Apologia Exploring Creation with Chemistry and Physics {A Review}

A homeschool science curriculum that is a great introduction to physics and chemistry.

Exploring Creation with Chemistry and Physics 

The Essentials - What you need to know

• Apologia 
• Exploring Creation with Chemistry and Physics  and Exploring Creation with Chemistry and Physics Notebooking Journal
• Grade K - 6
• A hardbound textbook and a spiral bound journal. 
• Textbook: $39, Journal: $24

The Review

Apologia does a fantastic job with their young explorer series of homeschool science curriculum.  Exploring Creation with Chemistry and Physics is no exception.  Written by Jeannie Fulbright, the textbook is comprehensive, yet easy to understand.  Written for elementary students, grades K - 6, I wanted Zippy to use this book because I believe that it will help her achieve a solid introduction to the subjects, before moving on to "real" chemistry and physics in high school in just a few short years.

The books are of the highest quality both in physical appearance and content.  The textbook is a hardbound textbook sized book.  It is well organized with a table of contents, index, answer key and extensive supply list.  As with other Apologia books in the young explorer series there is a through introduction on how to use the book along with the journaling notebook. With these sound instructions, I believe that anyone would feel comfortable teaching science.  The text has fourteen lessons including topics of matter, atoms, compounds, mixtures, simple mechanics, motion, kinetic energy, sound, light, thermal energy, electricity, and magnets.

The methodology of this series is based heavily on the Charlotte Mason approach.  The notebooking journal adds another layer to the learning.  As it says in the Note from the Author at the beginning of the journal,  "It provides a place for students to complete the assignments in the test as well as many optional activities, and will serve as their individual notebook."  Extra extensions to the text include crosswords, copywork, mini books, additional hands on activities, project pages and field trip sheets.

In addition to all the wonderful resources to be found in the text and notebooking journal, Apologia provides a course website with online resources.  One of my personal favorite links is the video showing how to blow a bubble with bubble gum, which is part of an activity in chapter 2.

Zippy is still having a blast working her way through this book.  There is a lot of really information rich text, but there is just as great an amount of trying it out.  More than I
have seen in any of the other young explorer series. So much, in fact, I felt a little overwhelmed. It makes sense that a book about chemistry and physics would have so many actives as these concepts are so well suited to them.  Just think, when we cook we are using chemistry, and that is an activity many do every single day.  Many of the "try this" activities throughout each chapter are simple activities requiring things that are really found around the house and take just a few minutes to complete.  At the end of the chapter, and additionally in the notebooking journal, there are more complex projects.  Zippy's favorite project so far involved playing with density.

Thinking back on my own public school science education, I know that I learned all the concepts in this book, but I learned most of it in high school and college.  This book does not shy away from big information like atoms, the periodic table, even Newton's Laws of Motion.  It shares this big information in such an understandable way, with the help of lots of activities, without sounding patronizing that even a young child would be able to comprehend. The other aspect of this book that I absolutely love, love, love is the Christian worldview.  Science is a beautiful lens that can help us see the hand of the Creator.  There is scripture in the copywork, sprinkled throughout the text, and the author is always careful to give glory to God in her writing.

For the duration of the review period we used. Exploring Creation with Chemistry and Physics as our sole science text.  We tried a couple of different approaches to the activities.  Zippy read through the whole chapter, completing the notebooking activities and end of chapter questions then did the activities.  For a difference chapter she did the activities as she came to them in the chapter.  The second approach probably worked the best, pedagogically speaking.  I would suggest, as a parent, to look ahead, review all the activities, and collect in one spot all the materials necessary for that chapter.  We got hung up a couple of times because of my lack of foresight.  

All in all, I love this book.  It is proving to be the perfect introduction to some complex topics.  By learning these concepts now, I believe it is setting Zippy up to be more successful in science in her higher education.

IXL.com {A Review}

An online math resource for students pre-k to grade 12.

IXL.com

The Essentials - What you need to know

• IXL.com
• Online math membership and online language art membership
• Age Range: pre-k to grade 12
• A online, subscription, service providing quality math (and language arts) practice.  
• Monthly: $9.95, Yearly $79

The Review

I was very pleased with this online math practice service. IXL.com provides grade level appropriate math practice problems for preschool through grade 12. They also provide language arts practice for grades 2-4, but since neither of my children fall within that range we did not use that feature.

