So here goes:

5 Homeschool Products that I’ve tried and LOVED!: (In no particular order)

1.  The Man on the Map- a VERY inventive look at our country. The Man on the Map first uses states shapes to create a man, then creates wonderful ways to remember the location of all the states!   

It compares states to mittens,  foods, clothing, elves, and more. My state is steaming gravy! What’s yours?

Get your copy today at the Schoolside Press, for only $19.95!!!

2. Schleich Toys- You’ve seen these guys before. Hard rubbery-plastic animals that kids (and adults) collect and play with.  Hand-painted in realistic colors. Besides the quality of the product, the company is even better for thinking of EVERYTHING! They don’t offer just farm animals, but farm workers, farm vehicles,and more,  everything you’d need to truly create a mini farm. They don’t just do animals either, I fell in love with their Knights series years ago when a store I worked at sold them.  Prices vary based on exactly what you pick and can go from a few dollars to big money, but one thing doesn’t vary, the quality of each individual one! You can find them all over the web, and also a lot of toy or gift stores. My local craft stores even have them! And these definitely aren’t JUST for homeschoolers!

3. Critical Thinking Books- These great workbooks don’t simply teach counting or other lessons they teach you to think!  They have a wonderful range of books for all ages. Blu and I enjoy a preschool, age 3-4 year old, Mathmatical reasoning already! (He just turned two) Our book features more then 230 pages! Filled with colors, numbers, size, counting, shapes, and oh so much more! I KNOW I’ll be turning to this company for books time and time again! Our book is a complete curriculum that meets national standards. With Critical Thinking you can teach everything from basic shapes to complex Algebra!  If you check them out I know there will be AT LEAST one book you’ll want! 

4. Apologia Curriculum-  These science books are the best! They read more like a “Eyewitness” book, but features tons of hands on experiments and projects. Blu and I have done several together, but I can truly picture an older kid simply picking up the book and taking off with it! At the beginning of the book there is a list of EXACTLY what is needed for each lesson, and it IS split up by lesson! So you’re not buying a supply in November that you don’t need until March.  It even lists if you need water, it is that in depth!  One thing I love too is that they help you expand on the lesson to meet the interest level. A website to accompany the book, full of extra material, that helps you add to a lesson, or redo it for a specific area. For example in our book, Flying Creatures of the Fifth Day, there is a scavenger hunt on page 20, featuring everything from different colors of butterflies, to various leaves, but what if you live in a desert? Go to the website and get a different hunt sheet!  Now, this company IS Christian based, and it is mentioned throughout the book (“Some are strange and unusual, but all of them are a result of God’s special design…”) However I still recommend it to everyone! Even with all the books I have (trust me it’s a lot) I’ve never seen one that makes a bird feeder out of a juice bottle. A milk carton, a old box, a soda bottle with an attachment, they all have those, but the juice was new to me.  Also it was generally just so well done, and in depth. It covered everything from detailed bird parts, to air pressure, to types of nests (and who creates them.) The book prices vary, our Elementary Science is just $35, but higher levels are higher priced (usually $85) They also offer various lab equipment. Check them out on the web, and at quite a few homeschool conventions. 

5.  I’ve truly fallen in love with Five in a Row!  They are so well set-up and just so easy to put into action! We got Before Five in a Row, which is for a slightly younger crowd. Each book is broken down SO well to cover all the different subjects. For example in “The Quiet Way Home” math is counting daisies in an illustration of a field, science is  ears and the human body, to talk about colors simply use the title page! One great thing about it is that is covers everything for the days you just can’t figure it all out yourself, and also to help people who may not be use to dissecting a story this way.  It’s a simply way to insure that all the subject are covered without having to even crack open another book! Everything else you do is just extra, if you do anything else at all!! The variety of books cover all the way from ages 2 to above 12!  You can find them at their own website, at most homeschool supply places. 

So there you go, 5 products I’ve used for “homeschool” (in quotes since he’s only two) this school year, and have loved! Make sure you try them for next school year! Stay tuned for a Top List of items I WISH I had when Blu was a very little fellow!

If you order by 3/1/09 enter in “ORG3″ at checkout for $2 off PLUS free shipping!

