Luv'N Lambert Life

Mental Health, Homeschooling, Epilepsy and More

2014

NIrV Adventure Bible for Early Readers {BookLook Review}

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The NIrV Adventure Bible for Early Readers is absolutely perfect for children!  This Bible is amazing, eye catching and full of fun.  It really makes children want to read their Bible every day.
The NIrV Adventure Bible is written where children can easily understand what they are reading.  It’s written in the New International Reader’s Version which is similar to the New International Version (NIV) but easier to read.  This slight change in wording makes all the difference in comprehension for Youth.
This Bible features a 3-D cover showing a boy and girl heading on an Adventure.  The book itself is hardback and features the Adventure design from front to back of the cover.  It’s a strong cover designed to withstand the touches of little hands.
The NIrV Adventure Bible is for children ages 6-10.  It’s published by ZonderKidz, a division of Zondervan Publishing.  It features the complete word of the Bible throughout the text.
The Bible is full color throughout.  The verses, the titles, the topics all feature beautiful, eye-catching colors that draw children to the reading, making it fun!  Throughout the pages are Did You Knows, Words to Treasure, and other wonderful Biblical tidbits to expand what your child is learning and reading while diving into the Word.
There are also question and answer sections throughout the book.  This helps to ensure that your child is really learning their bible!  It also helps the child remember what they have read.  What a great asset for comprehension in reading!
The NIrV Adventure Bible is available in local bookstores or online for $31.99.  There are additional book activities and games available online at https://www.adventurebible.com.  Check it out today!
I review for BookLook Bloggers

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookLook Bloggers book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Moving Beyond The Page {Crew Review}

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Moving Beyond the Page Review

Have you ever found a curriculum that simply blows you away and makes you reconsider everything you’ve ever used for homeschooling?  For me that curriculum company is Moving Beyond the Page.  Their unit studies are so thorough, so simple to use and yet so much fun!

For this review, we were given access to our choice of products.  Trust me, this was NOT an easy decision to make.  Since we have been studying the Revolutionary War in relation to our Hometown of Georgetown, SC, I choose two units that I thought we best fit to our current lessons.  For our Language Arts Package, I chose Abigail Adams and for our History Package, I chose Revolution.

{Language Arts – Abigail Adams,   History – Revolution}

 

As soon as I saw Moving Beyond the Page listed as one of our vendors, I knew I didn’t want to miss out.  I reviewed another set of packaged programs for this company with the Schoolhouse Team last year and we absolutely LOVED it.  I wanted to see if we’d feel the same way this year and I’m happy to say we still LOVE them.

Our Language Arts Package provided us with an online guidebook to use and a physical book to read to learn all about the life of Abigail Adams.  The book we received is Abigail Adams Witness to a Revolution by Natalie S. Bober.  It is filled with information on Mrs. Adams life and the things she saw during this important time in the early beginning of America. 


The online guide for Abigail Adams provides a wonderful lesson plan which is simple to follow.  You simply log into the website and follow the links.  There are activity pages that can be printed out to use with the lessons being learned.  There are also bonus suggestions from others to help you extend your lessons  even farther.  I really enjoy the formatting of the online guide and the extra content that helps to bring the lessons to life.

I must admit though, my children found the book on Mrs. Adams lengthy and slightly boring and so did I since I was reading it to them.  I think this book and lesson package would be better suited for a more structured homeschool setting than ours.  I was able to find readings from various websites and books from the library to help us make our lessons more interesting.  There were some areas where reading the information provided in the book Abigail Adams Witness to a Revolution could not be avoided and we read through and did learn a lot from the reading.

For our History Package, we were sent a physical copy of the Revolution Guidebook, along with the hands-on book Great Colonial America Projects You Can Build Yourself by Kris Bordessa and We Were There, Too!  Young People in US History by Phillip Hoose.  I will admit this package was immediately a favorite of both myself and the kiddos.  Both these books are amazing and they add so much to the lesson itself.

