Review: Dig-It!Games

This year we've been studying world history up to the time of Christ. Although we haven't reached the Roman empire yet, we've whet our whistle through a new game --Roman Town by Dig-It! Games.   Normally, we don't go for computer games in our house, at least not the kind that exercise your thumbs more than your mind, but that's not the case here.  Your child gets to play the part of an archaeologist--the real kind, not Indiana Jones.  There are no chases or gun fights-- only stick figures scraping the earth, pieces of pottery to reassemble, a historical mystery to solve and (whispered tones) your kids just might learn something as well.

After reading a few comic book-like panels to set up the story that you've been hired to help a professor oversee diggers  near Pompeii,  you arrive at the dig site.

Each flag represents a potential artifact.  Your job is to assign diggers and their digging tools to each site.  I was a little concerned when we read the instructions -- you start with six diggers and receive more as you progress, when a green bubble appears over the digger it means they've uncovered something and you have so many seconds to respond before that object is lost (balloons turn brown as a warning), different tools allow for different digging speeds and the faster diggers may damage object.  I was afraid this would be too much strategy and multi-tasking for my 8 year old to handle.   My advice to him was to use the slowest tools, thinking this would keep things from getting out of hand.  It turns out not to be anything like a beat the clock kind of game.  We had plenty of time to respond to each digger, even when two green balloons popped up at once we could get to each in turn.  Clicking on the balloon gives you a close up of the ground and you control a trowel with your mouse to clear off the artifact.

 

As each object is uncovered,  it is identified by the professor or by two young Roman children who have traveled from the past (I don't remember how they explained that one, but it's their house we're excavating).  You have the opportunity to click and Learn More or return to the dig site.   Of course, this is an educational game and you would be wise to take them up on their offer--the information will come in handy when the game moves on to the lab.  Some of the material is repetitious--after you've read about "fineware" once, the information doesn't change.

 When all the flagged sites have been excavated (and you have to wait for your diggers to finish, even if they've already found the object), the uncovered objects have to be sorted by material.  You click on each object and drag it to the appropriately labeled box.  If you're not sure you can get a hint (this is true with most of the learning games).  Once this is done you head to the field lab.  Now the learning games really begin.  On the lab table are three activities using the objects you just found.  You may be asked to reassemble a mosaic tile floor or a pottery jar.

It took Schnickelfritz to get used to using both mouse buttons at once to rotate and place pieces of the puzzle and the 3-d objects required Mama to step in and help.  In other games like remembering where the object appeared in a room and returning them to their place it was Mama who needed help from her boy.

In this game the Hint would give you a general location, but you had to place the object exactly.  Another game we played several times was comparing artifacts with their modern-day counter parts.

Looking back at the field lab picture,  at ground level are options to to play calculi--like tic-tac-toe but you must get 5 in a row playing against the computer.  The Room Tour let's you explore the room you've just excavated with furniture and artifacts in place.  You can click the side arrows to rotate around the room.  As you move your mouse around, different objects and areas will be highlighted.   Clicking on them brings up the professor and the kids to teach you about the object--information you may have already read when the object was excavated.   The L.E.A.R.N. quiz isn't necessarily a quiz at all, it maybe a chance to play wordsearch or hangman games with some of the new vocabulary words.  The final task is the Report.  This will remain locked until you at least finish all the tasks on the lab table. 

You can complete this journal entry by clicking and dragging words from the list at the bottom of the page.  If your selection is not correct, the words won't stick in place.   This "test" is not timed and there doesn't appear to be a penalty for too many wrong guesses so your child should get it eventually.  Even if I hadn't been sitting with him during the excavating and lab games, I could often figure out most words from the context of the sentence.  When the report is complete and correct, you can start the whole process over by selecting another digging site--six in all.

