Homeschool Review Crew - The Magic Stories and Naughty 40 Words help children gain confidence in reading

I was happy to get a chance to review a set of six reading adventures geared toward 2nd and 3rd grade readers with The Magic Stories, from Allsaid & Dunn, LLC, publishers of The Reading Game and authors of the Wordly Wise series.

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What is THE MAGIC STORIES

The Magic Stories is a follow up to The Reading Game, though your child does not have to have used The Reading Game to enjoy this program. The Magic Stories are downloadable pdf format, optimized for iPad or computer and can also be printed. The stories are intended to build confidence and strong comprehension and creative writing skills while tracking your child's progress with the free running record sheets or classroom class-recording sheets.

The Magic Stories is a set of six stories directed toward children in the 2nd or 3rd grade or struggling readers who read at or about that level. Each story is fun to read and offers a moral.

The stories included are:

1. The Magic Hole - Ping Ho finds a bag with a magic hole which changes her family's life.
2. The Magic Ax - Tom learns the value of hard work
3. The Magic Joke - An unhappy king and a Princess, war and laughing
4. The Magic Hotdog - Alfred can't stop eating hot dogs
5. The Magic Boots - Patty was accidentally given goblin boots
6. The Magic Box - A Rumpelstiltskin story

They also come with their own set of "Naughty 40 words" to be printed out on 4 sheets of paper or card stock and cut into flash cards. Don't worry! These naughty words are merely words that readers typically struggle with and are intended to be used as a list to review before each story to gain confidence when the child encounters them while reading.

Each approximately 20-page book comes with four sets of worksheets that cover reading comprehension and creative writing exercises to allow the child practice opportunities for recall, comprehension, cognition, and creative writing. The activities include:

• Maze
• Finish the sentence
• Imagine
• Finish the story

Additionally, the child can color the illustrations within the story.

How Did We Use It?

I was not familiar with, nor had I used the Reading Game (though, after looking it over, I wish I had known about it when my children were learning to read). But, I had no trouble picking up with The Magic Stories without ever using the Reading Game. The two are separate and can easily be used individually. I downloaded The Magic Stories cards and exercises to use with  my 11-year-old daughter. Her reading level, however, was last tested at about 3rd grade level, so I figure any help I can get with interesting her in reading is welcome. You can print any or all of the program or use any or all of the program onscreen, with the exception of the Naughty 40 cards. They are flash cards, so are intended to be used as such. I chose to read the stories onscreen and only printed out the exercises and cards we wanted to use in a more hands-on manner.

What Did We Think?

I love how The Magic Stories make reading a fun activity rather than just a list of reading comprehension questions. I tend to steer away from mystical magic or "naughty" things in my homeschool, so I first reviewed the stories before handing them over to my daughter. What I discovered is that the stories are some, or similar to some, I remember from childhood using magic only as a way to express the moral of the story. I found that the "Naughty" words are used to pique your child's interest, as the Naughty 40 are simply words children tend to struggle with - not bad words as you may think when you first see the term. Overall, I love the concept of how The Magic Stories works using the 40 words to study first which gives the child confidence before tackling the story. The print size of the stories is perfect for this level of reading, and we especially enjoyed the mazes that followed up each story.

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Read what other members of the Homeschool Review Crew thought by clicking on the picture below:

Homeschool Review Crew - English On A Roll Multi-Sensory Color-Coded Language Arts

I have a very hands-on learner who has plenty of Language Arts learning gaps and is terrified of writing paragraphs, so I was thrilled to get a chance to review the English Grammar Teaching Method from English on a Roll. It is rare to find a language program that is hands-on and uses the multisensory pathways to the brain of:

Visual

Auditory

Kinesthetic/Tactile

English on a Roll is unique and an effective teaching tool that has research behind it based on the principles of Multisensory Structured Language (MSL).

I received a paperback Instructor's Manual Book that contains 37 lessons and workbook pages that can be copied to be used with more than one student and 1 cube set that consists of a seal-tight plastic container of word/letter dice that can be used with up to 6 students.

What is English on a Roll?

HOW IT ALL BEGAN:
Linda Hopkins Koran is the creator of the English on a Roll program. She came up with the idea and began teaching English as a Second Language ESL.She had a challenge in accomplishing her task of teaching these students because not only did her students not speak English, but she did not speak their native language either. So, she got creative and designed the first set of English on a Roll cubes using wooden blocks and paint and was delighted to see the response.

Since this time, English on a Roll has been used to help numerous students from five year olds learning to read through adults, some with special needs like dyslexia or autism.

