Exploring Creation Through Science with Science Shepherd {A TOS Review}

It is very important to my husband and I, that the children grow up with a firm foundation in God. This includes being taught that God has created the world and all that is in it. It was learning about the truths of creationism that led me to realize the truth of the gospel almost 20 years ago. Though I had grown up attending church, I did not have a strong faith. When I was old enough, I moved away from home and I ended up falling away from God and stopped going to church. However, a while later, I learned that the Bible can be trusted and that it makes sense that God created everything. So, it is imperative that I am able to teach the children science in a way that ensures they understand these great truths. When the opportunity arose for us to review a science curriculum that acknowledged these truths, I jumped at the chance. I had never heard of Science Shepherd before, but we have been very happy using their Introductory Science program.

Science Shepherd was developed by a homeschool dad who happens to hold a Bachelor of Science degree and a Medical Doctor degree. He understood the need for quality science curriculum for homeschoolers. In addition to the Introductory Science course that we have been reviewing, Science Shepherd provides a Life Science course for middle grades and a Biology course for high school students.

The Introductory Science course is designed for elementary school children, ages 6-11. We have access for 12 months to on-demand video lessons on the site, in addition to using an integrated workbook following each lesson. The workbooks are available for two different levels, A and B. Level B is for slightly older children (9-11) than Level A is (6-8). We received the physical Introductory Science Workbook Level B along with an Answer Key.  Even though Amelia is not quite yet 8 yet, I decided that the Level B workbook would be more at her level. I also purchased an extra workbook for Tabitha so she could join in with the lessons. 

Science Shepherd Introductory Science is designed to be studied five days a week.  There are 35 weeks of lessons for a full school year.  The course starts out with 2 weeks of an Introduction to firmly instill in the child(ren) that God is in control and has created this world, and then it moves into a quick, age-appropriate introduction of science skills and tools. From there the lessons move into different aspects of science:

• Earth Science
• Life Science
• Physical Science

Children will be learning such subjects as: Meteorology, Geology, Plants, Flying Creatures, Land Creatures, Human Beings, Being Healthy, Matter, Energy, Motion, and Magnets (among other subjects). 

We learn, in one of the first weeks of the course, that there is a reason for the particular order these lessons are taught. During the introduction weeks we have a quick study in the days of creation. As we move into the different subjects, we learn that our teacher, Scott Hardin, MD will be focusing on topics that correlate with the days of creation. Because God created the the firmament on day 2 that is where the lessons begin: Meteorology, learning about the atmosphere and the things that are associated with it (weather, the water cycle, temperature, etc). On day 3 God created the dry land and plants, so our next topic is plants. On day 4 God created the lights in the heavens, so the lessons move into astronomy. On day 5 the Bible tells us how God created the water and sea creatures. Yes, the lessons move into underwater creatures, and then into flying creatures. On day 6 God created land animals and man. Yep, you guess it, the next several weeks are devoted to learning about land animals and then human beings. The remainder of the year is focused on the national resources and the physical science topics, delving more into God's creation. 

So, how exactly did we use this course?

We started out by watching the scheduled video for the lesson. 

As you can see in the screen shot above, each day of the week there is at least one video to watch. There are little thumbnails below the view screen that we can click on to bring up the day's video. It then starts playing and we are to enlarge it to full screen for easier viewing. Dr. Hardin sits behind a desk and teaches us. The boards all around him will start out blank and then fill with pictures or words as the lesson proceeds. The videos are quite short, between two to five minutes in length. 

Once the video is finished the children open to the correct page in their Student Workbook. 

There are several questions that need to be answered, usually between 4 and 6. As you can see from the above picture, the type of question varies between writing out an answer to a question and circling the correct answer. True or false questions are also used on occasion.  The answers to the questions are factual questions that can be figured out by watching the videos. There are also occasional puzzle pages in addition to the daily questions. Children may be asked to draw a picture, complete a word find, crossword puzzle, or matching exercise.

Sometimes the activity may be more hands-on.

Here they are making clay animals during our first week of the course.

Here is Amelia cutting out her flowers for a classification activity.

