tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-287643292024-03-13T05:07:10.909-05:00And now for the rest of the story...Welcome to our family blog!Becky Gustafsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07590074918209912396noreply@blogger.comBlogger302125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28764329.post-64652917062144789172012-11-10T06:00:00.000-06:002012-11-10T09:05:51.063-06:005 Years Ago Today<div style="text-align: center;">
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Five years ago today, our family of five instantaneously became nine. After being gone for ten days my husband returned with our African children. We were finally one family under the same roof, after more than two years of heart-wrenching ups & downs and endless fundraising.<br />
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These were our first moments together:<br />
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<img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5131792694225210498" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_7KmaFW8qyFY/RzfKRBg9DII/AAAAAAAAAG4/maHWYcNnqgk/s320/IMG_3899-2.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /><br />
<img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5131792840254098578" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_7KmaFW8qyFY/RzfKZhg9DJI/AAAAAAAAAHA/K84Hh5kRekw/s320/IMG_3901-3.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5131793024937692322" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_7KmaFW8qyFY/RzfKkRg9DKI/AAAAAAAAAHI/A_OPbBO5uDc/s320/IMG_3910-2.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5131793248275991730" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_7KmaFW8qyFY/RzfKxRg9DLI/AAAAAAAAAHQ/TFasLobO7Uw/s320/IMG_3920-2.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5131793626233113810" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_7KmaFW8qyFY/RzfLHRg9DNI/AAAAAAAAAHg/kOVzsXR4Bok/s320/IMG_3935-2.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5131793441549520066" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_7KmaFW8qyFY/RzfK8hg9DMI/AAAAAAAAAHY/e0p8XIeJ_LQ/s320/IMG_3922-2.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5131793853866380514" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_7KmaFW8qyFY/RzfLUhg9DOI/AAAAAAAAAHo/x96KQ-ufM4A/s320/IMG_3960-4.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5131794064319778034" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_7KmaFW8qyFY/RzfLgxg9DPI/AAAAAAAAAHw/918E7KlBpOI/s320/IMG_3978-3.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5131794523881278738" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_7KmaFW8qyFY/RzfL7hg9DRI/AAAAAAAAAIA/xCftk-W8NhI/s320/IMG_3993.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5131794283363110146" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_7KmaFW8qyFY/RzfLthg9DQI/AAAAAAAAAH4/F_IxULOmRJI/s320/IMG_3984-3.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5131794794464218402" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_7KmaFW8qyFY/RzfMLRg9DSI/AAAAAAAAAII/-Bwa6_OJGO0/s320/IMG_3970-2.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5131795000622648626" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_7KmaFW8qyFY/RzfMXRg9DTI/AAAAAAAAAIQ/dPV4zI4qeDs/s320/IMG_4000.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" />
We worked and prayed with everything in us to get to that day. We were full of hope for the future and dreamed of a better tomorrow.<br />
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The part I never anticipated living out was the loss that followed. Sometimes the Lord gives and sometimes He takes away. What I had hoped for and prayed for isn't what came to pass. What I've come to understand through it all is that I am a vessel. A vessel through which He works. A testimony for others to see His goodness. He is still faithful and He is still just. <br />
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What we have given is hope. Hope to children that were living in hopelessness. We have given opportunity when there would have only been mere survival.<br />
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Sometimes when we are walking through the deepest of valleys, it's important to lift our face towards the Son and remember that there is always goodness. Goodness in the midst of pain. Love in the midst of loss. Faith in the midst of doubt.<br />
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Today we celebrate. We celebrate the lessons we've learned, those we love and the memories that bind us all together. We celebrate and give praise for answered prayers, grace and hopeful futures.<br />
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"Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven." Matthew 5: 16<br />
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<br />Becky Gustafsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07590074918209912396noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28764329.post-13190014408078262132012-11-09T10:02:00.002-06:002012-11-09T10:02:30.692-06:00Grace and Truth Books~ TOS Review<br />
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<a href="http://s1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/Grace%20Truth%20Books/?action=view&current=Logo.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" height="50" src="http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/Grace%20Truth%20Books/Logo.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://www.graceandtruthbooks.com/" target="_blank">Grace and Truth Books</a>
is a Christian bookstore built on the idea that “fancy packaging” is
not what’s important, what matters is “what will glorify God, strengthen
His people in their walk, and call all peoples to find joy in knowing
His gospel and following Him.” They have books and <a href="http://schoolhousereviewcrew.com/786690/#" id="_GPLITA_1" style="text-decoration: underline;" title="Click to Continue > by Vid-Saver">audiobooks</a> available on a myriad of topics for both children and adults alike.<br />
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We were given the choice of two books to review within the Boys Heritage Series. Please read below for our selections. <br />
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<a href="http://www.graceandtruthbooks.com/category/heritage-series-boys-books" target="_blank">The Boys Heritage Series</a> are reprints from the 19th century for boys ages 8-14. <a href="http://www.graceandtruthbooks.com/product/gerrit-and-his-dog">Gerrit and His Dog</a>
is the story of a boy who experiences God’s kindness when he loses his
dog and is then reunited with him. This book sells for $5.50.<br />
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<a href="http://s1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/Grace%20Truth%20Books/?action=view&current=GerritandHisDog.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" height="320" src="http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/Grace%20Truth%20Books/GerritandHisDog.png" width="208" /> </a></div>
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<a href="http://www.graceandtruthbooks.com/product/a-faithful-boys-influence" target="_blank">A Faithful Boys Influence</a>, by "Aunt Friendly," is a story about how a young boy initiated respect for God's servant by a good example. This book sells for $6.25.<br />
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<img alt="A Faithful Boy's Influence" src="http://www.graceandtruthbooks.com/files/boysheritage/AFaithfulBoysInfluence.jpg" title="A Faithful Boy's Influence" width="185" /> </div>
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We just reviewed these two books but there is a total of ten books within the<a href="http://www.graceandtruthbooks.com/category/heritage-series-boys-books"> entire Heritage Series: Boys Books</a>. This set of stories for boys, all reprints from the 19th century, are
some of our richest, most challenging books for boys in this age range. They are also very suitable to read aloud with younger children or for
family reading.<br />
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My boys began with Gerrit and His Dog. They read this book independently and really enjoyed the story line. When we began A Faithful Boys Influence, the boys weren't able to understand it on their own as well as the previous book. We then just began to read it together as all of the children listened in. If there happened to be words that the children were unsure of I was able to quickly explain and keep reading the story. I really enjoyed reading this with all of my children because the content is wholesome. I also didn't have a problem with explaining a few of the words because my children are on the younger side of the suggested age range. I also thought that hearing such vocabulary in a wholesome story like this will help to build their vocabulary.<br />
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I'm always looking for good books to provide for my children. I'm looking forward to buying the remaining books in this series as part of my boys' Christmas gifts! Thank you <a href="http://www.graceandtruthbooks.com/">Grace and Truth Books</a> for putting out such wonderful and wholesome materials!<br />
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To see what my fellow Crew Mates had to say about <a href="http://www.graceandtruthbooks.com/">Grace and Truth Books</a> visit the <a href="http://schoolhousereviewcrew.com/786690/" target="_blank">Homeschool Crew Blog</a> to read more.
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**Disclosure: My review and opinion written in this post is entirely my
own. This product was provided to me for free in exchange for my review
as a member of the 2012 The Old Schoolhouse Magazine Homeschool
Crew.
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Becky Gustafsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07590074918209912396noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28764329.post-48794136072129760992012-11-07T10:35:00.001-06:002012-11-07T10:40:42.402-06:00Apologia~Journeys of Faithfulness<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://s1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/Apologia%20Journeys/?action=view&current=logo.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" height="107" src="http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/Apologia%20Journeys/logo.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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This book was such a gift! It was truly my privledge to review <a href="https://apologia.securesites.net/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=12&products_id=219" target="_blank"><i>Journeys of Faithfulness</i></a>
by Sarah Clarkson. Through a series of stories about biblical women
such as Mary, Ruth, and Esther, the author challenges young women to
explore and deepen their relationship with Christ. The 232 pages of the
paperback include devotionals and journaling spots. <br />
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Each story gives a
historical fiction account of one of these women, using the details
we know from the Biblical story and adding the author’s insight into
what the characters could have felt and how they may have been affected
by the events. The book may be used as a devotional guide for
adolescent women and their mothers, it is recommended for ages 12 and up.<br />
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My 12 year old daughter already enjoyed the stories of Ruth and Esther so she was delighted to have a look at this book. She was even more delighted when I told her we could go through it together. We really enjoyed reading about these amazing women, but my favorite part was ultimately our conversations afterward. I thank Sarah Clarkson for writing such an amazing tool that my daughter and I could use together to strengthen our own relationships in Christ as well as our mother/daughter relationship. :)<br />
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<a href="http://s1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/Apologia%20Journeys/?action=view&current=333.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" height="200" src="http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/Apologia%20Journeys/333.jpg" width="133" /></a></div>
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<i>Journeys of Faithfulness</i> by Sarah Clarkson may be purchased directly from <a href="https://apologia.securesites.net/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=12&products_id=219" target="_blank">Apologia’s website</a>. The paperback version is $13.00.If you'd like to see a sample of this sweet, endearing book <a href="https://apologia.securesites.net/pdfs/sample/333.pdf">check here</a>. The <a href="https://apologia.securesites.net/pdfs/TOC/333.pdf">Table of Contents</a> lets you in on the contents of the entire book. <br />
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To see what my fellow Crew Mates had to say about <a href="https://apologia.securesites.net/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=12&products_id=219">Journeys of Faithfulness</a> visit the <a href="http://schoolhousereviewcrew.com/786679/" target="_blank">Homeschool Crew Blog</a> to read more.
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**Disclosure: My review and opinion written in this post is entirely my
own. This product was provided to me for free in exchange for my review
as a member of the 2012 The Old Schoolhouse Magazine Homeschool
Crew.
Becky Gustafsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07590074918209912396noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28764329.post-88753143021879853242012-10-29T08:38:00.004-06:002012-10-29T08:38:39.593-06:00Samson's Classroom-- TOS Review<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="http://s1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/Samsons/?action=view&current=samsons_classroom_logo.gif" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" height="121" src="http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/Samsons/samsons_classroom_logo.gif" width="400" /> </a></div>
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<a href="http://www.samsonsclassroom.com/" target="_blank">Samson's Classroom</a> is an online educational tool, offering three products: Sight Words with Samson, Spelling with Samson, and Reading with Samson. I was very excited to work with this review as my second grader found learning in this environment SO fun!</div>
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<a href="http://s1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/Samsons/?action=view&current=ss_sight_words_1.gif" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" height="282" src="http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/Samsons/ss_sight_words_1.gif" width="400" /> </a></div>
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We began with using<b> Sight Words with Samson</b> – this area was created for
beginning readers by helping them to master 224 of the most commonly
used words in our English language. This helps build a strong foundation
for new readers to encourage them to be successful in reading. It uses a
5 step process to help each student learn these widely used words.