Great Colonial America Projects contains so many interesting facts and super-fun projects to complete!  It includes words to know which can be used for Vocabulary exercises and also for copywork.  It features different persons from the time period throughout the book, providing a better look at those important historical figures and their influence on American History.  This book also gives timeline tidbits would could easily be used to create a physical timeline in your lessons.  There are so many things we learned from this one little book!

We Were There, Too! is a beautiful book itself.  It’s a glossy covered, hardback book that is sturdily made.  It reads like a textbook but the stories are so interesting.  They really draw the reader in and the students as well.  Beginning with the discovery of America, this book takes you on a long walk through History.  One that you won’t soon forget.

We Were There, Too! also contains new words that can be used for Vocabulary, Spelling, Copywork and more.  Lessons on the specific people who made History happen can be easily expanded upon though the book is pretty thorough in examining these people and is historically accurate in it’s information.  This book is a wonderful addition to our lessons and our homeschooling.

The Revolution Guidebook is approximately 168 pages long.  It begins with covering history from the settling of America which did surprise me, as I was expecting it to only cover the actual Revolutionary period and the War itself.  I was thrilled to discover it began with America’s settlement and covered some information that we had already been discussing in our homeschooling over the weeks before we began this study.

The guidebooks for both of these packages are written so that the teacher can jump right in and begin right away.  The packages come with the books and some packages come with extra activities that may otherwise be hard to locate so that you can easily begin the study.  These packages are set up as unit studies and as most unit studies do, they cover the information being learned thoroughly both by providing excellent reading selections with the chosen books and by providing a thorough and completely planned guidebook to direct the teacher through the lesson. 


  We used these unit studies together in conjuction as much as possible.  They fit well together, since Abigail Adams was a witness to the Revolution which we were discussing in the Revolution study.  We used these lessons almost daily over the review period and we learned a lot from them.  We also learned a lot about the history of our hometown, and nearby Charleston in the process.  We enjoyed how the lessons brought so much of our home’s past to life for us.

The guidebooks provide lessons activities, extensions, suggestions for extra books to read and so much more.  Best yet, they are so so so easy to follow.  We have learned so much with these lesson packages in such a short time because of the simple and easy layout which makes it easy to jump right in and learn.  I’m really considering switching other parts of our learning program to Moving Beyond the Page because of the ease of using the program and it’s completeness.

The packaging prices aren’t bad either.  The Language Arts Package for Abigail Adams with the Online Guidebook is priced as $26.88 at time of this review.  This includes access to the guidebook online and the physical book Abigail Adams: Witness to a Revolution.  This package is designed for use with students ages 12-14 or who have a reading level of 8-9th grade.

The History Package for Revolution with a printed copy of the guidebook is $65.93.  It comes with the guidebook in print copy, a copy of Great Colonial American Projects You Can Build Yourself and We Were There, Too!: Young People in US History.  This package is designed for use with students age 12-14 or who have a reading level of 8-9th grade.

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A Case of the Sickies {Thoughts From Me}

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Sickness has hit our house.  It’s in full force.  The home that usually has little more than a seizure a week hit it, now has the dreaded Summer Colds.

It started with Jack.  He developed a terrible fever of 101 last week.  It spiked to 103 a few times.  His throat was sore.  He vomited and I want mention the amount of diapers that needed changed.  It was awful.

He got better.  We had a few days of bliss without any sickness and then it hit Grandma, Winston and Laycie.  Laycie took the stomach icky part of the bug while Grandma and Winston took the throat issues.  Laycie has a mild sore throat as well.

Today, my poor sweet Winston woke up unable to talk because his throat is inflamed.  I immediately had him start drinking water, as much as possible.  I gave him some medicine and an allergy pill as well to help with the swelling reaction.  Later I gave him some chicken broth boiled with Garlic and then some tea with honey and lemon.  Both helped.

This afternoon, Laycie began feeling badly.  So terrible that she needed a nap with Mommy.  She’s been mostly asleep all afternoon and is now sleeping again beside me.  She doesn’t seem to have a fever but she does have an upset tummy and cough.  I gave her some medicine and of course, her seizure medicine so that Monster doesn’t attack right now.  Sleep seems to be helping her.

