God’s Little Princess Devotional Bible by Sheila Walsh is a compact, hardcover book. The crown on the cover has inset jewels and the word Bible glitters with pretty pink sparkles. Most little girls would be drawn to this book immediately.
This is not really a Bible, per se, but more of a devotional book. A very girly devotional book. It contains sections of Scripture from the International Children’s Bible, along with articles and a variety of special features inserted throughout. These include songs, “beauty” secrets, “Bible Princesses”, tips on costume making and creating skits, ways to show love to other, character traits, etc.
The suggested age is 4 to 7 and this seems right on to me. The large print and pastel colors make this ideal for beginning readers, although the words themselves may still prove difficult. It would also make a very cute devotional for mom’s to enjoy with their daughters.
God’s Little Princess Devotional is available for $ 16.99 at Thomas Nelson Publishers, as well as your local bookstore .
What He Must Be... if he wants to marry my daughter by Voddie Bachman is somewhat mistitled, as it is meant to be more than just a book to hand to your future son-in-law. The author intends it to be a call to repentance for Christian men everywhere, both wed and unwed. He fills the pages with his interpretation of what Biblical manhood should be and what it should not.
Voddie Bachman is one of the teachers in a Sunday School curriculum I have used in the past and I really liked him as a teen speaker. I was looking forward to reading his book and am disappointed to admit that I am disappointed. I found this to be a difficult read. Although filled with great Biblical instruction, the tone read harshly at times. There seemed to me to be a lack of grace and occasions where other Christian perspectives that may not line up with Mr. Bachman’s were mentioned unnecessarily in derogatory tones. There were also wonderful sections that hit Scripture right on and presented challenges to men of today that I believe need to be heard and received. The last chapter on racism was well done and interesting to read from the perspective of a black man (as obviously, I am neither!).
He is very conservative in his Biblical view and promotes the headship of men, courtship, the blessing of children, and the priesthood of the father. He presents Scriptural evidence to back up his views, which I appreciate. What I had trouble with was that his opinions and those of the people he quoted frequently were presented in somewhat the same tone, without giving much leeway for different positions within the Scriptural parameters. Even when his opinions reflected mine, which they did more than they didn’t, I was put off that there wasn’t a better distinction.
Is this a book I would hand to the man who wants to marry my daughter? Not without reservations. There is treasure to be found within these pages, but it’s one of those where I would suggest taking the meat and spitting out the bones. If you are unable to add a tone of grace to your reading, please pass on this one. If you are able to read the Scripture for yourself and compare and contrast this with what is merely opinion on his part, you may find lots to chew on with this book.
What He Must ...if he wants to marry my daughter is available for $15.99. Check out other offerings and opportunities from Crossway Publishers at www.Crossway.org/blog
I love food reviews, especially when I get to review something I already adore. I am a fan of all Yoplait yogurts, it’s my favorite brand, and I usually purchase a couple of large boxes of it every month at BJ’s. I could sum up this review right now with one word- YUM.
But you may want a little more than more yum, so I’ll have to wax poetic on one of my favorite foods. Oh, the difficulties of life.
Yoplait has always been a favorite, as the fruit is already mixed and the flavors perfectly combined. I have the opportunity with this review to share my thoughts on the Yoplait Thick & Creamy version. I received my coupon and picked up the strawberry-banana flavor. This is one of my favorite combinations in many different foods and the smoothness and sweetness here did not disappoint. I usually am a fan of chunks of fruit, but the creaminess in this yogurt made me second guess that choice. It was delicious. Again, one word- YUM.
My friend still has toddlers and she mentioned how much she loves the Yoplait Thick & Creamy for her littles. The consistency is easy for them to swallow and the taste makes them believe they are having a treat, when actually they are eating healthy. Every mom’s dream to have that combination, right?
I was sent a nice box of stationery, along with my coupon for a free container of Yoplait Thick & Creamy. The box contained a pen, writing paper, note cards, and a really neat set of pretty sticky notes. I also received the offer to share a coupon and a box of stationery with two of you as a giveaway! I love giveaways and was happy to oblige. So if you’d like to win a coupon for a container of Yoplait, nestled in a box of cute stationery, leave a comment below letting me know you’d like to be entered.
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Tal & Acacia are new contemporary Christian artists whose joy in Him is contagious. Sisters from Maine, their voices blend into one strong and sometimes funky sound. Their style is somewhat similar to that of Joy Williams or Natalie Grant. I'd love to hear them branch out into some folk rock, ala Jennifer Knapp. One of the girls has a certain tone in her voice that I just love. It seems like it would be a perfect fit for a folk rock tune. Perhaps in their sophomore album?
