Exploromania: Gymathics DVD

"Sesame Street's The Count meets Richard Simmons." These were the words of a fellow TOS Crew member when describing her first impression of this Exercise/Math DVD. She wasn't making the comparison fondly, but it appealed to me! I love both the Count and Richard Simmons so I gathered the kids around, moved the coffee table to the side and popped Gymathics into the DVD drive on our desktop. Sure it was a little cheesy but isn't that a normal part of an exercise video?

The 30 minute exercise program begins with Shape Stretches Warm Up. As you are stretching and warming up, you are also learning about parallel lines and polygons. The second section was everyone's favorite; Counting Calisthenics. Skip counting and aerobics actually work really well together and are the best combination of math and exercise presented here. Next came Pattern Power. The instructor led us in exercises with repeating patterns that were represented by symbols on the screen. The last section was the Well Being Wind Down. This was our least favorite portion of the DVD. The cool down exercises were great but the voice over "healthy lifestyle tips" went way past cheesy and into plain annoying.

My 7, 9, and 10 year olds enjoyed this, for the most part. They wanted to start our day with this all week, so that's a pretty good recommendation. The 12 and 14 year old were completely disinterested, so it's really best for the younger age group. As homeschoolers, sometimes it's difficult to add in enough exercise and P.E. during the winter months. This is a fun, inexpensive way to start your day and add in a little math at the same time. It's not perfect, it's a little corny, but we liked it.

Gymathics is available for $24.99. According to the web site, Gymathics 2.0 will be coming soon and will be targeted at grades 4-7.

*Disclosure: This product was provided at no cost for review purposes.*

Touched by a Vampire: Discovering the Hidden Messages in the Twilight Saga (Faith and Fangs Blog Tour)

Summary: People around the world are asking the same question, enraptured with Edward and Bella’s forbidden romance in the Twilight Saga, a four-book serial phenomenon written by Stephenie Meyer. The bestsellers tell the story of a regular girl’s relationship with a vampire who has chosen to follow his “good” side. But the Saga isn’t just another fantasy–it’s teaching girls about love, sex, and purpose. With 48 million copies in print and a succession of upcoming blockbuster films, now is the time to ask the important question: Can vampires teach us about God’s plan for love?

Touched by a Vampire is the first book to investigate the themes of the Twilight Saga from a Biblical perspective. Some Christian readers have praised moral principles illustrated in the story, such as premarital sexual abstinence, which align with Meyer’s Mormon beliefs. But ultimately, Beth Felker Jones examines whether the story’s redemptive qualities outshine its darkness.

Cautionary, thoughtful, and challenging, Touched by a Vampire is written for Twilight fans, parents, teachers, and pop culture enthusiasts. It includes an overview of the series for those unfamiliar with the storyline and a discussion guide for small groups.

My Thoughts: My sixteen year old daughter read the Twilight series in a week. When the first movie came out, she and I went to see it together. We found it to be somewhat disappointing but it was enough to entice me to read the series myself. I enjoyed the books just as much as my daughter. There is something about an intense love story that appeals to most women, perhaps because we desire to love and be loved in the same way.

I was rather intrigued by the premise of this book and thought it would be an interesting read. Not having read the title closely, I assumed it was another of the "Finding God in..." type of books. That wasn't the case at all. Rather than looking at the spiritual applications one could make from the series, this book identifies and analyzes the themes of the series. This isn't a bad concept and could be helpful to those wanting to be more discerning about what they, their daughters, and/or their culture is reading.

The first themes mentioned are ones I would agree are most present and most in need of discussion- the premise of dangerous and obsessive love. While I thoroughly enjoyed the Twilight series, I mentioned in my original review that the issue here was not that it was a vampire story but that it was an intense romance. For this reason I recommended the books not be read by the younger teen crowd. The author here does a good job in bringing this theme to the surface and sharing the Biblical version of true love.

Unfortunately, I believe this would have made a better essay than a book. After the first couple obvious themes, it gets a little over analytical. This series IS fiction and those reading it understand it is fiction. While it is important to understand the themes of a story and the worldview of an author (as there is power in a story, I have no doubt about that), sometimes we can be too over critical and give readers too little credit. The latter chapters of Touched By A Vampire seem to do this, taking bits and pieces of the story and giving them meaning I don't believe they were meant to have.

