His Treasure Seekers

Renowned for bravery as a soldier, thrown overboard for religious differences, enslaved by the Turks, captured by pirates… the story of Captain John Smith was full of almost unbelievable adventure long before he ever met the Native American princess with whom his name is usually tied.  We’ve just finished reading Captain John Smith: A Foothold in the New World by Janet and Geoff Benge, part of the “Heroes of History” series from YWAM Publishing, and there is so much more to this man’s life that I ever imagined.  Along with the corresponding Digital Unit Study, this book has given us a great introduction to early American history.

About Captain John Smith

John Smith grew up in England hearing about the adventures of Sir Francis Drake, the first Englishman to sail around the world.  Although his family expected him to live a quiet life in Lincolnshire, John was hungry to see the world.  After what was supposed to be a short visit to France at the age of sixteen, he set out on his own to make his own adventures.  He found work as a mercenary in various countries, ended up being captured and taken as a slave in the Ottoman Empire, escaped into Russia, rescued a damsel in distress, and made friends with men who sparked his interest in the New World–quite an adventure story!

England had not yet joined in the colonization of the Americas, and John Smith eagerly joined in the quest to establish a settlement.  He played an important role in the founding of Jamestown in 1607, where at one point he faced death at the hands of the local Native Americans and was famously saved by the chief’s daughter, Pocahontas.  After a serious injury, he left the New World, though he later went back to help create a map of the New England coast.  He published several books about his experiences and helped feed the imaginations of those in England who wanted to learn more about the New World.  He also helped Squanto, a Native American who had been kidnapped and ended up in England, get home to America, where he proved to be a great blessing to the Pilgrims who arrived in 1620 to form their own settlement.

John Smith’s relationship with the other leaders at Jamestown was often contentious, and while he may not be a model of faith like those featured in YWAM Publishing’s “Christian Heroes Then and Now” series, he is nevertheless a fascinating man to study.  His bravery and sense of adventure were especially appealing to my boys, and we learned a lot about leadership in this book, both through positive and negative examples.

About the Unit Study

As with the other books in the Heroes of History series, there is a downloadable Digital Unit Study that goes along with the 192-page softcover book.  The unit study includes the following:

• brief biography of John Smith
• curriculum unit study
• meet the authors (with video interviews)

Before diving into the curriculum unit study, there are guides available with ideas for using the entire Heroes of History series in classroom, homeschool, and group settings.  The 17-page homeschool overview was obviously created by someone familiar with the differences between classrooms and home education.  I appreciated the organizational chart provided to help families read through several books in the series on either a 1-year or 2-year track in studying American history.  (They suggest choosing one book from each time period, but it would be easy to read through more than that, especially on the 2-year track.)  I also really liked that they broke down suggestions into “Parent-Directed Study” and “Student-Directed Study,” allowing the study guide to be helpful for a wide range of homeschooling styles.

The 81-page unit study itself is an incredibly rich resource, full of ideas for using the book as a launching pad for lessons in multiple subjects, such as history, geography, writing, reading comprehension, public speaking, drama, and art.  There are far more ideas than you could ever use, so you and your children can pick which ones will work best with their interests and learning styles.  Here’s glimpse at some of what’s included:

• Key quotes (great for copywork)
• Questions to go along with each chapter
• Suggestions for projects, essay and creative writing prompts, etc.
• Ideas for further study (related themes to explore, lists of books, videos,  specific National Geographic articles, websites)
• Reproducibles (fact sheet, maps, timeline with events for students to fill in)

Final Thoughts

We’re just heading into the Age of Exploration and looking forward to American history, so Captain John Smith complemented our studies wonderfully.  I especially appreciated the map activities in the Unit Study, which helped everyone make sense of how Smith’s life fits into the greater historical context.

My children were fascinated by Smith’s story (though it has quite a bit of violence, especially during the telling of his days as a mercenary, so I wouldn’t recommend it for really sensitive children), and I was learning right along with them as I read the book aloud.  The only time I had ever heard of John Smith was in relation to Pocahontas, so I was just as enthralled as they were at his amazing life story.  Whether you’re specifically looking for a biography or just a taste of adventure, Captain John Smith: A Foothold in the New World is a book I’d highly recommend for fourth grade and up (or younger as a read aloud).

Members of the Crew reviewed several of the wonderful biographies from YWAM Publishing, so be sure to click on the banner below to see what they thought!

No matter what math curriculum you use, sometimes kids get tripped up on certain topics and could use a little extra help.  A+ Interactive Math has come up with a way to help fill in some of those math learning gaps: Math Mini-Courses.  Each of these courses takes the student through a series of lessons focused solely on a specific math topic.

About A+ Interactive Math Mini-Courses

There are twenty online mini-courses available, most targeted at elementary age students with a few stretching up into middle school.  Each course consists of video lessons, worksheets, and tests and can usually be completed in 1-3 months (though you get a full year’s access with your purchase, so they can take more time if needed).

