Another Great Logic Game: A Review of IQ® Gears

I received a COMPLIMENTARY copy of this product from the Timberdoodle in exchange for my honest opinion. I was not required to write a positive review or be compensated in any other way. This post contains affiliate links. Please see my Terms of Use and Disclosure Policy page for more information. Thank you.

Gear up for some fun with IQ® Gears from Smart Games! From easy to expert, be prepared to build critical thinking skills while working through 120 challenges. 

We have the privilege of adding IG® Gears to our homeschool day, courtesy of Timberdoodle. This unique logic puzzle is part of the 2024 10th Grade Curriculum. Whether you homeschool one child or several, this is perfect for those moments when you are busy and need to occupy your child(ren), but you want them to build their critical thinking skills.

What do you get? 

• 1 game board 
• 7 puzzle pieces with gears 
• 1 booklet with 120 challenges and solutions 
• 1 convenient carrying case 

Why is this a Great Logic Game? 

IQ® Gears allows you and your children to work independently on concentration, problem-solving, and logic. Or you can work on puzzles together on the couch. I've found that having an extra set of eyes sometimes helps you see the answer you missed. 

In order to play this logic game, you will need to remove all the puzzle pieces from the game board. After you pick a challenge, you will place the indicated piece(s) onto the gameboard as shown in the challenge. Next, it is your job to place all the puzzle pieces onto the gameboard. All the pieces should fit and create a connection between the big gears on the right and the left of the game board. This is how you win the challenge. You can see if the gears match up by spinning  There is only one solution for each puzzle. 

What Do We Think? 

Like other games we have reviewed from Smart Games, our children quickly grabbed IQ® Gears to work on in their rooms. Our nine-year-old daughter had it in her room for a few weeks before I had to grab it again so I could share our thoughts.

They enjoy puzzle-solving video games, so I am always happy to introduce something low-tech for them to do offline. And with five levels (starter to wizard), they will be able to continue using IQ® Gears for years to come. 

Just like the Zig Zag Puzzler and IQ Waves, IQ® Gears is perfect for car rides. It's compact and easy to take with you in your bag or backpack. In addition to car rides, it's perfect for waiting rooms or restaurants. Why give your child(ren) a phone or tablet to keep them busy, when you can build their critical thinking skills? 

Are You Looking For More Ways to Build Critical Thinking Skills? 

Check out these reviews of other great products offered through Timberdoodle: 

• Thinking Critically and Creatively: A Review of Critical & Creative Thinking Activities 
• Dice, Decks, and Boards: Penguins Huddle Up™ Game 
• Dice, Decks, and Boards: Navigate the High Seas through Critical Thinking 

Dice, Decks, and Boards: SmartGames IQ Waves

Disclosure: I received this complimentary product through the Amazon Vine Program. I was not required to write a review on A Mom's Quest to Teach. This post contains affiliate links. 

IQ Waves from SmartGames is a fun, one-player logic game for ages 6 to adult. It is compact and easy to learn. SmartGames offer a variety of fun and educational games that help stimulate cognitive skills, such as: 

• Problem solving 
• Spatial insight
• Flexible thinking
• Memory
• And more! 

About IQ Waves 

This one-player game contains 120 challenges with five levels: 

• Starter
• Junior
• Expert
• Master
• Wizard 

The first starter challenges are the easiest, where the challenge position has the majority of the puzzle pieces laid out for you. As you move through the 120 challenges, you will be adding fewer and fewer pieces, per the booklet. By the time you reach the wizard level, you are only putting in one piece before you attempt the challenge. 

Playing the game is simple. You place the pieces as shown in the challenge booklet. Then, you place the remaining pieces on the board. There is only one solution for each challenge. If you struggle, you can find the answers in the back of the booklet. 

What Do You Get? 

There is one game board fitted into a self-closing container. One booklet with 120 challenges and solutions is provided, as well as the 8 puzzle pieces. The puzzle pieces are in different colors and shapes. 

