St. Bartholomew’s Eve from Heirloom Audio: A TOS Crew Review

Grace-Filled Writer

Heirloom Audio Productions
Our family loves media style entertainment. We are movie buffs, book lovers, music enthusiasts, and radio drama fans! While we love all of these, we are incredibly picky about which ones we consume, especially when it comes to our children. So many things labeled as entertainment merely adds more depravity. We try to be as discerning as possible and add wholesome, uplifting, encouraging entertainment to our children’s lives while at the same time being high quality. Heirloom Audio has been a favorite since our first listen and St. Bartholomew’s Eve does not disappoint! 
St. Bartholomew's Eve
Each of the radio dramas from this company has its roots in a G. A. Henty novel. This English novelist has been well-loved for his entertaining historical novels since the late nineteenth century. His purpose was to not only tell historical accounts of real people in an entertaining way, but to also point readers back to God and the Bible. I love that these radio dramas seek to do the same thing! 



I love all things vintage anyway, but we find it very appropriate to listen to these radio dramas on our replica radio and CD player. You can also buy digital copies of the dramas and listen to them on your phone. The car is another great location and these are especially fun for longer road trips we homeschoolers love to take! My oldest daughter enjoy listening at bedtime. I do not allow my younger two this, however, because both tend to be sensitive to more intense stories in the evening. They do however love to listen during the daytime! They have recently stated engaging in a really fun way with radio dramas as you see below. They gather a group of toys or stuffed animals, and begin acting out what they are hearing! In this particular scene Prince Henry (played by Pumpkin Bear) was chatting with Philip (Played by Baseball Bear) soon after they met. I love seeing their creativity and engagement in this way with the audio! 


This particular story centers around the Huguenot Wars in France during the 16th century. Since the historical setting is war, be prepared there are definitely some very intense scenes. This makes it a favorite among the young men we know! As I said before, my oldest daughter really loves these stories at 13. My younger daughters, 11 and 9, are not quite as enthralled, but did enjoy it still. Rose really likes history and learning about countries and wars whereas neither Beth nor Grace has cared as much about this information. 
The absolute best part of these stories is how they point our family back to the Lord. At the end we are reminded the importance of fighting for freedom to worship and how thankful we must be for those who have gone before us and how we must be on the alert so we do not lose these rights. A more important lesson to teach our children is to worship the Lord whether or not the government gives us permission or not. I love the conversations this will allow us to have in the future, especially as we pray for the persecuted church overseas. 
Another fun part is the way the stories are bookended with G. A. Henty (portrayed by Brian Blessed) narrating the story to a group of young boys. This gives a fun character portrayal of the author and makes him seem more real to the listener.You may want to explore becoming a part of the Live the Adventure Club! Here you will find all of the previously released titles as well as some wonderful radio dramas from the golden age of radio. You will also enjoy the printable lesson plans and resources for many of the previous stories. Rose has especially enjoyed being a part of this so she can listen online with her tablet. 
Our family highly recommends Heirloom Audio and St. Bartholomew’s Eve. Check out what my Crewmates have to say! St. Bartholomew's Eve {Heirloom Audio Reviews}Crew Disclaimer

CashCrunch Careers from CashCrunch Games: A TOS Crew Review

Grace-Filled Writer

Cash Crunch Games
One of my goals in homeschooling is helping my daughters become independent adults. This is going to look different for each one of them as their personalities and interests vary. I have two kids who have decided their life-path at the age of 6 and one who has drifted from one interested to another. With the first two I encourage their dreams, but also try to help them see other options so they do not feel “stuck” in a certain decision as they grow up. With my other daughter I’m encouraging her to pursue specific interests with a little more focus. Neither approach is wrong, it merely reflects the varied personalities the Lord has given my daughters. Still, some guidance can be helpful when thinking about the future, especially as the girls approach high school and eventually college. I was excited to have my 11 and 13-year-olds try out CashCrunch Careers from CashCrunch Games. This online resource gave them an opportunity to see what careers might both interest them and be a good fit for their God-given personalities. 
Cash Crunch Careers
My own middle-school experience of a career test was not a good one. I, who had always loved learning and excelled at academics, was told the best suited job for me was a canning factory or folding cardboard boxes. I think the reason was because I tended to be more introverted, but what an incredible discouragement that was! Thankfully my parents were able to help me see that no test should define my future! It was meant to be a tool and in my case, not a very helpful one. Still, I held out high hopes for our experience with CashCrunch Games and I was not at all disappointed! 

