A Light for My Path

A Light for My Path
Apologia Publishing
Written by Davis Carman
Illustrated by Alice Ratterree
Price: $14.00
Ages: Birth-8+

As a homeschool mom who has been doing this for a while, I have found certain publishers that are my favorite.  Things I LOVE that have stood the test of time in our family.  Apologia probably tops that list.  I really love everything I have used in their product line...Science books, The Ultimate Homeschool Planner and now, A Light for My Path.

A Light for My Path is an alphabet book...but really it is so much more than that.  This is probably the most well thought out children's book I have ever read.  When you open up the book, you see a two page introduction with LOTS OF SMALL writing...do not skip over that...there is SO MUCH IN THERE and I was AMAZED at everything this sweet little book contains.

So, I said this is an alphabet book...Yes, it is, but it is an alphabet book that helps children fall in love with the Word of God and teaches them foundational truths about what God's Word is...for instance, God's Word, Law, Statutes, Decrees, Commands and Precepts are...Instructive, or Merciful, or Just...So while your child is learning the English Alphabet, every page has one truth about God's Word from Psalm 119. Incredible, isn't it?  In the back, there is also the Hebrew Alphabet.  Psalm 119 is an acrostic poem intended to teach the  Hebrew Alphabet.  The last 22 pages have the entire text of Psalm 119 written out with the alphabet at the top...just a note- the spelling of the letter has been written to aid in pronunciation.

One of my favorite things in this book is what the author calls the most important purpose for the book.

Most importantly, this book is meant to instill in children a love and reverence, or deep respect, for God’s Word, thereby giving children a sincere desire to read the Bible and learn attributes of God’s Word. For example, the T page says that God's Word, law, statutes, decrees, commands, and precepts are True, while the U page uses the word Universal as the description. These words, combined with the simple repetition within the pages, will help your child hear, read, and know God's written words and, consequently, fall in love with the living Word, God's only Son, Jesus Christ.

See why I LOVE this book!

As you are reading, you begin to notice some things...First, The truth about God's Word and the plant or animal pictured, start with the same letter...so the page that states that God's Word, Law, Statutes, Decrees, Commands and Precepts are... instructive...has a picture of an iguana.   The names of each image are not on the page (this gets confusing when you see a hummingbird on the X page, but in the introduction you see it is a "Xantus' Hummingbird)...the text FOCUSES on a truth about Scripture from Psalm 119.  When we first picked up the book, I skimmed the introduction pages (don't do that...there is SO MUCH IN THERE) and began reading to my 7 and 11 year old children.  So we read A, B, and get to C and I notice something...so I flip back just to be sure I am not crazy (those of you who know me well can claim the 5th here!!!). No, I did see it...so while there is a central plant or animal on the page, starting with the letter B, you can see a smaller image from the page before.  You will see a small butterfly on the caterpillar page. This was a very fun surprise and is just one small part of the thought that went into the book.  I will say though...we did have a hard time finding two...We THINK we found the jellyfish on the Koala page, but we are CLUELESS about where the urchin is on the vine page...if you see it, we would love to see it too!

A Light for My Path also teaches about Capital and Lower Case Letters, which is important for children just beginning to read.  There is a large capital letter and then just below or next to it, the attribute of the Word has a lower case letter.

A Light for My Path has repetition, which I have found that my children LOVE...so the left side of every two page spread begins the same way: God's Word, Law, Statutes, Decrees, Commands and Precepts are...then on the right side,  you get the truth.  I really LOVED this...having a beginning reader, it was helpful when he wanted to read the book to me.  There are a lot of big words in this book for early readers, but having so much of it being repeated was a helpful bonus in my opinion and he was encouraged enough to try!  I loved that he is repeating, "God's Word, Law, Statutes, Decrees, Commands, and Precepts are blessings RATHER  than, "I do not like them Sam I am"...I mean Sam has his place, but this is for my children's souls.

I really cannot say enough good things about  A Light for My Path, but check it out for yourself.  There is a link to download a 13 page sample, which includes the introduction, some of the God's Word/Creation pages (Look for the smaller image from the previous letter) and a portion from Psalm 119 from the back.  This sample will give you a great feel for the book.

One concern I will bring up, is reading 80 pages to young ones...I think the book is really intended for preschoolers, even though I gave it a larger age range...how on earth will I get them to sit through that...and I will admit...at bedtime, when everyone is tired, getting through 176 verses of Psalm 119 at the end is hard...so every time we read it, we will read a few pages from the back...as many as we feel we can do for that night, marking our stopping place so we can pick it back up next...cause you all know  you ARE going to be reading it again...and again...and again...which in the case of A Light for My Path will bring great blessings because we hide God's Word in our hearts, that we might not sin against Him and it is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.