Our Thoughts 

As we have played other logic games from SmartGames, we knew we were in for a treat. This is a great puzzle for travel and the home. Because everything fits together, you can stow it in a bag to take to a restaurant or office for those times when you and your children must wait. 

IQ Waves is great whether you homeschool or not! But it is especially great for a homeschooling family. While one child finishes an assignment with you, your other child could complete a challenge or two.

If you purchase more than one set, you could set up logic contests. Who can solve the most puzzles in five minutes? Or who can solve the first ten challenges first? There are a lot of fun ways to use IQ Waves in your homeschool. 

Other SmartGames Reviews 

Dice, Decks, and Boards: Challenge Your Mind With Horse Academy

Dice, Decks, and Boards: Navigate the High Seas through Critical Thinking

Dice, Decks, and Boards: Zig Zag Puzzler Review

Dice, Decks, and Boards: Penguins Huddle Up™ Game

Thinking Critically and Creatively: A Review of Critical & Creative Thinking Activities

I received a COMPLIMENTARY copy of this book from Timberdoodle in exchange for my honest opinion. I was not required to write a positive review, nor was I compensated in any other way. This post contains affiliate links. For more information, please see my Terms of Use and Disclosure Policy page. Thank you. 

Are you looking to add some fun activities into your homeschool day that will help your children think critically and creatively? In Critical And Creative 5, students will work through 46 engaging topics with over 140 pages of challenging activities to help them build their critical and creative thinking skills. We were blessed with the chance to review this book in our homeschool thanks to Timberdoodle. 

About Critical and Creative Grade 5 

In Critical and Creative Thinking Activites, Grade 5, students will gain valuable practice through a broad range of thinking skills. The first two pages in the unit present the topic in a general way. They might need to draw on previous experience or look at the topic in a new way. The third and last page of each unit features things like logic puzzles, riddles, and secret codes. 

Let's take a look at one unit: Earthquakes and Volcanoes. On page one, students are asked what would be scarier, to be caught near a volcano when it erupts or to be caught in a big earthquake and why. Here is where the creative part of their brain should be getting a workout. Then they need to identify words using only the letters found in Volcanoes. The clues include: helps to walk or not to win.  On page two, children are asked to write sentences about earthquakes, identify true and false statements, and discover what volcano erupted in Washington state on May 18, 1980 thorugh a series of clues. Finally, on page three children work through a logic puzzle to discover facts about Mount Saint Helens. 

What are the topics that will help you think critically and creatively? Your child will find the following general topics: 

• Places (in the woods, in the kitchen, etc.) 
• Nature in Action (rain, sunshine, giant squid, etc.) 
• Time to Eat (school lunch, breakfast, etc.) 
• Sports and Games 
• Things I Use (shoes and socks, wheels, etc.) 
• In My World (light and dark, sticks and stones, etc.) 

How Did We Use Critical and Creative? 

I started off assigning each page in each topic to our fifth grader. After a few units, I discovered that this was not going to work for our son. There were some topics where he lacked experience and some where he had no interest whatsoever. The first topic where we hit a roadblock was "In the Water." He does not know how to swim and while enjoyed time in the pool and beach this summer, he has no interest in jumping in the water or diving. So when one activity asked him to number water activiteis 1 to 9 of things he would must like to do, he froze. He had no interest in swimming laps, jumping off the low dive, or going down a waterslide. And I couldn't see the point of forcing him to complete that activity. 

The beauty of homeschooling is that I can tailor his education to his needs and interests. So we changed things up. I would assign one topic every few days and ask him to pick from among the three pages. Sometimes I asked him to do more than one page from the topic but it all depended on the topic. 

When looking at the pages he chose to complete, there is no pattern. While he does enjoy the logic puzzles, he doesn't necessary pick on page over another in each topic. I think it really depends upon the day when he selects which page to complete. 

Some of the pages definitely seem to interst him more. For example, he showed me several time the page Dinosaur names in Greek and Latin while he was working on it. And was very proud of his own made up dinosaur. 