I’m trying my best to avoid this sickness and to help Emmalee avoid it with me.  So far so good but it’s not over yet.  I hope I don’t curse us!

Please say a prayer that these sickies pass us quickly and that our household is soon back to normal.  It breaks my Momma-heart to see my sweet babies sick.

Until next time…

Veritas Press Self-Paced History: Old Testament and Ancient Egypt {Crew Review}

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Veritas Press is an amazing company with amazing curriculum that we truly love.  For this review, we used their Self-Paced History program.  I chose the Old Testament and Ancient Egypt for Emmalee to work through.
Emmalee is 11 and is an exceptional student.  She bores easily when she learns because she absorbs knowledge in lessons so quickly and most programs do not teach enough factual information for her, so I knew this program would be perfect for her to use.  She’s great using a computer and had no issues learning to maneuver through the program.  The fact that it is self-paced was perfect for her since it allowed her to work without having to wait on me to teach her or wait for my other children to reach her next lesson.
Veritas Press courses begin with thorough lessons in how to use their programming.  This section of the lesson really teaches the student how to use every single aspect of the program so they get the best results in learning.  They cover everything from how to move forward and back with the browser buttons, to how to complete online tests and everything in between.  I liked the thoroughness because it alleviated the need for me to be right beside Emmalee as she learned with the Self-Paced History course.
I chose the Old Testament and Ancient Egypt course for Emmalee because she has a recent interest in learning about the old world and way of life.  Her current interest is actually Dinosaurs and Pre-Historic creatures but I knew that this section of history would be of interest to her as well.  She loves learning about the long-ago past and what better way than through a study of the Old Testament and of Ancient Egypt’s life and culture.
Since the course is self-paced, Emmalee was able to work on as many lessons as she wished in a day and take as long as needed to complete them.  In our home, we do not focus on “grades” but we do focus on learning.  The information provided in this program was wonderful for her and she learned so much.
The program does give a grade, as it does test the student in the lessons being covered as the student works through the program.  These tests are done directly on the computer and the student often has multiple choice answers to choose from.  Emma did well with her test but not quite as well as I would have liked because she didn’t have all the needed components for the review until the review period was almost past.  She was missing the very important History Cards that are covered within each part of the lesson.  Once these cards arrived in the mail, her learning increased.  Like me, Emma is a person who needs everything together and ready to go in order to work and missing even one thing will throw her lessons completely off kilter.
The Veritas Press History Cards are beautiful designed flashcards created to go along with the lessons in the program.  They are an important part of the program as they contain lots of information about the lesson being learned.  They are also great for lesson reviewing and reminders between the lessons being learned.  Each section of the program focuses on a different card but some cards are reviewed as the lessons are worked through.  
Veritas Press Self-Paced History: Old Testament and Ancient Egypt covers 32 important historical events from this time period.  The course has 160 class periods to learn in, giving a student a full year of History to learn.  It is expected that lessons range from 30 – 50 minutes each and will depend on the pace of your child.  It is recommended that 5 lessons per week be completed to be able to finish the program in a year’s time.
The program is interactive and includes videos, games, and more.  Some memorization is expected and your child should be independant enough to follow along with the programs instructions before using this program.  Also material testing is a part of the lessons for this program.
Veritas Press Self-Paced History: Old Testament and Ancient Egypt is for students in 2nd – 6th grades.  The website recommends the program for children older than age 7.  Additional literature packages can be purchased to go along with this program as well.  
The cost for Veritas Press Self-Paced History: Old Testament and Ancient Egypt is $199 for a year.  There is a sibling discount available if you have more than one child working through the program.  The Veritas Press History Cards for the Old Testament and Ancient Egypt are available for $19.95.
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End of June Update {Thoughts From Me}

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There’s so much keeping us busy around here lately.  Home and reviews are overrunning with life.  There’s so much to do and so little time.

Days like this I wish I was Born Organized but I am far from it.  My home overflows with stuff and busy days.   Doctors appointments have taken much of my time lately and just keeping the basics done around home.

The small things I do get done fill up fast.  I can’t keep up and I really don’t bother trying.  At this season in life, as long as the kids are happy, learning and fed, that’s all that matters to me.  There’s no way to get anything else in.

