God's Great Covenant

Since we are a homeschooling family, I am often looking for "Bible" curriculum.  Sounds a little odd, huh?  You have the Bible, what more is needed?  And I usually approach teaching the Bible from a more pure aspect.  I don't need or want a curriculum to tell me or my children everything we are supposed to know. But I do keep my eyes out for something that will be a guide, helping up to dig the truth out for ourselves.

Classical Academic Press recently gave me the chance to review God's Great Covenant, New Testament 1~The Gospels.  I was a little unsure of the course when I first got it.  I received two large workbooks, and I made the assumption it was full of busy work. But I began to dig through it, and found out how wrong my assumption was!  This is truly a well thought out and well written plan to guide you in teaching your children!

The teacher's edition is just a reproduction of the children's book, but the margins are left open to fill with notes.  There are also key point notes from the publishers.  It honestly takes quite a bit of work to prep this course and get it ready to teach.  You cannot just pick up the teachers manual and read a paragraph to your students. You first must read, take notes, study, and learn the material for yourself. In other words, you get to STUDY YOUR BIBLE for the purpose of teaching your children the Words of God!

With most curriculums, you get a planning guideline, and teaching schedule.  And that has been something to which I am very accustom.  This course does not.  Other than being sectioned out into units and chapters in the units, it is up to you the teacher to plan when and what you will teach.  Part of me would really like some direction in planning, but, maybe this will be another way I can learn and grow as a teacher.  Once I get the hang of the schedule, I do believe I will look into buying the other courses in this series!

Happy looking!
Beth

I reiceved this product for the purpose of review. I was not given any instuction as to what to say. All opinions and writing are my own.  For more reviews, please see The Homeschool Crew Blog.

I See Sam

Having eight children living in one house can be very hard on books.  Most of our first readers are torn up, mangled, or even trashed.  I was thrilled to learn we would be getting some new ones from Academic Success.  It was a chance to bring some new books into the house that the littles could read, or soon read.

I was honestly a little disappointed when I opened the box of books.  These reminded me of the little readers my kids got when they were in public school. Not that those are bad, but they are little paper books, not something that holds up to multiple readers, or has a great shelf life.  But, we opened them up, and I give them out in small doses to the littles and let them read. 

They love them.  Terry and Paulee are both reading three letter words, or simple 4 letter words very well.  And these are books they can actually read.  However, the books start with words using long vowel sounds, and phonics concepts that are usually not taught until later in beginner reader curriculum.  I just told my two what the word or words were that they didn't know how to sound out yet, and they remembered it for the rest of the book. 

Terry and Paulee love reading a book to themselves.  Or even to their two younger siblings.  They like the questions at the back of the books we ask them, and enjoy being like the "big kids".  I liked that they are color coded, and well number for sequence. 

There are 8 different book set ranging from Kindergarten levels to third grade, and each set is $30.

Beth

I received this product for the purpose of review. All opinions expressed are my own.  For other reviews, please visit the Homeschool Crew Blog.

Menu Plan for the Week of March 5th

This week brings more sickness to our house. I have had it as has Heath. And we were great parents and shared with our children. Two more woke up sick today, so that is four that have been sick, with four more to go. So today is full of movie watching, reading books, and cuddling when the headaches and fevers are just too much to bear alone.

But, amazingly enough, appetites have not diminished, so here is what we are eating this week for dinner!

Monday- Meatball Subs with side salads
Tuesday- Italian Chicken and rice
Wednesday- Egg Casserole with fruit
Thursday- Crispy Southwest Chicken Wraps
Friday- Homemade Mac and Cheese
Saturday- Leftover Buffet
Sunday- Spaghetti with green beans and salad

The recipe for the subs is actually a burger recipe I think. But instead of making patties, I just use my small cookie scoop and make meatballs.  And you absolutely have to make the chicken wraps. We cannot seem to get enough of those! I'll post an original recipe next week, God willing, but this week, head on over to Organizing Junkie's Menu Planning Monday for more dinner ideas!

We are opening windows, airing out the house, and washing bedding. Hopefully we will be done with sick babies soon!

Beth

Reading Eggs

Over the course of this year we have learned an important lesson. Online schooling is just not for us.  From trying to find enough time for everyone to get screen time at the computer, to not having one-on-one face time, it just isn't for us.  However, there are good programs available for those who do enjoy learning from the computer. One of those programs is Reading Eggs.  It is an online program targeting 3-5 year olds to spark interest in reading through games stories and fun games.



Best is used with a parent, this is a cute place to learn and play. Reading Eggs also offers companion books and writing workbooks to go along with the program. These are optional, but reinforce each online lesson.


Age range:
Reading Eggs seems most suited for children ages 3-5, but their site says it can also be used to reinforce skills for older children. Reading Eggspress is also available for children ages 7-12
Price:
$75.00 for a full year
$49.95 for six months
or a $9.95 monthly subscription
There are three levels, with 40 lessons in each level.
You can also try Reading Eggs for free.

Beth

*** I received a subscription of this product in exchange for an honest review. You can see what the other TOS Review moms thought of Reading Eggs here.***

Menu Plan for the Week of February 27th

Trying to get back to posting my menus.  I make them out every two weeks.  But I will just put a week at a time up here at the blog.  Of course, I am linking up with Organizing Junkie and her Menu Plan Mondays!

Monday- Stromboli with a side salad
Tuesday- Tex-Mex Beef Casserole and hominy
Wednesday- Daddy's Pancakes and Scrambled Eggs
Thursday- Jambalaya
Friday- Parmesan Chicken, Roasted Potatoes, and Green Beans
Saturday- Brown Beans and Cornbread
Sunday- Soft Tacos

For snacks this week we are having:

Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars
Pumpkin Whoopie Pies
High Fiber Cereal Crunch

Cereal Crunch

2 cups wheat cereal squares
2 cups rice cereal squares
2 cups corn cereal squares
2 cups oat cereal squares
2 cups flaked coconut
1 cup silvered almonds
1 cup pecan pieces
1 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup butter
1 cup pure honey

Line two shallow rimmed baking pans with aluminum foil or parchment paper; spray well with cooking spray. Mix together all the ingredients except the butter and honey in a large bowl.  Split the cereal mixture between the two pans.  In a glass measuring cup, microwave butter on high for 1 minute or until melted. Measure honey in same glass measure; whisk to combine.  Drizzle half of the butter mixture over each pan of cereal mixture; gently stir with spoon to coat cereal.  Bake at 325* for 30-35 minutes, or until coconut turns light golden brown, stirring every 10 minutes.  Cool pans of crunch snack mix on wire racks. Break apart large pieces and store in an air tight container. Makes about 14 cups.

Have a great week eating!

Beth