If you are looking for a good way to encourage reading in your children, especially around the ages of 10-13, then you will want to check out Orphs of the Woodlands: The Treasure of High Tower the first book from Star Toaster. For this review, I received a free online membership to Star Toaster.
The star of the story is a spy squirrel whose job is to find the treasure at High Tower. In the beginning of the story, your child gets to name the squirrel, pick his personality characteristics and even favorite color. Along the way, the spy squirrel begins to take care of orphs (orphans) who have lost their parents to the Night Creatures. In order to take care of the orphs, the spy squirrel must earn goldstars, the currency of the Woodlands. This can only be done by completing various jobs.
These jobs are broken into subjects:
Math: There are 66 jobs available which include a bank teller, a tutor, a cookie detective, decimal place pro, angle advisor and many others.
Science: There are 32 science jobs available. From learning about pH to crickets, levers and fulcrums to rattlesnakes.
Vocabulary: With the 66 vocabulary jobs the student learns about synonyms, letter translating, adjectives to name a few.
Thinking Skills: These 62 jobs focus on memory and determining if something is fact or opinion.
Character: There are 19 character building jobs. Many of these are based on inspirational quotes which focus on good character traits
Life Skills: Many of the 34 life skills jobs involve making or baking something, like Nutty Nut Bread and Shadow Soup.
The harder words in the story are in red and when you hover over them their definition comes up. Famous quotes are also in red and when you hover over them the original quote and who said it will pop up; as will the translation of the Latin and French phrases that are in the story.
Brock has really enjoyed this Orphs of the Woodlands! We have been told to expect a second book from Star Toaster and he is REALLY excited!! I have enjoyed reading it as well. I really like that not only has he been reading a fun story, he’s been learning a wide variety of subjects along the way.
If there was one thing I could change about the program it would be that as a parent I could “save” my reading location. I ended up using a student login so that I could login and automatically go to the last page I had read.
Do you want to see if Orphs of the Woodlands is a good fit for your child? There is a free trial that features the first 100 pages and over 50 lessons for you and your child to try. A membership to Star Toaster is good for two months for up to three children for $19.99. If an extension is necessary it can be purchased for $6.99 for up to three students. I would highly recommend it as a summer reading program whether you homeschool or not.
You can check out what other members of the Crew had to say:
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Blessings,
Jennifer
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