Eagerly, I opened all of the pdfs from the Learning about Science Collection, Level I, an elementary science curriculum from WriteBonnieRose to figure out which one my grandson and I would start with. I couldn't decide. Everything looked so fun with adorable illustrations and loads of easy-to-understand information. 

A little advanced for my young grandson because Learning About Science Collection, Level I is for first to third graders, we plunged ahead anyway. At first glance through everything, my favorite things was the enchanting illustrations. 

"Okay, stop thinking about how cute everything is and decide what you should study with the kids," I thought. Each of the seven books are complete in themselves, totaling 172 pages. I looked again at the titles: Familiar Plants and How They Grow, Fruits and Vegetables Around the World, Animal Habitats of the World, Our Senses and Systems and How They Work, Learning about Life Cycles, Earth: Layers, Earthquakes, and Volcanoes, and Exploring States of Matter. 

I wanted to do them all, but I finally decided to start with Fruits and Vegetables Around the World. We had so much fun learning about different fruits and vegetables, coloring the pictures, and tracing the words to practice handwriting! I learned new things about them fruit and vegetables like that China grows lots of pears which come in a variety of colors. There was a lot of information packaged in easy-to-understand writing that was impressive. This curriculum is perfect for little lambs to learn science.  

Hands-on History Fun is what Home School in the Woods delivers with Project Passport Renaissance & Reformation. We had a blast together traveling back in time to a era filled with beautiful art, interesting philosophies, breathtaking architecture, and a rediscovery of the truth of the Gospel in Scripture. 

I was completely amazed by the depth, creativity, and hands-on fun this project contained. It was a blast!

Now, let me take you through our experience with Project Passport Renaissance & Reformation. 

When I first downloaded Project Passport Renaissance & Reformation, I felt a little overwhelmed. There were so many files!

Stop #1 took us the longest time. We made our scrapbook, started the luggage folder, and put our Scrapbook of sights together to fill later. Once we finished those things, we felt like we were in the groove of things. We decided to start the newspaper project later.

​I printed a bunch of pdfs and we started coloring.

At this point the group working on our Passport Project expanded to include older members of the family who thought everything was so exciting. 

"Why didn't we do this when I was in school?" someone asked. I was thrilled! It's never too late to learn more about the Renaissance and Reformation. ​

As a pastor's wife, I look forward to hearing about and reading books on biblical sexuality because the world is promoting everything contrary to biblical love inside marriage. When Love, Honor, and Virtue: Gaining or Regaining a Biblical Attitude Toward Sexuality arrived in the mail from Great Waters Press, I couldn't wait to read it. 

I am so excited to recommend this book to young men, older men, parents, pastors, and counselors. A wonderful book! Insightful, easy-to-read, and straight to the point. In fact, I was excited to see how honest and open they were about the struggles young men, and older men, face in combating temptations they face each and every day. 

Hal and Melanie have wisdom that works because it's straight from the Word of God. He created the young men that are in a constant battle to remain pure for the glory of God. He knows how to overcome the evil one. 

Topics addressed in the eight chapters include: 

• God's Plan for Men & Women 
• Satan's Perversion of God's Plan
• Temptation
• Winning the Battle
• Forgiveness
• Recovering from a Fall
• Virtue
• Pornography
• Masturbation
• Lust
• Finding a Wife

 
Each topic is covering with honesty and a clear biblical perspective. 

Code for Teens sent me Code for Teens: The Awesome Beginner's Guide to Programming Volume I. 

"Oh, dear!" I thought as I opened the package. My heart started pounding. My mouth went dry. "Computers, programming, technology. It all sounds so scary."

Lucky for me my teens are not afraid of computer programming. In fact, they think it's pretty cool!

Since my fearless teens weren't home, I flipped open the book. To my surprise, I was delighted. It was bright and cheery! I love bright colors. Best of all, the writer made me chuckle. He made me relax. By the time I had finished the introduction, I thought that I could do anything with a computer. He gave me hope!

I loved that the book instilled confidence in the reader with the tone and easy-to-read explanations and directions. 

Here are some things I really liked:
It started with the basics and built slowly on them, step by step. 
It summarized key concepts at the end of each chapter. 
There will drills to cement learning. 
The review included everything that had learned so far. I appreciate that because sometimes when I'm learning the current topic, I forget the previous one. 

I recommend letting students learn at their own pace. Some will move quickly and others more slowly. 

What is great way to eat popcorn, curl up with a pillow, and do school at the same time? 

Right! 

Watch a movie. Movies can enrich our homeschooling experience! Movies are fun! 

Our first experience with using movies for school was Gidget Goes Hawaiian when we did a unit study on Hawaii. Since then, we have expanded to including monthly movies for history and geography. 

Different scenes come to my mind from movies I've seen over the years. My idea of the Sahara desert comes from watching movies where the hero is trekking across the Sahara. The image I have of a Middle Eastern Bazaar comes from watching Indiana Jones. So many movies I've seen are set in New York City that I feel like I know that city though I've only been there three times in my life. Likewise, the Anne movies make me feel that Prince Edward Island is my second home. Movies draw you in and if they do a good job of making ancient, or more modern times, come alive, they will benefit your children. ​

In our house, we often start our study of a time period by working on a timeline while we watch a movie. When we studied the 20th Century decade by decade, we would work on a timeline and watch a movie.

