Simply Put: A Study of Economics by Catherine Jaime #review

I was recently offered a spot on a review team for a junior high/high school course called Simply Put: A Study of Economics by Catherine Jaime to teach students about economics.  My kids aren't that old yet but I have  a good friend who had just been talking with me about needing a course for her son who is a sophomore in high school.  I thought it would be a good fit and asked her if she was interested in using it and writing a review for me to share on here.  She said she was and so a review was born.

Okay, so maybe that's a bit dramatic, but she did review the curriculum and her review is below.  I hope you enjoy it!

Simply Put: A Study in Economics
By Catherine Jaime


Economics is one of those topics that really should be preached at our children, especially in this day and age. It is yet another example of how our government in particular has gone off the track it was placed on with the Constitution. Author Catherine Jaime won my interest in lesson 1 by pointing out the simple common sense of looking at all the future consequences of economic decisions. This is a thought process that seems lost in our society at present.

I originally thought this semester course might be too simple for my homeschooled sophomore. However, the concepts and writing easily fit both junior high and high school minds. Although I am currently using this as a semester course, with some extra prep time this could easily be expanded into a year curriculum as suggested within the introduction. I would like to see the author take her suggestions a bit farther with a written year-long lesson plan to supplement her book for those who might need a little help and encouragement in that area of planning.

This study promotes an understanding of the U.S. constitution and believes strongly in the free market system and minimal government involvement in the economy. I happen to agree with this thought process and am thrilled to see the theme throughout the study.

In general this is a good overview of economics. It is filled with quotes and notable events in history that help explain topics. The review questions cover the important aspects of the lesson helping retention. I do think it encourages thought and continued interest and desire for understanding. I’m looking forward to continuing this study and.its ability to stimulate discussions between my child and me.

You can purchase the physical book from Amazon for $17.37(at the time of posting) or the digital book from Currclick for $2.10 at the time of posting(normally $6.99).  With this you get the student book as well as the tests and keys.  

If this sounds like something you'd like to see or use make sure to go over and enter in the Big Giveaway to celebrate the launch of this new book.

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IXL.com Math and Language Arts Review -TOS Crew #hsreviews

Does you little one like math and language arts?  Or is it like pulling teeth to get them to do their schoolwork?  Would they do their work if they thought it was play?  Well, let me introduce you to IXL.com an online site with math and language arts practice for kids.  You can get an online math membership or an online language arts membership or a membership that includes both. We were given a year membership to both Math and Language Arts for up to three children as part of the Crew Review Team.

Membership is $9.95 per month per subject with options of adding the other subject or additional students for more.  If you want both subjects for a month it is $15.95.  A yearly membership is $79 for one subject.  If you wish to do both subjects for a yearly membership it is $129.  Each additional child is $20 per year if you do the yearly membership or $2 a month for the monthly plan.  Obviously, the yearly both subject is the best deal; however, if you child is not in grades 2-4 you will not be able to use the language arts section until they expand.

Their online math section has something for grades preK all the way up to 12th grade.  This includes pre algebra and algebra.  They are also working on a section of calculus coming soon.  I like that the math sections are listed out by grade and then by topic.  For instance, the second grade math contains 218 skills that should be mastered.  You can then click on whatever skill you wish for your child to work on and they can work until mastery.

There are more than 2500 math and language art skills combined at this time.  In a years time your child will not be able to learn and complete them all, but they can at least get their one grade done!  With your membership, whether monthly or yearly, you do have access to all levels!  So if your child does master one level you do not have to purchase a new year subscription to get the next level, you simply move them on up.  I love that!  I have some kids that excel and move through things quickly while I have others that are slower and take more time to learn.  I love the flexibility of the program.

Here is my take on this program:  It is perfect for homeschooling because your child can move at their own pace.  I think it is better for older children or children who are motivated to do things on their own so that you are not constantly asking them if they have done their lesson for the day.  We are not a large computer family.  Until recently my kids did not do a lot of computer school so they are still learning.  That means they are slow to answer some questions just because they don't know where all the keys are.  But, they are good with this program because it does not penalize them or immediately mark them as wrong just because they took their time on  a question.  The end results are what matter.  I am near to help them if they need it or they are free to do it on their own.  I have found at the end of lesson time that they have done an extra lesson or two somedays during their time just because they got done and wanted to go on.  It was fun.  It was not thought of as "doing school" so much as it was having fun and playing games.  That is the ultimate homeschool experience.  We're having fun, we're not just learning!

