Reviews

The products on this website are wonderful! Laurelwood Books publications rank number one in my book!

Judy G.

I truly never thought Latin would be a part of our homeschool, but here we are loving all things Latin! Combine our love for Latin with our love for fairytales, and Olim, Once Upon a Time in Latin Reader VI and Olim, Once Upon a Time in Latin Workbook VI is a definite hit in our homeschool. Olim, Once Upon a Time in Latin, Reader and Workbook VI are part of a series. The series starts at Part I and ends at Part VI. They are not very thick, but they are packed with educational goodness. I found the reader to be easy to navigate, and laid out in such a way that it is easy for the student to understand and navigate. The addition of illustrations that match on both the English and Latin sides is really great for a visual cue to translating. I plan to look into the other Latin products offered, such as Derivatives.

Missica P.

Note from Laurelwood Books- The Olim, Once Upon a Time in Latin series now includes volumes I through X with both readers and workbooks to match!

Lisa R.

Scripture Scribes ~ His Name is Wonderful, is a charming scripture based workbook that focuses on the many names of Jesus. My daughter absolutely loved working in this workbook. The lessons are one page in length. It was the perfect amount of practice in order to really work on perfecting ones cursive before getting hand fatigue. I truly cannot think of a better way to work on cursive writing then to be learning scripture!

I would highly recommend this curriculum to other homeschoolers looking for cursive practice for their children. I will most definitely continue to use the other workbooks in the Scripture Scribe series.

Jennifer L.

Note from Laurelwood Books- The Scripture Scribe series currently contains 13 books in three levels-Primary, Intermediate, and Upper School.

State the Facts, A Guide to Studying your State, is a consumable workbook that is designed to help kids do independent research on their state or any other US state. This workbook is intended for ages 8 and up. I really like this book as a study guide. I especially like the variety of research it has kids doing. It's a good way to study your own state or any US state you may be learning about and it's a good way to begin getting kids doing research.

There are some sections that have questions to answer, some that involve drawing, and some that are more open ended for a report. This variety gives options and you can pick and choose which sections to use so that kids are not only learning about a state; they're also learning about how to do research. As students complete State: The Facts, they'll end up with a book all about the state of their choice as a finished product. I like this because, often when kids fill in blanks in a workbook all they end up with is a workbook. But this book is written in such a way that kids can go back and read it or share it with others. All in all, I really like this book as a study guide.

Leah C.

I want to state just how important I believe that the Patriotic Penmanship books from Laurelwood Books can be. We seem to be lowering our standards in the public school system, which makes me very glad I chose to homeschool. One area we have dropped the ball is in penmanship. I have a friend who is a public school teacher in Florida, and she said they no longer teach classes like penmanship. I am so grateful, that there are still courses like this available from Laurelwood Books.

Lori L.

Copy work and good penmanship is very important in our homeschool. Typically, if I found a book with lots of tracing, it was very junior and geared towards a much younger child. But now I have Patriotic Penmanship Junior High School. It is an answer to many of my son's handwriting issues. My son has noticed an improvement in his handwriting. Because of this program, he has hope that his handwriting will become legible. He also likes that they are mature quotes from people that he has known about most of his life. I love to see the improvement in his self-esteem. This book definitely gets a thumbs up from our family. We will continue to use this book until it is complete and then purchase the one for high school.

Dawn P.

Throughout my 16 years of homeschooling so far, I have learned that understanding etymology and word roots is a very important skill that benefits the student in almost every subject area. Olim Once Upon A Time in Latin: Derivatives I can stand alone or be used alongside the reader and workbook. It uses Latin words and discovers which English words are derived from them. It uses stories, matching, fill-in-the-blank, crossword puzzles, word search, and more. It challenges you to learn how we got our words from Latin derivatives and reinforces the use in everyday language.

This book delivered everything in a variety of workbook pages that were perfect. It was basically out-of-the-box ready with very little to no teacher prep time. I appreciated that it offers solid learning, providing tons of Latin vocabulary explained well and without empty fluff. Every page is packed with new learning opportunities.

