The Blessings of Being on the Homeschool Review Crew

Wow! It is getting close to the end of the year. I just can't believe it. And I don't just mean the calendar year. I am also referring to the 2016 Homeschool Review Crew year. In fact, that end is coming up even sooner. Out of the 41 reviews I have been assigned this year, I only have 4 left to post, two next week, and two at the beginning of November. It has been a wonderful year, and I am really hoping to be on the Crew again next year. If I do, it will be my fifth year on the Crew.

What about you? Have you seen my posts of all these amazing products through the years and wondered about being on the Crew? Have you perhaps questioned what you would have to do, to do so. Well, first and foremost you do have to homeschool at least one child, and you have to have a blog on which you post regularly. By this, I mean they require posting at least once a week. And these posts have to be non-sponsored posts. Now, there are some other requirements, so if you are interested, I would suggest heading over to the Homeschool Review Crew blog to check it out.

Perhaps you are wondering if it would even be worth your time. Personally, I love being on the Crew, and I know so many of my Crew Mates do as well. Let me tell you a little more...

Not only do we get to try out some awesome products, many of which I had never heard of before, but we get to form new online friendships where we receive support and encouragement.

Being on a limited budget can be quite frustrating when trying to get the school supplies and curriculum we need. Thanks to the Homeschool Review Crew, we have been able to supplement our core curriculum quite nicely. Though it does mean we are changing up our curriculum from time to time. If you are set in your ways when it comes to curriculum and are not able to be flexible, I do have to admit that being a part of the Crew may not be for you. But, you never know! If you are open to trying a new product, you may find something you LOVE, something that works better for your child(ren), something you didn't even dream you would ever need. Maybe there is a product you have had your eyes on, and it just happens to come up as a review item. I have to tell you, it is an awesome feeling to get chosen for those particular reviews.

We've also had the privilege of trying out products that are not actual curriculum items. If you have been keeping tabs on the reviews I have been posting, you will know how very much we have enjoyed being able to review all the audio dramas from Heirloom Audio Productions. We've also reviewed some great movies, books, and games in the past.

And I have to tell you, when I am stressed because I don't know what I am going to do for a particular subject, it is such a relief to find a great product show up on the Upcoming Vendors Board. For instance, I didn't have any clue what I was going to do for math this year for the older girls. Then we were given the opportunity to review CTCMath over the summer, and I realized I would be able to use it through the 2016-2017 school year. Isn't it amazing how God works? Perhaps I should learn not to be stressed and just remember to trust God. He's got our homeschool in His all-powerful hands, and being on the Crew appears to be His will for this family at this point in time.

Might it be His will for your homeschool? Are you at all curious as to whether being on the Crew will be a blessing to you as well? Would you love the opportunity to try out new curriculum and products? I really recommend at least checking out the information posted on the Homeschool Review Crew blog. Pray about it. Of course, talk to your spouse about it too, because it is a commitment that will affect your whole family.

Here's a little glimpse at some of our favorite products from this year. Click on each of the images to read my reviews of each of them.

Tabitha's favorites:

       

      

Amelia's favorites: 

(Amelia is currently using Middlebury Interactive Languages to learn Spanish. This is one of my reviews that will be going live next week.

   

Hannah really enjoyed being able to use the Forbrain to help improve her speech.

We didn't have as many products that were specifically for her this year. But she was able to use the products that were for the family, and the ones that were appropriate for both her and Harold. She also chose ArtAchieve as one of her favorites.

Along with JollyLiteracy.com, which I used with both her and Harold.

Harold really enjoyed the following:

   

I think my favorite product would have to be the Hey Mama! Schoolhouse Planner. When we reviewed it, I hadn't really gotten a chance to really use it a lot because it was the beginning of the summer and we were on break. But I was able to organize a bit. But now that the school year is in full swing, I have been using it faithfully, and it has been a HUGE blessing.

