Review of Online Christian Filmmakers Academy | #onlinefilmcamp

For the last few weeks my daughter and I have been studying Christian filmmaking with Online Christian Filmmakers Academy from Family Gravity Media, a division of Families For Christ Ministries, Inc.

This course is so thorough and brought to you by father and son team, Ken and Zack Lawrence, who have actually gone through the process of movie production. Their productions include the film, In His Steps along with the TV Series, Welcome Home Antelope Valley and various DVD releases. 

Online Christian Filmmakers Academy is a video course so each lesson is taught through video. Some lessons have extra handouts that can be downloaded and printed for further study and each module has a quiz at the end. Only 2 of the module quizzes were available at the time of this post because this is a new course and the final touches are currently being added. Throughout the year more material and bonuses are scheduled to be added. 

The course is broken down like this:

• Introduction
• Module 1 - The Camera - 6 lessons and quiz
• Module 2 - Cinematography - 15 lessons and quiz
• Module 3 - Sound - 6 lessons and quiz
• Module 4 - Pre-production - 5 lessons and quiz
• Module 5 - Production - 6 lessons and quiz
• Bonuses 

Lessons vary in time with some lessons only being 1 minute long to the longest being 33 minutes long. Each lesson can be completed pretty quickly so doing more than one lesson per day is extremely doable. However, if you have the equipment you may want to take longer to play around with it. You also can complete the course without any of the equipment mentioned too.

The video lessons were so awesome because we did not own a lot of the equipment so being able to see them in action on the screen really helped us to visually connect with what was being taught. You can tell me about lighting all day long but showing me the different effects really helps me to see the end result that I should be looking for. For instance, in the screen shots below they were showing the visual affects of creating artistically just using light. This example was using a black and white film but the video instructions are in full color. You can see that the shading of the plant gives the white background more interest. 

The PDF downloads were great visual aids in addition to the videos and contained full color illustrations and photos as well as additional information for students. 

The course was extremely easy to navigate through and each lesson was automatically marked complete once you finished watching the video. In the introduction video, students are given complete instructions on how to navigate inside the course which basically means scrolling to the bottom of the screen once finishing a lesson and hitting the next button.

In the top left corner, you can easily navigate through the modules by clicking on the menu button. Each lesson also has a place to leave a comment asking any questions your student might have for the instructors.

For the quizzes that are available, they are completed online and answers are multiple choice. They are also automatically graded for you.

This course was a good fit for my daughter, who is 13 although we did tweak it a little. She has just started her own YouTube channel and uses a point and shoot camera. She learned a lot especially about lighting and sound but the material was more than she could retain at times so we decided that she would skip the quizzes for now and just focus on the video lessons. I took the quizzes myself.

The course is available for one year so you can work on it at your own pace. Until November 30, 2016 you can save $100 off the regular price by entering coupon code FALLCREW16 on the check out page. Each member of your family can use this course as long as it is completed in the year's time frame.

You can find out more about the Online Christian Filmmakers Academy by visiting their Facebook Page.

Review of MyFreezEasy | #freezeasy #freezermeals

The MyFreezEasy.com Freezer Meal Plan Membership from MyFreezEasy makes freezer cooking so fast and easy there is no excuse to not have a meal at home even with our busy schedule.

We are about to hit our busy season with basketball games and practices taking up the majority of our week. I struggle with meals during this season and we often end up at a fast food restaurant so I was so excited to try MyFreezEasy. I have been wanting to try my hand at freezer cooking for a while and have pinned some plans on Pinterest but never really followed through so this was my very first time doing freezer meals!

