Blogging Through The Alphabet with God's Word - Letter D

Sharing a little ABC's of the Bible!

I'm teaching these to my preschool class and if 3-4 year old preschoolers can memorize them, surely we can too! Forgot to add that we are learning the ASL alphabet along with the verses too. 

D is for...Psalm 34:14 - Depart from evil and do good; Seek peace and pursue it.

Join us as we begin a new session of Blogging Through the Alphabet.  

Letter A
Letter B
Letter C

Scripture and A Snapshot

Thank you, Lord, for your promises!  

I thank You, Father, for everything I have as well as everything that I don't.

I will praise You all the days of my life and then I will be with You to praise for an eternity!

Wishing you all a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Blogging Through The Alphabet With God's Word

Sharing a little ABC's of the Bible!

I'm teaching these to my preschool class and if 3-4 year old preschoolers can memorize them, surely we can too! Forgot to add that we are learning the ASL alphabet along with the verses too. 

C is for...Ephesians 6:1 - Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.

Join us as we begin a new session of Blogging Through the Alphabet.  

Letter A
Letter B

Scripture & A Snapshot

 Holding on to His promises!

Blogging Through The Alphabet with God's Word - B is...

Sharing a little ABC's of the Bible!

I'm teaching these to my preschool class and if 3-4 year old preschoolers can memorize them, surely we can too!

B is.....Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves - John 14:11

I believe, Jesus!  I believe!

Letter A

Join us as we begin a new session of Blogging Through the Alphabet.  

Review of Grapevine Studies

This post contains affiliate links.

We have another great review for you today from Grapevine Studies. You can also read some of my past reviews and ways we've used them before here and here. We love their studies! I am a doodler by nature so this fits right up my alley. My daughter is pretty artistic yet she absolutely loves these studies too.

We were sent the Birth of Jesus: Multi-Level curriculum to review. The Multi-Level curriculum is for ages 8 and up. We were also given the Traceable for Multi-Level and Teacher Book. Each book came in a digital PDF download. This book has 4 lessons, timeline, and a final course and timeline review.

The Birth of Jesus: Multi-Level book begins with the genealogy of Jesus, an introduction to His parents, and takes you through their journeys from Nazareth, Bethlehem, Jerusalem, Egypt and back to Nazareth.

The Teacher Manual gives you sample drawings of what the stick figure scenes should look like in each lesson. It also includes map and timeline keys, suggested daily and weekly schedules, goals for the teacher and student, supply lists, teacher narratives, Bible verses, and words to look up in a Bible dictionary. I used the Teacher Manual 2 different ways. Since we are doing a lot of car schooling, I printed out the teacher sheets as samples for my daughter to look at after we discussed the lessons. When we were at home I drew the lesson on our white board and she copied from there.

  

Each lesson gives you a goal section, scripture read aloud, sample of what to draw, map activities if applicable, and Bible dictionary words if applicable. At the end of the 2nd lesson page are seven discussion questions to review your weekly work. Below is what the daily schedule looks like.  It is very simple and quick to complete each day.

Day 1 - Timeline Review - each week after week 1 begins with a Timeline Review of the previous lesson learned.
Day 2 - Lesson Page 1
Day 3 - Lesson Page 2
Day 4 - Student Drawing Page

At the end of the 4 lessons is a final course review of 28 questions including reciting the memory verses learned. There is also a final course timeline review where all the stick figures learned are then drawn on timeline pages. I was really impressed that Sarah remembered every one of the reviews including the Final Review given at the end. She correctly drew their stance (ie...kneeling, standing, etc.), their color (ie...Mary pink, Joseph blue, etc.), and any symbols included in the lesson (ie..stars, staffs, scrolls, etc.). She is very familiar with the birth of Jesus but I was still so impressed! The review that is incorporated each week into the lessons really helps the material stick with the student long term.