As I have said  before, I am always delighted when I find a product that works with both my preschooler and my middle schooler.  Clearly they both worked on concepts that were age appropriate, and it was nice when the little one wanted to work on the computer like his big sister I could gladly say yes.  We chose to use the program on our computer, but there is also a choice of an iPad app. 

My son, age four, worked on counting, shapes, classifying, money, size and position.   He has not had a lot of experience using the laptop.  I encourage the children to think of the computer as Mom's, since they have available to them other electronic devices.  So it was exciting for the Little Dude to be able to use Mom's computer. The mouse was hard for him so I sat with him while he worked and provided feedback.  The questions are written out, but there is also a button with a speaker on it right next to the question that reads the question for him.  I used this as a stand alone math activity during our preschool day.  I do not have a particular math curriculum for him.   There were sections devoted to each of the concepts.  You can see a sample at IXL's website.  Each question has multiple choice answers.  My son's favorite part of the whole program though was the awards.  For completing a goal, like master two skills in the the category count to five, the student got to uncover a square to reveal a picture of a ball, or a doll or a slide.  I always had to make sure that we completed at least one goal.  He always wanted to do more, more so he could turn over more squares.

Zippy liked the virtual prizes too.  The higher the grade the more skills, and the more prizes to be had. For her I used IXL.com as a supplement to a textbook.   I would have her complete problems pertaining specifically to what she was working on or as a review to cement concepts she already learned.  She set the pace for herself.  She wanted to the prizes so she did more problems than I would have assigned her myself.
She said the thing she liked the most about IXL was the awards and that the program explained what she did wrong when she missed a problem.

I liked the freedom and flexibility of IXL.com.  When subscribed a person has access to every problem they offer.  I was not contained to just the grade level I signed my kids up for.  It also provided a wealth of information on my student's progress.  With the Little Dude this was not so important, but for Zippy this was so very helpful to me.  She often does math independently and I do not always get to touch base about what she is learning.  IXL.com gave me reports via e-mail each day she worked on the site.  They also provided a weekly report.  In addition to that there is a variety of reports available on demand.  One other feature that I found interesting, though did not personally used is the state standards.  IXL.com provided my state, Michigan, math standards and the link to the problems that address that particular standard or benchmark.

All in all I would definitely recommend this math practice program.  

Schoolhouse Review Crew is it for you?

This year our family has been a part of the the Schoolhouse Review Crew.  It has added so much to both our homeschool and to this blog.  The Review Crew blog has tons of reviews on a whole variety of homeschool products.  Even before I became a part of the fabulous group I used their reviews to help me find curriculum.  Now that I am a part of this group I get to write the reviews myself. It has been so much fun getting to know new products and getting to know this lovely group of people as well.

The Schoolhouse Review Crew will be taking applications for the 2014 Review year from October 24 - November 8!

Are you a homeschool blogger?
Are you a curriculum junkie?
Do you enjoy writing reviews?

Then you might be perfect for the Crew! 

Some requirements for being a part of the Crew include the following: 

• First of all you must be a homeschool mom or dad. You don’t have to homeschool all of your children, but you must homeschool at least one. 

You must be willing to use the review products for about six weeks in your homeschool, before writing your review. Review periods have deadlines and requirements for the reviews. You must be willing to follow these requirements. No, that doesn’t mean you must write a positive review. But it does mean that there are certain elements that are required. And the deadlines are firm. If you are often late for deadlines, the Crew is probably not for you. 

• You must have a blog on which to publish your reviews, and be sure you have an active blog with a following. By active blog, I mean that you should be blogging regularly, at least weekly, about your family and homeschool (in addition to your reviews). Your blog should have followers — RSS feed or email subscribers, as well as in social media. The Crew does not accept brand new bloggers who just set up their blogs for the purposes of applying to the team. 

• Are you using social media to promote your blog? Activity on at least one social media platform is a requirement to serve on the Crew. Which one is up to you — Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest or Google Plus are the options. You will need to be willing to promote your reviews there and post a widget or plug-in publicly on your blog, indicating how many followers you have in social media. 

