This has been a very interesting winter for us. I have been very silent on my blog except for reviews because I just have not had the time/energy to come up with blog posts. About mid-February my husband and 5 of my children came down with influenza. Two of the children also developed pneumonia and then my husband got pneumonia and ended up in the hospital for 4 days. Then a couple more kids got sick. Amazingly, I never got sick. It was a surprise to me because I tend to be very susceptible to the flu and I've had it several times. We had 6 straight weeks with someone in our house being sick with coughing and a fever. During that time, I found out that I was pregnant too. Our celebration was short lived though as I miscarried a couple of weeks later. We have also since had a few children with a stomach bug. It has been a long 2 months!
Even through it all I was reminded that God is faithful. He was faithful to give us peace and comfort...faithful to provide friends to bring food and encouragement and prayer.
So, right now everyone is healthy. I am very caught up on reviews and we are getting ready to wrap up this school year and start planning for next year. I want to get back to blogging regularly and sharing more of what we are doing around here.
This week my husband is on vacation and yesterday we visited the aquarium. Here are a few pictures. It is unseasonably warm and wonderful. It was a great time.
Emma watching the sea lion show
Sadie
the shark tank
Ellie
at the ray touch pool
Connor
Jenna and Emma
My favorite picture of the day. Emma and Jenna walked out of the aquarium this way.
God's Great Covenant by Classical Academic Press is a Bible course for children. I had the opportunity to review the New Testament course and I can't wait to tell you about it.
In God’s Great Covenant, New Testament 1: A Bible Course for Children, students will follow the story of Jesus, the Messiah and King, as He is born and fulfills all God’s promises. But Jesus does not arrive as people expected. The people were looking for a mighty warrior to deliver them from the oppressive Roman government. Instead, He came as the suffering Savior, who would die as the sacrifice for sin and death. He was building a kingdom that was not of this world—it was the kingdom of God. He is the Son of Man, God’s Servant, the Messiah, and the Son of God. Each of the four units in this text emphasizes one of these names of Jesus. God’s Great Covenant, New Testament 1 teaches the Gospels to students in fourth grade and up, using stories, worksheets, memory verses, devotional guides, quizzes, and a little boy named Simon. In the introductions to the text, students will also learn about the historical, cultural, and geographical setting of the New Testament. This book is a most comprehensive and heartfelt study of the Gospels, and many parents and teachers will find themselves learning along with their students. -from the website
a sample of a map
God's Great Covenant NT has a 23 page introduction divided into 6 sections
Introduction
Historical and Political Information
Chronological Information
Geographical Information
Religious Information
Daily Life Introduction: Welcome to Simon's World
The introduction is followed by 36 weekly chapters with 4 themed units:
Unit 1: Jesus, the Son of Man, Has Come...To Live Among His People Unit 2:Jesus, God's Servant, Has Come...To Proclaim the Good News Unit 3: Jesus, the Messiah, Has Come...To Teach About God's Kingdom Unit 4: Jesus, the Son of God, Has Come...To Conquer Sin and Death
Each chapter contains:
A memory page with a weekly memory verse, key facts chart, fulfillment of prophecy section
A thought-provoking “Think About It” question
A worksheet and quiz
Unit reviews that contain a memory verse worksheet, devotional guide, and a fun short story of life in Simon’s world
(Simon's world is found at the end of each unit. Simon is a fictitious character in a fictitious Galilean village. Each Simon's world section introduces daily living in Bible times.)
The worksheet sections include crossword puzzles, fill in the blank, matching, codes to crack, questions to answer and more. You will also find maps. Each section also ends with questions that cause you to think about how the weekly lesson applies to your own life.
You can see the entire table of contents and sample pages of the student edition here.
Sample of review worksheet
Each lesson has a Theme, Scripture (or Scriptures) that the lesson is based on, Memory Passage, Key Facts and a Prophecy Fulfilled section (which I love). Next is Story-time which includes the Bible story told in a story format followed by the Worksheet section.
A detailed Teacher’s Edition is also available. It is a full copy of the student text (in a reduced size) with explanatory notes as well as lined margins for your own notes. It also provides answer keys and additional factual information to expand upon the historical, geographical, cultural, and theological concepts introduced in the text.
