VideoText Interactive Review-Homeschool Math Program

Please note that prices and offers may change after this blog post is published.
OK, so I have been just itching to tell you all about the VideoText Interactive review that we have done for the TOS Review Crew...I mean so many times I have started to brag about it in a blog post only to remember "I CAN'T SAY ANYTHING ABOUT VideoText Interactive TIL July!!" ARGH!! Sometimes being a reviewer is hard!! I just wanted to shout from the roof tops about VideoText Interactive. For all of our homeschool years we have used the spiral method for math, know what that is? Boring worktext pages with tons of math problems that you do each and every day. VideoText Interactive uses the mastery method so you keep moving forward as you learn the material. We were blessed to receive the use of VideoText Interactive Algebra A Complete Course for 3 years for the use of 2 students. Online Programs have a full 30-day money back guarantee. You can also request a FREE DVD sample (it's really nice, I got one).

VideoText Interactive is not new to our family, we have seen their booth many times over the years at homeschool conventions, but the price was totally out of reach for our family. $529 for the complete DVD set with textbooks was way out of our price range. BUT!!!! Now VideoText Interactive is available at a reasonable price for the online version, you get 3 full year courses for one price! You will get Pre-Algebra, Algebra 1 and Algebra 2 and you can use it with 2 students! Now if you want to add additional students, it's small added fee per student. Did I mention that you can try the full online program at no risk? VideoText Interactive offers a FULL 30 DAY MONEY BACK GUARANTEE! WOW!!  VideoText Interactive is for any ages from 6th grade student through adult, for more information on if your child is ready for this excellent math program click here to read the FAQ section VideoText Interactive FAQ #3. There are 170 lessons, course notes, student work text, solutions manuals, and progress tests all included and don't forget that you can use this for 2 students! Need to add on a 3rd or 4th student?

Don't laugh but I am hearing that age old slogan being yelled... 

"CALL NOW!! OPERATORS ARE STANDING BY,

CALL NOW!!"

Scope & Sequence Rational pdf has a lot of great information that can explain in detail better than I can about the actual program contents. The Algebra Schematic pdf is a very nice chart that explains in detail when and where each type of lesson is taught. For example when polynomials are taught (Unit 5) and when quadratic equations (Unit 8) are taught. Very nice set up and easy to follow.

I knew this program was for us when I read this on the website...
Remember, “It doesn’t have to be that hard when you use a video textbook!”

If you know me, you know I am a total math phobic! lol. To say the least! My thoughts are going crazy and around 90 mph about VideoText Interactive. This math program is the BOMB! The author Tom Clark has 46 years of experience teaching math and science, VideoText Interactive is a family affair with Tom's children, his brother and sister helping to bring the whole curriculum together. You can read more about the Clark family here on the About The Author page.

What this homeschool Momma liked about VideoText Interactive Algebra A Complete Course:

1) 3 full high school math classes for 1 money! You get Pre-Algebra, Algebra 1 and Algebra 2.
2) You can follow a 1 year, 2 year or 3 year program. So depending on the ability and needs of your student they can work at a faster or slower rate to make sure that they have the materials mastered.
3) EASY on the homeschool Momma (what more can I say about that  :O)
4) Tom Clark the author is AWESOME! He spent time talking me down off the cliff of homeschool Momma terrors! lol. What a man is all I can say!
5) Easy grading, no hoops to jump through.
6) Pretty much hands off for homeschool Momma, besides grading.
7) Wonderful people at the help line.
8) We had started out with our normal math company we had been using from the beginning and had a few struggles with me teaching it along the way. So I was really scared when we started Algebra A Complete Course from VideoText Interactive, but our homeschool young man picked right up on it and has been going strong since.
9) Our homeschool young man did 6 lessons per week (yeah, he wanted to work on Saturday too!) What on earth? lol.
10) No wasted printer paper, just print out daily worksheet, quizzes and tests. Easy on the printing budget!
11) I love that the guy on the video NEVER gets upset when the homeschool young man needs a repeat lesson or does not quite understand the lesson and needs to hear it again. That guy never sounds like a grouchy homeschool Momma who has to repeat herself! That guy is cheerful the first time he explains it and he is still cheerful the 3rd and 4th time if we have to repeat the video...lol.
12) I learned a very interesting fact from talking to Tom Clark on the phone, he told us that story problems are actually Algebra problems. No wonder the Homeschool young man struggled with story problems in the lower grades, he had not yet had Algebra. Now he is understanding them and actually likes the challenge of a good story problem. AMEN!!

