July 4, 2014 · 2:18 pm

Experience History Through Music . . . My Review

I am so excited to bring you this review of Experience History Through Music, which is just now being released by noted homeschool author Diana Waring!
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I grew up in a musical family, with a father who was very much an amateur historian. Everyone in my family except for me played an instrument. I sang. I have been taking piano lessons over the past few years along with my two oldest kids, which made the three books in this series even more fun for me, and for my kids.

Experience History Through Music contains 3 book/CD sets:

America 1750-1890:The Heart of a New Nation
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From the French and Indian War to the first transcontinental railroad, America is a chronological tour of American history through its music.

Westward Ho!: The Heart of the Old West
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America’s westward expansion is amazingly rich in stories and songs. In Westward Ho!, you will find the pioneer spirit that stirred the hearts of thousands of Americans to leave the safety and comfort of home expressed in folk songs of or about that time. Now you can experience the pioneers’ adventures, dangers, joys, sorrows and hopes as you join in and sing along.

Musical Memories of Laura Ingalls Wilder
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The well-loved stories of Laura Ingalls Wilder will come to life all over again as you listen to the songs that were a part of life for the Ingalls and thousands of other pioneering families. Written by William Anderson, noted Laura Ingalls Wilder biographer, the book also includes beautiful photos by internationally known Little House photographer, Leslie A. Kelly.

It is really impossible for me to choose a favorite. This series of three books with accompanying CD’s is a must have for anyone who enjoys history and music, whether they are homeschoolers or not. I was not homeschooled, but I believe that if this series had been around when I was a child, my dad would have bought them for sure.

Author of Beyond Survival, Reaping the Harvest and Diana Waring’s History Revealed world history curriculum, Diana discovered years ago that “the key to education is relationship.”
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Beginning in the early ’80s, Diana homeschooled her children through high-school—the real life opportunities to learn how kids learn. Mentored by educators whose focus was honoring Him who created all learners, and with an international background (born in Germany, university degree in French, lifelong student of world history), Diana cares about how people learn as well as what they learn. Audiences on four continents have enthusiastically received her energetic speaking style.

This is MY first experience with anything Diana Waring has written, and I’m very impressed. These books are easy to read and understand, and each song has a short, two page segment explaining the historical aspect of it. The CD is bound into the back of each book, and the books each contain sheet music for the songs, so that we can learn how to play them! In fact, here is a quick video of “The Artist” playing “Boll Weevil”, from the “Westward Ho” book:

There have been days when we did several more than one segment, because it really didn’t feel like school work! We love the music, and it’s so much fun to learn the history behind each song in the series. Our country has used music for all of it’s history, to tell the sad tales, the happy stories, and to tell history itself. I’m very glad we’ve gotten to be a part of it by reviewing the new series “Experience History Through Music”, and being part of the book launch for this set.

I encourage you to get these book/CD sets soon! Each one retails for $18.99, but through this July only, you can get the entire set for $50.00!
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July 1, 2014 · 3:50 pm

Learning About the Old Testament and Ancient Egypt With an Online Course From Veritas Press . . . A T. O. S. Review

For a good number of years, my eldest, “The Batman” has repeatedly asked to learn about ancient Egypt. For all of those years, I’ve tried and tried to find unit studies, lapbooks, anything, that would be Biblically based, and would be at a level he could handle, but absolutely nothing I found would work for him. Enter, this review from Veritas Press!

We were fortunate enough to receive a full year access to the Veritas Press Self-Paced History: Old Testament and Ancient Egypt, which costs $199.00, as well as the physical Old Testament & Ancient Egypt Flashcards, which are available for $19.95.

Veritas Press Self-Paced History: Old Testament and Ancient Egypt covers the period from creation through the fall of Egypt to Rome.