We have really enjoyed using this book. I decided to use this book for our family devotions rather than as a workbook for one student. We would read some of the listed scriptures and then read the story from the lesson and answer questions orally. I have to admit to not using the teacher's manual but it really is a great resource and has a lot of information. The print is pretty small for me though. (I'm in the over 40 crowd and need bi-focals soon.) Though this book is recommended for "children" 4th grade and up, we found it beneficial for the whole family. I can't imagine kids any younger than this working on this on their own but it was appropriate for our entire family for devotions.
God's Great Covenant is written from a covenantal and reformed theological perspective. I am a conservative, fundamental Baptist and haven't found anything I would disagree with.
Every lesson is footnoted with multiple scripture references so you can look up EVERY thing you read for yourself. Scriptures used in the book are from the NIV and NKJV. We are a KJV family so we just read the scriptures from our own Bibles. Most of the writings are not direct scripture quotations and it really wasn't an issue. Each book is just over 350 pages long.
The books are paperback and do not lie flat when open which is what I would prefer. When I finally let one of my children actually write in this book I might take it and have it spiral bound.
The audio downloads are perfect for the car or bedtime (or any time really). It would also be great to use if you want the child to listen on their own and complete the lessons. Listen to the Chapter 1 sample.
As this school year winds down and I start thinking about curriculum for next year, I thought I would share my thoughts on the main curriculum we used this year. In August of last year, we started using both levels of Illuminations (Year One) by Bright Ideas Press. Illuminations is a curriculum guide that uses The Mystery of History as a spine. (Read what I said about it after about 5 weeks here.)
Illuminations-High School
The high school level of Illuminations has Bible, literature guides for 19 books, lessons for The Mystery of History, lessons for English from the Roots Up and Write Shop I. It also has grammar lessons, geography, humanities, a Life 101 course, and assignments from supplements such as Diana Waring audios, Drive Thru History DVDs and even movies on Netflix.
When you open Illuminations you see the menu below. There is a Quick Start section where you will find a quick start guide, introductions, an interface guide to teach you how to use the program, the book and program checklist, notebook spines and a literature evaluation guide.
Next, you can browse by either subject or date. If you choose "Browse by Subject" your menu looks like this:
Here I selected English From the Roots Up. It opens in a .pdf document which can be read on the screen or printed. The lessons are divided up by week and day and you can easily find the lessons by clicking on the bookmarks on the left. Besides the lessons you will find crossword puzzles and games, mad-libs, a final test and even an award certificate to print. This guide alone is 50 pages long.
The geography lessons are based on The Ultimate Geography and Timeline Guide. There are 2 lessons for each week. This is a 27 page guide. Other guides include 59 pages for Write Shop I, a 23 page Bible reading guide (no lessons here just a list of readings and memory passages), 4 guides for books in the Life 101 course and a great supplement guide. Even after a year of using this, I am amazed at how much is included (some of which I forgot about and never even used!).
Easily choose the week you are on. You can save any changes you make
without losing the original!
The most helpful part of Illuminations (in my opinion) is the schedule grid which you will find by clicking the "Browse by Date" button on the main screen. The schedule grid is customizable. You can add things to it and change it to suit you. The only thing you cannot do is cut and paste text from one place in the grid to another. (This is one thing that I did find frustrating because if I wanted to move things around I had to re-type them. This is not the case if you want to cut and paste from something outside of the grid. For instance, I wrote up science lessons which I typed into a blank grid ahead of time and could cut and paste that into the grid each week.)
sample of a schedule grid
Watch this video by Tyler Hogan to see more about how this works. I think it will be much more helpful than reading an explanation. He does show you how to work with the grid in this video.
So you're probably wondering what you need to buy, right? It really depends on how much of Illuminations you want to use. You will definitely want to get The Mystery of History because it really is the core of the program (plus it's awesome). I bought a few of the literature titles but I was able to find most of the literature through our inter-library loan system. (A few of the titles are included as e-books.) We have been using Easy Grammar Ultimate so I do not know anything about the grammar lessons included. You also might want English From the Roots Up, The Ultimate Geography and Timeline Guide and an atlas, Write Shop I and supplements such as Drive Thru History and Diana Waring audios. Science and math are not included at the high school level. Remember you can use what you already have or substitute if you have something you like better.
