Blog Tour: Surrendered Sleep: A Biblical Perspective

Surrendered Sleep

A Biblical Perspective

Dr. Charles W. Page

www.surrenderedsleep.com

Publisher: Camino Real Pub.

ISBN-10: 9-780-983-138105

ISBN-13: 978-0-9831381-0-5

Release Date: 9/15/2011

Paperback: 189 pages

Retail: $14.95

(Nacogdoches, TX) Sleep Clinics. Sleeping Pills. Sleep Systems. With all the focus on sleep, it’s obvious to anyone breathing (or not—in the case of sleep apnea) that sleep disorders are on everyone’s minds. Can’t fall asleep. Can’t stay asleep. So many problems, but so few zzzs.

Dr. Charles W. Page has been plagued with sleep deprivation his entire adult life. Whether from the rigorous unpredictable lifestyle of a general surgeon or dealing with obstructive sleep apnea, Dr. Page sees sleep as a precious commodity. Many of his surgical patients also report sleep problems on their medical histories. It’s certainly a widespread problem.

Although there is extensive medical literature regarding sleep, insomnia and sleep disorders, there is little instruction about these issues from a Christian worldview. Sleep was God’s idea—why shouldn’t we go to the One who created rest in the first place for answers to our sleep problems. One of the reasons Dr. Page wrote Surrendered Sleep was to heighten people’s awareness of the spiritual side of sleep issues, which often goes neglected in health and medical literature.

Sample Chapter:

CHAPTER 17

Balin Jam

Balin jam (“may you pass your night in peace”)—it’s how the Fulani people of western Africa say goodbye. This Fulani expression best captures the message of this book. Passing your night in peace, from a biblical perspective, involves a whole lot more than sleeping well. It encompasses surrendering every aspect of sleep to God. The prerequisite for having peace as we lay down to sleep is a growing, vibrant relationship with God. Everything in our lives, including sleep, flows out of our pursuit of our loving Father in Heaven. The ability to sleep is a multifaceted gift given by God, who likewise pursues a love relationship with every individual on this planet.

From God’s perspective, sleep (or its absence) is a tool designed to help fulfill His agenda in our lives and in His world. Our response should be twofold. First we must transfer our focus off our personal sleep issues and onto the Shepherd of sleep. We must fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. Second, we need to relinquish control of sleep and allow God to shape our hearts into His image. In so doing, we may find that we sleep better.

“There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven.” A life of surrendered sleep is characterized by the ability to discern the time and seasons that God has prepared for us, and respond with a heart of thankfulness and obedience.

At times we may experience peaceful sleep because we are pursuing a wise heart. Let it propel us on to greater heights of service. When we encounter storms that threaten to steal our sleep, let us cling to God’s presence and promises with a calm heart. If disobedience presents itself in our sleep patterns, we must return to the One who removes our sin as far as the east is from the west. If God interrupts our sleep to call, instruct or intervene in our lives, our hearts must respond in obedience.

Similarly, there are times when we must offer up to God a sacrifice of our sleep. And last, if we suffer intractable insomnia and unrest, let us move forward with a peace that passes all understanding. For an enduring and expectant heart knows that our reward and perfection is waiting just around the bend.

Surrender your heart to the One whose eyes never close. Allow Him to keep you and help you to “pass your nights in peace.”

Balin jam!

Dr. Charles W. Page is a sleep-deprived surgeon. He completed medical school and residency at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas and serves as surgeon in rural Texas. Dr. Page is a fellow of the American College of Surgeons and the Christian Medical and Dental Association. In addition to his involvement in the teaching ministry of his local church, he has participated in medical mission trips to Cameroon, Pakistan, Milawe, Niger, Mexico, Honduras and Nicaragua. He and his wife Joanna live in Texas with their five children.

My Review: 

This book explores an often neglected aspect of sleep disorders. Since sleep is such an important aspect of our lives (we spend 1/3 of our lives sleeping or at least trying to, in my case.) Things like worry, fear, etc., often interfere with our thought life and carry over disrupting our sleep. This book helped me to take inventory to see where maybe there might be conflicts interfering with my sleep and/or was God using this season of sleeplessness to draw me closer to Him. Beyond the spiritual causes, traditional medical treatment of insomnia are also explored including medical reasons for sleeplessness. Tips for good sleep hygiene and pages to copy for a sleep journal are included. I especially appreciated the wide margins containing pertinent bible verses and places to journal your responses.

I received a "Unedited Review Copy" for free for participating in this blog tour.

Grand Prize Giveaway

Read Below How to Enter

Surrendered Sleep Products

Surrendered Sleep - Book

Surrendered Sleep - 8-Volume DVD Series

Sleep Songs - CD of music from Fletch Wiley

SLEEP - Lavender Vanilla Aromatherapy from Bath & BodyWorks

Pillow Mist (4 oz)

Body Wash & Foam Bath (2 oz)

Lotion (2 oz)

Candle (1.6 oz)

Please leave a comment on this blog or on facebook to enter.

