Phonics Museum App

Our family loves the Veritas Press Bible programs, so when we had the opportunity to review for the company again, I was excited. They offer materials for much more than Bible classes though, and this time, we we've been learning with their new Phonics Museum App.

Veritas Press was created by Marlin and Laurie Detweiler as a way to give their own children a classical education. After their curricula worked so well for their family, they wanted to make it available to other like-minded parents, as well. Since then, the company has grown to offer full curriculum, a publishing company, an online classical Christian academy, and two classical Christian schools. 

   

The Phonics Museum App is a multi-sensory program that teaches kids to read in a fun, engaging way. The student joins William and Wendy on an adventure through an art museum. Percival, a walking-talking suit of armor guides and encourages them as they look at the paintings, learn their letters, and discover that art can be exciting. They are then introduced to Miss Biddle, the quirky museum curator, as she leads the lessons. She's animated during some of the games and activities, but "comes to life" as she teaches the lessons to the student. Like the other materials from Veritas Press, this app follows the Classical Approach of learning, and not only teaches letters and sounds, but includes bit of information about artists and their works, inventions, history, nature, and more. 

The app was designed for early-readers in the 3-7 year age range, so it contains over 900 games, videos, interactions, real teaching, and memory songs to keep little ones engaged. A typical lesson has around 11 stages.  It always starts and ends with a video and has other activities throughout. For example, it might follow this format: video, song, video, game, video, game, video, game, video, game, video. A student must complete each stage of the lesson before he can move to the next, and he can see what each lesson contains by looking at the numbered easels with the appropriate icons. Sometimes the videos are simply Miss Biddle announcing the next activity, but mostly they are filled with teaching and silliness.  

The Phonics Museum believes in "edutainment," meaning games and learning collide and children don't even realize it. That's why there are 22 games that not only will the student enjoy, but also will learn to read while playing them. The games reinforce the learning by encouraging the student to recognize the individual letters--both upper and lower case along with both printed and written versions--and their sounds. The games are simple, but cute. There is a chipmunk that eats nuts, a frog that catches flies with his tongue, birds that happily splash in a bird bath, a catapult that launches paintballs that decorate the castle, and many more.  

One thing that I appreciate about the teaching is that for the games that focus on the sounds, there is a slight emphasis on the specific letter that is being reviewed. For example, during an M game, the student is supposed to touch the sarcophagus when Miss Biddle says the words that begin with the M sound. Mmustache. Boy. Penny. Mmoose. There is that slight emphasis on the /m/ to trigger the sound for the student. It is not overly done and the student himself might not even recognize it, but subtly it helps.   

My kindergartner is learning to read, so this app came at the perfect time. He loves watching the videos, playing the games, and reading the simple books. He adores Miss Biddle. Seriously, she must be the cutest teacher ever with her bold dress covered in letters, ribbons in her hair, her quirkiness, and her charming personality. She's a bit like Miss Frizzle from The Magic School Bus, but not quite as eccentric and without the transforming bus. Many times I catch even my older kids watching the videos and laughing at the silliness. 

The museum contains 10 floors of interactive fun. The paintings come alive, the characters are silly, and the whole experience is fun. Most importantly though, it helps kids learn their letters and sounds--and ultimately how to put those together to make words--with a solid phonics-based program. I'm excited to watch my little one learn and explore with the Phonics Museum.  

The Phonics Museum App is available through iTunes. It is a complete curriculum on its own, but since it is a spin-off of the physical version, it can also be used as a complimentary aid. If you'd like to see the app in action, there is an informational video on the website.

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You can read more reviews of this app on the Homeschool Review Crew blog.

Veritas Bible

My kids fell in love with Veritas Press when Jake studied and completed the entire Self-Paced History course for the Old Testament and Ancient Egypt a couple years ago. When the opportunity came to review for the company again, I jumped at the chance. But what's even better than reviewing for a company that you love? Being able to include the whole family! Last time, the other kids were disappointed that the self-paced course was only for Jake. It seemed like so much fun and they asked many times to use it too. This time though, we received a one-year family subscription to  VeritasBible.com, meaning I'd have no sad little faces to look at. Everyone could participate!