What this homeschool Momma did not like about VideoText Interactive Algebra A Complete Course:

1) I love this program so much, but I did find a few things that needed tweaked. Nothing at all wrong with any of the teaching, it's high quality, laid out nicely and easy to learn.
2) The video looks a bit dated, there also needs to be more light shed on the subject. The video is very dim.
3) The solution manual seems to be in very small print, I can enlarge them, but then it's hard to scroll around the pages. If anyone knows a homeschool Momma, ya know she has bi-focals by homeschool year #3 and really needs tri-focals by homeschool year #6, but she ain't buyin' them! lol. But seriously the exponent numbers were really hard to see and sometimes I could not tell a division sign from a minus sign.
4) I would like to see the Progress Checklist be online instead of printed out, I don't know how many times we had to turn the house upside down to find that crazy sheet of paper that should have been in the homeschool Young Man's FOLDER!! But instead was nowhere to be found. lol.

What this homeschool Young Man liked about VideoText Interactive Algebra A Complete Course:

1) I liked how I could do 3 years of math in 1 year if I worked hard.
2) Made math fun!
3) Made math my favorite subject! Before we used the Spiral Method and I did not like having pages of boring math problems to do.
4) Wish homeschool Momma had bought this years ago at convention when she first saw it!
5) Glad that they have reduced the price so more homeschool kids can enjoy math.
6) I liked how the teacher made reducing fractions so much easier than the old way I learned.
7) Liked how easy it was to figure out how the program works, I just watch the video (pause to answer questions out loud/then listen to answers on video), read the course notes, do my assignment, grade it using the solutions manual, then usually a quiz the next day, after so many days a test. They even include graph paper to print out if needed.
8) Mr. Clark the author was fun to talk to on the phone.
9) Thanks to Mr. Clark I now like story problems, and the more complicated the better! I can understand them now. I use to cry in the younger grades when I struggled with them.
10) I am looking forward to the Geometry course.

What this homeschool Young Man did not like about VideoText Interactive Algebra A Complete Course:

1) I did not like the old look on the video screen.
2) I wish I could access the quizzes myself, since if Homeschool Momma was not home, Homeschool Daddy did not know the password.

So there you have it folks! An endorsement for VideoText Interactive Algebra A Complete Course, we are loving it and wish we had done this much sooner.

If you are done with Algebra and ready for Geometry, come on and check out the other TOS Crew Reviews as many received the VideoText Interactive Geometry A Complete Course that includes Geometry, Trigonometry and Pre-Calculus, 3 full high school math credits all in 1 affordable package! Just click the box below.

 

Favorite FREEBIE Homeschool Websites

These links are a wonderful way to bring education into your home and to supplement your homeschooling. There are links for preschoolers, grade schoolers, junior high, high school and Moms.

Some are oldies but goodies and some are ones you may have never seen before. These are in no certain order, just some different sites that we really enjoy and get a lot of help from. These are also great to have in a SAFE folder for your child to be able to go to when they have their media time. Please let me know if any of the links are bad and I will get them fixed.
Happy schooling!
Homeschool encouragement

https://thehomeschoolgal.blogspot.com

Homeschooling boys (they also talk about homeschooling girls too)

