During the 12 Blogs of Christmas, I have been assigned to Scholastic~ what that means is that I received a few of their products to use in my homeschool and to review here on my blog.  Now, when you hear  the name Scholastic, I'm sure you think back to your school days and those book order papers you begged your parents to let you order from~ there was just something extremely exciting about ordering those books, huh?  I know I just loved it!

But, Scholastic is so much more than that!  I was hoping that I would be able to conduct a publisher interview with my contact from Scholastic;  but, so far, that hasn't worked out.  I do want to tell you a few of the things that I really appreciate about Scholastic, then I'll talk about a few of their products and how we're making use of them.  First of all, I'm very impressed with their Warehouse Sales.  These are nothing like the Book Fairs that your local school district might hold to help raise money for  their school.  The Warehouse Sales are an opportunity for teachers (and  that includes homeschool parents!) to go into a Scholastic warehouse near you and purchase items at a very reduced rate.  They hold these sales several times a year, so check out their website for more details.  I'm also impressed with the fact that Scholastic has signed on with Homeschool E-store, making their workbooks available in e-book format to the homeschool market.  Maybe someday we'll see workbooks, products, etc. made specifically for homeschoolers from Scholastic.  Who knows?!

Now, onto my reviews.......

First off:  Power Point Made Very Easy

Want a super-easy way to add pizzazz to student projects and reports? Try PowerPoint, a popular presentation software that's easy-to-learn and use! Step-by-step lessons show you and your students how to create a presentation, navigate the toolbars, add text, images, and sounds, and use drawing tools. Students can then apply what they've learned to create simple projects that fit right into the curriculum.

My thoughts:  We haven't actually had time to use this one, but I've browsed through it, just to see what it's like.  It looks like an extremely accurate, yet simple, explanation of Power Point (complete with pictures).  I'm anxious for both Ashley and I to learn how to use this program.  I think it will be a very effective tool for her to use for homeschool presentations, and I'm anxious to test it out on some things I'd like to share with my Sunday School class.  This 64-page book packs alot of information into a small amount of space!  It starts out with the basics, then goes on to explain the extras (things to make your presentation more fun and eye-catching).  I'm sure we'll get alot of use out of this book.  This book sells for $11.95 and I think it's well worth the price.

Teaching with Favorite Magic Tree House Books

Motivate kids to learn about the features of fiction and nonfiction with the series they're mad about - the Magic Tree House Books! This idea-packed book includes tips on planning a series study, journal-writing activities that help kids distinguish real from fantasy, lessons that explore character, plot, and setting, and extensions in social studies, science, and art. Plus, vocabulary-builders, literature response reproducibles, book links, and ideas for using the companion nonfiction Research Guides!

My thoughts: If your kids love the Magic Tree House books as much as my Gracie does, then this is an awesome resource to add to your homeschool library!  Though these books are now a bit below Gracie's reading level, she still loves to pull them off her bookshelf and read through them, and she's read them over and over again.  So, I love that this book is full of ideas to extend the learning for her.  I'm anxious to use some of them in our homeschooling.  The book is broken down into sections, each section focusing on a "cluster" of 4 MTH books.  Each cluster contains Story Summaries, Connect the Clues (find out how each book is connected to the next), Fact Finders Scavenger Hunt (springboard for further research and learning), Before You Read (activities to use before reading the books), After You Read (activities and games), MTH Resource Guides (extension activities), Reproducible Pages, and Resources (such as website suggestions).  Before you even get to the first cluster in the book, there are tons of ideas and suggestions, including making your own passport to record your "travels" as you read through this fun series of books.  At $11.95, this is a great addition to your MTH collection and will only serve to make the books more fun and educational than they already are.

Fun-to-Solve Map Mysteries

Boost map-reading and geography skills with this fun collection of intriguing mystery stories and map activities. Easy-to-read capers come complete with companion maps and activity pages that guide students through solving mysteries one step at a time. Kids gain practice using map keys and symbols, following compass directions, tracing routes, reading grids, and more. An innovative way to teach young sleuths map skills they'll use for a lifetime!

My thoughts: This is a fun book!  It's 80 pages, containing 15 different mystery cases for students to solve.  Each case has a short story (4 pages), followed by a page containing the "map", where kids can work through the mystery clues and answer a few questions to solve.  The solutions are all included in the back of the book.  Gracie worked the first mystery the other day and really enjoyed it.  This book is a great way to introduce maps in a fun, non-threatening way.  The cost for this one is $12.99.

4th Grade Basic Skills: Math Fun Activities

Teach and reinforce important basic skills! Features engaging individual activity pages that support the units you teach - also great for homework practice. High-interest, age-appropriate, motivating and challenging. Covers sequencing, addition and subtraction, multiplication and division, place value, fractions, and finding proportions. Includes a complete answer key!

My thoughts: Gracies loves math and is quickly zipping through her 3rd grade Abeka math this year.  So, I ordered this book so that I might have some extra math fun on hand to fill-in for her.  There are 41 individual worksheets in this book.  I love e-books, because everything is reproducible and you can use pages over and over again.  Each of these worksheets, though they present basic math facts, are fun and unlike the dull and sometimes boring regular textbooks.  If you have a child that needs additional math practice, then this would be just the ticket for a non-threatening teaching approach.  Or, if you're like me, and have a child that is constantly begging for more math, then this book is well worth the price of only $5.99.  (This book is part of a series, and is available in various grade levels.)

24 Nonfiction Passages for Test Practice

Boost students' reading comprehension and critical thinking skills using all kinds of nonfiction. From how-to guides and letters to news stories and advertisements, these high-interest, ready-to-reproduce nonfiction passages and companion questions will give your students the practice they need to understand the information they see and read every day and succeed on standardized tests.

My thoughts: This book attracted me because here in PA the standardized tests are required for 3rd graders.  I know that Gracie is a good reader and reads above grade level, and I know that she understands most of what she reads.  But, this book is an awesome resource for extra practice and "fill-in-the-bubble" questions.  This is a 48 page book with (as stated) 24 passages of various styles of nonfiction.  They all seem interesting and fun to read.  This  book sells for $8.95 and would be a great addition to any reading program.

*Though these are the 5 books I chose to review at this time, I must say that we have a TON of Scholastic Teacing Resources on our shelves and I haven't been disappointed with any of them.  They are all filled with great and fun ideas and resources that we have easily adapted into our homeschool.  Homeschool E-store has 420 Scholastic titles available, so there's definitely something for everyone in every area of study.  I encourage you to check them out and buy a few for yourself and/or your children.

Don't forget my 12 Blogs of Christmas contest!
(see details at the top of my blog)
You could get $50 worth of fun Scholastic products
(or anything else you may want)
absolutely FREE~
just for sharing a picture of your festive homeschool room!
It's that simple!

Share Your Thoughts

Dec. 10, 2007 - warehouse sale

Posted by tlpgina

Went to the site, none near me...boo. I'm sure the gas money would more than eat up any savings! Sorry to hear you've been having computer issues...no hurry. Thanks.
gina

Share Link