Character in Action {Character Concepts}

Way back in 2011 I was given the opportunity to attend my very first homeschool conference.  Our keynote speakers were a husband and wife team representing a company called Character Concepts.  Rick & Marilyn Boyer both spoke on several different topics, many of which, even 5 years later are still some of my favorite conference talks of all time.

At the time I was still struggling with the "should I" homeschool question.  My biggest fear being that my daughter would not listen to me like she does for others...or that we would grow too frustrated with each other to enjoy each others company.  Marilyn Boyer put my fears to rest in a series of talks at conference (I bought all the Boyer CDs they had!) pointing out that homeschooling is more than just academics, it is a matter of the heart.

Wow!  I needed to know more!  It was though a great blessing from the Boyers that I was given a Character Concepts for Preschoolers set to review setting us on a path of learning good character and teaching and training your children to be the kind of people you WANT to be around all the time.  After completing this I purchased Character Trails and then Kids of Character and then Proverbs People... and the rest is history.  Believe it or not I STILL use all of these products frequently in my homeschool each year.

At this point I bet you can imagine my excitement then when Marilyn approached me to review one of their newest products called Character in Action.  This book still follows the curious and adventurous Boyer cousins.  (I was squealing over the cover.  Just look at how the cousins have grown!  I love it!)  The Boyer cousins are bigger, wiser and just as sweet as ever!  And in this book they are going to show you just how you can put character in action!

In previous books children learned character qualities like attentiveness, compassion, generosity, and joyfulness.  Sharing lives from famous people from the Bible and sweet stories of the cousins, and famous historical heroes, previous books set you and your child on the path of building good character, but that was only a beginning.

Their newest book, Character in Action invites your family to "take the next step" by literally putting character into action.  Full of practical steps to take, Character in Action teaches your family various ways to reach out and become engaged with those who need our help.  Real-life stories with the cousins demonstrate to children all the ways we interact with others and shows the "why" behind the importance of good behavior.    

Each chapter introduces a "catch phrase" and scripture, a true story, and a section entitled "Taking the Next Step" that gives your children several ideas to put their character into action.  Included at the bottom are suggested scripture stories to further your study of each character quality.

This book is great!  My kids favorite story so far is of cousin Lauren and Mrs. Burks.  Mrs. Burks was a little elderly lady who was a bit lonely but Lauren made a special project out of giving Mrs. Burks a hug whenever they saw each other.  Such a small and simple thing brought great joy to both Mrs. Burks and Lauren.  By her example both of my girls have worked on picking someone each Sunday to hug and make them feel loved and special.

This book is a very welcome addition to my Character Curriculum Library and I think you will enjoy it too.  

Character in Action is available for purchase at CharacterConcepts.com and currently retails for $19.99 in a nice hardcover or $14.99 as an e-book.  Sign up for their email list and they often have coupons and other special offers!  Looking for an uplifting message from Marilyn, check out her blog!

Disclaimer:  I was given Character in Action free of charge in exchange for an honest review.  All opinions expressed here are my very own.  No affiliate links were use.  (I'm not looking to make a buck, just share a great product!)  Thanks for stopping by Swinging on Small Hinges! 

Summer Fit Learning {Curriculum Review}

 

Without opportunities to learn and practice essentials skills over the summer, most children fall behind academically. Research shows that summer learning loss varies, but children can lose the equivalency of 2.5 months of math and 2 months of reading skills while away from school. Children run the risk of losing more than just academic knowledge during the summer. Research also shows that children are at greater risk of actually gaining more weight during summer vacation than during the school year without daily play, activity and physical fitness.

We had an opportunity to check out this fun series (we got PreK - Kindergarten) from Summer Fit Learning.  What looks like a "regular" summer workbook is really so much more.  Inside the pages of this book you will find activities that focus on several key areas:  having a fit brain, fit body, and fit values.

