My daughter Emmalee, age 13
Wordless Wednesday: January 11, 2017 {Wordless Wednesday}
2017
SchoolhouseTeachers.com {Crew Review}
Quick note from me:
*Due to changes at the Homeschool Review Crew, a division of The Old Schoolhouse Magazine, reviews for this team on Luv’N Lambert Life will now be marked {Crew Review} instead of the previous {Schoolhouse Review} in the titles. You can find my Homeschool Review Crew reviews by searching either tag in our blog’s search box.
*Due to changes at the Homeschool Review Crew, a division of The Old Schoolhouse Magazine, reviews for this team on Luv’N Lambert Life will now be marked {Crew Review} instead of the previous {Schoolhouse Review} in the titles. You can find my Homeschool Review Crew reviews by searching either tag in our blog’s search box.
*This review contains affiliate links for SchoolhouseTeachers.com and the memberships provided. Through your purchase, I will receive a small commission.
As a long time reviewer for the Homeschool Review Crew, a divison of The Old Schoolhouse Magazine, I’ve been blessed to also have been a long time member of SchoolhouseTeachers.com which is also a division of The Old Schoolhouse Magazine. I was on the Crew when SchoolhouseTeachers.com opened it’s website and have found it to be a great place for our studies over the past couple of years. Recently though, SchoolhouseTeachers.com received a makeover from the original website and formatting which I’m really excited to share with you in this review.
About this product:
SchoolhouseTeachers.com is an online website created and presented by The Old Schoolhouse Magazine. For this review, we were given access to the Yearly Membership available at SchoolhouseTeacher.com. This website provides studies in various subjects and grade levels, planning materials, helps to evaluate student progress, document learning and also celebrate achievements students receive. SchoolhouseTeachers.com helps to make learning easy.
When you join SchoolhouseTeachers.com you gain access to some pretty great materials which vary for grade level or topic. You also gain access to some of the greatest educational minds you can find through the courses provided through the website. Great educators like Amy Puetz Fox, Jan May, Cheri Blomquist, Brenda Ellis, Jan Bower, Diana Waring, Lisa Barthuly and so many, many more!
When you join, you also gain access to the Schoolhouse Planners, which are my personal favorites for planning our homeschooling days. You don’t just get access to one planner though but to ALL the planners The Old School House has available:
Hey, Mama! Schoolhouse Planner
Schoolhouse Planner
Special Learners Schoolhouse Planner
Primary Schoolhouse Planner
Intermediate Schoolhouse Planner
High School Schoolhouse Planner
Each of these are unique in their own ways and a great way to plan your year. These planners are updated yearly and currently SchoolhouseTeachers.com has the 2016-2017 versions available on site.
Not only do you get the Schoolhouse Planners but you also gain access to additional tools like the Custom Builder for planning, Ready-made Calendars, and Printable Info Charts which I must say are pretty amazing, filled with great information for various subjects you may be working on in your homeschooling.
Even more about the product:
As you’ve probably figured out by now, this is a pretty extensive website providing access to many great things that can definitely benefit your homeschooling and I’ve only just begun to touch on what’s available through a SchoolhouseTeachers.com membership. Many of the lessons also include videos, access to books needed for the courses, extra media and even tutorials on how to use the website, as well as some of the products available.
Bonus content is also included like access to the World Book eBook Library which contains more titles than I can begin to count for you! This is a seriously amazing resource that can be used along with the available courses on SchoolhouseTeachers.com or alone as you wish. I was really excited to see access to this wonderful library added to the website as I find it really helpful when I need a quick book on a subject we are studying.
There are also many great resources available for Focused Learning Centers, High School Help, Special Needs (a go-to I find myself using often), Literacy Center, access to the Schoolhouse Expos (always encouraging!) and so much more. SchoolhouseTeachers.com looks out for those days when we struggle as well providing encouragement materials in their Just for Parents section, a Monthly Menu to help plan daily meals, and even Help Charts and Certificates for boosting learning achievement.
There is so much more to this website than just meets the eye. There is a lot of heart behind it and encouragement for learning. So many things coming together with some great people to provide a place for solid, educational learning experience.
