Review of Biology 101 from The 101 Series | #101series #homeschoolscience

I am a huge advocate of homeschooling through the high school years but I am also willing to admit that some courses are out of my league. The beauty is there are so many options available for homeschooling families today that tackling these courses head on is not a problem. Science, for instance, has never been a favorite course of study for me so teaching Homeschool science doesn't exactly excite me. Thankfully, I don't have to do it alone so I was thrilled to review Biology 101 from The 101 Series. 

 

One of the characteristics I look for in a Biology course especially is that is creation based and Biology 101 is exactly that! We were also looking for simple labs and again we have found success with this course. I really cannot praise this course enough and have finally found a high school Biology fit for our homeschool.

So what is Biology 101?

It is DVD course that teaches students Biology through the days of creation as found in the book of Genesis. Now, you can simply watch the DVDs which include over 4 1/2 hours of instruction but if you would like to dive in more, resources are available for that too. The course includes a thorough 118 page Guidebook and a 12 page Accreditation Booklet. If you do this course as suggested, it is broken down into 11 segments which create 27 weeks of course work, at approximately 5 hours per week.

The segments are broken down like this:

• Introduction: Defining Life and Life Classification
• The 3rd Day - Plants
• The 5th Day - Aquatic (water) Creatures and Avian (flying) Creatures
• The 6th Day - Land Animals Part 1 and 2
• The 6th Day - Mankind Part 1 and Part 2
• Conclusion: Cells, Genetics, and a Brief History of Biology

A typical week includes watching the DVD segment, reading assigned pages in the guidebook, and sometimes a field trip or simple lab option is given.  The reading material reiterates what was taught in the video and adds in additional information and fun facts too.  The course includes 20 hours of lab work none of which are dissections.  You may add those in additionally if you wish.  Labs are also easy to complete and don't require complicated materials.  Sample lab work includes identifying plants in your yard, identifying parts of fish by catching one or using a goldfish, making a simple drawing of anatomy using a household pet, and many more.   Additional activities include other video recommendations, reading juvenile science books, and writing simple reports with a 200 word minimum.  

Quizzes are available at the end of each segment in the guidebook. They are multiple choice quizzes and the answers are included as well.

Here is a sample of how the credit hours can be given per segment and a glimpse as some of the weeks' activities.

Our original plan was to use this course to supplement our current Biology course but after seeing what was included we have decided to use it as our main course of study. My son has been able to comprehend this so much better! The course really takes complicated terms and breaks them down simply. For instance, he was taught a very simple way to remember the female and male parts of a plant that we had never seen before but made so much sense! Stamen can be remembered as the male part because it has the word men in it. Stigma can be remembered as the female part because it has the word ma in it. We both love learning by connecting simple truths like that!

The visual, auditory, and kinesthetic processes of the video, guidebook, and activities have helped him learn more about Biology than any other course he has taken so far.

The 101 Series offers two additional high school science courses as well, Physics 101 and Chemistry 101. You can purchase the entire set of 3 for $168.95 or each one individually for $69.95. Click the banner below to see reviews on those too.

Find out more about The 101 Series by visiting them on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.

Review of Commissioned from Chara Games | #ChristianBoardGames #StrategyGames

We are a game loving family and love adding new games to our collection. We have been playing Commissioned from Chara Games for several weeks now and are excited to tell you all about it! We would highly recommend it and it would make a wonderful Christmas gift for any game loving family!



First of all, this board game is not like any I have ever seen before. What made it totally unique for us was the fact that the game piece players are apostles, missionaries, and church people and their goal is to spread God's Word all through out the land to grow the church. The game takes you through early church history while you are playing the role of the Apostles. However, you do not need to know any church history or theology to play. 

 
The game is for 2-6 players and takes approximately 1 hour to play. Recommended ages are 14 and 

up. My 13 year old, 15 year old, and myself all played on many occasions. 

Pieces included:

Double sided game board, 5 double sided scenario cards, 6 player boards, 96 faith cards, 27 trial cards, 4 wood missionary meeples, 75 wood church member cubes, 1 Elder's staff, 6 wood player (apostle) pawns, 30 stop tokens, 5 candle snuffer tokens, 1 converted city leader's token, 1 Roman Legion token, 1 die, a rule book, and a themed appendix.  

Pieces come in a sturdy box that is pretty compact considering what is included inside. 

