review – Page 17

Hello, Florida! from Applewood Books: Review

September 26, 2013 Grace-Filled Writer

Florida feels like the girls’ second home. Rose and Beth were both born in Florida and my husband’s parents live there. We visit the state a couple of times a year and the girls have enjoyed many of the sites in South Florida, but it is such a big state and there are so many other places for them to learn about!

Hello, Florida! by Martha Day Zschock is a fun board book all three of my girls fell in love with! I’m always happy when something I have for Grace gets my other girls excited. She is in preschool so I don’t usually expect her books and activities to engage her sisters. This was one of those times and Grace’s older sisters took great pleasure in reading this story to her!

The first time I read this to Grace her sisters were working on their lessons. I figured they wouldn’t be interested in their sister’s new board book, so I didn’t think about reading it to all of them. Imagine my surprise, when I suddenly realized they had come up behind us and were reading over my shoulder. They really enjoyed seeing what the alligator tour guides told about Florida next.

Grace asked her sister just today, “Will you read to me?” I love that the girls enjoy reading to their youngest sister and it’s a fun way for them to practice oral story telling. So many different areas of Florida are represented in this short book. Florida is a diverse state, so much more than just the beaches and amusement parts normally remembered. The diversity of the land is well represented. The beautiful illustrations capture the imagination and once again the girls asked if we could visit the areas mentioned the next time we visit.

My favorite pages were about the Everglades, the area we lived in when Beth and Rose were born. We used to count the alligators in the canals created in the Everglades as we traveled to and from our town, but none were as cute as the two in this book! They are so sweet and made for excellent tour guides.

Whether you are visiting Florida for the amusements, the history, the beautiful nature, or because you have family there, this will be a fun book to take along with you. Perhaps you’re studying through various states around our country. This would make a fabulous addition as would many of the other books in the series. The detailed pictures make it fun to read over and over and will give even your youngest travelers a sense of what is in store for them!

Disclaimer: I received Hello, Florida! from Applewood Books in return for an honest review. I was not required to write a positive review. This is my own opinion.

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

September 25, 2013 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

September 24, 2013 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!

September 24, 2013 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

Robert Griffin III: Athlete, Leader, Believer by Ted Kluck: Review

September 24, 2013 Grace-Filled Writer

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I’m so pleased to have my first guest-post from non other than my dear husband. We are a Redskins family and my girls all enjoy cheering on the team with their daddy. Enjoy my husband’s review of this new biography of the Redskins rising star, #10. (The pictures of the team are from our trip to Redskins training camp a few weeks ago)

I typically do a lot of reading and research while at work, I therefore don’t do very much reading for pleasure. Every so often, however, a book catches my eye and I just have to read it. Since I am a huge Washington Redskins fan Robert Griffin III: Athlete,Leader, Believer by Ted Kluck, was one of those books. I have been a Redskins fan my entire life. I have been a fan through some great years and remained a fan through some tough years. Ever since the Redskins drafted Robert Griffin III I have had high hopes for the Redskins.

The book begins by talking about what made Robert Griffin III into the athlete he is today. I learned how we was raised in a military family, his work ethic, and the support and encouragement he received from his parents. As I read through the book, I loved how chapter after chapter described the steps Griffin III took to get to the NFL and what happened once he was there. Being the Redskins fan that I am, I thoroughly enjoyed the chapters that recounted the 2012 NFL season. It was as if I could replay the games in my mind as the author described the details of the games.

Not only does this book talk about Griffin III’s NFL career so far in the NFL, it also addresses his faith. I love knowing how Griffin III’s faith fits in to who he is as a person and how it helps him as an NFL quarterback. According to the book he is a man of integrity which is a result of his faith in God, something lacking in many modern athletes. In a society where we hear of more and more athletes being jailed for more shocking and horrendous crimes, it is refreshing to learn about those who have not compromised their faith in the face of fame.

The only disappointing thing about the book for me was the number of misspellings and grammatical errors. While I still highly recommend the book, it would benefit from another round of editing.

This book is a great read for any football fan and especially a Redskins fan. It’s a book that will be hard to put down and could easily be read in a single sitting.

Disclosure: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze.com® <http://BookSneeze.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

Seed Sowers: Review

September 16, 2013 Grace-Filled Writer

My husband is a pastor with the Christian and Missionary Alliance. A. B. Simpson did not set out to found a denomination, but rather a movement of God’s people to pray for, financially support, and send out missionaries to further the gospel all around the world. Now, more than 125 years later, our denomination still views its primary purpose as spreading the gospel around the world by equipping its members within our nation at the same time as equipping our international workers abroad. My girls have grown up within this culture and deeply love our times with international workers and hearing about God’s work around the world.