During the process they will see and hear the word a myriad of times as
well as seeing the letters needed to create each word they are
learning. Even though I don't consider my second grader a "beginning reader," she still benefited from the practice of sight words in this section!<br />
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The games my daughter played asked her to complete a sentence, spell a
word, identify the word, or take a short quiz. There is a scoreboard
which helps both the student and parent keep track of where they are and
what their result was. There is also a portion in the resource center
that allows the teacher to print out additional worksheets and even
flash cards. And you can print a certificate out once your student has
completed each level, my daughter is saving these! She's so proud!<br />
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<a href="http://s1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/Samsons/?action=view&current=ss_spelling_1.gif" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" height="282" src="http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/Samsons/ss_spelling_1.gif" width="400" /></a></div>
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My daughter was very unsure of spelling, sometimes she puts all of her energy into reading a word! Reversing the process to spell it was difficult for her at first. Then, we moved on to the Spelling with Samson section.<b> Spelling with Samson</b> is a comprehensive set of games
that drills spelling words in a variety of mini games. More than 7,000 words will all be used in games which are designed to
grab the attention of your children to play them over and over again all
the while building their spelling skill. You can customize the lists
to match what you are learning in your curriculum OR you can choose to
use one of the lists already created. Spelling with Samson is similar
to Sight Words with Samson where it also uses a multi-step process to
build confidence in your student’s spelling ability through a variety of
games. My daughter was encouraged to try spelling and she wanted to play in this section more and more. What a fun way for a 7 year old to get spelling practice!<br />
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<a href="http://s1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/Samsons/?action=view&current=ss_reading_1.gif" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" height="282" src="http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/Samsons/ss_reading_1.gif" width="400" /></a></div>
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<b>Reading with Samson</b> is a combination of reading comprehension and logical analysis where the student will learn to draw conclusions from what they have read to figure out the answers to the questions presented to them. The questions asked cover cause and effect, discovering the main idea, context, and sequencing to name a few. This program also uses an instant feedback system. If a student answers a question incorrectly the pertinent information of the passage that they read will be highlighted and the child is allowed a second chance at answering the question correctly. This section was a little more difficult for my second grader but she does try a little each day. I think we'll be able to work our way up to this area more and more as we progress through the school year.<br />
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If you decide to take a look at <a href="http://www.samsonsclassroom.com/" target="_blank">Samson's Classroom</a> for your homeschool, there is a variety of <a href="http://www.samsonsclassroom.com/pricing.aspx" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">pricing options</a>
for home use ($30 per year), as a family (4 users $50 per year), as a
classroom (30 users $80 per year) and even more. You can try a <a href="http://www.samsonsclassroom.com/try.aspx" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">demo of the program</a> and make sure you check out this short but very thorough <a href="http://www.samsonsclassroom.com/demo/index.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">video demo</a>. <br />
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To see what my fellow Crew Mates had to say about <a href="http://www.samsonsclassroom.com/" target="_blank">Samson's Classroom</a> visit the <a href="http://schoolhousereviewcrew.com/786641/" target="_blank">Homeschool Crew Blog</a> to read more.
</div>
<br />
**Disclosure: My review and opinion written in this post is entirely my
own. This product was provided to me for free in exchange for my review
as a member of the 2012 The Old Schoolhouse Magazine Homeschool
Crew.
Becky Gustafsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07590074918209912396noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28764329.post-62979380633301143962012-10-26T10:57:00.003-05:002012-10-26T11:33:59.867-05:00Crossbow--TOS Review<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://s1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/Reading%20and%20Phonics/?action=view&current=banner.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" height="65" src="http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/Reading%20and%20Phonics/banner.jpg" width="400" /> </a></div>
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Crossbow is a company that provides many different kinds of learning tools. I was interested to see how I might be able to use their product in our homeschool. I had one child in mind that I thought might benefit the most from this review product.</div>
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<a href="http://s1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/Reading%20and%20Phonics/?action=view&current=banner2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" height="130" src="http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/Reading%20and%20Phonics/banner2.jpg" width="400" /> </a></div>
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When you visit their website you will find that they carry several tools
designed to help you create a learning environment that promotes
student achievement, especially for those with <i>Dyslexia</i> and <i>Visual Stress.</i> Because I have a child that I would categorize as having "visual stress," I was curious as to what this tool might do. I honestly wondered if I'd be able to see any difference or results.</div>
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<a href="http://s1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/Reading%20and%20Phonics/?action=view&current=duo_ten_colours_worksheet_1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/Reading%20and%20Phonics/duo_ten_colours_worksheet_1.jpg" /></a></div>
<i><a href="http://www.crossboweducation.us/visual-stress/reading-rulers.html" target="_blank" title="Reading Rulers">Reading Rulers</a></i>
is the product we received to review. They are made of durable, color-tinted plastic; and you are able to underline and
highlight about six inches of text at a time. Text is read through the
transparent color. Each <i>Ruler </i>is small and convenient to carry, or keep in a book used as a book mark. “<i>Reading Rulers</i> reduce page glare,<i> dancing</i>,
blurring text and other symptoms, while also providing valuable
tracking support for reading.” They are available with duo reading
windows – one is 1/2″ wide and the other is 1 1/4″ wide – to aid in
reading a single line of oversize text, two smaller lines of text or a
short paragraph.<br />
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Studies have shown that students need a
spectrum of colors to choose from, to find the one that best meets their
individual needs. I had my struggling reader start using the rulers and switch colors until he found one he "liked" reading with. Over time, I could see that he was always making sure he had a reading ruler with him and I saw that he was using it as a bookmark as well.</div>
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<a href="http://www.crossboweducation.us/" target="_blank"><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Crossbow Education</span></a> has a <i><a href="http://www.crossboweducation.us/visual-stress/reading-rulers.html" target="_blank" title="Pack of 10">Pack of 10 Eye Level Reading Rulers</a></i>
for $16.95. It is their most popular package, because it allows a
student to examine each color, choose the one that offers the most
benefit; and then order just <i>that </i>color. We received the pack of 10 to use and my son, as of now, has chosen 3 favorite colors to use when reading. I can't help but think this tool is helping him stay on track when reading pages with lots of texts and longer paragraphs.<br />
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I highly recommend this product for anyone with a beginning or struggling reader. I intend to continue using these reading rulers for as long as needed. Thank you, <a href="http://www.crossboweducation.us/" target="_blank">Crossbow</a>, for making a product that helps us so much!<br />
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To see what my fellow Crew Mates had to say about <a href="http://www.crossboweducation.us/" target="_blank">Crossbow</a> visit the <a href="http://schoolhousereviewcrew.com/786615/" target="_blank">Homeschool Crew Blog</a> to read more.
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**Disclosure: My review and opinion written in this post is entirely my
own. This product was provided to me for free in exchange for my review
as a member of the 2012 The Old Schoolhouse Magazine Homeschool
Crew.
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Becky Gustafsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07590074918209912396noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28764329.post-32340350033445672282012-10-10T06:38:00.000-05:002012-10-10T06:38:31.647-05:00ZooWhiz--TOS Review<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="http://www.zoowhiz.com/" target="_blank">ZooWhiz</a> is the FREE Online Learning System that gives children comprehensive coverage of Math, Reading and English in a fun, motivational and interactive learning environment.
ZooWhiz is a free site for parents and teachers and kids. It works a bit like Skype where much if its functionality is free but if you want the best then the <a href="http://www.zoowhiz.com/premium" target="_blank">PREMIUM subscription</a> is for you. Premium access is usually $30 per child.<br />
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<a href="http://s1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/ZooWhiz/?action=view&current=Zoo-Panorama.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" height="239" src="http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/ZooWhiz/Zoo-Panorama.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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This online learning website for children allows them to practice reading, math, grammar, vocabulary, and word skills while “collecting” animals and playing games with the points they earn. It is designed for kids ages 5-15, and allows the parent to customize levels of learning to suit their child. Children can also customize their account by choosing their own “zoologist” character to play as.<br />
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<a href="http://s1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/ZooWhiz/?action=view&current=Shop02.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" height="254" src="http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/ZooWhiz/Shop02.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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Zoo Whiz was created for users across the world, with options that include American or British spelling, and different units of measure and currency. Parents are able to access progress reports that allow them to see how their kids are doing in each area. Kids are able to play learning games in different disciplines, and earn coins they can spend on animals and games.<br />
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<a href="http://s1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/ZooWhiz/?action=view&current=Choose-a-Keeper.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" height="143" src="http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/ZooWhiz/Choose-a-Keeper.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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As children play, they also learn about the animals in their collection. They get information about their habitats, whether or not they are endangered, what they eat and other information. They can even collect “rare” animals like dinosaurs and a phoenix!Many different skills are covered in the Zoo Whiz program, including basic math facts, phonemics and phonics, and more advanced skills as well. The learning levels are adjustable, so you can customize them to fit your child's ability level.<br />
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As I mentioned above there is a free account available on Zoo Whiz, I was able to try out the <a href="http://www.zoowhiz.com/premium">Premium account</a>, which currently costs <b>$14.95 for a year</b>. You can't beat that! Zoo Whiz is still being developed and new content is being added all the time.<br />
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To see what my fellow Crew Mates had to say about <a href="http://www.zoowhiz.com/" target="_blank">ZooWhiz</a><a href="http://www.boxofideas.us/home.php" target="_blank"></a> visit the <a href="http://schoolhousereviewcrew.com/786479/" target="_blank">Homeschool Crew Blog</a> to read more.
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**Disclosure: My review and opinion written in this post is entirely my
own. This product was provided to me for free in exchange for my review
as a member of the 2012 The Old Schoolhouse Magazine Homeschool
Crew.