I popped the CD in the van on the way to youth group. My sixteen year old daughter and her friend were unsure at first but the longer we listened, the more they began to enjoy what they were hearing. Highlights for us were Yahweh, Wake Me and Drifting Away. My daughters friend really liked Drifting Away. It has it's own original sound with nice harmonies. It's one of my favorites as well.
We arrived before the end of the album and I listened to the rest alone on my way home. The last song nearly brought me to tears. Warrior Child is a tender reminder that in the midst of battle, when you're at the point of wondering if you're going to make it after all, God has not forgotten you. You are never alone and never without His love.
"The war has kept you on your knees and you confess, 'I am tired, there's nothing left.'...Empty and alone you cry those precious tears. Warrior Child, I'm still here."
I would recommend this album on the strength of that song alone but I'm happy to say that there are many more that I know I'll be singing along to for awhile to come. All in all, it's a very good debut album and I look forward to hearing more from Tal & Acacia.
Interested? Head on over to their website, where you can download three of the tracks from the album. It looks like there are only a few tracks available at this point, from either iTunes or Amazon. Hmm...my copy says release date of July 14, 2009. Amazon has it listed as December 25, 2009. I'll try to remember to edit this post when the album is available. In the meantime, if you like what you hear, you can follow them on Twitter/Facebook/MySpace.
Wow, I guess that makes this giveaway even more valuable! Would you like to win a pre-release copy of Wake Me by Tal & Acacia?
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I started this blog almost a year ago, when I discovered that I'd be chosen to be a TOS Crew reviewer with The Old Schoolhouse Magazine. My first year of reviewing was a huge learning process and it was all I could do to keep up with digging into the products and attempting to write helpful reviews. I've become more comfortable with everything now and would like to do a little more with this blog. I thought I'd share a little of what I'm hoping to do in the future!
So far, it's been pretty much all reviews. However, I have recently changed the blog name to Hearthside Homeschool Reviews...and More. The Hearthside may be dropped, just due to length, but it's the More I want to chat about with you! More may include reviews of products that are not specific to homeschooling but may be of interest to homeschoolers. I am currently trying out an all natural cleaning product and a CD of a brand new Christian artist. These are both items I'm interested in and hope to share with you!
More also means more than just reviews! I'd like to share about our experiences homeschooling in a crazy family of nine. We've just graduated our oldest, homeschooled K-12, and we've had our ups and downs along the way. My youngest is heading into second grade, so I have many more years of this adventure to continue learning and growing. I'd love to encourage each other along the way.
I'd like to do More in providing homeschool helps. I've posted about homeschool freebies and would like to add to that with favorite sites, information on getting started, learning styles, educational methods, homeschooling high schoolers, writing a vision statement, etc. I don't pretend to be an expert but would love to share what I've learned over the years and hope you will share in the comments section as well!
Ooo, and I just bought my own domain name, HomeschoolReviewsandMore.com, and am in the process of having the site redesigned. I can't wait to unveil my revamped look!
This is a bit of the vision I have for this site. I am just a wife and mom of seven with various responsibilities who needs constant reminders that I'm not Superwoman, so this isn't going to all happen at once. It may be slow growth, but I'm loving the opportunity to share with whomever stumbles across my site. I hope it will be a blessing!
*Check out my original Welcome! post as well, for more information on who I am and how this blog began.*
I started out reviewing homeschooling products (which I love!), added in a few book reviews (allows me to lose myself in a book more and call it "work"), and am now branching out into other products of interest to me. Hopefully they will be of interest to others as well!MyBlogSpark is a fun program where bloggers can receive and review products. My first MyBlogSpark review is for Nature Valley's Nut Clusters. I am always looking for all natural, healthy snacks for the kids (and me!) and thought this product sounded like it could do the trick. I was happy to discover that it did indeed!
Nature Valley's Nut Clusters are like bite sized nut filled granola bars. I tried all four varieties; Peanut, Almond, Cashew, and Nut Lovers. I expected the Cashew to be my favorite but was surprised by how much I enjoyed the Nut Lovers. I am not really a nut lover and am often encouraged to eat nuts as a way to consume more protein. I usually find this difficult to do, as nuts are not a favorite. However, something about the combination of nuts, granola, and a touch of sweetness makes Nut Clusters a great solution and a great snack.
