We are finally moved in ~ Weekly Wrap-up

Well after a move that was nothing less than a nightmare, we are here. I can't believe a week ago today, we started actually moving. We had every intention of getting it all done last Friday, but we soon realized that wasn't going to work. We didn't have the box truck yet, so we were moving boxes in our vehicles, and would move the furniture the next day. Saturday rolled around and we started at 6 am and didn't get finished until midnight. I think it was the longest day of my life.

So now we are unpacking a little bit each day. I am feeling a little under the weather today so I'm moving extremely slow. It's proven to be a real task to try and keep up with school, regular daily chores, and also reviews. I am worn out. Completely worn out. I can't wait for this house to be all squared away so that we can get back to some normalcy. We are beyond ready for that.

On top of all of the moving fun, we got my car back last Friday and ended up having to put it back in the shop. It still had some places that needed to be repaired so, I'm without a car again. Ugh!!

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend.

Tasha

Music Appreciation: Book 1 for the Elementary Grades by Zeezok Publishing LLC ~ A Schoolhouse Crew Review

I have always wanted to implement Music Appreciation into our school, but could never find a program that I thought they would enjoy. When I showed Gavin Music Appreciation: Book 1 for the Elementary Grades by Zeezok Publishing LLC, he immediately wanted to do it. We have been using it to study Beethoven for the past few weeks, and it has been a HUGE hit here with him. It's one of those programs that he asks to do, and that is always a plus for me!

Ludwig Van Beethoven

What is this Music Appreciation: Book 1 all about?

If you have never heard of this Music Appreciation course, let me tell you a little about it. Your child will have the opportunity to study 7 different composers including Bach, Handel, Hayden, Mozart, Beethoven, Paganini, and Schubert. These range in dates from the years 1685 to 1828.

With this curriculum you will receive:

• The biographies for each composer (7 total)
• A Student Activity book (You will want to purchase one for each student)
• Music Discs 
• The CD for the Lapbook

You will have hours of fun learning all about each composer. The biographies are interesting, and the Activity Book is full of hands on learning and mini lessons that cover geography, history, recipes, and more. Plus even after all of that, you still have a lapbook that adds even more to the study of your composer. From what I can tell, you could not add anymore to this curriculum to make it more complete. It has everything.

So how did we use it in our school?

If you've read any of my reviews before, then you know how much I love when a curriculum is broken down into days and tells me what I need to do for each day. It makes planning so much easier. If you notice the picture below, you can see that each composer is broken down into 4 weeks.

For each week you are given the things that should be done for that week. It is laid out so perfectly that it leaves no guess work. You just do it how you see fit for your child.

We would take the first 2 days to read the weekly chapter in the biography and work on the comprehension questions. Sometimes I would read the chapter out loud, sometimes he would, it would just depend on how we were feeling that day. We loved learning all about Beethoven's life and how he had such a God given gift. We learned about his family, plus his teachers and the role they all played in his life. He had a very interesting life and had a love of music from a very early age. Learning about how hard Beethoven had to work to get to where he wanted to be, led to some great discussions that we should do the same no matter what we are working towards. One of Gavin's favorite parts of the book was when he got to listen to Beethoven's music. He would sometimes replay pieces 2 or 3 times and listen a little more each time. This sparked some great discussions between us about his music!

So one of the things that I really love about this curriculum is that the workbook has so many other activities in it. Along with the comprehension questions it has smaller sections such as Character Qualities, Tidbits of Interest, and even a recipe for you to make! We have been in the middle of moving so we never got to make the recipe, but we are excited to be making it soon!

One of the activities that Gavin really enjoyed was under "How Music is Created Part 1" There is a great lesson on protest songs. They talked about how many songs are written in response to social events. Hot topics would cause many people to write songs expressing their point of view. A great example of a civil war protest song was the "Battle Cry of Freedom." We listened to the song and then discussed how even though the lyrics were for opposing sides, they were essentially singing the same song.

Another fun activity that Gavin enjoyed doing was talking about how music can make you feel. This has always been a discussion in our family. Songs can spark many emotions while listening to it, and it can have different effects on different people. A song could make one person feel happy, but for someone else, it could make them feel sad. He had fun with this hands on project cutting out the faces and attaching them to the song that gave him that emotion. 