Each week there is also at least 1 day that includes a Video Activity. We watch the activity together, and then we complete the activity. The girls have made pictures of the days of creation. We have played an observation/prediction game where I put an object in a bag and they have to guess what it is, drawing a picture of what they think the object is. I think their favorite so far was making pine cone bird feeders to help take care of a part of God's creation, of which He gave us dominion. 

They had a blast making the pinecone bird feeders.

And they were very excited to hang them in the trees in our yard.

(Yes, my girls LOVE to climb trees.)

Science Shepherd Introductory Science is a great science curriculum for young children. I love that it starts out by focusing on God and the Bible. The lessons are presented in a way the children can understand and are perfect for children for short attention spans. There is just the right mix of workbook and hands-on activities. Usually the answers to the questions are obvious to me as the parent, but it is very helpful to have an answer key to make sure I am looking for the same answer the curriculum is looking for. I also appreciate that the course is flexible. We have 24 hour 7 day a week access to the lessons, which can be watched when we have the time to do so. Due to the brief lessons, it has been easy to watch more than one a day if we have skipped a day or two during the week. If you don't want to do science five days out of the week, you can simply double up a day or two, perhaps only having science three days that week. Even with a busy routine, I have found we can stay on schedule to have this course finished within the year.

This is definitely a curriculum I highly recommend.

The Introductory Science Video Course costs $35 for a 12 month access.
The Introductory Science Workbook Level B costs $15 and can only be used by one student.
The Introductory Science Workbook Answer Key Level B costs $3.

You can find Science Shepherd on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.

Don't forget to check out my fellow Crew Mates' reviews of the different courses Science Shepherd has available: Introductory Science, Science Shepherd Biology, and Science Shepherd Life Science. Just click on the banner below:

Littles Learning Link Up: May 24, 2016

 Each month you will find:

• A seasonal round-up (toward the beginning of the month)
• A guest post featuring crafts, activities, tips, snack ideas or other early childhood topics. (toward the end of the month)
• Posts where I share what I have been up to with my preschoolers and/or early elementary children (including occasional highlight posts where I share how we used ideas that have been linked up here on Littles Learning Link Up).

Each week, I will host a link up, where you can share either what you have been up to recently, or old posts that may go with the theme.  Feel free to link up more than one post.

Each week I will continue to feature a couple of posts from those that have been linked up. 

I hope you will continue to share your wonderful posts, and I hope you will find something new to try with your child(ren).

It would be great for everyone to stop by and visit the other linked-up posts as well. Check them out, leave some comments, pin those that interest you. Let's make this a real party and socialize with each other.

What have we been up to?

We actually took a week off of school last week. It had been a while due to the catching up we had to do. We spent some time cleaning and organizing as we are getting ready for hubby's brother to come and help us get rid of the honey bees in our wall.

Just a little look at our review schedule:

Last week the reviews for Linguistic Development through Poetry Memorization from the Institute for Excellence in Writing and D'Aulaires' Greek Myths from Memoria Press went up. The reviews for Science Shepherd and Sunya Publishing will be posting this week. In June, you can look forward to the following reviews: Essential Skills Advantage, Shiloh Run Press (a book called The Glass Castle by Trisha White Priebe and Jerry B. Jenkins), Forbrain, the Hey Mama! Planner, Veritas Press, Laurelwood Books, LearnBop. And then in July I will be posting reviews for ArtAchieve and ABeCeDarian

As promised, here is a little look at what the upcoming review products are:

Essential Skills Advantage is an online subscription program where the children can work on different subjects: reading, language arts, math, science and geography. They get to work at their grade level; however, you are not assigned to a level, so your child can move to the level that is right for them.

The Glass Castle by Trisha White Priebe and Jerry B. Jenkins is a book about children who have been kidnapped and hidden away. The king is getting older and is in need of an heir, so is preparing to get married. However, no one knows what happened to his first child with his now dead wife. Tabitha and I are reading this book. She has stolen it for now. I hope to get it back soon to finish reading it.

Forbrain is a device that a child (or adult) can wear like headphone on the head and next to the ears to help with memory, attentiveness, and speech. We are using it with Hannah with the hopes of improving her speech.

The Hey Mama! Schoolhouse Planner is a physical planner published by The Old Schoolhouse.

