Roar Like a Lion (New Devotional for kids~ Review + Giveaway)

Hello, friends! 

Goodness, but it has been quite some time since I have had a book to review here~ with the world so crazy and all for the past couple of years. I don't know about you, but oftentimes these days I find myself simply shaking my head, and wondering what on earth can be done to help tame some of the crazy. Levi Lusho understands that if the adults are feeling this sense of overwhelm, then the young ones in our lives probably are as well. He has written a  new devotional, Roar Like a Lion, filled with many little nuggets to help your kids navigate some of the unsteady, scary, and uncomfortable situations they are sure to encounter as they grow up, as well as learn to be bold in their faith. 

Although my kids are no longer the target age of this new devotional, having experienced the concerns of the younger ages, I do feel qualified to offer my opinion on this book. 😄

 

First, the less essential, but important details of the cover and graphics. This hardback book has a very eye-catching, colorful illustration of a roaring lion, and has a very smooth touch to the hand. It is an easy size to hold~ not too big and not too small. 

Each page has child friendly illustrations and colorful borders that give me a bit of a vintage Ruth Chrisman Gannett (Illustrator of My Father's Dragon, Miss Hickory, and other classics) vibe. Sorry for going a little geeky on the art, but that is a big part of a children's book's attraction for me. ;) 

For the more Nitty-Gritty, each devotional includes pleasing illustrations, fascinating facts, Bible verses and prayers, along with some simple action steps. This 90-day devotional will help your kids approach both fun moments and tough times with their hearts set on God's faithfulness.

                            

Roar Like A Lion covers topics like:

                            Facing fears about school and friendships

                            Dealing with peer pressure and bullying

                            Handling new challenges, disappointments, and grief

                            Having courage to try something new

                            Understanding how we each fit into God's great story

The devotionals are short and sweet (double-page spread), but pack a quick little punch of Biblical truth or wisdom that a child can understand and hold on to. I feel like even if you have older kids listening in, they might pick up on some of the truths, which are, after all, universal to all ages. ;) 

Whether using this as a start to your child's day, a before bed devotional, or a "tea-time" read (I think it would work well in an after school program for a snack-time devotional also~ just the right length!), these devotions offer simple encouragement to grow faith, and learn to share the Good News! 

Here's a look at the table of Contents: 

 #RoarLikeALionMIN
#roarlikealion
#tommynelsonbooks

Order Roar Like A Lion today and help the child in your life follow Christ more closely this Fall (or put it away and pull it out for a "New Year" new devotional option, Birthday present, Christmas present...). 

Tommy Nelson is also allowing me to give away one physical copy of this devotional to one of my US readers. It is a short turnaround for this giveaway, as I have to have your shipping information in to them by the 29th, so enter now! :)  


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Blessings~

Disclosure: Many thanks to Thomas Nelson for providing this product/product information for review.  Opinions are 100% my own and NOT influenced by monetary compensation.  I did receive the product in exchange for this review and post.

Do you know how our bodies work? Apologia has answers for your Elementary Student!

I enjoyed using Apologia's Young Explorer Series in the past, with my two older children, so I was delighted to be asked to review Exploring Creation with Human Anatomy and Physiology, which includes the text, an mp3* audio narration of the text, and two levels of their notebooking journal, the regular and the junior version.

I'm guessing that most of my readers have heard of Apologia if they've been homeschooling for very long, but for those who are new to this homeschooling thing, let me give you a quick run-down on some of the reasons why I appreciate Apologia.

• The text is written directly to the student, and is somewhat more conversational than the textbooks I grew up with. 
• Science is approached from a Christian Worldview, clearly and logically articulated, and reinforced through questions and activities that include that worldview.  
• The activities and experiments suggested in the book are generally able to be completed with normal household materials that one is likely to have on hand. 

Now, when I first used Apologia's Exploring Creation series, well over a decade ago, it simply consisted of the text. There was no MP3 audio CD (Helpful for those who have reading disabilities, or who simply process more easily when listening to audio), nor were there premade journaling notebooks. We had a printable pdf with notebooking pages, mostly for narration purposes, but nothing like the resource that was sent to us with the text for this review.

