Can you use an Internship for High School Credit ? (A Review)

Apologia Educational Ministries could be considered one of the cornerstone companies in the Christian Homeschool Education Publishing world. They have branched out from their most well known original science curricula to many other homeschooling subjects and helps, including one of their latest offerings, a workbook on Internship for High School Credit.

Internship for High School Credit is a spiral-bound 99 page workbook intended to introduce the concept of considering internships during the high school years, as well as practical helps in making an internship happen for your student AND offering credit for that internship on a high school transcript.

The Introduction to the book discusses reasons for internships and helps to assess whether an internship might be a good fit for your child.

Part 1 is written to the student~ "Getting Started"
Each one of the sections in Part 1 include discussions about making decisions, and/or practical tips and helps. The contents include:

• Determining the Type of Internship
• Choosing a Company
• Preparation
• Receiving High School Credit ~ this is a particularly helpful section, as it gives the student information on how to determine what credit(s) they plan to receive, how many, and how to organize their schedule to reflect that. 
• Writing a Resume'
• Letter of Introduction
• Sample Student Resume'

The Resume' and Letter of Introduction segments offer helpful information on organizing these important documents as well as some samples which can be used to model their own resume's and Letters of Introduction. I always find it easier to figure out something like this when I have a bit of a template to follow! 

• The Interview
• After the Interview
• Gearing Up for the First Day

Again, these sections offer practical suggestions (for example, try to memorize the interviewer's name, even if you only learn it at the interview itself~ that makes a good impression) and helps as the student moves into the area of actually getting an internship.

• Part 2 is written to the parents~ "Information for Parents" with discussions about:
• Choosing an Internship Location ~ gives some practical questions to think about when contemplating a specific company (an example... Do the employees bring their lunches, or eat in restaurants or order out regularly~ these are good things to consider, that I wouldn't have thought of on my own~ is it financially feasible for your child to intern at a specific company/location baed on the practical aspects of the job). 
• Child Labor Laws 

• Transcript Documentation
• Course Title and Number
• Number of Credits
• Grades

All of these sections offer suggestions on the practical side of creating your own course through the internship, and how to go about it. Nothing is laid out precisely, because there are so many variables and options for possible internships, but there are concrete examples of hours required and credits assigned. 

Parts 3-5 return to the student.
Parts 3 and 4 are the practical workbook section, one for each semester, and include

• How to Use the Worksheets
• Semester Goals
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• Evaluation sheets
• Midterm and Final Work Performance assessment pages (For work supervisor to complete~ see example below)
• and Summary pages.

Part 5 wraps everything up in a neat package by suggesting final writing assignments for the student ~ one to summarize their experience, and a thank you note to the company providing the internship. It also discusses asking for a letter of recommendation and updating your resume'.

My son isn't able to apply for an internship this summer due to various activities and family commitments, but he definitely appreciated how well the book is laid out~ simple and clear without any confusing elements.

I appreciate the idea of an internship, as it is a good way to determine what our children are interested in doing for the rest of their lives. So much better to find out waaaaayyyy before college that an accounting office (or a dental office, or a landscaping company) are exactly the sort of atmosphere where your child will either flourish or fade, and will help to make future decisions that much easier (And if they can get high school credit at the same time, so much the better!).

Not So Nutty Nitty Gritty 

• Company: Apologia Educational Ministries
• Product: Internship for High School Credit
• Ages: High School/Homeschool Parents
• Price: $33

You can visit Apologia on their social media pages:
Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, Google+, and  YouTube and you can find sample pages and FAQs if you click the yellow download button on the product page.

Please click the banner below to visit the TOS Homeschool Review Crew and see what others had to say about this book, as well as How to HOMESCHOOL with Stunning Confidence, Contagious Joy, and Amazing Focus (DVD &Coursebook) a help for homeschooling parents. As always, I hope that this review was useful to you as you choose where best to spend your homeschool budget.