VeritasPress.com is an online Bible program. We got the family subscription. Tabitha and Amelia are both using this Bible program. Tabitha is focusing on the Gospels and Amelia is focusing on the Old Testament (from Genesis to Joshua)

From Laurelwood Books we received a beginning Latin program: Olim, Once Upon a Time. We will be learning Latin using a reader and workbook that focuses on some children's stories and a fable.

LearnBop is an online math program. We again were able to get the family plan.

ArtAchieve is an art program where we can watch or read the lessons online and then complete the projects.

ABeCeDarian has introduced an interactive version of their reading program. I will be using this with Harold.

As you might be able tell, our review products are continuing to take up a lot of our schooling time. Which could explain how we have fallen behind in our core curriculum. Though, we have been catching up a bit. Fortunately, the children are learning lots of great subjects, and we are so thankful for these great review products.

A few somethings I would like to share with you:

As Father's Day is right around the corner, I invite you to check out my Round Up from last year: Father's Day Gift and Card Round Up. 

Don't forget to check out this month's round up: April Showers Brought May Flowers.

And finally, don't miss last month's Guest Post: Using Crayons to Learn About Rocks.

I know I plan to do this activity when we reach our Rock unit next year.

I am lining up my guest posts for the new year. If you would be interested writing a guest post for Littles Learning Link Up one of these months, please leave a comment or contact me via my contact info on my About Me page. I will need to have your email address so I can contact you. I am looking for posts that have to do with young children: crafts, activities, foods/snacks, tips, or other ideas. I am open to suggestions.

Now onto:

Littles Learning Link Up Features

On my last Littles Learning Link Up post, there were 37 wonderful posts linked up! 

I will be picking one randomly selected post to share, plus the top clicked-on posts

Please don't forget to stop by other posts that are linked up. See what catches your eye, stop by, pin the post to a relevant board, and perhaps leave a comment to let the author of the blog know you have been by for a visit. I know I appreciate others commenting and letting me know they have read my posts, so I am sure others do too.

This week's Randomly Selected Post is:

Emily from Life at the Table shared Using Amazon's Creative Galaxy for Preschool Art.

Now for this week's top clicked-on posts:

Sandy from Sandy a la mode shared 7 Tips For a Successful Outdoor Picnic With Kids.

Sarah from Our Daily Craft shared Summer Reading Log Printable for Kids.

Join the Party!

I would love to have you join in this week! What sort of activities do you do with your young children? Do you have some favorite activities you would like to share? I invite you to link up below. I will be pinning posts on one of my relevant boards, and I would love to feature some of the activities each week from what is linked up.

Please know I may share a picture from your post and link back to it, along with sharing how we used your idea in our school time. By linking up you are giving me permission to use a picture from your post. I will ALWAYS give credit and link back. Additionally, if you choose to try out any of the ideas with your child, please make sure you give credit where credit is due.

Linky will be open through Monday night, to give me time to check out all the posts and get the Features organized. Please take the time to visit some of the other wonderful posts linked up.

<a href="http://totsandme.blogspot.com/search/label/Littles%20Learning%20Link%20Up"><img alt="Tots and Me" src="http://i597.photobucket.com/albums/tt58/kewkewphoto/littles%20schooling%20b%20small%20Collage_zpsefibifom.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket" /></a>

An InLinkz Link-up

Tuesday's Giveaway Link Up- May 24, 2016

Welcome to Tuesday's Giveaway Link Up with your hosts Karen @ Tots and Me, Emily @ Emily Reviews, Shelly @ The Attic Girl, and Rena @ An Ordinary Housewife.

So glad you could join us as we share our giveaways on  Tuesday's Giveaway Link Ups. 

This link up will be posted Monday at 7 PM est. and run all week long! Make sure you stop in as often as you can to list your latest giveaways.

Here is how to use the Giveaway Link Up

1. Post your reviews and/or giveaways, as many as you have, be sure to add the end date (family friendly please)

2. Help spread the word about the giveaway link up by grabbing our button, Tweeting or posting on Facebook. (Not mandatory- but it helps get more exposure to your giveaways as well!)

3. Take a moment to enter any giveaway that strikes an interest to you!

If you would  like to follow the  hostesses, we will gladly follow you back! Simply leave us a message to do so.

