Redhanded Homeschool High Fives ~ Our 2017 Crew Favorites

It's time once again, as the Homeschool Review Crew year comes to a close, to choose our Redhanded Homeschool's High Fives for 2017.  I can't believe another year is behind us.  There were about 75 vendor "runs" this year.  My family reviewed 47 products to share with you.  Plus two single reviews for The Old Schoolhouse Magazine.

For the 2017 Homeschool Review Crew Blue Ribbon Awards, voting is very difficult in some categories.  We must choose *just one* vendor or product in each of the Crew's categories.  I've relaxed that rule for my blog.  'Cuz it's my blog, natch!  So where the punks or I loved more than one thing, I'm giving them all High Fives.

As usual, there are old favorites, new treasures, and things I've "had my eye on" for someday.  These favorites are all products that I would, actually have, or might again really pay money for it.  I think it's important that you can trust that when I tell you we absolutely loved something, I really mean it was *that good*.

Malachi's High Five
Carole P. Roman.  We really like her If You Were Me and Lived In... series, but Mal especially enjoyed our first fiction book from Carole, Oh, Susannah: It's in the Bag.  Actually, they all did and we have since read the second book and they're hoping for more.  The reading level is a bit below the older punks, but they love the stories, just for fun.

Xavier's High Five
First, Xav tried to choose Stopmotion Explosion again.  I told him he had to stick to products we reviewed in 2017, so he voted for The Brinkman Adventures - season 4 (see Merrick's High Five below).

Merrick's High Five
The Brinkman Adventures - season 4.  The Crew reviewed season 2 in 2014.  Since then, I've purchased seasons 1 and 3.  These fictionalized versions of real life missionary stories are always a hit.  They have a curriculum out for season 1 that I want to check out at some point, too.

My High Five for Moms
Homeschool Rescue from Only Passionate Curiosity.  I only managed to get through part of the program during the review period.  Now, I'll have a bit more time and I intend to finish it through once.  Then I want to work through it once each year to update our homeschool plan.
SchoolhouseTeachers.com is way more than just classes for the kids, though it certainly is that.  We've used this off and on since, I think 2011, when it started.  Back in those "olden days" if you had a subscription to the print Old Schoolhouse Magazine, you were given SchoolhouseTeachers.com access until your subscription ran out.  I had over a year of it.  About a year after it expired, I won another year in 2013.  In 2014, 2016, and 2017 I received access as a reviewer for the Homeschool Review Crew.  Hey, we're all family.  :)  I have decided to not return to the Crew in 2018 for various reasons, so I purchased two years during the BOGO sale last week.

These curriculum favorites are products we are still using, have completed this year, or will continue to use in 2018 and beyond.

Language Arts High Fives
Crafty Classroom's Learn to R.E.A.D. program - Merrick loves having his own school stuff that no one else does and the notebooking pages are so much fun for a Kinder.
Channie's Handwriting and Math Workbooks - I only reviewed the one handwriting workbook for littles, but I liked it so much, I ordered handwriting journals for the bigger littles and several math workbooks.
Reading Eggs - We've had Reading Eggs before.  I liked it so much, I was willing to pay for it when the bigger punks were littler.  Now Mal and Merrick are happily using it.  Merrick also likes to dabble in MathSeeds, though it placed him lower than I thought he should be.  I consider MathSeeds "just for fun" school.

Math High Fives
CTCMath.  Always.  And it's now a complete math curriculum for grades K-12. Another curriculum I have happily paid for and will again.

Science High Fives
Think Like an Engineer from Innovators Tribe is so much fun with all the hands on challenges.  I love that we are encouraged to include the whole family in this subscription.

Social Studies High Fives
Drive Thru History - The Gospels.  The Drive Thru History series is fantastic.  We're also using the American History videos for part of Xav and Mal's history this year.
Heirloom Audio ~ In the Reign of Terror and Captain Bayley's Heir.  While I have reviewed other Heirloom Audio titles for the Crew, I have also purchased copies of other titles in the series.  These audio dramas are crazy good.

