Luv'N Lambert Life

Mental Health, Homeschooling, Epilepsy and More

2014

Curiosity Quest: DVD Combo Pack {Crew Review}

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If you are looking for a great new video to use for Science in your homeschooling,  or if your children are simply interested in learning Science through television, look no further than Curiosity Quest.  These wonderful videos are jam-packed full with information, teaching kids through a short video at home.  My entire family loved these videos and have watched them repeatedly since we first received these videos a few weeks ago.
Joel Greene takes us on an adventure of it’s own through each video.  The videos are DVD Combo Pack- Produce and DVD Combo Pack – Swimmers of the Sea.  He takes you through every step of the process, discussing unusual details and digging for information so you gain a thorough understanding of what you are learning about.  The best thing is these videos are fun and  encouraging to watch, leaving you wanting to see more.  
Throughout the videos there are questions asked and answered that also help to build the understanding of what you are learning about.  These questions are directed to children just like yours who give their best guesses and are followed with the correct answer so that children really get the answer to the question given.  This makes kids laugh and leaves them with the fact stuck in their heads so they retain the information.  What a fun way to learn!
There are also Fun Facts shared by children throughout the videos.  These Fun Facts are a quick piece of information shared.  Since this comes from a kid to a kid, it also allows children to better retain the information so they learn.  Just another great part of the videos.
As I mentioned above, my entire family LOVED these videos, from Grandma to my one year old.  My 11 year old learned so much from them that she never knew before viewing the videos.  She wasn’t able to decide which video she liked best.
We received two Curiosity Quest videos.  DVD Combo Pack – Produce was about Cranberries, Mushrooms and Oranges, while the other video, DVD Combo Pack – Swimmers of the Sea was about Salmon, Sea Turtles and Penguins. Both videos shared the same format for learning as I mentioned previously.
We learned that Mushrooms are a fungus.  The first step in growing them is hay, which is broken down to become soil by adding water and other ingredients to help make it rich for the mushrooms to grow.  Through this video we were able to see how large mushrooms grow and what they are used for.
In the next video we learned about Cranberries and were able to see fresh Cranberries harvested.  Cranberries are not grown in water as most people think.  They are grown dry and grow on vines, much like grapes but on the ground.  They are buoyant so water is added at harvest to help boost the cranberries from the ground making them easier for the harvester to pick.  They are perennials so they regrow year after year if they are well cared for.
Last we learned about Oranges on this particular video.  Oranges bruise easily causing rot to form.  People are used to pick oranges because machines are much more brutal causing the fruit to bruise, leading to the breakdown of the fruit.  Orange flowers are also used for making orange honey.  Bee keepers pay the orange farm to bring their bees so they can make this sweet treat.  Oranges are inspected under black lights so that bruising and rot shows up easily.  These bad fruits are then separated to be used for making penicillin and other medicinal forms.
This information is from only one of the two videos that we received for review.  We learned just as much from Salmon, Sea Turtles and Penguins.  Did you know that Sea Turtles have never evolved, remaining the same for millions of years?  Or that Florida has three sides of beaches, making it a great place to have Sea Animal rescues?  Sea Turtles can live with only one flipper.  Never use stainless steel hooks because they can get stuck in a sea animal and remain there for years to come.
Both these videos are amazing.  You can see for yourself by purchasing them from Curiosity Quest.  Each video is available for $24.95 each.  They are for ages 7-14.  They are well-worth the cost.
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Live Life Happy {Thoughts From Me}

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Some nights I come to write and there’s just nothing to say.  I don’t know where to start or where to go so I just type.  I admit, I’m not good at choosing topics to share about.

Our lives are pretty predictable.  We get up, the babies have their meds, the kids have breakfast.  Then we do school, we watch videos, we discuss things that interest us.  Then it’s lunch and sometimes it’s school in the afternoon, sometimes it’s play time outside if the weather is great.  Then comes dinner, bathtime and bedtime.  Wash, rinse, repeat every day.

Weekends bring a routine of their own as well.  Around the house leads to the kids helping as much as they can so they learn important skills like changing tires, brakes, and oil.  In the Summer, they help cut grass and clean up the yard.

This is our life.  Boring as it is, I wouldn’t change it for anything.  People often ask me how I can stand having the kids around all the time.  I honestly don’t know any difference.  They’re always here, I’m always here and to me, that’s exactly how it’s supposed to be.  To them, that’s how it should be as well.

I’ve asked them multiple times if they’d rather go to Public school and they constantly assure me they wouldn’t.  The older two went for a while and wanted to be home so home they came again.  The younger two have never been to Public school and if I have my way, they never will.

Life is what you make of it.  How you live is your choice.  Negative or positive, it’s all a decision you make daily.  I choose to be as positive as I can be.  I choose to find the good in life as much as possible and I choose to teach this to my children.  They appreciate that and I pray they will pass it forward as they grow up.

