Blog Archives

Back to School Flash Sale for TOS

7/31/2014

August 1st marks the first day of the TOS August Back to School Flash Sale! Every day will feature a new sale on a different product. To catch all the big deals you'll need to check in every single day.

Sale items include:

- 50% off coupons (for digital products)

- 75% off coupons (for digital products)

- HUGE price reductions on all the 2014-2015 digital planners

- TOS gift cards

- and many, many other awesome deals and freebies

When will these items go on sale?! August 1st - but check in regularly so you don't miss a single price reduction. There will be a new sale every day for the entire month!

Take advantage of the TOS Back to School Flash Sale! Save money! Save time! Get prepared for this fall's homeschooling adventure!

www.Homeschool-Store.com

Review: I am Canada Series: Prisoner of Dieppe

7/30/2014

Over the past year, my son and I have been reading from the "I am Canada" series of books. A friend recommended them to you. This series tends to be aimed at boys. They another aimed at girls.

I can't tell you how much I recommend these books.

Canadian History, written from the point of view of the person experiencing it. Just fascinating and lending itself to some intensive play times for a nine year old and loads of questions from a 12 year old (at least most recently on our camping trip). Homeschooling without them even knowing it. :)

You can learn more about this series at Scholastic Canada.

Prisoner of Dieppe is our most recent read, I think we've read all the ones our library carries so we'll need to see if they have more at other libraries, though quite frankly I"d be delighted if I could own the whole series (in a cost affordable manner that is). :)

It took us about six weeks to read this book as it was part of our bedtime reading and late nights, some books don't get read.   It's about World War II, with Alistair Morrison telling the story.

This personal point of view brings out the reality of history, makes it come alive and shows the good and the bad of that moment in history.    In this book we learned of difficult choices made, of duty and loyalty to home, country and comrades, of life, and captivity, of leadership and determination.    Such an excellent book for young lads to read and learn about what it meant to fight in battle and be loyal to friends even if it is a difficult thing to do.

What do you get in the book?
You get a story, told by a real life person.
At the close of the book you get pictures of what the story was about and anything additional that needs to be added. In Dieppe we got the showed what the men went through. The boys were able to see what an emancipated person looks like and you can just see the sorrow in their eyes.   A good thing that.

Anyways, go on out to the library and experience some Canadian History!   It'll be good for you, really. It will be. :)

REVIEW: Get to Know King David

7/29/2014

What kid doesn't like to know their heroes a bit better? When I asked two boys (while on vacation who they would like to learn about the most they both said "KING DAVID") so for two weeks we read about King David (almost every night before bed). :) They asked questions, they learned, and it was good. :)

I would LIKE to say I thoroughly enjoyed reviewing this book with my lads but my hubby was listening one night and said "hmmm.... well written but not quite accurate".    I am wondering if perhaps the reason is brevity... after all one can't include everything about David in a book written for children, but it's important to be accurate as well. :)   The chapter title "giant killer" I would recommend one read the actual story of David and Goliath to help ensure children know the full story.

So what do you get with this book?
12 Short, easy to read chapters.   Each chapter with lots of pictures in it to help illustrate the material being taught.
- A shepherd boy
- A servant in the king's court
- The giant killer
- King Saul's Anger
- In hiding
- Waiting for God's plan
- Crowned as King
- The Second King of Israel
- The turning point
- Sad times
- Temple Plans
- David's Throne Forever

Throughout the chapter there are highlighted words which are simply defined on the page they are highlighted on. Words such as Task, Sling, Target.

Each chapter ends with highlighted boxes, different for each chapter with additional information about "biblical heroes" "did you know" "word banks" and "eyewitness accounts".

At the end of the book is a pictorial timelime, glossary, reference section and source notes.    There are full colour maps included as well.

I have to admit the boys weren't much interested in the pictures for the most part, but they liked the pictures of the swords, and the maps spawned an interest in my son to map out the lake we were camped on.

The boys I read this book to were ages 9 and 12. I found it to be a good fit for both, the older lad asked more questions, the younger just listened and the lesson came out in his play later on throughout the week. Rather cool to see that in both boys.