The Veritas Self-Paced History is suggested for grades 2 – 6, but in our family, this is literally one of the first educational programs I have not had to make major tweaks to accommodate our special needs kids. 🙂 Now, “The Batman” is 21, but with his developmental delays, his educational level in many areas is much younger. He is REALLY enjoying this class! I am so glad I was able to get this review! I have many times over the years, received catalogs from Veritas Press, and just thrown them away, because first, I thought their material looked too difficult for my kids, and second, because we don’t follow the “Classical Curriculum” method of homeschooling. Veritas Press, according to their website, is a Classical Christian Education provider, following the “Trivium“, which approaches education in the order of three stages of learning; grammar, dialectic, and rhetoric.

We, on the other hand, are extremely relaxed, eclectic/unschoolers, so I wasn’t sure this would be a great fit around here, but so far, he is doing very well, and without very much help in navigating his way through the class site! 🙂

Once we received our access, all I had to do was go online and register myself as the teacher/parent, creating a user name and password. After that, I simply had to add “The Batman” as a student, creating a user ID and password for him, and then register him into the course chosen. I had a few false starts and problems, but a quick phone call to customer support took care of that! One definite issue was that we needed to use the Firefox browser instead of Internet Explorer. Once we did that, things started to go much more smoothly. 🙂 “The Batman” and I watched the tutorial on how to use this course. The tutorial was actually interesting to the both of us, and gave “The Batman” plenty of opportunities to practice the different things he was being taught how to do, so that once he began the course, he was able to do them by himself.

OK, so by now, you’re likely wondering how the Veritas Press Self-Paced History: Old Testament and Ancient Egypt works, and how we are using it, right? Well, this class is COMPLETELY done online, up to and including the quizzes and worksheets, which is great for “The Batman”, who has very poor fine motor control, and thus, very poor hand-writing. He is very much enjoying that part, for sure! The lessons are all done at the student’s own pace, hence the name “Self-Paced History“! This is good for us, because we are definitely a “go at your own pace” kind of family. 🙂 The only thing he is using that is not online are the very nice Old Testament & Ancient Egypt Flashcards, which you can see below:

This is the front of one of the very large, colorful cards.

The reverse side of the card nicely sums up what is being taught, along with giving ideas for additional resources.

Of course, he is also using his own Bible, because the course uses the New King James Version, whereas Our family uses only the King James Version, and we want to be certain that he doesn’t miss something by using a different version of the Bible.

There are suggested literature resources to add in if you choose, but since so far they have been books that we do not own, what I have had him do at the end of each lesson where there is extra reading, is to read the summation of that portion of the book referred to. This is working out OK for now, but I know that he would like very much to have the go-along books, as he is so very interested in this time period. If you do prefer to have the Literature on hand, there are three different literature kits available for the Veritas Press Self-Paced History: Old Testament and Ancient Egypt. They are:

Old Testament & Ancient Egypt Self-Paced Literature Kit Level 1, available for $110.30 (a savings of $17.44), and is recommended for children who would be generally in 2nd or 3rd grade, and comes with 13 books.

Old Testament & Ancient Egypt Self-Paced Literature Kit Level 2, available for $88.35 (a savings of $16.39), and includes 10 books.

Old Testament & Ancient Egypt Self-Paced Literature Kit Levels 1&2, in case you have children at multiple levels, available for $151.14 (a savings of $27.47), and containing all of the books in both levels.

I am seriously considering at least the purchase of the level two package for “The Batman”, so that he can read them along with the lessons and have them to keep.

One of the things I really enjoy is that at the beginning of each lesson, we review a memory song about the 32 events we (I say we, because I find I am learning along with “The Batman”, as are the other children) are going to be learning. Repetition is a great thing when it comes to something like this, and basically, we are learning a Biblical timeline through this song. Both “The Batman” and I like very much the fact that if he logs off before finishing a lesson, the course remembers where he was, and when he logs in again, he is asked if he wishes to pick up where he left off. He can also print off the quizzes and such when he finishes them, something he loves to do so that he can show them to his dad when he gets home from work. 🙂
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The lessons themselves are quite fun, using videos of characters who speak and move, fun games, fun songs, and tests/quizzes that are in different formats, helping “The Batman” to remember that there are different ways to answer the on-screen questions. Sometimes, he has to drag things to the correct order, sometimes he has to click the correct answer, and so on. This has been good for him, as he has always been one to not like things changing too much. Each “lesson” runs anywhere from 10 – 20 minutes, which is really just about perfect for “The Batman”, and there are 160 lessons in this course. Here he is, along with HIS Batman, going through a lesson. 🙂
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I am very pleased with this course, and would definitely consider more Self-Paced History courses from Veritas Press, though I’d need to plan ahead for my budget, as I would want to have the literature bundles as well. As I said before, because “The Batman” really loves this time period, and wants to learn as much as he can, I intend to ask his dad if we can manage to order the literature bundle. It is so rare that we’ve been able to find something this good, that he actually WANTS to learn about. I believe it’s more than worth it, and then the books will become part of our permanent educational library.