I must have a way to contact you - either by logging into Google, on Facebook, or leave your email address. Alternately you may email me your info: homeschoolducks "at" gmail.com

Sidney Area LEAH Homeschool Group

If you are a member of Sidney Area LEAH or New York State LEAH and would like to receive email about activities from this local group, you can request to join. Please give me your name and what LEAH chapter you belong to when filling out the membership form. Otherwise I will not approve the membership.

Click to join sidney_area_homeschoolers

Journal Writing Prompts

We started journal writing as a family. We have a few rules with this "freestyle" type of writing.

1. I don't read it unless they let me.
2. I don't correct spelling or grammar, unless they ask.
3. They can make lists, draw pictures, and decorate anyway they want to.
4. They can just use copywork instead of their own creative writing.
5. They don't have to use my prompt and can alter the promt to suite themselves.

My children love doing this.  We are just using ordinary notebooks right now.  But if they fill a notebook with their own writings, I will buy them fancy journals for their next journal.
 
So here are some websites that came up with ideas:

Homeschooling-ideas.com/journal-writing-prompts

Superteacherworksheets.com/journal-prompts

Tooter4kids.com/journal writing

http://creativewritingprompts.com/

Journaling prompts

http://www.squidoo.com/journalwritingpromptsforkids

BookSneeze Review: Nick Of Time by Tim Downs

This book is about forensic entomologist Dr.Nick Polchak and his fiancee Alena Savard.  A week before his wedding, Nick leaves town to solve the mystery of the death of his friend Pete.  Worried that her fiancee is getting second thoughts Alena tries to go off to find him and gets herself into a tangled mess.

Nick is considered "different" from his peers, having as some would call a strange personality. Nick has a hard time relating to the 'human species" (his quote)  and prefers bugs as they have a neat and orderly life based on instinct and rarely out of character.  The idea of getting married does scare Nick somewhat and takes some convincing from his friends that he is making the right decision.

Being from a Christian publisher, I thought this book would contain a stronger Christian message.  The book is "clean," containing no foul language and no graphic violence. The book is morally acceptable to the Christian offering appropriate marital advice, even if there was little to no mention of God. The beginning of the book did leave me questioning the character of Dr. Nick Polchak, aka Bug Man. But as I got to know him more knew that he really was a good guy.

All that said, it was a very good read.  The plot kept me wanting to continue to read until I got to the end of the story. I was very intrigued by the information on bugs and loved following the mystery through the end which totally surprised me.  It was suspenseful right to the last sentence of the book. I like the short chapter format of the book and the click able links for each chapter in the table of contents of the Kindle version.

If you are looking for a mystery that is totally "clean" and want a touch of romance - this book is highly recommended to the Christian and non-Christian fiction lover.  I give it "4 Stars!"

I received a free Kindle version of this book to give an honest review via the "BookSneeze" program from Thomas Nelson.

Blog Tour: Starting a Micro Business for Teens By Carol Topp

Micro Business for Teens

KCWC Blog Tour - April 11-15

Blog Giveaway - See Below!

ISBN: 978-0-09829245-0-1

Retail price: $9.95

Starting a Micro Business For Teens is a practical and realistic book written specifically for teens that does not expect you to have a whole lot of capital for start up that others do.  It portray realistic examples beyond the lemonade stand for teens, by teens who have been successful in their micro business. 

A "micro business" is often run by and easily managed by one person, needs little start up money, often home based, and is low risk while teaching many important skills.  What I appreciate about this book is the practical examples given in the book along side biblical principles for starting and financing a business. There are worksheets for developing a marketing plan and financial plan. Pretty much everything you need to know to get started is included in this book.  This book is book one of a series of four books called: Micro Business for Teens.  You have a chance to enter to win the complete set!! Read on to find out!


From the publisher:

(Cincinnati, OH) With unemployment rates high, the teen population is finding it harder and harder to find work. Adults are competing for the same minimum wage jobs. But there’s an alternative—starting a micro business. What is a micro business? It is a very small, one-person business that you can start easily and quickly with what you already know or own. No money needed, low risk and no debt! Students can spend as much time running a micro business as they wish and can even close it down during busy times. The best advantage for teens to own a micro business is that it not only brings in extra cash (often more than imagined), but students end up learning a great deal about business, money and themselves. It may lead to an entrepreneurial life or at the very least, prepare students for higher learning opportunities.


Starting a Micro Business will help teenagers earn money while learning how to start their own business. A micro business is simple to start, usually home-based, low risk, educational and easy for a busy student to run. This book offers ideas, a business plan, starting with no debt, pitfalls to avoid and resources to get a teenager started making money running their own micro business.