I would recommend this book with reservations. While it does bring up some good discussion points, it goes a bit too far in my view and attributes themes and messages that I do not believe are there for the majority of readers. It was an interesting read for this Christian Twilight fan though, sometimes debating an opposite point with an author can be thought provoking as well!

*This book was provided for review by the WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group.*

Thirsty by Tracey Bateman: Faith and Fangs Blog Tour

Summary: There's no place like home, they say.

"Hello, I'm Nina Parker…and I'm an alcoholic."

For Nina, it's not the weighty admission but the first steps toward recovery that prove most difficult. She must face her ex-husband, Hunt, with little hope of making amends, and try to rebuild a relationship with her angry teenage daughter, Meagan. Hardest of all, she is forced to return to Abbey Hills, Missouri, the hometown she abruptly abandoned nearly two decades earlier–and her unexpected arrival in the sleepy Ozark town catches the attention of someone–or something–igniting a two-hundred-fifty-year-old desire that rages like a wildfire.

Unaware of the darkness stalking her, Nina is confronted with a series of events that threaten to unhinge her sobriety. Her daughter wants to spend time with the parents Nina left behind. A terrifying event that has haunted Nina for almost twenty years begins to surface. And an alluring neighbor initiates an unusual friendship with Nina, but is Markus truly a kindred spirit or a man guarding dangerous vampire secrets?

As everything she loves hangs in the balance, will Nina's feeble grasp on her demons be broken, leaving her powerless against the thirst? The battle between redemption and obsession unfold to its startling, unforgettable end.

My Thoughts: I am a Christian who enjoys the vampire mythos, especially when it involves vampires seeking redemption or attempting to live righteously while fighting their dark nature (ie: Angel, Twilight, and The Vampire Diaries). When I was given the opportunity to participate in the Faith and Fangs Tour, it seemed right up my alley. I was curious to see if a Christian author could integrate vampires into a novel without either coming away too much on the dark side or being too preachy. I was very skeptical coming into the story and found the beginning a little slow to pull me in. It wasn't long, however, before I found myself interested in the characters and the story and wondering where the author was going. I can't say that I was always surprised by the plot twists, but I was hooked and ended up enjoying the story very much.

This wasn't your typical vampire story. The focus was more on the main character's struggle to stay sober and put her life back together. The vampire seemed to be somewhat of a secondary plot that helped move the primary plot forward. And it worked. The author managed to keep it realistic (for a book containing vampires), not too dark, and not too preachy. I loved that she didn't tie everything up with a neat little bow at the end but let the reader have something to mull over and hope for after reading the last page. My biggest complaint was in the letter to the reader after the book ended, where she simplified the theme of Buffy the Vampire Slayer into a young girl's horrible high school experience. But that's being an extremely picky Joss Whedon fan. GRIN.

With all the vampire hype currently, this may make an enjoyable read for a women's book club or the like. A discussion guide is included at the back of the book, making it easy to use for this purpose. You can find Thirsty at your favorite online or local bookstore.

*This book was provided for review by the WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group.*

It's National Novel Writing Month

Each November, for the last four years, I have participated in the National Novel Writing Month challenge. The goal is to write a 50,000 word novel in 30 days and the purpose is to get all of us to stop talking about writing a novel and just do it. Having a really raw first draft is better than never writing anything at all. Making the effort also sparks creativity and improves skill.

This year, my five youngest children asked to join me. They signed up with the National Novel Writing Month Young Writers Program and were able to set their own goals, according to their age and skill level. My 7 year old is attempting to write a 2,000 word story, my 9 year old is working towards 8,000 words, my 10 year old is going for 10,000 words, and my 12 year old is shooting for 15,000. I have been amazed at how much they have enjoyed this! Yes, we have taken time during school hours to work on this (it is our sole language arts "curriculum" for this month) but they have also been writing during their free time.

We challenge each other to "Word Wars". We set the timer, usually for 30 minutes, and write as much as we possibly can in that amount of time. The one with the most words written, wins. This frees us up to not worry about typos and spelling for the moment, but to just create. The story is able to spill from our minds, through our fingertips, and onto the computer screen. It's been a wonderful tool and one we may continue to use after November ends.

My 14 year old is joining me for the full 50,000 word challenge. He broke his arm in a Go-Kart accident this past Sunday and one of his first thoughts was, "How will I finish my NaNo novel?" I'm happy to report that the one armed typer was averaging 1,000 words in 30 minutes at Wednesday's Write-In. That's commitment and perseverance. And it means he's enjoying this challenge.

