A YEAR OF JUBILEE REVIEWS

Ellie Claire Art Journals *Reviews

2018-11-22T19:06:00.000-05:00

I was blessed with the opportunity to review three beautiful art journals, just in time to share with you for the holiday season.

Each of these art journals give opportunity to grow in your lettering as well as your artistic expressions.

The first one is the Illuminate Your Story Journal. I have had a renewed interest in the illuminated manuscript from hundreds of years ago. I have purchased a Bible and a book of Psalms all in this traditional style. Illuminated manuscript is when gold or silver leaf decorates the script, giving the text a very detailed look. This text was common in the medieval times.

With this journal, you can hone your own skills on working with this amazing concept.
The beginning of the journal gives a bit of history as to how the Illustrated manuscript has changed over the course of history, showing an example and giving some back ground.
The journal then gives a step by step, both visual and written instructions on how to draw the alphabet in illuminated manuscript.

Each letter gives two different designs to follow. After each letter is also a page for journal writing. This journal blends so easily, the artistic nature of designing script, but also gives opportunity to share thoughts and free form writing. The journal pages each have a quote from a well known hero of the faith, or a scripture verse. I love that even though the focus is on writing and designing letters, that the Word of God is still proclaimed.

The back of the book has an envelope labeled for Keepsakes where you can tuck in some more of your letter manuscripts or notes you may want to save for later.

This book works great for boys or girls. I love this book! I have a son who graduated with a graphic design degree, and I think he will love it too. I am planning to save this for him as a gift, because I really think it will help expand his horizons in fonts.

The next journal, the Faith and Lettering Journal is a beautiful cloth bound journal, perfect for gift giving and heirlooms. I am sure you have heard of Bible journaling, from my blog and so many others. It is where you illustrated and note in the Word, additional things that God may be speaking to you and use fun lettering to design the sides. This new journal by Krystal Whitten combines her love of lettering with faith. The journal includes direction for trying a variety of lettering. Interspersed through out the different fonts though are blank pages.

Some lines, some with a small detail in the corner, and some unlined. These are your blank journal pages to utilize what you have learned and to expand your Bible journaling. Bibles only give you a narrow edge to journal in, even with a Bible specific for journaling. This notebook is a great way to do the same thing, but in a journal rather than the Bible.

This journal lends itself well for a young teen all the way through adult woman. It has a ''girly' flare to it that I would gift if for a woman. My 14 year old daughter loves to Bible Journal, and use some of the stickers and print outs we buy to decorate pages of scripture. This book is perfect to go along with this blessed hobby.

The last journal is The Illustrated Word, An Illuminated Bible Coloring Journal. There again we have the illuminated manuscript, which I love! This one would make a lovely gift for a male or female, as it is neutral in colors. A beautiful cloth book!
This journal has 40 beautifully illustrated drawings from the ancient days. It then has a basic line drawing for you to color on your own, to recreate the ancient art. These pages are thick, and utilize high quality paper. You can easily use markers, crayons, and pencils to work in this book.

Interspersed through out the coloring opportunities are journaling pages. Again, I love how Ellie Claire products are combining art and writing together in one book. A perfect mix for me!
The illustrations in this text are from the archives of the Museum of the Bible, making this a real treasure. This one I am keeping for myself. To use along with my illuminated Bible, and to focus on how the monks worked tirelessly on keeping the scriptures alive. What a treasure this book would be to anyone you gift it to.

The Ellie Claire art journals are published through Worthy Publishing Group. They can be purchased through Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Books a Million, Christian Books.

I received a copy of these journals and have written a fair review based on my personal opinions.

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Guitar 360 Method ~Review

2018-11-15T11:41:00.002-05:00

My 14 year old daughter took guitar lessons for about 6 months, until her teacher left for college. She really wanted to continue on, and Guitar 360 Method has been the perfect solution.
The Semester 1 Bundle includes 5 weeks of absolute beginner lessons as well as 13 weeks of semester 1.

She began with the Start Playing Your Guitar section, which is a free course for beginners. It goes over the basics of the guitar, how to tune it and some finger exercises to get your started. All great basics to learn. My daughter got through those very quickly, having had lessons already. Week 2 she was introduced to some chords. I found the choice of chords to be unique as they aren't the basic chords, but some my son who plays on a worship team, has never actually used. They were a Asus2 and a Bsus4. After looking over it more, I think it is giving the specific chords to be able to play the included songs. We skipped week 3 of this section and jumped into Semester 1, simply because she wanted to get to some things she already knew. The beauty of this self directed video series is that you can jump around where you feel you are gaining the most from it.

Once she started in the actual Semester 1 course, she was very pleased! Back to where she basically left off with her previous instructor. I think that confidence of knowing some of what she is learning was helpful for her.

This semester covers a lot of information! Way more than I think she would be getting by packing up the toddler and driving to guitar lessons. Each week starts with a goal You can pause the video at any time to get correct fingering. There are between 4- 6 videos to watch each week, and each video is less than 10 minutes typically. There are times my daughter would master one video and go right into the next one in the same day.
There are also practice videos where he shows you what to do and then you take some time to master it. There are also videos geared specifically for hearing the notes.

Week 2, we started learning about Music Theory. I know this isn't something we had with her instructor before, and I do think that knowing the basics in Music Theory are helpful. I play the piano, and understanding how the notes work together. I do see later in the series that music theory becomes even more utilized.

I was glad that there were downloadable chord sheets to print out, so that she could keep them all together to practice switching without having to find the correct teaching video.

My daughter likes to have things mastered before she moves on, so we are still working through week 2 since we started in the beginner section to start our review. I looked ahead at several of the weeks to come and they really are going to be insightful. I am going to have my college son take a look at them when he is home to see if there are things he can learn as well. He plays on a worship team but is always wanting to grow and learn more. This program seems versatile enough that any age student can pick it up and learn it.

I feel that it would take much more than a semester to complete this program, simply because it is so jammed packed with information. If you have a student that will work on it at least an hour a day , each week day they will be well on their way to mastering the guitar. This program is complex, but you can work at your own pace.
My daughter has had a renewed interest in her guitar again and that makes all of the practice and watching videos worth it!

20% OFF Coupon:
During the campaign, we’re offering a 20% discount to Home School families, with the coupon code: HOMESCHOOL20 at checkout

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I Know It ~Review

2018-09-26T14:12:00.002-04:00

Our Friends at Super Teacher Worksheets has launched a new fun Math Supplement program called
I Know It. It is an interactive, Math practice site for elementary aged children. And they offer a free 60 day trial to interested homeschoolers and teachers. The free trial page is here:
https://www.iknowit.com/sign-up.html

My 10 year old was chosen out of our family to review this program. The most common math concepts from K-5th grade are included and they are adding more weekly. With a family subscription, you can use it for up to 4 kids. I only have one in elementary school right now, but wow, this is great for those larger families with lots of little ones.

We have been working on multiplication and division in his regular math program, and he definitely needed the extra help, so we chose to work on these assignments with the I Know It program.
In level C, which we are, there are all of these categories to work from. And within each of these categories there are even more choices!

