Journey to Excellence

We recently had the opportunity to review My First Report: Middle United States from Hewitt Homeschooling . There were 10 different topics from which to choose and we chose Middle United States because we live in Missouri and this school year we will be studying the Little House on the Prairie books so we wanted to learn and write reports on Minnesota, Wisconsin and Kansas. My First Reports are intended for grades 1-4. What We Received We received the product in a paperback format, without hard cover, that is designed to be punched and placed into a binder. In order to do the research on the states, we were required to obtain our own books and/or videos from the library and to have internet access. We own a video series on all of the states, a former curriculum based on all of the states of the United States, and we checked out various books from the library. How We Used the Product We followed the same process on all four state reports we wrote. I will take you throug...

Moving Beyond the Page has the best unit studies, in my opinion. Period. We reviewed two of their products last summer and I was waiting (not so) patiently for this summer's chance to review more of their products. I knew exactly what I wanted to review, made the request, and was chosen. Yes! The kids and I reviewed the Language Arts Package - Sarah, Plain and Tall and the Science Package - The Land . One of the cool features of Moving Beyond the Page is that you can purchase an entire curriculum or can choose individual unit studies. This allows you to do a little delight-directed learning. They have unit studies for literature, social studies, and science, and many of their unit studies have a recommended (but not required) corresponding social studies or science study. Last year we reviewed the book Poppy by Avi and the Life Cycles science study . The two studies could have been done separately, but together they complimented each other perfectly. Thus was the case t...

For the past several weeks we have been reviewing Veritas Press Self-Paced History: Old Testament and Ancient Egypt and the Old Testament and Ancient Egypt Flashcards  from Veritas Press . As we were entering into our more easy-going summer schedule, and had just concluded a two-year Old Testament Bible course, I was happy to try out this product as it appeared to be something that Eli and Brynne could do together, alone, and would act as a review of the Old Testament presented in a different way. And I was right. Each Veritas Press Self-Paced History program includes 160 lessons teaching about 32 events in history. They are designed for children in grades 2-6, and it is recommended that the student be a minimum of 7 years of age at the time of the first lesson. What We Received We received a full one-year subscription, for one child, to the online Veritas Press Self-Paced History: Old Testament and Ancient Egypt program and the accompanying Old Testament and Ancien...

Don't you just love Peter Rabbit? I do. Some of my favorite moments are when Mr. McGregor is chasing Peter out of his cabbage garden. What a little stinker he was, always disobeying Mother Rabbit and causing trouble for his sweet sisters Flopsy, Mopsy, and Cotton-Tail. The kids and I had the pleasure of reviewing Peter Rabbit Goes A-Visiting and Peter Rabbit and the Little Boy published by Kinder Cottage Publishing . What a beautiful collection of books for the Peter Rabbit lovers in your life. I remember reading the stories of Peter Rabbit when I was a kid and absolutely loving them. Peter is one of those timeless characters that follows you through your life from childhood to adulthood. Near Kansas City, Missouri, there is an attraction called Powell Gardens. They have a magnificent farm for viewing called Fun Foods Farm where they grow every imaginable vegetable. It is so beautiful! They actually have a Peter Rabbit portion of the gardens where you walk along a...

This past month I have had the pleasure of reviewing a book published by Learning Breakthrough Program entitled A Life in Balance by Frank Belgau as told to Eric Belgau. What a fascinating book. Mr. Belgau started researching the concept of a multi-sensory learning system back in the 60's when he noticed a correlation between balance of the left and right sides of the body with the ability to read. Since then he has developed his theory into one that covers a broad range of learning disabilities, such as ADHD, dyslexia, and speech impediments. I have found this book particularly interesting in light of Eli's speech delays and stuttering. Although I have read the entire book, I am still combing back through it, ever so slowly, pulling together lots of ideas and my own theories based on Eli's prior speech pathology experiences and my observations as his primary teacher. Mr. Belgau spent roughly 30 years developing his theories with the aid of several professio...

If you can't read about it, you can't learn it. That is my philosophy in teaching. We do loads of reading, every single day. Literature studies are our favorite way to learn, so I was excited to get the chance to review the Literature Study E-Guide for  The Courage of Sarah Noble by Progeny Press . Progeny Press had loads of literature study guides for Early Elementary (grades K-3), Upper Elementary (grades 3-5), Middle School (grades 5-8) and High School (grades 8-12). For the purposes of this review we received an E-Guide for The Courage of Sarah Noble . It was our responsibility to obtain the book,  The Courage of Sarah Noble , but I just checked it out at my library. I noticed that the majority of the literature guides were for books readily available at my library which makes it a very inexpensive option for literature study. First of all, what a delightful classic that I had never read. I enjoyed it immensely and so did the kids. We sat outside on the porc...

I do not own a smartphone, or more specifically an iPhone, but my husband and children do. Over the years I have heard too many hysterical shrieks when a phone has been dropped not to understand that a good phone case is a necessity! Our family was given the opportunity to review either a Kraken A.M.S. case or a Cyclops case from Trident Case . We chose the Kraken A.M.S. Case for Apple iPhone 5/5s in the color black. Features Hardened Bio-Enhanced Polycarbonate Shell Shock-absorbing TPE 3 layers of protection Built-in screen protector Protected device controls and ports Detachable media stand Belt clip/holster Lanyard loop Meets or exceeds MIL-STD-810F military standards Drop protection Vibration Dust filters Rain/wind protection Degradable/compostable/recyclable How We Used the Product I determined which one of my family members would give the case the biggest run for its money, and that was Dawson, my 17 year old son. When the case arrived he was so ex...

The kids and I have had the opportunity to review The Brinkman Adventures Season 2: Episodes 13-24 this past month. The Brinkman Adventures is a fun and exciting radio drama show based on real life missionary stories. Season 2 follows the adventures of the Brinkman family through adventures that show them exactly how big their God is. Remember "back in the day" when families would gather around their radio at night to listen to their shows? Other than a couple of small toys, mom's sewing, and dad's cigar, there were no distractions, so the family would be engrossed and completely involved in what they were hearing. And they had to pay attention because there was no pause button, rewind button, or DVR capabilities. Today there are so many things vying for our attention that just sitting together as a family and sharing in a good story rarely happens. Listening to The Brinkman Adventures was a unique experience for us. What We Received We received a d...