https://www.raisingrealmen.com/

http://www.homeschool-your-boys.com/index.htmlhttp://www.spellingcity.com/

LOVE this site! I entered in an entire year of spelling words and each week he uses this site to learn them. There is a ‘teach’, ‘play’ and ‘test’ area. He loves this site.
http://www.makebeliefscomix.com/
Make your own comics, this is a great tool for creative thinking
Thanksgiving ideas (plus other holidays)
http://localhs.com/holiday/thanksgiving_elemetary.asp
Math games
http://sheppardsoftware.com/math.htm
Tests grade school through high school
http://www.thatquiz.org/
Math games http://www.quia.com/mathjourney.html
Word scramble and puzzle makers
http://www.theteacherscorner.net/printable-worksheets/make-your-own/word-scramble/
Math & grammar games
http://www.funbrain.com/
Math games
http://www.lizardpoint.com/math/add-ws.html
Christianity Today home school info
https://www.todayschristianwoman.com
Lots of neat stuff here for Bible believing homeschoolers & Bible studies & character studies
http://highland.hitcho.com.au/bibleforms.htm
http://www.tlsbooks.com/
Worksheets for different grades
http://www.squidoo.com/50statesnotebook
Great ideas for state notebooks
http://www.barbarafrankonline.com/
Let’s play math
http://letsplaymath.wordpress.com/
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/
Lots of printable lessons
http://www.sonlight.com/TF4.html
I don’t use Sonlight curriculum, but the website offers up lots of great info on home schooling, books to order from your local library and it has book lists by grades. I enjoy the emails they send too.
Lots of printables
http://www.canteach.ca/

http://www.canteach.ca/links/linkhomeschool.html 

http://www.homeschoolmath.net/worksheets/grade_4.php

Math games & printable
http://homeschooling.about.com/
http://www.homeschooldiner.com/
Lesson plans
http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/dailylp/dailylp/dailylp067.shtml
Crafts/Art
http://www.teacherhelp.org/crafts.htm#recipes
Physical science
http://www.physicscentral.com/experiment/physicsathome/index.cfm
Free resources
http://blog.learningresources.com/
Coloring pages & resources from National Geographic
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/coloringbook/archive/
http://highland.hitcho.com.au/index.htm
Neat stuff
http://www.unshackled.org/
Pacific Garden Mission-great place to take a field trip.
http://www.thehomeschoolmom.com/
Good info & printables
http://www.distance-education.org/Articles/100-COMPLETELY-FREE-Distance-Learning-Resources-for-Homeschoolers-125.html
Evangelism tools for kids & fun stuff
https://www.wycliffe.org/resources/kids/activities
Homeschool Classifieds
http://www.homeschoolclassifieds.com/planner_form.asp
This is a funny home school blog a few great articles & links to home school websites
https://www.weirdunsocializedhomeschoolers.com/
Timeline helps
https://store.homeschoolinthewoods.com/blogs/words-from-the-woods
Frugal website (sometimes has home school content, but otherwise about saving money with kids & being frugal.
https://www.livingonadime.com/
Interesting home school blog
http://chocolateonmycranium.blogspot.com/2007/10/homeschool-resources.html
Science homeschooling
http://www.hometrainingtools.com/Default.asp?bhcd2=1256956745
Socialization of homeschoolers
http://www.angelfire.com/mo/sasschool/socialization.html
home schooling forms to print
http://www.donnayoung.org/forms/index.htm
Candy science experiments
http://www.candyexperiments.com/
Geography worksheets
http://www.superteacherworksheets.com/geography.html
Scholastic
http://www.scholastic.com/parents/play/games/
Neighborhood Bible Time kids site
http://www.nbtime.org/kidscorner.html
Weather
http://urbanext.illinois.edu/treehouse/
History
http://www.historyglobe.com/jamestown/
Lego building projects

http://creative.lego.com/en-us/FamilyTime/buildinginstructionssecret/BuildingInstructionsBoxSecret.aspx?domainredir=legofamilytime.com

Hoping your enjoy some of these free goodies along your journey of crisis homeschooling or full-time homeschooling. Some of the links contain Christian materials and I did not receive any compensation from any of these websites for listing their links in this blog post.

Changes To One Of My Favorite Homeschooling Websites...

Khan Academy has some new updates and a new dashboard! Sign up today and check them out.
Khan Academy has TONS of subject areas, videos, worktext problems, solutions and much more! I do know that the science is NOT Bible based, but there is still some decent info that can be gleaned from Khan Academy.

Sal is an AWESOME teacher and I just love how he goes about teaching, he is also very funny. I have to laugh he sounds exactly like a guy that I use to DJ with back in the 80's. One of those weird kinda things that when you close your eyes you can picture that person....lol. I do that every time I hear Sal's voice.

Our Homeschool young man enjoyed watching the medical video's that are on Khan Academy. Lots of pretty cool stuff on there. I remember back in the first years of Khan Academy, there were just lists of videos to watch. With the NEW and improved Khan Academy there are parent/student accounts, a dashboard, a reminder system, points system and suggestions of materials to look at and learn.