• You must be willing to check into the Crew's Review Management forum. This is where information is disseminated to the team. The leadership does everything possible to make things easy for us, outside of writing the actual review, but you need to be willing to participate by checking in almost daily. 

• Sample reviews are helpful. If you’ve never written a review on your blog, go ahead and write one for curriculum you are currently using in your homeschool. This will help the leaders see how you approach writing reviews. 

Why should you want to be a part?
Our Crew of over 250 review bloggers has been serving the homeschool community for more than 5 years. As a respected review team, we take this job very seriously and will insist you do as well. The leadership provides an incredible amount of assistance to help us be the best bloggers, homeschool parents, and of course, reviewers we can be. They provide a mentoring program for new members, a social media networking group, many blog and social media tutorials, and lots of incredible opportunities for our team, including blog carnivals, the opportunity to guest post on the Crew blog, and the blessing of some incredible friendships.


How can you apply? 
After making sure you meet all of the requirements, if you believe you would to an asset to the Schoolhouse Review Crew and wish to join us, please click over to the Schoolhouse Review Crew blog to apply.

Come be a part of The Old Schoolhouse family!

~Holly

God's World News {A Review}

A monthly news magazine with a Biblical world view for kids.

God's World News

The Essentials - What you need to know

• Publisher: God's World News 
• Product: God's Big World
• Age Range: Pre K - Kindergarten
• A thin magazine that comes in the mail monthly.  God's Big World shares short news stories with simple words that little ones can understand easily along with maps, photos and ties to the Bible. Along side the magazine is a large collection of searchable articles online. 
• $28 for a years subscription for home use.  (To look at other subscription rates please see their website.)

The Review

God's World News publishes six different monthly news magazines for children.  Each is aimed at a different age group.  The magazine that we reviewed was God's Big World aimed at children pre-k to kindergarten.  Over the review period we received three magazines: the August, September and October 2013 editions.  We also received a bonus wall map of the world.  

Each magazine was 24 pages and contained about 15 stories.   Some stories are very, very short, sometimes only a sentence or two. They use simple words and there are lots of lovely, color pictures, maps and illustrations.  Some stories, labeled read to me, are a bit longer, in smaller print and use longer words.  My son does not read yet, but the super short stories could be read by early readers. Almost all the articles also have teaching tips at the bottom of the page in really small print.  The tips expand on the topics and give the adult reader a little more information.  The articles cover a variety of science and social studies topics.

The name of the publication is God's World News, so it is not a surprise that scripture is frequently used. Sprinkled through each issue is a section called Bible2Life where the editors draw lines from the article to scripture.  An example that I especially enjoyed was an article on animal conservation.  The Bible2Life made the point that people who are helping endangered animals are being obedient to God's command for humans to have dominion over the animals given in Genesis 1:28.  

Throughout the magazine there are puzzles that tie into the topic just explored.   The magazine does not have glossy magazine pages, rather the pages are thick paper which makes writing with a pencil or coloring with crayons or colored pencils easy.  The puzzles were a little hard for my four year old son.  Some we did together or I modified.  An example of this was a puzzle about the seasons.  There were four pictures each depicting a different season and the words winter, spring, summer and fall above each pictures.  The child was supposed to circle the correct word for each picture.  My son and I looked at the pictures together and he said which season was correct for each picture.  

I used the magazines as part of our preschool at home.  I read one story per day and did the accompanying puzzle if there was one.  I think that the articles were well chosen for their audience.  So many had topics that would really interest young children like transportation, dinosaurs, animals and weather.  Some of the articles were clearly tied to the season.  One article that we liked  was in the September issue.  It was about how Georgia, which is called the peach state, is producing blueberries.  There were pictures of blueberries and peaches. The Little Dude's favorite foods are juicy fruits.  We had been eating fresh peaches from the grocery for several weeks and he asks for blueberries whenever he gets a chance.  Blueberries are also one of the biggest crops in Michigan.  There was  a photo of children picking peaches.  We recently went on a field trip to pick apples, so he was familiar with the concept.  Because of the season, all of these events were fresh in his mind and it was easy to talk about the peaches and blueberries and where where came from.  There was also a map of the United States and a question:  "Which state do you live in?  What is your state famous for."  It proved a wonderful opportunity to talk about where we live and where our food comes from.  

