Digital Frog International Virtual Field Trips

Looking for a new approach to nature study? Hop on over to Digital Frog International at http://www.digitalfrog.com. Famous for their innovative virtual frog dissection interactive video computer program, Digital Frog now offers virtual field trips for all ages. I received the entire virtual field trip series ,"The Wetlands, The Rainforest and The Desert" as a member of the Homeschool Crew in exchange for this review. Although my first initial reaction was "a bit pricey for an educational computer program", Digital Frog's programs are not average!

Digital Frog International describes themselves at their website as: "an innovative, enthusiastic, software company, dedicated to creating high-quality educational, multimedia CD-ROMs with an ecological focus. Our corporate headquarters is a converted barn surrounded by frogs, dogs and bogs in rural Ontario, Canada."

Always in need of an assistant, I asked my Kindergarten son Aidan to assist me with this review. Aidan is a Jr. computer geek, Lego afficiando and lover of animals. He is the biggest nature enthusiast of all of my kids, so I was sure he would definitely enjoy a virtual field trip.

Aidan was very excited to click through the different options of this program while I read the excellent, in depth text aloud. The field trips are multi-layered adventures filled with clear, bright photography, easily read, yet extremely informative text, and interactive opportunities within the virtual world.

Aidan and I chose to visit, "The Wetlands" first. We selected this from our initial screen choices of Wetlands, Rainforest or Desert. Next, the program directed us to a bog in Canada and we were asked if we would like to locate the bog before our visit. Choosing "yes" the next screen challenged us to click on North America on a world map, then Canada, then the Province of Ontario, then Algonquin Park, until finally we arrived at Cloud Lake. Throughout our virtual journey short, detailed descriptions of our destinations were provided in text which I read aloud to Aidan.

Once we arrived at Cloud Lake a series of 8 different posts, or specific sites of the bog, to visit were presented. We chose to travel to in order so as not to miss anything on our visit. Clicking on a mini map took us directly to the post marking where we investigated various plant and animal life at each location. The visuals have a 360 degree effect (think Google Earth) which is very fun for a six year old. We spun around in circles and happened upon a wood duck, a wolf and a beaver at various moments. Besides the fun of spinning, a small virtual notebook located to the right of the viewing area for the bog presents "field notes"for areas encountered. The text for the field notes is very concise, informative and intelligently written. I'm not sure of the grade level of the writing, but it is definitely appropriate for high school level nature study and if read aloud with explanation, appropriate for young nature enthusiasts too.

Spinning in circles in the "great outdoors" is fun, but for educational purposes, I asked Aidan his favorite animal so we could investigate the variety of information available in the text. He chose "Wood Duck", we clicked the link within the program, and were taken to a close-up photo of the wood duck at the lake. Within this screen were options to read an "Intro" about the duck, "Habitat", "Behavior", "Life Cycle", "Food Source", "Size Ranges", "Latin Name/Classification", "Trophic Level (ie. Consumer), and "Food Source".We could have spent hours just investigating the wood duck and all its related components, but the great thing about a virtual field trip for nature study is that you don't have to do it all at once. Older students can benefit with longer visits to study the in depth nature of the text and visuals, while young ones can glean brief snippets of information and enjoy "spinning" in the great outdoors.

I asked Aidan, for his honest opinion of "The Digital Field Trip Series" and he said, "I liked seeing the beaver, the frog, the wolf and the bald eagle in the wetlands!" When asked if he had any suggestions for improvement he added, "I wish there were games to play".

Digital Frog International's "Digital Field Trip Series" can be purchased at the company website for $199.00. Individual trips (ie. Desert only) can be purchased for home use for $60.00 each. Digital Frog is used in classrooms, but is a perfect product for home education as well.

LanSchool Technology

If you need a little help managing your 21st century one room schoolhouse you might consider investing in LanSchool. Priced at $99.00, for a home version, LanSchool provides "supermoms" and dads the opportunity to develop "super powers" to help keep up with technology use in the home. Set up is simple and easy to use and once loaded on the teacher's computer, LanSchool allows parent teachers the ability to monitor all screen use in the home.

