Roman Roads Media Picta Dicta Vocabulary Builder Review

Roman Roads Media has an online course titled Picta Dicta Vocabulary Builder which is the subject of this review. Roman Roads Media provides parents and teachers with a classical curriculum choice for their student(s) in middle grades to adults. It is a self-paced program in which the student is expected to complete a lesson per week over 30 weeks.

• Signing up was effortless to include enrolling my learners into the specific course I purchased or in this case, received to review. Each learner has their own login and there is a master account to track and adjust settings as needed. The master account holder can adjust the course from easy to normal depending on the skill level of the student.
• The campaigns are sequential so a student cannot jump to another assignment without completing the preceding one. There are activities or games to reinforce what was learned.
• Each word is presented and pronounced with extra information to put the word in correct context with an accompanied picture. The student can repeat the pronunciation as many times as needed to ensure he or she can pronounce it properly.
• After so many words, a game follows that is more or less a quiz of recognition. There is an information button that allows the student a refresher of that word. If the student gets one wrong, he can review it and it will pop up again until the student can complete all them. It will not proceed until all are correct.
• Scores will be listed on the Course screen and the student can repeat the lesson if he is not happy with the score.
• Students can review completed lessons but incomplete lessons will remain locked. 
• The online course is versatile and can be used on iOS, Android, PC or Mac.

The lesson screen shot example below shows how each word is presented in what my 15 year old student stated was in flash card format which she liked. Each screen allows the student to rehear the word and to see the definition:

After the short series of flash card type screens, a quiz follows to match the word with the picture. The pronunciation of the word accompanies each quiz question. My students, 15 and 11, both would have preferred longer time periods with the flash cards as well as smaller increments of words in between practice sessions. Luckily for them and myself, Roman Roads Media thought of everything and provides a training area to practice more. I can also track all progress and the grades received. 

There are 31 chapters in Picta Dicta Vocabulary Builder to learn from and the parent/teacher can set the learning level based on the student's skill level. The various exercises helps the student learn each word from Learn, Choose, Spell, Forms and Test Forms. The hand drawn illustrations are simple which was the purpose to allow students to comprehend them faster.  I believe this is a great program for those who have a Latin background or for a student that can pick and up and run with memory based learning programs. It's easy to follow and we all liked the flashcard component of each lesson. The pronunciation and definitions provided a well rounded manner in which to learn each word. I had to contact customer service once due to user error and they were fantastic in the speed in which they helped me and making me feel I was important to their program. Although I feel my students aren't quite ready for this program, I am going to look at the other programs such as Picta Dicta Ancient World as I think that one might be a better starter program for them.

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My Top Photographs from Hueco Tanks State Park & Historic Site - Texas Parks and Wildlife

Hueco Tanks State Park & Historic Site 

 Texas Parks and Wildlife

"For thousands of years, people have trekked to these rock hills in far west Texas. In earlier times, they came for the rainwater pooled in natural rock basins, or huecos (“whey-coes”). Visitors today marvel at the imagery left by those ancient people."

This wasn't my first time at this beautiful historical place that must be seen in person. It's in El Paso County, Texas and provides a great piece of history. If you get a chance, take at least the self-guided tour and watch the video that is provided by one of their wonderful volunteers. It's a small drive outside of El Paso but well worth it!

GrammarPlanet Grammar Online Program Review

GrammarPlanet provides an online comprehensive grammar program that is available online and is free supported by advertising. It is a program for students, ages 10 and up, to improve their English and is a good resource for adults as well. It's very easy to set up the students in the portal and once the student logs in, they start by watching a teaching video and reading a PDF of the accompanied notes. I found the notes were best utilized by printing them off to provide to my student. They do not take up a lot of ink for those that need to budget their costs and it's not a requirement to print them. After the student completes the teaching video and reads the notes, they begin to complete the activities that ensures the student understood and retained what they just learned. The activities are what is called responsive so students that require more time to understand will receive more practice before the test. If a student does not gain an acceptable score, they are advised to repeat the video and/or read the notes. If they are having a difficult time with the unit, their unit becomes locked and the parent/teacher has to unlock the unit. Also, if the parent/teacher feels the student might not to retake the unit, he/she has the option to reset a unit.