This thin monthly publication is a treasure trove of information that can help a young child see into God's wider world.  I would recommend this magazine.

The Presidential Game {A Review}

A board game that combines learning with fun.

The Presidential Game

The Essentials - What you need to know

• The Presidential Game
• Age Range: 11 to adult 
• A board game with a board, pieces, and rules. There is also an optional tool to help play the game online. 
• $35

The Review

It was an exciting day when the Presidential Game showed up on our doorstep.  Zippy asked what the big box was, I said a game.  It was like Christmas.  She could not get the box opened fast enough. There was ooohing and aahing over the quality box and its contents.  She opened all of the plastic baggies with pieces (there are a lot of pieces) and organized them. Then the questions started.  How do you play, what are the rules, what are all the pieces for?  Well, there nothing for it but to break out the rules and play a game.  But first I had to find something for my four year old son to do.  This game is definitely for older children to adults.  The recommended ages are 11 to adult, but I could see a smart 9 or 10 year old getting the concept.  It can be simple, but it can also be complex depending on the people playing.  

In the blue box we found a quality cardboard game board with a map of the United States.  Each state has a circle on it.  Most states are a solid color, but four states had a picture of George Washington on them.  There is also a nice plastic organizer which holds red and blue round plastic chips, 3 red dice, and 3 blue dice.  There are also thin cardboard square that say "Vote Democrat" and "Vote Republican".  These cardboard square fit nicely over the square plastic containers that contain the pieces and dice.  There is also a deck of cards, a score keeping notepad and the election rules, the rules of the game.

Before the game the players decide if they are going to be Republican or Democrat and how long the game is going to be.  According to the directions 30 turns, which is the most on the score card, takes about an hour.  We played much shorter games.  The basic idea of the game is to secure at least 270 electoral votes at the end of the game.  Each state clearly has noted on it how many electoral votes it gets.  The players secure the states with votes, each chip representing a vote. Votes are gained (or lost) by the roll of the dice.   There can be a fair amount of strategy with the votes.  Zippy played several times learning a little more about strategy each time.  One time she played with her dad she decided to forcefully go after the states with the biggest number of electoral votes, she lost because she concentrated so hard on the big states that she lost sight of the bigger picture and lots and lots of little states added up to more votes.

There were two options for play every turn.  One option was very straight forward, roll the dice and put your votes down.  The other was a little more random.  There were more choices where votes can be put and there was a politics card.  These cards were my favorite part of the game.  They added a little randomness, and some of them rang quite true of our political system.  An example of a card would be "The United Auto Workers (UAW) just endorsed you.  Add 5 votes to Michigan".  They could also take away votes, so it is a risk to play with them. The cards can be funny. They also have a lot of local flavor, some references were so local I had to look them up learning something in the process.   Fair warning there are some touchy political subjects in the cards including legalizing marijuana, immigration and  racism.  They also touch on some moral issues such as alcoholic drinking,  gambling, and marital indiscretions.  While I, personally, did not agree with some of the political views, they represent the views of certain political entities in the United States.  Frankly, they led to a lot of discussion.  Many, many why questions were asked and answered and I believe that my daughter now has a better grasp of our political leanings and why we choose to vote the way we do.

This game was a lot of fun to play. We have played it several times.  I look forward to the next big family gathering (either Thanksgiving or Christmas) because I know this game will be a big hit.    

People Keys {A Review)

A helpful tool to understanding how your child (or even you) works and thinks.

PeopleKeys

The Essentials - What you need to know
• PeopleKeys
• DISC Career Style Report
• Age Range: 13 to adult
• An online test that identifies the students personality style, using the DISC system.  The results can be printed.
• $12.00

The Review

We are at a place in life where the question "what do you want to do when you grow up" is becoming a little more urgent.  I wanted to review this product from PeopleKeys because I hoped it would give my daughter a little more insight into what she might enjoy doing as a career so we can begin to plan high school and higher education. I think that it accomplished that goal.  