We used the program on our PC. It can be used with laptops and mobile devices as well. When I am logged into my teacher account, I can see all of the children I have as students. I can then assign them specific assignments if I want to. I can either assign them, or have them just work on what they would like.
Because I am only working with one child on this, it was easier for me to just work on it with him, and assign the lessons as we went. I did look through the assignment steps for the teacher and they are very straight forward and easy to understand if you do choose to utilize it.

One thing that I found very helpful for my son, was that there is an option that the problem can be read to him. He is a struggling reader, and the help was very nice. He performs well in Math, but when a lot of reading is required, he has a struggle with that portion of it.
Each lesson has 15 problems to solve. It is very encouraging for getting them correct, with words of affirmation, and animation from the robot.
On the flip side, there is a buzzer sound if it is incorrect. You can turn off the animations in the teacher settings if you wish. I think they were a fun addition to keep his attention.

There is not any teaching with this. They are just problems to solve, that is one reason I would say it is a supplement to your regular math programs. It is an additional way to explore different math concepts that they have already been taught.

This was a fun way to do math, and my son really enjoyed it. He never balked at having to do the extra math work, I think because I Know It made it fun!

Social Media Links:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/iknowitcom/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/iknowit_com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iknowit_com/
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/iknowitcom/pins/

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Progeny Press ~Review

2018-07-26T12:16:00.002-04:00

Progeny Press offers literature study guides from a Christian perspective, for books that aren't specifically Christian in nature. We chose to review The Scavengers eguide.

You will need a copy of the reading book The Scavengers by Michael Perry. This book reminded me of the Dystopia genre. Similar to some of the popular movies out recently. From the website
"

I wedged my fists on my hips and I announced that Maggie was yesterday, and from this day forward I would answer only to Ford Falcon.

When the world fell apart, most people moved into the Bubble Cities. After her parents chose to live OutBubble, Maggie decided it was time to grow up and grow tough. She renamed herself Ford Falcon, and she spends her days scavenging in a junkyard while fending off occasional attacks from solar bears and GreyDevils.

Although times are hard, Ford's family has been making do. But when she returns from a bartering trip to find her home ransacked and her family gone, Ford must prove she is brave enough to face this wild world alone and overcome whatever obstacles stand in the way of rescuing her loved ones. "

The Eguide is recommended for grades 5th through 8th. I like the flexibility the guides give me in teaching my daughter. She is a big reader, much more than her brothers. With homeschooling 4 children now, I need to juggle who I am spending time with, and often that time gets scheduled with the toddler or helping with math problems. The Progeny Press Guides give my daughter an opportunity to work solo on her reading and comprehension, plus enjoy it while she is doing it!

She would work on one section per week. This will get her done with the study in eight to ten weeks. It is recommended to read the entire novel first before doing the study. We read it as she would do the study instead and it seemed to work out fine for her. It was probably a little easier for her to remember what she read when she would read a few chapters and the work on the assignments for the week.

Each Progeny Press guide has some pre reading activities that can get the student excited for the book. These can mostly be done off line and even with siblings.

The lessons begin with a vocabulary study. This eguide is interactive so you won't have to print out all of the pages. There are answer options for each of the vocabulary and the student can utilize it right from the computer. It is a good thing we got another computer for the upcoming school year, as it seems more and more products are becoming geared for the computer.

Thinking about the story is the next section in the lesson. Here not only are they answering questions about the story, but looking at key literature and grammar terms .

The Digging Deeper section is typically done at the end of the week. This gives the student an opportunity to dig deeper into some of the topics read, and compare them to some Bible text. This is a great feature in Progeny Press, is that it is Bible based. You can get any sort of literature guide to help kids understand their reading. To get them to see things through a Biblical worldview though, you will want to use Progeny Press.

There are a couple optional activities at the end of each lesson. If you want to draw the study out and make it longer, these are great rabbit trails to follow. Because we were working through this during summer break we opted out of the optional ideas this time around. I think we will be sure to work on some of those in future studies however. They do look like well thought out, and fun projects to learn about.

Progeny Press has study guides for all age groups. The guides are much the same for each piece of literature. Great for independent study, but also would work well for a read aloud for a group of students. Be sure to check out their variety of books as you plan this coming falls line up.

You can also get a printed hard copy of this study or purchase it on a disc.

Find Progeny Press on these social media sites.

Facebook: https://facebook.com/progenypress
Twitter: https://twitter.com/progenypress
Pinterest: https://pinterest.com/progenypress
YouTube: https://youtube.com/progenypress

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Bible Study Guide For All Ages ~Review

2018-07-11T10:32:00.002-04:00

Bible Study Guide For All Ages Is just what it says! A complete study that can be used with all of your age groups. Broken down into the following categories.

Advanced (5th & 6th grade) - Advanced Student Pages, Advanced Teacher Key, Bible Book Summary Cards
Intermediate (3rd & 4th grade) - Intermediate Student Pages, Intermediate Teacher Key, Bible Book Summary Cards
Primary (1st & 2nd grade) - Primary Student Pages, Primary Teacher Guide, Bible Book Summary Cards
Beginner (3-K) - Beginner Student Pages, Beginner Time Line

With my crew we used the Advanced, Intermediate, and Beginner. My oldest is in 8th grade, but I utilized her with the Advanced as well and she would help out as an instructor for the beginner student. I had my 8th grader was in Advanced. My 3rd grader worked in Intermediate. My 3 year old worked in Beginner.

The study goes through the entire Bible in 416 lessons. Each lesson gives specifics but also fits into the whole picture of the Bible.
For my crew I needed the Student Pages for Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced. I received the first quarter lessons 1-26. . In the first quarter, the first 14 lessons are in Genesis, and then in lesson 15 it moves to Daniel. Lesson 21 it jumps to the gospels, so you aren't spending all of your time in the Old Testament, you get some New Testament in each quarter. There are 16 different Student Page books. If you were wanting to study a specific area of the Bible, you could choose the ones that fit. We have been through Genesis a lot, actually are in 2 Kings right now in our own study. For future use of The Bible Study Guide For All Ages, I found that The Order of Study page was helpful in pin pointing where we would need to be for Kings.

The Student pages are copyrighted so you will need a book for each student. They are fun and illustrated and each student will want their own.

I also received the Advanced Teacher Key to help if I had any trouble with finding the answers with the kids. There were also additional questions and helps to make the study flow smoothly.

Each lesson we would read through the scripture verses in our Bible that were suggested at the beginning of the lesson. The teacher guide also gives additional scriptures that we would look up.
There is a Wall Map you can purchase, as well as labels you can get to put on it. We just used our regular world map and would try to locate the lands mentioned to label. I can see the benefit of having a map that can be colored in thought and utilized for each lesson.
We also got a beginner time line, which has great visuals for my 3 year old to remember the stories she is learning. The advanced time line looks just as great. You will need wall space for this, which we didn't have. We just looked through them on the floor.