Another plus to this wonderful program is that it comes with a lapbook CD that has a lapbook for each composer! This is such an asset to us because we LOVE lapbooks! If you look at the weekly lesson plan you will see that it has the lapbook components listed for that week. This again makes it easy to know which one you will need to do, and it makes it so that it's not overwhelming. The lapbook was easy, but also fun for Gavin.

Last but not least was the timeline that we created. The workbook has it all laid out for you and makes it very simple to create a great visual for your child to see. We plan on making one for each composer so that he can see them all together! 

Our thoughts on Book 1:

While we have only covered Beethoven so far, I can tell that we will love learning about each one. I have been totally impressed with Book 1, and it actually was even more than I could have imagined. I love all of the different facets to the program from the workbook to the lapbook and extra pieces for each week. It all fits together to make an engaging and fun program for any child.

Music Appreciation: Book 1 for the Elementary Grades by Zeezok Publishing LLC would be an asset to any homeschool. We can't wait to get started on our next composer!!

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Building a Bed for Mom ~ Wordless Wednesday

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Kwik Stix 12 pk by The Pencil Grip, Inc. ~ A Schoolhouse Crew Review

My kids love anything to do with art or art supplies. They love markers, crayons, and colored pencils, but I have to say their favorite thing is probably paint. We have recently been using the neatest product for art the last few weeks. It's almost a combination of all of the art supplies they love so much. The Kwik Stix 12 pk by The Pencil Grip, Inc. has already proven to be one of my kid's favorite things to work with for art. To say these were a hit is an understatement!

What we received:

We were totally excited to find out that we were receiving the Kwik Stix 12 pk, which includes 12 different colors of their mess free solid tempera paint. You can buy Kwik Stix in a variety of sizes that include 6 colors, 12 colors, or a classroom set! You can check them out here on Amazon.com!

We also received one of their key products, The Pencil Grip - Single Grip to try out. I was really impressed with this product also. It is for adults and children, and it doesn't matter whether you are left or right handed because it's made for either. It is the #1 Grip recommended by therapists to help kids with their writing, and also recommended by the Arthritis Foundation as easy and comfortable. It fits most writing instruments including pencils, pens, crayons, and more.

What are Kwik Stix?

When my kids first opened the package and looked at the Kwik Stix, they thought that they looked like large twistable crayons. They do look a bit like crayons, but they aren't! They are actually solid sticks of tempera paint! They are mess free, they dry in 90 seconds, and you don't need water! How cool is that? Normally when we have regular paint out we also have cups of water. You know those get spilled all over everything every time the paint is brought out. With Kwik Stix you don't have to worry about all of that extra mess.

How did we use Kwik Stix?

Kwik Stix can be used on a variety of things including poster paper, cardboard, wood, and canvas. We decided to use canvas, but I can see where these would be fantastic to make colorful posters or arts and crafts signs. It's pretty much limitless with what you can do with them!

Edyn has been taking sign language classes and has discovered she has a real heart for people that are deaf or hard of hearing. She wanted to base her painting off of her new passion.

As you can see she used almost all of the colors in her work. She said she loved how vibrant and easy the Kwik Stix are to use!

She decided that she wanted to add some more detail to her pictures, and since the Kwik Stix are a bit bigger, she thought using a small paint brush would do the trick. She just loaded the paint brush up with the tempera paint and it worked perfectly! This is a great way to add detail, and still get the benefits of the Kwik Stix fast drying formula!

Gavin decided that he wanted to paint a house. He used the Kwik Stix for everything on his painting also. He said he loves how smooth the paint goes on to the canvas.

What did we think?

Well needless to say that my kids love them! If we weren't in the middle of having our house packed and ready to move any day, they would have made even more paintings!

These are great for any age, but I think these would be completely perfect for Pre-K or Kindergarten classes for sure. In fact, as a former Pre-K teacher, these would be a life saver in the classroom!

I have to say that I think Kwik Stix 12 pk by The Pencil Grip, Inc. would benefit any child or adult that loves to get creative!