Language arts is a much smaller section right now with only materials for grades 2-4.  They are working on more for this section and are set to expand it soon.  We didn't do as much with the language arts as we did the math because it only has grades 2-4 currently and I only have two kids in these grades.  My two are in second grade so they are just at the beginning of the coursework available.  There are 82 second grade language art skills.  We did not use them in order. . . . . in fact we jumped into homophones first because it was what we were talking about and I wanted to re-enforce what we were learning and then move on from there.  Some of the lessons we had already covered this year so they were very easy for my kids and they just blasted through them.  Others were concepts we had not talked about and they took a bit more doing to get those down.  I think the way these are taught is great because even weeks after mastering a subject my child still could remember what they had learned.  It's more than just memorizing to get on to the next skill, it's learning.  It's learning so they will still remember it for years and years to come.

We like what we have seen so far of this program.  I have not gone past the second grade though.  Soon we might get to pass into third grade math and I can talk about that, but I didn't really go looking as my kids aren't ready for that yet.

I would like to mention they do have an app for iPad users for grades K-6 in math.  We don't have an iPad, iPod or anything that technologically advanced.  We're still learning how to use the computer around here!  But if you do I think it's a great resource to help take school with you where ever you go.  You can do school while waiting at the doctor's office even!  Big mommy grins at that!  It's so much easier to keep your child occupied in new places if you have something familiar to do, so why not school!  For me the why not is more in the I don't want to have to lug around that many books and pencils, but then again if it's all on the iPad you don't have much to carry.  No excuse for being late on that days math work!

Like what you're seeing and want to find out more?  Jump on over to the Main Crew Blog and see what other reviewers had to say!

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Carole P. Roman Book Reviews, Away We Go Media -TOS Crew #hsreviews

I love to read and try to instill that love into my kids.  We recently got a chance to further that love with a review of 4 books by Carole P Roman of Away We Go Media.  We received a series of four books that help kids travel around the world!  Exciting!

We received:

If You Were Me and Lived in . . . Mexico

If You Were Me and Lived in . . . South Korea

If You Were Me and Lived in . . . France

If You Were Me and Lived in . . . Norway

This is a series of four books that help introduce our children to cultures around the world.  I think the idea is fantastic and my kids loved studying where other kids live.  It would be very neat if this series were continued and contained many more countries.  Each book talks about what a child of that country would do, eat, how they speak, etc.  They highlight specifics such as important holidays and how they live as well.

These books are geared for preK through age 8.  My oldest is 8 and loved them.  She was able to read them for herself and only had some questions for words she didn't know.  I read them aloud to all of the children as well and even my little preK guys loved the books.  Of course, preK doesn't have the same comprehension and such that an 8 year old does, but any age will pick up things from these books especially if they are read more than once.

The books are reasonably priced as well.  Currently they can be purchased for $8.99 with a regular retail of $9.99 for paperback editions of France, Mexico, and South Korea.  Right now Norway(the newest in the series) is available for $8.62 with a regular retail of $11.99.

We received the softcover versions of the book which are 20-30 pages long and written in easy to read text for kids.  The last page contains a pronunciation guide for all those foreign words that we're learning.

Of the four books my kids favorite one was Norway, Land of the Midnight Sun.  I think because we had recently been reading about Norse people of old and this brought it closer a step.  They also have studied the legends of Santa around the world and one of our favorite depictions is the Santa of Norway.  I do feel the need to put here that we do not believe in Santa or use a Santa figure in our home, but we have studied them.

These books work great as little mini unit studies.  Look up the country on the map.  Draw pictures of the homes in the area.  We also made a supper of foods that children in that country would eat.  Lots of fun can also be had by letting your kids play games that children in that country might  play.  We also tried to learn to count to ten in the language of each country.

Carole P. Roman has also written other books besides this sweet series.  Such as a Captain No Beard which sounds like it would have all the kids full of giggles!

Want to learn more about these books?  Simply check out the rest of the Crew Reviews over at the Main Crew Blog Post.  We all reviewed the same 4 books but with different ages and different ideas I'm sure you'll get something different from each of us.