You can learn more about Veritas Press through their various social media links:

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99 other crew members reviewed this and other products from Veritas Press. Please do go and check them out by clicking the graphic below:
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June 27, 2014 · 9:06 pm

Weekly Wrap-Up . . . When I Actually Got Stuff Done!

So, this week was a LITTLE more productive . . . we managed to work on some educational review products nearly every day. I was also able to get “The Batman” and “The Artist” to get on their piano practice every day except for one.

Yesterday, I got up early and got a review completed (there will be a few more in upcoming weeks), worked on some review products with the boys, and prepared (mostly) supper. My husband came home and whipped up potatoes and corn, as I was very wiped out by then.

Today, I managed to get almost all of the laundry done, for the first time in weeks! 🙂

In preparation for our upcoming move, my husband and the boys did a bunch of yard work last Saturday, and will be doing more tomorrow, as we’re supposed to leave it looking good. While he and 2 of the boys do that, I’ll be taking the 2 older boys out shopping for clothing items they need for summer camp, which is fast approaching! I never thought the day would come when we would feel OK about them going, but I’ll tell you, they have such a wonderful youth pastor at our church, along with his wife. They are so great with all of the kids, and have really helped a lot with our boys, working to understand their limitations. His wife is also our piano teacher, and a very good one, too! We’ll be in our first recital since leaving MI this coming August. I’m hoping my husband will be able to record us so you all can see what we’re doing!

Well, that about wraps up our week!

As always, I’d love it if you joined me on all of “My Journeys Through Life”. Just go and enter your email into the “sign me up” button at the top of the blog, and never miss another update! If you DO enjoy “My Journeys”, please, go to our Facebook page and give it a “like”. I’d sure appreciate it if you did! 🙂

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June 26, 2014 · 1:49 pm

Go Science DVD’s . . . A T. O. S. Review

We recently had the opportunity to check out part of the Go Science DVD Series 2, which were made available to us by Library and Educational Services. The Go Science DVD’s retail at $14.95 each, but are available from Library and Educational Services for $8.97 each. Having watched them with my family, I think is a pretty good deal. The Go Science DVD’s
 are recommended for ages 4 – 12, but honestly, our entire family really enjoyed them.

Library and Educational Services is a company I have been familiar with for a long time, and though I have never ordered anything from them, I have regularly received their catalogs. You can read about them on their site, but I’m going to give you some highlights here.

Library and Educational Services is a small family business which, much to my surprise, is actually in Michigan, the state my family lived in until two years ago! This company is a wholesale distributer, and they sell to libraries, schools, resellers, specialty stores, churches, missionaries, daycare centers, and ministry leaders. They also, unlike many wholesale education sellers, allow home school families to purchase from them, yay! They work hard to keep their products in line with Christian values and morals, and offer a great deal of evolution free science materials.

We were asked to choose two volumes of the Go Science (Series 2) DVD’s, and after much deliberation, decided to go with Volume 2, Life Science and Weather, along with Volume 4, Motion, Friction, Electricity and Light. Each DVD was about one hour in length, with a number of different science experiments demonstrated by Ben Roy. Mr. Roy teaches science methods at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. He is also a former director of a television science program.

