Free Download from CurrClick

Have you seen all that CurrClick has to offer for homeschoolers?  This is a great one-stop shop for downloads from lots of your favorite publishers!

Try the free download for a short unit study on "Swamps and Marshes":

Happy Homeschooling!  :-)

"Atoms & Molecules" Freebie

A while back, I posted about The King Philip's War Adventure Freebie from Susan Kilbride.  Ms. Kilbride has also written a number of other history and science unit studies.  The kids and I are getting ready to start on one called "Atoms & Molecules," a free excerpt from her book Science Unit Studies for Homeschoolers and Teachers.  It is geared for ages 4-13.

You can download the "Atoms & Molecules" Freebie, as well as several other science and history unit study freebies from Susan Kilbride, here:

http://funtasticunitstudies.com/lessons-and-activities/

Happy Homeschooling!  :-)

Homeschool Coffeehouse

This morning we had Coffeehouse for homeschool.  We probably do this once a quarter or so, usually on a Friday, but this week Wednesday worked better.  We all get hot drinks, sometimes we stay in our pajamas, and we curl up with quilts on the couch or in the recliners.  Then each of the kids takes turns presenting all the projects they've been working on over the last few weeks.  This may include artwork, book reports, lap books, science or history reports, creative writing assignments, etc.  It's generally very casual (as you would guess from the pajamas and the quilts).  We have other times when the kids are expected to memorize their material, work on their public speaking, and present their reports in a more professional way.  Coffeehouse is just a fun time of sharing.  They can read from their papers without being told to make eye contact, and I rarely make any corrections of anything they share, unless it's obvious that they just don't know what they are talking about, or unless they are being so silly that nothing is getting done.  This casual day usually does lend itself to quite a bit of silliness, though, and just some all around fun.  Learning is supposed to be fun, right?

Here are our Swirling Snowflakes Mini-Lapbooks that we presented today (these are FREE this week on Kindle - check one post down on the blog).

Sometimes instead of doing a full lapbook, we put all of our mini-books on sheets of card-stock and keep them in notebooks.  This saves some time and storage space.  We are doing this with our "Systems of the Body" lap books so that we can keep all the information from the different systems together in one notebook.  We started with the Skeletal System.

And finally, some sketchbook artwork:

What ideas do you use to make homeschool projects and reports fun?

Happy Homeschooling!  :-)

Swirling Snowflakes Mini-Lapbook FREEBIE!

New Kindle FREEBIE from Knowledge Box Central!  Download and share the link!

http://amzn.to/1VoqBBH

Happy Lapbooking!  :-)

New FREEBIES from Share the Memories

Check out the new FREEBIES from 

Share the Memories!

Click on images to be taken to downloads.

Created by:

Over the Fence Designs

And

Ostrea Designs

Available FREE until: 

January 31

Happy Scrapping!

Flyby Review: Captive DVD and Giveaway

Last Sunday in church, our minister relayed the true story of a young woman, Ashley Smith, who was held hostage in her apartment for seven hours by a fugitive from the law, Brian Nichols, who had just killed a judge and several other people and was on the run from police.  Ashley wasn't a picture of sainthood herself, a young widow with a record of abusing drugs and having been claimed an unfit mother to her young daughter, who was now living with an aunt.  During the time she was held hostage, Ashley started reading Rick Warren's The Purpose Driven Life, which had been pushed on her by someone in her recovery group, and her captor asked her to read it out loud.  What followed was a miraculous change in Ashley's life, and a glimmer of hope in Brian's, as well, as he let Ashley go, surrendered himself to the police, and hoped he could someday meet his own son.  Ashley's step-mother attends our church.

When we got home, my daughter picked up this DVD and said, "Mom, did you get this movie, Captive?"

"Yes," I said.  "Flyby Promotions sent me that to review.  We need to watch it."

"Do you know what it's about?" she asked excitedly.  "It's about the story the minister was talking about this morning!"  Sometimes the timing is amazing!