My husband LOVES the Heirloom Audio Productions dramas. He can't choose a favorite from this year. And, I can't blame him. We have listened to these multiple times, and they just don't get old.

He also really enjoyed this movie:

That is only a fraction of the products we reviewed this year. Have I piqued your interest yet? If so, don't forget to stop by and apply for your chance to be on the Homeschool Review Crew.

Enhancing the Learning in Our Homeschool With Educational Resources from the CHSH Download Club {A TOS Review}

Thanks to the Homeschool Review Crew, we were given access to the CHSH Download Club of CHSH-Teach.com. This is a wonderful online resource founded by homeschool mom, Lynda Ackert, for homeschool parents. It is chock-ful of downloads in all sorts of different subjects for grades K-12. A low $25 annual fee will give you access to over 50,000 downloadable files to help supplement your children's education. Or, you could opt to get a lifetime membership for only $99.99. 

When I was looking into the Download Club, I was impressed with all the different subjects that are available:

• Bible
• Language Arts
• Social Studies
• (Foreign) Languages
• Math
• Science
• Arts, Music, Crafts
• Electives
• Health

Many of these subjects are also broken down into different topics. You can stop by and check the offerings, but you won't be able to download the files without being a subscriber. However, some files do allow for non-subscribers to view a preview. Additionally, CHSH-Teach.com offers some downloads for frees, just click the FREEBIES tab to check them out.

Here, let's take a look at the website. The following page is the one you will find when you click on "Search for Downloads" in the drop down menu under the "Download Club" tab. 

As you can see in the top, left-hand section of the screen, new downloads get added when available. You can search for specific categories or topics, and subscribers can search by key word. Further on down the page, you can browse the different categories. The downloads are organized in different ways. You can search by subject, grade, and months, There is also a section for Organization and one for miscellaneous topics.

As I perused the site, I discovered a few different downloads I wanted to try out with the children right away. We were getting ready to do a butterfly unit during our summer session, and I was thrilled to see a whole unit of printables and worksheets to help learn about the life cycle of butterflies. 

 I printed out two copies, one for Harold and the other for Hannah. There were worksheets that showed the whole life cycle, and then some pages with activities for each part of the cycle (worksheets that focused on eggs, or caterpillars, or butterflies). 

There were even some pages that the older girls could use. Here Amelia is following a grid to color a butterfly. (The caterpillar page is actually Harold's. They were both working at the coffee table for some strange reason.)

One of the other subjects I was excited about was the art section. Here you will find files with drawing instructions. I knew this was something Tabitha would be interested in. I just wasn't prepared for all of them being interested. 

There are several different drawing books offered. Tabitha chose to start with the Baby Animals book:

I had also planned on the older girls using the writing prompts journal. I even printed the full month out. However, they just weren't interested, and as we were doing so much for our summer school, I decided to not worry about the extra writing. I wanted it to be something fun for them, not a burden. The Download Club has writing prompt journals for each month of the year, so I hope to try again in the near future. I thought it was interesting that each day's prompt was focused on something special about that day, such as August 1st being Francis Scott Key's birthday, or August 6th being "Wiggle Your Toes" day. 

I'm now looking into how we will use the resources in the Download Club during the current school year. Next month, our core curriculum will be taking us on a trip around the world. So I am looking at printing out some of the World Geography files. There is a unit on World Geography Reading Maps, which will be perfect as it includes almost all of the countries we will be studying. In this download,there is a map for each country with certain details, such as cities, bodies of water, mountains, etc. Then, each country has a page of questions where the child is to examine the map and figure out the answers.

The Quick Continent Outlines will allow me to print out a simple map of each continent.

There are even habitat downloads in the science section, which will be great with our science in the core curriculum. We will be focusing on the habitats in the countries we learn about. 

I may even use some of the math files and language arts files to give the children some extra help where needed. 

Like I said, there is SO MUCH offered on this site. Such a treasure trove of materials to enhance your child's (children's) learning. I highly recommend the CHSH Download Club. Don't forget, you can stop by the site to get a look at all they offer. And don't forget to check out the freebies. 

You can find the Christian HomeSchool Hub on Facebook (group), Facebook (page), Twitter, Pinterest, Google+ (group), Google Business Page, Linked-In, and Tumblr.

Don't forget to click on the banner below to see what my fellow Crew Mates had to say about the Download Club. I'm curious as to what they found on the site. How about you?

Creation Based Astronomy For Your Homeschool With Apologia {A TOS Review}

I always get excited when we get a chance to review a product from Apologia Educational Ministries. Thanks to the Homeschool Review Crew, I was introduced to this company a few years ago. I remember, at one point I thought Apologia only provided science curriculum. How mistaken I was. They offer materials in so many different subjects, such as Bible, Language Arts, Geography, History, Civics, and Devotionals. They also have preschool products. All of their materials are designed to help Christian homeschool families defend their faith. I love that all their materials have a Biblical worldview. Not only that, their science materials are creation-based. This is extremely important to me, as one of the reasons we are homeschooling is to keep the children from being taught the lies of evolution.

The last time there was actual science curriculum available through the Crew from Apologia, my children were all too young to use it. I really enjoyed the other materials we reviewed in the past, but I was extremely excited to have a chance to review an actual creation-based science curriculum this time around. The curriculum we were sent was Exploring Creation with Astronomy, 2nd Edition. 

During the course of this review period, we were on our summer session schedule. It was perfect timing to try out a different science curriculum. I loved the look of the books when I was perusing the site, and was even more impressed with them when we received them. 

We were sent the following items:

• Astronomy 2nd Edition Student Text
• Astronomy 2nd Edition Notebooking Journal
• Astronomy 2nd Edition Junior Notebooking Journal and
• Astronomy 2nd Edition Audio CD (MP3 Audio Book)

While using Exploring Creation with Astronomy, children will take a closer look at the planets in our solar system, plus such things as space rocks, dwarf planets, the Kuiper Belt, and then beyond to stars and galaxies. There will also be a chance to learn about the history of space travel and NASA. 

Let's take a look at the Student Text:

First there is an Introduction that helps explain how to use the books. Following this short section, you will find that the book is broken up into 14 lessons. 

• What Is Astronomy?
• The Sun
• Mercury 
• Venus
• Earth
• The Moon
• Mars
• Space Rocks
• Jupiter
• Saturn
• Uranus
• Neptune
• Kuiper Belt and the Dwarf Planets 
• Stars, Galaxies, and Space Travel

In the rear of the Student Text you will find the Appendix which includes a Supply List (broken up by lesson), an answer key to the "What Do You Remember?" sections, and an index. 

Each lesson begins with a "Wisdom From Above" section which helps to get the students' (and parent's) mind focused on God. It is a little introduction to the lesson with a Bible verse.

Each lesson is then broken up into short sections. These sections are separated by the use of large, bolded text announcing the name of the section. 

All of the lessons have several activities that help bring a hands-on aspect to this curriculum. These activities are presented in shaded boxes to help them stand out. These sections tell you what "You will need," what "You will do" or the "Procedure," and may also have a Discussion section, so you know what to discuss with the children. 

As you read through the lesson, there are wonderful, detailed color images.

Occasionally, after a section, you will be prompted to ask the child(ren) to explain what was just read in their own words. There are also "Think About This" boxes that help us to connect what we just learned with truths from the Bible. Each lesson concludes with a "What Do You Remember?" section which asks several questions related to what was learned in the lesson. This is one of the sections that is found in the Notebooking Journals.

I was thrilled that we were sent both the Notebooking Journal and the Junior Notebooking Journal. The regular journal was perfect for Tabitha as it is meant for grades 3 or 4 and older. Amelia was able to use the junior version of the journal, which is designed for children in grades K-2nd or 3rd grade. These journals give the children the ability to record what they are learning and to make a sort of scrapbook. 

Let me just say that I love the Suggested Daily Schedule in these journals. Each lesson is broken up into Daily Assignments. Each assignment includes the reading section from the textbook (in green), the Notebook assignments (in blue) and additional activities found in the Apologia Science Kit (in brown), which we did not receive, so we had to forego those activities. Don't worry though, there is plenty of learning going on even if you are just reading the text, doing the textbook activities, and filling in the journals.

All of the pages in the journal help to enhance the child's learning. There is a "Fascinating Facts and Personal Reflections" section that the child is to fill in a little at a time as they go through the lesson.

When the child participates in one of the activities which is detailed in the textbook, they have a space in their journal to write in what they did and what they learned. 

Also included are little minibooks. The components for these books need to be cut out of the pages in the notebooking journal. Then the child is to follow the directions for folding, gluing, and writing information.

This feature definitely reminds me of a scrapbook or lapbook. I love how they become a part of the journal, and aren't just cut out to be misplaced (which, I admit, happens a lot in our house).

Here are the girls, working on their page.

Speaking of scrapbook pages, each lesson has a couple of "Take It Further" pages that allow the child to add additional drawings, experiments, books read, and movies watched.

Each lesson also has a couple of pages of copywork. These Bible verses can be written in print and/or cursive. I have chosen to have the girls work on print for now, as we haven't practiced cursive for quite a while. Besides, they could both use some handwriting practice. 

Now, you may have noticed that the notebook lines in the last picture are not the same as the lines in the previous pictures. That is because this page is from the junior journal. The main difference between the two levels of the journal, is that the one for older children has narrower lines, while the one for younger children has wider lines, with the dotted center line.

Another difference between the levels is that the crossword puzzles in the junior journal include some letters in the puzzle to help the children figure out which words go where.

While the regular journal does not.

Another surprising difference is that the regular journal has the child answer the "What Do You Remember?" questions that I mentioned above, while the junior journal includes two relevant coloring pages. 

Here is what the "What Do You Remember?" page looks like:

Here is one of the coloring pages from the junior journal.

Even though the journals are for the older girls, we have been able to successfully include the younger children in the lessons, through the readings and the activities. Here is a look at some of the activities we are done so far.

As you might be able to tell, we have been having a blast with Exploring Creation With Astronomy from Apologia. I just LOVE all the hands-on aspects of this curriculum. I think it is so neat that there are little minibooks inside the big journal, really giving it a scrapbook feel. The various activities have all been fun and simple to have all the children participate in, and the supplies have been easy to find. 

Of course, the fact that this is creation based is a huge plus. I loved when it was explained that the sun is getting hotter and hotter, and if there was a universe billions of years ago, as evolution states, the sun wouldn't have been able to have supported life. I think the way the author keeps bringing the children back to the Bible, and God is wonderful. We are learning that God created this world the way He did with a purpose. 

I also appreciate how flexible this curriculum is. Yes, there is a suggested daily schedule. However, I was able to take those assignments and split them up so we were working 1/2 of the assignments on one day and the rest on another, spreading the curriculum out a bit more, and not having so much work on one day.  And if mom is too busy or too tired to read the textbook, all you have to do is put the Audio CD in the computer and click on the section you are on, and the children can listen to the author read the lesson. Of course, the CD is not a necessity, but it is nice to have. I just wish it was a regular CD so we could take it along in the van.

One of these days we would love to supplement this curriculum with a nice field trip to nearby Cherry Springs State Park to go star gazing. This would be a perfect opportunity to use our Exploring Creation Field Trip Journal that we reviewed last year. Yes, another wonderful product from Apologia Educational Ministries. I invite you to check out my Field Trip Journal review.

This is a wonderful curriculum, and I highly recommend it for Christian homeschool parents who want to teach their children about astronomy without having to worry about "millions of years."

You can follow Apologia on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram.

Don't forget to click on the banner below to visit my fellow Crew Mates and see what they had to say about Exploring Creation With Astronomy.