Our Thoughts 

I love books that help develop critical and creative thinking skills so I was looking forward to using this book with our son. He has enjoyed other books with a similar approach but this one didn't seem to meet his needs. Since we are homeschooling, we are making the book work for us by picking and choosing what we are completing. 

One thing to note is that it is designed for use in a classroom. You are given permision to copy it for a single-classroom. At least one page made mention of completing something on the reverse side which confused our son since we are just completing the work in the workbook and on scrap paper. 

I would recommend you check out this book for yourself to see if it would fit well in your homeschool. You can easily complete it in a year if you assign about three pages per week. It would be a good resource for your child to work on indepdently while you work with another child in your homeschool. 

Do You Want To Learn More About Timberdoodle Resources?

• Adding Writing Into Our Curriculum: A Review of Daily 6-Trait Writing Grade 3
• Dice, Decks, and Boards: Penguins Huddle Up™ Game
• Including Geography in Your Homeschool: A Review of Skill Sharpeners Geography - Grade 2
• Supplementing Fifth Grade with a Geography Workbook

Develop Critical Thinking with Discover! Science 3

I received a COMPLIMENTARY copy of this homeschool resource from Timberdoodle in exchange for my honest opinion. I was not required to write a positive review, nor was I compensated in any other way. This post contains affiliate links. Please see my Terms of Use and Disclosure Policy page for more information. Thank you.

Are you looking to study science in a new way in your homeschool for third grade? Discover! Science 3 is written to develop critical thinking through challenging questions and a variety of creative projects. It is written with homeschoolers in mind, so parents will find the teacher's guide helpful. 

If you purchase this curriculum, you will receive three books: the two student texts (3a and 3b) and the teacher's guide (which is used for both texts). And while it is not faith-based, it doesn't appear to put down a Biblical worldview.

What Will Your Children Study in Discover! Science 3? 

The first six chapters focus on an introduction to science, animals, plants, and how they interact (food webs, ecosystems, etc.). As your child continues, they will be studying matter, sound, energy, water, and more. Here are a few specific topics studied: 

• Temperature of Cold-Blood Animals 
• Explore Birds' Beaks 
• Endangered Plants and Animals 
• Plants as Energy 
• Changing Matter 
• Sound Waves 
• Friction 
• Minerals 
• Weather Tools 
• Digestive System 

They will answer such questions as: "How do you think the cold would affect a cold-blooded animal? What about heat?" or "Describe how an animal or plant species becomes endangered." And they will complete boxes and charts that show the photosynthesis process, observations on science experiments, and more. There are also fill-in-the-blank and multiple choice questions to review topics. 

A Typical Day for Our Homeschool 

While it is recommended to do two lessons or a lesson and a review per week, we've been taking a slower approach as we have another science curriculum we are also using. When we first started out, I assigned pages to our daughter for completion and then checked her work afterward. We would then talk through questions. I found she wasn't retaining the information like I would have liked her to, so we changed things up.

While I still assign the vocabulary for her to complete on her own, I often read aloud the following pages either before she reads them or after she reads them. Her brother (fifth grade) joins us for the discussions and some of the activities. I find this helps her remember the information. For many of the questions, I just write down the answers they provide, or I will have her go back in fill the answers in later that week to reinforce the concepts.

Another way I have assigned the work is by asking her to read certain pages, and then we go over the answers together orally later. When we were completing the review on Fish, Amphibians, and Reptiles, she read the review page in the morning. Then, after lunch, we compared and contrasted the features of the three, describing similarities and differences. 

My Thoughts 

One of the things I particularly like about this science curriculum is that it is NOT heavy on experiments. While our daughter LOVES experiments, I find them tedious and challenging at times. If a curriculum does not include all the materials, it is just one more thing for me to purchase and prepare. Discover! Science 3 incorporates other projects that allow our daughter to go beyond the text, and we've included a few ourselves. 

For example, we completed a reptile research notebooking project. It allowed me to use notebooking pages we already had so they could dig deeper into learning about three or four specific reptiles, including the Galapagos Tortoise, the chameleon, and the milk snake.

