If you know me well, then you know I’m a huge fan of anything bear related. I tend to favor that Silly Old Bear that is yellow, wears a red shirt and has a pretty intense love of Honey, but I’m fond of the story of Paddington Bear as well. I mean Bears just rock! So I was really excited to find this study on offered on our review list from Branch Out World this year. Branch Out World Paddington Bear is part of their Picture Book Explorers series and is an amazing study on this Classic book.

Branch Out World is a really cool company that enjoys creating materials for use in Home Education. They’re from West Yorkshire, England – a place I have never been but have always thought intriguing. They create wonderful, literature-based unit studies that are easily adaptable to your students at home. These studies can be used for children in a group and family setting or individually as you prefer. Another very cool aspect is that most of the books share some aspect of being from the United Kingdom either through their setting, their author or illustrator. I found that part unique and neat.

For this review, we used Paddington Bear from the Picture Book Explorers series. This study does require that you purchase a copy of the book to go along with the guide for it’s use. We had a copy of Paddington Bear already that worked well for us (as I said, Paddington is already a family favorite).

This study costs 9 British pounds which is approx $11.50 in American cash. Not a bad price for the study itself. It’s a PDF download so it’s immediately usable once you pay and you purchase the book or borrow it from your library. This study calls for Paddington by Micheal Bond with ISBN: 978-0-00-723633-6. This is the revised 2007 or 2014 edition of the book.

A little about Paddington for those who haven’t heard of him before. Paddington is a bear from Peru that Mr. and Mrs. Brown find in the Paddington Station after he stowed away on a ship. I’m sure you can guess where he gets his name. He’s an adventurous soul, who gets in mischief all while sharing great life lessons through his story. Paddington is a child with fur and such a lovable bear!

Branch Out World Paddington Bear study is 69 pages long. You can easily print the study for use. The intended age range is from 5-9 years but it can be adapted for younger or older students as needed. Permission is given for family use or one classroom use but not for a full schoolhouse.

The study provides a full table of contents for you to use. There is also a short list of materials you should gather before starting, including a map of the British Isles for viewing as you follow along. Travel brochures about England and places nearby are recommended as well. You could get around this requirement by printing articles from papers from online or pictures from tourist websites for the area as well.

Because the company is a British company, you will notice that they use proper English from the British Isles which is a bit different from our American style of English. Some words are spelled differently (in their original English spellings) and some different phrases may be used throughout the study, or unique names to the area. This doesn’t not make the study any less usable or create a challenge for using the study but it may confuse some until they realize the reason behind it’s differences.

It is a good idea to read ahead through the study before it’s use and to read each day’s lesson ahead as well just to be prepared for the wording, and the projects that are to be completed that day. There are around 45 pages of printables with over 30 available activities that you can complete by working through this study. The study covers a wide variety of things in the lessons such as grammar, geography, animal species which falls under science, reading, art, and so much more. There are additional book and video suggestions shared throughout as well.

There are 5 different sections covered for the lessons, thoroughly exploring each aspect of the book to learn more. Each section has different activities to complete. The study begins with geography in finding Peru and how far Paddington has traveled to England where Mr. and Mrs. Brown live. You can also learn more about Peru and England then learn about the author and why he chose to write this story. A mini time-line is included as well.

On day two, your student begins to learn about the meaning of the story and the words used for writing it. This section discusses the theme and narration used in the book. Vocabulary and the author’s inspiration is also shared here.

Day Three begins with studying the pictures in the book and the illustrator, where he is from and how he came about to creating art for books like this. Architecture is covered in this section as well. You’re student will learn important terms for architecture through this part of the study. There are also principles of design provided for you to learn more.

Day four covers Science. Here you learn about Paddington, his type of bear, their habitat, and more. There are a few experiments shared here as well and sensory activities for your child. These are not edible experiments but they are a ton of fun!

Day five of this study covers Math and Crafts. There’s a ton of fun things in this section for your child to complete. One activity is packing, like Paddington packed his suitcase for his stow-away trip. It was a lot of fun to try this one. The Tablas de Sarhua is pretty fun too if you have room for it. It’s a family project, creating a lucky keepsake board with things you love and care about painted on in various scenes.

There are a bunch of recipes to create as well like Strawberry Tarts, Marmalade and snacks from Peru. You can have a Tea Party and celebrate the end of the study as well.

The last pages of the study contains the printables for the study and the facts sheets for the lessons. There’s a ton of fun things to do throughout the study, both for the students and together as well. It’s a great course for you to work through with your kids that we really enjoyed!