Linda believes that:

"Languages are like intricate puzzles"

The idea is to create an environment for success and cut back on mistakes commonly made when learning the English language. To do this, the cubes representat the main parts of speech in color coding. The student can easily see the word choices based on color and makes it so that it is less overwhelming.

The colors are used in groups:

Pronouns - Blue
Question Words - Green
Nouns, Articles, and Prepositions - Dark Blue
Verbs - Red
Adverbs - Orange
Adjectives - Purple
Punctuation - Black
2 Blank Cubes with labels

The lessons include verbal repeating, game play and worksheets.

BOTTOM LINE:

The program helps students of any level and age, recommended for ages 5 and older, to gain mastery of English grammar and syntax. Students literally build sentences as they roll and turn the dice. The main successful elements to the program are:

• Game-like element making it fun!
• Multi-sensory learning
• Encourages practice which is the key to mastery

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Check out the Demo Video on the English on a Roll page by clicking on the picture below:

The set I received includes 40 cubes (38 engraved with color-coded related word groups and 2 blank cubes with labels for limitless vocabulary customization) and one 142-page instructor manual that includes teaching tips, lessons, games and reproducible materials with the permission to copy for use in your home or classroom and can be used with more than one student.

   

The book is written with the idea of it being used in a classroom or group setting of up to six children per cube set, but it's super easy to adapt for one-on-one homeschooling or to use with more than one child.

How Did We Use It?

Though the program is designed to work well with a classroom setting or with students in groups of up to six per cube box, it was just my 10-year-old and I who used this which worked really well for the most part. Some of the game play had to be adapted but nothing that was overly difficult to adapt.

I was happy to discover a typed note explaining that the easiest way to remove the dice from the container is to keep the box sealed, flip it over, and then open. I tried it, and it was so easy that way.

The instructor's manual was laid out so nicely. The lessons are easy to follow and most lessons include Prep - Notes and Vocabulary - Teaching Tips - Teach The Concepts - Conversation/Game Play - Written Exercises Instructions and Reproducible Worksheet.

The book contains a Cube Guide and then explains what English on a Roll is and how it works before diving into the lessons. There are 37 lessons:

1. Subject Pronouns
2. Be Verb
3. Consonant Start Nouns and the A Article
4. Making Statements with Be
5. Yes/No Questions with Be
6. Answering Yes/No Questions with Be
7. Article A and An with Nouns
8. Regular, Irregular, and Noncount Nouns
9. Noun/Pronoun Relationships
10. Who and What Questions to Be
11. This/That/These/Those
12. Adjectives and Adjective Phrases
13. Adjective Phrases with A or An
14. Adjectives with Be Statements
15. Subject Pronouns, Possessives Adjectives, and Nouns
16. Possessive Adjectives, Be Statements, Whose Questions
17. Prepositions of Location and Prepositional Phrases
18. Questions of Location with Where
19. Verb Tense Concepts
20. Simple Present (Every day) of Be, Statements, and Contractions
21. Present Progressive (Right Now) Statements
22. Present Progressive (Right Now)Questions and Answers
23. Simple Future (Tomorrow) Statements with Will
24. Simple Future (Tomorrow) Questions with When
25. Simple Present Tense (Every Day) of Have
26. Have, Be, and Possessive Adjectives
27. Simple Present, Do Verg, Yes/No Questions and Answers
28. Simple Present, Questions and Answers with Do and Have
29. Simple Present (Every Day), Regular Verbs
30. Simple Present (Every Day), Regular Verbs, Questions and Answers
31. Simple Past (Yesterday), Positive and Negative Statements with Be
32. Simple Past (Yesterday), Questions and Answers with Be
33. Simple Past (Yesterday) Regular Verbs
34. Simple Past (Yesterday) Have and Do Verbs
35. Simple Past (Yesterday) Yes/No Questions and Answers
36. Simple Past Questions and Answers with Have
37. Review: Simple Present, Past, Future and Present Progressive

 

 

The teaching book example shows a black and white simple drawing of a tree, but my little artist insisted that it be drawn with color and that the AM ARE and IS were turned into red apples on the tree. So, that's how we did ours!

What Did We Think?

When I first saw what the program was about, it intrigued me and I was interested to see how it worked, though I honestly thought that my daughter would have already developed English language skills that are beyond what she would be able to learn with the program. Still, I wanted to give it a try because my daughter is going into the 5th grade, but somehow her Language Arts studies have been all over the place with my changing curriculum many times to fit her needs. She has a good mastery of the English language, reads at a high level, but somehow has developed learning gaps in key components of vocabulary over the years and dis absolutely petrified to write anything more than simple sentences.