The Young Writer's Program provides free downloadable workbooks that take your child through the pre-writing process. These are available for Elementary through High School age and I was very impressed with their quality. My kids decided to join NaNoWriMo towards the end of October, so we were only able to use a few of the sheets the week prior to novel writing. If things continue as they are, I plan to spend next October working through the worksheets with them and then focus on novel writing in November.

This is a great resource for homeschoolers. I know, I shared this a little too late but it may be something to look into for next year. For our family, it's been a wonderful addition to our year. Hopefully it will become a tradition!

AVKO Web Site Membership

AVKO is the company that brings us Sequential Spelling. While I have never used or researched that program myself, I have heard it highly recommended in the home school community. I didn't realize that they also offer a membership to their web site. You don't have to be a user of Sequential Spelling to benefit from this membership, although I'm sure it wouldn't hurt.

Membership provides you with a 25% discount on their products but there is plenty there at no additional cost as well. There are a number of e-books, including titles such as The Reading Teacher's List of 5,500 Basic Spelling Words ($29.95 value), The Patterns of English Spelling ($359 value), To Teach a Dyslexic ($14.95 value) which alone would more than pay for the membership. There are even more e-books available, including The Teaching of Reading and Spelling, Sequential Spelling Response Book, and If It Is To Be, It Is Up To Me To Do It.

There is also much supplemental material to be found. there are worksheets, handouts, puns, riddles, jokes, quotes, teaching tips, syllable rules, inspirational stories, poetry, puzzles, quizzes, and MP3 of a workshop recording, and more. There is so much here I can't begin to wrap my brain around it all. Part of the problem is that I find the site difficult to maneuver, but if these are topics of interest to you it seems to be worth spending a good chunk of time reading through everything and finding the gems for your family. I have little doubt that there are many gems to be found.

A one year membership to the site is $25. Check out their list of membership benefits to help you decide if this would be beneficial to your family.

America's Heritage: An Adventure in Liberty Free Resource

"AHEF is a non-profit, non-partisan educational foundation dedicated to the understanding and teaching of America's factual and philosophical heritage to promote constructive citizenship and Freedom, Unity, Progress, and Responsibility among our students and citizens.

AHEF accomplishes this patriotic mission by writing, producing, and distributing FREE K-12 lesson plans to teachers, students, and families in all 50 states and through additional initiatives, programs, and partnerships." ~ AHEF Mission Statement

The American Heritage Education Foundation provides FREE Elementary, Middle School, and High School lesson plans. You may download these yourself or order them on a CD.

There are four themes running throughout the lessons; Freedom, Unity, Progress, and Responsibility. These are set up in typical traditional school lesson plan fashion and include objectives and assessments. Activities are included, such as crossword puzzles, games, charts, etc. , making this a great supplement to your American History program.

This was one resource I had never come across and am glad to have learned of it through the TOS Crew. Maybe it will be something new to you as well!

Mythological Creatures Around the World Lapbook by Hands of a Child

Dragons. Unicorns. Gryphons. The majestic Phoenix rising from the ashes. These are the creatures of mythology and they easily find a place in the hearts of children, young and old. What could capture a child's imagination more than a lapbook study of Mythological Creatures Around the World?

Although designed for 4th grade and up, this was a wonderful study for my seven year old through my fourteen year old to work on together. The information was all provided for us, so it was a print and go kind of study. I love those! I did order the suggested books from the library before we began. Most of them were available through my library and we spent the day before we started lapbooking just reading through and enjoying the books. This was a great way to get them excited about the coming study.

This is a color yourself type of Lapbook, which my kids prefer. The drawings are in black and white and the artwork was pleasing to the eye and still simple enough for the kids to color in nicely. The information was fairly easy to find in the accompanying study sheets and the folds were creative but not too difficult. We are experienced Lapbookers, so if this is your first attempt at Lapbooking you may want to do a little Internet research on folding and cutting these properly.

A nice study to do when you need a break from your regular curriculum, it also lends itself well to literature and creative writing extensions as most kids love to use their imaginations and create their own creatures and myths. These creatures are so much a part of our culture that it's good to study them and know where these legends came from. And it's just a fun topic! My kids eyes lit up when I told them what we'd be studying, which makes my job easier.
Mythological Creatures Around the World is available at Curr-Click and Hands of a Child. There are also many other Hands of a Child topics to choose from, we've been happy with those we've tried in the past as well.

*Disclosure: A copy of this e-book was provided at no cost for review purposes.*