Author: Grace-Filled Writer

Week in Review: May 25-29

Grace-Filled Writer

We had a great week! Our week began with a field trip to a Science Center which gave us a great start. I’m planning on more field trips this summer and will blog about them all!

Lessons went really well and we had some fun almost every afternoon at the pool!

And when we weren’t playing, here is what we were learning…
Grace: Little Hearts for His Glory Unit 15

Rod and Staff is the best for thinking skill type workbooks. I’ve used them with all three of my girls and all three have loved them. Grace  is in the G book. She began with these when she was 4 and we have just moved through them steadily. She has gotten to the point where she will read the directions ahead to herself, so I have to watch her and make sure she is doing it correctly! She sometimes has trouble identifying some of the pictures as the words intended for activities such as rhyming. It’s been a neat way to introduce her to some things we don’t have around our house as well as synonyms. 
My little girl isn’t so little anymore! Look at her being all grown up and working on 1st grade word problems for math! I am not one to rush my children in their academic abilities, but neither am I one to hold them back. My little smarty pants was begging for more math so I tried out 1st grade an I’m so glad I did. She is learning at her own pace and just moving right along so smooth like a hot knife through butter. 
She’s seeming rather bored with our Abeka readers. Maybe bored isn’t the right word, but Grace is definitely not being challenged. I believe we will be starting with the Emerging Readers from Heart of Dakota. We may skip the Bible which comes first because she has read this over and over both with our family devotions and during her afternoon quite time. 
Beth: Bigger Hearts for His Glory Unit 26

Do you remember how much I said my girls loved their Rod and Staff ABC books? Well Beth is finished up one this week. I intended her to only use them through 1st grade but when Beth figured out there was a new one, she begged me to buy it! She spent some time finishing up her last workbook this week. I find it really sweet that she loves them so much. 
Math is always easy for Beth, but she has recently begun making hasty mistakes. What I mean by that is she knows what to do, but does not take the time to carefully make sure she isn’t making errors. I’m working to correct this with her by making her redo the problems she misses. We’ll see how quickly she moves past it. 
History! We have moved on to the Civil War. One of our next field trips will focus on this time during history, especially slavery. Beth is more familiar with slavery because of our previous field trips and listening to the discussions I’ve had with Rose over the last couple of years. This week we looked at the states which sided with the Confederacy as well as some of the things which led to the war. 
Rose: Creation to Christ Unit 9

We are very much enjoying Write With the Best. I’ve seen some threads recently that some do not like it. I have not come across anything I dislike yet as we are about to finis up unit 2 this coming week. I also am looking at it from an English teacher’s perspective. I love how classic writing is analyzed and then used as a model for her own writing. She still has some editing to do, but I will share her completed piece next week.  
Math is flowing along swimmingly! We started long division like it was an afternoon spring breeze. That’s right, believe it or not, my Rose said to me, “Wow Mommy! This is pretty easy!” How sweet and beautiful those words were to me after the many struggles we have had. I cannot attribute this to anything except prayer, patience, and finding a math program (through prayer and patience!) that really works for us. 
One of the reasons I don’t have as many pictures of Rose this week is that my little studious worker got up early two days and began doing her schoolwork while I was getting ready for the day. Having a checklist and giving my girls access to it has allowed them to be independent which is great. 
And now for my favorite photo of the week…
This is pretty normal study habits around our house. Beth especially loves reading outside on our front porch. Grace has also been begging me to read her history alone most days. How beautiful is this? Here are my girls studying together independently. Our one room schoolhouse is just beautiful. 

Field Trip: Greensboro Science Center

Grace-Filled Writer

It’s been a while since I posted about a field trip we took. Honestly, it’s sort of been a while since we took an intentional field trip. Life gets busy and these things don’t really happen unless they are planned in advance. Monday was our 13th wedding anniversary and since we spent the weekend away to celebrate we chose to spend Memorial day with the girls at the Greensboro Science Center which consists of a sciquarium, zoo, and museum. This was a really fun experience for the girls and we completed our visit in a little under 4 hours.