Summer Fit workbooks are divided into 10 sections that coordinate with the traditional 10 weeks of summer.  Each section offers an overview and incentive calendar followed by 10 pages of activities for each week.  It is recommended that a child completes 2 pages per day.  This offers a simple routine that reinforces basic skills, physical fitness, healthy habits,  character building and social skills.  Activities support common core standards and progressively increase in difficulty.  By the end of the workbook your child is ready for the grade ahead.

At SummerFitLearning.com you will find a lot of extras too!  Exercise videos, ideas to help you implement a summer game plan for learning, and free downloadable Summer Reading Lists, and Book Report forms keep your child reading all summer long!

Summer Fit Learning has books from PreK to 8th grade.  You can find out where to purchase here.

Maggie loves workbooks and has enjoyed toting this one through the house.  If you are looking for a simple but effective summer school workbook then you might enjoy Summer Fit Learning!


Disclaimer:  I received Summer Fit Learning free of charge in exchange for an honest review.  All opinions expressed here are my own.   :)

How to Teach Your Children Shakespeare {Book Review}

It had not crossed my mind to teach my children Shakespeare.  At least, not yet.  I mean, my kids are 4 and 7!  But, I was given the opportunity to review this book and it looked fascinating.   Author Ken Ludwig insists, "To know some Shakespeare provides a head start in life."  We all know that Shakespeare is numbered among the greatest play writes of all time...or is he, perhaps, THE greatest play write of all time?  In fact, several years ago, I read and article that demonstrated that nearly every single modern day story has its foundation in Shakespeare.  All just rewritten into modern themes and language.

Now, by a show of hands, who is scared of Shakespeare (besides me...my hand is up!)  I recall reading Shakespeare in high school and finding it confusing and beautiful all rolled up into one messy little book.  The language can be both perplexing and lovely.  I wish I had given it more effort.  I mean, think of all the things we say today that came right from Shakespeare!  "In a Pickle"  "The Laughing Stock" "There's a method to my madness" and so much more.

In this book, How to Teach Your Children Shakespeare, Ludwig has provided a user-friendly and easy method for teaching children to memorize Shakespeare.  I'm not kidding.  He begins by having a child memorize 1 line, then the next, until the child has mastered full passages from a play.  He walks the reader through time period, what the passages mean, and shares what is to be learned behind the passages.

Why memorize it?  Memory is the key to understanding.  When you can recall something with very little effort, then you can really delve into what it means.  We do this in our homeschool daily with memorizing many things.  Scripture being where we start.  Followed by character catch phrases... and so forth.

Now, what did I really think of this book?  Let me start by saying this.  We are (currently) Classical Homeschoolers.  We believe in the beauty of memorizing.  Lots of stuff.  Poetry being one of those things that we have worked on memorizing...  It did not cross my mind to memorize Shakespeare, but now that this book has been planted in my path I felt excitement with the prospect of introducing this into our homeschool day.  It is simple to implement and fun to use!

This would be a welcome addition to any homeschool shelf!
Learn more about the author, Ken Ludwig and purchase his book by visiting his website at: http://www.howtoteachyourchildrenshakespeare.com.  
You can read an excerpt here.

I received this book for free from Blogging for Books for this review.

Christmas Comes to America {Homeschool Legacy Review}

Some of my readers may remember that a while back I had an opportunity to review a fun product from Homeschool Legacy called The Forest For the Trees by Sharon Gibson.  It was a really fun once-a-week unit study that allowed for both girls to do the same subject at the same time even though they were quite far apart in age!  Not only that but it combined a subject that you don't normally find offered for multi-ages: Science.

I was totally thrilled when I was given an opportunity to try out another product from Homeschool Legacy, the once-a-week unit study called Christmas Comes to America!

Now that Christmas is right around the corner (my favorite day of the year), studying about this holiday is coming at a perfect time!  I'm excited to tell you about what we've been doing over the last few weeks, how we have been using this unit study, and I have some pictures of our awesome craft projects!

Homeschool Legacy is a Christian Curriculum and so each lesson is biblically centered.   In fact, each lesson includes a devotional which recognizes God’s hand in Christmas and the true reason for the season.   Memory verses are included!  Each unit study encourages family time offering recommendations for family game nights, movie nights and field trips. 

Another great feature of Homeschool Legacy’s Once-A-Week Unit Studies is that they are Boy Scout and American Heritage Girls friendly.   Help your child earn their next merit  badge by completing the requirements in the unit study…  Wow!  It is completely laid out for you, no research or extra effort necessary.  Upon completing the requirements in the Christmas Comes to America unit your child will earn the Music badge.

Homeschool Legacy unit studies are recommended for grades 2 - 12.   This is a feature I adore!  I am a fan of combining learning whenever possible.  Don't be fooled by the age range though, my 4 year old was up to her elbows in everything we did!  She enjoyed the picture books and crafts…

In this unit study your children will learn how the Germans, Dutch, and English contributed to the Christmas that we know and love in America today.  Discover the origins behind many recognizable Christmas symbols.  Sing Christmas carols.  Build a ginger bread house!  Soooo much more!

(A Field Trip to Silver Dollar City gave us an opportunity to see a Christmas parade!)

Here is how Once-a-Week Unit Studies work:

A Once-A-Week unit study is incredibly simple to add to your regular schedule but comprehensive enough to be used as a stand-alone history curriculum if you choose.  Each unit study is designed to be about 4-7 weeks in length with a LOT of flexibility built in.  (Christmas Comes to America is designed as 4 weeks but we are slow and take more than 1 week to complete a week, KWIM?  Thank goodness for flexibility in homeschooling!)

So, typically it would look something like this:  4 Days each week follow your regular studies.  Each day add in your Once-a-Week Unit Study readings and family read aloud.  On one of these days plan your field trip and family movie or game night.

Then, 1 Day each week – eliminate your regular studies and complete the Once-a-Week Unit Study.

For our family, eliminating our regular studies once each week won’t always work since we often "do school" only 4 days a week anyway, but we did the minimum in the morning and then were able to spend the rest of the day focusing on our unit studies.  I also stretched some activities out over several days depending on what it was…

Pick and choose what you would like to do based on the ages of your children and their individual interests.  Work faster.  Work slower.  You are in charge.  It really is that easy.

Each unit study offers a full book list (complete with call numbers) to request from your library and a supply list.  I had to wait for several books to be sent from another branch so you’d want to make sure you request your books a few days before you are ready to begin your unit study.  

Daily Activities give you a recommended book to read plus a family read-aloud to enjoy together.  You will do these 2 activities each day.

On unit study day you are given the following activities:

1.  Family Devotional (Scripture readings based on the birth of Jesus)

2.  History (Christmas symbols & gathering info trivia game!)
3.  Geography (locating various places on the globe)

4.  Language Arts and Research ideas (writing letters to Santa, researching the origin of Saint Nicholas, etc)

5.  Traditions and Culture  (How people celebrate in other countries)

6.  Life Skills/Gift Giving  (We made THE BEST EVER hot cocoa and created gifts to give to my girls' Sunday School teachers)

7.  Music

8.  Field Trip Ideas (attend 2 professional performances - but it is too early in the season so we have watched the Nutcracker on YouTube…close enough!)

9.  Family Movie Night (Like I needed an excuse to watch a Christmas movie.  LOL.)

What we thought about the Once-A-Week Unit study…

1.  No PREP WORK!  Hallelujiah!  However - the things we needed to make the hot cocoa were a little overwhelming.  It was a LOT of stuff, but in the end it made, no joke - the BEST hot cocoa I have ever had! 

2.  Easy, easy to add in to our regular school day.  Especially since we did the majority of our reading at night.

3.  This was very easily adaptable to my 4 year old.  I would be eager to say that I believe there are many activities that can be done by preschoolers so don’t let having preschoolers stop you from buying this curriculum.

