Virtual Nerd

Don't you just love the name? I do. Virtual Nerd. Perfect. Their service is summed up wonderfully in the next line; "Real help in math and science". I would like to add that the phrase is quite accurate. Before I elaborate, I am going to allow Virtual Nerd to "speak for themselves", here is a little snippet of information directly from Virtual Nerd:

"Who We Are...
Virtual Nerd offers online tutoring in math and science to students grades 7-12. Our service is both affordable and convenient, providing help whenever and as much as needed. Using our patent pending Dynamic Whiteboard, each student has a very interactive and personalized learning experience. While watching our pre-recorded videos, they can drill-down for more information and access FAQs, terms and definition to assist in their learning process. Service is available on a subscription plan basis, a 1-month subscription is $49 - multi-month plans are also available."

Well put, and exactly what you will receive! Virtual Nerd is an online tutoring program unlike anything I have ever seen. Simple to use, just type in or look through their content, click a subject and up pops a video. A real human being teacher stands before a white board and draws out your problem, teaching you all the parts and whys of how to solve it. In another corner everything the teacher says is being written down for you to follow along, so you are covering multiple learning styles here!

For my family, we found we did not have a great need for this, as we only needed it a few times with my sons math, so for the price at this point in our life, it would be a bit costly. However, in the future as we get into more difficult concepts, this could be a wonderful addition to our homeschool curriculum. The teachers were upbeat and kept it interesting and no lesson was too long, just to the point and very helpful every time we used it.

Virtual nerd is definitely being bookmarked in my favorites list. And I would not hesitate to share this one with my homeschool community. I could see it being a very valuable tool in our future. Check it out, they offer you a free trial so you can get a "feel" for what it is all about!

Disclaimer: I am a member of the TOS Homeschool Crew. As such I have received this product free of charge in exchange for my honest opinion and review of this product. I have not received any additional compensation for my review.

Atira's Poem

Cute huh? This is Atira holding one of the newest members of our homeschool group. So sweet.

I wanted to share the poem Atira did today, I think it's fabulous.

Atira
Beautiful, funny, happy, stylish
Sibling of Obi
Love of family, animals, dolls, music
Who fears bees, spiders
Who needs to be politer
Who gives gifts to people
Who would like her room re-done
Resident of a pretty house
Roberts

Can I just add, amazing, sweet and incredible daughter....wow.

Dancing Moments

WHAT AN EVENING! This was a most memorable and fun evening and I am ready to repeat it any night of the week! Atira is apart of a most amazing American Girl Club run by a very sweet friend of mine. They are studying Felicity right now and apart of Felicity's life is learning to dance, which of course led to the club having ballroom dancing lessons. I am so thankful this became a family event. We had a wonderful two hour class where we learned Waltz and Swing as well as a circle dance.

It was an absolutely precious time to watch the Fathers and Daughters learning and working together, but you know I had to get a few turns in there myself! Our teacher, Michael, was top notch, he made everyone feel quite comfortable and did a great job in sharing both his passion and talents.

I am so blessed, in our homeschool adventure we have the best adventures and this is definitely one of them. I am thankful as well for such wonderful people in my life that make these adventures possible.

Keep watch, this Sunday we have a tea etiquette presentation....so more pictures and family updates coming!

See-N-Read Review

See-N-Read

I had never heard of this product before we were chosen to review it. Interesting concept, a simple tool to help you maintain focus and help you remember what you are reading. I was excited to give this one a try!

For the purpose of this review I received one paperback size reading tool as pictured above, one paperback tool that is cut out to allow you to highlight and underline and one tool for standard 8 1/2"x 11" paper.

As I used this tool I found myself able to stick to the topic in front of me, I have a bad habit of trying to read ahead of my brain....this really did help me not to do that. I found that I was better able to focus on the topic in the sentence AND retain more of what I have read. What a lovely benefit!

I also gave this tool to my teenage son. He used it while reading and he said he could see the benefits, for example, it helped him focus on the words better, he felt overall it slowed him down. He is an excellent reader, always has been and he does retain much of what he reads, so I am not sure if this is a tool for him, or maybe when he gets to some more intense information that requires a lot more concentration. We will definitely give this a try again in the future on some of our more difficult assignments and see if it helps.

Overall, I would recommend the See-N-Read reading tools. I could easily see how beneficial these simple, compact tools can be. I look forward to personally reading more, with more efficiency and comprehension.

You can find See-N-Read online at their website: http://www.see-n-read.com/ At their website you will find a plethora of information about this product, including research on the benefits of this product, the story behind it and SO much more. You can also find a full product listing. They even have a product for the computer! Prices begin at just $2.99 for a single tool and go up from there, you can buy multiple packs for multiple family members or classrooms.

Disclaimer: I am a member of the TOS Homeschool Crew. As such I have received this product free of charge in exchange for my honest opinion and review of this product. I have not received any additional compensation for my review.