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

TeenCoder C# Series Computer Programming & Gaming Review

OK, folks this on is going to be a long one about an AWESOME review product, get your self a cup of JAVA…lol...pun intended :O)
Lets start off with a homeschool Momma funny! LOL. I kept calling TeenCoder C# Series, LOL….”TeenCoder C pound sign Series.” That got a real laugh out of my son, the proper pronunciation is TeenCoder C Sharp Series. OK, enough of the laughing here, because TeenCoder C# Series is a very serious year long educational computer course from Homeschool Programming INC. Homeschool Programming INC has won many awards including the 

2013 National Indie Excellence Awards: TeenCoder: Android Programming: "Technology" Winner! TeenCoder: Game Programming: "Education K-12" Finalist!       2013 International Book Awards: TeenCoder: Game Programming: "Young Adult: Non-Fiction" finalist! "Children's Educational" finalist!

We were blessed to receive the TeenCoder year pack valued at $155.00 TeenCoder: C# Year Pack (Courses & Videos) our courses came as PDF’s and the videos came as DVD’s. I feel confident in the content of this program as the founders are homeschool parents AND have a BS & MS in computer science and electrical engineering…need I say more? I think they have it all folks! What happens when homeschool parents can’t find what they need to teach their children? They create a homeschool curriculum! AWESOME!

We got 2 CD Rom’s that were instructional videos
Ebooks in the form of PDF’s that can be downloaded to a Kindle
These products were valued at $155 dollars for 2 one-semester courses

Windows Programming and Game Programming
The course materials may be purchased together or separately and the CD Rom’s may be purchased together or separately. The CD Roms’s ARE optional, BUT you must have the Ebook to do the program. I like how you can pick or chose what works for your homeschool child.

TeenCoder Windows Programming or TeenCoder Game Programming
COST $20.00
TeenCoder Windows Programming Instructional Video CD Rom ONLY or Teen Coder Game Programming video CD Rom only
COST $75.00
Windows Programming Semester Course ONLY or TeenCoder Game Programming Semester Course only TeenCoder
COST $90.00
TeenCoder Windows Programming Semester Course and Instructional Videos on CD Rom or TeenCoder Game Programming Semester Course and Instructional Videos on CD Rom

Alternatively, you can purchase these as year long packs
$130.00 TeenCoder: C# Year Pack (Courses Only)
$155.00 TeenCoder: C# Year Pack (Courses & Videos)

Here are the computer hardware and software requirements

For the TeenCoder Windows Programming Course you will need Visual C# 2010 Express
For the TeenCoder Game Programming Course you will need Microsoft XNA Game Studio (free download)

Designed for 9^th-12^th graders with no computer programming experience. However, your child should have a basic understanding of using a computer mouse, typing, saving things to the hard drive, starting up programs and running them and clicking through different menus. After using TeenCoder Windows Programming and TeenCoder Game Programming, I am going to issue our homeschool son a full credit for Computer Science, as this was a very thorough course that fostered independence in our child.

Topics Covered in this Course
 Introduction to the C# programming languages
Creating graphical Windows screens
Using dialog controls
C# data types and variables
User input and flow control
Math functions and string operations
C# debugging and exception handling
Object-oriented programming concepts
Classes, inheritance, and polymorphism
Collections, sorting, and recursion
File Input/Output

 

We started out with the TeenCoder Windows Programming and will be moving into the TeenCoder Game Programming in a few weeks. We looked ahead at what to expect and found some really cool things,

What this homeschool Momma liked

1) First off let me say that if you have a student that is interested in programming or gaming TeenCoder is definitely for them!
2) AWESOME help desk with personal responses
3) I like how it talks about to do the grading.
4) There are chapter tests.
5) Solutions are included in the PDF’s yeah!!!!
6) Course Errata & document updates: nice to have & easy to find
7) There were a variety of activities to test putting skills to use.
8) Cute graphics. I think that the TeenCoder guy, teacher and students are adorable! Check them all out on the Demonstrations Video’s here.
9) Loved how it explained the history of programming
10) Pre-requisites are listed on the website

What this homeschool Momma did not like

1) I could not have taught this just from the Ebook, I would have to have the CD Rom’s for sure!
2) They say they are self study student textbook, but again, I think that the CD Rom’s are a MUST have.
3) We did not get a physical book that would have been nice to be able to highlight things and make notes on things.
4) We struggled with getting the Visual C# 2010 Express loaded, up and running on our computer. (a free version) There are other versions of this but you must use the 2010.
5)We had more struggles with finding things once they were on our computer.
6) We had trouble jumping back between screens and it really slowed down our computer.
7) This to me was a hard course, BUT in saying that, it’s a high school course, so it’s not going to be a snap and really it should not be easy if it’s a high school course :O)
8) I do not agree with the company website saying that no prior computer knowledge is needed.
9) Looking back at this I wish now that I had printed out the student text, but I hated to waste the ink and ½ of ream of paper. As we continue forward, I think that I may break down and do just that.

What this homeschool student liked
1) Liked the chapter reviews, the way they presented facts about each chapter.
2) Learned history of programming
3) Learned definitions and terms for computers terminology
4) I like how each lessons builds on the next one, I would not skip any lessons.
5) Text boxes were super cool!
6) Easy to download to Kindle Fire, nice to take in the car for reading the lessons, then coming home and doing the lessons on the main computer.
7) I really learned a lot and was surprised at how once we got going that it all started coming together for me.
8) Screenshots were VERY helpful, I like to see what things are suppose to look like.
9) Set up on an easy to use format once we figure it out.
10) You can make games for Xbox 360 (if you own one, we do not)
11) It was very easy to follow along as to where the lessons started and ended, there is an
activity to do at the end chapter.
12) Saving the best for last…ULTIMATE COOLNESS FACTOR making the graphic chess game, I can’t wait to get to the end of the TeenCoder Game Programming to make a Bumper Car Game!