In Life Science and Weather, I think my boys were most excited by the demonstrations of weather experiments. Some of them were pretty cool, for example, in one, which had a definite WOW factor for my boys, Mr. Roy made a liquid nitrogen cloud. To do this, he poured liquid nitrogen into a large plastic tub, and then poured in hot water. The HUGE cloud which erupted was very exciting, to my boys, and to all the kids in the segment. Mr. Roy related this to The Lord coming back with a giant cloud and taking us to heaven.

In Motion, Friction, Electricity and Light, I liked the demonstration using food coloring and bubbles. In this demonstration, Mr. Roy filled a container about halfway with water and then added red food coloring to make all of the water red. Then, liquid dish soap was added, and mixed in by hand to make as many bubbles as possible. Surprisingly, the bubbles were not clear, like when you blow a bubble with a wand, they were white! He then had the kids who were helping take clear wrap and fold it several times, at which point it became white, not clear. He explained that this is because the light is refracted by all of the layers. He related this to God forgiving our sin and making our soul white as snow.

Each and every segment in these DVD’s has an experiment which Mr. Roy takes time to relate to something Biblical. He also ends each segment with the words “Every time we learn something about science, we learn something about our Creator…GOD!” I do like that. For example, here is a sample segment from Volume 1, Sound, Gravity and Space.

Make no mistake, these are definitely Christian DVD’s. We watched Life Science and Weather one evening with my husband along for the ride, and then we watched Motion, Friction, Electricity and Light during the day while he was at work. My kids really enjoyed them, and so did my husband and I. We even talked about perhaps ordering the other volumes for the kids to watch whenever they like. 🙂

There are a total of 100 Review Crew members who checked out a variety of Go Science DVD’s, so I do urge you to click the graphic below. It will take you to all of their reviews so that you can see what everyone thought of all of the different volumes that were chosen.
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June 14, 2014 · 6:17 pm

Weekly Wrap-Up: Found Our House, and Father’s Day Fun!

I had mentioned to you before that we were looking for a nice rental home closer to our church . . . well, we found one!
our house

And boy, is it ever close to our church! We will be going from a drive that takes anywhere from 30 to 45 minutes down to a 2 minute drive! In fact, there is a balcony off the master bedroom, and we can see the steeple on top of our church! 🙂 We will be signing the lease this coming Monday, and taking possession at the beginning of July, which then will give us plenty of time to get everything moved, and still have time with our current rental empty for move out cleaning.

This morning, we went to a Father’s Day thing at a local Chik-fil-a, where they were doing games, fathers got to eat for free, and got to meet Preston Dennard.

From information given on Mr. Dennard’s website:

“For eight years Preston was a top-rated National Football League wide receiver. He has been featured in Sports Illustrated, Pro, and other numerous magazines. Preston has proven his athletic talents professionally as an outstanding veteran with the Los Angeles Rams, Buffalo Bills, and the Green Bay Packers. He was named Most Outstanding Receiver and twice nominated “N.F.L. Man of the Year.”

Mr. Dennard and our family have mutual friends who attend our church, a very nice couple who some time ago told him about our son “The Batman” and his obsession with sports cards. He was kind enough to send one for “The Batman” via our friends, but it was not JUST a plain card, oh no. It was autographed, and it was in a clear protective display case. “The Batman” sent him a thank you card. Today, when we met him, he remembered, because of that card, I think. Here is a photo of “The Batman” with Mr. Dennard.
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And here are all the boys with their dad, along with the Chik-fil-a cow.
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Everyone had a great time, and then I went on to get groceries, while the guys went with their dad for his hair cut, then out for lunch at DQ. Today was a pretty good day! 🙂

As always, I’d love it if you join me on all of “My Journeys Through Life”! Just go to the “sign me up” button at the top of the blog and enter your email, and never miss an update! And if you do enjoy “My Journeys”, please, do go to our Facebook page and give it a “like”. I’d sure appreciate it if you did! 🙂

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June 13, 2014 · 4:57 pm

We Choose Virtues: A T. O. S. Review

I was asked recently to review a product from the company We Choose Virtues.

