Happy New Year!

Wishing you and yours a Happy New Year!

And, yes, I know...my Sunday post posted on Saturday...and I would love for you to believe that I just wanted to give you a special treat today...but it is really because I am a dork...and got my days confused! So, enjoy!

Blessings!
C~
p.s. Image Courtesy of Two Crazy Crafters...a wonderful source of all things crafty and vintage and a very sweet place to visit and look around!

Sufficiency of Scripture

Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful; and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.

Hebrews 10:23-25

Scrapbooking goal

So, like many scrapbookers, I have piles of pictures around here that need to be dealt with...but then there is life that needs to be dealt with too...like dishes, and loving babies (well not babies) and laundry, and loving babies, and meals, and loving babies, and....well, I think you get the idea...
And...as every scrapbooker can relate...what is the best way to get it all done...and I am not sure any of us can get it ALL done...but how can we make progress with the pictures while not neglecting our daily spiritual and physical duties...so I am going to try to work on this this year...I mean...two of my children have ZERO in their books...
This year, I will work on a monthly challenge of pages to get done...I haven't worked on pages for a while, so I am not sure what I should set as my goal...I think I will have a scrap day and see how many pages I get done...then set a goal from that...OR maybe my goal should be to set aside one day a month to work on scrapping...

What scrap goal do you have for yourselves?

Blessings,
C~

Sufficiency of Scripture

Now in those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus, that a census be taken of all the inhabited earth. This was the first census taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. And everyone was on his way to register for the census, each to his own city. Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David, in order to register along with Mary, who was engaged to him, and was with child. While they were there, the days were completed for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son; and she wrapped Him in cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.
In the same region there were some shepherds staying out in the fields and keeping watch over their flock by night.And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them; and they were terribly frightened. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people; for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,

“Glory to God in the highest,
And on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased.”

When the angels had gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds began saying to one another, “Let us go straight to Bethlehem then, and see this thing that has happened which the Lord has made known to us.” So they came in a hurry and found their way to Mary and Joseph, and the baby as He lay in the manger. When they had seen this, they made known the statement which had been told them about this Child. And all who heard it wondered at the things which were told them by the shepherds. But Mary treasured all these things, pondering them in her heart. The shepherds went back, glorifying and praising God for all that they had heard and seen, just as had been told them.

Luke 2:1-20

Merry Christmas

Wishing you and yours a blessed holy night!

A silent night...

A time of peace and joy as we celebrate the Savior's birth....



Blessings,
C~

The World's Greatest Stories

The World's Greatest Stories
George W. Sarris
Cd or Cassette Tape Format
NIV or KJV
$7.95 each

Ok...I am going to state RIGHT up front...I LOVE THIS PRODUCT. We received The World's Greatest Stories Volume 1, The Prophets to review and the MOMENT I put this CD in, I was HOOKED...
There are SO MANY things I LOVE about this...which I will go into in a moment.

First, The World's Greatest Stories CDs (or tapes) are actual, word for word dramatizations of Scripture...there are no paraphrases, so subtle changes of things to make it more "palatable" or understandable for children...it IS God's Word! And...you can have your choice of KJV, which many love for the way the words flow...or because it was what they grew up with, OR NIV...which is what I received.

Then, Mr. Sarris actually MEMORIZES the portion of Scripture that he is dramatizing...his website says it better than I can, so: "That is what gives the stories such power. Mr. Sarris is not just reading the text. He has carefully thought through and meditated on the subtle nuances of the stories to understand them and make them come alive." Let me tell you...these really do seem to come alive...many different voices and background effects combine for a truly wonderful effect...Mr. Sarris is a joy to listen to...his voice flows in such a nice way...even when switching from the different people he is dramatizing...I did not notice anything but smooth transitions...for me, that was beautiful. Then, there are the actual voices he brings to the characters...the drunkeness of Belshazzar, or the RAGE of Nebuchadnezzar, the prophets of Baal calling for Baal to hear, or the fear in Jonah...you can actually feel and hear the Word. It is amazing!

There are 6 volumes available right now:
1- Prophets
2. The Life of Christ
3. Beginnings
4. Joshua and Esther
5. Joseph and His Brothers
6. Defeating Giants
There is also another item on the website: The Real Story of Easter

One thing I might suggest when listening to these CDs...it might be a good idea to listen to one account from the CD, say The Blazing Furnace, and then turn off the CD for a little bit. That would give everyone the chance to think about what they had just listened to...I found that if I just played it straight through too much, everyone just tuned out.

