Our Homeschool Reviews

Monday, May 5, 2014

Menu Plan Monday - May 5

Today starts Day 1 of a new 28-day plant based challenge with a few friends. I've been mostly plant based since February 3rd but I'm hoping this challenge will re-energize me and I'll find some new and fresh recipes.

My goal is to eat plant strong by following a plant based diet with no extracted oils and limited processed foods. My two challenges this month will be an upcoming three day trip and a family gathering Memorial Day weekend.

In the past three months I've only eaten meat three times {two times were just a bite to taste hubby's meal when he asked me} and the last was this weekend. I totally caved and had my pig out day yesterday. :)

So today I'm starting fresh!! We went grocery shopping yesterday and today I'll be picking up my organic produce bag from our local co-op.

Breakfasts:
My Own Variation of Rip's Big Bowl

Lunches:
Leftovers
Quinoa Bowl with Vegetables

Dinners:
Burritos with Spanish Rice and Black Beans
Spaghetti with Homemade Sauce and a Salad

Black Beans and Brown Rice Extravaganza

Baked Potatoes with Broccoli

Snacks:
Fresh Fruit
Fruit and Nut Bars {will be taking with me on the trip}
Vegan Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Cake
Single Serve Blueberry Muffin

If there is anyone who would like to join me in this challenge, please comment below. I'd love to hear from you!

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©2010-2014 Our Homeschool Reviews. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. http://ourhomeschoolreviews.blogspot.com/

Friday, May 2, 2014

ARTistic Pursuits Sculpture Technique: Model Review

We are no strangers to ARTistic Pursuits! We've reviewed two of their Elementary books and again we have the pleasure of reviewing another. This time it's one of their newest books called Sculpture Technique: Model.

While this book builds on the concepts of their other new book, Sculpture Technique: Construct, it can also stand alone in teaching modeling methods, which is how we used it.

As soon as we received it in the mail I knew we would love it!!

I quickly flipped to the Table of Contents to find there are three units.

Unit 1: Creating Mass with Putty
Unit 2: Creating Scale with Clay
Unit 3: Creating Surface with Fiber

There is also a list of art supplies, which is also nicely broken down into units.

I am so thankful that the art supplies were easy to find and use. Unit 1 requires Durham's Rock Hard Water Putty, which I had never heard of, but we easily found at Home Depot in the painting section. And it was fairly inexpensive. You can see the large can of it below.

Each unit starts with an explanation of the topic, tools, and materials needed. Then came the instructions and steps to complete the project. I cannot tell you how pleased I was with the instructions! So many times I have started a project with Funny Bunny and things did not turn out the way we planned or we just gave up because the instructions were not clear. These instructions were very well laid out and easy to understand!!

Funny Bunny, hubby, and I started with Unit 1: Creating Mass with Putty. The first project was to create a flat sculpture using the Durham's Rock Hard Water Putty.

Sculptures are taking shape

End results are a fish, turtle, and a lizard

The next project they worked on was to create a sculpture with static mass. The book discusses what static mass is and gives a couple examples.

Sitting duck

The final project they worked on was to create sculpture with dynamic mass. Static and dynamic mass are compared and a few more examples are given.

Walking dog

Here they are all taped up before the putty

Funny Bunny is still trying to decide if she wants to paint them. We were able to find the paints at a local craft store, but ARTistic Pursuits has made it easy for you to buy them through their site.

My Thoughts: We have all thoroughly enjoyed working in this book! The supplies were easy to find and the instructions for each project were very clear. We had never worked with putty before and it was so simple to use. We were all pleased with the results and can't wait to get started on the next unit.

Thoughts of a 10-Year Old: I liked the ARTistic Pursuits projects because they were fun and hands on and I was able to create something really nice. It was very fun to mix and mold the putty. My favorite sculpture is my duck. When I first began making it I didn't think it would turn out very good but when I finished I was surprised at how good it looked. I think the book had good instructions and I was able to do the majority of the projects by myself.