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Rosie's Doll Clothes Patterns Review -TOS Crew #hsreviews

I have always loved to sew.  At the age of 5 I was given my first needle and thread for doing simple seam sewing.  Of course, those stitches were huge and didn't hold together well at all, but I was started on a lifelong love.  By the age of 8 I was sewing my first 9 patch and embroidering my name, date, and location on it.  This is a love that I want to pass on to my girls.  My oldest 2 are 8 now and I realized I had not started them sewing!  That is horrible.  I was thrilled to be chosen to review Rosie's Doll Clothes Patterns with my children for the TOS Crew review team.  We received Learn How to Make Doll Clothes Video Course with 8 Free Doll Clothes Patterns to review online.  It is recommended for ages 8 and up though I think some more advanced younger ages would do fine and also you might want to raise the limit on some more challenged children as well.  I have one 8 year old who is more advanced than the other 8 year old and the one struggled while the other did well.

Rosie's Doll Clothes Patterns is an online program where you can purchase for $47.23 USD(the program is produced in Australia so this price may change day to day but today this is the correct pricing) online.  It gives you all the instructions you need to make these patterns as well as many helpful hints and tips to help make your daughter's first sewing experience the easiest and best possible.  There are over 130 video tutorials(over 8 hours of help).  We received the online version to review, but according to the website there is also an option to purchase dvd's of the program as well.  You will get tips on how to choose the correct fabric, thread, how to place the pattern on the fabric, cut it out, pin it, and sew it.  As well as much more!

The course we're using has 8 free patterns(however at this time a 9th pattern has been added available until December 24th, 2013 midnight).  The 9th pattern is of your choosing.  So instead of 8 patterns for $47.23 you are getting 9!

The 8 patterns we had access to for this review were:

sport shorts

crop top

sarong

halter top

summer nightie

hat

pumpkin 

underpants

I have to say these patterns created quite the conversations between my daughters and I.  You see, we're rather conservative in dress at our house.  We don't wear halter tops or crop tops or spaghetti straps etc.  We believe in modest dress for our girls and I try to model that belief to them.  So of course they had questions about these outfits.  We made them though.  And I told my girls that if they wanted their dolls to wear them that they could.  My girls are big into dolls and matching clothes(my oldest has the American Girl catalog almost memorized with what she would like to have) and so they did ask me if they could make clothes for their dolls that look like what they wear so we're going to have to purchase some patterns I think.  Very proud of my little girls and if you look around the site there are several other patterns that follow a more modest dress code.

If you browse Rosie's Doll Clothes Patterns site you will find that she also sells doll clothes patterns individually.  The patterns are available for 18 inch dolls(think American Girl) or Cabbage Patch dolls so your daughter has a choice of which one she wants to outfit!  My girls have looked around and would love to get some of the other patterns.  They are available in PDF so that they are easily printed and used.  You know it's a good program when your 8 year old daughter is begging for a new doll clothes pattern for Christmas so she can sew new clothes for her doll!  She also wants a chance at using my new sewing machine. . . . did I mention I think learning to hand sew is a great asset!  One pattern(today's cost) is $5.63 which gives you access to the PDF of the pattern, instructions, and video guides.

Make sure to check out the other Crew Reviews by going to the main Crew blog and checking out the post for this vendor.  As we all are different people with different children you'll find each post a unique take on Rosie's Doll Clothes!

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Diary of a Real Payne Book 1: True Story Review, Barbour Publishing -TOS Crew #hsreviews

We are a house of readers and love to read!  If you go through my blog you'll see most of the reviews are for homeschool materials or books.  Well, this review is both!  We, with the Crew Review Team, were sent a book from Barbour Publishing to review.  This book was Diary of a Real Payne book 1: True Story by Annie Tipton.

This book is hilarious!  It's a great chapter book geared towards independent readers ages 8-12.  Now, my oldest 2 are both 8 but they're not really strong readers and I have several under that age that like to read also so we made this into a read aloud where my two 2nd graders and I took turns reading it to the younger kids.  Understandably, the kids liked it better when mommy read, but they listened when the older siblings read too.  It is my opinion that as a read aloud it can entertain all ages, but comprehension is lost at anyone under age 5.

This book is a steal really.  It  is available currently for $4.49 regularly $5.99.  The book is 192 pages long.  It has a larger print though we would classify it as medium around here.  My learners of course prefer the larger print but medium works well for my medium readers!

In March of 2014 they will be releasing book 2.  My kids are already wondering what happens to EJ Payne and what more she will have to share in her diary!  The next installation will be entitled Church Camp Chaos.  My kids have never been to church camp and are very curious about this one.