Each day is a gift to live and a blessing unlike any other.  Live, laugh, love and be happy every day!

Lulu’s Cafe – T.I. Lowe {A Review}

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It’s very rare that I write a review on a book that I wasn’t asked to review but this one has called to me from the minute I heard it mentioned by a dear friend.  Lulu’s Cafe was written by T.I. Lowe, a home-town girl, who grew up in the same places as me.  The small-town gossip about her amazingly written book left me wanting to read it for myself and I was definitely not disappointed.

T.I. Lowe and I have walked the same streets over time, the same well-beaten paths of beauty by the river and the beautiful Atlantic Coast that make up our coastal SC home.  I knew every true, picturesque place she described in the made up town of Rivertown, SC.  Much as Rivertown became “Home” to Leah Allen, the main character in Lulu’s Cafe, Rivertown is indeed “Home” to me.

Leah’s life was not always sweet southern peaches and cream.  She’d been through Hell in her lifetime – a Hell that few of us can even begin to imagine.  Growing up as an orphan was only the faint beginning of this life she led.

To everyone else, it seemed Leah, who was then known as Gabriella Sadler, lead a dream life.  She was the wife of the handsome Brent Sadler who gave her everything she could ever want.  If only the world would take a closer look, they’d see that Gabby’s life was not all roses and champagne.  Only a few cared to look for the truth and those few couldn’t help Gabby.

There comes a time when the abuse becomes too much and you fight back.  I know because I have been there and though I wasn’t nearly as badly abused as sweet Gabby was, it wasn’t easy just to walk away.  Still Gabby managed to break free and she started on a path to begin her life again.  She headed South.

In the South, Gabby began to grow and blossom, thanks to the great support she found in Lulu and others in Rivertown.  She was known as Leah now, her name all along.  She hid her past but began to look forward to her future.  Lulu’s Cafe helped Leah find who she really is and that fine piece of man, Crowley Mason also played a hand in that.

Coastal South Carolina leaves with you a lasting impression.  The sweet little towns, the southern sass, the smell of wetlands and marsh grass are incomparable.  I personally couldn’t imagine a better life than here and Lulu’s Cafe, T.I. Lowe’s debut novel, brings forth every bit of that beauty through Leah’s story.  T.I. Lowe provides an experience you won’t soon forget and a connection to a place time has not changed.  I truly look forward to reading more of her work in the future.

You can purchase Lulu’s Cafe through T.I. Lowe’s personal website at www.tilowe.com.  It’s available on Amazon Kindle for $3.99 or in Paperback for $15.  This is one book you’ll want to read!

*Disclaimer – I was not asked to write this review.  It is of my own personal opinion.  I received no items in exchange for this review and I purchased the eBook version of this book on my own with no monetary reimbursement.  I am including this disclaimer in accordance with FTC guidelines and regulations.

Five Becomes Six: Happy Birthday to my Laycie Bug, the Kid {Thoughts From Me}

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Tonight I put my five year old to bed.  Tomorrow when she wakes she will be six.  It doesn’t seem possible and yet it is.

Laycie Elizabeth has brought so much joy to our lives.  Her sister, my Emmalee, dubbed her our Angel on the day she was born and she has truly been just that to us all.  She brings happiness and joy to our days that was unimaginable before she was born.

I could never have imagined being a Momma to four beautiful children.  I never expected to find so much happiness in my life as they bring me.  I am blessed and I am thankful every day for the love I receive from each of them.

This weekend we are having a Grand Birthday Bash and Oyster Roast.  It’s Laycie’s birthday party and a raincheck party for our older kids who didn’t get to have a party because of all the cold weather we had this past Winter.  Spring has finally shown her beautiful self and we will be taking full advantage!

I’m not sure what our weekend will bring, except that it will bring together so many that we love.  It will bring our eight beautiful children home together (I hope).  It will bring our friends here to celebrate and enjoy each other once again, both new and old friends.

It is a celebration for me, their Momma, who loves them dearly and could not imagine this great Earth without them, even though I never imagined I’d have been blessed by the eight of them.  My loves, my heart carried in eight separate pieces outside my chest, these beautiful children who make me whole.  This weekend will be wonderful and I look forward to enjoying every moment of it along with them.

So Happy Birthday to my Laycie Bug, the Kid and Happy Belated Birthday to my Win and Emma. Here’s to many more years together, growing and loving each other forever.  God bless you for the love you give me.  I am thankful every single day.