The Large Bible Book Summary Cards have one card per book of the Bible, so you can use these for each unit you study. They have visual reminders and prompts for you to remember what that book of the Bible contains.

There is also a CD of memory songs if that is something your kids work well with. Since mine were a bit older, I didn't think this would appeal to them.

I was thrilled when my son came home from church after they had used a new curriculum to find them using Bible Study Guide For All Ages! Not only great for homeschool families, but wonderful for youth groups too!

Social Media Links for Bible Study Guide For All Ages

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BibleStudyG/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/BibleStudyG

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Silverdale Press LLC ~Review

2018-06-21T11:02:00.003-04:00

We have gotten away from doing unit studies for awhile. Silverdale Press LLC presented the perfect opportunity with their White House Holidays Unit Studies to jump back in. The holidays included in this Unit Study are;

Labor Day - 3 lessons
Veterans Day - 3 lessons
Thanksgiving - 5 lessons
Christmas - 4 lessons with 6 activities per lesson
MLK - 5 lessons
Valentine's Day - 5 lessons

The unit studies are geared for ages 5-18, so pretty much everyone. In my opinion good unit studies do cover a complete age range like that, as we use unit studies with all of our students at one time.

We chose to study Labor Day as it is the next holiday upcoming for us. This is a digital download and is 53 pages long. I chose to not print it all out, but you could do that if you wanted to.

Sadly I don't even know how many of these holidays started, or the true meaning behind them. Bump that age suggestion up to adult!

The lessons in this study are broken down into 2 age groups. K-6 and 7-12. I have kids in both categories and could have easily used both of the sections. I chose to use the K-6 even for the older kids simply because we haven't done a lot in the way of history. I wanted it to be fun for them, along with learning, and not overwhelming. I plan to use the 7-12 section later this fall when we are closer to Labor Day, just to revisit it and see what material stuck with them.

One of the great things about Unit Studies, is you can take them just as they are, or use them for springboard and rabbit trails to learn more. We tend to go off on rabbit trails when we learn, been doing that since they were little. When a Unit Study says it takes a week to complete, it typically takes us twice as long just because we are going that one step further. By looking at the lessons from the K-6 study, I was able to go a bit above this, but not quite to the extent that 7-12 go. Either way works! Sticking to the study, or adding on.

We first learned about Eleanor Roosevelt and how she was key in fighting against child labor laws. We then looked at photos of child labor and analyzed them to see if the work was appropriate for children, or was it hurtful to them.

Next we learned about McGuire and Maguire and the first Labor Day parade. It started with the union labor parties and trying to make them feel happier by having a parade to celebrate them. Many of the posters made during that time were political in nature and trying to get more help for some of the needs going on.

Next we learned about Pullman and the strike of the railway workers. This lead to a look at some of the trains at the time, and comparison to our trains today. We discussed what the future of the train may look like as well. A fun little rabbit trail on train history.

This was just one of the Unit Studies in the White House Holidays Unit Studies. This is a great book that looks at history and presidents during that time. Great to use alone or a springboard for things that you may find your children even more interested in .

Silverdale Press LLC social media sites

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SilverdalePress/ Tag: @SilverdalePress
Twitter: https://twitter.com/silverdalepress Tag: @SilverdalePress
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/silverdalepress/

See what my crew mates thought of the unit studies and see some of the fun things they chose to do with them by clicking on the photo below.

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MaxScholar ~Review

2018-06-20T11:20:00.002-04:00

My son has been struggling with reading and his tutor recommended MaxScholar
as a program that went along well with what we were working on. It was perfect timing for us to use the Reading Intervention Programs.

MaxScholar has MaxPhonics, MaxReading, and MaxWords. In each category the student is given a pretest to see where he is currently working, and it then puts him where he is best suited to start. My son struggles with reading but does know the alphabet. He was put into module 2 in the MaxPhonics.
There are 4 modules in the MaxPhonics.

There is a teacher and a student account. With the student account, Maverick can log himself in and work on the next lesson himself. The teacher account shows me a Dashboard where I can look at Maverick's progress. It also has the options for grouping kids and using it in a classroom situation. I can generate a report to print for him to see his progress. One of the things I really like about the dashboard is that I can look ahead at the materials that will be covered. I can look over a lesson plan to see what type of additional things I should be working with him on. It gives me a heads up of what is to come, which I do find helpful. Because of his struggle with reading, it is nice to be able to print out some additional pages for him to read through, especially when we are not on the internet.

With the student log in, he can only work on the next item. The rest are locked. If I log into the teacher account, I can preview all of the lessons, which is very helpful. I wanted to get an idea ahead of time what he would be working in, but didn't want it to mess up with his account and place him somewhere he may have not completed.

We have not worked with this program nearly enough this summer. With a death in the family and multiple trips, we have had an upset to our homeschooling plans this summer. That is the beauty of homeschooling, and using MaxScholar though. We can pick right up where we left off, without 'missing' anything due to life happening.

Each letter on MaxPhonics, uses visual, tactile, and auditory learning. It goes through each letter, but not in order. I find sometimes this is best to learn the sounds when they are not in order. There is a lot of repeating which helps with fluidity. The songs are a bit babyish for a 10 year old but you don't have to listen to them.

You can get an even better idea of MaxScholar and the different programs and modules by checking out the reviews of my fellow team mates. Click on the photo below to get to a listing of over 50 reviews.

Twitter: https://twitter.com/maxscholarllc?lang=en
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MaxScholarLLC/
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/maxscholar/

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Something Fishy at Lake Iwannafisha ~Review

2018-06-05T21:46:00.000-04:00

The Critical Thinking Co.™ is aptly named as it is my 'go to' for logic and critical thinking curriculum. This month we reviewed Something Fishy at Lake Iwannafisha as a team with my 16, 13 and 10 year old. The entire book is a 'whodunit' mystery that we needed to solve.

We tend toward mystery type shows when we sit down together as a family. The kids referenced several of them as we were talking about this review for Something Fishy at Lake Iwannafisha. It was not necessary for them to have watched any of these type of shows in order to use this book. The first item given to the detectives was a great amount of back ground and forensic information to process.
The Forensic Evidence Lessons included Anthropology, Arson, Ballistics, Counterfeit money, Autopsy, Handwriting Analysis and Fingerprints. There was over 20 pages of lessons to read up before getting started. I did take the lessons directly out of the book with the perforated pages and gave them to the kids in a file folder. Some of the worksheets can be printed off online through a link in the book, but not all of the pages. There will be a few here and there you need to scan a copy of to have a complete set.

After the kids read through the evidence lessons we got started on the story. They had to list evidence they found, and how it may be applicable. They decided who they may need to interview, and what type of evidence they needed to look for.
In the book I had additional information to give to them when they asked for it. They wanted to jump right in and figure out all of the crimes, and I had to help them stay focused and not jump to conclusions. This was great in having patience and working together as a team.

This particular book is geared for grades 5-12. That great range allowed for our larger family to work together and I really feel they enjoyed it as a team.