The girls enjoyed seeing the Maned
Wolves as well as many other animals in the Animal Discovery Zoo. There were many, many animals housed here in quite spacious facilities. They seemed very healthy and well cared for which is always encouraging at a zoo. We’ve been to zoos where the animals and their habitats were less than stellar to put it nicely. I can say in all honesty this was one of the nicest zoos we have been to as a family.

I really liked the beehives. They were right out in the open and my girls were a little nervous about the hives, but it has opened up some interesting discussions about bees and why they sting and what happens to them after they use their stingers. My grandfather used to keep bees and these hives reminded me a lot of him. 
Yes, this is a snake…and yes they are touching it! They enjoyed checking out this little snake named Pebbles and I enjoyed taking the pictures, not touching it. Yeah, I’m not that brave but I’m glad my girls are! 
 There were also some really cool viewing spots for the kids to enjoy.

The highlight of our visit was definitely the Sciquarium. We went through this area twice! This was a small aquarium compared to others we have been to, but the girls had more fun here than at the other really large aquarium we visited a couple of years ago. The interactive experience was priceless. 
The stingray petting area was amazing! Beautiful, clear pools with stingray gliding all around intrigued my girls. I think they would have stayed there all day if we let them! We did visit this area for a very long time both times we were in this area. 
This adorable little guy followed my girls as they stood and seemed to enjoy watching them as much as they enjoyed watching him! 
Our visit was spectacular. We had so much fun celebrating our anniversary with our three darlings. Did you love their matching dresses? My mom took the girls shopping and they loved the idea of getting the same dress. Then they insisted on wearing them for our field trip! I love my girls! 

Dinosaurs for Kids: A Moms of Master Books Review

Grace-Filled Writer

Have you had a chance to check out the updated Master Books website? It has had an beautiful upgrade which is both aesthetically pleasing and streamlined for easy searching. I’m more excited than ever to share with you books from this publisher through the Moms of Master Books review group!

Up for review today is Dinosaurs for Kids by Ken Ham. This is such a fun look at the life of the dinosaurs from a biblical perspective. My first impression of this book was it would be attractive to every little boy I know! Oh my how menacing this giant reptile seems! Even though I felt this was a really fun cover for boys, I wasn’t at all surprised it was quickly snatched away with gusto by my daughters.

I like how facts ranging from how dinosaurs were given their names, to what did dinosaurs eat, to how to we reconcile dinosaurs with our understanding of Scripture are covered in a kid-friendly, but very honest way. The visually stunning paintings give beautiful renderings of the many varieties of dinosaurs which are similar to others I have seen in museums and books.

My girls enjoyed reading this together and by themselves. We looked at some of the sections together, but whenever I wanted to pick this up to look at again together, we had to go on a search around the house because it had inevitably been taken somewhere else to read during their afternoon quiet time.

During this particular reading the girls were studying about the different names of the dinosaurs and how to pronounce them. They would practice pronouncing each name and try to remember what it meant. Their pronunciations are fairly good since they are fans of the kids PBS show about dinosaurs. Even though this show has an evolutionary perspective, I do not have a problem with my girls watching it because they are very much aware of evolutionary theory and thinking. We talk about it a lot. I’m not afraid for my girls to learn about this alongside of Creation because I have the Word of God as my foundation. This is why I am so grateful for the resources from Master Books. They help me show why we believe in a 7-day Creation and how to balance it with what secular sources teach.
We love visiting science centers and museums. I am always excited to share these experiences with my daughters. We openly discuss the information provided deciding which parts can be known as fact from observation and which are assumptions based on evolution. My girls are quite knowledgeable of these things because of our Master Books. They ask very good questions and I love it when they ask things like, “How do we know that?” Sometimes the answer is because the Bible tells us, sometimes the answer is because we can observe it, and sometimes it is simply a guess based on what we know from the Bible and observations. Being honest with them about what we can know and what we can’t know for certain helps them in making their own conclusions.

Once again Master Books has provided us with a fun resource to learn about science from the perspective they were created by God at the same time as all the other land animals. This one will be a treasure for many years to come!

Disclaimer: I was provided this book to review as part of the Moms of Master Books review program. I was not required to write a positive review. My opinions are my own. 

