Spelling and Math Practice with EdShed {A Homeschool Review Crew Review}

Disclaimer: I received a FREE copy of this product through the HOMESCHOOL REVIEW CREW in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way.

We were given the opportunity for the children to practice spelling and math with both Spelling Shed and Math Shed. During this review period, the younger two children have been the primary users of these programs, though Tabitha and Amelia are using it as well. 

We were given a one-year subscription to both Spelling Shed and Math Shed. The children have been able to access their accounts on the desktop computer and on their tablets.   

Each child has their own account login information. It was easy to set them up as my students, and they didn't have any issues logging in. One of the first things they wanted to do was change their avatar. There are basic changes, such as the facial features, hair, plain shirts, and plain backgrounds, that they can do at any time. 

Other changes need honey pots, which are earned while working and playing on the site. With these honey pots they can get fancier shirts, patterned backgrounds, and accessories. 

My children always enjoy playing around with their avatars, so this was quite the incentive to earn those honey pots. 

So, what exactly do children have to do to earn these pots? In other words, what do they do on the site?

Let's take a look at each section. When they first log in they will have the choice between Spelling Shed and Math Shed.

Let's begin with the children's favorite, Spelling Shed. 

There are different "stages" the children can choose from: Stage 1 & 2, Stage 3, Stage 4 & 5, or More Lists. 

When we first began, I had the younger children start in Stage 1 & 2, because I wasn't sure where to find information on what words were included in each stage. 

Once they click on a stage, they are given the choice between playing, creating a hive, and bonus games. 

In the normal play section, the children get to practice spelling with four different difficulties: Easy, Medium, Hard, and Extreme. 

In Easy mode, the child gets to see and hear the word and a definition before having to spell it.

They are then given all the letters for the word and have to unscramble them by clicking on them in order before the time runs out (there is a yellow bar across the top of the screen that flows from left to right as time counts down. They get approximately half a minute to spell the word, and they are able to backspace if they realize they misspelled it. They can also hear the word again if they need to and pause if they need to go to do something. 

Once they are done spelling the word, they click the green check mark at the bottom of the screen. They are given immediate feedback on whether they spelled the word correctly, or incorrectly.

I love that it shows the correct spelling and reminds the student what the meaning of the word is plus the part of speech, whether they get it correct or not. If they are right, they earn points.

If they are incorrect, they don't.

Once they complete all 10 words, they see their results.

If they choose the Medium difficulty, they play the same way, except they don't get to see the words first. However, in Difficult mode, they are given more scrambled letters than are required for the word. 

In the Extreme level, children have to click the letters from a honeycomb keyboard, plus they have approximately 10 seconds less to figure the word out.

Harold also enjoyed being able to play the different games. 

Bee Keeper reminds me of the old game Hang Man. Blank spaces are given and the child is to guess letters to figure out the word. For each letter they get wrong, they lose a bee. However, if they figure out a word, they get three of those bees back, plus earn a honey pot.

Missing Word gives the children a sentence and they have to fill in the missing word. There are again the four levels of difficulty. Easy allows the children to choose the correct spelling from between two words.

In the Medium level they need to pick between four words. But in the Difficult level they have to spell it the way they do in the regular play, by clicking  on the letters. And in Extreme level they have to use the full honeycomb keyboard again. 

These are some really fun ways for children to work on spelling. 

For the older girls, I had them pick a list from their grade lists under curriculum which could be found if they clicked on "More Lists."

From here they have the choice of the Spelling Shed lists, Dolch lists, Fry lists, or grade level lists. They have lists for 3-4 grade, 5-6 grade, and 7-8 grade. 

The children spent the majority of their time using Spelling Shed as we haven't been very consistent with spelling this year. But, I did have them use Math Shed as well. 

They could choose to work on Number Bonds, Times Tables, Powers of 10, Add & Subtract or choose from "More," which gave them the choice of Year 4 Mulitplication Tables Check or Negative Numbers. 

As we have been working on multiplication, Harold and Harold spent most of their time in the Times Tables section. They can choose from lots of different facts.

As with Spelling Shed they have different levels of difficulty they can choose from. Though there are only three instead of four. 

They are shown a problem and are to choose the answer from the different asteroids.

Easy level has them pick between three possible answers, where Medium level has them pick between six. In the Difficult level they have to type their answer in on the calculator.

I also appreciate that a I can go into my account as a parent and check their progress.

