Again

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It seems like we can't catch a break.  I was sick all weekend.  Not the I feel kind of icky, either.  I mean the stay in bed and cry 'cause you feel so bad kind.

It was a lot of fun.  NOT!

The entire weekend was a blur.  I'm not even sure that I changed clothes all weekend.  Gross, right?  I didn't really care either!

I am feeling tons better now.  Although my nose is still plugged at least I don't feel like I have been run over and have razor blades in my throat.  See there is a plus side to everything! lol

Now we are back to our regularly scheduled school schedule.

TOS Review Positive Action for Christ

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This time around for The Crew I was asked to review Positive Action for Christ's The Life of Christ Bible Study.



Wow!  It is great.  First let's look at the what Positive Action for Christ is and then I will tell you about the Bible Study.  Here is a  little bit about their history from their website:


"Positive Action For Christ is a publishing house specializing in youth curriculum for fundamental churches. It began as a single ProTeen club in 1969 at Falls Road Baptist Church in Rocky Mount, North Carolina. Soon other churches wanted to use the materials Frank Hamrick had written for his teens, and by 1971 thirty-five churches were using Frank's materials. A board was formed to govern the fledgling ProTeen ministry and the organization incorporated as Positive Action For Christ, Inc. in July 1972."

That is just a small bit about them from their History page, you can read the rest here as well as their Mission Statement and Doctrinal Statement.  Please visit this page for their full History.

Positive Action for Christ has many studies to offer for schools and church programs.  The School Programs start at Grade School and go all the way up through High School.  The K-6th Grade Curriculum are individual books for each grade and cover topics like Learning About God and Growing With God.  The Middle School studies include The Life of Christ, Wise Up! Wisdom in Proverbs, and Dynamic Christian Living Basics of the Christian Life.  The High School curriculum includes titles like Behold Your God Magnifying His Majesty, The Inner Man Spiritual Leadership, and Provers The Fountain of Life.  This curriculum is thorough, thought provoking, and age appropriate.  Check them out for yourself and download a sample of the ones you are interested in.

For our review we were given a copy of The Life of Christ for the High School Level.  We were given the Student Manual, Teacher's Manual, and a CD of Transparencies.  I was first impressed by the quality of the book and the thoroughness of the Teacher's Manual.  Plus, I like the looks of it!  I know that is silly but I am such a bibliophile that when this curriculum came looking like a well used, well loved book I was hooked!



Then I opened it and knew that I was going to enjoy it.  The Student Manual is a paperback, which I love because it is easier to use, and bound very well.  It is a full color book with beautiful pictures and maps to illustrate the lesson.  Each Lesson contains a section of reading, questions about the selected Scripture, questions to answer from the Teacher's Lesson, and a Digging Deeper section.  All with maps, pictures, and insights to bring it into the 21st century lives of students today.

The Teacher's Manual has a wonderful description of the curriculum, how to use it, teaching tips, how to schedule it, recommended Scripture Memory Program, and detailed Lesson Plans to help teach the lesson.  The Teacher's Manual also has the Student Manual with answers so the teacher can check work to make sure the student is understanding the material.  Also included in the Teacher's Manual are the Quizzes and Answers, Unit Tests and Answers, and Appendix with helpful information.  The Teacher's Manual is in black and white.  The information for the teacher is laid out in a format that was easy to use and left me feeling confidant enough to teach it.

The Transparencies CD is so full of goodies that I haven't even finished looking at them.  They have an outline of the lesson with bullet points for the main topics and pictures, pictures, more pictures, maps, and more!  They are in beautiful color that I can only imagine would be visually stunning in a classroom.

Now for my opinion.  I really, really liked it!

No, that's not all I am going to say I was just being a turkey.  I enjoyed the approach that this curriculum offered.  It is a mix of reading, fill in the blanks, and Socratic discussion.  It appeals to all my learning styles!  But does it appeal to my students.  Oh yeah!  They poured over the book eating up the visually attractive pictures and the detailed maps as well as the questions that caused them to think and defend their opinion.  It is so important to teach our kids to think for themselves and to be able to reason well; I feel this curriculum helps in that effort.  Teacher and student discussing and discerning the Word of God-it can't get any better than that.

I strongly encourage you to check out Positive Action for Christ if you are looking for a Bible Study for your kids.  I don't think you will be left wanting.

Now for price.  The Student Manual like we received is priced at $17.95, the Teacher's Manual is $41.95, and the Transparencies CD is $99.95.  Some studies have the option of buying used which would save you some money.  These prices are not too bad if you figure that you can re-use for multiple students and that the transparencies would not be necessary for a home setting.  They are amazingly cool, though!

The price varies for each study, so find one you are interested in and look up the prices from there.  There is also a Scope and Sequence for their curriculum at no charge. 

