Homeschool Rescue ~ A Review

As a long time homeschooling mama there is always room for growth and improvement with regards to our individual homeschool journey. I recently had the privilege to work through Homeschool Rescue from Only Passionate Curiosity and thoroughly enjoyed it. Whether you are a veteran homeschooler or are just entering into the journey this is a fantastic resource for helping to make your homeschool experience balanced and enjoyable. The course has a total of 5 hours and 28 minutes of lessons. Homeschool Rescue includes video, transcripts, audio downloads, homework/workbooks, and lots of extra resources and links.

As moms we MUST find time for ourselves. I know what you are thinking. When am I supposed to find time to listen to over 5 hours of material. Being a mom of 6 kiddos, several with severe health issues requiring LOTS of medical appointments and hospitalizations, I often times find myself thinking and says just that. Well, the gems of encouragement and information in Homeschool Rescue will be a benefit and blessing for your whole family.

Some of the topics discussed are:

• Homeschooling under Special Circumstances
• Just Say No
• Mastering the Follow Through
• Pacing Your Curriculum
• Common Homeschool Struggles
• Learning Styles

After listing to the first 5 minutes of the first lesson I realized that this was going to be good and extremely beneficial for me. Module One entitled, Triaging Your Homeschool helps you take a step back and look at yourself and your homeschool experience. Are you burned out? What is distracting you keeping you from being the best mom, wife, and teacher? Are you in a stormy season? The beautiful quote from Little Women, "I am not afraid of storms, for I am learning to sail my ship." is exactly what Heather, the author of Homeschool Rescue wants to help you do. When you learn to take control of your ship and learn how to properly sail it, the sea becomes much smoother. 

Your homeschool journey is not meant to be walked alone. It is so very important to build a community of friends, mentors, and accountability partners to help you along the way. 

Module One, Lesson 4 hit home for me! Entitled, Homeschooling Under Special Circumstances ~ Chronic Illness & Special Needs. The one word that stuck out for me was the word, GRACE. When dealing with circumstances such as these, survival homeschool mode, you have to give yourself grace. With homeschooling on the rise there are so many resources and options available to homeschoolers. If you get a bit behind, remember, it isn't going to be the demise of your childrens education. Having realistic expectations for yourself or your child with a chronic illness or special need needs to be allowed. 

I love this quote!

Great questions to ask yourself.

 Love this MOTTO!

In Module Two, Lesson 1, definitely took me out of my comfort zone. This lesson talks about how it is IMPOSSIBLE to be all things to all people all of the time. In this lesson you will learn how to say "No" with grace. If you are the kind of person that has a hard time saying no when asked to do things you need to realize that saying "Yes" always has a cost. When you say yes to something you are in turn saying no to something else. Before saying yes to the friend that asks a favor you need to contemplate the opportunity cost. Yes, it is important to support your friends, neighbors, church, co-op, etc. but you have to make sure that it isn't costing you more than you can afford physically and mentally. If your commitments are affecting your ability to properly give your children the attention they need academically than it is time to re-evaluate. It is important to remember that there are seasons in our lives when helping and giving is much easier than others. Also, this applies to curriculums. Are you saying "yes" to a good curriculum when it is only meeting part of your needs? Everything has a cost! What are your energy zappers? This lesson definitely hits some very hot button topics but is so very necessary to the overall mental health of your family. 

There are times when listening to the audio just isn't practical. For others reading a transcript is much more beneficial. It is easy and quick to download a particular lesson and print it out. I found printing the lessons out very helpful. I loved listening to the audio and taking notes within the margins and highlighting parts of the transcript. It also provided a way for me to go back and reread sections to refresh. 

Homeschool Rescue also provides users the opportunity to be a part of the Homeschool Rescue Facebook Community. This is a great place to ask question, get support, and share your daily journey. Right now my life is FULL and I have intentionally not become a part of this community. In the future this may be something I will turn to but for now I have had to weigh the cost. I have perused the Facebook page and can see the amazing benefit that it provides so many of the members. 

I could continue to go on about the benefits of Homeschool Rescue for every homeschool family but this review has to have an end. I would encourage you to PLEASE take the time to go through this program. The blessing are so far reaching. 

There are two purchase options. 

To read more reviews click here.

Social Media Links
Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/OnlyPassionateCuriosity/
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The Illustrated Compendium of Amazing Animal Facts

The Illustrated Compendium of Amazing Animal Facts

My 10 year old daughter absolutely loves animals. She loves reading and learning about animals and insects of any kind. This book is full of very interesting animal facts. Kiddos will love this book and not realize that it is quite educational. Did you know that "The skin of the Panda is black under its black fur and pink under its white fur." Or did you know that, "Ants have no lungs." This book contains animal facts that even I as an adult did not know. Each page features black and white pictures to accompany the animal that it is discussed. Facts pertaining to 55 animals or insects will leave you wondering what else about animals you did not know. The book is 119 pages in length. This book is hardcover and has a beautiful embossed picture on the cover. 
  

 The Illustrated Compendium Of Amazing Animal Facts would be a great gift for a child or an adult.

