Thursday, November 22, 2018

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving from my family to yours!  I am truly grateful for each and every one of you that takes time out of your busy life to read my post!







Friday, November 9, 2018

Thankful Series - Day 9

It is so easy to lose sight of the things we are truly thankful for because we can become so busy in life.  Today I will be reflecting on my very first best friends.  They may have not seemed like my best friends when we were growing up, because we fussed a lot, but they are and I love them so much.  It does not matter how annoying siblings can be, they are that friend you can never get rid of, and they love you no matter how crazy you are.  So, today we will reflect on being thankful for our siblings.



I'm thankful for my siblings because...

Thursday, November 8, 2018

Thankful Series - Day 8

I have decided that at some point this week I will go back and add days 1-6 for this series.  Be sure to check back for those.  What are we reflecting on today?  It doesn't matter how old you get, your parents will always be your parents.  They never stop loving!  So today, we will express our thankfulness for our parents.







I'm thankful for my parents because...

Wednesday, November 7, 2018

Thankful Series - Day 7

I just can't believe we are already in November.  Where has the year gone?  I am about a week late with this post, but it is better late than never.  Each day leading up to Thanksgiving, I will share an "I am thankful for... Because..." post.  If you follow me on Facebook then you have already been participating with me. Thank you! I am thankful for you!




 Today is I am thankful for my home because...

Thursday, November 1, 2018

Balancing Diapers and Deadlines - Review

I'm writing this as I sit here and sip on a nice, warm cup of coffee.  You see I realize that life can be full as a wife and mom.  Full of appointments, errands, needs, wants, lists, plans, love, tears, prayers I could keep going, but I think you get the point.  If you add homeschool to that it gets even fuller, a work from home position, now it seems like the bubble is about to burst at any moment.  The joys of being a stay-at-home wife, homeschool, working, mom...
Did you hear the tires screech?  Now, in all seriousness it is joyful, however, life can seem overwhelming and stressful if we don't manage all of our hats right.  That is why I was thrilled to take the Balancing Diapers and Deadlines course from Lisa Tanner Writing.  Being a homeschool blogger is fun and I love to encourage other homeschooling moms, BUT my family MUST always come first.  That's why I happily agreed to review this course; to get some work-at-home productivity tips.  I hope you don't run when you see the word diapers.  Stick around and see what this time management for busy moms course has to offer.




Balancing Diapers and Deadlines

Friday, October 26, 2018

FREE Resource Friday - Education.com Math Printable

I have not done one of these posts in a while.  Life has just been busy.  I'm so glad you all understand. Today's Free Resource Friday is a free Fall-themed, Math worksheet.  Did you know that you can make math worksheets more enjoyable if you add a theme or pictures to them?  Well, you can. Education.com does a great job at providing those kinds of worksheets for you.  Can you guess what kind of printable I have for you today?  I will give you a hint:  When things don't add up it is time to start subtracting.

If you guessed a subtraction printable, you are correct!  Great job!


Wednesday, October 17, 2018

St. Bartholomew's Eve - A Heirloom Audio Review

It has been cold and rainy here, so we have been enjoying lots of "cuddle in the living room" with a good book time.  Not just physical books, we've also been enjoying a couple of audio dramas as well.
Our most recent one is Heirloom Audio, latest release, St. Bartholomew's Eve.  We've listened to and reviewed, Wulf The Saxon production earlier this year, so we were excited about the opportunity to review this one. 


Monday, October 15, 2018

Our 9th Grade Year Wrap Up - Homeschool Edition

When I started homeschooling, my oldest daughter was starting her 6th-grade year.  I had no idea what I was doing, and high school wasn't even on my radar.  As the years went by, who am I kidding, as they flew by, I started wondering how was I going to homeschool her through high school.  I started researching and looking into what she would need, transcripts, credits, colleges, etc.  I was so overwhelmed and started to freak out.  I even started to doubt myself.  I remember feeling there is no way I can do this. NO WAY!  My husband encouraged me a lot, and I begin to pray, and then finally I stopped researching.  I remembered that God gave me this child and He knew I was able to do this.  So when her freshman year started, we just jumped in.  You can find what our plans were HERE.   This first year has been a real blessing and we have learned so much, not only academically, but also spiritually, and about each other.  By focusing more on her and not what everyone else suggested was needed for a freshman, I was able to see her strengths and weaknesses and help her overcome obstacles.  This has been one of the most rewarding homeschool years, and it has nothing to do with how smart she is, and she is pretty smart if I may say so myself.
I asked my daughter if she would share how her 9th grade school year went, with you all, and she said yes.  So her is the lovely Mrs. Kae!




