Quarantine Dog Photo Shoot

 Quarantine Stevie

Today, the kids and I decided to have a fun quarantine photo shoot with Stevie Dawg.  And I actually think he had fun!  He enjoyed the many, many treats anyway.  We hope you enjoy this as much as we did.  And just for clarification, Stevie Dawg was not hurt in any way during this photo shoot 😃.

Cowgirl Stevie

 Princess Stevie

Sleeping Beauty Stevie

 Sleeping Beauty Stevie Awakes!

 Librarian Stevie

 Movie Watcher Stevie

 Beach Stevie

 Super Stevie

Hip Stevie

 Baseball Player Stevie

Batter Stevie

Michelangelo Stevie

 Michelangelo Stevie in action

Masquerade Stevie

 Backpack Stevie

Karaoke Stevie

Getting down...

Eskimo Stevie

Peep Stevie

Mickey Mouse Stevie

 Skateboard Stevie

Battleship Stevie

 Rainy Day Stevie

 Chef Stevie

Teacher Stevie

Oh, and if you have any more ideas for us, please share and we can try and make them happen! 

The Hidden Message of the Great Seal from The Hidden Message, LLC Review

{Disclaimer:  I received a FREE copy of this product through the HOMESCHOOL REVIEW CREW in exchange for my honest review.  I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way.}

Our New Book

A completed her high school government credit this year so when we were offered to review The Hidden Message of the Great Seal (How Foundational Truth From The Dawn of Liberty May Rescue A Republic In Peril) from The Hidden Message, LLC by Michael Kanis, we jumped on the opportunity.

Michael Kanis

This 256 page, historical research book explores the meaning behind the symbols of our national seal.  The symbols that were chosen and placed by the same men that wrote the Declaration of Independence.  A enjoys digging into history and I thought she would enjoy learning about our nation's seal.

A reading our new book.

Stevie joining A during her reading.

A is about halfway through reading this book and she is really enjoying it.  I find her reading it often!  She likes that it gives background information of the lives of the people who made the seal, the early life sections.  This is her first opportunity to really learn about our seal and all its intricacies and she is finding it fascinating, especially exploring new thoughts and ideas.  I love that this book has her thinking.

 Learning about Francis Hopkinson

 Franklin's 13 Virtues.  This page is specifically made to be removed and used as a poster so that's what we did.

 A laminated it so it would last longer.

Franklin's 13 Virtues are Self-Restraint, Grace, Order, Self-Discipline, Stewardship, Hard Work, Truthfulness, Justice, Moderation, Cleanliness, Peacefulness, Morality, and Humility.  I love this poster reminder of virtues that I desire for all of my children to possess!

A pulled out a dollar bill to really look at it and study.

The layout of this book is in landscape and it lays well when open on a flat surface.  It is a bit harder for me to read and look at in my lap but A doesn't seem to have a problem with it.  We both love all the 250+ images scattered throughout the book.  If you have ever wondered or thought about our nation's seal, we would highly recommend this book.

You can purchase this book for $29.95 on Amazon, but the author has generously provided a coupon for 50% off the cover price when purchased from their web site.  Shipping is already free, simply use the discount code: HOMESCHOOL at checkout.  This offer is valid until May 30, 2020.


Be sure to click on the banner below to visit the Homeschool Review Crew blog to read even more reviews of The Hidden Message of the Great Seal.

Psalms for my Day from Christian Focus Review

{Disclaimer:  I received a FREE copy of this product through the HOMESCHOOL REVIEW CREW in exchange for my honest review.  I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way.}


I have a beautiful children's book to share with you today, Psalms for my Day published by Christian Focus.  This child's praise devotional is geared to be read to children ages 4-6 while children 7-11(and older) can read it themselves.

The younger kids with our new devotional.

A closer view of our hardcover 87 page book.

 Contents of the book

This devotional is inspired from the largest book in the Bible, the book of Psalms.  Psalms for my Day uses a new translation by Bible scholar Alec Motyer.  Motyer devised this translation by studying the original Hebrew words.  When original Hebrew is translated into English is sounds a bit different but I think it really makes us think more about the words and the meaning behind them.  I appreciate this deeper thought.

 Psalm 1: God's Teaching

Each of the 31 devotionals in this book are short with a two page layout.  Each includes a short prayer and is accompanied by beautiful color illustrations by Catherine Pape.  This devotional encourages children to dive into and explore the book of Psalms for themselves.