Week in Review: May 18-22

Grace-Filled Writer

This was actually a week off of school for us. I’ve been loosely following a 6 weeks on, 6 weeks off type of schooling schedule. It has been a great way for us to stay steady and not get burned out. Sometimes the week off falls a little early or a little late just based on our needs, but this week was perfectly on schedule!

One of the reasons this week worked well for us was it was also my spring recital. My three daughters played and so did my two nieces whom I’ve been teaching piano over Skype since the fall! It was a great recital and so much fun to have all five of the girls participate.

These 5 are super close and had so much fun being together for the recital!
In all I have 32 students and 28 played in the recital this year. The three adults I teach never participate and one of my school-aged students was not able to attend. Our recital was titled Animals on Parade. Rose played Feed the Birds from Mary Poppins, Beth played Rubber Ducky from Sesame Street, and Grace played The Mickey Mouse Club March. My oldest niece played Shepherd’s Song by Beethoven and her younger sister played Winnie the Pooh. They are such sweet girls and I’m always proud of all my students, but there is something extra special about having the privilege to teach your own family something you love. 
My husband and I escaped for a weekend away and had a grand time! Grace, Beth, and Rose spent the weekend with their grandparents which is always exciting! 
My sweeties chose matching dresses while out shopping with Grandma which just made my heart smile. I dressed them matching when they were much younger, but have never forced them to do so. Rose (my oldest) came up with the idea and I thought it was so sweet!

My husband and I enjoyed touring Fort Fisher and the USS North Carolina. We both love history and this is usually what we do on our trips even when the girls aren’t with us. My favorite souvenir from our trip was one of the navy issued hymn books from World War II.
So next week it is back to the books and on with school! Summer is approaching and we may have a lighter load, but we will continue with school around all the other fun of summer like Vacation Bible School, vacations, field trips, and swimming. We are very excited for the summer and the break from the usual. 

Join the Odyssey Adventure Club for a ‘Buck’ (Plus a Summer Challenge)

Grace-Filled Writer
oac-may 

Memorial Day is just around the corner, which means school will be out for the summer! Parents, does that fill you with dread, knowing all you’ll hear for the next few months is, “I’m bored!”? Keep reading because we have a deal for you—one that will only cost you a buck and that will keep your kids safe online while allowing them to have fun and to grow in their relationship with Jesus.

Buck Oliver is back in the latest Adventures in Odyssey album, and to celebrate, you can try the Odyssey Adventure Club for just a buck for your first month. Sign up before May 31st using the promo code BUCK! *This deal only applies to first-time accounts and is good the first month only.

Members receive:
—24/7 streaming access to more than 750 Adventures in Odyssey episodes (a $1500 retail value).
—A new, members-only Adventures in Odyssey episode every month.
—A subscription to Adventures in Odyssey Clubhouse Magazine.
—A web quest of video stories and online activities reflecting the biblical theme of that month’s episode.
—On-the-go access with the OAClub mobile iOS app.
—Growing access to Odyssey books, a daily devotion, access to select Radio Theatre dramas and more.

Additionally, a portion of each Odyssey Adventure Club membership benefits Focus on the Family partner organizations, such as Carry the Cure and Mission Aviation Fellowship, providing parents with an opportunity to teach children about the value of serving others. The Odyssey Adventure Club hopes to spend another 25 years hand-in-hand with parents seeking to teach biblical truth to their children while inspiring the theater of their imagination.

OAC-May-Offer 

Your favorite Adventures in Odyssey characters are also Taking the Plunge in Album 59 and now you can, too! This summer, dive into your faith and grow closer to God by joining the Adventures in Odyssey Clubhouse Magazine Taking The Plunge Summer Challenge. It includes these simple things:

  • Learn 5 memory verses
  • Get active with 5 family activities together
  • Share God’s love and your faith in 5 different ways

When you commit to the Adventures in Odyssey Clubhouse Magazine Taking The Plunge Summer Challenge, you’ll receive:

  • A promo code for an exclusive Odyssey Adventure Club first month offer (for new members only)
  • Adventures in Odyssey special studio message
  • “Strange Journey Back” book excerpt
  • “Jones and Parker Mysteries” book excerpt

To learn more about the Odyssey Adventure Club, visit www.oaclub.org, Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.