The product I received was the set of NIrV version of the Parenting
Cards, which arrived as 13 double-sided cards, printed on high quality card stock, size 8.5′ x 5.5′, which retail for $38.49. They also come with a free downloadable Family Character Assessment.

I was also given the We Choose Virtues Download Bundle, priced at $7.99. This bundle includes the following:

•Teacher’s Handbook
•Family Character Assessment
•Coloring Pages
•Butterfly Award
•Sing-along-Song sheets

I really like this set of cards, it covers several virtues which are good not just for our children to learn, but parents as well, believe it or not! For example, there is a card that has us working on being content. Now, children are certainly NOT the only ones with a problem in this area. I’ll admit to it, and I think most adults should, though, as we sometimes do NOT have our “WANTER” under control . . . do we?

Here is the front of the contentment card . . .

And here is the reverse side . . .

I came into this review a little bit late, so I don’t have quite as much information for you as I usually do, but I do believe these cards will be a benefit to our family. Virtues that will be worked on during our time with the cards are:

  • Contentment
  • Gentleness
  • Attentiveness
  • Obedience
  • Forgiving
  • Self Control
  • Kindness
  • Perseverance
  • Patience
  • Diligence
  • Honesty
  • Helpfulness

We will make very good use of the cards, although we will continue looking the Bible verses up in our King James Version Bibles, as that is all we use. We Choose Virtues DOES sell a set with King James Version verses, which they developed for their Jewish customers who prefer to only use the Old Testament. However, There are many Christians who will use only the King James Version too, including Messianic Jews. Therefore, I would love it if the set I received also came in KJV, including New Testament verses.

With regards to the download package, we will use all of, with the possible exception of the teacher manual. To me, it seems much more geared toward a school or Sunday School setting than to a homeschool setting.

My kids always enjoy the coloring pages, and the printable awards, though. The Family Character Assessment is a terrific tool. As I said above, I think the whole family should do this program. We parents need to be a Biblical example to our kids, and often we forget that! I’m not sure yet how my boys feel about the sing a long sheets, they’re a bit balky in that area. 🙂

The only downside I have is the price of the cards. It is a fairly high price point for many homeschool families, especially given that if they want the cards to last, they will probably need to go and have them laminated at their own cost. $38.49 seems to me to be too much for 13 cards.

Check out We Choose Virtues via their social media contacts:

Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/wechoosevirtues
Pinterest – http://www.pinterest.com/WeChooseVirtues/
Blog — http://www.wechoosevirtuesblog.com/

Many of my fellow crew members also reviewed this and other products from We Choose Virtues. Please go and check out all of their reviews by clicking on the banner right below!

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June 10, 2014 · 3:54 pm

Learning Wrap-Ups: A T. O. S. Review

Let me just say right now, WOW, WOW, WOW! I had heard of, and seen in various catalogs, Learning Wrap-Ups many years ago, but never really checked them out. So, when I was given the chance to receive them as a review product for my kiddos, it was a no-brainer, I went for it!

I had no idea that Learning Wrap-Ups was a company which carries educational products other than the original Wrap-Ups.

We received so much in our package! Here is a list of all the wonderful, colorful, hands on products we were given:

Learning Wrap-Up Math Intro Kit W/O Cd’s – $44.99

This kit contains one set each of Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication, Division, and Fractions. As you can see in the picture, they are in a sturdy storage case. There is also a teacher guide with ideas for use.


Learning Wrap-Ups Vocabulary Intro Kit – $35.99

This kit comes with four sets of Wrap-Ups, covering the following concepts: Antonyms, Synonyms, Homonyms and Compound Words.

We also received two workbooks, 10 Steps To Addition Mastery and 10 Days To Multiplication Mastery, each of which comes with the appropriate Wrap-Up for the price of $12.99 each.

Next out of the box, more fun hands-on learning tools. This was something which before this review, I had never even heard of, so I am REALLY grateful to have gotten the chance to check them out! This additional product from Learning Wrap-Ups is called Learning Palettes, and they are very cool!