LanSchool apps are available for free at the Itunes store to downloaded to IPhone, or IPad. This allows even greater flexibility and time saving measures for teachers to monitor PC and Mac computers. In addition to monitoring screens, LanSchool provides the option of pairing a teacher computer with a student, blanking student screens when appropriate, instant messaging with students and blocking unwanted internet use.

It is easy to monitor student's progress and computer usage with LanSchool, but I am not convinced it is a product necessary for most homeschool families. I appreciate it is an award winning technology product that is easy to use, but don't have the same issues in my home classroom as a classroom in a more public setting. Although a great product for technology based classrooms filled with distractions, and perhaps a necessary element for a distractible child, I couldn't find a use for LanSchool in our home. We only have two computers for school use and both are in the same public room. Most of my children's schoolwork is done with traditional pen, pencil, paper, arts supplies and "old school" books. Even though my husband is a computer consultant and I maintain this review blog we try to limit our internet time in exchange for face to face interpersonal interactions. Needless to say, LanSchool is not a product I would recommend to the average homeschool family.

To judge for yourself, consider visiting the LanSchool Technology website at http://www.lanschool.com/lanschool. LanSchool provides a "guided tour" of their product along with testimonials, pricing options and technical specifications at the company website. If you still can't decide if LanSchool is for right for your family, simply register on the site for a FREE 30-day trial.

* I received a free copy of LanSchool for use in my home as a member of the TOS Homeschool Review Crew. This review was written in exchange for the product use and represents my honest opinion.

Math Galaxy

Ever wish you had a math tutor for your child? Math Galaxy offers its services by promising to help K-12 students "connect abstract concepts of math to concrete experiences with graphical illustrations at each step..." Our family received a free download of Math Galaxy's computer program Whole Numbers Fun in exchange for this review. My second grade daughter, Sierra, assisted me in discovering the best and worst of Math Galaxy.

Whole Numbers Fun is one of six computer programs offered by Math Galaxy. Other programs include:

• Fractions Fun
• Decimals, Proportions and Percentage Fun
• Word Problems Fun
• Pre-Algebra Fun
• Algebra Fundamentals

Unlike my version, customers receive programs on CD for $29.95. Math Galaxy is currently offering FREE SHIPPING for any programs ordered.

With all the "FUN" mentioned by Math Galaxy in the titles of their programs I expected great things. Math has NOT been FUN for Sierra this year. With the promise of changing her experience we put Whole Numbers Fun to task.

Whole Numbers Fun is a very basic computer program. The graphics included are simple. There are no cute characters, rocket ships, sound effects, etc., just basic shapes and numbers.We could not discover an instructions page or help link, but most of the program was intuitive. Not realizing at first how very basic the program was, I double checked my computer's speakers to determine if the sound was off. It wasn't. There are NO sound effects or audio cues to guide students in the learning process. Math Galaxy programs are strictly visual.

Upon opening the computer program Sierra chose to practice addition and clicked on the button to let the fun begin. Next, she chose which whole number to use for addition practice, typing in number 6. The next screen presented an option of "random" or "in order" practice of addition problems related to number 6.

When testing a portion of the Adding section of Whole Numbers Fun the screen displayed large basic shapes at the top of the page and numbers organized in a number sentence directly below the shapes. A faint white box sectioning off ten of the shapes gave the visual cue to help students build awareness of the ease of organizing ones into tens for addition.

Unfortunately, when Sierra typed in her first few answers we couldn't find them on the screen. We typed the answer several times, tried to find a cursor with our mouse, but nothing showed up. Without a help icon or other instructions Sierra and I became easily frustrated. Fortunately, within a few minutes, we discovered the answer had appeared at the bottom of the screen not near the number sentence problem as anticipated. Sierra's previous typing attempts displayed an incorrect answer, and even though we tried to backspace to delete it, the program wouldn't let us. We finally solved the problem by hitting enter on the keyboard, which allowed us a second attempt at solving the problem. Math Galaxy teaches to mastery and will not allow students to continue to other problems without solving each one correctly.