The MyFreezEasy Premium Annual Membership makes having a freezer full of meals so simple and quick. Once you log in, you have several different meal plans to choose from:

The Traditional Plan

The 20 Meals Plan

The Gluten Free Plan

The All Pork Chops Plan

The All Ground Beef Plan

The All Chicken Plan

The Slow Cooker Plan

The Clean Eats Plan

The beauty of the membership is you can choose one of the plans above, mix and match plans, or create your own plan using the month's recipe selection.  Being able to switch things up allows you to take advantage of meat sales too!  Since I had never embarked on a freezer meal journey before, I decided to keep it simple and use the traditional meal plan for the most part. I did swap out 2 of the recipes because I was also trying to maximize my freezer and pantry ingredients that were already on hand.  The original plan had a teriyaki pork tenderloin recipe included so I swapped that one out for a Slow Cooker Taco Soup recipe.  The 2nd recipe I swapped out was a Spanish Rice recipe for a Slow Cooker Chili Mac recipe. Swapping the recipes was extremely simple to do.  You also had the option of changing serving sizes.  The standard recipes given were 4 servings.  I changed ours to 6 since we are a family of 5 and honestly we probably could have stayed at 4 servings because we had plenty for our family plus leftovers for every meal when I added in sides.  So, to change the serving sizes, you would click on a drop down box and your recipe and shopping lists would automatically be updated with the required amounts needed.  To change the menu (located on the right in the photo below), you would select the recipe from the left and drag it over to replace the recipe in the menu box on the right.  

After you have selected which menu plan you would like and swapped any recipes, you are ready to print.  All menu plans can be downloaded and saved and you are encouraged to do so since they are no longer available on the site once a new plan for a new month begins.  Each meal is doubled so you end up working with only 5 recipes and doubling each one.  

The meal plan list was 14 pages long and included each recipe plus shopping list by recipe and store, prep day instructions and meal assembly instructions.  It even included what needed to be put out on the counter.  I absolutely loved the step by step instructions and that I could check off as I went.  You also get step by step video instruction showing Erin Chase, the creator, doing the same prepping and assembly you will do if you choose the traditional meal plans. There are highlight videos included for every meal plan too. She shares tips along the way to help you too.  The video came in handy for me to visually see what I was about to embark on and I also was able to see an ingredient that I had no idea what it was - mango nectar.  After seeing it in the video, I recognized that I had seen it at my grocery store before and was able to easily find it.  

I taped my instructions to the cabinet above the counter I was working on so I could easily see it at a glance.  

With shopping list in hand, my helpers and I set off to purchase the items that we did not already have in our freezer or pantry. 

After arriving home, we set up the counters as the meal prep instructions stated and began our first freezer meal adventure.  

Exactly 45 minutes later we had 8 meals in the freezer!  I had only 8 because I decided to only do 4 of the recipes last minute.  The meals I chose had very little prep.  I only had to brown all the ground beef, season it and boil some of the pasta for the Easy Lasagna Bake.  The main job seemed to be opening a lot of cans!  After that, assembly of the meals into baggies and pans began and all we had left was the clean up. 

The Lazy Lasagnas ready to go.  There were printable labels available but I just chose to write mine. 

Some of the meals in the freezer.

Clean up time wasn't really that bad either!

I loved the fact that each recipe included instructions on how to prepare it from the freezer as well as if you wanted to prepare it at that moment.  
The meals I chose did need to be thawed out overnight in the fridge or set in water for 20 minutes before cooking so I did need to try to keep in mind our menu plan for the week so I would know when to pull a meal.  
My family liked each of the 4 recipes that we tried with the Lazy Lasagna being our favorite followed closely by the Slow Cooker Taco Soup.  I decided to serve the Spicy Mango Chicken Tacos over rice instead of inside a tortilla for our first recipe.  For the next one, we definitely want to try it as a taco.  

When all was done, I felt so proud to have 8 meals for my family in the freezer and wondered why it has taken me so long to do this.  I think I was always scared of putting in a days worth of work to find out that our family didn't like any of what I had prepared!  I also didn't want to do the calculations needed. With MyFreezEasy plans, the plan is already laid out for you so it can be accomplished in a very short amount of time.  You can easily change serving sizes and recipes.  It's like having another brain to assist you in meal planning!  Who doesn't need that?
Find out more by visiting MyFreezEasy on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest.

Review of Excellence in Literature Handbook for Writers | #excellenceinlit

I was excited and a little nervous to review the Excellence in Literature Handbook for Writers by Everyday Education, LLC. This might sound a little funny coming from a written blog, but we struggle with the subject of writing in our homeschool! It is a close second behind spelling for every single one of my children. I think the biggest part of the problem is that I struggle with how to teach it. I know how to write in conversational style but essay style is not my strong suit.