Becky Gustafsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07590074918209912396noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28764329.post-70371405459061285632012-10-05T10:53:00.004-05:002012-10-05T11:07:27.086-05:00Box of Ideas, Pearl Harbor--TOS Review<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://s1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/Box%20of%20Ideas/?action=view&current=BoxofIdeasLogo.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" height="94" src="http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/Box%20of%20Ideas/BoxofIdeasLogo.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://www.boxofideas.us/home.php" target="_blank">Box of Ideas</a> is a company dedicated to creating interactive, learning modules
centered around various subject areas. When using this product you can't help but find yourself irresistibly
drawn into critical thinking & knowledge building! The variety of fun topics makes learning intriguing and fun. </div>
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<a href="http://s1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/Box%20of%20Ideas/?action=view&current=BoxofIdeas_PearlHarbor.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" height="320" src="http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/Box%20of%20Ideas/BoxofIdeas_PearlHarbor.jpg" width="210" /></a></div>
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A
Box of I.D.E.As. (Ideally Dynamic Enrichment Activities) contains ten
or more modules that supplement learning on a given subject or provide
an interesting journey into usual topics.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Each module contains quick, fun activities that allow your student to dive deeper into the subject being explored.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At the end of the Box, a student will have created a small portfolio of projects representing what he/she has learned.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Additional links are provided with each module for further exploration.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> For older students you can take advantage of the </span>SAT style test (included in each box) to determine if your child has mastered the information.</div>
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<a href="http://www.boxofideas.us/home.php" target="_blank">Box of Ideas</a> modules can be taken and used anywhere: in the car, at the doctor’s office, waiting for a sibling to finish an activity, etc.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My family was able to review <a href="http://www.boxofideas.us/World-War-Two-Pearl-Harbor.html" target="_blank">World War Two: Pearl Harbor</a> in PDF form.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> I used this comprehensive module with my 3 oldest children (ages 13, 12 and 10). We haven't studied WWII yet in their schooling but this was a fun and easy way to begin! I couldn't believe the amount of information available in this kit. Not only was it extremely thorough but the instructions were very user friendly and the kids' loved all of the graphics. </span></div>
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This <i>Box of Ideas</i> was broken down into these categories regarding Pearl Harbor:</div>
<ul>
<li>Before becoming a naval base</li>
<li>Beginning of a naval presence</li>
<li>Weeks before the attack</li>
<li>Day of infamy</li>
<li>Day after the attack</li>
<li>Weeks after the attack</li>
<li>Six months after the attack</li>
<li>A year after the attack</li>
<li>Four years after the attack </li>
<li>Decades after the attack</li>
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Each category began by explaining the contents of that particular module, what we'd be working on and what I needed to prepare (copies of certain sheets or cutting that needed to be done beforehand). After the directions on the prep work, the module began with instruction and references. There were colorful pictures that corresponded with the information given. Each module was, on average, 7-10 pages long. I was very pleased at how comprehensive this was and what my older children learned (and remembered!).<br />
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No program would be complete without grading sheets! The answer keys were broken down by each module and then for the final test at the end. <br />
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There are other Box of Idea versions available, check out the <a href="http://www.boxofideas.us/home.php" target="_blank">website</a> to see which one you'd like to try first!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>PDF versions cost $49.00 while a physical box costs $79.00.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Extra modules can be ordered for $4.00.</div>
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Box
of I.D.E.As. can be used for students of multiple ages allowing a
homeschooling parent the opportunity to engage all students at
once.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The age range recommended is 9-16.
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To see what my fellow Crew Mates had to say about <a href="http://www.boxofideas.us/home.php" target="_blank">Box of Ideas</a> visit the <a href="http://schoolhousereviewcrew.com/786447/" target="_blank">Homeschool Crew Blog</a> to read more.
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**Disclosure: My review and opinion written in this post is entirely my
own. This product was provided to me for free in exchange for my review
as a member of the 2012 The Old Schoolhouse Magazine Homeschool
Crew.
Becky Gustafsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07590074918209912396noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28764329.post-30134965992797790092012-10-01T09:16:00.000-05:002012-10-01T09:19:11.397-05:00Music Together--TOS Review<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://s1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/Music%20Together/?action=view&current=music-logo.gif" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" height="37" src="http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/Music%20Together/music-logo.gif" width="400" /> </a></div>
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Anything music related usually gets our attention in a QUICK HURRY! This has been such a fun review for us. The very first thing I did was pop the CD in the player in the car on the way to an appointment. My older children weren't so sure about what I was about to present them but by the time we were on song #2, they were captivated. :)<br />
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We really enjoyed the entire CD but our favorite songs were:<br />
<ul>
<li>Playin in the Kitchen</li>
<li>Mississippi Cats</li>
<li>Obwisana</li>
<li>Goin' for Coffee (Mama's favorite!)</li>
<li>I've Been Working on the Railroad (a super awesome version of an older song!) </li>
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The book has semi-glossy pages and begins immediately with a breakdown of describing every aspect you would need to know such as:<br />
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<li>The Music Together teaching principles</li>
<li>The types of songs and activities in the book</li>
<li>How to work with instruments and props</li>
<li>How to work with children with special needs</li>
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The songs are then broken down by title and specific examples are given on how to create movement in conjunction with the song playing. For example, one of our favorites was <i>Playin' in the Kitchen. </i>I was able to find the sheet music for the song (although I'll never be able to play it myself!), directions on collecting ordinary kitchen items to use as instruments and then specific examples on working with preschoolers, older children and children with special needs.<br />
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The Music Together CD is award winning! Look at all the awards it has gotten:<br />
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<li>A Parents’ Choice Silver Honor Award</li>
<li>Earlychildhood News Directors’ Choice</li>
<li>Earlychildhood News Judges’ Selection</li>
<li>National Parenting Center Seal of Approval</li>
<li>NAPPA Gold Award</li>
<li>iParenting Media Award
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<li><i>Learning®</i>Magazine 2008 Teacher’s Choice<br /> for the Family</li>
<li><i>Creative Child</i> Magazine Preferred Choice</li>
<li>Children's Music Web Award</li>
<li>Mom's Choice Gold Award</li>
<li>Parent-Tested Parent-Approved Award </li>
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Music Together is an internationally recognized early childhood music
and movement program for children from birth through age 7. They offer classes in locations across the United States
and in more than 40 overseas countries. They also have an online store
that sells instruments for preschoolers (shakers, drums, etc), CDs and
teaching materials. <br />
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This vender has offered you some <b>cool</b> opportunities! If you would like to listen to the songs on the "Family Favorites" CD, you can preview them <a href="http://store.musictogether.com/family-favorites-download-info.php" target="_blank">HERE</a>. You will also have the option to buy the songs individually (for $0.99 each), the entire CD (for $14.95) or the MP3 version (for $9.99).<br />
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Another awesome option you can take advantage of is that if you order the Songbook and CD combo (instead of buying separately) you can save $5. If you enter the coupon code "<b>Schoolhouse</b>" at check-out when you're in the <a href="http://store.musictogether.com/index.php" target="_blank">store</a>, you can save $2 more! Here's a quick way to go <a href="http://store.musictogether.com/MTFFSBTeachers.php" target="_blank">directly to the songbook and CD</a>. <br />
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To see what my fellow Crew Mates had to say about <a href="http://www.musictogether.com/Home" target="_blank">Music Together</a>, visit the <a href="http://schoolhousereviewcrew.com/786433/" target="_blank">Homeschool Crew Blog</a> to read more.
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**Disclosure: My review and opinion written in this post is entirely my
own. This product was provided to me for free in exchange for my review
as a member of the 2012 The Old Schoolhouse Magazine Homeschool
Crew.
Becky Gustafsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07590074918209912396noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28764329.post-76189848137018076622012-09-24T07:24:00.003-05:002012-09-24T07:24:48.028-05:00A Cry from Egypt-- TOS Review<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://s1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/Raising%20Real%20Men/?action=view&current=GreatWatersPress.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" height="100" src="http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/Raising%20Real%20Men/GreatWatersPress.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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My eyes lit up when I first saw this review! Being a mom to boys always has me on the search for Godly resources to help guide me in raising them. <a href="http://www.raisingrealmen.com/" target="_blank">Great Waters Press</a>, which published the practical guide to <em><a href="http://www.raisingrealmen.com/" target="_blank">Raising Real Men</a> </em>by
Hal and Melanie Young, has two new books coming out. We were able to review the "physical" copy of <i>A Cry from Egypt </i>(it was also available to review in PDF form). <br />
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<a href="http://s1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/Raising%20Real%20Men/?action=view&current=ACryFromEgypt.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" height="320" src="http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/Raising%20Real%20Men/ACryFromEgypt.jpg" width="212" /></a></div>
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A Cry from Egypt was written by Hope Auer and illustrated by Mike Slaton, both recent homeschool
graduates. Hope Auer has been writing stories and plays
since she was very young. She began writing <em>A Cry From Egypt</em>,
the first book in The Promised Land Series, as a school assignment when
she was only thirteen and her family was studying ancient Egypt! This
historical fiction book deals with the period before the Exodus, when
the Israelites were still in slavery.<br />
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The book is for children age 8 and above. My 10 year old son read it and LOVED it! The book itself wasn't so big that my son was intimidated by it. It was easy for him to read (and understand) and really did a great job in giving a clear picture of life in the day of the Israelites during that time.<br />
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One of my favorite parts of the book was the Research section at the end. The research section had notes and websites further explaining things discussed in the book. For example, the author addresses points such as the possibility of two Pharaohs: Rameses the VII and Rameses the VIII. She gives websites that give examples of what Egyptian clothing would look like as well as Hebrew clothing (a picture truly is worth a thousand words!). There were many sites to peruse regarding architecture. She points out that the grand pyramids that everyone thinks of when one thinks about Egypt are in a completely different city. The Israelites depicted in this story were not the ones working on building those pyramids.<br />
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This book is being published by Hal and Melanie Young of <a href="http://www.raisingrealmen.com/" target="_blank">www.RaisingRealMen.com</a>. You can find <i>A Cry from Egypt</i> for purchase at the cost of $12.50 <a href="http://acryfromegypt.com/store/" target="_blank">here</a>. <br />
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To see what my fellow Crew Mates had to say about <a href="http://www.raisingrealmen.com/" target="_blank">Great Water Press</a> resources, visit the <a href="http://schoolhousereviewcrew.com/786375/" target="_blank">Homeschool Crew Blog</a> to read more.
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**Disclosure: My review and opinion written in this post is entirely my
own. This product was provided to me for free in exchange for my review
as a member of the 2012 The Old Schoolhouse Magazine Homeschool
Crew.
Becky Gustafsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07590074918209912396noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28764329.post-13813854279422567652012-09-14T09:50:00.002-05:002012-09-14T09:51:00.837-05:00Speekee TV~TOS Review<br />
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I was SO EXCITED to have bee chosen for this review! My younger kiddos love to watch Dora the Explorer and try to learn the Spanish so I was all about reviewing this course to its fullest! <a href="http://www.speekee.com/">Speekee</a> uses children
filmed on location in Spain with puppets to teach Spanish (in an
immersion approach). Each video has a theme (e.g. El Cafe, El Zoo,
etc.) with consistency in format. This repetition within each program
helps the kids to learn key words and phrases in a fun way.<br />
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We found this course to be fun and engaging, my girls giggled through the videos as they worked hard to pronounce and repeat the words and phrases. It amazed me at how they focused on something that I thought they might not understand. That was not the case. They were able to get clues from the themes and how the "lessons" were taught. They came away with WAY more knowledge than I ever thought they would! <br />
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The target ages for <a href="http://www.speekee.co.uk/" target="_blank">this course</a> is toddler through elementary grades, I reviewed it with my 6 year old and my 4 year old daughters.
