Cold, dark days

 Ahhhh November. After daylight savings returns to regular standard time and days are getting shorter, some days just seem dim, dark, chilly.

Here's a great verse to remember on those days which could otherwise seem dismal: Psalm 27:1, "The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?"

Refreshing reminders of the LIGHT that is present, even when days get shorter :) 

Name Bookmarks by CrossTimber -- my REVIEW

 Disclaimer: I received a FREE copy of this product through the HOMESCHOOL REVIEW CREW in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way. 

I have a sort of uncommon first name--all of my growing-up years, my sister with a more familiar name was able to easily find personalized items--pins, stickers, and more--while I rarely found my name on anything. There's something sweet about having something personalized with your name on it, and this product I am about to tell you about probably has your name, whether it's a common or less common name! The items I received were Name Bookmarks  by CrossTimber. I also received AmazingName Print Activity sheets.  Read on to hear more! :) 

The product that I was to review was a set of five name bookmarks. I chose them from their large selection available online. To order these bookmarks, I could choose from a large array of themed bookmarks. Different ones have different backgrounds and themes--and there are tons of them! They even had a chicken one for my poultry-loving child! 

Okay, let me start back with a little more information. We are a reading-loving family, it only makes sense that we use bookmarks like crazy (no folding down the corners, right?!). We have five people in our family, so I decided to order one per person--they will be great for everybody's Christmas stocking! (yes, even one for myself, haha!) Even if you're not a big reading person, I bet that you could use a bookmark in your Bible or cookbook (or school textbook?)!

The website is very easy to use. You can choose the style of bookmark background or theme that you would prefer and then enter the name to go on that bookmark. You can choose to have a Bible verse imprinted on it, or a quote from a famous author, or a Presidential quote, or an explanation of a character trait, or your custom message! It is full of options!

 After you have looked through all of the lovely options, ordering is very quick and easy! It was very straightforward to order the personalization that I wanted on these. And that was it! The order came in very quickly--much faster than I had anticipated for a personalized product.

The bookmarks are standard bookmark size and are a heavy cardstock with a shiny coating to protect them. They seem to be fairly sturdy and are all spelled correctly. The name is at the top, with a definition of the name below it (and the originating language, as well!)

We chose the Bible verse option, so each bookmark has a Bible verse that correlates with their name meaning printed on the bottom of the card. The backgrounds/designs are eyecatching and attractive. Ours had Bible verses printed on the back side as well.

We also were able to order a name activity packet. This is a packet of coloring pages and activity sheets that are based around a name. This would be lots of fun for a younger child to use--and some of them (some of the coloring pages) would be fun for an older child, as well! These have a variety of pages, such as a name-printing worksheet, a name in cursive worksheet, puzzles with the name included, and many coloring pages with the name hidden throughout. It's a fun way to color along, searching and discovering your name hidden amongst the designs! (Sorry about my pictures, but I don't share my children's names on this blog! You can get the idea of the product, though.)

If you are looking for an interesting and unique gift for someone (Christmas is coming up quickly!) you might want to check out these Bookmarks and AmazingName Print Activity Packs! It's a bonus that this is a family company, you can read their sweet story on their websites. They have more products available as well. To read some other reviewers' thoughts on them, please click on the graphic below! You will also get to hear about their NameCards and their 8x10 Plaque prints.

Faith Journey BIble Study Series: Romans Bundle and Philippians -- my REVIEW

Disclaimer: I received a FREE copy of this product through the HOMESCHOOL REVIEW CREW in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way. 

Reading the Bible on a daily basis is something that Christ-followers ought to be doing. We need to allow God to speak to us through his Word. Lately I have been reading through the Old Testament (just finished up 2 Chronicles!). Often I read and pray without much written reflection. I find that things that I have read are brought back to me at different times as reminders or encouragements. Occasionally I do like to work through a formal "Bible study" or "Devotional" and as such, I was glad to be chosen to review Julie Polanco's Faith Journey Bible Study Series: Romans Bundle as well as the Faith Journey Bible Study Series: Philippians. 

The author of this study, Julie Polanco, has a website, Julie Naturally, which is full of lots of great topics, ranging from homeschooling to healthier cleaning products to holistic medicine/natural healing type topics (and she's a master herbalist, so she has credentials to back up her posts!)...lots of interesting stuff! But I'm going down a rabbit trail.
One of the thing that she is offering on her website is two Bible studies, one on the book of Romans and one on Philippians. I chose to try out the Philippians one first, as this has been a tough year and I was ready for some reminders of hope...and joy! :) 
The Bible study is a pdf download. Users are instructed to print off the pages and put them into a binder. 