You can download a sample that includes the book list, 2 weeks worth of schedule grids, a sample family literature guide and sample of the graphic organizers which I will discuss below.
One question I was asked recently (as in today) was, " How long does it take each day?" I really can't answer that because I think it depends on how much of it you do, what other subjects you add in (such as PE, foreign language etc.) and how quickly your student works.
Illuminations-Grades 3-8
As with Illuminations high school, the spine of Illuminations for grades 3-8 is The Mystery of History. Bible readings, spelling, grammar, copy work, geography, science and literature are all included as well. With this program there are Family Study Guides and Read Alone Guides. Most weeks you are reading a book aloud and the students also have a book to read to themselves with a guide to go along with each. I chose to read the Read Alone books to the kids as well. Otherwise, I wouldn't know what they were studying. Looking back, I think they probably should have been reading more on their own but I can't say that I regret the time I spent reading the books to them.
I have really enjoyed the literature selections this year. They have all been really interesting and they are not books that "I" ever would have picked out myself. I have been extremely happy with them.
One difference between the high school program and the 3rd-8th grade program is that science IS included. The lessons for Year One are from Christian Kids Explore Biology. The lessons also have readings from the Kingfisher Science Encyclopedia which is a beautiful book but be forewarned it has evolutionary content. I wish there was a similar encyclopedia written from a Christian perspective. (Anyone know of one?)
As with the high school books, (some of which are the same) I was able to obtain most of the needed literature and read alone books from the library. There are 19 literature guides plus an additional 3 guides meant for summer use and 26 read alone literature guides and 2 do-it-yourself read alone guides, one for fiction and one for non-fiction. These guides alone make the price of Illuminations worth it. Many of these guides are available for individual purchase but at $10-$14 each that adds up quickly. (and they are not all available to purchase individually.)
One of the other benefits to using Illuminations are the included Graphic Organizers that are used throughout the lessons. Here are a few samples:
There are 36 different graphic organizers. (They are the same in both levels.)
The Spelling lessons are based on Natural Speller by Kathryn Stout. I have the book,but we never used it. I just used the words in the included spelling lessons. (For my son in the 6th grade, we just spelled the words until we came across words he couldn't spell and used that as a list. My 3rd grade daughter was using Soaring with Spelling.)
Lessons in this level are scheduled mainly for Monday-Thursday. This is ideal for making Friday a fun school day, field trip day, catch up day or co-op day. (or switch your "free" day to whatever day works for you)
I almost forgot to mention that at this level there are lessons for Early Learners (K-2) included as well.
So, I think I have talked myself into buying Year Two! :) No, seriously, I do think I am going to purchase Year Two. Mid-year I kept thinking that I missed doing unit studies. Lately, we have had a lot of review items for the TOS crew so we set aside some of our Illuminations curriculum to work on those and when we came back to Illuminations I was so happy and started really thinking that I am going to continue with this next year.
On the Illuminations website you can download samples of each year of Illuminations (by level).
Each sample includes:
A pdf version of their brochure
A Course Offering and Literature List. This will tell you what you need to buy (depending on which parts of the program you want to use).
Two sample Schedule Grids.
Literature Study Guides. Family Study Guides (FSGs) and Read-Alone Guides (RAGs) for 3rd-8th grades, and High School Study Guides for the older ones.
Some of their favorite Graphic Organizers.
Purchase information can be found here. You can purchase a full year bundle of both Illuminations 3-8 along with Illuminations High School for $240. They can be purchased separately as well and there is even an option for purchasing just the first semester.
My advice would be to buy this at least a few weeks before you start to use it so you can familiarize yourself with the grids and explore everything that Illuminations has to offer. Please feel free to ask me any questions you may have. I'd be happy to answer them if I can OR you can contact the folks at Bright Ideas Press. They have always been very helpful when I've had a question.
One other thing to note is that once you have registered your product you will gain access to a members area where you will find updates and additional things to download that are not in the program. There isn't too much there but you won't want to miss it.