Beth – 11-years-old, 6th grade
Rose – 13-years-old, 8th grade
 Beth (11) and Rose (13) each took the test. They are quite diverse in personalities and interests. Beth is more thoughtful, likes time alone to organize her thoughts, and loves nurturing. Rose is a take-charge kind of gal, always rising to a leadership role in whatever group she is in and enjoys creating. I set each down separately to go through the career test individually. 




First of all I loved the format! Instead of hypothetical situation questions as I’ve often seen with these types of things you are given 2 words to choose from. You are prompted to choose which of the two most describes you. If you are unsure of the meaning of a word, simply hover over it and a synonymous word will pop up. This was simple and easy. It only took them 15-20 minutes to complete and neither asked for my opinion about the words, which surprised me. We were all excited to view the results! 
The Career report is 3 pages of incredibly valuable information including work styles, motivators & de-motivators, attributes, and matching jobs based on this information. Wow! The report is extensive and lest you think it may not be accurate, the work-style pegged each of my daughter’s personalities spot-on! They each took turns giggling as we read the different descriptions. The work-styles section is almost like a personality profile and they couldn’t believe how well it described them both. 



As their homeschooling teacher and mom I found motivators and demotivators section both insightful and useful beyond a career assessment. While I knew some of the information to be true, some of it gave me new insights into my kid and ways to best approach them and their learning. 
We had fun looking at the various career options as well. We noted some careers as being the same and had a chance to discuss how both Rose, who is very leadership oriented, and Beth, who is more people oriented, would be good fits for the same job. They thought the fact that “funeral director” was listed was funny, but we talked about what an important job that is and why good people need to fill that spot. 


After getting and printing their reports they took some time to explore a variety of careers on the website. I love how they are organized by subject and then many different options are given. Sometimes kids can only think of one job in the medical field, like doctors, but there are so many other wonderful ways to serve in this area! Forty-nine different careers are highlighted in the health services section alone! This is a great way to help give a broader range of career ideas. 
At the end of the day I still reminded my daughters that their first priority was to seek the Lord as to their future plans, but this was a wonderful tool to use alongside of that to begin setting a course for what high school and beyond will look like. I highly, highly recommend this for anyone whether you are an adult seeking a career move or still in grade-school and looking towards the future.
Some other resources from this author are the free CashCrunch 101 games and Paul Vasey’s course on SchoolhouseTeachers.com,  Personal Finance in Bite-Size Chunks. You will find both to be valuable and fun ways to teach your kids about managing their own finances in the future! 
You will absolutely want to see more review from my Crewmates! CashCrunch Careers {CashCrunch Games Reviews}Crew Disclaimer

Season 6: Underground Rising, Digital version from Brinkman Adventures: A TOS Crew Review

Grace-Filled Writer

Brinkman Adventures
(Make sure to read through for a special coupon!)
Our girls have been listening to radio drama since they were born. We love stories and I love the imaginative way radio dramas incorporate kids. This wonderful form of entertainment and storytelling has its roots in the Golden Age of radio during the 1930s and 1940s. When television became all the rage, many thought radio would lose its appeal. It did to some extent, but there has been a resurgence in recent years within the Christian community, especially homeschoolers. Still, not many shows have included homeschool characters so we are always excited to listen to the stories from Brinkman Adventures! This time we had the chance to review the digital version of Season 6: Underground Rising. Previous seasons have been a little longer, but this one is in their new 6-episode release structure. 
Underground Rising Season 6 Brinkman Adventures
The last season we reviewed were all stories about the family, which the kids really loved. This season also included some historical adventures! I love that while the stories are scripted and dramatized, they are based on actual events from history past and present. Some are more fun and others more adventurous. There is really something for everyone and the entire family can enjoy it together! 
I would encourage parents to preview the episodes about the Dutch Underground. While I felt they were tactfully handled without too much of the violent details of what happened to those who were captured by the Nazis, they are very intense and definitely have some moments which could be quite frightening to younger listeners. I chose to have our girls listen to those particular stories during the day. They have listened to the others at night some as well as all of us together in the car. 


