Tag Archives: Christian Faith

October 18, 2014 · 12:56 pm

Weekly Wrap Up . . . Family Crusade Time!

This has been a VERY busy week, but a good one, as well. Our church held a Family crusade, beginning this past Sunday morning with OUR version of balloon Sunday. It was the last day of this year’s International balloon Fiesta, and on that morning, we release helium balloons with our names, and the plan of salvation on an attached card. It was quite windy, and I could not get a photo before they were too far away, sadly, but it was fun! 🙂

From Sunday evening through Thursday evening, we had the wonderful Ed Dunlop as our speaker, and dare I say, entertainer? Everyone, children, teens and adults alike all just loved his ventriloquism with his little buddy Andy, and loved watching the kids participate in different Bible games.

I tried to get a video during the last evening, but looking at it on the computer, I can see that I really messed it up . . . it’s sideways! So instead, let me share a photo of Bro. Ed, Andy, my boys, and several of their friends who were also still at the church after everyone else had left . . . 1016142044e One of my boys, “The Batman”, specifically asked if Andy could come out and be in the picture with them, lol!

My boys tried so hard to get visitors to come with them, but they were not successful. This is the first time we have lived where there were other kids right next door that they play with (since moving to NM), and they asked them every day, with no results. They were disappointed, but we explained to them that they did their job by asking, and that God knows this.

I think this was a WONDERFUL alternative to the traditional summer VBS. I liked it a lot better. VBS has always tended (in my opinion) to get kids so very revved up and make it hard for them to be self-controlled, especially kids like mine, with special needs, yet, I hate to deny them VBS. Therefore, I was so very happy that our church chose to do this instead this year. We had a great time! 🙂

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October 16, 2014 · 2:28 pm

Apologia Educational Ministries (iWitness) . . . A T.O.S. Review

Our family has really loved using material from Apologia Educational Ministries ever since first being introduced to one of the science resources after a friend had used one and told me my boys would love it. They did, too!

This particular set of books which I am writing about today though, is different. As a member of the Review Crew, I received three books in the iWitness series:

1. iWitness Biblical Archaeology

iWitness Biblical Archaeology gives an awesome look at archaeological finds which prove many things that we as believers already knew (by faith) to be true. Many people and places which are referred to in the Bible, were not really shown in “historical” texts, because there was no “proof”, but many finds over time have more than proven the truth of their having existed.

2. New Testament iWitness

New Testament iWitness takes the reader along as it investigates things such as “Who wrote the New Testament?” “How do we know?” “How was it handed down?”, among other fascinating things. This book follows the history of and formation of the canon, while the reader sorts through the information given.

3. Old Testament iWitness

Old Testament iWitness goes into discussion of the differences between the Old Testament and the Hebrew Bible. It asks questions such as “Who wrote these ancient books?” “how were they collected?” “Is it mythology or history?” As with the other two books mentioned above, the reader is led through looking at evidence for him or herself, and gaining a great deal of knowledge in the process!

These books are written and designed by Doug Powell, who purposely does not write from his own opinion. He gives facts, actual photos, archaeological proof, and then we are expected to think for ourselves and come to our own belief. While they are very well put together for all ages, the suggested reading level is age 11 and up.

The first thing I want to tell you about is my initial impression when the books arrived. These are extremely sturdy paperback size books, but there the similarity ends. these books have very thick and sturdy pages, which means they will last, and continue to be a good resource on our shelf for many years to come. The other thing that caught my eye immediately was the layout of the pages. As an avid scrap-booker and paper crafter, the scrap-book style layout of all the pages was really pleasing to my eye. There is a nicely done combination of pictures and text. The text is all arranged on separate pieces which look like pieces of scroll or parchment. Over all, the look and feel of each of these books is, in my opinion, of very high quality.

Both “The Artist” and I have been reading through them, beginning with iWitness Biblical Archaeology. I must tell you that this is the book which turned out to be a favorite, although we enjoy all of them. 🙂 However, I have always wanted to learn more about archaeological finds which prove the things I know to be true because of my faith in God’s Word.

“The Artist” and I had different “favorite” parts, though. He says his favorite was when the archaeology book gave information about the Mesha Stele or Moabite Stone. It discusses how one group attempted to destroy it, rather than have the Turks get it, but that the original discoverers managed to find enough of it to reconstruct much of the stone, giving valuable information regarding people and places within the Old Testament.