We also made a simple snake with pipe cleaners, noodles, and some construction paper. I love that this project had materials that we already had around the house and was simple to put together but had a high educational impact. We were able to discuss the way a snake's body moves, its skeleton, its organ placement, and how it smells. 

Since this curriculum is dependent on reading and writing, there is quite a bit of writing. Sometimes, it almost feels like too much for our daughter. Hence, the reason why I sometimes write down the answers. 

In a lot of ways, this curriculum also feels like it is written more for the classroom than a homeschool. The Instructor Guide definitely lends itself to being more of a classroom teacher guide than one for homeschool parents. I would have preferred to have had the student books reproduced but with answers and teaching instructions listed within it. I found myself having to open the student book and the instructor guide to line up objectives, information on supporting your student and learning styles, and extension activities. The instructor guide also has the assessment or chapter tests in it. So, you will need to either photocopy those pages or share the guide with your child. 

While we are enjoying Discover! Science 3, I don't think it is quite the right fit for our family. I encourage you to check out Timberdoodle to read more about this science program for yourself. 

Do You Want to Read More Timberdoole Reviews? 

• Adding Writing Into Our Curriculum: A Review of Daily 6-Trait Writing Grade 3
• Dice, Decks, and Boards: Penguins Huddle Up™ Game
• Including Geography in Your Homeschool: A Review of Skill Sharpeners Geography - Grade 2
• Supplementing Fifth Grade with a Geography Workbook

Dice, Decks, and Boards: Navigate the High Seas through Critical Thinking

I received a COMPLIMENTARY copy of this one-person puzzle game from Timberdoodle in exchange for my honest opinion. I was not required to write a positive review, nor was I compensated in any other way. This post contains affiliate links. For more information, please see my Terms of Use and Disclosure Policy page. Thank you.

As you know, we love games in our homeschool, especially those that help our children challenge themselves. Having the opportunity to review the one-person puzzle game courtesy of Timberdoodle was a joy in our homeschool. Both our nine-year-old son and our seven-year-old daughter enjoyed working through the different puzzles and modes of play in Pirates Crossfire by Smart Games. 

What is Pirates Crossfire? 

This one-person puzzle game has four modes and five levels of difficulty. The general idea is to use the puzzle challenge booklet to place some pieces on the board and then use your critical thinking skills to fire out where the rest of the pieces go. Of course, there are restrictions as to where you can put the pirate and navy ships depending on which mode you are playing. 

The game is packaged in a sturdy box for storage and comes with: 

• A puzzle booklet
• The base for the game 
• Two rock pieces 
• Two pirate pieces 
• Four navy pieces 

Once you or your children decide upon which mode and which difficulty you want to play, you pick a challenge. You look in the puzzle booklet to see which pieces you need to add to the base first. You will always put the rock pieces on the board first. After that, you will use the hints (when provided) for placing the navy and pirate ships. 

Different Modes (I am sharing our son's descriptions and my notes for the different modes.) 

Peace Mode: My son shared that the ships can't hit each other. (The ships are armed with cannons on each side.) After you place the rocks, you need to make sure that the ships' cannons are not pointed at another ship. (They can be pointed at the rocks.)

Pirates Win Mode: "No pirates get hit, all navy get hit." In this mode, you need to make sure that all the ships' cannons are pointed in the right direction. You need to make sure that the pirate ships can shoot at the navy ships. 

Navy Ships Win Mode: In this mode, the goal is the opposite of the Pirates' Win mode. 

Total War: "All ships must be in (the) line of fire."

There are answer keys for all the challenges, but when just trying the starter level, I think, the Total War is the only mode where you might need to check the answer key for the solution.

Using Pirates Crossfire in Our Homeschool 

This one-person puzzle game is perfect when you are homeschooling children of multiple ages. While working with our daughter, I can easily hand this game to our son to keep him amused in an educational way while he waits for his one-on-one homeschool time. He can still work on a variety of cognitive skills like planning, spatial insight, problem-solving, concentration, and flexible thinking while he is playing a fun game.