Chemistry. Does this word strike fear in your heart? :) Chemistry is the only subject I ever failed in high school. Perhaps if I had been introduced to chemistry with Christian Kids Explore Chemistry in my younger years it wouldn't have seemed so foreign to me. Christian Kids Explore Chemistry is a science curriculum for grades 4-8 in the Christian Kids Explore Series from Bright Ideas Press and I am thrilled to have the opportunity to review it.
There are four books in this series written for elementary and junior high students. Christian Kids Explore Chemistry, now in its 2nd edition, comes with a brand new resource CD that includes daily lesson plans, materials lists, all the reproducibles you need and even a bonus literature study guide for the book, Piece of the Mountain, a story about the life of Blaise Pascal. Reproducibles include coloring pages, unit reviews, follow-up questions for each lesson and activity charts.
Christian Kids Explore Chemistry is a 385 page, black and white, paperback textbook that provides 30 lessons in 5 units. Read the Table of Contents or view Sample Pages. You will find hands on activities such as making model atoms, breaking covalent bonds and making gas expand. There are Chemistry terms, notations and rules, unit reviews, coloring pages and a supplemental book list.
a sample page showing clear, easy to read text with bold vocabulary words
within the text and definitions in the margin
We were introduced to this series this year and completed Christian Kids Explore Biology a few weeks ago. I am really enjoying the series and plan to purchase the other 2 books that I don't have when we are done with Chemistry.
Each lesson is not too long making it easy to teach and not overwhelming to the student. I read it aloud to my children but older students could certainly do this by themselves. The vocabulary words are defined within the text AND in the margins of the lessons making it easy for students to find the words they need to define with each lesson. There is a glossary as well that students can use if they prefer. The detailed lesson plans give you 2 days of work for each week making it easy to double up for the week if you wish to cover 2 books in a year (which is my plan for next year.) We will finish Chemistry and move on the Physics.
Lesson plans include memory work including a scripture verse (which can also be used as copy work), review, reading, discussion, vocabulary, hands on activities and supplemental reading.
Vocabulary words are placed on index cards for easy review or you can use a notebook. We are using blank notebooking pages for vocabulary at this time.
In the supplemental reading section, you will find a list of books by unit that you can purchase or order from your library. I have had no problem getting the books through our library system. The lessons also have a weekly reading from the Kingfisher Science Encyclopedia. I have enjoyed using this beautiful book for the Chemistry lessons but be warned it is full of evolutionary content which I did not like when using the Biology book.
By the end of the first unit my reluctant 12 year old son told me he likes this. High praise from him indeed!
Ryan and Emma learning the difference between mixtures and compounds.
Getting it all down on paper
You can purchase Christian Kids Explore Chemistry for $39.95 at Bright Ideas Press. This includes the Bright Ideas Press also carries Illuminations full curriculum, history and geography resources and more. I LOVE Bright Ideas Press and highly recommend them!
Read what others are saying about the Christian Kids Explore series on the TOS crew blog. All 4 books in this series are being reviewed. Feel free to ask questions if you have any.
disclaimer: I received a free pdf copy of Christian Kids Explore Chemistry along with a digital copy of CKEC supplements in exchange for an honest review.
Write with WORLD is a brand new writing curriculum for middle school students from the publishers of God's World News and WORLD magazine. I'm sure many would agree that writing is one of the hardest subjects to teach (and to learn). I was thrilled to have the opportunity to review this curriculum for the TOS crew. Write with WORLD is for students in grades 6-9 but could also be used with high school students without a lot of writing experience.
Write with WORLD aims to produce young writers who love writing, can write effectively, and intelligently share ideas, beliefs, and their worldview. We hope to support a generation of young believers who aspire to use their writing skills in the service of God's Kingdom and explain effectively the reasons for their beliefs. -from the website
On the website, the publishers answer the question, "Why a different writing curriculum?" with these 5 reasons:
1) Persistent poor writing among those entering college 2) Existing curricula are often focused on mechanics and remediation 3) Christians need to be heard in this era of conflicting worldviews 4) Profusion of new media, in which anyone can be a content creator 5) Today's sophisticated media and messages demand that students be discerning message consumers
Write with WORLD is divided into 4 Units of 4 Lessons each. Each lesson is divided into 5 Capsules. I thought the lessons provided just enough work for each day so that the student is learning and not feeling completely overwhelmed. I wish there was a timeline of how to space out the lessons to make this a 1 year curriculum. There are 16 lessons (5 days each). In my mind when I see 5 sections I figure one per day but at that rate the book will be finished in 16 weeks. I hadn't really paid attention to the total number of lessons so I guess we can slow the pace down and spend more time on each lesson. I plan to continue using Write with WORLD. Our school year is winding down and I'd like to save this to do next year so we will probably pick it up again full force in the fall.