We also love to teach them about those who have gone before us in this endeavor. Seed Sowers: Gospel Planting Adventures by Gwen Toliver ($13.95) from Seed Sowers is a beautifully written book. It is also available as a hardback ($30.95) and in an Kindle format ($3.99) which we reviewed. Each section focuses on a different missionary who is now retired and some of their adventures focusing around their work with translating the Scriptures into the heart language of the nations. I love Gwen’s perspective as a current translator with Wycliffe. It is clear she has a true passion and love for seeing the Scriptures written in the heart-language (the language they most relate to) of groups all over the world.

We have loved reading this together, especially on Wednesday evenings. Children are welcome in our mid-week service and stay in during my husband’s Bible study. During the prayer time I take any children there to a small room just off the sanctuary to pray with them. If there is time after our prayer time I will have been reading to them from Seed Sowers. This is often just our three girls, but they love it and beg for more! They are disappointed when the adults are finished with their prayer time because it means I’m done reading.

Her writing drew my girls in and captivated their attention from the first sentence. I have aimed to read aloud more to the girls and this has been a perfect place to start. I have had to, “Read just one more Mommy!” more than once as my eager little sweethearts soak in the spiritual heritage of those who have gone before us. Rose has tried to sneak off with my Kindle to read ahead and Beth has been playing missionary as she pretends. Anything which brings excitement to my girls makes me happy. When it causes them to grow more deeply in their understanding of God and His work, it thrills me.

I love that these captivating stories were written after the author was able to interview many retired missionaries. They are first-hand accounts and this is invaluable. So many books of missionaries are written from research. This is not necessarily bad, but using primary source material for historically accurate books is vital. As I read I watch as my girls are transported to jungles, islands, and other far-away places. I typically allow them to draw while I read. More often than not they are listening spellbound as the crayons and pencils lay unused on the table and eager faces lean in waiting to hear what comes next.

My favorite response from my girls came from Beth as we prepare for our recent conferences where two married international workers shared about their work in Russia. When I was telling the girls about the services we would be attending each night Beth twirled around the room and said, “I’m just so excited! It will be just like our missionary stories!” To hear my six-year-old proclaim her excitement over hearing about God’s work in other lands brought tears to my eyes and joy to my soul.

I can only hope there is a sequel to this book. I know there are so many more stories of God’s faithfulness as many before us made so many sacrifices to bring God’s Word to then nations.

Read more reviews from my fellow Crewmates!

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Giant Roller Ramps from Lake Shore Learning: Review

September 6, 2013 Grace-Filled Writer

**Read through to find a coupon code for 20% off!**

Every birthday and Christmas my husband and I go through the same conversation. What toy are we going to give the girls which is first, worth the cost and second, worth the space it will take up. I’m happy for my girls to have toys and fun things to play with, but with three daughters there just is a limit on how much stuff they actually need. As I think about toys now I think about what will inspire them. Lakeshore Learning is a company with inspirational toys.

We had the chance to review the Giant Roller Ramp Starter Set. What a fabulous toy! This set comes with 17 sturdy pieces and a ball. Sounds simple, right? My opinion is that simple is often best. This toy has captivated my girls for hours as they experimented with a variety of configurations.

The girls started out by following one of the many options of configurations included with the pieces. I was pleased to see how clearly they were presented so both Beth (6) and Rose (8) were able to build what they saw. The ladder parts are stackable and a variety of heights can be used.

The ramps easily snap together for children. It took Beth a little longer to figure this part out, but soon she was jumping right with the building and snapping! They are made so any one ramp will attach to another which makes creativity easy. They are extremely well crafted so the constant building and rebuilding does not put stress onto the connection pieces.

The included rubber ball glides smoothly on the ramps. The girls called it their tester. They used this first to see if it worked for them. If the ball got stuck they looked things over to figure out how to get it moving again. It has been so fun for me to watch them discover basic fundamentals of engineering while they are playing.

Notice the toy cars in the background? After using their test ball the girls would try a variety of cars to see which one would work best. They had a handful of cars they liked best. This was Grace’s favorite part! She struggled a bit with the building, but boy did she like the testing!

