Tiny Planets-TOS Review

As a member of the Old Schoolhouse Review crew, I was asked to review the online site Tiny Planets.  Let me just start by saying that my kids are old had at online communities, they are in love with anything computer and have very solid opinions about what they like.

We went to the Tiny Planets web site and signed up the kids and I into new accounts.  They enjoyed picking their cadet names, although it could have been explained better, the sign up was a little confusing.  We began to wander around the sight but were quickly frustrated, my kids are pre-readers; so the need to read a lot frustrated and irritated them.  They did enjoy the Tiny Planets TV episode that they received free, but after that they needed keys to access them.  Not my favorite part, I would rather pay some sort of monthy subscription and have access to everything than to nickel and dime the key purchases.  Maybe something they should think about.  Both of my kids said it was fun, but they would rather play their other online games.  Not a ringing endorsement, unfortunately.

From the website:

Tiny Planets provides award-winning educational entertainment set in space exploration and discovery, inspiring creativity and critical thinking in youth ages 4 to 12.

Tiny Planets features the cosmic adventures of Bing and Bong, two whimsical aliens who travel the Universe of Tiny Planets together on their gadget-loaded plush sofa. With Bing and Bong, children are encouraged to think for themselves, assume social responsibility, take care of our planet and learn about the mysteries of space.

Pros:  It is a safe online community.

          Ad free.

          No online chat, except for preselected phrases.

          No personal information used online.

          Engaging characters and solid content.

Cons:  My kids didn't really seem to enjoy it.

           A lot of reading for the pre-reading set or their parents.

           Confusing sign-up.

           Needing keys to do a lot of content.

Keys are available at the following prices.

10 keys    $1.95   (about 20 cents per key)

25 keys    $3.95   (about 16 cents per key)

85 keys    $9.95   (about 12 cents per key)

250 keys  $25.95  (about 10 cents per key)

600 keys  $49.95  (about 8 cents per key)

The 600 keys is obviously the best buy.  It takes about 10 keys to purchase a book or TV episode.  The upside is that whatever your children buys stays theirs.  You don't have to keep repurchasing that favorite TV episode, they can watch it repeatedly.

I realize this wasn't the most glowing review, but I think that many would enjoy this website.  My kids are not really interested in Science and space right now, but if your child has the fever to study science; this site is for you.  It really has engaging characters and fun content, content that is sound educationally speaking.

Head on over here to see what others thought about Tiny Planets.

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 {This product and the keys to access the product were provided to me free of charge as a member the Old Schoolhouse Review Crew.  I received no other compensation for my review and was not required to write a positive review.  All opinions are my own and those of my children.}

Christmas at Bass Pro Shop

We don't generally push the Santa thing and honestly I think I might have one pic of my older kids on Santa's lap, miserable and sad. We never went again and the younger ones have never been to see Santa. Neither of them were overly excited at the idea but they both did it.

They are a little out of focus, because they are a pic of a pic.  He was probably one of the nicest Santa's I had ever seen. He was extraordinarily soft spoken and so gentle, you couldn't hear their conversation but you could see the animation on the kids faces as they talked to him.  They really seemed to enjoy it.

From there I proceeded to snap a few random pics working with different settings on my camera.  We are in the middle of a bitter cold wave and all of the downstairs windows were frozen over.  I love ice and the patterns it makes on glass, this is a crop of a shot I took.  I think the lower right hand corners look kind of like flowers.

 They had multiple play areas set up for the kids to enjoy, Mom enjoyed racing with Ry and Sissy.

We looked around a lot and really enjoyed the pond and live ducks in the store.  They have  multiple stuffed animals and mannequins doing different outdoor sports that we thought were really cool, too.

The miniature train set up to go through a snowy landscape was one of Ry's favorites, he played with the train and I played with my camera and the aperture settings a bit to try to get the background to go blurry.  It worked pretty well, click and see.

Finally, I've been working on the above technique at home too.  It's called Bokeh when you can get your background to blur and cause lights to make beautiful blurry spots.  Here's another example of my effort.

I'm linking this up to Holiday Bliss over at Garden of Learning.  I haven't really played along much this month, but honestly we don't do a lot during the holidays.  Thanks for stopping by and I hope y'all are making the most of this Christmas season.

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ALEKS-TOS Review

There are so many choices for math curriculum, how does one choose. We have used about 5 different curriculum in our homeschool, from computer based to online to textbooks, none of them seemed to be just right. Well, we got to try another one recently, as a member of the Old Schoolhouse crew I received a month subscription to ALEKS.