Carol Topp, CPA advises teenage business owners though her Micro Business for Teens book series. Carol’s day job is accountant to business owners, and she enjoys teaching teenagers to succeed beyond their dreams. Students appreciate how she shares what they need to know in clear and helpful lessons. Her website is MicroBusinessForTeens.com

Spring Cleaning: A Time For a Teenager to Make Money

by Carol Topp

Here are some ideas for a micro business a teenager can start this spring:
•House cleaning: Offer to tackle large jobs like washing windows, moving furniture, etc. Many people are grateful for a young, strong teenager to help them with heavy lifting. What is easy for you might be very difficult for them, especially if they are an older person.
•Routine house cleaning: Some customers need regular house cleaning and may hire you on a weekly or monthly basis. Don't wait for them to ask: offer to come weekly or twice a month and see what they say.
•Attic cleaning: Offer to help people do a job that they put off, such as cleaning an attic.
•Garage cleaning: A big job that can earn you big bucks!
•Yard cleanup: Offer to trim bushes, pull weeds, plant flowers and spread mulch to spruce up a yard.
•Car and van cleaning: People spend a lot of time in their automobiles and their cars and vans need frequent cleaning. Melissa gladly paid to get her van cleaned inside and out every week because her four children could really make a mess in it. You can make some cash by offering to clean a van inside and out.
•Organize. Organize a house, playroom or garage. Charge the customer for any bins, tubs and labels that you purchase for them and then add on the value of your time. Take before and after photos to use on your advertising fliers.
•Declutter: Do you love HGTV shows on organization? You might be able to find someone to hire you to declutter their house like you see on TV.
•Garage sales: Advertise, organize and run a garage sale for your neighbors. Get several neighbors to participate together and really earn the bucks!
•eBay sales: Offer to sell your neighbors' stuff on eBay and take a cut for yourself. Combine the decluttering, garage sale and eBay tasks into a full package to help your customers profit from their excess stuff.

(This is an excerpt from Carol's article. Full article available at docstoc.com)

Win the complete set of books in

Micro Business For Teens Series!

(Winner will receive the four books shown below)



Money and Taxes in a Micro Business

ISBN: 978-0-09829245-3-2

Retail price: $9.95

The Micro Business for Teens Workbook

ISBN: 978-0-09829245-2-5

Retail price: $14.95

Starting a Micro Business

ISBN: 978-0-09829245-0-1

Retail price: $9.95





Running a Micro Business

ISBN: 978-0-09829245-1-8

Retail price: $9.95

Everyone who leaves a comment below (however brief) will be entered into contest by the publisher for a complete set of these books.   Please sign in to leave a comment so I can see your email address.  You will be notified by email by April 22, 2011 if you have won.

Book received from Kathy Carlton Willis Communications for free for my honest opinion of the book and promotion on this blog.

BLOG TOUR: The Me Project by Kathi Lipp



 The Me Project -

21 Days to Living the Life You’ve Always Wanted

Publisher: Harvest House Publishers

ISBN-10: 0736929665, ISBN-13: 978-0736929660

Release Date: February 1, 2011

Paperback: 224 pages, Retail: $12.99

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Wow! This is my first blog tour and what a great book to start with.  The Me Project by Kathi Lipp. I was so impressed that this book was able to bring out the uniqueness that God has put into all of us so that we can find His unique plan for our lives.  Read through this blog post and you will find out how to enter on my blog to win a Starbucks gift box from the publisher.

Here is a brief description of The Me Project from the publisher:

 

"As women, we forget the goals and dreams of our younger years. The busyness of everyday life gets in the way. To-do lists replace goals. The Me Project provides women with fun and creative ways to bring back the sense of purpose and vitality that comes with living out the plans and dreams God has planted in our hearts. Kathi Lipp’s warm tone and laugh-out-loud humor motivates women to take daily steps toward intentional goals. The end result? We get back our lives and enjoy living in the confidence of a purposeful life in spite of our chaotic schedules. "

"This handy guide coaches women to do one simple thing toward achieving our goals each day for three weeks. A woman experiencing the exhilaration of a rediscovered life offers more as a wife, mother, friend, volunteer, career woman."
 
Here is a great article by the author with tips to start living your dreams today...
 

Three Super-Simple Kick Start Living Your Dreams
– in the next 15 minutes

by Kathi Lipp

Is there a dream that God has given you, but you are waiting until the kids are grown and you have money in the bank before you get started?

You may not be able to enroll in a month long pastry making class or take a week off of work to get started on your novel, but today you can take three little baby steps to making your dream a day-to-day reality.
1. Go Public with It

It’s a little scary to tell the world what you want to do when you grow up—but this is one little step could get you closer to living your dream than almost any other. Plus—it takes very little time and you don’t have to raid your kid’s college fund to make it happen.

