geography

Shepherd, Potter, Spy and the Star Namer {Crew Review}

April 6, 2017 by Dana

What We Received:

For this review, we were sent the beautiful paperback novel Shepherd, Potter, Spy and the Star Namer from Peggy Consolver – Author. Peggy is a wonderful author and sweet Christian lady who felt led to share the story of the Gibeonites with us all. The story she tells takes us back to a time many of us struggle to understand but she’s able to weave the story so we can see the past we often wonder about.

About The Book:

Have you ever wondered about the historical information that is shared throughout the Bible? Have you ever wished to know what life was really like for many of the people mentioned? Have you wondered how they lived, where they trod, even what their flocks were like? Through Shepherd, Potter, Spy and the Star Namer, Peggy Consolver has done her best to help us better understand the plight of the Gibeonite people as they lived day to day.

Shepherd, Potter, Spy and the Star Namer by Peggy Miracle Consolver tells the story of the Gibeonite people. The story is centered around a young shepherd boy named Keshub. Keshub fights hard to keep his flock and his people safe from harm. He longs for adventure outside of the grazing lands, to be someone more than he is. He eventually finds the adventure he seeks and becomes a spy who keeps watch over the Hebrews as they move through the Jordan Valley.

This book shares many specific details to the time period and the detail of life of the people. Peggy Consolver did her research thoroughly as she wrote this story. Though the story of Keshub is fictional, it’s still based in Truth from scripture and archeological research. This story speaks life to a people who struggled to live.

Additional Learning:

Peggy Consolver has shared part of her website to help expand the lessons behind Shepherd, Potter, Spy and Star Namer. She has created a study guide which can be used with the book to expand on the information within the pages of the book. She has provided access to maps specifically for the time period discussed in the book. She has also provided links to information, videos to help expand on the archeological details covered within the book, and more. This is a great little guide to really help bring the book to life.

Where You Can Buy This Book:

Shepherd, Potter, Spy and the Star Namer is available through Amazon for $10.14 at time of this posting. It is also available at Barnes and Nobles, Mardel’s Christian Book Stores and “wherever fine books are sold”.

You Can Find Peggy Consolver on Social Media:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/peggy.consolver

Read More Reviews:

Shepherd, Potter, Spy--and the Star Namer {Peggy Consolver Reviews}

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Carole P. Roman: If You Were Me And Lived In… {Crew Review}

November 6, 2013 by Dana

Carole P. Roman is an award winning author who began writing books on a dare from her son. Her love of writing children’s literature shines through in each book she creates. In the series “If You Were Me And Live In…” Carole’s love of exploring mixes with her interest in the world around us and comes together to teach children about other’s in the world.

For this review, the team received four books from her series “If You Were Me And Lived In…”. Each book is written the same but features different characters and information specific to the area it concentrates upon. Children are sure to learn interesting facts and specifics through these books which provide introductions to cultures around the world.

This series can be read and presented in any order, going along great with any study you may be doing on a culture or read together with the other books in the series as a geography/culture study. Each book begins with a drawing of the country and it’s capital. The next photo shows where the country is located on a globe drawing. Then we begin learning a little about the capital itself. As you follow through you learn specifics of the culture, like the words for Momma and Daddy, what kind of money is used to purchase items in the country and how people live there. At the end of a each book is a pronunciation guide to help you speak the language taught within the book.

Each book is 8 1/2 x 8 1/2 in size. Each book contains a softcover and is approximately 20-30 pages in length. Each of the books also features large text for easy reading.

This series includes If You Were Me And Lived In… Mexico… A Child’s Introduction to Cultures Around the World. This particular book discusses Mexico and it’s culture, teaching that the Peso is used as money and that Mexico is located below the United States on a globe in South America.

Next comes If You Were Me And Lived In… South Korea. Through this book we learn that Seoul is the capital of South Korea. It is the largest city in South Korea and was built on the banks of the Han River. As a child, you would call your father Appa.