The Critical Thinking Co offers logic and critical thinking curriculum for all ages. You can search on their website for a specific grade and age or even for a specific topic. They also have curriculum for language arts, math, science and social studies.
As I am gearing up for a new school year, I enjoyed looking through the website to find additional tools to use to work with my kids. I really think it is a great idea to have some critical thinking built in to each year. I think some times this skill gets over looked, and The Critical Thinking Co is trying to remedy that with their great line up of tools!

Special Offer from CriticalThinking.com!
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My Crew mates had a selection of books to review. Click on the banner below and find additional reviews for Something Fishy at Lake Iwannafish as well as several other great products shown below.

Find The Critical Thinking Co on these social media sites.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheCriticalThinkingCo
Google+: https://plus.google.com/+TheCriticalThinkingCo
Twitter: https://twitter.com/criticalthinks
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/criticalthinks/

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Home School Navigator ~Review

2018-05-24T11:26:00.001-04:00

For the past few weeks we have been using the Home School Navigator Reading and Language Arts Curriculum indigo level from Home School Navigator

There are six different levels of curriculum. We had access to all 6 levels as we got started. We found that Indigo was the best level for my 13 year old. It is the highest level, rated at a 5th grade reading level. We had 4 weeks to look through the various levels before we chose which one we would stick with.

Each week I would download the weekly guide. It lists each project that the student will be assigned for the week. It is 5 pages, so you can either download and print, or just have it downloaded to refer to. It helps give you an idea of what is expected for the week. Helpful especially for us as we don't have traditional school on Thursdays, so my daughter has to factor that into finishing up Thurs work before the end of the week.

The weekly guide also indicates which handouts are needed printed, and the materials list for the week including the books you need to have on hand. Thankfully when we weren't able to find the book from the library, a youtube video was provided with the book being read to her.

Each day would have 6 different categories to work through;

Read Aloud : The student will either read the suggested readings, or if you are having a hard time finding it, they have uploaded videos of them reading the book to the student. We were able to find just one of the recommended books so far. They do re read the book, which my daughter wasn't really interested in, but I told her she may catch more out of it the second and third time around.

Literature/Comprehension ; There is usually an imbedded video to watch in this section that will explain the context of the activity. This category to me was really the meat of the program. This is where the student is learning how to talk about what they are reading. To analyze it, and utilize worksheets to better explain what they are reading.

Writing/Grammar; This is set up in a writing book you make. This is sometimes asking questions of the reading and responsively writing to it, and sometimes it is just a free writing for a certain amount of time.

Phonics/Word Study/Vocabulary; This keeps the same word study for the week, and introduces a list of vocabulary that go together, like having the same root word. There are games and activities to play with the words, in addition to writing sentences and learning the words.

Computer Skills is often doing your writing and journal on the computer. Good for them to get in the habit of writing with the computer and learning to type.

Independent Reading is reading for 30 minutes and can be anything you or the student choose. There are no other requirement.

If you live in a state where you need to prepare a portfolio for review at the end of the year, there is a great option to upload their work each week and then later print out. This is really helpful for keeping the language part of the portfolio up to date.

In addition to the Reading and Language Arts Curriculum, Home School Navigator also has Interactive Notebooks for the older levels. I had really wanted to do this with my daughter, but a death in the family threw us off track with it.

The interactive Notebooks remind me of a lapbooking style where you are making little booklets about the story. The book in the Indigo level is Holes by Louis Sachar.

There are 9 months worth of weekly language arts and reading. They are divided up into months, and then into weeks. Clearly enough for a year long school year. We were generously given a one year subscription for review, and I have found it really has helped my daughter have a clearer vision of what she needs to do daily. I am not a great planner, and with home educating three other students, it helps to have her be able to work independently on her language arts.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/homeschoolnavigation/
Pinterest: Home School Navigator
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/homeschoolnavigator/

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PandaParents ~Review

2018-05-16T12:07:00.001-04:00

My 3 year old enjoyed PandaParents digital format of MESSYLEARNING FOR PRESCHOOLERS AND KINDERGARTNERS during her school day. This program is geared preschool ages 3-6.

The digital program is a monthly program that includes a pdf book, access to online videos, and downloadable, printable worksheets. We were given a three month access to get us started. We chose to work with the title Scotty Skunk Hears a Scary Sound.
The other two monthly titles we were given were; A Jolly Jingling Journey and Mommy's Baby.

Scotty Skunk is scared of sounds while he is sleeping. The 30 minute video firstly introduces us to the letter S. The Big and Little S, and the sound that it makes. It then tells us how Scotty is a Skunk and what happens when Scotty is scared.. he sprays. Little Muffin had to take a bath in tomato sauce to smell better.
After the introduction the letter, there is a story about Scotty trying to find a place to stay where there isn't a lot of noises. He has noise from airplanes, and animals, storms, tractors, you name it. Scotty wants a peaceful place to sleep.
The story goes through all of the seasons starting with winter and ending with fall and Scotty's need for a home in each of them.

There are somewhat natural breaks in the video, but I do wish there were concrete breaks. I would like to see it broken into 3, 10 minute videos rather than one 30 minute. It was hard to know when to stop the video and if I stopped it and she knew there was more, she would want to watch more. A 10 minute video would give us a definite stopping point.

There are over 45 worksheets to use with this book and video. They each vary a little bit, but some are repeat ideas. They are best spread out over the month to work on. My daughter loves to do worksheets and could have easily done 10 in a sitting but I limited her to three each time.

The concepts included in the worksheets are
Comprehension
Memory skills
Fine motor skills
Numbers
Letters
Drawing
Math Skills
Shapes
Seasons
Sorting
Matching and more..

Each of the worksheets go along with the story. The video is a reading of the story. My daughter much preferred listening to the video. The voices were animated and much more interesting than mom reading it.

My daughter found the video very interested. Seeing it a few times, she was able to remember and predict what was coming next. We would watch the video once a week and do work pages 2 or 3 times a week. The excitement for it didn't last the whole month. I am wondering about having separate videos to watch over the course of the month, giving them something new each time.

She loved the worksheets that looked like real workbook pages for her. She enjoyed showing them to everyone and telling them what she learned.

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Weigl Publishers ~Review

2018-05-02T19:56:00.001-04:00

Weigl Publishers sent us three media enhanced books for review. Glacier's, A Lion's World, There Once Was a Cowpoke Who Swallowed an Ant all came alive with additional media links and videos.

A Lion's World comes in a pdf form to read along with your Kindergarten through 2nd graders. My 3 year old really loved this book, especially watching it be read to her on Weigl's website. The code for the AV2 is found inside the digital book. It will also ask for a word from a specific page for security. The lions in the digital book were fascinating for my daughter, but even more so, the actual lions in the video version. Each page of the book is read in the video, and the lions' activity continues until you click on the arrow for the next page. An older child could read along with the speaker.
Toward the end of the book there is a list of sight words and where they first appear in the book. It also lists the content words. You can then utilize those words for review with an older child.
The pictures in the pdf were gorgeous as was the video footage of the lions.