When the kit arrived, my daughter noticed it immediately and asked about it, so I took the time to sit down with her and figure out what it was all about. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that the program was enjoyable, and was not as far under her grade level as I had anticipated. If anything, it is a great way to reinforce her previously shaky knowledge of English to hopefully make her a more confident writer, reader, and speaker. I will even admit that I may have even learned a thing or two in the process, and I write for a living so this is always a perk for me to get excited about words.

Some of the parts of the program we thoroughly enjoyed were how the cubes color coded the words. Somehow, my daughter and I both think in color. So, grouping the parts of speech by color is BRIlLIANT! I really loved how these groupings make it so easy to build and structure a sentence properly without being overwhelmed at the thousands of words to choose from otherwise. Lastly, the game play made us actually do more in a day than originally intended. She wasn't satisfied with just one lesson, she wanted to keep doing it.

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Read what other members of the Homeschool Review Crew thought by clicking on the picture below:

TOS Review - Shiloh Run Press 'The Glass Castle'

I have a daughter who is not only an avid reader but loves anything to do with castles and mystery, so I was thrilled to get a chance to review The Glass Castle by Trisha White Priebe and Jerry B. Jenkins from Shiloh Run Press.

While I love my children to read as if they can't get enough words on a page, I also have very little tolerance or respect for stories aimed at stirring up adolescent immaturity just for the sake of getting a child to read. I was pleased to find that this story offered an excellent read that left childish nonsense behind and instead made the reader think and wonder at every turn of the page what would happen next.

What is The Glass Castle by Shiloh Run Press?

This hardcover book is about 250 pages with 41 short chapters. It is recommended for the Middle Grades reader. The story is meant to capture and hold your interest with unexpected twists and intrigue, but it could be used for more than a reading or literature study.

The Authors:

I was interested to discover that Jerry B. Jenkins is the author of more than 175 books, including the Left Behind series, which I have still not read nor has my children, but that doesn't diminish how popular this series still is. He is also on the Board of Trustees and the former vice president of publishing for Moody Bible Institute of Chicago. His assistant is a writer in her own right, Trisha White Priebe.

The Story Summed Up In My Own Words, With a Little Help From My 14-year-old Reader:

Of course, since this is a castle-related mystery, in the story is a king, a queen, a royal heir, and some unexpected characters. The king is getting old and is very worried about who his replacement will be once he's no longer living. His new wife wants to give him an heir to the throne. Of course, if this process was to go smoothly, there'd be no basis for this story. Whenever I see the words "new wife" in front of the name of a queen, I always feel like some amount of jealousy is about to ensue. My first reaction was - Can we call her the evil queen? Whether or not Jerry B. Jenkins chose to develop her character as jealous and wicked or kindhearted, there is the premise on which the entire story will build. The only problem is that 13 years ago, the first queen, wife to the king, did produce an heir. She gave birth to a son, but no one is aware that he still exists. No one knows his whereabouts or what became of him. The new queen sees it all as a very simple issue. She thinks all she has to do is get rid of all of the thirteen-year-olds in the kingdom, and then her future child will be free to reign.

THERE IS ONE PROBLEM - A girl named Avery and her friends, Kate, Tuck, and Kendrick. They rise up from "below" and begin to inspire an underground network of kidnapped children.

The story line involves four main characters who take charge of an underground network of kidnapped children. Through the events in the book, they are inspired to rise above their past and believe that their future doesn't have to be a continuation or repeat of their past. They are not stuck if they come together and rise above. Can they do it? Are they up for this incredibly tricky task?

They pledge to do a very difficult undertaking, given that they are children/pre-early adolescents themselves. This plan they pursue is to reunite the children with the families they had been forced to leave behind. In the process, they discover that one among them may very well be the child of the king and child of the man who wants them all dead.

Who wins?

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Expanding the Story Beyond the Book:

The story line could easily trigger unit studies or full research on other subjects as well, such as prompting:

• a history study into kings, medieval or even biblical times
• an art lesson of building a castle out of craft materials or sugar cubes, complete with underground tunnels of course
• a study of safety/talks about the unthinkable of an actual kidnapping
• a study of vocabulary words that stem around castle and royal terms used in the book
• a study of family lines

How Did We Use It?

   

My Middle Schooler, soon to be high-schooler was the lucky one to get to read this book. After she practically tackled me to read the book when it arrived in the mail, I handed it over to her and asked her opinion. Like most fairy tale, castle-themed mysteries, my daughter loved this story line and read through it in a matter of less than 2 or 3 days.

