Zondervan Homeschool Mom's Bible -TOS Review #hsreviews

 

I love reviewing with the TOS Crew.  I love it even more when they sneak in reviews for the mom's!  This is one such review.  Today I'm sharing about a Bible.  Yes that's right a Bible.  A Bible specially made for homeschool mom's who are short on time and patience and need to read the Bible probably more than others at that point to help us maintain sanity!  Okay, well maybe that's just me!

Zondervan has come out with a new Bible titled, The Homeschool Mom's Bible.  It is available in both NIV and KJV as well as an E-Bible.  It also comes in hardback or leather.  I received the hardback copy of the KJV Bible to review and am in bliss.  Loving this Bible.  I prefer hardcover to softcovers as the softcovers tear so easily it seems.  I'm not an E-Bible reader as I love the physical feel of books.  So this is perfect for me!

The KJV and NIV versions of the Homeschool Mom's Bible are $34.99 while the leather editions of both Bibles are $49.99 with the E-Bible costing $14.99.  Crew members received only the NIV and KJV Bibles to review but the other editions are available on the Zondervan website for purchase.

Mom's will be blessed when reading this Bible.  Not only does it contain the entire Bible in the selected version, but it also contains 365 devotions aimed directly at the homeschooling mom and what she deals with.  The devotions are meant to revive and restore as they help keep the focus for Mom, the teacher and mother.

 

 The devotions are written by Janet Tatman who also shares the distinction of being a former homeschool mother as well.  With over 25 years of homeschooling under her belt, these devotions are to help maintain the focus as well as help deal with the pressures of homeschooling while keeping up with the housework and other motherly/wifely duties.

A foreword by Vickie Harris also included.  Vickie is the wife of Michael Farris who founded the Homeschool Legal Defense Association as well as an author and homeschool mom.

This Bible, in whatever version, is specifically meant for the Homeschool Mom by Zondervan and one of the only ones out there to claim that title.  Since it is designed for homeschooling mom's there isn't an age limit per say, just anyone who is or is thinking or has been a homeschooling mom.  

I have enjoyed having this Bible to read and study with.  With school starting back up in our house lately I have been overwhelmed.  Well, it's kind of easy to overwhelm me in the first place, but this is worse.  I have two second graders, two first graders, two kindergarteners, and two preschoolers plus a 4 month old.  Oh and a house to run, allergy friendly food to prepare.  Yikes!  Can you see me pulling my hair out!  Anyway back on topic.  I had given up any hope of doing devotionals really for the first month or two(or the entire year) of school because I was meeting myself coming and going and just couldn't see where I'd fit it in.

So back to the Bible.  I am enjoying this because in the read the Bible in a year plan you get a devotional a day!  Yes that's right I get my daily Bible reading as well as my devotional all in one!  Woohoo!  I love multi-tasking and this one totally does not make me feel guilty!

I can very easily see this becoming my favorite Bible.  Well. . . . my main Bible.  The other Bible I have that is solely mine is an old one that I got for my high school graduation with my maiden name on it and it's a teen Bible in NIV.  I prefer KJV.  Not a huge deal but the little things are important too.  I love having a "grown up" Bible!

I am hoping to start a new Bible study soon as we're settling into a routine around our house, a weird crazy routine but a routine none the less, and I'm longing to start some of the study books I have sitting around the house.  School isn't just for kids.  Adults should do school too, but our school isn't all reading/writing/arithmetic like theirs is.  Our school is getting closer to God and living in His word, the only way to do that is to keep ourselves in it and study it.

What Bible study are you planning on starting next?  I picked up a copy of Desperate lately and am ready to dive in!  I'll share my journey with you if I can find the time(giggling about free/spare time here) and would love to hear if you're doing a study and what Bible you use.

I am highly recommending this Bible.  It is very down to Earth in the devotionals, and definitey pertains to the life of a homeschool mom.  Well, any mom really if you want to be truthful would like this Bible.  Check it out and decide if it's right for you.  Some randoms:  I love the cover on my Bible.  It really is a very nice design and artwork.  I also was surprised to note that the NIV has a different cover than the KJV so you can easily tell the versions apart if you are in a store purchasing them.