Speekee TV provides you with access to the videos, and something called Speekee
FastTrack which lays out an easy to follow plan over the course of 40 weeks. Each
week has suggested activities with corresponding video clips,
worksheets and other resources. They also supply vocabulary flashcards
by episode for review with your child.<br />
<br />
I used the worksheets and vocabulary flashcards with only my 6 year old. She was able to follow the content this way and it really helped reinforce what she had previously learned. <br />
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<a href="http://www.speekee.com/online.php">Subscribing to Speekee TV</a>
is easy. They give you 2 weeks free to try it out and then charge just
$7.50 per month for your subscription through PayPal. Or if you prefer,
you can pre-pay for one year at $60. Take a risk-free look and see what you think! We'll be continuing with this throughout our school year, I love using fun resources that engage my children during the learning process! :)<br />
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To see what my fellow Crew Mates had to say about <a href="http://www.speekee.co.uk/" target="_blank">Speekee TV</a>,<a href="http://www.math911.com/" target="_blank"></a> visit the <a href="http://schoolhousereviewcrew.com/786321/" target="_blank">Homeschool Crew Blog</a> to read more.
</div>
<br />
**Disclosure: My review and opinion written in this post is entirely my
own. This product was provided to me for free in exchange for my review
as a member of the 2012 The Old Schoolhouse Magazine Homeschool
Crew.
Becky Gustafsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07590074918209912396noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28764329.post-40437828182444323622012-09-12T08:40:00.002-05:002012-09-12T08:40:47.647-05:00Math 911--TOS Review<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://s1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/Math/Math911/?action=view&current=math911logo.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" height="230" src="http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/Math/Math911/math911logo.jpg" width="400" /> </a></div>
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Professor Martin Weissman has been teaching Math for 50 years. He created the <a href="http://www.math911.com/" target="_blank">Math 911</a> software because he is passionate about the subject and wants to help students overcome their
fear of Mathematics (and to master it). Throughout his years of teaching, he
felt that students needed fewer explanatory textbooks and more
illustrative examples to help them understand how to do higher math
problems. Because of this need, he decided to develop the <a href="http://math911.com/">Math911</a> tutorial software. </div>
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<a href="http://s1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/Math/Math911/?action=view&current=math911disclaimer.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" height="114" src="http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/Math/Math911/math911disclaimer.jpg" width="320" /> </a></div>
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<a href="http://math911.com/">Math911</a> is set up in the form of a tutorial and
generates problems for students to solve in the following courses: Introductory Algebra,
Intermediate Algebra, College Algebra, Statistics, Trigonometry, and
Pre-Calculus. We're barely at the introduction to algebra level with my oldest child but we gave this software a shot (and to keep in mind for the future). After registering the software we were able to get access to the program. There are no frills, it is a very simple program but very straight forward to use. We chose the Intro to Algebra level to begin, below are the topics we started with for Pre-Algebra review:</div>
<ul>
<li>Introduction to integers</li>
<li>Addition and subtraction of integers</li>
<li>Multiplication and division of integers</li>
<li>Exponents and order of operations</li>
<li>Factoring number and prime factorization</li>
<li>Addition and subtraction of rational numbers</li>
<li>Multiplication and division of rational numbers.</li>
</ul>
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<a href="http://s1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/Math/Math911/?action=view&current=math911Prof.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" height="197" src="http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/Math/Math911/math911Prof.jpg" width="320" /> </a></div>
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There are 8 levels to complete under each category as well as 2 midterms and 2 finals spaced throughout the tutorial. No questions are ever marked wrong however there are a certain number of problems that need to be “correct” to prove mastery and move to the next level. If the
student does not understand how to do the problem, he may click on a
button for step-by-step instructions to see the problem being solved.
He may follow these step-by-step instructions for as many problems as
necessary to understand the process. Professor Weissman wanted to give
students practice, practice, practice in all types and variations of
problems. </div>
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It was easy (and quick) to download this software off <a href="http://www.math911.com/" target="_blank">the site</a> and because we were working in Pre-Algebra, there were also free PDF downloads with some explanations of how to do the problems.</div>
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To see what my fellow Crew Mates had to say about <a href="http://www.math911.com/" target="_blank">Math 911</a> visit the <a href="http://schoolhousereviewcrew.com/786316/" target="_blank">Homeschool Crew Blog</a> to read more.
</div>
<br />
**Disclosure: My review and opinion written in this post is entirely my
own. This product was provided to me for free in exchange for my review
as a member of the 2012 The Old Schoolhouse Magazine Homeschool
Crew.
Becky Gustafsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07590074918209912396noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28764329.post-60560304255015146532012-09-07T08:27:00.005-05:002012-09-07T08:36:02.347-05:00Reading Kingdom--TOS Review<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.readingkingdom.com/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" height="64" src="http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/Reading%20Kingdom/Reading-Kingdom-Header-980.gif" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://www.readingkingdom.com/" target="_blank">Reading Kingdom</a> is an online program designed to teach children ages 4-10 years old how to read and
write (to a third grade level). This is an interactive reading program and you can customize it based on each child's needs. I found it very easy to use and because it
is so fun, children feel as if they are playing a game and are eager to
practice. My daughter loved this as a way to get more computer time; I didn't mind because I know this program was helping her have fun and get better at reading!<br />
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<a href="http://www.readingkingdom.com/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" height="320" src="http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/Reading%20Kingdom/311561_449181028440362_2088237344_n.jpg" width="320" /> </a></div>
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This program isn't your every-day-run-of-the-mill reading program! I found it uniquely different in the way it brings in elements of phonics (and whole
language) and added in other skills needed to achieve reading and
writing success. There weren't a bunch of
complicated rules to work through; we noticed the use of something called the "six skills method." This method focuses on sequencing, motor skills, phonemic awareness, meaning,
grammar, and reading comprehension. This reading enhancement program works with any
curriculum and can used in any homeschool, preschool –
3rd grade classrooms, ESL programs, and special education classes.</div>
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Below is an example of the 6 skills method and the areas covered in this reading method:</div>
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<a href="http://s1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/Reading%20Kingdom/?action=view&current=6_Skills_550_checks.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" height="95" src="http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/Reading%20Kingdom/6_Skills_550_checks.png" width="400" /> </a></div>
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I found this program to be comprehensive in what it had to offer, definitely worth its weight in gold! In the <a href="http://www.readingkingdom.com/" target="_blank">Reading Kingdom</a> program, you can expect:</div>
<ul>
<li>Easy to use… after a few lessons, children can often use entirely on their own.</li>
<li>Customized to match each child’s skill level</li>
<li>Major emphasis is placed on accurate spelling, punctuation, and writing</li>
<li>No boring, difficult rule memorization! The system teaches rules implicitly.</li>
<li>Designed to minimize error</li>
<li>When error occurs, specific techniques are offered to overcome the problem</li>
<li>Regularly checks child’s progress</li>
<li>Children progress quickly with sessions only 15-30 minutes in length</li>
<li>A parent/teacher report is always available when you log into the program</li>
</ul>
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<a href="http://s1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/Reading%20Kingdom/?action=view&current=RK_logo_book_200.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" height="346" src="http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/Reading%20Kingdom/RK_logo_book_200.png" width="400" /> </a></div>
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My daughter especially liked the graphics used throughout the program, she was always engaged and never lost interest! I smiled because I new she was learning and having fun at the same time. One of the things she does is try to look at pictures and determine what is said in the sentence based on what the picture looks like. You can see in the screenshot below that the sentence doesn't say a thing about bowling. My daughter learned very quickly to go right to the sentence instead of trying to evaluate the picture instead. :)</div>
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<a href="http://s1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/Reading%20Kingdom/?action=view&current=Assessment_reading.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" height="300" src="http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/Reading%20Kingdom/Assessment_reading.png" width="400" /> </a></div>
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I consider this program to be risk-free because you have the ability to create an account and use the program (at no charge) for 30 days. You can see if you like it and if it would work for your family. If so, you can buy a <b><a href="https://www.readingkingdom.com/store/">subscription</a></b> for $19.99/mo or $199.99/yr for your first reader/child.
Additional readers are $9.99/mo or $99.99/yr. Also, if you are interested, additional books, kits,
and resources are available in the <b><a href="http://www.readingkingdom.com/store/">Reading Kingdom Store</a></b>.</div>
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Overall, we found this program to be a win-win for our family! </div>
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To see what my fellow Crew Mates had to say about <a href="http://www.readingkingdom.com/" target="_blank">Reading Kingdom</a> visit the <a href="http://schoolhousereviewcrew.com/786262/" target="_blank">Homeschool Crew Blog</a> to read more.
</div>
<br />
**Disclosure: My review and opinion written in this post is entirely my
own. This product was provided to me for free in exchange for my review
as a member of the 2012 The Old Schoolhouse Magazine Homeschool
Crew.
Becky Gustafsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07590074918209912396noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28764329.post-46715341725969169072012-08-31T10:43:00.000-05:002012-08-31T10:47:18.353-05:00Golden Prairie Press--TOS Review<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://s1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/History/Golden%20Prairie%20Press%20-Amy%20Puetz/?action=view&current=logo.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/History/Golden%20Prairie%20Press%20-Amy%20Puetz/logo.jpg" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://www.amypuetz.com/" target="_blank">Golden Prairie Press</a> is an online business started by Amy Puetz. Her first book was a historical costume book and then later she wrote other historical
books with a Christian worldview. Amy Puez, the author, enjoys telling stories of people who impacted their generation.<br />
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<a href="http://s1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/History/Golden%20Prairie%20Press%20-Amy%20Puetz/?action=view&current=AmyPuetz.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/History/Golden%20Prairie%20Press%20-Amy%20Puetz/AmyPuetz.jpg" /></a></div>
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Amy Puetz is a homeschool graduate who loves history. Here's a little background written by Amy herself: "When I was a teenager if anyone had told me that one day I would write
books I would have laughed in their face. Me a writer? You’ve got to be
kidding! But sometime God opens up a door that we would never have
imagined going through on our own. That’s what happened to me in
writing. My ambition was to be an archeologist but during my high school
years I began experiencing unbearable fatigue and pain. As I approached
graduation I realized that I needed to rethink my plans for the future.
The Lord led me to take a correspondence course to become a computer
graphic designer. After completing the course I was hit with a most
sensational idea--write a historical costume book! This book combined
several of my passions--history, sewing, designing, and photography.
