Historical Fiction Anyone???

I love historical fiction. There isn't an easier way to learn about life in a different time period and get a feel for what it would have been like to live then. One of the products I was asked to review was Salem Ridge Press, a publishing company “dedicated to bringing back quality children’s books of the 1800’s and early 1900’s for a new generation of readers.” They republish historical fiction, adventure stories, allegories, and clean, wholesome literature for young readers.

From the publisher’s web page:

• The underlying philosophy of Salem Ridge Press is found in the Bible: "Whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things (Philippians 4:8)." Daniel firmly believes that what we read matters and what we take into our minds is a major factor in forming our ideas and character. His goal is to be a blessing to others by providing reading material that fits the qualifications outlined in the Bible. While not every title that Salem Ridge Press publishes is explicitly Christian, all of our titles have strong moral values and encourage positive character.

I was sent 3 different books to read and review. The first was Mary Jane Her Book by Clara Ingram Judson. This was a cute story originally published in 1918 about a five-year-old girl and all of her adventures. It makes a great read-aloud for kids of all ages and transports you back in time. Mary Jane is a busy, little girl with lots of imagination and you never know what she will do next. This book is a great peek into life 100 years ago and we were able to talk about some of the differences between living now and living then.









The 2nd book I was sent was The American Twins of the Revolution by Lucy Fitch Perkins. This book is a fast-paced story based on real events during the American Revolution. Twins Sally and Roger are asked by their father, General Priestly, to help hide a shipment of gold which will be used to pay the American soldiers. The twins, their mother, and two of the family's servants have to transport the gold to George Washington without being intercepted by the British. Some of the words are a bit old fashioned, but most of these are defined at the bottom of the page, another nice feature added by the publisher.








The third book I was given to review was called Glaucia the Greek Slave by Emma Leslie. This book is set in Athens from 59-64 AD and is part of Emma Leslie's historical fiction series about church history. This was an interesting look into a time period that I'm not very familiar with. The book was well written and easy to read. I liked having unfamiliar words defined at the bottom of the page. The story follows Glaucia and her brother Loan as they are sold into slavery after the death of their father. Glaucia is sold to a wealthy Roman family who then goes to Athens. Through the course of the story, you meet Paul and other early Christians (fictional) and see some of the struggles the early church faced during this time. I am looking forward to reading some of the other books in this series.


All of the books published by Salem Ridge Press are available through Amazon.com and you can view a complete listing here. If you scroll down that page, you will also see a list of the historical fiction titles by time period, a great help in matching them to your current studies. Another great thing about this company is that the first chapter of the books is online for free, so you can preview before you order. I am planning on ordering more books from this Salem Ridge Press and encourage you to check them out.

Rime to Read Review

Rime To Read is an on-line reading program that teaches by using stories that use the same type of words (IE: cat, sat, rat-- words that look and sound alike). This program is for a beginning reader, who knows letter sounds and is starting to blend sounds together. The program comes with 20 books in the complete set. The books are online and can each be printed ONCE for a hard copy. Each reader is 10-12 pages. Online, most words are clickable, allowing the child to hear the word being read and helping them feel like a successful reader-- which is half the battle in learning to read. I think the program works well for kids who are just learning and want to read "real" stories. The fact that it is on the computer may also be a draw for some kids. It was too hard for Jeanisha (3) to navigate herself, but Tyler (6) was happy to help. The stories were too easy for him, but still good review. The stories captured their attention and interest.

Rime to Read costs $9.99 for a set of 4 vowel books or $44.99 for all 20 books. This is a ONE time fee (lifetime) and the online readers can be used for other children in the family, but each book can only be printed once. The program is supplemental, not a complete reading program, but it might be the perfect thing for instilling confidence in a new reader.

Click Here to visit their Website.

Splish: Learning to Read

I was given the chance to review another fun book. It is called "And Then Mama Said...It Takes Time to Learn to Read" by Gena Suarez.

It is a sweet story about a little homeschooled frog, Splish, who is having a hard time learning to read. His mother is so sweet and patient as she reminds him that if he keeps practicing, it will all come together in time. I have a 6 year old who is a lot like Splish and has struggled with learning to read. It was encouraging for him to read about someone else in his shoes who DID finally learn to read and was able to enjoy the wonderful world of books! My children loved the colorful fun pictures and I liked the way all of the characters showed respect and kindness, especially the momma.

