Friday, November 19, 2010

KB Teachers - TOS Review

HSCrew468x60Animated
I love printables and KB Teachers has plenty of just that. The fact that I can pop on over to this site and find a specific worksheet has saved me oodles of time.  I homeschool our 2 boys, 7 years between them, do you know how hard that is to find stuff for them both in one place? KB Teachers has thoughtfully helped me in this regard. They have worksheets, clip art, activities, crafts and my favorite, web quests (online info treasure hunts ) geared to ages pre k-12.
This is far more than a simple worksheet generator. You can tailor multiple activities to create a complete unit study or use a few to review it’s up to you how you use it.
 Each month there is a new web quest and themed activities. I really enjoyed printing out the pilgrims stickers for my 20 month old daughter, she loved them. I just printed them on plain paper and sprayed repositionable adhesive on the backs after I cut them out. When they lost their stickiness I tossed them and made more. I never would have done that if they did not have those printables. It really helped to have her busy during a longer stretch.
Many of their pages are geared to lower grades but the webquests and workbook items are targeting upper grades. The social studies workbooks cover many topics and are great for grades 6-12.  All the basics are there language arts, math, social studies, science and even some extras like arts and crafts.
From the website:

“Celebrating over 10 years online!
KnowledgeBears was founded in 1998 in New York, and our award winning KBears is now a leading online destination for children of all ages.
KBTeachers brings the best the web can deliver to you and your students -- It is the one-stop destination for teachers and parents who are always on the lookout for new and engaging 21st century teaching tools and materials.
For Parents, Teachers and Educators* One click worksheet generators and alphabet factory
* Create an unlimited number of engaging printable activities - For all ages and grade levels
* No watermarks and unlimited access
* Exclusive
graphics and clipart - Decorate your websites, Blogs, activity sheets etc...
* Diverse educational resources - From simple ABC worksheets, to 20 pages exams
* Intuitive activities online or off - At home, at school or in study hall
*
Free 24/7 Support - If we don't have it, we'll create it - or help you find it
* Answer Keys - Proofed and checked quality materials you can trust
* Updated regularly - New features and member created content added every week
* Nothing to download, instant access - From any internet connection”

You can sign up for a free 10 day membership during which you have full access to all content. After the trial you have up to 30 days to cancel for a full refund if you are not satisfied. A membership is $29 per year, or $49 for two years.
th_teacher-logo_thumb
My thoughts:
I really enjoyed this product and look forward to using it quite a bit. I would love to see how they change things in the future (as they are always adding new things) but a search feature would be nice. They believe a search function should not be needed and a good website should be easily navigated, which I agree with, and theirs is. Some of us, however, are lazy and/or do not know what it is they want until they stumble across it with no recollection of how they got there in the first place. Those people would be me and I panic without a search function, so I’d love it if they added one. This is minor though for what a wealth of great resources they provide.
I almost forgot about the news and tips section. This is their weekly newsletter for parents and teachers highlighting what new quests and activities are available as well as what new sheets to look for. This is great to help plan those spur of the moment things and also to incorporate the holidays into your homeschool or classroom.8c_small
4_small
 




I do hope you will not take just my word for it and go read more on this great resource from my fellow TOS Crew mates.
Mandy
Disclaimer: I received a free 2 year membership to KBTeachers in exchange for my honest opinion as a TOS Crew member. No other compensation was received.

3 comments:

Jesmicwilmom said...

Good job. Liked your idea for keeping little ones busy. Also your intro paragraph made we want to keep reading, because I have a large age difference, too.

Mrs. Mandy said...

So glad to be a source encouragement for you. I know that gap is sometimes daunting but I have found it cuts down the need for me to run back and forth so much (but not always, LOL)!

Toyin O. said...

Thanks for sharing!

LinkWithin

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...