The World's Greatest Stories proves, in my opinion, that we do not need to water down the Word in order for children to enjoy listening to the Greatest Stories ever! Check it out for yourselves and see what you think (these are AUDIO CDs, but I found this video of Jonah on YouTube)

See what my fellow Crew Mates had to say about The World's Greatest Stories here

Disclaimer: I received this item for the purpose of writing a fair and honest review. I received no other compensation. All the opinions expressed are my own.

Vintage Remedies for Guys

Vintage Remedies for Guys
Jessie Hawkins
$45
for guys 7-13

From the Vintage Remedies Website:

Vintage Remedies for Guys teaches healthy and natural living to boys ages 7-13. Our new workbook is packed with over 200 pages covering every aspect of natural living including wellness, nutrition, herbal medicine, immunity, natural living and hygiene, and the conservative use of valuable natural resources. Young guys will learn how to identify unhealthy foods, how to create a healthy real foods get together (and practice with some friends), how to select and even make natural skin care, how to make cheese, how to grow culinary and medicinal herbs, how to create basic herbal preparations, and much, much more!

The most wonderful time of year is also the most BUSY time of year...we were given Vintage Remedies for Guys to review, but I must say right up front, the busyness of the season and the special ingredients needed to complete the projects in this book have meant that we have not been able to do many of the projects in the book yet...but let me tell you...I LOVE this book!

From the Vintage Remedies website:
Our wellness philosophy is that the body was designed to benefit from fresh, real, whole foods and when provided with clean air, pure water and nutrient dense foods, the body is capable of achieving wellness. We believe that valuable resources were placed here for our physical benefit and are always excited at the discoveries and the complexity of natural plant matter. By understanding these principles, these resources can be used wisely to encourage the body to attain and maintain health. We don’t approach health with a disease + treatment model, rather the whole mind, body and spirit integrative approach of whole health or holistic health. It is a system focused on wellness, not medicine. Our materials reflect this philosophy and teach health from that viewpoint.

Vintage Remedies talks about trying to conserve and recycle, etc, but I appreciate that the focus is more on healthier living rather than on "being Green" because everyone else is. We have always believed that you should use as few chemicals as possible, be careful with the use of medicines and try to eat foods that are nutrient dense and we have had varying degrees of success in this as life goes on, but our focus is because it is better for the health of our bodies, not because it is "cool" right now to do so.

So, about the Vintage Remedies for Guys Workbook...broken down into three sections (Food, Nutrition and Culinary Skills, Health and Body, and Natural Living), we focused on sections two and three.
In section two, the topics are Healthy Living Through Hygiene, Immunity and Prevention, Coughs and Colds, Summertime Fun, and Backyard Medicine. We skipped the last two sections and really focused on Hygiene and Coughs and Colds. Each chapter will talk about the subject, hygiene for instance focused on taking care of your face, the smelly parts of the body and then the rest of your body. Jessie talked about products that are popular for guys this age (without naming other brands) and shared some of the dangers of using those products. Having a guy at the upper range of the age range, I kept wishing there were more details, but had to keep reminding myself that 7 year olds were using this curriculum as well. Each chapter ends with a Parent/Leader Guide which includes a supply list of items needed to complete the project. I love having a brief synopsis of the chapter with the list, but I wish it was in the beginning of the chapter or even in the beginning of the book. One project we will be trying soon are the Herbal Candies from the Cough and Cold chapter. These feature Slippery Elm Bark and are supposed to be good for sore throats, which is very needed this time of year. I have not had the chance to locate Slippery Elm Bark powder yet, so that is a project to come back to.

The Section on Natural Living has some great tips as well that many people are already doing...use cloth napkins and dishrags, use glass dishes instead of paper, serve juice in a glass instead of juice boxes at a party, plan meals to discourage from quick runs to fast food, natural cleaning supplies, etc. Many of these ideas were not "new" to our family, but having my son read them from someone other than MOM helps to give support to those things we already do...I'm not sure why, but it seems that we often receive some information best from those we are not related to...

In January when we are back up and running full steam again, we will come back to this and complete more projects...I am sure the food related ones will be a HIT with my guy...he is wonderful in the kitchen! I think, for our family, I will look into some of the other courses offered by Vintage Remedies...I can't decide between the Natural Wellness and Family Herbalist courses...but I think we are ready to dig a little deeper and my oldest...techy guy is doing some of his own digging to find some information on helping his arthritis through nutrition. I will also be looking more thoroughly through The Kitchen Herbal which was sent to me as a gift for reviewing Vintage Remedies for Guys. There is also Vintage Remedies for Kids, Vintage Remedies for Girls, Vintage Remedies for Tweens and Vintage Remedies Guide to Bread (this is on my wish list too!). I think you are really going to enjoy these books!

