Unit Study on Orville Wright, the Flyer from YWAM Publishing {Curriculum Review}

We are a family that loves books, especially ones with historical settings. We also love to use books as a stepping stone into many adventures with unit studies. Two years ago, we fell in love with a unit study on Daniel Boone and were excited to have another chance with David Crockett. Needless to say, when we were given yet another opportunity to review a unit study from the Heroes of History series of books from YWAM Publishing this year, my son eagerly picked Heroes of History- Orville Wright from the list. 

About YWAM Publishing and the Heroes of History

YWAM Publishing is a company determined to produce quality biographies and unit studies on men and women who are considered heroes—either to the Christian Faith, or to history itself. With that in mind, they have created two series Christian Heroes: Then and Now and Heroes of History and offer an extensive collection of biographies of men and women throughout the ages, who need to be recognized for their accomplishments.
Here is a sampling of the titles included in each series:

Adventures in Hand Lettering

Are you into the latest craze of Bible Journaling? I have several friends who love the hobby and I admire their gorgeous creations. I started getting into the world of Hand Lettering towards the end of last year. I just admired the beautiful creations and quotes that so a few artsy friends were making--so I decided to start small and start playing around with it--and so I began my adventures in Hand Lettering!

The Typing Coach Online Typing Course {Product Review}

One of the areas that we don't have focused attention on in our classroom is typing/keyboarding. We are very "old school" with focused attention on hand writing everything; however, I see the benefit of starting to shift more over to typing assignments for my soon-to-be middle-schooler. There are so many programs out there to teach typing, and most of them are very game like. When I learned about The Typing Coach Online Typing Course from The Typing Coach and its no-nonsense approach to typing--promoting accuracy and speed, I wondered if it would be a good fit for our family. 

About The Typing Coach

The Typing Coach is a typing program designed to teach efficiency, speed, and proficiency, without the distraction of games. Designed by a veteran typing instructor, the lessons have audio, visual, and written instructions. Once you download the written

New from The Pencil Grip, Inc.: Thin Stix ~ Paint Without the Mess {Product Review}

The links on this blog and in the posts may be affiliate links. Please see my disclosure policy for full details and thank you for your support!
I first learned about The Pencil Grip, Inc. last year when their solid tempera paint came into my radar. We quickly fell in love with their Kwik Stix--we just wished they were...thinner. Needless to say when I had the opportunity to review the company's newest product Thin Stix 6pk of Classic Colors, I was pretty excited and hoped they would be the thinner style of Kwik Stix we had wished for.

About Thin Stix

Thin Stix is the brain child of The Pencil Grip, Inc. Designed to alleviate the mess of painting,

Homeschool Rescue: Breathe New Life Into Your Homeschool {Product Review}

Dear Homeschool Parent...Do you ever feel like you are drowning? Are you being choked by that overwhelmed feeling? Do you feel like you just need to give up and let it go? Are you dealing with the guilt of lack of focus or wasted time? Are you struggling to balance all your different "hats"? Are you buried in clutter? Do you feel like your day only has 20 hours? Are you struggling with homeschooling a special needs child, or have other special circumstances which makes homeschooling challenging? If you have EVER answered yes to any of these questions, I encourage you to read my review of Homeschool Rescue, a new self-paced program for YOU created by Only Passionate Curiosity!

Being a Mom: The REAL story :) Happy Mother's Day!

What does it mean to be a mom? It's more than bringing life into the world. For when all is said and done, that was the easy part! No. Being a mom is more than that. I thought it would be fun to dive into the life of a mom--the REAL story. LOL! Enjoy! *** Sleeeeeep. I need sleeeeeep. 5 times. FIVE TIMES I got up last night because he wanted to nurse. And blew out his sleeper. YAWN. It's only 6am? seriously? sigh. Okay. I don't care if caffeine is a no-go...I will deal with the fall out because I just can't make it today...(5 hrs later) Whhhyyyy did I drink that coffee this morning??! Why???  He won't sleeeeeeeepppp!!! Just close your eyes...close them. Please??!

Mom- A small word for an amazing person {five minute friday}

This week's Five Minute Friday post was themed appropriately...Mom. I am so happy that THIS YEAR, my mom LIVES out here so we can get together for Mother's Day on Sunday. I am so grateful that my boys have BOTH sets of grandparents to grow up around!

AND GO

Mom. A word that means so much, even though it's so short. 
My mom was amazing growing up. I always had plenty to eat. Clothes to wear. She was always there for me. She says I was her joy. Her sunshine. I made her smile. She introduced me early on to books. I could say my ABC's by the time I was 2 or 3. I helped her around the house. We went for walks. I demanded to know the names of the flowers--she didn't know, so she had to learn. She made me clothes. Pretty dresses. She knew EVERYTHING. 

Fresh from the Bookshelf: The Illusionist's Apprentice by Kristy Cambron {Book Review}

Every now and then a book comes across my radar that captures my attention from the first discovery. I am in a Facebook forum where I get to talk to authors of my favorite Christian fiction, and help them decide on covers and such. Last year, I remember voting on a cover--and I was captivated by simply the title and the cover, as well as a super short summary. I knew that if I was possible, I wanted to read The Illusionist's Apprentice by Kristy Cambron as soon as soon as possible!

Needless to say, when the book arrived for me to review as part of the Fiction Guild-- and I discovered that it even had the very cover I had voted for--well I was even more eager to dive into it. Would it be as good as I had judged it was, just from the cover?

Shoulda Woulda Coulda {Five Minute Friday}

Can you believe we've already knocked out the first week of May? This year is going by so very very fast, isn't it? There are just so many things that I wanted to have done this week, this month, this year...but sadly, I still haven't got to them yet. But it IS another week for Five Minute Friday--and the theme for this week is...should.
AND GO
Should The word should has a couple definitions in the dictionary... 1. used to indicate obligation, duty, or correctness, typically when criticizing someone's actions
2.used to indicate what is probable
3. used in a clause with “that” after a main clause describing feelings

Fresh from the Bookshelf: The Secret Bridge from Lamplighter Publishing {Book Review}

We recently had the pleasure of reading our very first Lamplighter Publishing novel (Escape from the Eagle's Nest), and I was thrilled to have a chance to review a second one, The Secret Bridge over the last few weeks. The old fashioned, wholesome, classic stories from the late 1800's bring about a sense of happiness once they have been completed, and I hoped that this new novel would as well.

About The Secret Bridge

The Secret Bridge is another story in the Lamplighter Publishing line of rare books. With its gorgeous robin's egg blue cover and gold foil design, it is designed to be a treat to the senses from the moment it hits your hands. Lamplighter Publishing has a goal of "building Christ-like character one story at a time", thus every story has an underlying Christian message. There is a definite line between the good characters and the bad characters, as displayed by their character traits and morals (or lack thereof). You are never in question of whether someone is a villain or not.

Revisiting Exploring Cultural Art with ArtAchieve {Product Review}

Last summer, we had the pleasure of reviewing the Entire Level I from ArtAchieve. We enjoyed trying the art lessons, and the boys had asked me if we would be doing them again. They were happy when I shared that we would be reviewing the Entire Level II for a few weeks, and hoped they would enjoy this new level for ArtAchieve as much as they did the previous level.

About ArtAchieve

ArtAchieve designed their art lessons for children in order to help them be inspired by art around the world, and to enable teachers without art backgrounds to still be able to teach exciting art classes. ArtAchieve isn't just focused on art--they also include mini social studies lessons with their lesson as they explore the part of the world the inspiration came from, dabbling in social studies, science and language arts!