An Awesome US geography book

It's not often that I find a homeschool book that Stephen gets excited about!!! And to find a geography related one that he likes is even more rare. (He majored in geography and loves maps, but thinks most geography books miss the magic and fun in geography.)

Then "The Little Man in the Map" by E. Andrew Martonyi made his appearance. This book is a gem!!! I started to read it and soon had two boys learning in front of me to see the pictures, so I told them they could read it first. They looked through it together and then Ryan took it into the family room where Stephen was watching football. Stephen asked to look at it, then started reading it, and didn't give it back to Ryan until he'd finished.

Ryan (8) and Tyler (6) read through it a few times just for fun. Then at dinner, Texas was mentioned. Tyler pipes up, "I know where Texas is, it's the chair," and he turned around to the map on the wall and pointed it out. Then he added, "And this one is Oklahoma." Both boys then started pointing out different states and telling us what they were called and why they were important to "the man in the map". I hid the book for a week and then asked Tyler again about some of the states and he still remembered most of them by name. I was very impressed-- it had been so easy, no drill or practicing and he'd learned basic US geography!!

The "Man In the Map" is formed by five states down the middle of the United States - Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Arkansas and Louisiana. (Once you "see" him, the US will never look the same!) All of the other states are given roles that connect them to the man in the map. The story is told with simple rhyming verses and bright, lively illustrations. The US map is broken into regions - Midwest, Southeast, Southwest, Northeast and West that would be easy to elaborate on for older students.

The book is sold through Schoolside Press http://www.schoolsidepress.com/ for $19.95. They have free shipping and the author will sign and inscribe your book for free as well. Get it for a Christmas present and your kids won't even realize they are learning!!!!

Time 4 Learning: Part 1

I was recently given a trial subscription to www.time4learning.com and I have been extremely impressed. Both boys have enjoyed it, but Tyler has really taken off with it. He is constantly asking if he can work on math and phonics and has done many of the science modules more than once and recites facts he's learned regularly. Some of what I've had them do is review, some of it matches what we are doing in our other work, and some of it is new. I've been impressed with it for all three types of learning.

Basically, Time4Learning (http://www.time4learning.com/) is an online homeschool curriculum for Preschool through 8th grade that covers math, language arts, some science and some social studies using games and animation to teach and reinforce concepts. My initial reaction was that it was quite expensive for an online resource ($19.95 for the first child, $14.95 for each additional child), and since I limit my kids computer time, I wasn't sure if it would be a good value. But the timing has been nice, coming just at the end of a pregnancy and when we are adjusting to a new baby. It has been really nice to just let the boys "play" on the computer and know that they are learning and doing school. The program is set up so you can subscribe one month at a time, so in my case, I think it will make a great supplemental resource for times when life is a little crazy.

The sign up process was easy and both boys seemed to be placed at the correct level. Ryan did think some of Tyler's activities looked more fun and wanted to do Tyler's level too. The program is set up to have learning time followed by playground, or game time. Tyler's lessons were engaging enough and fun enough that he never went to the playground. He especially loved the activity where he got to shoot a spaceman at the sight words. For Ryan, his lessons were a little more work, so the playground was a fun break. (And it was fun to watch him learn to play PacMan).

Homeschool Library Builder

If you love browsing used book stores, I have a website you'll love: http://www.hslibrarybuilder.com/index.php

They have books for as low as $1 and lots that are 75% off the new price. It is a great way to build your home library without growing broke. However, if you are like me, and books are your weakness, beware, you may end up needing another bookshelf. :) I love good books and while we use the library A LOT, I think it is important to have lots of good books available to just pick up and read.

I tend to take the booklists from Sonlight, Winterpromise, Veritas Press, and LOGOS and then add in my own favorites to make our literature list for the year. I used to hate having to read one chapter or part of a book in reading. If the book was good, why couldn't we just read the whole thing? Of course, I loved reading and hopefully all my kids will too.

One other thing that is nice about browsing online is that I can check my book shelves before I order and make sure I'm not getting any duplicates. (Am I the only one who has bought a book I already own?)