When a problem is solved correctly a giant red message of CORRECT! appears as a reward. In addition, (pardon the pun) students are rewarded with "robots" for correct answers during a drill. These robots are used in the Labyrinth, a separate game aspect of the program. The games in the Labyrinth are reminiscent of early Atari games in design. They begin with a page of instructions/directions, but we still struggled to get the games to operate correctly. Many robots died in the Labyrinth due to our sad game playing ability.

Sierra summed up our game experience quite well when asked for her opinion."I kind of liked the robot game a little bit", she said. "I liked the different caves, but I didn't like it when we couldn't get the robot to move", she added.

Although the design of Whole Numbers Fun is not high-tech the material covered is comprehensive. Topics in the program are typical of grades 1-4 math curricula. They include:

• Adding
• Subtracting
• Multiplying
• Dividing
• Place Value
• Rounding and Estimating
• Patterns and Sequences
• Time
• Money Length
• Area
• Volume
• Pictographs
• Bar Graphs
• Probability
• Riddles

Games on the CD designed to stretch critical thinking skills include:

• Word Problems
• Word Jumbles
• Bridge the Swamp
• Riddles
• Labyrinth
• Word Jumbles
• Bridge the Swamp

Whole Numbers Fun, offers a relatively inexpensive option for math drill practice. By nature, computer programs usually last through multiple children making the initial investment a true bargain. Customers are offered a 30-Day money back guarantee at the company website, www.mathgalaxy.com. Coupled with the FREE SHIPPING offer I would encourage anyone interested in their own test market experience to give it a try.

Although I am not a fan of Math Galaxy, my experience with computer programs and children is that even the most basic are worth a child's time. What I view as simple is rarely met with as much skepticism by my younger students. Sierra summed up her experience with Math Galaxy by pointing out her favorite aspects of the program. "I like how they show you the problems with shapes to help you solve it. I liked typing on the computer too."

Graphics Toolbox

At a local homeschool support group meeting one night a member coined the phrase, "tool in our toolbox" to describe an opportunity from which she had benefited. I remember thinking it a great phrase to share as all homeschool families do not look alike. Curriculum, field trips and other opportunities which seem amazing and irreplaceable for some may seem boring or frivolous to others. Graphics Toolbox is an incredible graphic design program currently being marketed to the homeschool community, but it may or may not be a "tool for your toolbox".

I received a free copy of Graphics Toolbox as a member of the Old Schoolhouse Homeschool Crew in exchange for this review. Initially overwhelmed by the program I had the opportunity to attend an extremely informative training session offered by program creator, Lynda Holler. The training was offered to help me ease through the learning curve of becoming a graphic designer. Holler recorded her training sessions with the crew and offers them free of charge on the Graphics Toolbox website, http://www.greatsoftwaretools.com/.

"Graphics Toolbox is my brainchild. I worked for over 25 years in NYC's fashion industry and I used the apparel and textile software Colour Matters for all my design and presentation needs. I also used it for all my personal graphics needs, like making invitations, thank you notes, photo editing and more....About three years ago a lightbulb went on and I realized that most people didn't own a professional-level graphics program that was easy to learn and use", said Holler in a recent press release.

"I began working with William Tsao, the developer of Colour Matters to create Graphics Toolbox. We removed most of the fashion features leaving the intuitive and creative graphics tools, while adding new functions that could benefit the personal user like our Daily Life Color Cards, Fancy Lines and Colorful Ribbons", she added.

Graphics Toolbox is a comprehensive design program that operates with a raster graphics editor. This means Graphics Toolbox is similar to Photoshop and Paint programs which work with a grid-like template enabling users to design in pixels. According to Holler, Graphics Toolbox works at a 300 dpi; a very high resolution equal to a photographic quality resolution. Controls and design options within the program are extremely visual making use of symbols instead of words. Holler explained this was purposeful so students would not have to be familiar with design terminology in order to use the program.