Once students get signed in, they are taken to their dashboard.  The video lessons with interactive review present the material, and then students can either continue to the next lesson or come back to the dashboard to generate worksheets or tests to go along with that lesson.  (There are also PDF options if the student works better with pencil and paper than on the computer.)  When lessons are completed, the student (or parent) must manually go in and mark that lesson as complete.

 

Our Experience

I decided the most helpful courses for us would be Time and Money, assigning one each to Ian and Elijah.

Time

The mini-course on Time is designed for 1st-4th graders and consists of 20 lessons covering calendar concepts (days, weeks, months, and years), clock concepts, and counting elapsed time.  Students don’t necessarily have to complete the lessons in order, or complete earlier ones before moving on, which is helpful for just targeting weak areas.  (However, once a lesson has been clicked on, even accidentally, the program will consider it “In Progress” and continually ask if it needs to be marked completed.)

Ian found it easiest just to start the beginning and work his way through, even though the first few lessons consist of things he already knows well.  I only had him go back to the dashboard and generate worksheets for extra practice if it seemed like he was struggling.

Money

Elijah has been going through the mini-course on Money, which is geared toward 1st-5th graders and consists of 18 lessons, covering basic concepts like coin values, converting coins, counting, and making change as well as more advanced concepts like calculating commissions and sales tax, budgeting, and interest rates.  He hasn’t really spent much time learning about money previously, but he enjoyed the challenge of these lessons (at least the early ones).

My Opinion

I found that these mini-courses required more from me as a teacher than most of the online learning programs we have used.  Both my boys have a lot of experience working on the computer, but they needed quite a bit of guidance from me to get familiar with how these courses worked.  For example, when going through the video lessons and review, they wanted to just hit “Enter” after typing in an answer, but that didn’t work.  (They had to use the mouse or touch screen to click on the frog in the picture.)  Also, when going through the online worksheets, there were eleven different buttons to chose from after they had typed an answer, which we all found a bit confusing at first.

I really like the concept of these mini-courses, and I think the material itself was really helpful for my boys.  However, the presentation was a bit distracting because each page had so many options to click on, and I wish it were easier for them to work through the courses on their own without needing my help quite so much along the way.

I appreciated being able to view reports on what the boys had done, but I would have liked a way to view everything in one place, rather than having to click on separate reports for video lessons/interactive reviews, worksheets, tests, and completed lessons.

Overall, I think I’ll have Ian finish the course on Time, but I don’t think Elijah needs to try to get through the later lessons in the Money course.  I think I might wait until the boys are older and can remember all little things they need to click on and check to get through the lessons independently before I sign up for any more of the mini-courses.

Typing is an essential skill in today’s computer-dominated world, but my kids haven’t really spent any time learning it until now. When we got a chance to review Read, Write & Type from Talking Fingers Inc., I thought this might be a good chance to develop that skill.

About Talking Fingers

As the title implies, Read, Write & Type is more than just a typing program.  It is designed for students ages 6-8 who are learning to put together letter sounds to form words, so they’re working on multiple skills simultaneously.  Through colorful animation and a fun story line, they work through 10 levels to defeat a “virus” who’s causing trouble.  Along the way they practice letter and sound recognition, spelling, and correct finger placement on the keyboard.

When the student logs in, the program remembers what they were previously working on and lets them pick things up right where they left off.  Students can go back and practice previous lessons by clicking on different places around the “city” in the opening picture.  However, if they don’t want this review the program systematically takes them from skill to skill, so there is no guesswork about what they should be doing next.

The lessons contain a variety of activities practicing reading, putting words together, and typing with instruction on which fingers to use.  When each level is complete, the student earns a “Certificate of Merit,” which can be printed if desired.

This program could also be a great tool for students learning English as a second language.  So many language programs just focus on conversational English, but Read, Write & Type teaches the literacy skills of reading and writing that they’ll need to be successful in school.  Voice-over help is available in nine languages: Arabic, Farsi, Japanese, Korean, Malaysian, Mandarin, Portuguese, Spanish and Tagalog.

Our Experience

Elijah (6) is within the target age range for Read, Write & Type, so I decided to use it with him.  He’s already a strong reader, so he didn’t really need that aspect of the program, but I was intrigued by the prospect of helping him learn to type.  He got started and didn’t want to stop!  Even within the first half hour, I could see that this was going to be really helpful.  Eli’s very comfortable on computers, but he’s always used the “hunt and peck” method when it came to typing.  Right away Read, Write & Type had him holding his hands in the proper position and using specific fingers to type each letter.  The repetition helped develop the muscle memory he needed to make the motion automatic (though I did have to remind him a few times to think use the correct hand/finger).

