CapJaxMathFax: A Review

Do your kids struggle with memorizing math facts? At our house it is something we practice over and over.  For some it is a breeze, for others...ah, not so much.   I try and use different methods to get those facts to sink in. We recently had the opportunity to review CapJaxMathFax (I know a mouthful right! I just shortened it to JaxFax)


What is it?
 CapJaxMathFax is a downloadable math facts program


CapJaxMathFax™ system has controls that allow small-step goal-setting so progress is evident and guaranteed. (from the website)

• Uses a computer to provide drill and practice so that practice time is not limited by teacher availability. 
• Automatically generates exercises. Teachers don't prepare quizzes. They merely provide the parameters for them. 
• Builds exercises for any of the four math tables (addition, subtraction, multiplication, division) or any combination of tables. 
• Guarantees student success by taking small steps through levels of difficulty. 
• Can focus practice at a single level of difficulty or may review earlier levels. 
• Randomly generates problems without repetition. 
• Allows variable numbers of problems in an exercise. 
• Reduces learner stress by timing facts individually. 
•  Provides immediate positive feedback for correct answers. 
• Provides extra reinforcement for fast, correct answers. 
•  Displays an overall performance report at the conclusion of each exercise. 
• Prints reports for teacher review and for use as certificates of achievement.
•  Displays and prints item diagnostic details. 
• Uses a rating system that allows students to keep personal scores and set goals. 
• Charts student rating progress graphically. 
• Maintains a database of student activity over time.

Our experience

If you are looking for a program with bells and whistles, high resolution animation and game-like features, this is not the program.  This is not a bad thing - it focuses on the math facts.  I found the screen to be a little crowded and busy but this didn't seem to bother Eli who was the child I used this program with.  It was simple to download and to use for both teacher and student.  Once I showed him how to use it he was able to work through a session on his own.  He could choose to practice, or to play for a rating where he tried to improve on his current score and reach different levels.

The per fact timing is preset at 3 seconds but this can be adjusted in practice mode for up to 10 seconds.  This will help build confidence in a child who may not be very quick to start.  The play for ratings mode is set at 3 seconds and the child is provided with immediate feedback with "super" popping on to the screen when they type in a fact in less than 3 seconds and "right" for a correct answer in more than 3 seconds.

Eli wasn't overly excited about CapJaxMAthFax but he didn't dislike it.  He does not have a very competitive nature so the level achievements were not a big motivator for him.  He did like to see "SUPER" pop up on the screen so that kept him going through the drill.  I have access to this for a few more months so it will be something we will continue to use as we try and get those facts to stick!

Other info:

The program is compatible with PC and Mac and is currently available for $29.95 and there is also a free trial available.


Check out their site for more information or click here to see what my other crew members thought of this product.

Disclaimer:  As a member of the TOS crew, I was give free access to this program in exchange for an honest (favourable or otherwise) review. 



 

Judah Bible Curriculum: A Review

What is the Judah Bible Curriculum?

• A Principle Approach curriculum for Bible class.
• Develop a comprehensive knowledge of the Bible.
• Build strong, Godly character in your children.
• Study the Bible together.
• Study the hand of God in the lives of individuals and nations.
• For homeschool, Christian school, Sunday school.
• Teach your children living Biblical principles to guide their lives.
• Apply God’s word personally in every area of life.
• The Bible is the textbook.

 From their website:

The Judah Bible Curriculum is designed to help you produce Godly character in yourself and your students.
As educators we are seeing our kids led astray by peers, musicians, cults, the media, the Internet, forceful and slick authority figures, and any number of other voices. In order to survive, our students must be able to stand on their own and truly understand the purpose God has for their lives.
Our crucial need is to educate our students to be Biblically literate. True literacy is more than just the ability to read. True literacy includes having a basis in Truth and the ability to reason from that basis to discover the answers to life's questions.

This product is more a Bible Study method guide than a curriculum.  It is a training manual to teach parents how to teach the bible to their children.  This is based on the Principle Approach to education.  This was a philosophy I was not familiar with.  If you would like more information on this you can read about it here.




What do you receive?
1) Judah Bible Curriculum K-12 Manual;    
2) Elementary Notebook Ideas booklet;   
3) Eight-lecture Teacher Training Seminar.

What is the plan?
This curriculum is designed to be studied over 6 years, working through 5 themes per year.

Theme 1  Creation 
Theme 2  Plan of Redemption Begins 
Theme 3 Kingdom of Israel 
Theme 4 is Kingdom of God 
Theme 5 is Early Church


Students are encouraged to develop a notebook which will be built upon each year and are based on key sheets that are filled out through out the study.  These sheets outline key events, key individuals, key institutions, key documents.

