New Home Schooling Information
Update for readers of The Home School Manual

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  S - Science
  T - Music and Art
  U - Foreign Language
 
 

Digital Frog Science field trips by CD-ROM. They look very good from the website information. Price: around $60 and up for home schools. For classrom schools it's lots more. www.digitalfrog.com.

Midwest Products Model kits for airplanes, mousetrap race cars, etc. PO Box 564, Hobart, IN , , http://www.midwestproducts.com/eduhome.htm.

Science Labs-in-a-Box 13510 T.I. Blvd. #111, Dallas, TX . From first grade to high school; biblically centered, rental program. http://www.sciencelabs.com. .
 

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Vegsource An excellent website covering aspects for vegan lifestyle and the dangers of animal-based food products. Much of what we hear or see advertised is colored by special interests like the Dairy Council. http://www.vegsource.com.

Ranger Rick The Naional Wildlife Federation website URL is http://www.nwf.org/. It has a typo on the CD version of The Home School Manual.

Tobin's Lab I found their website either down or changed (7/19/01). They are active, however, and they sell more than equipment. You may reach them at . Current address: P.O. Box 725, Culpeper  VA  .
 
 

Coqui Systems 543 Country Club Dr, B-312, Simi Valley  CA  93065, . 10 videos on CD-ROM, PC/Mac, For ages 7 and up. Complete course around $40. www.coquisystems.com, arttango.

Meet the Masters A CD learning program divided into units for teaching throughout your school year. It is based on a visit to a French museum. the company also sells art materials. It might be okay for your family but I'm not recommending it because one of the "posters" they are selling is a Harry Potter scene. Another looks also looks occultic. My decision is not intended as confrontational. I just have learned that the devil presses his temptations when we play with his toys! http://MeetTheMasters.com/homeschool1.htm
 
 

KidsSpeak Spanish My daughter tried the program for her boys. Here's her report (12/01):
    I am sending it back for 2 reasons.  "First, while it does provide some basic instruction in Spanish, I thought that the amount of instruction was relatively light -- not much there for the money — compared to what was in Jump Start Spanish, for example. The second reason is that the animated creatures are not always very nice to each other.  The horse knocks things over in one scene and makes a rude face in another one. Nobody is violent or truly mean, but I'm disappointed that software creators would think that they would need to put this into their program."

Power-Glide Now offers supplemental CD-ROMs and, for Spanish, an audio CD. Their regular material includes print books and cassette tapes. 1682 West 820 North, Provo, UT 84601. http://www.power-glide.com.

Painter Bear's Language Bridge Language is taught by several ways of looking at words. For example, you can choose "house," "food," "pets," and so on. For "furniture," you may hear a short list of words with their appropriate articles. You also see them written out, so you click on one. You see the right answer if you get it wrong. You can also choose "other helpful phrases" and "travel phrases." These are good for putting words together. You hear basic instructions by clicking on a question mark. They are not shown in visual words and this leaves you guessing unless you happen to see the "manual" file on the CD. Mercifully, the background sound can be turned off while the sound for the words stays on. As with other programs from this company, field testing would have allowed the producers to correct a lot of problems in its use. Still, I believe this is a helpful program, and it's inexpensive. The language is clearly spoken. It teaches English to the foreign speaker or the other way around. (How to choose the mode you want is unclear, but you can always start over and try again.) To use the program, I would probably require my child to speak and write the words. The program would also be helpful for adults. I reviewed the German language disk, but French, Spanish, and Italian would work the same way. About $10 from Ohio Distinctive Software, 6500 Fiesta Drive, Columbus, OH 43235; ; http://www.ohio-distinctive.com.