How We Use This Website In Our Home:
As I’ve already mentioned one of my absolute FAVORITE parts of SchoolhouseTeachers.com is the Planners section. I’ve used these planners for many, many years now. Originally, these planners were sold separately through the Old Schoolhouse Magazine but with SchoolhouseTeachers.com you are given access to ALL of the planners which I mentioned above. I like to take my favorite pages from t these and print them individually then place them into a binder so that they provide us with the best planner for our homeschooling needs. Just that makes the price of SchoolhouseTeachers.com worth it to me! But more than that, I use many of the various courses throughout the year for our homeschooling needs.
Now I must admit right now that I honestly found the old SchoolhouseTeachers.com website a little bit hard to utilize. It confused me and I struggled with using it which is rare for me since I’ve fairly tech savvy. But the whole new site SchoolhouseTeachers.com has just released has completely changed my feelings on that!
The new version of SchoolhouseTeachers.com works almost flawlessly. I honestly haven’t had a single issue with glitches or slowness from the website since the changes have been made. I love the new format, allowing easier access to finding the grade level and courses you may be interested in for your students.
I have four students of various ages and I personally try to combine as much of our studies as I can so it’s less work for all of us. SchoolhouseTeachers.com makes that easy to do by providing course studies by topic. You can also use the search option provided on the website to search for the topic you may be looking for as well.
Now sometimes, I also need to find particular subjects for my children’s grade level, like for Jack who is Preschool age. To do that, I simply use the Browse By Grade option found in the top bar of the website. SchoolhouseTeachers.com has a great Preschool Playground which we have utilized over the past few weeks of learning. The Preschool Playground covers topics for Bible, Manners, Motor Skills, etc. All those essential topics for Jack’s age of learning.
A Few More Details:
Now being a Special Needs Momma of four, I love when I find great resources that help our homeschooling on a website and I try to make mention of these sections when I can for my fellow Special Needs Mommas. SchoolhouseTeachers.com has a wonderful place just for us Momma’s of Special Needs children which can be found in the main bar under the Resources tab.
The Special Needs section gives us access to a wonderful program provided by Judi Munday, an educational consultant. This is a 19 part program which covers a multitude of special needs information to help us better understand our precious children and their personal needs. This is a wonderful resource to have access to.
There’s also a section discussing learning styles which will help you pinpoint your child’s style. This can help greatly when we are trying to figure out how to homeschool our sweet children and when what we thought would work isn’t working at all. There’s some really helpful information provided in this article.
Another favorite of mine is Homeschooling Through The Tough Spots. Lord knows, I’ve personally experienced many of those and I’m sure many of my readers have as well! Nancy Feliccia helps us find our way through these rough areas of life and helps us to get back on track with her wonderfully, written articles on the subject. This one was a home hitter for me!
And I was thrilled to find my dear, dear friend Heather Laurie mentioned in this section with Matthew Newell and Diane Craft under the topic, Homeschooling Your Extra-Special Blessing. Heather has been a wonderful mentor for me through this homeschooling journey, dealing with special needs and just making it through our day to day lessons. The webinars included within this section were really an inspiring blessing to me.
Wrapping It Up:
There is just so much to the SchoolhouseTeachers.com website. I’ve honestly just scratched the surface. So many wonderful people have been brought together for this site that I could write and write for days about it’s many great details. And the added bonus is that all these materials, great minds, easy to use and thorough lessons are provided all on this one website. SchoolhouseTeachers.com gets better every year and I’m honestly honored to be able to share it with you as well.
How To Join:
Joining SchoolhouseTeachers.com is easy to do. Simply visit SchoolhouseTeachers.com and choose which option best fits you.
I have a Yearly Membership which usually runs for $139 a year with a 10% discount included. From now until January 15, you can use the code CHRISTMASYEAR to pay only $90 for this year on the Yearly Membership.
There is also a Monthly Membership available which costs $12.95 a month if this option better fits your family. From now until January 15, you can use the code CHRISTMAS to pay only $9.95 a month.
Both these memberships give you access to everything provided at SchoolhouseTeachers.com and includes access for all members of your household which is a wonderful deal, in my opinion.
There are also additional discounts for HSLDA members, Civil Servants, Co-op groups and a few others so please check for those before purchasing your membership.