Some other key info for Roman Town:

System Requirements
• Windows Vista/XP/2000
• CPU 800 Mhz; RAM 412MB; Hard Drive 350MB

Target Age:  8 to 88  (eight year olds may need some help reading all the text)

Price  $39.95   This reflects a recent price increase.  But have I got a deal for you!   Homeschool Crew has been given a discount code TOS2011 good through February 21st.   This will entitle you to a 20% discount off of  last year's price of $24.95.  This would make your final cost $19.96 plus shipping.  There is a multi-user version available for classrooms ($299) and an Educator's Manual ($19.95).   And they have new games in the works so check bact at their website from time to time.

If you want to see what other Homeschool Crew members think of Dig-It! games click here.

Disclaimer: I downloaded a free copy of Dig-It! Games Roman Town for the purposes of completing this review.  I received no other compensation.

IEW -- the Yahoo Group

Last time I mentioned the resources available to you through the Institute for Excellence in Writing's website.   Another source you'll want to be familiar with is the Yahoo Group  (actually three groups are available) .  IEWFamilies  (the biggest and busiest loop with over 8100 members and 629 posts for January) isfor teachers and families looking for support using any of IEW's materials .   IEW_Co_op(800+ members, 50-100 posts per month) is for homeschool co-ops and small group leaders using the IEW materials.    The final group, IEWTeachers, is for conventional school teachers using IEW materials.  It has only 145 members and very little activity.  All three groups require membership and moderate the postings.

I've joined the IEWFamilies, so that's what I'll be sharing with you.  Here is an opportunity to communicate with others going through what you are, or better yet, those who have already gone through it and can share some advice or insight.  Ask a question and you'll get plenty of answers and encouragement.   Don't just stop at the message board.  Under "Links" you can find access to online stories, lesson plans,  a dictionary, a thesaurus, and other vocabulary and grammar help.

Under"Files" you can find downloadable resources organized by the 9 units of the Teaching Writing: Structure & Style (TWSS).   The teacher's book has examples of signs and posters for your walls and you can make them yourself, but if you check the file section, you may find it's already been done for you (leaving you moretime for the 837 other things on you TO-DO list).  You can also find additional paragraphs for students who need more practice with key word outlines--one resourceful person made 20 paragraphs based on The Magic Schoolbus programs.

Happy Birthday to Me!

It's my birthday (I don't have to say which one, but I am comparing today to the blizzrd of 1982 which I can remember quite well).  Kids get off for Washington's birthday and Martin Luther King's birthday so why not mine? God is doing all the decorating and he's picked an all white theme--icicles on the trees, sleet and snow everywhere else.  I don't even have to blow out my own candle--20-30 mph winds will do that.  I'm saving the candles.  There's enough to provide a lot of light and maybe generate a little heat if the power goes out.  My birthday presents were cartridges for my Cricut so I'm playing with them now (we can do school when the electricity goes out).   I know you didn't have enough notice to send me a card, so how about signing up under my Google friends in the right column?

The Icestorm Cometh

We've had two days of 40+ temperatures and most of our snow had melted. I confess to even starting to think that the day after my birthday (we won't say which one) the groundhog might NOT see his shadow. Imangine my surprise to wake up this morning and find out we're under a winter storm watch from this evening until WEDNESDAY! We're supposed to start off with freezing rain and accumulating ice (.1 to .5 inches), enough to bring down power lines. Whatever doesn't come down in that form will be snow-- 8 to 10 inches. I can remember two bad winter storms in my life. The first was an ice storm over New Years Day. We were already out of school and I felt like we got gypped out of a snow day. No power for 4 days. I slept in the living room (for the fireplace) with my parents and the tropical fish.

The second storm (also on my birthday) I spent trying to find the car in the snowdrift in the driveway. We didn't lose power that time. I had gone to school that morning only to hear during mornigh announcements that they were sending us all home--and with our rides gone we had to walk in six inch deep snow with more coming down by the second. My stepdad came home early and I made hime take me in the 4-wheel drive to the store to buy Trivial Pursuit. All three customers in the store had the same idea--okay maybe we bought bread and milk too, the snowstorm staples.