The digital version was a great fit because I used my phone or the girls their tablets to listen. Sometimes I would hear the girls listening to the stories while making their beds or folding laundry. They also like to listen during mealtimes as well as in the car! We would often start the story on a short drive and finish up at home so having digital content was a great way to go. You can see the girls enjoying one of the stories via the tablet in the middle of the table while eating cauliflower and fried macaroni and cheese! This was a fun meal and we like listening to an audio drama during lunch after the girls’ science classes on Wednesdays. They are often worn out and have already talked about their day on the 30 minute drive home, so this is a relaxing time for us all. 
My girls really like the Real Stories webpage for this season! Seeing the historical photos of the story of Dutch Underground and photos of the actual family who inspired I Wonder Why? gave a deeper impact and meaning to the stories. They had heard they were based on true stories, but those in particular were quite meaningful. While my daughter is not as severely allergic to wheat as the young boy in the story, she has needed to change her diet due to a reaction to gluten. This story in particular impacted me as well as her. 
I love that the family reflects biblical values and present gospel truth in every story. While the family is not exactly like ours, I know that the content is “safe” and going to glorify God in every way. Scripture is always included and a true-to-life lesson in living out faith in real-life the central theme. So much media available to kids in the world is negative and ugly, portraying parents as naive and uplifting values contrary to Scripture. Brinkman Adventures is a wholesome form of entertainment I highly recommend to all families. 
Now for your coupon! From now through October 31, 2018 you can get 10% off your order using the code FALL10 on the Brinkman Adventures site!
Take a look at what my Crewmates have to say!Brinkman Adventures Season 6 ReviewsCrew Disclaimer

Peek at Our Week: October 1-5

Grace-Filled Writer
We had a great week…even though I forgot to take any pictures! The highlight was celebrating this little cutie turning 9…NINE!!!!…on Thursday! She’s such a joy. She asked me to surprise her with her cake this year. She wanted vanilla with chocolate frosting and for it to be gluten free so her sister could enjoy it as well! So the decorations were Shopkins and it was a Sprinkle cake inside. SOOOOO yum! If you need to be gluten free (Which I need to write up about my and Beth’s journey soon!) I highly recommend The Gluten-Free Cake Doctor for all your dessert needs! – My mom found this one for me, but I recommend going to abebooks.com for any books you want to get. 
Image result for gluten free cake doctor

Book-By-Book Bible Printables from Teach Sunday School: A TOS Crew Review

Grace-Filled Writer

Teach Sunday SchoolMy husband and I both went to Bible colleges and we are always interested in new resources for learning about the Bible, especially those which aid in understanding the historical and cultural contexts of the Word. We can only fully understand the meaning of the inspired Word of God if we understand who wrote it, when it was written, and the overall structure of the book itself as well as within the context of all of the Bible. The Printable Books of the Bible “Summary Sheets” from Teach Sunday School  are and excellent way to have this information at your fingertips. 
Books of the Bible at a Glance
This is a really fun way to get an overview of all of Scripture! You could use these in a variety of ways anytime you are teaching or studying the Bible. Whether you are leading a Bible study or Sunday school at church or studying with your family in the privacy of your own home this set of resources will provide a wonderful foundation upon which to learn. I love the idea of using these to introduce a Sunday School Lesson or other Bible study. I teach on on a rotational basis and when my next turn comes around I look forward to introducing my students to Exodus with these. 