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Still moving and ASL ~ Weekly Wrap-Up

I just wanted to make a quick post to update our week. It has been another busy week around here packing and getting ready for the move. We got some good news this week that we can stay in our current home until May 7th. This will bide us some time and hopefully our new house will be ready. We've been driving by it to see if any progress is done, and it looks like the people are moving out if they haven't moved out completely. I sure hope we can get in soon. All of the boxes and my house being chaotic is starting to wear on me.

School has proven to be hard to keep up with during this time, but we are doing it. I am thankful for the things that I am reviewing right now because it's a lot of work that the kids can do independently. If they have questions, I'm close and they can ask. I just don't have to sit over them and that really helps right now. 

Edyn is still going to her ASL sign language class and she LOVES it. Her teacher is beyond AMAZING!! Edyn has a heart for the deaf and hard of hearing. It's funny because I see so much of myself in her. I too wanted to work with deaf children, and was even going to college to become a speech pathologist. It was something I had a desire to do for a long time, but I ended up being a Mom instead. I definitely wouldn't change it for the world, but I am happy she has that same love for the deaf community. The only thing she would change about her class is this over achiever weirdo dad and his rude wife that bring their kid there. They are distracting and it makes Edyn so aggravated! She is REALLY trying to learn this language, and they make it awkward. The wife likes to talk to the teacher like she's dumb. She's deaf not stupid and that makes Edyn VERY angry. She loves her teacher and when the mom talks to her like that I can tell she wants to let her have it. We are praying that after this 6 week course, she can do another one. She's even been practicing doing ASL songs. She's getting really good and I'm pretty impressed. 

Well that's about it going on now. I'm hoping that we get to move soon and get some normalcy back into our lives. 

Have a great weekend!

~Tasha

GREEMU by Devonian - A Schoolhouse Crew Review

I have always heard about the benefits of emu oil but have never tried it. With us being a vegetarian/vegan family, I was super excited to hear that there was a plant based alternative for emu oil. GREEMU by Devonian which is distributed by Koru Naturals conforms to the standards of pure emu oil. We have been using it for the past couple of weeks and it has proved itself to be a wonderful product for all types of things.

What is GREEMU?

Emu oil that most people are familiar with is extracted from the fat tissues of emu birds. It has a composition of fatty acids that are not present in other oils. Although it has many wonderful uses, it poses a real problem for people who are opposed to using any type of animal products. Devonian designed GREEMU with this in mind and made this product free from any animal ingredients.

GREEMU is a blend of plant oils and butters that have the same lipid composition that matches Grade A emu oil. It is made with macadamia seed oil, palm oil (certified organic), shea butter, sunflower seed oil, and rice bran oil.

These 5 oils come together to create this unique vegan "emu" oil each adding their own benefit to the mix.

Macadamia Seed Oil: Hydrates dry and rough skin and reduces the appearance of fine lines; also good for hair

Palm Oil: Highly beneficial for skin health

Shea butter: wonderful moisturizer that also contains vitamin E; great for face and hands and also a perfect conditioner for dry and brittle hair.

Sunflower seed oil: helps repair skin's barrier, reduces inflammation and helps hydrate dry skin

Rice bran oil: used by Japanese women to keep the skin wrinkle free and smooth

How did we use GREEMU?

I really wanted to review this with both my 14 year old daughter and myself in mind. We both were blessed with dry skin and eczema. I get dry patches on my face and also my legs. She like me gets dry patches around her nose and on her forehead in her hairline. We would use this in the morning and at night to go with our daily routine. We would apply it mainly before we would do our make up and at night when we would take it off.  It proved itself to be a fantastic moisturizer. First of all, you don't need to apply much. A few drops go a long way with this product. If you get too much on, you will feel oily. Just go with a small amount and you can always add a bit more if you need it. It's not supposed to be slathered on like a cream moisturizer.

The second use I had for this was for my dry legs. During the winter especially, my legs get super dry as do my hands.  I have to say, I put this on my legs and it was a glorious feeling. It was like instant hydration for them. It felt wonderful and instantly took that dry itchy feeling and turned it around.

The last thing that we were really happy and amazed with was for my daughter's wild and crazy hair. This girl has hair that is extremely thick and semi curly. Of course in Texas this tends to make her hair incredibly frizzy. We applied the oil starting from the root, and moving down to the ends of the hair. Her hair is so dry that I actually applied a little more at the end where it's the worst. It worked wonders. It made her hair shiny, but not oily, and much more manageable. I was highly impressed with this!