My concern this time is the loss of power. Everything in this house relies on electricity: the furnace, the fridge, the pump on the well. I'm filling up all the jugs with water and cooking up a storm. If we lose power, at least we can eat cold meatloaf sandwiches. The best birthday present I could get would be for God to just blow the storm past our house.

New series of posts -- Institute for Excellence in Writing

You may have seen that some of the Homeschool Crew have already posted reviews on other IEW products,  a DVD on Teaching Boys and the Phonetic Zoo.  Others of us have been given a much longer time to work with IEW's signature products--  Teaching Writing : Structure and Style (TTSS), various levels of the Student Writing Intensive (SWI), or both.  I received the combination package of Teaching Writing and Student Level A.  I will be the first to admit  these are big ticket items,  not something you're likely to pick up with spare change just to see if it will work with your kids.   I also want to to justice for the company for generously providing me with a copy to use and review.  I am therefore going to try and keep a weekly log of how we integrate this writing curriculum into our homeschool.

So to begin at the beginning--I didn't know anything about IEW before this review.  What I did know was that Language Arts is the one area I feel least competent about teaching.  Give me subjects with right and wrong answers,  physical laws that can't be broken, or names and dates etched in time.   I could probably cover the rules for diagramming sentences (in fact, I enjoyed this in my own schooling), but writing is more art than science.  Top all this with the fact that writing is my Schnickelfritz's least favorite subject and you see why we  procrastinated starting any real writing program and now we're in second grade.

While I waited for the books and DVDs to arrive I did some online investigation.  I recommend finding and downloading the audios for some of Andrew Pudewa's workshops.   My two favorites are Reaching the Reluctant Writer and the Four Deadly Errors.  The former is available on the free download pageof IEW's website.  The latter can also be obtained for free if you use the coupon code available on page  18 of the company's magalog (be sure to check it out before the 2011 magalog comes out in March).    I put these on my MP3 player to listen while I walk the dog or while I'm washing dishes.  For those of you who do better with reading material, there are plenty of articles and workshop handouts on the site (look under Help & Support).

One thing I did learn (and right now I can't remember which audio it was on),  the technique used in IEW in not new.  It was in face used by Benjamin Franklin to help him improve his own writing skills (the Bible says there is nothing new under the sun).  Here it is in his own words...

About this time I met with an odd volume of the Spectator. I had never before seen any of them. I bought it, read it over and over, and was much delighted with it. I thought the writing excellent, and wished, if possible, to imitate it. With that view, I took some of the papers, and making short hints of the sentiment in each sentence, laid them by for a few days, and then, without looking at the book, tried to complete the papers again, by expressing each hinted sentiment at length and as fully as it had been expressed before, in any suitable words that should come to hand. I then compared my Spectator with the original, discovered some of my faults and corrected them.

Review: Lifeway Christian Stores

In the past year my Schnickelfritz has stepped up to the task of running the sound for the children's ministry.   This is no small task.  In addition to staying for both services once a month, he has had to commit to daily prayer and Bible study.  We've been reading our way through the Old Testament in school this year.  Recently we received an excellent study tool from Lifeway Christian Stores -- The Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary for Kids.  This 212 page hardback book is chock full of maps, charts, definitions, pronunciation guides and beautiful color photographs of Biblical sites and artifacts.  In cases where photos aren't available (wouldn't we all like to see how short Zacchaeus really was or the beauty of Queen Esther), a vivid color illustration is provided.

At the time, we were in the book of Judges.  We turned to the J entries to learn the judges were the leaders between Joshua's death and the annointing of Saul.  The was even a map showing the general area in which each judge lived (my cartophile son's favorite part).   In our Bible we read that Gideon made an ephod from the gold captured from the Mideonites (Judges 9:27).  I will confess that in my past 30 years of Bible study I just assumed from the context that this was some sort of statue or idol.  Looking up "ephod" in our new dictionary we learned that it was an apron-like piece of clothing usually worn by the priests.  When the Israelites worshiped it, it was probably being worn by someone--Gideon himself perhaps?  No wonder the Bible says it became a trap for Gideon and his family.  No wonder his son wanted to kill all his sibling rivals and be on the receiving end of all that worship.

