I just gave my youngest child (who's about to turn two), his first video. And he loves it.
It gave me a really weird feeling to watch this little kid settle down and get into a video. I think it's because just like any other kid his age, he's basically never still unless he's sleeping. So when he sat still to watch the movie, it seemed kind of eerie. I kept thinking, something's not right - why isn't he moving?
Well, I guess that's why we'll only give him one video. :-)
This DVD is a "Pre-Reading" video by Leap Frog. The goal is to help kids learn letter sounds, and it works. My daughter learned her letter sounds from this video, and now my youngest is picking them up very quickly.
After watching Letter Factory a few times over the last couple of weeks, he's started bringing me capital letter magnets from the fridge and making the corresponding sound. He particularly likes "B", "C", "M", "S" and "Z".
The story line involves a family of frogs who are trying to put on a show. The youngest member of the family, Tad, who seems about like a human four-year-old, can't help with the show until he learns his letters.
He learns his letter sounds by visiting 26 different rooms. Each room has letters in it, that sing a song or otherwise demonstrate the sound they make.
At the end, the letters perform in the show, and they all make their sounds correctly ... "The B says buh ... the B says buh ... Every letter makes a sound, the B says buh."
This video has proven to be riveting for both my youngest kids. And I actually thought it was pretty entertaining, the first three or four times I watched it.
If I were to try to improve this video, I can only think of one suggestion I'd make. I'd rather the letters be lowercase rather than capitals. When you read books, you're reading mostly lowercase letters. So we ought to learn them first. (In Letter Factory, the lowercase letters do appear on the doors to the rooms, but the singing letters themselves are all capitals.)
Nobody's asked me for ideas on the remake, though. And we do love this video.
Friday, September 14, 2007
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
CyberEd Life Science (Guest Post)
The following is a guest post written by my ten-year-old son. I hope he'll be writing more here in the future.
This course is amazing. I like it a lot. It's split up into different units, like "Structure and Function in Living Organisms", each of which has subunits, such as "Organ Systems", which are divided into a lesson, application and test.
The lesson basically tells you everything about that topic, and then you move on to the application.
The application has a funny storyline ("Tommy and his dad finally fixed their pickup and decided to go fishing. Halfway there a Bigfoot suddenly jumped out in front of the truck...It seemed to be in pain. They promptly named it George and then took it to the hospital.") and then a period of application and questions ("Help the doctors find out what organ is causing George pain. We will now put George into the Body Scanner. What organ pumps blood?") Once you've done the application, you move on to the test.
The test simply askes you a series of questions, and then if you pass, it gives you a certificate to print out. If you do not, then I have no idea what happens, since I've never failed to pass!
They start at the beginning, with cell types and processes. Then they move on to more complex topics, such as "Organisms and their Environments." They end with evolution and natural selection.
I think this course is great overall. It's informative and memorable, without being boring. It's also satisfying, since at the end of each test, in the certificate, there is a bronze, silver or gold medal.
Signing off ... Signing off .... Signed off.
I've had my eye on the CyberEd science courses for a while. They are very comprehensive and have won awards for excellence. But until recently we were never able to consider using these courses, because the least expensive option available to homeschoolers was was to enroll through Johns Hopkins' CTY program (at the cost of over $600 for three months).
Just this summer, the Homeschool Buyers' Co-op negotiated a group purchase directly with CyberEd. We were able to purchase access to this course for one year for $25. We jumped on it. And I'm so glad we did! I expect we'll go on to the other CyberEd science courses once my son finishes Life Science.
This course is amazing. I like it a lot. It's split up into different units, like "Structure and Function in Living Organisms", each of which has subunits, such as "Organ Systems", which are divided into a lesson, application and test.
The lesson basically tells you everything about that topic, and then you move on to the application.
The application has a funny storyline ("Tommy and his dad finally fixed their pickup and decided to go fishing. Halfway there a Bigfoot suddenly jumped out in front of the truck...It seemed to be in pain. They promptly named it George and then took it to the hospital.") and then a period of application and questions ("Help the doctors find out what organ is causing George pain. We will now put George into the Body Scanner. What organ pumps blood?") Once you've done the application, you move on to the test.
The test simply askes you a series of questions, and then if you pass, it gives you a certificate to print out. If you do not, then I have no idea what happens, since I've never failed to pass!
They start at the beginning, with cell types and processes. Then they move on to more complex topics, such as "Organisms and their Environments." They end with evolution and natural selection.
I think this course is great overall. It's informative and memorable, without being boring. It's also satisfying, since at the end of each test, in the certificate, there is a bronze, silver or gold medal.
Signing off ... Signing off .... Signed off.
I've had my eye on the CyberEd science courses for a while. They are very comprehensive and have won awards for excellence. But until recently we were never able to consider using these courses, because the least expensive option available to homeschoolers was was to enroll through Johns Hopkins' CTY program (at the cost of over $600 for three months).
Just this summer, the Homeschool Buyers' Co-op negotiated a group purchase directly with CyberEd. We were able to purchase access to this course for one year for $25. We jumped on it. And I'm so glad we did! I expect we'll go on to the other CyberEd science courses once my son finishes Life Science.
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