“My” favorite part was the recounting of the story of the flood of Noah’s time, as related by different cultures throughout time. I had always heard that different cultures had their own passed down stories of the flood, and iWitness Biblical Archaeology talks about several of them. It then also shows the similarities and differences between Genesis and these stories. For me, it is just one more reason that I believe there is no real excuse for claiming God does not exist.

In Old Testament iWitness, I was interested in the sections about the manuscripts and how they were copied, along with how the books were arranged and included.

In New Testament iWitness, I was again interested in the methods of copying, along with differences in copies, and why certain books were rejected.

The bottom line is that we really enjoyed these books, and we definitely recommend them. They can be purchased at the cost of $14.00 each from Apologia, and I must say that I feel they are well worth the cost.

You may also check out Apologia Educational Ministries via social media:

Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/apologiaworld
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99 other crew members also reviewed these iWitness books. Please click the banner below to read about what they thought!
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September 9, 2014 · 4:52 pm

Under Drake’s Flag (Heirloom Audio Productions) . . . A T. O. S. Review

Growing up, I often heard my dad telling us children about my grandmother listening to the original soap operas on the radio, and about programs on the radio that appealed to the children and families of that time. I had never listened to an audio drama, so I thought this would be an interesting review, especially since my own children have always had the visual along with the audio (what with watching their movies, as opposed to listening, you know). In fact, they are SO used to looking at the screen, I wasn’t sure how well this would be received, but I knew *I* wanted to hear it, so I went for it, LOL! This audio production is written to ages 6 – adult, and I thought that to be pretty accurate.

Heirloom Audio Productions is where you may purchase this wonderful 2 CD boxed set of the Audio Drama “Under Drake’s Flag“. It is available as an “instant access” mp3 version for $20.00, which also includes the following bonuses:

1. The complete Under Drake’s Flag eStudy Guide and Discussion Starter.

2. A beautiful, printable copy of Drake’s Prayer.

If you prefer, you may purchase the 2 CD boxed set at $29.95 plus $6.95, which includes the following bonuses:

1. The “instant access” download of Under Drake’s Flag valued at $20.00.

2. The complete Under Drake’s Flag E-Study Guide and Discussion Starter. 30 pages of Under Drake’s Flag discussion points, history-learning guides and story-related Bible study, valued at $20.00.

3. The Under Drake’s Flag Soundtrack MP3 download, valued at $20.00.

4. A beautiful, printable copy of Drake’s Prayer, valued at $10.00.

The add on bonuses in the CD boxed set add up to $70.00, making this a very good deal, in my opinion!

Now, down to the review! We ended up choosing to listen to the complete story, rather than breaking it up into chapters. After all, when we watch movies, we don’t break them up, either! Plus, to be honest, I was concerned about losing their interest. I didn’t need to worry though, because they listened pretty well! “The Artist” and “Mr. Loquacious” really paid more attention that “The Batman” and “The Puzzler”, and were much better able to answer the comprehension questions in the mini study guide which is included in the boxed set. There is a much expanded study guide as a download, but at this time, it wasn’t a good fit for my boys.

Both guides have comprehension questions for each chapter: “Listening well”, “Thinking Further” questions, and “defining words”. There is also a Bible study section with sections such as “Godly Character”, “True Manhood”, and “Confessing Christ”, each of which is related to parts of the story, and has corresponding Bible verses to use in your study. Drake’s prayer is also printed inside the CD holder, and it is a beautiful prayer.

After explaining to the boys that this would be like “listening” to a movie instead of “watching” a movie, we popped the first CD into our DVD player and settled in. I had told them they could either draw pictures relating to the story while listening, or write down interesting things they heard, but surprisingly, none of them did, they just flopped onto the floor and listened! Even their dad and I enjoyed it, although we were both very tired and not feeling at our best, and so we dozed off a couple of times.

I liked the way the audio drama was written. It begins with two boys, Ned and Gerald, who are British boys in school, working on a report about Sir Francis Drake. Gerald is CLEARLY more interested in the history, while Ned just wants to skip doing it and go to a cricket match. They happen upon a man they are invited to call “Mr. George”, who offers to tell them a story about Sir Francis Drake, in which there just happen to be two boys named Ned and Gerald. We are to understand that Mr. George is G. A. Henty, who lived and wrote about history, writing 122 books which became essential reading in English schools. He promises that if the boys become bored, he will stop if they tell him, so they may go to the cricket match. In the end, they become so caught up in the adventures of the Ned and Gerald in the story, and how they adventured the seas with and without Sir Francis Drake, that they don’t ever ask him to stop telling them the story!

