bodner083

   As homeschool product reviewers for The Old Schoolhouse Magazines TOS Review Crew we were given a Premium Membership to VocabularySpellingCity , it's a family membership for up to 5 students in our family. I had to giggle and reminisce back to the first years of our homeschool. We loved using VocabularySpellingCity , back in the day the homeschooled young man loved to play the free games and practice his spelling using the program. We had found our homeschool curriculum's spelling lists on the site and used those daily. Other times I would import my own lists for history, science and reading words. But there was something lacking in that whole process, now after using the Premium Membership of VocabularySpellingCity , I know exactly what it is. We were lacking accountability in knowing what was actually getting done, I just knew my homeschooler would tell me "I got X number wrong." or "I played this or that game." Letter Fall game With the Premium Membe...

Our family loves Rose-Publishing! They are a favorite stopping point during homeschool conventions. They offer a free Rose Bible eChart each week, so sign up to get yours. This week is on end times. Click here for your FREE download. Rose Bible eCharts End Times These eCharts are great for use in your homeschool. Please Note: Our weekly eCharts are provided as a free service, but it does cost us time and money to create and send these emails. Any order from Rose-Publishing.com is appreciated! Moe p.s. I did not get anything for posting this  ;-)

We were given an 8 week long program to review called Easy Essay from Bridgeway Academy . Scroll down on that page and Easy Essay is the 10th item down from the top. As a TOS Review Crew member I jumped at this chance because essay writing in our home has always been a chore! And you all know how much we like to do chores!  UGH!! The Easy Essay class meets for 90 minutes (TOS Review Crew has a shortened class time of 60 min) with 2-3 hours per week of homework.  Easy Essay is for 9th-12th grade students. For successfully completing the Learning Lab course the student receives 1/2 credit elective towards high school graduation. The cost of Easy Essay  is $275.00. Bridgeway Academy has a whole course line up at the online learning academy, with classes for all ages and they even offer Learning Labs for use in Co-ops! The class had a main focus of organization, structure and design and taught the basics of getting started in writing an essay. Things l...

With fall being here, I love to cook more. I needed a birthday cake for myself and I was thinking CHEESE CAKE! So I decided to head to the grocery store and I found my fall season favorite Silk Soymilk Seasonal Nog and there was a yummy recipe on the back for Eggnog Cheesecake! SOLD!! Eggnog Cheesecake 16 oz cream cheese softened (regular, light, dairy free) 1/2 cup sugar (don't tell, but I put in 1 cup) 2 Tbls flour (I used Better Batter) 1/4 tsp salt 1/2 tsp nutmeg (don't tell, but I did not have any, so I used Penzey Spice's Cake Spice) 2 Tbls dark rum or 2 tsp vanilla (I used 4 tsp Vanilla) 3/4 c Silk Seasonal Nog (any flavor will do) 2 eggs (or egg sub) It called for a graham cracker crust, but I just greased my pan and skipped the crust Preheat oven to 325F, beat cream cheese, sugar, flour, salt and nutmeg. Then add in and beat vanilla and Silk in. Then beat in eggs. Pour into prepared pan. Bake 25-30 min. I had to go almost 40 min because my oven is a bit off. Just i...

Stop on by Kit Kat Plus Celiac 's blog and see the awesome list of Gluten Free candy options for Halloween! YUMMO!!! Just remember to check labels yourself to make sure that the company has not changed ingredients. Now of course there is no corn free listing, so you will have to check that out too if you have allergies to corn. We have been super busy around here, finishing up the TOS Review Crew year, got a couple of really cool reviews to share with you in the coming days! Spent a few days out of town and have some neat things to post about when life slows down. If you have the time, please pray for our son, he has some interesting irons in the fire and needs covered in prayer. We will have more details to share the week of Nov 5. But until then we would covet your prayers for the Lord's will in his life. And that the Lord would comfort him in whatever His will is. Love that the trees are turning and the weather is crisp. Almost time for Campfire school! LOVE THAT TIME OF YEA...

