The Oregon Trail from a Horse's Perspective {An Appaloosy Books / Homeschool Review Crew Review}

Disclosure: I received this complimentary product through the Homeschool Review Crew.

Love horses? Historical fiction? Supporting small publishing houses and independent authors?

Take a look at the latest Horses in History book Blue Skies West from Appaloosy Books. 

Several years ago, my children and I had the pleasure of coming to know author Mattie Richardson's Appaloosy Books and appreciated how they offer a window into history through the perspective of horses. 

So, when we were offered a chance to review the latest book in the series - Blue Skies West, we took it.

What Awaits in Blue Skies West?

Blue Skies West is the fifth book in an exciting series that can help kids ages 8-12 (plus younger or older siblings and adults, too!) to learn more about important stories in U.S. History from - how fun! - a horse's point of view.

More than just a story, the book contains...

... a map for perspective followed by 12 chapters and an epilogue that tell a wholesome, interesting, tale which shares the true strife, tragedy, and conflicts of history in a sensitive way...

... a "Blast From the Past" which gives more historical details...

... a Bibliography and About the Author page

... and Author's Note/Historical Disclaimer which makes me respect and appreciate Mattie Richardson even more!

Throughout this softcover historical fiction novel, you follow the horse Blue and his rider Charlie as they travel the 2,000 mile long Oregon Trail from their longtime home in the Iowa farmlands to their new home. As you would expect, adventure awaits and danger abounds - including water crossings, stampedes, and even wagon train robbers!

What My 12-Year-Old Thinks about Blue Skies West

My 12-year-old has been enjoying Blue Skies West. Here is what he had to say about it:

Why did you want to get this book?

We read the other books in the series and they were fun.

Before reading this book, did you know much about the Oregon Trail and were you interested in it?

I knew about the Oregon Trail. I had played the game before and studied it a little, but I did not know too much.

Did you learn anything about it through this book?

Yes. I got a little feel for the hardship and understood what the journey might have been like.

Can you tell me anything about the book and your thoughts on it?

I'd say it is a pretty good book. It starts out at a farm and then escalates as they go to the Trail. On the trail the horse's rider faces many learning experiences. It is nice to picture in my mind, is easy to follow along with, and is entertaining and exciting. 

One of my favorite scenes was when the boy broke his arm by sneaking out and getting caught in the middle of a buffalo herd. That scene had exciting adventure mixed with life lessons.

I would recommend it to people who like exciting history, people wanting to learn about the Oregon Trail, and people who like horses.

Did you like this book as much as the other ones in the series?

Yes. They are fun, short books, and I like that they are from the horse's perspective.

My Thoughts about Blue Skies West

I have not yet had the time and focus to read the book myself, but I have listened to my son's oral narrations of it and have also read him a chapter or two at bedtime or when he was sick and asked me to read to him instead of him reading on his own.

In doing so, I have come to see that Blue Skies West, like the other books in Horses in History, tells a vivid tale with accurate historical details.

Told from the horse Blue's perspective while still offering character development of other characters, the book draws you in with its unique point-of-view. 


I believe that horse lovers, history lovers, and those who like to read stories that do not shy away from the harder parts of history but also treat them with sensitivity might like this story as a family read aloud, for children's independent reading, as a history supplement, or as part of interest-based or unit-based learning.

Learn More

See our review of other Horses in History books.

The Horses in History series are told from a secular - not expressly Christian or Catholic point of view, and as such do not aim to teach any religious/moral lesson. They also, however, do not contain any morally objectionable content. Thus, the books are appropriate for all audiences and could be added to any public school curriculum or library.

Because this book is set in a historical period, does represent events and language in ways that might raise eyebrows to particularly sensitive readers (such as death, the use of the word "Indian", etc.), but it does without any graphic details and in an age-appropriate way.

I commend Mattie Richardson on writing well-researched wholesome, historical reads that can cross over between homeschool, private school, and public school audiences.

Find Appaloosy Books on social media - Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Over 25 Homeschool Review Crew families read Blue Skies West. Click through to find links to each family's thoughts in social media, blog, and video reviews

Super Teacher Worksheets Support Struggling Readers! {A Homeschool Review Crew Review}

  Disclosure: I received this complimentary product through the Homeschool Review Crew.

When my children were younger, I was introduced to the 10,000+ (now 20,000) printables that Super Teacher Worksheets offers and found them super helpful. Two years later, I revisited this winning resource with delight, but, then, my kids aged of it.

So, why would I have chosen to review another 1-year membership of this K-5th grade resource now?