Thursday, October 11, 2018

Brinkman Adventures - Missionary Audio Drama - Review

Brinkman Adventures


Do you enjoy reading missionary stories?  I know our family does!  Although we love to read them, Audio Missionary Dramas can be a hit or miss in our home, but Brinkman Adventures is always a hit.  Our family has been enjoying Season 6: Underground Rising, during dinner time.  This is one Audio Drama we enjoy listening to over and over again.  Continue reading to see how our family incorporated this audio story into our day and what we learned from it.




Wednesday, October 10, 2018

Vlogtober Day 2 - Dentist Appointment and the Book Store

I really wanted to participate in the whole Vlogtober thing, I did.  However, I struggled with editing and uploading.  I was able to capture footage, but I just couldn't find the time to edit and upload every day.  So for those of you Vlog daily, work from home, homeschool, and are married please share how you get it all done.
Anyway, here is Vlogtober Day 2.


Friday, October 5, 2018

Printable Books of the Bible "Summary Sheets" - Review

Teach Sunday School

Our family has been using Book-By-Book Bible Printables from Teach Sunday School to teach an overview of each book of the Bible.
Have you guys ever wanted an at-a-glance view of a specific book of the Bible?  Do you ever wonder who wrote a particular book in the Bible? I know my children, myself, and even my husband often wonder those things especially about those books we may overlook sometimes. Well if that's ever a problem for you or someone you know, you will love these printables!



Wednesday, October 3, 2018

Vlogtober on YouTube!

I am participating in the Vlogtober over on my YouTube channel.  That means I will attempt to Vlog every day in October.  Let's see how this goes.  Here's the video for Day 1.


Monday, October 1, 2018

Forensic Faith For Kids - Children's Book Review

David C Cook along with Case Makers Academy sent us Forensic Faith for Kids to read and review.  Do you guys ever struggle with making Bible fun? I know a lot of times it can be a bit confusing for younger kids to understand. Even though I typically do an excellent job at explaining it to my kids and they understand it pretty well, I'm always looking for ways to "spice it up" but still hold true to what the Bible actually states. So when I received the email to review Forensic Faith for Kids I was ecstatic especially since we are already familiar with the author.  J Warner Wallace did a great job at explaining Jesus to and his identity in a way that younger kids could understand.
*Disclaimer: Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. That just means if you click on them and purchase something I will make a small commission from it with no additional charge to you


Tuesday, September 25, 2018

Interactive Math Supplement - I Know It - Review

Math, Math, Math where do I begin?  I've said it before, and I will repeat it Math is one of those subjects you will either love or hate, there is no in between.  Math is my favorite subject, and I want to make sure my children enjoy it as well.  One of the ways I try to do that is to be sure to incorporate resources that will assist in making it easier to understand.  Especially, when learning new concepts.  For the past couple of months, my children have been using iKnowIt.com as a supplement to their math curriculum.  I Know It is an online math supplement for children in grades K-5 that our family is reviewing for you all!  We are excited to share our thoughts and opinions with you.



Friday, September 21, 2018

By the Way Review - Science, History, and Geography from a Biblical worlview

Geography, history, and science are all subjects that my children do together as a group.  From time to time we like to veer off from our curriculum and learn about something else.  That's one of the many things I love about homeschool!   So recently we put our study of the Romans on hold so that we could check out By the Way. We were given the opportunity to read and review New York City - By the Way, one of the books in the By the Way Book Series.  My youngest son has wanted to take a vacation to New York since as long as I can remember so, I knew I would enjoy reading this to him and the other kids.  However, this is not just a book you can read, this is a book you get involved in!  Many discussions and activities sparked from this book.




Wednesday, September 19, 2018

How Can Children Learn About The Lord Through a Comic Book- Book Review

Bible is the one subject I try to get to each day.  I love incorporating games, good discussions, and anything to be sure my children are engaged.  We recently were offered the opportunity to review Book 1, Rescue Me! What Superheroes Can Teach Us About the Power of Faith in The Captain Sun Adventures series.  It is no secret that I love reading, and for the most part, my children do as well, but having a story/comic book/Bible devotion all in one is taking it to another level.  After, reading the first book in the series, I know that our family will be happy to add The Captain Sun Adventures entire series to our bookshelf. Continue reading to find out more about the story and what my children and I thought about it.