 

At first glance, the game seemed complicated to me to play but I knew my board game loving son would find it a great challenge and I was not wrong. As soon as the game arrived, he headed off with it to the dining room table and began to set it up for play. He was intrigued right from the start. He's also lover of history but again none of that is required to play.

The object of the game is to grow the church through the regions (seen above in various colors) and also to collect the books of the New Testament. Along the way, the Apostles, missionaries and churches face trials and persecution but if you can successfully grow and build new churches in each region and collect all the books before the five candles (top left) are snuffed out you win. 

 
We found that to be a lot easier said than done. Fortunately, there are easier levels for beginners and once you get the hang of that, you could move on to a more difficult level as well as 5 different scenarios to choose from too. For instance, in one of the harder levels if the numbers 1-3 are rolled on the die players are not allowed to talk to one another. We really found ourselves thinking about the difficulties and frustrations that the Apostles must have faced as they carried forth the gospel. 

 
We played several turns at first without the die and took out the harder trial cards. After playing a few rounds, we began to get the hang of the mission. Each player takes a turn being the Elder so the staff is passed to each player after they go through the 3 phrases of play: ARM, LIVE, and MATURE (as seen on the player card below). The LIVE phrase is repeated depending upon the number of players, and the rule book breaks that down for you clearly.

Here you can see the examples of the trial cards. Each card is marked by difficulty. The blue water drop cards (Disciple) are easier to deal with than the red fire cards (Martyr) so when we first began we took the easy route which wasn't all that easy!

Each player also has faith cards and their actions vary as well depending upon the Apostle chosen and are sorted by faith points in the top left corner. These cards help to counteract some of the trials faced in the Trial Deck.

This is just one of those games that it is best to dive right in to and play. The rule books gives great details and instructions as well as the video on how to play but we found the easiest way to learn was to just play and play!

Commissioned became a regular fixture on our dining room table for weeks. We really love challenging ourselves just a little more each time. I especially love that the actions involved to play are named pray, share, move, and grow. What a great reminder to all Christians! So go forth, you have been Commissioned!

Chara Games has also produced a new card game that has just been released, 3 Seeds. We are looking forward to reviewing that one soon too! 

Chara Games is a fairly new company whose mission is to bring joy to households through their games. Chara is the Biblical Greek word for unshakeable joy. You can find out more about them by visiting their website, Facebook, and Twitter.  

Review of Accountable2You | #hsreviews #internetsafety

Accountable2You was designed to be a internet monitoring accountability tool. The concept is built on the actions found in the book of Proverbs 27:17 : "As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another." In this technology driven world, Internet accountability is almost a necessity. Accountable2You offered us the choice of one of four plans: Family Plan, Group Plan, Individual Plan and Small Business Plan. We chose the Family Plan.

Plans Available

The Individual Plan is great for monitoring a single person and their devices or a family that may only have one device each they would like to monitor. It allows up to 6 devices.

The Group Plan is a great option for church youth groups or homeschool groups. Each person is the group is allowed up to 6 devices to be covered. There is an administrator of the group but they do not have access to any of the reports unless they are set up as an accountability partner.

The Small Business Plan is great for small companies especially those whose employees have internet access. The administrator of this plan does have access to all reports and can set up unlimited devices.

With the Family Plan, you can add up to 20 devices for your family including android, apple, and windows. For a detailed list of devices supported, see this page.

Our Family Use

I set up Accountable2You on our family laptop by downloading the software on the computer. I also added the app to my teen's ipods, and my android phone to see how it would work. Since I only set up less than 6 devices, I could have chosen the individual plan but we have growing teenagers who will be adding more devices soon so I wanted to see how the family plan would work. The family plan costs $9.99 per month.

Setting up each device was pretty simple and there are videos to walk you through the process as well.

Features include detailed reports, instant alerts for questionable activity, unlimited accountability partners, GPS tracking, time limit alerts, the ability to add your own objectionable words, and more.

I chose to receive daily emails showing any alerts. You could also receive text messages or weekly emails.  Here is a sample email report with an alert.

