Homeschool Copywork ~ Review

Today I am sharing with you my thoughts on a product we've been using in our homeschool over the past weeks.

We received a Lifetime Membership to Homeschool Copywork which gives us access to a variety of e-books for copywork and notebooking pages such as the Vincent Van Gogh Copywork, Transportation Copywork and Town Mouse Country Mouse Copywork, along with many other varieties of copywork and notebooking pages.

What Is Homeschool Copywork

I think I really need to take one step back here just in case some of you aren't aware or have never even heard of copywork. So what is copywork exactly?

At face value copywork appears to simply be handwriting practice and in reality one can use copywork pages specifically for handwriting. It is so much nicer to copy out a lovely passage or a poem than fill in boring handwriting workbooks, after all!

But copywork is and can be so much more if you use it wisely. With copywork one can cover spelling, grammar, punctuation usage, comprehension and reading skills.

Plus as the guiding light in your children's lives you can also choose certain passages that you feel are appropriate for them and may offer them guidance and inspiration.

There is so much more to copywork than simply handwriting and if this concept is a new one to you I encourage you to read a little further on the topic of adding copywork into your homeschool. 

Now that you understand what copywork actually is, you're probably thinking, 'right, now I need to find certain passages to use for our copywork, that's just going to add a bunch more work to my overloaded schedule'. 

Wrong, this is where Homeschool Copywork comes into play. All of the sourcing and preparation has been done for you. Simply log into the membership area of the site and you have access to a myriad of copywork and notebooking pages, covering all manner of themes.

How We Used The Membership

Copywork has been on my list to add back in to our days, as it is something we let slide. Often I found myself reinventing the wheel when it came to providing the kids with copywork passages but with access to Homeschool Copywork I didn't need to do anything other than log in and find an appropriate piece to use with each of the children.

  As you know I have three children of very different ages and abilities so I needed to ensure I could meet those with our copywork. 

I was also quite eager to add in some Artist study that I had been working on. It seemed it was the perfect time to begin with our unit on Vincent Van Gogh. Homeschool Copywork has a total of five full volumes of van Gogh copywork pages, each containing a beautiful full colour image of one of his art works and the passage to copy. 

There are various line options and writing styles, making the book suitable for all ages.

I love that we can discuss the work of van Gogh right there on the copywork page, I don't need to go hunting for the art work images. Plus each of the passages is simply beautiful to read.

For some fun we've also been using the delightful Town Mouse Country Mouse book.

One thing that jumped out to me almost instantly was with my youngest and his need to write so small that it is nearly impossible to read. Of course I jumped straight onto the membership area of Homeschool Copywork and found the transportation pages.

These are very simple pages that work their way through the alphabet, but what I loved about them for my son is they gently forced him to slow down and to increase the size of his writing. He works on a few of these each week.

What We Didn't Like

My main issues with the membership area is there is no search function which I feel would be a very valuable asset in ease of finding what your looking for.

I would also love to see a preview option somehow built into the membership area as I needed to download the entire ebook to actually see what is inside. Granted each time I did a download we used the book anyway, but I still feel that this would be advantageous to have available.

We are secular homeschoolers and did find a large portion of the material to be religious in nature.

What I Do Like

Absolutely hands down the ease when it comes to finding passages is a winner for me and this is the exact reason why we have started and fallen off the copywork band wagon so many times over the years. Now that I have access to a range already prepared for me it will truly make it so simple to ensure we keep up with our copywork.

I mentioned earlier in regards to the membership area housing many religious themed copywork pages, however, there were more than enough secular books for me to choose from.

Some of which include, artists such as Monet, van Gogh, and da Vinci. Composers such as Bach and Mozart. There also topics such as the Wright Brothers, John James Aubudon, The Town Mouse and The Country Mouse, along with others.

Looking Ahead

Homeschool Copywork has most definitely become part of our regular routine now thanks to how easy it is having the download membership.

Pricing & Details

Visit the Homeschool Copywork website where you can find all the details and the different membership options available to you.

To see more from Homeschool Copywork visit them via your favourite social media outlet.

Facebook:  http://facebook.com/HomeschoolCopywork
Twitter: http://twitter.com/AmyBlevins 
Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/hscopywork
Google+: http://plus.google.com/+AmyBlevins
Instagram: http://instagram.com/homeschoolencouragement

I hope you found this review helpful. If you would like to see further reviews of Homeschool Copywork from members of The Schoolhouse Review Crew, please visit this link.



Happy Homeschooling,
Kylie

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Spaceflight Academy - Gold Coast

Recently we were lucky enough to be invited along to the brand new Space Flight Academy which is about to open to the public here on the Gold Coast

If you have children that aspire to be an astronaut, a pilot or to work in the field of space flight in any way then you really need to get them down to the Space Flight Academy.

Upstairs you will find the lecture room, which would hold up to 40 people seated. Here you will be given an introductory run down on the simulators that are housed below on the ground level.

Space Flight Academy is recommended for children 11 and over. And rightly so, this is not kids party stuff, this is a serious space flight learning experience.