Additionally, there is a One Month Trial offer always available which costs $1 to try out the website if you’re not sure whether you’re ready to commit just yet. This deal is for First Time members ONLY and will not work if you’ve already registered with SchoolhouseTeachers.com in the past.
And don’t worry. I know this post shares a lot of information about this website but when you join there is a Start Here tab on the menu which will help you find your way around the website. It’s very easy to use and a great way to learn your way around.
Places You Can Find This Vendor Online:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/TOSMag
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/tosmag
You Can Read More Reviews Of This Vendor At:
Disclaimer:
Word of the Year: 2017 {Thoughts From Me}
FOCUSIt’s been a while since I chose a word of the year for us. Last year we weren’t really online due to not having internet so I wasn’t really able to chose one. This year we do have internet so I’ll be picking our word of the year.
As I’ve thought and prayed over our Word of the Year, I was really torn between two words: Balance and Focus. Balance was my first choice but the more I prayed, the more Focus presented itself. I began to understand that our word of the year should be Focus.
Dictionary.com defines Focus as a noun meaning a central point, as of attraction, attention, or activity. Focus is also described as the clear and sharply defined condition of an image. It can also be a verb meaning to concentrate: to focus one’s thoughts and to direct one’s attention or efforts. Synonyms for Focus are: heart, center, core, nucleus.
Our focus this year will be upon each other as a family. As a Mother, I wish to focus more on my children, enjoying the years we have left before they are grown. I wish to focus on each of their relationships with me and Donald, with each other, allowing them to strengthen these relationships in order to better our family.
I plan to focus on finding a way to sustain our family financially as well. I’m not sure where we are being led yet, but I know that God has a plan and my focus will be on allowing God to put us on the path he wishes for us to be.
As a family, we will also focus on strengthening our relationship with God as well. We will continue to pray together, and for others. We will learn more about God’s plan for our family through prayer, and through building our relationship with Him and with one another as well.
Focus is our main goal for this year and Focus we will do!
We are linked up with the Word of the Year 2017 from the Homeschool Review Crew, a division of The Old Schoolhouse Magazine!
The Beginner’s Bible from Zonderkidz {Crew Review}
For those who may have missed my announcement on Facebook last month, I’m happy to announce that I’ve rejoined the Homeschool Review Crew, a division of The Old Schoolhouse Magazine. I’ve greatly missed the crew, the amazing products, wonderful vendors and I’ve especially missed being able to share such wonderful products with you. So without further interruption, let’s get started with the first of many awesome products I’ll be reviewing this year and sharing here on the blog:
Zondervan is a company that has blessed our home for many years now. Zonderkidz is the kid’s department for Zondervan which provides quality educational and Biblical materials to use with your family at home. We have used and loved many of their products in our home for at least 16 years now, since the birth of my oldest son. So when the opportunity came to review The Beginner’s Bible from Zonderkidz, I immediately knew this was a review that I wanted to do.
About the Book:
The Beginner’s Bible is a story Bible that is filled with wonderful imagery. It includes 90 different Bible stories written for children to comprehend.
This is a Bible meant for small children, ages 6 and under who are just learning to read or who need help reading. It’s a wonderful read-aloud book or book to read with your child. It is definitely one of our family favorites.
Recently, Zonderkidz updated The Beginner’s Bible to include new 3D full color illustrations in bright vibrant colors. This really makes the stories come to life. The images really pop off the pages with this new artwork style.
The Beginner’s Bible also features large, easy to read font. This is perfect for younger children who often become anxious with smaller print. It wasn’t too bad for this Momma either, as sometimes reading stories in small print can be hard to keep up with when you’re holding a small child.
The Beginner’s Bible is 512 pages in length. These pages are now glossy whereas the older versions of The Beginner’s Bible had matte paper pages, which is sometimes difficult to keep clean with small hands. The pages are still paper but the glossy finish does allow for light wiping that could not be managed before. This was a change that I was happy to see!
Included in the front of The Beginner’s Bible is a Dedication page where you can write in your child’s name so they know this Bible is just for them. There is also a Table of Contents included behind the Dedication page to help you locate favorite Bible stories.
The first part of the book begins in the Old Testament just like an adult Bible would, starting with Genesis’ The Beginning and ending with Jonah and the Big Fish. The New Testament is also included, beginning with An Angel Visits Mary and ending with Jesus Is Coming! At the very back of the book there is also included a brief dictionary to help explain some of the important Biblical words your child may not know.