Check them out!

Back to school funny & our homeschool tradition

So glad that we homeschool and don't have to spend much on supplies. We just use the same stuff from last year. No one breaks our Crayons or steals our pencils in homeschool...lol
We have a tradition of buy something fun and new for the school year though. For me I usually pick out a cute pack of sticky notes (you know I have a passion for STICKY NOTES!) I blogged about my overstock of sticky notes. This year I got some Post-It Notes with a cute Pug dog on the front.
The teenager decided on a folder/notebook with a Pug on the front.

You would think that we have a thing for Pugs at our house  :O)

Moe

Homeschooling Math When You Have A Major Illness

I had written this post way back in March and never posted it. So here goes, I hope that it encourages another homeschooling mom that is struggling.

Now lets do some homeschool math here peeps.
Illness + surgery + anastomotic leak + infection [people asking if the child is behind in school to the 10th power] I can't figure out how to do Exponents on my keyboard. = X

 Here is how you solve for X.

Illness = preparing our child/children ahead of time by teaching them to work on their own.
Surgery = having GREAT doctors like my wonderful GI doc that saw me in the hospital in 2011 and my WONDERFUL and AWESOME Colorectal Surgeon that knew just the right time to get that bad boy out of me. I had time plan school around the surgery, we skipped Christmas break so that school did not have to be done during my surgery and hospital stay.
Anastomotic leak = fever, chills, pain & a visit to the ER & then my surgeon calling us at 6:55am to say that I needed to pack a bag and get to the hospital by 4pm that day. to start IV antibotics.
Infection = always a possible complication, but I figured it would never happen HAHAHA!!!
School = people asking if we are behind in school (to the 10th power.)
X = Philippians 4:13 "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me."

 

Stop by my blog

http://adoptivemomhomeschoolinganonlychild.blogspot.com/

Lone Star Learning Math Review

 

 

As a member of The Old Schoolhouse Review Crew, we were sent a set of the Lone Star Learning companies Target Vocabulary Pictures Math Set 1 flashcards. You can find these flashcards by clicking here lonestarlearning.com/ they come in two different sizes:
The Large cards measure 11″ x 8.5″ $34.99
The Small cards measure 5.5″ x 4.25″ $29.99
Grades 1st-8th

We were given the small cards to review. I think at first our 7th grader thought, "Oh, yeah! Flashcards! YIPPEE!" Well by the end of the review he was telling me that
"The Target Vocabulary Pictures Math set 1 flashcards would be great for high school students that needed a math review."

What we liked about the Target Vocabulary Pictures Math Set 1 5.5x4.25 size cards:

PERFECT size for homeschool use (the larger size would be great for classroom teachers)
GREAT for on the go use in the car.
FITS perfectly in purse or bag to use while waiting at appointments.
FUN to play with.
DOES not feel like we are doing school when we use the cards.
HIGH quality flashcards, I don't see these falling apart anytime soon, they are laminated.
GREAT for all ages, recommended for 3rd-8th grade, but could be used with 1st-12th grade.

What could be better about the
Target Vocabulary Pictures Math Set 1:

STORAGE there is no box to store these in. I actually think that I am going to hole punch each card and put it on a ring for easy storage.
PRICE since I have an only child, these were a bit out of my price range, ($29.99 for 57 flashcard) but they are WAY COOL and if I had the extra money in my budget I would buy them for the coolness and fun factor to help with teaching math terms! We both actually learned several new terms using these flashcards.
ANSWER SHEET was on just plain paper, it was not on a flashcard type of paper or laminated and it started looking pretty wrinkled up after just the first week of use. So I laminated it myself and it's holding up well that way.