It really is a complete toolkit because it includes worksheets, games, riddles, a suggested book list, and more for grades one through eight (or is it ate?) It breaks down many pairs of homophones by grade level, and had some interesting thing thrown in just for fun.  It wasn’t a complicated lesson book, with pages of extra reading to wade through, it got straight to the point, and stayed there for all 250+ pages. It’s well separated by grade level, so it’s easy to use for one grade or several.

At first I thought the price seemed high for some worksheets, but as I continued through the book I saw all it really has to offer. As I continued through I became more and more impressed with it, and thought the price is actually really good, especially for 8 grade levels in one book!

What more can I say, I liked it, I think you will too! My advice though, pay the extra $2 and get the printed version, then you can make copies of individual pages that you need. A $2 savings isn’t much for an e-book in my opinion.  You can order yours, and see sample pages, on the website, All About Homophones. There are some really neat extras on the site too, check out the Homophone Machine!

Stay tuned, I’m reviewing the Spelling Curriculum too, All About Spelling!

It bugged me also when I took the Go Fish cards out of the box and found that the box is several sizes to big, and there is a cardboard insert holding them in. Not only is this wasted resources, but storing them is a nightmare. You have to either fit them all in the insert, much to annoying and hard for a child,  or have them rattling around the box.

My general impressions is that they are cute, fun games. To me the prices are  a bit steep. The Go Fish game is $7, just to much to me when similar items can be found just about anywhere for just a few dollars, or even at the dollar store. Their Match games are from $11-15 depending on the number of tiles (a 24 tile set, 12 matches is $11) is really expensive when I know I bought Memory for $7 at Christmas and it includes 72 tiles!

So to sum it up Alphabet Alley DOES have cute toys, and the memory tiles are sturdy, but the prices are steep.  If you want Bible toys, then I recommend it, just be prepared to pay for it.

Clean N Flips! This books are simple, step by step guides to cleaning various areas. Okay, so they are intended for kids (and GREAT for them!) but to be honest I know they helped me too! Sure I’m beautiful, eloquent and amazing, but I could definitely be a better tidier! I thought the quick approach they target for kids is also good for busy, or A.D.D (or just absent minded) parents!

They make one for bedroom cleaning, and one for laundry, but let me tell you about the zone cleaning! It features three sections, living room, kitchen, and bathroom. Not only can you mark who does each room, but give a time zone of when, AND write in special jobs for certain days. For a time zone you can be detailed, “At 10 A.M” or a little more lenient, “After breakfast!” Some special jobs would be things like bringing in wood for the fireplace on Monday only, or take out the trash on Wednesday. Each zone also has existing  jobs for one day a week, such as vacuuming the living room (actually done twice a week) mopping the kitchen floor, or scrubbing the toilet. Really versatile for families of all sizes. It is also dry erase to highlight steps completed. Which while it serves as a reminder and checklist for kids (and for mom to check behind them) can also serve a good purpose to a new housewife who is adjusting, especially with a baby.

Another product they have, that I truly think is just amazing (where was this when I was a kid?!?) is the Times Tales.  It’s a mnemonic-based way to learn the times tables. Each number3,4,6,7,8, and 9, has a pictured image, for example 8 is Mrs. Snowman.  Then you simply read very quick stories to the kids, without even explaining it is  math.  After the kids know the stories, tell them the points of it. Suddenly the story isn’t just that “Mrs. Snowman stood on her Chair to reach her 3 buttons and 2 mittens.” It’s “Oh 8×4=32!” I think that the stories are cute, quick to remember, and very helpful! Very thick pages, and high quality.

One complaint, and it’s a stupid one, the coiled bindings, like many coiled bindings,  tend to uncoil slowly right out of the book. I had less trouble with the coil on the Times Tales then I did on the smaller cleaning books.  Not such an issue, but worth mentioning.

These products are a great addition to your shelf, and I highly recommend them! The Zone cleaning is $18, and the smaller two cleaning are $8. The Times Tales is $30 and reusable for multiple children! Trigger Memory Systems has other products to for home education, be sure to check them out!