What did we think?

Since I have never used emu oil before, I really don't have anything to compare GREEMU to. But, with that being said, I feel like as good as it worked, then it would definitely be a great alternative. With it being free from any animal ingredients. it will appeal to the vegan/vegetarian community too.

We were sent a bottle 4 fl. oz. size bottle, but a little goes a long way. Again, you aren't going to just drench yourself in this. Also, I want to point out that they say if you are allergic to plant oils, then this is probably not the product for you. The only thing I would suggest to change is the bottle. It just seemed a little messy and sometimes I would get out more than I wanted to use. I definitely don't want to waste it! Other than that, I would definitely want to make this a staple of my home.

If you are looking to purchase an all natural, vegan alternative to emu oil, then I would highly suggest GREEMU by Devonian. You won't regret it!

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Heroes of History - Davy Crocket by YWAM Publishing {A Schoolhouse Crew Review}

Living in Texas, and especially in San Antonio, we are surrounded by a ton of history. Growing up, history was never my favorite subject because I thought it was boring. That has really changed for me, and as a homeschooling mom, I want to make history fun and interesting for my kids. I don't want to read out of a text book the facts about history. I want to make it come to life for them, and show them these places of history if I can. We had the chance to review Heroes of History-Davy Crocket by YWAM Publishing and also use the digital study guide that comes with it. I was super excited about this one because we have been to the Alamo several times, and the kids know who Davy Crocket was, and have even seen some of his belongings.

The Heroes of History is a biography series about influential people that brings history to life. The story form of the book tells all about the people who have helped shape our history over the years, but also makes you feel like you are right there with them.

What we received ~

YWAM Publishing sent us the physical book, which is a little under 200 pages. They also sent us the downloadable digital study guide that goes along with the book. This way you can take this book and turn it into a unit study if you want to.

How did we use it?

You could totally just read Davy Crocket: Ever Westward and learn so much. It is filled with so much information, not only about the person who it's about, but also things they used and places they went.

The digital study guide is very easy to access after you download it. As you can see from the screenshot below, it is not just for homeschool settings. There are also guides for small groups and classrooms. In the guide designed for homeschool, it tells you how to utilize the series if you want to use it for your core U.S. history curriculum, and even provides a timeline so that you can have an idea of what books to read in order. It also goes into detail on other uses of the unit study. Whether you want to use it as a family read aloud or if you are looking for ways to incorporate language arts using this series, it's all here.

The Unit Study Guide has some fantastic ideas to really make studying Davy Crocket fun and engaging. We read the chapters and then would go to the study guide for the chapter questions. This is a great review and a way to make sure the kids are understanding what's being read. I LOVED the idea of having a display corner so that the kids can go and collect things that are related to Davy Crocket and where he lived. I would have done this, but we are in the middle of a big move and I am packing everything that stays still too long. I am definitely going to incorporate this on the next Heroes of History book we read!

 The unit study has so much more to offer including terms and vocabulary that is used in the book, and also some ideas for arts and crafts to go along with it. After we get moved the kids want to recreate a model of the Alamo!

It also comes with some great printouts that include a fact sheet about Davy Crocket, maps, and a timeline! We are still working on our timeline, but the kids really enjoy it!

What we thought ~

So honestly I've never had the chance to read any of YWAM Publishing books until this one. I have to say I am SO impressed. I literally want to order more for myself to read because this book is so good. We used it as a read aloud book, and even did some reading to my husband, and the kid's cousin via video chat. All of us were very impressed how the book read and kept us all engaged. I would recommend this book to pretty much anyone that is interested in the heroes. I have read some boring biographies before, but you won't have to worry about there here. The entire book is engaging and even leaves you with a few "chapter cliff hangers".  I found the kids were wanting to move on to the next chapter because they wanted to find out what happened next! That is a plus in itself!

I am also very impressed with the study guide that comes with it, because it is also chock full of information about your hero.

We have really enjoyed reading Heroes of History- Davy Crocket by YWAM Publishing and can't wait to order more of these wonderful books! They are actually on sale right now and marked down from their normal $9.99 per book to $7.50 per book. This is the perfect time to stock up!

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