Recommended Usage:

The recommendation is to spend no more than 15 minutes a day working on a lesson and to work on a lesson every other day.

GrammarPlanet Outline Sample:

• Nouns
• Proper Nouns
• Articles and Adjectives
• Pronoun
• Possessive Pronouns
• Prepositional Pronouns
• Subject/Verb
• Adverbs
• Crazy Modifiers
• Patterns 1 and 2
• Pattern 3
• Patterns 4 and 5
• Helping Verbs
• State of Being Verbs
• Coordinating Conjunctions

That was just a sample of all the 13 units available.

_____________________

This is a series of screen shots showing my daughter completing the sentence diagram for one practice question. Each shot shows a next step in the process:

The parent dashboard provides a quick summary of where my students are in the program:

Our Review in Summary:

• I had two students utilizing the online program. One is 11 and one is 15 and I followed along with both to ensure they were utilizing it correctly and proceeded as appropriate after I find that I think they were skipping about. The good part of this program is if they get too many wrong, the parent/teacher has to unlock the lesson so it ensures they aren't moving forward without understanding the material.
• The quizzes in between the lessons also helps to reinforce the student's knowledge before proceeding forward.
• The teacher speaks clear and at the right speed. Both my students were puzzled at why the teacher is only shown from the head up. I do hope they fix that with adding some bigger type aids to correspond with the lesson as well as record her by moving back to show more of her.
• The notes, that can be printed at anytime, reinforce what is being taught.
• A subject can be repeated and the menu pops up by hovering the mouse over it.
• During the practice and tests, they did have difficulty remembering the different abbreviations for noun, verb, adjective, preposition, etc. so that part took a little longer than both liked. Although it seemed redundant or boring to them, it provided an opportunity for them to really understand and learn how to identify each part of the sentence.
• The parent can change the settings to be alerted to remember to sign on and when a student completes a lesson.

It's a nice program that allows the student to be self-sufficient in completing the lessons IF they understand what was taught otherwise, there will be a lot of unlocking by the parent. I did have to step in frequently to help explain some topics but I like to be involved with my children's lessons. This might be better suited for those that are already strong in grammar from the diagramming perspective or a bit older. I thought I was pretty good with grammar but I definitely learned a lot and this would be really beneficial for someone in high school and possibly entering college.

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Reading Eggs' 200 Essential Reading Skills for Fifth Grade Review

Reading Eggs' offers workbooks to compliment their digital online reading and math programs. We reviewed the 200 Essential Reading Skills for Fifth Grade workbook that provided 36-weeks of lessons covering spelling, comprehension and grammar lessons. Each lesson was not long with only a page a day requiring around 15 minutes a day. My daughter enjoys reading and writing and this workbook provides just the right amount of lesson material per day. The design behind the workbook is it builds 200 essential reading skills that will produce a better reader, speller, writer and orator in my opinion. By reinforcing new skills by repetition, Reading Eggs utilizes this proven technique to assist the student in long-term retention while building deeper understanding. 200 Essential Reading Skills for Fifth Grade workbook provides a comprehensive curriculum that includes:

• 200 essential reading skills
• 72 Comprehension Lessons
• Fiction and Nonfiction Texts
• 72 Spelling Lessons
• 36 Grammar Lessons
• 4 Reviews that test knowledge
• Answer sheets included
• Year planner
• Full color workbook
• 217 pages

Things I noted about the 200 Essential Reading Skills for Fifth Grade workbook that I particularly liked:

• The Table of Contents is comprehensive and easy to follow. It allows the parent/teacher or student an easy to follow path on what they already learned or will learn.
• There is a year planner which I like to see curriculums provide this to ensure I'm on target with my student.
• The workbook is full of color and each page is not too busy. Students, especially younger ones, are drawn to colorful page and it breaks it up from being a regular black and white textbook.
• The instructions on each page require the student to ensure they are reading and following direction which I loved! My two younger children do not do this well enough and I have found after using the 200 Essential Reading Skills for Fifth Grade, she is listening much better.
• Great value! The workbook is so comprehensive covering so many skills, it's a great bargain.
• Reading workbooks cover grades K through 5th.
• The student can self-check their work or the parent/teacher can review it with them.

