Luv'N Lambert Life

A blog about living with Epilepsy, IBHS, Homeschooling and so much more

homeschool

Zondervan: The Beginner’s Bible for Children {Propeller Review}

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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.

IXL {Crew Review}

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IXL is one of our favorite websites to use for homeschooling.  IXL offers IXL Math and IXL Language Arts to it’s users.  This program is an educational supplement to be used as extra practice, not as a stand-alone curriculum.
We have been using IXL for years now and this is one vendor we are always excited to see on the Crew Vendor List.  Our membership to IXL has been such a blessing in our homeschooling.  My children enjoy using the website and learning with it.
My children that use IXL are ages 6, 11, and 13.  Each uses IXL at their own pace and can review the lessons they are learning as needed through the program since it is just simple, yet thorough, practice for them.  IXL provides a wonderful place to learn that they truly enjoy.
IXL isn’t a cutesy website.  This website is clean and to the point in lesson style. You won’t find a lot of distraction or over the top imaging on this site but you will find a great deal of learning that is intriguing and fun for your children.
Lesson answers are often multiple choice, making selections easy to make and understand.  Some lessons are easier to answer and complete than others, just as in a textbook.  How quickly and easily your child can use this website will depend on how well your child learns and your child’s maturity level in following directions educationally.
IXL Math covers all grade levels.  Lessons are provided by Letter from Level-A through Level-N.  Most lessons have over 200 skills to be taught through the program. Level-A begins with number concepts and understanding numbers, while Level-N teaches equations of cosign functions and graphing complex numbers.  You will find everything Math covered in IXL Math.
IXL Language Arts begins at Level D and takes you through Level-J skills.  This program begins around a 3rd-4th grade level for students.  IXL does plan to add more to this program over time and have been slowly working on that goal.  IXL Language Arts covers things like identifying plurals, correcting capitalization errors, how modifiers are used, using parallel structure and so much more.
Parents can try out the lessons as well to see what the student will cover.  Simply click the lesson and it will start.  This is a great way to know if this concept is the right one for your child.
Students don’t have to work on a certain grade level through this program either.  You can choose any level at any time and cover that concept or practice.  This is great for independent learners.  It also allows you to adapt the program to any curriculum you are learning through already.
A membership to IXL is available through their website.  A monthly membership for IXL Math or IXL Language Arts cost $9.95 a month.  A yearly membership for IXL Math or IXL Language Arts costs $79 a year.  A combined membership for both IXL Math and IXL Language Arts costs $129.  You may have multiple students use this program and it is designed for students in grades K-12.  There is an additional cost for multiple students of $2 monthly or $20 yearly.
There are also apps available for using this program on a tablet or other digital device.

You can find IXL in the following places online:
Please click on the banner below to read more reviews of IXL.

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Standard Deviants Accelerate {Crew Review}

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Standard Deviants Accelerate is a wonderful online program designed to be a supplement to learning.  This program covers several subjects in interesting ways.  It’s a wonderful addition to any educational program.
For this review, we were given access to the Standard Deviants Accelerate Homeschool Courses.  These courses were created to be used in the homeschool environment in order to supplement regular homeschooling lessons at home.  The course features many subjects to choose from such as Earth Science, Nutrition, Biology, AP English, AP Chemistry and so much more.
Standard Deviant Accelerate gives the user access to online video lessons that are unique and creative to intrigue students and encourage learning of the lessons being taught.  This completely online curriculum also gives you access to review activities, quizzes, writing assignments and so much more.  All of these things come together to create a complex and thorough lesson for students to learn important information through the course they are taking via Standard Deviants Accelerate.
As I mentioned above, there are lots of subjects to choose from in the Standard Deviants Accelerate Homeschool Course program.  Each offers something completely different.  I took a look at several of these classes for our review period but the one we used the most was Nutrition.
I was extremely interested in the Nutrition course because I know that this is something we can use for our family.  It never hurts to learn to eat better or learn how important nutrition is for us.  I’ve tried to teach my children from early on the importance of their eating habits but that hasn’t always been successful.  We have some pretty bad habits when it comes to nutrition.  We forget to take vitamins, we choose sodas over juice and cake over fruits.  We are the typical American family and it shows.
My Emma in particular struggles with her weight because of our eating habits so it was my hope that through us using this course together, she would learn a lot about her health and nutrition that would stick with her for life.  So far so good.  The program begins with an introduction to Nutrition which covers an explanation on what nutrition is along with introductions to fats, carbohydrates and more.  This is the first step to learning healthy choices in eating.
The course was easy enough to follow through and learn from.  The videos kept the lessons interesting and we were able to work together to learn through this course.  There were 8 chapters within the course, each containing 4-5 sections to explain the chapter.  At the end, there is also a review to check what has been learned through the course.
Standard Deviants Accelerate Homeschool Course is available online for $99 a year or $24.95 per month for one student.  AP courses are available for $14.95 per month for one student as well.  These courses are well worth the cost.
These courses are designed for students ages 8- Adult.