Pros

• I love the GPS feature! Especially after a recent escapade with my oldest who was in a wreck and had no idea where he even was at the time. This feature would have really come in handy then. 
• The reports are extremely detailed. You can completely monitor text messages, emails, facebook, etc. You also have the option to change app settings so extremely personal information is not monitored. I love that it can be monitored for teens and turned off for adults because I could read exactly what was texted in my report. 
• The app continually ran on my phone. We have a limited data plan but it never came even close to causing any type of overage for me nor did it slow my phone down. The same goes for the monitoring for the computers and ipod apps. We have used internet safety programs before that caused our older family laptop to constantly crash but had no problems with Accountable2You. 
• The price is reasonable and includes the whole family and all their devices which let's face it, in this technology driven world is a lot.

Cons

• One con was the limitation on the apple devices.  The app took a little more time to get going as you had to use their browser and disable the Safari browser.  IOS devices must use Accountable2You's browser and disable the Safari browser to be monitored. 
• I would also love it if the apps and software could deny access to the internet instead of just alerting you if someone is on when they are not suppose to be. 
• You need to use an additional filtering system if you wish to actually block websites.  They do recommend a few but it would be great to have an all in one app or software.  

Overall, we were pleased with how Accountable2You worked. I tested out the timing limits and received an alert right away. It is a great tool to begin teaching kids responsibility for their own actions because when they leave the home, they will have access to a whole world of internet at their fingertips. Staying accountable to each other is a great way to keep those fingers and eyes away from things they shouldn't be seeing and doing. There is a 10 day free trial if you would like to try it out for yourself.

Be sure to check out Accountable2You on Facebook, and YouTube.

Review of CrossTimber Personalized Products | #CrossTimber #gift

CrossTimber is a unique family run business who specialize in name meaning gifts.  The owners were homeschooled and now homeschool their own children.  I found myself laughing out loud as I read how their name meaning business venture began.  I could also relate to the story having sent two of my own children to a public school driver's ed program.  You can read more about their story here. Their products not only include the meaning of the recipient's name but they also add in a Bible verse to go with the name meaning. They offer several categories of vibrant and colorful graphics to choose from to add to your product. The image categories are Faith & Inspiration, Animals & Creatures, People & Relationships, and The Great Outdoors. 

We had the opportunity to review the Personalized Framed Plaque with Name Meaning and Bible Verse, and I had that personalized for my daughter. Perusing the website at all the beautiful images available, I also decided to purchase two additional coffee mugs for my boys as well.

Products currently available from CrossTimber are:

Name Meaning Gifts:
Name Plaques
Large, Two Name Plaques
Coffee Mugs
Name Music Boxes

Custom Bible Verse Gifts:
Scripture Plaques
Large, Bible Verse Plaques
Bible Verse Coffee Mugs
Bible Verse Music Boxes

All of my children were so excited when I presented them with their gifts! There is just something about seeing your unique name on an item that pushes it over the top.  My original intent was to keep these for Christmas gifts but I just could not wait!

We received our gift items just after Hurricane Matthew departed and our package looked a little like it might have floated down the river to reach us. My first thought was, "there is no way those coffee mugs can be in one piece." Well, I was extremely happy to open up the package and see that they were completely in tact - not even a chip!

The coffee mugs were made of heavy ceramic and the images have a glossy finish making the colors really pop on those white 11oz mugs. There are many options available for an additional charge to help you personalize your gifts including personal message inscriptions, gift boxes, left handed or right handed mugs, mugs that fit together with heart handles, or just adding a name or a Bible verse to mug.

The name plaque we choose came in a 5x7 glossy print and is labeled as smudge free and fade free. We chose the metallic-brown frame and I was pleasantly pleased with the quality. It measures approx 6x9 and comes in a shiny brown metallic color. It is plastic but the color finish makes it seem metal. It includes a small hook for hanging and a stand. The color and style matched the name print we chose beautifully! The name plaques have 4 styles of frames to choose from and vary in price from $23-$29.95 + shipping. Those prices include the name print and frame. You also have the option of just choosing the 5x7 name meaning print itself if you wish. You can order those prints by mail or as a PDF printable and both cost $18 each + shipping . 

Since I ordered 3 items, I received a 10% discount off my order and matching bookmarks or pocket cards which made my gift a little more special. You can also receive that same offer. See the graphic below for additional discounts! I think these products will make perfect Christmas gifts!

These are also wonderful gift ideas for that friend whose name is not spelled the traditional way or for the friend who has a unique name altogether. What I loved most about these products are the Bible verses that are researched and chosen to accompany the name meanings. What a beautiful way to share God's Word with family and friends!

