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Review: FishFlix.com Owlegories DVD
I love the opportunity to receive new Christian movies for the kids to try. Our van has a DVD player, and we love to take family road trips, especially to state parks. We also live about 30 minutes from the city, and so we are in the car a lot! FishFlix.com kindly sent us one of their new releases to review, entitled Owlegories: The Ant, The Fruit, The Butterfly, so we popped it in on a recent road trip to try it out. My kids LOVED this DVD! I wondered if it might be a bit young for Super D (3rd grade), but he is the most…
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Review: The Resurrection Bible Study
I’ve posted before about how much we love the Grapevine Studies, so I was excited to have another opportunity to try another one of their studies. They kindly sent us their study called The Resurrection in their Beginner Student and Beginner Traceable, Student and Student Traceable levels. Each study leads the kids to draw stick figures of the Bible characters and events, as they listen to me read to them from the Bible. The Scripture references are generally short – we usually read only a couple verses for each box, so the kids stay engaged and focused. By the time they’re finished drawing, I’m ready to move on…
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Review: Here To Help Learning
Teaching our children to write can be as daunting a process as teaching them to read. I remember well how intimidated I was with teaching Super D to read. I had no idea how to start and was scared I’d fail miserably! Thankfully, he is now an avid reader and surprises me regularly with the words he can read AND spell! Our next stage of language development is learning to write, and Here to Help Learning is, well, here to help! They graciously gave us a year’s access to their online program and we started with Flight 1 Paragraph Writing. Here to Help Learning offers a…
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Hidden Dangers of Minecraft
Like many of our kids, my oldest is CRAZY about Minecraft! He plays it every time I let him 🙂 and is always telling me stories about what he’s building. He eventually started learning about playing on other servers, and was particularly excited about one called LifeBoat that a neighbor boy showed him. I sat next to him one day while he played and I was HORRIFIED. Not at the game, although it wasn’t my favorite. But at the CHAT feed! It was full of profanity and sexual talk! Thankfully, Super D is still young enough that he doesn’t pay any of that a second glance, but we were getting…
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HUGE Sale at Draw Through the Bible Grapevine Studies!
We love doing Bible studies with our kids, to help them understand the Word and hide it in their hearts. One of my favorite vendors, Grapevine Studies, is having a HUGE sale on their books and ebooks, through Friday, Feb 5! We are currently working through the New Testament Overview, Level 1 with Super D and Sweetheart. They are both using the Traceable versions quite happily. During this sale, I also purchased the Old Testament Overview, Parts 1-4, Level 1 traceable ebooks for us to complete next! The kids love these Bible studies and beg to do it every day! You can get 40% off through Friday,…
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Need More Books? (AKA Help, I have a voracious reader and can’t keep him in books!)
I have a love-hate relationship with the library. Despite my best attempts at organization, we are pros at losing library books! Who’s with me? I’ve recently started offering ebooks to Super D to read, and I think we’re on to something! My sweet dad gave me a Kindle Fire for Christmas, and it didn’t take Super D long before he claimed it as his own. I’m happy with this arrangement, because he’s reading more than ever before, and he is ONLY reading books on it. We don’t have any apps or games installed, so he’s not drawn into doing other things (like Minecraft!). The Kindle Fire has…
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Our Must Read Books for 2016!
We are big readers in our family. I have always loved to read, and when I have a minute or two to unwind, I usually want to do it with a book (if a horse isn’t available. 🙂 ). Here’s a quick round-up of books on our list to read for 2016! I’ll divide up my list into books for me, and books for my kids. Books for Me 1. Entreleadership by Dave Ramsey 2. Trim Healthy Mama – I’m interested in her theories about which types of food to eat together, for our bodies to be able to process them effectively 3. The Healing Code 4. The Emotion…
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2015 Blue Ribbon Awards for Homeschool Products!
It’s been a busy year reviewing homeschool curriculum! The TOS Homeschool Crew recently completed a survey to compile our favorite products from this past year. The voting from over 100 bloggers is below!! Favorite Reading Curriculum: Reading Kingdom Favorite Writing Curriculum: Institute for Excellence in Writing Favorite Vocabulary Program: Dynamic Literacy Favorite Spelling Program: Institute for Excellence in Writing: Phonetic Zoo Favorite Grammar Program: Institute for Excellence in Writing: Fix-It! Grammar Favorite Penmanship Program: CursiveLogic Favorite Literature Curriculum: Progeny Press Favorite History Curriculum: Home School in the Woods Favorite History Supplement: Heirloom Audio Productions: In Freedom’s Cause Favorite Science Curriculum: Visual Learning Systems Favorite Science Supplement: Ann McCallum Books: Eat…
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Review: The Birth of Jesus Bible Study
We adore the Grapevine Studies, so when we were offered the opportunity to review another one of their studies, I jumped at the opportunity. They kindly sent us the digital versions of the Birth of Jesus Multilevel, the Traceable, and the Teacher’s Guide. I firmly believe that raising our kids to know the Word of God is one of the best things I can do for them. The Bible has been such a guiding, life-giving influence for me, and I want them to have the same! We are intentional about discipling our kids in a number of ways, and the Grapevine Studies are a fabulous tool for our toolbox.…
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Review: Surfing the Net Science
The Critical Thinking Co. has released a great book called Surfing the Net Science. They sent us the full color, 250 page workbook to review with Super D. Computers are everywhere these days and our kids are using them at younger and younger ages! I remember getting a giant desktop computer when I was in high school. We had one for the entire family to use! Do you remember those days of dialing in to AOL? Now, Super D already has his own (a hand-me-down from his dad), that he plays Minecraft on. He doesn’t do much on it yet besides play Minecraft, so I was excited to check…