As a typical boy, he does not just solve the puzzles but creates backstories for the adventures of the pirates and the navy as he works on the challenges. He also created his names for the different levels of the difficulties and the puzzle pieces themselves as he was helping me write this review. For example, the booklet calls the difficulties: starter, junior, expert, master, and wizard but he calls them first-time puzzling, good puzzler, teacher of puzzling, king of puzzling, and golden wizard king of puzzling. (I love how invested he was in using and reviewing Pirate Crossfires.)

After our daughter tried several puzzles in Horse Academy, she wanted to try her hand at Pirates Crossfire. She was not as successful with these challenges as they do require one to critically think in a totally different way. The pieces must fit together and meet different criteria depending upon which mode you have chosen. So while there is one correct answer, you come to a different way than her previous experience. I think it is great that Smart Games produces so many different puzzle games and that Timberdoodle offers than in their various curriculum packages. 

Our Thoughts 

I would highly recommend Pirates Crossfire. It is an excellent, high-quality one-person puzzle game. I think the inclusion in the 2022 Sixth-Grade Timberdoodle Curriculum Kit is spot on. While our nine-year-old son was able to complete all the starter puzzles without much help, he was having more difficulty as he tried harder puzzles. 

I like that through trial and error our son was able to puzzle out the solutions. It was also very easy for him to get the hang of the challenges. He could easily move through the different modes to show me how the game works. He was really good at explaining the game which to me means that it is well-written and easy to understand. 

With multiple modes and 80 challenges, Pirates Crossfire has longevity and replayability. And as a one-person puzzle game, it will help entertain you and your children during those moments when you or your children have some free time. It would be perfect for your family with your homeschool or not. So get ready to navigate the high seas through critical thinking with Pirates Crossfire. 

Dice, Decks, and Boards: Challenge Your Mind With Horse Academy

 

I received a COMPLIMENTARY copy of this game from Timberdoodle in exchange for my honest opinion. I was not required to write a positive review, nor was I compensated in any other way. This post contains affiliate links. For more information, please see my Terms of Use and Disclosure Policy page. Thank you.

Games are a great way to challenge your mind. There are many ways you can keep different skills fresh no matter what kind of game you are playing. Games help us: 

• Build critical thinking skills
• Practice cooperation, collaboration, and learning to win or lose with grace 
• Keep reading and/or math skills in use
• Use logic
• Practice problem solving 
• Work on planning
• And more! 

Some games are better equipped to help you and your children work on these skills and ideas than others. For example, while the popular -opoly games may help us learn and practice how to lose graciously, games like Horse Academy can help build cognitive skills like spatial insight, planning, and problem-solving. As it is a one-player game, it can also help with patience if there is more than one who wants to work on the challenge at one time.

What is Horse Academy? 

Horse Academy is a one-person puzzle game from Smart Games where players need to create a path for their horse to jump over obstacles in a specific sequence to reach the exit gate. The box contains

• 1 game board 
• 1 exit gate 
• 10 puzzle pieces with obstacles and paths
• 1 horse with a rider
• Booklet with 80 challenges
• 1 sticker sheet with instructions on where to download timesheets 

There are five levels of challenges: 

• Starter
• Junior 
• Expert
• Master
• Wizard 

You look at the challenge to pick out the pieces you need and find out where to place the start and finish pieces (except at the wizard level where they don't tell you the starter or end position). Your horse follows the path in the order laid out in the challenge without changing course. There are some additional specifications regarding turning, order, and color in the booklet. 

Our Thoughts on Horse Academy 

At first, I was a bit confused, but I found once we started trying to solve the challenges, it was easy to get the knack of this one-person puzzle game. I did not give our daughter too much instruction once she got started. We ran through a couple of the challenges together, and then I went to help her brother with another one-person puzzle game from Timberdoodle that he is helping us review.

When I asked our daughter what she thought of this challenging puzzle game, she told me that it would help people learn about horses. She said, "the puzzles are not difficult. They are fun. They are not too hard." She also gave the advice that "you have to stay on the road. Make your horse jump over the fences. Some paths are wriggly and shaky. Like challenge number 10."