Being the frugal person I am, I printed two pages on one and used it two-sided as well. The print is just as clear as I would want it to be, and there is still plenty of room for me to answer the questions within the space given. Each of six days of the week have a separate passage of Philippians for the reader to read and ponder--and the questions give a bit of guidance as to some things to think more deeply about. I really enjoyed the type of questions that were asked--sometimes I can be used to reading a certain Scripture and kind of gloss over parts of it, but by taking it small section by small section, and covering the book over the course of four weeks, certain things were highlighted to me in a different way.

I really enjoyed this sudy of Philippians and the way that it is put together. If you are a person who likes to color, there are coloring pages interspersed that you might enjoy (I am NOT a coloring person, so I did not do those! I understand, though, that this is a popular thing...I guess I'm just not up on that trend, haha!)

See, mine's not colored in! :) 

So, this was the Philippians study. The Romans Bundle actually includes a bit more, it includes a video introduction each week by the author of the study. She seems to care deeply about the listener and wants to share encouragement and insight.

The videos have the feel of a personal video journal or something like that. The first few had a little difficulty with image quality (at least when I viewed them on my computer). I get weird and get distracted by things like that and things in the background (which she changed as the weeks went on). I actually found that it was better for me to just listen to the audio that she was sharing and not physically watch the video. It's good content!

The Romans study is similar to the Philippians one in its format. For this one I decided to go an even more frugal route and just view the study on my screen and write the answers in a journal. This worked well for me, and it saved a lot on paper and ink!

If you are looking for a personal Bible study to begin, you might want to check these out, if you would like to hear more what other reviewers have to say about them, be sure to click on the link below!

Economics Online Course Bundle by Boundary Stone -- my REVIEW

  Disclaimer: I received a FREE copy of this product through the HOMESCHOOL REVIEW CREW in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way.

One of the courses that I'd like my children to take is an economics course--economic concepts are experienced throughout daily life as an adult and as a citizen. The Economics Online Course Bundle  by Boundary Stone is an economics course written from a Christian perspective that helps the student learn many different economic principles, using different tools.

This "bundle" is more than just a textbook, although it does include a very nice looking textbook, Basic Economics: a natural law approach to economics by Clarence Carson and Paul Cleveland. The book is very complete and could be used alone (with the teacher's guide, preferably) to teach an economics course. Now, I said it could be used alone, but after using the online course, I really would say, why on earth would you not use this full resource? 

The course starts out giving a basic overview and an idea of why economics should be studied. It is a good introduction for students and really helps them to understand the importance of studying this subject.
The course goes on to cover different things such as money and its function in society, prices and the market, inflation, monopolies, and more...all throughout this is interwoven spiritual principles and morality discussions. So basically, topics that are covered are what you might expect in an economics course, and they are expanded with such things as the historical bases and important figures who came up with economic principles and made wise statements about the way economies function, and how the government fits in and the parts it plays in the economy. 

Vocabulary words and Latin terms that are used in economics are highlighted throughout the text and the definitions are given in the huge margins for ease of understanding. About those large margins...they are great for writing in, if you are a person who likes to take notes in the book!

The book is organized in a very easy to read and understand way, for instance, when you are reading about how prices are determined, you will read a section about supply, a section about demand, elasticity, competition, taxes, inflation...to give you a whole picture of the topic. There are visual aids such as graphs and bullet points to help the student learn and understand. At the ends of the chapters are study guide, questions, identification (basically vocabulary words), activities, and a section of works to read for further study. The parent can decide how much of this they would like their student to complete.

Okay, so I've told you about the book and how much I like it...now let's get to the online course part!! This course (Economics Online Course Bundle) is a very easy-to-use organization of the material in a way that students can use it fairly independently. This bundle gives the students twelve months of access, though the course is made to be completed in one semester. 

The course is organized into units and the student is given a reading assignment in the book and then can view a video lesson that goes along with the lesson. 

The instructions for each day are very clear and easy for the student to move through. There are quizzes and other activities, as well as another set of comprehension questions. The quizzes are self-grading, and the teacher's guide (available as a pdf) helps with grading, 

and I really think the material is engaging, relevant, and important for our students to learn.