In “Mr. George’s story, we hear about how Ned first comes to Drake’s attention by saving a man who is in the water, Drake promises that should he ever return to Ned’s village, he will offer him a place on his ship, something Ned wants very much, even though his mother is opposed, having lost her husband to the sea. Eventually, though, Drake does return, and offers Ned a position. His mother, knowing what is right for him, gives him his father’s dagger and her blessing.

Ned and Gerald have many adventures, helping to fight against the Spanish Armada, saving a Spanish young lady from drowning, facing the Spanish Inquisition, and more, all the while learning from Drake about being good men with Christian principles. We are hopeful that heirloom Audio Productions will soon release even more wonderful audio dramas such as this one, as we thoroughly enjoyed it!

I highly recommend this audio production!

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99 other Review Crew members also reviewed this product. To read about what they thought of it, please click on the banner 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 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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Crew DisclaimerAs always, I would just love it if you would join 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! Also, 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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May 28, 2014 · 2:34 pm

What On Earth Can I Do? A T.O.S. Review

In our homeschooling family, we have really loved all things from Apologia Educational Ministries, so I was very excited to be given the chance to review for you the fourth volume in their “What We Believe” series, which is designed to aid you as you teach a Biblical world view to your children.

Volume 4 is titled “What On Earth Can I Do?“, and teaches a Biblical worldview of stewardship. We received the entire set in our review package, as listed and pictured below:

The main text “What On Earth Can I Do?” which is a very nice hard bound book, with just under 300 pages, and retails for $39.00

The Notebooking Journal, spiral bound, 236 pages, which retails at $24.00

The Jr. Notebooking Journal, also spiral bound, 184 pages, which retails for $24.00.

and the “What On Earth Can I Do?” Coloring Book, which is softcover, 64 pages, and retails for $8.00.

This curriculum technically has eight lessons within it, but they are broken up into small chunks, so if your family is like mine, you can really take your time with it. The eight lessons are titled with the following:

Your Story Or God’s Story?

Who Put You In Charge?

Will You Be Found Faithful?

Where Is Your Treasure?

Where Does Your Time Go?

Whose Life Is It Anyway?

Why Isn’t It Easy Being Green?

What Will Happen When The Master Returns?

Each of these eight lessons is, as I mentioned above, broken up into several segments. You can either quickly complete each one within a couple of weeks, or you can take your time, allowing yourselves to really dig in deep with questions, discussion, and following rabbit trails.

The first half of the book follows a family during World War 2, and we are really seeing it mostly from the view of the children. At first, I thought it might be too heavy for my children, but it wasn’t. They were very saddened by what was happening in the story, and in the true, historical things we read about, but it did spark really good discussion and questions. For example, in our church, we have close friends who are Messianic Jews, and “Mr. Loquacious” asked me “if L. and E. and Miss S. were alive then, would they have been in danger like that too?” So we discussed what kinds of changes World War 2 made in the world.

The second half of the study follows another set of siblings, this time in Africa. We have not gotten to that part yet, but we look forward to it!

Each lesson contains several important components:

The Big Idea (introduction and brief overview of what has already been learned)
What You Will Do (learning objectives)
Short Story (this is where we read more about the children featured in this section)
Think About It (comprehension questions)
Words You Need To Know (vocabulary words from that lesson)
Hide It In Your Heart (memorization verses)
Integrated Learning (articles related to an element in the short story or tied to the lesson)
What Should I Do? highlights a godly character trait that the child should demonstrate as the right response to what they have learned.)
Prayer (conclude the lesson with a prayer to thank God for the gifts He has given, and all He has done.)
Parables of Jesus (a retelling of a parable of Jesus, imagined from the perspective of one of the characters in the parable, giving cultural details to better help the child understand what is happening.)
Going Deeper (discussion questions to encourage children to think about the parables of Christ and what they may mean for us now)
House Of Truth (Beginning in the first book of this series, the student is given instructions on building a “house of truth”, with one section being built in each book.)

We are very much enjoying “What On Earth Can I Do?”, and really looking forward to completing it. We like very much that it is written to children, and that the stories about the siblings featured are written from their perspective.

While my kids, with their delays, vastly prefer the Jr. Notebooking Journal, I will tell you that the Notebooking Journal is quite nice! For the older child, there is more writing, the puzzles are a bit more difficult, and it does not have the coloring pages that the Jr. Notebooking Journal has. It does have the mini books to make, which are then glued to specific pages to keep.