For example, the first week of January is Winter and Snow. First there is a page with the objectives, thoughts on the theme, and recommended images (old painting and drawings to look for that go with the theme.) Then since it is a Christian curriculum it also includes bible verses and a religious inspiration for the theme. If you aren’t religious, have no fear, I think the religious aspect could be overlooked easily and you’d still get a great curriculum for $40! The next page is the art for kindergarten, draw a snowman and add paper accents (mixed media,) then first grade draw a daytime snow scene (teaches drawing dimension.) Second graders  draw a nighttime snow scene, and third graders draw a monochromatic snow scene (using ink!) Fourth graders punch holes in paper with a pin to depict a snow scene, and fifth graders draw a monochromatic scene with coffee! See what I mean? Each child creates somewhat of the same item, and they could all be done at one table, but each child is expanding his skills!

Even as an adult craftsy type this curriculum gave me projects I wanted to do, or techniques I never learned!

Really I was just truly impressed! This one CD is simply SO jam packed with great info and ideas! She rounds off each lesson really well, complete with vocabulary words, and is so detailed in the steps! Each individual lesson, every grade, includes a picture of a finished example. Anytime she mentions something specific (a handhold for a pencil, a certain way to fold paper, etc) a diagram is right there to help you!

If you’re worried about finding the supplies, don’t be! Most are readily available, but she also has a section of her site to easily order through a major art supply retailer. She really simplified the whole process!

Once again you can buy grade K-8 (wow!) on one cd for $40, or high school for $30. She also offers a printed edition, arranged in a notebook, for a higher cost.  I really recommend it! Check it out for yourself (including free sample lessons) at Spears Art Studio!

1- Overpriced- Costing $20 for a 60 day trial, or $99 a year, the price is outrageous for the absolutely minisule amount of content.

2- Complete lack of content- The whole website is dedicated to the use of puppets in education, a very great idea. However, the entire website comes across as a sales pitch. It doesn’t seem like “oh this is the site I paid for,” but more like “oh so they want me to pay for more info? where?” As if they are pitching the use of puppets to get you to sign up for the actual site. After you log in you have access to videos of people using puppets, because of course you’ve never seen that before! Only about 30 actual puppet patterns, and a very few videos of how they construct their puppets. I found their instructions to leave me more puzzled then creative, and I craft all the time! You can also see pictures of lots of other puppets people have made, in case you are so uncreative that you can’t think to make a bear puppet, or a dog puppet. You can really see everything the site has to offer in an hour or less. If they offered a free one hour trial, or even paid 3 day trial, I doubt anyone would need to log in again after that! They would have no sales at all!

3- Complete lack of creativity- Seriously everything I saw was SO obvious. If you make a bear puppet, did you know you could use a “low, gruff voice” to make the bear talk? No? Really?? DUHH!!

4-  The man’s voice in the videos is dull and boring.

5- The hinge technique they use for puppets, while producing more options for puppet decorating, I found to be MUCH harder to control.  A paper plate folded in half is an easy alternative!

6- The whole website really is about WHY you should use puppets, not anything exceptional to put into use.  I can read reports about how play is important to learning without having to pay for it. If I pay for a puppet site, I want good, useful, creative ideas for exactly that, puppets!

The only time I’d recommend this site to ANYONE is if you had absolutely NO creativity and wanted to waste money. Even if you are uncreative, this website won’t exactly bring you ideas. So really I’d NEVER recommend this to anyone! To me, even if 20 teachers went in and paid for it together, paying only $5 a piece, they wasted their money.  Really the website should just be a free (or insanely cheap) educational reference. I don’t really understand what you are paying for! There is so little content. From what I can tell the only new content is pictures uploaded by other users, not the sites creators.

I could continue, but really, just spend your money somewhere else! If you want to spend $99 that badly, stock your craft area with felt, craft foam, google eyes, and more and make your own puppets!

Her son especially loved this series for the novel aspect of it being like a computer game. He was allowed to sit on the computer, and even sit in daddy’s lap, while turning the pages himself and reading them out loud.  Apparently they had an occasional problem of pages stalling, or spoken words not working correctly, but she still really enjoyed the site. she said the biggest issue with the page stalls was that it would frustrate him when he was reviewing my himself. They found past books very easy to get back to to review and reread.

While it is a computer program you can also print the books for go anywhere reading.

