TOS Review: Beeyoutiful

One of the companies I was looking forward to reviewing since the list for this year's Homeschool Crew reviews was posted was Beeyoutiful.  I had never tried any of their products, but I have paged through one of their catalogs, and also heard wonderful things about their vitamins, especially from a lady that I greatly respect and admire.  When I found out I was going to be reviewing one of Beeyoutiful's products, I was thrilled!

  

I received two products to try - Tummy Tuneup and a tube of their brand new B.A.L.M. lip moisturizer in orange.  I didn't honestly get to spend much time with the tube of B.A.L.M. - I used it a couple of times the day it came in the mail, then it mysteriously disappeared from my jeans pocket.  I have been looking for it ever since, and would welcome its return!  What impressed me about B.A.L.M. was that it went on very smooth, and was not waxy or greasy feeling.  It was light, yet stayed on a long time without needing to be reapplied.  And, the orange flavor was great!  It smelled good, and did not taste gross.  Not that I was eating it, but come on - we all know that a certain amount of whatever we put on our lips ends up ingested!  I felt alright about it, though, knowing that it was made from natural ingredients like grape seed oil, shea butter, beeswax, and orange essential oil.  I'm still sad that my B.A.L.M. is missing - it was so young!

 And now we come to the part of the program where we talk about Tummy Tuneup.  I wish I didn't have to.  It's not that I feel like it's a horrible product - I liked it a lot!  I just don't want to talk about what it did for me!  From the Beeyoutiful website:

   Tummy Tuneup is a combination of 8 different species of beneficial bacteria designed to support gastrointestinal health and immune system function. FOS is also included in this product to assist healthy growth of acidophilus and bifidus organisms. Because this capsule is enteric coated, Tummy Tuneup delivers its microflora directly to the intestine bypassing the harsh acidic conditions of the stomach. Tummy Tuneup is stable at room temperature, requiring no refrigeration.

 I find it interesting that their website says it does not need refrigeration, because my bottle clearly says that refrigeration is suggested after opening.  No biggy, however, it would have made it easier to remember to take if I'd been able to load it into my pill organizer with my other supplements.  Also from their website:

  Tummy Tuneup users also report relief from excessive gas and bloating -- even after eating common offenders like beans and cabbage.

 And, there you have it - what Tummy Tuneup did for me.  No, it did not make me smell like roses.  However, I did notice a significant decrease in, um, gas, and it definitely, um, smelled a lot better.  There, are you happy?  Here I am, trying to be more lady-like this year, and I have to talk about this subject!    

These products and lots more natural health and beauty items can be found at www.beeyoutiful.com.  I'm especially interested their Super Mom vitamins, Hair Shine spray-in conditioner, and their Miracle skin salve (that was what I was really hoping to get!).  B.A.L.M. retails for a very affordable $3 a tube, and Tummy Tuneup is $18 for 60 capsules.  One thing I really like about Beeyoutiful is that you can get a discount when you stock up and buy 3 or more of the same item.  I will definitely be taking advantage of that in the future!

***Note:  I received two Beeyoutiful products for the purpose of my review through TOS Homeschool Crew.  All opinions are those of myself and my nose.

TOS Review: ALEKS

ALEKS might seriously be my absolute favorite thing I have reviewed through the Homeschool Crew so far!  I can't say enough good things about a program that has my children randomly doing math in the evening, rather than playing computer games!  Wonder Boy has actually asked numerous times if he can work on his math and has told me several times how fun he thinks ALEKS is, and Super Girl just does it without even asking!

How it works:  After you set up an account on ALEKS, add your student(s), and choose their level, the child then logs in and completes an assessment.  Upon completing the assessment, they can see a pie chart of the subjects they will work on.  The wedges are shaded to various degrees, illustrating how much the child already knows.  My kids love this!  They choose a wedge to work on, and as they master different ideas, the wedge fills up.  How many courses there are to work on and how many have been completed is also listed.  One thing I really like about ALEKS is that if the program determines a child is not ready to work on a certain skill set, that wedge is not available to them until they have the prerequisite skills.  I love that the program is designed so that a child is much more likely to succeed in learning a new skill, rather than being frustrated because they haven't mastered the foundations of the new skill before attempting it.  I well remember how extremely frustrated I would get in school when I didn't understand something, but the class was moving on into more advanced areas anyhow.

When I log into my daughter's account, I immediately see several subjects for her to review, which ALEKS thinks she has probably mastered.  I am then directed to her pie, where I can see her progress.  There are also tabs for a dictionary of math terms, a calculator, and quizzes.  Apparently, there are games that the parent can turn on which help master math facts, but my kids are loving ALEKS without them!  When I log into my parent account, I can look at each child's pie, or view a different form of progress report.  I can easily see how far my child has come, and how much they have left to learn.  I can also see how many topics they have learned since their assessment and how many hours they've spent in ALEKS.  I can create quizzes for them, and even request for them to do a new assessment.  I love that ALEKS is web-based, so my children can work on it anywhere they have access to the internet.

My least favorite things about ALEKS?  The first thing would be that ALEKS is only for math.  With as much as my children enjoy it, especially Wonder Boy, my reluctant learner, I would be thrilled if there were other subjects available, such as Language Arts.  The second thing would be the price.  For homeschoolers, ALEKS is available for $19.99 per month per child, $99.95 for six months, or $179.95 for 12 months.  There are family discounts available, but a one year subscription to ALEKS would still cost my family $305.90.  For as much as my son loves it, I do think it might be worth it.  However, I'd think it was an even better value if other topics were available, as I said.