4.  Love, love, love the fact that it is Bible-centered!  But, a warning:  The recommended book on Christmas symbols (Holly, Reindeer and Colored Lights) is definitely NOT a Christian based book.  For example, it discusses the Christmas Star as unlikely since astronomers have proved that "no new stars appeared around the probable time" of Jesus' birth. It also uses terms like "Christians believe…"  Not that this is a bad thing, just that it is not written from a Christian perspective.  If you want that perspective I'd recommend Lisa Welchel's book "The Advent-ure of Christmas."  Same idea but unabashedly Christian.

5.  I was able to find the books from our local library!  (hello free!)

(Making hot cocoa, we discovered that my biggest container wasn't nearly big enough)

We have loved both of our Once-A-Week Unit Studies.  They are totally low-key and un-stressful!  Just what I need as we gear up for the holiday season!  We haven't finished Christmas yet but we will be wrapping it up over the next week or so and then we will be all ready to slip into December!  I think you might enjoy this unit study too!  

How to Order:
Christmas Comes to America retails as for $17.95.  Right now Homeschool Legacy is offering free shipping on orders over $50.00!  If you'd like more information, you can contact Sharon HERE.


Disclaimer:  Thank you Sharon at Homeschool Legacy for providing me with a free copy of Christmas Comes to America in exchange for an honest review!  :)

Character Concepts for Preschoolers - The Learning Parent

When I first began homeschooling I was truly worried about how be around my children, all day, every day, and still ENJOY being a Stay At Home Mom.  Don't get me wrong, I really, really love my little munchkins, but I was overwhelmed with the thought that we would all be around each other 24/7.   It was at a homeschoolers information meeting where I heard the best advice from another Mom.  She said, "The key to staying home with your kids, and loving it, is training our children to be the kind of kids you love to be around."  Wow.  Why didn't I think of that?

A few months later I was still frustrated and feeling like I had made an unwise decision to homeschool when I had the opportunity to go to our local homeschool conference.  Our key note speakers that week were a family from Virginia, Rick & Marilyn Boyer (parents of 14 children, all homeschooled!)- and I haven't been the same since.  Not only did Marilyn reiterate what the wise mother had said, but she also told me HOW to make it happen through Character Training.

At the end of the conference I bought every audio transcript available by Rick & Marilyn, listened to them over and over and over again, and with excitement, implemented their Character Concepts for Preschoolers curriculum, available through their website The Learning Parent.

Character Concepts for Preschoolers Curriculum includes:

Teacher Guide and Storybook - setting the foundation for learning and emulating good character qualities.  Topics include, Obedience, Patience, Honesty, Gratefulness, Respectfulness and much more!  To use this you can read a real-life story to your child from the storybook, and then use the teachers guide to choose activities that will work well with your child.  The teachers guide also includes Hero's From History and the Bible that are good examples of the character quality you are studying.  Each character quality has a theme to memorize, for example Obedience is doing what is expected of me, immediately, cheerfully and thoroughly.   My daughter can quote these by heart and when we slip up, Mommy can quote this too to encourage back-on-track behavior.

Hands On Character Building - is a book full of fun games and activities that you can use to help your child as you learn the character qualities.

Flash Cards - Character Quality flashcards and Alphabet flashcards to help with memorization of key terms and themes.

Uncle Rick's History for Preschoolers - audio read by Rick teaching real-life history to kids


I was also blessed to receive Uncle Rick Reads the Proverbs for review...  Marilyn recommended playing this audio during quiet time to give my kids a chance to hear the book of proverbs.  In fact, every character quality we need to know is embedded in this book of the Bible.

Let me tell you.  After listening to this audio for about 5 minutes - I immediately thought to myself "This is MY Uncle Rick too!"  I, the Mom, was hungry to hear Rick read the Proverbs to me...not just my kids!  It may seem strange, but it was like inviting MY Uncle Rick into my home so he could help me teach my children.  It is now one of my favorite things to listen to in the car, and Uncle Rick feeds my soul every Sunday during my 30 minute drive to Church.  As Uncle Rick reads through the Proverbs he stops and explains complicated words and concepts.  I cannot wait to get a chance to purchase another audio.  There are so many to choose from!

