Elementary Math Games ~ Review

We recently have been making math practice fun with an ebook from The Critical Thinking Co.; called Elementary Math Games which is designed to be used for grades 3-5. However, since I’m limited to only Rebekah being in that grade range, we extended the range to include Quinton (2nd grade) and Eli (7th). You know, because it’s more fun to play games as a group.

Let me tell you more about Elementary Math Games. For this review, we received the downloadable version. (It is compatible with Windows only so make sure that you have a computer that meets those requirements.) There are twenty elementary math games in the 152 page book. However, there are several of the twenty games that have multiple variations. This means that they can practice the same or similar concept repeatedly without getting tired of one particular game.

Eli and Rebekah’s favorite game Let’s Sum UP: Odd or Even? requires only a pencil, paper, two dice and the printed Let’s Sum Up page from the book (for each participant.) The idea is that the student rolls the two dice. Then using the numbers rolled come up with an odd/even (determined ahead of time whether the goal is odd or even) number by adding, subtracting, multiplying or dividing. Each round the student rolls the two dice five times and records the results on the Let’s Sum Up page. The winner is the student with the highest cummulative score from the five rounds.

There are many variations of Bingo cards which also made for fun games. These included positive intergers, equivalent fractions, mixed numbers, decimals to fractions, fractions to decimals, arabic numerals to Roman and vis versa. These would be especially fun with a larger group playing!

The supplies required for the games are easily accessible. Many of the games require a die(or dice), index cards are also frequently used for many of the games. Spinners or a random number generator are utilitzed for other games. Since it was a downloadable product, I could print those pages we need quickly and easily.

Elementary Math Games topics include:

  • Greater Than, Less Than
  • Math Vocabulary
  • Adding, Subtracting, Multiplying and Dividing
  • Fractions and Decimals
  • Place Value
  • Roman/Arabic Numbers
  • Primes, Composites, Perfect Squares, Factors and Multiples
  • Odd/ Even

Elementary Math Games would work well in a homeschool or classroom setting. The games are a great way to reinforce new math concepts but are equally as great for reviewing math lessons previously learned. In our case, Quinton learned some new math concepts while playing the games. Talk about a fun way to learn math! We have had fun with this review product!

Connect with The Critical Thinking Co. on Social Media

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheCriticalThinkingCo
Twitter: www.twitter.com/criticalthinks
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/criticalthinks/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsVEVNa6UpVqXxo_t5sbb7Q
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thecriticalthinkingco/

Other members of the Homeschool Review Crew also reviewed various products for The Critical Thinking Co. including:

Pattern Explorer Beginning (Grades 3-4)
Elementary Math Games (Grades 3-5) 
Critical Thinking Detective – Vocabulary Book 2 (Grades 5-12+)
Dare to Compare: Math Level 2 (Grades 6-7)
Middle School Math Games (Grades 6-8)
Building Writing Skills – Essential Tips & Techniques (Grades 6-12+)  Digital ONLY
Vocabulary Virtuoso PSAT-SAT Book 1 (Grades 8-12+)
Vocabulary Virtuoso PSAT-SAT Book 2 (Grades 8-12+)

Be sure to read their reviews by clicking on the banner below!

Critical Thinking, Math, Vocabulary & Writing Skills {The Critical Thinking Co. Reviews}

Blessings,

Jennifer

Posted in Homeschool, Product Review, STEM education | Leave a comment

Encouraging Hearts & Home 5.9.19

Welcome to Encouraging

Hearts & Home!

The Encouraging Hearts & Home Bloggers

Join your Encouraging Hearts & Home Co-Hosts each week for encouragement and support for your heart & your home. We hope to provide a space that builds each other up and lends a helping hand along the way. With all the negativity in the world, let’s shine a positive light!

Linda at Apron Strings & Other Things

Amy at A Nest in the Rocks

***Each week, our co-hosts will each choose our favorite links, along with the most clicked link, and pin them to our Encouraging Hearts & Home Pinterest board. 

The most clicked post from last week’s Blog Hop:

Making the Move to the Country by Little Frugal Homestead

How to Link Up

  • Use the form below to share your posts this week, and maybe you’ll discover some new ideas from all the fabulous links!
  • Please share only your family friendly posts with us!
  • Please only link up images that you have the rights to use.
  • By linking up, you agree that if your blog post is selected to be featured on any of our hosts’ blogs, we can use an image from your post with a link back to your post.

Other nice things you can do

  • Follow and/or subscribe to your host’s blog.
  • Visit a few other bloggers and show them your support. We all love getting comments, and who knows what inspiration you may find? Be sure to share the love–that’s what a blog hop is all about!
  • If you are interested in co-hosting, contact anne@mylearningtable.com
Posted in Encouraging Hearts & Homes | Leave a comment

Study.com ~ Review

We received a 3 month subscription to Study.com to review their CLEP and DSST prep materials. I decided, I would let Brock and Adisyn each choose which courses they wanted to pursue with Study.com. As they are both exploring options as to what might interest them in the future, I thought this would be a good opportunity for them to explore these interests.