Here the kids are being trained on how to use the fighter jet controls.

Behind the lecture space is a second smaller class room area, where the academy has plans to hold high school level science classes, in topics such as aerodynamics and rocketry.

Our group was split in two, with one half heading straight into the fighter jet simulators.

This experience was much harder and way more involved than the kids every imagined. They all really enjoyed themselves, although it is something that you want to be coming back for again and again so you can perfect your skills.

The other half of the group were preparing to send some of their crew members into space. So some of them entered and worked in Mission Control, which is completely decked out like an actual control room and works in a similar fashion to one. Those working in the control room watch the space flight and converse with the astronauts during the flight.

The simulator in which the cadets use to train and head into to space with.

Their first briefing, of all the goings on inside the simulator. As you can see they are fully equipped with uniforms, and helmets which gives them radio access to Mission Control.

All smiles after his first successful space launch!

Around the room is other space themed paraphernalia with some of them being available for visitors to sit inside and take a closer look around.

I really would not like to be traveling through space in this little thing. Those are some very brave people!

Overall this was a fabulous experience and we were extremely chuffed to be one of the very first groups to go through the centre. Well done to the Space Flight Academy for making this happen. It will be such an asset to the Gold Coast area.

Happy Homeschooling,
Kylie

Times Tales ~ A Review

For the past few weeks we've been enjoying a highly entertaining way to help learn multiplication with this fun program called Times Tales from The Trigger Memory Co.

We were provided with a complete copy of times tales in order for my child to use and review.

What Is Times Tales.

Times Tables is a fun, creative way to aid in learning the upper times tables. The times tables are introduced via quirky simple little animated mnemonics to aid in learning. The program also includes printable practice worksheets to use as re-enforcement.

How We Used The Program

Times Tales is a breeze to use. The program is broken into two parts. It is recommended that the child watches part one, learns the mnemonics and practices with the supplemental worksheets and flashcards for at least a week before moving on to part two.

Although we received this product primarily for my daughter who is currently in the land of multiplication right now, we all watched the animations. The animations used are simple line drawings that have been brought to life. They are not boring by any means though, each character has a little personality of its own.

Each character, represents a number. In the very early stage of the program you are first introduced to the individual characters. For example, the number 3 can be seen in the wings of the butterfly, the number 7 is known as Mrs Week, the number 8 can easily be seen in Mrs Snowman and so on.

How the characters interact with each other in each of their simple stories is how they relate to multiplication. For example, here Mrs Snowman (the number 8) stands on a chair (the number) to reach her 3 buttons and 2 mittens. The mnemonic is first introduced as page in a story, from there it opens out into a short animation to help the child learn the story related to each character.

In the very early stages the program simply has the child learning the stories. After they have worked through several the program comes to a game and quiz area so the children can check how they are going. I was pleasantly surprised to see that not only my daughter but also my youngest memorised the stories quite easily and relatively accurately from the very first viewing.

Only after the stories have been learned does the program then introduce the actual times table. So the example I used above of Mrs Snowman, once the child learns the story they use the numbers in the story. Therefore 8 x 4 = 32.

It's really quite a simple premise but one that for us so far us been effective. If we ever forget a times table we can use the characters as a prompt to remind us until they become automatic.

The easiest way to understand this is to see it in action, this short clip will give you a brief overview of the program.




To see more simply visit the times tales website where you can download for free a small component of the entire program. That way you can see for yourself how simple this really is.

What We Didn't Like About This Program

This is such a simple concept and such an easy program to add into your day, there really isn't anything I can find about it that I don't like.

If you choose to order the download the files are really quite large so just be aware if your internet connection isn't all that great.

The only other point I would raise is that of double learning, which I do suppose Times Tales does fit under. There are some education experts that dispute double learning because the child actually needs to learn the item twice. So here in this example, the child learns the story and then needs to relate that story to a number and eventually learns the actual times tables using numbers only.

Whilst I understand the premise behind double learning, in this particular instance, for us, it has been in no way a hindrance. In fact it has helped in many ways. The visual component has really helped the kids see the times tables as they are shown right before their eyes with moving pictures and sound.

What We Did Like About Times Tales

The ease of use is hands down the winning point for me here. Honestly it doesn't get much easier for the parent or the student than this. Watch the animations, play along with the quizzes, and then practice.

Of course, it goes without saying that price is also a huge plus, making it something that's very easily added into a regular math program. In fact if this opportunity to review Times Tales didn't arise I would have bought the program anyway and have been equally as happy with it!

Looking Ahead

Times Tales has absolutely become a part of our multiplication learning regime and it will continue to be so.

Pricing & Details

Visit the Times Tales website to download a free trial version and to see more details of the program.

To see from Times Tales visit them via their Facebook page

I hope you found this review helpful. If you would like to see further reviews of the Times Tales program from members of The Schoolhouse Review Crew, please visit this link.


Happy Homeschooling,
Kylie

Come on over and join me at

Facebook ~ Pinterest ~ Instagram ~ Google + 


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Visit Our Worldwide Classroom's profile on Pinterest.