The teacher's book is identical to the student book only it has wide margins with teaching tips throughout and plenty for space for your own notes. The text is NON-consumable. Students keep their work in a notebook. With a large family, I love non-consumable curriculum. See this sample of the first lesson. (In this first chapter there are pictures that pertain to the lesson. Future lessons do not contain any photographs.)
The Teacher edition is on top. You can see the wide margin and teacher's notes.
Write with WORLD also incorporates the top 20 grammar errors made by U.S. college students. You can see what these are here. (again scroll down) I love "whole" learning where grammar is incorporated into writing. (Spend 5 minutes on Facebook or message boards and you will see these errors over and over again.) Students also learn vocabulary and then at the end of the lesson take those vocabulary words and have to choose an appropriate synonym using a thesaurus.
Note that this curriculum is loosely connected to WORLD magazine and God's World News which are referenced in the book but not necessary for use. I plan to order them though. I meant to this year and somehow forgot.
This curriculum is decidedly Christian and teaches children to write with a purpose and to write with a worldview. Of course we all have a worldview. I want my children to write to the glory of God and I think this curriculum will help them to do that.
You can pre-order Write with WORLD for $95 per year, or $165 when both years are purchased together. Year one will be available to ship this summer. Purchase will include access to a user website coming this fall that will "provide online publishing opportunities, as well as additional writing subjects to constantly freshen and augment what is in the textbooks."
Ever since I first heard about Truth Quest History I wanted to give it a try. I was so excited when I received this to review as a part of the TOS crew.
TruthQuest History is a deep and rich literature-based history study…but with a difference. You will not learn the story of mankind; you will learn the lovestory of mankind. You will not focus on the rise and fall of human civilizations; you will focus on the arrow-straight line of God's unchanging existence, power, love, truth, and plan for civilization. You will not simply 'meet the culture' or 'get the facts;' you will probe the truths of history so deeply that your students will be equipped to change their world!
-from the website
TruthQuest History is unlike most history curriculum. It is written from an unashamed Christian viewpoint; the perspective that history is first about what God does and says, and secondly about what people believe and do in response. Throughout the guide, commentaries are given as an introduction to each topic and thoroughly discuss the consequences of mankind's Big 2 Beliefs which are 1)Who is God? and 2) Who, then, is mankind?
For a book lover like me, TruthQuest History is a dream come true. You will find extensive book lists for every topic you can imagine in chronological order. We reviewed the Age of Revolution I: America/Europe 1600-1800.
In addition to the commentaries and book lists you will find ThinkWrite exercises (13 in this guide) to help students internalize and express the history lessons they are learning through literature.
One thing I really appreciate about TruthQuest History is you do not have to buy a certain set of books. You can use what is listed or what you can find. Read more here:
It is not intended that you purchase, find, or even read all the books cited in this guide! You can see how impossible that would be! TruthQuest History is completely different from curricula which depend on certain books, so users must think differently about it! Here, the goal is not to guide you through books, but through history...using books...whichever books are readily available! That’s why so many are listed here–to give you the utmost opportunity to harness your public or church librarywithout missing a gem! When you (wisely!) decide to homeschool using real books, no matter what curriculum guide you choose, you’re only able to use what’s available. Therefore, this large booklist is not a burden, it’s a benefit! It vastly increases the chances of finding the best available books on every topic!
-quote from TruthQuest history
So the layout of TruthQuest is that you first read a commentary by the author, followed by a list of reading from the "spines" of the curriculum, then there is an extensive list of books to choose from. I did not have any trouble finding books in our library system. Almost everything I searched for was available through our fabulous state ILL program. Each book also lists a grade level (love that!). The Think/Write sections are placed throughout the guide. Click here for a sample from Age of Revolution I and here to see the Table of Contents.