If you want to find out what other Crew Members are saying head over to The Crew Blog and check 'em out.




**I was given this curriculum through The TOS Crew in exchange for my honest opinion.

Lessons from Saying Yes

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This week has been a hard one.  Not just because we have been sick but because the change that we thought was so immanent is now not.  It is not going to happen right now.  Or so we think.  Maybe.  yeah, we just don't know!


A while back we were asked to do something that was outside of our comfort zone and pretty scary.  We knew though that there was no way to say no.  We felt God whispering to us to obey and trust.  So, we said yes.  We gave it our whole hearts and committed to this change that God was bringing.

The freedom and peace that came was proof positive of the direction God was leading.  We rested in the knowledge that God had called and we answered, "Yes, Lord."  I don't know how often in my life I can say for sure that I followed God's leading in this way, but this time I/we did.

I will never regret it.

Mostly.

Now that we have given our hearts to this change, we are heart broken that it may not happen.  We knew going in that that was a possibility but when God calls you don't get to ask if it will hurt later and then decide what you're going to do.  No, you follow trusting your Abba to lead you where His path is sure to bring you closer to Him. 

Sometimes the blessing is in the saying yes not in getting to do what was asked.  Sometimes it's enough to say yes so that more chances will come later.  sometimes being willing is more painful than the doing.

God is growing us as a family and our girls are getting to see first hand how to listen to God's leading and how important it is to say yes to Him.  Our willingness to say yes is causing heartbreak in all of us.  Some of it is in good ways and others, well we may not see the good for a long time, but all things work together for good for them that love the Lord.

Trust and obey, for there's no other way to be happy in Jesus but to trust and obey.

I know that our yes was the absolute right decision.  I also know that the pain of saying yes is the right thing because it is changing us to be more like Him.  Our family will forever be changed no matter if this yes results in anything or not.  I pray that we get to follow through on our yes, selfishly I pray that we will, but more than that I pray that God's Will will prevail.  That and that we get to be a part of it.  ;-)

Yummy Goodness You Just Have to Try

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I found a new recipe on Facebook from my friend Deann A.  It looked simple enough and several ladies were raving about it so I had to try it.

OH MY GOODNESS!!  I am not even kidding you, this is some kind of sinful good dish.

Here is the recipe, run out get the ingredients and then put on your fat pants...it's that good!

Sopapilla Cheesecake Via Deann via Beth via Renee

2 cans (8 count) crescent rolls
3 bricks cream cheese (8 oz. each), softened
2 1/2 c. sugar, divided
2 tsp vanilla
1/2 c. butter, melted
2 TBSP cinnamon

Spray bottom & sides of 13x9 baking dish with vegetable spray. Layer one can of crescent rolls in the bottom, patting to fit and to join the perforations.

 
Do not bake yet! Mix the cream cheese, vanilla and 2 cups of the sugar with a mixer until well-blended.

 
Spread over bottom layer of crescent rolls.

Unroll remaining crescents and place on top of cream cheese mixture.

 
Combine remaining 1/2 c. sugar with cinnamon. Pour melted butter over the top layer of crescents and then sprinkle liberally with the cinnamon-sugar mixture.

Bake at 350* for 30 minutes. Refrigerate until slightly firm.

To serve, cut into squares and top with a swirl of honey.


Okay, we have never made it 45 minutes after it was done cooking.  I quickly put it in the fridge and then we are diving in after about 25 minutes!  Also the honey never quite makes it on their either. lol

TOS Review Virtual Nerd

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For the next review we were asked to review Virtual Nerd.  I had never heard of this website before and couldn't wait to go and look at it.  


From their website:
"Virtual Nerd is a unique, online resource offering students real help in math and science. Students get the essential benefits of private tutoring and access to over a thousand interactive step-by-step video tutorials presented in our patent-pending Dynamic Whiteboard™."

Basically that means that there are videos that explain Math Concepts!  No, let me rephrase that.  There a tons of awesome videos that spell out Math Concepts so that kids understand them.  And if they don't, there are more videos that break it down even further.

Yeah, it's that cool!

We waited for a bit to start using it because the daughter that I wanted to use this had to get through her last year's Math book (don't ask, please) since the Virtual Nerd starts at Pre-Algebra and I didn't want to confuse her further.  I so wish she would have been on track and then we could have used these even more.   I watched them myself and found the explanations to be simple and very clear.

This is how the videos actually look.  There are three explanations going on at the same time to help all different kinds of learners.

This would be a great tool to use when your student is having trouble with a topic to just give another explanation and point of view.  I can see it really helping a student out of a tough spot.  This could definitely do the trick!

This is the Drilling Down they talk about when a student needs simpler explanations.

The pricing for Virtual Nerd is varied.  This page helps explain the different options but the basics are:  Monthly for $49.  There are other options like a 1 day enrollment for $5.  Please visit this page to see all the advantages and pricing options .  This FAQ page is full of information about what Virtual Nerd is and does.