Until December 4th, 2016 you can enter to win your very own personalized name meaning product or a $10 gift certificate by entering the giveaway below.

Curious to find out your name meaning? CrossTimber will be glad to assist you with that free of charge! Their love of researching names really shines through in their product line.  Simply visit their website, click on the chat box, and find out what your name means.

Find out more by visiting CrossTimber on Facebook and Pinterest.

Would You Like To Join The Homeschool Review Crew? Applications now being accepted!

If you think you would like to be a part of the Homeschool Review Crew, applications for the 2017 school year are currently being accepted. It is hard to put into words just what a blessing the crew has been for our family but I will try. 

MY THOUGHTS

The Homeschool Review Crew has been a part of our family for the past 6 years now! We have had the amazing opportunity to build some great friendships and we absolutely love being able to have so many hands on opportunities to review homeschool products and curriculum. We have found so many treasures that we are still using in our homeschool since joining the Homeschool Review Team. 

One of our all time favorite products that we reviewed has to be the historical series from YWAM Publishing.  We have not only made them our read aloud books but my son has requested to use them for his literature credit this year.  Had we not reviewed that first book, I don't know that I would have ever tried them.  

I remember when we first began homeschooling and devouring any posts about curriculum and homeschool days. It can be overwhelming and I want to help others out the same way that I was helped out.  It really is a blessing to be able to share our thoughts on these products with you! 

  

Along that same line of thought, we each have a unique voice to share.  Our families are all different but often times just seeing how a product is being used in another homeschool family's life will be just the thing you've been searching for to fit your own child.  So, let's hear as many voices as we can and work together to encourage each other in our homeschooling journeys.  

You can read more about the qualifications of the Homeschool Review Crew here and if you do decide to join, please let them know that I sent you.  Once you are ready to apply, you can do that here.  Looking forward to meeting some new faces and hearing some new voices!

Click the banner below to find out how the crew has blessed so many.

Review of The Familyman's Christmas Treasury - Audio Collection | #familymanministries

There are only 68 sleeps until Christmas 2016! Can you believe that? It seems like we were just putting away last year's decorations around here. The key to a successful Christmas for me is always planning ahead of time so I am not overwhelmed as we have several traditions we like to do each year. I was thrilled when the opportunity to review the Digital Downloads from The Familyman's Christmas Treasury - Audio Collection came available. These audios are written by The Familyman, also known as homeschooling dad and author, Todd Wilson.

If you are familiar with any of Todd Wilson's works then you will know that his sense of humor shines through all he touches. Each story is read by master storyteller, Jim Hodges. His character voice reflections are hilarious and really help you feel like you are watching the story unfold instead of just listening to it. These audio books were the perfect companion to our basketball practice driving time. We received the Digital Downloads of each audio book. They are in MP3 format so I transferred them to my phone so that we could listen to them in our van. We also received a single CD of The Stranger. I thought I would prefer the CD format but transferring the files was no problem at all so both are great options.

Not only are each of these stories engaging and funny but each one contains its own teaching lesson. Specifically, each audio book always points you back to Jesus. I'm going to try to give you a little synopsis of each and hopefully not spoil any of the stories for you.

The titles included in this series collection are:

• Captain Chaos and The Manger Blaster - This story will be fun for those in your family who love superheroes. This superhero grows tired of hearing and doing the same old traditions every Christmas so he gets a glimpse of what life would be like without some of those traditions. This story lasts for 19 minutes and 21 seconds. 
• Cootie McKay's Nativity - When the town hall nativity ends up involved in a car wreck, no one can believe it when Cootie McKay, one of the town's oddest characters, saves the day. After all, he had created a turtle out of hubcaps for his front porch. What could possibly go wrong? This story lasts 30 minutes and 45 seconds. 
• The Stranger - This story details a homeless stranger in town who visits the members of the same congregation in the local town church. Unfortunately, instead of receiving the help he needs, he is sent away over and over again until he visits the home of the Pastor. The stranger is Jesus and the question to ponder is how you would respond if Jesus came to visit your home in the form of a homeless beggar. This story lasts 18 minutes and 9 seconds. 
• The Bishop's Dream - This story centers around Bishop Nicolas who goes around sharing the love of Jesus with the children of the poor. One night as he is reading his Bible, he falls into a deep sleep and begins to dream. In this dream, Bishop Nicolas discovers the commercialism that is the Christmas we know today. Bishop Nicolas is soon saddened to discover that this dream shows his very own story and that people were placing him above his Savior. This story lasts for 20 minutes and 16 seconds. 
• Harold Grubbs and the Christmas Vest - The day after Thanksgiving, Isaac's dad digs deep down in his closet in search of his Christmas vest. In this story, you will follow along as Isaac's dad recalls the first time he saw this vest and the meaning behind why he wears it every single year. This story lasts 12 minutes and 54 seconds. 
• Gladys Remembers Christmas - Gladys was not a fan of Christmas. In fact, she hated it. All that begins to change when her father sends her on a mission to bring him a box from their attic. This story lasts 22 minutes and 52 seconds.