Would I recommend it for reading?   Definitely. It's a resource worth having, but as with all resources, it's good to check for accuracy. Use what it worthwhile and discard what is not. The pictures, the knowledge gained is good stuff. :)

Product Details.

Author: Nancy I. Sanders
Publisher: ZonderKids
Price: $6.99
Series: Get To Know
Age Focus: 6-10 years old.
Received: Trade paperback
Reviewed for: BookLookBloggers.

Social Media Links:

Get To Know Series.
Nancy I. Sanders, and on facebook and Twitter.

Build a bundle, enter to win

7/13/2014

The first ever "Build Your Bundle" - Homeschool Edition sale is almost here! You can enter to win $100 towards your purchase to use when the sale goes live on 7-21-14! Enter now through 11:59PM EST on 7-20-14. The winner will be announced the day the sale starts! Be sure to look for the special coupon code you will get when you pin the giveaway on Pinterest!

For one week only (July 21-28) save up to 92% on bestselling homeschooling products, including MANY on Cathy Duffy's Top 100 list! *Not interested in entering the giveaway, but you want to be reminded when the sale goes live?* They will send you a reminder email! Click here and enter your email address and click "Remind Me!"
Take a Sneek Peek at Our Bundles:
	Tots & Preschoolers Bundle This Bundle includes products for little ones: Character Training Resources Handwriting Curriculum Preschool & Toddler Activities Bible Curriculum Full Preschool Curriculum & More!

Kindergarten - 3rd Grade Bundle The K-3 Bundle includes products in the following subjects: Reading Math Science History Handwriting Character Training Bible Resources Full Kindergarten Curriculum

	Elementary: 4th-6th Bundle The 4th-6th Bundle includes products in the following subjects: History Language Arts Geography Art Math Bible Keyboarding Writing Guides Handwriting andCopywork Resources Timeline Cards & Notebooking Pages Customizable Homeschool Planner

Middle School Bundle This bundle features a full language arts curriculum from Cathy Duffy’s Top 100 picks and two science curricula, one of which is also from Cathy Duffy’s Top 100 picks, as well as: A Complete Geography and History Curriculum History Timeline/Book of Centuries Renaissance and Reformation Notebooking Pages Classical Music Curriculum Creative Writing Course Math Materials Keyboarding Course

	Bundle for High Schoolers This bundle features: New Testament Bible Curriculum Introduction to Psychology A full year of math curriculum Resources for World History and Geography Philosophy Home Economics College Prep Tools Grammar Creative Writing Course Anatomy Science Unit study from Cathy Duffy’s Top 100 picks, and more! You will receive enough materials for a full year of high school!

Charlotte Mason Bundle This bundle features a complete curriculum using the Charlotte Mason Methods for: Language Arts Handwriting, and Reading Geography Nature Study Artists Study Poetry And a variety of "extras" just for mom! Learn all about Charlotte Mason and enjoy a special bonus (a $90 value all by itself) of great, classic audio books!

	Bundle Just for Moms! Save money, strengthen your marriage, and streamline your schedule using our Mom Bundle. Find the encouragement you need and the insight to speak to your child’s heart (even that difficult child!). Whip your home into shape and train your children to do their chores effectively using a popular book "chores program". This bundle brims with useful tools to help you bring calm to the chaos. Get them all for just $10!

*"Build Your Own" Bundles* Our "Build Your Own" bundles offer you the opportunity to select a certain number of products with a retail price of $19.99 or less for up to 80% off! We have MANY items to choose from, including Cathy Duffy Top 100 Picks! When you purchase a combination of any 2 "Build Your Own" bundles, you will get the 3rd one at 50% off!

Review: Ragamuffin

7/12/2014

Learn to talk to each other and see how much God loves you. These are the two big themes I picked up from Ragamuffin.

The life of Rich Mullins is the story of Ragamuffin. From his years as a boy to his coming to terms with his life and choices as a man. It's a story of faith and growth as a believer and the struggles we face in life.

