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Taking the Mystery Out of Geology & Geology and Apologetics from Northwest Treasures: A TOS Crew Review

July 26, 2018 Grace-Filled Writer

Our culture heavily saturated with the idea that evolutionary theory is fact, so much so that even children’s television begin teaching this to preschoolers and young elementary students. Proponents of the theory gloss over the problems and ridicule anyone who questions them. We have never shied away from teaching our children the theory of evolution. We think it is important they know the different beliefs which are swirling around us and why we (my husband and I) do not agree with them when considering the Scriptures. We know it will be their own choice whether they choose to believe evolutionary theory or not, but I want them to be full equipped with all of the knowledge available. This is why online classes such as Geology and Apologetics and Taking the Mystery Out of Geology from Northwest Treasures are so helpful. Our daughters take a science class at a homeschool learning center which seeks to remain neutral on this topic. For that reason, we choose to supplement at home with teaching that shows both sides of this issue. This short class is a wonderful introduction to Geology, especially if your children have never had the opportunity to study this discipline. I also personally enjoyed this course as a brief and informative reminder of the basics of Geology so I am fully equipped to understand what new scientific “discoveries” are actually referring to with regards to geology. I greatly appreciate that this deals with both the science and philosophy behind modern geology. Understanding this pairing is vital to see why the proof used to support evolutionary thinking can actually be interpreted differently based upon your beginning philosophy. This 6-part study dives more deeply into how geology and apologetics must go hand-in-hand. Rather than blindly accepting what mainstream science claims under their personal faith in evolution, students are readily equipped to see things from a different perspective and understand God’s hand in it all through creation and the flood. The class is geared towards ages 8 thru adults.
I personally appreciated that right off the bat the difference between science and philosophy are discussed in a very clear and understandable way. Also the importance of studying and knowing the Scriptures for yourself is reiterated over and over again. These are all things we have taught our daughters, but having them hear it from a different voice is beneficial.

After each of the six lessons there is a series of questions for discussion. This makes it ideal for a group setting. We would pause at each question and talk about it, sometimes returning to various portions to watch again before discussing. I’ll be honest, I was a bit surprised just how much my 8-year-old retained. She is definitely at the young end of the age range and learned quite a bit. One of our longest discussions centered around the difference between observational science and faith. I think the girls really grasped the differences between the two after watching this course. We had some wonderful talks about how to tell the difference between what can be observed and what is taken by faith, whether that faith is in the Lord and His Word or in evolution.

We found both video courses to be beneficial for the entire family to watch together. We used this as some of our learning time during the heat of the afternoon we get here in the South. When the girls didn’t want to be outside in the muggy weather and I wanted them to be productively engaged, science videos are a great option!
There are some other really good things offered from this company on their website and from Schoolhouseteachers as well. You can use physical products such as their high school course Northwest Treasures Curriculum Project. If you are looking for something geared towards the younger set, Geology for “Little Eyes” is a great choice! Some of my Crewmates also took a look at Dinosaurs and the Bible which looks fascinating to me!
We want our children to believe the Scriptures and follow the Lord as they grow into young ladies. We do not want them to do so just because my husband and I tell them to do so. We want them to learn for themselves and chose for themselves whom they will believe. The most valuable thing we can do as we homeschool is equip them with knowledge and understanding, allow them to ask questions, and seek the answers alongside of them. Northwest Treasures is a wonderful tool to help with this along the way.
See what my Crewmates have to say!