One last thing to mention...this book has the sweetest illustrations...My children really loved just looking and them, lingering over them, and trying to observe everything that was in the picture.

Click here to read more reviews

Sufficiency of Scripture

The Jews then did not believe it of him, that he had been blind and had received sight, until they called the parents of the very one who had received his sight, and questioned them, saying, “Is this your son, who you say was born blind? Then how does he now see?” His parents answered them and said, “We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind; but how he now sees, we do not know; or who opened his eyes, we do not know. Ask him; he is of age, he will speak for himself.” His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews; for the Jews had already agreed that if anyone confessed Him to be Christ, he was to be put out of the synagogue. For this reason his parents said, “He is of age; ask him.”

So a second time they called the man who had been blind, and said to him, “Give glory to God; we know that this man is a sinner.” He then answered, “Whether He is a sinner, I do not know; one thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.” So they said to him, “What did He do to you? How did He open your eyes?” He answered them, “I told you already and you did not listen; why do you want to hear it again? You do not want to become His disciples too, do you?” They reviled him and said, “You are His disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where He is from.” The man answered and said to them, “Well, here is an amazing thing, that you do not know where He is from, and yet He opened my eyes. We know that God does not hear sinners; but if anyone is God-fearing and does His will, He hears him. Since the beginning of time it has never been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a person born blind. If this man were not from God, He could do nothing.” They answered him, “You were born entirely in sins, and are you teaching us?” So they put him out.

John 9:18-34

Sufficiency of Scripture

They brought to the Pharisees the man who was formerly blind. Now it was a Sabbath on the day when Jesus made the clay and opened his eyes. Then the Pharisees also were asking him again how he received his sight. And he said to them, “He applied clay to my eyes, and I washed, and I see.” Therefore some of the Pharisees were saying, “This man is not from God, because He does not keep the Sabbath.” But others were saying, “How can a man who is a sinner perform such signs?” And there was a division among them. So they said to the blind man again, “What do you say about Him, since He opened your eyes?” And he said, “He is a prophet.”

John 9:13-17

iTooch Educational Apps

iTooch Educational Apps
eduPad
Cost: Free to $9.99
Grades: 3 and up
For iOS, Android or Windows

Technology is changing the way we interact with our world.   The newest information is before us NOW through many different tools and our children are almost born knowing how to use it.  eduPad has developed an extensive line of educational apps to make learning more fun.  We downloaded the free version of a few of iTooch Elementary School's apps, including Language Arts, Math and Science.  My daughter has been trying it out.

"eduPad is a French based start-up developing great applications for
education on mobile devices from Elementary to Middle School.
We also work on the eduPad Studio, a cross-platform solution that
enables 3rd parties with educational content to easily publish mobile
apps.
Tablets and smartphones are changing the way we learn. They are
intuitive and have the ability to eliminate the barriers between school
and home, work and personal life, play and study."

eduPad's iTooch Apps available:

 iTooch Elementary (Grade 3 to 5)
Language Arts and Science

iTooch Middle School (Grade 6 to 8)
Language Arts and Health (Grade 6)

iTooch French as a Foreign Language
Grammar, Vocabulary and Pronunciation worksheets
to learn French and prepare DELF exam

iTooch TOEFL
Speaking, Listening, Reading and Writing questions
to prepare for the TOEFL Exam

iTooch SAT
Worksheets on Critical Reading, Math, Biology,
U.S. History to practice for the SAT Tests

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Some of the features of eduPad's apps:
Largest Database of content-each title has between 1,500-6,000 questions

Educational content that plays like a fun video game

Practice and test modes

All apps come with a virtual blackboard and calculator

The app will update when you are connected to the internet

In app purchasing and feedback options

Internet connection is not needed to play in the app...learning can take place everywhere

What we loved:
FREE VERSION!
My daughter thought the games were a lot of fun.  She has already quickly played through some of the games and is excited when I tell her she can have more time in one of the apps.

She loves the belts and seeing the levels being completed.

My daughter loved the orange character

What was a challenge:
The free versions of the apps can be worked through pretty quickly and it was a bit disappointing to get to the end for her.

Please always consider whether or not a product lines up with your worldview or belief system.  I did not come across anything particular in what I looked at, but I have not been able to dig deeply into the content either.

In a media saturated world, this is just one more thing to be connected to.  I really enjoy seeing my children holding a book, playing outside or doing something creative. 

Overall, this was fun for her and I am considering buying an app and trying out the full content.  I like that it was a good way to review certain subjects.  

available on the App Store, Windows 8 and now on Google Play Store

 This is an informational review for Mosaic Reviews.  I downloaded a free version of this app.  I did not receive anything free.  The opinions expressed are based on our interaction with the free content.