Before long Beth especially was ready to try her own setup! I thought at first she was just randomly building and I enjoyed seeing her work, helping her when she asked. Imagine my surprise when she used her test ball and she grinned up at me saying, “It worked just like I thought it would, Mommy!” I questioned her on exactly what she meant. If you notice the setup, she intentionally created a ramp which would cause the ball to end up right back where it started. She told me she wanted to do it this way so she didn’t have to get up and chase after it. Wow! Seeing my recently turned 6-year-old deliberately build model that functioned in a specific way she intended from the beginning was eye-opening to my understanding of how her mind operates.

My girls have played with this almost daily since we received it. Some days small balls roll down the ramps, sometimes cars, and sometimes little characters going on a water slide (this was mostly Grace!). This is a wonderful set which I recommend to anyone looking for a different type of toy for their child, one which will engage them longer than the current trendy toys and cause their imaginations to soar higher than you may have ever thought!

Here is your coupon code: http://www.lakeshorelearning.com/7413

(expires October 31)

Disclaimer: I received the Giant Roller Ramps Starter Set in exchange for an honest review. I was not required to give a positive review. I was not compensated in any other way.

Time4Learning: Review

September 4, 2013 Grace-Filled Writer

Online resources for homeschooling is becoming a huge trend in the home education world. You can find anything you need from supplements for fill in the gaps to full course curricula. The difficulty comes in trying to weed out the useful from the time wasters. I typically aim to keep our learning environment as focused on literature and hands-on activities as possible. Computers and screens are usually reserved for supplementation, so I’m pretty picky about what my girls use.

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Time4Learning is a company who has made its presence well-known both within the homeschool world. Simply search for online homeschool resources and Time4Learning pops up very quickly! All of the core areas are covered including language arts, math, social studies, and science for $19.95 each month for k-8th grades. Discounts are given for each additional student signed up. Courses for high school students are also available. The learning environment definitely has more of the feel of a game and Beth, a six-year-old 1st grader, definitely saw using this as playtime. This is a great benefit when you have reluctant learners. Sparking interest is vital with any program whether a traditional approach or computer-based.

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Beth was the primary user for reviewing the program and used the 1st grade level, but her sisters were right there along with her and thoroughly engrossed! She tried out all of the subject areas and was able to quickly complete all of the language arts and math material. Her official grade-level is 1st, but her ability level is second grade or higher. One of the nice things about Time4Learning is if you find the material is too easy (or too difficult!) you can request a grade-level change. This takes about 24 hours, but I’m glad it requires confirmation so parents have plenty of time to consider.

One area which we were concerned about was how science information would be presented. Our family’s world-view is that all of Scripture is true, including a literal 6-day account of Creation. I appreciate that although Time4Learning is not a Christian-based curriculum, they have taken time to address these concerns and even have a specific board within their forum to address this. Click here to see what they have to say.

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Another wonderful aspect is the availability of lesson plans. We are blessed to live in a state where the regulations are easy to follow. Some states are a bit more challenging and require lesson plans. Time4Learning is a huge help for this. It is set up to be a full course curriculum. This can be reassuring for parents who are feeling unsure of themselves as they embark on their journey of homeschool can rest easy knowing their children will be able to meet what is considered grade-level requirements. My personal feeling is it is a little less rigorous than I like our curriculum to be, but my girls tend to be a bit advanced so I’m always searching for more challenges.

Whether you are searching for a full-online computer-based curriculum, fun educational or a supplement for any particular subject, you should check out Time4Learning! This is definitely a high-quality option for any of these scenarios. My daughter asks frequently, “Can I play my mousey game now?” Getting her to agree to play is never a chore and the bonus is she is all the knowledge she is gaining.

Click below to see what others on the Review Crew had to say!

Look Left, Look Right, Look Left Again from Greene Bark Press: Review

August 30, 2013 Grace-Filled Writer

My girls are always so interested in the why of everything, especially safety rules. We have been very strict to teach our girls they must obey, even if they don’t understand why at the time for their safety, but explaining why has also been a very important part of our teaching. They need to obey, sometimes blindly, but teaching safety should occur other times as well.

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This sweet little book by Ginger Pate is a wonderful tool for gentle instruction of safety rules and the reason why we have those rules. Look Left, Look Right, Look Left Again ($8.50) from Greene Bark Press Inc. is beautifully written and engaging for my girls who are in just the right age range, 3-8. I think the format is best suited for preschoolers simply because it is a board book. Most grade-school kids will balk at board books, although my girls are an exception to this! I’m not sure if it is because they don’t experience the peer pressure to fit-in, but so far I have yet to hear one of them complain a book is too little for them.