My 16-year old daughter was the one who used this course and she is definitely going to continue to use it and complete the course. It is one that she does not have to be pushed into, here's what she had to say: I liked the Boundary Stone Economics. It is very biblically based, which is very nice. Most lessons have videos, a part to read in the book, and questions to answer. The website is pretty easy to navigate. It was a little confusing at first, but then we figured it out. I liked this course, the book was easyish to read, and I will keep going on the course.

From the parent/teacher side of things, it is very easy to view your student's progress, and their grades and some of their progress reports are even reported on downloadable excel spreadsheets, which is a great tool for keeping track of grades. 

The teacher dashboard is very easy to use and allows the parent/teacher to get a good amount of information about their student's progress 

All in all, this economics course is made to very nicely fit in with a high school homeschool plan. I appreciate that my daughter can move through the course without needing too much guidance or hand-holding from me. The online tools definitely enhance her learning and understanding of the topics; I appreciate the work that Boundary Stone has done to create this Economics Online Course Bundle for homeschool families--I would definitely recommend it!

To read what other reviewers have to say about this course, please click on the link below:

African Violets?

 I was given a dead African violet. At least it looks dead. And it had no roots. And it has a super long "neck" stem thing. Soooo...I looked to the internet for help and here I go! 

Okay, so this is what I start with...

Cut off that neck thing? and then the little guy on the side too?

So it said to scrape off the brown scabby parts of the stem thing (I'm really scientific here...)

snd then just put it into potting soil

We'll do it with this one too...

ready for the potting soil

I'm super curious to see if this actually works! 

I guess time will tell! :) Updates later...if there is an update ;) 

Drive Thru History® Adventures -- my REVIEW

 Disclaimer: I received a FREE copy of this product through the HOMESCHOOL REVIEW CREW in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way.

Drive Thru History® is a name that has been pretty popular with my family members over the years. We were happy when we saw the opportunity to review a new Drive Thru product this semester, called Drive Thru History® Adventures, and the course title is Bible Unearthed. This is actually a course that has twelve episodes and accompanying worksheets/activities that allows a homeschool family to use this as a multi-week mini course on archaeology.

The videos are all streaming online and when you purchase the course, you get lifetime access to the video series. This set of videos are shorter than you may imagine if you have watched the Drive Thru series before, with the approximate lengths of the videos being around 15 minutes. 

The videos feature Drive Thru History® favorite Dave Stotts, this time taking a "back seat" (haha! get my corny joke/pun?) to archaeologist Titus Kennedy; also present for the discussions is the head writer for the show. 

When we watched these videos, they were very different from what we had expected, given our past experiences with the Drive Thru products. My daughter hit the nail on the head when she described them like a type of podcast--but a video podcast. This is the feel we got when watching these episodes. 

Titus Kennedy gives a short lesson, almost like a show and tell, or an illustrated talk (for those of you taking speech right now!), using artifacts as well as video clips to teach a lesson about archaeology. Oh yes, that is the focus of these videos--archaeology--archaeology relating to the Bible, more specifically. 

Dave Stotts is kind of like a fun comic-relief segment of these episodes, though some clips from his Drive Thru shows are included. 

To go along with the videos, there is a complete course guide. This guide includes a weekly schedule to give a structure to the course, twelve weeks of using the materials. 

Of course you can use your own plan, but this is a great guideline to stretch the course out for every day in twelve weeks.  You will see from this suggested schedule that there are a lot of materials to go along with the course, and they are all available as downloads when you purchase this course, Drive Thru History® Adventures. There is a summary (which is also on the page beneath the video) which walks you through the material that is covered in the lesson. A good time to read this would be directly following the lesson; the website version of it contains some great visuals as well as the summary text. 

There are discussion questions that encourage active listening and thinking. I know I listen better if I know I will need to answer questions after a lesson! These are short-answer type questions, so your student will have to think about the answers a bit.

Along with each lesson is a Scripture passage which relates to the lesson. There are also optional activities and recommended articles for further reading and ideas for further research. Depending on the age/interests/time available of your students, you may choose to do one or all of these. 

SO--although this course was not what we had originally thought, it is still a well-made way to learn about archaeology and archaeologists, especially Biblical archaeology. It is not at all like the "regular" Drive Thru History® videos, but it does make a good history-type currriculum for a student.