When you gather up all your courage and tell your best friend, “I want to learn how to paint,” suddenly she remembers an old art book she has laying around she would love to give you, or her friend from church who teaches art classes. The people you know and love want to be a resource. Give them the privilege of being a part of making your dream happen.
2. Join an Online Group

This is one of the simplest—and cheapest—ways to start exploring your passion. Find out who else is talking about restoring antiques and listen to their conversation. Start by Googling your interest along with the term “online groups.” You will be amazed with the number of people who want to talk about the proper way to care for 1950’s lunchboxes as much as you do.
3. Don’t be Afraid to Pray

I remember the first time I put an offer in on a house—I wanted it more than I had wanted almost anything else in my life. While I knew that I had dozens of other people praying on my behalf, I was too scared to pray.

I didn’t want God to tell me no. I was afraid to pray until my co-worker Kim asked me (in a loving, kind way), why I didn’t believe that God wanted His best for me. Don’t be afraid to pray—as with anything amazing in my life, the path is never what I expected, but it has always been obvious that God’s hand has been on it the whole way.

Kathi Lipp

Kathi Lipp is a busy conference and retreat speaker, currently speaking each year to thousands of women   throughout the United States. She is the author of The Husband Project and The Marriage Project, serves as food writer for Nickelodeon, and has had articles published in several magazines, including Today’s Christian Woman and Discipleship Journal. Kathi and her husband, Roger, live in California and are the parents of four teenagers and young adults. For more information visit her website: http://www.kathilipp.com/
 
 
 
Between Feb. 24th and March 1st leave a comment on my blog to this post.  I will choose a name randomly from those who comment and leave either a email address or have a google profile with contact info in it so I can send there info on to the publisher.  On March 7th the publisher will draw a name from all entries received from the blog tour. 

The Grand Prize Giveaway is:


Deluxe Starbucks Coffee Gift Basket

Three 2.5-oz. bags of Starbucks coffee

(Sumatra, House Blend, and French Roast)

Tazo black tea

Starbucks marshmallow cocoa

Almond roca

Almond roca buttercrunch toffee cookies

White chocolate and raspberry cookies

2 Starbucks mugs

Keepsake black bamboo basket

$62 value
 
(Book received free of charge for my participation in this blog tour)

Schoolhouse Expo Online - October 4-8 2010

It's back to homeschool time and registration is open for the online Schoolhouse Expo, October 4-8. It's five days of top homeschool speakers, fellowship, and fun door prizes.


Save $5 per ticket! Register between August 16 and midnight August 22, and you'll pay only $19.99. Plus you'll receive over $200 in free E-Books.

You'll be inspired by speakers including: Zan Tyler, Dr. Jay Wile, Jeannie Fulbright,Carol Barnier, Diana Waring, Todd Wilson, Davis Carman, Kim Kautzer, Lee Binz, and many more!

A special teen track is planned--the entire family will definitely want to listen to these special sessions. We've also planned a special focus on a topic that touches every homeschool--writing. Plus, an array of other topics that will inform and inspire you throughout your homeschooling years.


Don't forget, MP3 copies of each session comes with your LIVE event ticket.


Two special preconference shows on August 24 and September 21 with Dr. Jay Wile, Jeannie Fulbright, and Kim Kautzer!

Register starting 12:01 a.m. on Monday, August 16.

 The theme this fall is "Celebrate Homeschooling!" We're going to celebrate the unique blessings of homeschooling, the beginning of another school year, our families, and the freedom to tailor our children's education to best meet their needs.


If you cannot make the Live event, then the October Expo To Go is just your ticket! You'll reserve MP3s from all of the workshops. This week only, pay just $14.95!


You can visit either of these links to get more information.

http://www.schoolhouseexpo.com/

or

http://bit.ly/aWHFiL

TOS Crew Review: Lobster Network

LobsterNetwork.com

If you want it, chances are someone else already has it, and they may be willing to lend it, sell it, trade it or even give it to you. Give LobsterNetwork a try!

Wow! What a concept! Invented by a Canadian Homeschool Family... Here is a FREE site where you can keep a home inventory online (including pictures!) for either your own personal use or have available for others to be able to borrow. You can post things to sell and you can buy things with the option of searching for items by locality.  Did I mention all of this is free?

All you need to do is set up your FREE account and you are good to go! One thing we need to do is to get the word out.  If we can get people locally to try this out - we can share amongst ourselves.

This is a great place for homeschool resource centers and libraries to post their items that are available.  You can then share items among your own group locally. Also great if you lend out a lot of your homeschool material - you can keep a record of it to recall at anytime.

I think the ideas on how you can use this are endless.  But we need to get the word out about this so we can have things to borrow and someone to buy our stuff, LOL!

To Visit Lobster Network - Click Here!

TOS Crew Review: Keyboarding For Christian Schools

One of the greatest and most useful skills I ever learned was touch typing. It was mandated at the high school I went to, that everyone must take it. It should be mandatory for all students, in my humble opinion!  I have used this skill nearly daily the past 10 years. My children are amazed at my "talent."  I have purchased several typing programs for them, but the problem is the content.  While I haven't found anything specifically offensive in them, they just don't have a purpose. Imagine being able to type and copy passages that contain biblical truths!  That is where this program comes into play.