My oldest, who is eight, grabbed it right out of the box and settled down to check it out. She is obviously past the board-book stage, but my girl will read anything she can get her hands on. I think she secretly wanted to check it out before her little sister got to it! It wasn’t long though before Grace found her new book and immediately fell in love with the little duck, Wally. What an adorable protagonist!

One of my favorite aspects is howWally is instructed by his mother about safety rules when crossing the street. In a society where a good portion of the media portrays parents as irrelevant and often idiotic I am pleasantly surprised when books or other media put parents in a positive light. Mama Waddlewater is protective and wise. She instructs her son and gives reason and makes sure he is safe.

I also liked how Mama Waddlewater teaches Wally to practice. He insists he was going to cross the street the right way and tells her indignantly he knew better. Mama says it is still her job to make sure he is safe. What wonderful words from a storybook which have echoed my own so many times!

Beth enjoyed reading this to her little sister. It was fun to hear them discussing the pictures and enjoy the book together. They both said this book was fun and I found them reading it several times.

This is really just such a pleasant story and so sweetly written! To see what my Crewmates had to say click below!

Under the Microscope Lapbook from Hands of a Child: Review

August 20, 2013 Grace-Filled Writer

My oldest daughter loves to learn and is completely fascinated by science. We do not have a regular science curriculum I follow at home because from September through May my girls attend a learning center which covers a wide variety of science topics. At the same time science has always fascinated me and I encourage my girls to engage in what interested them scientifically. I even have a science corner built into our homeschool room to encourage investigation.

Additions to our schoolroom this year included instruments for investigation. Although I was extremely excited about getting a microscope and telescope into our room, but I have to be honest…it has been a while since I’ve used a microscope and I don’t know if I’ve ever used a telescope!Reviewing the Under a Microscope Curriculum (K-3rd grade) from In the Hands of a Child seemed like a great opportunity to refresh my skills.

We don’t typically use lapbooks, but In the Hands of a Child is a company I am very familiar with. They are at the top of the list when searching for quality lapbooking materials. For those unfamiliar with how lapbooks work I like to think of it as scrapbook learning. As students read, learn, and investigate they construct a miniature scrapbook of the information usually kept in a manilla folder. Instructions are included at the beginning for how to construct this lapbook although I was a little confused about where exactly to place the information. This is probably because lapbooking is still more out of my comfort zone than most learning activities. This particular company offers lapbooks in a variety of formats including e-book ($10.00), CD ($15.00), Printed ($18.00), Print+CD combo ($16.00), and a Lapbook It Pack ($12.00 – Does not include the teaching materials). This and other titles are currently on sale right now!

One of the reasons lapbooking isn’t typically our learning format is the time it takes to construct the lapbook. It is difficult to do this with multiple ages of children, but In the Hands of a Child helps by gearing their units to a wider age-range with multiple book options and activity choices. My oldest daughter mostly worked on this, but my other girls were excited to check out the microscope as well.

Matching up the scientific vocabulary used when talking about microscopes to their kid-friendly definitions was one of the first activities we did. This was a great way to start out the study so as we went through our learning she would have a good understanding as well as a reference dictionary along the way.

Although many lapbooks I see use lots of multicolored paper I like having the option to print on what I want to. This way my girls can decorate and color the pictures as they want. I particularly liked this how to focus the microscope step-by-step clipboard. It turned out really cute an looked “scientific” to Rose. It also gave very clear instructions for even a newbie scientist.

In addition to information on how to use a microscope and the various types which exist, there was quite a bit of historical information as well. It was fun learning about who created the first microscope.

Rose was so excited to be able to follow the directions and focus the microscope on her own! We have a set of 15 slides I purchased at the same time as the instrument and she has been waiting to learn how to use it on her own. Her favorite slides to look at were the pine stem and human blood. “Ewwww! Blood!” That was my almost-four-year-old Grace’s response. She still enjoyed looking at it though!

While working on this unit we had a friend who was over for the afternoon. Rose was very happy to teach her how to use the microscope and share all she had learned.

If you enjoy lapbooking, this is a high-quality lapbook at an affordable price. They also frequently run specials and offers with steep discounts. I personally do not care for this learning medium, but I know many families who do. If you like the idea of project-based learning and hands-on instruction I encourage you to take a look at In the Hands of a Child and their many resources which cover all subject areas.

You can see some other products from this company reviewed by my Crewmates below!