My Thoughts:
I watched this late last night with my hubby, long movie, well made, but wow...found it boring and hard to stay focused on, seemed like such a sad sad life.   Made Rich Mullins sound like a very dreary person so inwardly focused and in pain that nothing else really mattered. But when I saw the clips of him at the end, he looked like a guy determined to let God be the focus on his life and to entertain people with his music.     I found those opposing views difficult to sort out. Was he the man he portrayed himself to be on stage (as I saw also through youtube videos) , or was he the brooding drunk shown in the video Ragamuffin?   Perhaps the answer lies in the middle ground.   Perhaps he was a man with some deep struggles about how he was raised and was a man who was able to put his focus where it should be...on honestly portraying the God that he knew?

Not a video I'll be sharing with my nine year old, but it would be a good video to show to a youth group to generate some conversation about how you make life choices and live your life for God. Being honest about who you are and what you want. Being honest about your struggles and how you follow God through them.    Learning to love God despite that struggles that you given in life.

Rich's theology left a bit to be desired, but he loved God and knew that God loved him by the end of the video. BUT WOW... I really really wish that people in his life knew how to just really talk to each other. Use the phone, use your voice. Just truly talk to each other. Don't leave it too late. TALK!   So much would have been different for Rich and the people in his life if they just talked with each other.

Would I recommend the movie?     Yes I think so. There are good themes to discuss and think about.   It was good to gain another perspective on Rich Mullins and how he career progressed and his life with Christ.   We all have struggles and we all need to learn how to deal with them. God helped Rich to learn and grow.   it's a good thing that!

Product Details.
Release Date: 7/8/14
Run-Time: 137 minutes
Writer/ Director: David Schultz
Dove Seal: Faith-Based with Caution Suggested
Retail Price: $19.99
Distributor: Capitol Christian Distribution

Social Media Links:
Facebook. Twitter. Ragamuffin the Movie.

Win your own copy! WOOT WOOT! A giveaway.

So if you'd like to have your own copy of Ragamuffin, fill in the form below. Here are the legal things for you to consider: NOTE: For Canadian and USA addressed only please.

"Disclosure (in accordance with the FTC’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising”): Many thanks to Propeller Consulting, LLC for providing this prize for the giveaway. Choice of winners and opinions are 100% my own and NOT influenced by monetary compensation. I did receive a sample of the product in exchange for this review and post.

Only one entrant per mailing address, per giveaway. If you have won the same prize on another blog, you are not eligible to win it again. Winner is subject to eligibility verification.”

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Five Minute Friday: Belong

7/12/2014

Hey guess what.. Lisa-Jo is on a break so the FMF link is in a new place! Crystal is hosting. You can find her here.

The Rules:
1. Write for 5 minutes flat – no editing, no over thinking, no backtracking. (On your own blog or in the comments here).
2. Link back here and invite others to join in.
3. And then absolutely, no ifs, ands or buts about it, you need to visit the person who linked up before you & encourage them in their comments. Seriously. That is, like, the rule. And the fun. And the heart of this community.

This week the word is Belong.

Three two one Go 650

As I pondered this word today you know what kept popping into my mind? These words from the Heidelberg Catechism. I AM NOT MY OWN, BUT BELONG.....

. Q. What is your only comfort in life and death?
A. That I am not my own, 1
but belong with body and soul, both in life and in death, 2
to my faithful Saviour Jesus Christ. 3
He has fully paid for all my sins with his precious blood, 4
and has set me free from all the power of the devil. 5
He also preserves me in such a way 6
that without the will of my heavenly Father not a hair can fall from my head; 7
indeed, all things must work together for my salvation. 8
Therefore, by his Holy Spirit he also assures me of eternal life 9
and makes me heartily willing and ready from now on to live for him. 10
Taken from Heidelberg Catechism Lord's Days.

That about sums it up you know. I am not my own, I belong.
Me.
This odd ball person who never feels like she fits in anywhere.
I belong.
And even more that that ... as I belong I am not my own, and being not my own means that I belong. (I know, seems abit twisted doesn't it)
I belong with my birth family because well... they birthed me. I didn't ask to join them. :) (not that I mind this terribly much) (grin)
I belong as a mom... because I have a boy child...and that whole process was a struggle in and of itself.
I belong as a homeschooler... and yes, homeschooling is a choice...but I belong with a great group that chooses to let me belong with them.
I belong as a member of the invisible church, the church of the Lord God because HE chose me....even before I was born he chose me. He loves me with a deep passion, and this love he has for me came out in the movie I watched last night called Ragamuffin (yes, watch for a review).
BUT I BELONG. He chose me. He holds me. He won't ever let me go. That's just the way it is. He paid for me with lifeblood that so I would belong to that invisible and yet visible body of believers.