In addition to helpful training videos on the Graphics Toolbox website, a complete training manual is included with the program. Users only need to right click their mouse to find a help message linking them to page 2 of the users manual; a PDF file linked to various topics. For example, if struggling with re-sizing an image, right click, choose "re-size image" in the index, click on the topic and instantly access the portion of the user manual which explains how to complete the task.

When I first looked at Graphics Toolbox I had a hard time imagining using it in our homeschool. Even after my helpful training session I felt overwhelmed and a bit intimidated. I understood Graphics Toolbox could help my children create wonderful school reports, play with photos, design personalized invitations and other stationery and even be used for blog design elements. I was however, having a hard time embracing the technology so I did what every smart homeschool Mom does and assigned my 12 year old daughter to the task.

Micah is our family's designated card maker, bread baker, and constant source of creative entertainment. She loves to work with digital photography to create unique still photos, gift cards and mini movies. Feeling helpless to offer instruction I simply told her to visit the Great Software Tools website for training. She watched three different videos and chose to create an invitation as her project. She cut an image from an old photo, added ribbon elements and shadowed text to test out the aspects of Graphics Toolbox. It took her 3 1/2 hours to create her custom invitation shown below.

I interviewed Micah so she could share her experience as a student with Graphics Toolbox.

How would you compare this program in relation to traditional scrapbooking or card making ?

"I could have done most of this project with scissors. I guess the only thing I couldn't have done is save paper and ribbon".

Do you think you will use Graphics Toolbox again for projects?

"Yeah, I think so, because I can access everything really quickly like the pictures and ribbon and words. Some things I could have done on Microsoft Word, but Graphics Toolbox lets me do everything in one program".

What aspects could you not have done with Microsoft Word?

"Cutting out images, adding a shadow effect to the words, things like that"

What do you think about the learning curve needed to become familiar with Graphics Toolbox?

"I guess it really isn't that hard, but finding the right buttons and the right frame took me some time at first. Some things were a bit overwhelming until I got the hang of it."

How long would a project like this take you next time you used Graphics Toolbox?

"I'd say about an hour now that I've learned how to use the program. When I got stuck in certain parts it took me a long time to figure out what I was doing wrong and find the answer. I think that's why it took me so long the first time."

What is your overall impression of Graphics Toolbox?

"I like that you can cut out certain pictures. For example you could have a human head on an animal or you could put people in photos who weren't really there. My little brother loves Ben 10 so I could use this program to put his head on Ben 10's character for his next birthday card. I also like all the colors and choices for ribbons. It's definitely worth using Graphics Toolbox for projects for school and making cards for other people".

Graphics Toolbox retails for $149.00 on the Great Software Tools website. Its unique features can be put to work for business or school use. For those interested in trying before buying, Great Software Tools offers a FREE 30 day trial of the software accessible through instant download.

Although I am still struggling to understand how to incorporate Graphics Toolbox into our homeschool my children are not. They are ready to make it a "tool in their toolbox" as they bring fresh ideas and creativity to their school projects.

Professor in a Box

How many times have you wished you could find an expert to teach your high school level student? Wouldn't it be great if UPS could drop off a Professor in a box along with the curriculum for challenging courses? Financial Accounting by Michael P. Licata, Ph.D. is figuratively and literally a Professor in a Box. The course is taught by Licata, Ph.D., Associate Professor in the Department of Accountancy in the Villanova School of Business at Villanova University in Villanova, Pennsylvania, and is described as a first accounting course for homeschool high school students. The course promises to introduce students to the study of accounting described as "the language of business" .

Licata has taught the content of Financial Accounting dozens of times during his 24 years as a professor at Villanova University. He presently specializes in teaching distance learning courses at the graduate and undergraduate levels. According to Licata's bio he is consistently rated by his students as one of the best teachers in his department and in his college. Licata's connection to the homeschool community is a natural one as he and his wife Jeannie home school their two children in South Jersey.

Financial Accounting is designed for the independent learner and busy homeschool parent. According to the company website, "This course is taught in a non-traditional format. There is no textbook and no 40 page chapters to read. All necessary course content is included in the Flash lecture slides and a brief key concepts and terms file for each chapter. "It retails for only $134.99, a true bargain for any college level course.