We received:

1st Grade Math Learning Palette 1 Base Center Kit – $71.99. This set covers Numbers 0 – 10: Intro to Addition & Subtraction, Numbers 0-100, Money, Simple Fractions, Addition & Subtractions with sums and differences through 18, Algebra Concepts, Geometry & Measurement, and Probability & Statistics. This kit comes with one Learning Palette base and 6 curriculum packs which each contain 12 cards, giving a total of 864 questions and answers covering the concepts I’ve listed here. The whole set comes in a very nice, sturdy, clear carrier, and the palette base has a sturdy, clear cover to keep the parts contained.

and

http://learningwrapups.com/learning-palette/reading-lp-titles/1st-grade-reading-1-base-center-kit.html – $61.99. This covers blends & digraphs, reading comprehension, nouns, verbs and adjectives, vocabulary and phonics. This kit is just like the math kit, except it comes with five curriculum packs, containing a total of 720 questions and answers that cover the concepts I’ve listed here.

We were also given a Full Online Family Subscription for all levels of Reading/Math Palettes instruction at LearningPalette.com up to 5 users for a full year – $59.99. I also have a coupon code for you that will give you a 20% discount for the online subscription. Just use the code HOMESCHOOL. How great is that? 🙂

So, now that you know what we received, would you like to know how they worked out for us? Well, let me tell you, I knew right away they would be great for our family when my most reluctant reader, “Mr. Loquacious”, was the first one to get ahold of them, LOL! He knows what they are called, but often asks “can I play with the Fun-Wraps, mom?”
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So far, I’ve only managed to get photos of him and “The Artist” playing with the Learning Wrap-Ups, but the others think they are pretty cool, too.
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Wondering how they work? Well, it’s fairly simple. For each concept, we have a set of key type shapes, which are fastened together at the top so they can be swiveled when we wish to change to the next one, and a sturdy string that is attached. For example, in addition, on the first key there is a large number 1 in the center. on the left, there are numbers going down, as well as numbers going down on the right. There are notches next to each number, on each side. The idea is that you wrap the string from the first number to the notch by the answer. When completed, you turn the key over, and if the string is going over each of the raised lines, you know you did it correctly!

The Learning Palettes work a little differently. In each kit there was one palette, with a clear cover, and the colored circles to match when doing the various cards. “Mr. Loquacious” would place the card of his choice onto the palette in the correct position (which is very easy, as there is a guide peg and a hole to put it on). Then, he would simply look at the card (math or reading), and figure out which color circle went with each answer. When done, again, this is self-correcting, as he simply now would flip the card over. If all of the circles match the circles on the flip side of the card, he got them all right.
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You can see, he’s very intently working on them, because they are FUN! I personally feel that whenever possible, learning SHOULD be fun, don’t you?

With both the Wrap-Ups and the Learning Palettes, one of the things we like best is the portability. “Mr. Loquacious” even brought the Learning Palette kit to church to play with during my choir practice time this past Sunday afternoon. 🙂 I think they will be nice to have in the car on trips, as well, but maybe I’ll need to purchase additional bases so that more than one child can use them at the same time, since there are TONS of cards!

So far, “Mr. Loquacious” has been the only one to go onto learningpalette.com, but he is really enjoying it. It works much the same as the physical Learning Palettes, but with a computer and mouse instead of the physical pieces. He enjoyed going back and forth between choices of card and topic, math and reading both.
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What *I* love about the online version is that it allows you to have multiple children with log ins, and *all* of the levels, whereas the physical product is purchased one level at a time.

When it came to the workbooks though, my boys were not yet ready to apply the Wrap-Ups to them. They do work with the Wrap-Ups, so I am hoping that as they become more proficient with them, the workbooks will be something they can handle without a lot of the “oh, woe is me” stuff that generally comes with workbooks around here. 🙂

When it comes right down to it, this is a wonderful product! As I said before, I firmly believe that learning ought to be FUN. Remember, if you want the Full Online Family Subscription for all levels of Reading/Math Palettes instruction at LearningPalette.com up to 5 users for a full year – $59.99, just use the coupon code HOMESCHOOL and get it for 20% off! That coupon code is good at the time of this review, but I do not know how long it lasts, so if this is something you want, jump on it, you won’t be sorry! 🙂

Don’t just take MY word for it, definitely do go and check out what other Review Crew members thought of Learning Wrap-Ups! There are several different levels being reviewed! Just click on the banner below, and it will take you right to their reviews!