Isn't that just the coolest thing to know?
To have that sense of belonging?

And stop 655

Keeping busy,

7/11/2014

When ones child is busy and involved outside the home, and one has a vacation looming, what does one do? Keep busy of course. (doesn't every mom do that when their child is away and otherwise involved?)

So while my son has been at day camp this week we've been working hard around here.
Hubby has been working hard on the trailer(had a leak in it so we had a rotten section) and building a bike rack (which is way cool). Such as easier way to transport our bikes. :)

In the meantime I've finished redesigning the rabbitry.

I built me a composter, since one needs to "be green" and have a safe place to put bunny waste which also makes my garden grow well.

I've been sorting through things I no longer need and have been listing them for sale.

And at the end of it all I've had laundry to do, a house to clean, a trailer to pack and a life to lead. :) Blogging has been left a bit to the wayside this week.

Anyways, K is for keeping busy and I'll be linking this up at Ben and Me as Marcy continues to blog through the alphabet. :) This week the letter is K.

Five Minute Friday: Exhale

7/5/2014

I have to tell you, I am late putting this up. Yesterday was a day where I needed to take time to exhale. You know...where you need to breathe out stuff in order to take in the new....

So on over, as I take part is Lisa-Jo's almost weekly Five Minute Friday. This week the word is Exhale. The rules are simple. Write for five minutes on a given topic (this week Exhale) and don't edit, just write for five minutes. Experience the freedom and indeed the fun of just writing on a singular word. :) Then once you've linked up (do that here) go and encourage the person or two before you. It's an encouragement AND it's fun to do. So come on... join us. :)

Three
Two
One
812 GO
So I had moments in my busy day yesterday to consider the word EXHALE.
At first I thought about how I am teaching my son to let go of his angst and just THINK. Let it go, THINK.
BUT as I thought about talking about that I realized I wasn't teaching my son enough about letting it go.
Cause if you let something go, you are also taking the time to let something in.
You know...you EXHALE to let out the used air so that you can INHALE new air so you can breathe. You EXHALE (let go of) your angst about whatever it is, so you can INHALE (let in) calmness and peace.

So yesterday in the midst of all the busyness of carrying for the critters, caring for each other, and rushing off to celebrate a lad's birthday with gramma (he turns 9 on Sunday) I needed to let go of my need to just stay home and get some important tasks completed and just relax with my boy. To allow him the fun of eating out and having a kibbitzy type of day. It was GOOD for him, and good for me and great for the family.

BUT I needed to let go of my selfish desires to just not bother in my desire to get things done around the house.

It's good to do that you know.
It's what God calls us to as well. To let go of ourselves and let HIM be in charge. He knows what's best for us you know. And I did need that time away to refocus my thoughts and energies. To see are big part of why I am who I am in this moment in time. I love my family and God has called me to love them fully. :)

STOP!!!! It's 817!

J is for Jamming (an #abcblogging post)

7/2/2014

Once a week Marcy over at Ben and Me hosts a linky party for blogging through the alphabet. Folks do a number of different things, me I tend to ramble on about whatever suits my fancy. :)

Today was a busy day. These past few days have been busy. My son is not what I'd call highly delighted in the busyness but he's delighting in the fact we're having some good stay at home days (which lately he's loving). :)

Next week I'll hardly see my boy, he'll be out at a day camp all day... so he won't have any homeschooling time, and then we'll have two weeks of vacation, so once again, no homeschooling beyond the "let's listen to these songs and these stories". See... isn't that easy schooling? And it keeps you entertained while we drive for umpteen hours.

So here I am rambling along and not telling you the actual POINT of this point. Because the lad will be away not doing school work I told him this week he needs to do homeschooling EVERY single day and GOOD homeschooling as well.     He understands why, he's just not thrilled about it when he's in the middle of it.

EXCEPT!!! When he's doing Veritas Press. :)   Ah that lad.. he is so enjoying this program..... it's good to see, and hear.