Extra-Curricular High Fives
Creating a Masterpiece.  I wish we had been able to fit more of Sharon's lessons in before our subscription expired, but we really enjoyed learning how to make real art while we had it.
Doctor Aviation with Daryl Smith.  This one expires pretty soon and we enjoyed it a lot, though we didn't get through as much as we would have liked.

My Bonus High Fives
Lamplighter's The Secret Bridge.  While this wasn't the best book I ever read, I enjoyed it and it opened up a whole new world of literature for us.  Since this review, we toured the Lamplighter Ministries Book Bindery and purchased five or six more books and three audio dramas.  I especially recommend Sir Malcom and the Missing Prince and Teddy's Button.
Northern Speech Services' Color My Conversation was one of those "didn't know I needed" kind of curriculum.  We did set this aside, but will be picking it back up and starting over after the holidays.


Check out the *Official* Homeschool Review Crew Blue Ribbon Award winners and look in the Linky to read about my Crew Mates' family favorites.

The week I put about 500 miles on the van and never got farther than B-ton

Oh the insanity!  This week was just one thing on top of another.  Mal is taking TKD all summer on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  I also knew we'd have VBS every evening this week.  Mal's case manager meets with him at our home (thankfully) every week.  THEN, then we added in a gymnastics camp two hours each day all week for Merrick and Xav and a speech assessment for Xavier.  Whew!

Mal enjoys tae kwon do and really is coming into his own.  I think the lessons and the instructor have been great for him, and for me.  I get to see him doing hard things and coming through them.  Even though I worry about *his* fear and/or failure level, his instructor has been confident about his ability and has been insistent that I let him just do it.  He was so excited when he got his yellow belt this spring.

The Vacation Bible School we attended this week is, hands down, our favorite.  This was our fourth year attending.  Merrick has been able to attend, I think, three of those years.  They have classes for two year olds to adults.  The adults involved are amazing with all the kids and I appreciate what they do every evening, some of them after working all day, to give the kids a good time and point them to Jesus.  Their love shines through their faces and I just love and appreciate them all so much, words can never say.

Last year, the boys all took gymnastics for an hour on each of five Saturdays.  This year, it was an intensive camp.  Mal decided not to enroll, though mid-week he kind of regretted that.  I think it was all for the best though.  It was very directed with no time to "do your own thing" which is what he wanted to do.  Merrick and Xav had a great time and really it was the first time I left them anywhere before.  Xav went to archery without me, but other homeschool co-op moms were there.  They've been left with my friends before for babysitting.  I'm almost always around at co-op.  It was weird leaving them, but I enjoyed the time with Malachi and I think he did, too.  What I didn't know was that the instructor had sent out an email to the parents telling them flat out to drop the kids off and leave, but it went out before the boys were enrolled, so I never received it.  I stayed in the school vestibule the first couple of days because I didn't know I wasn't supposed to be there!  Oops!  It was controlled chaos, but the instructors and the helpers were great!

When I drove Xav to his speech assessment, I left the other two boys with my friend Trisha.  They were more than happy to play with her big bucket of trains.  Xav's assessment was supposed to be two hours, but it was closer to four.  Micah met us there.  It was the usual assessment you might imagine and I'd already been through a lot of the same thing with Merrick's assessment a couple of months ago.  I have a mini rant about insurance and speech therapy, but I won't go there!

Throw in a couple playgrounds, a Backpack Theater presentation of Sleeping Beauty and Where the Wild Things Are, Lego at the library, and construction watching and that's about it for our week.  Today is Saturday and I am so glad that busyness is over!  Although, tomorrow we will be out and about a bit...  LOL  We're slow learners.  And though I promised Xav we wouldn't have any school this week, you'd be surprised just how much math and vocabulary got slipped in there in the car rides all over God's very Green Mountain State.