In the Jr. Notebooking Journal, the puzzles are easier, there is a lot less writing, there are plenty of coloring pages, and it also has the mini books to make and keep.

The coloring book has many of the same coloring pages as the Jr. Notebooking Journal, and would be a wonderful addition to use with the very young child who would then have something related to do while the older ones are reading out loud, and working on the lessons in the curriculum.

What I chose to do was to have “The Batman” take turns reading with me, and we would all discuss the questions in the text. “The Artist” was chosen to work in the Notebooking Journal, “The Puzzler” worked in the Jr. Notebooking Journal, and by his own request, “Mr. Loquacious” worked in the coloring book. He doesn’t like to read or write, even though he can do so.

We will be continuing on with “What On Earth Can I Do”. I am extremely impressed with it. The only “con” for me is the usual one, that the Bible verses are never from the King James Bible, something I find very frustrating, given that it is the one version that you do not have to pay for the right to copy. At the same time, it did give my kids more practice looking up verses, as I prefer them to read them from the King James Version! However, when the Bible verse is a clue to a word in a puzzle, it’s harder for the kids if the puzzle uses a different version. With this one exception, I really love this curriculum, and highly recommend Apologia Educational Ministries!

Check out Apologia on social media:

Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/apologiaworld
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May 17, 2014 · 5:14 pm

Feeling Sad and Nostalgic Today . . .

Two years ago, I left my very best friend “Annie’s” house for the last time, because we were getting ready to move from Michigan to New Mexico, for my husband’s job. At the time, she and her children lived about two and a half hours west of us, having moved to be near her family about a year after the death of her husband. We had for years, spent our kids’ birthdays together, either at her house or at our house. It was the best thing, too, because she and her children love my kids, no matter what their differences and difficulties have been, and always treated them the same as any other kids, even though they aren’t. That has not always been the case in the lives of my children. Kids can be so mean, once they realize another kid is different, you know?

So anyway, we realized that there was no way we would be able to go there in June for the birthdays of her two oldest, which are two days apart, and since “Mr. Loquacious” and “The Puzzler” share a birthday in May (being twins, you know), we decided to go and spend a few days at our friends’ home in May, and just do all four of the kids’ birthdays over a couple of days! Over the years, we were often able to visit for 3 or 4 days at a time because we both homeschool.

We did my boys birthdays on Tuesday, the 15th.

My friend is really awesome at making themed cakes. This is what she did for “Mr. Loquacious”, who really wanted a Lego themed party . . .
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For “The Puzzler”, who loves all things Thomas The Train, this is what she made . . .
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Here I am with the kids, waiting for the candles to be lit . . .
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And here is my dear friend, getting the candles ready for the birthday boys. The picture is a little blurry, though!
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My boys, very happy with their the cakes . . .
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Later, after presents, because we ALWAYS do “Pin the something on something”, I had ordered a pin the Lego shark in the water kit and a pin the smokestack onto Thomas set. Here are all the kids with the Lego mask blindfolds on, trying to hit the right spot.

“Mr. Loquacious”
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“The Puzzler”
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“The Batman”
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“The Artist”
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Next up, we have my Friend’s children . . .

“J. L.” . . .
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“L. E.”
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“L. A. ”
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Here’s how they all looked in the Thomas blindfolds . . .

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As always, I had ordered goodie boxes with themed favors, so each kid got a Thomas one and a Lego one!
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So, that was the party for my twins, on Tuesday. On Wednesday, the 16th, we had a birthday for “J. L.”, and his sister “L. E.”, whose birthdays are two days apart. Their birthday was chocolate theme. You can’t go wrong there, right? 🙂
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Everyone loved their parties, and their presents!

Wednesday evening, we went to my friend’s church, Midland Baptist Church. While we were there, we got somebody to take one final picture of “Annie” and me.
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The next day, the 17th of May, 2012, we had to leave and go back to Port Huron, so I could get to work on packing and readying for our moving sale. I had done absolutely fine the whole time we were there, but when it was time to leave, the hardest thing was to not cry. And I didn’t, until we were out of sight of the house, then the sobbing started, so I pulled over and sat for about 30 minutes until I was OK to drive.

I miss my friend “Annie” so much. For years, we had been each other’s support system, we both have been raising challenging children, although the challenges were and are different. We always knew we could call on each other if we needed someone to keep our kids when we had to do something. In fact, she kept mine for 4 days when I went for my bariatric surgery in 2011.