Psalm 27: God's House

There are a few two page layouts for illustrations thrown in as well.

Psalm 50: Praising God

The end has a small glossary of new words with a brief definition.

Carine MacKenzie did a great job combining Alec Motyer's translation and thoughts with Catherine Pape's breathtaking illustrations.  The devotions are short so it's easier to read them and discuss them with younger children without losing their focus.  I really appreciate the short prayer included with each devotion as it helps children connect each one to themselves and to God.  D and E can both read this to themselves independently during devotional time while I have to read it to the younger boys to discuss.  The older girls can also read it aloud to the boys if we are spending devotional time together which is super fun.  If you are looking for a children's praise devotional or wanting the kids to dig a bit deeper into the Psalms, Psalms for my Day is definitely worth checking out.

 D reading the devotional to the other kids.

Be sure to click on the banner below to visit the Homeschool Review Crew blog to read even more reviews of Psalms for my Day along with a few other books from Christian Focus.

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BJU Press Focus on Fives Kindergarten Homeschool Curriculum from BJU Press Homeschool Review

{Disclaimer:  I received a FREE copy of this product through the HOMESCHOOL REVIEW CREW in exchange for my honest review.  I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way.}


I have a Christian Kindergarten Homeschool Curriculum to share with you today, BJU Press Focus on Fives from BJU Press Homeschool.

Our BJU Press Focus on Fives Curriculum

What's included in our curriculum?  Everything is the 4th edition and we received The Teacher's Edition Part 1-6 (six books), the Worktext, Phonics Practice, Phonics and Review Cards, Write Now! Handwriting, Phonics Flip Charts, Teaching Visuals Flip Chart and Reading Books.

What subjects does this curriculum cover?  Again this curriculum is Christian based and includes science, social studies, handwriting, phonics and reading.  It is geared to help students learn the necessary skills for 1st grade, thus it's a K program. 

 Biblical Worldview Themes

There are 4 key themes that are used throughout this course and they are God is great and God is good, God created me and all things, the Bible is God's Word and it is true, and I learn in order to serve God and others.

 A closer look at the six different Teacher Edition books

 A look at the contents of our Teacher Edition Part 1

A peek inside the front of our Part 1 - Goals section

 I absolutely love these lesson overviews.  If you know me I really appreciate the at a glance look at what we are learning and where we are going with the material.

 These overviews can be found for every week.  Our Teacher's Edition Part 1 covers through week 5.

The Worktext and Phonics Practice books both have specifically made spines to be open, making it super easy to remove pages.  I love this!

Above you can see how easy it is to remove a page.

 F working on a Phonics Practice worksheet from lesson 7.

 The back of the worksheet.

Finished making a tent.

F with his homemade fort/tent in the play area.

 

F working on a Phonics Practice worksheet from lesson 27.

The back of the worksheet.

Finished making a web.

 Taking a review

 Reading the sentences and marking the correct sentence for each picture.

A flip chart for how to properly hold your pencil.

Inside our Write Now! Handwriting.  Unlike the other books, these pages are all in black and white and most of them are designed to be cut in half.

F working on a handwriting sheet for lesson7.

 

 

Completed handwriting worksheet from lesson 10.  This one was a full page.  F wanted to color the i's yellow.

 

Our Reading Books, there are 34 in total.

Here you can see a great example of the Teacher Edition walking your through this reading lesson.

It helps you point out things prior to reading - cover, title, page numbers.  Helps you ask your child questions like What do you see?  Do you have a guess at what the surprise might be?  This book is mainly a picture book so it guides you with questions to ask with your child as you go through the book.  And then it gives you questions to ask after picture reading.

The Teacher Edition books really make using this program a breeze.  They show you how to use the material, provide all the lesson plans and help you see where your child is going and what they will be learning.

 

F was near the end of his Kindergarten year when we received this program and G is a bit too young for it.  So while I haven't used this entire curriculum with F,  I have gone through various topics and lessons to cover with him.  And it's been fun!  This was super easy to do with the great organization of this curriculum.  I am really looking forward to using it in its entirety with G in another year!  If you are looking for a complete, faith-based Kindergarten curriculum I would highly recommend this one.

There are videos for this course that will become available in July.  I'm super excited about this feature!  Check out a sample video of what's to come for yourself here, it looks awesome.

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