For our family, I find that the monthly fee is a little steep but the 1 Day Option or 1 Week option would be totally do-able and a great option to get us out of a jam.  I did find that the talking in the videos was a little fast and sometimes we had to watch the videos over again to fully understand the concepts.  With that being said, watching the videos as many times as you want is not problem.  They are available whenever you want to watch them, however many times you need to.



Virtual Nerd is an innovative way to present Math to your students.  It is a great tool that could really benefit your family.  If you want to find out what other Crew Members thought head on over to the Crew Blog and check them out.



**I was given this subscription to Virtual Nerd through The Crew in exchange for my honest opinion.

TOS Review See N Read

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This time around The Crew I was asked to review a product that I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt we would love.  Okay, okay I just really thought we would; but I was pretty sure!  Mostly it was for my 11yo daughter but I can see its uses for all the kids and even for myself.

What is this product you ask?  Well, let me tell you...



Still don't know what it is?  That's alright because I had never heard of them either.  But if you have someone that struggles with reading or does a bunch of reading on the computer, you will want to read on!

Here is what their website says:

See-N-Read® is a practical reading intervention tool....designed to help readers seamlessly see, focus, and remember what they read. It reduces word- and line-skipping and pattern glare.

See: See-N-Read® helps readers to concentrate on and track the text being read while smoothly transitioning between the words that come before or after, thus helping readers to increase their fluency (the capacity to read text accurately and quickly) and comprehension.

Focus: See-N-Read’s clear reading window is surrounded by a non-glare tinted transparent finish that helps readers to focus on manageable “chunks” of information in each line of text.

Remember: See-N-Read® provides readers with a clear reference point that helps control smooth eye movements across the text on a page. Smooth eye movement from left to right and smooth transitions from line to line ("sweeping") enhance retention of information.

See-N-Read’s flexible material makes it easy for readers, young and old, to hold and use it as they read.
 

Here is a picture of what it looks like.

Now, for my take on it.  I love it!  Really.  We have tried so many different versions of this same thing that we could start a support group.  We have tried the colored ones, the fat ones, the skinny ones, well you get my point.  None of them worked.  At least not well.  My daughter would use it but the color would be distracting or they would be too small and she had to move it to see where she needed to move it to.  She would become frustrated quickly and soon abandon them.  She has eye teaming problems and reading is very frustrating for her so we are constantly looking for things to help ease that frustration.

Needless to say that when I was assigned to this review and the product came in the mail, she was not thrilled!  She was a good sport and gave it a try, though.  At first she tried out the See N Read Clear Bar Reading Tool document size and thought it was pretty cool. (They also have a book size that we didn't review but would be pretty cool!)  She noted the way that she could see the writing through the whole thing and so she didn't have to move it to find the next line.  The color muted the rest of the page enough that she wasn't distracted yet light enough she kept her place easily.  She quickly walked away with it and didn't bring it back!

Next, I handed her the Memory Mark See N Read Reading Tool and she just looked at it like it was an alien.  I explained that the part that was cut out was so that she could highlight or underline without moving the tool.  Thus, she wouldn't lose her place and time trying to find it over and over again.  She squealed and ran off with it.  I haven't seen it since! **I did confiscate it for a little while so I could try it out and I think this one is my favorite one!**

I waited a while to show her the eSee N Read electronic reading tool.  I used it and messed around with it before I showed it to her.  I knew that it would be a big hint since we use the computer to read very often. I even loved it!  It just super-imposes over the computer screen and tints all but the reading bar a light gray.  It is a soothing, simple color that doesn't get in the way and cuts down on the distractions on the screen.  This could save my eyes after reading on screen for a while.  It has helped already by easing the stark glare of the screen.  I can even see its uses for my husband at his work. 

The down side would be that it is losable (is that a word? lol).  That isn't necessarily a failing of the product just the nature of small things in general!  With the pricing of these tools, I would think of buying several to have as spares so that we would never be without them.  There are many options in pricing, you could buy in bulk or just individually.  If you buy a 10 pack it is $27.99 or singly for $2.99 for the Book size.  Pricing for the Document Size is a little different but this page spells it all out.  The Memory Mark pricing is much the same way and can be viewed here.  The pricing for the eSee N Read is listed here at $29.99 and is compatable with Windows OS but Mac is coming soon!  The list of computer requirements are spelled out so you can be sure it will work for you.  They also offer multi-user lisences for educational or business purposes upon request. 

We have thoroughly enjoyed using this product and I fully intend on buying more to have as back-ups!  If you want to know what other Crew Members are saying about this product, head on over to The Crew Blog and check 'em out!




**I was given this program to review in exchange for my honest opinion through The TOS Crew.