We also received the traceable version of this ebook recommended for ages 3-6. I teach a PreK Sunday School class each week so I thought it would be fun to see how these lessons worked for them too. The traceable images give them guidelines to use making it easier for them to draw the stick figures. I have multiple personalities in my group so some did really well tracing and some just used them like a coloring sheet. Regardless, the images were there and they did really well knowing who was who and reciting back the details of each one. Again, I was so impressed! I think the color coding really helps preschoolers decipher the facts more easily as well.

These are great resources to teach the Word of God and our family would highly recommend these resources to other families. We were given this set but have purchased our own in the past and will continue to do so. I will also be adding them in to our Sunday School lessons more often now too! It is such a blessing to find a resource that makes teaching another generation of little ones about God's Word so easy! Thank you Grapevine Studies!

You can also find them on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google+ and Periscope as @Grapevine Studies. 

Grapevine Studies integrates stick figures, colors, words, and symbols to teach students about the Bible in all of their studies. You can choose by level, topic, or bundle. They have levels to accommodate PreK and up. Be sure to click the banner below to see what my crewmates thought about this and the other resources available.

Review of The Critical Thinking Co

Today's review product involves the brain and teaching critical thinking skills for grades 9-12. We were given Practical Critical Thinking and Teacher Manual by The Critical Thinking Co. to work through for my high schoolers.

The Practical Critical Thinking student book comes in a paperback workbook style and the copyright gives you permission to make copies for each of your children. It has 378 pages and sells for $39.99.

The Teacher Manual also comes in paperback, has 68 pages of answers, 230 pages of reproducible activity pages found in the student book, and sells for $14.99. There is also an ebook version available for $9.99.

Practical Critical Thinking is broken down into 4 units. The units are broken down as follows:

1. Becoming a Critical Thinker - This unit goes through what critical thinking is, why we should care, and how we might use it in our day to day thinking. 
2. Adding to My Critical Thinking Toolbox - In this unit, students are taught how to tell fact versus opinion, logic skills, and some of the terms used in critical thinking such as emotional words, doublespeak, vagueness, etc.
3. Critical Thinking and Arguments - This unit analyzes arguments (what they are and how to evaluate them) and fallacies (again defining what a fallacy is and how to detect them)
4. Applying My Critical Thinking - This unit teaches students how to apply what they have learned.  They will apply their skills to advertising and breaking down evidence whether it be direct, circumstantial, or eyewitness testimony.

Within the units are 8 chapters. Each chapter is then broken down into lessons with an average of 8 lessons per chapter. We completed 3 lessons per week in our homeschool. I added the boys' sheets to their folders for the week and then we discussed their answers after they completed them.

Each chapter is full of mind benders, puzzles, and games to help students apply what they have learned about each critical thinking skill. Some of those were very difficult for my boys but they still enjoyed trying to work through them and if they could not, we would look through the answers together.

The Teacher Manual includes the answers to the lessons but on some of the harder questions, we still could not figure out how they got the answer they did. We found that the process of how to get the answers was not always clear and we often needed more details. Many answers will vary by student as they apply their own logic to the answers so discussion time is a must for this curriculum. The students can complete it independently but will need someone to bounce their answers around with.
We have only made it through Unit 2 so far but we would recommend this curriculum to homeschool families looking to teach logic skills to their children. There are also several ideas for individual and group activity ideas to complete at the end of each chapter which would make it fun to use in a coop setting too.

To find out more on The Critical Thinking Co. visit them on Facebook, Google+, Twitter, and Pinterest.

The Critical Thinking Co. offers many different choices in curriculum from PreK-12+. Click the banner below to see what my fellow crewmates thought about this and some of the other options available.

FREE 2016 Budget Calendars!

The budget calendars that I have used and created for the past 3 years are complete.  Download yours today and be sure to share them with anyone you think would be interested.  They are very simple to make and easy on the printer ink so I enjoy sharing them!

Download your Free 2016 Budget Calendars and be ready to tackle a new year!