There are two version of this typing curriculum, one for elementary and one for grades 6 and up.  The elementary version contains just the basics for getting started in 31 lessons.  This covers all the letter keys plus the number and top row keys (@%&) you use with the shift key and the number pad.  For practice Psalms are used to copy as well as using "how to have a personal relationship with Christ."

The upper level curriculum has 43 lessons. This curriculum covers the same topics above more quickly and then goes into business letters, bibliographies, works cited, envelopes, etc. that you would normally be covered in a high school level keyboarding class. There is also emphasis on timed typing.  What I really appreciate is the Christian topics that are used for typing exercises.  For example for report writing a report is presented on "The test of true discipleship."

This course presents typing the way I learned with the same introduction I used. This is an effective traditional way to learn to type.  Along with discipline and practice, this method works.

TOS Crew Review: Super Star Speech - Super Star Games

I was given the privilege to review these great games created by Deborah Lott, who is a licensed Speech language pathologist a with Master’s degree in Education/ speech pathology and author of Super Star Speech. She is also a homeschool mom of 16 years. Super Star Speech is a speech therapy program you can do at home.  I have not reviewed the product but if you go to http://homeschoolblogger.com/homeschoolcrew/768114/ you can read reviews of Super Star Speech or visit the Super Star Speech website by Clicking HERE.

I am reviewing several games produced by Super Star Speech.  These games are full color and cover various topics.  They are quickly downloadable in PDF format so that you can print them out and use them with your children.  Topics for the games include: Parts of speech, Science topics (plants, insects, animals, etc.) history topics (colonies, revolution,etc.), geography (continents.)  The grade level depends on the topic.

We reviewed the following games:

All About Animals - which is a animal classification game.  Includes directions for older and younger students. They don't have to be able to read to play this, but someone should be able to read to ask the questions. This is for grades K to 5.

Insects - this is a fun build an insect game.  You ask questions and you get build your own insect. Need someone to read to them, but any age can play.  Geared to grades 2nd to 6th grades.

Covering the Continents is a geography game geared for ages 6 to 10.  I really appreciate this game because I have been having difficulty with this specific topic with one of my children. You do need someone to be able to read these to the student, but overall the game is not difficult to play. The object is to answer the most questions and obtain tokens so you can "settle" a continent. There are seven questions per continent. A very fun game to play while learning the continents.

Colony Quest is a history game based on the 13 original colonies is geared to grades 3 to 5. Similar in play to the Continents game, object is to answer questions correctly to "settle" the colony.

The last game we reviewed was Road to Revolution.  Road to Revolution is geared towards grades 3 to 8. This American History Game contains 48 multiple choice questions and a game board to move around. You must get the question correct to move forward in the game. Answers are on the cards so someone else must read the question aloud other the person whose turn it is.  Included in the cards are some "loose a turn cards" and  "move one space cards."

The games are full color and fun. They all include instructions. You may need to supply a die with some of the games. You can easily print these out and give to your child to cut out and set up.  You can purchase these at CurrClick and have them instantly as a download for $3.50. To goto the CurrClick website to purchase these - CLICK HERE.

To see what other games are available or to purchase click HERE.

TOS Crew Review: Ideal Curriculum - Early Learning

Wow! This is a very complete curriculum for early learning that is extraordinarily complete.  This is an all in one curriculum in that everything you need is included in your purchase.  These are available for purchase in monthly units as digital download and eventually in print.

What is great is that this curriculum can be used either in a relaxed manner or with a more structured routine.

From the Ideal Curriculum Website:

All of our products are based on current research. They are based on music and games, so they are designed to be used for individual children and small groups as well as in classroom situations.


•Letters and sounds- Learn letters very fluently; upper and lower case, quickly and accurately, recognize letters from different fonts and sizes


•Learn basic sight words- There are about 30 level one sight words that provide the foundation for reading and writing. There are about 100 sight words that build reading fluency.


•Exploring the ability to write- Develop motor skills and hand strength, gain a concept of themselves as a writer, learn to write their own name, learn to write the letters and move into writing sentences and stories.


•Be able to hear, recognize and manipulate sounds of language- Develop skills in rhyming, breaking sentences into words, breaking words into syllables, breaking syllables into onset and rime, breaking words into individual sounds or phonemes and blending them back together


•Oral language and vocabulary- expanding their vocabulary, understanding concepts, increasing their ability to express themselves using higher level language structure.


•Science and social studies- Developing concepts of how the world works.


•Math- Build and use a mental number line, master rote counting (counting in order, forwards and backwards), one to one correspondence (be able to touch and count pennies or m&m’s), cardinality (how many), adjacent values (what is next to 7? 6&8), basic Shapes, number recognition.


•Calendar- Learn basics of scheduling and remembering and learn parts of the calendar .

This program, like I said is complete.  It comes with the audios, which we found to be very fun tunes children like to sing along with. Each audio teaches a specific goal set out in the program and enhances it. The author recommends doing an assessment before starting the program to see where they are at.