We have been enjoying practicing math and spelling with this fun site. I love that there are different stages of words in Spelling Shed, plus different levels of difficulty for each stage. However, I wish the words weren't given so randomly and that if they chose Easy from Stage 1 & 2, they could then more on to the next difficulty level with the same words, giving them a chance to practice with the same words. 

Either way, I do think this is a great and fun way for children to work on math and spelling skills. And I highly recommend it.

You can find EdShed on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.

Don't forget to click on the banner below to see what my fellow Crew Mates had to say about Math Shed and Spelling Shed.

Math and Handwriting Practice with Page a Day Math {A Homeschool Review Crew Review}

Disclaimer: I received a FREE copy of this product through the HOMESCHOOL REVIEW CREW in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way.

Thanks to the Homeschool Review Crew, Harold and Hannah have had the opportunity to work on improving their math-fact fluency and their cursive handwriting with resources from Page a Day Math. 

Page a Day Math offers both physical kits and downloadable digital kits.  All of the materials we received were downloadable files, though some of my fellow Crew Mates were able to review physical kits. As I decided to work on multiplication with the children first, I chose the Multiplication Starter Kit. But, I also want to move into division, so I chose the Division Starter Kit as well. These kits each include 12 books, each with 14 days worth of work. Also included are bonuses. There are flashcards, assessment pages, a progress chart, and two cursive handwriting books in each kit. 

You can also purchase digital flashcards and assessments separately, so I decided to get the flashcards and assessments for addition and subtraction. I figured we could use them for assessing their knowledge and allowing them to practice their math facts. 

What I was really interested in was the opportunity for the children to start working more consistently on their cursive writing. The Multiplication Starter Kit came with I Can Write in Cursive and Beautiful Biology! Cursive Practice, and The Division Starter Kit came with Adorable Adjectives! Cursive Practice and Eats and Treats! Cursive Practice. We were also able to choose any of the other handwriting books we were interested in. So, I chose Scenic States (seeing as we have been learning about American history), Fun Physics, and Cool Chemistry. 

Each of the math books in the kit follows the same format. Each one focuses on the math facts of one number, and each book spans the facts from 0 times the number to 12 times the number, with a final page for review. Each day the child will work on one number's facts on the first page, and review what was already learned on the second page. Technically the pages are front and back, thus the "page a day" name. Of course, that is with the physical book. 

Front:

Back:

As you can see, these books are going to be supplemental to your math curriculum. They don't teach what multiplication and division are, they just allow a child to practice their facts, while working on their handwriting.  And the color-coded flashcards offer even more practice. 

The flashcards need to be printed out, preferable in color and on sturdy cardstock, cut, and folded. After giving the children the first two math assessment pages, I discovered they both needed to start with their facts for 3 and 4. So, I gave them the flashcards and the workbook pages.

I just have them work on a page a day after drilling with the flashcards.

They have actually been spending more time with the cursive handwriting book. I had them start with I Can Write in Cursive, so they could learn all the letters. 

For each letter the child needs to trace a couple of rows of capitals and a couple of rows of lowercase, and then a few upper and lower case pairs.

I actually had the children work on these a little differently, as I wanted us to get through the alphabet and start working on joining the letters into words. 

I gave them three letters a day. They were to do two full lines of each letter, one uppercase, the other lowercase. Then, on the following day, they were given the next three letters. They were to do one uppercase and one lowercase letter (not row, just a single letter) for each of the previous letters practiced, and the full rows of the new letters. In this way, the children have made their way through the alphabet and have started on words. 

Here's a look at a page from the Eats and Treats! Cursive Practice book.

One thing I would have prefered to have had in these books is blank lined pages for the children to practice on. I did have my own to print out, but I found it a bit weird that this program only has children tracing, and doesn't leave room for any free-hand practice on the page.

So, I had the children trace one word, write it a couple of times on lined paper, and bring it to me to check. Then they re-traced the word, and practiced again. If there were any letters they were struggling with, I showed them an example and had them practice the letter, without tracing it.

Harold has really been enjoying writing in cursive. He volunteered to do extra work to perfect them.

Younger children will appreciate the cute Math Squad doggies found throughout the book. In the math books there is a picture of one of them on each page, cheering the child along. And they all join together on the certificate at the back of the book.

In the I Can Write in Cursive book, the Math Squad reminds the child what sound the letter makes when they encourage them to color the picture that starts with the sound. 

