Channie's Flashcards/ TOS Review

We received two products from Channie's Visual Handwriting & Math Workbooks. Brently has been using both the Channie's Dry Erase Flashcard for Alphabet & Number and the Channie's Dry Erase Flashcard for Sight Words sets. 

Channie's was born from one mom's struggle with helping her son learn how to write. She knew he needed something different, and she created Channie's Visual Handwriting. Her products are even sold at Wal-Mart and Hobby Lobby! 

What makes Channie's different from other handwriting products is:

1. Blocks for consistent letter size

2. Double vertical lines to guide proper spacing

3. Middle green shade helps in lowercase placement and writing in straight lines and...

4. The ability to self correct when writing outside the lines

We received and used two flashcard sets. The first set we received were for sight words.

As you can see, this is a large set. It includes 100 of your child's first sight words. The size and the quality of the cards are really good for toddlers and preschoolers. They are very sturdy, and being able to erase and use them over and over again makes them very valuable. You don't have to go through workbooks or pieces of paper. Plus, it always seems more fun to draw and erase! This set runs for $16.95. 

The second set of flashcards we received were for the alphabet and numbers. 

This set includes 26 alphabets cards with corresponding letter words and 10 number cards. This set is the same good quality of the sight word set. This set is $15.95

I think the prices of the sets are really good. The cards are bigger than most flash cards, the colors are very vibrant, and the quality is really good. I don't worry about Brently bending them or tearing them up. 

You can use these cards on their own or you can use them along side of whatever other programs you are using. If you are learning the letters or the sounds, you can pull these out to reinforce the letter/sound you are currently working on. You can use these, obviously, to practice how to write the letters and not have to go through a ton of handwriting practice pages. 

The sight word set would be great to use along side your spelling program, especially when you are learning to read the sight words! 

Here is a video of Brently using some of the flash cards and what he thinks about them:

If you prefer a traditional workbook or paper style for learning to write, you can certainly get those from Channie's as well. They include the same unique blocks and lines for learning to write as the flashcards do. 

They have writing products for Pre-K up to the 5th grade, including cursive. They also have these awesome, shorter pencils that I would love to try!

Don't those look really cool??

They also have math workbooks for K-3rd grade. 

There are also bundles and classroom packs available. 

There are a lot of other crew members that reviewed Channie's products. Some of them reviewed some of the math products as well if you are interested in those. Be sure to go and check out all of the other reviews. 

Creating a Masterpiece/ TOS Review

Creating a Masterpiece is amazing! If you have ever wanted to learn how to draw, this is the Drawing Program for you!
Sharon Hofer is a master artist and teacher. She is fun to watch and she makes it so easy to learn. I never thought I could draw anything like the pictures she has us draw. She walks you through step by step and you end up with a drawing that you can't believe you actually drew! 
The Drawing Program is broken up into 4 levels. Beginning Drawing, Drawing Level 1, Drawing Level 2, and Drawing Level 3.  

There are 30 projects with 48 lessons total. You will use 3 different media types; pencil, colored pencil, and charcoal. 
My son and I have been doing these art lessons together and my niece has done one with us so far. They are really fun to do. I enjoy having something that we can do together like this. 
My niece did this giraffe drawing with me. 

Here is mine. 

My son and I did this landscape together. Mine is the first one and his is the second. He is really proud of this drawing that he did. This is his favorite one that we have done so far. 

The first two drawings that we did were basic pencil drawings. These were different. We used a black Artigain paper with white and black colored pencils. I have never done a drawing like this before. It was really fun! 

This is my son's drawing. 

This is my drawing. I really like it! I can't believe I actually drew this myself! 

To be perfectly honest, I am more into this art program than my son is, but hey, he is a 14 year old boy, so that is probably to be expected. However, I will say that he is getting more and more excited about some of his drawings. He said that he prefers the pencil drawing on the white paper rather than using the colored pencils on the black paper. I think that he will gain some really great drawing skills from this program and I think that he will keep liking it even more as we continue to work through the program and he gains more skills and confidence. 
I did this colored pencil drawing on vellum paper. It was so cool to do! 

When you hold the vellum drawing to the light it is kind of see through. 

I can't wait to do all of the drawing lessons in the program. There are still a lot more to go but I have already learned so many techniques that I feel like I am a better artist than I was when I began. I would probably even like to do the entire program and then do it again and see how much my skills have grown. 

If you are homeschooling, this is an amazing drawing program by Creating a Masterpiece. This is a wonderful way to create an art portfolio. If you are schooling at home through a charter school, you can use this for an art credit! Even if you are not homeschooling this is an amazing drawing program to teach your children how to draw. It is especially useful if you  have more than one child wanting to learn to draw. 

You don't have to be a child to enjoy this program though! Even if you don't have any children and you want to learn how to draw, you will love this! If you get it for your kids you can do this right along side of them and learn how to draw too. 

There are four different programs that Sharon offers. Of course, the drawing program is one of them. Some of the programs she offers allows you to pay monthly or yearly, and some are only yearly. 

The drawing program is $199 for a whole year. I know this does seem like quite a bit, but honestly, to learn how to draw, like really draw, I think it is worth it. Thankfully there is a monthly payment option available for $19.99 a month. This makes it a much more feasible option, at least for me. 