You can find Standard Deviants Accelerate online in the following places:
Google+: google.com/+Sdaccelerate 
You can read more reviews for Standard Deviants Accelerate by clicking on the banner below!

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Homeschooling While Living with Epilepsy {Epilepsy Awareness}

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Over the years, we’ve become great at homeschooling regardless of what is going on in our lives.  Let’s face it, living with Epilepsy leaves our day to day world pretty unpredictable.  Our schedule and our schooling style must be extremely flexible to even make it through.

I suppose this is how we became Eclectic and Unschoolish in Homeschooling style.  Originally, I began this adventure with the hope of having lots of structured learning.  I really wanted a repeat of Public School at home in the early days.  Over time, I came to realize that type of learning wasn’t going to work for us due to our needs at home.

I quickly began to research other means of learning and I simply stopped with the structure.  We simply learn now – however that manages to happen.  And you know what?  They do learn and they absorb twice as much learning than they ever did in our structured learning days.

Our homeschooling days are relaxed.  We do projects that can take weeks.  We take our time working on them because we have no need to be rushed.  Sometimes the kids don’t even realize they are learning. It’s afterwards that they come up to me and say “Mom, did you know we just learned this?”  Oh that sneaky Momma! “Yes, I sure did!”  I love those moments when it all sinks in the most.

In learning this way, we are able to stop what we are doing when a seizure happens.  We can take a day off.  We can rest as we need to.  I can easily say that our doctor’s appointment can be scheduled at any time of day without interrupting our homeschooling because we make it fit to our day.

I like to think we have taken our learning to a new level.  Sometimes it’s delight-directed in that I set up lessons to learn about things that the kids are currently interested in.  Then their are days when we do lessons that correlate with our curriculum, such as learning about plants in spring and ice in winter.  Or reading the next book in our language arts lessons.  We have many different choices of things to do every year and it just works for us.

No matter what happens in our day and no matter what pops up for us, the important thing is we never give up on Homeschooling.  We never give up on learning.  We work through the bad times and the good as well.  It’s really just a way of life and it’s become a large part of our life.  Once you take out the ideals of something different, it becomes easier to make it through the process.

I believe adjusting your homeschooling to your needs may be the hardest part but it can be done.  You can Homeschool through life, through the good and the bad stuff.  It just takes a bit of maneuvering to make it happen.

We are linked up with the Schoolhouse Crew for the Homeschooling… When Life Happens series.  Click the image below to read what others say about Homeschooling… When Life Happens!

Diana Waring’s Experience History Through Music {Crew Review}

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Experience History Through Music from Diana Waring Presents

If you are in search of a great program to bring life to your American History program, look no further than Diana Waring’s Experience History Through Music collection.  These three amazing books are jam-packed with great songs, stories, and more to be used as an accessory product to any American History curriculum.  Experience History Through Music is like taking a trip back in time.

Diana Waring is the author of the History Revealed world history curriculum.  Her educational philosophy is that “the key to education is relationship”.  Diana began homeschooling her children in the early 80’s and continued to do so all the way through high school.  While searching for a great history curriculum, she was unable to find a program that suited her family, so she decided to create her own.  Over time she shared this curriculum with others and that eventually led her to publish it so homeschoolers every where could use the programs.

Diana has an extensive background in music which she has shared with her family.  Her grandfathers on both sides had unique musical talents and passed their love of music on to Diana.  This lead to her learning to play several instruments early on in life: clarinet, oboe, and even guitar.  Her musical talents led to her learning the beautiful folk songs that she shares with her in her Experience History Through Music series.  Her first book was actually an early version of America from this very series.
Experience History Through Music is not an actual curriculum.  It is instead a supplementary program which can be used as an addition to any curriculum or can stand alone on it’s own.  There is no set schedule for using this program and while using it, you won’t even realize you are learning!  It’s simply a fun way to introduce History to students through music.
Each of the books in the Experience History Through Music program focuses on a different aspect and time period of American History.  The program contains three print books with CD’s.  Each book is unique to it’s time period.  Inside each book you will find dozens of gorgeous images, stories to connect each of the songs to the piece of history it’s linked to, sheet music and more.  The CD’s are professional recordings of the songs shared within each book.

America 1750-1890: The Heart of a New Nation
This book in the series begins by sharing Folk music that dates back to the Revolution and onto through colonial days of early American History.  Beginning with Yankee Doodle, this book shares the background of the song along with an image appropriate to the song’s time period.  The book is formatted to share the stories of the songs, then later share the song’s sheet music and lyrics in the second section of the book.

America is my favorite of the series set.  This book is filled with some of my favorites from American History and I could listen to it again and again.  I sing a reworded version of Yankee Doodle to Jackson as his song, changing the lyrics to fit to my Jackson-Doodle.  Erie Canal is another favorite that we have found is hard to locate to listen to so we were thrilled to see it included with this curriculum.  She’ll Be Coming Around the Mountain is a song I used to sing while waiting for the schoolbus every morning when I attended public school in the late 80’s- early 90’s.  Listening to this CD brings back so many childhood memories!

Westward Ho!  The Heart of the Old West
This book covers history from the earliest days of the Old West.  It is formatted in the same form as America and filled with stories and pictures to learn from.  Many of these songs were new to us but we greatly enjoyed them.  Westward Ho! and Home On The Range were childhood favorites of mine which I loved sharing with the kids.  We learned a lot about America’s past from this book!

Musical Memories of Laura Ingalls Wilder
This book focuses on the life of Laura Ingalls Wilder and music from her lifetime.  This book is written by William Anderson who is a biographer for Laura Ingalls Wilder.  Photographs shared within this book come from Leslie A. Kelly, the internationally known Little House photographer.  Many of these songs were also new to me, though some I had heard on the tv series about Mrs. Wilder’s books.  Some of my childhood favorites are Buffalo Gals, Pop! Goes the Weasel and Sweet By and By.  These songs also evoked great memories that I was happy to share with my family.

Since this book in the series concentrates solely on the life of Laura Ingalls Wilder, this book would make a great accessory to anyone reading her books and learning about this time period of life through history related to Laura.  The book is filled with images and stories about Laura’s life.  It was wonderful to see this beautifully designed book share so much about such an inspiring person!

We have loved listening and learning from the Experience History Through Music series.  This is something we have played over and over both at home and in the car while traveling.  It’s been enjoyed by every member of our family.  The kids love to look over the great images in the books and we have had many discussions of the stories on the pages within.

Diana Waring’s Experience History Through Music series can be purchased for $18.99 per book in the set.  If you purchase the set during July (at the time of this posting),  you can bundle the set and purchase it for $50.  This amazing series is worth every penny and can be used again and again in your home!  I am sure your family will enjoy these books just as much as we have in our homes!

You can find Diana Waring Presents online in the following places:

Twitter: @DianaWaring

Zondervan: Homeschool Mom’s Bible {Crew Review}

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A few months ago, I began looking for a Bible to use for a daily devotional and for daily Bible study for my own personal use.  I came across the Homeschool Mom’s Bible from Zondervan.  This Bible was created just for Homeschooling Mom’s like me!
After finding the Homeschool Mom’s Bible, the next biggest decision I had to make was choosing between versions.  I’ve always been a HUGE King James Bible fan but I’ve been looking for something that was written in today’s language so that I could better understand it while studying and reading the Word at home.  I felt like the New International Version would be the best fit for that and I was so right.
At this point, the only thing I had left to do was purchase my own personal copy of the Homeschool Mom’s Bible but how when money is always so tight?  The Lord above must have really wanted me to have it because I immediately noticed that this very Bible was on the Schoolhouse Review Crew list as an upcoming review.  Another prayer answered!
I was able to receive the exact book I wanted thanks to the Schoolhouse Crew’s review team and let me tell you, this book is more beautiful than I ever expected!  It was exactly what I needed.  There are 365 devotionals inside, one for each and every day of the year.  They are spread out throughout the chapters of the bible and each one touches on a different part of the heart of a Homeschooling Mom.
Each of the devotions features a Biblical verse as part of the focus of the inspirational message.  The next part of the devotion shares thoughts in relation to the verse’s focus.  Lastly, a prayer is provided for each day, making it easy to pray over the devotion’s direction for the day.
The Bible itself features a full text in NIV.  It begins with a list of the Books of the Bible, includes a few introductions for the Bible itself, as well as a Biblical Preface before jumping into the Word.  The size of the writing is a bit smaller than I would have liked but it is printed in a beautiful font.
In the back of the Bible there is a Table of Weights and Measures which helps to better understand the size and proportions of things mentioned throughout the Bible.  A Topical Index is also included in the back of the book as well as several pages for notes.
The copy of the Homeschool Mom’s Bible that I received is hardback with a slip cover matching the book’s own cover.  It is a glossy print, making the Bible feel smooth in texture.  The pages inside are the typical thin but sturdy pages found in most Bibles.  The Bible is smaller so it could fit into a purse or bag, but thick since it does contain the full text of the Bible.  I really like the size and shape.  It was one of the things I was drawn to in choosing this particular Bible, along with the easy to understand text.
The Homeschool Mom’s Bible NIV is available in stores for $34.99.  It is well worth it’s price.  There are many other versions available in hardback, leather and also as an e-book download from Zondervan.  Please click the banner below to read more reviews of the Homeschool Mom’s Bible.

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