The course includes 14 Lessons, with a recommended pace similar to their High School Modules of 2 weeks per lesson, so a full year course.  The Lessons are:

1. Introduction to Anatomy and Physiology
2. The Skelatal System
3. The Muscular System
4. The Digestive and Renal Systems
5. Heath and Nutrition
6. The Respiratory System
7. Life in the Blood
8. The Cardiovascular System
9. The Nervous and Endocrine Systems
10. The Nervous System Extended
11. Your Senses
12. The Integumentary System
13. The Lymphatic and Immune System
14. Growth and Development 

The two journals include all the pages you will need (and more) to maintain a record of what your child has learned in the course with pages to write their narrative answers to the "Tell someone what you've learned" questions.  There are a few variations, of course. For example, the Junior Journal includes coloring pages, more flap books for vocabulary activities and the copy work pages use guidelines, where the older journal does not, while the regular Journal includes more detailed and difficult crossword puzzles

Journal Page found in both books

I will admit that my 5th grader's handwriting is not fabulous yet (remember the recent cursive review?) so the opportunity to have him practice in the notebook is helpful, but in this instance, he might benefit more from the younger journal instead of the older one as he is still working on uniform letter size.

Sample Copywork pages from Regular and Junior Journals

This was also his first experience with a larger crossword puzzle (more words) with smaller boxes~ Ummmm... I said to use a pencil for a reason... ;) This was also one of those activities that took much longer than I expected, but he is improving. :)

Use a pencil, bud! ;) 

Both journals include full-color Minibooks to add to each lesson. These pages are found in the back of the journal. Although not my circumstance, because I only have one student, I appreciate that these are almost identical (with the exception of the writing lines, which again, have guidelines in the junior version) so that those with multi-age students are able to have some journaling activities that are the same.


I am including a photo of the back of the Muscle Minibook prior to gluing it into the journal, so that you can see how clear the directions are.

A little bit more about the MP3~ It is read by the author, Jeannie Fulbright, herself. Her voice and inflections are pleasant to listen to, and I will note that she does not entirely read the text word-for-word, but all of the material is covered.
* The MP3 audio CD must be played on an MP3 compatible player, typically on your computer. This becomes a bit of an issue as more computers are made without DVD drives, so offering it as a download might be a useful suggestion.

Here's a little bit of information on how/why the Exploring Creation Immersion approach to science works, in Jeannie Fulbright's words:


I will also mention that when you purchase the text, you gain access to a password-protected resource that includes MANY extra links for further research and study if something, in particular, catches your child's interest.  Here is a screenshot of the first part of the resources.

As you can see, Apologia offers a very thorough and very engaging course for your young scientist, and their curriculum is something that I can highly recommend, as it has been one of my personal choices to purchase and use since almost the very beginning of my homeschooling career.

Not So Nutty Nitty Gritty 

• Company: Apologia 
• Product: Exploring Creation with Human Anatomy and Physiology
• Ages: K-6th grade
• Price: 
• $49.00 Text
• $29 each for the journals and the MP3 CD Audio book

You can connect with Apologia on any of their many Social Media pages: 

Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, Google+, and YouTube

Please click the banner below to visit the TOS Homeschool Review Crew and see what others had to say. As always, I hope that this review was useful to you as you choose where best to spend your homeschool budget.

Blessings~

#hsreviews  #homeschool,  #homeschooling,
#elementaryscience,  #youngexplorerseries,
#exploringcreation,  #apologiascience  #homeschoolscience

The Magic Stories (Reading Supplement Review and Giveaway)

The ability to read is probably the most valuable scholarly skill that can be taught, as virtually all other instruction builds on that capacity. It is also one of those skills that can cause a great deal of anxiety and frustration for both parent/teacher and young child. Supplemental materials that offer learning opportunities in an engaging manner, like The Magic Stories can be a huge blessing to those teaching early reading, or helping those who struggle with reading.