Of course, seeing Elijah having fun on something new set Ian to begging for a chance to try it.  I told him it’s probably too easy for him since he reads really well for an 8-year old, but he pointed out that he could use some help with typing.  I gave in and set him up with an account and he enthusiastically jumped on the other computer and tried to catch up with his brother.  (Competition can be so motivating!) I appreciated that it also gave my boys a chance to practice and feel successful at spelling.

We had a little bit of trouble when using Read, Write & Type on our newest computer running Windows 10.  For some reason when using the Chrome browser we were sometimes unable to type the letters required, so we just switched to the Edge browser and continued with no trouble.  (We didn’t have issues with Chrome on any other computer, just that one.)

I can’t really say how the program works for students just learning to read, but I could see it being a wonderful tool because it introduces each sound individually and repeats it throughout the lesson.  When it comes to typing, however, both my boys had a lot of fun and I could see definite improvement.  It makes so much sense to teach typing at the same time as learning to read, and I just may have to try Arianna on it when she seems ready.  I’m already considering moving the boys on to Wordy Qwerty, the sequel to Read, Write & Type, designed for 7-9 year olds.

When I first began getting ready to homeschool my children, I was drawn to Charlotte Mason’s writings and incorporated many of her ideas.  One feature of a CM education is copywork: literally copying a written passage exactly, helping them absorb patterns of spelling, grammar, punctuation, capitalization, etc. as well as practicing handwriting.  It’s a simple tool to use, but sometimes finding interesting material can be time-consuming.  We were recently introduced to Homeschool Copywork, a wonderful resource with a large, varied selection of copywork ebooks ready to download and print.  We were given a Lifetime Membership, which allowed us to access all the available products to review.

About Homeschool Copywork

So often I come across homeschool resources that are wonderful but not really practical when you have more than one or two children.  I think what I appreciate most about Homeschool Copywork is that it is perfect for families like mine many ways:

• Free membership level that lets you really get a feel for what the products are like (save those precious budget dollars!)
• Products available for a wide range of ages/levels, from preschool through high school (something for everyone!)
• Ability to print multiple copies for multiple students (no buying the same thing over and over!)

With a Lifetime Membership ($45), I’ll be able to find copywork for all five of my children in the years to come.  There’s also a 1-year membership available ($29.95) if that fits your family’s needs better.

Copywork can be a subject on its own, or you can use it so supplement another subject.  Homeschool Copywork has books related to Bible verses, hymns, science topics, holidays, historical figures (including several artists and composers), and more.  Depending on the level for which it is intended, pages use print, d’nealian manuscript, and/or cursive.  Line styles vary by level as well, but most of the books we used (see below) had multiple options.  There are also charming pictures on each page that go along with the passage being copied.  (The BONUS! Products section contains several sets of notebooking pages, which have blank lines with pictures.)

Our Experience

Elijah is just finishing up Kindergarten, so it’s the first year I have required any writing from him.  He surprised me by how well he did with this copywork considering he hasn’t done much for a few months.  His handwriting has definitely improved over the course of this year!  He worked on pages out of the “Character Building Copywork” and “Armor of God Copywork,” which has smaller lines but still worked well for him.

 

Ian has just recently been learning cursive, so I decided to use that for his copywork pages.  He definitely struggled on the pages that didn’t have a dotted middle line to guide him.  The cursive font was also a bit different that what he learned, so he found the extra loops and the higher starting points a bit confusing.  I told him to just go ahead and write the letters the way he learned them (if he could remember).  He’s usually my hardest to get motivated, so I loved having options that caught his interest.  He was immediately drawn to the “Dragons of the Bible” pages and also did some work in “Armor of God Copywork.”  The Dragons book has lots of awesome pictures, including several coloring pages without copywork.

  

I was only planning to use Homeschool Copywork with the boys, but on a whim I decided to print a page of the Animal Copywork for Arianna.  She was so excited to be doing an assignment at the table next to the boys.  She hasn’t done any writing before except a little bit of work on learning to write her name, so I wasn’t sure how she would do.  She started out a little rough and got a little frustrated when I made her form letters correctly if she was doing them wrong, but she actually really enjoyed it and asked repeatedly to do more, especially after I told her there was a page for every letter of the alphabet and she could make a book out of them.  We’re not going in order, just letting her choose which animal she wants to work on.  I don’t know if her interest will hold out for all 26 letters, but I love her enthusiasm, and it’s definitely getting easier for her with the repetition.

Really, consistency is what makes copywork effective.  As we’ve drifted away from Charlotte Mason into a more eclectic approach I’ve forgotten what a useful tool it is.  After spending time with it on this review, I’d like to get all my writers into a copywork habit.  With such a broad range of subject matter, it will be easy to find something to interest all my children.  I love the pictures that accompany each page, and I appreciate the options for different handwriting styles.

I try to save my homeschool budget for items that will provide the most value for our large family.  I LOVE the lifetime membership option because I know I’ll have copywork at my fingertips not only for my three children doing schoolwork now, but in a few years when my little ones are ready to join them.