I really liked how she took quickly to Horse Academy and worked through the challenges without even realizing she was using critical thinking skills. Her mind was being challenged but she did not know it. She just saw it as having fun. 

The pieces are hard plastic and fit well together on the game board. It all fits neatly in the box too which is wonderful for storage and organization. I really appreciate games that go back into the box easily. 

As a homeschooling mom of two elementary-aged children, I like having one-person games that focus on cognitive skills. While working with her brother, our daughter can have fun while building her critical thinking skills. 

I would recommend Horse Academy to families of both homeschooled and non-homeschooled children. It is a great game for those times when a child needs to amuse themselves. It is part of the 2022 Third-Grade Curriculum Kit at Timberdoodle which seems like a perfect fit to me. Our daughter is going to be in second grade and while she can do the easier challenges, I think the higher-level ones will be a bit too challenging without help. 

Interested in More Products from Timberdoodle 

Read my reviews of Battle Sheep in Building Critical Thinking Skills with Games, Me: A Compendium, in Documenting Memories with your Homeschooled Children: A Review of Me: A Compendium, or the Tiger Art Crystal Card Kit in Art in Our Homeschool: A Review of Tiger Crystal Art Card Kit. 

Learning New Vocabulary: A Review of Vocabulary Virtuoso PSAT-SAT Book 1 (Grades 8-12+)

No matter where your homeschooling journey may take you and your high school students – such as taking standardized tests like the PSAT or the SAT – building vocabulary skills is always important. Our tenth grade high school student has spent most of the year taking a literature-based language arts course. So when the opportunity arose to review Vocabulary Virtuoso PSAT-SAT Book 1 (Grades 8-12+) from The Critical Thinking Co. I knew it would be a great fit for us. It is a 204-page paperback book (it is also available in eBook form) with twenty vocabulary lists and lots of different activities to help students learn the vocabulary words.

What is Vocabulary Virtuoso? 

Vocabulary Virtuoso PSAT-SAT Book 1 (Grades 8-12+) from The Critical Thinking Co. contains nine sets of vocabulary words in twenty lessons. "85% of all the words are from current PSAT or SAT lists" (Introduction). The vocabulary lists include a pronunciation key, definition, other forms of the word, and a sentence using the word in context.  There are a variety of activities included to provide students a chance to use the words in context as well as a story in each lesson. The stories take place in a fictional classroom where students learn the following concepts:

Literary

• Characterization in literature
• Idioms
• Puns
• Jargon
• Irony
• Euphemisms
• Aphorisms
• Allusions
• Theme 

Rhetorical 

• The art of persuasion in speech and writing
• Using extended simile to write a poem

Historical 

• The Renaissance
• Renaissance Artists 

You can even see some sample pages on The Critical Thinking Co.'s website. This sample includes the table of contents and exercises for Vocabulary List 1. What a great way to see if the book will be a fit for your family!

How We Are Using Vocabulary Virtuoso 

Each vocabulary list and corresponding activities can be spread out nicely over the course of one week. On Monday, I ask our son to create note cards with the vocabulary words and definitions provided or ones from a dictionary if he needs a different one to more clearly understand the word. I also ask him to complete Part A (for the the first four lists, Part A asks the student to choose the best word to complete each sentence).

On Tuesday, I ask our tenth grader to complete parts B and C. For the first four lists, Part B asks students to choose the best word to complete the sentence while Part C is a Story Challenge. Students read through the story and fill in the blanks using the vocabulary words. The Story Challenges also provide useful information. For example, for Vocabulary List 3, the Story Challenge addressed idioms while using words from the list like obfuscate, justify, and malign.

Parts D & E are completed by our high school student on Wednesday. These two parts have been similar to those in the first section. Part D directions are: "The underlined part in each sentence is a synonym, idiom, phrase, or definition for a list word. Unscramble the list word and write the word on the blank."  One of the sentences is: "In a debate, with good reasons, Christopher defended his position that the school should adopt a uniform dress code." (justify being the correct answer) Part E asks students to choose the word, idiom, or phrase from the box that best defines each list word. For List Four Part E includes one word in the choice box, effervescent, which was in Vocabulary List 1 to match with ebullient.