We began as unlikely friends, who became very close. “Annie” has been my confidante, my Titus 2 woman in my life. I will always love her, and all of her children, so much, and will never stop missing them.

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May 12, 2014 · 1:30 pm

Golden Prairie Press, A T. O. S. Review

Digital Heroes & Heroines of the Past: American History Curriculum, is a curriculum we were given to review, along with 99 other Schoolhouse Review Crew members.

This curriculum is from Golden Prairie Press, the home of “History At It’s Best”, according to their header.

Digital Heroes & Heroines Of The Past: American History Curriculum is a one year package of 30 lessons, and has been designed for children from 1st through the 6th grade levels. It is available for $98.99.

This downloadable curriculum will take your student from 1000 AD up to the present day, using two e-books.

The first half of the curriculum is Heroes and Heroines of the Past: American History Part 1 e-book, which covers the original people in America and continues on through the administration of President Jackson ( 1829 – 37 ).

You will then continue on with the second half of the curriculum: Heroes and Heroines of the Past: American History Part 2 e-book, covering 1837 to the present day.

We also received the following items, which are included in the digital curriculum:

Additional Materials CD (we received this as a collection of pdf files) which can be used as supplemental materials, including timelines, instructions and videos, coloring pages, and much more.

Historical Skits e-book, which contains 19 skits from the time of Columbus to World War 2. Your children can use these to further bring history to life, if they are interested in acting out what they are learning.

Sing Some History CD, which we received as audio files. This contains many of the songs that are referred to in the curriculum, further bringing the history to life while you and your children listen to them.

Listen to Some U.S. History MP3 CD (we received this as a downloadable collection of mp3 files), allowing you and your children to listen to 20 original speeches, poems, sermons, and documents that are mentioned in the book.

What we like:

The format of the curriculum e-books. I enjoy that we are given two different options for each lesson as far as the reading goes, one for younger students who aren’t ready for more lengthy information, and one for the older kids, which goes into more depth. For my kids, we are actually able to (mostly) use the more in-depth portion, as long as we are using this as a read aloud. This is not a problem, since that’s how we do a lot of curriculum, allowing us to do it all together. I enjoy being able to read right from my laptop, so that we only need to print things like coloring pages, etc.

The sound files! We enjoy hearing what we are learning about, whether it is the music or the speeches and such.

We like the Additional Materials CD for things like coloring pages, the extra sound files, and the timelines. Speaking of the timelines, the thing I like the best regarding them is that there are different versions available. You may choose to print out the fully filled in timelines (perfect for some of my kiddos), or the partially filled in (allowing your kids to fill in the rest), or the blank ones, so that your more advanced kids may fill them in from memory or by looking them up.

Here’s the best thing, as far as I am concerned . . . while there are Bible verses throughout for the kids to read and/or memorize, only the reference is given. The verse is not written out in the text (or at least, I haven’t come across any which are as yet), which means no matter what version of the Bible you use (we are a King James only family), you need to get your actual Bible out and LOOK UP THE VERSE FOR YOURSELF! I LIKE that! There is no reason any child who can read cannot learn to look up verses, and too many of us, especially in curriculum, become lazy and just let the text we are learning from do it for us.

What we don’t care for:

Most of the activities are simply things we rarely bother with. We will probably do some of the cooking ones, but I don’t see my kids making paper canoes and such, for example, or a teepee in the house. However, as some of my friends would remind me, that’s mostly because “I” don’t like the mess involved, so, maybe if not for that, my kids WOULD do them. Maybe “I” need to loosen up a little bit on this one, LOL!

All in all, for my kids, I do enjoy this curriculum, and am pleased that it is digital, allowing me to print as many copies of things as needed for my kids. Although it is designed as a 30 week curriculum, I’m quite sure that we will take considerably longer. We very likely didn’t get as far as other reviewers, because with four special needs boys, I do tend to go much slower when it comes to working our way through curriculum. But that’s OK. In MY opinion, it’s one of the beauties of homeschooling, the fact that you do not have to do things in a specific way or time frame. 🙂

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April 21, 2014 · 6:21 pm

Philippians In 28 Weeks . . .A T.O.S. Review

I have been blessed to have another opportunity to review a product from the Home School Adventure Co..

I received a pdf copy of Philippians In 28 Weeks “Love Him With All Your Mind” with Reflection Journal, written by Stacey Farrell.

This book is available in the ESV or the KJV version. As most of my regular readers have already guessed, I chose the KJV version.