Featured Giveaway

Diana's White House Garden (hardcover children's book) US only Ends 6/5

Thank you for linking up with Karen @ Tots and Me, Emily @ Emily Reviews, Shelly @ The Attic Girl, and Rena @ An Ordinary Housewife.

An InLinkz Link-up

Diana's White House Garden Children's Book Review {and giveaway}

We just recently finished our G:Goat unit with our My Father's World Kindergarten curriculum. The reason I am bringing this up is because the arrival of a new children's review book fit this unit quite nicely. We received a newly released hard cover copy of Diana's White House Garden by award-winning author Elisa Carbone and illustrator Jen Hill from Penguin Young Readers. This book is based upon the true story of Diana Hopkins who was a ten year old child during World War 2.

Of course, I loved that I could read it during our G unit, seeing as Garden starts with the letter G. Plus we read a book about a goat who wouldn't get out of the garden. However, I am sure the real-life Diana wouldn't have appreciated goats in her garden (though she did find something else in her garden). Unfortunately, we weren't able to plant a garden at this point, though we are looking forward to it soon. We have also been learning about American history, though we are still learning about pioneer days and the expansion of the country to the west. So, learning about something that took place during World War 2 was a bit of a jump for us, but to me that is the beauty of homeschooling (especially relaxed, review homeschooling), we can learn about what interests us at the moment.

Anyhow, on to the book. I don't know about you, but I had never heard of the White House Victory Garden. This garden came about thanks to the efforts of an very ambitious little ten year old girl who just happened to live in the White House with her father who was President Roosevelt's chief advisor. Diana wanted to do her part to help win the war, but she wasn't sure what she could do. Unfortunately, all of her ideas didn't quite pan out the way she thought they would. At first. She tried being a spy, a city official hanging important signs, and even a superhero who tried to keep enemies out of the White House by putting pins straight up in the chairs. As you might be able to imagine, these endeavors didn't go very well and she might have gotten in a bit of trouble.

However, she wasn't daunted. She knew she wanted to help America.

She happened to be playing in the Oval Office when the president was talking to her father about his plan to have the citizens of America help the war effort by turning every back yard and vacant lot into a garden. In this way the food the farmers grew would be able to provide food for the soldiers while the citizens were fed by the Victory Gardens. President Roosevelt planned on setting the example by starting one on the White House lawn. Diana volunteered to help plant this garden and tend it.

She worked hard helping to get the garden planted and then tending it. Even though she had to deal with a bit of a setback and then had to learn patience while waiting for it to grow, she knew she was doing a great thing. She helped to inspire the country.

We found Diana's White House Garden by Elisa Carbone to be quite the inspiring story. Personally, I love reading about true stories from our history. I especially appreciated that this story was meaningful for the older girls because it was about a child who was around their age. I felt it was quite empowering for young children to see that they can make a difference in our world. They don't have to wait until they are grown up.

The book was based on interviews with the real-life Diana, who is now living in Virginia. She has continued growing a vegetable garden as she has lived her life. I also appreciate that the illustrations were filled with details that were historically accurate, and they even included a photograph of the real Diana with First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt.

This is a great book to help inspire children to take initiative, to see where they can help others. It is also a great addition to a study of American History. I definitely recommend Diana's White House Garden.

The book is recommended for children 5-8 years of age. All of my children did enjoy it, and they are 4, 6, 7 1/2 and 9, putting them just about in the recommended range. It wasn't too long for my youngest, and it kept my 9 year old's attention, because as I mentioned above, the book is about a 10 year old girl.

You can purchase this hardcover book for $17.99.

Great news! I have been given the opportunity to offer a giveaway for one person to win their own copy of Diana's White House Garden

All you need to do is enter in the Rafflecopter form below. 

There are only 2 simple mandatory entries, with the remainder of the entries being optional. 

Remember, you do not have to do the extra entries, but they will increase your odds of winning. 

This giveaway is open to US residents 18 and over. 

The giveaway runs May 23rd through June 5th.

Thanks for stopping by, and good luck!

 By entering the giveaway, you understand and agree that your contact information will be shared with the sponsor.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclosure: I received a hardcover copy of  Diana's White House Garden in exchange for my honest review. No further compensation was given. This did not in any way influence my review. I only recommend products I use personally and feel will be a good products for my readers.

Exploring Greek Myths with Memoria Press {A TOS Review}

My children and I have recently become interested in Greek myths because of their inclusion in a show we love to watch. I remember learning a little bit about them when I was in school, but besides a few names, I couldn't remember much. So, I was excited when the opportunity arose for us to review D'Aulaires' Greek Myths from Memoria Press. 

While we use some aspects of classical education in our schooling, we are in no way classical homeschoolers. Honestly, I am not exactly sure what constitutes a "classical education." However, I do know that I have been happy with the other product we reviewed from Memoria Press in the past, so I was looking forward to enriching our schooling with some classical Greek myths. 

What did we receive? 

We received the D'Aulaire's Greek Myths Set, which includes a soft cover edition of D'Aulaires' Book of Greek Myths, the Student Guide, the Teacher Guide, and the Flashcards. 

D'Aulaire's Book of Greek Myths

We have become quite familiar with D'Aulaires' biographical picture books this past school year, because our core curriculum has included quite a few of them on the reading list. I figured the Greek Myths book would be of similar style and quality, and I was correct. The illustrations are gorgeous and really help to tell the story. The book alternates between full and partial page illustrations, and also includes full vivid color pictures and ones that are in shades of brown and black. 

I enjoyed the fact that each god or goddess in the above picture was holding something to remind us what they were a god or goddess of.

Memoria Press developed a study of the D'Aulaires' Greek Myths book that really helps the student (and parent) delve into the book and glean understanding. This book is meant to be used by one student. 

D'Aulaires' Book of Greek Myths Study Guide

Before getting into the lessons, the authors of the guide look at the question, "Why Study Greek Mythology?" and then explain how to use the guide. There are then 25 lessons with a review lesson after each fifth lesson. Toward the end of the book, after the lessons and final review, you will find some helpful pages. First there are three pages of drill questions, then the "Greek Myths Lists" page that gets filled in as we complete the guide. Finally there are some map pages and a pronunciation guide.

Let's take a closer look at the actual lessons. 

Each lesson is arranged the same way. There are four sections:

• Facts to Know
• Vocabulary
• Comprehension Questions
• Activities

The Facts to Know will include important characters or items along with a short description.

The Vocabulary section contains 10 words shared within the context it is found in the story. The children are to come up with a definition and write it on the line. Sometimes the meaning can be determined by the context, other times we have to look it up or use the answers in the Teacher Guide. 

The Comprehension Questions are straight forward fact-finding questions. You can figure out the answers right from the story.  

The Activities section goes a little deeper. There are always people, places, or items to identify along with activities to complete. These activities include questions that ask the student to go beyond straight facts available in the story. Sometimes we may need to look toward Biblical knowledge or even history or other modern knowledge. 

The D'Aulaires' Book of Greek Myths Teacher Guide is just about identical to the Student Guide.

The lesson pages are the same, except for the fact that the answers are included. Also, there are no drill pages, map pages or pronunciation guide pages. 

Flashcards

Flashcards are also included to help the children study important facts from each lesson. There are little numbers in the top left-hand corner to show what lesson they go with. One side shows the name, the other the definition/description.  I store these in my folder until we get to the lesson, and then they are separated and moved to the zippy bag so we can pull them out and work on memorizing the information. 

I admit I was a bit confused initially regarding the facts that are included on the flashcards. It is not exactly the same material that is given in the Facts to Know section. However, I did discover that it is the information that is needed for the drill questions at the back of the Student Guide. 

How did we use D'Aulaires' Greek Myths?

We included the reading of the Greek Myths book in our story time. Due to the fact that we are reading quite a few books at a sitting and I am including the little ones, I have been spreading out the reading of each lesson, taking more than one day to read the pages. I also will reread the pages later on in the week before the older girls and I tackle the comprehension questions. 

I have the girls use the Facts to Know as copy work, or handwriting practice. 

They write the information down in their notebooks. Then we work on the vocabulary, comprehension questions, and activities together, spreading each lesson out for several days. Though I originally wanted this study with Tabitha in mind, I have taken to writing out the answers as we work on this together as my girls are on the younger end of the age range for this study. This also gives me an additional chance to reread parts of the story that are relevant to the question being asked.

What did we think of D'Aulaires' Greek Myths from Memoria Press?

We have been enjoying this study of Greek Myths. I love that the girls have a chance to learn this classic subject and are working on memory and vocabulary development. While we were not instructed to have the children write out the Facts to Know, I felt it was a great way to have the children learn the information.

The girls have been doing a pretty good job memorizing the information that is included on the flashcards and in the Facts to Know section. Sometimes they remember the information that is being asked about for the comprehension questions, but most of the time they need me to reread it. I like to write the answers out in complete sentences so they get used to seeing that done and realize it is what I expect. I have noticed that some of the questions in the Activities section are a bit advanced for them. I admit, I have skipped a couple of questions, such as the one that asked the student to "Explain the expression, 'A revolution eats its children.'" 

I do wish there was a little more room given for the children to write down their answers for the comprehension questions and activities. Though the study is suitable for children in grades 3-6, the spaces provided are definitely more suited for children in the higher end of the range, in my opinion. This is the other reason I have taken to filling in the answers the children give me. 

This has been a wonderful way to include some classical education in the children's school day. If you are a classical homeschooler, this would be a great study, or if you are looking into classical education. Even if you aren't classical homeschoolers, as we aren't, this is a great way to introduce your children to Greek mythology. There is a lot of memorization of facts, just so you are aware. To me, this is wonderful as developing the memory is so important. 

You can find Memoria Press on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and Google+.

Members of the Schoolhouse Review Crew were given the choice of three different products to review from Memoria Press. In addition to D'Aulaires' Greek Myths, the following were reviewed by my fellow Crew Mates: Traditional Logic I Complete Set and Book of Astronomy Set. Click on the banner below to read their reviews. 

Throwback Thursday Blog-Style #100: May 19, 2016

Welcome back to... 

Can you believe it is the 100th Throwback Thursday post?

I wanted to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has been joining in and making this a successful linky party!!

I know, I know, Throwback Thursday seems to be all about sharing pictures from the past, great memories that mean something to you, that you would like to share with others. At least that is how it appears to me. Throwback Thursday wasn't something I was participating in, and then I came up with an idea.

I thought it would be great fun and a help to my blog to share old content, but not just any old content. Each week I will share an old blog post from a previous year, any year, BUT it has to be from the current week (for example, something I've posted around May 19th, from any previous year)  I will go in, edit the post if needed, add a pinnable image if I don't already have one, and share it on Facebook.

I have reviewed some great products in the past (and continue to do so). I thought it would be a neat idea to choose review posts this year and highlight some of these great products again.

Would you like to join in? You do not need to edit your past post in any way, you don't need to create a pinnable image, though it couldn't hurt, in fact it will help your blog traffic to add quality pinnable images to your posts.

Just go into your archives, choose a favorite post from this current week from any previous year, and link it up below. (If you don't have anything from this current week, it is still okay to link up with a post from a previous year around this time. And if you haven't been blogging for a full year, feel free to share any earlier post.)

I will be pinning posts to my appropriate Pinterest boards and will be randomly selecting a Featured Throwback Thursday post to share next week. Just a note, I will be sharing a picture from your post if you are selected as the featured post, but I will link back to your post. I will ALWAYS give credit and link back. By linking up you are giving me permission to use your picture in the post. 

Here is my Throwback Thursday post:

Originally posted May 23rd, 2014
Fun Early Learning with ABCMouse.com {A Review}

Here is this week's randomly selected

Featured Throwback Thursday:

Jen from Thou Shall Not Whine shared

How to Make Homemade "Cream Of" Soup Substitutions 

Cream of Chicken, Cream of Mushroom and Cream of Celery

To participate, link up below. It would be great if you could visit several of the other posts that have linked up. Stop by, comment, and pin images so we can help each other.

If you would like to help spread the news:

<a href="http://totsandme.blogspot.com/search/label/Throwback%20Thursday"><img alt="Tots and Me" src="http://i597.photobucket.com/albums/tt58/kewkewphoto/b12c3aba-c5a6-4946-9ea1-59a49cc3dd00_zps8e60622d.jpg"/></a>

Happy Throwback Thursday!

An InLinkz Link-up