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About the Book

Book Title: A Promise Forged

Author: Cara Putman

Genre: World War 2 Romance

Release date: Originally released in 2010, Re-released in 2017

Kat transformed in front of him. Her chin came up, her fingers stopped twitching with the fabric of her gown, and a real sparkle bubbled in her eyes. It was like watching Snow White come to life when the prince kissed her.

A heartwarming WWII historical from award-winning author Cara Putman:

Kat Miller has dreamed of playing baseball her entire life. When she earns a spot on a team in the All-American Girls Professional Softball League, she finds that things aren’t as glamorous as she imagined. She struggles with long road trips, grueling practices, and older teammates who are jealous of her success. And to top it all off, an irritating reporter is constantly getting under Kat’s skin.

Events in Jack Raymond’s career have left him cynical and distanced from God. He never wanted to write at a small paper, and he certainly didn’t want to be assigned to something as inconsequential as a women’s softball team. Then Kat walks into his life. The fiery, young softball player somehow climbs the walls around his heart and makes him want to hope again.

When lies fly and the league appears to fail, will Kat and Jack’s new love survive?

Click here to purchase your copy!

About the Author

Since the time she could read Nancy Drew, Cara has wanted to write mysteries. In 2005 she attended a book signing at her local Christian bookstore. The rest, as they say, was history. There she met a fellow Indiana writer Colleen Coble. With prompting from her husband, Cara shared her dream with Colleen. Since those infamous words, Cara’s been writing award-winning books. She is currently working on book 30 and 31.

Cara Putman is an active member of ACFW, and currently serves on its Executive Board. She has also been the Indiana ACFW chapter president and served as the Area Coordinator for Indiana.

Cara is also an attorney, lecturer at a Big Ten university, active in women’s ministry, and all around crazy woman. Crazy about God, her husband and her kids that is. She graduated with honors from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (Go Huskers!) and George Mason Law School, and Krannert School of Management. You can learn more about Cara at www.caraputman.com <http://www.caraputman.com/>.

Guest Post from Cara

Each of my books starts with a hook that engages my interest, and then as I play with it, I think it will engage readers. A Promise Forged was no different. For this book I was writing a series of three World War II novels for Barbour. I already had two historical hooks that fascinated me: children evacuated from London to Ohio, a top secret project to break Engima in Dayton, but I needed one more. I knew the lead characters were going to be siblings, but I wasn’t sure what to do with the kid sister. Then I remembered the All-American Girls Professional Softball/Baseball League.

And I started thinking.

What would it have been like to desperately want a chance to play a sport you loved professionally?

And to be part of the nascent league when no one was sure whether it was a good or bad idea?

I decided that was the perfect place for Kat. She was the kid sister with fire and passion. She wanted a chance to prove herself, and this would be the perfect place. Then she needed a hero worthy of her. One who could go toe-to-toe with her and still see who she could be.

He came in the form of Jack, a cynical reporter who is disappointed to be assigned to cover girls’ baseball. But then he gets to know Kat and some of the others. And he sees something in her that she doesn’t see in herself. It’s the beginning of fireworks that he doesn’t think can go anywhere because she has to go home to her senior year of high school.

As I began researching the history of the league, I learned that the AAGPS/BL archives were kept at a small museum in South Bend, a couple hours from where I live. I spent a day there talking with the curator and exploring all the records. Because the league wasn’t expected to last there weren’t many records from the first year. That meant I had to guess about some things like schedules based on what happened in the years after.

A Promise Forged became a book I loved writing. Kat was feisty, Jack was cynical, and baseball provided a great setting. I can’t believe this football loving woman can admit that!

Blog Stops

Blog Stops
History, Mystery & Faith, August 4

For the Love of Books, August 17

Giveaway

To celebrate her tour, Cara is giving away a grand prize that includes the movie League of Their Own, a box of cracker jacks, M&Ms and a $20 Amazon gift card!!

Be sure to comment on the blog stops for nine extra entries into the giveaway! Click below to enter. https://promosimple.com/ps/d2ac/a-promise-forged-celebration-tour-giveaway

My Review:
In the 1940’s Baseball was America’s Favorite past time and there was no joy like seeing the greats hit that ball to the outer fields. But Women weren’t allowed in Baseball until the War started and the Men had to join the military and leave to fight. Baseball was so important in America that the All-American Girls Softball League began and some of the greatest female players were offered spots on the team from all over America. Playing Wrigley Field went from being a dream to a reality. Kat Miller was one of those players.

