Category Archives: TOS Crew

Growing Healthy Homes – review

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www.growinghealthyhomes.com

As moms, we desire and strive to provide a healthy, happy home for our children. Often our times around the table enjoying a meal can be the most challenging. Maybe we aren’t informed on what is truly healthy or how to provide it. The biggest obstacle can be helping our children embrace and enjoy a healthier home.  Growing Healthy Homes has a wonderful resource to help you and your family live a healthier life!

A nutrition course for the whole family!

Nutrition 101: Choose Life! is a 448 page course focused on nutrition with a science emphasis to help you and your family understand why eating healthy is so vital. Nutrition 101: Choose Life! explains the different systems of the body and shows the difference and impact that healthy foods can make.

There are six units in this resources: The Brain and Nervous System, Digestion and Elimination, Respiration and Olfactory, Muscular and Skeletal System, Cardiovascular and Immune Systems, and Endocrine System and Emotions. Not only is there great, informative reading but learning activities for elementary and secondary learners and recipes to help your family add healthy foods to your diet. Some of the activities for elementary learners could be playing a memory game when studying the game and a secondary learner may research more deeply about the lobes of the brain.

Not only is each of the six units covered thoroughly but a complete reference guide includes a plethora of information. You can learn about Nutrition 101: Choose Life food pyramid, how to choose fresh fruits and vegetables, healthy spices and more.

No target age is given for Nutrition 101: Choose Life as it is designed to be used by the whole family. I  think that 2nd grades and up would benefit from this course. With six units covered in 448 pages this is not a quick unit study nutrition course. It is an in-depth study that will allow you and your family to walk away better informed about what goes into your body and the effects it will have.

I love how Nutrition 101: Choose Life! is biblically based. We are fearfully and wonderful made by the Creator. So vital to understand and respect how we have been formed.

You can go here at Growing Healthy Homes and read an excerpt of the book to get a feel of how the course is laid out.

There are three  purchasing options.

*You can buy the book (hard copy) for $99.95. The book is professionally printed and bound in full color.

*You can buy a CD-Rom of Nutrition 101: Choose Life! for $79.95 This electronic form of the book is what was used for the purpose of this review and was excellent quality!

*Final option is a combo purchase of the book and CD for $129.95

However, Growing Healthy Homes is offering a discount to our readers! You can get 15% off your order using the code: TOScrew11 .

Head on over to the Crew and see what others are saying about Nutrition 101: Choose Life!

 

**Disclaimer: As a member of TOS Crew, I received a complimentary copy of this product for review. No compensation was made. The opinions/thoughts/experiences expressed in this post are my own.

Kabongo!

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We recently had the opportunity to review Go Go Kabongo! If you have a young learner, ages 4-7, and want them to have some learning time on the computer, then check this out!

What is Kabongo and is it right for my child?
Kabongo is an online world of brain boosting games for reading. (Please note that this site does not teach reading but helps strengthen skills needed for reading.) Your child can venture into three “habitats” with some colorful characters to help them along they way. Each habitat offers a variety of games that help build thinking skills, comprehension, attention and focus, visualization and more.

There are many activities to interest any child! He can decorate his tree house, make a comic strip from stickers he collects after completing games and create his own character.

Registered parents can access activity reports and get suggestions and ideas on ways to continue the learning at home. Kabongo sends out email updates on what your child has been up to around the habitats.

There are five characters that aid your child as they journey through Kabongo: Duffy, Ms. Teezly, Mimi and Tati, Carl and Ginzo. You can learn more about them here.

Three habitats are available for exploration. Laughter Lake will find you with Ms. Teezly. Here your child can play Critter Sizer, Scuba Dude or Going Buggy. In Twister Top, Mim and Tati will tell your child all about Design a Door, Desert Dash and Crazy Maze. Finally, there is Galaxy Gardens. Photo Safari, Rocket Racer and Robo Bobo provide fun learning. Karl, who is a bit gloomy, shows the ropes here.

Our thoughts:
As the parent, I did not get a good first impression for Kabongo. I felt that it was a bit “busy” in presentation. For our family, the look of the characters isn’t something that we would have chosen. However, we are not “mainstream” by most standards. After a few week of using Kabongo, my feelings did not change.

My two girls, 5 and 7, who used Kabongo were excited about it at first but soon lost interest. Most of the games did not appeal to them. My 5 year old was easily frustrated with some of the games. I think 7 is pushing it a bit for Kabongo. I would think 4-6 would be more accurate.

