Monday, July 30, 2018

Usborne Books and More/ My New Adventure

Image result for usborne consultant kit july 2018

As a homeschool mom, I LOVE books! OK, I have actually loved books my whole life. This probably helped me to become a homeschool mom though! 

I have raised one daughter, 21, have a 13 year old son, who, (not my wish), goes to public school, but I did homeschool him until he was 10. I also now have a 3 year old son. He is and will continue to be homeschooled. (Yay)

I am pretty much starting over though. I have sold most of my curriculum, and it has been a LONG time since I have done preschool! 

I recently, about 12 weeks ago, decided to become an Usborne Books and More consultant. I had purchased books from several parties and loved the books! 

When I found out that I wouldn't have to meet certain goals every month, and that the kit came with books I already wanted, I was sold!

Now my incentive period is pretty much up and I have earned a lot of free and half priced books. I am so excited to get them in the mail. 

I ahve also purchased quite a bit over the last 12 weeks, because they helped me to earn even more for free, so why not?? 

Anyhow, I have chosen book for preschool for my son. I love teaching through books, especially for the younger ages. 

I plan on sharing about the books with you guys so you can see what's out there! The books are amazing and SO GREAT for homeschooling! 

If you want to check out some of the books, you can do so HERE

If you would like me to help you find any particular books for your homeschool, just let me know. I would love to help you!

I will show you all what came in my kit and all of the other books we have as well.

Oh, and JOIN MY VIP GROUP that I recently made for you guys for giveaways and sales, etc. I will be hosting a giveaway when I reach 50 members, and an even bigger one when I reach 100~

I will see you soon!

Thursday, July 26, 2018

Smart Kidz Radio/ TOS Review

Smart Kidz Radio

Smart Kidz Radio

Let me tell you about a new radio station specifically for younger children called Smart Kidz Radio by Smart Kidz Media. 

Smart Kidz Radio is a free radio station designed for children ages 2 to 10. 

The station is part of the network of free educational websites administered by the Smart Kidz Academy, an organization that promotes the education of children. 

When you go to the station you will see a play button. The station is always playing music 24/7. It does seem like it plays some of the same songs. They are not always new songs. 
 


Some of the songs I heard were kind of interesting/odd. For example, there is a song that is all about how you are a boy or a girl and nothing can change that. I think I found the song odd, but I think it's because it is so odd that we NEED songs like this. Unfortunately in this day and age, we do. 

The songs seem to be a little more on the old fashioned side. They are not modern songs, but my 3 year old really enjoyed them. 

In addition to the live streaming of music, there is a menu button in the bottom left hand corner, where you can find fairy tales such as Cinderella, Goldilocks and the Three Bears and The Tortoise and the Hare. 

This is my favorite part of the radio station. The fairy tales are nicely spoken with pretty music playing in the background. 

The point of this radio station is to help children learn valuable life skills, help them gain a positive self-esteem and to gain positive character traits and strong moral values. 

There is definitely not another radio station out there like this, at least not that I know of!

Smart Kidz Radio

You can also send the stream to your mobile phone! This would be great for on the go! Anything my son can do on the phone will keep him occupied for a period of time so I can get things done! 
There are two programming sections to the radio station. 

  1. Free Live Stream Programming. A free live stream radio programs is featured 24/7 over a designated period of time and then, periodically, a new live stream program is rotated in for another designated period of time.
  2. Upgrade to On-Demand Programming. Members can upgrade their account which allows them to select from several radio programs on an on-demand basis (Upgrade requires a small monthly fee to access hundreds of songs and stories on-demand)
 I think there is a real need for this kind of programming for our kids. I do, personally, wish the songs were a bit more modern, but my 3 year old son really enjoyed the songs and the music and started asking me if he could listen to "his" music. 