They include teachers manuals for Science, Literature, and Math. For all three the activities are broken up by week. For Math and Science it is by week only.  Where the literature one is done by day. Several activities are repeated over the week to help with retention and as not to overwhelm the student with too much information for this age level. Activities include dramatic play, experiments, shared writing, and more.

The student pages are full color.  There are printable pages and reading pages all done in full color.  You will probably want to print out the read aloud books.  The one I have includes "Print it is all around us." Which is a neat story which points out print in all forms that we may come across through out the day, helping us to see why learning to read is necessary.

I love that this can be as formal as informal as you would like. This is a little more formal then I like, but easily adaptable to fit all styles.

 Units are purchased by the month and will soon be available to purchase as a hard copy verses downloadable form now available, for an additional cost.

To learn more or to purchase, visit: http://www.idealcurriculum.com/
There is lots of good reading on the website!!!

TOS Crew Review: Cerebellum Corp. / Standard Deviants: History US AP

Preparing for college level exams can be difficulty.  The AP exam is one exam you can take that helps you to test out of college level course work in many different subject areas.  Cerebellum has several videos in this series to help give an overview of the topic and test taking skills.  The video we received was History of the U.S.  This is a quick sweeping history of the United States.  The video tells you what the test is made up of, types of questions they ask, and where to spend your concentrated time studying. Then they give you more specific test taking skills specific to the test being taken.  There is also a cd-rom with worksheets, etc., that you can use as you study for the test.

Having seen Standard Deviants videos in the past, I was more impressed with this video.  The video is hosted by several teens. They are more serious then the Standard Deviant videos.  Sometime the Standard Deviant videos can get foolish, but they are meant to capture an audience of teens. Maybe teems like them more, but I did not care for them.  However I did not see any of that in the video I watched.  This video is more serious and straight forward in its teaching, but I do believe it has the ability to keep the attention of teens as well.  There is lots of great information packed into this video that even if you were not taking the AP exam you might benefit from this overview this video takes.

Here is a sample of the video:



To purchase or to find out more info visit: http://www.sdlearn.com/
As of this blog post there is a spring sale going on with 25% off.

TOS Crew Review: BeeYoutiful - Tummy Tuneup

I was introduced to BeeYoutiful through the crew.  Taking a quick look at their catalog and website I found tons of health building information. I was impressed by the mounting information available that tie in the use of supplements, eating a healthy diet, and maintaining a healthy lifestyle.  Often one is used in the absence of the others, which somewhat helpful but is not complete. BeeYoutiful encourages people to take personal responsibility for the health.  Yes, doctors are necessary and we should seek out one that is willing to work with us and complement natural approaches to health.

The product I received was Tummy Tuneup. This a "carefully engineered blend of eight natural intestinal bacteria."  The capsules are specially coated so that protect the bacteria from being destroyed in the stomach by stomach acids. What is great is that this product can be stored at room temperature and travels well.

From the website:

How it works: Our stomachs normally contain both good and bad bacteria. When the two are in balance, the good guys win—even when viruses attack. But the balance can get thrown off if we eat too much processed sugar and white flour or take antibiotics, which indiscriminately kill all bacteria. Tummy Tuneup delivers a blast of 4 billion reinforcements from eight vital strains of friendly bacteria. This shock and awe against the bad knocks stomach bugs—and the accompanying indigestion and nausea—out of the fight with the first few Tummy Tuneup capsules. Tummy Tuneup is a pro-biotic (in favor of good bacteria) as opposed to an anti-biotic (against all bacteria.)

Tummy Tuneup is very simple to use.  Just take one, one to three times a day. You can take it with a meal or just before a meal. That simple.

BeeYoutiful has a large selection of quality vitamins, essential oils, other supplements that are reasonably priced. They are committed to proving a quality products that they use themselves at a reasonable price. This is a family (husband and wife) run company and you get that from just looking at the website and catalog.  There articles in their catalog and on the web pull from a wide variety of impressive "experts." So grab a cup of tea an read through some of the articles. I know that is what I am going to do!

To learn more about BeeYoutiful visit their website at:  http://www.beeyoutiful.com/
To read more about Tummy Tuneup visit:  http://www.beeyoutiful.com/tummy-tuneup.html

FDA Disclaimer: * This statement has not been evaluated by the FDA. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.

TOS Crew Review: Sue Gregg Cookbooks - Breakfasts!

I have been a fan of Sue Gregg Cookbooks for more then 10 years. These books really help make a smooth transition to a whole food diet.  She has a complete series with books introducing whole food cooking, Breakfasts, Lunch, Main Dishes, Desserts and more! These are more then cookbooks. Each book includes different topics to help transition to whole food diet. This series would be a great course for any teenager but specifically young women preparing for their future.  There are several different sample recipes with pictures available on the website.

