Salem Ridge Press Review

With the amount of variety of books available to our kids today, we often don't know what our kids are reading. We may think we know what we are reading, but without actually reading the book ourselves, we really don't know for sure.

We hope to guard our childrens hearts from tv shows we don't approve of, music with inappropriate lyrics and friends that don't share our values. Yet when it comes to books, do we look to safeguard their hearts there as well?

Salem Ridge Press is a publisher of homeschool friendly books. Began by entrepreneurial family with the purpose of reprinting old books from the 1800's and early 1900's for another generation to enjoy. Their motto is "Helping you provide wholesome books for your family."

Salem Ridge Press provides otherwise out of print books with topics including: Historical Fiction, Adventure, Allegory as well as Young Readers. Their books are hand picked to emphasize value and character. Young Readers are for children 6 & up. Other age groups are 8 & up, 10 & up and 12 & up.

I have had the opportunity to review 3 of their books: Glaucia, The Greek Slave, by Emma Leslie; Mary Jane, Her Book, by Clara Ingram Judson and The American Twins of the Revolution by Lucy Fitch Perkins.

I must say that I was impressed with the quality of the books. Good old fashioned values and good old fashioned fun. A visit to life in the simpler times. Clean. Wholesome. A breath of fresh air. Those are words and phrases that I would use to describe these books!

My son, Josiah, is reading The American Twins of the Revolution. He is absolutely enthralled with it. It's a historical fiction and he loves history. What a better way to introduce him to history than a good engaging story?

You may ask, well, didn't people talk or write differently in yesteryear than they do today? The way that Salem Ridge Press handles that is by italicizing the "out of date" word, and listing it with it's definition or modern counterpart at the bottom of the page.

Salem Ridge Press has a user friendly website where books are searchable by listing, alphabetically, by time period & location, by author or by age range of the audience.

To see where you can purchase your own Salem Ridge Press titles online, click here.

Spears Art Studio Review

K-8 Christian Art Curriculum
A Teacher's Manual
By Diane S. Spears,
Doctor of Christian Education
Christian Education Artist

K-8 Christian Art Curriculum is an all encompassing Art Program for teaching the K-8 student available through Spears Art Studio.


It is a biblically based program, geared towards Christians. Made for teachers. Yet what I really appreciate about it is that it is completely adaptable for homeschooling!

Have you ever wanted to do art projects that really explain art? Have you ever wanted art to have more significance than just an outlet for creativity? Spears Art Studio explains HOW to teach art. It also has a biblical base, so every project has a related scripture and purpose, making it meaningful.

For those of us who are into scope & sequence, that information is included. For those of us who are on the more relaxed side of homeschooling, you can take the shopping cart approach to their program. Each project comes with a complete supplies needed list.

How is it set up? It's set up so that students do one art project per week for each week of the school year. Each week, there is at least one project, sometimes two, for each grade level. The art themes are seasonal, including holidays. I love the fact that, in Spears Art, at Christmas time we are studying the birth of Jesus!

In Spears Art Studio, there are plenty of projects and ideas so that you can teach multiple ages at the same time OR allow each student to do their own project.

Personally, I tend to do art projects where the kids basically have the same base project, and yet each child does a different level of work. Having the kids so the same projects really shows the differences in their learning styles AND personalities.









The pictures above (click for larger view) in pumpkin art are both from Spears Art Studio materials. The first project (picture on left), was color the pumpkin orange & green, then draw different shapes in each slice of the pumpkin, then cut the pumpkin out & cut it up in slices & put it back together like a puzzle. Glue on construction paper. Loved from my 3 year old to my 10 year old.

The bean pumpkin project (picture on right) was a take off of another Spears Art project. Julia, my 3 year old, had colored & cut three pumpkins. She still wanted to do another one while the boys were finishing up. So I had remembered that there was a bean project on the Spears Art Studios CD, and that I had beans in the pantry. So, she began and Jaden & Jedediah followed. We had just enough beans out of the 16 bean bag to do their three projects. We used elmers glue to glue on the beans. The kids were so proud!

There is enough material included on this CD, that you could buy it once, and use it for multiple children as they move through grades K-8. A complete set of art projects that you could use for multiple children for 9 school years! It's definitely worth the $39.95 (price includes CD with printable instructions. Hardcopy materials available for additional cost).

Click HERE to see a sample Christmas themed lesson!

They also have art materials for High School Art as well as Calligraphy. Visit www.spearsartstudio.com to check out their website or to buy Spears Art Studio K-8 Art Curriculum online.

Little Man in the Map Review

The Little Man In The Map,
With Clues to Remember ALL 50 States
Written by E. Andrew Martonyi
Illustrated by Ed Olson

Schoolside Press has come out with a brilliant little book, The Little Man in the Map, which uses clues, acronyms, visualization and rhymes, to help kids learn the names of all 50 states.

It begins by creating a reference point, in the map of the United States, by using the shapes of Midwestern states to create the likeness of a little man. (See picture of Minnesota-Louisiana below. You can see the resemblance, can't you? Hat, face, shirt, pants and boots?) The story continues, drawing relational references between this little man, Mim, and the states that are around him.

Fun, creative stories that capture your imagination as well as create memory links that help you remember the information that you just learned, without even realizing it. This is a book that I will continue to use with my children because it is a fun, painless way to learn US geography! It is a fantastic book that is superbly illustrated.

The first time my family sat down to listen to the story, I wasn't sure how much my kids would pick up. (Take a peek at my engrossed kids below!) Sure, they've heard state names in passing, but we haven't specifically studied the names of all 50 states yet. My kids are still pretty young (10 & under). Yet they loved it and my husband and I were both impressed with how much they retained! Where were these books when I was a kid!?!









The end of the book there is an advertisement for an upcoming book with clues for state capitals. It's already on MY list!

The Schoolside Press website has coloring pages, that compliment The Little Man In The Map, available to help reinforce what the kids have learned! There will also be a teachers guide available soon! Click HERE to visit their website.

It runs for $19.95. There is also a Full Color 38x22 Little Man In The Map Wall Map available via the website. Right now they are offering FREE shipping over the holidays!

Rime to Read Review

Rime to Read is a reading program that teaches kids how to read, using clickable rhyming online readers. The keyword here is that the readers RHYME. Or in this case RIME. The content words in the stories are rhyming words.

When the student clicks on the colored word, they hear the the audible word pronounced. The readers are ordered in a way where they build upon one another, book upon book. The words are pronounced clearly, by a female voice. Once you have purchased the access to the readers online, your student can read and reread the books as many times as they would like.

Rhyming content words are on the left hand side of the page alongside the picture. Sight words and Rime to Read pattern words are listed in the back of each reader. The allows the parent to see which words their student should be able to recognize and read!

What I really liked about the program:
*20 virtual readers
*Realistic page turning
*Fun little stories
*Can try before you buy
*Readers are printable
*Readers can save readers to your hard drive
(although, the words are not audible/clickable when saved.)
*Fantastic customer service.

What I didn't like as much about the program:
*The site is parent directed
(may not be easy for younger kids to navigate).
*There are no directions on how to print the readers into booklet form.
*I would have liked it if each word on every page was clickable/audible.

Cost?
1st one is FREE
Set of 5 is $10
Set of 20 for $44.99

Visit RimeToRead at www.rimetoread.com.