 

I received the digital version of the Handbook for Writers, and oh my, it is a massive resource. It contains 420 pages of handwriting knowledge, helps, and exercises to help any student become a better writer. It is downloaded as a PDF file and targeted for high school and college students but parents like me will find it a treasured resource as well.

I found the best way to tackle what was inside was by scouring the table of contents (scroll to the bottom) which were 22 pages long by themselves!

Part 1 of this reference book includes teaching helps on the structure of essays including outlines, paragraph functions and structures, defining thesis statements, topic sentences, and conclusion paragraphs just to name a few. Students are given examples of many of the writing topics including sample essays from book reviews, live drama productions, Shakespeare, modern poetry and so many more. Exercises are included for students to put their knowledge into practice. There was even a unique visual guide given so that students could organize their writing papers.

Part 2 focuses more on grammar skills and style including basic punctuation, parallel structure, phrases, clauses, sentences, parts of speech, subject/verb agreement, comma placement and so much more. There is also an extensive section on references and bibliographies. A valuable resource that we found handy in our homeschool were the 52 pages on frequently misused words. Just a few examples of those included were - who's/whose, sit/set, may be/maybe. This is where I chose to begin with my 10th grader. We simply added in two sets of misused words a day to review.

I also loved the rubric that was included for writing evaluation. I need step by step instruction when it comes to checking my student's writing papers so this was a wonderful resource for me. This can be used with any writings by your student. As I am grading my student's writing paper and I notice an area that needs some refreshment, I can direct him to the handbook for help.  He just needs to look in the handbook under the table of contents to the page number and section.  For example, here was a sentence fragment which could be read about further in section 1.8, page 238. We also discuss it together during our weekly meeting time.

I know that we will be looking through Excellence in Literature Handbook for Writers for many years to come. This handbook contains almost everything you will need to help your writers have success. I would love to purchase the print edition as well because my brain just works better with physical books of this magnitude. Then my son could use the pdf file to quickly find the sections he needs to refer to.

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Virtual Homeschool Coop Assignment #3 | How do you use a Reading List in Your Homeschool? | #VHC

This response is my part of the Virtual Homeschool Coop Channel Collaboration. You can find out more at www.virtualhomeschoolcoop.com. The goal of the Virtual Homeschool Coop is to build the homeschool community of knowledge with collaborations to give voice to all experiences in homeschooling.

We have been all over the map when it comes to book lists in our homeschool. When I first began I wanted to make sure we added in some of the classics but as my children grew that was not their idea. First and foremost I wanted each of them to have a love for books. So, if it was Captain Underpants that caught there attention then so be it. Amelia Bedelia was another all time favorite along with Mrs. Piggle Wiggle in the beginning.

How and where do you get your book list? How big is it and how do you assign reading?

Through elementary years, we pretty much purchased the books on the Sonlight reading list per grade. I used them as a guide and often bought the reading guides to go along with them to have the comprehension questions handy.

During the middle school and high school years I pulled books from the Classical Conversations book list for the challenge years. Our curriculum, My Father's World, also includes/included wonderful books as well. Their read aloud books are some of my all time favorite books.  We especially love the series of books from YWAM publishing. Be warned if you choose these though - I ended up in tears while reading almost every one!

All of the above book lists I would normally follow the guide which told you how much to read of each book in order to finish by the end of the school year.

We also add in interest led books to our curriculum. Some of my children's favorites over the years are the Magic Treehouse Series, the Narnia Series, the Lord of the Rings series, the Little House on the Prairie Series, and the Anne of Greene Gables series. For these books, we go at a much more relaxed pace because they are reading these on top of their other lists. If they wanted to read more, they were certainly allowed to do so but we usually stuck with 1 chapter per day.

Do you reward and give incentives to read?

As far as rewards go, we always participated in the Pizza Hut BOOK IT program until each one aged out of it. I really wish it went past 6th grade because all my children would still do it if it did! Who doesn't love free pizza?!? I guess I should have continued it myself but I didn't. We also always participated in our library's summer rewards programs too.