There is a FAQ page that will help to answer any questions you may have about Smart Kidz Radio

You can also find them on Facebook and Twitter

Be sure to check out what my fellow Crew Mates thought of Smart Kidz Radio as well!
Smart Kidz Radio Homeschool Reviews
Smart Kidz Radio {Smart Kidz Media Reviews}
Crew Disclaimer

TBT All Of My Reviews From 2010/2011


As I was looking for a post from my past for Throw Back Thursday, I came across a post that listed all of my reviews from 2010/2011

I had completely forgotten about some of these posts! Some of these products were amazing, and now, looking back upon them, I want to use some of them again with Brently. 

You can find all of these reviews HERE!I hope you enjoy!

Monday, July 23, 2018

Great Waters Press No Longer Little: Parenting Tweens With Grace and Hope/ TOS Review

Raising Real Men

No Longer Little by Hal and Melanie Young

Let me tell you, that as a parent of a 21 year old and a 13 year old, that parenting through the tween and teen years is not always easy! Some days, like today, I cannot understand why my kids are acting the way the are. Being rude and acting like they have no idea what I am talking about. HOW are they being rude, they say? GRRRRR 

It can be very frustrating to say the least. No Longer Little: Parenting Tweens with Grace and Hope from Great Waters Press is an amazing book that has really helped me understand why my kids are acting the way they are...

There ARE reasons they are acting that way! Our tweens are going through a lot of changes in this time of their lives, and even they don't understand all the changes. 


I devoured this book as soon as I read Love, Honor and Virtue

This book walks me, the parent, through the changes my children are going through, or are going to go through during the puberty stages. 

They say that somewhere between 8 and 14 is when your normally sweet, compliant child may start to become a challenge, and talk about the emotional roller coaster the whole family will be on during this time. 

I know that my emotions are on a constant roller coaster because of my children's different behaviors. And they can have a different behavior or attitude every minute it seems like sometimes! WHEW! 

I learned that there are real, physical changes in our children that are contributing to these behaviors; these emotional roller coasters. 

The advice from Hal and Melanie Young is to actually NOT get on this roller coaster ride with them. Oh, sometimes that is so hard, isn't it? Here is an example from the book about how some of these emotional conversations can go. 


This is SO similar to the conversations I have with my 13 year old on the daily. How about you? Sound familiar?

I have learned form this book how important it is to not get emotionally involved at these outbursts. I have learned to stay off of the emotional roller coaster! It only escalates things and makes the problems worse. We need to stay calm. I know with my son that when I raise my voice, or show that I am upset, it definitely makes things worse.

I learned about the stages that kids actually go through as they grow, which explains why sometimes it seems as if your kids can't do some of the things they had previously been able to do. I also learned that there are actual physical changes going on in their brains and that this also contributes to some of these "mood swings". 

Something else I thought was good advice was not to push our children, when it comes to academics, because they may not have reached the stage yet where they can comprehend certain things. If we just wait a bit, they will be able to and there will be no problems like there would have been had we tried to force them to do something they weren't ready for. 

There is just so much in this book that I want to talk about! Social Avoidance is another thing that was put into perspective for me. My son sometimes acts like he doesn't want to go places or come out of his room and visit, etc... I learned how he may be feeling awkward and self conscious at this age. 

The book walks you through how to help your children through these stages and how to help them have a biblical worldview of relationships, and how to maintain a good parent/child relationship. 

I was also blessed with a copy of Love, Honor And Virtue: Gaining or Regaining a Biblical Attitude Towards Sexuality


I wrote a full review on this book as well. I feel like both books are a necessity. No Longer Little: Parenting Tweens with Grace and Hope is the parents guide through these rough times, and Love, Honor And Virtue: Gaining or Regaining a Biblical Attitude Towards Sexuality is the guide for teen boys. If you have a pre-teen or teenage boy, you NEED this book. It really helps your son to understand the changes he is going through and will be going through. 

I can not recommend these two books enough. And I thought it was pretty cool that they signed both of my books!



 "Hal & Melanie Young are the award-winning authors of Raising Real Men and My Beloved and My Friend: How to Be Married to Your Best Friend Without Changing Spouses. They are publishers, writers, bloggers, and popular conference speakers internationally, known for their Christ-centered focus and practical, real-life stories. They are the parents of six real boys (four grown!) and two real girls and live in noisy, messy happiness in North Carolina."