This product is a really quick, painless way to get a wealth of information.  The test is online.  We were sent a list of instructions and a link via e-mail which we followed to a test.  I read the questions to Zippy to make sure that she understood the vocabulary.   One type of question asked the student to put words in order from what is most like them to what is least like them.  That portion led to quite an interesting vocabulary lesson but in the end she understood what the questions were asking and I believe that we got an accurate assessment.  There were also multiple choice questions.  The assessment did not take very long to do.  When the end came it surprised me because in the beginning they make clear that the test will take some time to take.  When the test portion was over it offered an analysis that could printed out.

You may be asking what is DISC? DISC is a personal assessment tool.  At the most basic level it classifies a person with four different aspects:  Dominance, Influence, Stable, Compliant.   There are many applications for the DISC assessment tool.  The test that Zippy took, the DISC Career Style Report, is actually designed to look at a person's strengths and weaknesses in the workplace and suggest potential careers based on the test information.

This assessment tool offered more than just a list of potential jobs.  First it described her style.  It gave a general description then it went into some detail in how her style interacts with other people, with projects and time management.  Everything in the report was phrased in the context of an employment situation, which was a little odd for me to read about my thirteen year old daughter, but this test is meant for thirteen and older and it is an assessment of how a person would react in a work environment.  There were also three boxes that gave bullet points of general characteristics, motivators, and her ideal environment.  I'm glad that this portion of the analysis was first.  It allowed me to hold up their assessment to what I know of my child. She could hold it up for herself and ask the question is this how I behave in this situation or that?  I agreed with the vast majority of this description, which allowed me and her to accept that the list of careers might be something that she would be a good fit for.

The analysis then when on and described Zippy's professional style and give some interactive workplace characteristics.  Then it gave some tips for her particular style in the workplace.  Every style has strengths and weaknesses.  This really gave some wonderful insights in how to interact with other styles, people who see the world differently.  Zippy is a high I, by the way.  Here is an example of one of the tips it gave her: high Is have a loose interpretation of time, and it suggested that other people may be more structured in their timeframes.  It gave several suggestions on how to not be late for important appointments.  I found this to be especially enlightening as a parent because it gave me some insight into my child.  I know that I am almost her complete opposite on the DISC spectrum.  It helped me to work out some frustrations that we were having with schoolwork.  Because right now her workplace is her school, which happens to be in our home.

Last, but certainly not least is the lists of occupations enjoyed by a particular style.  It gave lists for the two styles that she scored the highest in.  In total there are more than one hundred different occupational choices.  A really nice starting place to figure out what she wants to be when she grows up.

Overall I think this would be a valuable tool for any middle or high school student who is looking to understand how they interact with people and how that might affect the job they may have or one day have.

Look Left, Look Right, Look Left Again {A Review}

A cute board book that teach an important lesson.

Look Left, Look Right, Look Left Again by Ginger Pate

The Essentials - What you need to know

• Published by Greene Bark Press
• Product: Look Left, Left Right, Look Left Again by Ginger Pate
• Age 3 - 8
• Wally Waddlewater learns to cross the street safely in this well written, cutely drawn board book.
• $8.50

The Review

We walk everywhere, to the park, to the post office, even to preschool.  Streets are everywhere and my son needs to learn how to safely cross them.  I was delighted when this lovely book came in the mail to review. What a perfect way to explain to him how and why street crossing safety is important.

My four year old son and I sat down and read the book together.  It is a super cute story.  Wally Waddlewater, a little duck,  wants to mail a card to his Grandmother, but he needs to cross several streets to get to the mailbox.  Mama Waddlewater teaches him how to cross safely at a crosswalk, a stop sign and a railroad track to get to the mailbox.  After lots and lots of practice Wally asks for permission to cross the street by himself, which he does successfully.

The Little Dude liked the book a lot.  We read it several times.  Like many children, he liked the sound effects drawn into the pictures, like the honk, honk of the cars and the clang clang of the firetruck.  These fun details are what drew the Little Dude back to the book again and again.

While the the fun is what made him want open the book it also has an important lesson to learn, how to cross the street safely.  He is learning the lesson well.  Recently we went to the playground.  I used to take him in the stroller, but recently he wants to walk everywhere.  So we walked to the playground.  We have to cross the street five times.  Granted these are just quiet neighborhood streets, but what a perfect way to practice what he learned in this book, look left, look right, look left again.  He remembered how because we read this fun book together.

