWhiz, I received a Premium Subscription for 12 months for my daughter, Bethany. This online program is for ages 5-15 and they offer a Free Keeper Account and a Premium Account. Some Premium features are still being developed and haven't been released yet. Parents, teachers, and kids are welcome to sign up.

ZooWhiz teaches math, reading, word skills, punctuation, and grammar in a fun, interactive setting.













ZooWhiz has LOTS of animals: grassland, ocean, tundra & polar, desert, mountain, river & lake, domestic, dinosaur, rainforest, mythical, forest & woodland, marsh & swamp, forest, and extinct. They cost from 100 - 5,000 coins. To earn coins, you visit "Learn & Earn" and you choose from: Math, Words, or Reading and following the directions, correct answers give 20 coins. If you answer incorrect, you get to try again. If you get it right the second time, you get +10 coins. However, if you miss it again, it takes away 10 points from your total. After the second wrong answer, the program shows you the right answer. The reading is a bit difficult as the sounds that are matched with words aren't how we pronounce them. For instance, given the words "fake, play, marry, and flank", you put the ones with the long a in the left column and the ones with the short a in the right. The correct answer places "fake & play" in the left and "marry & flank" in the right. I would put "flank" in the column with fake and play.

If you visit the arcade, the first time the games are free. Afterwards, they cost you valuable coins. Milestones shows you your subject results in each area. (Math, Words, Reading)

As you are playing, ads do pop up. I 100% do NOT like this. :/ I prefer for the kids to not be tempted to click on advertising links as anyone who has been on the internet for any length of times knows that some popups can ruin your computer.

If the work your child is doing is too advanced or too below level, you can change the child's age range in the parent account. They offer a 14 day money back guarantee. As of this writing, they are offering at 50% discount on the Premium fee. I believe the cost right now is $14.95.

 Bethany said,

It's really fun. Everyday when you log in you receive 100 spending coins. These coins can be used at a shop to buy animals, but they're not cheap. There are mythical creatures like a pegasus, unicorn, and a phoenix, to name a few. Ocean animals are also available. After you get some animals you go to the other side of the shop which  has your animals. Once you buy the animal you get to learn about them. The shop is in the biodome.  

Disclaimer: As a member of the TOS Crew, I received a premium subscription, at no cost to me, in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own. 

Box of I.D.E.As Review

Box of I.D.E.As = Ideally Dynamic Enrichment Activities

I received a physical box with 10 idea packets inside all dealing with salt. I really like the ability to just grab a packet and take off to our destination for learning on the go. (They don't have to be used in any particular order and each packet stands alone.) Although the packets are labeled with what supplies you will need, I suggest you go through and double check to see if anything needs to be cut apart before you "grab and go". I would like for the company to list scissors as a needed supply if the papers need to be cut apart for use as we found out we needed items to be cut and didn't have scissors readily available.

We learned quite a bit about salt with these modules. We have a break between morning and afternoon church so we took some packets to church to work on between services. We also just grabbed a packet to work on during our down time at home. I absolutely love the convenience of these packets.

Speaking of packets, the packets are large zip type bags holding all the contents you need to complete the module. On the front is a label identifying the contents and includes a list of materials needed. Most of ours needed only a pencil. Several packets include fact cards and there are various ways you can use those to learn more about the topic.

Some of our salt topics are: "Preserving with Salt", "The Salt March", "The History of Salt" and "The Language of Salt" to name a few. Some of these modules have "go-fish" type of games where others are more like "matching" or regular board games. One module "Need For Salt" teaches you what the recommended daily allowance for sodium intake is and helps you plan dishes using a menu planner (included) and activity worksheets. Each box includes a summary test and is designed to be given as a timed test to offer practice for SAT/ACT exams.

My kids stated that "some of the modules are fun and some are confusing and would need an adult to help explain it."

The physical box costs $79 and the downloaded version runs $49. There are different topics to choose from like laundry, World War II, quilting, and even the number eleven. Several more topics are coming soon. The suggested age is 9-16.


Disclaimer: As a member of the TOS Crew, I received this product, at no cost to me, in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

Homeschool Legacy: Early Settlers Review

I was given the opportunity to review Early Settlers a "Once a Week Unit Study" from Homeschool Legacy.



From their website:  "History should be exciting and that's exactly what it is with this Once-a-Week Unit Study. Kids experience life in early America as they learn about the 13 original colonies."