Overall, we really liked the workbook because my daughter said it was fun. She enjoyed the stories and the corresponding activities that reinforced comprehension skills. The spelling words and challenge words included reinforcement activities that required her to utilize a dictionary and really worked in getting her to understand the definition behind new potential spelling words. I loved how suffixes, prefixes and Latin origins were also introduced as well as the variety of activities from cross word puzzles to unscrambling words and more. I honestly can't say enough on how much I love the workbook and wished they would create more for higher grades!

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Reading Eggs also offers online programs for Reading and Math Seeds. I utilized Reading Eggs for one of my other children in the past and she enjoyed using it and it helped her to read. I also like that not only are their online programs wonderful, but the workbooks really compliment the learning process. I just recently found out they also have reading books, activity books, flash cards and stickers to supplement their other products.

LIMITED TIME OFFER:

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Receive 10% off the purchase of any of the 9 BRAND NEW Reading Eggs and Mathseeds workbooks! Just use the coupon code WK10Z82D5UY at checkout!! Workbooks can be purchased by clicking on workbooks.

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Home School in the Woods' Time Travelers American History Series World War II Review

History is fun and exciting to me and I've tried to instill this in my children as the future depends on the past or as I usually tell my children, 'knowledge is power.' To find a hands-on history company that provides multiple products was such a thrill to me which is what
Home School in the Woods' Time Travelers American History World War II provided my child. From maps, timelines, and laptop projects, it provides an interesting chance for the student to live the time period. One of the ways I found that I learn best is by doing and the Home School in the Woods Time Travelers provided that.

The Basics:

The Time Travelers American History series World War II was available either by download or a CD with three types of licenses available: family, teacher or school making it versatile for any learning environment. For the purposes of this review, I downloaded my appropriate PDF files first and utilized the online functionality from the CD view.

It has 25 lessons that can be adjusted to the needs of the child or the expected length of time the teacher would like to cover the decade long time period over 5-10 weeks.

To begin, I utilized the Lesson Plan Schedule which was very helpful. It separates each lesson by either lapbook, notebook or project, for example. One could either pre-plan and print off each lesson all at once or one at a time. I preferred one at a time to absorb myself in what I was about to teach my student. There is a nice introduction that helps explain the course as well as helpful tips in preparing for the course. Everything is provided to ensure a fun successful learning experience.

There are also Project Days included in the lesson plans to provide extra time as needed. There are many options available to ensure your student is enjoying the lesson which makes it a very versatile curriculum.

Pages are key coded making it easier to find the appropriate page for each lesson such as Master, Project or Teacher Keys.
Lessons:

Lessons are grouped from:

• Lessons 1-5 - Ante Bellum; Adolf Hitler; War Before War; Blitzkreig-Dunkirk; Project Day 1
• Lessons 6-10 - The Battle of Britain; The Turn East; Pearl Harbor; War in Africa; Project Day 2
• Lessons 11-15 - War in the Pacific; Hitler's Fortress; Market Garden; The Bulge; Project Day 3
• Lessons 16-20 - Into Germany; Kristallnacht and the Camps; VE Day; Iwo Jima and the Atomic Bomb; Project Day 4
• Lessons 21-25 - Back Home; And What Happened After? Project Day
• Other Resources:
• All Master Pages (i.e. Penmanship, Newspapers, maps, etc)
• Gallery of Project Photos - this is nice so you and the student can ensure you completed the projects correctly as a picture is always a nice validation.
• Lap-Book Instructions - as above, this is a nice section to provide extra assistance in completing the lap-books.

Starting with Lesson 1, upon reading the text PDF file, it provided a very good review of setting up the world scene 20 years prior to World War II which is essential for understanding the mood of particular countries whether it was their desire to stay out or their need to get involved.