We have reviewed Drive Thru History® videos before (Acts to Revelation and The Gospels) and have also viewed many along with our subscription to SchoolhouseTeachers,com ... any my kids used to watch them with a streaming TV service years ago. Our usual method of enjoying Drive Thru History® videos is basically just as entertainment, learning while not realizing we were :) 

I think that for my family, this series is not so much a sit-in-the-living-room-and-watch-a-show-together-type series, but more an academic video series. Not that it is not interesting, it just does not have that same feel.

Before I go, here are some quick thoughts from my daughter: I have seen lots of drive thru history episodes before, so I was excited to try these new ones. Unlike the others, where Dave drives around and shows places that were mentioned in the Bible, these remind me more of a podcast. There is an archeologist, Dave, and the show's head writer, and they basically sit at a table and talk about stuff. These episodes had a lower energy level then the others, and were less interesting. If I was more interested in archeology, these would be nice. They were like lectures, but with Dave doing funny stuff in the background.

So--although this series is a bit different than other Drive Thru History® series that we have seen in the past, it is still a good quality, good educational series that is laid out in an easy-to-use format.

To read what other reviewers have to say about Drive Thru History® Adventures, please click on the image below! 

PEM LIFE -- my REVIEW

Disclaimer: I received a FREE copy of this product through the HOMESCHOOL REVIEW CREW in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way.

Did you ever have a course in finances, spending, earning, taxes, investments, and related topics? Was it when you were in high school? I remember a brief unit on taxes, but not much more from when I was in high school. I do think that it is very important for students to learn through an academic course (as well as from their parents) about financial principles that they will need throughout their lives, and this course that we were able to use for review purposes, Personal Finance Illustrated, Homeschool Edition is an option for homeschooling families who are looking for such a curriculum. 

This curriculum is a broad-use curriculum that has been created by PEM LIFE and can be used by largely different audiences, ranging from high schoolers to college students to adults. As a homeschooling family, we have used a different financial literacy curriculum before and we were curious to check out this curriculum as well. 

PEM LIFE is set up to be used either as an instructor-led course or as a more self-study course. It is broken up into eighteen separate units which are to be used over the course of one semester (1/2 year.) The course has a Biblical base and there are references to God and the Bible throughout.
Lessons consist of video lessons, which are clear and understandable. 

There is a book that goes along with the course (an e-book, which was created by PEM LIFE) and students are told to read certain chapters to go along with the corresponding units.

 

There are interactive elements that students can use along with the lesson which help them to see how different factors can affect outcomes, such as if you have an investment at X% and you put in Y$, what will be the return. 

There are many types of responses, as well, ranging from written discussion posts (which if there were a lot of classmates, might be nice to use as interactions) to quizzes about the vocabulary and the content to essay writing prompts.

When the student completes assignments such as the discussion post and the essay prompts, an email is sent, saying that the item has been completed. When the student takes a quiz, their work is immediately graded and their score is entered into their gradebook. From the dashboard along the side of the webpage, the overview grade can be found, as well as the scores for different items. I'm not sure completely if the program will score/grade the discussion posts and essays for the student, but we did not see that happen in my daughter's usage of the course. 
My 16 year old daughter was the individual to use the course, and I had her use it independently, not with me teaching the lessons to her. She found it a bit unwieldy at first, to figure out what to do when, and I had to help guide her through a plan of how to move through the lessons. I do think that for a homeschool audience, it might be nice to have a clearer plan of expectations of what should be done when, on what timeline. As far as the content goes, it was pretty solid. I liked the topics that it covers, such as debt, expenses, investments, taxes, mortgages, and more. It is a well-designed course, nice videos and pretty graphics, and the interactive tools were quite helpful for showing what changes as other things vary. There were not many typos that I saw (okay, I included one picture just because I like corny funny stuff and this just struck me as silly: 

See why I think this is funny? :) 
You know, "with drawl" as opposed
to "without drawl" y'all! :) 
hahahahaha!! Okay, you are probably rolling
your eyes at me by now ;) 

 I think that this class might be a great idea for a college student or young adult. For my 16 year old, it was a bit involved or asked her to imagine just too much. For someone who is just applying for her first job other than babysitting, financial projections are a bit much. However, the tips about living on what you make and saving for the future, kind of a delayed gratification theme...definitely timely! I think I would hope for a little more emphasis on that type of thing at this age, although the time is quickly coming when she will need that other information.
To read more reviews of this product, be sure to click on the graphic below!