Week in Review: May 11-15

Grace-Filled Writer
http://gracefilledhomeschooling.blogspot.com/2015/05/lightening-bug-lullabies-review-and.html
Not many have entered yet, which increases your chances to be blessed with this incredible CD! 
Now onto our week…

So this was the start of our week. Standardized testing!

Yeah, I know, not super exciting, but it isn’t too bad. The girls don’t mind and it is a nice deviation from our normal routine. Grace isn’t quite old enough, much to her disappointment. The funny thing is that for all the stress so many of my friend’s kids are under with testing in traditional school, my girls really do find it kind of fun. I make sure they know it doesn’t really count for anything, it is just a way for me to see what they have learned and what we may need to work on some more. Rose has finally moved past her struggle with timed tests where she isn’t so stressed out about how much time she has left. I found out Beth is doing all of the math in her head and getting it right, which is just incredibly exciting for me!

We test because I do like to know where they stand academically, but also because it is required in our state. In the past I’ve used Seton Testing Services which I still highly recommend. This year we opted to use the older CAT Test provided by Christian Liberty Press. I liked it much better and it is a bit more academically expectant than the newer tests. I’m very interested to see how my girls score on this.

Since the first two days were testing  I opted to work on the basics for the rest of the week and finish up a few things we didn’t get to last week, but no new unit in our Heart of Dakota Guides. Here is a mish-mash of the learning we accomplished this week!

Little Miss Grace was over-the-moon to start using the All About Spelling tiles this week!
She also had a lot of fun using the abacus to work on some math facts. This is such a great tool and the girls love when they can use it for their math work!
Fundanoodle handwriting just keeps getting better!
Beth did a lot of her work in other areas of the house this week. Reading outside, handwriting in the kitchen, and sometimes in her bedroom. I forgot to get pictures of her doing all of those things! She did math in our school room so that’s what I have recorded. 
Beth is very mathematically minded and does well, but gets distracted sometimes, maybe because she feel sit is too easy, but she almost never makes a mistake except for not writing down the “what” for word problems. By that I mean if her answer is dollars or cats or chips, she usually forgets to include that. We’re working on it though!
Rose had some notebooking to finish up from her last unit. She really likes the notebooking which I require to be completely in cursive. 
We had a lot of bumps along the way with math over the last couple of years, but Rose is doing great now. Her confidence in math builds every day and she doesn’t dread it nearly as much. Not to mention the tears have finally subsided when it comes to math! 
I hope you all had a good week! I’d love to hear about your standardized testing. Leave a comment if you test telling me what you use and when you test. 


Life Recorded: May 10

Grace-Filled Writer
I’m striving to work more consistently on our family scrapbooks. I’ll share some of my completed pages here and include the links to the kits I use for digital scrapbooking if they are still available. 


Right now I’m working on our 2008 Scrapbook…yup, playing catch-up! Rose is two and Beth is 10 months old. Oh how the time flies. This is why I scrapbook. Yes, it is fun and relaxing, but most importantly I am recording the memories of our life for our girls as they grow up. They love looking back at the books I’ve completed…smiling…laughing…remembering. They read the stories behind the photos with joy and share them with friends and family. Nothing gives me more pleasure than to create a legacy for them through scrapbooks.


Kit: Green Thumb by Chelle’s Creations
Template: My Year in Pockets: Basic by Britt-ish Designs

Template: My Year in Pockets: Basic by Britt-ish Designs


365Unscripted: Stitched Grids Bundle by Traci Reed

Template: My Year in Pockets: Basic by Britt-ish Designs

Week in Review: May 4-8

Grace-Filled Writer
Happy Mother’s Day to you all!


We had another good week although we got a little off track towards the end. Some unexpected doctor’s appointments came up and we had to compact our days a bit at the end of the week. I also only remembered to get my camera out one day, just so you don’t think my kids wear the same thing every day or something!

Before I go into our week…how about a giveaway?!?!?! Just click on the CD cover below to see how delightful this CD is! (You’ll also get to hear my three darlings sing!)


Now me as we review our week!