Finally, Part F is completed. Throughout the book Part F asks students to "Complete each sentence to show that you understand the meaning of the underlined word." For example, here is one of our son's sentences: "Because he had been frugal with money he earned and received as a gift, Dylan bought a decent car at 18."


At the end of each week, I created a short vocabulary quiz (10 to 15 questions in length) using some of the questions from the book in addition to some I created myself. We are counting his work in Vocabulary Virtuoso PSAT-SAT Book 1 and the quizzes for his American Lit course.

At the conclusion of each section, there are review lists (for five review lists in total). There is a crossword puzzle, sentence completion, and matching questions. When reviewing Lists 5-8, our son will have to match vocabulary words with fictional book titles – what a neat idea to help build vocab skills!

What Does Our Teen Think? 

When talking with our teen while he was completing the review activities for lists 1-4, I asked him what he liked about Vocabulary Virtuoso. He said he really liked the format of the book. It is clean and concise and easy to look at while working on the activities. The way the information is presented suits the way he learns. For example, he explained he does not like the way most textbooks are organized with main text, boxed secondary information, and information set into separate parts. He prefers something that is straightforward in layout.

He appreciates the variety of activities so that while he is working on each list he does not feel bored. His least favorite activity is the last one where he needs to complete the sentences. He said sometimes it is harder to figure out an ending for the sentence than other times. (I think this means his brain is working to make sure that he demonstrates he understands the vocabulary word!)

In the Future 

We may take a break from working with Vocabulary Virtuoso PSAT-SAT Book 1 during the summer, but I see us completing the work in our next homeschool year in a similar fashion – one list per week. I even hope to ask our son to include the vocabulary words in his other course work – when writing essays, letters, notes, etc. This is a perfect way to ensure he is absorbing and utilizing all these excellent words.

And since our teen seems to enjoy working with Vocabulary Virtuoso, I see this being a good fit in the upcoming homeschooling year and in the future with Book 2.

And while we are unsure as to whether not our son plans on taking the SAT (his future plans after completing high school are still undecided), I am definitely glad we are using Vocabulary Virtuoso PSAT-SAT Book 1 (Grades 8-12+) as building a good vocabulary is important in a variety of careers, professions, and educational paths.

Notes and Observations

Our teen sometimes completes all the work on one day – he prefers to complete work that doesn't need a computer done at one time – so there is no reason why each set of vocabulary would need to take an entire week. I think it all depends on what you and your children are doing in your homeschool. This makes Vocabulary Virtuous a great addition because it can be used in a variety of ways.

I like how each list can build upon the previous lists and that even within the different activities there are words that may challenge a student.

There are answer keys at the back of the book which you may choose to remove from the book to ensure your child completes all the work on their own. There is also a sample activity from Critical Thinking Detective TM – Vocabulary Book 1. (This looks like another great resource!)

If you are interested in learning more about The Critical Thinking Co., please be sure to check out the following sites:

Website – Facebook – Twitter – Pinterest – YouTube – Instagram

And if you are interested in purchasing any of their products...use the code TOSCREW19 to receive Free Shipping and 15% off any size order! This code (TOSCREW19) expires 12/31/2019.

And be sure to check out all the other reviews – The Critical Thinking Co. publishes many great products! From a book of 20 Elementary Math Games to works that will help your children build writing skills. The Critical Thinking Co. might have the perfect resource for your homeschool.

Reviewing the e-Guide of Perelandra from Progeny Press

C.S. Lewis is one of our family's favorite authors, so we were very happy to be able to read Perelandra and use the e-Guide from Progeny Press to help our teen understand the material at a deeper level. Progeny Press offers "study guides for literature from a Christian perspective" with hundreds of e-Guides available from The Josefina Story Quilt e-Guide geared towards grades 1-3 to the Perelandra e-Guide for grades 9-12 which we reviewed.