The book is definitely written in the voice of a child and it appeals to my children because of this.  They love the illustrations(and wish there were more of course) especially the pages that have lines and look like they came straight out of the diary pages.  Just as a little teaser, my kids are already asking if we can have some fun things for our Christmas dinner this year like ham loaf.  They have no idea what that is but because they read about it in the book they are ready to give it a try!  I think we'll have it some night for supper and reserve Christmas for Christmas.  I had to explain to them that we already do a non traditional meal at Christmas so they are already like EJ in that sense(we do a Mexican themed dinner with my family).  They loved the idea that they were like the girl in the book and immediately set about to think of more ways that they could say they were like her.

We had a laugh about her calling the town she lives in small as well.  It is over 1000 people bigger than both of the towns we've lived near in their lives.  We're small town people and my kids compared her population sign to the one we drive by and said she's from a "big city" well at least until we actually went to "the city" and then they said she lives in a "middle city"!  I love the way their minds think at times.  It's so fun and definitely not like the adult mind.

Now there are so many other parts from the book that we loved and the kids say I need to tell you, but that would ruin the book for you.  You really need to just get a copy and read it for yourself.  Maybe then you'll figure out what part in the Christmas pageant EJ gets and why it isn't her dream role and so much more!  Enjoy the book.  We did!

Make sure to hop on over to the Crew Review Main Blog post and see what everyone else has to say about this great book.  I love how we all can read the same thing and offer up so many different opinions of how well it works for us and our family.

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God's World News Review -TOS Crew #hsreviews

With the Crew Review team we recently were able to review God's World News.  We received the Early Edition which is for grades 1-2.  It fit the best with our little school here considering I have 4 kiddos in that age range.  My kids love getting things in the mail just for them.  Which is great for this review as we got a year subscription free!

God's World News has a variety of different levels.  They have 6 total spanning from God's Big World for preschool and kindergarten to Trak for high school.  Each level is available for a years subscription for $28. You can get a full year subscription which includes 10 editions or a school year edition which only includes 7 editions.

With our subscription we received an online edition.  Through this you can get online and read the editions, back editions, and much more.  You can read biographies, print off activities, and so much more.  The kids can also access a kids website or kids zone to find fun things and games for them to do.  I've loved that there is a parents weekly email that gives me extra ideas for current events.  Up until getting the magazine, I've not done a current events curriculum with my kids.  We really haven't talked of much in the way of current events at all.  I had thought they were too young.  Well I was wrong!  They love learning about the current events and I love the Godly Christian take on them that we get with God's World News.

We also received a full sized map of the world to help us locate the locations of the articles.  This was so much fun!  We love finding out where in the big picture the events are taking place.

You may be asking yourself, so what's the big deal with this?  So what, it's a Christian magazine for kids?  But it's so much more than just that!  Yes it is a Christian magazine designed for kids at each level.  But it helps them develop critical thinking skills.  I had never thought of working on critical thinking in my kids this little, but it makes sense to start it now so that they grow in their thinking as they learn.  It makes a lot of sense actually and I for one am very glad for this.  I had never heard of them before this review opportunity came up and it has been such a blessing for us.

My kids can now tell you some of what is going on in the world.  They may honestly know more about this stuff than I do.  I must admit I don't follow the news.  I really don't.  We have no television.  We do have internet, but I don't do a lot of news reading.  I look at the weather, check my emails, do some facebook, and blog.  That's the extent of my internet.  I'm not sure I really have time for all I do on here and have no clue how I'd fit news into my tight schedule.  So now I get my news too!  Current events as told to me by my kids who are reading it in their God's World News!

Within each magazine are full color pictures related to each article.  The articles are short and in big enough print my kids aren't intimidated by them.  It also connects a Bible verse to the stories.  One of the editions had pirate stories including their ships and how they are recovering one such ship.  The verse was Psalm 143:5 about remembering the days of old.  Yes!  That is what we are doing.  We are remembering and relearning from them.  Great stuff here!

So what we're doing.  Read the magazine.  Do the activities in the magazine.  Go online.  Print off extra activities as well as answer keys so the kids can grade their own(they love this) and also read more.  If there is a person in our stories we look for his biography.  If there is an event in our story we look for related articles.  The online resources really are wonderful and so much more than just taking a peek at recent magazines.

And now I close with the highlight of my kids reading.  In the first issue we received, the first story was about the 150th Anniversary Reenactment of Gettysburg!  This was so neat because the kids could say that their Daddy was there!  No he wasn't in the pictures or in the article specifically, but he was there!  And they love to reenact the Civil War with us so this was great.  This one little one page article with 3 pictures started a whole study for us.  We studied the battle.  We watched films from the reenactment.  What a great way to start off our subscription to this magazine!  They are forever in love now and keep waiting for another "blast from the past" that might feature their Daddy someday!