I am so grateful to Rick & Marilyn Boyer at The Learning Parent for providing me with this opportunity to review the Character Concepts for Preschoolers Curriculum.  Implementing the character qualities in my home has helped me to feel more empowered and confident in homeschooling and encouraged me as a mother.  Thank you - thank you- Thank you!!!

To learn more about Rick & Marilyn or to shop through their awesome products, 

check out their website at The Learning Parent!

Raising Real Men Book Review

I was intrigued by this offer from Timberdoodle to review a copy of Raising Real Men by Hal and Melanie Young.  As you can tell from the picture...I have no little boys.  I do, however have 2 little girls.  My house is dripping with pink, frilly, ribbony, fluffy girly stuff.  We have a lot of little girly drama during our day.  I wasn't sure what I could glean from this book as a mom to 2 little princesses...but I was excited when, after reading the first chapter I realized that my girls...were a LOT like little boys in so many different ways!  I had a lot to learn from Hal and Melanie's example of strong Christian parenting.  I really, really loved this book and I would recommend it as a great read even if you don't have boys.

Several of my girlfriends have boys...and a couple of my closest girlfriends have 4 boys each!  They always tease me and tell me, "Stephanie, someday when you have a boy - he will rock your world!"  Oh, I know it is probably true.  But, as I read the book I realized that there are so many things that little boys and girls both share.  Both need to learn by following strong examples.  Both need to learn virtue, character, respect and a love for God.  Both need praise from Mom or Dad to feel like they have worth and value.  Both can honestly get rough and tumble (my 5 year old has holes in the knees of every pair of jeans and can usually be found digging in the mud).

Parenting isn't easy.  Parenting girls is tough...parenting boys is also tough.  This was a wonderful book that helps shed light on the tough job of parenting boys and helping them turn in to righteous young men. 

To purchase a copy of Raising Real Men, click here:

To find a full listing of parenting books click HERE.

You can also click here to browse Timberdoodle's Online Catalog!

Legal Disclosure:
As a member of Timberdoodle's Blogger Review Team I received a free copy of Raising Real Men in exchange for a frank and unbiased review.

Purpllinker - Timberdoodle

We had a fun time reviewing this cool gadget!  The "Purpllinker" by Timberdoodle!   The Purpllinker is a fun, hinged, skinny manipulative that can be used to make numbers, the alphabet, shapes, animals and a whole lot more!  My 5 year old had a blast with this toy and was pretty tickled over all the different things she could make.   

(That is a giraffe in case you couldn't tell).

The Purpllinker comes with a guide to help your child make all the various shapes.

Pro's of the Purpllinker:  
It can make lots of shapes!  It is fun!  And it is small enough to fit in my purse!  Using manipulatives really help with learning new concepts!

Con's of the Purpllinker:  
It stretches out long enough to reach across the entire backseat of my mini-van where my daughter can whack her little sister in the head with it.

To learn more about the Purpllinker or to purchase one of your own check it out here:

The Purpllinker is also part of the Complete Homeschool Curriculum Preschool kit:

http://www.timberdoodle.com/Complete_Homeschool_Curriculum_Preschool_p/999-0000.htm

To learn more about Timberdoodle's awesome products, check out their catalog!

The fine print:

Legal Disclosure:

As a member of Timberdoodle's Blogger Review Team 

I received a free Purpllinker in exchange for a frank and unbiased review.

The Boyer Blog: Free Giveaway! Character Concepts for Preschoolers Basic Curriculum

The Boyer Blog: Free Giveaway! Character Concepts for Preschoolers Basic Curriculum

Head on over to The Boyer Blog and enter for a free Preschool Character Curriculum! It is awesome! We are using it and have learned so much! Check it out!

