Hands-On STEM Learning with Pitsco Education {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.

Hands-on learning has always been important in our homeschool, though it has been neglected in recent months. So, when we were given the opportunity to try out one of the packs from Pitsco Education , I was excited, though I wondered if any of the children would be interested. I was leaning toward the Middle School STEM Creator Pack that is designed for children in grades 6-8, so I was glad when Amelia showed an interest.

Not only did Amelia show an interest, Harold was excited as well. The Creator Pack included five different STEM activities, so there was plenty of work to go around, plus some of the kits had enough materials for more than one child to join in, or for one child to do the activity multiple times. 

All of the materials are provided so the student can create the main project of each kit. However, there are some materials you will need to provide to complete the challenge activities. These are mostly items that you should be able to find around your home. 

• Ruler or measuring tape
• Items to use as weights for the bridge activity
• Hole punch
• Scissors
• Crayons or colored pencils
• Pencil
• Table knife
• Small toy people
• Target
• Safety glasses
• Nail or pushpin

Each activity also has a "STEM Creator's Guide" which includes step-by-step instructions, interesting and educational facts related to the project, spotlights (on bridges and simple machines), instructions for testing the project, plus pages of activities and room to record your scientific and mathematical data There are also bonus challenges and "Think About It" questions.

Step-by-step written instructions with pictures:

Informational tidbits:

Activities to test out the project and work on math, science, and engineering knowledge:

Thought-provoking questions:

Charts for recording data from the extension activities:

We began with the activity Amelia chose (seeing as she was the one who wanted to review it). I loved which one she chose, because I figured everyone could join in. Well, the ones who were interested anyway. 

Creating Da Vinci Bridges 

With this STEM activity, we were working on building bridges with craft sticks. Yep, just craft sticks. Pitsco Education provided a bunch of them.

The instructions are clear, though it was a bit tricky to get the craft sticks to cooperate at times, especially after the first few steps.

Getting as far as we did in the following picture was quite an accomplishment for us.

The children tried working together so someone could support the bridge while more sticks were added.

However, the children started to give up because they couldn't get past the bridge with seven sticks. They said it would be easier if they didn't get so shaky. And I admit, having good control and a steady hand is important.

I was able to continue on and make multiple bridges with 13 sticks, though even I couldn't get any further.

We did measure some of the bridges we made, but really weren't able to collect the data required to complete the chart.

I have encouraged the children to try on other days to see if they can improve. Unfortunately, we still can't get past the 13-stick bridge, definitely nowhere near the 30 sticks mentioned in the chart. Thankfully this is an activity we can try again and again, as we get to reuse the sticks. 

I let Harold choose next, and, not surprisingly, he chose the one with the vehicles.

Creating Rolling Vehicles

This activity includes all the materials that actually make the vehicles, though a hole punch is needed to create holes for the straw to go through, plus crayons or colored pencils are needed to decorate it before putting it together. A table knife is also used to score the lines to aid in folding. We were thrilled that there were enough materials for two children to each make one. And there were several templates to choose from.

Some of the pictured materials are used in the activities after the vehicle is completed. Plus, we needed to have something to use as a stopwatch.

We did come upon a very frustrating roadblock while creating the cars. Unfortunately our axles didn't fit inside the holes of the cars. If they had fit properly, the children would have been able to have created these on their own. However, both mommy and daddy had to come to the rescue. I used a knife to shave away at the holes to make them bigger. Unfortunately the knife couldn't go all the way to the other side, so it took a bit of hammering on daddy's part to get them fully inserted so we could put the wheels on the vehicles. Just a little hint, it was easier to do this when the axles weren't already attached to the bottom of the vehicle.

We finally completed the cars:

And then we got to test them out. Though Hannah didn't make one, she did help with this part.

We tried the ramp out in different positions to see how far the cars would travel, plus added varying amounts of clay to the car to see if it changed the distance they would travel. Unfortunately we weren't getting consistent results, so I didn't end up recording them in the charts in the guide. 

Harold wasn't too upset. He was more interested in adding the balloon to get some "jet power" going. 

Unfortunately we had some more disappointment because the car design Harold used didn't seem to work with the balloon. I personally think the front window is too close to the front of the vehicle, so the balloon was touching the table. 

Unfortunately, all the disappointment was causing their excitement to wane. So, they weren't too interested in completing more projects. I did insist we keep trying. Thankfully the catapult worked well for Amelia. 