I know what you're asking yourself, what the heck is ALEKS. Well, I'll tell you!! ALEKS is an acronym for Assessment and LEarning in Knowledge Spaces. Basically that means that your child takes an assessment test and then based on how they do they are assigned problems that either reinforce lessons that they did average on or introduces new topics. If the child already has a firm grasp on the topic, they don't have to work on it; they can move on. In other words, it doesn't beat them over the head with it, "master" it and move on.

I had Koty work with this product to get a hands-on opinion, he is an "8th grader" doing Geometry. He is very driven and math is one of his best subjects, so he's a great test subject. We chose Geometry out of a wonderful selection of courses which you can see here.  He has been working with another curriculum but we put that on hold so we could enjoy this opportunity.

Koty really loved that after his assessment, the program kicked him right into things he didn't have mastered and didn't make him repeat anything that he already knew.  He could work on topics that he 'probably' had mastered by doing some practice questions under that topic, if he did great he would be switched to mastered and could move on.  As we all know, sometimes you have to see some things a few times before it 'clicks', but once it does your ready to learn something new.  ALEKS really fosters the independent learner, who enjoys pushing themselves to learn and master more.

This isn't Koty's "Pie" but it shows you what your child's screen would look like after assessment. Some topics are mastered and others need to be worked on. In the case of Koty's "Pie" he isn't allowed to work on some pieces of the pie until he's mastered other sections of his pie. This limiting guides the student to work sequentially, therefore; not letting them get in over their heads and enabling them to enjoy success.

The above graphic gives you an idea of what you would see through the Master account or the parent account. You are able to see how your child is progressing with a very easy to read graph that plots out the number of topics mastered and how many more they have to work on. With the next graphic you can see how long your child worked on ALEKS and how many topics they attempted, giving you a really good grasp of any problems your child might be having. For example, Koty usually attempted up to 4 topics a day, when he only attempted one but still spent the same amount of time; it was obvious that he was struggling to grasp the topic and needed some help. The whole program is very individualized and meets your child where he's at!!

So here's the nitty-gritty: ALEKS is a subscription service that costs as follows.

Month to month: $19.95
6 Month subscription:$99.95
12 Month subscription:$179.95

ALEKS also offers a family discount, click here to see pricing for multiple students.

What did we think?  Koty really enjoys challenging himself to master topics and move on.  He loves filling in his pie chart and can really visualize his success with the "Pie" graphic.  We definitely recommend this product and will probably be extending Koty's subscription to finish Geometry and possibly to move on to Algebra II and beyond.  Normally,  ALEKS offers a free 48 hour trial, but to homeschooling families reading this review; they are offering a one month free trial, just click on the button below and go see how ALEKS can work for your family.  Head on over here to see how other families utilized ALEKS in their homeschool.

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{I received a one month subscription to ALEKS,  free of charge as a member of The Old Schoolhouse review crew. All opinions are my own and  I was not required to write a positive review.}

Holiday Bliss--Day 3

I don't have a lot of holiday traditions.  We tend to keep it pretty simple, but we did get the tree up and decorated and hung our outdoor decorations.  Here's a few pics of some of my favorite ornaments.

I'm sure I won't do near as well with this challenge, but I'll give it a shot.  Head on over to Garden of Learning to get some great ideas to make the holidays special.

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Mommytography's 365 Project

 I am participating in the 2011 Mommytography 365 Project! For this year long project I will be posting an image a day, to get me out shooting, using my camera and learning new things with it daily. Anyone interested in photography can join, no need to be a Mommytographer. We have teens to adults, male and female, as well as people from all over the world. Come join the fun!

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Master Clock from Master Innovations-TOS Review

As a member of the Old Schoolhouse Review Crew, I recently received a product called Master Clock from Master Innovations, I also received one of their educational posters and a workbook. 

Master Innovations began with the Master Ruler, but they have outdone themselves with this clock.  With the multi-color overlays and color coded hands, this product has an ease of use that is amazing.  I received the Teacher version, which I would suggest for homeschoolers; it is bigger and easier for little hands to handle.  The accompanying workbook is clear and easy for a child to navigate, covering topics about both a digital clock and an analog clock.

I also received this cool poster.  In our house we are constantly asking each other questions about conversions.  Dakota seems to be the only one that can keep these things straight in his head, which is sort of sad; I bake for a living and should be able to come up with some of these quickly. (Old age, LOL.)

So, onto the nitty-gritty, what did we think?  We loved it!  We will be using it with both the 5 and 7 year old into the future and are looking forward to buying their other products.  The Master Angle, Master Ruler and Master Fraction are all available on their website, I really love the Master Angle and will be purchasing it soon for my Geometry student.

Head on over to The Homeschool Crew blog to see what others thought about these innovative products.

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{Disclosure: I received this product as a member of the Review Crew, free of charge and with no obligation to make a positive review. The opinions within this review are completely my own.}