My children loved them as much as I did! They make a perfect snack at home or on the go. It's beach season for us and these are easy to toss in the tote bag on the way out the door. Our family really enjoyed them. If you give them a try next time you're grocery shopping, pop back here and let me know what you think!
The TOS Crew has it's own forum for questions regarding review products, etc. We also have a general conversation board where we like to chit chat about most things homeschool. The topic of homeschool freebies came up recently and many great links were shared. I thought this a great topic to share with you all!
I am not familiar with all of these sites, so please surf at your own risk, but have fun! If you have a favorite freebie site to share, let me know in the comments section and I can add it to the appropriate section.
Audiobooks:
http://www.archive.org/browse.php?field=subject&mediatype=audio&collection=oldtimeradio
http://librivox.org/
Bible:
http://children.calvarychapel.com/site/curriculum.htm
http://www.lampquill.com/cms/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=23&Itemid=28
http://firefighters.org/
Charlotte Mason:
http://amblesideonline.org/
http://homemade.truepath.com/
http://www.carolhurst.com/subjects/curriculum.html
http://charlottemason.tripod.com/nature.html
http://www.backyardnature.net/nsop/welcome.htm
Early Learning:
http://janbrett.com/
http://www.letteroftheweek.com/
http://first-school.ws/
http://www.abcteach.com/
File Folders/LapBooking/Notebooking:
http://www.filefolderfun.com/
http://www.lapbooklessons.com
File Sharing/Networking:
http://www.hslaunch.com/mypage/
Foreign Language:
http://www.byki.com/
http://www.livemocha.com/
http://onlinefreespanish.com/
Geography:
http://www.50statesofmind.com/
http://www.wartoft.nu/software/seterra/
http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/states_experiment_drag-drop_Intermed_State15s_500.html
http://www.pibmug.com/files/map_test.swf
History:
http://www.redshift.com/~bonajo/history.htm
http://www.readingyourwaythroughhistory.com/
Homeschool Helps/Encouragement:
http://simplycharlottemason.com/ (free e-books linked in left sidebar)
http://donnayoung.org/index.htm
http://www.HomeschoolOasis.com
Language Arts:
http://www.englishgrammar101.com/
http://www.learningisland.org/
http://www.sfreading.com/resources/ghb.html
http://www.sillybooks.net/Catalog.htm
http://www.spellingcity.com/
http://www.classicreader.com/
http://desktoppub.about.com/od/freefonts/tp/Free_Handwriting_School_Fonts.htm
http://homeschooling.gomilpitas.com/weblinks/handwriting.htm
http://www.eclipsecrossword.com/
http://www.starfall.com/
http://www.thepcmanwebsite.com/pclibs.shtml
http://mystorytown.com/
http://www.mainlesson.com/main/displayarticle.php?article=aboutus
Lending Library:
http://www.hepn.com/library/content/
Math:
http://coolmath4kids.com/
http://www.mathfactcafe.com/
http://multiplication.com/
http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/itv/MathDude/index.shtm
http://www.schoolhousetech.com/Downloads/
http://www.bigbrainz.com/
http://www.multiplication.com/interactive_games.htm
http://themathworksheetsite.com/
http://www.superkids.com/aweb/tools/math/
http://www.cimt.plymouth.ac.uk/projects/mep/default.htm
http://ceure.buffalostate.edu/~csmp/
Misc.:
http://education-world.com/
http://www.freelyeducate.com/
http://heartofthematteronline.com/
http://www.hippocampus.org/index.html
http://academicearth.org/
Music:
http://www.music-utilities.com/
Reference:
http://www.britannica.com/#
http://1828.mshaffer.com/
Science:
http://www.squidoo.com/cmnaturestudy
http://www.eequalsmcq.com/
http://www.enature.com/fieldguides/
http://icwdm.org/Inspection/droppingfeces.asp
http://charlottemason.tripod.com/nature.html
http://www.backyardnature.net/nsop/welcome.htm
Typing:
http://kids.learn2type.com/NewUser
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/typing/
Unit Studies:
http://www.homeschoolshare.com/
http://www.easyfunschool.com/
http://www.eclectichomeschool.org/
http://highland.hitcho.com.au/
Worksheets:
http://www.schoolexpress.com/
http://www.superteacherworksheets.com/
http://donnayoung.org/index.htm
http://first-school.ws/
http://themathworksheetsite.com/
http://www.superkids.com/aweb/tools/math/
This seemed like a good topic for Works For Me Wednesday, so I've added it there as well. Hopefully this list will be helpful to someone!
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