Little Hearts for His Glory: Unit 14

Grace begged me to read her history this week. She reads aloud which is good because I can make sure she is understanding what she is reading. Her favorite story this week was when Jesus had the children come to Him even though His disciples said He was too busy. This is such a good reminder for me too. In the busyness of our days I can’t forget that Christ made children His priority and made sure they knew it. I need to follow His example in this more fully.

Rose helped Grace with her handwriting on this day, helping her make sure she formed her letters correctly. We still love Fundanoodle and Grace is much happier now that we are moving more quickly. I would have her practice the same letter more than one day in this book at first because she needed shorter amount of practice in order to stay neat, but she has matured past this and does one letter every two days with Handwriting Without Tears on the in-between days.


We are moving right along with All About Spelling, level 1. She reviewed her phonograms herself some and did a great job with that, so we moved onto segmenting words by each letter. Well be moving on to actually using the tiles next week which she is very excited to do.

Bigger Hearts for His Glory: Unit 25

Since we had to catch up some during the week Beth read this history assignment by herself. She loves finding each of the numbers on the map in the Journeys in Time book for each reading. This is her favorite of the history books.

 Beth does not care to read A First Book in American History herself so she will often color a colonial coloring book while I read to her. I’m fine with her coloring or drawing while I read as long as she can accurately tell me what I read to her afterwards. If she cannot, then she has to read it on her own again and then tell me about it.

I love this picture. Beth twirls her hair all the time while she studies. This is just her normal thinking state. She also tends to pace while she recites verses for homeschool or for Awana at church. She’s very studious these days and works hard to finish quickly most of the time, which is nice as I think ahead to Preparing next year and the big jump it is to that guide.


Creation to Christ: Unit 8


We started off the week with Arithmetic Village and King David Divide to practice more division and learn about remainders. These sweet little books teach the concepts behind the traditional math so clearly. Rose is 9 and I wasn’t sure she would want to use this, but when I asked her she was really excited.

Rose still completed her Math Mammoth pages. I’m very excited that she finally realizes she is not “bad” at math. This has been something I have been trying to help her understand since we started homeschooling in 1st grade. Because she struggled with the pressure of timed tests she believed she wasn’t good at math. At some point in the last couple of weeks she looked up at me during her math lesson and said, “Mommy, maybe I really am good at math. What do you think?” Oh yes, sweetheart! You are very good at math! I’m so grateful she has finally realized her ability is not measured in a timed test.

For story time this week Rose read the Book of Ruth. We used I Am Ruth, an incredible book from New Leaf Publishing which includes amazing photography as well as cultural and historical background information on each chapter. The entire book from Scripture is included. I had Rose look at the pictures before she read the chapter and she really enjoyed it.

I love, love, love how independent Rose is becoming through Heart of Dakota. I still oversee her learning and we discuss what she is learning, but as a 9-year-old 4th grader she is becoming more and more in charge of her own knowledge. I’m merely a facilitator. What is really cool is that she now knows how to find out information on her own when she has a question. She understands to look words up in a dictionary, information in an encyclopedia, and even more details in resource books using the index. What is even better is that it is her idea to look things up instead of just asking me the answer. I’m more than happy to help her, but seeing her mature in this way because of Heart of Dakota is such a blessing.

Here is our history project for the week. She loves the projects. Rose parted the red sea with paper. I love that I just give her the guide and the materials and she can usually figure it out on her own. Learning at its best! 






I had some great health news this week as I anticipated the possibility of another thyroid surgery. It was heavy on my mind and made it hard to focus. I also had some news about a good friend that grieved my heart. Our neighbor from Florida and one of my students when I was teaching full-time early on in our marriage lost her baby unexpectedly a few days ago from either SIDs or a medical complication. My heart grieves for this family. If you have a moment, pray for this family as they grieve the loss of their beautiful baby girl, Ella.

Lightening Bug Lullabies: A Review AND Giveaway!!!

Grace-Filled Writer
Our family loves music. All three of my girls play the piano and sing their way through life, sometimes familiar songs and sometimes their own made-up tunes. We listen to everything from classical to KLOVE, but the girls enjoy music geared towards them. One of our absolute favorite singers is Mrs. Kate Carpenter. Her music is loved by children all over the world…I know because her grand-kids live in in Ecuador! 