The Magic Stories is a new product put out by Allsaid & Dunn, LLC,  publishers of the highly acclaimed "Wordly Wise" vocabulary series, and also a product I reviewed a number of years ago, The Reading Game. This time, instead of a workbook (like Wordly Wise), or a matching game (like the Reading Game), the chosen format is a set of six stories optimized for reading on iPad or computer screen, or they can be printed out in booklet form. I just read them on my computer screen, as my ipad has limited capacity at the moment. If your child loves to read and color, printing them would be a good option, as there are nice, black and white illustrations suitable for coloring in (probably with colored pencil).

   

The purpose behind this particular series is to help children move from the simpler, early beginning reader words to some that are more complex, but not easily decoded through basic phonetic skills and word family association. This is done by incorporating "40 Naughty Words" that don't follow the rules, and need to be learned somewhat more individually. Each Story includes its own set of 40 Naughty Words in a deck of cards that can be printed for flashcard use, or game play (Print twice on cardstock and use it to play a concentration/matching game, or Go Fish or Old Maid, or anything similar your child enjoys. :). These cards are the main method of learning the vocabulary for these books.

In addition to the stories, you can download  worksheets which include a pre/post word assessment (highly recommended to use this prior to reading the story). There are also reading comprehension worksheets, as well as instructions on how to best use the stories with your children. All of these can be found on the Parent Guide section of the website.

• Finish the Sentence (comprehension exercise that requires the student to finish a sentence about the story, with information gleaned from the story.)
• Imagine (Open-ended type questions)

• Finish the Story 

        

• And my personal favorite, a True/False comprehension "Maze" that I think is fun and creative! :) 

          

Now, a word about the stories. The stories are engaging and most of them end up with some sort of moral application, as all good stories do. Here is my quick take away from each story.

The Magic Hole is set in China ~ sometimes the silver lining can actually be the treasure in the end.
The Magic Ax is in an ambiguous forest setting~ having secrets (that might normally be considered good news) can change you (usually not for the best).
The Magic Joke is set in a kingdom ~ in which a foolish king is saved from "war for war's sake" by the quick thinking of his daughter.
The Magic Hotdog is more of a cautionary tale~ in which we learn that an obsession with anything (even something as simple as hot dogs) is not good for your health.
The Magic Boots didn't actually have as much of a take-away, in my opinion. Just a little story about a mix-up between pixies and goblins.
The Magic Box is a different take on Rumplestiltskin, a cautionary tale of the dangers of greed, to some extent. (side note~ I don't particularly love cautionary tales, because they generally don't have a happy ending... :/ However, others love them, so this is just an FYI).

The stories as a whole remind me of some of the fairy tales I read as a child, and the fact that they have specific words woven through them so seamlessly is pretty impressive. If you appreciate the qualities of fairy tales, you might want to give the Magic Stories a try with your intermediate/reluctant/struggling reader.

Allsaid & Dunn are offering my readers a 25% discount on your purchase if  you input the code   raisingreaders   into the coupon box at checkout.

They are also providing a free set of Magic Stories for one reader of my blog... see the giveaway below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Not So Nutty Nitty Gritty 

• Company: Allsaid & Dunn, LLC, Publishers 
• Product: The Magic Stories
• Ages: 2nd and 3rd grade (regular readers, older for struggling readers) 
• Price: $16.95

You can visit The Magic Stories on the Reading Game's Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and YouTube pages.

Please click the banner below to visit the TOS Homeschool Review Crew and see what others had to say. As always, I hope that this review was useful to you as you choose where best to spend your homeschool budget.

Blessings~

Reading Eggs (Reading Eggspress Review)

I reviewed Reading Eggs with my Youngest as a beginning reader a couple of years ago (Whoops! Make that review 5+ years ago~ man time flies!), and it was one of the programs that he really enjoyed, even asking as recently as this year if he could use it, even though he had surpassed the age range/reading ability of the main program. ;) YOu can imagine he was very pleased to be on the review again, so that we could try out the program for older elementary students, Reading Eggspress. If you aren't familiar with Reading Eggs at all, here is a quick rundown of the basic programs they offer:

• Reading Eggs Junior for 2-4 year olds (pre-readers)
• Reading Eggs for 4-7 years old (beginning readers) 
• Reading Eggspress for for 7-13 years old (fluent readers) 
• and their non-reading program, Mathseeds for children aged 3-9

I received a 6 month subscription to Reading Eggs, which allowed me to access every part of the program. Reading Eggs is offering Homeschool Review Crew readers a four week Free Trial if you click through this link, so that you can check them all out as well, if you have children in the 2-13 year old range.