Book Adventure is a place we used for a little while where you can offer rewards for reading.

Do you quiz for comprehension?

As I mentioned earlier, when we used Sonlight we did quiz for comprehension. As I began to just pull the books from the list and not buy the guides I would google comprehension quizzes per book and usually had pretty good success. I have also purchased an annual membership to abcteach.com and used their comprehension guides. 

So what does reading look like your homeschool?

If you would like to join the Coop, go here to learn more. No voice is too small!

Weekly Wrap Up | Week 6 & Break Week

Week 6 flew by in a flash as we headed into break week - surprising!  Normally that week drags!

Our break week flew by as well.  We took a fun trip to a new to us museum/zoo/aquarium.  This place had it all!  

We also participated in our local See You At The Pole - what a blessing to see students praying for one another!

Review of Heirloom Audio Productions | The Cat of Bubastes | #TheCatOfBubastes

Guess who has a new radio drama out? Heirloom Audio Productions has done it again with their newest Christian audio drama, The Cat of Bubastes! Get ready to travel to back in time to the land of Egypt.


You may have heard me say this each time a new audio drama is produced but this one is so far my favorite. I remember my oldest son reading this book a few years ago and he loved it. That means a lot coming from someone who is not a big fan of reading. So when the opportunity came up to review this, we were all excited. We listened to each CD in one sitting because we just could not stop!

In this historical fiction adventure, you follow a sixteen year old prince, Amuba, and his protector, Jethro, as they are kidnapped from their land all the while no one knowing they have kidnapped a prince. You will follow along as God provides the path of protection and salvation for each of these men. First, by allowing an Egyptian priest who secretly believes in the one true God to bring them in as his servants. Second, providing protection for them over and over again as they find themselves in the middle of a conspiracy against the priest and his family. Lastly, as they fight together to capture what rightly belonged to them to begin with. Where is the cat in all this you might ask?  Well, the climax begins with the cat and an arrow.  I will tell you that the Egyptians considered cats sacred.  True to Henty's style, The Cat of Bubastes contains adventure, adversity, a hint of romance, all on top of betrayal, conspiracy, defeat, and triumph. Now you can see why we had such a hard time stopping once we began!

Again, these dramas are not just audio books being read to you but complete theater productions with exciting sound effects!  

We also received access to special bonuses in addition to the CDs. We received a Study Guide, a mp3 soundtrack, 2 mp3 files of the audio drama,The Cat of Bubastes ebook with beautiful color pictures, a behind-the-scenes video which we all thought was so fun to see, and a couple of printable posters including this beautiful inspirational verse poster.

I love that we can easily transport The Cat of Bubastes. We listened to the CD's on the way to and from basketball practice and then discussed the questions from the study guide when we returned home.

There are 29 tracks/lessons in study guide so we are completing 1 track/lesson per day and listening to the track again if needed. I love the fact that the study guide is made so user friendly by marking each track with the time stamp.

I still can't rave enough about the full color guide and era background pictures making it so much more fun to use. I don't know why but we all love our resources in color. We have never printed the guide out because we just answer the questions straight from the file on my laptop.

Questions are broken down into 3 sets:

• The Listening Well questions - comprehension questions
• The Thinking Further questions - these require a little more thought, sometimes finding places on a map, and student's interpretations
• The Defining Words - vocabulary words

I also loved that we could find the spelling of the character names on the study guide too since we were dealing with very unfamiliar names.

On some tracks were additional expand your learning categories that students could read/do to enhance their studies further such as pharaoh information, recipes, maps, additional resource links, pictures of the historical period, historical background information, and more.

The study guide also includes 3 Bible studies with tons of Scripture verses for students to look up. We took one statement each day and looked up the verses together as a family.

Our entire family loved this audio drama and would highly recommend any of the audio dramas produced so far! If you are looking for a way to make history come alive, you will definitely want to check these out.

You can also see our reviews of With Lee In Virginia, In Freedom's Cause, Under Drake's Flag, and Beric The Briton from Heirloom Audio Productions.

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