Rose especially enjoyed studying these on her own. She enjoyed checking to see if I knew the information, almost quizzing me! She was pleasantly surprised at the times when I didn’t remember something specific. It was a wonderful way to reinforce the reasons why we need resources like this to help us in our studies. She knows I’ve studied the Bible a long time and enjoy doing so. She is used to me explaining a lot about the historical background and this was the perfect time to talk about some of the resources that help me know these things, and that I haven’t memorized everything. I love when I have the opportunity to explain the only way to continue to grow in the Word of God is to continually study! 
My husband has been preaching through the book of Mark. We spent one evening chatting about what we have learned so far and reading through the page on the Book of Mark. We discussed how old Mark might have been and how many years after Christ’s resurrection the book was written. We also talked about the important things to remember from Mark and the key verses. It was a great way to review the sermon series as a part of our evening devotion time. Books of the Bible at a Glance
We do not typically have a group Bible time as a part of our School day. Each of the girls studies their own personal studies. Sometimes I help them choose, sometimes they choose on their own what to study. What I love about this resource is that no matter what they are studying, they are going to have a wonderful resource at their fingertips to dig more deeply and have a fuller understanding of God’s Word. 


I really love the structure of the diagrams themselves. They are beautifully crafted and yet simply organized in a way to help retain learning. The visual layout is similar for each page and so makes it easy to locate information. The colors are easy on the eyes and compliment one another beautifully. You will enjoy using these no matter your age! 
Take a look at what my Crewmates have to say!  Books of the Bible At-a-Glance { Teach Sunday School Reviews}Crew Disclaimer

Forensic Faith for Kids from David C Cook and Case Makers Academy: A TOS Crew Review

Grace-Filled Writer

David C Cook
Our kids are under attack. The enemy desperately wants to sway them to his side despite our efforts to diligently train them in Scripture. While it is important to remember that each child will make their own personal choice to follow the Lord or not, we must not neglect the ever important work imparted to us as parents and leaders of children in ministry. The next generation is as different from ours as ours was from our parents. The truth of Scripture never changes, but our methods and modes should reach the culture where they are. We were excited to review Forensic Faith for Kids from David C Cook and Case Makers Academy, a fantastic tool which will help kids learn how to investigate their faith just like a detective investigates a case. 
Forensic Faith for Kids
The structure of this book would make it a great tool for a small group Bible study for kids or for your own family’s Bible study time. While it is geared towards kids in the title, I think this is a valuable tool for any age wanting to deepen the apologetics of their faith. It is simply and clearly written so no matter your age you will gain extensive amounts of understanding. We enjoyed reading this aloud together and then having a good discussion. 


The word apologetics can really make some people nervous. I can assure you that you don’t need to be! The way this is presented as a case will give your kids the tools they need to effectively share their faith. We have several friends in our life who do not know, or even want to know, the Lord as their Savior. Some aren’t certain if God even exists and it can be hard to know how to talk to them about our faith. The practical options presented in these pages clearly guides children and adults to know how to share and defend their faith! The story-like presentation makes the book approachable and I think one of the best ways I’ve ever seen of teaching kids how to share their faith. 
The presented story is engaging! Sometimes when I’ve read what were meant to be instructional Bible material for kids which was written as a story it honestly came off as just sort of cheesy and forced. The writing of this book is anything but that. We all thought it was fun and engaging and were excited to hear what was going to happen next. Combining excellent storytelling with biblical truth which instructs my daughters faith makes this book at the top of my recommendation list! 


In addition to this awesome book there are excellent online resources you can utilize! Each chapter has a video segment to be viewed, a training activity sheet and academy notebook sheet to be used by students to remember and practice what they read, and an adult leader guide to help you in teaching your kids or students at church. I discovered there are also adult versions of this book and others by the author which I’m very interested in checking out! 
I was so pleased with this title I’m planning to get the other two in the series. Giving kids the knowledge of Scripture is wonderful, but it must only be the beginning. Using Forensic Faith for Kids we will be giving them the tools they need to practically live out and share their faith. 


Check out what my Crewmates have to say! Forensic Faith for Kids {David C Cook and Case Makers Academy Reviews}Crew Disclaimer

Week in Review: September 24-28

Grace-Filled Writer
  
This week was full of focused work. The girls are getting used to heavier work loads and I’m trying to figure out what extras to throw in. With their diverse interests I’m wanting to let them explore more on their own. 