Wednesday, September 12, 2018

Kingdom Files (Barbour Publishing) Review

I have several posts about books and reading so you all already know how we feel about it.  It is just getting harder to find my definition of "kid-friendly" books.  Recently I heard about Barbour Publishing through the Homeschool School Review Crew.  They have a series called Kingdom Files and we had the opportunity to read and review two of the books from that series, Who Was Jonah? and Who Was Mary, Mother of Jesus?.  We finished one and we have started on the other and man I am impressed with the way they are written and how engaging they are.  Have you ever read a non-fiction story that opened the door to many different discussions throughout the story?  Well, that is exactly what happened as we read.



Wednesday, September 5, 2018

GrammarPlanet - Review

Even as a blogger I am not a grammar queen, who am I kidding I'm not even a grammar princess.  English was my least favorite subject when I was in school but has a homeschool mom I have come to enjoy teaching it.  I want my children to get it, you know really understand it.  Especially, now when we are living in a time when everyone is using abbreviations to communicate and relying on Google to help them with everything.  So for the last couple of months, we have been using GrammarPlanet.  For the most part, my children have gained some solid knowledge on how the English language work.




Tuesday, September 4, 2018

Reading Eggs - Review

Learning to read is a very important life skill.  You need reading for just about everything in life.  So one of my main goals in homeschooling my children is for them to be strong readers.  I am not just talking about being able to pronounce words and read a book, I want them to comprehend what they are reading.  So, when given the opportunity to review Reading Eggs I didn't have the learning to read with phonics idea in mind I was looking for something to help him with reading comprehension, his grammar, becoming a better speller, etc.  I saw that they offered all of that so I was a happy parent!  For the last month or so we have been working our way through Reading Eggspress online and the corresponding workbook.
My son enjoys Reading Eggs and now with the new workbook, 200 Essential Reading Skills for Third Grade, offered by them, we can really solidify his reading.  I want to share with you, our thoughts and how we used this program in our homeschool.




Wednesday, August 29, 2018

Apologia's Exploring Creation with Health and Nutrition - Review

Apologia Educational Ministries is one of those curricula we have used since the beginning of our homeschool journey.  We have loved everything we've used, so when I saw they were soon to come out with a Health and Nutrition Basic Set I was excited, to say the least.  I already exhausted our homeschool budget for the next few months so I was thinking of all kinds of ways to present this to my husband so that we could get it.  LOL  The Exploring Creation with Health and Nutrition by Dr. Laura Chase was released and I was still trying to figure out how to explain this to my husband that we just had to have this.   Well, yall always hear me say how being apart of the Homeschool Review Crew is a blessing, right?  So get this, we were offered the opportunity to review it in exchange for our honest review.  If I knew how to flip I would have!  So after careful reading what the course would cover, talking to my husband and daughter, and praying we jumped on the opportunity.  My 15-year-old daughter and I will be sharing with you our thoughts on this Health and Nutrition Basic Set.



Friday, August 24, 2018

Dear New Homeschool Mama

This year has really run by us.  Can you believe we are already in August?  We are actually, creeping into the month September.  Now, I am not complaining about that because fall is my favorite season!  
In the homeschool community, many of us are either prepping to start a new school year, or we have just recently started our new year.  With that, I know that somewhere out there, there is a mom who has just made the decision to homeschool.  There is also a mom who is relatively new to it and is still trying to figure this thing called homeschool out.  I remember very vividly when I began my journey as a homeschool mom, it was 5 years ago, but I remember it like it was yesterday.  I was so unsure of everything, I didn't know where to start, I didn't know if I could do it, I was excited, nervous, and scared all at the same time.  I kept asking myself the question, "What if I fail them?"  Yes, I've been there before I'm sure every homeschooling mom has.  Trust me you are not alone in this.  I would love to give you some peace by sharing with you some things I wish I would have known before I got started.


Tuesday, August 21, 2018

Are you Ready for the Upcoming Homeschool Year?