Blessings~

#hsreviews  #homeschoolsupport #startinghomeschool #organizing #howtohomeschool  #highschool #highschoolcredit #internship

French Essentials (Online Multimedia French Lessons)

Finally, after YEARS of mentioning the potential of learning “French” to my eldest, she finally acquiesced when we were given the opportunity to review French Essentials's Full Access Online Program  Middlest came along for the ride, and Littlest sometimes participated.

French Essentials is a unique product, in that it offers something of a classroom experience in the comfort of your own home using a variety of multimedia presentations. 

The "Core" lessons are downloaded pdf files with audio and video enabled. They must be viewed through Adobe Reader and not a generic pdf viewer (like Preview on my MAC) in order for these special features to work. 

We were fairly impressed with these techie pdf files! 

We particularly enjoyed watching M. Legnetil as he spoke the words of each lesson. Very clear and precise! We decided that this was quite helpful, as sometimes the woman in the audio portions of the lesson wasn't quite as clear.

*Funny story that goes with that last comment. Eldest was doing the very first workbook page from Lesson 1, with the following instructions: In this exercise your instructor will spell out an English word (with French letters). Click the box (in the pdf on your computer) to hear the letters. Then, fill in the blanks (on the sheet you printed) with the letters that you hear to complete the word. 

She found the first 6 words to be rather easy, but the 6th word had her stumped... "BEOBNU.... What kind of word is that?" Turns out that she had trouble catching some of the sounds... the word really was PEOPLE. It gave us a laugh, at any rate. 

Back to the beginning:

Once you have logged in, you will see something like this: 

The Download area is where you will download the mulitmedia PDF zip files for each lesson in each module.
In some of the Modules there will be a "parent corner" that is found at the bottom of that modules lesson download page~ this usually includes a "Checklist" as well as the printable exercises and the "key" to those exercises... make sure you scroll all the way down to find them!

Here are a couple of samples of the videos found embedded in the lessons:

and as the lessons and vocabulary grow, so do the videos~ real conversation here!

The online Exercises make use of the website Quizlet for each lesson's exercises and tests. They are reached easily by clicking through to the correct module (As seen below) and then to the correct exercise or test for each lesson.
My kids have enjoyed using Quizlet in the past, so they were pleased to have something familiar to use in this curriculum.

The final area of that can be explored online focuses on the culture of France, with some interesting information found in various pdf files and photos.

There are samples of each Module (Found on this page... scroll down).

Some of the unique hallmarks of this learning experience include:

• Audio: the ability to hear the words spoken as they are seen on the page
• Video: which incorporates watching, listening, repeating and speaking
• Workbooks: printable exercises that reinforce grammar and sentence structure

The authors of the curriculum are a married couple from Quebec who got their start tutoring homeschoolers by request. They clearly have a background in the language, teaching, and they understand the homeschool community.

Not So Nutty Nitty Gritty 
We have been very pleased with our first foray into French Language education.
There are a couple of quirks, like sometimes having a hard time hearing/understanding some of the female instructors in the lesson audios. However, that isn't much of an issue, when M. Legnetil speaks so clearly~ and he usually shows up somewhere in the lesson. :)

By and large I think this is a very well laid out program, with many ways to engage your learner, whether their strengths are audio, visual, or kinesthetic.

• Company: French Essentials 
• Product: Full Access Online Program
• Ages: currently 3rd/4th grade - 7th/8th grade 
• Price: $149.95 for full access to all modules for one year
  (Stress-free download the lessons and workbook exercises)
  $69.95 for access to an individual module for 90 days
  *Note~ once the lessons and workbooks are downloaded, you can access them at any time, including up to and beyond the year or 90 days~ that time frame appears to be strictly for downloading purposes. 

Please click the banner below to visit the TOS Review Crew and see what others had to say. As always, I hope that this review was useful to you as you choose where best to spend your homeschool budget.