Each lesson includes text pages and project pages. For Lesson 1, after we read the text, we started with the lesson projects. Each lesson varies and provides a student an opportunity to try out various projects to broaden their learning experience. Lesson 1, for example, included Penmanship which encompassed quotes and a selection to choose from to find the right level for the student. The other project was the Notebook Timeline that included the timeline as well as Timeline Figures of the major players and events of World War II. The final project was on the topic of Dictators. This project reinforced the knowledge of the major players of the war and was the start of the lap-book.

For Lesson 9, War in Africa, we learned about V-Mail in the Lesson Projects. V-Mail was a means for our service members and families to correspond with one another without adding enormous costs on shipping the letters as well as cutting down on the mass volume. This lesson, like the others, provided an opportunity to create many different projects. This was one of my favorites with all the options available and being a former journalism major in high school, I loved the newspaper lessons.

My student enjoyed this project as well as I think she was able to pretend she was writing her grandfather who was in the Air Force. The reproductions, taken from originals, was fun to create and gave her a feel of what it was like back then.

The number of activities are interesting, fun and creative. For example, from creative writing to ration cooking recipes to games to authentic documents, there are just so many creative and fun ways to really teach all about World War II.

Final Thoughts:

Overall, we really enjoyed Time Travelers American History World War II due to its hands-on approach to teaching history. Although it is recommended for grades 3-8, I think it would be ideal even for the older levels especially if the child still enjoys creating projects. It's a very comprehensive course to teach an important part of history in a non-dull manner thus encouraging the chances of retention to be higher in my opinion. I also enjoyed teaching and guiding her throughout the weeks of learning and plan to look into some of the other products available through Home School in the Woods such as:

• History Through the Ages Timeline Materials
• Olde World Style Map Sets
• Project Passport World History Studies
• Hands-On History Activity-Paks
• Hands-On History Lap-Paks
• Hands-On History Activity Studies
• A La Carte Projects
• Other new projects such as the early release from Home School in the Woods on the launch of Project Passport: Ancient Rome study ahead of schedule that can be downloaded here and the complete Project Passport collection is available to here.

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Smart Kidz Media's New Smart Kidz Radio Review

Smart Kidz Media's newest offering, Smart Kidz Radio, is a new edutainment for kids utilizing songs that surely will entertain while teaching little ones. This is an online streaming media library filled with songs and stories that are sure to entertain children across many ages. What sets this station apart from others is the songs are original life skill songs and stories that promote positive values. The Smart Kidz Radio is part of a network of educational websites administered by the Smart Kidz Academy that provides educational resources at no cost! I have found many features that are appealing especially since it's more than just entertainment, there is the learning aspect which includes:

• Free live stream media that allows anyone to listen to the songs and stories. One of the first topics I heard was an informational intro of not fighting that turned into a song. I could see how a young child would learn from the fun music and words that aspire them to do good things.
• Signing up was easy and again, it's free!
• It's versatile and there will be IOS app downloads available for an iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad as well as an app for Android that will be free. Whether on a laptop or desktop or on the go, the child will have the opportunity to take it with them.
• An optional On Demand radio programs is available at a low cost with an upgraded free membership. There are over 1,000 original children's songs and stories featured in the On Demand programs from topics such as My First Life Skills to Bedtime Stories. The options are vast and there is a 14 day free trial.
• The stories and songs are sung by kids without any worry of offensive lyrics. This is a huge plus for my family as I prefer them listening to wholesome positive songs and stories.
• Stay up to date by signing up for the free newsletter.

Additional Features:

• Another area within the Smart Kidz Radio is called Player app that contains the options to view the local weather, traffic map along with the option to submit a song request and the ability to seek help with a click of the mouse.
• Podcasts are also available with a variety of songs and stories such as Itsy Bitsy Spider or The Three Musketeers.
• There is an option to replay what was recently played which is great for the little ones that get caught up loving a particular song or story. 

The Smart Kidz Radio from Smart Kidz Media is a fun learning adventure for children to hear stories and songs that will promote good behavior and citizenship while sprinkling it with fun amusement. The music is catchy and performed by children as we know children love children! Overall, we recommend it and my grandson, who is 3, couldn't quit smiling and singing along as he listened.