After reviewing this product on my own it was clear to me that this was not a good fit for our family at this time.  When choosing any curriculum one of the major factors I need to consider is preparation time.  The Judah Bible Curriculum requires considerable preparation on the part of the teacher. While time is not the only factor to consider, I eventually had to accept that this curriculum required much more of me than I was able to give.  Perhaps when the kids are older and can participate more in the actual digging into the word we would have more success with this method of study.  A clear, solid understanding of the principle approach is necessary, in my opinion, for the successful implementation of this program.

Pricing:

Judah Bible Curriculum Pack hard copy $69.00, plus 5.00 p&h
You get:
1) Judah Bible Curriculum K-12 Manual;
2) Elementary Notebook Ideas booklet;
3) Eight-lecture Teacher Training Seminar on CDs.

or you can get the same documents in a downloadable format for $44

You can read more reviews of this product here to help you determine if this would be a good fit for your family. 


Disclaimer: As a member of the TOS crew I was given a free copy of this curriculum in exchange for my honest review.  The views expressed here are solely mine.




 

Inference Jones: A Review

For more than 50 years, The Critical Thinking Company's award-winning products have helped students of all abilities achieve better grades and higher test scores with highly effective lessons that sharpen the mind as they teach standards-based reading, writing, mathematics, science, and history. Their products are fun, easy to use, and guaranteed to produce better grades and higher test scores.

The Critical Thinking Company sent me a e-copy of  Inference Jones to review. This is a 48 page work book with 18 lessons and is available as a hard copy for  $11.99.

From their website:

Inference Jones provides short, fun, and easy-to-use activities that improve critical reading and higher order thinking by developing the student’s ability to draw inferences from written text. Research shows inferential reasoning is a prerequisite component to superior reading comprehension. The National Foundation for Educational Research concluded that "the ability to draw inferences predetermines reading skills: that is, poor inferential reasoning causes poor comprehension and not vice versa."

Inference Jones: Beginning has a readability level appropriate for grades 3-4 but can also be used as a remedial resource for older students (grades 5-12+).

Micaiah and I worked through several lessons which comprised of a short story and questions to follow.  Here is an example:

The book was easy to use and didn't take a lot of time to complete.  Micaiah who is in grade 3 had no difficulty working through the lessons independently and while he didn't beg to do them everyday, he didn't mind working on Inference Jones when I asked him to.  I found it to be a solid and usable product and look forward to exploring the many other resources offered by The Critical Thinking Company.


Disclaimer: As a member of TOS Review team I was given a free e-copy of this book in exchange for an honest review (favourable or otherwise).


 

Christian Kids Explore Chemistry: A Review

Bright Ideas Press sent us this e-book and resource CD to review.

This text  is part of their Christian Kids Explore Science series which  cover one year each of Biology, Earth & Space, Chemistry, and Physics.

The Chemistry text includes 5 units which are broken down into 30 lessons and each lesson has 2 parts which you can teach over the week. These texts are multi-grade, the lessons are easy to prepare, and the lessons employ a combination of reading/research and hands-on activities. The material is well organized and written from a biblical world view, infused with scripture through out.

The target grade level is grade 4 to 8 but for the purpose of the review I was very easily able to adapt the lessons for Micaiah and Eli who are in Grade 3 and Grade 1.

learning to interpolate (estimate a measurement)

To me the best part of this package was the resource CD which included lesson plans, activity book printables, supply lists and more.

The cost of the e-book and resource CD is $39.95

All in all this is a good solid curriculum which I would definitely consider incorporating all of the subjects into our home learning environment when the kids are a bit older.

To read more reviews of Christian Kids Explore science titles, please visit the TOS Crew Blog.  


Disclaimer: As a member of TOS Review team I was given this curriculum in exchange for an honest review (favourable or otherwise).


 

The Empty Tomb!

I was surfing the internet the other day looking for craft ideas for Easter. I love decorating eggs and making flowers, but I wanted something that focused on the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.  Just as we don't dwell on Santa Claus at Christmas, Easter at our house is not about the Easter bunny and chocolate eggs. When I stumbled upon this picture on this blog, I knew this was a definite project for this year.


Last week we invited over some fellow home learners and had a fun time putting together these mini resurrection gardens.  It was an opportunity to reinforce why we celebrate Easter... the resurrection of Christ, the celebration of eternal life available to those who put their trust in our risen Savior! 

Now we are just waiting for Resurrection Day (... and the grass to grow :)  What are some ways you teach your kids about Resurrection Day?  I'd love to hear your ideas.