My friend Gracie helped me to review Hake/Saxon Grammar & Writing 3 from Hake Publishing.

To be honest, she wasn't too excited at first. Grammar? Who enjoys grammar? However, when we started digging into the  lesson, she enjoyed it! She was more enthusiastic about later lessons.

Let me tell you about Hake/Saxon Grammar & Writing 3.

I received three books: a grammar workbook, a writing workbook, and a teacher's manual. 

We did all of lesson one in both workbooks in a half hour. Now keep in mind that this was Gracie's first introduction to real grammar instruction. 

The teacher's manual is very detailed and perfect for any mom who needs step-by-step help in teaching the lesson. Gracie's mom looked through the teachers manual while Gracie and I worked on the lessons. She liked it!

Even if you don't have the teacher's manual, you will not have any problem teaching this material. The workbooks are user-friendly for Mom and student.

ARTistic Pursuits, Inc. has an amazing new art curriculum, Art for Children, Building a Visual Vocabulary Full Video Lesson Grade K-3. We got to try it out in our house. 

The book, part of the ARTistic Pursuits Art Instruction Books with DVD and Blu-Ray, is beautifully illustrated of course, since this is an art curriculum! A hardbound book with two DVDs inside a plastic cover inside the book, the pages are clearly marked out so that a parent like me can use it. I love that each lesson covers an element of art such as line, shape, form, texture, color, and more. Introducing little ones to this concept early on is such a great idea! The masterpieces included in the book are wholesome works of art that children will enjoy. 

Now, let me confess right away: I used this curriculum with a fourth grader and older siblings hopped in to help. 

When my young friend Gracie came over to help me review Art for Children, Building a Visual Vocabulary Full Video Lesson Grade K-3, my house was full of kids who wanted to play a game. They were upset that Gracie had to watch this video. But, she loved the video and soon the living room was full of watchers. The lessons we watched together were amazing. I loved the way the teacher walked through everything, demonstrating everything perfectly. The kids quoted from the video as we were working, remembering things the teacher said. 

Notice I said kids! Some of the older kids joined in for lesson one. We sketched an object by focusing on LINE, an element of art, and using lines to outline the shapes of our object. Next we colored in using watercolor colored pencils because we didn't have watercolor crayons. Then, using a paint brush, we added water to turn colored pencil coloring into a painting. Super fun!

​My grandson helped me review PandaParents from MESSYLEARNING for Preschoolers and Kindergartners online. We read and worked on the Mommy's Baby course. We read Mommy's Baby, completed workbook pages that were age-appropriate, and watched the videos. 

In the preschool learning story, Mommy and Baby Panda play a game. Mommy ask's a question like, "Are you Mommy's monkey?" Baby Panda answers, "Yes, I am and you are a big Monkey." This goes on and one through the book with pumpkins, geese, muffins, and more.

My grandson loved this preschool learning kit! He did not get bored and, like most preschoolers, loves repetition with a tiny bit of variety. 

Of course, you can guess that one of the things we would focus on in the workbook pages would be big and little. 

After we finished reading the book, we went to the workbook, or activity time for some early reading activities for perschoolers. 

My eyes filled with tears as I turned page after page of Kayla Jarmon's Don't Forget Me, a beautiful look at pregnancy from the baby's perspective. What a tender look at God's love and heart to be close to the boys and girls He knits together in their mother's womb. 

​Starting at conception, the story follows the conversations between the developing baby and God. The baby hears his mother and his father and can't wait to meet them. He gets bigger and bigger, feeling rather squished. 

​God continually reminds the baby not to forget Him. This beautiful, yet so simple, picture of God's tender love toward people moved me emotionally every time I read the story, which ends at the baby's birth. 

​I think this book will be especially enjoyed by kindergartners and elementary school children. But, children and adults of all ages will find the book delightful. Part of her Discussion Book series, this book opens the door for heartfelt conversations with your children about issues that can be awkward to discuss like birth and death. The other book so far in this series is Dying is Part of This World.