Make sure to stop by the Main Crew Blog Post and read everyone else's reviews as well.  Some were like me and reviewed the KJV and others received the NIV  but I'm sure we'll all have different perspectives and things that we loved/didn't love to tell you about.  Me, well I love the whole thing(or at least the amount I've read in the last few weeks) and have nothing bad to say about the Bible.  Maybe some day I'll come across something I don't agree with, but the great thing is that I don't have to agree with it all!

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Bible Study for All Ages Primary Level Review -TOS Crew #hsreviews

Recently we were asked if we wanted to review a new curriculum to us called Bible Study for All Ages.  Of course, I love doing Bible studies with my kids and not just during school hours.  They are at a stage in their lives that they absorb this stuff like a sponge!  We received the Primary Level to review.

It was like Christmas opening our packet!  In it we found:

A 2 cd set of Children's Songs.  This contains 90 songs for children to learn and sing.  I have to say this cd did not stay for school only very long.  It now travels with us in our van as we love to listen to music or books on tape while driving.  The CD set can be purchased for $19.95.

A brochure/pamphlet showing us what else they offer to help teach and supplement their curriculum.  They really have a lot of neat stuff!

Teacher's Primary Level Study Guide.  We received the unit 1 section which is a quarter of the entire curriculum.  They currently have units 1 and 2 available for the primary level.  Unit 3 will be available spring 2014 while unit 4 won't be available until spring 2015.  When they are all done the entire curriculum will include 416 lessons.  The Teacher's guide for quarter one can be purchased for $9.95.

Three books of the student pages unit 1 which contains lessons 1-26.  Again this is the first quarter of the entire unit.  Each unit contains four quarters.  The entire of unit one contains lessons 1-104.  You can purchase the first quarter for $5.95.

Lastly we pulled out the Bible Book Summary Cards.  This is a big thick package that reminds me of a large size pack of construction paper!  These are study cards that ask questions while providing the answers to help your children learn and understand as well as remember what they are learning.  You can purchase these for $24.95.

You can purchase all materials together in either the basic primary starter pack ($99.82) or the premium primary starter pack ($145.68).  The difference is that the premium pack includes wall maps/time lines with the labels for them to do on their own.  This primary kit is perfect for your 1st-2nd graders though I think some kindergarteners might also do well in it.  As well as some third graders might still benefit from this level.  A lot depends on where they are.  My two first graders struggle with things and are behind a bit developmentally, they had a bit of trouble grasping some concepts while my 2nd graders really grasped and excelled in this.

We really enjoyed this curriculum.  It was easy to use, self explanatory, and I loved that I didn't have to spend hours preparing to teach it to my kids!  I just don't have those hours to start with these days!  It is not Genesis straight through the Bible to Revelations which I find refreshing!  Since we only received the first quarter to try, we wouldn't have hardly made it out of Genesis if they did it all chronologically!  Keep in mind to finish the entire Bible you'd have to use all four units and two of those aren't even available yet.  I am very glad we did not have to wait to meet Jesus until 2015.

Another thing I liked about the curriculum is that though they do use the NIV version in their program it was very easy for us to use our KJV editions or NKJV editions with our work.  It didn't confuse the children which is great.  Also, the curriculum did not seem to have a standpoint on some issues that might have proven controversial or made some churches not want to use it.  I think they have done a wonderful job of this.  I would definitely recommend this curriculum to other homeschoolers as well as churches for Sunday School programs.

I can definitely see myself buying the next few quarters and doing the complete Units 1 and 2 with my children as well as the other units as they become available.  Of course, the ones that used this quarter will be too old to use the last units and will have to explore different levels by then!

Interested in one of the other levels provided by Bible Study for All Ages?  Make sure to check out the Main Crew Blog Post to see what other Crew members thought of them!