Kat couldn’t believe it when she arrived to join the others at Wrigley Field. It was beyond all she could imagine, being able to play ball on this field. Being PAID to play was unimaginable at this time period in life but here she was, excited beyond belief.

Jack Raymond thought that Philip Wrigley, owner of the Chicago Cubs had lost his mind creating a team full of female players. And he was being asked to follow them around, covering their story to share in the newspapers. He was outraged that he even had to be a part of this spectacle. But wait, maybe these girls would change his mind and in the end he would come to see how special this event was to history. After all, a lady like Kat couldn’t be as bad as it seemed.

Jack and Kat share a love of a game that leads to a love made to last through time. Overcoming the obstacles they face in the game of life, as well as in their careers is a challenge that both willingly face if it means sharing a love like no other.

I’m sure you guys know by now that Home School in the Woods is one of our FAVORITE vendors. I get so excited when I see them listed for review. We absolutely love the materials they’ve created for us to use, including the one we used for this review, History of Holidays from their Hands-On History Activity Studies. They are hands-on history at it’s best!

I really wanted something different to review this time around since we’ve done a great many studies for Home School in the Woods already. I’ve been looking for a study on Holidays that I could do with the kids at home. Something that wasn’t extensively hard to use but was fun! History of Holidays fit what I was looking for.

History of Holidays is a study of American Holidays which can be used throughout the year. It contains over a dozen American Holidays for you to learn about. It provides over 30 projects for your students to create in order to learn more about the Holidays it covers.

The Holidays this study covers are:
Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
Valentine’s Day
President’s Day
St. Patrick’s Day
Passover
Easter
Memorial Day
Flag Day
Independence Day
Labor Day
Columbus Day
Thanksgiving Day
Christmas Day

Each of these Holidays are interesting and unique in their own ways. They are the most common Holidays to study and represent a variety of events and people. They are a great place to start learning more about the reasons behind these events.

This study is designed to be used to cover all these holidays, working for a few days on each. You can expand your lessons simply by researching more information on each Holiday online or creating additional activities for each Holiday you cover. This is an Elementary course but you can use it with older kids and simply expand the lessons through more research.

Now I did look over the lessons in this course thoroughly but I did not want to use this course in it’s entirety as a study. I was looking for a course that I could use to teach my children about these Holidays as they happened, so that we learned about them as we celebrated them. That was easy to do with this course from Home School in the Woods. Though it’s suggested to complete the course as a Unit Study type lesson plan, it is adaptable to be able to be covered just at each Holiday through the year as well.

The thing I like about these studies is that they are simple to print and put together. The projects are really interesting and fun, like all of the Home School in the Woods studies are. They really bring hands-on learning to the forefront of the learning process.

Each study has a project to print out and create. Each also has an information page that shares pertinent information about the Holiday itself, the date it falls upon, the history of the Holiday, and why it is that we celebrate it each year. This is the main part of the study.

Then there is a Projects and Activities sheet which tells you how to put together and use the projects that are specifically for the Holiday you’re learning about. This sheet is thorough in it’s directions and expectations. Here you will find links to learn more about the Holiday and additional activities to complete as well. A recipe is also included for a little extra fun.

For our review, we went over Labor Day as a study since it’s the next Holiday to come up. We discussed the meaning of Labor Day and why we have it. It falls near Jackson’s birthday so it’s special to us for that reason as well.

Labor Day is always the first Monday in September. It’s the last Summer celebration we do. It begins the tearing down of our Summer decor and starts our preparations for Fall and our Holiday seasons beginnings.

The project for this Holiday included making a kind of bookmark with flaps that featured Famous Labor Leaders. We had to print it, cut it out and fold it. The flaps created a door so the name was on the outside and information about that person could be written on the inside.

The other project for this Holiday was to make an Illustrated Book of Occupations. A list of occupations is included in the study to help you choose which you’d like to learn more about. There is a series of pages to print for this project which allow you to create the booklet. Then you can write more about the occupations on the booklet pages as you explore them more. Both of these projects were very simple and easy to create. The suggested recipe was a one pot dish of something similar to Spaghetti. Instead of making the dish, we simply had spaghetti for this one.

I also printed out the work for Columbus Day since it’s the next Holiday on the list. This study contains information on Christopher Columbus and some fun projects for it as well. The projects for this unit are simple enough but they do require me to grab a few things I don’t have on hand.

One is a yard stick for the Quadrant we are to make. I think Jack will greatly enjoy making this soon. I’ve thought about grabbing a plastic protractor from the store to use instead of the paper printed one it calls for in the project. I think that will last longer for Jack to play with.