For more Crew Reviews go to the Main Crew Blog Page and see what other Crew reviewers had to say about this great magazine.  You'll find reviews for all the different editions/levels so make sure you choose one that relates to your child's age to check out.

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Chess House Review -TOS Crew #hsreviews

We recently received a beginners chess set to review from Chess House.  The Starter Chess Learning Kit came with a neat carrying bag, chess mat, chess pieces, and a dvd explaining how to play the game.

Seeing as how both my husband and I enjoy playing chess I thought this would be a great learning kit for our kids.  With 6 kids that I deem old enough to play chess it would mean that they could play each other or we could play as a family.  I love the idea of family game nights and with the kids still learning it's an easy boys against girls type game to play as the 6 oldest are 3 boys and 3 girls!  Of course then the two younger girls can think they are helping play too which makes it fun for them as well.

The Starter Chess Kit that we received is available to purchase for $39.95 currently which is $10 off their standard retail price.  You can choose either a green or black bag. We received the green one in our kit.  The great thing about the kit is that it can be used by any age group.  The main focus range is ages 6-12, but it can be used for younger or older. I know an adult that would benefit from this(sorry friend, but you stink at chess).  Maybe I should have my kiddos teach her how to play chess!

As most of you know, we reenact the Civil War and chess is a period game to play.  I would love to someday get one of their awesome looking wooden chess sets to let the kids play on while we're away.  This past weekend when we spent a day at a reenactment daddy was at they had a lot of fun playing with another reenactors wooden chess set.  But wooden isn't the only novelty set that Chess House has, they also have life size chess sets which would be great for using at a kids birthday party or in a homeschool group.

Did I mention the intricacy of some of the sets they have?  As I browse their site I am amazed at the detail some of these artists can do.  Wow, just wow.  Our pieces are plastic.  A high quality plastic that is less apt to break(important when working with kids) and they are also easy to replace.  The chess board rolls up to fit in the case and is made in the USA.

Now lets talk a bit about the DVD.  I did sit and watch it with my kiddos.  We had to watch it in small sections as my oldest is only 8 and none of them have super long attention spans if you want them to actually retain what they are watching.  The DVD by itself is $20, which goes to show you what a great deal the Starter Kit really is.

The beginning level dvd we received is the Pawn Level(how cute they name their levels after pieces).  You can purchase a workbook separately to use with the dvd as well.  It does come with a booklet that shows practice positions and exercises to help them learn.  It is in total 49 minutes long.  We ended up watching about 10 minutes at a time the first times we went through it.  The next week we broke it down even more and only watched 5 minutes at a time to help us focus more.  My favorite was how it detailed each piece, what they were, what they could do, etc.  It was great.  Just right for little learners to understand and remember.  For my kids repetition is key which is why we watched the dvd several times to help them "get" it.

If you'd like to read more about what other people thought of the Starter Kit make sure to go to the main Crew Review page and check them all out.  With all of us having different aged children as well as different levels and methods of learning and teaching I'm sure they'll all prove unique and different.  You're bound to find one that fits our style.

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YWAM Publishing -TOS Crew Review #hsreviews

 

Our latest Crew Review item was threefold.  We received a book on George Washington: True Patriot as well as a two part study guide.  These are available from YWAM Publishing.  They have a series called Heroes of History with several different figures they focus on.  We received George Washington while others received Jim Elliot

   

The George Washington book is recommended for children ages 10 and up.  We used it as a read aloud for all of our children but found that the study guide was a bit much for some of them.  My 8 year old who is in 2nd grade did not have a problem completing the study guide but my 1st graders did.  It's just a bit too much.  They all had better luck answering the questions if I asked them out loud though.

 

Both the book and unit study are written by Janet and Geoff Benge.  You may purchase the book in paperback, kindle, nook, or audiobook versions for $6.99.  I think the audiobook versions would be wonderful for car rides though I have not listened to them so don't know how well the voices are done.  The study guide can be purchased in paperback or pdf for $7.49.

We received pdf files of the unit study and a kindle edition of the book to review.  I loved the voice that the book is written in. It is full of information but not dry or in a way that kids won't want to listen or be compelled to hear more.  We are big readers in our family and I read a lot of books outloud to the kids so this was not a big deal to them, just another day in the Slocum house learning about history!