Click here to read more reviews

3 Gifts Falling

1} Leaves: Feeling ready for fall as we had a most blessed Summer...

2} Rain: we get lots of rain in our area, but after a long dry summer, the grass is drinking big gulps of water, greening up and growing tall.

3} Early to bed...falling into bed early for an EARLY work day...

3 Gifts Orange

1} DD just spent his money to buy a couple of scarecrows...he called them puppets...I told him that when he doesn't want to play with them, he could stick them into something for a fall decoration...he said, "Great Idea!" LOVE, LOVE, LOVE that boy!

2} The Cover on a new ink cartridge...thankful I had a back up, thankful Costco refills these cheaper than buying new, thankful to be back up and running

3} While Pumpkin Spice Lattes are not my favorite way to drink my coffee, I am looking forward to trying Pumpkin Spice Bagels and English Muffins...now that sounds AMAZING!

Blessings,

Math Mammoth

Math Mammoth
Prices Vary
Grades 1-12

After homeschooling for closer to two decades than I care to admit, we have fallen into a math groove...we use what we like and we LOVE it! What do you do though, when you have a child who just does not get it...well, we had been contemplating leasing one of those video school options for math...as I am not sure how to explain it so he gets it...anyway, along comes Math Mammoth to lend aid.

In case you have not heard of Math Mammoth before,

Math Mammoth are affordable, yet quality math worktexts and workbooks, available as both downloads and printed books.

Math Mammoth books concentrate on conceptual understanding and are strong in mental math. The directions in the worktexts are written directly to the student, and are often self-teaching, thus requiring little preparation and involvement from the teacher.

You can choose from many different series of books:

A complete curriculum for grades 1-6 (Light Blue Series);
Books by topic for grades 1-7, with both instruction and exercises (Blue Series);
Review workbooks for grades 1-5: these provide a comprehensive review of the specific grade level of math. Great for summer math, for example.
Worksheets by grade for grades 3-8 (Golden Series);
Worksheets by topic for grades 3-7 (Green Series);
Make It Real Learning activity workbooks for grades 3-12—highlighting how math is used in real life. These books are authored by Frank Wilson.

This video tells a little bit about the difference between the four series of books available.

For this review, we were allowed to pick the option that worked best for us...so I chose the Blue Series Books for Addition and Subtraction. Prices for the Blue Series E-books range from $2.25-$7.50 a book. If you have an affordable way to print, this can be a HUGE savings from buying other math books. You may want to check with your library to see if they have a printing policy...ours does and we can print 70 black copies a week per library card...WOO HOO! There were some pages where color may be necessary...and you can use a crayon or colored pencil to make that clear. Also, for those who are techy-er than I am...I am sure that you can save your answers into the PDF and then have no printing costs. Options for purchasing books can be found at the bottom of the particular options you are looking for, with two basic options Download from Kagi or printed from Lulu

What we liked:

The Blue Series concentrates on ONE function of math!

The price is VERY AFFORDABLE!

We could print out more sheets and re-do an entire section if needed.

This book is meant to be student directed...which is WONDERFUL for a busy Momma!

The Blue Series would be AN EXCELLENT supplement where more review is needed!



What was a challenge:

DD REALLY struggles with math concepts and needs one on one time that I just am having difficulty finding right now. He does not understand the concept and math is flowing for him rather than constant...most of our problems with Math Mammoth had to do with that rather than any discrepancy in the curriculum. As simpler math is easy for me, I found I was having a hard time explaining it to him that he understood.

A lot of the suggestions to supplement the curriculum are online...I do not allow my children online without me present, so this was time that was VERY DIFFICULT to carve out in this season of life.

DD is struggling to grasp addition concepts and I really needed a lot of practice with that in the workbook pages...I thought that the problems where you found a missing addend rather than finding the sum were a little difficult...he had trouble switching from one way of thinking into another. While he did make progress in his addition skills, he is still not up to where I think he should be and I will need to either carve out more time for math for him or see if I can find another way to get him to understand math concepts better.

Overall, while this did not work for my little guy yet, I think that Math Mammoth is a power packed little bundle of curriculum. Created especially for homeschool familes by a math teacher who began homeschooling her children, Math Mammoth explains math in simple ways and concentrates on helping students understand the concepts being taught. To help figure out where you want to be, you can get a placement test/assessment here.

Whether you are looking for a complete math curriculum, review help or concentrated study on a particular topic, Math Mammoth might be for you...but don't take my word for it, try it for yourself. Take a 7-day virtual email tour around Math Mammoth! You'll receive:
A package of over 300 free worksheets and sample pages;
7 individual emails on 7 subsequent days that answer the most commonly asked questions, including "What is the difference between all these different-colored series?"
Math Newsletter
OR see what my fellow reviewers had to say about Math Mammoth here