Paper Answer Sheet

We had a lot of fun with this review and learned a lot, it's amazing how much you can learn when you see the word and then also see a picture of what the word is describing (cone and a picture of a cone). I would recommend these for any homeschooling family and even classroom teachers. We used these as flashcards for guessing, writing definitions and just general math review each day.
"Target Vocabulary Pictures Set 1 consists of math vocabulary presented visually to facilitate recall. Sets are not arranged by grade level. Please view sets to determine the appropriateness for your students."

 http://store.lonestarlearning.com/

 

 

10 Ways to Make Your Homeschool Day Run Smoothly

10 ways to make your homeschool day run smoothly was a blog post that I really needed to read! I hope that you will check it out also. So many simple things to do, yet we get wrapped up in other things and we don't do these 10 simple things. I can think of a few others that would work for me if I kept up on them. I'll give you 5 of my best to go along with the 10 from The Homeschool Classroom

1. Go to bed early.

2. Keep a running shopping list so I don't have to run to town for something each day.

3. Read over the Science lessons a month in advance so that supplies can be ordered and ready for experiments.

4. Do not over schedule, it's called homeschooling and not carschooling!! It's so easy to want to join everything and do everything. And to socialize our child.......LOL. Read Rick Boyer's book The Socialization Trap.

5. If you struggle in teaching a certain subject, look ahead and consult with someone who is in the know. Pray about this, we did this with Math. I'm not real great with Math, but the Lord has provided a good friend that has a masters degree in Math and another friend is a public school Math teacher.

Yes, the Lord provides just what we need when we need it. Philippians 4:19 " But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus."

Moe

Changes for next school year?

We finished school back in April, so we are looking forward to next year. What things worked for you this year and what things would you change for next year?

We school year round and really enjoy it. We get nice breaks in October, December, February, April and May. We do the easy subjects in the summer like history and science, when we can lay under the shade trees and read. And get messy outside with science experiments!

We are working on Latin and think we might try a different program, we are using Prima Latina. Also looking at some items from the Critical Thinking Company, but not sure how to add those things in just yet. Still in the planning stages. For Bible we have switched from BJU to RBP (Regular Baptist Press)and are using the adult Sunday School materials, have been very impressed with the quality of their materials. We are also working through the book of Proverbs with several different materials (all seem to compliment each other) from www.thelearningparent.com/products.asp?pagecontrol=1&cat=29&product=21 , http://generationswithvision.com/Store/2011/06/proverbs-collection-12/ and Picture Proverbs Deluxe DVD Set from SolveFamilyProblems.com. The Picture Proverbs is a bit expensive, we got a discount on it since we saw S.M. Davis speak at a conference, but it's well worth the $$ spent and I would pay full price for it. There is nothing like hearing father/son say lets go watch a DVD and they are watching Picture Proverbs for an hour! As a family we have gotten so much out of these 3 resources.

We went through the Focus On The Family series called The Truth Project and got so much out of that, we may attend it again if it's offered, there was so much to glean from in that. Our son was only 11 when we went through the series and he was interacting with the adults during discussion time, so please don't think that our kids don't have a clue about what it going on. Treat your children knowing that they will rise to the occasion, instead of dumbing them down with little Bible stories, many kids no longer need the milk and honey, they are ready for solid Biblical food.

Do you have any curriculum items that you are interested in sharing about?

Moe

Something fun for your homeschool

I just love these dry erase dots, they make school work so much more fun!!! Math problems are a breeze for boys. I have found them on sale a few times and bought different colors. They are a big hit around here. You can see one of our Magenta colored dot in the bottom picture.
What fun things do you add to your homeschool to spice things up?
Moe

Dice Math Games

Thinking of my previous post today about the homeschooling mom and the public school math teacher mom, I found these cool Math dice games over at the home iz cool 101 blog stop by and check her out.

I have some really cool extra sided dice (more than 4 sides), I bought them last year and forgot all about them until I read this blog post. Note to self, STOP BUYING THINGS AND USE WHAT YOU HAVE ON HAND! lol. How many of us have all these school goodies that we bought with high hopes of using them and later find them covered in dust? Shake the dust off your dice and roll into some fun & games this school year!

I can't wait for school to start next week! We love to play games in our school and it's a great way to keep your students interested and make concepts real to them.

Now back to the regularly scheduled program of me working on 6 scrapbooks for tomorrow, our church is hosting a 9/11 memorial service for all our fire, police and ambulance personnel.  I was asked to complete the task of making commemorative scrapbooks for them all. Nothing like the last minute, as my MI buddy would say "If it weren't for last minute, nothing would ever get done."
Turn your life over to Jesus Christ and He will bring you comfort even in all of the ills of this world, including the devastation that 9/11 brought to us.