It’s been a while, since I’ve reviewed a product for the Mosaic Reviews team, so I’m excited about today’s post!
About and Our Experiences:
If you read my review on Apologia’s children’s bookHow Do We Know God Is Really There? or my review on the Apologia homeschooling planners, then you’ve probably noticed the lovely illustrations and fun artwork that seems to be typical of Apologia books and curriculum.
Retailing for $14 on their website, Apologia’s A Light for My Pathintertwines beautiful illustrations and Psalms 119 with both the Hebrew and English alphabet. Since this 80-age book teaches both God’s Word and the alphabet, I thought it would be perfect for my four-year-old nephew who’s in preschool.
The book starts with the English alphabet pages. This is the section I found more appropriate for younger learners. The back section of the book is where older learners can be introduced to the Hebrew alphabet and the entire Psalm 119.
In the beginning, each spread starts with “God’s Word, Law, Statutes, Decrees, Commands, and Precepts are.” The right page of the spread then finishes the phrase with the appropriate alphabetical letter, that forms a biblical attribute. For example, in the photo below, “U” begins “universal.”
Want to know more? You can check out Apologia HERE to see all the homeschooling curriculum and resources they offer. To see other A Light for My Path reviews and get different perspectives, visit the Mosaic Reviews website HERE.
Remember my review on Spanish for You! homeschool curriculum for grades 3 to 8? No? Well, you can read it HERE. The new Viajes package is 10% off now through the end of the year. Just use one of the following codes when you order. The numbers at the end of each code should match the package grade level you’re ordering:
Whew! My blog post title is quite a mouthful today, eh? This is my last review for the former Mosaic Reviews team. They’ll be unveiling their new program shortly, and I’m excited to be apart of it!
About:
John and Zdenka De Gree founded The Classical Historian after realizing there’s a lack of history curriculum that promotes “independent and critical thinking.” The Medieval History Memory Game (RV $14.95) can be used in two ways: matching and categories. Matching doesn’t require reading and is suitable for ages three and up. Since it’s more complex, categories is more appropriate for ages seven and up. Categories teaches both chronology and geography.
My Take:
There was one little thing about the memory tiles that exasperated me, because it’s a pet peeve of mine! (If my friends read this post, they will chuckle, because they KNOW how I feel about this). In the Viking card, the Viking depicted has horns on his helmet, which is not historically accurate. I suppose horns were included on this card because the majority of the world associates horned helmets with Vikings…BUT this game teaches history. I think it should be as historically accurate as possible.
I wanted to show a nice photo of the cards lined up evenly for the matching game. But my helper had other plans.
In the matching game, kids (and adults too!) can familiarize themselves with people, places, artifacts, etc. from history. Obviously a good memory is important not just for school but to survive in life. A quick Google search will show you study after study that show we can improve our memorization skills by games. I’ve even read that memory games are good for the elderly to stave off dementia.
The categories game is more difficult to play and appropriate for middle school and up. It’s timed, and you take turns. You set up the four category tiles (Europe, The Americas, The Far East, and Arabia) in a row. The matching tiles are all mixed up, and once your timer starts, you have to place all the tiles, one-by-one under the correct category. If you place a tile under the wrong category, you lose 10 seconds from your time. The person with the fastest time, wins.
The Medieval History Memory Game complements the Classical Historian curriculum. Besides other games, they develop and sell history textbooks. I have to admit that I’m intrigued to know more about their texts. The idea of analyzing the past, not just focusing on rote memory, really appeals to me, and I think that’s something that was missing from my own education.
Close up of the artwork and photography. I’m confused why it’s spelled “Sistene” here instead of “Sistine.” I’m guessing an original or common alternate spelling. Maybe that’s something the textbook explains?
You can learn more about the Classical Historian, by visiting their website. If I’ve piqued your interest, come back and check out this post on the weekend. Other bloggers from the Mosaic Reviews team reviewed this memory game as well as other Classical Historian products. I’ll link to their reviews when they’re all up.