Following South Korea is If You Were Me And Lived In… France. France is one of my personal favorites. It is located in the Western Europe. It’s capital, Paris, is nicknamed the “La Ville-Lumiere” or “City of Light”. You would celebrate Bastille Day with fireworks and parades much like we in America celebrate the Fourth of July, only this day is celebrated on the Fourteenth of July.

Last in the series is If You Were Me And Lived In… Norway. In Norway, you pay for items using kroner. Skiing would be a favorite pastime, along with Ice Fishing. Your school is called a skole. This book on Norway has not yet been released but will soon be available for purchase.

Each of the books in this series are unique. They each teach facts specific to the region being covered. They would make a wonderful addition to any geography course or just to have in a home library to read like we chose to in our home.

In addition to the books in our package, we were sent two pencils featuring flags of different countries and a small bouncy ball containing a flag inside. We also received a small passport to follow along in our travels which was a nice addition to the lessons already provided within the stories themselves.

You can purchase the If You Were Me And Lived In… series online at Carole P. Roman’s website. Each book is available for $8.99 in paperback or $.99 in Kindle format via Amazon pricing at the time of this review. These books can be used with any age child but are written more for the Early Elementary age: 4 and up, in my opinion.

To read more about the If You Were Me And Lived In… series, please click on the banner below!

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Memoria Press: Geography I {Crew Review}

June 17, 2013 by Dana

Memoria Press has been creating Classical Christian Educational materials for Western Civilization since 1994. Their products focus upon simplicity, affordability and quality and are designed with flexibility in mind for homeschooling families who know little about the subjects they are learning about. Memoria Press products provide high academic standards for learning.

For this review, The Old Schoolhouse Review Crew was offered a choice between Memoria Press’ Prima Latina and Geography I. I chose Geography I for us because it was more fitting to the ages of my children. It is also a current interest in our home education.

Geography I arrived boxed nicely together in a few weeks. Our box contained a teacher’s guide, student text and student workbook for Geography I and a Teacher’s Key and Student Workbook for the United States. The set is soft-covered with crisp white pages inside. Most of the print is black line master.

Geography I’s teacher guide contains the answers to all of the questions through the Geography I Student Workbook. In the back of this book are quiz and tests for review of the lessons learned. There is no other lesson information in this guide aside from the answers to the questions and the quiz and tests provided in the back.

Geography I’s student text covers The Middle East, North Africa and Europe. The student text breaks each of these continents down into countries. As you work through the text, the student learns a little about each continent. They learn first the Story of the Land which tells the history of the land. Then they learn the Land of the Story which tells specifically about the land itself. Each section also includes Fast Facts to tell you quick facts about the area.

Each of the continents is broken into countries. Each countries page tells the student about the history of that country and then tells what the country is like today. There are also Fast Facts included for each of these countries, as well as a picture of the area, a flag to color in and a map on the opposite page showing the country and area covered. This repeats for every country and continent shared in this text.

At the end of the Student Text is a colorized section of country flags for review and also to help the student know what color to color the flag for the country they are currently learning about. Lessons are approximately two pages long, though they are thorough on information provided about each continent and country.

The Student Workbook is where the work is at. In the workbook, students must identify and label the countries on the continent maps. They must break each country down, sharing capitals and facts. This is repeated for each continent and country covered through Geography I.

The United States set is a review for students learning in Geography I. Just like the Geography I teacher’s guide, the United States teacher’s guide provides the answers to the student workbook and also quiz and tests through the back of the book. There is no lesson guide provided in either of these teacher guides. Lessons are provided through the accompanying workbooks and student texts.

The United States Student Workbook is a States and Capitals Review text. In this workbook, students will review the states and capitals of all of the United States. These are broken down into regions to make the review easier for the student. There is a United States map as a whole included in the front of the workbook.

These books work together to provide a full curriculum for Geography I. Depending upon the teacher and student, this curriculum could be covered in a matter of weeks to a year. The lessons are not long and can be completed quickly and easily. Review expectations were for us to use this curriculum 3-4 times a week through the review, which allowed us to cover much of the curriculum before the review period ended.