For those who don’t know about CLEP and DSST, let me tell you a little bit about these two programs. CLEP is the College Level Examination Program. CLEP offers a way for college students to test out of material they already know, potentially saving them significantly on college tuition and reducing the time it takes to earn a degree. Currently, there are 33 introductury-level exams available with CLEP.

DSST is short for the DANTES Subject Standardized Tests. There are 38 subject exams; including Business, Humanities, Mathematics, and Physical Science. Like the CLEP, college credit is given for material the student already knows. This can offer great time and money savings to college students as they pursue their degree. It is important to find out which test(s) your prospective college accepts whether DSST or CLEP.

Brock chose to work through DSST A History of the Vietnam War: Study Guide & Test Prep. There are 9 chapters in this particular course with a total of 41 quizzes. You will notice in the screenshot that the course can be completed in any order. For several of the chapters, he has watched the video and read the selection but has not yet attempted the quizzes. The completed chapters are in green, while the started chapters are in the bright blue, and the chapters that have not been started are in gray.

Brock has enjoyed working through the course and is working to get it completed prior to our trial running out. It looks like there are a couple of testing locations that are within 1 1/2 hr drive from our home that administer DSST tests. I’m hoping that he can complete the course and schedule to take the test later this spring.

Adisyn first chose to work through DSST Business Ethics and Society: Study Guide & Test Prep, she has not had any prior experience with a business ethics class so she wasn’t quite sure what to expect. The original goal with Study.com was for her to complete the course in 8 weeks; however, we were easily able to modify that goal to match up with her pace.

When the kids login to their dashboard the can see right away what where they are in the course as compared to their target end date goal. You can see what it looks like in the screenshot below.

Adisyn spent some time checking out other courses available for Study.com and was excited to find Intro to PowerPoint: Essential Training & Tutorials. She took the initiative to start through the course and said she is really enjoying it!

What Did We Think of Study.com?

The kids are both in agreement that they have liked working through Study.com. They like the way the course is broken up into small sections with videos. They also like that there are frequent quizzes so that they can see how they are doing.

I like that they can easily see right away when they log in how they are progressing through their courses. This gives them a good visual on what they need to accomplish for the day or week. This also helps me be able to quickly and easily see how they are progressing as well.

Connect with Study.com on these Social Media Links:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/StudyDotCom/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Studydotcom

Be sure to read reviews from other members of the Homeschool Review Crew by clicking on the banner below. Some other members of the Crew have been working through Study.com as they pursue their college degree. This is a great opportunity not only for those in high school but those adults considering going back to school.

CLEP & DSST Exam Prep {Study.com Reviews}

Blessings,

Jennifer

Posted in High School Homeschool, Product Review, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Currants in Bloom

I love the promise that spring holds; new life, blossoms and buds. In late October 2015, we moved our currants to our newly purchased farm. We dug up bare sticks that looked basically lifeless and trusted that they would be able to not only survive, but thrive in their new home. Each year since then, they’ve continued to grow and produce a few more berries with each passing year. This year looks like it will be the best year yet! The currant bushes are absolutely loaded with blooms and they are gorgeous!

I am really looking forward to having a nice size currant harvest this year. Well, if I can get them picked before the kids discover that they are ready. They love to eat them! (I’m not going to complain about them eating anything from the garden even if sometimes I wish they would leave a few more for me.)

These mightly little bushes can show us a lot if we will look. Deeper than the beauty of their many blossoms, is the promise that they can bloom wherever they are planted. I want to be like these currants; blooming where I am planted.

Blessings,

Jennifer

 

Posted in Garden | 1 Comment

Encouraging Hearts & Home 4.18.19

Welcome to Encouraging

Hearts & Home!

The Encouraging Hearts & Home Bloggers

Join your Encouraging Hearts & Home Co-Hosts each week for encouragement and support for your heart & your home. We hope to provide a space that builds each other up and lends a helping hand along the way. With all the negativity in the world, let’s shine a positive light!

Linda at Apron Strings & Other Things

Amy at A Nest in the Rocks

***Each week, our co-hosts will each choose our favorite links, along with the most clicked link, and pin them to our Encouraging Hearts & Home Pinterest board. 

The most clicked post from last week’s Blog Hop:


How to Link Up

  • Use the form below to share your posts this week, and maybe you’ll discover some new ideas from all the fabulous links!
  • Please share only your family friendly posts with us!
  • Please only link up images that you have the rights to use.
  • By linking up, you agree that if your blog post is selected to be featured on any of our hosts’ blogs, we can use an image from your post with a link back to your post.

Other nice things you can do

  • Follow and/or subscribe to your host’s blog.
  • Visit a few other bloggers and show them your support. We all love getting comments, and who knows what inspiration you may find? Be sure to share the love–that’s what a blog hop is all about!
  • If you are interested in co-hosting, contact anne@mylearningtable.com
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Posted in Encouraging Hearts & Homes | Tagged | Leave a comment