Find Out More: You can find more online at ARTistic Pursuits. Sculpture Technique: Model is $47.95 and in my opinion, well worth every penny! It's geared to ages 11-18, but as you can see from our review, older and younger may enjoy it.

You can also find them on Facebook.

Thursday, May 1, 2014

Thrifty Thursday

Here are some of the thrifty deals for today!

FREE Field Trip Reflection Notebooking Pages @ Notebooking Nook

FREE May Writing Prompts @ The Reading Mama

FREE 50 Prayer Cards for Moms @ Happy & Blessed Home

FREE Homeschool Planner @ Blessed Learners

FREE Prime Factorization Worksheets & Math Printables @ Homeschool Giveaways & Freebies

FREE Money Emergent Reader @ the measured mom

FREE Antonyms Worksheets @ CurrClick

FREE Days of the Week Printables @ School Sparks

FREE Plan Your High School Electives Printables @ Starts At Eight

FREE Fire Fighter Printable Pack @ Gift of Curiosity

FREE May Monthly Meal Plan @ Confessions of a Homeschooler

I hope you enjoy some of these FREEBIES! If you know of any others, please leave a comment below.

Wednesday, April 30, 2014

Wordless Wednesday: Organic Produce Co-op

We've been participating in a local organic co-op and this is our bag for the week. Lots of yummy fruit and vegetable goodness!

Tuesday, April 29, 2014

Menu Plan...Tuesday

I've been a little behind in posting my menu plans. Really though, we've been in a rut and I've been making the same meals for the past few weeks, so it's not too exciting.

Just so I have it documented, here's our meals for this week:

* Grilled Portobello Mushroom and Corn on the Cob
* Rice Noodles and Vegetable Stir Fry
* Brown Rice and Black Bean Enchiladas {enough for two nights}
* Baked Potatoes with Broccoli
* Spaghetti and Salad {with some sort of bread}

I don't even have any pictures...sad I know!

As far as the plant based {vegan} eating goes, I've mostly stuck with it. Definitely no meat or fish but my sweet tooth has gotten me in trouble a few times. Trying my best. ;)

Monday, April 28, 2014

The Brinkman Adventures Review

I am in the car quite a bit taking Funny Bunny back and forth to activities in the afternoons. We usually pass the time by listening to the radio or music CDs. Sometimes the CDs are played a little too frequently, if you know what I mean. I'm always looking for something new and fresh to listen to. So when I heard about The Brinkman Adventures, I was very interested! We received The Brinkman Adventures Season 2: Episodes 13-24 to review and I was more than happy to add it to our car play list!

The Brinkman Adventures are stories from the lives of real missionaries, come to life through their many crazy adventures.

Review by Funny Bunny:

The Brinkman Adventures is an action-packed, family friendly audio CD pack. The stories are real, the adventures are exciting, and the intensity will keep you on the edge of your seat. Unless you're in the car. Then you'd just better hold on to your seat belt, because it's gonna be a wild, funny, and Biblical ride through the Brinkman family adventures! There's 12 exciting adventures and 5 hours of fun in this CD pack. Here are a few of the stories.

The Mystery Ring: One of the Brinkman boys finds a gold class ring while diving and doesn't know whose it is. He and his brother decide to sell it to earn money to buy expensive curriculum to donate. As the auction runs, they discover that the ring's owner is John Benti, former missionary in Hong Kong. Can they call off the auction and get the ring to Mr. Benti before the auction closes?

Blue Hat & T-Shirt Bible: The Brinkmans are staying with the Bentis before they go to Mexico. While they're there, Mr. Benti tells them a story about his mission work in Hong Kong. He and his partner are trying to find at least one Christian in Hong Kong, and it isn't easy. Their only chance is to go to Guilin, but their flight is cancelled by the storms. Desperate, they attempt to find a place on a booked train, when a mysterious Chinese woman with a blue hat and an English accent helps them. Once there, they offer a young girl some perfume in return for a Christian. She leads them to a Christian woman, whom is strong in faith and wants more then anything a Bible. But the police burn every Bible they find. How can they manage a Bible for the woman with little time left?