My biggest issue is that in order to read the pricing information you have to register and get one sample book free. You can’t simply see it and decide if it is in your budget or not. In the end I think the price is fair. You can buy 4 books at a time for $9.99 or pay $44.99 and get all 20 right away. That is more expensive than some phonics programs, but much cheaper then many series of leveled readers.  All in all I think it is worth trying out, especially since you can read and try one book for free to see how your child likes it.

Please go to The Handmade Toy Alliance to see what you can do before it is to late!

If this passes and goes into affect without changes made to the requirements we will have no choice but to buy the mass produced toys we try to avoid!

For the Sick:

Give the gift of Vapor-Eze.  This compact waterless vaporizer is amazing! Small enough to fit on even the most compact nightstand (ours actually sits on top of the alarm clock!) and boy does it work. Simply put on a Menthol Eucalyptus pad and let it work for you, for as long as 8 hours. Three strength settings to ensure you are getting enough for your stage of sickness. If you put it on high and aren’t sick, your eyes will burn you out of the room. But if you are recovering, or just starting to get stuffy, put it on low and it’ll be just right. Gentle enough for young ones. I pull it out at the first sign of sickness! But the best part is that unlike other systems, this one has benefits for those that aren’t sick! Put on an “Alert” pad to help you get going in the morning, or to work through that sleepy time we all have every day. Then at night when your brain won’t stop going, or you’re trying to lull the little one to sleep, put a lavender pad on the Vapor Eze!  $25 for the Vaporizer and $4 for each refill of pads (5 pads per pack.) Right now they also have a Holiday Special where you can get the Vaporizer AND three refill packs for $30!

For the New Parent:

Get them the Itz Been!  This ingenius little timer keeps track of the last time baby ate, got a diaper change, or slept. It also tracks which side baby last nursed on, and has a misc timer for things such as dinner, time out for the older sibling,  or anything else you need to time. It’s especially useful for new parents who are still going through that tough transition time, but also for parents who have a daytime nanny. Even if Dad takes over while mom naps it helps keep track of when things need to get done. The misc timer is useful also for timing dinner, story time, time outs,  phone time, etc. It also has a regular clock. It really is genius. The belt clip keeps it handy. The good thing is that it’s usefulness lasts beyond the baby days. Even toddlers can be timed for naps, snack time, and time between tries at the potty. Costs around $25 dollars and can be found at a variety of stores.

For the Hungry Santa, or stocking stuffers:

Try Snikiddy Snacks, a brand of delicious organic cookies and snacks. They never settle for less then USDA- Certified Organic, or anything less then delicious. We tried two different items to toss in the bag for a zoo trip and when I pulled them out both my guys were more interested in the snack then the animals! Prices vary but they are available at a variety of nationwide stores.

For the Reader:

Check out Salem Ridge Press, a company that publishes reprints of old books. Focusing on books from the 1800′s to 1920′s with old fashioned values. The stories are well written, and sometimes feature a small definition note if the word is archaic. The note is on the bottom of the page and doesn’t distract from the story. I often found the words were used well enough in context that the definition was unnecessary, but some younger kids may need it. The biggest issue is that not all old fashion values are good things, some books may portray slaves and such, but it is history.  I read “The America Twins of the Revolution” and really enjoyed it. I read it in a naptime, but I read very quickly. While the story did feature slaves, it featured the rarely shown side of slaves who were well treated. I intend to read more of their books myself, but younger kids would enjoy them also. I loved that even the educational ones were fun to read. So just keep the education a secret and put a stack under your Christmas tree.

For the Preschool Set:

If your family sets out a Nativity for Christmas you might find yourself yelling “Just leave it alone!!!” quite a bit, since most sets are fragile and can be quite expensive, but the set available from One2Believe is neither fragile nor expensive. The downside, it is made in China of PVC. PVC is most likely to have lead in it, BUT the company does frequent testing, trips to review factory conditions, and more. I still didn’t want Blu to play with it, so I took it to church. The 4-5 year olds in my class couldn’t get enough of it! They all want to take it home with them.  The nativity set includes quite a few pieces (way more then it needed my young students told me) and cost $25. I recently saw several individual figures from this same company at Dollar Tree, so if you need a quick Christian/Biblical stocking stuffer I’d check it out.