Glaciers is geared for the 3rd-6th grade students and is a LightBox title. You will log into the website in a different location than the AV2 book. There is much more to offer with this title as it is geared toward the older student. There are supplemental resources you can print out for the Glacier Activities. There is also a print out of the common core standards if that is something you follow.

The online program will read the text to you, but the voice is very robotic and dull. This would be a great place for improvement. Several of the pages have an icon for the web, that you can click on and it will take you to additional information. There is more info on polar bears, the types of glaciers and more. Watch additional videos of real glaciers throughout as well.

There is an interactive map where you can locate the various glaciers. On each page is a way to get to the activity or worksheet page for that page as well. The page on glacier movements does mention million of years in it's look at how the glaciers have moved. It doesn't support a young earth theory.

There is a quiz page and even an experiment to work with. Overall, this concept of reading a book and having videos, slideshows, outside links, and worksheets is a great idea.

The third book we had was a fiction book called There Once Was a Cowpoke Who Swallowed an Ant. And yes if you are familiar with the Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly, this is much similar, and just as funny. This is an AV2 book where the online story is really fun. The voices are great, and the characters are funny. It is much like listening to a book on CD/tape, but utilizing the web for it.
This funny story sees this poor Cowpoke eating a variety of odd creatures until he gets quite the stomach ache. It is a fairly long book, and was nice to have it read in all of the character parts.

Just this year Weigl Publishers released over 300 new titles, bringing them to having 1800 different titles! That is a lot of interactive books. They have one for each of states of the USA, which would go along with a state study. There are books on primates and many other animals. There are books on a variety of times in our history. There are some on being eco friendly. Each letter of the alphabet for the younger learners. There really is a lot and they are listed in categories alphabetically making it easier for you to find.

If you have a reluctant reader, or even just need some time for them to work alone, the Weigl Publishers books will help in this area.
See what my crew mates thought of these books by clicking on the link below.

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HelpTeaching.com ~Review

2018-04-18T15:32:00.000-04:00

HelpTeaching.com is an online platform for educators to utilize worksheet generators, testing, lessons, and games with Help Teaching Pro.

HelpLearning.com has a free membership but it is limited in how many questions you can have on worksheets/tests and how many the program can store for you. Help Teaching Pro. gives you unlimited access to creating worksheets and tests. If you are testing younger children or need examples, you can add images to your questions. You also can save your tests as a pdf for printing out. The feature I liked most was the pre made worksheets and tests for a variety of subjects.

Sometimes I need to have some extra learning time for one of my students while I am working with a sibling. The HelpTeaching.com site has a variety of learning activities I can print out for the kids to keep them learning.

With HelpLearning.com there are
Tests and Worksheets
Lessons
Test Maker
Worksheet Generator
Online Testing.

Each of those things can be used with a variety of subjects such as;

English, Math, Science, Social Studies, Holidays for K-6, Vocational Studies, Early Education, Art and Music, Study Skills, and more. I say that covers about every subject we have in a school day!

Another benefit is that there are worksheets for every age group, and because you are designing your own tests, you can utilize that for each age group as well. It is a pretty universal tool for all homeschool families.

I had hoped to use this with my junior high age daughter but she really does have enough work to keep her busy. The one I need help keeping busy is my preschooler. I find that she loves worksheets! HelpTeaching.com has been great in utilizing worksheets for her to do school with her siblings.

HelpTeaching.com is easy to utilize and find the things you are wanting. You can search by subject or grade level to find just the right worksheets or tests.

We don't do much testing in our school, just our preference. I can see the Test Maker being a great resource for those who do. I tried it out for some of our work just to see how it works.
You can write your own questions or even browse questions already written in the library. You can browse them by subject or key word. The third option and a quick, easy way is to just type in a key word, grade and number of questions for a Quick Test.

Even within the Quick Test Options you have the ability to change and tweak the test the way you would like it. You can move things around, shuffle the questions, even browse for different ones. This really is helpful if you want to give a quick test on something that you maybe need to see if they learned it and need a review or not.
I found the Test Maker to be very user friendly which was wonderful!. There are over 170,000 questions in the question library. There is no way I would ever be able to think of that many to utilize. It truly is a wealth of help for those who desire to utilize random tests to keep their kids learning. I may even have to use tests more often just because it is fun making them with this program.
I always like to see if programs are purely secular in nature or if you can find some bible elements to it. HelpTeaching.com, when I did a search of Noah Ark in the questions, was given 92 questions available on a variety of grade levels. I thought that was great that these were included!

Once you start working with the Test Maker, you will come up with test ideas for all of their subjects!

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Exploring Creation with Human Anatomy and Physiology ~Review

2018-04-18T12:21:00.000-04:00

Apologia has long been our 'go to' for science for the past 14 years, and they continue to grow in scope with great sciences like Exploring Creation with Human Anatomy and Physiology
This may sound like it is high school science, but it isn't! Elementary and junior high age kids are learning this great study! That amazes me honestly. And if you have been homeschooling for a season, you realize that you rotate through the different sciences, and return again at a later time to the same one, just more in depth. This is one thing that Apologia is great at. We can study it, and though my 4th grader may not get it as much as my 8th grader, it is still sinking in and he is gleaning information on it.

I love using Apologia Science with all of my kids at once. Firstly it makes my life easier as the teacher when we can learn a subject all together. Secondly, it is much more fun to do science as a group than alone. With the Exploring Creation with Human Anatomy and Physiology Notebooking Journal my 8th grader can work at her level and journal the things she has been learning. Her book is meant for grades 3/4 and older. I find that it is a little bit too in-depth for my 4th grader so he is using the Exploring Creation with Human Anatomy and Physiology Junior Notebooking Journal which is meant for grades K to 2nd and 3rd grade. Apologia has always been a little more advanced for us, and the vastness of the information has had us using lower levels than what Apologia recommends.

Each workbook is consumable, and I love that there is a variety of different activities that they do in the books. It is much more like a journal than a workbook that you finish and toss away at the end of the year. Similar pages in both, but more advanced for my daughter.

My 4th grader is struggling to read and write, but still enjoys working on science. His junior book has coloring pages in place of writing sometimes and that is much easier for him to do while listening to me read. Strangely enough he got a little queasy learning about cells and the human systems. I would have thought he would have been the tough one and my daughter a bit squeamish , but it was the opposite.

If I don't have time to sit and read the Human Anatomy and Physiology Text Book , Apologia has it all on Human Anatomy and Physiology MP3 Audio CD which will read everything in the book for me. Sometimes I actually think they prefer that to my reading! There is a lot of reading for the teacher, as my kids prefer I read it then them try to read it themselves. I think this helps with discussion as well, as I can stop and mention something I may think of during the reading.
The CD doesn't allow for those extra 'mom moments' but in a busy time, they can listen to it or even re-listen to it later. I did see someone mention of taking the CD in the car to listen to it. We are on the road on Thursdays and that is just what I plan to do for reinforcement of what we have been learning about.

We learned about the history of human anatomy in the beginning of our studies and one of the experiments was to mummify apples. This was really fun for all of them to work on, even the 3 year old got involved. She had to taste the salt and we had to get another apple for her to eat!