When a new school year is approaching for us homeschool moms our minds tend to go at 100 miles per hour.  We have so many awesome ideas for the new year, so many things to get done, so many plans, and in the mist of all that comes a little bit of stress, sometimes.  I think it's because we feel like we need to be like the "have it all together homeschool moms" on Pinterest, Instagram, and other social media accounts.  You know the ones that have the perfect homeschool room, spotless house, they even have their homeschool year all planned out before they finish the current year?!  I always wondered how in the world they did it!  I mean and still be able to keep up with the house, spend time with their husband, spend time with the kids, spend time with friends, etc.  I still have no idea but I do know I am NOT that mom and my children are not those children! You know what else I know?  I know that we all have the same amount of hours in a day and what we decide to do with them is up to us.  I like to spend my hours stress-free and for me trying to perfect everything is stressful.  Who has time for stress?  I know I don't!  If I go into my new school year stressed out we will have a stressful school year.  As a mom, the same way we set the tone for our home also applies to how we set the tone for our children's education.  The kids know when there is something wrong with mama.  I know you don't want to add any extra stress to you or your children, right?   After all, school is supposed to be fun not stressful!!  This post is apart of Andrea's, from All The Homeschool Things, Ready, Set, Homeschool blog party.  That is where you can find the rest of my post and trust me you don't want to miss this.  So head on over to Ready, Set, Homeschool blog and see what I have left you there.  You can find the full article here.

In case you were wondering what the Ready, Set Homeschool blog party is, it is where you will find 15 days of tips and hacks to prepare you for the upcoming school year.  So what are you waiting on, why are you still here?  Hurry and head on over and don't forget to enter the giveaway!!

Thursday, August 16, 2018

God Schooling: How God Intended Children to Learn - Book Review

It is the beginning of the new homeschool year for most homeschooling families or this is the time when they do all their planning and purchasing of their new curriculum.  We homeschool year round with occasional breaks here and there, however, this is the time that I start buying curriculum, planning, and making changes to our homeschool.  In the midst of all of that, we sometimes forget to stop and ask God what He wants for our homeschool.  I have come to realize over the past 5 years that I have been homeschooling that when I try to do it my way it never works!  So I learned early on to pray and seek God help daily.  I don't see that a lot in the homeschool community though.  Most moms, myself included sometimes, are frantic about if we are doing enough, are our children getting it, what will people think of our kids if they are not on a certain level, etc.  This is why I was happy to read and review God Schooling: How God Intended Children to Learn written by Julie Polanco.  I needed the encouragement before planning out our school year so it was timely. 


Wednesday, August 15, 2018

Wordless Wednesday - All White Gala

It was a blessing spending the evening with some amazing like-minded women






All White Gala dress front and back

All White Gala custom dress

All White Gals shoe

I want to send a big THANK YOU to Semetra Vanison for making this beautiful dress just for me!

You can find Semetra on Instagram if you are looking for a special design!

Monday, August 13, 2018

Paddington Bear Unit Study - Review

The Paddington Bear movie was a hit in our home both of them as a matter of fact.  So you can probably imagine my excitement when offered the opportunity to review the Paddington Bear lit-based unit study from Branch Out World.  I already knew which one of my children I wanted to use it with, my youngest son, who requested for us to watch the movie for his 9th birthday.  Although I was thrilled I wanted to be sure he was up for the challenge.   You see the last literature unit study he did he wasn't too fond of it.  He enjoys reading but he doesn't like to do a lot of writing unless it is absolutely necessary.  Well, when I asked him he said, "Ohh yes mama" so it was a go.  I will be sharing with you our feedback on this awesome home education resource.






Thursday, August 9, 2018

Enjoy History with Home School in the Woods - Review

History is a subject that can either be interesting or boring.  I always looked at it as a bunch of books with way too many dates to remember.  However, if presented right History can be very interesting and fun.  My son oldest loves history period, no matter how it is presented, but the rest of the kiddos not so much.  Home School in the Woods does an excellent job at making History not only interesting but fun as well! We are learning about the Roman/Middles Ages time period this year so being able to review the Project Passport World History Studies was right on time for us.  Of course, we chose to try Project Passport: The Middle Ages project first!  This has been the perfect hands-on history add-on to our history lessons.