According to literature accompanying the program Financial Accounting promises to be ".... similar in content to the first accounting course taken by all students in university and college schools of business across the country. Any high school level student with basic math skills can handle this course". Professor in a Box, Financial Accounting covers the following topics:

Chapter One: Introduction to Accounting

Chapter Two: The Financial Statements

Chapter Three: The Accounting Cycle- Recording Transactions

Chapter Four: The Accounting Cycle

Chapter Five: Accounting for a Merchandising Company

Chapter Six: Short-Term Financial Assets

Chapter Seven: Inventories

Chapter Eight: Long-term assets-Property, Plant & Equipment and Intangible Assets

Chapter Nine: Liabilities- Current & Long Term

Chapter Ten: Stockholders' Equity: Contributed Capital

Chapter Eleven: The Statement of Cash Flow

Chapter Twelve: Financial Statement Analysis

I received Professor in a Box, Financial Accounting free of charge in exchange for this review. My son Jonah, a 15 year old high school sophomore, assisted me by using the course over a five week period and educating me in regards to its assets and liabilities. Jonah has recently completed an Algebra 2 course and was ready to begin a new math elective.

Financial Accounting arrived with a supplementary calculator and pencil plus the entire curriculum and accompanying Instructor's guide on CD. For traditionalists preferring less screen time pages can be printed from your home computer including a terms file pdf , lecture slides, and even homework problems. Having the ability to print makes life easier for the student and teacher on the go without the benefit of a laptop.

Jonah began Financial Accounting at the beginning of November and worked consistently daily for 1-2 hours a day. The accompanying syllabus recommends completing 2 lessons per week with the course consisting of a total of 28 lessons over the 12 chapters including exam days. If a student held to that schedule they could complete the course in one semester or 14 weeks. Jonah has completed 8 lessons and one exam over about a five week period which included a short week for Thanksgiving break. When asked if he thought this schedule was a bit ambitious he said, " No, it is a nice alloted amount of time. I usually spend at least this much time on my math lessons".

Beginning the course is as easy as slipping the CD into the computer and clicking on the first lecture for chapter one. Each of the course's twelve chapters are sub-divided into 2-3 parts. Lectures are audio with power point slide visuals to aid in comprehension. Lecture time spans 2-4 hours per chapter (15-40 slides), and concludes with homework practice problems.

According to Jonah homework took an average of "about an hour to an hour and a half" to complete. When I looked for an example I discovered Chapter 1-part two lecture concludes with asking the student to record various described transactions for a one month period on a balance sheet, record the effects of transactions on a a balance sheet for a company's one month period of business, interpret the effects of business transactions on a balance sheet, prepare a balance sheet for various transaction scenarios for two different days of the company's history and match 17 vocabulary terms with definitions listed.

Topics included in Chapter One part two were:

* Distinguish financial accounting v. managerial accounting

* Discuss the need for integrity in the field of accouting

* Define and discuss GAAP (the rules of accounting)

* Define the roles of the FASB and the SEC

*Discuss the accounting profession, career opportunities in accounting and the requirements to become a CPA

Jonah had a few constructive comments in regards to the lectures of each chapter. " I thought Professor Licata was easy to listen to, but he sometimes repeated stuff a lot which kind of got annoying. I didn't really have any trouble completing the homework based on what I had learned in the lecture. There is a solution section that you can click on to check your answers so if I got something wrong I knew about it right away and saw what I did wrong so I could correct it".

Students are graded by three exams, one after chapter 4, one after chapter 8, and one after chapter 12. Each exam is worth 150 points. A suggested grading scale 0f 90-100, etc., is listed in the product literature as well.

I did not use the instructor's CD at all. I found this to be a HUGE plus as my high school student prefers to work independently for long hours. Financial accounting allowed me to simply act as doting mentor Mom and helped Jonah to continue developing his strong independent study skills.

Customers can purchase Financial Accounting at the company website, www.professorinabox.com. The informative site provides curriculum samples, excel spreadsheets and access to a forum for curriculum users.