Supercharged Science {Crew Review}

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We have been huge fans of Aurora Lipper at Supercharged Science for quite some time now.  We were introduced to Aurora several years ago through various homeschool resources.  Supercharged Science came highly recommended to us in the early days of our homeschooling adventures.
I was very excited when this review became available because I knew that the kids would LOVE using Supercharged Science again in our homeschooling.  I took this knowledge and immediately signed up to join in on this review.  I was so excited when we were chosen to work on it.  We were gifted with a 6 month subscription to Supercharged Science’s e-Science Premium Membership.
Supercharged Science is a wonderful science education program created by Aurora Lipper, as I mentioned above.  Aurora’s love of Science truly shows through in her work and her creativity in this program.  Designed for all ages, there are different levels of this program to be used for different ages.  There is the K-8th grade program for younger students and the 9-12th grade program for those High School aged students.  Both programs provide a full curriculum to learn from for the year.
The thing we love about Supercharged Science is that it’s online and Aurora does the teaching with minimal experience and participation on my (the parent/teacher’s) part.  That’s right, I can log into the website, sit the kids down and let them work through this program without much thought or help from me.
Supercharged Science provides wonderfully thorough videos for students to use during their lessons.  These videos cover what the student needs to learn right on the computer screen.  There are also lists that I can easily print out and carry with me to the store to purchase the necessities for any experiments that need completed.  This makes it super easy for me to get what’s needed then allow the kids to work through the chosen experiment at home.
I don’t want you to think that because Supercharged Science is such an easy to use program that it isn’t thorough.  Aurora Lipper is a Rocket Scientist who believes in teaching all about what she loves: Science.  She provides fun, thoroughly thought out lessons much better than I ever could myself.  She has put a lot of time into her website to provide children with a Science education that rivals no other.  Her enjoyment really shines through in every part of Supercharged Science!
Depending on the program that you choose, you will be able to choose a level that fits your students.  Each level is different and you can choose by grade level or topic what you wish to teach at that time.  For us, it’s better to learn by topic.
Each unit begins with a Getting Started section.  This tells what we will be learning in the Unit.  This is followed by the unit download which contains information necessary for completing the unit.  There is also an available shopping list to help us prepare ahead of time.  Then you dive into the unit and work from there.  Most of this was completed by my children on their own but only because we were already familiar with Supercharged Science.
Supercharged Science covers topics like Mechanics, Matter, Sound, Light, Magnetism and much more.  Each unit teaches the specifics of the topic in a way children can easily understand.  There are also bonuses sharing great Science Projects and lessons with Math.
Supercharged Science is available for a monthly fee of $57.  This gives you access to full K-12 level plan.  You can gain access to the K-8 grade plan for only $37 a month if you choose.
You can view samples of Supercharged Science here: Supercharged Science Samples
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Victus Study Skills System {Crew Review}

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Alright,  I have to admit that I chose this review more for myself than for anyone else in our home.  Though I learned a lot about studying in my school years and organization, I needed the reminder of how to do these things and how to teach my children about them.  Victus Study Skills System has served as a great reminder along with being a great educational tool for our family.
This study system only takes 5 hours to complete.  It’s designed to be completed quickly but to give a thorough understanding of how to study and how to plan your studying to best benefit yourself.  Victus Study Skills System can be used by anyone at any age but is particularly designed to be taught to middle and high school ages students or in grades 5 through 12.
With the program you receive a Teacher’s Edition workbook of the program and a Student Workbook.  Each is written clearly and simply.  Lessons are short but thorough.  I love the fun drawings that encourage learning.  They are a wonderful extra to keep the program interesting.
 The program contains 10 lessons.  It’s expected that each lesson should take half an hour for a high school student to complete.  Students can complete two lessons a day for a week, one lesson a day for two weeks or be adapted as you and your student sees fit.  As I mentioned above, the entire program takes 5 hours to complete so working through this program should not be a problem for any student at any age.
I chose to use Victus Study Skills System for myself and with my daughter who just turned 11.  The instructions and lessons were easy enough to complete.  They are designed to help students learn to how to prepare for studying, how to study during a lesson, how to set goals and how to stay on track in order to learn.
I found this program to be a great reminder for me in Homeschool planning.  Following the guidance of this program, I was able to set goals for each of my children, allowing Emmalee to help me in planning her goals as we worked through this together.  I was then able to break these goals down to manageable portions in order to better organize our learning.  We were able to set goals seasonally, and for future plans.  We were able to set a manageable time frame in order to get our goals completed so we are not just working towards nothing rewarding.
The best part of this program for me and Emmalee both was that we learned how to better organize our plans and our necessary materials so that we could easily complete our goals.  We chose a place to study that fit each of us and learned to focus our minds to prepare for this period.  This allowed us to make the most of our learning.
Another helpful part of the program suggested keeping a planner to use for organizing ourselves.  The planner helps by allowing you to make a list of things you need for studying, where you stop and start with your lessons and so much more.  Planners are a great tool to be used.
I could go on and on about the things we learned through the Victus Study Skills System.  It is one of the best study skills programs I’ve seen in a long time.  It’s not hard to learn from or complete and doesn’t take a lot of time but the impact of the lessons stick with you for a long time after.
Victus Study Skills System is available for purchase through the website.  The Teacher’s Edition is $40 and the Student Workbook is $20.  There is a classroom video available for an additional $30 and a Student DIY Workbook available for $25.
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Twitter: @VictusStudy
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