We were also sent these two additional Christmas stories that are not included in the collection.

• The Secret of the Snow Village - This story takes you right inside one of those little ceramic Christmas village sets and teaches you what Christmas is really all about. With the scene details given, you can just imagine yourself going inside one of those little villages. Follow along with Katherine as she finds out that "Christmas isn't about lights, decorations, gifts, carols, or even snow. It's about Him." This story lasts for 20 minutes and 53 seconds. 
• It's Called Christmas - This story is a message from the future written directly to you! The problem in the future is Christmas has been totally removed. Follow along to find out why and how you can help to get it back. This story lasts 27 minutes and 34 seconds.

Children will learn about serving others, sharing Jesus with others, not judging others, and so much more. These are great conversation starters for families who want their children to know that Christmas is all about Jesus. Each story is less than 30 minutes so they can easily be woven into your schedule if you wanted to make them apart of your school day too. We will definitely be adding this collection to our family Christmas traditions!

Find out more by visiting The Familyman on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Google+, and their blog.

Review of Educeri Lesson Subscription Service | #educeri

Educeri ....... Educeri a division of DataWORKS has over 1000 Ready to Teach Lessons available with their Educeri Lesson Subscription Service. With a subscription service like this, you can easily supplement any curriculum. There are a variety of subjects available in grades Kindergarten through High School. 

The beauty of an online subscription service is the availability. You have access to the lessons 24 hours a day so you can prepare any time you wish. These lessons are designed to help teachers teach a variety of topics in subjects such as Math, Science, Language Arts, Writing, History, and more. The majority of the lessons at this time are in the Math and Language Arts sections.

The website is very easy to navigate. You can search by subject or grade simply by clicking the corresponding tabs.

We mainly used the 8th grade Language Arts lessons in our homeschool as that is one of the areas where I find we always need extra practice. The 8th grade Language Arts section had 43 lessons to choose from. I split the lessons up so that we covered 1 lesson per week and I just picked out the ones I thought we needed the extra help with. 

Once you decide on the lesson you wish to teach, you click on that lesson and you are taken to the lesson screen.

 

In the "Additional Resources" section is where you will find PDF printable pages for your student so the first step is to print those off.  

The next step is to click on the blue button that says "Teach Lesson". You are then taken to a virtual whiteboard where the lessons are completely laid out for you including what to say! There are also little side notes to guide the teacher in making sure the student understands the words being taught in the topic - these are labeled as vocabulary. Included as well are checking for understanding questions (CFU) to ask the student to help them pull from memory what they already know.

The answers to the questions are also given one at a time so you can discuss them with your students. Here is a slide where the answers are given to the first question. As you continue through the slides, the remaining answers are given.  There are even slides that show the student worksheets and answers so you can discuss their independent work as well.  It is pretty neat that you can do this like a virtual whiteboard so no need to even leave your seat.   

You can quickly navigate between slides using the menu button as shown in this slide.  That is a great feature if you wanted to only teach specific concepts.  

I think this program works better having the teacher involved with the lessons. I guess older students could go through the slides themselves but it was designed so teachers could help students with the concepts. As the teacher, you may want to preview the lessons ahead of time too although I had no problems diving in on the day we went through them.
Another great feature is you can use this service with multiple children making it very cost efficient.

The Educeri Lesson Subscription Service can be purchased monthly for $7 or annually for $75. You can also sign up for a 30 day free trial (no credit card necessary) to see if this service would benefit your homeschool.

You can find out more by visiting Educeri on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.