Not only is there the text, and notebooking journals, MP3 Cd; there is Book Extras online!! For each lesson there are 10-20 links that go beyond the study. (Always have parental caution when using the links, as they can change). There are articles to read, videos to watch, and even memory songs. There is a gold mine of additional information that we are enjoying.

I feel like I focus much on the English, Math, and basics of our schooling and often the Sciences get pushed to the side. Just with a larger family and the busyness of running here and there. I want the Godly science that Apologia offers to be a bigger part of their homeschool education. Apologia gives resources in audio, physical, and visual that support the teacher in this. We will continue with our studies (even with the squeamish kid), and keep working through Apologia's Exploring Creation curriculum.

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Creation Illustrated ~Review

2018-04-04T08:48:00.000-04:00

Creation Illustrated puts out a quarterly magazine that is beautiful and points to all of God's creation. In each production, they have started designing a Unit Study to go along with the issue. With it just being the tail end of winter, we received two unit studies that were appropriate to the times. We received a Snow Unit Study that I was afraid we wouldn't be able to use. Well good old Kentucky weather gave us a snowstorm in the middle of March and it only seemed appropriate to focus on the Snow Unit Study.

The Snow Unit Study goes along with the Winter 2018 issue of Creation Illustrated. This magazine recently added a digital edition! It is an amazing magazine, full of creation information! I don't know how they choose just one unit study from each magazine, as there are many options.

We have been a bit busy lately, just focusing on the basics of school , and jumping back in with a Unit Study really has made me miss doing them. They are so helpful to do with a wide variety of aged children. We went ahead and did it right after our Bible time while I had everyone together.

The Unit study covers many subjects.

We had writing and penmanship, Vocabulary and Spelling, Bible Study, Science, Math, Geography, Art and some puzzles and activities to wrap it up.

We had a link to the digital magazine to read the article in about snow and how it relates to us as Christians. I thought the article was very well written and loved the comparisons that were made. We got to talk about this in depth in our study. You would need to purchase the digital magazine and the unit study separately.

The Intimacy of Snow had many spiritual lessons in it. We also looked up many of the vocabulary words, which broadened their knowledge as well.

I did print out the study guide, it is just easier for me to have it in front of me to use. I would recommend that the answer key does not have the pink tinted background. For those choosing to print it out, I am sure most would prefer white just to save on colored ink.

Creation Illustrated is entering its 25th year of publishing. Readers call it "The Christian answer to National Geographic". Each issue is divided into three sections.. Nature, Scripture and Living which gives it a well rounded approach.

Each issue has contests for homeschoolers such as coloring, photo and poetry.

The second unit study we received was on Pine Trees and this was based on the Fall 2017 issue of Creation Illustrated. I do plan to utilize this study as well, as we wrap up the snow unit study. It really can be used in any season, where the snow one we did much better enjoying it with actual snow on the ground.

The latest Spring 2018 Issue just came out and looks just as amazing! The unit study for this issue will be on butterflies, and I am excited to check that out as we warm up and the flowers start blooming.

I am still old school and prefer the physical copies. If you are like me, you can get a discounted

Subscription Here

A subscription to the digital issues is coming soon!

Social Media Links

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/CreationIllustrated/

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Drive Thru History Adventures ~Review

2018-02-28T20:08:00.002-05:00

Drive Thru History Adventures has been our favorite history series through our homeschool adventure. We have several of the series on DVD that have been watched repeatedly, and were excited to continue with this Homeschool History Curriculum. This is a series that catches the attention from the toddler through to the adults. So if we have the DVD's, why would we need an online subscription to the series?

Drive Thru History Adventures allows access to the

Bible History Adventures

American History Adventures

Ancient History Adventures

You can use your laptop, tablet, iPhone, or computer. History on the go!

We even hooked up the laptop to the TV for a larger screen and sound when we watched them as a family.
Dave Stotts is a funny guy, with a passion for history and truth. He brings the truth of the Bible to each episode, and connects it to the world around us.
We really enjoy watching him as he roams from place to place, changing vehicles and costumes.

In addition to the streaming of episodes, there is curriculum for each episode! I have always desired to have just a bit more to make it feel like 'school' and book work for learning History. Well now, I can print out the pages and the kids and I talk about it after the episode. I also have the answers if I was multi tasking during the viewing and missed it.

We spent our time in American History Adventures. We need more American History and it came at a perfect time. We watch it during our lunch hour. Shhh, the kids don't know they are doing school during lunch! Well they may when we work on the review pages, but by then lunch is done and we are back to school. This has been a great asset to the episodes. Each episode also has additional resources to go along with it.

Each episode will have a video as well as a summary of what the video will be about.

Each episode contains artistic renderings of that time period.

There are also downloads of some of the writings that will help further the study such as the Declaration of Independence, Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, The Magna Carta, Washington's letter to Governor George Clinton and more. Each pertaining to the time that we watched in the video. Each of these can be found in the Resources tab and on the individual episode page.

Additional there are side roads you can take to delve deeper

One of the exciting parts I really enjoyed from Drive Thru History Adventures was Drive Thru History Adventures TV. There are 18 videos with Dave Stotts that give weekly updates. There are videos on Christmas, Thanksgiving traditions as well. The videos are from 1-15 minutes in length.
In addition to these videos there are Side Road Videos where you can watch on the History of Presidents' Day, Saint Valentine, Coins of Herod the Great, and our favorite, The History of Cheese!

I was excited to hear in the recent update that they are working on a Gospel series from Acts to Revelation, with many more ideas for future episodes. As they get them completed they will be made available in the Drive Thru History Adventures as well.

There is also a private Facebook Group where you can interact with others using the Adventures, and see additional updates from Dave. And even greetings!

The videos take you to places you can only dream of traveling. All focused on Jesus, and His Story and how it relates to History.

Join now and get a bonus Gospels DVD with a annual subscription. Check out Drive Thru History Adventures for the coupon code.

See what my Crew Mates worked on during this review by clicking on the banner below.

Drive Thru History Adventures is offering 20% for readers of The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine.

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Starfall Education Foundation ~Review

2018-02-28T10:24:00.003-05:00

When we first received The Starfall Home Membership from Starfall Education Foundation
I thought it would be helpful for my older student in regards to progressing with his reading. He is 10, but more on a Kindergarten level reading. I was pleasantly surprised that The Starfall Home Membership was a bit easy for him. It boost his confidence, and really encouraged him that he was able to quickly progress through it. I was excited that the family membership could be used for more than one student, and was able to fall back on my 3 year old to help with the review. Why hadn't I thought of her early on? I tend to think most programs online will be too hard for her, not realizing she is growing up in the age of electronics and can manage my iPhone better than I can!
She has been loving the Starfall program on the computer!

It was helpful for her as well, that we have a touch screen computer. I am sure given time to practice with a mouse, she would have been able to figure that out as well.

