As a mom of kids with special needs, all the tests that high-schoolers take to prepare for their future have seemed so far away and out of reach. And in all honesty for some of my students, they simply will not be a part of their lives.
Even my son who does not have learning disabilities, I was not even thinking about college prep testing. He knows what he wants to be, he is going to be a missionary. He is headed for bible college. So we are not doing these sorts of tests to try to get him into an ivy league school. This does not mean we do not want to give him a good academic education. We do.
As a member of The Homeschool Crew we were sent a packet from ACT Advantage that included, The Explore and Plan homeschool packets which have the following items; Testing booklets titled 'Sample Test Booklet and Answer Sheet, Using your Explore/Plan results brochure- a brief overview of score results and the process.and College Readiness Standards handbook that provides ideas for progress in each subject to prepare students for college or the workforce.
Earlier this school year we received access to Discover their online career planning tool. You can read my review for that product here.
EXPLORE is designed for 8th-9th graders and it measures their skills and knowledge and can be used to prepare them for the ACT test. It covers, English, Math, Reading and Science.
I used this test with my 9th grader. It was helpful to pinpoint areas of weakness that we can spend more time.
PLAN is a measurement tool that provides a midpoint review of 10th graders progress toward college and workforce readiness when there is still time to make adjustments. It also covers the 4 core subjects, English, Math, Reading and Science.
I used this with my 10th grader and it was equally helpful for my 10th grader as EXPLORE was for my 9th grader.
These plans are relatively inexpensive. If you are wanting, or needing to really pinpoint what your jr high/ high schooler is needing work in, this test kit can help you do that.
Each packet is available for $22.95 which includes the appropriate test booklet, The College Readiness Standards handbook and the Using your EXPLORE/PLAN results brochure.
Please visit the crew blog to see what my crew mates think about this product!
As part of the TOS Homeschool Crew I received a free copy of The Tortoise and the Hare from Maestro Classics in exchange for my honest review.
We are familiar with the classic story The Tortoise and The Hare. When I heard that audio childrens books were on the list to review I was envisioning the books of yesteryear you know the type the cassette tape with the story book and the ringing of the bell to mark when it was time to turn the page.
The story we received was nothing of the sort. This was a very intelligent version of the story. The narrator of the story is accompanied by the London Philharmonic Orchestra. It was a delightful rendition. I enjoyed listening to it, as did my 10 year old.
Included with the story is a lesson in music theory. The children are taught about different instruments, how they work, and how you can use their sounds to invoke certain feelings. Or to create a setting for a story.
A product like this, is clearly not essential to homeschooling, however, it is a nice compliment. If you are looking for audio stories, this would be a great choice. I really like the fact that they are learning about music, while listening to an entertaining story.
Please visit Maestro Classics to see their full line of audio books. Right now they are running a special, buy 3 CDs for $45 or you can buy them individually for $16.98 each.
Please visit the Crew Blog to see what my crew mates think of Maestro Classics.
As members of the crew we were given 45 days free membership to Mathletics for the purpose of review.
This really was not something I was looking forward to reviewing. We have reviewed several math programs and with math not being my favorite thing in the world, I was not wanting to tackle yet another math program.
However, I must say that I was pleasantly surprised by Mathletics. My children really have enjoyed the program.
Mathletics is America's #1 Math Website. It is the next generation in learning. Helping students enjoy math and improve their results. It is the essential curriculum based resource for students at school and at home.
~ Students love it, becoming highly motivated to improve.
~Phenonmenal improvement rates
~weekly report emailed to parents
~courriculum designed for K-8th grade
~costs less that $2 a week.
The parents section has some neat features that help to enhance the students and parents experience with Mathletics.
Mathletics has a number of unique features to strongly support homeschooling, these include:
~ a personal mastery dial tracking a student's daily progress.
~ Access to live mental arithmetic challenges with students with students of a similar age and ability from all over the world.
~ Intelligent adaptiveness for most concepts- with questions getting harder as a student answers correctly.
~ Immediate feedback to responses with animated step by step support.
~The ability for a student to work at their own pace through the curriculum content.
~Lots of rewards and certificates for progress and the opportunity to appear on the American Hall of Fame.
~ Access 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, wherever there is Internet access.
So how did that look in our house?? It looked like all 5 of my children fighting over computer time, on our one computer! Seriously, though, I must admit on many days I have children that grunt and grimace through math. However, they have thoroughly enjoyed using Mathletics.
Here is how I had them work through it. They each had about 1/2 hour or so, depending on how much time we had that day, to devote to 'Rainforest' which is a fun area that gives them practice. Or simply in the section marked 'problem solving'. Then I would give them an additional 1/2 hour to 45 minutes to work in the 'practice' section. I really like this section as a parent. Once in the practice section they have listed 10 topics, and then once you click on one of those topics it will break down further into a smaller subset with 10 topics. When you click on those, your student will begin to answer a series of 10 problems. After they complete a section, they are given a score, and each problem they answered is given. I have my kids print these pages out. It shows me exactly what problems they were given and what their answers were.
Awesome!!!!
After they complete all 10 topic areas there is a test. My children really enjoyed working through the program! They had lots of fun and were learning all the while!
They do refer to their program as a curriculum, however and with the instant workbooks, it is a very good resource. Though I wouldn't feel comfortable using it as my sole choice for math curriculum, however it definitely would enhance your program, especially if you had a reluctant or struggling learner!!
There regular price is $99 year, however their current price is $59 a year per child. SPECIAL:if you know The Human Calculator's favorite number, which '9' you will get the an additional discount bringing your price to $49.95. Also, if you have more than one child you can contact them about a family discount. They also offer a 10 day money back guarantee.
Check out the crew blog to see what my crew mates think of this unique program!
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Home of the frugal, eclectic, hands on, parent led, child driven and special needs learning. "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord."
Seriously, though, I must admit on many days I have children that grunt and grimace through math. However, they have thoroughly enjoyed using Mathletics. 