The Mission of Progeny Press is "To teach our children to think clearly, to understand literature, and to rely on the scripture for truth and values, and enjoy themselves while they do it!"

You can watch this video from Progeny Press to learn more about the company.

Each study guide takes approximately 8-12 weeks to complete which means your child will complete about one page per day. Guides for younger children can take less time. As Perelandra proved to be a difficult text for our teen to read, we are working through the e-Guide more slowly to ensure that he understands the material that he is reading.

The Perelandra e-Guide contains the following elements:

• Synopsis of Perelandra, background information, and a Synopsis of Out of the Silent Planet (the first book in the trilogy) 
• Since our teen has not read Out of the Silent Planet yet (my husband has read it), it was great that he could review the events on Malacandra and Ransom's encounters with the Sorn and Hrossa.
• A biography of C.S. Lewis 
• I love having a brief biography of the author as it prevents the need to go to the Internet to look it up.
• Activities to complete prior to reading Perelandra 
• While we didn't complete the prereading activities, they are quite good. I really like the idea of researching the mythical origin of Mars and Venus as well as that of 1930-1950s science fiction. These are just two of the six activities suggested. 
• Vocabulary words and a variety of activities to introduce and teach the new words 
• Vocabulary activities range from sentences from the book with the new words to discussion of mood and tone to searching for antonyms. With a variety of ways to learn vocabulary, students are sure to find at least one way which suits their learning style. 

• Examination of literary techniques 
• There are questions pertaining to metaphors, similes, descriptions, and imagery to name a few. 

• Examination of moral lessons and character values 
• Through a variety of questions, we are able to discuss the difference between Weston and Ransom as we read quotes from the Bible and examine their decisions. I think this has been one of my favorite aspects of the e-Guide – we can have good conversations with our son with Perelandra as a starting point. 
• A variety of activities and writing assignments 
• There are typical essay assignments available, as well as art suggestions, and research papers to pick from for culminating activities. 
• Suggestions for further reading 
• Having a suggested list of books written by C.S. Lewis to look for and other books that relate to the series takes the guess work out what to read next. And the great thing is our son has already read some of the other books such as The Martin Chronicles and The Hobbit. 

What Our Family Likes 

My husband and I have been enjoying the fact that while we are discussing Perelandra with our son – and the answers to the vocabulary and other questions – we are also getting the opportunity to discuss real world events as well as the concepts of morality, right and wrong, and other topics in relation to the Christian view we are trying to instill in our son.

I also like that my husband is reading the book via an online application that allows him to search for key words as we discuss the various questions in the e-Guide. This way we can find the exact phrase or quote that a question brings up and find the reasons within the text for the answer suggested in the answer key. One specific instance would be that of the question pertaining to "emergent evolution" and the Force in Chapter 7. Our son had difficulty with that question, so in addition to giving him hints from the answer key we were able to re-read that portion of the text aloud to discuss whether or not Weston is presenting a paradox or a contradiction.

Going Forward 

There is also an interactive feature to the e-Guide that allows your children to type their answers directly into the e-Guide. We chose to print out the unit study so that we could all be able to look at it while discussing the questions.

As our younger two children, who are being homeschooled, move forward in their reading journey, I look forward to relying upon Progeny Press for their e-Guides. Within the next year, we could use Frog and Toad Together e-Guide for our 5-year-old son. If our teen makes the decision to homeschool in the future, we will be looking for others such as Hamlet e-Guide, Introduction to Poetry: Forms and Elements e-Guide, and The Screwtape Letters e-Guide.

In addition, if you are curious, Progeny Press does offer an e-Guide for Out of the Silent Planet, if you would rather read Book # 1 in the Space Trilogy first and complete that e-Guide with your child. There are also sample pages from the various e-Guides to help you decide if it is a fit for your family.

To learn more, please visit the following:

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The Homeschool Review Crew also reviewed the following e-Guides:

• The Josefina Story Quilt e-Guide
• The Green Book e-Guide
• The Scavengers e-Guide 

To see more reviews, please visit the Homeschool Review Crew!