All Ice Is Not Created Equal

Due to Gastroparesis and FPIES my almost 9 year old daughter pretty much has a virgin palate. Between 6- 9 months old her body rejected ALL food. Since then she has been fed through a feeding tube. This is where ice comes in. Despite her crazy issues she does enjoy eating ice, as well as salt and sugar. Anyways, back to the ice. Did you know that all ice is not created equal? Did you know that ice has different tastes? Well, for most of us this would not even cross our minds. Well, for my kiddo it does. In order to not damage the enamel on her teeth we stick with soft ice and snow cone type ice. Some of her favorite soft ice comes from places such as Sonic, Chick-fil-A, Chicken Express, and of course hospital ice. You know the small chunks of ice that melt in your mouth? Well, for days my daughter had been saying that she was really craving Sonic ice. I continued to put off going. She was in tears. That is when reality hit and I said to myself, "Good grief, we all crave food from time to time." Since ice is a huge part of her existence I got to thinking.....maybe she really can taste the difference between certain ice. So, I dried her tears and got in the car and drove to Sonic to get her much beloved ice. She was in complete bliss with her cup of Sonic ice. I had to giggle when ordering and I told the guy that I wanted a small cup of ice and he said, "And what else?" To that I said, "Nothing." I am sure he was quite confused. That is okay because I knew that my daughter's huge smile in the backseat said it all.

IEW ~ A Review

Home School Essay Intensive  from Institute for Excellence in Writing  is a great way to equip your high school age students for general essay writing, prepping for the SAT® and/or ACT® essay, as well as techniques for writing a college application. This curriculum is intended for grades 9-12. 

Included in this intensive are:

• 5 DVDs
• Student Handouts
• Portable Walls for the Essayist Folder

I currently have two high schoolers as well as one that will be entering high school next year.   This spring my sophomore and junior needed to take the TSI for acceptance into junior college for duel credit next year. One of the many tests that they had to complete was to write an essay. This program gave them the tools needed to successful prepare for this part of the test. As they both prepare for applying to 4 year universities as well as writing essays for potential scholarships and grants IEW definitely has given them an upper hand. 

There are 4 main parts to High School Essay Intensive:

• General Strategies for Essay Writing
• Understanding and Preparing for the New ACT® Essay
• Understanding and Preparing for the Redesigned SAT® Essay
• Strategies for the "Personal Essay"

Before beginning the program students are instructed to complete an Initial Exercise. Given the choice of two prompts they are given 20 minutes to complete an essay. Students watch DVD seminar like lectures and then apply what they have learned in their writing. 

Portable Walls for the Essayist
This fold out is full of amazing helps! It is truly a reference guide that your student will benefit from not only in high school but also college. Included in this folder is:

• Types of essays with brief explanations
• Essay Models
• Essay Writing Process
• Essay Writing Strategies
• Sentence Pattern Variety
• TRIAC Paragraph
• Specific Essay Models
• List of Transitional Words and Phrases

High School Essay Intensive Worksheets
Included in the kit is a stapled packet filled with worksheets, essay prompts, and essay forms that will be used throughout the program. 

DVD's
There are 5 DVD's for a total of 6 1/2 hours of teaching. Included in the DVD sleeve is a unique activation code to video stream the seminars. The lecturer Andrew Pudewa as well as a class of students will walk your students through this essay intensive program. Mr. Pudewa utilizes a large white board to demonstrate what he is talking about. He is very easy to follow. 

I would have shared parts of my kiddos essays but they asked me to please respect some of their privacy and not post them. Two of my kiddos wrote essays for admittance into junior college and they both got great scores on their essays. They were given several prompts then had to choose on and write on the given topic. The tools that are learned in this program definitely aid in successful essay writing. 

It should be noted that this essay intensive program is a supplemental writing program. 

I have used may IEW curriculum and have been impressed with all of it. This particular program is definitely something that I would highly recommend to others. Even if your child is a good writer they will greatly benefit from this essay intensive.

To read more reviews click here.

Social Media
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YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/iewtv
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Camel Milk

The benefits of camel milk are HUGE! 

Don't know much about camel milk? 

Well, it is time to find out. 

I recently discovered Desert Farms and am so very excited!! I have a daughter who deals with significant GI issues as well as food allergies. 

ELEMENTAL FORMULA = FAILED

MOST FOODS = FAILED 

Out of desperation I have turned to looking "outside of the box" with regards to finding safe food alternatives. Food allergies, FPIES, GI issues, and autoimmune diseases are on the uprise. Individuals are searching for alternative treatments and solutions to these often debilitating conditions. When I began looking into the benefits of camel milk I was stunned. Did you know that camel milk is the closest one can get to human breastmilk? 

Here is an amazing journal article on Camel Milk for Food Allergies in Children. 

Seven amazing benefits of camel milk. Read this link.

Facts About Camel Milk

We are currently on day 5 of our camel milk trial. I plan 

on updating as we go along. 

Want to try camel milk? 