Anyways, yesterday I gave him a bit of a break as he REALLY wanted to do VP instead of math, so I said okay, but then later I called him outside and said "hey lad, time to do some math. Come on outside."   OUTSIDE MOM?????   Yup.   Do you remember how to use a measuring tape?   (a quick reminder was needed).   So I set him to work measuring lengths on pieces of wood.

Did you know an almost nine year old child is an excellent weight when sawing wood?   Keeps it from moving quite handily.   But he did an excellent job measuring and marking off lengths. Takes longer to do a job when a lad helps (in some ways) but makes other aspects go smoother. :)   Good to train up a child in useful skills.

This is what we built:

And today, my lad was feeling industrious.   He is currently hooked on playing Minecraft, but he only gets one hour a day to play it. To play more than an hour he needs one of two things... either direct permission from me (or if I am not home, from dad) or he needs to earn his time.

We have things that need doing all over this house, so I set him to doing some chores. I minute of work equals 1/2 minute of play time. He earned 29 minutes, we gave him the full half hour. :)   He made me the best lunch EVER!   Oh my it was good. Three slices of bacon sprinkled with cheese, inside a wrap, topped with another piece of bacon and sprinkled with more cheese. Covered with cheese crackers. Then he gave me a side.. kiwi with crackers and chocolate chips. I would STRONGLY advise you NOT to put chocolate chips with your kiwi... just overall not a good thing. BUT the bacon wrap. YUMMY! :)

Anyways, over the rest of the week we'll continue jamming our work through as we get ready to take it easy for three weeks. :)    Twill be good to be all done.   :)

Review: Veritas Press

7/1/2014

"Mom?" goes my son as we figure out how to plan our day. I'm mentioning what I think we should accomplish. After I list off my thoughts he asks. "Can I do Veritas Press instead of science and math today? Can I mom?"
As I hesitate saying "Well... I don't know, you need to do your science and math too."
My boy beseechingly adds "BUT MOM.. I LIKE Veritas Press. It's funny and I like it mom. PLEASE.....".
What can I say, doing this review for Veritas Press has been a huge hit! :)

Over the past few weeks we've been reviewingSelf-paced history from Veritas Press. It has turned into one of our favourite programs to use. :) Come with me as I waslk you through using the program.

When your student is logged into the history program, you'll see this screen. Most of the time we just clicked the blue button which opened up a whole new screen. It took us a bit of time to figure out that we needed to approve pop ups from Veritas Press for this to work. Our other option, when we wanted to see where we would be going next was to click the assignments button which is under the VP logo.

Doing so would lead us to this page. Here you can see how you are earning the grades you are earning, what course you are on and what assignments are coming up. Because it is self-paced history it means that you can take your time going through it. Each lesson is covered in five lessons (with a test at the end). Lessons can be done again, but grades don't change.

During the lessons (we did Middle Ages) you will meet your instructors (one of ours was a gargoyle) and various ways to test your knowledge. The gargoyle frequently makes us laugh. At the end of the lesson you have to option of completing additional work, using books found in the library, we did not exercise our option to do this. We did read through some of the materials, but the lad was totally uninterested in it.

In the mix of the lessons there are a variety of games for the children to enjoy. To do well in the games you would need to answer questions in order to give yourself a boost over the computer, or to give yourself more time to complete the game and so forth. Most of the games my son enjoyed, there was one that he disliked. The sea monsters and boat game he enjoyed immensely.

And every five lessons there is a test! The lad gets rather anxious about taking tests so I'm glad these are fairly low key and come after lots of quizzing throughout the lessons. It's nice to have the option to save and print off for records if needed.

Included in Veritas Press are Flashcards. It took a while for them to get here and I thought by the time they got here the lad would not be interested in them since the cards are shown during the video lesson time as well. I was wrong. My son was quite interested in them and refers back to them especially since I told him all the information you are tested on is on the back of the cards.

The cards are well made and informative. They came with an orange piece of paper which pointed out all the unique things about them. That paper seems to have completely vanished from my house, so bear with me as I go through some of our highlights with the cards. I should mention as well that on the back of the cards they list a number of resources. These are things my son likes about the cards.