This week was also a little stressful. One of my girls is struggling with what we think may be an autoimmune disease, but we cannot pinpoint which one. A hospitalization last year started this process. While I’m not excited she is exhibiting new symptoms, I am hopeful as we slowly…oh so slowly…slog through this process. Through it all trying to keep things as normal as possible. So these sweetly normal photos mean a lot to me. Our days really are running smoothly, but in the background I am watchfully trying to pinpoint what is going on with the one. We have a fantastic pediatrician who encourages me to research, answers questions, and is looking for answers with me. The Lord has provided her at the perfect time. 
We also had a fun family photo shoot you can take a look at if you click on the picture below! 

What were you up to this week? 

I Know It: A TOS Crew Review

Grace-Filled Writer
I Know It Interactive Math Lessons K - 5 grade


I’m always on the lookout for supplemental materials, especially for math. My daughters do well in math., but often feel frustrated with traditional teaching methods. I find traditional curricula to be the best way they learn after trying a few other ways, but still they need something to help them see the fun in math. I Know It has been an incredibly fun way to supplement our math lessons each day!

I Know It Interactive Math Lessons K - 5 grade


This program comes from the same people behind Super Teacher Worksheets. My daughters usually have daily drill practice for math facts which they enjoy, but they were pretty excited to try something different! You can use I Know It on either a computer or tablet, you just need to have access to a web browser. 


Once you as the parent are signed in you will be able to create accounts for each of your kids. They have adorable little character icons so each child can have a different picture. This is great for younger children, but even my kids enjoyed having a different animal represent them! You will also set a grade level for each child as well. This can change so if you find the first chosen level to be too easy or too hard. I really like this option. While homeschooling it is easier to pinpoint missed content which may need reviewed. 

Another fun feature allows you to assign specific tasks for each child. This again is a great way to make sure they are working on areas that need shoring up. One of my kids does very well in math…until she doesn’t! She will spend hours working out problems she understands happily, but as soon as she stumbles, she doesn’t want any part of it. With this online practice I have opportunity to guide exactly what skills she will focus on each day. I love that I can see their progress and they can track their progress as well! They can see what answers were wrong and track their improvement as well. Many online programs allow the teacher to see this, but not the student so I find this to be a unique and helpful tool. 

On this exercise Beth could see both correct and incorrect answers. I can down with her and see the same problem she saw, help her understand it, and allow her to try again! 

For the most part I allowed my daughters to choose what skills they wanted to practice each day. I did guide both Rose and Beth to choose word problems because that is a current area of trouble for them both. All three girls couldn’t wait to work with this each day. They enjoyed using our iPad (2nd generation) instead of the computer and would often ask if they could do more than their assigned time to work! 


Rose wanted to make sure I included her thoughts in my review! She said this was one of the most enjoyable supplements she has worked with for math. She is in 8th grade, but worked with the 5th grade material. She is one who often has to review a concept multiple times before it sticks, so giving her an opportunity to succeed, even on a lower level, is incredibly valuable. It isn’t a waste of time for her as she processes more simply worded problems because she can apply the same concepts to more complex problems. Both Grace and Beth also thoroughly enjoyed working with I Know It although I think Rose is the one who liked it best. 
We definitely intend to continue using this throughout the year and I think the price per child quite reasonable for a year’s subscription. I see this as being valuable for students who are right on target and can use it to supplement their current work, wish to move ahead and learn new concepts as they quickly master what they are given, and as remediation for those who may have missed steps and concepts along the way. I really think this can be used by just about anyone no matter where your child stands with math. My only disappointment is that it ends with 5th grade math. I do hope they continue to create content which could be used up through middle school as I think they have done a quality job with what is available. 

If this sounds like a great program to you too, there is a free 60 day trial to interested homeschoolers and teachers!  The free trial page is here:
https://www.iknowit.com/sign-up.html

Check out what my Crewmates have to say! 

Interactive Math Lessons K - 5 grade {I Know It Reviews}Crew Disclaimer