I was so excited to read Heroes of  History: Meriwether Lewis by Janet & Geoff Benge, but even more excited that there was a unit study study guide to go along with it! Meriwether Lewis is part of YWAM Publishing's Heroes of History series. I love to learn about  history with my children and grandchildren!

Meriwether Lewis had a cool, clear head even as a youngster. It almost seemed he was born for adventure. 

As a young man, Meriwether Lewis found himself in the enviable position of Private Secretary to President Thomas Jefferson. When the President decided to explore the Louisiana Territory, he was hoping to purchase from France, the two of them brainstormed together. All the while, Meriwether was hoping that President Jefferson would choose him to lead the expedition. And he did!

The book took us along with Lewis, Clark, and the Discovery Corps on one adventure after another. From delays and Indian attacks to grizzly bear encounters and treacherous terrain, these brave men and their sweet friend Sacajawea faced danger with bravery.

I learned so many things reading the book that I never knew before: 

• President Jefferson wanted to meet with all the Indian Chiefs to make peace
• Lewis and Clark were hoping to stop the Native Americans from going to war with one another
• Dr. Benjamin Rush trained Lewis & Clark in first aid and medicine
• Dr. Benjamin Barton, a botanist, taught them how to label and preserve animal and plant specimens
• How often they got desperately ill
• How much the weather dictated their travels
• They used dead reckoning to figure out where they were and make maps

Heroes of History Meriwether Lewis by Janet & Geoff Benge was well-written, exciting, and full of information. We learned so much! We had so much fun!

It wasn't enough to just read the book; we wanted to explore hands-on learning activities, too. That's where the Hereos of History Meriwether Lewis Unit Study Curriculum Guide came in handy. 

It's time for a girls' night! We watched Princess Cut, a Christian film from Watchman Pictures.

I invited my friend Molly and her daughters over. After I invited them, I found out that they already own the movie, but they still wanted to come over and see this Christian romantic comedy with me. 

I loved the movie! It had a message to a world that has lost its moral compass when it comes to dating and marriage. Princess Cut offers hope to so many ladies who have experienced rejection. The idea of men placing high value on them and treating them with honor is foreign. How sad.  

"When I first saw the movie, I couldn't relate to Grace because I have never had a boyfriend. But, a girl just got saved in our church and her story is like Grace's experience in the movie. I share the same principles shared in this movie to encourage her to see herself in a new light because the Lord places high value on her," my friend Marielle confided in me. 

First Form Latin Level One from Memoria Press is a challenging course made easy to use with an excellent teacher on DVD, in addition to the workbook, student text, pronunciation CD, and flashcards. The way this course is presented hits every learning style, making it work for all students. 

For the visual learner, there is a student text and workbook. For the auditory learner, there are oral drills and a pronunciation audio to practice speaking with. For the hands-on learner, there is sitting and standing during the DVD lesson, games, and flashcards. The DVD appeals to all learning styles.

The teacher is clear, interesting, and easy to understand. In fact, when I glanced through the student text, I felt a little overwhelmed. It had been a while since I've taught Latin, so I put in the DVD. I immediately felt relieved. I could do this! The DVD makes all the difference for me! 

First Form Latin Level One by Cheryl Lowe is perfect for beginning Latin students grades five and up. It works for younger students, too, that have completed Latina Christiana. However, if you have a student that is not used to rigorous study, this course may be too hard for those younger than high school. The course moves quickly. With that said, I love Memoria Press! I used it years ago. 

Wanting to give my children a year of Latin, I tried so many different Latin programs for my children--a couple different ones for each child. When I got to my younger children, I discovered Latina Christiana. I loved the DVD and the simplicity of the course.Best of all, the children loved it! I knew we had found the perfect fit when my children would yell, "Mea Culpa" on the soccer field when they made a mistake. 

Let me tell your more about First Form Latin and how we used it. 

"Would  you like to do a unit study with me?" I asked my friend Mercy since my grandsons were too little and my children were too old. "It's called Creation Unit Study-Pine Trees from Creation Illustrated.

"Yes!" she replied. 

We looked at the beautiful magazine article in Creation Illustrated Fall 2017 issue to start our study. Of course, we got distracted by all the other articles because the pictures are amazing and draw you in. Every photograph was beautiful and most were breathtaking!