How We Used The Product In Our Home:
We read our copy of The Beginner’s Bible as a bed-time story to start out but that didn’t last long, as both my younger children begged to hear more throughout the day. They also requested on several times to have their siblings read to them, which is great practice for the older two in reading aloud. We found this book quickly became an important part of our day to day.
With Jackson, who is four and just learning that letters make words and words have meaning, we sat together and looked over many of the pictures inside The Beginner’s Bible one on one. We also read some of the stories, varied throughout the book as he choose which ones interested him the most. We discussed who Jesus was and is after finding his picture on the last story page of the book. But overall, Jack’s favorite story was Jonah and the Big Fish because Jack’s world is all about fish and dinosaurs right now. He loves all fish stories so I was thrilled to share this one with him.
With Laycie, who is 8 but mildly delayed in her learning due to her health, we read our copy of The Beginner’s Bible together. She chose to read more of the book in order, as she prefers things to follow from beginning to end. She read the words she knew and I helped her decipher many of the words she didn’t know. We discussed the images that went along with the stories, taking note of the importance in each image that went along with each story we read. She really loved all the stories and didn’t have an absolute favorite.
I often found her with our copy of The Beginner’s Bible, reading it to her dolls and sharing God’s word with her siblings when we weren’t reading it together. This warmed my heart to know how special The Beginner’s Bible became to her so quickly. I know it will continue to do so in the future.
How You Can Obtain This Item:
The Beginner’s Bible is available from Zonderkidz. It is currently priced at $16.99.
Places To Find The Vendor Online:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/zonderkidz
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/zondervan
Pinterest: https://pinterest.com/zondervanp/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zondervan/
You Can Read More Reviews Of This Product/Vendor At:
Disclaimer:
Zondervan: The Beginner’s Bible for Children {Propeller Review}
Growing up, I greatly enjoyed listening to my Mother read to me from our classic Bible stories book. It is one of my favorite memories as a child. As a parent I am always looking for new books to share with my own children and books that share wonderfully written stories from the Bible always top that list. So when I was approached to review The Beginner’s Bible: Timeless Children’s Stories from Zonderkidz, I knew that this book would fit well with our family.
The Beginner’s Bible shares many wonderful stories from different parts of the Bible. From the story of Noah to Jesus and many more. These are the timeless classics that have been told to children for centuries, that never tire and are rooted deep in important lessons for all of us.
The Beginner’s Bible has been around for a while now and is a classic in it’s own right but Zonderkidz has completely changed the original format of the Bible by creating a whole new look. The pages are crisp and concise, featuring 3D imagery for the new illustrations. The font is larger for little ones to be able to see better, making it easier for them to read God’s Word. The pages are now glossy which makes it easier to keep the pages cleaner for years of repeat reading and sharing with your little one.
The Beginner’s Bible includes 90 stories from the Bible and is written for kids ages 6 and under. To be honest though, all of my children enjoyed this Bible, including my older kids who read many of the stories to the younger children. My younger daughter has enjoyed this copy of The Beginner’s Bible the most though, reading it to her little brother and sharing the stories with me as well. It’s been great for helping her develop her reading skills and we are thrilled to have it added to our family’s library as well.
You can add a copy of The Beginner’s Bible: Timeless Children’s Stories from Zondervan to your family library as well for $12.88, available online through Amazon.com. This book also makes a great gift to share with others. I hope you enjoy The Beginner’s Bible as much as we do in our home!
Graciously, Zonderkidz and Flyby Promotions is giving one copy of The Beginner’s Bible away to one of my lucky readers. Please leave me a comment below on this post to tell me why you’d like to win a copy of this wonderful Children’s Bible for your home today! I look forward to hearing from you.
“Disclosure (in accordance with the FTC’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the
Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising”): Many thanks to Propeller Consulting, LLC for providing this prize for the giveaway. Choice of winners and opinions are 100% my own and NOT influenced by monetary compensation. I did receive a sample of the product in exchange for this review and post. Only one entrant per mailing address, per giveaway. If you have won a prize from our sponsor Propeller / FlyBy Promotions in the last 30 days, you are not eligible to win. Or if you have won the same prize on another blog, you are not eligible to win it again. Winner is subject to eligibility verification.”