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Hurry and Upgrade to the HP Envy x360 Laptop and Save $100 Until July 28, 2018

Disclaimer:  This is a sponsored post for the HP Envy x360 Laptop.

Everything is technology driven and with that is a need for the best computers. At least in my family where we have tablets, laptops and desktops, we don't have time to be bogged down with sluggish computers or those without the most up to date features. I blog, of course, but I'm also an author and a homeschooling parent so I need technology that supports my lifestyle as well as my family's. I purchased a lesser type model of another brand and regret it every time I have to use it. When I read about the HP Envy x360 Laptop, I was sold for many reasons. Some of the features that are most appealing include:

• The Windows 10 Operating System actually has the old Windows 7 Start Menu which I love! Not only did it roll back and bring that back but it also includes new features like the Edge Web browser that lets you mark up the web pages! Isn't that really cool? 
• Built for Windows Ink which allows the user to jot sticky notes, sketch and draw on screenshots with your pen. No pen?  Just use your finger or a mouse it's that easy. It's a handy feature to jot down reminders such as call the doctor or pick up dinner.
• My teen and tween would love that sketchpad functionality which allows the user to use a pen, pencil, highlighter, etc. It would definitely bring out their creativity whenever they want to draw something or to use the screen shot feature.
• The full HD touch screen is 1920 x 1080 resolution that will provide rich robust colors without compromising any clarity. Finger touch technology is also a nice feature to have instead of relying on a mouse all the time.
• The HP Envy x360 has 8GB of system memory making it ideal for multi-tasking and game playing! AMD processors make them fast and thin! Game playing would spark the interest in every one of my family member's eyes! The photo and video editing applications would leave them salivating as well. They play around with making their own videos and to have a laptop this robust with these capabilities would make them extremely happy!
• The 360° flip-and-fold design makes it versatile by allowing it to be viewed by an audience, on your lap, on a table or even tablet form. This great 2-in-1 device allows the user to go from laptop to tablet in seconds!

If you are ready to upgrade to a faster, thinner, full HD touch laptop that has the ability to convert from a laptop to a tablet in seconds, this is the choice for you! Extra features like Windows Ink is such a innovative concept and with the video and photo editing applications, it's a win for our house whether at home or on the go!

Check out the HP Envy x360 Laptop 13 inch or the HP Envy x360 Laptop 15 inch now. 

Purchase before July 28th and save $100!

Review: Northwest Treasures' Dinosaurs and the Bible Online Class Is Fossil-istic

I have always had an interest in geology so I was excited to have the opportunity to watch the introductory video Taking the Mystery Out of Geology and to have my dinosaur loving daughter take the Dinosaurs and the Bible from Northwest Treasures. Dinosaurs are fun and most kids love dinosaurs and who would have even connected the idea of dinosaurs with the Bible? It's a great way to get your child or student thinking on a grander level of all things began with God if you haven't already.

I found Taking the Mystery out of Geology a good pre-cursor to Dinosaurs and the Bible. The short 20 minute video helps to provide an introductory to geology. Patrick Nurre provides an easy to understand connection between geology from a Biblical perspective.  The photographs that accompany his lecture are perfect and his repetitive references to the Bible is an excellent manner in ensuring children understand the world with an unshakable foundation with the Bible. Many schools will teach geology with no references at all to the Bible or God which to me, seems impossible to do. Many won't even provide a connection and will try to tie it with some other non-proven scientific explanation. Mr. Nurre teaches 13 important terms in understanding geology. He doesn't complicate it and makes it easier to understand with examples such as his simple template of time events from Creation to Post Flood Period. As he concludes the course, "go deeper in your geology study. Grow deeper in your faith."

Northwest Treasures' Dinosaurs and the Bible is perfect in helping to explain how dinosaurs can be taught hand in hand with the Bible. I have not done a good enough job of reinforcing Bible reading and I found this course is ideal in helping to reinforce what she knows as well as understanding more about how the Bible correlates with geologic events and dinosaurs. The supplemental photographs, actual photographs of bones and artifacts, words and more makes it more interesting than just merely watching the instructor. After each lesson, there is a worksheet to complete and at the end, there will be a comprehensive test. They also encourage communication via e-mail.