We read about the eclipse last August, kangaroos, Creation Day 2, a devotional on walking in peace, a garden ministry in Australia, recipes from Genesis, and a character lesson from the forest community. I also noticed a study guide section to use the articles to teach. 

My favorite article was the one on the Grand Canyon and Canyon Ministries where God changes lives as people visit the Grand Canyon and hear about creation and Jesus. I loved it!  

Once we had finished our rabbit trail, we hopped back to the article and reviewed a few things. 

Then we went straight to the Vocabulary & Spelling and Vocabulary Definitions pages in the unit study because the words came straight from the article. I like that!

Our favorite part was the Bible study. We were surprised at how often pine trees are mentioned in the Word of God. 

At this point, we looked up other resources listed in the unit study, including some YouTube videos that I passed along to my homeschool geography co-op teachers since we are studying forests in May. Videos always help me and the children I teach because they bring a subject alive with sight, sound, and movement.  After we worked through the rest of the unit study with art, math problems, science studies, and puzzles, I was happy to find a teacher's answer key in the back. That just made life easier!

The unit study covered math, science, reading, vocabulary, writing, spelling, art, geography, research, and Bible.

When we heard about author Carole P. Roman, we decided to explore Carole P. Roman Books and Collections. What a great decision!

Do you want to learn about the history and culture of other nations?

Author Carole P. Roman has created a collection of books that you will enjoy reading to your children. Both  you and your children will enjoy learning about other places and historical times. 

Our books arrived at the end of February. It was perfect timing! In March, we dove into Europe in our homeschool geography co-op. Of course, I brought the three books to geography co-op. 

The books were cheerful, easy-to-understand, and fit perfectly in our studies. They were jam-packed with information, too!

We read If You Were Me and Lived in Germany, If You Were Me and Lived in Italy, and If You Were Me and Lived in Viking Europe. Let me tell you about all three books.

Home School in the Woods is known for their beautiful timelines, maps, lap-paks, and hands-on activities to make learning history fun! I was so excited to review their American History Newspaper Collection, one of their A La Carte Projects products, especially since we're studying U.S. history next school year. 

The American History Newspaper Collection includes 7 different newspapers to take students from the Age of Exploration to the 20th Century. 

The newspapers are Explorer Weekly, Town Crier, The Daily Bugle, Westward Weekly, The Camp Kettle, The Industrial Times, and Frontline News. 

Each newspaper has headlines with space underneath for an article, as well as ads and empty boxes for photographs. They are gorgeous! My whole family loved them!

We worked on the Town Crier, a newspaper for Colonial Times. 

The newspaper came with headlines and we wrote a story beneath. There were also ads.  You can see on our pages below we wrote out an ad for Caravel Cruises and Ye Ol' Apothecary. We enjoyed working on each paper. As a homeschool mom, I appreciated the depth of the headlines. There is something about King Philip's War on page 2 of our newspaper, which very few history books even mention. 

Once the newspaper pages are finished, there are easy directions to put it together. We are going to finish the other American newspapers next year along with our American history unit study. 

"Hey, does anyone want to listen to Taming the Lecture Bug? It's a DVD. I'm showing it during lunch." I was at homeschool co-op and wanted to hear from other homeschool moms thought of Parenting Made Practical's Tame the Lecture Bug and Getting Your Kids to Think workshop. I also read the book Taming the Lecture Bug and Getting Your Kids to Think. 

Five moms watched it with me. Our children range in age from 10 to 31. We all homeschool, love our children, and want to raise them to love and serve the Lord. 

Joey and Carla link have been in ministry for 40 years. They have served on pastoral staffs at churches and with Growing Kids, Int. I loved the style of the workshop. It was conversational and kept my attention (I can get distracted easily!). 

They got to the root of the issue. We don't necessarily struggle with drug use and sexual immorality in our children and teens, but we face attitudes and passive rebellion.

How do we respond to it? 