Smart Kidz Radio from Smart Kidz Media: A TOS Crew Review

July 25, 2018 Grace-Filled Writer

Safe media content is sometimes hard to find for kids. We live in a media-saturated society, but more often than not the available music and video reflect the opposite of our family’s moral values. Parents are ridiculed and made to look unintelligent or at least out of touch and misbehavior goes without consequence. We recently watched a new popular animated movie and were shocked that there were curse words including the use of God’s name multiple times. It is hard to feel the need to say, “No,” to so much of what is available for kids that it is refreshing when we have the chance to say, “Yes!” with excitement. Smart Kidz Radio from Smart Kidz Media is something we can definitely give a thumbs up!
All of the content I heard from this station was 100% safe. It is non-religious, but I did not find anything objectionable or that went against anything in Scripture. I was surprised to hear a section which focused on gender. I was honestly a little skeptical at first, but was pleased that this too reflected our belief that girls are girls and boys are boys. While they can have interests that converge and cross over “traditionally” accepted ideas (girls cook, boys fix things, etc.) it does not change who they are fundamentally. The streaming content is arranged with topics. It is introduced with a short narration and followed with songs along the same theme as the narration. Much of the content was geared towards character education, promoting positive messages and encouraging thoughtful consideration about how to treat others and keeping a positive self-image. I was very pleased that there was a short section about how to view parents. The gist of the segment was that parents aren’t perfect, but they love you and you should always be respectful. This is definitely a different message than what is sent in most media geared towards kids currently.
There are a wide variety of music styles, but I felt like the overall it was best suited towards preschool and early elementary. My girls liked the stories which can be accessed in the podcast section the most. They were short and fun versions of some stories they were already familiar with and some which were new to them. I am looking forward to the on-demand programming that will be available soon. Being able to choose the specific content would be helpful when wanting to address a particular subject. I think they would really enjoy the Christmas classics on demand and the bedtime songs as well as some of the Bible stories.
Take a look at what my Crewmates have to say!

No Longer Little: Parenting Tweens with Grace and Hope from Great Waters Press: A TOS Crew Review

July 24, 2018 Grace-Filled Writer

Parenting is not for the faint of heart…especially in our culture…especially when we hit the tween years! I have three daughters and from the time they were itty bitty we would constantly get heads sadly shaking from side to side, a few “tsk tsk” sounds, and lamentations upon how horrible things would be for us once they were tweenages and teenagers. Honestly, this didn’t scare me, it only frustrated me! My background is teaching middle schoolers and I know there are challenges to this age, but the last thing I encourage parents to do is throw their hands in the air and give up to the madness! I was very excited to read No Longer Little: Parenting Tweens with Grace and Hope by Hal and Melanie Young from Great Waters Press and see what their perspective was. While their work is primarily written for parents of boys, this particular title is quite valuable whether you are raising young men or young women. As with everything from this company you can be confident the material is addressed from a biblical perspective. There are so many voices in the world to weed through when it comes to parenting advice. Before I dive too deeply into any title I make sure I know the world-view of the author first. Reading this was a breath of fresh air! I’m in the throws of this parenting with an almost 9-year-old, a 11-year-old and an almost 13-year-old. Even though I’ve taught middle school for many years it is completely different teaching this age than it is parenting this age! I love that one of the first things addressed is that so much of the self-consciousness, uncertainty, and sadness or anger is due in great part to our enemy, Satan. It isn’t that the feelings are invalid or wrong. Feelings in and of themselves cannot be wrong, but the actions which follow can definitely fall into sinful ways. We must quip our young charges to deal with this as a spiritual battle, not merely a physical one. Kids are going to be experiencing all sorts of new emotions and will often begin questioning their upbringing and the things we parents have taught them. I loved the opening story about the authors’ son and his declaration at 9 that he believed he was going to be an atheist! While this sounds scary at first, it is actually a good thing for children to begin to ask deeper questions about faith. The Bible never tells us to not question. In fact it teaches to deeply discern through study and Scripture so we can be certain of our faith! As our faith deepens these doubts and questions begin to be answered and it is strengthened. There are several topics included in this book which will affect preteens and young teens whether homeschooled or not. Some include: faith, sexuality, media, family, work ethic, and the future. With each chapter the authors unfold what the common perspective of the world is, what the biblical view is, and tips for helping our young ones navigate these confusing and complex issues. My two favorite chapters were Media, Gaming, and Discernment and Producers, Not Consumers. I really like how these definitively real-life issues are addressed with practical answers with the biblical basis. We cannot ignore our society and how it has changed in ethical standards. Leisure time is valued above all else and work ethic is seemingly nonexistent, and, like it or not, the internet and social media are here to stay. We cannot afford to isolate our children to the point they have no sense of awareness or how to set boundaries. These chapters in particular spoke to me and gave me some new thoughts to ponder.