Because I am working with a homeschool friend's struggling reader and having the worksheets at my fingertips to use for supplementary work and homework is super helpful!

Teaching Reading with the Help of Super Teachers Worksheets

Since my homeschool friend asked me to help her son with his reading, I have been working with him once a week using a loose Orton-Gillingham approach combined with phonetic readers and Super Teacher Worksheets.

Each week as I prepare for our meeting, I quickly browse the reading, writing, phonics, spelling, and sight words worksheets on the Super Teacher Worksheets membership website and print off ones that relate to whatever target phonograms we have recently worked on or will be attacking that week.

With these on hand, I am easily able to add extra challenges and fun to our lessons and to provide his parents with concrete exercises and activities to do between our sessions.

I love that I can quickly pull up and print a wide variety of worksheets which dovetail with whatever target phonogram I am teaching on a certain day and that there are multiple offerings to support lessons. With the available printables, I always have a new challenge or review resource at hand to work on together in session or to send home with my friend's son for homework.

My friend's son seems to enjoy the printables, too! Often, when he comes back with his completed work, he is eager to see how he did on it and sometimes asks for more worksheets! I think he and his parents appreciate that the worksheets are clear cut, not overwhelming, and provide an ideal amount of practice and stretching of skills.

More than just ELA

At present, my friend's son and I are only working on his English Language Arts skills. However, should I be asked to expand what I am helping him with, I can also easily access math, social studies, science, holiday, and seasonal printables with thanks to my Super Teacher Worksheets. membership. (I have used worksheets from these other areas with my own kids in the past.)

It's fabulously convenient to have so many printables right at your fingertips with easy navigation.

With games, cut-and-glue activities, puzzles, mini-books, traditional worksheets, and more, there truly is something for everyone on Super Teacher Worksheets, and since Individual Memberships currently cost just $24.95 per year and offer unlimited downloads, the resource is amazingly affordable!

It's one-stop resource for worksheets for:

• math
• reading comphrehension
• phonics
• early literacy
• grammar
• spelling
• reading and writing
• chapter book units
• science
• social studies
• PreK and Kindergarten
• Holidays
• parent/educator tools

There is also a worksheet generator where parents and teachers can create their own math problems, spelling lists, Bingo games, wordsearches, flashcards, quizzes, and more. What a time saver that is for busy educators who want to customize printables but not be responsible for totally designing them!

I recommend  Super Teacher Worksheets to homeschoolers, tutors, and teachers with K-5 students. It is an easy-to-navigate, super helpful resource that allows you to find premade printables or customize your own quickly.

Learn More

Find Super Teacher Worksheets on social media on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram.   

Over 30 Homeschool Review Crew families have been benefiting from this comprehensive library of printable resources.  Get a  peak into more of the resources by clicking through to read all of our reviews as many of us chose different ones to highlight. 

EdShed Provides Web Based Games for Spelling and Math {A 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 compensated in any other way.

Sometimes it is good to have an online program that multiple children in one family can access to practice their spelling and math skills using a web-based games format.

EdShed offers just this with their subscription based  Math Shed and Spelling Shed which is designed for your 1st-5th graders. 

If you order a subscription, you and yours can have one year of access to web games for up to 5 students with individual log-ins for each user and a Teacher Hub which allows parents to set up students (or groups of students called leagues), create assignments with spelling lists or custom spelling lists, and monitor student progress. 

Like many online programs Math Shed and Spelling Shed allows students to create personalized avatars that are shared between programs. Unique to Math Shed and Spelling Shed is the programs - or web games - within it, which students have unlimited access to and can easily switch between when playing.

As an extra bit of fun, the program allows children to earn online currency when they answer questions correctly during games. Thins, in turn, can be used to upgrade their avatars with fun accessories such as glasses, masks, and jewelry.

Math Shed is pretty much open-and-go. It doesn’t require you as a parent/teacher to select curricula or assign content. Rather, students log in and click on the topic the wish to practice with a choice of Easy, Medium, and Hard levels.

Topic areas include:

• Number Bonds
• Times Tables

• Addition and Subtraction
• Powers of 10

The space-themed menu for these games is organized by these math concepts rather than grade level and each section has an array of questions to enhance math fluency.

Detailed data reports reveal progress made as well as areas that need improvement or have been mastered.

Spelling Shed takes a bit of setting up by you as the parent/teacher, but it is not hard to get going.

