CREW Review- King Alfred's English

King Alfred's English- A History of the Language We Speak and Why We Should Be Glad We Do, by Laurie White was birthed out of the author's interest of the language we speak and how we came to speak it.  Laurie, a former homeschooling mom of three, has a desire to now pass that interest, and the knowledge she has learned, on to others, ages 12-adult.

Did you know?

*There are around 80 sounds that humans make and the English language only uses 40 of those?

*All unpronounced letters in the English language, like the "gh" in night, were once pronounced.

*During the Middle English period, the English were so determined to act and talk like the French that many of the words we use today are spelled and pronounced the way they are due to French influence.

  Anglo-Saxon-  COW... French- BEEF

    Anglo-Saxon- DEER... French- VENISON

        Anglo-Saxon- CALF ... French- VEAL

*During the time of the printing press, upper case letters got their names because they were kept in the upper trays, and lower case letters were called so because they were kept in the lowest trays since they were used more.

*30-50% of English words are derived from France.

*Shakespeare used 20,138 words in his works; at least 1,700 that he made up!

This is just the tip of the iceberg of what you will learn while reading King's Alfred's English.  You will also learn quite a lot about the History of England, the Bible and many famous people of the Old, Middle and Modern English time periods. Laurie has managed to take what could be a boring run down of the history of the English language and make it fun and engaging to read.

Best of all in my opinion, on Laurie's website The Shorter Word, there are a ton of free resources.  The Student Pages include additional chapter information, related articles, videos and recommended literature and movies.  The Teacher's Pages included worksheets for each chapter which then can be used as study guides for the three included tests.

You can find King Alfred's English on Amazon, CBD, and Rainbow Resources for as little as $14.95.  If you are one of the first four people to comment in the comment section of this post that you would like a copy, Laurie has generously given me a coupon code to share that can save you 50%! 

To check out what fellow CREW members had to say about this book click on the banner below.



    Disclaimer- I received a downloadable copy of King Alfred's English in exchange for my honest review of the book.  Opinions expressed are my own and were not influenced by the company in any way

CREW Review- Jeepers Peepers

Can I just start with the fun first?!

                                             
                                                   And then the big kids got in on the fun!

And you should not leave out visiting friends!

Can you tell we LOVE this game?!

Super Duper Publications is an family run company with amazing resources!  The excitement started as soon as the box for the game Jeepers Peepers arrived.  Inside the box you will find 6 colorful plastic glasses, see above pictures, a tub of bingo chips, an electronic spinner, 101 shiny picture cards and 6 "My cue cards".

From the company:

The Ask and Answer Question Game that builds questioning skills, describing skills, categorizing skills, problem solving skills, and more!

The instructions- Put on a pair of glasses, put a picture card in the slot and try to guess what you are by asking someone yes or no questions.  When you guess correctly, you get to push the automatic spinner to determine how many bingo chips you win.  The person with the most chips wins.

Easy!

Not really!

But fun!

Let's just say there are lots of questions you have to ask to determine you are a rooster, or a taco or a dinosaur of a train.  But with a little work, and maybe a few hints from a helpful friend you can guess the answers.  Honestly, we spent more time giggling than getting the answers correct, but sometimes, isn't that what games and fun are all about?

We also loved that while this was deemed the five years old's game, the whole family,  and visiting friends, got involved and had fun.  A game that can encompass multiple age groups is often hard to find!  Trust me, I know!

Even more special about this game and many others that Super Duper Publications offers is that they are also great for, and many geared for, kids with special needs.  The 280 page catalog is broken down into clearly marked sections covering things like sign language, critical thinking, social skills, Stuttering-Dysfluency, occupational therapy, autism and more!  

The bottom line- I highly recommend  this fun game, but I also encourage you to check out the web site for more amazing products!

Ordering Information:

Jeepers Peepers Game- $29.95

Additional glasses-$11.95 (set of six)

101 Add on cards- $15.95

For my followers:
Use the Coupon Code: BLGJP30

Save 30% Expires 8/31/12

THANKS SUPER DUPER!!!

You can see what fellow CREW members had to say about Jeepers Peepers and two other products that were reviewed by clicking on the banner below.

 

  Disclaimer- Our family received Jeepers Peepers in exchange for our honest review of the product.  The opinions expressed are our own and were not influenced by the company in any way!

TOS Review- Write Shop Junior, Plus Coupon Code

Am I the only one that thinks teaching writing is hard? I found a program a few years ago I liked for slightly older kids, but for the younger ones it has been a challenge. Write Shop has solved my problem! I really like this program written by Nancy Sanders. We had the privilege to review Write Shop Junior, Level D, recommended for 3rd and 4th graders, and have really had fun exploring the first few chapters. The plan was to save the rest for our upcoming school year, but since my 10 year old is enjoying it so much, we are now going to just continue through the summer.

Let me start by saying this is not a program you should just jump right into.  I read and reread the teacher's guide to get my bearings before starting.  The curriculum has very clear instructions on how to approach each section of each chapter, including a lesson chart for a two week plan or three week plan for each chapter, allowing you to choose whichever best meets the needs of your family.  The Student Activity guide is made up of student sheets and the "Fold and Go"sheets and comes in a handy bi-fold so you can just tear out the pages you are using for that day.  There are plenty of hands on activities and games to keep you busy, but no pointless busy work.

I was concerned that my son might find the graphics a bit juvenile, but he actually enjoyed the page work and I think it made it less intimidating to use and more fun for the two of us to work through.

One of the bonuses of this program is that you create a "Fold and Go" for each unit that covers grammar rules and makes a quick study tool for your child to use. You will need to supply the file folders, but we enjoyed putting these together. 

 
Another neat aspect of the program sprinkled throughout the pages of the Teacher's Guide are sections called Parents Say. These sections are loaded with quotes of additional hints from fellow homeschooling parents...how they tweaked the program or things they added to make it more fun. If I could add one idea, mine would be this: I stapled clear quart baggies to instruction pages with the parts from the activities we did. That way, when I use the book again with the next child, all the parts for that specific activity are right there.

Table of Contents

Letter of Invitation
Humor
Adventure
Science Fiction
Mystery
Poetry/Haiku
Folktales
Historical Fiction
Personal Narrative
Expository Writing: Factual Article

You can also get this product in a PDF form.  I will say that for me personally I liked having it all in front of me, including the Time-Saver Pack.  Could you print these out yourself?  Yes!  But sometimes life is just easier when someone else saves you the time and effort.  The pages are brightly colored and on card stock, making the pieces you cut out easier to use. 
From the company:  Appealing to the visual, auditory and hands-on learners, the Book D Time-Saver Pack introduces new writing concepts in fun and clever ways. 




Pages from the Time Saver Pack

As stated earlier, we will definitely continue to use this program and hope to begin it with our youngest at the A, B, & C levels. (Other CREW members reviewed those levels, you can read about them Here as well.)  It has been a joy to use Write Shop and a much needed answer to a curriculum quandary.

You can order Write Shop Junior here for $39.95. 

 As a special bonus, Write Shop is  graciously offering  15% off  Write Shop Primary and Junior products in their store (including e-books) using the coupon code CREW15 at checkout.  Offer valid through June 15th, 2012.

See what other TOS CREW members have to say about this product here.

Disclaimer- I received The Teacher's Guide, Activity Pack and Time Saver Packet in exchange for my honest review of this product.  The opinions stated are my own and were not influenced by the company in any way.