This post includes Affiliate Links for the product mentioned above.
2017 Virtual Curriculum Fair: See How We Learn {Homeschooling}
This year I decided to join in on the 2017 Virtual Curriculum Fair hosted by Susan Anadale @ Homeschooling Hearts & Minds. Through this virtual curriculum fair you will be able to learn about each family’s individual homeschooling style from planning to curriculum used to dealing with each family’s personal needs in homeschooling. Everyone homeschools differently and the 2017 Virtual Curriculum Fair helps to bring us all together.
The first topic for the 2017 Virtual Curriculum Fair is See How We Learn. In our family, we learn in many different ways. Sometimes it can be a struggle to keep up with our day to day lessons due to our family’s health issues but somehow we manage to keep learning. The little kids learn more through playing while the older kids learn through reading books, completing tasks and goals I set for them using independent studies. Somehow it all works.
As a special needs family, each of my children have different learning styles and different goals that we are working to meet throughout our lessons. We do try to group together as many lessons as possible which makes it less stressful on me as their teacher and mother, and on them as well. Grouping studies together when we can teaches my children management skills, shows them how to work together, and overall allows us time together as a family, helping to strengthen the bonds of our relationship.
When I started this journey, I wasn’t sure whether homeschooling was going to be a good fit for us or whether we could manage to do this. Now we are 11 years into it and I know that it was God to led us here and it is Him who keeps us trudging on. The circumstances of our life would have made any other type of school challenging for us as a family but homeschooling allows us the opportunity to learn while still managing to balance life, medical needs and so much more.
We LOVE homeschooling and we are so glad that we were led to do this. My kids enjoy learning about their interests verses being forced to learn things that have nothing to do with their ideals. We as a family enjoy learning together. We enjoy being together and being around each other day to day. This is a life we wouldn’t have been able to obtain without making this choice for our family.
We look forward to sharing more about our homeschooling journey through the 2017 Virtual Curriculum Fair. We hope to inspire you on this journey as well. Homeschooling has blessed us and we hope it blesses you as well.
You’re also invited to see how my fellow bloggers learn in their homeschools:
The Evolution of Our Homeschool by Susan @ Homeschooling Hearts & Minds
Us-School Because We Are Us, Not Someone Else by Laura @ Four Little Penguins
It’s All About the School by Michele @ Family, Faith and Fridays
Setting the Stage- the 2017 Virtual Curriculum Fair! by Lisa N. @ Golden Grasses
New Year, New Goals, New School! by Amanda H @ Hopkins Homeschool
Homeschooling – A Glimpse into How We Do it by Joelle @ Homeschooling for His Glory
Spotlight on How We Learn in Our Homeschool by Laura @ Day by Day in Our World
Our Unique Eclectic Homeschool by Jennifer @ A Glimpse of Our Life
How We Learn on the Go by Jacquelin @ A Stable Beginning
Home Education – 10 Ways We Make It Work by Lizzy @ Peaches At Home
Schedules, where would I be without them? by Kim @ Good Sweet Love
Education at Our House by Shecki @ Greatly Blessed
Starting the Day Well by Sarah @ Delivering Grace
Making a Change – Accountability and Responsibility Through Routine by Lori H @ At Home: where life happens
A time to be encouraged is coming.. the Virtual Curriculum Fair by Annette @ A Net in Time
Loving the Moment! by Jen K @ A Peace of Mind
Keeping Our Homeschool Organized by Christy @ Unexpected Homeschool
Homeschool Goal Setting – Looking Forward, Looking Back by Kristen @ Sunrise to Sunset
How We Choose Curriculum by Brittney @ Mom’s Heart
This Is How We Homeschool by Kym @ Homeschool Coffee Break
How we don’t learn in our homeschool & how I don’t plan {2017 Virtual Homeschool Curriculum Fair} by Meghan @ Quiet in the Chaos
Learning Our Way by Lisa @ McClanahan 7
Limping Along: Our Semi-Eclectic Approach to Homeschooling by Debra @Footprints in the Butter
2017 Virtual Curriculum Fair: See How We Learn by Dana L @ Luv’N Lambert Life