See what my fellow Crew Mates had to say about Vintage Remedies here

Disclaimer: I received this item for the purpose of writing a fair and honest review. I received no other compensation. All the opinions expressed are my own.

Sufficiency of Scripture

But from there you will seek the LORD your God, and you will find Him if you search for Him with all your heart and all your soul. When you are in distress and all these things have come upon you, in the latter days you will return to the LORD your God and listen to His voice. For the LORD your God is a compassionate God; He will not fail you nor destroy you nor forget the covenant with your fathers which He swore to them.

Deuteronomy 4:29-31

A very appropriate word...

One of my dear friends had this posted on her blog and the perspective it illustrates was SO wonderful, I thought I would post it too!
Enjoy!




Blessings!

Fractazmic

Fractazmic
I See Cards
$6.95
Recommended for 2-4 players from grades 1-8

Fractazmic Decks Include:
60 Math Learning Cards
Each card clearly numbered
Each card clearly labeled with the fraction and reinforcing graphic.

What makes Fractazmic Decks Special:
Quickly learn to convert and add fractions.
Reinforces relationship between fractions and measurements.
Shows real world use of fractions.

Fractazmic gives EVERYONE lots of practice adding and converting fractions in a way that is fun. The cards can be used in different ways for different knowledge or skill levels. I called two of my older boys in to play the game with me and we tried both the Trap game and the Rummy versions with the cards. The deck is broken up into three different suits:
GREEN is the TENTHS suit
BLUE is the TWELFTHS suit
RED (looks kinda brownish orange to me) is the SIXTEENTHS suit

Within the MAIN SUIT, you also have equivalent fractions too...so in the TWELFTHS suit you will see these fractions: 1/12, 1/6, 1/4, 1/3, 5/12, and 1/2...The point of the two games we played was to make 0ne whole...so 10/10, 12/12 or 16/16...or if you could use the smaller fractions you could make 5/5, etc.
So, to play Trap, you hold your cards in your hand and are discarding to try to come up with a whole OR force the player next to you to go over one whole...you can watch how to play the Fractazmic version of TRAP

Trap plays very quickly and is very good for younger players or in shorter time periods.

In the RUMMY version, you are collecting a run that equals one whole...


This took quite a bit of thinking and converting of fractions and was my personal favorite way to play the game.
What we LOVED about Fractazmic:

I love that this gives children a lot of practice with adding and converting fractions. I REALLY LOVED the pictures on the cards, which if doing the math in the head was a challenge, you could count on the cards and get the answer as well. The games were fun...we found the Rummy version took a little more time to play out a round than the TRAP version and found that we preferred the Rummy version as well. I think that these cards will be excellent for teaching about adding and converting fractions and provide an EXCELLENT visual tool/practice in equivalent fractions. I LOVED that this was practice in adding REAL fractions that you would use in life as opposed to adding totally random fractions in pointless practice...
There is a FABULOUS booklet you can download called Dr. Ron's Succeeding in Mathematics with Games

If your child is struggling with adding fractions, just learning about fractions or completely understands equivalent fractions, Fractazmic is a game you can feel good about playing together. Want to try to get a FREE deck, you can play an online speed game here

See what my fellow Crew Mates had to say about Fractazmic here

Disclaimer: I received this item for the purpose of writing a fair and honest review. I received no other compensation. All the opinions expressed are my own.

Sufficiency of Scripture

Two are better than one because they have a good return for their labor. For if either of them falls, the one will lift up his companion. But woe to the one who falls when there is not another to lift him up. Furthermore, if two lie down together they keep warm, but how can one be warm alone? And if one can overpower him who is alone, two can resist him. A cord of three strands is not quickly torn apart.

Ecclesiastes 4:9-12

Pitsco Medieval Machines Homeschool Pack

Medieval Machines Homeschool Pack
Pitsco
$21.95

As a family with a strong male population, those of that persuasion love anything that can be used as a weapon, so I was SO excited to get the opportunity to review the Medieval Machines Homeschool Pack. I mean, WHO would not LOVE to hurl objects across a room and what MOM would not LOVE to have that activity be a learning opportunity to boot…

We received the Medieval Machines Homeschool Pack which includes a catapult, a trebuchet, mass plates, and a Siege Machines book. Not included in the pack, we also received a package of Kleen Klay to use as objects of “mass destruction”.