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Harvest of Gold by Tessa Afshar -CFBA Review

This week, the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance is introducing Harvest of Gold River North; New Edition edition (July 1, 2013) by Tessa Afshar

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

TESSA AFSHAR was voted "New Author of the Year" by the Family Fiction sponsored Reader's Choice Award 2011 for her novel Pearl in the Sand. She was born in Iran, and lived there for the first fourteen years of her life. She moved to England where she survived boarding school for girls and fell in love with Jane Austen and Charlotte Bronte, before moving to the United States permanently. Her conversion to Christianity in her twenties changed the course of her life forever. Tessa holds an MDiv from Yale University where she served as co-chair of the Evangelical Fellowship at the Divinity School. She has spent the last thirteen years in full-time Christian work.

ABOUT THE BOOK

The scribe Sarah married Darius, and at times she feels as if she has married the Persian aristocracy, too. There is another point she did not count on in her marriage-Sarah has grown to love her husband. Sarah has wealth, property, honor, and power, but her husband's love still seems unattainable.

Although his mother was an Israelite, Darius remains skeptical that his Jewish wife is the right choice for him, particularly when she conspires with her cousin Nehemiah to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. Ordered to assist in the effort, the couple begins a journey to the homeland of his mother's people. Will the road filled with danger, conflict, and surprising memories, help Darius to see the hand of God at work in his life-and even in his marriage?

A hidden message, treachery, opposition, and a God-given success, will lead to an unlikely bounty.

If you'd like to read the first chapter of Harvest of Gold, go HERE.

My thoughts:  I was a bit skeptical of this book at first.  I mean, I'd read about this period in the Bible and what was she going to say that would be different.  How well would it follow biblical?  Anyway. . . .I read the book.  I loved the book.  I had not heard of the twin part in humans but had a horse that did that!  My horse who had the twins recently died and so that was very sad.  But this book was not sad!  It was a joyful uplifting book!  All the trials going on and they kept the faith, shared the faith, and right wins in the end.  Loved the mystery and mystique of the book.  I don't want  to give away surprises, but the tattooed head was brilliant!

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Schoolhouse Planners Review and Giveaway ends 7-13

As we get ready to start a new school year(our homeschool year runs from July-June) it's time to start planning and getting everything ready.  If you're like me you've tried quite a few planners over the years.  I  never seem to find one that I really like.   I want my planner to incorporate my daily life, the school life, our chores, etc.  I have always wanted to have everything in one place and not have 3 or 4 planners just to keep track of everything going on.

Well, now I have such a planner.  The Big Mama planner from Schoolhouse Teachers allows you to create your own pages and your own order so you can include everything you need for your family/school/home schedules!  With over 800 pages to choose from, you print and organize them where you want them.  There are also pages that you can add to or create your own.

I am enjoying creating my own planner this year.  I have already chosen the pages that I want to use for planning our school year by the week with each child having their own page.  I'm in love with the field trip/extracurricular sheets that I have picked out and the forms for the kids to fill our after each of these.  This is going to end up being a very big binder I am afraid!  The variety is what I find wonderful.  If I don't like a specific page I can find another that I do or simply go in and make my own.

There are 5 planners available total.  Winner will receive the Big Mama planner as well as their choice of one of the four other planners for students.  These other four are the high school planner, special learner planner, primary planner, and intermediate planner.  Here we should note that if you are a Schoolhouse Teachers member you have access to these planners all for FREE!!  Right now the cost to join is $3 for the first month with $12.95 per month afterwards.  Or you can choose to sign up for a year for $139.  With either option you get access to all 5 of these planners for free.  You can also choose to purchase the planners without joining and those are the prices that will be listed below!

All planners come in PDF format which makes it easy for you to customize and build your own planner.

Now for more about the individual planners:

1)  Big Mama Planner

cost- $39

800 pages to choose from

must have lists(ex. presidents, states and capitols)

family planning pages, transcripts

field trips, hour logs

chore charts, meal planning, grocery lists

helpful articles to help you get your year started off right

individualized child schedules per day or week

calendars

2) Special Learners Planner

cost- $29

help for homeschooling the child with special needs

task analysis cards to teach life skills

helpful articles

calendars

homeschool individualized IEP

food and behavior diaries

3) Primary Planner

cost- $9.95

articles written specially for primary students

grammar rules, story starters

math tables, animal classification chart

book and video logs, chore charts

field trip report sheets

Bible reading schedule

recipes for them to prepare themselves

4) Intermediate Planner

cost- $19.00

designed for middle schoolers

articles

planning sheets and calendars

financial records

goal recording

address book

Bible reading schedule

5) High School Planner

cost- $29.00

guide for planning the high school course of study

college checklist

articles and planning pages

logs for tracking community service, Bible reading hours, and much more!