Home School in the Woods Review


Thursday, July 26, 2018

Smart Kidz Radio- Review

We take great caution in the music we allow our children to listen to so I was hesitant at first about the idea of reviewing Smart Kidz Radio from Smart Kidz Media.  However, my interest was peaked when I saw they offered original songs and stories that teach valuable life skills.  So because of that, I jumped in.    


Monday, July 23, 2018

No Longer Little: Parenting Tweens with Grace and Hope - Book Review

I have been a parent for 15 almost 16 years and I can still remember when I was pregnant with my first child all the warnings I got about the baby keeping you up at night, or the "terrible twos" and even the sassiness of girls, and roughness of boys.  I made it through those stages with flying colors all 4 of our children were great babies and toddlers.  I remember thinking "wheew" we made it.  However, what everyone forgot to warn me about were the tween and teen stages, so my husband and I walked right into them unprepared. You know what? Come to think of it maybe they did, but we just ignored it because we made it through the other stages clear of disaster.  As parents of 4 children, we pretty much thought we had this parenting thing down to a science.  I mean love them, discipline them, feed them, teach and train them, provide for them, nurture them, and most importantly share the Word of God with.  We thought it would only get easier the older they get. LOL  If I can be honest for a second, well I'm always honest, but it seem like the right thing to say in this sentence, ok back to what I was saying the tween years of 10-14 has been the most challenging for us in our home for both the child and us so I am glad I had some help from Great Waters Press with their newest title No Longer Little: Parenting Tweens with Grace and Hope.  I received this book in exchange for my honest review and I will start by saying it is amazing!!



Friday, July 20, 2018

Free Resource Friday - Education.com

Hey, Y'all! 
Are you staying cool?  
This has been one hot week for us peeps here in Texas!  I'm just trying to keep from frying, so indoors it has been for my family.  It is even too hot to go to the water park!  Anyways, enough about this heat I am back with another free resource for you. 
This week's Free Resource Friday is brought to you by Education.com
Education.com is a website for teachers and parents that provides resources, tools, and learning material that can help improve the education of children. They provide learning resources in over 20 countries and six continents.

Monday, July 16, 2018

Code for Teens - A Coding Guide for Teenagers - Review

You know how much my son loves coding.  You also may remember the online coding class he did earlier this year.  And you already know how our family feels about electronics and children.  <--- We don't encourage it as much as other parents because we feel kids spend too much time on video games and watching how-to videos instead of actually doing.  However, because the world we are living in is becoming more and more technology-driven we want our kids to have some idea of how to navigate in a world full of "tech-geeks".  So we tried our hands and brains at another coding program.  I'm back today with another review for you, Code for Teens: The Awesome Beginner's Guide to Programming (Volume 1) from Code for Teens.



Friday, July 13, 2018

Free Resource Friday - Classiacal Music for Kids

Hello, Y'all!!   I hope you are having a fantastic day!  I know it's around that time to start preparing for the upcoming school year so I would like to share a free resource with you each Friday.  Contrary to what everyone believes homeschooling does not have to cost you an arm and a leg.  There are a ton of free resources out there.


Thursday, July 12, 2018

Math Refresher for Adults - Review

Hey yall!  I hope you are having a great week!  Let's chat about math a bit.  You know the subject people either love or hate.  Yes, that one.  If you are like me, and I am sure many other homeschool moms, you cringe at the thought of teaching math to your older kids.  Math is actually my favorite subject and I remember still being nervous as my kids got older knowing the math would become more complicated.  I've even heard parents say that they have hired a tutor, put their children in co-ops, or even sent them back to public school so that they didn't have to teach math.  Some of them never even attempted to do it they were just intimidated by the thought.  Math can be very intimidating especially when you haven't used it in a while.  I'm not talking about the everyday general math like budgeting bills, determining your children's allowance, baking in the kitchen, or grocery shopping I am talking the Geometry, percentage, Algebra, etc.   Well, you will be happy to know that I have found an awesome resource that I have been working through over the last month or so, that will give you the confidence you need teach your child math.  Math Refresher for Adults by Math Essentials has been a blessing and I am thrilled to have had the opportunity to review it.



Wednesday, July 4, 2018

Friday, June 29, 2018

The Master and His Apprentices: Art History from a Christian Perspective - Review

To feed my daughter's love for Art I thought it would be fitting if she learned the history of art.  There are so many different Art curricula out there, but very seldom do I see any that actually teach the history of art.  I had never heard of The Master and His Apprentices until we had the opportunity to review The Master and His Apprentices: Art History from a Christian Perspective.  My daughter has been working through this art curriculum and has found it to be very intriguing.