How Big is Your God: Mr. Benti tells the Brinkmans another story from his mission work. While he was an assistant helper, and had to do what the head missionaries said, John Benti and his missionary team needed a building to plant a church in. Everywhere they look, nobody wants missionaries to use their buildings for a church. All seems hopeless, until Mr. Benti hears about a kindergarten building in need of a school program and teacher. Mr. Benti says that he thinks that would be perfect, especially as the current owner is a Christian, but they don't have the money and the head missionaries are not willing to take that risk. Mr. Benti is still convinced that God will provide the money if they just sign the paper. A little later when Mr. Benti is head missionary, he heads straight back to the kindergarten to buy the building, though they still don't have the money. Will a miracle happen to let them buy the kindergarten? Will Mr. Benti be able to realize how big his God really is?

And there are many more exciting adventures in The Brinkman Adventures Season 2!

Funny Bunny's Favorite Story: Blue Hat & T-Shirt Bible

My Thoughts: I think The Brinkman Adventures are wonderfully exciting stories for families of all ages. The episodes span the globe and give the listener a glimpse of the real life adventures of a missionary family. These episodes have sparked conversations between Funny Bunny and I about missionaries, life in other countries, and ways we can spread the Gospel ourselves.

Find Out More: You can find out more online at The Brinkman Adventures. The Brinkman Adventures Season 2: Episodes 13-24 includes 4 CDs, 12 episodes, and over five hours of audio. These are stories for all ages.

The suggested donation for the physical CD set is $25 and $17 for the MP3 Album. Shipping is free. If you can't afford the suggested price or want to donate more, there is a separate ordering button. They do not want money to stand in the way of families being able to download this set.

You can also find Brinkman Adventures on Facebook.

Thursday, April 24, 2014

CTC Math Review

You may have heard me say that I'm always on the search for a good math program. Well, I always am...and I know many of my readers are too!

Today I want to tell you about CTC Math. I had actually read several posts about this math program before I knew I would be able to review it. So I was happy to receive and review their 12 Month Family Plan.

CTC Math is really very simple and straightforward to use. Once purchased, you activate your account by logging into the Parents' Area and setting up an account for each child. After you have added your students, they can log in by accessing the Student Login.

Once logged in, your child will see a screen like the one below.

You can see all the Courses are listed on the left. I have 5th grade highlighted and in the center you can see the Stream. The Stream is the same for 1st-6th grades. I have Measurement highlighted and you can see the different topics listed to the right. Once a Topic is selected, you can view all the lessons.

Above you can see I selected the Topic: Units of Measure. This topic has 7 lessons and none are completed so the bars to the right are empty.

When a lesson is selected, a short video pops up. Most of the video lessons are between 4 to 9 minutes long {you can see the one below on Short Division is just 2 minutes and 33 seconds}. They can be paused, sped up, slowed down, or repeated. You can even select the Lesson Summary and print out the lesson to review again.

Once the lesson is watched and understood, the child moves on to answering the questions. Results for each question are immediate and they can correct their mistake right away.

Now let's take a look at the Stream for Number, Patterns, and Algebra. You can see the topics to the right have changed and Funny Bunny has been working on these.

She's completed one lesson in Division, four lessons in Number II, and finished all the lessons in Fractions. She's also taken the Comprehension Tests for the first three topics: Number I, Addition and Subtraction, and Multiplication. She passed all three tests so I did not make her do any lessons since she proved she knew the material. You can tell she took one test for each of those three topics by the little 1 to the right.

Above is a screen shot of the Topic: Number II. You can see what it looks like when a child is working through the lessons.

Children work toward math certificates for successful completion of a topic. Platinum for a perfect score, Gold for the next level, and so on. You can see above that Funny Bunny missed one question on Factors so she's now working on a Gold Level.

Children in K-6 can re-take tests and get the average of their last three scores to possibly move back up to the next level. For the levels above 6th, it averages all the scores, but their first one or two are weighted more heavily than the later ones.