I was excited to have the opportunity to stop by the Great Waters Press booth at NCHE in May! Their booth was very busy each time I walked by and they were always helpfully chatting with those who had stopped. I highly, highly recommend this book to those with pre-teens and teenagers. The Crew also reviewed Love, Honor, and Virtue: Gaining or Regaining a Biblical Attitude Toward Sexuality which I am now very interested to read myself after finishing this title. Just based on the quality of what I read I would also recommend this one!
See what my Crewmates have to say!

Week in Review: July 16-20 (Vacation!)

July 20, 2018 Grace-Filled Writer

Our week was full of fun in the sun in Florida! We had a last minute opportunity to visit with my in-laws. They are the primary care-givers to my husband’s Gram who has Alzheimer’s. It is difficult for company to come when she is with them, but several of my husband’s aunts took over for a week so we could come visit and help get a few things more functional for Gram to live with them. But it wasn’t all work and no play! We had a great time!

The main project was enlarging the patio into a level area and adding a ramp so Gram can be taken in her wheelchair outside.You can see in the below picture the original concreted area in front of the door. This will hopefully be a big blessing she and my mother-in-law can enjoy!

Finished result!

Some other projects included moving her bed into the living room for easier access in and out. That happened after we left because were sleeping in her bed for the week.

We love playing games when we get together! This is Bid-a-Trick. We learned a new game called Azul that we are excited to purchase for ourselves!

The kids had fun in Grampy and Grammy’s backyard pool.

We also went to a really fun local water park. It isn’t huge, but the kids had fun on the slides and loved this waterfall area…especially Grace!

Since it rained here on July 4th we brought our fireworks and enjoyed them with the rest of the family.

It was a great week away and we were so glad we had to chance to be of some help since we can’t do very much most of the time. We throughout the day for Gram and my in-laws as they care for her. Their sacrifice and love are such a testimony to everyone who knows them.

Code For Teens: The Awesome Beginner’s Guide to Programming (Volume 1) – A TOS Crew Review

July 16, 2018 Grace-Filled Writer

I remember when my dad first got an IBM desktop computer. I was six and we had moved in order for him to get his doctorate at a major university. It was a big investment and I loved opportunities to work on it. He bought me a book that taught how to program using DOS. I thought it was the coolest thing ever, but I only got a few sections in. Life has changed so much since the 1980s, especially wiht tech. That programming book I had is quite outdated and coding is the new term of the day. We had the chance to review Code For Teens: The Awesome Beginner’s Guide to Programming (Volume 1) from Code for Teens and Rose has absolutely fallen in love with it!

The structure of this 10 chapter guide has been perfect for Rose. She will turn 13 in August and she found it very easy to follow along. This first volume focuses on JavaScript. Each section has a paragraph explaining what she would be coding. Following this is a section of what you should input and finally what the outcome should be. Rose told me she loved how easy it was to follow. She understood exactly what she was learning and could explain it to me with ease. She was even able to teach me a few things along the way. She said it was logically ordered and the instructions were very clear.

After every lesson Rose inevitably said, “Mommy! Come look what I learned how to do!” I’ll be honest, while she was really excited to start I didn’t think her excitement would last. BOY! Was I ever wrong! Not only was this what she looked forward to most with our daily lessons, she would often do more than one day’s worth of work. This is a self-paced book and she chose her own pacing. I initially thought a chapter a week, but she did a lot more. She did not work faster than I expected, but for longer amounts of time. There were times when she worked for over 90 minutes just because she loved it so much!