Learning Wrap-Ups Review
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June 6, 2014 · 5:33 pm

Weekly Wrap-Up: When I was Unwell

Struggling with a chronic disorder makes life difficult and stressful, especially in the midst of homeschooling, trying to (faithfully!) serve at church, and trying to find a house to live in which would put a MUCH closer to our church. It’s become more and more difficult on me, getting to church for 8:30 choir sound check, then Sunday School and morning service, and getting back to the church by 4:30 for choir practice before evening service, as it currently takes us anywhere from 30 to 45 minutes to get there. When we first moved here, we of course had no idea where we’d be going to church, and most everyone we know lives closer to our church.

A couple of weeks ago, we actually had to leave at the beginning of evening service because I became very weak, and then I missed service altogether this past Wednesday, which I HATE! I hate feeling as though I’m not being faithful!

Yesterday, “The Batman”, “The Artist”, and I were supposed to begin switching our piano lessons to Thursday mornings, but we had to put it off until today (thankfully, our wonderful teacher hadn’t begun lessons with the family taking our former Friday slot, and offered to let us come today instead) because I wasn’t well. Our teacher says we’re doing great, even me! Today she told me she’s figured out I learn well in patterns, so that’s what we’re working on, especially for my recital piece. I’m beginning to get excited about it! 🙂

Well, that’s our week!

Linking up at Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers

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June 4, 2014 · 1:30 pm

A Life In The Balance: A T. O. S. Review

When I was given the opportunity to review the book “A Life In Balance”, which is available from the Learning Breakthrough Program. I was primarily interested in it because I have four special needs boys.

“A Life In Balance” is an EXCELLENT read, centering upon the memoirs of Frank Belgau, the man who actually developed the LearninBreakthrough Programg .

This is an “as told to” book. Eric Begau, Frank’s son, wrote the book based on all of the things his father told him. It is currently available for $16.94.

I was pretty much hooked right toward the beginning, when Frank described being bullied because of his differences, and treated differently in school. For example, each year, the students had to take an IO test, and then they were assigned their seating in the classroom accordingly. The highest scoring children in the front row, with the lower scoring kids behind them, and the lowest in the back row. That’s where Frank was, along with the only boy with a lower score than he. That boy bullied him unmercifully. Frank wasn’t all that coordinated, so the boy would chase him until he tripped over his own fee and then beat him up badly. I think that was the beginning of Frank’s journey of problem solving, because he came up with an idea which in short order made the bullying from thaqt boy stop. But I’m not going to give you any spoilers, lol!

Through Frank’s time in the military, he further honed his ability to solve problems, because as someone who worked on airplanes, he learned from a mentor there that the most important thing was not what the “bean counters” thought, it was to make sure those planes were safe, because our guys were fighting combat missions. I think he learned to see “the puzzle” when looking at a problem and how to solve it, rather than looking at only what others thought was best.

As an educator, his methods were certainly unorthodox, to say the least! He took on a special needs class (they were then called “educable mentally retarded students) for an hour each day to help their regular teacher get a break. The principal basically said the best thing to do was have them put their heads on the desk and cover them with newspaper! Frank did not. Instead, he gave them projects, expecting them to do it. Well, he did well, and so did the project of one of the kids!

Eventually, Frank developed the Learning Breakthrough Program, designed to help children with learning disabilities learn to read. It has now been discovered that anyone can benefit from the “brain training” in the program Frank designed.

It is certainly not necessary to purchase the Learning Breakthrough Program to benefit from this book. I know from my own experience with my eldest child, adopted at age two and not expected to be able to even learn to read, let alone anything else, has certainly benefited from a lot of what Frank gives us in this book, and that was way before the book was even written! At the back of the book, Frank details exercises that help the child (or anyone who wants improved brain function!)