It comes pre-loaded with Dolch, Fry, and other well-known spelling lists which are grade-level specific and aligned with national education standards. It also offers customization for you to set up assignments, create spelling lists, track your child’s progress, and see data about spelling mistakes.  All this is done from the Teachers Hub.

Then, with student logins, students can access:

• Play – where they practice spelling a list of 10 words in a timed format

• Beekeeper  – which allows them to guess words by choosing letters (almost Hangman style)

• Buzz Words – where they create words with random letter tiles 
• Hive games – where students can play with others inside the program

Games can be played at different levels:

• Easy, which means a word is shown, an audio clip is played, and only the included letters are shown.
• Medium, where an audio clip is played and only the included letters are shown.
• Hard, where an audio clip is played and the included letters plus some random letters are shown.
• Extreme, where audio clip is played and a full qwerty keyboard is shown.

This part of the program also includes weekly downloadable spelling curriculum for grades 1-5 that can be accessed from the Teacher Hub an includes activities and printable practice homework sheets with answers for those that like offline learning, too.

I had my 10 year old try out Math Shed and Spelling Shed to see how it worked, and we both that Math Shed could work well for practice for any child in addition to a spine curriculum while Spelling Shed could work as a supplement or a main curriculum for spelling and vocabulary for children and parents who like it so long as parents stepped in to expand on a few things regarding capitulation, punctuation, etc.

My son said, specifically:

It's okay. It's not the best style for me. I don't like being under pressure for quick answers with math and, since you have to get used to the keyboard, it is hard to answer quickly even when I know the answer.

With the spelling, the games were okay, but it had incorrect capitalization for the word tuesday and said 'Mrs' (with no period) was the answer when I heard the voice say 'misses'.  Also, sometimes, I could not hear the voice well and missed the words.

Overall, it did not seem like the games taught. They just test what you know and let you practice. Some kids might like it.

Obviously, my son was not taken by Math Shed and Spelling Shed, but I have no doubt other children could find it a helpful fit. In fact, over 80 Homeschool Review Crew families tried out subscriptions and some of them absolutely loved the program and had great success with it. (Click through to find social media, video, and blog reviews.)

Further, I think the program could be a possible "extra" for classroom / co-op teachers to use to encourage skill building and practice.

It provides helpful, detailed data for individual students from the Hub dashboard and allows you to customize things for your children.

So, if you are looking for a web-based math games supplement to solidify fundamental math skills or a supplemental or complete spelling/vocabulary program that works on learning through repetition with web games, Math Shed and Spelling Shed might be worth considering  You can try a  free trial without having to enter credit card information to see if it is a good fit for you.  You can also try an app if you prefer that format.

Find Math Shed and Spelling Shed on social media at:

  Website |  Facebook |  Twitter |  Instagram |  YouTube

We Found Our Math Resource for This Year! {A CTCMath Review}

 
I like to have multiple ways for my children to learn and practice math all year, so when an opportunity to review CTCMath’s 12-month family membership came up, I asked my children if they would be interested in trying it and all three said, "Yes." I as pleased with their response, since CTCMath has an excellent reputation and I was curious how it would work for my children.

In short order, I discovered, CTCMath works wonderfully for our family. All summer, it has proven itself to be an easy-to-use, helpful, and quick way for my children to progress with math studies.

What is CTCMath?

CTCMath is an online, subscription-based math program for grades K-12 that is used by over 200,000 students worldwide. Created by Pat Murray, a math teacher and homeschool Dad of 10, the program aims to help students progress easily through math with short, interactive lessons that speak to a variety of learning styles. 

Grade levels and courses within the program include:

• Kindergarten
• 1st grade
• 2nd grade
• 3rd grade
• 4th grade
• 5th grade
• 6th grade
• Basic Math and Pre-Algebra
• Elementary Measurement
• Elementary Geometry
• Algebra I
• Geometry
• Algebra II
• Triginometry
• Pre-Calculus
• Calculus

The courses are delivered through video tutorials, interactive questions, worksheets and solutions, diagnostic tests, and reports of progress.

There are separate student and teacher pages, both easy to navigate.

The teacher pages gives access to tracking information, scores, tasks to be assigned, tools, and more.  It also allows you to easily switch to student view pages, which is quite handy
Student pages allow students to easily jump back and forth between grade levels and skills as they need to or to progress on a more linear track.

I appreciate how all this comes together so that students can work independently with some freedom as to what they wish to work on, but that parent teachers can also assign specific tasks.

You can learn more about the program by watching this video:

To use the program, all you need is an internet connection and a device with a web browser.  If you like printed material, a printer, ink, paper, and pencil are good, too, since there are optional printable portions to lessons.