Veritas Press is a hit in our household. Our intentions are to continue using this program. What we will study next I don't know, but we'll study something and enjoy ourselves doing it. But first we have a whole year to finish the Middle Ages. So glad that we had a chance to review this program. Why don't you check it out for yourself? They have samples available. Justcheck them out here. To see what the program requires check out this page. I found it worked just fine for me and I have sometimes wonky internet and an older computer but it worked well! :)

We have covered thus far:

St Augustine Coverts to Christianity
Barbarian Invasion and Vikings
St. Jerome completes the Vulgate

The positives of using self-paced history from Veritas Press.

My son loves it
Short, easy to understand segments.
Frequent testing of knowledge.
Funny
Easy repeatable.
Self-paced
No teacher planning required (unless you want to go out and get books from the library)
Review throughout the lessons.

The concerns I have

Starting off with a test that my son basically failed almost put us off the program all together. "MOM! I don't know any of this stuff! Mom! It thinks I'm stupid now!!! Mom. I can't do this. I can't". (complete with tears).
My son cannot, as of yet, do Veritas Press independently. Some of this is focus-related, and some of it is, he simply can't read well enough yet. This is not completely a bad thing... as now I am learning a lot of history that I didn't know. :)
The song is very long. I personally don't have an issue with this as I like singing along with it, but my lad is getting tired of it's length. I just tell him it's great review of what he's learned and of what is coming up and keep singing along and before long he's trying to sing with me.
MAPS. I want maps on flashcards (so does my son). He wants to be able to look them up and see where these places are instead of having to try to memorize them after one or two views during the lesson. Too many places to remember he says. Having a map would be an aid to his memory (and mine).
The word scrambles... making them so they weren't timed would be a huge benefit. They caused too much struggle and I found them difficult (much less an eight year old).

Would I recommend Veritas Press for your students? For sure. For weaker readers,. or students needing help to focus, I would suggest you stay with your student as an assist to them. For everyone else, just let them go to it. You can easily monitor what they are doing and you can listen to the lessons again and again if you want to learn it as well without affecting their grade. :) T'is a good thing that. :)

Product Details:

Vendor: Veritas Press
Product: One year of the Veritas Press: Self Paced History.
My son chose to do Veritas Press Self-Paced History: Middle Ages, Renaissance and Reformation
With these we received: Middle Ages, Ren & Ref Flashcards
Price: $199.00 for the course, flashcards are $19.95
Age Range: Grades 2nd-6th. They recommend minimum age of 7 on the first day of class.

There are a number of other programs being reviewed as well, other self-paced history courses, which include

Old Testament and Ancient Egypt
New Testament, Greece, and Rome
Middle Ages, Renaissance, and Reformation
Explorers to 1815
1815 to Present

The omnibus program has been reviewed as well. This is an all-encompassing program. So click on the banner below to learn more. :)

Social Media Links.
Veritas Press can be found in a variety of mediums.

Facebook. Twitter. Pinterest. and Google+.
They would be delighted if you would check them out! :)

Back to School Flash Sale for TOS

Review: I am Canada Series: Prisoner of Dieppe

REVIEW: Get to Know King David

Build a bundle, enter to win

The first ever "Build Your Bundle" - Homeschool Edition sale is almost here!

Be sure to look for the special coupon code you will get when you pin the giveaway on Pinterest!

Take a Sneek Peek at Our Bundles:

When you purchase a combination of any 2 "Build Your Own" bundles, you will get the 3rd one at 50% off!

Review: Ragamuffin

Win your own copy! WOOT WOOT! A giveaway.

Five Minute Friday: Belong

Keeping busy,

Five Minute Friday: Exhale

J is for Jamming (an #abcblogging post)

Review: Veritas Press

Product Details:

Who Am I?

Archives

Categories

2013 TOS Reviews

Other Reviews

The first ever "Build Your Bundle" - Homeschool Edition sale is almost here!

Be sure to look for the special coupon code you will get when you pin the giveaway on Pinterest!

Take a Sneek Peek at Our Bundles:

When you purchase a combination of any 2 "Build Your Own" bundles, you will get the 3rd one at 50% off!

Win your own copy! WOOT WOOT! A giveaway.

Product Details:

Who Am I?

Subscribe to our mailing list

Archives

Categories

2013 TOS Reviews

Other Reviews