Since then I’ve built up a business selling historical items and writing
historical books." <br />
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<a href="http://amypuetz.com/store/ten-girls-from-history-ebook-p-36.html%20%20" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/History/Golden%20Prairie%20Press%20-Amy%20Puetz/TenGirlsHistory.jpg" /></a></div>
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We were able to review <i><a href="http://amypuetz.com/store/ten-girls-from-history-ebook-p-36.html%20%20" target="_blank">Ten girls From History</a> </i>e-book<i> </i>and I have to say that my 12 year old, history loving, love-to-read daughter absolutely adored this book! This book was written in a way that is very engaging for the reader and captivates the audience while going through the accounts of ten, brave girls throughout history. When previewing this book for my daughter, I immediately noticed that I'd only heard of a few of these girls or remembered their stories. That fact alone made me very aware that I didn't love history when I was in school. My own curiosity was peaked so I read this e-book as well as my daughter. We were both captivated by the stories, the way it was written kept us coming back for more. <br />
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<b>See if you recognize any of these girls from history:</b><br />
<ol>
<li>Cofachiqui</li>
<li>Madeleine De Vercheres</li>
<li>Dorothy Quincy</li>
<li>Molly Pitcher</li>
<li>Elizabeth Van Lew</li>
<li>Ida Lewis</li>
<li>Clara Barton</li>
<li>Virginia Reed</li>
<li>Louisa May Alcott</li>
<li>Clara Morris</li>
</ol>
For any girl who loves history, I highly recommend this book. I also recommend it for people like me...I <i>didn't</i> enjoy history in school, therefore I'm curious about the things I missed out on. This was an intriguing (and informative) read! <br />
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<a href="http://s1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/History/Golden%20Prairie%20Press%20-Amy%20Puetz/?action=view&current=BacktoSchoolSale.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" height="220" src="http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/History/Golden%20Prairie%20Press%20-Amy%20Puetz/BacktoSchoolSale.jpg" width="400" /> </a></div>
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If any (or ALL!) of these books look interesting to you, you can still get in on the back-to-school sale. Be sure to go over to <a href="http://www.amypuetz.com/" target="_blank">Golden Prairie Press</a> by tomorrow (9/1/12) and take advantage of the sale prices. </div>
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To see what my fellow Crew Mates had to say about <a href="http://amypuetz.com/" target="_blank">Golden Prairie Press</a> visit the <a href="http://schoolhousereviewcrew.com/786199/" target="_blank">Homeschool Crew Blog</a> to read more.
</div>
<br />
**Disclosure: My review and opinion written in this post is entirely my
own. This product was provided to me for free in exchange for my review
as a member of the 2012 The Old Schoolhouse Magazine Homeschool
Crew.
Becky Gustafsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07590074918209912396noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28764329.post-47306920599405929312012-08-22T23:21:00.003-05:002012-08-22T23:22:27.807-05:00Apologia, I Don't Have Enough Faith To Be An Athiest--TOS Review<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://s1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/Bible/?action=view&current=logogif.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" height="107" src="http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/Bible/logogif.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<a href="http://www.apologia.com/" target="_blank">Apologia</a> is a familiar name to most homeschooling families. I personally enjoy their curriculum because their science and worldview curriculum are written from a Christian perspective. I was able to review their newest product, <i><a href="https://apologia.securesites.net/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=12&products_id=220" target="_blank">I Don't Have Enough Faith To Be An Atheist</a>. </i>This book can be used as a curriculum for high school but I reviewed it personally as an "adult student." You can read a sample of the book <a href="https://apologia.securesites.net/pdfs/sample/334.pdf" target="_blank">here</a> to determine the voice in which it's written.<br />
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<a href="http://s1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/Bible/?action=view&current=IDHEFtbaA.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" height="320" src="http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/Bible/IDHEFtbaA.jpg" width="207" /> </a></div>
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Here's a little background on the authors (taken from the <a href="https://apologia.securesites.net/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=12&products_id=220" target="_blank">website</a>):<br />
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"Norman Geisler and Frank Turek (the authors) argue that Christianity is not only more reasonable than all other belief systems, but is indeed more rational than unbelief itself. With conviction and clear thinking, Geisler and Turek guide readers through some of the traditional, tested arguments for the existence of a creator God. They move into an examination of the source of morality and the reliability of the New Testament accounts concerning Jesus. The final section of the book deals with a detailed investigation of the claims of Christ. This volume will be an interesting read for those skeptical about Christianity, as well as a helpful resource for Christians seeking to articulate a more sophisticated defense of their faith." </div>
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I found this to be a fascinating read. I was a bit skeptical and unsure at first on what to expect, mostly because of the title. But, I learned long ago not to judge a book by its cover. The topics in this book discussed questions or uncertainties I've had for many years. Even though I grew up going to church, the older I got the more questions I seemed to have about my own personal faith and why I believed the things I said I believed. </div>
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If your curious about this book and if it's right for you and your family, check out the <a href="https://apologia.securesites.net/pdfs/TOC/334.pdf" target="_blank">Table of Contents</a>. I really did enjoy the book in it's entirety but the chapters "Why Should Anyone Believe Anything At All" and "The Top 10 Reasons We Know The New Testament Writers Told The Truth" were my favorites. I feel these topics (among others discussed) have helped me to to become more confident in how I approach and talk to non-Christians.<br />
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<a href="http://s1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/Bible/?action=view&current=IDHEFtbaAimage.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" height="200" src="http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/Bible/IDHEFtbaAimage.jpg" width="320" /> </a></div>
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Along with the book to review, I also received a <a href="https://apologia.securesites.net/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=12&products_id=222" target="_blank">workbook companion</a>. This is where things became a curriculum and not just a good book to add to one's collection. The workbook is extremely comprehensive in nature and made each chapter "sink in" at a deeper level. </div>
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<a href="http://s1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/Bible/?action=view&current=workbookfaith.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" height="320" src="http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/Bible/workbookfaith.jpg" width="246" /> </a></div>
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The sections involved in working through each chapter include examples such as: key topics, key terms used, questions that grab your mind, famous people in Christian history, and much more. When using this as a course, you or your student will "tackle the question of absolute
truth, demolish the follies of postmodernism, debunk moral relativism,
and march logically and surely toward the inescapable truths of the
Christian faith."</div>
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The <a href="https://apologia.securesites.net/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=12&products_id=220" target="_blank">book</a> costs $16.00, and the <a href="https://apologia.securesites.net/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=12&products_id=222" target="_blank">workbook</a> costs $33.00. This set seems to be a popular item (I can see why!) so be sure to check back if you find it unavailable. </div>
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To see what my fellow Crew Mates had to say about <i>Apologia</i>, <i>I Don't Have Enough Faith To Be An Athiest</i> visit the <a href="http://schoolhousereviewcrew.com/786165/" target="_blank">Homeschool Crew Blog</a> to read more.
</div>
<br />
**Disclosure: My review and opinion written in this post is entirely my
own. This product was provided to me for free in exchange for my review
as a member of the 2012 The Old Schoolhouse Magazine Homeschool
Crew.
Becky Gustafsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07590074918209912396noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28764329.post-32164195090317432602012-08-20T09:23:00.002-05:002012-08-20T09:27:55.710-05:00Vocabulary Spelling City--TOS Review<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://s1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/Spelling/Spelling%20City/?action=view&current=logo-VSCsm.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/Spelling/Spelling%20City/logo-VSCsm.jpg" /> </a></div>
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<a href="http://www.spellingcity.com/">Vocabulary SpellingCITY.com</a>
is an interactive game-based website that will help your Elementary,
Middle, and High School Student with their Vocabulary, Spelling,
Writing, Parts of Speech, Handwriting, Alphabetical Order. I was all about this review, the kids on the other hand weren't so sure. Even though they were skeptical, they actually enjoyed using this program. Anything to help in this area and make it fun is a huge bonus for this family!</div>
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The creators of <a href="http://www.spellingcity.com/">Vocabulary SpellingCITY.com </a>offered us a one year premium membership to use in our homeschool for the review. I'm super grateful for this because now we can continue on and use this throughout our school year. I have 2 kiddos who have had a hard time with alphabetical order so I'm excited to continually use this resource. Another child has a hard time with the parts of speech and yet another child despises handwriting. I think<b> Vocabulary SpellingCITY</b> was made for us! <br />
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Another thing I enjoyed in this program were the <a href="http://www.spellingcity.com/training-videos-faq.html" target="_blank">training videos</a>. These videos help to explain things in a video format, this is customer service at its finest. Talk about user friendly! <br />
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<a href="http://s1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/Spelling/Spelling%20City/?action=view&current=vsc_sm.gif" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><br /></a></div>
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<a href="http://s1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/Spelling/Spelling%20City/?action=view&current=VSClogo110.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" height="200" src="http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/Spelling/Spelling%20City/VSClogo110.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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Visit the <a href="http://www.spellingcity.com/pm-overview.html" target="_blank">Vocabulary SpellingCITY website</a> for information on Classroom or School pricing. Premium Memberships for homeschooling families is available for $29.99 a
year and can be used for up to 5 children.<br />
<br />
To see what my fellow Crew Mates had to say about <i>Vocabulary Spelling City</i>, visit the <a href="http://schoolhousereviewcrew.com/786136/" target="_blank">Homeschool Crew Blog</a> to read more.
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<br />
**Disclosure: My review and opinion written in this post is entirely my
own. This product was provided to me for free in exchange for my review
as a member of the 2012 The Old Schoolhouse Magazine Homeschool
Crew.
Becky Gustafsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07590074918209912396noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28764329.post-83723929668666411832012-08-17T10:58:00.003-05:002012-08-17T12:02:05.006-05:00Vocab Videos--TOS Review<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://s1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/Vocab%20Videos/?action=view&current=vocabvideos.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" height="132" src="http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/Vocab%20Videos/vocabvideos.png" width="400" /> </a></div>
Vocab Videos uses short videos to
illustrate the meanings of 500 high value, frequently tested (SAT, ACT
and junior high/high school) vocabulary words. In addition to <i>vocabulary
videos</i> featuring entertaining characters and outrageous plot lines, the
website also has extensive review material found in the form of <i>digital quizzes </i>(as well as other forms explained below).<br />
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<div class="MsoNormal">
We were set up with the<a href="https://vocabvideos.com/educator-registration.html"> Small Educators Subscription</a>
to review, this
subscription offered us the ability to monitor student progress,
access all videos and study material, and the ability to create
individual student accounts. Our teacher's account allowed me to register my kiddos for their own individual <i>Vocab Videos</i> accounts, I was able to monitor their progress by viewing the student quiz scores and
completed worksheets. Below is an example of the teacher's dashboard:</div>
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<a href="http://s1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/Vocab%20Videos/?action=view&current=teacher-dash-smaller.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" height="258" src="http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/Vocab%20Videos/teacher-dash-smaller.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://vocabvideos.com/how-it-works.html">Vocab Videos</a> also uses a<i> flashcard maker</i> and <i>digital worksheets</i> to enhance sentence writing and practice the use of synonyms and mnemonics. <i>Crossword puzzles</i>, an <i>extensive glossary</i> and <i>teacher tracking tools</i> all combine to further student success. Below is an example of a flashcard you might see when using this program:<br />
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<a href="http://s1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/Vocab%20Videos/?action=view&current=flashcard.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" height="214" src="http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/Vocab%20Videos/flashcard.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Student Subscriptions are available in 6-month and 12-month subscriptions. <i><b>If you were to purchase a yearly subscription it is available for
$74.99. </b></i> A <a href="https://www.vocabvideos.com/get-started.html" target="_blank">single student subscription</a> is available for $39.99 a year. Please visit the <a href="https://vocabvideos.com/get-started.html">VocabVideos.com</a> for more information and details. Vocab Videos offers a <a href="https://vocabvideos.com/educator-registration.html">one month free trial </a>so be sure to check that out.<br />
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One thing that didn't work well for our family was the content of the videos. While the information and form was good (and made sense), we had a hard time with phrases used such as "Oh my God" and "Oh God" when the actors were playing out the scene. Also in the videos that showcased co-workers and their interaction with a female co-worker, we found to be inappropriate according to our family's belief system. The men were "eyeing up" the female co-worker and calling her "fine." We are trying to raise our children with Godly character traits and we found these videos to not portray such traits. After watching a few and allowing my older children to see some "tamed down" videos to get the point across of how this program was designed, we stopped watching the videos and focused on the other things within the program. <br />
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To see what my fellow Crew Mates had to say about <i>Vocab Videos</i>, visit the <a href="http://schoolhousereviewcrew.com/786133/" target="_blank">Homeschool Crew Blog</a> to read more.
