Baggin' the Dragon by EdAlive -- my REVIEW

 Disclosure: I received this complimentary product through the Homeschool Review Crew

Do your children like to play learning computer games? Some kids (and adults) get so involved in games that they happily run through review or learning activities without realizing how much learning or review they are doing. The game that I was able to review this past few weeks is called Baggin' the Dragon Maths Online and it is a math game produced by EdAlive.

Okay, first of all--let me address the terminology "maths." How have I made it this far in my life without realizing that people in the US call mathematics "math" and those elsewhere (England, Australia, etc) use the term "maths"! I guess it makes sense, as mathematics is a plural word...thus maths, I suppose! At any rate, that is just peripheral :) Read on to hear about this fun math/maths program!

The age recommendations for math game are from ages 5-15+. The range of math topic is enormous, including topics such as numeration, addition and subtraction, multiplication and division, fractions and decimals, chance, patterns and algebra, data, measurement, and space and geometry. I also noticed questions which I would classify as reasoning, logic, direction, and more. They are primarily word problems, which, frankly I think are fun (I'm weird that way) but I know that many students are afraid of that type of problem, or if not "afraid" maybe they are not as confident in them.

The game itself is played like a roll-the-dice and move your marker, with the twist of not just moving directly around the game board but also aiming to capture swords, which are "courage"--as the entire premise of the game is to defeat the dragon (Baggin' the Dragon).

Other points are earned by answering math problems correctly, these are tabulated as "strength". At the end of the game (you can watch your progress as they tell you how many rounds are left) your courage and strength are added up and you will go fight the dragon.

I went ahead and played an entire game through to the ending because if I had young kids I would probably be concerned about what they were to do to the dragon at the end of the game. As the board game portion ends, the scores are added up and the "fight" begins--it is just an animated movie type thing--with plenty of fireballs and fiery dragon breath until the soldier with the sword (presumably the player) throws a weapon with a spiky ball on two ends and a chain in the middle that wraps around the dragon's wings and it plummets to the ground, sinking head-first into a brick floor...the soldier puts leg irons on the dragon and in the ending scenes the soldier relaxes in a hammock, holding a piece of bread on the end of a sword while the dragon lays nearby, toasting the bread with its breath. ANYHOW--maybe that was long and unnecesary to some of you guys, but I would probably want to know that before I had my little child work through to the end :) 

There is also a non-game method to use it, where the student can just do the questions without working through the gameboard and waiting your turn. The questions are the same, you just run through them. 

Questions are very engaging, each with an illustration and little story. The variety is incredible. The questions are chosen from a pool based upon your correct performance on other questions. This way someone in algebra 2 is not being quizzed on simple addition or subtraction. I don't know how they do it, but it is great! 

 

I'd like to show you a few shots of the questions so you can see what I mean. Even when it is just a simple word problem, how much more fun is it to do it with a theme/story?

Upon successful completion of the question, a big "correct" word shows up; if it is incorrect the student gets one more attempt before the correct answer is given.

From the parent side, it is great, because at the end of the game, a list of questions is shown (clickable) and the missed questions can be attempted or explained again:

The other tool the parent might be interested in is a grand compilation of the student's work--showing on a chart which skills were attempted and successful (and which need more work--based on the color)

Basically--I love this game! It is so fun (for a math lover like me haha!). I really think it would be a super fun way to review math problems--and it shuffles topics so much that it is really a review of all skills. I highly recommend this app, Baggin' the Dragon Maths Online  by EdAlive. I think it will encourage students to work on math and if my kids were younger I would probably use it as a "reward" such that if you do xyz you will get to play X number of  minutes on Baggin' the Dragon! It's a win-win.

Highly recommended.

(my 16 year old daughter tried it out and liked it as well!)

EdAlive has a few other programs which were reviewed by the Review Crew as well, so if you'd like to see folks' thoughts on the program I reviewed as well as on the Volcanic Panic Reading Success Online and Words Rock Online, please click on the image link below!

Chemistry virtual titration lab

 I just found this AMAZING virtual titration lab, if any of you are doing chemistry with your students--it's found here https://virtual.edu.rsc.org/

It teaches good lab practices, the student "uses" the equipment, it's just a great simulation. They even do the calculations. 

Great resource!! :) 

Peonies!!

 It's that time of year! 

So beautiful and that lovely fragrance!

Thanking God for his springtime blessings:) He knows when we need encouragement for sure!

Pursued to Eternity by John Riley -- my REVIEW

  Disclosure: I received this complimentary product through the Homeschool Review Crew

Recently I read the book Pursued to Eternity by John Riley. The author of this book is actually a lesson designer/creator of a course on SchoolhouseTeachers.com that my daughter had taken and really enjoyed last year (Apologetics: Creation vs. Evolution). I was curious about the book and interested to give it a try.

The book is a short-looking softcovered book with seventeen chapters and 151 pages. It has little line-drawings throughout which are nice little beginnings to each chapter.

Pursued to Eternity is several stories within a larger story--not the story of the author, but a fictional man and his brother. The man in the story, Connor, is a Bible-believing Christian and his brother (a phD geologist) named Alan, is an athiest for much of his life. 

The stories within the story show how God orchestrated things and set things up centuries prior to Alan's life to convince him of the Truth of Scripture. Also spread throughout the book are conversations that Connor has with Alan, sharing the Gospel and Bible Truth with him. Connor includes Scripture, quotations from people in the past, and more in his discourses with Alan.

The stories-within-the-story are fictional historical happenings, with actual dates and historic references mixed in with the fictional stories. These fictional historical stories were written about someone living in different times of history.

One story is about a group of men hunting and fighting a large creature and another one is about a family during the time of the Exodus from Egypt. Eventually the 21st geologist finds artifacts from stories at different points in history (that then mysteriously or mystifyingly disappear), but they somehow bring him more to a belief in the God that his brother follows.

Also interspersed in the book are some vignettes about the narrator, Connor, and how he lost his teaching job by encouraging his students to question the norm. There is also a lengthy list of 68 questions that the narrator's students came up with in their questioning of the teachings of evolution--this list includes things such as historical scientists and their beliefs, examples of things within nature that seem to go against traditional Darwinistic teachings, and other questions which can be raised when one looks critically at theories of evolution. 

As the book proceeds, Connor's brother Alan makes some interesting geologic/ archaeologic discoveries. Connor has the opportunity to experience these with his brother. Connor does not give up on talking and writing to his brother about Scripture and God's presence throughout history and today as well. Connor and Alan have a very pleasant positive relationship throughout the story. 

The stories, Biblical exposition, and questions about evolution-within-a-story were a bit disjointed for my liking and I did not care for it.  I do know other readers who really enjoyed this book.  Be sure to read other readers' reviews, however, by clicking on this link or the graphic at the bottom of the page to get a more balanced view of the book. It is not the type of reading that I generally enjoy, though I'm sure others do. 

Please click on the link below to read others' reviews of this book and to get a more complete feel for it!