While I love TruthQuest for the book list, I am not at a point in my homeschool where I want a curriculum that isn't really laid out for me day to day. There have been times when this would have been perfect for us and I suppose with a large family we could all study the same topic using this.
We ended up using this to study state history because we are studying ancient history this year but we're still required to study state history and we happen to live in one of the original 13 colonies so there was plenty to choose from in that section. I am very impressed with the books that we found and even learned about a place in my state that I'd never heard of even though I've lived here for 44 years (all my life).
We reveiwed the pdf version of Age of Revolution I. I would recommend spending the few extra dollars to order a book version. This guide is 378 pages long which is just too overwhelming as a pdf in my experience. Also, the page numbers of the pdf do not match the pages in the book. For instance, Maryland history is listed on page 64 in the Table of Contents but you will actually find it on page 81 of the pdf. The Table of Contents is not linked though there are bookmarks that will get you where you want to go if you are using this on a computer. I did load this on my Kindle (just a regular Kindle) and on my iPod touch but pdfs really aren't great on either of those anyway. I read the commentaries to my kids on my Kindle but the font was very small and as I said pdf's just aren't that great on the regular Kindle. I also used my laptop for reading and that was better but reading from the computer is not my favorite thing either. I think I would have liked this a lot better if I had a hard copy.
Level 1 for Grades 1-5
American History for Young Students I
American History for Young Students II
American History for Young Students III
Level 2 for Grades 5-12
Beginnings
Ancient Greece
Ancient Rome
Middle Ages
Renaissance/Reformation/Exploration
Age of Revolution I
Age of Revolution II
Age of Revolution III
You can see more detailed information about these here.
So as you can tell, I have mixed feelings about this curriculum. Though it could be used a complete curriculum if this is your style, I prefer it as a rich resource for finding historical literature. I do have to say that I enjoyed the perspective of the commentaries and view my state history a bit differently now than I did before.
You can purchase TruthQuest History guides for $24.95-$34.95 or ($19.95-29.95 for a pdf version) (Prices vary according to the guide you choose). Visit the website to see other companion products available for purchase including A Journey Through Learning binder builders, notebooking pages and a map/timeline/report package.
See what others are saying about TruthQuest History on the TOS crew blog. disclaimer: I received a free pdf version of Truth Quest Age of Revolution I in exchange for an honest review.
I was recently given the opportunity to review Amazing Animals by Design. This children's book is an adorable yet educational story by homeschooling mom Debra Haagen. Debra is a military wife and mom of 4 and fellow TOS crew member!
This story follows children John and Sarah and their parents as they visit the zoo. This is not just about typical zoo animals with elephants, giraffes and zebras. It also has other animals you may have never even heard of. (Visit Debra's website for actual pictures of the animals used in the story.) Amazing Animals by Design includes lots of facts about each of the animals and how they are designed. For instance, we learn why an elephant has a trunk, why a zebra has stripes and much more.
Do you know what animal this is?
Sarah
John
The illustrations in Amazing Animals by Design are soft and inviting. They seem well suited to younger children (pre-school to maybe 4th grade depending on your child.)
It is refreshing to have a book about animals that acknowledges that God is the creator and designer of animals and that he also made us (in His image.) While the book introduces the idea of intelligent design, it clearly points the reader to God as the creator.
I received the pdf version of this book to review. We read it on a laptop and an iPod Touch. I think we would prefer a "real" book because the text and animal illustrations are not on the same page therefore when I was reading it the kids, they couldn't see the picture the text was referring to. (Maybe there is a way to do that but I couldn't figure it out.)
I received the pdf version of this book to review. We read it on a laptop and an iPod Touch. I think we would prefer the actual book because the text and animal illustrations are not on the same page so when I was reading it, the kids couldn't see the picture the text was referring to (maybe there was a way to do that but I couldn't figure it out.) There is a way! If you purchase the digital version you can view the book in a two page format by clicking on view and choosing that as an option. (Thanks Debra for the tip!)
Read what others are saying about Amazing Animals by Design on the TOS crew blog. disclaimer: I received a free pdf copy of Amazing Animals by Design in exchange for an honest review.