Before we read this book when we crossed the street I focused on hold my hand because there are cars.  While I am still a stickler for holding a hand, he now has a way to look for the cars.  In the story Wally learns not only about watching out for cars but also for a school bus, a fire truck and a train.  I love that this story goes beyond just looking out for cars. We live close to a train track.  We have to cross when we walk to our local farmer's market.  Because the Little Dude saw in the book Wally crossing with his mother at a train track he knows the right thing to do now.  I also love that the story does not just cover crossing the street but also crossing at the cross walk, train track, the traffic light and the stop sign.  All of which we encounter on a regular basis.

I think this is a well written book because it explains an important lesson is a fun way that will keep kids coming back again and again.

Doorposts - Beauty in the Heart {A Review}

A Bible Study perfect for young women.

Beauty in the Heart - A Study of Godly Beauty for Young Women 

The Essentials - What you need to know
• Published by Doorposts 
• Beauty in the Heart - A Study of Godly Beauty for Young Women 
• Age Range: 12 years and up
• A large paperback or e-book.  A Bible study focusing on beauty.
• $14.00

The Review

We reviewed the paperback book.

This is a collection of studies around the theme of Godly beauty.  Each lesson leads the student through a specific method of Bible study.  The methods included are: inductive, verse study, character study, book study, word and topical study, and chapter study.  The book is designed teach the student how to study the Bible.  There are nine studies with a short review at the end.  Each lesson is broken into 5 sections, so each study should take a week to complete.  According to the introduction to the book, each section should take 5 - 20 minutes to complete.  Each section is also conveniently broken into tasks such as reading, answering questions, underlining and looking things up in various reference materials.  There are addition suggestions for study at the end of the each lesson.  With the additional suggestions this one study could easily last for a whole year.

Each lesson packs a lot of information.  Since each lesson is a different kind of Bible study there is a short checklist of how to do the study and what the student will need.  For example, the first study is an inductive Bible study.  The student reads and observes, interpret and organizes, then applies.  Supplies needed are Bible, Bible Alas, Study Bible or Bible Commentary, colored pencils and an English Dictionary.  As each section is a different method of study the supplies needed are also different.  The introduction mentions that in order to get the full benefit from the study it would be beneficial for the students to have Nave's Topical Bible and Strong's Exhaustive Concordance.  Each study uses a different methodology for study, so there was no pattern to the study, which adds flavor to the learning.   The study used the King James version of the Bible.  We used the New International Version and had no trouble with the transition between translations.

Because there is so much information in each day Zippy was overwhelmed.  One of the very first tasks in the the study is to read the entire book of I Peter.  We started and stopped all in one day.  My original plan was to hand her the book and have her complete the days on her own.  I would then look at the answers to make sure they made sense.  There is not an answer key.  But because of the overwhelm I went back and broke the days up even further.  It was easy to do because the days are broken up into tasks.  It took us more than two weeks to get through the first lesson, but it worked for us to break it up so much. The way that the book is structured really lends itself to giving the student just the amount of information that they can handle and I appreciated that organization. Another thing I especially liked about the study is the little grey boxes in the outer margins of the book.  They give insight into the study and often relate to online resources.

I believe this study would be appropriate for adults and college age students as well a young women.  While the topic of beauty is especially apt for the middle school aged girl, it can still serve older students and women as a reminder of what we are in Christ.  I would recommend this Bible study for women both young and old.

MacPhail Center for Music {A Review}

Music lessons for homeschoolers in your home.