They can also see their Award and Reports by clicking the icon in the lower left corner. Below you can see she has received a Gold Level Certificate for Fractions and she's taken three tests on the topics at the bottom. You can also click to see more detailed reports.

Parents are emailed a Weekly Report and can also log into the Parents' Area. There they can see all their students, results, more reports and certificates, and view their online activity.

The Details:

* 1400+ animated and narrated math lessons
* Over 57,000 interactive questions
* Diagnostic tests
* Instant feedback and reporting
* Learn at your own pace
* 24/7 access

Here's a great video explaining how it all works

My Thoughts: I've tried many online math programs so I wasn't sure how I would feel about this one. I was pleasantly surprised! I like how the lessons are short and to the point. The site is easy to navigate and understand. I also feel like it could be used as the sole math program or as a supplement, which is how we are currently using it right now. We have a few more weeks in our current math program though, so Funny Bunny will be working solely in CTC Math over the summer.

Find Out More: You can find out more online at CTC Math. Their 12 Month Family Plan, which is for two or more students in K-12, is just $118.80! That's an awesome deal for math for the entire family!! But $118.80 is their special sale price for homeschoolers, down from $297, so you may want to check it out now. They also offer single student plans, monthly plans, and 6 months plans.

You can also find CTC Math on Facebook {for U.S.} and Facebook for {AUS}.

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©2010-2014 Our Homeschool Reviews. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. http://ourhomeschoolreviews.blogspot.com/

Wednesday, April 23, 2014

Wordless Wednesday: Maisy on Easter

Tuesday, April 22, 2014

Sojos Review

I've been feeding my dog, Maisy, the same dog food for 9 1/2 years now. She likes it, she likes anything really, and she gobbles it up as quick as she can {you'd think we were starving her}.

But for the past couple years I've wondered if what she is eating is really healthy. I mean, I picked what I thought was the best choice of dog food. It's a popular brand and seems to be more healthy than some of the others. But is it really?

Maisy about 6 weeks old

I recently heard of Sojos. Sojos is a family-owned company that's been making wholesome, all-natural pet food and treats since 1985. They make several lines of raw pet food and all natural treats that are made in the USA with healthy grain-free (gluten-free) ingredients.

I first heard of them when we reviewed their Peanut Butter and Honey Dog Treats. Maisy loved them of course. They are wheat and corn-free, made with no artificial preservatives, flavors or colors, and made with natural, human-quality ingredients.

Last month we received some of their raw dog food. They offer several varieties:

Turkey or Beef Complete Dog Food

A wholesome grain-free and gluten-free dog food that you simply combine with water.

Grain Free Dog Food Mix
Combine with water and your own source of meat to create a grain-free and gluten-free meal.

Original Dog Food Mix
Combine with your own source of meat and veggies to create your own fresh, homemade pet food.

I like the idea of the complete dog food where I don't have to add any meat to it, so I started with Sojos Beef Complete Dog Food.

Since you have to introduce new dog food a little at a time, we decided to give it to her as a treat.

It's made with freeze-dried raw beef and other all-natural ingredients, so one pound rehydrates to four pounds of fresh, raw food. This was a new concept for me, so I had to do a little research on their website, but it was simple.

Before adding water. You can actually see all the meat, veggies, and seasonings. No kibble here.

After adding water. We gave her a little at a time and she loved it and gobbled it up!

Take a look at the ingredients in the Beef Complete - USDA beef, sweet potato, celery, carrots, cabbage, whole egg, flax meal, tricalcium phosphate, cranberries, papaya, pumpkin, rosemary, parsley, ginger root, dried alfalfa, dried kelp, zinc sulfate, vitamin E acetate, vitamin D3, vitamin A palmitate.

Sounds like something I would make for myself!!

And if you've never used a dog food quite like this, they have easy to understand feeding instructions or check out their FAQs on their website.

Find Out More: You can find out more online at Sojos. A 2lb bag of the complete dog food is $26.40. That will rehydrate to 8lbs. And they offer FREE shipping on all pet food orders! They also include a list of online retailers for you to shop at your convenience.