ALEKS is designed for children at the third grade level and higher, all the way through college-level courses.  If you are interested in trying out this wonderful program for yourself, I encourage you to sign up for a free two month trial.  Just click the button below to begin!

***Note:  I received a two-month free trial to ALEKS in exchange for my review through TOS Homeschool Crew.  All opinions are those of myself and my children.         

TOS Review: Math Rider

Are you looking for an intelligent math game for kids?  Math Rider might be just what you're looking for!  From the Math Rider website:

 Your child is taken into a land of fantasy and quests. Living in the Land of Ray and riding a horse called Shadow, he or she will set out on various noble adventures. Riding across amazing, digitally matte-painted moving backdrops of distinct fantastic lands, they will accomplish their quest, be it finding magical flowers, returning gems to the elves or even rescuing a princess!

The game is played by entering the answers to basic math problems.  As the child practices their math facts, the horse and rider progress through the scenery.  There are no controls to worry about - the speed of the horse depends on how quickly the child answers the problems correctly.  There are different quests to work through, and a map that shows your child how far they have gotten.  Wonder Boy was very excited to share with us that he was halfway through his quest shortly after he started!  There is also a page where the parent can see how much the child has improved, areas they still need work on, and their "top challenges".  

I thought Math Rider was great.  The game uses positive reinforcement to encourage children to continue practicing.  There is no "dying" or other negative consequence when a problem is missed or answered wrongly.  I still have access to it for a little while, and I think I will make Wonder Boy continue using it.  I like the progress I see on his statistics page, and he needs a bit more work to have fully mastered the basic math facts.  However, once he had played it a few times, it kind of fell to the wayside.  Super Girl tried it out once, and while she was excited about the horse aspect of the game, I believe that she knows her math facts too well for it and was quickly bored.  I believe this game would be best for slightly younger children - mine are 10 and 12.

Math Rider can be purchased at www.mathrider.com.  It is available as a download for $47.  However, through February 15, it is on sale for $37!  A 30 day guarantee and free updates are included in the purchase.  Best of all, you can use Math Rider with multiple children for the same price!  Woo hoo!

***Note:  I received a trial access to Math Rider in exchange for my review through TOS Homeschool Crew.  All opinions are my own.

TOS Review: Celestial Almanack

My husband loves the night sky.  He has taken us out to see meteor showers numerous times, and has seen more "shooting stars" than I can count.  When I heard about the Classical Astronomy Celestial Almanack, I knew that Mr. Man would be interested in sharing it with the kids.  Now is actually a great time for stargazing for our family, as we recently moved to a micro-town where the stars are unbelievably clear.  We've never been able to see so many stars from our own deck before.  Also, the winter weather here is a lot more mild than it was in northern Indiana.

The Celestial Almanack can be purchased through CurrClick via a quick and easy download. I found this description there: 

Learn the visual astronomy of the early American almanacks, from the Puritan colonists to the Founding Fathers.  Learn the constellations, follow the phases of the Moon, discover the visible planets, and learn the signs of the passing seasons.  Find out how these signs relate to the calendar and traditional celestial navigation.  Use the Celestial Almanack as a monthly illustrated ezine companion guide for the Signs & Seasons curriculum, a traditional hard copy publication from Fourth Day Press.

The Celestial Almanack is great for us, since we do not own a telescope.  All of the objects and events mentioned in the Almanack are visible with the naked eye.  Everyone can see them at the same time, so no jostling the telescope trying to be first!  I mean...

Mr. Man read through the entire publication, and said, "It's a great almanac!"  He really liked the illustrations showing where to locate the stars at different moments, and loved that it even diagrams how the sun changes position over time.  It is written in an easy, conversational style, and could easily be used by an older elementary aged child on their own.  However, we have always found stargazing to be a family event, and I would encourage my readers to do the same!  The one thing that I found a little distracting about the almanac was that the activities are rated by difficulty - but the rating system is never really explained, that I could find.  The higher the rating, the more difficult the task.  While I appreciate knowing that a certain task may be more difficult than another, I still wondered if the star rating has something to do with Classical Astronomy's Signs & Seasons curriculum.  Unfortunately, as with pretty much every other time Mr. Man has excitedly gotten the kids outside to see something specific in the sky, there were clouds.  You know all those stars I talked about being able to see?  Not a single one was visible.  Fortunately, the Celestial Almanack gives many different examples of things to see over the course of the month, and my night watchers are eager to try again.  Meanwhile, Mr. Man showed the kids online pictures and used some of the materials from the Almanack to teach them about the stars.  

Side note:  As one of our biggest reasons for homeschooling is the ability to integrate the Bible and our faith into all the subjects we teach, I really appreciate the Statement of Faith page of the Classical Astronomy website!  I do believe it is the first time I've seen an invitation to salvation on one, though, sadly enough.  I thought it was really awesome as I read through it!

If someone in your family loves stargazing, or you want to learn (or teach) more about astronomy, I do believe the Celestial Almanack would be a great resource to consider.  And, at only $3 per digital issue, it's very affordable, too - especially if you have a portable device that you can download it onto, and save ink and paper rather than printing the sky maps.  Be sure to sign up for their email newsletters, too!  The Celestial Almanack is one resource I can definitely see myself purchasing in the future!

***Note:  I received a digital copy of the February 2012 Celestial Almanack in exchange for my review through TOS Homeschool Crew.  All opinions expressed are those of myself and Mr. Man.

Stuck in my head...

I've had this song stuck in my head for the last week.  It came on the radio while I was driving with the kids, and Wonder Boy sang along with me: