English On A Roll~ A Hands-On Grammar Program! {Curriculum Review}

When it comes to curriculum, our family greatly prefers the hands on kind. Especially my youngest. He has always loved to "put" at we call it. He would sit forever doing repetitive puzzles or manipulatives that had him putting things in cups. Or on pegs. Or in holes. He LOVES learning with his hands. Sometimes it is very hard to find curriculum that works for this style of learning. Especially when it comes to Language Arts. Needless to say when a new (to me) company English on a Roll was available to review, I jumped on the chance to try the English Grammar Teaching Method! Hands-on Grammar? Yes please!

Inspired Word of God {Five Minute Friday}

Five Minute Friday has the word: Inspire as our theme this week. When I think of inspiration I think of God's Word. Nothing can inspire me more than when I find a beloved passage from the Bible. The words fill my heart with so much love and encouragement. Words for any situation. It doesn't matter if you are brokenhearted, devastated, mourning, feeling lost, feeling joyful, feeling thankful, feeling despair. There is a verse that will surely comfort and inspire you. One of my favorite passages of inspiration can be found in Micah 6:8. It's a passage that I fall back on when I need a "reboot" about what is important in this life when things seem to be getting out of hand. 

He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you But to do justly, To love mercy, And to walk humbly with your God? ~Micah 6:8

The next time life starts getting out of hand and you wonder what you need to do next, remember this passage. Do justly. Love mercy. And walk humbly before God. Think of what kind of world we would live in if everyone chose to follow these three rules of thumb? Talk about a major world reboot!

Have a beautiful rest of your weekend!

You can play along too!

Fresh from the Bookshelf: Sweetbriar Cottage by Denise Hunter {Book 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!
As many of you know by now I am not a huge fan of contemporary fiction, but there are a few authors that I will make an exception for. One of those authors is Denise Hunter. I have read most of what she has written for the Christian Fiction genre and just have fallen in love with her characters. When her latest book Sweetbriar Cottage was recently released, I added it to my list of "must reads" and was thankful to be able to review it for The Fiction Guild. I hoped that it would be at the same level as all the other books that I have loved so well by the author. 

About Sweetbriar Cottage

Sweetbriar Cottage by Denise Hunter takes us to the Blue Ridge Mountains of northern Georgia. It is here we meet Noah and Josephine Mitchell. Noah and Josephine were married after a whirlwind romance, but their marriage fell apart soon after they

U.S.A Activity Bundle from The Crafty Classroom {Product Review}

I am always on the lookout for easy to use resources that will supplement what we are already learning in our classroom. Geography is one of the subjects that is the easiest to coordinate with something you are already learning. Especially when studying world or American history. I recently had the chance to review the USA Activity Bundle from The Crafty Classroom and I knew from my first glance at it that it would probably be just the type of resource I enjoy the most. 

About The Crafty Classroom

The Crafty Classroom provides digital resources to help you as a parent/teacher save time in your schooling. Whether looking for supplemental resources, crafts, or curriculum, The Crafty Classroom has designed products to save you time and money! 

Make Paper Mache and Sculpting Projects Easier with ACTIVA Products! {Product Review}

We recently were given Rigid Wrap and CelluClay Quik-Sculpting Kit and ACTÍVA Products' Favorite Sculpture KIDS CRAFTS from ACTÍVA Products to review. It seems in homeschool there is always the need for a plaster or paper mache product sometime or another, but prepping all the supplies can take time, and be expensive. ACTÍVA Products is the answer for that and something that is not only easy to store, but easy to use!

About ACTÍVA Products

ACTÍVA Products are a special crafting supplier in the vast arts and crafts world. ACTIVA Products include Clay, Colored Sand, Paper Mache, Sculpting Materials, and More! What also makes them special, is all ACTÍVA

What Do You Collect? {Five Minute Friday}

It's been awhile, but I am back with Five Minute Friday, the post where I set the timer and ramble on inspired by a picked word for about 5 minutes. Today's word is Collect...

And Go

Collect Collection
Most of us collect something.  What do you collect?  I collect pens. That's my primary collection I would say. Because I have about 5 million of them.  Okay. Not true. Maybe more like just 1 million.

Taking to the Skies with Doctor Aviation {Curriculum Review}

We recently completed an in depth unit study on the Wright Brothers, which led to my oldest son becoming fascinated with all things aviation. Immediately after we concluded that unit study, we were told that there was a six month aviation course from Doctor Aviation that was potentially up for review for us. Even though we were below the recommended age for using the program, after one sample lesson my eleven year old was begging me to be able to do it. This led me to "beg" on his behalf for the chance to review this product as a family, and I am happy to say that we were granted his wish. The question now became--how would a course geared towards a high school student or adult work for our family? I am happy to say that it passed with "flying" colors!

About Doctor Aviation

Doctor Aviation is an website dedicated to providing instruction to those with an interest in aviation. The instructor Daryl Smith, aka Doctor Aviation, was in the Air Force for 24 years, where he "traversed the sky" as Command Pilot in a whole host of aircraft putting in over 2,000 flying hours. Many of these were accumulated while he was an instructor pilot and research pilot. He has also served as instructor at the United States Air Force Academy teaching aviation as well as other courses. He also has authored an aviation book published by McGraw Hill. He's a current college professor who wanted to make an aviation course that could be accessible to life-long learners across the globe--and so the Doctor Aviation website and aviation course was created! 
The course is geared to anyone with a desire to learn more about aviation, whether looking to it as a

Mapelle Films Presents "Trust Fund" {a review}

We were recently given the movie Trust Fund from Mapelle Films to review with my family. Trust Fund is a contemporary retelling of the biblical parable The Prodigal Son and has a coordinating book Love Was Near that can be read after viewing the movie. I started watching the movie on my own, but my sons joined me for the second half of the movie.

About Trust Fund and Mapelle Films

Trust Fund is about the Donahue family, a well known name in the publishing business. The family consists of the father (played by Kevin Kilner) and two daughters, Audrey (played by Louise Dylan) and Reese (played by Jessica Rothe, recently seen in La La Land). Audrey works with her father at the family business, but Reese is a dreamer and aspiring young writer. She feels confined by the pressure to join the family business when she just wants to spread her wings and experience life and love.

One day she learns that her father has been keeping a big secret from her, and it changes her life forever, as she betrays her family and runs away to chase after love. After things get out of control on her own, Reese returns full of nothing but regrets--and discovers her father is there waiting with open arms, teaching her what love really means.

Trust Fund is rated PG for mild thematic elements and brief smoking.

Photobucket is being annoying...bear with me

Just wanted to pop in here to say that due to some recent changes to a Photobucket policy (where some of my graphics come from) some of my images on my blog and blog posts are going to be wonky. So bear with me as I make the transition and change them over to their new hosting site! It's going to take awhile...but I will try to clean it up as quickly as I can!

Thank you!

*****

Fresh from the Bookshelf: The Beloved Hope Chest by Amy Clipston {Book Review}

There are three things that my regular readers should know about me by now--#1 I am not a big fan of Amish fiction, #2 I prefer historical fiction, and #3 I strongly dislike reading series books out of order. Now imagine my thoughts when I received my latest book The Beloved Hope Chest by Amy Clipston from the Fiction Guild to review, and discovered that it was book #4 in a contemporary Amish fiction series. Could this book still win me over, even though it started with three strikes against it? Let's just say I have now added Amy Clipston to my list of MUST READ authors. Read on to learn how this book beat my odds!

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!

About The Beloved Hope Chest

The Beloved Hope Chest is the fourth book in the An Amish Heirloom Novel series by Amy Clipston. The conclusion to the series finally shares the story of the mother of the three

Make-A-State Activity Pak- 1 Resource for All 50 States! {Product Review}

Now that we are on summer break, we aren't doing our full curriculum at all. I do still however, enjoy doing a few things over the summer to keep the brain working strong in my boys. One of the ways that I do this, is with simple projects like worksheets, science projects, nature exploration, and easy geography projects. I was recently given the Make-a-State Activity by Home School in the Woods to explore with my boys, and this product has fit the bill for what I had in mind over the summer. 

About Make-a-State Activity and Home School In the Woods

Make-a-State Activity is just one of the many products in the Activity-Paks series from Home School in the Woods. Other products in the series include: The Old Testament, The New Testament, Artists, and Composers. Each of the Activity-Paks includes projects on the topic that together create an entire lapbook. Providing a hands-on experience for gaining and demonstrating knowledge on a subject. Home School in the Woods

Independence Day 2017~ A Christian Reflection on the Declaration of Independence

It is hard to believe that we are already at the 4th of July celebrations for 2017. Time just speeds along so quickly. Even though it was 241 years ago, I'm sure that our forefathers of 1776 felt the same way. Time was hurrying them to major events. Their colonies were in the midst of the first "Brexit" and in the heat of war. They were trying to determine what was going to happen next. And so a red headed young man named Thomas Jefferson, with much guidance from men like Benjamin Franklin and John Adams, drafted up their official Declaration of Independence from their former governing body to explain why they believed in what they were doing.

Have you ever read the ENTIRE Declaration of Independence? Not just the part we are familiar with--but the whole thing? I encourage you to do so. It is only when you read the declaration in entirety that you realize WHAT they were saying. What they were truly declaring their independence from and their dependence on. One of the most useful activities I had to do in a literature class in college, was to read the entire text and then write in "language for the common