Friday, June 22, 2018

Five Minute Friday - Ocean

Hey y'all!  I am back with another Five Minute Friday.  I hope you have been enjoying these. If you are new to my blog and you don't know what Five Minute Friday is you can hope over to Kate's site so she can fill you in.

Well, this week our word is Ocean.  



Thursday, June 21, 2018

Persuasive Writing for High School - A Homeschool Curriculum Review

Creating a love for writing for children can be challenging and finding a good writing curriculum can be even more challenging especially for a teen. Did I mention a strong-willed teen? Fortunately, she likes to write, however, she enjoys free writing not so much structured writing.  I was both happy and nervous about reviewing Persuasive Writing & Classical Rhetoric: Practicing the Habits of Great Writers by Silverdale Press LLC. I was happy because she would have a solid writing curriculum that would teach her some writing structure and I was nervous because I didn't want this to change her love for writing in a negative way and because in the past most writing curriculum we tried was very parent-prep intensive. I didn't know what to expect going into this but what I did know was that making sure my high school student learn to write well required me to choose a curriculum that teaches that, so here we are.






Wednesday, June 20, 2018

Reading with MaxScholar - A Homeschool Curriculum Review

As many of you already know I have been working on helping my youngest daughter improve her overall reading skills.  Recently we tried a program that just wasn't a good fit for her.  So, when the homeschool review crew was offered the opportunity to review MaxScholar I was a bit hesitant because I wanted to complete the previous program that we were using and I didn't want to put too much stress on my daughter by having her do both.  So, I went ahead and jumped ship with the other program and signed up to review MaxScholar.  Our family was able to review a 12-month subscription to the Reading Intervention Programs by MaxScholar.   My daughter that is using this program is my "go with the flow" kind of girl so she did not complain at all when I told her I had a new reading program for her to try out.  So we started right away.  I will be sharing all the good and bad with you about this reading software so go grab your notebook and maybe a cup of coffee or tea and let's get started.






Wednesday, June 13, 2018

Wordless Wednesday - Summer Evenings

Hey y'all!  It's Wordless Wednesday time!  If you don't know what Wordless Wednesday is it is when you post on Wednesday with no words just pictures.

 This week's Wordless Wednesday is Summer Evenings




Wednesday, June 6, 2018

Classical Composition I: Fable - Writing Curriculum Review

When I think of Classical Christian Education I think of Memoria Press.  My youngest son doesn't like writing very much.  I'm not just talking about structured writing I mean he doesn't like writing at all, he would rather talk about it than write it.  We have dabbled in a few different writing curriculums in the past but nothing spiked his interest.  I am familiar with Memoria Press so when given the opportunity to review their Classical Composition I: Fable Set, I decided to give it a try with him.






Tuesday, June 5, 2018

Summer fun with The Critical Thinking Co.™ || A Homeschool Review

We don't normally take off school in the summer, however, because we have been so busy this year I decided we would take a few weeks off.  We are still working on a few educational things but mostly fun learning.  One of the things we have been working on is The Critical Thinking Co.™.  We have always loved The Critical Thinking Co.™ so I jumped at the opportunity to review Something's Fishy at Lake Iwannafisha.  This has really gotten my kids critical thinking skills going.




Wednesday, May 23, 2018

Wordless Wednesday - Kite Day Fun

This week's Wordless Wednesday is inspired by some fun at the park we had.  Join us for some kite flying fun!

Tuesday, May 22, 2018

Elementary Comprehensive Language Arts Curriculum - Review

Our family was given a one-year subscription to Home School Navigator Reading and Language Arts Curriculum and interactive notebooks from Home School Navigator in exchange a review.  I am not to fund of teaching Language Arts.  Well, it's not that I don't like it, it's just that I am always doubting myself in that area or I feel like I may be missing or leaving something out.  Home School Navigator was designed for the homeschool parent like me in mind.  They provide your children with a life long learning experience.