I am also working on an updated version that you can see a sneak peak of below.  I added in a space for budgeted and actual amounts with a checkoff area.  I also added in an interest section to the debt snowball category.  I plan to make these as a gift for subscribers only but subscribing is free too! Subscribe here.  

Facebook Giveaway and Thank You! - Now Closed

Click the image above to enter!

Would love for you to join me on Facebook for a fun giveaway to celebrate reaching our first milestone of 500 likes!

It will go live at 12:00am 11/10/15 EST and end at 12:00am 11/17/15. Winner will be picked by rafflecopter and notified by email and Facebook.

Motivation Monday

Top 5 for the week

1. keep working on next year's budget calendars - I'm updating them a little.
2. complete cleaning from last week, decide on YTMM project, and decide on next Ladies Bible study.
3. walk!!!  and of course it's another rainy week (suggestions??)  I guess Leslie Sansone but that gets boring to me.
4. finish school strong - this would normally be a break week but we're hanging on to take the week during Thanksgiving and I'm growing weary fast!
5. Take more pictures of school

Menu Plan 

Dinners:  

• chicken pastry, green beans, yams (from last week)
• pork roast, cabbage & potatoes, slaw (from last week)
• chicken quesadillas, chips, veggies (from last week)
• mustard salad, sausage, and potatoes
• bbq sandwiches with slaw, brunswick stew 

Reading goals (affiliate links)  

• Mark study with Hellomornings

Fitness goals    

• try to get at least 5,000 steps daily  

New Habit for this Interval until 11/22/15

• water, water, water (at least 32 oz per day)

Scripture & A Snapshot

I will stand on His Word!  

Funny to see this blooming so vibrantly while everything else around is losing it's green and dying off but I know soon this rose will be gone too.  However, my God and His Word will stand forever!

Book Review: Money Making Mom by Crystal Paine

This posts contains affiliate links.

I am so excited to share today's review with you.  I have been an avid reader of Crystal Paine and Money Saving Mom blog for many years now.  Her wisdom and advice at such a young age inspired me immediately when I began reading.  I remember the beginning days when she would share of her modest menus and grocery budgets - always inspiring!

I own all of her books and can easily say that this one is the best one yet.  In Money-Making Mom: How Every Woman Can Earn More and Make a Difference, she shares not only her successes but her failures. Her encouragement that each one of us has something to offer will inspire women everywhere to keep reaching for their dreams.  Those dreams will look different for each of us and Crystal walks you through the process of deciding what makes you you.

The book is written as if Crystal has come right into my living room, sat down with me, and mentored me over a cup of coffee.  Her sweet honest spirit comes alive on the 200+ pages of Money Making Mom .  Not only does she share her wisdom but the book is also full of testimonies from others as well. 

Here is the Table of Contents with the chapters you will be reading:

You can also see read a sample of the book by clicking the image below: 

Currently available on Amazon you can purchase the hardback edition for $15.92 with prime shipping or pick up the Kindle version for $10.99.  If growing a business of any kind is on your radar, I would highly suggest reading this book first!

To kick off launch day whether this book is in your budget to buy or not, Crystal is giving away $1500 for you to use to fund a new business, expand your business, pay down debt, invest in something, or use it in some way that will make a big impact on your family and others.  So, don't forget to enter this awesome giveaway!

Last but not least I'll leave you with more great nugget of wisdom from Money-Making Mom: How Every Woman Can Earn More and Make a Difference.

About the Author



Crystal Paine is a speaker and author of the New York Times bestseller Say Goodbye to Survival Mode: 9 Simple Strategies to Stress Less, Sleep More, and Restore Your Passion for Life.  In 2007, she founded MoneySavingMom.com, a site that has since grown to become one of the most popular blogs on the we, currently averaging close to two million readers per month.  She lives with her husband and three children in Franklin, Tennessee.

**Disclaimer:  I received a free ebook copy of this book as a part of the Money Making Mom launch team in exchange for my review. All opinions are my honest thoughts.  I also purchased my own hardback edition to read through again!