The book I specifically reviewing is "More than Breakfasts...with Blender Batter Baking & Allergy Alternatives." This book contains the "famous" recipe for blender batter pancakes, that our family loves.  What is great about this recipe is that you can use fresh grains and you don't have to have a grain mill.  Specific directions are given for use of different grains. You only need a good blender (Oscar ones works well) and your off.

We prepare the blender batter recipe the night before, so in the morning there is little we have to do. There are also other recipes for coffee cakes, crepes, muffins, and waffles, using the blender batter recipes.  The procedure is so simple and the pancakes are so good! I recently got a box of pancake mix on sale because I was feeling a little lazy about making breakfast.  After years of eating these recipes, the box pancakes had NO TASTE.  Just bland! I was so disappointed with them. Plus they were not healthy for us.

This cookbook also has recipes for fruits, eggs, and homemade breakfast cereals.  They give specific directions for many grains so even the beginner will feel confident. Each recipe has complete instructions that "talk" you through the entire process. 

There are also chapters on Milk and Milk Alternatives, Planning for Breakfasts, Special Occasions, Menus, and my favorite: "A Window on Weight Management." There is also a chapter with Breakfast Menus with calorie counts and food exchanges for both him and her. Also included throughout  are shorter articles on topics such as Apple Cider Vinegar, flaxseeds, and so much more.

This is such a great series for the veteran as well as the beginning chef. I love these cookbooks.  The book I am reviewing I choose because mine was so worn out and stained, I wanted an updated clean version, LOL! There is a plastic cover to help with most spills.

To find out more about Sue Gregg cookbooks, to try some recipes with detailed instructions, and see a lesson or two visit: http://www.suegregg.com/index.htm

TOS Crew Review: Classical Legacy Press - Great Latin Adventure I

Latin revisited! This Latin course was "birthed" by the author Katherine Birkett after teaching at Christian schools and not liking the material already available to teach Latin.  Later many were requesting to use her program, so after a few revisions, I hold in my hand the outcome of her labors.

This curriculum can begun with bright 8 year olds or 9 years old and up. No prior knowledge of Latin is required for the teacher or the student. This is not a video curriculum or self teaching curriculum.  It does require some teacher preparation and participation.  A detailed introduction on how to use the program is included.  Plus the author goes out of her way to give precise directions and descriptions so that it is unlikely you will have any questions. There is also a pronunciation cd that accompanies the set.

There is a Master Chapter Plan that gives detailed info on how to implement the program.  She includes a sample 9 day lesson plan, but states it may take longer then 9 days to complete a chapter / lesson, depending on different factors. There are 12 chapters all together.

Worksheets and quizzes are already copied for you so that you don't have that extra step.  Answer keys are also included with the teacher's manual. One of the first activities you will do is make a set of flash card. The student will also make their own set.

From the website:

In addition to the bi-directional translation, GLA also features

•unusually extensive derivative work

•study sheets for each chapter

•teaching notes for each chapter

•two quizzes for each chapter

•classical pronunciation

•Christian content

•no mythology

To Find Out More or To Purchase - Click HERE!

TOS Crew Review: Kregal Publications

Reading is a past time in our house, so having to read this book was a non-issue for my children.
"Andrea Carter and the Trouble with Treasure" is part of a series "The Circle C Adventures Series"  by Susan K. Marlow.  This is book 5 in the series. We had no problem picking this book up in the series and reading it as a stand alone, without having read the others. There is an introduction in the beginning that gives you a little background of the story.

The story centers around the main character - Andrea AKA "Andi" (around 13 years old.) The story takes place in 1881.  While playing Andrea falls into the horse trough. The new deputy, walking by and seeing her,  arrests her and three friends for no reason. Andrea's brother (Justin) comes and bails them. While Justin is bailing them out the bank is being robbed.  Looking for fun, Andrea, her brother Mitch and two friends venture on a camping trip on horseback to do some treasure hunting. One of her friends, Jennie, got knocked down by her horse when her horse was spooked by a snake while she was saddling the horse. Jennie, sustaining a gash to the head, got stitched up in the next town. On their way they came upon a cabin inhabited by two men. This leads to a gun fight with Andrea's brother, Mitch, caught in it.  I could go on but I don't want to give up the plot of the story and ruin it for you.  But as you suspect, good conquers evil.

This book is a good read for the 10-13 year old crowd (8 to 12 is what the publisher actually recommends).  It is easy to read and does not contain any bad language. They are all just friends in the story (no boyfriend / girlfriend relationships.)  There is a gun fight in the story, so if that bothers you then you might want to preview this book before your children read it.  My teenage daughter says that it did for the most part keep her interested and wanting to read the next page. My 9 year old (almost 10) really enjoyed the book and would not put it down until it was finished.

TOS Crew Review: Lesson Planet

Lesson Planet is a paid search engine for teachers. It puts 150,000 lesson plans and 75,000 worksheets at the click of a mouse. Here is a video description of this website.