Check out this YUMMY looking Gluten Free Chicken and Wild Rice Soup recipe . I think I will try this out this weekend. We went to our local pizza place this week, I sat and enjoyed the company while my guys ate...lol. They had Chicken & Wild Rice soup, I use to enjoy that when we went there, but no more with being gluten free. So I've had a hankerin' for some this week. Here is another good looking soup I think I will try later in the month. Creamy Chicken & Wild Rice soup.   This site has wonderful tips on how to make soup and a great recipe, it does call for milk, but if you must be dairy free just sub in your favorite kind of milk. A couple of key things to remember when making soup: Check for gluten in wild rice blends (many contain pasta) & broth. Also check recipe ahead of time to see if you have to pre-cook the rice. Nothing like enjoying a pot of soup on a chilly homeschool afternoon. Enjoy!

    As members of the TOS Review Crew we were privileged to review of YWAM Publshing’s Kindle Ebook Jim Elliot: One Great Purpose and we also received the Jim Elliot Unit Study Curriculum Guide part 1 and part 2 inPDF format. Part 1 includes the actual study guide Ebook and part 2 includes all of the maps that go along with the study. (if you get the physical books the maps are located in the center section of the paperback book). The Ebook is$6.99 and the Unit Study is an additional $7.49 for the Curriculum Guide. The age ranges are 10+, but I will tell you that we were reading these books long before age 10 and enjoying them. Homeschool Young Man here, Homeschool Momma asked me to write up a bit about this review, so here goes. I liked that this was on my Kindle because I could take it anywhere and even read in the dark car when we traveled. The book and unit study Jim Elliot: One Great Purpose starts out with Jim Elliot and Pete Fleming on the boat Santa Juana to Ecu...

  As I ponder the above definition of homeschool, it saddens me to see that our legal rights are being chipped away in this country, in our state, at the county level and in our cities. When my homeschooler was a young lad, I never gave truancy laws a second glance, ya know, you see little kids out and about during the day with Mom. You never think much of it. Now, as the Mom of a teenage boy, my mind thinks a bit differently. What is your first thought when you see a group of teenage boys shooting hoops at the local park during the middle of a school day? Or a trio of teen boys walking through the mall, laughing and having a good time on a school day? "What are those hoodlums doing out of school?" What more or less would a truancy officer or police officer think? Think of that police officer alone, walking into a situation with a group of teen boys, he is going to be poised and ready for action if necessary. Exactly, this is the reason why we need to be thinking about how t...

This review was so timely for me, because every new school year I like to treat myself to a new devotional book for homeschooling Moms. The TOS Review Crew was blessed to review Zondervan's KJV Homeschool Mom's Bible , I got the hardcover King James Version with the dust jacket that retails for $34.99, there is also an Ebook version Ebook version for $14.99  and a cornflower blue Italian Duo-Tone™ that retails for $49.99 . The NIV version that can be found by clicking here NIV. I have never found a homeschool mom's devotional that included the Bible in the text, so this was pretty neat, I could take it anywhere and not have to drag 2 books with me, my Bible & my devotional, it was nice to just bring along my KJV Homeschool Mom's Bible !! Actually I left this Bible in my car a lot, the devotionals were a quick read while waiting on my son at the library, mall, piano practice and other places. Normally I would not spend $34.99 on a devotional book, but what a bargain...

OK, so I have been just itching to tell you all about the VideoText Interactive review that we have done for the TOS Review Crew...I mean so many times I have started to brag about it in a blog post only to remember "I CAN'T SAY ANYTHING ABOUT VideoText Interactive TIL OCTOBER!!" ARGH!! Sometimes being a reviewer is hard!! I just wanted to shout from the roof tops about VideoText Interactive .   For all of our homeschool years we have used the spiral method for math, know what that is? Boring worktext pages with tons of math problems that you do each and every day. VideoText Interactive  uses the mastery method so you keep moving forward as you learn the material. We were blessed to receive the use of VideoText Interactive   Algebra A Complete Course  for 3 years for the use of 2 students. Online Programs have a full 30-day money back guarantee. You can also request a FREE DVD sample (it's really nice, I got one). VideoText Interactive  is not new to...

  No gluten cheating going on here! Time to make some Pumpkin goodies! I have a week of cooking & baking ahead of me since we are heading out of town for some much needed fun! I'll give you an update on our fun at a later date as I don't have all the plans laid out just yet. I busy getting food cooked and packed for myself for the trip, always a fun job! lol.   As for our homeschool we are in full swing and getting ready to take our fall break. Love schooling year round, because we ca take off during our favorite seasons and fall is one of those times.   Stop back by for an update our our fall fun!!