All of the Moms that watched the lecture (I would call it a workshop, rather than a lecture because I felt included, not lectured to.) admitted to lecturing instead of dealing with root issues. Maybe not all the time, but at least sometimes or often. We were all challenged to ask questions to deal with the root issue instead of exploding to vent our frustration. Thank you, Joey and Carla. 

All my children already know cursive and my grandchildren are too little, so I recruited my friend Mercy. She has not learned cursive yet, so we took the plunge together with CursiveLogic Quick-Start Pack from CursiveLogic. As a bonus, we got a beautiful coloring book, The Art of Cursive.

CursiveLogic breaks learning to write in cursive down to easy-to-understand and apply steps. The Quick-Start Pack comes with the workbook and full access to the webinar for a year. 

First you learn the Orange Oval shape and the letters that use that shape.

We worked on the orange oval shape, 

This is followed by other shapes and letters that use that shape. Children go step-by-step in a sequence that makes sense to both teacher and student.  

Wow! I love it! It''s a logical and easy way to learn the letters step-by-step, taking children from success to success to success. 

Okay, I have to admit it, when I first opened the Magik Stix ​Washable Markers from The Pencil Grip, Inc., my first thought was, "Wow! I love all the beautiful colors!"

It's true! I love colors! The Magik Stix came in a set of 24 in a handy-dandy clear carrying case. I was so excited for my grandsons to come over so they could try them out. 

Rusty and Cooper loved the bright, shiny colors, too! They wanted to hold them and asked for paper. 

I set them both up with markers and paper. Rusty began to color on paper, trying out different methods of drawing and coloring. His younger brother was enjoying experimenting in his high chair. 

Within minutes we had lost several marker caps. After several minutes searching under the table, we found all but one. "Perfect," I thought to myself, "I can find out if the markers will go for seven days without drying out." Six days later, still no cap and the marker still made a beautiful green mark across the paper. 

Drive Thru History Adventures homeschool video curriculum combines two of my favorite things: laughing and history! I love to watch Dave Stotts! He is funny and silly. All of my kids love to watch him, too. I said a "YES! Pick me! Pick me!" when asked to review Drive thru History American History Adventures from Coldwater Media, Inc. 

My son loves all the different cars in the videos. All of us love seeing all the exciting places Dave visits. It's like going there ourselves. 

Unlike a boring museum tour guide, Dave Stotts is funny, exciting, and full of interesting information. He travels to different places in an different vehicle and shows you historical sites while teaching you about history from a biblical and historically accurate perspective.

I had the privilege of reviewing the American history curriculum with twelve episodes. This series covers Columbus to the Constitution. Created for homeschoolers, this entertaining history video curriculum combines the best of everything: travel, video, humor, fine art (on the website pages), primary sources, worksheets, and answer keys. The lessons are simple and fun!

"Can we borrow it now?" little Gracie asked, staring at the green CD cover in my hand with the Saxon man and woman on the cover. Inside was Wulf The Saxon on two CDs with over two hours of non-stop audio drama and adventure from Heirloom Audio Productions. 

"We have to listen to it first." I shook my head sadly. I hate saying no to little children. Both of our families love listening to audio dramas. My older children grew up on Adventures in Odyssey. We loved hearing our audio friends having adventures at Whit's End. So, I was so excited when I heard about Under Drakes Flag, a G.A. Henty novel turned into a radio show. I listened to it and loved it! 

When I was asked to review Wulf the Saxon, I was so excited! Another G.A. Henty book brought to life!

I started listening to the CD by myself, but was soon joined by interested family members. Everyone agreed! This was a great story! More than that, this was a great dramatization of a great story! 

One of the most important battles in history, the Battle of Hastings, comes alive in this dramatization. English history takes a turn that will entwine England and France together. We see the story unfold through the eyes of Wulf, a young Saxon man. 

This story gripped our hearts. We traveled back in time to eleventh century England and were caught up in the struggle for the throne. Would the Angle-Saxon king retain his throne or would England be ruled by a foreign invader? Of course, Wulf is noble, loyal, and filled with courage whether it's capturing a Welsh castle rescuing his shipwrecked king, or fighting Vikings at the Battle of Stamford Bridge.