Creating Catapults

The catapult is made out of some really thick card stock and is quite sturdy. She had worked on this completely independently, so I didn't get pictures of her making it. But, as you can see, I have some pictures of us taking turns trying to hit the target she made. I do think she missed the part about using a paper clip to change how far the arm can be pulled back.

Let me tell you, if you pull it all the way back, those beads can fly!

Harold learned that if you just pull it back slightly, the beads won't go flying over the target. In fact, he was a lot closer to hitting it.

Next they tried their hand at creating their own invention. 

Creating My Invention

With this activity there were actually a couple of invention ideas given, but no instructions on how to make them. So, both Amelia and Harold chose to try out the elevator.

Unfortunately, though my children love trying to create things on their own, they really struggled with this and just couldn't get it to work right. 

Due to all the disappointments, Amelia wasn't really interested in trying the final kit.

Creating a Friction Climber

I was able to convince Tabitha to help out for this one, the one that required the least materials (well, besides the bridges). 

She'd actually done something similar before. In fact, she just wanted to go ahead and create it without the instructions, but I wanted her to use them for a few reasons. 

1- I wanted to see how easy the instructions were for her to follow (she's going into 8th grade).

2- I wanted her to be able to compare with the one she previously made.

3- I wanted to know how the fiction climber would work following the given instructions.

Unfortunately, though the instructions were a breeze for her, she couldn't get the wooden plank to climb because the tape would not hold onto the wood to hold the straws in place. If I knew where my hot glue gun was, I would have had her glue them on to see if it worked better. So, sadly, another disappointment. 

We wanted so very badly to enjoy these kits and the chance for some hands-on learning. Unfortunately, too many disappointments with pieces not working right discouraged and frustrated the children. I can see that with some adjustments, these could be some awesome kits. I really hope they change the size of the either the holes on the cars or the axles. I also think the instructions should tell you to glue the straws to the wood. Maybe that would allow the friction climber to work. 

I will say, I love the guides. I really appreciated having written instructions with the pictures to help with making the projects. The extra activities really get the children to use their math, science, and engineering skills. And the charts are a great way to record the data (if you can get consistent data). 

Though I don't feel comfortable giving this product a high recommendation, I do think with some adjustments it would be. 

You can find Pitsco Education on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, and YouTube.

If you would like to try out this kit for yourself, Pitsco Education is offering a wonderful opportunity. You could enter the giveaway to win a Middle School STEM Creator Pack.

Don't forget to click on the banner below to see what my fellow Crew Mates had to say about this product and other products from Pitsco Education.

Improving Language Arts Skills with MaxScholar {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, we had a chance to review MaxScholar Orton-Gillingham Software from MaxScholar. I thought it would be a great way for the younger children to work on improving their language arts skills.

We were given a six-month subscription which includes one teacher account and up to five student accounts. As Tabitha and Amelia used it in the past, they were not interested, so I chose to use it with just Hannah and Harold at this time. I figured it would be a great way for Harold to work on improving his reading comprehension and work on vocabulary and syllables. Hannah has been using it mainly for vocabulary.

So, what exactly is MaxScholar?

MaxScholar has multiple programs to help students work on different language arts skills. They are multi-sensory and use various research based methods. For example, the phonics is based on the Orton-Gillingham approach and the reading uses the Lindamood-Bell Reading Program. 

It consists of three main programs: MaxPhonics, MaxReading, and MaxWords. We also had access to MaxMusic, MaxVocab, MaxPlaces, and MaxBios.

MaxPhonics wasn't a program I was worried about using, as both children have been reading for years. From what I could see while exploring the MaxPhonics program, it appears that it focuses on teaching the sounds of letters, blends, and digraphs. They use visual, tactile, and auditory lessons to help the child learn the letter and blend sounds.  

MaxReading teaches reading comprehension strategies that help with focus, visualization, and retention. There are 13 levels, each of which have multi-chapter books. After reading the passage, or having the program read it, the student is to highlight the topic, main idea, and important details. Then they answer several multiple choice questions. The score is a combination of the highlighting and comprehension questions results. 

MaxWords has the student work on syllabication, spelling rules, prefixes & suffixes, plus Latin and Greek roots. 

MaxMusic allows the student to work on reading skills by reading lyrics to songs by popular artists or from movie soundtracks. They are to read the lyrics and complete challenges, such as clicking on all the verbs or filling in the gaps. 

