Friday, May 27, 2011

Apologia - Read for the Heart - Review

Apologia Whole Heart Ministries presents Read for the Heart by Sarah Clarkson.  This is your guide to finding the best literature for your children.  Sarah recommends  over 1,000 books for young people in every category from picture books to novels.  Click HERE for the Table of Contents.

Read for the Heart is like having your own personal librarian.  In the beginning chapters and throughout the book, Sarah Clarkson intertwines her life's journey that brought her a passion for reading.  Her love for books comes alive and is infectious!  As I sat reading her book, I could  picture her at different points in her life as she discovered new treasures through reading.  HERE is a sample chapter that will inspire you and make you want more. 

Read for the Heart is so well organized.  You will be able to quickly find a book suited to your child's age and interests.  Then, you can be sure that the books listed are of literary quality, morally sound, and a reading treasure. 

This new addition to my home library will be a value for years to come!  It can be part of your library too for only $17.00  Just click HERE to order your copy.

Any products reviewed by me as a member of the TOS Homeschool Crew have been given to me free of charge in order for me to provide you with an honest review of the product and/or how we used the product within our family.  I do not receive any other form of compensation for the reviews posted on this blog.

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Eagle's Wings Considering God's Creation Review

Eagle's Wings Educational Materials are created by Homeschoolers for Homeschoolers.  Sue Mortimer and Betty Smith are sisters with a mission to inspire children to learn more about God's amazing Creation.  They offer products in math, science, history and phonics.  Their science curriculum is titled Considering God's Creation
This in-depth study provides a biblical perspective on earth and life science.  It is for grades 2nd-7th and it can be adapted to fit a multi-age family.  Younger children can benefit from the program with assistance and modification.  Older students (5th grade and up) will benefit from the "digging deeper" sections of the lessons.  It is a 272 page book and includes a Teacher's Manual and Audio CD with 36 lessons for $29.95

Just about every subject suitable for 2nd-7th grade is touched upon.  Here is a list of what you will find...


  • Universe
  • Stars
  • Solar System
  • Earth
  • Light
  • Sound
  • Wind
  • Weather
  • Clouds
  • Rocks
  • Plants
  • Insects
  • Mammals
  • Reptiles
  • Birds
  • Fish
  • Amphibians
  • Food Chains
  • Reproduction and Genetics
  • Human
  • Animal Anatomy
  • Physiology
 
Above is a sample of the notebooking page for the lesson about the Solar System.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Here are some of the things we LIKED about Considering God's Creation:
  • Encourages independent thinking and discovery
  • Includes bible reading with each lesson
  • Includes a "Digging Deeper" section for older students which has suggestions for further research, writing, and advanced resources.
  • The Teacher's Manual has a clear step by step layout for each lesson.  That's a must have for me.
  • Each lesson takes about 2 hours to complete.  This can be done for one day or spread out over the week.  Additional activities can be done to go deeper into each subject though so a family could spend much longer on the subjects they are particularly interested in.
  • Each lesson provides a variety!  Students will read, sing songs, do activities/experiments and do notebooking.
  • Each lesson starts with a list of supplies or resources that would be needed.  I love that! 
  • Each lesson ends with review questions.  I love this too!  I'm a tester.  I can't help it.  So, these review questions can be used as the test I give for that lesson.  If you aren't a tester, then you could just use the review questions to recap the lesson along with your child.
  • "Evolution Stumpers" are a part of each lesson.  These equip students with the knowledge to defend their faith and understand more fully that God is the Creator of all things
  • At $29.95 it is extremely reasonably priced!
  • It can be easily adapted to fit multiple ages within the same family or group.
Here are some of the things we did NOT LIKE about Considering God's Creation:
  • It does not cover any physical science subject matter
  • The outside cover was not at all appealing to me or my son.  Both of us thought it was very old fashioned looking.  I showed just the book cover to several friends who were not familiar with Eagle's Wings and when I asked them when they thought this book was from they all responded "sometime in the 70's or 80's".
  • It is all in black and white which we are not accustomed to for a science program.  We would have liked some color.
  • Many of the notebooking pages were not of good copy quality so much of the details in the pictures were not clear.
  • We did not like the audio CD.  My son thought it was really "baby".  The songs sounded like nursery rhymes to him.  But, I can definitely see how younger children would very much enjoy the CD.
I have to be honest with you.  When I first received this product I was not excited.  I am such a visual learner and if something doesn't catch my eye then I will usually pass on it.  As I started to look over the books I realized that this product was really interesting!  I loved all the different parts to each lesson.  I loved the variety it provided both in subject matter and in learning opportunities.  I loved that it would be simple to use, yet comprehensive.  I realized that it was presenting science in a way that allows the student to discover for themselves God's Creation.  We are excited to make this a part of our homeschool schedule for 6th grade.

Any products reviewed by me as a member of the TOS Homeschool Crew have been given to me free of charge in order for me to provide you with an honest review of the product and/or how we used the product within our family.  I do not receive any other form of compensation for the reviews posted on this blog.