As we pasted photos of President Wilson, Russia's Stalin, and Germany's Kaiser Wilhelm, we watched the exciting story of Sergeant York, a godly hero of World War I. Our next step was to learn about the Balkans, the step-by-step unfolding of World War I, the War to End All Wars, heroes like Nurse Cavell, and dog fighting.  For us, it's been a fun way to introduce a new season of study. 

Other times, we have used movies as a treat when we finish a unit study. 

Whether we watch movies in the beginning, middle, or end of a history study, movies are a hit in our house! 

Here are some of our favorites. 

I was excited to read the delightful book Josefina's Story Quilt and to go through Josefina's Story Quilt e-Guide from Progeny Press. What fun!

The story is easy to read so little ones can read it aloud to Mom. At a chapter a day, that's six days. During that time, we made bread, looked up photographs online of the California Trail, and found some old quilts at a nearby museum. 

We just did the questions/workbook pages as we read the book. They were easy to answer and enjoyable, too. 

I was surprised at the amount of grammar covered in this little guides. Things like "Metaphor" were explained in easy-to-understand language. We found the metaphor easily, though I would have completely missed it if not for the study guide drawing attention to it. 
​
​We adapted the quilt project in the study guide. We stared by choosing our photos with clip art and made a template with the photos, putting them in squares to make a plan for the quilt. Next, we are going to get fabric paint and white muslin so we can draw the photos. Finally, we will stitch together the muslin squares to make our own story book quilt. We will probably make more squares. 

The best part of the study guides is the Scripture that is tied in to the story. Looking up verses, children apply biblical principles to the novel they are studying. In The Josefina Quilt Story, the little girl prays in the story so there is Scripture about prayer and questions related to pray in the story and prayer in our own lives. I love it!

I have been thinking about getting my master's degree, but what holds me back is taking the GRE because of that pesky math. Math Essentials had the answer for me when they asked me to review Math Refresher for Adults, a workbook for adults who want to remember all that math of long ago. I love it!

Don't get me wrong, I loved math, but over the years, the memories of equations and methods are murky. 

I was so excited to get my hands on Math Refresher for Adults because I also lead a homeschool co-op and this was thrilling to me. Why? Well, my homeschool co-op is filled with Moms who are TERRIFIED of math. It's not just that they don't remember it--they hate it! I can only imagine that their experience with math has been negative.  Unfortunately, they have passed this on to their children who avoid doing their math like the plague. 

Was this a piece of the puzzle for moms in this situation? I was eager to find out. 

I decided to use Bible Study Guide for All Ages Beginner 3-K as a Bible Study Curriculum for our Sunday School class of mixed ages (4-8). Yes, that is a broad age range, but Bible Study Guide for All Ages had the perfect curriculum for our small church. ​

Our little Sunday school class includes readers and non-readers, so we used the younger version so that the youngest ones could keep up. 

We have four different sets of teachers that teach once a month, so our Bible curriculum has to be easy to use and simple to jump right into. This was a perfect fit! 

Each child got their own study guide with a complete lesson on the front and back of one page. We have used it for six weeks with great success. Each of the teachers are enjoying it because the lessons are so clear and easy-to-understand. 

​I just hosted a baby shower and we had a blast playing a brand new game, The Price is Right.

You’re right! It’s based on an old TV show with a baby shower twist.

The Price is Right Baby Shower game is the perfect game to entertain guests at a baby shower.

It’s quite fun to see your guests pricing skills!

​Everyone was laughing and having a great time while we played.

The game is easy to play, and afterward, all of the products from the game can be given to the new mom as an extra gift.

What is so great about this game?

Well, each element can be customized to fit the baby shower theme.

From the items you purchase, down to creating the handout – You can be as creative as you want to be!

If you think there's not much Colonial American history in Florida, you're wrong. 

The British may have settled in Virginia and Massachusetts, eventually dotting the east coast of America with colonies down to Savannah, but Florida was colonized by the Spanish. 

The Spanish established Saint Augustine in 1565 by Admiral Pedro Menendez de Aviles and his men. This city, though it changed hands several times from Spanish to British to Spanish to American, it has remained occupied all these years. 

A delightful place to visit, Saint Augustine is like stepping back in time with its rugged Spanish fort beside the sparkling water and sturdy historic buildings. 

My family loves to hop in the van and drive two hours to sightsee and shop. We have logged many hours in Saint Augustine. We have also participated in many homeschooling field trips to St. Augustine.

Keep in mind, Saint Augustine is a real town. People live there. Merchants and inn keepers make a living in this historic city. Still, it is like stepping back in time. 

Our family's favorite places in Saint Augustine? I'm glad you asked. 

We always go to the Fort. Castillo de San Marcos is an old Spanish fort made of stone and mortar, the oldest fort in the continental U.S.A. We meander through the little rooms, take photos by the canons, and enjoy the view of the ocean. We always learn something new from our visit to the fort.