MaxVocab helps a child improve their vocabulary through using the dictionary which contains all the words found in the MaxScholar books. The student can select a book and read through the words, their definitions, antonyms, synonyms, and sentences, and then try to come up with their own sentences. They can also play Hangman. They are to complete the word on the screen, using the hint given. They may get 5 wrong before they lose the game.

MaxPlaces allows a child to work on reading comprehension while learning about different locations around the world. They choose from 51 cities on a world map. After reading the story they can use their highlighters as they do in MaxReading to note details, then they answer reading comprehension questions. 

MaxBios also allows the student to work on reading comprehension by reading a selection, highlighting and answering questions. The child can choose to read about famous people from the following categories. 

• Entertainment
• Fascinating Men
• Old School Musicians
• Hip-Hop Artists
• Amazing Women
• Business
• Star Athletes

Both children had to complete an assessment prior to starting the program, though Hannah did not have to take the phonics portion due to her age. Harold was actually not a fan of the assessment process as he struggled to hear and it wasn't responding so he was clicking multiple times and getting answers incorrect. With both the reading and the phonics he was placed quite low. I was glad I, as a parent, was able to go in to my Teacher Dashboard to adjust his level. However, it did bother me, because I wasn't sure if I was going to be putting him in the level that would be appropriate for him.

The Teacher Dashboard allows the parent/teacher to adjust the child(ren)'s levels if needed, which is a great feature, plus I was able to decide which additional programs the children had access to. 

As I mentioned, Harold has been utilizing the MaxReading and MaxWords programs. With MaxReading I kept him in a lower level just to see how he would do and to get him used to the program. I was concerned that he was scoring low, so figured I should leave him in the lower level. What I discovered was that he was struggling with the highlighting section, so it was bringing his grade down. I remembered that Amelia had not been a fan of the highlighting section as it appeared they wanted her to highlight so much information. I do not know if they changed the program, or if this is different in the lower level, but I discovered that Harold was highlighting too much. Honestly, I prefer that he is only supposed to highlight what we are calling keywords. I feel this will help him be able to focus on details better.

This is a look at how he was highlighting with the correct highlighting given by the program:

As you can see, the improper highlighting affected his score.

I talked to him about searching for important words in the sentence, instead of trying to figure out which complete sentences were important.

As you can see, he was a lot closer to what they were looking for.

I have to say, I wish the children were given some instruction on what the program is looking for when it comes to highlighting details. 

I appreciate that the child can have the story read to them or they can choose to read it themselves. And this is the same with the questions. So, whether they are visual or auditory learners, they can work on comprehension. 

Here's a look at what a child can work on in the MaxWords program. The other program Harold focused on. 

A student works on syllabication with CLOVER, Spelling Rules, Prefixes & Suffixes, Latin Roots and Greek Roots. Harold has been working in CLOVER.

Each of the letters in CLOVER stands for a different type of syllable.

• C- Closed Syllables
• L- Consonant -Le
• O- Open Syllables
• V- Vowel Teams
• E- Vowel-Consonant-E
• R- R-Controlled Syllables

The program will explain the definition of each kind of syllable and then list examples of words which the children are to read. They can click on the words to hear them read to them. Then they will learn the rules for each type of syllable, along with more examples. 

They then complete activities, such as choosing the correct syllable division for a list of words.

Then the child is to see how many words using the type of syllabication from the lesson they can read in one minute. The problem is, they can't click "DONE" unless they click on the Read Aloud button, and he just wants to read it himself. 

Hannah has also been working in MaxWords; however, she has been working in the prefixes section. It will give a list of prefixes, the origin, the meaning, plus an example they can click on to hear.

Then she needs to match the prefix with the definition.

Finally, she is to put the correct prefix on the word in the sentence.

 Here she is working on prefixes.

As you can see, she struggled with some of them, so I am glad they have the opportunity to go back in and redo the lessons.

She's also been spending time working in MaxVocab. She loves being able to play the Hangman game. 

All in all, I have to say, I am definitely impressed with this program and how comprehensive it is. There are so many language arts skills the children can work on. I am thrilled Harold didn't have to highlight most of the story as "important details" as Amelia had to do. MaxScholar is a wonderful program, not just for those who need reading intervention, but for parents who would like their students to improve their vocabulary and reading skills. Though I can't personally attest to the MaxPhonics portion of the program; it does appear to be a great program.

You can find MaxScholar on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest.

Don't forget to click on the banner below to see what my fellow Crew Mates had to say about this program.