•  FUN, NO PREP, 6-week unit study

•   Appropriate for grades 2-12

•   Enjoy family devotionals that focus on “faith”

•   Children choose from a wide variety of quality, library reading selections that focus on the establishment of colonies in the New World 

•   Enjoy classic family read-alouds

•   Voyage back in time to the founding of America and meet brave men and women of extraordinary faith

•   Create and maintain a simple history timeline

•   Learn geography

•   Children research and report on a colony of their choosing

•   Make Early American crafts

•   Research other lands

•   Learn life skills

•   Get to know some famous artists of the time

•   Meet the Pilgrims and discover life in the 1600s

•   Enjoy creative language assignments 

•   Meet famous leaders

•   Do a crossword puzzle

•   Watch documentaries

•   Enjoy educational, family field trips

•   Have some fun with "Stump Your Dad Trivia"

All of that for $17.95. Sounds like a good deal, right? To add to the value, if you have a Boy Scout or an American Heritage Girl, you will like the addition of the badge / book adventurer checklist.

My comments:
What intrigued me first was the mention of this study being once a week, not daily, "no prep", so I signed up. After working through the lessons, I am sad to report that this is not for us. Not only do I have to make time to go to the library to gather the books, but it took me searching four separate libraries to find most of the books I needed for just one lesson. I never did find all of them. Going to all the different libraries takes up too much of my time. I will say that I did appreciate the inclusion of the call numbers as that helped expedite the process. Maybe if I didn't have a house full of kiddos having to go here, there, and everywhere it would be easier to add this study to our homeschool work week. I can definitely tell you that it would be an asset to our learning so maybe this will work better for us during our off periods like winter or summer break. I do believe this could replace a normal history course as well.

So, in a nutshell, this wasn't for us but it is a very educational unit study and it's Biblically based which I like.


Disclaimer: As a member of the TOS Crew, I received this product, at no cost to me, in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

A Cry From Egypt Review

I received A Cry From Egypt, a book written by Hope Auer and published by Great Waters Press. Hope is a homeschool graduate and I was excited to read her book. Hal & Melanie Young are the publishers behind Great Waters Press and I think very highly of them.

A Cry From Egypt is a historical fiction story giving details of what it could have been like living in Egypt during the plagues when Pharaoh wouldn't heed the advice from Moses and Aaron and let God's people go.

Marcee, my twelve year old, read the book and this is her review:

The setting of this book is in Egypt. There is a little boy whose name is Bes. Bes is taken care of by his older sister Acenith because their father is a drunk and their mother is deceased. I like him a lot because he's always nice to everyone. I like characters who are kind to others. In general, I think the book is "ok". I prefer more adventurous books.

As you can tell, I need to encourage Marcee to write more book reports as her report is a little lacking. :)

At any rate, the book is enjoyable. It is a little confusing going from one character to the next and trying to keep up with who is who, but nonetheless, an easy read for ages 8 and up and an interesting portrait of the plagues was created in my mind.  The author can definitely think "outside the box."

If you'd like to order a copy, you can do so for $12.50 for an advance reader copy. Click here to go to their store.


Disclaimer: As a member of the TOS Crew, I received this product, at no cost to me, in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

Speekee Review

I reviewed Speekee TV / FastTrack and want to share my thoughts with you.

First off, I have reviewed Speekee TV before and liked it then so I knew I'd like it again. If you're so inclined, you can read my post from my previous blog by clicking on this link. But, don't feel like you have to as I will include all you need to know in this blog post. :)

Speekee TV is lead by Speekee, a purple puppet (seen below). His goal is to teach children ages two to ten Spanish by using real life videos in Spanish. English subtitles are available. The music is catchy. I have even caught my fourteen year old singing along. :)



FastTrack is a 40 week suggested plan to help your child learn the language. All you have to do is sign up with your email address and they will send you weekly emails with detailed information. Each week includes a link to take you to the website detailing all the information that is included in the email. Suggestions for four activities to use in order to enhance the learning experience, worksheets, and other downloads are all included.

The cost is $7.50 (U.S.) per month, $60 per year. You can try it for free for two weeks and see if you like it. To do so, click here.

Do we like it? I do. :) My kids (ages 9, 12, 14) weren't as interested as they were before though. However, just like eating their green veggies, parent's know best and I recommend the program.

Be sure to click on the banner below to read the reviews from my crewmates!


Disclaimer: As a member of the TOS Crew, I received this product, at no cost to me, in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are mine.