I  actually read and reviewed Raising Real Men back in 2011. I loved this book as well. It was a great encouragement to me as a mom of  a back then 6 year old, and now I have a 3 year old again that I need encouragement for! You can read my review of Raising Real Men here

I love everything I have read by Hal and Melanie Young. I highly recommend ALL of their books. 

Check out what my fellow Crew Mates thought of these books as well!

Love, Honor, and Virtue  AND No Longer Little {Great Waters Press Reviews}
Love, Honor, and Virtue  AND No Longer Little {Great Waters Press Reviews}
Crew Disclaimer

Great Waters Press Love, Honor And Virture: Gaining or Regaining a Biblical Attitude Toward Sexuality/ TOS Review

Raising Real Men

Love Honor and Virtue by Hal and Melanie Young

Raising boys throughout the teen years is definitely not easy. 

Talking to them about all of the changes they will be going through during those teenage years is not always easy either.
 
Luckily Great Waters Press has written a book directly to boys in the 10 to 20 age range, that really helps us as parents, and our boys, to navigate through these sometimes awkward times. 

Love, Honor and Virtue: Gaining or Regaining a Biblical Attitude Toward Sexuality is such a blessing. 

I don't know about you, but it is not always easy to talk to your kids about sex, the changes they are going through and how to handle them. 

When I got this book, I decided to read through it myself first, then give it to my 13 year old son to read. 

I should have taken pictures before I started reading this book, but I didn't. And maybe like me, you only have time to read in the bath tub, so you will understand! That's why my finger is in the picture, holding the cover down! 


The night I got this book, I took it to the tub and started reading! 

Love, Honor, And Virtue is written directly to teen boys, but it really helped me to see what all I needed to be talking to my son about! 

This book covers so many things. It talks about HOW the human body works, as far as puberty goes. It talks about how we are born either male or female, and that NOTHING can change that. That even if someone thinks they are the opposite sex trapped in the wrong gender body, that it is simply not true. That even if they changed everything that they can about their bodies, their DNA, cells, genes, etc are always going to be either male or female. 

I think it is unfortunate that we even have to write about topics such as these, but in this world, it is necessary. 

It is very detailed about exactly what changes our boys are going through as they go through puberty. It even talks about what girls go through when they go through puberty, and what it means to have a period. 

It also talks about the real reason we go through all of these changes. To have babies! And it tells the process of  conception, birth, breastfeeding, etc.. 

This book does cover, and quite detailed, how sex happens. I have to admit that I was even uncomfortable reading this section. It is very detailed. However, I also know that my son knows the general way that sex happens, so it isn't a huge shock. Some of the details are a little shocking though to those who have not actually had sex yet, and we are talking to our young boys, so they have not. 

Here is an example from the section I am talking about. 

"Foreplay causes sexual excitement in both husband and wife. The wife breathes harder, her heart rate increases, her vulva, the area around her vaginal and urethral (where urine comes out) openings swells and her vagina secretes a lubricant."

It continues to talk through the whole process including the male ejaculating into the woman's vagina, and how this whole process is "becoming one flesh", and why this is so special and should only be shared between husband and wife. 

I wanted you to know about this part of the book before just handing it off to your child. I am NOT saying it is inappropriate. Unfortunately it is very appropriate in this day and age. As much as I didn't want my son reading this, I also want him to know the TRUTH. I want him to know what sex really is. I do NOT want him learning about sex from his friends, who have no idea what they are talking about or who glorify it in a way that it shouldn't be.  Maybe knowing the truth will keep it from being so much of a temptation or thinking about it as the world likes to think about it. I am hoping it puts it in perspective for my son. 

That brings me to another topic this book covers. Porn....Again, a topic I would really rather not have to talk about with my son. But unfortunately it is only a Google search away, or a text away. 

This book taught my son about porn and sexting. It is obviously encouraging our young men to stay away from porn. It also talks about how degrading it is to real women out there and how all of that is not real life and that it is not fair to their future wife to expect anything from them that they may see in porn images or videos. 

One thing I really liked that it did talk about was how having nude or inappropriate images on their phone is child pornography. Even if, say a young girl sent a picture of herself willingly to my son, HE could still be charged with having child pornography on his phone and be in a lot of real trouble.  

I am hoping that this deters him from ever going down this path. 

That is one thing I really do like about this book. It doesn't just talk about things in a general way, it really gets to the heart of the matter, and what some of the consequences to our actions can be. 

It does help our young men to understand masturbation, and why it is not a good idea. It gives practical tips on how to stay pure, even though it is hard, and it doesn't make them feel bad if they are having a hard time. It is normal. But it really helps them to see the big picture of what sex really is, what it was intended for, how to stay pure while waiting for their wife, and how to handle relationships until they are old enough for marriage. 

I really can't say enough about this book. There are a few areas that I was uncomfortable reading because they were so detailed, but everything in this book is so important to share with our young men. 

It has sparked a lot of conversation in our home that may not have been brought up or my son may have been too embarrassed to bring up on his own. 

My son's opinion of the book is that it is helpful for kids to learn about all of the changes they may be facing, but that he feels it is basically too detailed. Some of it made him feel uncomfortable, like he shouldn't be knowing this stuff yet. 

I wish he didn't have to either, but I know his friends at school, and however unfortunate, even at church, will be talking about sex. At least this way, I know that he knows the truth. 

As much as this book was helpful to myself and my son, there is another book that I was also lucky enough to receive that REALLY helped me, as the parent, understand exactly what my child was going through and HOW to actually handle it!


No Longer Little: Parenting Tweens With Grace and Hope is a MUST HAVE book for all parents. I am not just saying this, I really mean it. I think you need both books if you have boys, but No Longer Little is so helpful for parents of boys and girls. 

This book has helped me so much in understanding just what our kids are going through, and to be more understanding during these times. 

I am wrote a separate review for this book here. Please be sure to read it. I really, really want you, as a parent to have this book in your arsenal. 

And look how cool! They signed both of my books!




"Hal & Melanie Young are the award-winning authors of Raising Real Men and My Beloved and My Friend: How to Be Married to Your Best Friend Without Changing Spouses. They are publishers, writers, bloggers, and popular conference speakers internationally, known for their Christ-centered focus and practical, real-life stories. They are the parents of six real boys (four grown!) and two real girls and live in noisy, messy happiness in North Carolina."

In 2011 I read one of their other books Raising Real Men. I enjoyed this book just as much as I have these other two. You can read my full review on Raising Real Men here

Love, Honor and Virtue: Gaining or Regaining a Biblical Attitude Toward Sexuality and No Longer Little: Parenting Tweens With Grace and Hope are both must have books, in my opinion. I really hope you get as much help and encouragement out of them as I do!

Be sure to check out my fellow Crew Mate's Reviews too!

Love, Honor, and Virtue  AND No Longer Little {Great Waters Press Reviews}
Love, Honor, and Virtue  AND No Longer Little {Great Waters Press Reviews}
Crew Disclaimer

Thursday, July 12, 2018

TBT/ Curriculum


It was really interesting to look over all of the curriculum I used back in 2011! 

Check it out. It may be useful in your curriculum hunt! 

Wednesday, July 11, 2018

Wordless Wednesday

This Wordless Wednesday is dedicated to my dad. He has been gone for 17 years now. This was his fish. 



Tuesday, July 10, 2018

Bible Study Guide for All Ages - Beginner (3-K) / TOS Review


Bible Study Guide for All Ages

Bible Study Guide for All Ages

Bible Study Guide for All Ages

One of my favorite things to teach to my children are Bible lessons. I am all about finding fun, interesting Bible lessons for my kids. 

I was lucky enough to receive a Bible study curriculum from Bible Study Guide for All Ages

My son is 3 years old, so we reviewed the Beginner (3-K) set. 

We received the Beginner level student pages and the Beginner Time Line



On the inside of the front cover are all of the directions needed to use this curriculum.

