Review: See How They Run

See How They Run: Campaign Dreams, Election Schemes, and the Race to the White House by Susan E. Goodman is a 96-page picture book about presidential elections and the election process. Goodman covers the history of democracy, the electoral college, legal requirements for president, campaigning, political parties, campaign financing, and how ballots are counted. Written in 2008, the book includes presidents from George Washington to George Bush.

What I love about the book is that it's fun to read. It presents facts in an entertaining way by including funny sidebars and humorous illustrations. Goodman includes both the bad and good of the American political process and encourages kids to do what they can to get people to vote. If I had to guess, I think the author and/or publisher is

Teaching Composition Can be FUN!

Most language arts curriculum teach grammar and mechanics, but spend very little time teaching actual composition skills. Here’s a resource that will make teaching composition fun for the kids.

Don’t Forget to Write for the Elementary Grades includes 50 lessons for ages 5 to 12, as well as a self-assessment checklist, evaluation rubrics, and common core curriculum standards.

Here’s what makes this book effective:

• Each lesson includes activities to get the kids interested in writing such as a watching a video, building something, brainstorming, or role-playing. This sets the stage for the writing assignment.
• Next, students are invited to discuss the prewriting activity. This prepares them for the actual assignment.
• Finally, the students are given the assignment along

World War II Interactive

World War II Interactive for iPad provides a glimpse into World War II, its causes, events, and aftermath. The app includes more than 600 photos, 35 rare video clips, and audios of famous speeches made by Allied leaders.

You can browse by timeline event, media, people, and weapons.

This interactive app is perfect for students, teachers, veterans, or history buffs. I particularly like the app because it uses all the senses: auditory, visual and even kinesthetic (the interactivity of the app itself). Perfect for lesson plans and unit studies. 

Biology 101 Review by Cindy Downes

Your visual and auditory learners are going to LOVE this. As a matter of fact, Biology 101: Biology According to the Days of Creation, developed by Wes Olson, is going to be enjoyed by the whole family!

The topics covered in this 4 disc set include Defining Life and Life Classification, Plants, Aquatic Creatures, Avian Creatures, Land Animals, Mankind and Genetics. It also includes a printable 114-page guidebook and a 12-page "Course Accreditation Program."

First, what I liked:

I loved the beautiful videos; the animated graphs, charts and illustrations; the background music was pleasant and added to the learning experience. The host (also Wes Olson) was an excellent speaker and kept my attention with clearly defined definitions, anecdotes, and interesting facts. During the plant

Teaching A Foreign Language

Foreign language is a notoriously challenging subject for many Americans due to our relative isolation from the rest of the world. Even those who take a foreign language in high school or college rarely end up using it. In fact, only 26% of American’s speak a second language well enough to hold a conversation while more than 50% of Europeans are fluent in at least one additional language. So if you are one of the 74% of Americans that continue to struggle with a foreign language here are a few ideas that might make the process a little more enjoyable.

Experts agree that “immersion” substantially increase a student’s ability to retain foreign languages. Although trips to Mexico or Europe may be out of the question, there are other ways to create immersion opportunities for the whole

Medieval Life

Medieval Life features sound effects and interactive pen and ink drawings, paintings, and photographs that tell the story of life in the middle ages. It includes information on castle life, cathedrals, farms, towns, work, play, food, clothing, religion, homes, children, women, knights, tools, weapons, monastery, Vikings and Viking ships.

Pros: The sound effects, such as dogs barking, a blacksmith clanking tools, geese honking, and monks chanting, help pull you back into the middle ages. I like that. I also found it fun trying to find all the interactive hot spots; kind of like playing “Where’s Waldo.”

Cons: There is no animation or video including in the app. Although the pictures are interesting and there is a bit of interactivity, this app lacks the features that would

Ready, Set, GO!!

Its the third week of August, and I can feel the winds changing! Yes indeed, my friends. The school year is approaching once again!

There are two additions to my treasure trove of curriculum that has me particularly giddy this year. The first is a math book named for a precocious little professor that goes by “Fred”. The Life of Fred is a series of math books covering everything from fractions through calculus and trigonometry (as well as biology and economics). However, what makes Fred so different from other Math curriculum is that it is specifically written with the “math-phobic” in mind. Fred’s creator (Stanley Schmidt, Ph.D) has had plenty of experiences with less than enthusiastic math students. After teaching on both a high school and college level for over 15 years, Dr.

Modern Pioneers in Classical Education: Susan Wise Bauer

One of the first Classical Pioneers of the 21st Century is an English Professor from the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, VA.

Susan Wise Bauer first entered the homeschooling community as a student. Though homeschooling was mostly unheard-of at that time, her parents not only created a solid educational environment, they followed a neo-classical style of their own design (including teaching Susan Latin at the age of 10). She was a good student, devouring everything that they offered her. Books were the central feature of her education and weekly trips to the library were a special treat. By the time Susan was 17, she had completed her studies at home and was accepted into college as a Presidential Scholar and National Merit Finalist. While in College, Susan earned a B.S. in