I have seen a great deal of curriculum in the past 14 years of homeschooling. I am not often impressed with new finds, but Professor in a Box, Financial Accounting is by far one of the best elective courses I have ever seen for high school students. It is written by an expert in the field, designed for independent learning, responsibly scheduled and planned to fit a high school kid's life, and affordable. I am VERY, VERY impressed. The true test of any curriculum, however, lies in its effectiveness with students. I asked Jonah for his final comments regarding Financial Accounting and he easily obliged my request.

"I like it. It's confusing if you don't know how to do it, but once you learn how it's easy. It presents information in a good way. I liked how Dr. Licata went over problems in the lessons for examples. I found it easier to understand the information he gave this way. I would definitely reccomend this course to other homeschool families"

Quarter Mile Math Computer Software

"The Quarter Mile is dedicated to you! We believe that you are capable of incredible personal improvement and that you will have great fun blowing the "limits" away!"

Positive reinforcement is the name of this math based game produced by Barnum Software from the moment of signing on. Quarter Mile Math is designed to aid students with increasing their ability to quickly recall basic math facts through the use of timed drills. Traditional time tests are brought to the 21st century by taking full advantage of computer generated racing games which are powered by students correctly answering math facts based on a specific math topic. Topics include math concepts traditionally taught in grades K-pre-Algebra (8/9th grade) based on State standards. Students race against the clock solving math problems in an effort to move either a race car or wild horse toward a finish line. Correctly answering the math facts moves the car or horse faster. Scores are recorded as the number of seconds required to complete the race.

According to the producers of Quarter Mile Math this computer resource is "designed to increase your skill level through self-competition". As students begin playing Quarter Mile Math they will race against "Fast Eddy", a computer generated racer designed to lose by staying at the starting line a bit too long. Fast Eddy competes with cars or horses in five of the six lanes shown on the computer screen, but his racers will slowly be replaced by replayed versions of the student's fastest times. This method allows students to always compete against themselves, building confidence as they build speed.

Self-competition is friendly and confidence building but lets face it some kids want more. Quarter Mile Math Deluxe offers those wishing to flex their math muscles an opportunity to participate in tournaments with other users. Students have the opportunity to compete in tournaments with other users across the room or across the globe. The tournaments make this math drill product unique and are designed to keep energy and excitement alive for kids as they study their math facts. The software offers suggestions for up to 12 different types of tournaments including "Round Robin", "Individual Tournament" and "School Tournaments" cleverly created to multi-function as a fundraiser.

Upon completing a race students have two options for recording their scores. Option 1: "Race with Everyone" allows the student to continue to compete with himself by keeping track of the top five average times completed successfully and if participating in a tournament with other Quarter Mile Math Deluxe version users, access to check their score for ranking against other students.

The second option, "Track Your Progress Over Time" simply allows students an opportunity to keep record of their top five scores. If the new race falls short of these times it remains unrecorded.

I must admit I used very little of Quarter Mile Math Deluxe version, but three of my kids used it a lot. I didn't have to play the game, however, to see evidence of progress for as a parent/teacher I have access to each of my registered student's scores by logging into the review screen during sign in. I can check to see a list of every topic in which a particular student has raced, how many races they have run and their scores. The program monitors progress for me acting as my personal assistant in math instruction.

When asked for her opinion of the product 12 year old Micah, ready for grade 7, had this to say, "I think it is fun, but if you pick the wrong topic it might be too hard for you. I don't like it more than time tests on paper".

Micah thought it unusual that all students, no matter what grade level, had access to the same math topics. For instance, her 2nd grade sister could easily attempt a fractions race if desired. Personally, as a teacher, I thought this option a good one allowing gifted students to soar ahead and math strugglers time to get there without pressure.

Second grade Sierra was less critical and said, "I thought it was fun. I liked learning while watching my horses run".

Quarter Mile Math Levels 1, 2, 3 bundle Deluxe version is available in Windows or MacIntosh versions. Customers can subscribe at Barnum software's website for $2.95 per family per month, $19.95 per family per year or $34.95 per family for two years. The program is instantly downloaded to your computer, but an optional CD backup can be ordered for $5.00. A standard CD version of the program, which does not include tournament play, can be purchased for $39.95-$89.95 depending on range of grade level.