To enter the giveaway you have several options.  None are mandatory though so feel free to do any or all!

Leave a comment on this post for each task you complete.  Make sure to leave a separate comment per entry so you get credit for them letting me know which task you did.  Must leave your email with the comment or I won't be able to email you if you are the winner!

1)  Like For Him and My Family on facebook
2)  Follow For Him and My Family on twitter
3)  Follow For Him and My Family on Pinterest
4)  Follow For Him and My Family on google +
5)  Follow For Him and My Family on GFC
6)  Which planner would you wish to use and why?

Giveaway open from July 6-13.  Winner will be notified on the 14th and will have 48 hours to respond before a new winner is chosen.  Winner will receive the Big Mama planner and their choice of the smaller planners.  I am not responsible for sending the planner to the winner, your information will be passed on and the planners sent to you from the sponsor.

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Christianity Cove Homeschool Review -TOS Crew #hsreviews

The kids and I were all excited to try out one of our latest review opportunities.  We received two products to review from Christianity Cove!  In downloadable PDF form we received Bible Science Experiments and the 10 Commandments Activity Kit.

Christianity Cove has over 700 free Sunday School lessons on their blog and 26 resources that they sell online.  I know that we loved the two we reviewed and I can see how they would make a great Sunday School curriculum.  For us they made great unit studies for use this summer.  Make sure to like their facebook page for access to a free activity book!

I have been wanting to do a unit study with my kids on the 10 commandments, but wasn't sure where I wanted to start.  Well, I decided to start with this great little resource and then add some of my own to it as we go along.  I love the activities that come with it!

My kids thought that tracing their feet was awesome.  I guess I should explain that we were tracing our feet so that we could write the commandments on them.  They were a bit disappointed that they had to use one of my feet for one because we only have 9 children and there are 10 commandments!  Yes they even went so far as to ask when we were going to have another with our youngest, little Kierrah Jane, only being 2 weeks old!

The 10 Commandments Kit is designed for ages 4-10, but I do have to say that my two 2 year olds participated and enjoyed it as well.  It is a great resource for using in a Sunday School classroom or for a group of homeschoolers.  I had no problem using it just with my kids, but I also was using it with 8 kids at once!  Right now if you are among the first 250 people to buy this the price will be $27 otherwise the normal full price for this kit is $47.  Also, because they are so sure everyone will love this product they offer a full money back guarantee.  You have 2 months to use the product and decide if you love it or not.

The second course we reviewed was Bible Science Experiments.  It contains 25 experiments for young kids to do to help learn truths about God and the Bible.  If you order now it is only $25 for this great product. Normally it is $39.95.  It is also geared towards ages 4-10 but I would think you could use it with slightly older and younger children as well.  My two years olds were really impressed with the experiments, however, they did not always understand the concepts.  The older range of the age group will get the concepts more and get more out of the experiments.

My kids favorite experiment was on how rainbows are made.  We love rainbows and who doesn't want to create their own!  The verse that goes with this experiment is Genesis 9:13.  I love how each experiment has a verse and then a lesson to learn and how it applies to us and the Bible.  These are simple and easy for children to understand and hold onto.  This is the lesson

  "Without God, we’re just clear and shallow and boring. With just one drop of God, we’re 

colorful and dimensional—and fun to play with. "

Honestly, how can you not love something that is helping to instill proper values and knowledge as well as love of God into your children?  We love these two books that we were able to download.  They contain all you need to know to create the experiments or do the crafts/activities.  My kids are begging to redo some of the things and do more fun things such as this.  I have a feeling I will be looking into some of their other books just to keep my kids happy!

Want to read about some of the other great products from Christianity Cove?  Take a moment to head over to the Crew Main Blog Post and check on what other people thought of them!  It's a great read!

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