Character Training - Obedience

For this Stay-at-Home-Mom, (I hope that I am not alone and that some of you are/were a little like me) many days (for me it had been most days) I would end up feeling overwhelmed and frazzled and tired...and, well, I could just go on and on.  By the time my husband was getting home from work I felt like I had been trampled by a herd of antelope.  I have a 1 year old.  I LOVE my 1 year old.  She is spunky, bright, and beautiful.  I also have a 4 year old.  I LOVE my 4 year old.  She is also spunky, bright and beautiful.  She has been described as a Pistol (which I love) but, sometimes 4 year olds are, just, well.... FOUR.  Mine, on some days, is 4 going on 14.  (With out the whining, thank goodness!) But, I digress.  We have been struggling at our house.  It ends up being one of those things where, you have to shout to be heard, and you have to say it 12 times for it to get through...and, well, sometimes it just isn't worth the battle.  And then on bad days - really horrid days - you discover that maybe, just maybe, YOU are not in charge here at all.  Now.  I think something is wrong here.  I'm pretty sure that I should be in charge.  At least most of the time.  (gulp!)

So, we have backed off on our academic pursuits for a few weeks in favor of more spiritual pursuits in the hope that I can gain some semblance of peace in our house.    I'm really pleased to report that it is working!  (If it wasn't I never would've blogged about it I suppose...lol).

Here is what we are up to:

I am using Courtship Connections "Character Building For Families" by Lee Ann Rubsam.  I love it!  The first lesson is on Obedience, which is perfect!  It uses the King James Version of the Bible and gives you scriptures on obedience to memorize together...biblical stories/examples of obedience...and suggested topics for discussion.  We spent this last week focusing on a solid definition of obedience, what is expected...and what will happen if we do not obey.

  

Right now we are working on memorizing Ephesians 6:1 and Colossians 3:20.  We also are memorizing our operation definition of obedience which is
"We Obey: all the way, right away, with a cheerful heart."

 

I am also using several materials from Christian Light Education - Which I also LOVE!  Wisdom and the Millers tells stories from Proverbs and a Hive of Busy Bees is AMAZING!  It tells the story of 2 children who are staying with their grandparents and one child gets stung by a bee.  Grandma goes on to tell the stories about other bees who's stings are MUCH worse.  

The first one we learned is Bee Obedient. 

My handy hubby drew a wonderful, big, beehive - and as we continue on in our study of character traits we will be learning about the other "bee's" and adding them to our Hive.

 

 As we continue to add our bees from "A Hive of Busy Bees" many of them will start to overlap with President Hinckleys 9 B's as well! So we will also be studying those.

  

But, for right now, it is amazing how much stuff we can learn from the scriptures about being obedient.  Today we used the Nest Animated Bible Story of Abraham and Isaac.  We discussed how grateful we are that Heavenly Father doesn't test us in this manner today - but what faith Abraham had to be obedient - even though it was really hard, and the blessings that come from being obedient.

We also just learned the story of the Creation this week and it fit in well seeing how Adam and Eve were disobedient by eating the fruit of the Tree and because of their disobedience they were cast out of the Garden of Eden.  

Anyway - it is going great!  I have felt a lot less frazzled.  I felt a lot happier.  Our home has been a lot more peaceful during the day.  It is really wonderful to realize that, I do not make rules just because I like to torture my kids and make their lives hard.  In fact, I don't really make the rules at all.  Heavenly Father makes the rules...and there is a scriptural foundation behind each one!  I think my kids, well, Kayley, since Maggie is just along for the ride, feel better knowing exactly what IS expected and what exactly will happen if we do not do what is expected.  I was spending so much time just saying "don't do that!" "no!" and "stop-that's not ok!" that I never really spent much time training my kids in what IS ok and what they CAN do.  It has made such a difference in just one week!  Whew!  I love it!

The Old Schoolhouse Homeschool Review Crew...

I'm so excited to share that I have been selected to participate in The Old Schoolhouse Homeschool Review Crew!  This landlubber is so excited to set sail in June!  Aaaarrrr!  :)