<br />
<br />
**Disclosure: My review and opinion written in this post is entirely my
own. This product was provided to me for free in exchange for my review
as a member of the 2012 The Old Schoolhouse Magazine Homeschool
Crew.
Becky Gustafsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07590074918209912396noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28764329.post-44516159489079845722012-08-15T07:29:00.000-05:002012-08-15T07:29:47.033-05:00Thomas Jefferson Education--TOS Review<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="http://www.tjed.org/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" height="47" src="http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/History/logo.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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We were able to review A Thomas Jefferson Education, an amazing and comprehensive resource! <a href="http://www.tjed.org/">A Thomas Jefferson Education</a> wants
you, the parent, to experience the joy of helping each student discover,
develop and polish his/her genius. This is the essence and very
definition of great education.<br />
A Thomas Jefferson Education encourages parents to apply the 7 keys of Teaching:<br />
<ol>
<li style="text-align: center;">Classics, Not Textbooks</li>
<li style="text-align: center;">Mentors, Not Professors</li>
<li style="text-align: center;">Inspire, Not Require</li>
<li style="text-align: center;">Structure Time, Not Content</li>
<li style="text-align: center;">Simplicity, Not Complexity</li>
<li style="text-align: center;">Quality, Not Conformity</li>
<li style="text-align: center;">You, Not Them</li>
</ol>
to help you educate your children to their fullest potential. To read more about the 7 Keys to Great Teaching, <a href="http://www.tjed.org/about-tjed/7-keys/">click here.</a> Getting to know the ins and out of this resource honestly blew me away. I was amazed at what was offered. The website not only gave me tons of background on the founders but also what I needed to do to get started and work my way around the site. <br />
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<a href="http://www.tjed.org/twih/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" height="94" src="http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/History/TWIH-banner.jpg" width="400" /> </a></div>
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<a href="http://www.tjed.org/twih/" target="_blank">This Week In History</a>, the
Thomas Jefferson Education’s subscription program (one of my favorite features!), delivers new lessons
to your email inbox each week. Each week full of pictures, links and
videos to help you educate your child to their full potential. The
program costs $9.99 a month and delivers the following benefits to you
the homeschooling parent:<br />
<ul>
<li>relieves fear, stress and burnout</li>
<li>energizes your kid-school</li>
<li>fills in the gaps</li>
<li>cultivates cultural literacy</li>
<li>facilitates state or provincial compliance</li>
<li>correlates resources for co-ops, classrooms and family learning</li>
<li>harnesses the power of technology in a classical leadership education</li>
<li>harmonizes with Unschooling, Charlotte Mason, Montessori, Trivium/Quadrivium, IEW, eclectic, etc.</li>
<li>delivers new ideas and areas of learning to you and your child</li>
<li>instigates discussions and projects that expand wisdom and understanding</li>
<li>connects the subject areas–from music to math, from geography to world religions, from hobbies to science projects, etc.</li>
<li>motivates you and your students to greater excellence</li>
</ul>
This Week In History was one of my favorite features, by far! The two words that come to mind are comprehensive and FUN! As an example of this week in history (August 9-15, 2012), the construction of the Leaning Tower of Pisa began in the year 1173. The site gave me pictures, background information, resource links to learn more about the Tower, activity ideas and suggestions for writing and discussion. All of the work was done for me and left my family with FUN and time to explore! More dates/facts were given for this week, each one complete with pictures, background information and lists of resources.<br />
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The cost of the program may seem a bit steep but from what we've used during this review period, it is WORTH EVERY PENNY! I am pleased to say we will be incorporating this resource into our school year this year. Thank you <b>Thomas Jefferson Education</b> for helping me to make learning fun in our homeschool!<br />
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<a href="http://www.tjed.org/twih/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" height="301" src="http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/History/TWIH-badge.jpg" width="320" /> </a></div>
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To view a sample week <a href="http://www.tjed.org/twih/sample/">click here.</a> To see what my fellow Crew Mates had to say about <i>Thomas Jefferson Education</i>, visit the <a href="http://schoolhousereviewcrew.com/786118/" target="_blank">Homeschool Crew Blog</a> to read more.</div>
<br />
**Disclosure: My review and opinion written in this post is entirely my
own. This product was provided to me for free in exchange for my review
as a member of the 2011-2012 The Old Schoolhouse Magazine Homeschool
Crew.
Becky Gustafsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07590074918209912396noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28764329.post-85725318487950344952012-08-13T10:37:00.002-05:002012-08-13T10:41:00.043-05:00Math Made Easy--TOS Review<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="http://mathmadeeasy.org/homeschool.html" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" height="190" src="http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/Math%20Made%20Easy/MathMadeEasy.jpg" width="320" /> </a></div>
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<a href="http://mathmadeeasy.org/homeschool.html" target="_blank">Math Made Easy</a>
is a simple workbook set designed to help your kids master the basics
of addition, without using their fingers, in just six
short weeks. We reviewed the addition package and it's primarily for children in the 1st-2nd grade
range (but has been used with successfully with some kindergartners and
special needs kids of various ages).</div>
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<a href="http://mathmadeeasy.org/homeschool.html" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" height="320" src="http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/Math%20Made%20Easy/MME_AdditionCover-1.jpg" width="249" /> </a></div>
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Each <a href="http://mathmadeeasy.org/homeschool.html" target="_blank">set sells for $24.95</a> and the addition book includes the following: <br />
<ul>
<li>Philosophy</li>
<li>Lesson Plans</li>
<li>Pre and Post Tests</li>
<li>Zeroes and Ones</li>
<li>Addition Table</li>
<li>Weekly Guide Sheet </li>
<li>Six Weeks of Daily Activity Sheets</li>
<li>Addition Reviews</li>
<li>Games</li>
<li>Flash Cards</li>
</ul>
The activities in this book are fun and like a "project" My 1st grader is all about projects so she didn't mind doing these math worksheets at all! Each week included addition drills, matching up the question with the correct answer, coloring sheets (after finding the answer, the correct color was indicated). There were cut and paste puzzle type activities and "break the code" type activities. This book was the perfect level for my first grader and she enjoyed every day's activity.<br />
<br />
The back of the book provided the games (printed on cardstock) as well as the flash cards. We had fun "laminating" these with contact paper so they would stay in good shape for the next child. Everything was presented in a simple yet effective way, we REALLY enjoyed using <a href="http://mathmadeeasy.org/homeschool.html" target="_blank">Math Made Easy</a>!<br />
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To see what my fellow Crew Mates had to say about <i>Math Made Easy</i>, visit the <a href="http://schoolhousereviewcrew.com/786093/" target="_blank">Homeschool Crew Blog</a> to read more.</div>
<br />
**Disclosure: My review and opinion written in this post is entirely my
own. This product was provided to me for free in exchange for my review
as a member of the 2011-2012 The Old Schoolhouse Magazine Homeschool
Crew.