Starting with my 10 year old. Starfall has both 1st Grade Reading and 1st Grade Math. I chose for Maverick to focus on the Reading, primarily the phonics portion. The phonics portion is broken up into units. We started with Unit 1 and found it to be a bit easy, so we looked through the units until we landed in Unit 5 to start. We did make sure to watch the helpful videos in each unit though, and these have been really helpful for him to remember some of the rules with vowels. I think he learns best with rhymes and songs.

The Starfall Home Membership was a great match for my 3 year old. She would get up first thing in the morning and want to do school. She didn't get to do it as often as she would have liked, since we only have one computer for school. She knew she could get some time in while her siblings were still asleep, and she took full advantage of that.

I really love that can explore the site on her own. She can go from doing ABC's to colors, with the touch of a finger. That the button she is supposed to push next is highlighted for her and she learned quickly how to maneuver her way through.
Some of the things she was able to explore were:
Making a calendar and learning about them.
Talking Library where she could listen to books be read to her.
ABC's where each individual letter has it's own lesson.
Colors

These were the sections that worked well for her age. Additionally there are decoding books, learning to read, phonics and more as she gets familiar with the letters and sounds.
My oldest who is almost 23 used Starfall, pre computer. I recall having a work book he used and small booklets he learned to read from . It is exciting that my 3 year old can use the same books, online to read that her oldest brother did. The longevity of Starfall, is a clear indication that it works!

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Bytes of Learning UltraKey Online ~Review

2018-02-21T15:15:00.000-05:00

We have been working with Bytes of Learning yearly subscription to UltraKey Online Family Subscription. We were given up to 7 users on this subscription which is perfect for a large family. You can purchase individual and school subscripitions as well.

The student with the most interest was my 13 year old daughter. She has been wanting to learn to type for some time, and hasn't had great success with other typing programs. She saw her Uncle typing at our house one time and she mentioned, wanting to learn to type so she didn't have to do it with 2 fingers like him. It was a struggle to watch him type!

This program works best with North American keyboards, but they are working on a version for UK, Australia and New Zealand.

It is compatible with Windows, Mac, Chrome books and Ipads. We used ours with Windows on a laptop.
We were given an exclusive link for our family, which I had to hunt down in the email sometimes. I wasn't computer savvy enough to realize I could somehow save it in my favorites to make it easier to get to.

Within the exclusive link, you can have sign ins for each member of the family. You begin this program by setting a goal. I had the computer set a goal for my daughter since she is brand new to typing.

To prepare the student for lessons, there are 2 movies that will be watched. The first is on Posture, and proper way to sit and square yourself up to do your typing. The second movie is on fingering which gives you the names of the fingers, keys and readies you for the lessons. The movies are just over 1 minute in length, and then has a small test to make sure you learned it. When you start the lessons, you have about a 3 minute video to watch. You can't get to the lessons until you watch these videos first.

The lessons also build upon themselves, beginning with the home row and adding in letters as you go. It also teaches numbers in a series of lessons. You need to be skillful in each lesson to move on.

There is a typing forum where you can take typing tests or use the typing tool for practice.

The dashboard allows me to manage each of the students. I can set goals, adjust settings, see their progress, and print out reports and certificates.
I can print out a diploma, typing certificate, and merit award. These are fun for the younger kids to get a reward as they progress. I am going to have to set up my 10 year old to learn this, he would enjoy getting the printed certificates.

I had planned on my college student trying this program, but he was always busy working on college work. So I played around with his account.

It was fun to go through the various typing tests and realize I may need some more practice, at least to get rid of some poor habits of mine. I tend to put a space after the end of the sentence, even when I was supposed to be starting a new paragraph. That dinged me quite often. It does hem you in and make you think more about your typing. It is set that you can't back space and fix your errors either.

I think my daughter is getting a lot out of this program. UltraKey online has been her favorite learn to type program so far and she has tried several of them. It is very straight forward, and easy to learn with. Perfect for every homeschool student to learn to type and not be like my brother the hen pecker.

Find Bytes of Learning online at these Facebook

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Psalm 5

2018-01-15T09:00:00.000-05:00

Psalm 5

A Morning Prayer for Guidance

To the Chief Musician upon Ne'-hi-loth a Psalm of David

Nehiloth is only found in this Psalm and it is unclear as to it's meaning. This is the first in the Psalms that calls for God's curse on the wicked. Is there an connection? Some Bibles interpret it as Wind Instruments. Strange though that this would be the only Psalm with this in the title.

Give ear to my words, O LORD;

consider my meditation.

Hearken unto the voice of my cry,

my King, and my God:

for unto thee will I pray.

My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O LORD;

in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee,

and will look up.

For thou art not a God that hath pleasure in wickedness:

neither shall evil dwell with thee.

The foolish shall not stand in thy sight:

thou hatest all workers of iniquity.

Thou shalt destroy them that speak leasing:

the LORD will abhor the bloody and deceitful man.

But as for me, I will come into thy house in the multitude of thy mercy:

and in thy fear will I worship toward thy holy temple.

Lead me, O LORD, in thy righteousness because of mine enemies;

make thy way straight before my face.

For there is no faithfulness in their mouth;

their inward part is very wickedness;

their throat is an open sepulchre;

they flatter with their tongue. Rom. 3.13

Destroy thou them, O God;

let them fall by their own counsels;

cast them out in the multitude of their transgressions;

for they have rebelled against thee.

But let all those that put their trust in thee rejoice:

let them ever shout for joy, because thou defendest them:

let them also that love thy name be joyful in thee.

For thou, LORD, wilt bless the righteous;

with favor wilt thou compass him as with a shield.

http://www.bartleby.com/108/19/5.html

Sometimes I just enjoy reading it in KJV. I enjoy the variety for sure.

He will cover us with his shield, those who are righteous..

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Psalm 4

2018-01-11T09:00:00.000-05:00

Along with my study of the Psalms, I wanted to work in a study of the Names of God. Here in Psalm 4:1 is the only time Elohe Tsadeki.. God of my Righteousness is used in the scripture.

Christ is our righteousness. I love how Jesus is shown in the Psalms, even before he came to earth as a man.

A Psalm of David with stringed instruments. I looked up the specific instruments that they would have used. They were going for a specific sound to this Psalm.

Lyre: A lyre has a body with two arms, which are joined by a crossbar. The strings stretch from the body to the crossbar.

Harp: Harps have a neck at an angle to the body, either arched (of the same piece as the body) or angular (the neck fastened to the body at a near right angle).

Lute: A lute has strings stretched along a neck attached to a resonating body, as does a guitar-like or violin-like instrument.

Subtitled in Henry Morris KJV as "An Evening Prayer for Deliverance". David first calls upon God in his distress, rather than going to man. A perfect example of how our prayers should be. Cry out to God and ask Him to hear our prayer.

We get to Selah again in this Psalm after verse 2 and 4.