Veritas Press was created by Marlin and Laurie Detweiler as a way to give their own children a classical education. After their curricula worked so well for their family, they wanted to make it available to other like-minded parents, as well. Since then, the company has grown to offer full curriculum, a publishing company, an online classical Christian academy, and two classical Christian schools.   

VeritasBible.com currently offers 3 courses:

• Genesis to Joshua
• Judges to Kings
• The Gospels

Each course teaches 32 events that happened during the period. Each event is broken into 4 lessons, making 128 total lessons for each course.

The events are taught using a timeline. This format is beneficial since it helps the students to visually see the stories in the order they took place. Understanding the time frame is a good way to learn the history of the Bible.

 
The lessons are taught through videos. People in time-period costumes along with animated characters tell stories as they complete tasks in their every-day life. Woven throughout the videos are names, dates, cities, significant events, and more that pertain to the Biblical events.

Just like the self-paced courses, a memory song is sung nearly every lesson to teach the events. Each tune is different, yet they are equally catchy. I often get the songs stuck in my head, too! What amazes me about these songs is that they truly teach the kids the events, not just the names, but also dates or Scripture references for some. For instance, they learned 1446 B.C. the parting of the Red Sea, Zacharias learns of John's birth in 4 B.C., Cain and Abel in Genesis 4, the visit of the Magi in Matthew 2, and more. 

There are also games for review and tests at the end of each event.

Since we have a family subscription, the kids can log onto the site and easily login to their own account by clicking on their avatars. From there, they can choose which course they want and maneuver through the lessons. The events are shown on a map with a stop for the different events.

I gave the kids the choice of which course they wanted to study. Two kids picked Genesis through Joshua, so they are learning about 32 major events taking place from Creation through Joshua's Last Words. The third child decided on The Gospels, so his learning starts with Zacharias Learns of John's Birth and ends with The Ascension.

As the students progress through the lessons, more of the map is made visible. Plants grow, animals move across the screen, rain pours from clouds, people walk, etc.. The kids like showing me specific parts of the stories that are acted out on the map, like when Abel falls down from Cain's blow and blood pools around him and when the Red Sea swallows up the Egyptians and the men sink in the water. The animation is not graphic or disturbing at all, but shows the event as simply as possible. 

We school four days a week and I require the kids to complete one Bible lesson per day. However, the kids love VeritasBible.com so much that they ask to use it 5-6 days a week, often first thing in the morning even before our official school start time, and work through multiple lessons. They're using it so much, in fact, that they range from 31%-69% completion. Remember, each course contains enough lessons to last an entire school year, and one of my kids has finished nearly 3/4 of it in 6-weeks time. Saying they like this program is putting it mildly. Even more impressive is that they are retaining the knowledge! For one thing, they have to pass the tests before they can move to the next event. Even aside from that though, they can still answer questions about it and relate the stories weeks later.

The kids usually watch each others lessons too. I'll often find all of them huddled around the computer and participating. It's so fun that even my 4-year-old asked for his own account. He does need help with the tests, but he loves watching the videos and playing the games.
 
This is a little of what the kids have to say about the program:

"I like all the games and I like learning new stories I never heard of. 

I like the people in the videos too."

"I love it! I like the memory song and that I'm learning more. I love the games!"

"Critter Catch (game) is fun.That's my favorite." 

My only issue is that all the Scripture reading throughout is from a different version than we use. Most of the time it is not an issue as far as the lessons go, but there are times we pull out our own Bible to read from ourselves.

 
VeritasBible.com is a fantastic program. Not only do the kids beg to do it every day (no joke), they're also learning and remembering important facts from the Bible and are gaining a better understanding of the events. We highly recommend Veritas Press.

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You can read more reviews of VeritasBible.com or the Self-Paced Bible course on the Schoolhouse Review Crew blog.