I found Frank Belgau’s memoir to be a fascinating read, but don’t just take my word for it.
79 other Homeschool Review Crew members also reviewed “A Life In The Balance”, and it sure would be great if you were to also take a look to see what they thought of it, too. Just click on the banner below and it will take you to all of the crew reviews for this product!
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June 2, 2014 · 1:49 pm

Progeny Press . . . A T. O. S. Review

My children and I have been given the fun opportunity to review a study guide from Progeny Press, our first time ever! 🙂

Progeny Press Review

Progeny Press gives us the chance to study works of literature from a Christian perspective, which I do appreciate. Their guides do use the NIV translation of the Bible, but in the “Note To Instructor” section of the Study Guide, it is clearly stated that the study can be used with any version of the Bible. My family prefers (and always uses) the King James Version.

Because we already owned the book and had been needing a push to get it read, I chose the Study Guide for “The Courage Of Sarah Noble“, which is currently available for the cost of $11.99. This is a downloadable product, so there are no shipping costs, plus, you have the advantage of using it for more than just one child if you like.

The Courage Of Sarah Noble, The E-Guide is suggested for lower elementary (grades K through 3), and my kids are older than that, but we quite enjoyed it anyway. My guys are special needs, two of them still struggle with reading, and the others with thinking skills, so it was a good fit. I would definitely put the reading level of the book at the upper level of the suggested range, but that could just be because “Mr. Loquacious” and “The Puzzler” still struggle somewhat when it comes to reading, and “Mr. Loquacious” dislikes reading altogether! We did think it was a pretty good book, which is based on a true story, something that all of my boys thought was really “cool, mom!”

The book “The Courage Of Sarah Noble” is about an eight year old girl in the year 1707, who goes to cook and clean for her father when he builds their family a home in the wilderness of Connecticut. During her time there, she learns the meaning of trust and friendship as she gets to know the Indians living nearby, and stays with them when her father goes back to get the rest of the family.

The pdf Study Guide is 39 pages long, and if you have reluctant children when it comes to handwriting (or are not proficient with it), the guide is set up so that they may type in the answers, and then print out the pages to keep in a notebook, portfolio, or any type of records you like to keep.

Within the study guide, there are “Before You Read” activities, such as defining a word, looking up a place on a map, or speculating on the “why” of something you will be reading about.

There are “As You Read”
Activities, such as making a list of how many times Sarah reminds herself to “keep up her courage”, and holds her red cloak. We are asked why she holds it, and what it reminds her of.

As we read the book, the study guide broke it up into two chapters per session, with pages for vocabulary, questions, and Bible passages having to do with something in those two chapters.

Question and answer portions we generally do orally, because we like to do unit studies together, and because it makes it easier for all to participate, no matter what their writing or thinking proficiency happens to be.

Finally, there are “Activities, Arts and Crafts” which relate to the book, and which your kids may find to be lots of fun. There is a crossword puzzle, a game that Sarah played with the Indian children, instructions for an art project to create a picture of Sarah and her father, a craft project in which the child can build a pretzel log cabin, and a recipe to make corn meal biscuits.

Finally, our study guide gave us a list of suggestions for further reading, plus an answer key for all of the questions in the study guide.

The Courage Of Sarah Noble, The E-Guide from Progeny Press is very thorough, and we really liked it. I particularly like that it is from a Christian perspective, and that we are not locked into a specific Bible version. It was definitely “tweak-able” for my special needs family, and also for my “King James Version only” family. I also appreciate that as far as I can see from looking at the various titles available, if you do not already own the book you are interested in studying, you will most likely find it at your local library, which definitely saves on the cost! 🙂

Check out Progeny Press via the following social media:

Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/progenypress
Twitter – https://twitter.com/progenypress
Pinterest – http://www.pinterest.com/progenypress/
YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/user/ProgenyPress

100 Review Crew members reviewed a variety of Progeny Press Study Guides. To see what they and their children thought, please click the graphic below!
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