The best part for me is that this is completely independent. While I was eager as a kid to learn programming, my interest did not last the way Rose’s has. I really had no idea how to help her learn this. I love the drills, challenges, and review available to make sure she fully understands the concepts. I did have her work downstairs because she used a web-browser. We do not allow unsupervised technology use yet.

She did not bring her book with her, but she did ask if she could do some coding for fun while we were visiting Florida. It was really neat to see her practicing what she learned without needing the book handy! She also has asked me when the next volume will be available because she is so very ready to keep learning!
Take a look at what my Crewmates have to say!

Week in review: July 9-13

July 14, 2018 Grace-Filled Writer

Our relaxing summer has turned into a whirlwind of traveling! It’s good, but a week or two home and then week away wears on me a little. Still I wouldn’t trade it. We have the wonderful opportunity last minute to visit with my in-laws. Because my husband’s grandmother has Alzheimer’s and his parents are her primary caretakers we did not think we were going to make it to Florida. I’m so grateful we have this chance to spend with them coming up very soon!

Because of our upcoming trip we took this week pretty easy.

We spent some times at our neighborhood park…

…started watching one of my favorite series, Road to Avonlea…

…and prepped for our trip! The girls opted for a screen-free ride on their own so I gathered up a bunch of trivia (Bible, Disney, Adventures in Odyssey, etc.) and some other games, printed some fun travel games (bingo and license plates), and packed our Adventures in Odyssey for listening. The best part was that no one got car sick!

So no school this week…are you schooling, or are you on break?

The Oprhan’s Wish: A BookLook Blogger Review

July 11, 2018 Grace-Filled Writer

Melanie Dickerson has done it again! I completely adored this adaptation of Aladdin from page one. Dickerson’s fairy tale renderings to justice to our love for the classics while removing the mystical instead replacing it with characters who develop and grow in their faith. Aladdin, a young orphan, is rescued from a life of forced crime in the Holy Land and raised by a kind man of God who offers him a new opportunity. Once in Germany, Aladdin finds new purpose in life and discovers his many talents. As this favored young boy grows, so does his friendship with Lady Kirstyn. Intrigue, peril, and mystery flow throughout this tale and will leave you captivated from start to finish!

I love that Aladdin was the central figure for this tale. Lady Kirstyn is definitely important, but the shift to telling his story at the start is perfect for our times. We sadly live in a world where human trafficking is a common practice and children around the world are stuck in situations not of their choosing. This novel, although taking place in the 1400s, reminded me of the need to pray and support those who are rescuing these children.

One of the things I adore about this author’s writings is I never feel as if she is trying to teach me a biblical message, yet I’m always left with that. She is a masterful storyteller and if you have not yet read her other fairy tale adaptations you need to do so! They are excellent summer reading. Make sure you have plenty of blocked time to read. You won’t want to put it down!

Disclaimer: I received a FREE copy of this product through BookLook Bloggers in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way. All opinions I have expressed are my own or those of my family. I am disclosing this in accordance with the FTC Regulations.

Advanced (5th & 6th grade) & Intermediate (3rd & 4th grade) from Bible Study Guide For All Ages: A TOS Crew Review

July 9, 2018 Grace-Filled Writer

Discipleship has been a part of our home since my children were born. One of my first things my husband did as he held our girls in the hospital was tell them how much he loved them, and how much God loved them. He told them of Jesus and sang Jesus Loves Me as he rocked them to sleep. We have always implemented family Bible time as a part of our regular routine and have graduated from using the sweet children’s Bibles when they were young to the girls each having their own Bible. Sometimes it’s hard to find Bible material that is suited to their background. Simple devotions are really not going to cut it for my kids, but they also need to be reminded of the historical facts of Scripture. The Bible Study Guide For All Ages is a wonderful tool for my kids. We used the Advanced (5th & 6th grade) for Rose and Beth and the Intermediate (3rd & 4th grade) for Grace.

We used materials from this company about 5 years ago and one of the really awesome things was when they saw me pull this out they got very excited remembering how much they enjoyed it! 5 years is quite a length of time for kids so that was a good indication of how much they liked it the first time around. Grace had missed out before because she was too young, so she was super excited to get to participate.

I love the way the characters are drawn and the study is laid out. It almost looks like a comic book with the little boxed which is one of the reasons it is so very kid-friendly. Each box is numbered so it is easy to stay together if you are working in a group. We don’t usually do very much “together” learning as I like the girls each placed uniquely at their own levels. Bible study like this is a little different in that I love having the opportunity to discuss. I did have to call on them to answer because they just wanted to shout out all the answers!

The absolute BEST part about this curriculum is kids use their actual Bibles to learn. They look at short passages (just a few verses) and then answer questions or fill in blanks on the page. What a beautiful way to begin teaching your children to study God’s Word for themselves! This is truly kid-friendly inductive Bible study in that they dig in to understand what is going on in the historical accounts. I personally liked the Bible Summary Cards the best. Each book is summarized with pictures to help recall what each book of the Bible is about. This is excellent for all ages, even up through adult! I put these into plastic sheet covers and into a 3-ring binder for easy storage. The back of each card has a series of questions to help you remember the key ideas and important structure of each one.

There are also beautiful wall maps and timelines for young and old which are fantastic teaching aids if you have the room. Our home just doesn’t have the wall space, but it is a great idea for a church setting or if you have empty wall space in your home. One interesting aspect is that this study starts in Genesis, jumps to Daniel, and then to the New Testament. This is a bit different from others I have used, but I like how it ties the whole Bible together. It really is a logical progression for the way it is laid out even if it isn’t a traditional progression. My girls were absolutely in love with this. They looked forward to doing Bible time together for a change of routine and really enjoyed the work. It only took about 15 minutes each day and they were left with solid Bible teaching when they finished. Using 2 different levels was not at all difficult. The Intermediate level was just a bit more simplified. In the future I would probably get Grace the older level because she is more advanced and could totally hang with her sisters for this aspect of learning.
This comes highly recommended from our family whether for your homeschool or Sunday School at church! Make sure to click below to see what my Crewmates have to say!

Week in Review: July 1-7

July 7, 2018 Grace-Filled Writer

We had quite a busy week! I had the girls work on school Monday and Tuesday because too much “off routine” leads to excessive amounts of bickering and generally driving me to Crazy Town!

We had dinner with dear friends on Tuesday evening who live in Atlanta and were in town for the week. Wednesday was busy with celebrating with my parents and celebrating Beth’s 11th birthday! Her actual birthday is the 5th, but we often celebrate the day before. She was almost a little Yankee-Doodle baby, but held off for one more day.

Thursday was more celebrating of Beth! This time with Blaze Pizza, presents from us, and a nail painting party using Beth’s new nail art kit. It’s bittersweet seeing the gifts we give our girls become more grown up. She still asks for and plays with toys, but her interests are shifting to more grown up things.

Here are a few pictures of the week!

No fireworks photos for this year…yet! It was rainy the evening of the 4th and we usually do the little stand on the ground ones in our driveway, but not this year. We have plans to enjoy them when we get to take a trip to FL to visit family.

How did you celebrate the 4th of July?

Preserving Memories: July 1-7

July 7, 2018 Grace-Filled Writer

I had visions of enormous amounts of scrapbooking this summer! That hasn’t exactly happened. But I’m catching up on other things so hopefully I will have more time in the coming days and weeks to do so! When I can focus without distraction, I can usually knock out 1-2 pages in about an hour. I’ve not had that time for scrapbooking, but have been able to finish many other things and also am working on scanning in old photos and slides for our family. So I’m being productive with my memory keeping even if the scrapping is slow!

Here is my one page for the week…

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Kit: Believe in Magic: Galaxy Wars and Galactic Wars by Amber Shaw and Studio Flergs

(Retired, but re-releasing in a new format)