Tere S.

Patriotic Penmanship Transition to Cursive was perfect for my boy as he began his quest for better penmanship. He has long been fascinated by all things history so the patriotic bent of the 20 lessons appealed to him from the start (and fueled his desire to learn more about what he was reading as he practiced writing -- what a bonus). The Transition book helps students bridge the gap from print to cursive by offering practice in both. Each phrase is presented in both traceable manuscript and cursive and there is a blank line for students to re-write the phrase themselves without the dashed-line helps. These books offer to meet any student right where they are and help move them to the next level of competency. That's exactly what we needed at our house!

Lynn M.

Patriotic Penmanship Grade 2 is a wonderful penmanship book. It is simple to use and great as a curriculum for penmanship or to add in as a practice book. It was exactly what my son needed and spot on his level of ability. There were numerous days that he would begin the next lesson because he was already seeing improvement in his handwriting. He could see tangible results from his diligence. We both enjoyed the quotes, it often opened up dialogue for deeper discussion as well. It also fit well into our history of our country class, which is always an added bonus!

Callie D.

Olim, Once Upon a Time in Latin Reader I and Olim, Once Upon a Time in Latin Workbook I are slim paperbacks with pretty, matching covers. The reader has three stories in it: The Three Little Pigs; The Tortoise and the Hare; and The Crow and the Pitcher. Each story is told first in simple English language and then in Latin. Accompanying the text are simple but adorable line drawings that truly complement the story. The illustrations are the same in both versions of the story, which helped build continuity for us.

I really enjoyed this method of learning Latin. It seemed more purposeful, like we were learning the language for a reason instead of just memorizing vocabulary and grammar rules. I have heard several people (Latin teachers and parents in favor of teaching their kids Latin) mention something about we learn Latin in order to read it. And this method made it feel like we were actually easily and effortlessly moving toward that goal.

Laura H.

We liked the setup of Olim, Once Upon a Time in Latin Reader and Workbook III. We have used several Latin studies and curriculums and this is a very easy to use way of studying Latin. The lessons are short, the stories are familiar, which makes reading them in Latin a little easier, and the guides are very user friendly, making it a very good Latin independent study.

I think this makes a wonderful complement to our classical studies and would like to see us use other books in the series. My daughter, who is 5th grade, could do by herself and, don’t worry mom and dad, the answer keys are in the back of the book so you can help out even if you are not up to speed on your Latin studies.

My daughter liked that she could read a story in Latin after working through the lessons; she found this to be a satisfying accomplishment.

Tawnee H.

We’ve used a standard handwriting program for years, but it was a really nice change of pace to use Patriotic Penmanship Grade 5. Patriotic Penmanship uses a combination of famous quotes and Bible verses to teach handwriting. I liked how the pages were more than just copying words, they were really worthwhile texts that the student could also commit to memory or just have exposure to. This is a great consumable product for teaching handwriting with a unique, American twist. If you’re doing American History, I think this is a must-purchase as a supplement to what you’re already studying. My son and I both give this program a thumbs up and enjoyed the content and the program.

Kristina K.

What better way to use copywork, than in teaching character traits with scripture and other uplifting quotations? The simple layout of Scripture Scribes-Men of Honor, Women of Grace makes it easy peasy for student and teacher. Each character trait of 22 includes one page of dictionary and Biblical definitions.

First, two pages of cursive quotations from famous and not so famous people are presented. Then, the quote is written again with tiny dotted lines for the student to trace over. Beneath those lines are blank lines for the student to write the quotation. After the quotations come the two pages of Scriptural copywork dealing with the character trait. The lined sections are a perfect size for grades 7-12. In other companies’ copywork pages even the cursive lines remain large, an unnecessary feature for older students.

My son is not fond of handwriting, but had no complaints about Scripture Scribes-Men of Honor, Women of Grace. The simplicity of the pages and the solid character building verses and quotations used makes this a no-brainer for $19.95.

Kimberly K.