This study fit right in with what we're studying in school which was great!  My kids already knew somethings and I would have to regularly stop reading to answer their questions or read around exclamations of names before I read them.  It really was super fun and funny for me to hear them repeating things they'd learned and the excitement of them remembering things.  For our Revolutionary war and Colonial history semester we've been watching a video series that my kids adore and it has included lots of information from this book that they loved being able to regurgitate to me and to daddy when he got home at the end of the day.  I think they were surprised to discover that daddy already knew some of this stuff too!  Their faces were priceless when he could tell them who the people they wanted to tell him about were.

At a length of 224 pages this is definitely not a fast reading book.  You wouldn't want to read it fast either as you might miss important information.  My kids were shocked to find out that George Washington was involved in more than just the war but went on to be President as well. They also were very outraged that he was in the British army at one point.  It was definitely a good learning experience for them.

I have say if this book is any indication of what the rest of the Heroes of History series is like we will be wanting to use more of these in our history lessons.  Not only do they cover history but also geography, government, and science.  They are a joy to read and the study guide is thorough and well thought out.

Other Crew members reviewed a biography of Jim Elliot as well as some who reviewed Washington as we did.  Please hop over to the Main Crew Blog Post and read their reviews to see what they thought of their books.  I'm sure most enjoyed them as much as we did!

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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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Seed Sowers Book Review -TOS Crew #hsreviews

Recently through the TOS Crew Review team we got the chance to review a new book called Seed Sowers.  Seed Sowers is by Gwen Toliver and full of stories about going forth and planting the gospel.  You can find the book on the Seed Sowers website or for purchase on the Grace and Truth Books Site.  The book(softcover) retails for $13.95 normally but is currently on sale at the price of $12.50(this is current for this time and not for future reference, see original pricing).  You can also purchase a hardcover version($30.95) or ebook/kindle($3.99).

I first read this book to myself.  I wanted to know what I would be reading to my children.  Afterall, that is the reason of reviewing the book as a homeschool mom, to share with my children.  After reading it myself I decided that this would be the perfect new book for us to use as our evening reading.  We like to read a book while everyone is just finishing supper and before parting to do chores and start getting ready for bed.  I thought the topic of this book, going forth and spreading the seeds of the gospel so that all may know Christ, would be a good discussion one for this time.  We have previously read and discussed books such as the Chronicles of Narnia.

See above.  Isn't that an awesome picture!  Would you be able to cross a bridge like that?  The bridge being the only thing between you and that long drop to the waters below?  Oh my.  That might be very scary!  The fun thing though is that that bridge was not the only thing holding this man up as he spread the gospel.  I have a feeling there were angel wings right there with him the whole way and we're not just talking about his trip across this bridge!!

I should mention that while some of the stories tell you the true name of the missionaries it speaks of, others are false names to protect those still in service of the Lord.  So, you might want to read the entire chapter including the disclaimers at the end before you share.  I know I was reading one story and found it so wonderful and my children had thought to include them in our prayer time.  It said the names had been changed of course as they are still out there spreading the gospel.  So we prayed for them, not by name, but by location and that they may be protected as they continue their work.  It took a bit of explaining to get my kiddos to understand why we didn't have their real names and why we couldn't pray for them by name.  Now they understand how dangerous it can be to be a Christian in some countries.

These stories inspired me as to what people are willing to do for God and to what ends they will go to share His word so that no man may die in ignorance.  Of course, they also made me feel guilty.  Guilty that I don't do more to share the word.  Even here in our little piece of Midwest USA there are people who do not know God, people who need to know God!  We don't have to go to the ends of the Earth to share, we should start by sharing where we are.

We found this a great book and a great compilation of stories of the people who have gone to share.  My thanks to Gwen Toliver for writing and sharing these stories so that all may know.

This book can be enjoyed by the whole family as we have done.  It can be used for Bible credits for homeschooling, or for history/geography credits if you're finding and learning about the many places the missionaries went.  It can also just be used as a literature read alone for your 6th grade and up child.  We used it as a read aloud only.  Though I think once we get more into world geography we will use it again for that.

On an end note, please make sure you don't anger the wrong witch doctor, or run into a tribe of cannibals or race down the rapids, but if you do, know that God is with you and will see you through just as he did the Seed Sowers in this book.

Please stop by the main crew review page and read the reviews of other crew members.  I received a physical copy of this book for review but others also received ebooks as well.  Check out what everyone else got from the book as I'm sure we each picked up on something different.