Using the search engine, I was able to find lesson plans and worksheets for our current topic of study.  There were many different websites suggest from textbook companies to school districts. Lesson plans also came from State council of art, among many other resources. I had 66 choices for my topic: Great Depression. There were also 15 pages of worksheets.  I had already narrowed my choice to ratings of 3+ stars and for grades 3 to 5.

Because I teach nutrition classes to adults, I decided to try to find out what I could find for that. There was 3 pages of links for grades 9 to adult. I found several worksheets that I thought would be helpful such as worksheets on proteins, carbohydrates, and liquid sugar (soda). I also found over 70 worksheets on the food guide pyramid and over 1000 lesson plans.

I really appreciate the ease of use of the website.  You can narrow your search as well as see previous searches right on the page you are on.  My only complaint, and it is really minor, is I wish the pages I went to from this website would open in another window or tab. Sometimes you surf around a site of lesson plans and then decide it does not have what you want and then you have to find your way back to your search result. I know this is easily remedied by right clicking and telling it to "open in another tab."  The other thing is that the content of the lesson plans are from secular sources.  You would expect this, but I thought I would mention it anyway.

Overall I think this site is very useful. I was able to find lots of resources for the topics I am studying. Cost per year is $39.95 a year, which is cheaper then another I looked at in the past. You can also try it out for your self with their free trial.  Just check out their website below:

http://www.lessonplanet.com/

lesson plans

worksheets

TOS Crew Review: Family Mint

Many children are not being taught how to save and manage their money. They don't have motivation to save and quickly spend what they get. This program seeks to instill proper use of money and to manage it so they can learn how not to go into debt when they want something.  They can use an envelope type system so they can put their money into different categories to save.

This program currently is free in its "Alpha" form. This online program sets mom (or whoever is the designee - like dad :-) up as the bank - the keeper of the money.  This is a virtual bank, so no money actually is stored anywhere, except in mom's possession. So no one can hack your "computer" and take your money.

You can set your bank up to accumulate interest and match deposits to certain funds, such as college. I like that you can categorize the money to go to different areas. For example if the child is saving for a new MP3 Player, they can put money directly towards that in the bank. If they want to tithe money, they can have a separate section for that.

Children can access the program to make changes to their accounts which the parents must approve. There are videos demonstrating this once you sign up for the free program. The program is quick and easy to learn and set up.  It should take less then 10 minutes to do so.

To learn more visit THE FAMILY MINT by Clicking HERE.

TOS Crew Review: Graphics Toolbox Software

Graphics Toolbox Software is software used to make computer assisted graphic design.  This program is easier to learn then other programs, but it does take some experience and playing with it to get used to it. They have an excellent 80+ page manual that you can read and follow along with.  It has excellent pictures that explain the program in detail.

This program can be used for many things including enhancing educational projects as well as learning some graphic design using the computer.  Mom may want to use it to make scrapbook pages or enhance web pages. Dad will like that business presentations can also be made with ease.  There is a comparison on the website on how this program compares to MS Word and Power Point.  To see features of this program CLICK HERE.

There are video tutorials on how to do the program using several different project ideas. You can see the variety of sample projects available by CLICKING HERE.  Also, if need be, they do provide personal tutoring for a fee.

What is great about this program is that you can try it out for 30 days and decide for yourself if this is for you or not.  You can download the program by CLICKING HERE.

I think that this program will be a great tool to use for years to come.  I look forward to the projects I can make with it.

TOS Crew Review: Seasons of Faith Illustrated Book Series (CBH Ministries)

"The Seasons of Faith illustrated books encourage children to learn about their faith in God. Based on CBH Ministries’ treasure trove of radio scripts, these stories teach core truths of the Bible so that kids can easily apply them to their lives. Each book focuses on a season of faith-developing topics." (Quote from the website.)

My children have just loved this series. I am so glad that there are books available that are wholesome and point them to Christ. This series is from the Season of Faith Illustrated book series from Children's Bible Hour Ministries. This is the ministry that has produced Keys for Kids and Down Gilead Lane. The books include a CD with Uncle Charlie narrating the story. Descriptions of each book in the series can be read by clicking HERE.  Each book clearly teaches the gospel at level that children can understand.

The story "Seventy Times Seven" teaches about forgiving others and how if we don't forgive others, God won't forgive us.

In "You Can't Come In," Adam shares his faith with his new friend Zack and invites him to church. Clear gospel message and excellent description of how sin separates us from God.

"Race With Midnight" Becky shares her faith with her cousin Sarah. Using a horse as an object lesson, Becky shares how we can put our faith and trust in God.

"Braving the Storm" Thomas needs to learn how to trust and rely on God during difficult times. Shows a loving relationship between a Grandfather and Grandson. Great analogy of putting our "roots" into Christ.

You can order these directly for CBH Ministries by Clicking Here.
If you order these before Apr. 15th you can get free shipping if you use code: FREESHIPAPR15