Click on the link below to receive a discount!

http://desertfarms.refr.cc/jenniferladewig

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Lamplighter ~ A Review

The Secret Bridge written by Amy Le Feuvre is a 2017 new release from Lamplighter Publishing. Lamplighter Publishers "endeavors to make ready a people prepared for the Lord by building character...one story at a time." The Secret Bridge is part of a collection of books, Lamplighter Collection, that have been reproduced by Lamplighter Publishers. These all too forgotten gems were originally written in the 17^th, 18^th, and 19^th centuries.

The book is definitely of higher quality than most books. The leather-like cover is soft. The picture on the front is embossed and the gold colored title gives the book a rich look. The book binding is of library quality and the pages are thick. Lamplighter Publishers definitely prints their books with quality in mind. 

Be prepared to be moved as you become aquatinted with Bridget Channing, the main character. Bridget is a young woman who finds herself destitute, alone, penniless, and without family or friends. Having lost her mother as a young child and now her father she must navigate life alone. Determined to "make it in life" she boards a ship traveling to England. This is when she meets a man by the name of Godfrey Bullingham. She does not seek him out, rather he seeks her. Sensing her fragile state he reaches out to Bridget only to be rejected time and again. Bridget's pride gets in the way and she refuses to accept pity or charity. Mr. Bullingham wants nothing more than to comfort and care for Bridget. The internal struggle and doubt that keep Bridget captive are strong. Bridget, having no real spiritual ties, begins to be drawn in questioning her beliefs. The last words her nurse said to her were, "All things work together for good." These words once empty would eventually resonate with Bridget. As her heart is softened, Bridget begins to desire to know God. Could God really be a new beginning in her life? 

In time a relationship blossoms between the two. After marrying family feuds, secrets, and old wounds test Bridget's faith. What unfolds is a beautiful story of hope, love, and redemption. I would love to share more but by doing so I would spoil the amazing story. 

The Secret Bridge challenges readers to, "Acquaint Thyself with Him" and wait for Him as a bride waits for her groom. 

Since this book was originally written in 1899 and Lamplighter Publishers has reprinted and brought some of the wording up to date they have added in footnotes for words that may be unfamiliar in todays age. Scripture that is referenced is also footnoted. 

This book has definitely become one of my new favorites! Once I started reading I couldn't put the book down. The Secret Bridge is a book that I would recommend to others. In my opinion, this book would be suitable for middle school and up. My 14 year old daughter also read this book and enjoyed seeing an example of a true "love story" unfold. 

To read more reviews click here.

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ArtAchieve ~ A Review

ArtAchieve  provides fantastic online art lessons for children and adults of all ages. We had the opportunity to review the Entire Level IV which includes 10 lessons. The art featured in ArtAchieve features art from all around the globe. ArtAchieve has 5 levels of study and can be purchased in bundles, by level, or the entire curriculum can be purchased. Level 1 is for the beginner, whether you are 5 for 65 it is the perfect starting point. For the more advanced artist you can choose from one of the higher levels which will provide more challenging art projects.

Level IV projects include:

• The Ukrainian Face with Hidden Surprises
• The Chinese Horse: Drawing the Entire Horse
• The Albatross and the Galleon Ship
• The Hawaiian Heliconia
• The Bangladesh Monster
• Draw Like an Ancient Egyptian
• The Convent in L'viv: Shading Angular Objects
• The Stained Glass Nativity Window
• The Rooftops of Zagreb
• Drawing People with Degas

Lessons can be viewed by video or PowerPoint. Each lesson begins with a warm-up which breaks the work of art into segmented parts. Instead of going into the drawing lesson intimidated the student gets to draw small parts of the "bigger picture." I really liked this approach. It reminds me of the saying, "When eating an elephant, take one bite at a time." Next, you have the choice to either watch a video or click through a PowerPoint in order to complete the lesson. My kiddos preferred to use the PowerPoint because it allowed them to go at their own speed. With the video they were constantly stopping, rewinding, and pausing. Each lesson lists the National Standards for Arts Education. Each lesson provides the breakdown of the art skills taught. Not only will students learn how to draw but they will learn history, science, geography, as well as a myriad of interesting and very helpful art tools. Supply lists are given for each lesson. The student is guided by step by step instructions.

The Full Level IV Lessons 

By clicking the + sign you can print out the warm-up, choose the video

or PowerPoint version of the lesson as well as a few other choices. 

Even though the Level IV Lessons are above my 10 year olds level of ability she wanted to try some of them. I encouraged her to not be intimidated and go for it! I was impressed by how well she did. She loves drawing and ArtAchieve has given her the confidence to be an artist. 

ArtAchieve gives EVERY student the ability to successfully create art. No, your final product may not look exactly like the one in the lesson but it is important to remember that no work of original art will look the same. The curriculum works well for individuals who would say that they cannot even draw a stick figure to the individual who has artistic talent and wishes to improve technique. I really like that ArtAchieve not only teaches art but they provide the student with the background of the artwork that helps the student to have a great appreciation and understanding of the art. 

I appreciate that ArtAchieve provides both video and PowerPoint versions of the lessons. Every student learns differently and having the choices really does help. 

I would highly recommend this curriculum. I reviewed Level I last year and even after completing all of the lessons my kiddos have gone back and have done the lessons again and again. 

To read more reviews click here.

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