Barnum Software is offering TOS Review Crew members and their blog readers a special $5.00 off Deluxe or Standard versions by mentioning referral code 7D7H7. This special offer is good until September 30, 2009.

Make math drill time play time this year with Quarter Mile Math. It is one race everyone will want to win.

SpellQuizzer

“I thought it was a really helpful study tool. I liked how it would go back and test you on the words you didn’t know; the words you originally got incorrect.”

That’s what Sammi, age 17, had to say about SpellQuizzer, a Windows based spelling software program created by Dan Hite of TedCo software. Sammi became my test market victim, because she is the poster child for students needing assistance with spelling.

When Sammi and her older sister were in grade school they practiced spelling on a daily basis. No amount of workbook pages, flashcards, etc., ever proved to make spelling an easy subject for Sam. In fact, as she began studying French, her second language of choice, we discovered she struggled with spelling in that language too. We joked about it saying at least she was consistently a poor speller in all languages.

Sammi has now moved on to post-secondary classes at a local university and I no longer spend time trying to help her with spelling on a regular basis. Unfortunately, college level French classes require precise spelling in order to successfully pass portions of the course and Sammi’s quest to become a good speller has now taken on even greater value. She is planning to major in French and hopes to someday become a French teacher.

She had her first official college mid-term in French last week and I thought it would be a great opportunity to put the value of SpellQuizzer to the test. I prepared a list of French vocabulary words to use with the SpellQuizzer program to serve as a study tool for her test. I was anxious to see if SpellQuizzer could help Miss “Spelling Challenged” conquer her mid-term.

SpellQuizzer allows families the opportunity to create individualized word lists through the use of the computer keyboard and if possible, a headset microphone. Simply type the word into the program after clicking on the correct “create a list” prompt. After typing choose to record or type a sentence using the word. This sentence will be given to the student during the quizzing process. If utilizing the record option, simply click on the appropriate record button and SpellQuizzer allows nearly 20 seconds for recording your sentence through the use of a headset microphone. I thought the voice prompt worked especially well for foreign language study because training the ear is such a large part of working towards fluency. The whole process of adding the words and recording my sentences took about 15-20 minutes time and left me saying things like, “Cool!”, “Very Fun!”; words I would never have used before to describe Spelling or vocabulary drill work.

The SpellQuizzer program is easily downloaded to your home computer from the website, http://spellquizzer.com/ The cost is $29.95 and may be used by a family for multiple children. Easily understood demonstration videos are available on the website. I used these to learn how to create spelling lists, use the spelling lists, import files and export files.

The importing and exporting of files makes SpellQuizzer an even better value. Customers can potentially not purchase a formal spelling curriculum and simply use SpellQuizzer’s graded word lists on their site. Some of the word lists are organized around a theme. I saw, for example, a St. Patrick’s Day word list and noted how much fun it would be to study holiday spelling words one week instead of a typical grouping of words based on grade level.

As a homeschool Mom I am always interested in products which will make my life a bit easier and help educate my kids in the process. SpellQuizzer is like a friend living inside the family computer ready and willing to quiz kids on their spelling words. With a touch of creativity families can use SpellQuizzer as a learning tool for vocabulary development too. Being able to personalize the word lists with your own sound recordings really adds to the fun and versatility of the program. A few minutes of preparation and SpellQuizzer will take over for the teacher making sure students are ready for their next spelling test.

Sammi had her mid-term last week, but still hasn’t gotten her results. I asked her if she felt using SpellQuizzer had helped her and she said it definitely did. “I liked it a lot better than flashcards or other study methods, because it kept repeating words I didn’t know. It was a lot easier not to get distracted while studying too. It was like having a partner there with you to study”.

A free 30 day trial of SpellQuizzer is available at the SpellQuizzer website. I highly recomend creating your own test market situation to evaluate this handy program. Kids will love using SpellQuizzer and homeschool teachers will love having an extra bit of help with spelling and vocabulary review.