The Core Program teaches all of the different medias in one program. This one offers two payment options: $349 a year or $19.99 a month. It says it was $29.99 a month. I don't know if this is a sale or a permanent change. After completing the drawing program, I would love to do the core program, so I am hoping I can get in on the $19.99 a month! 

There is an Art History Program as well. It is also $199.00 for a year. 

Finally, there is an Unlimited Access Program. The Unlimted Access program gives you access to all three of the above programs. This one is $499.00 a year or $49.99 a month. 

If you don't want a video based program, there are also books available. I would recommend doing one of the video programs first though and then purchasing a book. That way you will have already had more practice and gained some skills before jumping into one of these more advanced books. 

I really love this program. I have no complaints, but I do have one thing that I would change if I could, and that would be to offer monthly payments on all of the programs because $199.00 is still a lot to come up with. I think the only program that doesn't currently offer a monthly plan is the Art History program. 

Sharon is a wonderful teacher and she makes it very easy to learn. I can't wait to finish the program and then do some more of her other programs as well. I have already purchased the pastels!!!

I am not the only crew member whose family has been using this program. Be sure to go over and check out the rest of the reviews!  

Brain Blox Fun Family Chess\ TOS Review

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I am super excited to be sharing a new review product from Brain Blox with you! I have used the actual Brain Blox wooden plank set before, and they are amazing, so when I was given the opportunity to review Fun Family Chess I was stoked!

Now, I do not know how to play chess! I've honestly always thought it was a really hard game, but with the way that Fun Family Chess teaches you how to play, it was actually really easy! My 14 year old son does know how to play so I had someone to play the game with. 

OK, first let me tell you what all comes with the set and how it all works, and then I will get back to telling you my experience with it. 

As you can see in the picture above, it comes it a nice, colorful, attractive box. The box is very thick and sturdy and will hold up to use. When you take the set out of the box you will see that it is made out of a nice quality wood and it closes and locks together. It has the images of the pieces right on the board so that you know exactly how to set it up. For me, this is extremely helpful, as I previously knew nothing about chess. 

When you open the chess board up you will see that it is nicely lined in a black velvet lining. It also doubles as a place to hold all of the components of the game. 

This is what the board looks like all folded out. It is a very beautiful board. 

This set includes two soft, black bags to hold each team's pieces. The colors used in this set are a dark brown and a bright white.

Here is an up close look at the quality of the pieces. They are very light weight and are really well made.  I took a picture of the chess board all set up so that you can see how it looks all ready to go. 

The main thing about this chess set that is different than other chess sets is that it has a chess cube. 

Fun Family Chess is a different way of playing chess. It comes with several things that normal chess sets don't come with. Like I just mentioned, it comes with a chess cube, but is also comes with reference cards and a very informative reference guide. 

The cube has images of all of the game pieces, plus a star on it. 

The reference cards show you how to move each individual game piece. This is the most helpful component of this set to me. I had absolutely no idea what any of these pieces did and they are complicated. I can't imagine having to remember how each one moves without a reference card. Thank goodness I didn't have to! I love these!

The guide shows you how to play Fun Family Chess vs standard chess, as well as gives plenty of other useful tips. It is written so well that I knew exactly how to play both versions of chess. It makes it really easy to understand. 

There is more to the guide than the pictures shown. 

So now that I have shown you what all this set comes with, let me explain to you exactly how this works. The Fun Family Chess version is super simple. Instead of having to know HOW to play, all you need to know how to do is roll a dice and read your reference card. First, you roll the dice and see what game piece you land on. If you roll a star you get to choose which piece to move. Then you will go to your reference card and see which ways you can move that piece. Finally, you go the game board and move your piece. 

My son already knew how to play so he didn't want to use the dice, but since I did not know how to play, I had him use it with me until I understood how to play. It only took one round of using the dice for me to get it and I didn't want to use the dice anymore because I realized the benefit to choosing which piece you wanted to move. That being said it is a wonderful way to teach someone how to play. Without the dice, I would not have known what I was doing, and I may never have understood, and given up. 

Once you grasp the concept you can move on without the dice, however, you may still want to use the reference cards. I still use the cards even though I don't use the dice anymore. I honestly feel that I will be using them for a while longer, but that's OK! At least I can play now! 

I love being able to play chess. It is something new that I can do with my teenage son. He really likes to play chess, and I didn't even know that he knew how to play! 

Overall, I think this chess set is very well made. It is a great quality and will hold up to plenty of use. I think the Fun Family Chess way of learning is INGENIOUS!!! Anyone can learn with this concept. 

I will absolutely being sharing this game with all of my friends and family so that they can learn too! If you can't tell, I am in love with this game and the way that I was taught how to play it. I 100 % recommend this chess set to your family. Let me know if you guys purchase a set for yourselves and let me know if you like it as much as I do! 

The chess set is $34.95, but Amazon has it on sale right now for $24.99, so I would go on over there and get it for that price for sure! 

Also, don't forget that other members of The Old Schoolhouse Review Crew also reviewed this chess set, so be sure to go over to the website and read their reviews as well!