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Becky Gustafsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07590074918209912396noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28764329.post-81036746683496826182012-08-10T09:31:00.002-05:002012-08-10T09:31:21.409-05:00King Alfred's English--TOS Review<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://s1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/Language%20Arts/King%20Alfreds%20English/?action=view&current=shorterword2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="shorterword2" border="0" src="http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/Language%20Arts/King%20Alfreds%20English/shorterword2.jpg" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_1062215817"> </a><em><a href="http://www.theshorterword.com/king-alfreds-english/" target="_blank">King Alfred’s English: A History of the Language We Speak and Why We Should Be Glad We Do</a> </em>was
written by Laurie J. White as a way to bring the history of our
language to students in grades 7 through 12 in a fun and engaging
manner.<br />
<br />
Laurie fell in love with the history of the English language after
taking it as a college course; it made the study of key parts of
history, English and even foreign language come alive. King Alfred’s
English looks at how the growth of the English language through four key
invasions, or as Laurie puts it “language altering tsunamis,” both
broadened and simplified English into the language we speak today.<br />
<br />
My oldest daughter (going into 7th grade) was my helper for this review. She is very interested in history so she was excited to dig in and start reading about the evolution of the English language. There are 15 total chapters in this book, LOTS of material was covered. To give you an idea of what we read about, see below:<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Pre-English Britain</b> (The Romans, King Arthur) 55 BC-500 AD</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Old English</b> (Language Background, The Invasion of the Church & on Latin, The Vikings) 500-1066</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Middle English (</b>Invasion of Normans, Middle English background, Introduction of print) 1066-1500 </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Transition from Middle to Modern English (</b>Invasion of the Greek, Martin Luther)<b> </b>1400-1600</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>The Making of the English Bible </b>1526-1611</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Shakespeare and Modern English </b>1500-Present </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
</div>
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As a recap, the book discusses how the advent of the printing press was
not only a boon to language, but helped with the dissemination of the
Bible to the common people aiding the Protestant Reformation and molding
the vernacular. She explores the work of Wycliffe (pre-printing
press), Martin Luther and Tyndale.<br />
<br />
As you march through history, the reader learns that many of
the words with the SK sound come from the Old Norse, ph comes from
Greek, how the advent of printing solidified spelling, why the Great
Vowel Shift changed pronunciation and the lasting effect of Greek and
Latin on the “roots” of English. Answers to why we spell knight with a
kn and other mysteries of spelling are illuminated. My daughter had quite a few A-HA! moments as to why our
spelling can be so strange!<br />
<br />
Overall we enjoyed the material, I will be saving it with our curriculum and will pull it out in years to come as my kiddos get a little older and have a deeper understanding. What we gleaned out of the information at this level was still very interesting and useful! <br />
<br />
Visit Laurie’s website, <a href="http://www.theshorterword.com/king-alfreds-english/" target="_blank">The Shorter Word.com</a>, to find both <a href="http://www.theshorterword.com/king-alfreds-english/student" target="_blank">Student</a> and <a href="http://www.theshorterword.com/king-alfreds-english/teacher" target="_blank">Teacher</a>
resources. Using her suggested minimum requirements, the book and free
supplemental material she provides can be used as a 1/2 credit high
school history course, or a combined 1/4 credit history and 1/4 credit
English course. Resources include suggested readings and links,
worksheets, tests and writing activities.<br />
<br />
<i>If you're interested in buying King Alfred's English at the wholesale discount (for half price at $8.47), I have a promotional code I can share with <b>4 of my readers</b>. If you would like this code to purchase King Alfred's English at the wholesale discount price, please contact me at: blessedmama6@gmail.com. It will be first come first serve! This code will be available and good through the month of September.</i><br />
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To see what my fellow Crew Mates had to say about <i>King Alfred's English</i>, visit the <a href="http://schoolhousereviewcrew.com/786049/" target="_blank">Homeschool Crew Blog</a> to read more.</div>
<br />
**Disclosure: My review and opinion written in this post is entirely my
own. This product was provided to me for free in exchange for my review
as a member of the 2011-2012 The Old Schoolhouse Magazine Homeschool
Crew.Becky Gustafsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07590074918209912396noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28764329.post-61588388665062841652012-07-20T10:45:00.002-05:002012-07-20T10:54:35.514-05:00Keyboarding for the Christian School--TOS Review<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/%3Ca%20href=%22http://s1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/Christian%20Keyboarding/?action=view&amp;current=ElemLargeFontCover2-1.jpg%22%20target=%22_blank%22%3E%3Cimg%20src=%22http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/Christian%20Keyboarding/ElemLargeFontCover2-1.jpg%22%20border=%220%22%20alt=%22Photobucket%22%3E%3C/a%3E" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" height="320" src="http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/Christian%20Keyboarding/Keyboardingcover-1.jpg" width="238" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://www.christiankeyboarding.com/">Keyboarding for the Christian School</a> is a complete typing curriculum that will help you teach your children how to type. We found this e-book to be an amazing tool! I was able let my 12 year-old go through this book and she was able to follow the steps on her own. I read through the e-book first and was very thankful for the very basics it discussed before beginning with the typing lessons. See below for an excerpt from the book showing you what I mean by "the very basics."</div>
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"In order to reach all of the keys easily and to type efficiently, there are certain techniques to use.</div>
1. Sit up straight and lean in at the waist.<br />
2. Keep feet flat on the floor (with one slightly in front of the other for balance).<br />
3. Body is one hand-span (or length) from the keyboard.<br />
4. The J key on the keyboard is opposite of your bellybutton.<br />
5. Hands are on the homerow (to be introduced in the first lesson)<br />
6. Curve fingers.<br />
7. Elbows are naturally at your side.<br />
8. Wrists are level (not touching the table or the keyboard).<br />
9. Eyes are looking at the copy.<br />
10.Keyboard is parallel to the table.<br />
11.The text or copy is placed on the right-hand side.<br />
12.Use quick, snappy strokes in a rhythmic pace"<br />
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The letters and numbers were just the beginning lessons, there was SO much more to learn in the book. I really liked that there was scripture used throughout the book and in the examples. Other things taught in this curriculum was how to write MLA and APA reports, cite works, make a bibliography, create personal and business letters, marks used in proofreading, timed exercises and more! While my 12 year old isn't quite to the MLA and APA report writing, she can use this as a reference for letters and timed exercises now. I thought the information presented was exceptional and this e-book will be a valuable resource for our homeschool for years to come! </div>
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We used the book in the e-format as we went along for the review. BUT, I will be printing it off and putting it in a binder for future reference and for our other students to use. <b><a href="https://www.christiankeyboarding.com/"><i style="font-weight: normal;">Keyboarding for the Christian School</i></a>, </b>costs $15.95 and was created to be used by students in the 6th through the 12th grades. You can view sample lessons <a href="https://www.christiankeyboarding.com/Page_2.php">HERE.</a> </div>
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To see what my fellow Crew Mates had to say about Keyboarding for the Christian School, visit the <a href="http://schoolhousereviewcrew.com/785885/">Homeschool Crew Blog</a> to read more.</div>
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**Disclosure: My review and opinion written in this post is entirely my
own. This product was provided to me for free in exchange for my review
as a member of the 2011-2012 The Old Schoolhouse Magazine Homeschool
Crew.Becky Gustafsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07590074918209912396noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28764329.post-9164536526578142012-07-18T09:27:00.000-05:002012-07-18T09:28:51.686-05:00Apologia, Who Is My Neighbor--TOS Review<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="http://s1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/Bible/?action=view&current=logogif.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" height="107" src="http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/Bible/logogif.jpg" width="320" /> </a></div>
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For this review we were able to preview <a href="https://apologia.securesites.net/store/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=42_57"><i>Who Is My Neighbor</i></a> in the <i>What We Believe</i> Series by Apologia. This series was made to help teach our children about the essential beliefs of the Christian faith. This book focuses on helping children learn what it means to be “salt
and light” in the world. The lessons encourage children to build a
servant attitude based on these biblical truths:</div>
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*God created me to be a blessing to the world<br />
*God chooses to work through me<br />
*I can make a difference at home, in my community, and at church<br />
*The church is God’s family<br />
*The church is one body with many gifts<br />
*I am an important member of Jesus’ body<br />
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I was excited to get started on this review and teach our Christian worldview "on purpose." I found this series to be thorough and carefully laid out. Because the
book series is aimed at children ages 6-14, I was able to use it with
all our kiddos at the same time. We decided to follow the proposed lesson plan of three weeks per lesson, two days per week. I felt doing it this way helped the kids to "digest" what we were reading and talking about. On the first day we read two sections, read a short story (and discussed it) as well as talked about the questions in the "Think About It" section. Even though the older children are solid readers, I ended up reading these sections to all of the children.</div>
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The beginning readings talked about China, their customs and way of life. It was written in story form so the children were able to follow the events easily. Discussing the questions at the end were a way of capturing the essence and meaning of the story. </div>
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On the second day (week 1) we continued on with studying words associated with what we were reading. One of my favorite sections of the chapter was the "Hide It In Your Heart" where the kids and I learned scripture. This is the day we brought in the notebook to reinforce what we learned.</div>
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<a href="http://s1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/Bible/?action=view&current=notebookingjournal.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/Bible/notebookingjournal.jpg" /> </a></div>
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The <a href="https://apologia.securesites.net/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=42_57&products_id=216">notebooking journal </a>reinforces the information with questions, word searches, and other activities (to help kids further explore the topics in the book). The three older kids (ages 13, 12 and 9) were able to work in the notebook and go over the things we talked about in the book. The two younger kiddos (ages 6 and 4) went to the coloring book (see below). </div>
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The coloring book had simple pictures that were associated with the lesson/stories we went through in the book. The little girls were able to work on coloring the pictures as we talked about things that happened in the stories and what it all meant. All of this was just in the first week! We continued on with the lesson plan each week and by doing it at that pace, I really felt the kids were able to grasp the information in it's entirety. </div>
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We look forward to continuing with this book and completing the lessons during our school year. We really did like it so much I'm thinking about looking into more from the <i>What We Believe Series</i> to continue through the entire school year.</div>
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To see what my fellow Crew Mates had to say about Apologia, Who Is My Neighbor series visit the <a href="http://schoolhousereviewcrew.com/785807/">Homeschool Crew Blog</a> to read more.</div>
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**Disclosure: My review and opinion written in this post is entirely my
own. This product was provided to me for free in exchange for my review
as a member of the 2011-2012 The Old Schoolhouse Magazine Homeschool
Crew.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28764329.post-76100131860385939742012-07-13T10:50:00.001-05:002012-07-13T11:39:52.447-05:00Hewitt Homeschooling, Lightening Lit--TOS Review<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="http://s1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/Hewitt%20Homeschooling/?action=view&current=Hewittlogotypecolor.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" height="113" src="http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/Hewitt%20Homeschooling/Hewittlogotypecolor.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
I'd heard of Hewitt Homeschooling before but have never used any of their curriculum. I was very excited to have been chosen for this review so I could check it out and see what all the "buzz" was about! <br />
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Since we're now in the middle school age range, we are finally able to use the Hewitt Homeschool curriculum (there are programs with elementary grades coming soon). We were able to review the 7th grade curriculum and it came with a student guide, a student workbook, and
a teacher guide. <br />
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<a href="http://s1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/Hewitt%20Homeschooling/?action=view&current=81137thGradeLLSetSGSWTM.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" height="320" src="http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/Hewitt%20Homeschooling/81137thGradeLLSetSGSWTM.jpg" width="248" /></a></div>
From the Hewitt Homeschooling <a href="https://www.hewitthomeschooling.com/Junior/jLightning.aspx">website</a>: "Hewitt's Lightning Lit guides use full-length novels, autobiographies,
plays,
essays, short stories, and poems to teach deep reading
and composition skills. Unlike some literature programs
that take a scatter-shot approach (where none of the
literature seems connected) or that try to include too much
into one book, Lightning Literature guides focus on a
few classics in depth, in a systematic manner."<br />
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The junior high levels (7th and 8th grade) are year long courses. The Student Guide includes biographies
of the authors, vocabulary, comprehension questions, lessons
on the readings, additional lessons on composition, and
writing exercises. The Student Workbook is consumable. The
Teacher Guide includes a teaching schedule, answers to
comprehension questions, answers to the workbook pages, extra
