And The Winners Are...TOS Homeschool Review Crew Product of the Year Awards

As the 2011-2012 Crew year comes to a close, we are once again presenting awards to our vendors. The awards are known as the TOS Homeschool Crew Blue Ribbon Awards.

The following vendors are the recipients of the award this year. 
Click on their name to check out the Crew reviews!

*Favorite Reading Instruction Product: Reading Eggs
Favorite Writing Product: Write Shop (we did not do this review)
*Favorite Language Arts Product: Progeny Press
*Favorite Social Studies Product: TruthQuest History
*Favorite Science Product: Amazing Science
*Favorite Math Product: Math Mammoth
*Favorite Online Math Product: Math Rider

*Favorite Foreign Language Product: Visual Latin
*Favorite Fine Arts Product: Artistic Pursuits
*Favorite Christian Education Product: Apologia: Who Am I?
*Favorite Preschool Product: Before Five in a Row
*Favorite Elementary Product: All About Reading
*Favorite Middle School Product: Write with WORLD
Favorite High School Product: Excellence in Literature
Favorite College or College-Prep Product: Excellence in Literature

*Best Online Resource: Reading Eggs
*Best e-Product: Heritage History
*Best Homeschool Resource: Apologia: Educating the Wholehearted Child
Best Book, Novel, or Magazine: Apologia: How to Have a HEART for Your Kids
Best Children's Book: Amazing Animals by Design (I'd have to say The Person I Marry...it is so sweet and I want all of my kids to know it by heart).

*Best Game or Toy: Northstar Games: Wits and Wagers and Say Anything
*Best Hands-On Resource: Pitsco Education
Best Resource I Didn't Know I Needed: eMeals (I said Time Timer ...it really has helped a LOT)
*Best Customer Service: K5 Learning
Most Adaptable Resource: Creek Edge Press
Most Family-Oriented Resource: Northstar Games: Wits and Wagers and Say Anything

*Kids' Choice (favorite of CHILDREN ages 0-12): Reading Eggs
Teens' Choice (favorite of the TEENAGERS): Pitsco Education (Tex said Critical Thinking Company's Balance Math)
All Around Crew Favorite: Visual Latin  

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Each winning vendor has received this wonderful award to display with pride:

Congratulations to our winning vendors! 

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What we have to say about the results:

Our favorite resources were the same as many of the same ones listed above (the choices marked with an asterix reflect same responses). I have indicated a few of our differences when we really felt strongly about the choices which were different. We might have felt differently because we did not try the product, or because it just wasn't a good fit for our family, but I think you can be confident that any product on this list is a really good one (and that is not saying that the ones that didn't win are not good products...these were just the most popular).

My favorite overall resource is (in my opinion) the best homeschooling book ever...Educating the Wholehearted Child. If you haven't read it yet, please check out my review of it, then order yourself (and a friend, a difficult relative, or an interested potential homeschooler) a copy. I think it will become one of your favorite home educating books, too, and it could really change your upcoming year for the better. I try to buy one "how to" homeschooling book each year, as I feel it really keeps our home education program dynamic.

Also, my kids' all around favorite for the year (which could not win even though it deserved to since only 20 of us received this AWESOME! product) was.......TOYDLE. Check out my two reviews (Toydle Part One and Toydle Part Two, then hop on over to their website and start saving up for one for your kids for Christmas. Your kids will thank you over and over and over again...

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Many Crew Members are blogging about these awards as well.

Click here to see what they have to say.

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Thank you for sailing with us this year. It has been a great one.

We will be continuing our voyage with the TOS Homeschool Review Crew through the summer, up until Thanksgiving, when the current crew year will official end. A new Crew year will start after New Year's Day, but next year, our family plans to "stay ashore" so we can focus on notebooking, developing a Heritage Children's Library, getting certified to foster/adopt, and fixing up the old homestead...not to mention lots of reading!!

 I hope you will stick around and keep checking for more reviews all summer...there are some good ones coming up!

Blessings,