What Did The Story Remind Us Of?

When I read and listened to her description of the story, it reminded me of a mixture of some events from real-life history as well as a hint of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, which my oldest son watched so many times as a young boy. It also brought to mind glimpses of stories from the Bible from a couple different realms - 1) When King Herod pledged to kill of of the Hebrew babies under the age of 2, in an effort to annihilate Jesus. And, 2) When a king's heir was safely hidden away only to be made known when the time was right for him to be crowned. One I remember was King David's heir, Mephibosheth as well as a young King Joash.

What Did We Think?

When the book arrived, I handed it over to my 14-year-old avid reader who was anxious to read the story. I think I heard a squeal of excitement when she saw the book. She finished it fairly quickly, certainly less than a week, and asked when the sequel was coming out.  I always like a hardcover book, so that was nice, and the pages were nice as well with words not too tiny but not too large. And, the last page of the book reveals the answer to when the sequel is expected to be released:

FIND Shiloh Run Press, which is a division of Barbour Publishing, ON SOCIAL MEDIA @:

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Read what other members of the TOS Review Crew thought by clicking on the picture below:

TOS Review - Talking Fingers

My child had reviewed Talking Fingers when she was younger, so I was curious to see what Read, Write & Type from Talking Fingers Inc. was all about when I had the opportunity to review this creative learning program.

What is Read, Write & Type?

Read, Write & Type is an online program that teaches children how to touch type while improving their reading skills by using a multi-sensory and phonemes (letter sounds) approach. It introduces letters as characters in the story/game. It is online at their site, and they also have a CD version available if you prefer.

There are 40 lessons that are intended for a child in the K-2 level, up to age 9 or to be used as ESL English as a Second Language. The program has assigned characters to each of the letters on the keyboard. The student proceeds to go through the lessons that are a series of interactive game-like learning segments. The idea behind the learning game is that there are 40 phonemes sounds that are represented by 26 letters in the English alphabet.

Find out more about details of how the program is set up, what skills it teaches and research to back it up!

Letters on the computer keyboard are introduced as pictured characters who live behind "windows" that correspond to the location of that letter key on the keyboard. The student interacts hearing proper phonetic sounds of each letter, speaking the letter sounds or words in some cases, using the mouse and keyboard, typing the letter sound as it corresponds to pictures whose name starts with that letter, and combining letters to work through various activities, such as getting Jack across a jungle gym on a playground by typing a series of J-space, then J-A-space, then J-A-F space, etc. Eventually, the student is typing words and then sentences using the proper left/right hand placement on the keys.

As part of the game play style of lessons, a green blob monster, named Vexor, is supposed to represent a computer virus, I believe. Vexor has stolen the letters on the keyboard, and with the help of Leftie and Right Way, the student works to get each of the letters back. Vexor also introduces new characters (letters). Whenever the typist gets it right, it makes the green blob angry.



And, then there is a bonus blimp that allows the child to play a "game" to get bonus points that show up on a certificate.




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How Did We Use It?

My 9-year-old sat down at my laptop and got the chance to experience the learning game. She worked through lessons online that were delivered to feel more like a fun game than learning time.

What Did We Think?

Overall, it's an interesting, fascinating, multi-sensory and fun concept of learning letters, especially if you have a young child. My daughter is a fluent reader with a high Lexile score for her age and was already familiar with all of the keys on the keyboard, so she was really almost too old to fully appreciate it. Throughout the learning game, you receive clear instructions as to what to do next which is great if you're new to or struggle with using the computer keyboard or need extra time to comprehend what was introduced. If you are faster than the game anticipated, however, because the characters seemed to have a pre-set pause after each instruction; if you try to type the answer too soon, before the instruction is complete, the program won't recognize the keystroke or mouse click. Sometimes, the cadence of the process didn't correspond with her interaction. She would type a letter, but it was too fast for the program to pick up on it, so it would proceed to re-instruct her even though she had typed it correctly. Though, she did seem to enjoy it overall. As a parent, I would have appreciated something other than a green blob monster virus as the main character as it added an angry element to give a game-like adventure feel, but it made her laugh. Another aspect I liked about the program is how when the child logs back in, even though it starts with a song you wait through every time, it then takes you directly to where they left off in the previous lesson.

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Visit on Facebook, Twitter @ReadWriteType , and YouTube.

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Read what other members of the TOS Review Crew thought by clicking on the picture below: