TOS Review: Brill Kids Storybooks Aesop's Fables Volume I

A few months ago, I had the opportunity to use and review the Brill Kids Little Reader Learning System (you can find my review on it here.) We love the Little Reader Learning System and still use it every day so I was thrilled to be selected to review another one of their products Aesop's Fables Volume 1.



Aesop's Fables Volume 1 is intended for children ages 3 months and up and includes 5 full color storybooks: The Boy Who Cried Wolf, The Lion and the Mouse, The Fox and the Grapes, The Turtle and the Rabbit, and the Fox and the Crow. These much loved favorite stories have been placed in a book designed not just to be read to your child, but to teach them how to read. Three special features help to make this possible: text and illustrations are on separate pages, extra spacing between words help to make it easier to see words individually, and a blank flap extension is in the book so you can cover the illustrations and have your child focus on the text first.


In addition to receiving the storybooks, you also get each book in a digital format for your Little Reader Program for free! When you purchase the books they come with a special code that you put in on the Brill Kids website that enables you to import the books into your Little Reader Program with multimedia effects and voice narration in three different voices. The introductory cost of Aesop's Fables Volume 1 is $37.50 (regular price $50)and can be purchased by clicking here.

We love these books! Christian especially likes The Boy Who Cried Wolf when even the sheep is frowning at the boy when he lied. Lily loves the Lion and the Mouse when the mouse cries and says, "Don't hurt me don't hurt me oh no!" They have beautiful, colorful illustrations that look very life like and short sentences making keeping the younger children's attention and focus easier. The children (5,3,2) like the flap that "hides" the pictures while I am reading the words. It makes it seem like a fun game to them. They also love the digital version of the books that we can play through our Little Reader Program. Again, the illustrations are very colorful and are also animated. The animalseven have interesting facial expressions. The text is read twice for the children. On the first screen just the words are showing in two differing colors that changes for each syllable. On the second screen the illustration is showing and you hear them reread the text. It was very easy to download the digital version to my computer and import to my Little Reader Program. One issue I have had with it is that the audio skips in a few places on the digital version.

To see what other crew members are saying click here.

I received a complimentary copy of Aesop's Fables Volume I for the purpose of writing a fair and honest review. I received no other compensation.

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Book Review: Mine Is The Night by Liz Curtis Higgs

I just finished reading the novel, Mine Is The Night by Liz Curtis Higgs the best selling author of Here Burns My Candle. The novel is 447 pages long and includes both a Reader's Guide and a Sottish Glossary of words used throughout the book. This novel is a paperback book and retails for $14.99.

Newly widowed Elisabeth Kerr must start her life over in a strange place with no husband, title, property, or fortune, and the stain of her husnand's betrayal to the King following her. She is not afraid of hard work and is very skillful at sewing but now she needs to mend her broken heart and life that has been torn apart. She is not alone either. He mother-in-law Marjory has had to bury her husband, sons, and her title. She has to depend upon a distant relative with very little resources and Marjory dreads her future and regrets her past. A wealthy man becomes aquainted with Elisabeth. Will he be willing to risk his reputation to defend two women labeled as traitors to the crown? Will the Kerr women find happiness through their faith and trust? Can they put their pasts behind them and look towards their futures?

I very much enjoyed reading this novel. Historical Fiction is one of my favorite types of books to read. The pace of the story was fantastic and kept me reading long after I should have put the book down. It is a very similar story to one you will find in the Book of Ruth about Ruth, Naomi, and Boaz. Elisabeth is given the opportunity to return to her own family after her husband's death, but instead ventures into the unknown with no money, security, or place to live to look after her mother-in-law. The characters are very well developed and you have the opportunity to see them change and grow throughout the story. You can relate to each of the characters and the situations they are going through. The descriptions of the settings makes you feel as though you are right in the story with the main characters. There is an amazing dedication to detail in this book . Of course, you are always hoping for the happy ending even as the plot twists and turns and you are not entirely sure of the outcome. Although I was very pleased with the ending, I was very sad to see their story end. I definitely would recommend especially to adult woman looking for a great story with a happy ending.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Waterbrook Multnomah for the purpose of writing a fair and honest review. I received no other compensation.

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4-H Cooking Contest

Yesterday was our first day back from our "Spring Break." We had a very productive school day and added to it was baking. It was our annual 4-H Breads Contest with a little change. This year it was a bread/cookie contest. Each child could enter up to three recipes in different categories. They could choose from:drop cookies, bar cookies, cut out cookies, quick breads, specialty breads, muffins, or yeast breads. I told my children they could enter 2 items, but only Nick ended up making two. It can be quite a production in our house to prepare food for these contests and I am thankful we have the whole day unlike many of our friends who go to Public School. I was very impressed with my boys and their teamwork in getting everything ready and set up while I was feeding the baby, and with my daughter and her clean up efforts when we were all finished (can you imagine the amount of dishes we had to wash?) Usually we make the recipes, drop them off at the designated time, and go back an hour later for judging and rewards. But, I was not ready to leave the house yet or to take the baby out and did I mention that I had another child running fever.....so their daddy took them to drop off their recipes and we called this morning to find out how they did.

Alex entered the Drop Cookie category and made Monster Cookies. He earned a Participation Ribbon.

Nick entered the Bar Cookie Category, made Candy Bar Brownies and earned a First Place Ribbon. He also made Yeast Rolls in the Bread Machine and earned a First Place Ribbon.

Chelsea entered the Cut Out Cookie category, made Chocolate Mint Pillows (made with Andes Mints) and won a Second Place Ribbon.

I am very proud of all my little bakers and wish I had some pictures to upload, but I had my hands full baking, carrying Emelia, and keeping Lily out of the M&M's. I will be posting the recipes later in the week.

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TOS Review: Who Is God ?and Can I Really Know Him?

Through the different forms of media available in the world today, our children our constantly exposed to different ideas about: identity, truth, morality, beauty, and more. Some of these ideas are true, but more often they are wrong and can be destructive. We need to be able to teach our children to discern what is true in all of the competing ideas that they have surrounding them. Apologia has teamed up with Summit Ministries to bring the "What We Believe" Series a four volume series to teach your children to be able to use scripture as "a lens through which to view the world around them-to see everything the way God sees it-and know the truth." Who is God? and Can I Really Know Him? is the first book in the "What We Believe" Series.



Who is God ?and Can I Really Know Him? is designed to use with children from ages 6-14. It is a hard covered textbook with 252 pages and costs $39. It is not a Bible Study although it does have a lot of Bible Study in it. It is a Worldview/Apologetics study intended to help children understand how they and others see the world around them. By understanding what we believe as Christians and why we believe it will help keep children centered on God's truth and be able to communicate it to others. This first volume in the series focuses on the person and attributes of God, His provision, His design for creation, the Fall, and His wondrous plan for our salvation. Each volume is a complete course of study and can stand on it's own although they will make more sense if read in order. Volumes 1 and 2 are available now with Volume 3 scheduled for publication this fall and Volume 4 in 2012. Each Voume can take 4-9 months to complete depending on the length of time you spend on it each day and your child's attention span. The textbook is written to the student and requires very little teacher preparation. A suggested lesson plan schedule is included and also many teacher helps and notebooking pages are available for free on the Apologia website. Also, this Spring a Notebooking Journal and Coloring book will also be available to purchase to further enhance this study.

Each chapter of the book is broken up into the following sections:



The Big Idea-Introduction to the lesson and brief overview of what the student has already learned

What You Will Do-learning objectives for the lesson

Short Story- features characters in the same age range as children studying this book that go along with the lesson and shows differing worldviews and how they change

Think About It-questions to dig deeper into the short stories

What You Need To Know-vocabulary words and definitions

Hide It in Your Heart-two Bible memory verses to be written in the notebook and memorized

Integrated Learning- articles with age-appropriate approach to interdisciplinary topics related to the main text

What Should I Do?-highlights a specific godly trait that a child should show in response to what they have learned

Prayer-enables a child to acknowledge specific attributes of God and thank Him for who He is.

Worldview Study-an ongoing study that introduces the child to the concept of worldview

House of Truth-a hands on memory aid constructed one step at a time. Can be drawn or built with items around the house. A 3 dimensional model is available for purchase from http://www.summit.org/



I know that I have mentioned before that I enjoy being able to use curriculum with all of my school aged children although it is a challenge with the large span in their ages. This study is perfect for us since it is meant for children ages 6-14. There is very little preparation involved from me. The only thing I do ahead of time is take a look at the free teacher helps and notebooking pages available on the website and print out what I would like to use. I do not use the suggested teacher schedule, but instead split up the readings in each chapter to make the lessons a good length that Alex (7) will still be paying attention. I think the book is written to be interesting for those who are reading it. The real life examples are great and at a level children can understand. We loved the example of the Big Bang theory and the brownies that made themselves (still waiting for those by the way!) The children also can relate very easily to the story of the Simmon's family and their friend Ben. There is a review in each chapter to remind the children what they have already learned. The book teaches plenty of Bible and Apologetics and also throws in Art, History, Science and many real life lessons. We are big fans of notebooking and there are great notebooking assignments for each chapter. Truly a worthwhile study you can use with your entire family!

I received a complimentary copy of Who is God? and Can I Really Know Him? for the purpose of writing a fair and honest review. I received no other compensation.


To see what other crew members are saying click here.

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Our Spring Break

I had to post some cute pictures of the baby. You know you wanted to see some!

Emelia in her new bouncy seat

Lily and Emelia

I had already decided that whenever the baby came, we would have a week off of school for Spring Break. That decision was reinforced when she was born on Friday, we came home on Saturday, my parents left on Sunday, Art went back to work Monday morning, and I was left to re cooperate and take care of the children. I knew I would not be able to handle doing "school" too. We also had 3 children with coughs and runny noses and one of them with a low grade temp. So we had a very lazy week. I will admit that we watched a lot more TV than we usually do and the children got some extra video game time. The boys did do a little school work that they requested. There is a website we are in the process of reviewing that they like so much they play it everyday. Starting tomorrow we will be back to our regular schedule.

I was very blessed that some very sweet friends of mine took the time to prepare and bring us supper. It was a huge blessing to me and came just when I needed it the most. It is no small thing to prepare food for us either. First of all there are a lot of us to feed, and second we live 20 minutes outside of town. It is wonderful to have such great friends.

Emelia is doing great! She is a wonderful baby who has a sweet disposition. She spends most of her time sleeping even at night she wakes up only to eat then goes right back to sleep. Christian and Lily wish she would do more and be able to play with them. She will be into their stuff before they know it!

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Got a Package in the Mail!

I mentioned in an earlier blog post that I start looking for new curriculum in February of every year. I usually don't start ordering until May, but I can't resist a great deal. I found out that www.christianbook.com was having a 33% off sale in the month of March on some their Apologia products. I knew that I wanted to order the Biology for Chelsea and I wanted a notebooking journal for the boys for Zoology 1 (we are borrowing the book from a friend.) With the sale the Biology was $56 instead of $85 and the journal was only $16.99, so I got both for less than the regular cost of the Biology! The package arrived in just a couple of days too. So after looking through them I stuck them on the shelf trying to resist wanting to break them out and start them before next year :). If you are looking to order Apologia for next year stop by the sale you might find yourself a great deal!

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Out of the Mouths of Babes

Christian is going to be 4 in a couple of weeks. I actually am really surprised that he doesn't remember me nursing Lily since I just stopped a couple of months ago, but I guess he doesn't. We had an interesting conversation about breastfeeding yesterday.

Me: "Baby sister is getting hungry so I need to feed her."
Christian: "She can share some of my yogurt."
Me: "New babies are too little to eat yogurt."
Christian " What does she eat then?"
Me: "God made mommies so they can feed milk to their babies."
Christian :" Oh. So do you got some juice in there too?"

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