 

Veritas Press Self-Paced History

History was never a subject that I liked in school. My mom would watch historical documentaries, and I'd find it incredibly boring. As I've gotten older though, I've come to appreciate history and learning  about the past. Now, I, too, will watch the "boring" documentaries. I'm thankful that Jake, my oldest, already loves history. Biographies are his favorite books to read. He loves learning about the past and soaks up that knowledge. When we had the opportunity to review a history program from Veritas Press, I knew he'd be excited. And since he's fascinated by all things Egypt, I chose Veritas Press Self-Paced History: Old Testament and Ancient Egypt.  

Other than the Old Testament and Ancient Egypt Flashcards, the entire program (for grades 2nd-6th)  is online. While watching the tutorial for how to use the program, I started to get a little nervous, wondering how complicated this was going to be to use with my 8-year-old. He started the first lesson, and I realized it was so simple. It did take me a few days to remember how to get to his next lessons, because there are a few different steps and clicks of the mouse we'd have to take, but after that it was fine.

The lessons start at the beginning with Creation and end with Egypt falling to the Roman empire. The lessons are done in a slideshow format. Jake loves telling me at the beginning of each lesson how many slides there are and is disappointed when there are only a few. The material is taught by characters in period dress and names. The Great Sphinx is definitely his favorite. A talking, animated Sphinx who does silly things, like wearing sunglasses, is sure to get the kids' attention and a few laughs. I thought Jake might think it was a little bit corny, but he loves it.

There is a song in the lessons that teaches the major events of the period:

• Creation 
• The Fall in the Garden
• Cain and Abel
• The Flood
• Tower of Babel
• Unification of Upper and Lower Egypt
• The Old Kingdom in Egypt
• First Intermediate Period in Egypt
• and 24 more!

I admit, when I heard it, I thought, There's no way he's going to memorize this. It's got all these big words, and it's a long song. And it doesn't even rhyme! Uh huh. The song is one of his favorite parts about the program. He sings along with it every day and even has most of it memorized. I stand corrected. And what's worse? It's so catchy after a few times that it gets stuck going through my head and I find myself singing it at random times. So, 2 things I thought might not go over well with my child are actually 2 of his favorite parts of using this. Go figure.

His third favorite thing that he mentioned to me is that he can complete as many lessons as he wants. Since it is self-paced, he often finishes one lesson and immediately moves on to the next. Some days he even likes to finish all the lessons for an entire event. When I told my husband about that, he asked, "Yeah, but how much is he learning?" Good question. It's easy to forget things when you're taking in a lot of information all at once. But Jake is eating it up. Like I said, he loves history and Egypt and correlating those 2 with the Bible is a perfect combination. There are quizzes and such along the way to make sure the student is understanding. It even keeps tack of the grade. Jake is currently sitting at a 91%.       

The laminated 5x8" flashcards are used in the lessons. There is a picture and the title on the front and information and books with page numbers for additional resources. Some of the questions correspond directly to the flashcards. Some days Jake uses them a reference; some days he tries to answer from memory. He enjoys looking through the cards and does not like sharing them with his siblings. Most days Alyssa (6) and sometimes Zac (4) will watch the lesson(s) along with him. They laugh at the silly characters, too.

This history program has been a joy to use. Jake can navigate himself through the lessons and is learning so much. Everything that he needs is easy for him to find. Along with the flashcards, there is a section in each of the lessons for attachments, like the memory song lyrics, timelines, and such. I love that the Old Testament is coming even more alive to him. Jake is enjoying this program so much, that he's already told me he wants to move on to the next time period when he's done and eventually complete them all.     

The self-paced Old Testament and Ancient Egypt course costs $199.00 and the flashcards cost $19.95. There are also options for literature kits, if you choose to utilize that, as well.


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If you're interested in researching the other levels or would like to see more opinions of this one, you can click to read more reviews of Veritas Press on the Schoolhouse Review Crew blog.