From what I can tell, the movie has stayed fairly true to the real story.  There is a disclaimer at the beginning that it deals with adult content, so be aware of that before watching this with young children.  Brian Nichols' original trial was for rape, then he killed 4 people, and then he terrorized Ashley in her apartment for seven hours.  There are no graphic scenes in the movie, but the content is for a mature audience.  That said, we watched it with all four of our children, ranging from ages 10 to 16.  They all enjoyed it and were moved by it.  It opened a window for us to talk about things like drug abuse and consequences for one's actions.

This is one of my favorite movies I have seen in a while (sorry, I saw the new Star Wars right before Christmas, so I can't really say it's THE favorite!), and I think the reason is its authenticity.  I love a lot of the new Christian movies coming out from places like PureFlix Entertainment (you can see reviews elsewhere on my blog), and I think they are wholesome for my kids to watch.  Even so, sometimes the answers in the "Christian" stories come too easily.  Person A has Problem A.  Person B, while admitting they are not perfect and do not have it all together, really does have things pretty "together" in comparison, and is able to offer the help needed.  Person B says the exact right words, Person A has some life-changing event, Person A immediately turns life around and possibly accepts Christ that very night, and they all live happily ever after.  That's not even the way it always happened in the Bible.  After reading the story of "The Rich Young Ruler" in Matthew 19, I've had students ask, "Did he ever come back to Christ?  Did he ever decide to give up his riches for God?"  The answer is, we don't know.  These are big decisions that most people cannot make quickly.  Most of the time, our impact on people's lives cannot be measured in a short period of "I say this, you believe that, you accept Christ, and the problems are gone."

In Captive, we have a story of two lost people, who both have different problems, but who are both struggling with drug addiction and missing a child they are not able to raise.  At one point, the captor asks the captive, "If I were the one who killed your husband, could you forgive me?"  She says, "I really don't know.  But maybe God could."  It's very real.  It's the way things really could and really did happen - not something we get in very many movies from any worldview.  Ashley's life was changed permanently for the better.  Was Brian's?  Only time can tell.

The production and the acting in the movie were excellent, the main character being played by one of our recent favorite actresses, Kate Mara (Sue Storm in Fantastic Four, Summer Jones/Wonder in Zoom).  Brian Nichols is played by Golden Globe Nominee David Oyelowo (Agent Kallus in Star Wars Rebels and Steven Jacobs in Rise of the Planet of the Apes).

Want to win your own FREE copy of Captive?  Just leave a comment below or on my Facebook page with the name of your favorite recent movie.  I'll hold the drawing one week from today, on Saturday, January 30.

About the movie:Based on a miraculous story about the power of faith, Captive is an "amazing, inspiring" drama about the spiritual collision of two lost souls, Brian Nichols (Golden Globe Nominee David Oyelowo), on the run from police and desperate to make contact with his newborn son, takes recently widowed mother Ashley Smith (Kata Mara) hostage in her own apartment.  Fearing for her life and desperately hoping to see her daughter again, she turns to Rick Warren's The Purpose Driven Life for guidance.  Ashley and her captor face a crossroads where they discover hope and light in the midst of despair in the moving film that Dick Rolfe, CEO, Dove Foundation hailed as "powerful."  

DVD Release Date: January 5, 2016Runtime: 96 minutesRating: PG-13 (for mature thematic elements involving violence and substance abuse)  

There are over 30 minutes of bonus content on this DVD including Journey Through Darkness: Filming Captive and Faith and The Purpose Driven Life.  Also included with this DVD is a Digital HD copy that can be instantly streamed and downloaded.  

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For more information about the true story, see Today News.

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Disclosure (in accordance with the FTC’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising”): Many thanks to Propeller Consulting, LLC for providing this prize for the giveaway. Choice of winners and opinions are 100% my own and NOT influenced by monetary compensation. I did receive a sample of the product in exchange for this review and post.

Only one entrant per mailing address, per giveaway.  If you have won a prize from our sponsor Propeller / FlyBy Promotions in the last 30 days, you are not eligible to win.  Or if you have won the same prize on another blog, you are not eligible to win it again. Winner is subject to eligibility verification.