Program Set up
Your child will take an placement test when first accessing the lessons (which is probably the only difficulty we've had~ my son took the test on the ipad, and wished that there was a "submit" button for each problem, as a couple of times his finger slipped and hit an answer that was wrong, but it submits automatically, so he ended up in a level that may be a bit below his actual abilities. However, that being said, I appreciate the level he ended up in, as he is learning to be more careful with his answers. ;) If I was truly dissatisfied with his level, Reading Eggs offers the ability for the parent to adjust the level manually or have the student take the placement test again. This is true for the reading and math programs both.

Sample placement test question. Test continues until 2 questions are missed

Once the placement test is taken, your student can continue directly to their Reading Eggs dashboard where they can access the various areas of the program.

The central location contains the meat of the program, the Lessons. Each Lesson contains 9 or 10 activities that must be passed in order to continue to the next lesson on their map. Parents can keep track of progress on the parent dashboard as well as through progress reports sent directly to their email.

• English Skills contains the Reading Eggs Spelling program
• The Stadium offers the opportunity to pit their knowledge in Spelling, Grammar, Vocabulary, or Usage against other Reading Eggs users across the world. 

• The Library contains a variety of books to read, and each book comes with built in comprehension quizzes. I would recommend keeping an eye on the books your child is reading, as there may be those that you wouldn't care for your child to read (one of the "books of the day" highlighted in the library the day I chose to take screenshots for this review was "The Trouble With Boyfriends" ~ not exactly what the target age for this program should be reading in my opinion, but to each his own... The other book of the day was on Railroads, so would be much more appealing to my 10 year old son. :) ) 

The library allows kids to browse a variety of reading genres and search for topics, but again, be aware of what they are choosing. ;) As with any library there are good books and twaddle..

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Extras at the back of a book on the Civil War

• Targets offers challenges to help students make use of the various aspects of the program

• The Mall, the Apartments, The Trophy Room, and the Arcade are the "fun" parts of the program that let your child utilize his accumulated points (reading eggs earned by reading and answering questions)  This is one of my son's favorite things, and his incentive to do more than I ask each day. :) 

In addition to the electronic program, Reading Eggs offers printable bonus materials. 

• Activity sheets that correspond to each lesson for Reading Eggs and Mathseeds  (Homeschool Worksheets with an overview for the parent instructor and printable worksheets to reinforce each lesson, and Color ) and Reading Eggspress (English comprehension and Spelling Worksheets that correspond to each lesson).

• Parent User Guide which shows how to use the program and contains Lesson Overviews (scope and sequence) for Reading Eggs and Reading Eggspress.

• Homeschool Program that offers a schedule for the whole year for grades K-2 covering Reading, Math, Science, and Social Studies, utilizing books in the Reading Eggs library of over 2500 titles.

While there are a few books/topics I would prefer to weed out, by and large, I appreciate the approach to phonics (which thankfully main stream education is coming back to), comprehension, and basic reading skills. 

If this is something you are interested in, you have nothing to lose by signing up for that Four Week Free Trial mentioned at the beginning of my review. 

Not So Nutty Nitty Gritty 

• Company: Reading Eggs
• Product: Six Month Subscription Reading Eggs Products
• Ages: 2 years old - 13 years old
• Price: 
• 6 month subscription: $49.95
• 1 year subscription: $59.95
• Discounts for 2nd and 3rd children using the program (50% off)

You can visit Reading Eggs on their Social Media Pages:
Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, and YouTube

Please click the banner below to visit the TOS Homeschool Review Crew and see what others had to say about Reading Eggspress, as well as Reading Eggs, Reading Eggs Junior, and Mathseeds. As always, I hope that this review was useful to you as you choose where best to spend your homeschool budget.

Blessings~

#hsreviews #readingeggs #learntoread