I cannot believe 2022 is almost a wrap! We had such a wonderful Christmas. David and I decided to create a train this year for presents and it was a lot of fun. Each kid had their own train car full of goodies from us and David and I had one for each of us at the caboose (my Mom had the engine and yes, she likes gnomes). Hope you had a great Christmas, here's to 2023!
Saturday, December 31, 2022
Christmas 2022
Extreme Dot to Dot: Around the World Review {Timberdoodle's Customized Curriculum Kit}
D has been using her customized Timberdoodle kit for her 8th grade year. I want to share with you today one of the fun items included in her math component, Extreme Dot to Dot: Around the World. If you are not familiar with Dot to Dot books we are huge fans and our family has completed a variety of them. They are so great for increasing mental focus and we find them fun and relaxing as well. I am so thankful for the variety and selection that Timberdoodle offers!
Disclosure: Huge shout out to Timberdoodle for selecting me as a Timberdoodle Blogger. I will be refunded the purchase price of our curriculum kit in exchange for my honest reviews of our kit. All opinions are my own.
Friday, December 16, 2022
The Garden The Greatest Gift Review & Amazon Giveaway
You can purchase "The Greatest Gift" or Christmas episode ($1.99) of The Garden today (and you'll get a free lesson to download along with your purchase!
Ready for a fun giveaway? One of you will win a $10 Amazon gift card. Just enter below and good look. This is limited to US winners only. Winner will receive their prize after the new year.
Disclosure: Many thanks to Garden Productions for providing a sample of The Garden for our family to review. Opinions are 100% my own.
Monday, December 12, 2022
Timberdoodle's Science Lessons & Investigations Grade 1 & Grade 3 Reviews
I have some fun science books from Timberdoodle to share with you today, Science Lessons and Investigations Grade 1 and Science Lessons and Investigations Grade 3. Timberdoodle currently has these available for Grades 1-6! G has been using the Grade 1 book and F has been using the Grade 3 book as their science curriculum this year.
Questions explored in this book include:
- How do animals use their body parts?
- Do animals have babies?
- Do plants have babies?
- Do animals from the same species always look the same?
- Do all roses look the same?
- Can we predict patterns for the sun, moon and stars?
- How do we communicate over long distances?
Everything you need to teach this book is included. There are miscellaneous supplies for various hand-on activities and such that are needed but we have had everything needed already on hand in our homeschool.
I like that our books contain teacher support pages and an answer key for worksheets. There are vocabulary/words to know pages, reading selections with visual examples along with reading comprehension activities, I wonder and research/writing prompts and of course the hands-on investigations (G's favorite)!
F's book similarly to G's covers life, earth, and physical science. His book contains 14 science units. F's book as expected is more advanced than G's book and is set up for students to learn based of the 5E model: engage, explore, explain, evaluate and extend. So students explore and connect with an idea through activities, build on prior knowledge and experience, construct meaning and then use or apply their concept understanding in a fun way. It's a fun way to learn.
Topics explored in this book include:
- Both Plant and Animal Life Cycles
- Group and Social Behavior
- Fossils of Ancestors
- Weather
- Natural Processes and Hazards
- Predicting Motion from Patterns
- Magnetic Forces
Thursday, December 8, 2022
Wednesday, December 7, 2022
CYBA Winter Concert
CSB Lifeway Women's Bible Review & Giveaway
I was recently given a CSB Lifeway Women's Bible (the Marigold LeatherTouch Edition) for review and it is so beautiful! There are so many features as well.
This Bible includes
- an in-depth collection of Bible reading helps
- 100+ articles alongside corresponding biblical text
- short devotional thoughts throughout the Bible
- 40+ character profiles of prominent women in the Bible with application questions
- book introductions with book overviews and timelines for all the books of the Bible
- inspirational quotes
- reflection questions to help women dig deeper into the Word
- word studies, charts, tables, maps
- and more!
I feel like I have only just dipped my toes into all that this Bible has to offer. As I stated above, I really appreciate the wide margins. This gives me room to journal or take notes and I really like that. I like the character profiles and I am looking forward to diving into more of the unique features of this Bible as I read through it!
Ready to purchase your own copy of the CSB Women's Lifeway Bible? Use the code SAVE50LWB and get 50% the retail price, offer only available at lifeway.com and valid through 12/31/2022. Not only would this be great for yourself but it would also make a great gift for a special woman in your life! And Christmas is right around the corner, just sayin'
Ready for a giveaway? That's right, one of you will win your own copy of the Lifeway CSB Women's Bible (Marigold LeatherTouch Edition). Just enter below and good luck! Limited to US winners only.
Disclosure: Many thanks to Lifeway Christian Resources for providing me with my CSB Lifeway Women's Bible for this review. Opinions are 100% my own and NOT influenced by monetary compensation.