Help Me to Teach

Help Me to Teach (http://www.helpme2teach.com/) is a subscription website for homeschooling parents, or other teachers, who would like a very comprehensive list of the websites. I felt like I was being given a very organized, experienced homeschool mom's favorites or bookmarks. Many of the sites were ones I have bookmarked in my own, mile long list. I just don't have them neatly organized and easy to sort through. There were also a lot of interesting sites I've never ran across before. (There are over 2500 links). If you enjoy and are good at internet searches this site might seem like a waste of money, but if you want to have someone do the legwork for you-- especially if you are new to homeschooling, this site would be a bargain. Right now is the owner of the site is offering a great deal of 2 years for the price of 1, $29.95 which makes the overall monthly cost very minimal, only $1.25 per month. (Use discount code TOS).

I've also seen during this review process how willing and even eager the owners of the site are to make it very user friendly and to fill in categories that are user suggested with great links. There is a lot of stuff already there, and they are constantly expanding and adding more categories and resources. Each link is also coded Primary, Elementary Student, Secondary Student, or Teacher, which makes it easy to find what you need. I found it easier to just browse through the categories listed than try to do a search. I would also be comfortable turning an older student loose to work through the sites.

Fun Children's Nativity Set

I love Nativity Sets and have collected several over the years, including a couple that I would let the kids play with, but none of the" play" sets even compare to the one I was sent by www.one2believe.com

It comes with 17 hard plastic (PVC) pieces ranging in height from about 5 inches for the stable to 3 inches for the people. It includes Joseph, Mary, baby Jesus and a manger of hay, 3 wisemen, 2 Angels, 2 Shepherds, a camel, a donkey, male and female sheep, a stable, and a palm tree. The box says it is for ages 3+, but Adam (20 months) has really enjoyed playing right along with and the older kids (8,6,3). Jeanisha and Adam have spent hours playing with it and it is probably their favorite toy at the moment. Ryan and Tyler are much more accurate and specific about acting out the story, even sending the wisemen clear across the room to slowly work their way over to the stable.

The included story book is pretty lame, it's only about 1 inch by 3 inches with only text, no pictures. But for us, that hasn't been a big deal because we have several other books telling the nativity story and the kids know the story very well anyway. Our Joseph does tend to fall over if you stand him up on carpet, so he always has to stand propped in the stable and the top came off our tree and needed glued back on. Other than that, the playset is very well made and very sturdy. The only other piece that I think could possibly come off and be a choking hazard is the star above the stable, but ours is very firmly attached. The figures are fun and their are enough that several of the kids can play together.

I'll post some pictures of mine too, but here is a picture from the company website.
http://us.st12.yimg.com/us.st.yimg.com/I/yhst-92329296945469_2016_1137526

So, if you are looking for a fun, kid-friendly nativity, I would highly recommend this one. It has defidently passed the "kid" test.

Novel: The Missing Link: Found

"The Missing Link: Found" is the first book in the Truth Seekers Mystery Series written by Christina and Felice Gerwitz. It is published by www.MediaAngels.com, a company that publishes Christian oriented fiction for teens. "The Missing Link" was written by a homeschool mom and her daughter and the kids in the book are very strong Christian homeschooled kids.

The book is a mystery story with a subplot about finding a fossilized man who provides the missing evolutionary link between apes and man. Both viewpoints of creationism and evolution are thoroughly discussed and explained. There was so much of this discussion in the first/middle part of the book that I felt it was overdone. The storyline seemed to be bogged down for awhile, but picked up again after that. There was nothing in the book that went against LDS doctrine, but there was a fair amount of evangelism and there several references to coffee and tea that you wouldn't find in an LDS novel.

Overall, I think most homeschooled Christian teenagers would enjoy this book and read it quite quickly just as a fun, clean novel. It could also be used to springboard a discussion about evolution and creationism as both viewpoints are presented quite well.

The Old Schoolhouse Preview and New Promotion

Did you ever dream of getting a horse for Christmas? You can get a sneak peek of TOS Fall issue and see Nancy Carter's first horse! Plus other childhood photos from the 50's through the 80's.

http://www.thehomeschoolmagazine.com/12_Days/Day12.html

Plus, you can create great holiday memories with a new TOS holiday E-Book that comes FREE ($12.45 value) with a new subscription!

Normally when a person subscribes, their subscription starts with the upcoming issue which can take a while. But, TOS if you subscribe now with their Fall Special, you'll get almost 50% off the cover price for 2 years The current Fall issue as soon as it is ready, 6 Bonus gifts, 12 months of Teacher's Toolbox, which contains a FREE E-Book every month,and the new E-Book, Homespun Holidays for FREE!

This is over $250 worth of product for only $39!!

CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE NOW!

http://www.theoldschoolhousestore.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=66_60&products_id=190