teaching help for the lessons, help in choosing
appropriate writing exercises, and discussion questions.<br />
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We used this with my daughter who is just going into the 7th grade. The student guide (and workbook) was straight forward and easy for her to use. For example, chapter 4 was my one of her favorite lessons (Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carrol). She began by reading the <b>Introduction</b> in the student guide. The next section, <b>While You Read</b>, points out things to look for while reading the story. There is a <b>Vocabulary List</b> listed by chapter so my daughter was able to refer back to that list to check for words she didn't understand. An example of that was in chapter five the word "languid" was used. She was able to refer to the vocabulary list and see the word languid means dull. Next in the student guide is <b>Comprehension Questions. </b>These are also listed by chapter. I had my daughter answer them as she finished each chapter and we also discussed her answers and why how she came up with them.<br />
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To further comprehension, the section <b>The Meeting Of Two Things</b> talks about bringing together two ideas that aren't normally together. For example, in Lewis Caroll's time, many men used pocket watches. But, in the story it was a rabbit that ran around with a pocket watch to be sure he was on time. Lewis Carroll invented a funny new character by having a rabbit carry a pocket watch and rush around in a hurry like a man would. This section brings two unlikely ideas together and shows that creativity can show us something new and also have a point. The <b>What-If </b>section brings together a simple creative technique using questions that start with "What if?" Assisting my daughter to use this section helped to build her creativity muscles by helping her to look at the world around her and combine some things to make new things while tweaking others until they became something new.<br />
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At the end of this lesson were some <b>Writing Exercises. </b>The instructions gave my daughter a section of the story to read and then asked her to "imagine" a certain scenario and write about it. The <b>Teacher's Guide</b> gives the answers when specific questions were asked in the student workbook as well as giving direction for some of the creative writing exercises. We found all of the material very user friendly and thorough. We were so pleased that we will be using this as our literature curriculum in the fall for the entire year. <b>Thank you Hewitt Homeschooling! </b><br />
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To see what my fellow Crew Mates had to say about Hewitt Homeschooling, visit the <a href="http://schoolhousereviewcrew.com/785798/">Homeschool Crew Blog</a> to read more.<br />
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**Disclosure: My review and opinion written in this post is entirely my own. This product was provided to me for free in exchange for my review as a member of the 2011-2012 The Old Schoolhouse Magazine Homeschool Crew.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28764329.post-63140096240153445582012-07-01T23:26:00.004-05:002012-07-01T23:26:27.934-05:00Homeschool Spanish Academy--TOS Review<br />
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<a href="http://s1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/Foreign%20Language/Homeschool%20Spanish%20Academy/?action=view&current=MiddlePrice2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"></a><a href="http://s1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/Foreign%20Language/Homeschool%20Spanish%20Academy/?action=view&current=HSAlogo.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" height="320" src="http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/Foreign%20Language/Homeschool%20Spanish%20Academy/HSAlogo.jpg" width="239" /></a></div>
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I was so excited to get started on this review! I personally love the Spanish language and want to pass that love down to my children. When I was chosen to review the Middle School age group, I knew my first born was a perfect fit to help me out.<br />
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Homeschool Spanish Academy (HSA) provides immersive, interactive 1-on-1
interaction with native Spanish language tutors via Skype video. All
that is needed is a high-speed internet connection, web cam, and a Skype
compatible computer headset with microphone.<br />
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My daughter is very familiar with Skype so she was ready to roll when it came time for her first lesson. Before hand I had a brief Skype meeting with tech support to determine my internet speed and how that would affect the quality of our Skype meeting. Tech support was very easy to work with and we were ready to go in minutes!<br />
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HSA's website was very user friendly in assisting me to make our scheduled appointments. I could choose from any day during the week and virtually any time. It took me a moment to realize there was a time zone difference but I quickly adjusted our needs accordingly.<br />
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My daughter's first lesson went smoothly and the teacher was very sweet and made my daughter very comfortable and eased her nervousness. We learned the HSA teachers are in Guatemala! Before every scheduled lesson, the teacher would email me the worksheets they would be going over that day. I simply printed them out for my daughter so she could look them over and have them on hand during the lesson. There was also homework assigned after each lesson that went over the things they learned that day.<br />
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It was so great to hear my daughter learning (and speaking!) Spanish after just a few lessons. She really enjoyed the enthusiasm of the teachers and the set-up of using Skype as the classroom. After her lessons, the other children asked questions about Guatemala so we had a little Geography lesson as well. The joys of homeschooling! :)<br />
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Homeschool Spanish Academy offers several levels of instruction, from
early learning (age 5 and up) to adult. The Early Learning sessions are
25 minutes long, while the Middle School, High School, and Adult
sessions are 50 minutes. Prices range from $59.99 (7 week Early Learner
course) to $314.99 for a full semester of 30 lessons in 15 weeks. You can visit <a href="http://homeschoolspanishacademy.com/howitworks">HSA's website</a> to receive a free trial and see if their program would be a good fit for your homeschool.<br />
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We were so pleased with this company (and my daughter has enjoyed her lessons so much) that we plan to continue these lessons throughout the school year as her foreign language instruction. <br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span>To see what my fellow Crew Mates had to say about Homeschool Spanish Academy, visit the <a href="http://schoolhousereviewcrew.com/785675/">Homeschool Crew Blog</a> to read more.
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**Disclosure: My review and opinion written in this post is entirely my
own. This product was provided to me for free in exchange
for my review as a member of the 2011-2012 The Old
Schoolhouse Magazine Homeschool Crew. </span></span></h2>
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28764329.post-88815459054701139152012-06-22T09:02:00.005-05:002012-06-25T11:12:35.586-05:00IXL--TOS Review<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://s1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/Math/IXL/?action=view&current=ixllogofixed.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/Math/IXL/ixllogofixed.png" /></a></div>
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IXL.com is a fun, easy to use, interactive web based math practice site for students in Pre-K through Algebra. I was so pleased for the opportunity to review IXL, my kiddos on the other hand were kind of skeptical. You see, Math really isn't their favorite subject so I had to be quite creative in presenting this review to them! They were willing to give it a try and when they did, they were pleasantly surprised!<br />
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IXL is currently being used in more than 150 countries around the world. In the USA, state standards are listed for every state. I was able to click on a grade level and the IXL site automatically brought me to the WI state standards for math. What a handy tool! We received a family subscription to review for up to 3 students for this review, my three oldest children participated. The children that gave IXL a try are ages: 13, 12 and 9.<br />
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<a href="http://s1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/Math/IXL/?action=view&current=ixlaroundtheworld-fixed.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" height="290" src="http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/Math/IXL/ixlaroundtheworld-fixed.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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IXL can be used along with any math curriculum. Students practice their math skills in many different areas, and are rewarded for their efforts with virtual awards as they complete a challenge or master a concept. There is also an option to print awards if you like (my kids really like that option, you, you should see our refrigerator!).
Parents or teachers can keep track of what each child accomplishes through the parent/teacher account. Weekly email reports are also sent. Each detailed report lets you see at a glance how many minutes each child practiced, and what skills they have worked on or mastered. You can see how much time was spent practicing in each category, and where a little more practice may be needed. I personally loved this as review so our family had additional "summer time practice" that was fun and not in the form of boring math worksheets.<br />
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IXL gives their members complete coverage of math curriculum from Pre-K to algebra.
Your kids won’t miss a thing!
There are unlimited questions in over 2,000 skills and fun, colorful practice formats.
Questions adapt to your child’s ability and increas in difficulty as they improve.One thing that we found really neat is that there is audio for all Pre-K and first-grade skills.<br />
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<a href="http://s1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/Math/IXL/?action=view&current=ixlheader1-fixed.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" height="199" src="http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/Math/IXL/ixlheader1-fixed.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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You can sign up your child for either $9.95 monthly or $79.00 per year. Additional children can be added to the account for an additional $2.00 per month or $20.00 per year. Special pricing is also available for schools.<br />
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<a href="http://s1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/Math/IXL/?action=view&current=ixlcostbuttons.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="IXL Fee Buttons" border="0" src="http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/Math/IXL/ixlcostbuttons.png" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">To see what my fellow Crew Mates had to say about <i>Creation Illustrated</i>, visit the <a href="http://schoolhousereviewcrew.com/785456/">Homeschool Crew Blog</a> to read more.
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**Disclosure: My review and opinion written in this post is entirely my
own. This product was provided to me for free in exchange
for my review as a member of the 2011-2012 The Old
Schoolhouse Magazine Homeschool Crew. </span></h2>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28764329.post-81558874240588171882012-06-20T10:40:00.003-05:002012-06-20T10:44:17.045-05:00Creation Illustrated--TOS Review<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://s1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/Magazines/?action=view&current=CrteLogo.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" height="80" src="http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/Magazines/CrteLogo.jpg" width="320" /> </a></div>
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Our entire family just adored this review! We knew about this magazine but had never received it (until now!). What a plethora of information and wonder, the animal lovers in our home were especially intrigued. As a side note, when our family visits science museums I spend quite a bit of time explaining to the children why/what we are seeing that doesn't line up with our belief of Creationism. This magazine is a refreshing addition to the reading material in our home, no outside explanation required. </div>
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The makers of <i>Creation Illustrated</i> say this: </div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><i><b>Our Purpose…</b>is
to share the wonders of God’s creation. By revealing fresh insights of
His infinite wisdom, gentle touch, undeniable justice, redeeming love,
and flawless design, pure truth shall bring renewed peace. Each part of
this publication is offered as a reprieve from the daily rigor’s of life
so that all can look to the future with unbridled gratitude and hope.</i></span></div>
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<a href="http://s1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/Magazines/?action=view&current=2012-Springissue.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" height="320" src="http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/Magazines/2012-Springissue.jpg" width="260" /> </a></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">For almost 20 years, <i><a href="http://www.creationillustrated.com/" target="_blank">Creation Illustrated magazine</a></i> has used articles,
short stories, photo contests and puzzles for kids, even recipes to share some of God’s wonders with readers. In order to bring a
balance of physical, spiritual and mental enrichment, each issue is
divided into three parts: nature, Scripture, and living. Just as the title implies, throughout </span></span><span style="font-size: small;">the magazine there are dozens of photographs—from macro close ups of flowers and insects to panoramic landscapes. </span></div>
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<a href="http://s1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/Magazines/?action=view&current=CIgardenSpread.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/Magazines/CIgardenSpread.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><i>Creation
Illustrated</i> is published quarterly in the United States with a cover
price of $4.99. You can subscribe online for the following
lengths/rate:</span></div>
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<li><span style="font-size: small;">1 year $ 19.95</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;">2 Years $ 37.95</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;">3 Years $ 53.95</span></li>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Those who pay
with a credit card will save another $5.00 per year per subscription.
Canadian Residents will need to add $5.00 for postage, those living in
other foreign countries will need to add $10.00. Did you know you can request a sample issue before deciding on the commitment of a subscription? Fill out<a href="https://subscribe.pcspublink.com/sub/subscribeformtrial2.aspx?t=JWB44&p=CRTE"> this form</a> to receive your sample- see how your family likes <i>Creation Illustrated</i>!</span></div>
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<a href="http://s1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/Magazines/?action=view&current=CIspreads.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/Magazines/CIspreads.jpg" /> </a></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">To see what my fellow Crew Mates had to say about <i>Creation Illustrated</i>, visit the <a href="http://schoolhousereviewcrew.com/785451/">Homeschool Crew Blog</a> to read more.
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**Disclosure: My review and opinion written in this post is entirely my
own. This product was provided to me for free in exchange
for my review as a member of the 2011-2012 The Old
Schoolhouse Magazine Homeschool Crew. </span></h2>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0