Blessings~

Bridgeway English 1 and 2 (Grammar and Writing for Review/Remedial High School work)

As my daughter is heading towards her last year of high school next year, and my Middlest is starting next year, I have been wondering how we have done with our eclectic schooling when it comes to English skills. Because of this, I was pleased to be able to review Bridgeway Academy's English 1 (with a focus on grammar) with my 13 year old, and English 2 (focus on writing) with my Junior. 

ENGLISH 1

I had my 8th grader use English 1, to see how his grammar understanding is at this point. There were some "Technicalities" that we discovered were "holes," and were able to "Patch them up."

This is a consumable book, so I went through the first few units and assigned dates to the pages, so that he could see exactly what needed to be done on what day. This way if he slacked off a day or two (Which happens occasionally, especially if mom has a sick day or two), he knew precisely how far he had to go to "catch up." :)

The book is intended to be self-instructional, with very little input required from mom or dad, which *is* part of the desired outcome for my kids~ independent learners are what I'm aiming for. 

What is covered: subject and predicate, fours types of sentences, sentence fragments, run-on sentences, compound sentences, noun functions, pronouns, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions and prepositional phrases, conjunctions, interjections, and grammar review.

My Middlest said that he like the way that it was laid out, that he was learning things, without running into things that were *too* challenging. I like that it is a good solid review of basic grammar for him *before* he hits high school. 

General Comments

I have to say that these courses are meant to be review or remedial for High School. They are out in a very methodical mastery manner, with each skill building on the next.

The book is divided into “Section” and Paks. Each Section has skill/topic boxes with instruction, followed by some activities (Workbook-style). At the end of the section there is a review, which the student should complete (without looking back). If there are any trouble spots, the student is prompted to check the instruction for that skill, correct their mistakes, and then recheck their answers, before continue to the next section.  After 3 Sections, there is a Self-Test, and then a final test for that PAK. 

ENGLISH 2

The timing for our review worked out really well for my 11th grader, as she was preparing for the PSAT. While there is no actual "Writing" on the PSAT, there *are* questions pertaining to understanding writing. Using English 2 gave us a start in seeing exactly where she is in her writing skills/understanding the technicalities of grammatical composition. She isn't in need of remedial learning, but we have found this useful as a review/tool to assess where we are.

What is covered: clauses, sentence variety, subject/verb agreement, grammar and mechanics, writing skills, rules of capitalization, rules of punctuation, proofreading, editing, letter writing, business writing, study skills, critical thinking and reasoning, and learning about fact versus fiction. 

Eldest is appreciating this exercise, and she discovered a few little holes in her learning that have now been patched up. Again, I like the fact that this is mostly a self-paced, independent approach, which works well for her.

TEACHER ANSWER KEY

The Teacher answer key has the answers for *both* English 1 and 2. The pages are printed 2-up so that you open the book horizontally, rather than vertically. It is handy to have this to use as the teacher, saves a boatload of time. It is also suggested that the student might use the answer key on their own to find their mistakes in the Section Activities. At the same time, it is recommended that the teacher be the one to grade the tests. 

My only negative comment has to do with the correcting/scoring of the reviews and tests. The point system seemed to be rather haphazard, and somewhat more complicated than necessary. I am used to working from a total of 100 possible points. In this program, each section review and test seemed to have a random number of total possible points, with 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 points being assigned to "each answer." This in and of itself was confusing~ sometimes it said __ points for each blank, other times __ points for each answer, but sometimes there were multiple answers (a.b.c.d.) for each question... so I wasn't always entirely sure how to assign the points.  Clearly not a deal-breaker, but I would like to see this made more intuitive. 

Not So Nutty Nitty Gritty 

In general I feel that both books give a fairly thorough review of foundational English grammar and writing basics. The exercises don't take an inordinate amount of time, and are self-learner driven. I would suggest using it in 8th grade, if possible, in order to help your students prepare for the PSAT/SAT/ACT tests in the high school years. A strong foundation in grammar and writing skills will certainly help your students in their quest for a higher test score. 