Flyby Review: The Plans I Have For You Devotional and Journal and Giveaway

We have been very privileged in the last few weeks to have the opportunity to review The Plans I Have For You Devotional and Journal by Amy Parker and illustrated by Vanessa Brantley-Newton.  At first, I was wanting to use this as a devotional with the whole family in the evenings.  It was not designed for that, and it didn't work too well for that.  The Bible readings are very short, and although we used the discussion questions for our group discussion, it didn't work well without each child having the journal, and my older children lost interest.

The strength of this devotional is the "total package" it offers for one child or preteen to use for personal devotions.  With a Bible reading, questions for thought, places to write, and places to color or doodle, it encourages deep thought and the use of different learning mechanisms for the student.  I gave the devotional book and the journal to my 12-year-old daughter to use, and she loved it!  Her own review is below.

The Plans I Have For You is a brightly colored devotional book with lots of places to draw and create, and is sure to impress younger children. This book is very interactive, and will be a fun learning experience for the whole family. The Plans I Have For You teaches us that God has planned out our future, and He can (and will) use us for His big plan. The Plans I Have For You has two books. The first book has Bible scripture to read, and the second has devotional questions to discuss. I liked the books. The illustrations were pretty, and the questions and reading were pretty well written.

--Madeleine, Review-writing debut

This book is a great devotional to use along with the journal, especially if you have a child who loves to write, draw, and create.  It is an original concept and a fresh way of getting your teen or pre-teen to spend time in the Scriptures and to enjoy it.  I highly recommend The Plans I Have For You Devotional and Journal, especially for pre-teen or young teen girls.

About The Plans I Have For You Devotional: The devotional is an illustrated 90-day devotional written by bestselling children's book author Amy Parker and illustrated by Vanessa Brantley-Newton, teaching and inspiring kids to dream about their future, to focus on faith, love, and joy, and recognize that God has a plan and purpose for each and every one of us.  
Hardcover; 160 pages
Age Range: 8-12 years 

About The Plans I Have For You Journal:The journal prompts creative thinking and exploration of the talents and personalities that make us special, and then helps explore how God may use our unique traits to spread love and joy and make the world a better place.
Stationery; 208 pages
Age Range: 11-14 years 

About author Amy Parker:Amy Parker has sold more than thirty books for children, teens, and adults.  She has also collaborated with authors ranging from New York Times bestsellers to her very own son.  Two of these collaborations are recipients of Christian retailing's Best Awards, and she has also won three Mom's Choice Awards.  But Amy's greatest reward is being a wife to Daniel and a mom to their amazing sons, Michael and Ethan.  

About illustrator Vanessa Brantley-Newton:Vanessa Brantley-Newton is a self-taught illustrator, doll maker, and crafter.  Her passion for children's books began when she came across The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats as a child in the 1960s.  Growing up in a musical family who love to sing, Vanessa's illustrations are as fun and whimsical as a beautiful melody.  Vanessa currently makes her nest in Charlotte, NC with her husband of 20 years, their daughter, and a very rambunctious cat named Stripes. 

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The Plans I Have For You Devotional Official Website 

The Plans I Have For You Journal Official Website 

ZonderKidz Facebook

ZonderKidz Twitter

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Of course, I'd love to give one of these away!  If you would like to enter the drawing to win your own copy of The Plans I Have For You Devotional and Journal, leave a comment here or on my Facebook page with the name of your favorite children's Bible storybook or devotional book.  Or you can just say, "I don't have a favorite"; maybe this one will be your new favorite!  The drawing will be held one week from today, on Thursday, January 28.

Happy Reading!

"Disclosure (in accordance with the FTC’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising”): Many thanks to Propeller Consulting, LLC for providing this prize for the giveaway. Choice of winners and opinions are 100% my own and NOT influenced by monetary compensation. I did receive a sample of the product in exchange for this review and post.

Only one entrant per mailing address, per giveaway.  If you have won a prize from our sponsor Propeller / FlyBy Promotions in the last 30 days, you are not eligible to win.  Or if you have won the same prize on another blog, you are not eligible to win it again. Winner is subject to eligibility verification.”