MacPhail Center for Music

The Essentials - What you need to know

• MacPhail Center for Music 
• Grades K-12
• Live, on-line music lessons using Sykpe.  There are technology requirements: a fast internet connection, microphone and web camera. For more info on the technical aspects you can check out MacPhail's online lesson webpage.  
• Price {from MacPhail's website}
  Special Introductory Pricing - Individual Instruction - Four Online Lessons for $111.  Receive four 30-minute individual online lessons from an outstanding teaching artist, from the convenience of your home. All K–12 homeschool students are eligible to participate in this package, a 25% discount from standard tuition rates.
  Daytime Flex Packs for Live Online Lessons offer flexibility to accommodate your busy schedule and help you achieve your unique musical goals. Simply schedule 8 Live Online Lessons during the 18 week semester on any weekday from 9 am – 3 pm CST. Unexpected scheduling conflict? Our cancellation policy gives you the option of canceling your lesson up to 48-hours in advance, without forfeiting the lesson. Whether you travel for work or leisure, juggle kids' extracurricular activities, or live in an area where options for studying your instrument are limited, MacPhail's Daytime Flex Pack can help you experience the joy of music-making. Standard pricing will apply after introductory lessons at $37 per 30-minute lesson.

The Review

This was one of the very best musical education experiences that Zippy has had.  I was very pleased with the entire process from the first contact through the final drum lesson.

The lessons are done through Skype.  This was a new and exciting experience for me.  Before lessons could begin I had to install Skype. It was painless and the people at MacPhail were available every step of the process. To start Kristin, the Online Manager, sent an informative e-mail describing the process from installing Skype to matching Zippy with a teacher.  Then Kristin and I had a face to face conversation via Skype to check to see if all of my technical requirements were functioning properly.  We went over the basics and she had Zippy bang on her drum to make sure the sound was coming in clearly.  Then she matched Zippy up with a teacher and we set the up the first lesson via e-mail. Kristin also checked with me via e-mail in the middle and at the end of the lessons.  If any issues arose, I felt comfortable in contacting her. For this review we had four lessons, one lesson per week for four weeks.

A short background on Zippy's drumming.  She played the drums for two years in small band in a small school.  Then she had six months of drum lessons. Zippy was matched with David as a teacher.  I really had no expectations or goals for the lessons.  Zippy likes to play the drums and I thought this would be a fun and educational for her.  David was organized, professional and patient.  I think she learned as much from this four week lesson run as she did in the six months of lessons prior.  Previously Zippy was taking lessons with the goal of trying out for a local youth symphony. She did not feel confident when auditions came around in the Spring.  I believe that if she took lessons with MacPhail with that same goal she would be prepared to audition.

While there was a general plan, David was very willing to meet Zippy where she was technically and in what she wanted to learn.  Every lesson he reviewed what she learned previously, instructed her on new information and gave her three goals to accomplish in her practice for the week.  The structure provided by the teacher made a huge impact.  It allowed Zippy to focus on what she needed to do.  Beforehand there was no mention of a book and I figured that I would have to order one.  I was delighted to find there was no book, instead David utilized Evernote an information sharing and storage application. In Evernote the teacher provided a a pdf e-book of drum sheet music, mp3s of practice rhythms, and written information as well. He used Evernote during the lesson to notate goals that Zippy should work on during the week.  Evernote is also capable of recording sound.  One week Zippy recorded her practice for David to analyse.  Another week David recorded the lesson so Zippy could go back and practice what he showed her during the lesson.  I was minimally involved.  My involvement primarily consisted of scheduling practice time for Zippy during our homeschool day.

I asked Zippy how she felt about the lessons.  "It was awesome." "He was a really great teacher." She asked for more lessons as a birthday present.  That speaks for itself.

The lessons took place during the day in our home.  This was exciting to me, as a mom, for three reasons. First Zippy works best earlier in the day.  This means that she is sharper for the lessons, so she could get the most out of it.  Second I did not have to take the time to drive anywhere. As a one car family it is sometimes difficult to manage homeschool activities that happen during the day.  Third, I did not have to find someone to watch the Little Dude or deal with a four year old in a waiting room. Zippy was on the first floor taking lessons and I took the Little Dude upstairs to play, both children were happy.

A word about price.  When I first looked at the price I was a bit daunted.  It is more expensive than most lessons that I have priced locally in the Detroit area. After experiencing the quality of teaching and the resources that were made available to Zippy  I came to the conclusion that while initially it seems more expensive it did prove results and thus is a better value.

If you are looking for high quality lessons for your homeschooled child from the comfort of your own home MacPhail Center for Music is the way to go.

I wanted to share one last thing.  Zippy's crowning achievement for the four lessons was the skill of a drum roll.  Here is a short video: