Tag: giveaway

Journey Around Maine from A to Z from Applewood Books: Review

Grace-Filled Writer
My girls’ heritage begins in Maine although they aren’t very aware of it! My husband was born in Maine and lived there until he was eight. His mother and grandfather were also born in Maine. I was very excited to have the chance to help them explore this unknown part of their roots.
Journey Around Maine from A to Z  by Martha Zschock was a great place to begin their journey! The entire Journey from A to Z series is an excellent way to learn about states and cities all around our country. The illustrations are absolutely beautiful and the amount of information on each page is extensive and thorough. 
Rose asked the other day why we had stopped reading stories before bed like we used to. To be honest I hadn’t really made it a priority since we do so much reading during the day, but after our conversation I realized this was an important family time she was missing. I’ve been aiming to include this into our evenings which don’t include church and the girls are very happy we have renewed this part of our routine. 
I actually had a really hard time getting through the book and we couldn’t get through it in one sitting! They had so many questions spurred by both the information and the paintings. “What’s that?” “What does that name mean?” “Can we go there one day?” The questions came flying faster than I could answer them! 
Not only are many of the wonderful landmarks Maine is famous for represented, but it also explores Maine’s rich history. Everything from the Native American tribes and early settlers to lumber jacks and rock quarries are discussed. Science, geography and culture are all three explored. I loved the diversity of what was represented. Pictures books about states are typically very light on content and tend to focus on either history or geography. This book and others in the series are content rich in so many ways. 
One feature we all loved was the sweet chickadee who acted as our guide through the book. On each page the chickadee is part of the painting and I let the girls take turns finding her. Grace informed me the bird was a little girl! Each book in this series has a different bird to take readers on their journey. It really was a fun treat to play seek-and-find all the way through. 
My only lament is there isn’t a book for every state and major city!

Disclaimer: I received Journey Around Maine from A to Z from Applewood Books in return for an honest review. I was not required to write a positive review. This is my own opinion. 

A Little Maid of Virginia from Applewood Books: Review

Grace-Filled Writer

Life in colonial America has become a recurrent theme for this year as we prepared for our trip to Williamsburg.

Rose loves all things history and is reading several years ahead of her expected grade-level. The struggle I have is providing her engaging stories written in a way that will challenge her, but also be age-appropriate. The Little Maid series by Alice Curtis has provided wonderful historical fiction at a higher reading level which is also appropriate for her young 8 years. She has read one other book by Alice Curtis which she really enjoyed and definitely looked forward to beginning A Little Maid of Virginia. 
I scheduled Rose to read a chapter from the book each day. This was one of the most challenging books she has read simply because of the language style. Written in the early part of the 20th century, the complex descriptions and sentence structure are not easy for our 21st century minds. My sweet girl jumps right into challenges though and is not afraid to say, “What does this mean, Mommy?” I truly feel challenging a child’s abilities gently and intentionally is the best way for them to progress.
Rose enjoyed the historical aspects and it opened many opportunities to discuss life during this time as well as more information about the Revolutionary War. The fact that the story revolves around two girls who are cousins made it very enjoyable for her to read as she is also very close to her cousins. 
This also would make an excellent read-aloud choice for family reading. It is a wonderful example of the living books way to introduce history to young girls. Many aspects of colonial times and the Revolutionary War are difficult to express to young children because of their sadness and violence, yet Alice Curtis inspired my daughter to want to know more and gently introduced her to this period of history. 
Are you looking for great classic novels to introduce your daughters to history? This is a wonderful series to check out!
Disclaimer: I received A Little Maid of Virginia from Applewood Books in return for an honest review. I was not required to write a positive review. This is my own opinion. 

A Week of Applewood Books and a Giveaway!

Grace-Filled Writer

I’m so excited to have the chance to review for Applewood Books again! This company is primarily dedicated to the publication of classic, out-of-print books in order that they might be preserved for future generations. There are so many wonderful books from this company and I have the privileged to review four of them, one coming you way each day the rest of this week and a giveaway at the end too! Each day a new link will go live from the list below. At the end of the week there will also be a giveaway and the winner will get to choose one of the four books. I’m so excited!

Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday

A+ Tutorsoft: Giveaway! (And a coupon code!!!!!)

Grace-Filled Writer
I’m excited to have the chance to offer you the chance to win 3 months to a high-quality, computer-based online math program. Whenever someone tells me they are looking for a high-quality math program that takes the pressure off them to teach math, I point them to A+ Tutorsoft.

I found this to be very enjoyable for my daughter as well as something I could trust to be doing the job well. One reason I feel so strongly about this program is because it will reteach any area your student does not fully grasp right away. I don’t have to go searching through retrieved data to decipher where there may be trouble areas. Another reason is as you can see it isn’t strictly computer-based. The computer is the main source for instruction, but the student has practice which is completed on paper. You can click here to read my full review from last year!

I also have a coupon code to offer you which will give you a whopping 20% off!!!! This does not expire and can be used every time you order. I love coupons, especially ones that do not expire! 
GRACEFILL – use for 20% off your entire order!

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Little Linguists Spanish and Wake Up Class Bible from Gallopade International: Review and Giveaway!

Grace-Filled Writer
(Don’t forget to read through to the bottom for the giveaway!) 

One of the fun things about homeschooling is supplementing our regular curriculum. Many homeschoolers have a core curriculum they love, but no one curriculum covers every subject exhaustively. Dipping our toes into a variety of subjects has given me insights into my girls’ individuality as well as inspire us to dig further into areas I hadn’t considered before. No matter what subject you are looking to explore further, Gallopade has something for you! 

I’m not looking to start a full-blown language curriculum within our homeschool yet, but I do like the idea of introducing a variety of languages early. Gallopade International’s series, Little Linguists, provides a wonderful way to toe-dip into 10 different languages! This is not a full-course curriculum, but it works beautifully as an introduction or supplement to what you are already doing.

This series sounds fun before you even open the books. Titles like Do you Speak Spaghetti? (Italian), Of all the Gaul! (Latin), and Say WHAT when you sneeze?” (German) invite students to have fun as soon as they see it. These reproducible (Yay for reproducible!) books help children learn other languages through context clues, language similarities, and fun activities. Also included is cultural and geographical information which tie the language to its country of origin.
My girls constantly ask me how to say all varieties of words in different languages. Although I was in the Spanish Honor Society in high school, I must confess I remember very little and usually have to look things up. I can still translate minimally, but recalling words was never my strong point. Uh, Oh, Amigo! was so much fun for my girls! Although school happens all together, we rarely do lessons where we are learning the same thing at the same time due to their varied levels of learning. 
 Because this is not a full curriculum you do not have to go in order in the workbook. I plan to continue to do one page a week when our school year begins to give them consistent exposure to foreign languages. The activities include everything from matching, to bubbles, to fill-in-the-blank. They can be used alone or as a follow-up to a language lesson. Their uses are really unlimited. 
Beth was so surprised and excited she could understand Spanish in just the first sentence she read! One of the first pages we used has sentences written in English and only one word replaced in Spanish. I wasn’t sure how they would like this, but they were delighted! Now Beth consistently talks about living in a casa. I didn’t formally teach her casa is house in Spanish, but the format of the activity led her to logically figure it out. 
We will also be using From Russia With Love both at home and at church as we partner with a family currently in Russia serving God. I have come to really love this series and plan to purchase more in the future! 
Another new product from Gallopade International is a series called Wake Up the Class. These themed cards provide questions to engage children academically as soon as formal learning time begins with fun questions. There are nine different subject sets including history, critical thinking, writing, critical thinking, and Bible. We had the chance to review the set of Bible cards.
Each set is color coded so if you purchase multiple sets you can easily keep them organized. The content of the Bible cards would prohibit them from being used in most public school classrooms, but these would be a fun addition to a private school class, Sunday school class, or how we use them, in homeschooling. 
My girls tend to be morning people and we don’t typically have a hard time getting started on our lessons each day. I like to use these kinds of activities as a break from the routine or in between subjects.
The questions are a fun jumping off point for discussions as well. For kids with a solid biblical knowledge base some of the questions will be more like review, but in addition to the answer the reverse side of the cards also have an activity or discussion jump-off for further exploration. These questions have been well-thought out and will certainly engage your kids! 
For anyone in Tennessee and Georgia stop and say, “Hi!” at the Gallopade booth at the CSTHEA Homeschool Show in Chattanooga and the Southeast Homeschool Show in Atlanta. Don’t forget to tell them I sent you!
Now for the giveaway! 
There are two prizes to win and two separate winners! Make sure to share with your friends for extra entries.

FREE Book Friday with Master Books!

Grace-Filled Writer

I’m so excited to host FREE Book Friday for Master Books (a division of New Leaf Publishing) this week! I have come to rely on this company to teach me truth as I have slowly come to understand my grade school education was filled with the errors of evolution. I’ve been slowly creating a Creation library for our family and have has the Answers Books on my wish list!

I’m so excited to give you the opportunity to win The Answers Book 2 by Ken Ham. I have learned so much as I read this. I knew no matter what my teachers told me, evolution was incorrect. What I struggled with was the absolute certainty many of them presented their so-called facts with. I was also completely unaware of the evolutionary teaching permeating so many other subjects…history, humanities, and even literature were frequently impacted by this false teaching. This book presents factual evidence which systematically breaks down all of the errors in evolution.

I appreciate that Ken Ham states up front that unless you start with the assumption the Bible is 100% accurate, you will not agree with this book. At the same time he presents compelling scientific arguments and facts which cannot logically be disputed. I was especially fascinated with the chapter which dicussed Stanley Millers experiments which resulted in the creation of amino acids in a laboratory. I was appalled to learn what I had been taught was absolute fact is in reality highly suspect evidence at the very least. The true results of this experiment as presented in the book in fact prove more for creation than evolution. How blessed I have been to read truth and arm myself with knowledge so I can discuss the topic of creation vs. evolution intelligently.

I wish everyone could win, but since this isn’t possible make sure to add this series to your wishlist for your own library!

 a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclaimer
I received The New Answers Book 2 in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review. No other compensation was received.

All About Spelling $50 Giveaway!

Grace-Filled Writer

I’ve raved over All About Spelling from All About Learning Press in many of my posts. I honestly can’t say enough good things about it!

I came into homeschooling being labeled as a “poor speller” and it caused me great concern. It didn’t matter that I graduated from high school 10th in my class of 405, or that I entered college with 18 course credits from my AP classes or that I excelled in college and graduated magna cum laude with my degree in middle grades education. None of that mattered. I had been told early on in my education that I was a poor speller and I just needed to study harder. I did study. I studied a lot. Spelling was still hit or miss with me. No matter how had I tried this was my main struggle in elementary school and I dreaded the yearly spelling bees since I rarely made it past the first round just within my classroom!

What a relief when middle school came and spelling was no longer required! It was also about that time that computers were becoming more main-stream and they included spell-checker, so I basically gave up trying. Why should I try when I had basically been told I wasn’t going to ever increase my spelling ability? The irony of it all was that my reading level was much higher than most of my peers. I was told high level readers usually translated into high level spellers. So what was wrong with me?

No one ever taught me the rules. Rules? There are rules for spelling? Except for “i before e except after c (and a bunch of exceptions we don’t have a rule for)” I don’t remember learning any rules. All About Spelling has changed my entire understanding of this subject. I searched it out when my oldest, an excellent reader, was clearly not transitioning to spelling easily. Rather than giving up, I started researching. I prayed for wisdom then scoured the internet, read numerous catalogs, and asked veteran homeschooling moms their recommendation. I settled on All About Spelling and haven’t looked back!

Since then spelling has only become more and more fun! Here is an update on my two girls using All About Spelling…
Beth…

Beth finished up her Kindergarten year a little over half-way through All About Spelling Level 1. I could have pushed her a little faster because she loved it and it seemed easy, but I chose to do only 1 lesson about every 2 weeks, practicing just a little bit each day. This worked well for her and I plan to up the pace a bit in the fall. She’ll continue some through the summer to guarantee retention. 
Something knew we tried and love is spelling using alphabet stamps in addition to the tiles. I try to switch ti up for fun. I always use the tiles for teaching and the first set of words we work on, but I try to switch it up some after that. 
Another unexpected benefit for Beth has been improvement in handwriting. She really wanted to use a traditional notebook like her sister and in doing so, her handwriting has started becoming more mature. What a fun transformation to see this year! 
Rose…

Rose finished up 2nd grade and I am thrilled with her progress. We are about 1/4 the way through level 3 and will also continue during the summer. She used to ask me how to spell very short words she should not have a problem with, she now rarely asks how to spell anything, or tries it first and then just asks me to check it. I have also caught her making her own corrections. This is HUGE! She would frequently flip 2 letters and now she is seeing it. What a blessing All About Spelling has been for her! She especially likes finding Silent E in words and deciding which rule it follows. 
She also really enjoys using the homophones book. It is divided into grade-level appropriate practice. She has only done a few of the pages, but she now quickly recognizes homophones.
Although we do uses the tiles for teaching, Rose never uses them for spelling practice now. It is faster for her to write and since she likes that better it is fine with me! She also has improved her cursive as a result. The transition for a student from copying cursive to writing their own words can sometimes be tricky. All About Spelling has been a good medium to make this transition. We still have some work to do here, but she’s definitely well on her way! 
Don’t forget to enter the giveaway!

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4D Heart Model from Tedco Toys:Review and giveaway!!!!

Grace-Filled Writer

I’ve been on the search for high-quality science manipulatives to encourage exploration and curiosity. I don’t follow a science curriculum during the school-year because my daughters are blessed to take a science class once a week starting in 1st grade. At the same time I don’t want to completely ignore science at home. Therefore I’ve been systematically collecting and searching for good things to encourage their natural curiosity for how things work.

One of the newest items I’ve come across are the 4-D Anatomy Human Anatomy Models from Tedco Toys. Their company motto is, “Where Imagination Has No Boundaries.” I love this! Our house is full of whys these days and much of it centers around science. My girls definitely do not have boundaries on their imagination and I love that the toys from this company are designed to encourage that. 
We have put together two 4-D models from Tedco Toys. The first was the human ear and the second the human heart. I say we, but I’ll be honest and tell you my husband is actually the one who put both models together with my daughter as I snapped the pictures. They come with directions and are meant to be a puzzle. The direction booklet also contains and large amount of information to engage with more learning. My oldest daughter is only 7, so putting this together on her own wouldn’t have worked. I believe older students, especially middle school and high school, would be able to manage fine on their own. 
Just upon opening the box my daughter was so excited to learn what each piece was for and how it all went together! I love how neatly arranged it is. 
My husband did say the only difficult part about following the directions was that some pieces were already put together which wasn’t always indicated on the paper. . The directions are simply pictures so there is an element of problem solving needed to figure out exactly how the pieces fit together. 
My daughter enjoyed watching and held some of the pieces for her daddy as they put the models together. She curiously asked all sorts of questions which makes it worth all the hard work!
These are our completed models. It took about 15-20 minutes for my husband to put them together completely and they turned out so beautiful! Unlike other models I have seen the pieces are easily removed for further investigation. This is a unique feature which will certainly provide hours of learning inspired by curiosity. 
I also like how the heart opens up. My youngest daughter has an extra pulmonary artery discovered a few months after her birth. While it is a fairly common and minor defect it is something we will keep an eye on as she grows and she should be aware of as she gets older. This will be an excellent tool in explaining the unique feature God has given her.
Would you like to win this beautiful heart model? Tedco Toys is generously donating one to one of my blessed readers! Enter below with the Rafflecopter form below. 

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Disclaimer
I received the 4D heart model in exchange for my honest review from Tedco Toys. I was not required to write a positive review. No other compensation was received.

Signing Time: Review and a Freebie!

Grace-Filled Writer

When my oldest daughter was about 8 months old she finished her puffed star snack, looked directly at me, and started touching her finger tips together. I found this a little odd because she seemed to be trying to tell me something, but for the life of me I didn’t have a clue! My husband walked into the room and said, “She wants some more snack.” When I questioned him on how he knew what she wanted and what in the world it had to do with her hands he explained that the pair of sisters I had been teaching piano to had been teaching her signs. I would teach one piano and they would teach her sign language. I was shocked and delighted! I had them teach me a few basic baby signs and we used just the basics with my girls from about 6 months on: more, yes, and all done. I think there may have been more, but those are the ones I remember! This picture of Grace saying, “All Done!” Very emphatically with her hands after taking one bite of carrots at about 9 months!

My oldest daughter has been asking me to learn more about sign language. When Two-Little Hands gave me the opportunity to review Volume 13:Welcome to School I was excited and so were my girls! This DVD teaches many of the common signs of things found in school. The signs formally taught on this DVD are: Crayons, Scissors, Paper, Glue, Pen, Pencil, Table, Chair, Backpack, School, Line Up, Pay attention, Learn, Remember, Smart, Principal, Teacher, Class, Student, Name, World, Numbers, Count, Draw, Paint, Read, Quiet, and Rest. In addition to these formal signs Rachel, the Signing Time teacher, uses a number of other signs as she talks and sings. Rose (seven-years-old) picked up on a lot of those while Grace (three-years-old) and Beth (five-years-old) mostly focused on the formally taught sings.

The first thing that struck me about the DVD was how quickly it engaged my girls. Like many families we choose to limit the amount of time our girls are focused on a screen. There are many reasons for this, but one in particular is the lack of participation and interaction required is typically minimal even with educational shows. With signing time my girls all worked hard to sign well and talked with one another as well. Rose especially encouraged and helped her younger sisters.

Principal

The girls asked to watch this every single day. I’m not kidding! They love it that much! Not only that, they started signing to one another and to me to ask for things. It has been a really fun thing to watch.
Scissors

It’s really neat to see my seven, five, and three-year-old learning together and able to successfully learn at the same time. It is also rare to find a DVD which all three enjoy equally. Usually what interests one bores the other. All I have to say is, “It’s Signing Time!” They run and sit as quickly as they can while they wait for me to get it started.