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Logic of English Foundations -TOS Crew Review #hsreviews

Do you want to make learning fun for your little ones?  Logic of English has many great programs for your kids.  We reviewed their Foundations A level which is geared towards budding learners ages 4-7.

Foundations A is a complete learning experience for reading, phonics, spelling, and handwriting.  You can choose whether you'd like manuscript or cursive handwriting as well.  We're doing manuscript because I think cursive is too advanced for my crew at present.  Not even my 2nd graders have started cursive yet!  We did receive a cursive handwriting chart for reference though.

Logic of English employs the see the phonogram, hear the sound, touch the card principle to help appeal to multiple senses at once.  I think this works really well with children who have some learning disabilities.  It is easier for them to grasp a concept if they can have it tactile.  If they can put immediately a sight and a touch to the sound that they are hearing.  Add to that lots of fun learning games and you've got children begging to do their reading as soon as they wake up. . . . it's too bad for mommy if that time is 5am and mommy hasn't had her coffee yet.  It's been a few weeks where I've been thankful for that programmable coffee pot!

So for this review we received the Foundations Level A Manuscript Teacher's Manual($38.00), Foundations Level A Manuscript Student's Workbook($18.00), Cursive handwriting chart($10.00), Red Manuscript Phonogram Game Cards($10.00), Blue Bookface Phonogram Game Cards($10.00), Basic Phonogram Flash Cards($18.00), a whiteboard($12.00), and the Rhythm of Handwriting Manuscript Tactile Cards($28.00).  This ends up being a $144.00 value.  You can buy these items individually or all together in a Level A and B set.  You can also build your own sets with other components as well.

I mentioned above that this program is designed for children ages 4-7.  I want to throw in that if you have a struggling child a bit older this is good for them too.  We have an 8 year old that has some developmental delays and there were areas that she hadn't totally grasped with phonics.  I went ahead and let her advance to 1st grade this year, but she still struggles.  I decided to let her sit in and play the games as well as listen and touch with the other children.  We only received one student workbook so that was given to my beginning schooler starting his first year of kindergarten(age 5) and another workbook was purchased for my other 5 year old just starting kindergarten.

I did not have any 4 year olds to try this out with, but I do have a 2 year old(almost 3) who really loved to play the games with us and picked up quite a bit from just listening.  I would have to say if you have a gifted or fast learning 3 year old this might even work for them.  They don't say this on their site and of course there are studies that show formal schooling shouldn't start until the child is older, but I find my little girl learning so much just by listening in to "school" in our house that if she asks to learn along I can't say no!  I could very easily see myself purchasing a workbook for her in the next year or so.

I had no problems getting my kiddos to want to do this program.  They fell in love the first day of learning and were always begging to do more!  I love it when kids love to learn and this program really seems to make them want to learn and to continue to want to learn.

I, as the mommy and the teacher, like that there are some online resources and videos that I can watch if I'm having any troubles teaching.  Let's face it, it's been a long time since I learned these letter sounds/phonics and I want to make sure that I'm pronouncing them correctly before I teach my children and have them saying them wrong for life!  There is a great resource on the Logic of English website entitled Free.  From there you can find a drop down menu of videos, downloads, etc.  It's a storehouse of information that I loved having access to.  Definitely helpful.  You can find spelling lists, spelling rules, phonogram help, and so much more!  I loved having access to spelling lists by phonograms to use for our school.

Now other Crew members also received the Foundations Level A to review as well as other programs from Logic of English.  Make sure you pop on over to the Main Crew Blog to see what they have to say about their experiences with the program.

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Time4Learning Review -TOS Crew #hsreviews

Recently as a member of the TOS Crew Review Team we received a 6 month subscription for free to Time4Learning to review.  We have been using it with our oldest who is in 2nd grade.  She is 8.  They offer learning programs for preschool through high school as well so really any student could learn from this site and use it.

Time4Learning covers the five main subjects so really it is an entire curriculum in and of itself.  You can use it without having to use another curriculum.  We, however, do still like to include Bible as a subject and you don't find that on here.  You do have access to math, science, social studies, language arts, and LA extensions.

This online program is student focused so it moves at the pace that the student sets.  There are no deadlines or strict standards for how fast a child has to complete the course or how many lessons must be done per week.  It's a really simple program that requires very little adult supervision.  All I had to do was be available if she didn't understand something or needed help with a word she didn't know.  During the very beginning there were some issues with the fact that she isn't extremely comfortable with the computer yet as we haven't done a lot online.  That just gets better the more she uses it and she now is pretty much a pro with clicking and doing her lessons.