• Company: Bridgeway Academy 

• Product: English 1 (Grammar) and English 2 (Writing), with Teacher Key

• Ages: 7th-12th (Review or Remedial) 

• Price: $23.33 for each book

Please click the banner below to visit the TOS Review Crew and see what others had to say about these materials as well as online courses that Bridgeway Academy offers. I understand that they were a hit with my fellow crew members.  As always, I hope that this review was useful to you as you choose where best to spend your homeschool budget.

Blessings~

Critical Thinking Press~ Books for all ages

I have a few "The Critical Thinking Co."  books that I have enjoyed using with my children over the years, but as they have gotten older, there are some products I didn't own that I have wanted to examine in person. Timberdoodle graciously offered my choice of one The Critical Thinking Co. book for each child to use in exchange for an honest review. It was hard to choose, as Timberdoodle carries over 40 Critical Thinking Co. products. Read on to see what we ended up with and our thoughts.....

For my Eldest, we chose to use  Editor In Chief B.  (List price $16.99) I think our "Editing" skills have been a little neglected, and being busy (As most moms with 3 children, one of whom is a 3yo, usually are), I was very happy to have a product that includes an answer key! :) (Call me "lazy", I prefer "practical" :)

As opposed to the generic proofreading exercises in her spelling book, Editor in Chief has some great features that I am especially impressed with.

• Editing Checklist ~ which gives hints to help the student remember what to look for in their editing tasks.
• Answer Key that provides more than just the generic corrected  selection, but a list of the number and types of errors(so you can give hints, if your student is having a tough time finding everything), a paragraph with superscribed numbers showing the location of the errors, and a key explaining the errors with numbers referencing each item in the guide to grammar and usage (mentioned next), as well as a complete, corrected paragraph.
• Guide to Grammar, Usage, and Punctuation in the back of the book, which covers all the skills found in this book. I appreciate having this to fall back on, occasionally, when explaining why something is wrong. Each entry includes at least one or two examples to further help in instructing.

Critical Thinking Co. ~ Balance Benders

I have a number of The Critical Thinking Company's workbooks, so I was pleased that the TOS Crew was given the chance to review a couple of series. While other Crew members received a book from the Language Smarts series, I received the "Beginning" book in The Balance Benders series.

Balance Benders are logic and algebraic reasoning puzzles, utilizing the concept of a "balance", and a variety of geometric shapes. The purpose of each puzzle is to correctly identify the 3 true mathematical statements for each "equation" in the balance.

The "Beginning" book is rated for grades 2-6. My 4th grader fit right in. The puzzles in the beginning of the book are fairly simple, but they become more complex as you go through the book, so be aware that the younger students may find it quickly becomes rather complex for them.

However, there is help included in the book. Towards the back, there are 10 "Balance Tips" that explain the algebraic concepts used in the book. If your child is stumped on a particular problem, they can go over the "Tips" and then see if the problem makes more sense, and is "Solvable" for them.

I used this book for my 4th grader, and he enjoyed working through the puzzles. I think that this will help to give him a bit of a foundation for when HE starts in Algebra. His big sister joined in, and was challenged with some of the more complex problems. It reinforced some of the work that she was currently engaged in, and the "Visual" aspect was a great addition.

The "Nitty Gritty" Balance Benders, Beginning Level (Grades 2-6), $9.99
The other books in the series are Level 1 (grades 4-12), Level 2 (Grades 6-12+), and Level 3 (Grades 8-12+). Each book is $9.99, with reproducible pages for your family's use. This makes these books an especially good value for those with multiple children. :)

Be sure to check out other Crew-mates' reviews, and see what they had to say about this latest series from the Critical Thinking Co. as well as the Language smarts Series.

As always, I hope that this review helps you to find the products that will most benefit YOUR homeschool, as you determine where to spend your homeschool budget.

Blessings~


Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this/these item(s)/service for free as part of the TOS Crew Review Program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commision's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."