And in the themed handwriting books, they ask questions in relation to the words on the page. 

Here's a sample from Beautiful Biology:

And a sample from Eats and Treats:

Harold really loves these books, especially the handwriting. He says those are his favorite. Hannah isn't a huge fan, though she couldn't really give me a reason. I'm wondering if she thinks they are a bit childish for her, seeing as she is in fourth grade.  However, I appreciate that she has a way to practice her math facts and her handwriting. Maybe the fact that she needs to write the numbers over and over will help her not to write certain numbers backwards anymore.

These are cute little workbooks to help your early elementary child(ren) work on math fluency and handwriting. I think they could be a great addition to your homeschool. And the digital books are awesome because you can print the pages out over and over for more practice if necessary.

You can find Page a Day Math on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and YouTube.

Don't forget to click on the banner below to see what my fellow Crew Mates had to say about Page a Day Math.

Math Practice with Math Essentials {A Homeschool Review Crew Review}

Disclaimer: I received a FREE copy of this product through the HOMESCHOOL REVIEW CREW in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way.

Tabitha has taken a break from her normal math curriculum to use Mastering Essential Math Skills Book 2 Middle Grades/High School from Math Essentials. This is the same company that publishes Math Refresher for Adults, which I reviewed a couple of years ago, and some of my fellow Crew Mates have been currently reviewing. I had enjoyed the book I was using, and figured Tabitha could see what she thought about the book that was designed for her age group.

We received the 158-page, softcover book, plus we also have access to free online video lessons. The book is divided into eight topic sections, plus there is a final review section in the back, followed by the answer key. The book concludes with a Resource Center that contains a glossary, important symbols, and charts. 

   

Here is a list of the chapter topics the book is divided into:

• Whole Numbers
• Fractions
• Decimals
• Percent
• Geometry
• Integers
• Charts and Graphs
• Word Problems

There is a section at the beginning of the book that explains the 8-step process in using the book. I took this to be more for classroom use, and have actually been allowing Tabitha to use the book independently. 

Each page has the same format. The top of the page has Speed Drills and Review Exercises. 

The idea of the speed drills is that I choose a number to put in the center of the circles and Tabitha gets to work on her math facts for both addition and multiplication.

I'll time her to see how fast she can get it done.

Next she will work on the review exercises if she feels she needs the practice. 

The middle of the page gives helpful hints for that page's lesson. Most of the time it will also show a couple of examples. There are then 12 problems to work out, 2 of which are labeled "S" for sample, or so we assume. And then at the bottom of the page there is a Problem Solving word problem.

Each lesson has a corresponding video lesson on the Math Essentials website.

The lessons are taught by the author of the book, Richard W. Fisher, winner of the "Intel Innovations in Teaching Award."  He will teach the lesson off-screen while the lesson appears on the "board."

Tabitha decided she wanted to start at the beginning of the book because she likes to work through things in order. I agreed with this decision because I wanted to make sure she was confident with all these essential skills that build upon each other. So she has been working through the Whole Numbers and Fractions sections of the book, most days working on one page, other times doing two or even on occasion three. The hints help her to make sure she is on track. 

She's worked through Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication, and Division of whole numbers, plus such topics as Identifying Fractions, Expressing them in their simplest form, adding and subtracting them. 

  Tabitha has enjoyed working through this book and I am glad she is able to ensure she knows all these essential math skills. What sort of surprised me though, was when I learned that the lessons are the exact same lessons, down to each and every problem, as the corresponding lessons in the Math Refreshers for Adults book. I honestly thought the lessons were going to be at a different level as the one was supposed to be for adults. So, technically, she has been reviewing the same material I reviewed two years ago. Granted, the Mastering Essential Math Skill Book 2 book is half the size as it doesn't include the pre-algebra and algebra that is in the second half of the Adult Refresher book. And she does have Speed Drills where the adult book does not. 

I'm not saying that makes it a bad book in any way. I'm just confused as to how one book is marketed for adults and the other for middle grades/high school. Plus, I would think a high school book should still have the pre-algebra and algebra section. I'm finding it difficult to determine what grades the book would be appropriate for. 

You can find Math Essentials on Facebook.

Don't forget to click on the banner below to see what my fellow Crew Mates have to say about the Math Essentials book they reviewed. We had our choice of this Mastering Essential Math Skills Book 2 Middle Grades/High School, Math Refresher for Adults, and No-Nonsense Algebra.