Some of the definitions may seem superficial in an adults eyes.  Angels  are listed as "Created beings whose only job is to serve and worship God. In Bible times, angels spoke messages from God to people."  There is no reference to the different types of angels, cherubim for example, or even the names of some angels or the mention of fallen angels.   If you're reading the Bible with your child, you may want to see what upcoming words are listed in the dictionary.  Fritz and I were interested in the false god Baal, but there was no reference in the book.  For the target audience, I'd say elementary age kids, this is an excellent starting point for Bible study.

Some of our favorite entries were the various charts.  You can see the Weights and Measures sample above.   Others include the Names of God and Jesus,  the Parables of Jesus, the divisions of the Old and New Testament.  There are also multi-page spreads with photos of animals, plants, and food of the bible.  If you'd like to see more sample pages, you can download the Introduction to Parents and Teachers and all the A entries at Lifeway Christian Stores' website.   This is also where you can purchase the book for $14.99--a bargain for a quality kid's Bible study tool.

You can see what others on the Homeschool Crew think of the Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary for Kids by clicking here.

Disclaimer:  i received a free book from Lifeway Christian stores for the purposes of completing this review.  There was no further compensation for my honest opinion.

Biology of Behavior Week 3

Schnickelfritz and I have tackled our six pills a day for the last week and now I fear comes the hardest (for me that is) week of all--cutting back on sugar.     I'm the one that has a secret stash of chocolate.   I'm the one that will have to come up with an alternative to the easy bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios for breakfast.  I'll be making Sue Gregg's blender batter pancakes and scrambled eggs.   As for Fritz, we have already recognized that sugar can really rev up his motor.  Sometimes we can almost recognize the instant and will say "Oh, the sugar kicked in."   He is only allowed root beer on rare and special occasions and we never drink soda at home.   We don't Trick or Treat or fill Easter baskets with candy.  On occasion a kind neighbor (who has diabetes) will  regift her sugary treats to Fritz, but we usually stick those in a cabinet and he never asks for them.  It's the end of January and I just threw out some gruesome Halloween treats.  One area we will have to work on is drinking water instead of lemonade or juice.  Perhaps I can dilute some our normal drinks to start with?   I may come up with a satisfying drink with lemon juice and a little stevia?   

 As far as behavior changes--I pulled out the workshop handout from Dianne Crafts Biology of Behavior.

Sensitive to loud noises -- The loudest noise right now is the buzzer at Upwards basketball.  Last week's practice and game were cancelled due to snow.  Fritz did say that the buzzer doesn't bother him as much during the game, perhaps because there's a lot of other noise going on to drown it out.  At practice he still resorts to putting his hands over his ears.

Touch --  The tags on his pajamas are still flipped to the outside.  He did have to wear a new karate uniform that I didn't find very soft and there was no complaining.  He has stopped pulling on loose strings in his socks.

Mood Swings/anger/irritablity --  I have seen some improvement here as well.  Fritz always takes discipline very hard and will often say things like "I'm the worst kid ever."  This even carries over to simple correction in school --how to form letters in penmanship or pointing out where a math problem went wrong.  His reactions have softened and he is beginning to understand that criticism of actions are separate from criticism of self.

Other physical characteristics--  Fritz is able to fall asleep much easier. 

Attention--Fritz  has been willing to sit and do some reading for himself.  I don't know if that is an improved ability to focus or just great reading material for a young boy (Hank the Cowdog and the Case of the Garbage Monsters from Outer Space).    He has taken initiative to make a new pitcher of lemonade when it's empty, something he has never done before but I guess he's watched me.

I've been pleased with the improvements I've seen and I can wait to get to the weeks where we add B vitamins and Essential Fatty Acids.