As a disclaimer, are children, especially this age, do not spend a lot of time with electronic entertainment. I am sure that this affected their enjoyment of Kabongo.

How do I get Kabongo?
Want to give Kabongo a try? The habitats are $4.95 each. Right now when you sign up you get two habitats for free! What a great deal. Not sure you want to sign up? You can try one of three demo games here.

Want to see what others are saying about Go Go Kabongo? Head on over to the Crew and check it out!!!!


*Disclaimer – As a member of TOS Crew, I received use of this product for free. No compensation was made. The opinions/thoughts/experiences shared in this post are my own.

TOS Review – MathTutorDVD.com

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Confession: Higher math scares me. Seriously causes me to shudder, grab some chocolate and find a dark closet. I remember sitting in my Algebra class making plans to not choose a college major that would require math. I also have a daughter who is beginning her journey into pre-algebra and looking longingly into my chocolate stash; fearing what lies beyond pre-algebra. So when I saw that I would be reviewing two DVDs from MathTutorDVD.com, I immediately replenished the chocolate basket.

Now, I have enjoyed my chocolate but surprisingly I have enjoyed my DVDs from MathTutorDVD.com!! Amazing!

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MathTutorDVD was created by Jason Gibson, an electrical engineer who has worked for Texas Instruments and NASA, but now is focused on MathTutorDVD.com. You can read more about Mr. Gibson here.

The first DVD I watched was for the TI 84/ TI 83 Graphing Calculator

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It is possible that you heard me groan when I opened the case. In my avoidance of higher math, I never had to personally use a graphing calculator. I was not looking forward to this video. However, I was pleasantly surprised. I actually enjoyed this video! Stop laughing. I did. Mr. Gibson presents the information in a clear, easy to understand manner. The screen allows you to view the calculator as he walks you through the different functions and features. It made me wish I had a graphing calculator so I could practice what I was learning.

The 3 set DVD is broken up into sections so you can pick and choose what you need to learn right now. You don’t have to watch two hours and hope to hear what you need. Need to know about finding the min and max of a function? Section 9 of DVD 1. I think the DVD is also great to have on hand for a refresher on using the calculator. Maybe toward the end of your calculus course, you can’t quite remember how to use a certain function. Grab this DVD, select the section you need and get that math done! Also, I know for me, sometimes I catch on a bit quicker if I see something in action as opposed to just reading a black and white manual. If you have a visual/audio learner, then this DVD would be a great asset. I know I will definitely be keeping this DVD on the shelf for use in a couple of years.

Important Information:

TI 84/TI 83 Graphing Calculator is $26.99. It contains 8 hours of instruction on using the calculator. You can scroll to the bottom of this page to view a video sample of this DVD.

The second DVD was for The Pre-Algebra Tutor: Volume 1 .

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On this one, you may have heard my daughter groaning. Poor girl. We received a pre-algebra dvd at the same time she was starting her pre-algebra book. I previewed the DVD before handing it to Rebekah so I could help her out on any difficult sections. Once again, Mr. Gibson does a fabulous job of presenting information in a clear, easy to understand manner. He has a very relaxed manner of presenting information that I think students will find refreshing. I will be honest that my daughter didn’t walk away begging for her pre-algebra book but she was a bit more confident. The only thing she had issues with was that Mr. Gibson tells you to just listen, not to write anything down, just watch and listen. Rebekah would have preferred to write as she watched; there were times where I think writing would have helped her to focus a bit more. I later told her to write if she felt she needed to.

This DVD will definitely be kept on the bookshelves as I know Bekah will be using is throughout this year when she might hit a rough spot in pre-algebra. I can see myself using it to refresh my mind on areas I might need to explain and teach pre-algebra.

Important Information:

The Pre-Algebra Tutor: Volume 1 is $26.99 and covers real numbers, number lines, integers and more. It is 5 hours of tutorial videos. There is also a Pre-Algebra Tutor: Volume 2 available. There is a video sample of the Pre-Algebra Tutor: Volume 1 DVD available here.

Fully understand the TI84/TI83 calculator? Your students are beyond pre-algebra? Still head over to mathtutordvd.com! There are DVDs for geometry, calculus, physics and more. Your child struggles with word problems or basic math? There are DVD courses for those as well.

Again, math can be a bit scary, but Mr. Gibson does a great job showing how easy it can be!

Make sure head over to TOS Homeschool Blog and see what others are saying about MathTutorDVD.com!

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**Disclaimer: I received this product for review as a member of the TOS Homeschool Review Crew. I received no compensation for this review.