The cost  really isn't too bad.  For the preschool through 8th grade courses it is $19.95 for the first student each month and $14.95 for each additional student per month.   High school coursework is a bit more at $30.00 for the month which includes four courses.  My children are far from being close to starting high school so I really didn't dig too deep into that one.  We used the 2nd grade course as we have two children in that grade.  All my others are younger than that.

Our favorite subject was math.  I say was because I think the course we used last year for math must have been an advanced first grade course as we knew most of the second grade lessons already and she was able to breeze right through them.  That most likely is why it's her favorite subject!  It's done!

Next was science.  Oh my but she loved the Earth and Space section.  We hadn't covered that at all in our school yet and she just loved learning about the planets and moon.  This was one of those where she'd get done a lesson for the day and need to move on to her other subjects and try to tell me she hadn't done her science yet so she could do another lesson.  I would be giggling in my head because I LOVE that my kids love to learn so much.  It's a great feeling to know that your child is engaged and interested enough in a subject to want to keep learning even after they're supposed to be done for the day.

Our least favorite subject was reading.  She tends  to struggle with reading still.  This program is very good for struggling readers as it does let them move at their own pace.  The "reading" or language arts  is divided into two sections.  You have language arts and language arts extensions.  In the extensions you have 22 chapters that help children work on their vocabulary and building their vocabulary as well as work on learning to write short sentences using proper grammar and punctuation.

Social studies was a good one too as it really seemed to work into what we're doing in school as well.  It took her on "virtual tours" really and let her see more of what our monuments and such are like.  It went perfectly with the section we were doing on states as well.  She liked this and we often brought things out of what she learned on the computer into our school discussions with the rest of the kids.

You can learn more about the entire second grade coursework by visiting this page on Time4Learning which gives you an overview.  I've tried to highlight some of the specifics that we liked about the program.  The only thing to dislike is that it is all on the computer and there are no hands on books.  It also requires a computer of course which some families may not have.  Our problem would be if we used it with more than one student that we only have one computer and it would not work very well with that set up.

All in all we loved this and recommend to others.  Main things, you need a computer and your child needs to have special time set aside to use it.  Make sure you're available to help with questions especially for the younger grades.

As members of the Crew Review Team we all reviewed Time4Learning but different grades and levels.  Crew reviewers can tell you about preschool through 8th grade as we did not review the High School levels though they are available now.  Make sure to hop on over to the Main Crew Blog and read all the Crew Reviews!

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Greene Bark Press Children's Book Review -TOS Crew #hsreviews

 

Recently we were given the opportunity to review a children's book published by Greene Bark Press.  This book happens to be a super cute little board book for younger children entitled Look Left, Look Right, Look Left Again and teaches children about safety.  The book retails for $8.50.

Obviously, being a board book this is geared towards younger children.  When I read the book to my kids I had all of my children sit down to hear it.  This spans from 3 months(I don't think she got anything out of it at all) all the way up to 8 years.  I think all of my children minus the infant actually could get something from this book.  Even though I always stress street safety with my kids, it never hurts to reiterate it just that one last time.  It might just save their lives one day.

 

Look Left, Look Right, Look Left Again is written by Ginger Pate and illustrated by Rhett Pennell.  It contains cute little pictures to help grab children's attention.  It is geared for ages 3-8 which worked well with my school crew as the youngest preschooler will turn 3 in November and the oldest 2nd grader is 8.  This book focuses on Wally Waddlewater who wants to mail a birthday card to his Grandmother.  Now our mailbox is at the end of our driveway, and we live in the country, so my kids had questions about the large mailbox that many people put mail in as well as why he had to cross a street to get there.  My kids are of a curious nature and I have to satisfy them by answering their questions before they could settle down and listen to what the book was actually saying.

Once we'd answered such questions as why he had to cross the street all the way up to what day was his grandmother's birthday(not sure where these questions come from) it was time to read the story so we could understand why we need to stay safe and what staying safe entails.

I loved the simple way they told of street safety and why we must look both ways before and during crossing a street.  I do think that we'll have to read this book over and over again before it all sinks in to all of the kids, but for now at least I know that the older ones are going to at least have the knowledge at their fingertips that they should be looking both ways before crossing the street.

Want to see what other people thought of the Wally board book?  Simply hop on over to the Main Crew blog page and click on the links provided where you will see a list of all participating blogs!

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