At this stage, I’m on a learning mission.  Learning about Faith, Life, Love and yes, organizing it all both physically and mentally.  It’s not an easy lesson but it’s all falling in place as I age.  Every day I come a little closer to making things better for us.

Right now we are facing some struggles.  Laycie is changing medication because hers is no longer controlling as it needs to be and I pray this change is for the best for her.  Jackson has a small bug and a high fever to go with it.  He’s also battling constipation and we aren’t sure where it’s coming from but he’s starting medication to help with that as well.

Winston and Emmalee are troopers as always.  Emma does have her wellness check-up this week and hopefully we can get her going with her orthopedics again soon because that really needs done.  With all the sickness from Laycie and Jax we’ve had to put off a lot in the last year.  Now that we have more balance, I can now deal with those things that we had to put onto the back burner.

Life has been so busy lately that I’ve barely been online except through my phone and I truthfully needed that little break to refocus.  It takes balance to live the life you want and so I’ve been trying to find a good balance to get to where we need to be.  It’s a slow process but we are heading that way.

Library and Educational Services: Go Science DVD Series 2 {Crew Review}

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Welcome to Learning Time with Ben Roy!  Ben Roy is the “teacher” on Library and Educational Services excellent Go Science DVD’s.  He’s so much more than a teacher though as he loves to bring Science to life for children.
Go Science DVD’s have been created to be used with children who are ages 6-10.  For this review, we used the second series of the DVD’s.  Last year, we reviewed their original series.  Because we LOVED those so much, we chose two new videos for review this year.
and
These videos were just as great this year as they were last!  Over the past year, we’ve watched our original Go Science DVD’s multiple times.  I didn’t notice a lot of differences between series one and two.  There are some new transitional effects but the main content is just as great as the originals.
Each video is a little over an hour long with segments in each covering the topics that the DVD is about.  Each segment lasts just a few minutes but packs a lot of information into that time frame.  You can choose to view the DVD by individual segments or to play all.  We like to play all because once we start learning, it’s hard to stop.  Plus Ben Roy really makes Science interesting with his comical ways and his witty humor.  I really learn a lot just listening along!  So do the kids!
Go Science videos are a huge hit around our house and this series is one we go to over and over.  The kids and I both enjoy watching the experiments and we have tried a few on our own after watching.  We’ve also used what we’ve learned through the videos to try out other experiments of our own.  Just viewing these videos has definitely changed our learning process and our own experiments in Science.
Through Go Science DVD Volume 1, we learned about the sounds that instruments make and were able to see an piano that had been taken a part.  Ben Roy showed us how the piano works which was completely new information for me.  Another fun experiment was the screaming soda pop can.  This one can be done at home with supervision.
On the main menu of Go Science DVD Volume 1: Sound, Gravity, Space you can choose between these three topics.  Clicking on each will provide a second menu of experiments that are related to each of these topics.  Between the three topics, there are 15 different segments with experiments to watch and learn about.
Go Science DVD Volume 2: Life Science and Weather starts the same way.  Clicking on each topic leads to a second menu.  Between the two menus, there are 12 episodes with experiments to watch.  Things like a Fire Tornado and Ping Pong Cannon, or How Much Do Your Lungs Hold are covered on this DVD.
Two of our favorites from Go Science DVD Volume 2 are the Naked Egg and Cloud In A Bottle.
The Naked Egg is the experiment where you soak the egg in vinegar until the shells dissolves leaving only the egg membrane and yolk in tact.  The egg feels rubbery and is see through.  This is a great experiment to really show what’s inside an Egg.
Cloud in a Bottle is an experiment where you place a bit of alcohol into a 2 liter soda bottle then pump air inside.  Clouds really form from this experiment.  Watching and learning how clouds are created lead us to find other cloud experiments to complete at home.

We love that Go Science DVD’s leave us thinking and wanting to learn more.  You can purchase these wonderful DVD’s through Library and Educational Services for $8.97 individually or you can purchase the 7 DVD series set for $59.82.
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