The other material I need to grab is Acetate or something similar to create the map overlay project for the lesson. I think Jack will also really enjoy putting that together as well. He’s really into learning about sailing right now, especially Pirates.

The Columbus Day study is set up the same as the Labor Day study. There are more projects for this study: those mentioned above and a Spice Collage project which I think Laycie is going to love since she’s very into cooking right now. This study also features two recipes for both a Spanish and an Italian cookie to make… yum, cookies! Those are always a huge hit!

The other units in this study are equally intriguing and we really look forward to diving in to them all and learning more! I want to just add that I’m really looking forward to using the Thanksgiving portion of this study where we will make corn husk dolls! And Christmas is going to be a lot of fun as well!! This study is really making learning about the Holidays fun for all of us and the projects are completely unique and fun to complete. The kids LOVE it, just as they have all the Home School in the Woods projects we have completed over the years.

You can purchase History of Holidays online $18.95 for the Family license to print at home.

Be sure to check out the newest product, Project Passport: Ancient Rome as well. This is a great study you will not want to miss! It’s part of their Project Passport Collection as well.

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I was really wanting a simple but fun Science curriculum to use with Jack this year. He’s turning 6 next month and he’s suddenly the budding scientist so I really want to embrace that for him. When I saw WriteBonnieRose on the crew review list I was really intrigued. I chose Learning About Science Collection, Level 1 for us to use at home. Since Jack is younger, I thought it would work best for him.

This level is perfect for 1st-3rd graders but really I think you could use it with Kindergarten too if you have an advanced learner who comprehends well. There are 172 pages in the course. It contains 7 books on science topics that you can work through beginning with whichever book interests you most.

The books (worksheet sets) are:
Familiar Plants and How They Grow
Fruits and Vegetables Around The World
Animal Habitats of the World
Our Senses and How They Work
Learning About Life Cycles
Earth: Layers, Earthquakes and Volcanos
Exploring States of Matter

Each of these books vary in length from just around 12 pages to 51 pages for the Animal Habits unit. The sections are interactive as they learn. There is provided copywork throughout each study and questions to answer, activities and review work at the end to recall what they’ve learned in the course. We were easily able to print these to work on for our review and Jackson enjoyed having the paper that he could hold which showed what he was learning about that day. You could even laminate some of these so that your student can practice writing the words over and over again to learn them.

Familiar Plants and How They Grow discusses the parts of plants that kids can recognize easily. They learn about each part in this short but thorough section. They learn about how plants grow as well.

Fruits and Vegetables Around The World discusses 28 fruits and 28 vegetables that are commonly known. This unit shows your child where the fruits and veggies come from and how they grow and get to us. It’s a great unit for learning about the food we eat.

Animal Habitats of the World discusses 78 different animals and the 18 habitats they can be found in. This is an extensive unit that focuses on location of the animals and also what they eat. It’s a great unit for learning more about the creatures that inhabit Earth along with us.

Our Senses and How They Work discusses the body and what the systems that comprise of our body consist of. We learn what happens inside us and how it works together to bring us to life. This is a great study for young kids.

Learning About Life Cycles discusses the changes that animals go through and how they work to help our environments. If they didn’t have certains transformations they could never do the jobs they are here for. This unit focuses on how they change and the reasons behind these changes.

Earth: Layers, Earthquakes and Volcanoes is an introduction to what lies below the grass and rocks we find outside daily. It shows what Earth is like at it’s core and what you find as you dig down through the layers that create our planet. It also teaches about why we have Earthquakes and Volcanoes and how those work because of the layers of Earth we are on.

Exploring States of Matter is a brief introduction to Chemistry and Physics by showing what matter is and how it works.

I love the simpleness of the program as well. It wasn’t complicated to read the pages with Jack and to encourage him to write the words, which he didn’t always want to do. He enjoyed the subject matter we read about and he learned a lot while we worked through the course for the review period.

I did find that it was best to stick to one book at a time for the program, and not easy to skip around since the pages are written to continue from one to another in each section. It’s best to work through one at a time but you don’t need to go in any particular order for them. If you’d like to do the shorter books first and save the longer ones for last that would work well. Or vice versa. Or just pick a section that you feel would interest your child.

We really loved learning about the plants and fruits and vegetables, especially with everything in bloom right now. The life cycles section is pretty neat, too. We worked on some of the shorter books and will be working more in the future, especially on the Animals Habitats part of the curriculum. Jack loves learning about animals but for the sake of this review, I felt the shorter books would be best to go through. I really look forward to reading through this more with him and seeing his love of Science grow through what we are learning together.