Mrs. Kate’s music glorifies God and His creation in each note. She has concerts in all sorts of venues including churches, schools, nature centers, libraries, and festivals, drawing a crowd at each event. Our church had the opportunity to host her a couple of years ago and all the children who attended had a fun-filled time!

Mrs. Kate’s newest release is Lightening Bug Lullabies. I have to say, this may be my favorite! Of course, I feel that way every time she has something new. The songs are perfect for bedtime with just the right mix of cheerful and relaxing tunes that will soothe your little ones to sleep.

We allow our girls to listen to stories at bedtime on the weekends, but on school nights we only allow them to listen to lullabies. They ever since we received this new collection of music they have listened to it every night…every night. Even on the nights when they listen to stories, I’ve had whichever girl was still awake come and ask if they could put Mrs. Kate in the CD player for them to fall asleep to. This is a true sign of how lovely it is. They usually want something new every couple of nights, but after several weeks they are still enjoying Lightening Bub Lullabies.

We were delighted on day when they were singing one of the songs in the car. They graciously let me video them again at home so you could hear one of their favorite songs from the CD.

Adorable, right? Now don’t you want to hear your little ones singing this? To get these songs for yourself you can visit Mrs. Kate’s website or download from any major internet store including iTunes and CD Baby. I assure you that you will be blessed by all of her music and especially this newest release. 
Now, thanks to Mrs. Kate’s generosity, ONE of my readers will be blessed with a copy of the Lightening Bug Lullabies CD! Enter below! 
Disclaimer: I received a copy of Lightening Bug Lullabies to review from Mrs. Kate Carpenter. This review is my own opinion and I was not required o write a positive review. 

Cascade Actionpacs with Clorox: Review

Grace-Filled Writer
Tonight I’m deviating from my usual homeschool-only reviews for a fun around-the-home review from Cascade. I had the opportunity to review one of their new products this past week and have been very pleased! 


Cascade ActionPacs with the power of Clorox is a new product from Cascade. It currently comes in Lemon Scent and has Clorox as well as their Pure Rinse Formula included in addition to the traditional Cascade detergent. It comes in a little packet which dissolves when wet to release the cleaning agents inside. 

We typically use a liquid dish washing detergent, most often what is on sale. We have tried many brands, but currently have regular Cascade under our cabinet. I have also tried a few DIY recipes, powder and liquid, to use in our dishwasher. The first thing I like about this product is how easy it is to use. I can even have one of my girls run the dishwasher after I load it. The only word of caution I have for any packet is to make sure your hands are dry while handling them so they don’t begin to dissolve too soon!

I also love how this detergent left my dish washer smelling. It always, always smells clean and never stale. Lemon is one of my favorite scents anyway and I was pleased that even though it has Clorox included, there was not a lingering smell of bleach as I anticipated. 


I do not have many dishes with stains, but I did have one mug which was stained with coffee/tea which I had not been able to get off prior to this. Here are the before and after shots of my mug…


Now, straight out of the dishwasher, it didn’t look that different, however, I simply wiped away the remaining stains with a dishcloth and my mug is like new! So while the packets didn’t wipe them all clean in a single cycle, it took minimal effort to finish getting them out. I believe this is probably because they had been on the mug for a really long time. These ingredients definitely loosened the stains in ways I never had been able to before. I firmly believe these packets would prevent staining if used regularly. I am very pleased with this aspect. I have tried many times to remove these stains and had not been able to successfully before now. 

My final observation while using this detergent actually comes from my husband. Our lives are really busy and he is wonderful to help me with the dishes when I can’t get to them. Since he used the packets as well I was interested in his observations. What he noticed and liked was that the dishes were spot-free coming out of the dish washer. These not only smelled clean, but they look clean and feel clean to the touch without any residual film like some detergents can leave. 

If you are looking for a detergent to get rid of difficult stains, definitely give this a try. It also does an excellent job of cleaning and leaving dishes without spots or film.  
Disclaimer: I received this product from Clorox in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review and these observations are my own.