Monday, May 21, 2018

T is for Tree: A Bible ABC book for toddlers - A Book Review

First of all is it really almost June already?!?  This year is almost halfway over.  Where did the time go?  I hope you are getting your summer book list ready.  Still gathering suggestions for your list?  Well, that's great because today I want to introduce you to a sweet Christian children's book titled, T is for Tree: A Bible ABC from Reformed Free Publishing Association.  I was sent this book in exchange for my honest review.   My niece has enjoyed listening to me read it to her as she looks at the pictures but even more so she has enjoyed talking over and trying to read it her self.  LOL



Thursday, May 17, 2018

Preschool and Kindergarten Learning Curriculum Review - PandaParents

My two-year-old niece spends the day with our family during the week.  She started showing interest in wanting to learn more and read by the time she started walking.  She would grab books from the bookshelf and say, "Read Kie, puwease."  So I would read to her and work on ABCs, numbers, and colors whenever she was interested.  I had not introduced her to a formal curriculum until now.  We have been working MESSYLEARNING FOR PRESCHOOLERS AND KINDERGARTNERS by PandaParents for the past month.  We received this in exchange for our honest review.




What is PandaParents and what does MESSY stand for?

PandaParents is a monthly preschool learning curriculum subscription.  It is recommended for kids 3-6 years old.  Each month comes with a preschool learning storybook, video story, a pdf workbook, and other projects which are included in the workbook.  They cover several different subjects such as Reading, Math, Art, Science, and even foreign language.

MESSY stands for 

Mixed subjects and activities for integrative learning
Engaging activities that challenge minds
Simple 1 2 3 steps: Read, Learn, Create
Smart designs for creative learning
Yeah, a new way to promote preschool STEM and early brain growth.






What we received

We are reviewing an electronic version of this program.  We received three months worth of the program.  

A Jolly Jingle Journey parts 1 and 2
Mommy's Baby
Scotty Skunk Hears a Scary Sound

How we used it

My niece is only 2 years old so  I am not forcing her to sit through complete lessons.  Ideally, the kid would read the book, watch the video story, and work on the workbook pages and crafts.  However, I had my niece listen and watch the video story and then I printed off the worksheets as needed.  

We worked through A Jolly Jingling Journey it came with 2 stories, the video story, and a pdf workbook.  We did not make it all the through the workbook but I did look over all the pages to get an idea of what they covered.
Part 1 introduced the letter J.  Mrs. Kelly taught the kids about the uppercase and lowercase "Jj" they incorporated the English, Spanish, and Chinese languages.



Part 2 was about a little boy named Davy who is on a hunt to find Santa.  This story teaches the letter "J", colors, patterns, the Arctic region, and more.  Working through this workbook your child will learn reading skills, memory skills, numerical order, problem-solving, and so much more.  My niece enjoyed the worksheets more than she did the story.  I think it's because it made her feel like a "big girl"




We did not make it through all three of the stories but I did look through all of them.

Mommy's Baby is a story about a baby, that didn't want to go to sleep so mommy reads a cute little story about a panda names Amanda.  This story introduces shapes, animals, sizes, and different foods.  Working through the workbook your child will learn about emotions, letter recognition, patterns, living and non-living things, reading comprehension, and so much more.







Scotty Skunk Hears a Scary Sound is a story about a skunk trying to find a new home, but everywhere he goes there's a scary sound so he leaves to go find a new home.  The scary sounds are not scary at all they're things like a tractor, lawn mower, a train etc. but for a little skunk, they can be very intimidating.  The storybook taught the letter S, sounds of locomotives, the 4 seasons, the weather and so much more.  Working through this workbook the kids will work on handwriting, matching games, patterns, sorting, reading comprehension, chronological order, and a ton of other things.



My thoughts


This program is a great curriculum for preschool children.  The preschool learning stories are easy to follow and keep the attention of the kid.  It covers a variety of subjects in a fun, interactive way.  It is very parent-led intensive, but  I don't mind that.  I will definitely continue to work through this program with my niece as long as she is interested.  I would recommend this for children 2-6 with a little patience on the parent side for the younger kids.  You can get this awesome preschool learning subscription for as low as $9.95 a month.

I'm sure you would love to read more about what other moms are saying about MESSYLEARNING FOR PRESCHOOLERS AND KINDERGARTNERS by PandaParents click the banner below to do so.




Messylearning For Preschoolers and Kindergartners {PandaParents Reviews}
You can find PandaParents on Social Media



Crew Disclaimer