We will definitely be purchasing the other levels of this curriculum as well. You cannot beat the price of the course either. You can get the entire Learning About Science Collection, Level 1 for $12! That’s 172 pages of Science that is simple and easy to use with your student. Level 2 and 3 are also available and many other products can be found at WriteBonnieRose!

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About the Book

Title: This Freedom Journey

Author: Misty M. Beller

Genre: Christian Historical Romance

Release Date: July 11, 2018

Adrien Lockman is through with the political unrest and bloodshed in his home country of France, so he sets off to the Canadian territory’s mountain frontier, in search of a place where a man can live his own life in peace. The last thing he expects to find is a woman, half-starved and half-frozen in a shack nestled among the towering peaks of the great Rocky Mountains.

Mary Standish thought she’d finally found a place where she was accepted, trapping with her husband for the Hudson Bay Company. But when he dies after a gruesome grizzly fight, she determines to carry on their work. After all, life in these remote mountains is better than enduring the scorn and snubs of “civilized” folk. When she’s forced to face a winter harder than any she’s endured yet, her stubbornness may just be the death of her. Until a stranger appears at her ramshackle door.

Adrien had planned to explore the mountain country all winter before he settles down to build a farm in the spring, but he can’t leave this woman to die in the elements. Even though she seems desperate for him to go. As Mary regains strength, she’s torn between wanting to save her dignity, and craving the respect of this man who’s slipped past her defenses. As the winter worsens, the truth becomes all too real—the only way they’ll survive is together.

Click here to purchase your copy!

About the Author

Misty M. Beller writes romantic mountain stories, set on the 1800s frontier and woven with the truth of God’s love.

She was raised on a farm in South Carolina, so her Southern roots run deep. Growing up, her family was close, and they continue to keep that priority today. Her husband and daughters now add another dimension to her life, keeping her both grounded and crazy.

God has placed a desire in Misty’s heart to combine her love for Christian fiction and the simpler ranch life, writing historical novels that display God’s abundant love through the twists and turns in the lives of her characters.

Guest Post from Misty Beller

A Inside Look at the Cover for This Freedom Journey

My book covers are one of my favorite parts of the creative process! With most of my books, I have the cover done early, usually as I’m first brainstorming the story. I love to have the heroine on my cover, and I work hard to make sure the woman on the front matches the heroine I’m envisioning for the story. That way I can describe her in the novel the way she looks on the cover. Sometimes I even work in the outfit she’s wearing on the cover!

This Freedom Journey is a novella in my Heart of the Mountains series, so I wanted the cover to be similar in layout and style to the other books in that series. The setting is winter in the Canadian Rockies, so I knew Mary (the heroine) had to be bundled warmly! Funny story: Mary is mentioned in the other two books, although they’re set later in her life. When I first described her in the other books, I imagined her with amber brown eyes. When I chose the final cover for This Freedom Journey, I had to go back and change the amber brown eyes in those other manuscripts to the riveting blue on the cover. 😊

Blog Stops

Blog Stops
Reading Is My SuperPower, July 19

Bigreadersite , August 1

Giveaway

To celebrate her tour, Misty is giving away a grand prize of a $50 Amazon gift card!!

Click below to enter. Be sure to comment on this post before you enter to claim 9 extra entries! https://promosimple.com/ps/d13f/this-freedom-journey-celebration-tour-giveaway

My Review:
Misty Beller is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors. Her books are refreshing and greatly enjoyable. She speaks to your heart with her stories.

This is the story of Mary, who is determined to survive and continue doing the work she and her now deceased husband started out to do by moving to the great Rocky Mountains. Mary is strong-willed but sometimes that’s not the best thing, especially when the odds are stacked strongly against you and you’re struggling to survive. Still Mary prevails and overcomes the struggle she faces in territory that she’s still coming to learn about. It’s better than where she started and she refuses to go back.

Adrien is strong and capable of survival in these great mountains but he never expected he’d come across this waif of a woman struggling to make it through the brutal winter they faced. He couldn’t just walk away and leave her. He knew she faced ultimate death if he did. She may even face it with him there helping her but helping was better than just moving on. There was plenty of time to move on in the Spring and start that farm he’d been dreaming of. But really what good was it without someone to enjoy it all with?

The story of Mary and Adrien is one of survival that builds in to love. They need one another and they come together through struggle and strength like no other. You’ll truly enjoy reading there story. Just another of Misty’s wonderful novels bringing characters to life.