Geography I is for students in grades 4-8. My students that used this curriculum were ages 10 and 12. I also did work with my 5 year old, allowing her to listen while we read through the country and continent information and providing her maps to color as we learned about each country.

We enjoyed using Memoria Press’ Geography I in our lessons because the lessons themselves were not long and the information we learned was just the right amount as to not be overwhelming each day we worked on them. Our lesson week began with discussion of the continent and completing the workbook pages to go with it. Then we worked through countries, taking our time to learn more by looking them up online and checking the news to see if they were mentioned recently. After doing this research, the kids were left to complete their worksheets for lesson. I placed the worksheet into dry erase covers so they could both complete the necessary worksheets for this curriculum.

Memoria Press offers Geography I as a part of their 4th Grade Curriculum. It can be purchased as the 4th Grade Geography set for $48.00 plus shipping. This set includes the Geography I teachers guide, student text, and student workbook, along with the United States States and Capitals Review teacher’s guide and student workbook. Geography I covers The Middle East, North Africa and Europe in the text. To view more curriculum from Memoria Press, please visit their website!

BigIQKids.com {Crew Review}

September 13, 2011 by Dana

BigIQKids.com is our first review of an online program for TOS Homeschool Crew this year. This company provides an extensive study program for children in grades K-8 to use in order to build daily skills in the core subjects of reading, math and more. For each task completed a coin is given for the child to later use in the Game section. The child is able to create a “buddy” avatar to use in the Game section for added fun. BigIQKids.com uses games throughout to provide a fun learning experience for all children. There is a free version to use but for the purposes of this review I was given access to their premium services to use.

BigIQKids Spelling provides 40 premade lessons for your child to work through or allows the parent to create their own list based upon their own personal list of words. Vocabulary is also provided for study in conjunction to the available spelling lists. Available games are Word Jumble, Spelling Bee, Hang Bot, Word Search and more. At the completion of each level the child will either recieve a smile or frown letting them know that they have completed that section of the list.

BigIQKids Math provides children with quizes covering the basics of math facts like addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. Each list is generated based on the child’s grade level or parent’s selection in the lesson modification section. Lessons may be timed to provide a bigger challenge for the child. At the completion of each lesson the child once again recieves a coin for use in the Game section.

BigIQKids States program is a fun way to learn more about the states, as well as learn their relevant location on the United States map. There is an interactive map for your child to choose which state to begin their lessons with or they can choose any of these four available options: State Location, State Spelling, State Capital, State Abbreviation. This section re-enforces any study of the state’s available and provides extra practice in learning more about each state.

BigIQKids Vocabulary program is available in conjunction with their spelling to provide a comprehensive word study unlike any other currently available. Parents can choose to provide their own word list to work with or use any of a number of available lists provided on the site.

BigIQKids newest feature is their SAT Vocabulary Prep. This section provides students with a necessary vocabulary study in preparation for the SAT test given throughout the United States. Any student heading in the direction of college can benefit from this section to help strenghten their vocabulary and their test taking skills.

Each section of BigIQKids.com provides the user with a different, yet fun challenge. Used daily this website can benefit any child providing extra drill in spelling and math, while keeping the skills fresh and challenging. My children personally benefited from this website by reviewing words they use daily and math basics that they need a little extra help in. They truly enjoyed the games provided and the simplistic set-up of the site. I will admit that they did become a little bored with the rote memorization of skills but mostly because this style of learning is not one we normally use in our home. In the future, we will be using our membership to BigIQKids to increase our participation in this sort of educational style and we look forward to learning this way.

BigIQKids.com is a recipient of the TOS Homeschool Crew Blue Ribbon Award for 2011. It is a wonderful tool for educational use at home. To read more reviews of BigIQKids.com please visit the TOS Crew Blog.

*Disclaimer – I was provided a complimentary year’s subscription for two children by BigIQKids.com and TOS Magazine for purpose of this review. I was required to provide my honest, though not necessarily positive, opinion of this site in exchange for this subscription.