So I set two of my older boys on the task of constructing these machines. First was the catapult…The boys put it together in a short period of time quite easily…the pieces were easy to pop out and went together nicely after a small bit of trouble finding the right glue for the project. We think wood glue would have been the best option for us, but did not have any, so we tried a craft glue and that did not work for us…might be that it just needed longer to dry…but we all know how patient some people can be…so we moved to super glue…not a problem after that, but if you do something wrong…good luck trying to fix it! Thankfully we did not have that problem! We did have one small piece that broke…it was the trigger for the catapult, but it still works just fine without it. It snapped when other pieces were being put in…which means that some care is needed when constructing these machines. The pieces are a punchout basswood making it easy to construct, but again some care is needed. After the catapult was done, the clay boulders began to fly…and EVERYONE was quite pleased to be a part of the battle…imagine what would happen if we had 5 or 6 of these! The Siege Machines book then gives several suggestions for those learning opportunities I was talking about. One measures mass vs. distance, one that gives practice in converting our standard system of measuring into metric, practice in finding averages, a lesson on elasticity, and testing different rubber bands…I will not share our results to the experiments we did so that you can explore and discover without any bias…there are many variables that can affect the results, so have FUN with that part!

Next was the Trebuchet and we had a little more difficulty with this machine. The construction was still easy, but we had some difficulty getting the machine to work…so we went back to the drawing board and tried again…noting what others said was helpful to them and reviewing the directions again. When the directions were ACTUALLY FOLLOWED, there was SUCCESS…hmmm…well once again the boys had fun flinging things through the air with the greatest of ease…and activities mentioned in the Siege Machines book again deal with math and science related topics both to grasp how the math and science we learn applies to the REAL WORLD and to get practice using the machine.

The Siege Machines book covers a WIDE range of information in it and I think is a wonderful resource to have. It talks about the history of siege machines, gives activities to use with the machines that cover math and science and has a section that gives the standards addressed by these activities. The stardards listed are from three national education organizations: The National Science Teachers Association (NTSA), the International Technology Education Association (ITEA) and National Council of Teachers of Math (NCTM) which I will confess was much like reading an upper math book in my opinion…There was VERY LITTLE comprehension for this math /science reluctant mom…I really enjoyed the history part of the book though…really shows my preferences! The back of the book makes some suggestions for books/videos and websites if your children really want to TAKE off on this subject and make a HUGE UNIT study from it. I wish we would have had this during our Medieval study in history...it would have been a PERFECT addition!

Pitsco carries a wide variety of kits and curriculum options and you can request a catalog.

What we LOVED: Well, truth be told...flinging things through the air was the favorite part of this product! I loved that the price was very reasonable and the machines were completely put together by my older boys. I appreciated the Siege Machines book more than I anticipated.

What was a challenge: I think I covered that already...we had some issues with the trebuchet...which were not due to anything related to the kit, but carelessness on the part of the assemblers!

See what my fellow crew mates have to say about Pitsco Medieval Machines Homeschool Pack here

Disclaimer: I received this item for the purpose of writing a fair and honest review. I received no other compensation. All the opinions expressed are my own.

ARTistic Pursuits

ARTistic Pursuits
Junior High level, book one
Price: $42.95

About ARTistic Pursuits
ARTisitc Pursuits is a comprehensive art curriculum designed to be easy enough for the student to walk through it mostly unassisted and yet deep enough to cover a wide variety of art techniques as well as cover art history. We received Junior High level, book one for the purposes of reviewing, so I will be referring to that from here on out...different levels cover different art skills and you can read more about ARTistic Pursuit's philosophy and approach to teaching art.

ARTistic Pursuits Junior High book one contains 16 units and each unit has 4 lessons, making this a year's worth of Art curriculum completing 2 lessons each week. Each unit is broken into four lessons:
Lesson One is Building a Visual Vocabulary. This is a topic of focus to observe in their environment to make real world to artwork connections. The focus for Unit One is SPACE. All lessons within the unit will address SPACE.

Lesson Two is Art Appreciation and Art History. This is a look at how art masters have used this focus topic in their works of art and learn how to apply it in practice. They also learn about artists, great works of art, and art in different cultures. Unit one features "Portrait of the Elephant, Dal Badal, Chasing His Attendant" showing how the use of SPACE is used in this work and then talks about Indian art and different cultures.

Lesson Three gives students the opportunity to practice the Techniques they learn in creating an original work of art. The technique for Unit One is Making a rough sketch and thinking through where to place the object within the SPACE of the page without taking the time to do a lengthy sketch.

Lesson Four is the Application phase of the unit, using the elements or techniques that has been practiced to create a final project.