 It is recommended to have the Children's songs CD set and the Beginner's Teacher Visuals if teaching several students. 



This is an example of the front and back of the lesson page. On the front are the directions to follow for the lesson. 

Each lesson starts out with learning about one of the timeline pages. 




I have to say that the timeline is my favorite part of the whole curriculum. 

The Beginner timeline is made of 8.5 x 11 inch card stock. The card stock is super sturdy and the pictures are gorgeous. 



As I was saying, at the beginning of each lesson you present the timeline page to the student. The instructions say "Learn Beginner Time Line number 1". There is no lesson for me to read to the student about the picture on the time line however. I am not sure exactly how you are supposed to present the timeline to the student.

Since this is the Beginner set, the time lines are pretty self explanatory. So I just explained what the time line picture was about, or told the story of the time line. There are questions at the bottom of every time line picture. 


The questions are great for the review of the time line. You can put these pages in a binder, hang them on the wall, or just pull them out each day. You can use these time line pages however works best for you! 

Each day you can go over all of the past time line pages by asking the student the questions on the bottom of the pages, and then learn the new one. 




The questions are simple, and easy to remember the answers to. 

I love, love, love the timelines. My son loves them to. He gets excited learning about them; especially when he remembers the answers!

You will also be working on learning the books of the Bible. Each lesson will tell you which ones to recite for that day.

 If you have the CD, it will also tell you which song to listen to. I think the CD would be a great aspect to the the program. 

It will also lay out a few questions for you to ask your students/children. 

There is a get active section that you will use to engage your students. Lesson one, for example, asks you to give one piece of candy and a compliment, to one student.  It then asks you to proceed with lesson as usual and wait to see if the other students ask you why you gave one student a piece of candy and no one else. 

When the students ask you why, you can then ask them how it made them feel when you did that, and use that as a springboard to talk about what to do if they ever have bad feelings against someone. 

Then you are going to turn your paper over and learn about what happens when you let your bad feelings turn into hate. This particular lesson is about Joseph and his brothers. 



Most of these "Get Active" sections are designed for more than one student/child. When you only have one child you really have to tailor it to one child. You could ask them how they would feel if you were to give one person a piece of candy but not them, and still get the point across. 

You would then turn your paper back over to the front and apply the lesson learned. 


You would ask the students questions about the picture, and the children can color the picture while you are asking them the questions. 





That would conclude one lesson. 

It is a little confusing at first, but you quickly get the hang of it. 

I like that each lesson teaches a Bible lesson and real life lessons, helping children know what to do in every day life situations. 

My only complaint is that the time line pages don't match up to the lessons. I wish the lessons went along with the time line page for that lesson. Maybe this is because there are way more lessons than time line pictures, I am not sure. 

As I said at the beginning of this review, I LOVE the time line and it is my FAVORITE part of the curriculum. 

I highly recommend you get the Beginner Time Line, no matter how you plan to use it. It is so versatile. 

The Beginner Student Pages come in units. Each unit has 26 lessons and are only $5.95 each. 

All in all I think there are a couple of tweaks needed if you are only teaching one child, but they are easily made. I think your family would enjoy this Bible Study Guide for All Ages

This curriculum is for all ages, as the name states. That means that all of the sets correspond to one another so that everyone in your family from 3 years old to adult can all be studying the same parts of the Bible at the same time, on each person's own level. 

For older children there are Wall Maps and Time Lines that would be exciting to use. 

Time Line


Wall Map

This really is the answer to how to do Bible study for the whole family. 
Be sure to check out what my fellow Crew Mates thought of this curriculum. We all reviewed different age brackets, so you will find your particular set somewhere in there!
Kepp up to date with Bible Study for All Ages on Facebook and Twitter as well!

Bible Study Guide For All Ages {Reviews}
Bible Study Guide For All Ages {Reviews}
Crew Disclaimer

Beyond the Stick Figure Art School/ TOS Review

Disclaimer: I received a FREE copy of this product through the HOMESCHOOL REVIEW CREW in exchange for my honest review. I was not requir...