Dinosaurs and the Bible is a six part series that run from 16:23 minutes to 21:38 minutes long. Each part is broken down to:

• Lesson 1: How We Got Our Modern View of Dinosaurs
• Lesson 2: The Classification of Dinosaurs
• Lesson 3: Dinosaurs and the Bible, The Great Dinosaur Rush
• Lesson 4: The Extinction of the Dinosaurs
• Lesson 5: Dinosaurs and the Ice Age
• Lesson 6: Fossils, Age, and Soft Tissue

I absolutely love how he does not teach the course in absolutes from mainstream teaching. Topics like evolution and carbon dating is based on theories and have not been proven. I prefer my children be taught subjects in conjunction with the Bible as that's truth to me. He really makes the student think and to start questioning the acceptable way things are taught. While teaching, he never diminishes the contribution of all the dinosaur finds of the past. It really opened my daughter's eyes especially after watching some other courses online. 

We recommend Northwest Treasures' Dinosaurs and the Bible as it provides a firm Biblical foundation to include discussing limitations of how this topic is taught in the mainstream. Online courses allow the student to complete it on their own schedule, to pause or stop and resume later. The six part segments are not too long and are definitely not boring.

I liked the course so much, I've been telling everyone I can about how it's a must see!

There are other courses to include fossil kits available such as Geology for "Little Eyes" (PreK-3rd).

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Amplify Your Summer with Ultimate Ears MEGABLAST and BLAST Portable Speakers

Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post.

Summer is half order but there is still plenty of time to enjoy summer as Ultimate Ears announced new updates for MEGABLAST and BLAST portable speakers to help them get smarter and better over time. There is nothing that beats great sound especially when you are poolside, hanging outside or just relaxing indoors. Look at some of the new experiences for MEGABLAST and BLAST include:

• Enhanced controls on the Ultimate Ears app: Now you can control volume remotely from the app! If you are an app driven junky like many of us, this is especially useful if you have your music cranked up loud and want to use Alexa. You can also check battery status in two ways, either through the app, or right from the speaker by pressing the “+/-” volume buttons simultaneously! This past May saw a new feature of being able to personalize your sound for any artist or music genre with the custom equalizer (EQ). Now that is pretty cool! 

• Voice control on Spotify and more is coming soon:  You will be able to just ask “Alexa, play my Discover Weekly” or any music from Spotify on MEGABLAST and BLAST. Spotify will soon be joining other Amazon Alexa supported music services such as Amazon Music, Deezer and TuneIn globally; and Pandora, iHeartRadio and SiriusXM in the U.S. -- Being able to use your voice to control music from these streaming services over Wi-Fi is awesome! On Bluetooth, you can enjoy music from any of your favorite music services.

• A better way to listen with Spotify Connect is also coming soon: MEGABLAST and BLAST will be the first Ultimate Ears speakers to integrate Spotify Connect. When on Wi-Fi, simply open the Spotify app on your phone and play music directly to our speakers (under “Devices Available”) without the need to pair through Bluetooth. I prefer that as sometimes I have had issues pairing up with Bluetooth. Music fans can also stream the highest quality sound possible from Spotify. With Spotify Connect, text message or make calls without interrupting the music and save your phone's battery. That is another cool feature as so many apps make you interrupt what you are doing to respond to calls and texts.

• New grouping experience for smart speakers is coming soon: You can group up to eight MEGABLAST and BLAST speakers on Bluetooth and Wi-Fi! Stereo mode is supported when you connect two MEGABLAST or BLAST speakers. Optimized to take advantage of the speakers’ built-in Wi-Fi capability, you will experience greater range for grouped speakers and improved connection reliability. Grouping is expected to be available later this year. For those with large houses or outdoor areas, this is great news having such flexibility to move around listening to your favorite songs.

Ultimate Ears MEGABLAST

Ultimate Ears BLAST

Have more fun this summer with Ultimate Ears MEGABLAST and BLAST Portable Speakers! From stunning clarity and deep, heart-pounding bass, the fun won't end with  Alexa built-in technology and other coming soon features!  Click the links above to learn more!







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