Verse 8 really gives Peace for an evening prayer. "I will both lay down in peace, and sleep; for thou, LORD, only makest me to dwell in safety. "

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Psalm 3

2018-01-08T09:00:00.000-05:00

Psalm 3 is our first mention of Selah.. the word I had chosen as my Word for 2017. The Passion Translation rather than writing Selah, says Pause in His Presence. I did some research on this word Selah, and it is thought to be a musical term for a pause or rest. It is used 71 times in the Psalms. The Psalms are hymns and songs, so this is a pause to the musicians, which gives an opportunity for reflection for the listeners. I read this Psalm with those pauses, to look back at the last verse spoken to see what God would want me to reflect on.

There is a Selah after verse 2, and 8. In verse 2, David is saying how the people are slandering God, saying that God can't even save him. Pause.. Verse 3 claims God as his shield that fully surrounds him. Glory to God. He is our shield. Not just a front facing shield either, a fully encompassing shield from all sides.

Verse 3 from the Holman Standard reads "But You, LORD, are a shield around me, my glory and the One who lifts up my head".
KJV reads "But thou, O LORD, art a shield for me; my glory, and the lifter up of mine head."

The one who lifts, and the lifter up.. Always gently taking his hand under our chin and lifting it up to his gaze. What a beautiful word picture.

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Psalm 2

2018-01-04T09:00:00.000-05:00

Psalm 2 has a couple of introductory titles.

The Coronation of the King

The Messiah's Triumph and Kingdom

The Reign of the Lord's Annointed

All show examples that this Psalm is pointing to the coming Messiah. I love reading in the Old Testament, the prophesies that have so vividly come to pass already. As we are playing out more prophesies currently, it is amazing how accurately God portrayed them, and fulfills them.

I love how Psalm 2:11& 12 reads in The Passion Translation;

"Serve and worship the awe-inspiring God. Recognize his greatness and bow before him,

trembling with reverence in his presence.

Fall down before him and kiss the feet of his Son..."

The 12 verses in this Psalm are broken up into different voices.

The first is the Nations. In verse 4 God speaks. Verse 7 Jesus speaks and finally in Verse 10, the Holy Spirit speaks.

Trembling with Reverence can also be Rejoice with Trembling
The Hebrew word for 'rejoice' means to "spin around with excited emotions or 'twirl".

We know from Genesis that all three in the trinity have always been, and I love finding the Holy Spirit and Jesus pop up in the Old Testament.

In our minds today, let us bow down and kiss our Savior's feet.

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Psalms To Color & Soothe The Soul *Review

2018-01-03T09:00:00.000-05:00

Psalms to Color and Soothe the Soul allows readers to express their praise for God by coloring in 47 beautiful scenes that include passages from the Book of Psalms. The floral patterns, nature scenes, and imaginative designs provide ample opportunity to engage in joyful coloring that will inspire and soothe the devoted reader's soul. These were fantastic to go along with my study of the Psalms. The pages are nice and thick and single sided, especially nice if you want to use markers or gel pens for coloring. Beautiful artwork by Felicity French. This book is outstanding quality and both the colored pictures by you, and the book itself make excellent gifts.

What is your favorite Psalm? These are some of the more popular ones, with beautiful words from God to color and focus on.

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Psalm 1

2018-01-01T09:00:00.000-05:00

As God leads me through the Psalms, I thought I would record my journey for myself mainly, but if you want to come along you are welcome. I am just a student of the Word, untrained, undisciplined, but with a desire to grow in Him.

Psalm 1 lays out two paths for people. The godly and the ungodly. The godly path leads to renewal, refreshment, and constant nourishment like a tree planted by everlasting water. Because we love the Lord, we delight in His laws, knowing full well that they are better than anything we can come up with on our own. That nourishing, living water gives us the opportunity to bear fruit.

The ungodly path is one of being blown away in the wind like the chaff of wheat. The unusable portion that gets cast to the wind. They have no security, no constant nourishment. They are not planted, but blown around by the wind. They will perish.. die..

The Psalms lay out right from the start, the right path we should be on. Easy to see the differences in life from those who focus on the law of the Lord, and those who neglect it. Laws are there out of love for us. The boundaries of the law keep us hemmed in, and on the path to righteousness. The laws aren't made to enslave us, but to set us free. Much of the Word is opposite of what the world teaches. To be free, we must lay down our lives to our creator. There is the true freedom to soak in the beautiful water of our savior, and to be rooted and planted deeply in Him.

This was a printed page that I could just color. Sometimes I need these easy steps to give me the opportunity to get it done, and not worry about the art work.

Thank you Jesus

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A Study in the Psalms

2017-12-29T09:30:00.000-05:00

I have really felt the Lord nudging me to study the Psalms. I have been reading through the Bible, and when I got to the Psalms I couldn't just fast track through them. I skipped ahead to Isaiah and decided to keep reading there and add the Psalms and then Proverbs in additionally. The Psalms are just too good to read several in a sitting.
With the start of the new year, felt like a great time to really delve into each Psalm. To focus on each as long as I need, whether a day or a week.
I'd like to say I will share each Psalm with you and my thoughts, but I imagine I will miss some. Some posts may just be a photo of the Psalm, maybe some Bible Journaling, or a photo of my handwritten word. No deep commentary, we will leave that to Henry Morris.

My Psalms study will begin with my morning devotion time. Above are a few of the resources I am using. I have linked them below if you want to take a closer look.

The Psalms The Passion Translation

Journible Psalms

Take Action NKJV Bible

Reformation Study Bible

Henry Morris KJV study Bible

As I study I may see other books that help, but for now this is plenty to get me started. I start with The Passion Translation. This version reads very fluidly. This particular version also has simple illustrations and lines for journaling which I may get to eventually. For now I am reading the Psalm in here through a couple times. Then I move on to the NKJV of the Psalm. Read it through once and I am using that version then to write out the Psalm in the Journible.

After I write it out in the Journible I look at the study Bibles and read each of them including the commentary on the Psalm. Praying as I read it that God reveals what He wants me to get from the Psalm.

Reading the Psalm at least 6 times, in a variety of translations, really helps me to think on it throughout the day.
I have also had an interest in Hymns lately, having ordered a couple old hymnals on ebay so that I have actual Hymns on hand. I think it is fitting as Psalms are musical, and were sung. Many of the Hymns written were taken from the Psalm and as I have time I will look up specific Hymns that may have been written for each Psalm.

I invite you to join me on the Study in the Psalms and share what you may be learning from each one as well.

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Brainstorming #Wordoftheyear 2018

2017-12-15T18:38:00.002-05:00

God has been speaking to me lately, and it seems to coincide with the idea of the Word of the Year. Last year I had Selah, to pause and think. I did some, but not to the degree I would have liked. I desired to study the entire book of Psalms. Didn't happen. I started too many projects that never were finished. Even this blog, it has been over a month since I posted. I am clearly in need of direction and diligence. The Lord is popping these type of words in my mind

Diligent
Purposeful
Intentional.

I have been looking up scripture verses on them, and praying on what direction to take the next year. Which of these, though similar will be the focus.
I need something to change, in my school days, my craft time, my time with Jesus. I take on too much, and then nothing is done well.
Still praying, for just the right word, but perhaps it will be more of a concept..
Have you thought of a word for the new year?

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