Monday, December 5, 2022
CSB Explorer Bible For Kids Review & Giveaway
I have a super fun Bible to share with you today, the CSB Explorer Bible for Kids! It has fun facts, timelines, great photos and more. There are even QR codes that bring engaging videos, discussion questions and activity pages to life. The CSB (Christian Standard Bible®) text is highly reliable and highly readable, it is meant to capture the Bible's original meaning without sacrificing clarity!
This multicolored Bible is geared for kids ages 6-12 and has 1472 pages. It is available in both hardcover and leathertouch options as well. I love that this CSB Explorer Bible for Kids is designed for kids to explore and interact with the people, places and things of the Bible and God's creation. The color-illustrations are fun and help keep kids engaged. I also think kids will appreciate both table of contents, one in order and one arranged alphabetically to help kids find what they are looking for. There are so many great elements to this Bible that help make it come alive for kids including Book Introductions, Christ in Context Articles, Excavating the Past Illustrations, Charting History Illustrated Timelines and so much more! We are really enjoying our Bible and it has become such a great resource for the kids in learning about God and his Word.
Ready to purchase your own copy of the CSB Explorer Bible? Use the code EXPLORERGIFT50 and get 50% the retail price, offer only available at lifeway.com and valid through 12/31/2022. Not only would this be great for your home but it would make a great gift as well!
Ready for a giveaway? That's right, one of you will win your own copy of the Lifeway Explorer Kids Bible. Just enter below and good luck! Limited to US winners only.
Disclosure: Many thanks to Lifeway Christian Resources for providing me with our CSB Explorer Bible for Kids for this review. Opinions are 100% my own and NOT influenced by monetary compensation.
Happy 13th D!
Wednesday, November 16, 2022
The Voice Library - Audio Book Creator Review
Disclosure: I received this complimentary product through the HOMESCHOOL REVIEW CREW.
I was so excited to receive The Voice Library - Audio Book Creator from The Voice Library for our family to use and review! This is a way to capture your family's favorite stories in voices and pictures using either your phone or computer. You can store favorite recipes by creating an Audio Cookbook that has voice, story and even photos. You can even give voice to your art! I really want A to do this with some of the pieces of art she created this semester at college when she comes home - how neat this will be!
The basic goal of The Voice Library is to capture and share the joys in your life! I love this and I love all the ideas and suggestions that came with our package. As the account holder, I can do everything. I can also share my library with others to just listen to my content or even record messages about their own adventures to share. I love the idea of having extended family record messages and stories. My Mom is on her way to stay with us for an extended period of time and I'm really looking forward to getting her to record some stories for us!
Above you can see one of my recordings. I have the App installed on my phone. In G's spelling class at CoOp he has memorized a few poems. I recorded his sweet voice reciting his poem to me from memory and it's adorable.
I feel like we have barely scratched the surface of what The Voice Library has to offer but I'm excited to dive in deeper this holiday season. We will be recording some cookie recipes, getting some stories from Grandma, and of course, hearing more about A's artwork. Stay tuned to see more from us!
Want to know more? Be sure to click on the banner below to visit the Homeschool Review Crew blog to read even more reviews of The Voice Library.
Friday, November 4, 2022
Happy National Candy Day
It's crazy that this is so close to Halloween (or possibly that's strategic) but Happy National Candy Day!
Tuesday, November 1, 2022
Happy Halloween & November
Hope you had a great Halloween! We ended up staying home and handing out candy. We were hoping to watch the World Series game but it was postponed due to weather. I can't believe it's November.
Wednesday, October 19, 2022
Inspired by Vincent Van Gogh Review
I have a fun art product to share with you today from Timberdoodle, Inspired by Vincent Van Gogh. Inspired by Van Gogh is manufactured by Djeco and is recommended for ages 5-99 or Kindergarten and up!
What's included in our kit? Our kit includes 4 artboards or cards (inspired by Van Gogh's paintings), 1 double-ended wooden stylus, and a full-color instructional booklet filled with design ideas. Each artboard is a separate project taking anywhere from 30-60 minutes to complete.
I decided to use this art kit a little differently in that I wanted several of us to complete our artboards instead of one kid completing all four. I thought this would be a good way to demonstrate the end product with a larger age range, so the girls and I have been enjoying making our boards. D made one, E made one, B and I tagged team on one and we are saving the last one for A (we want to see what a college art major can create).
These artboards are a great way to boost both fine motor and visual discernment skills. The stylus is used to scratch through the ink to uncover a colored layer beneath. I like that you can scratch simpler patterns or scratch off larger areas to reveal hidden surprises. And honestly, these artboards are just relaxing and fun to complete!
Inspired by Vincent Van Gogh is currently included in Timberdoodle's 6th grade curriculum kit. This fun resource will help children develop artistic skill and art appreciation. Don't be afraid to complete one yourself as well.