My Art Loving Boy really enjoyed working through the ARTistic Pursuits book. His art really improved in the short time he had been working through this book. He found the lessons to be very helpful and learned some skills that he could begin to apply to his art right from the very first lesson. For instance, in lesson one, it suggested writing his signature in the upper right hand corner of the page (like you would normally sign it) and then stretch his signature from the left edge of the paper to the right edge to give a feel for the space on the page. He found that it took a couple of tries to fill up the space and he learned how much space it would take and to judge how size it to fill the page.

What we LOVED:
The lessons were easy to work through. Lou was able to do this completely on his own and create work that was continually improving as he learned to apply different techniques to his artwork. I loved that the supply list used basic and readily available art supplies and was pretty inexpensive. I love that the ARTistic Pursuits curriculum is non-consumable and can be used over and over.

What was a CHALLENGE:
Art has always been a tough subject for me to work in. We get so caught up the the 3 R's and we forget the things that make school a joy, like art. We had a very BUSY month and it was difficult to work everything in and did not get as far into this ARTistic Pursuits book as I would have liked. Another challenge was to schedule it in. You cannot schedule an hour for art...it may take 15 minutes to work through a lesson...or it could take 3 hours...however inspiration motivates...you just cannot say, put it away for today and then you can get back to it later or tomorrow...you have to let the creative juices flow and continue until the artwork is finished. The price is a little higher than I would normally consider and was originally a concern, but after seeing the results and my son's reaction to what he did, I would not hesitate to purchase more of these books.

Overall, we were VERY pleased with the ARTistic Pursuits curriculum...the lessons followed a logical sequence and allowed for quite a bit of application. Lou's art improved from the very first lesson and he is looking forward to working through the rest of the book. I think he would really enjoy working through the rest of the books ARTistic Pursuits has available.

See what my fellow crew mates have to say about ARTistic Pursuits here

Disclaimer: I received this item for the purpose of writing a fair and honest review. I received no other compensation. All the opinions expressed are my own.

Sufficiency of Scripture

O taste and see that the LORD is good;
How blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him!

Psalm 34:8

Great Commission Language- Le Francais Facile

Great Commission Language- Le Francais Facile!
Junior Level
Written by Marie Filion
Illustrated by Monica Fraske-Bornyk
ages: K-3
price: $69.95

A Complete French Curriculum!
Easy to teach, even if you don't know any french at all!
French Scripture, songs, games and coloring pages
Great for homeschool co-op groups!
Printable free activity sheets: no purchasing consumable activity books or photocopying!
Teaches French language and French grammar through literature based entertaining storylines
3 year program for younger students
1 year program for older students and Fast track option for teens
Follows Charlotte Mason Method, Bloom’s Taxonomy and higher order theories by Dr. Jeanne Chall
Certificate of Completion available with submission of two projects

Great Commission Language’s Le Francais Facile has many aspects that we LOVED! It begins with a mix of French and English conversation so that new vocabulary can be learned and comprehension is increased. The language is introduced in very much the same way that we teach children to talk, word by word and in conversation…rather than trying to conjugate verbs, etc. There are many activities that my Principessa was able to pick and choose from…such as from Lesson 11: An “I Spy” pizza book, vocabulary index cards, playing the game “I Spy”, and an It’s Me! Book that the students are working on throughout the course. There are cultural notes within the lessons and an extra resource section in the beginning of the book where you can learn more about famous French people.


I love the thought that went into this book making it an excellent product for homeschool families…there is a CD-ROM which you can use to print over 200 activity sheet…you can pick and choose the ones you want and use this one book for all of your children. It is great for children of many ages…younger children would just take a longer time to go through it. There is an audio cd for practice with pronunciation.

I think one thing I LOVE best about this product is that when you finish one level, you can send Le Francais Facile to Wycliffe Bible Translators (following directions from the company) and receive a credit towards the purchase of the next level…talk about a blessing!

Click to see more about the mandate for this company . Great Commission Language is a company that I feel great about recommending and purchasing from. My Principessa has really enjoyed beginning to learn French and it has been fun to refresh my French as well.

Sample Lessons


If you have looked over the sample lessons, but still cannot decide if this is a good fit for your family, you can purchase a sampler CD for $15. This Sampler CD contains the first few lessons of ALL of the programs! And - when you decide you're ready to purchase the full program, they will give you a $15 rebate (that's right, 100% of the purchase price of the CD!) and you can give the sampler CD to a friend!



See what my fellow crew mates have to say about Great Commission Languages; Le Francais Facile here

Disclaimer: I received this item for the purpose of writing a fair and honest review. I received no other compensation. All the opinions expressed are my own.