June 28, 2018

The Master and His Apprentices: Art History from a Christian Perspective {Curriculum Review}

The Master and His Apprentices: A Christian Perspective on Art History {review}
Art History. This is a subject that can be rather...well scandalous when it comes to the art included in most curriculum. My mother-in-law is an art history major and she HATED that aspect of it. I don't know about you, but as a mom, I'd really like something more, well GODLY when it comes to studying art throughout history for my children (and myself for that matter!). But does such a thing exist? Let me introduce you to The Master and His Apprentices, an alternative to the traditional approach for art history. I recently reviewed The Master and His Apprentices: Art History from a Christian Perspective and am happy to share this high school level curriculum with you today.

About The Master and His Apprentices

The Master and His Apprentices is a Christian perspective of art throughout the ages. Unlike 99% of the other art history material out there, this curriculum contains NO nudity or other objectionable material! Instead, it has just scholarly material in a reader-friendly format. Throughout the course, the

June 27, 2018

Exploring Hake/Saxon Grammar and Writing 3 {Curriculum Review}

I have already picked out the Language Arts materials that I have planned to use with my soon-to-be third grader for the new school year. We are planning on going with some much beloved material—but I’m always willing to give other products a try. We were recently asked to review the new Hake/Saxon Grammar and Writing 3 from Hake Publishing. I have always tended to stay away from the workbook heavy Saxon curriculum in the past, but had never actually used it. Would this curriculum be good enough to convince me to switch gears for this fall?

About Hake/Saxon Grammar and Writing

Hake/Saxon Grammar and Writing is a well known language arts curriculum used in private schools and homeschools. This rigorous program (available for grades 3-8) focuses on

June 25, 2018

Adventures in Crochet~ Pattern Design and Pattern Testing

Adventures in Crochet~ Pattern Designing and Testing
Hello my friends!
It's another update in my Adventures in Crochet! I have really been enjoying building my skills in this hobby and it is so satisfying to see something that I have made when it's all done. I recently started really exploring the hashtag #crochetersofinstagram to discover even more about the world of crochet. Along the way, I have found some amazing crocheters and pattern designers out there! In fact, it inspired me to try designing myself! Over the last couple weeks, I have been working on a washcloth/granny square pattern and it's almost done! I also was picked to be a pattern tester for a popular designer on Instagram, something very exciting for me as it will test my skills!

June 20, 2018

Learning More About White House Holidays with Unit Studies from Silverdale Press LLC {Product Review}

White House Holidays Unit Studies by Silverdale Press ~ A ReviewWe recently were given the White House Holidays Unit Studies from Silverdale Press LLC to review. We are big fans of unit studies, so I was curious to see if these were a style that we could use in our home to learn more about some holidays we haven't spent as much time going over.

About Silverdale Press

Silverdale Press LLC provides homeschool unit studies and curriculum on history, social studies, and writing. They currently carry the following

June 15, 2018

Adventures In Crochet: FibreShare Excitement

Just a quick post to share some Adventures in Crochet excitement--because not only did I get my partner's package completed and ready to ship--but I RECEIVED my own package a day later! It was a yarn lovers dream!

So let me start with what I ended up sending my partner...
She was not a picky crafter at all--instead she was almost TOO easy. Her main crochet crafts are baby blankets and washcloths. She preferred softer shades because of the baby blankets. She also had never used an ergonomic hook before. She also loves to sew aprons as her other hobby. So armed with this information, I set out to put her perfect package together.

June 12, 2018

ARTistic Pursuits Art Instruction Books with Video Lessons {Product Review}

ARTistic Pursuits Elementary Art Books-Product Review
While our family isn't an "artsy" family, we still enjoying doing art projects. I have collected a whole host of supplies to handle just about any type of art lesson that comes our way. We have reviewed several art programs before, and have discovered that we really enjoy the curriculum from ARTistic Pursuits Inc.. This company recently released a new collection of ARTistic Pursuits Art Instruction Books with DVD and Blu-Ray to give an additional aspect to their already fabulous art program. We have been reviewing Art of the Middle Ages from this collection over the last several weeks.

About ARTistic Pursuits

ARTistic Pursuits Inc. is an art curriculum company believing that all children are able to understand the concepts of art, and enjoy putting ideas and visual images on paper. They are committed to helping children become observant in our world and to be able to work creatively in it. They are determined to offer parents and children a quality art education presented in an easy to understand format for both the teacher and child and gear their books towards the homeschooling community.

June 6, 2018

Gentle Cursive Practice with New American Cursive from Memoria Press {Product Review}

I am one of those educators who is adamant about learning how to write/read cursive. I started each of my boys in 1st grade and continue to have them work through cursive copybooks to keep up their skills. Over the last several weeks, my youngest son has been working through New American Cursive 2 (Scripture) from Memoria Press (one of our favorite companies), and today I am going to share my review!

About Memoria Press and New American Cursive


Memoria Press is an award winning classical curriculum company. Their full line of grade level packages are much beloved in the private school and homeschool communities. They are also well known for their electives and other miscellaneous curriculum. Some of the products in their electives and miscellaneous categories include their New American Cursive curriculum, Traditional Logic curriculum, and their Classical Composition curriculum.

June 5, 2018

Dive into CSI to Solve the Mystery at Lake Iwannafisha with The Critical Thinking Co.™ {Product Review}

The Critical Thinking Co {product review}
One of my most favorite companies for logic and critical thinking resources is the award winning The Critical Thinking Co.™. We have used several of their products in the past with great success (read my review of Sentence Diagramming or my review of The Basics of Critical Thinking), so when we had the opportunity to pick another book to review, I said yes to Something Fishy at Lake Iwannafisha, a Whodunit Forensic Mystery!

About The Critical Thinking Co.™ and the Product

The Critical Thinking Co.™ is an award winning company dedicate to providing quality materials throughout all the subjects which encourage critical thinking right from the early stages of learning. They are especially known for their award winning logic and critical thinking products, although they produce many materials for other subjects as well.

June 3, 2018

Upcoming Reviews for June/July 2018: What Are We Working On?

Upcoming Reviews for Summer 2018
The links on this blog and in the posts may be affiliate linksPlease see my disclosure policy for full details and thank you for your support!

Happy June! May was our last month of "regular" school for us, so we are officially on SUMMER BREAK, but we are going to still be using review products through the summer a few hours a day! It's time for another check in on what we've got in house for review products over these summer months. Since my last check in, I've added our reviews for Reading Kingdom, books from Kayla Jarmon, Kids Email, and Home School Navigator. Have you checked those out yet? In house we have an elementary art curriculum, some consumable workbooks, a high school art history curriculum, a bible study guide for kids, and some unit studies. Let's see what's coming up!

UPCOMING REVIEWS FOR JUNE 2018


1. Something Fishy at Lake Iwannafisha (The Critical Thinking Co.)
The Critical Thinking Co. is a best selling publisher for workbooks and products that promote...critical thinking! LOL. We've reviewed some of their excellent material in the past, and we are doing it again. This time we are reviewing a detective style book. My son will work as a police detective to solve this fun and engaging crime mystery. The book and activities teaches basic forensic information and how it is used to solve crimes. Using the lessons and his brain, my son will then have to work through the mystery to determine who committed the crimes. This is a great workbook for us heading into our summer break! My review will be going LIVE the week of June 4th, 2018.

June 1, 2018

June is Busting Out All Over!

Happy June!
I always love the beginning of a new month. There are so many possibilities waiting to happen! I love the song "June is busting out all over" from the musical Carousel. It captures all the excitement that arrives with that first summer month! My June is definitely filling up with some exciting things here on the farm. Here's a run down of some of the larger things going on this month!