I hope you're able to enjoy a wonderful summer!

Forbrain TOS Review

Forbrain – Sound For Life Ltd's bone conduction headset came along at just the right time for our family.  Two of the Littles have been dealing with assessments for speech issues.  It's amazing to me how slowly these balls get rolling sometimes.  Merrick and Xav are both struggling with pronunciation skills and Xav has a stutter.  It's frustrating for them to not be understood and, as they get older, I think the trouble is amplified.

Forbrain can help improve:

• attention
• concentration
• reading and writing
• short-term memory
• pronunciation and fluency
• self-confidence 
  

What is Forbrain?

Forbrain is a bone conduction headset that is worn while speaking aloud.  The headset is worn on the back of your head and over your ears.  The circular pads sit on your head in front of your ears, on the jawbone.  You speak into a microphone which transmits to the patented dynamic filter.  The filter blocks out ambient noise and isolates your voice.  It boosts some sounds and uses vibration of bone to enhance what you are hearing.  The hearer's awareness of their own voice increases.

I admit to being a hopeful skeptic, but I have a friend who actually is a bio-psych professor/researcher.  She reassured me the science is there and Forbrain could potentially help all of my kiddos with various issues. I also had questions regarding Forbrain's use with tinnitus and stuttering, because I experience one and Xav the other.  I didn't expect it to relieve my tinnitus, but I had hopes about the stuttering as well as the other speech aspects.  I received a prompt, kindly reply that Forbrain cannot treat those issues, but they will not interfere with use for the other issues.  I definitely suggest, if you are unsure how Forbrain can help you or your child, that you pop off an email.  They are great about responding with answers.

What's included?

Forbrain comes in a sturdy zippered case.  It has a firm foam-type liner that fits the appliance perfectly.  A charging cord is included with a USB end.  Three extra microphone covers and a manual are included, as well as the actual headset.  Just plug it in and it will be ready to use in no time.  The battery lasts many hours.  We only had to charge it a couple of times during the six weeks we've had it.

The three buttons on the filter are power and volume controls.  It is recommended that you do not adjust the volume unless it is uncomfortable for the wearer.

Side effects?

The boys have not complained of any trouble.  I did notice a slight "buzzy" kind of feeling in my jaw for a very short time after use.  There's nothing painful or distracting about it and it quickly ended.

How we use Forbrain

Xavier has been my main man reviewer.  He wears the headset regularly while reading aloud.  I can't say for sure that it is helping him with his speech issues, but I will say he shouts when he speaks much less frequently.  At least while he is wearing the headset and shortly after, my own eardrums get a rest.  Xavier speaks quietly with it on, but he can't tell how loud he is when he isn't wearing it. What I found humorous is that he can't actually hear any difference in his volume.  The headset enhances what he is hearing, so he thinks he's speaking at the same volume when he wears it as when he does not.  He is pretty self-conscious about wearing it in front of anyone.

Merrick cannot read yet, so his trial has been more limited.  He can wear it while he recites the poems we are memorizing.  The headset seems a wee bit big on him for now, which is surprising considering the size of the skulls in this house.  He has been denied speech services for the time being, so I'll be working on those skills with him myself.  I also have a phonics app that works very nicely with use of the headset.




Malachi wore the headset once for a minute or two.  He was very bothered by the changes in his hearing.

I wear Forbrain while reading aloud to the boys and have worn it while singing.  Well, talk about self-conscious!  Xav does not have that market cornered.  The singing about did me in!  HA!

It's recommended that you use Forbrain for six to ten weeks, daily or nearly so.  The amount of time varies by age, with younger users wearing the headset for a shorter period of time.  There are also extended time frames (multiple times in a day or for longer periods in a day) for short term use. We are right about at six weeks of use now.  I can't say that I've seen marked improvement in any area, but I see no reason not to finish out the ten weeks and reevaluate what's happening with us after that time.


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