Table
The girls also really enjoyed the extra features as well, especially watching the voice-over recordings. It was a good experience for them to see the production side of programs. I also like the extras include more signs to learn. Rose is really into Bonus Features right now!

This is a quick video of my girls’ completely absorbed in Signing Time! Take a minute to watch and you’ll see just how fun this has been for them!

 

And NOW for the freebie! As an exclusive gift for my readers is the Homeschool Guide e-book! Click the image to start your download! This exclusive guide is a great start to help you see just how easily Signing Time can fit into your homeschool day. 
Disclaimer
I received Signing Time: Welcome to School in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review. No other compensation was received.

Field Trip: Museum of Life and Science and Giveaway!

Grace-Filled Writer

When I started homeschooling last year it wasn’t expected, I felt an incredible amount of pressure to get everything in, and all my glorious ideas of field trips flew out the window. I kept a mental list of field trips…the only thing is that nothing ever got checked off the list. Then I decided we’d do field trips on Fridays so we could have something to look forward to each week…which lasted one week. It isn’t that I didn’t like field trips, but things started coming up, or they came down with colds…I’m sure you understand and could probably add to the list!

One of the best ways I found to fit field trips in more frequently is by looking locally. No matter where you live there are opportunities for experiential learning through field trips. We are blessed to have a variety of museums close enough for a day-trip that doesn’t leave us completely wiped out. One of those is the Museum of Life and Science in Durham, NC, a hands-on science museum which explores mathematics, physics, biology, chemistry and so much more!

In all honesty hands-on doesn’t even begin to do it justice. I remember visiting this museum when I was a child and I loved it every time. Some of my favorite exhibits are even still there! Still, no matter how much I loved it as a kid, seeing this through the eyes of my children brings me joy in such a different way. Their wonderment of discovery seems even greater than my memories.

The aerospace and weather exhibits have been here for years. Instead of “hands” off signs, children are encouraged to touch and experience all they see. Even the space ship which Enos (the second chimpanzee in space) rode in is available for everyone to see and touch. The girls love this area and I love all the history from our own space program represented here.

Also located inside are wonderful exhibits of animals native to the area. The girls really enjoy the variety and I like that everything is behind glass!

Rose really enjoyed Flip It, Fold It, Figure It Out upstairs. Intricate examples of origami inspires visitors to try their own creations!

Also inside are examples of animal jaws along with a display of how a variety of animals eat. Grace really liked the shark jaw!

Outside are the barnyard animals, which I sadly have to avoid! My husband is used to this though due to my hay allergy. Still, the kids see goats, sheep, rabbits, donkeys, owls, and many more.

Just past the barnyard animals is the Insectarium and the Magic Wings Butterfly House. While I’m not a huge fan of the insectarium, I could stay in the butterfly house all day! The insecterium houses a variety of amazing insects, but again I’m thrilled they are behind glass…mostly! There is one particular spider which I was told did not stray from its habitat, usually. My husband likes it, but not me!

The butterfly house is amazing…unbelievably amazing! Butterflies are everywhere, filling the warm air with beauty you don’t usually see this up close. If you are fortunate, butterflies will land on you or your clothes. Young butterflies are released twice a day and kids can seen them up close as they flutter away. The variety of flowers and butterflies provide endless opportunities for photographers, experienced or just beginning like me! This is easily my favorite part of the museum.

Beth loves the Dinosaur Trail. Beautifully crafted dinosaur statues line a walkway. Kids can see, touch, and climb on life-size dinos!

Other things we didn’t experience because of time! Younger kids have an indoor play area, the outdoor playground provides endless amounts of fun, train rides occur every 30 minutes, when the warm weather comes Into the Mist is a great way to cool off, and special events run throughout the year! On April 20 the Shark Tooth Hunt begins!

You can bring your own lunch to enjoy in the picnic area, but you can also buy yummy treats at the Sprout Cafe. We all enjoyed the variety of food which was healthy, filling, and oh-so-good!

Sometimes field trips take a lot of planning and preparation. The Museum of Life and Science needs none of this. You can spend as much or as little time in whatever areas that interest you and your children more. We arranged our visit just as we finished up Rose’s astronomy unit. There is so much to see and experience a single day to visit may not cover everything. We ended our visit by purchasing a year-long pass!

Now for a give-away! The Museum of Life and Science has generously donated a 1-day-family pass for a giveaway! There are several ways to enter. Take time to visit their website and tell me your favorite exhibit!

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Family Friendly: 10
Kids Engagement: 10
Likelihood to return: 10 (We may just come weekly!) 
Disclaimer
We received admission for our family to The Museum of Life and Science in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review. No other compensation was received.