Stacey Farrell has devised a very simple way of learning (memorizing) Philippians, although I made it harder than it needed to be at first, lol!

The ages this book is meant to work for are:

Read aloud and discussion as a family: ages 9-11

family discussion and/or parental/teacher guidance, ages 12 and up

Most high School age students should be able to handle this book on their own.

Philippians In 28 Weeks is available as a complete print edition, in either ESV or KJV, for $28.95. The ESV version is also available as a complete e-book for $14.95, while the ESV Memory Cards e-book is available for $9.95.

Stacey has set out five steps to memorizing the book of Philippians:

1. Read the book of Philippians every day.
2. Record your insights in the journal she provides in the book.
3. Repeat your current week’s verses daily.
4. Review and recite from memory.
5. Retain what you have memorized, by reciting your verses at the start of the week, before beginning a new card.

Stacey has provided a very nice log within the book, so that you can keep yourself accountable for keeping up with your study, along with a very nice set of printable cards which have all of the verses to memorize for each week. They are meant to be printed out with the verses on one side and a picture on the other side, but I would prefer not to use all that ink, so only print out the verse side. Also, I have never really cared for the “what everyone thinks Jesus looks like” picture that is used for either the cover of the book or the cards.

I had intended to do this with my boys, but truly over-estimated what they could handle at this time. This is the time of the year when they are memorizing scripture for several different groups within our church, and they just couldn’t manage anymore without falling apart. Therefore, while I will definitely save this for use with the boys later (perhaps during the summer?), I thought it best to at this time, try to do this one on my own. Even so, it ended up being more difficult than I thought it would, but that is NOT the fault of the book, or the author. I have been battling health issues for several weeks, and just as it seemed to be getting better, and I began working on this, it hit back with a vengeance!

However, I really, really love this system! And especially with the things I’ve been dealing with, Philippians is the perfect book for me to work through, so I will be persevering, and I will finish it. I know now that for me, it WILL take longer than 28 weeks, but even so, it is worth it, because I think having verses from Philippians automatically come to me when I need them will be a wonderful help to me during difficult times. I will continue on, even if I need to maybe take TWO weeks for each one week section. I think Stacey Farrell has come up with yet another winner, and I hope she does many more titles for the Homeschool Adventure Co. 🙂

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March 21, 2014 · 4:58 pm

Weekly Wrap-Up . . .Boy, am I TIRED!!!

Beginning Sunday, our church had special conference entitled Solve Family Problems, featuring Dr. S.M. Davis. He spoke for the adults and teens during Sunday School, and again in morning service, then we also had him for Sunday evening service, Monday and Tuesday evening. Monday and Tuesday, as our church generally does, a supper was provided at 6:00 p.m. so that those who would need to come straight from work could still eat. And our church is, as our Pastor likes to say, “the eating-est church in town”, so you know the food was really great! Of course, it IS a Baptist church, and I’ve NEVER had a bad meal in a Baptist church, whether it be a pot-luck or a church provided meal! 🙂 The conference was really great, and we got a lot out of it.

Wednesday evening, I needed to hang around after church to practice with the choir, as we’re singing the special Sunday morning, then after that, I practiced with our piano teacher, who also plays when I sing a special. We WERE practicing for my scheduled special at the end of the month, when the music director asked if we could do it this coming Sunday evening instead. Well, we do feel comfortable with it now, so we told him yes. I’ll post that sometime this next week. Y’all are not getting tired of all my videos of either my kids or me singing specials, are you?

This morning we had homeschool co-op at church, where we had the kiddos split into 3 groups based on age/ability range, who then rotated between rotated the 3 moms who were there for things like string art, writing, younger kids writing, and my station, which was using different color paints to put their hand prints on the big banners for the upcoming co-op Creativity Fair. They also had root beer floats for snack.

Next, we went to McDonald’s (I know, I know, don’t judge me!) for a quick dollar menu lunch before heading over to piano lessons. We have an hour and a half block with our teacher, for me, “The Batman”, and “The Artist”. I got my recital piece last week, it’s really pretty. It’s called Appalachian Sunrise by Michael Schwabe. “The Artist” will be doing Solfeggietto by Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, and “The Batman” is going to be doing Maple Leaf Rag by Scott Joplin. God thing we have until August to practice!

Well, I’ve been very tired lately, and dealing with some stressful stuff, so I believe I’m going to go lie down on the couch and try to rest for a while. I hope you’ve had a good week!

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