What Do My Children Have to Say About CTCMath

More often than not, when my children sit down for their daily independent math time, my children choose CTCMath over other resources we have available, and each is progressing well with it.

My 13-year-old, who is intent on starting high school one year early, has decided CTCMath will be his main math program for the year.

He said:

CTCMath is an online math program that covers grades K-12. I decided to try this program, because I am entering high school and need a math program.

While not as engaging as some other math programs I have tried, CTCMath is extremely simple to use. You just log in, go to your grade level and whatever math subject you are working on and click on a lesson in the section you are working on.

 

Each lesson consists of a video and questions along with a printable worksheet if you are not one who likes computers.

 

One of the most annoying features is that it allows teachers or parents to set a passing grade, which is really aggravating when your Mom sets it to 85% or better and you only have 6-10 questions, meaning you cannot have any mistakes. But, when Mom lowers it, it becomes easier.

The videos are clear, but, for me, not necessary because the subject is pretty easy to learn so far. 

I intend to use this for the rest of this year. I am doing well with it and it makes math quick and easy for me.

I hope my oldest son sticks with his plan to use CTCMath all year as it has been such a no-fuss way for him to progress with math skills since we started using it.

My 12-year-old, who does not always like online math programs and who has math skill gaps due to challenges with dyslexia and other things, also has found CTCMath helpful. 

She had this to say: 

When I first started CTCMath, I thought it was dumb. I didn't like it, because I did not know how to use it well. Once I clicked around more, failed a few things, asked my mom for some help, that kind of stuff... I found out that it's actually really easy to use, and it makes math simple! 

Once I figured CTCMath out, I got a little bit - just a teeny bit - addicted. I ended up doing over two hours of math in one day during my free choice time. I was determined to finish over half the tasks under one topic in a day, which I did. 

CTCMath is really simple to maneuver. All you have to do is sign in. Then, you see your profile with your average.

When you actually open as yourself, there is a lot of white space, which I really like and there are not a ton of tasks that they show at once. So, for me, there are only 12 tasks to do right now and I have passed five of them and started another five of them. This keeps me motivated and not overwhelmed. I am also interested to see what the next level will look like.

With each section, you can take a diagnostic test - a 16 question, a 32 question, etc. There is also a search.

Also, at the top, there are tabs for lessons tasks, results, settings, and history.

When you hit on results, it shows you results on everything you have worked on - your first grade and your highest grade.

It also has places on the bottom to click for speed skills, times tables, and swapping pieces.  These are games to make things more fun in my perspective.

I actually enjoy CTCMath and want to keep using it. It's easy, I'm learning, and I like it.

I cannot tell you how thrilled I am to see my daughter's success and confidence grow with CTCMath! It has been such an unexpected blessing.

More than once during my daughter's free time, I have found her on my bed with our laptop reaching to meet a self-set CTCMath goal. I have also found her printing out worksheets to use for practice when she doesn't feel like being online.  Hoorah!


My 9-year-old also likes CTCMath, although not with the same enthusiasm as his siblings.  He had this to say:

CTCMath is good. I like the time tables and speeds skills games. They help me enjoy practicing, and I think I am getting faster.

The regular lessons are okay. I don't like how long some of the tests are, but it's easy to use. I'd like to keep using it as a supplement.

Indeed, he will do just that. 

Learn More

I have a child who "gets" math easily but lacks focus, one who does not "get" math as easily but seeks independent success, and one who is pretty typical for his age.  All three are doing well with CTCMath, so I would say CTCMath can help a variety of children succeed! 

I would recommend  CTCMath’s 12-month family membership to any family that seeks a straightforward, clear, easy-to-use independent math resource that can be used by all their children with Mom or Dad checking in on progress easily.

In the weeks we've been using the program, I have witnessed:

• positive changes in one child's confidence and attitude when it comes to math.
• one child appreciating the short, to-the-point lessons as a way to quickly progress with necessary math skills.
• all three of my children learning at their own pace, some with the video tutorials and one without.
• little to no frustrations or issues during math time.
• stress-free math learning and easy check-ins on progress.

I so appreciate the ease and effectiveness of CTCMath and think you may like it, too.

The only thing I would like to see added to the program is a way for questions to be read to students so that children that have reading challenges can tackle text based questions with no troubles.

Find the reviews.

To see how all 60 families that reviewed CTCMath felt about the program, click through to the reviews.

You can also connect on social media: 

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest | YouTube