What this homeschool student did not like
1) It was a struggle to learn by just the Ebook, so I HIGHLY recommend purchasing the CD Rom’s to go along with the program, to me it was much easier learn that way along with the reading of the Ebook.
ONLY 1 dislike here!



In the 8 weeks we had to complete this review we were not able to make it to the second semester of course, but are sure looking forward to it. This second semester course is on creating Windows games. Your student will learn the following plus more during the TeenCoder Game Programming course.

Important game concepts
Object/movement in games
How to detect collisions between objects
How to create 2D images
Animations
Simple game physics such as bouncing and reflections
How to simulate wind & gravity
They will learn artificial intelligence
They will learn game physics and concepts such as velocity and gravity on projectiles
They will make fun games such as The Swarm Game (remember Space Invaders? LOL...It’s just like that.
Snowball Fight Game

Plans for the future...
I plan to work my way through the TeenCoder C# Series by Homeschool Programming INC myself, as I am pretty computer illiterate :O)

Stop by and see what my friends from the TOS Review Crew had to say about TeenCoder (they even have reviews for the younger kids computer programming courses.

 

Bible FREEBIE!! Come and get it before 7/29

FREE Bible Writer curriculum
Bible Based Homeschooling-On a Budget is offering a very nice freebie for you! We are going to start using it this week. Check it out.

Moe

Molly Crew REVIEW of Christi the Coupon Coach: Couponing Made Simple

All right thrifty coupon Mamma’s have I got a review for you! Christi The Coupon Coach Couponing Made Simple comes in an Ebook for just $4.99 or the paperback version for $18.00.

 



 

Since I’ve been down and out physically since Sept 2012 our grocery and household items budget has just been blown out of control. With my son and husband running into stores here and there for things it’s cost us a lot. Normally I drive an hour once per month and do all our major shopping in the big city. It’s much cheaper than shopping at a Mom and Pop grocery store. I was excited when we were given the opportunity to review the Christi The Coupon Coach book. Our son was the first one to read Christi The Coupon Coach. Right away he began going through my coupon stash to see what we could use and how we could use them to get the best deals. I used this book as part of our business math/home economics course study for high school, I think it would work for junior high aged also.

My first thought was Extreme Couponing, we don’t have nearly the coupons available to us in the middle of the woods…lol. We are just happy to just get a few of the Black Friday sale flyers in the Sunday paper before Thanksgiving. Since we live so far away from civilization they don’t include all the fancy stores. I have found a small gold mine for coupons though on rare occasion, our public library (in another town far far away...lol) has a small box at the front of the library that people can exchange coupons. I always check that baby when we are in town. I have also bought coupons from auction sites and just paid shipping. I have even spent time calling the allergy friendly companies asking for coupons (most will say DO NOT DOUBLE on them). I also belong to a coupon train (HI Cathy!!) (BTW ladies on that train who are reading this I will mail it out this week…lol). Here is a link to Christi's favorite websites for great coupon match websites to help you along in your quest for savings.

I liked the larger size of the font that she used in Christi The Coupon Coach. These homeschool Momma eyes are getting bad! LOL. I was able to sit down and read the book in about 2 hours (along with taking some notes). It’s a very fast read, not boring at all. Our son read it in about an hour, he loves coupons and is always on the hunt for fast food & Lego coupons.

My coupon file BEFORE reading Christi The Coupon Coach book.

I liked how she had a gluten free section and organic foods section since so many families are eating this way either by choice or due to allergies. That section was a blessing for our family since I am gluten free. I was elated with the information that Christi The Coupon Coach included about thrift stores and yard sales! I so did not expect this information to be in the book. We do have lots of yard sales and thrift stores near us. But as far as grocery store deals like stacking coupons (not allowed here), printed Internet coupons (not allowed here). Here is a link to Christi's favorite websites.

The book was very easy to follow along and was layed out out very well. I like how she guides you through the process, she truly is a Coupon Coach! I would give you more details, but you need to high tail it over to Amazon.com right now and buy a copy of Christi The Coupon Coach or get the Ebook to read on the go. (I’ve got an Amazon link right here on my site). The book as 132 pages long, but if you are not a big reader don’t let that scare you, it’s a very quick read, you wont get bogged down with this book.

I like how she explains all the couponing terms and how she shares real life ideas with her readers. Many of the tips and tricks were familiar to me, I’m just not implementing them, but I think that  Christi The Coupon Coach would be a great read for even the seasoned couponer, sort of a refresher course. The book would NOT be overwhelming to a newbie at all. Plain and simple Christi IS the Coupon Coach! She knows how to explain things in plain and simple terms.

A new idea to me was the ability to print out additional sets of coupons using a different computer in your home (we only have 1 computer and none of our stores accept Internet coupons, so this is out for us). I have resurrected my coupon accordion file from that funny financial radio guy and I’ve been saving here and there. Remember though, we live in the sticks, don’t get many coupons in our Sunday paper, can’t use printed Internet coupons and can’t stack coupons. So this book and system might be just the thing you need if you have better access to coupons than we do.

My coupon file AFTER reading Christi The Coupon Coach

I have saved around $50 so far since starting this TOS review and I plan to keep working at this, it's a bit tougher in my area, but even I can save some. An update to my review, I have found that the Target and Meijers store in the BIG city (about an hour away) do accept printed out coupons from their store website ONLY, so I have found another source  :O) So don't think you can't save just because you live in a rural area. My main savings were in the area of household cleaners, trash bags and things like that. Hey it all adds up!

Come check out what the other Molly Reviewers had to say about how they used & how they saved using Christi The Coupon Coach: Couponing Made Simple.