For the Toddlers:

Have you seen Chubbies yet? These cars and trucks are amazing! Built of a wonderful plastic with hard rubber wheels they are tougher then tough and roll so smoothly! The vehicles are dishwasher safe, so they can play outside then get cleaned up for indoor play easily or disinfected after a cold goes around. Blu already has the Ambulance, and a small boat for the tub. To review I got the Ferry, the mat set, and the SUV.  I confess the Ferry isn’t so great. It’s much more fragile then the other chubbies. Blu still loves it, but I find myself always reattaching pieces.  Also Blu managed to chew off the rubber part of two very small cars. We LOVE the SUV though. The mats pack is awesome too, 20 self adhesive mats for dining out, all with a road theme and a vehicle to cruise around with.  We just LOVE Chubbies. My husband frequently says “Where were these toys when I was a kid!??!!?” The rubber wheels roll on surface no other car would dare! One day the car actually rolled right over the threshold of our house! The bigger vehicles arrive with drivers! Sturdy figures reminiscent of old “Little People” that Blu loves as much as the cars themselves! The prices are amazingly cheap! Super chubbies are about 10″ long and in the teens price range, small cars are as cheap as a buck or two! Shhhhh, don’t tell Blu, but there will be Chubbies under our tree!
For the Older Boys:

Try Automoblox! These unique, sturdy, toys combine building blocks with cars for a toy that is really the best of both worlds! Various vehicles can mix and match for uniquely designs new cars and trucks! They are made from wood with plastic accents, a wooden frame of the car but plastic windshield and wheels, and are so sturdy. The wood is simply polished, not painted, so the sleek beauty of the wood shows through. They are really neat. The only downside is that one car is limiting, I could only manage one or two very basic changes, you really need several cars to enjoy them. They are a bit pricey, $38-40 for a full size car and $10 for a mini, but for this kind of quality it’s worth it!

For All Kids:

You have to try Green Toys! The product line is small, but the toys are amazing! Made from 100% recycled milk jugs and even the packaging is recycled. These toys are the thickest sturdiest plastic I’ve seen in a longgggg time. Cookware sets, tea sets, and more that won’t compare to any other toys you’ve seen! These are the greatest! Definitely a top 10 of all the items I’ve featured! $25  and up per playset,and available at several major retailers. This is one toy I say every family HAS to buy at least one of!

For the Baker/Cook/Sandwich Maker:

Check out Earth Balance products! This line of buttery spreads and peanut butters can’t be beat! Next time you bake, or make a pb&j try them! The peanut butter especially is the best peanut butter I have ever had. All natural, but no stir, it’s the first time in 20 years that I could eat a spoonful of peanut butter and enjoy it! Unfortunately it’s only available at select healthy stores, but many of them are nationwide chains. I’ve been raving about this peanut butter to anyone that would listen since I got it.

For the Budding Artist:

Check out Stubby Pencil Studios a unique line of earth friendly art products! I love the blank card sets. Encouraging young ones to give birthday cards, thank you cards, and general notes, a true dieing art. These cards are made from recycled paper and feature a large outlined image, coloring book style, to allow them to add their own spin on the design. Thick paper can allow crayons for the young ones, and paint for the older ones. Design options vary from super cute and easy for the youngest of kids to color, to more detailed that older kids and adults will enjoy. The shop also features earth friendly paints, pencils (check out the Smencils scented pencils, I’m in love with them!) and more. I’m planning on ordering the rock crayons next. Prices vary, but an 6pack of cards with envelopes is $7.95, or a 12 pack of Valentines for the same price. Every item I see is at or below standard retail price for items that they don’t make themselves. I love that kids can create their own items at young ages. Blu send his first Stubby Pencil card, hand colored all by himself, at just under a year old. As far as I’m concerned he’ll be sending them for years to come! I think a set of several blank card sets, and some nice colored pencils or crayons, would make a great gift all packaged together!

I hope this helps you select some last minute gifts, and if you enjoyed the 10 item layout please leave a comment, same for if you hated it! I want to know if you’d like me to keep doing them on occasion. Don’t worry individual reviews won’t be going anywhere.