The Plump and Perky Turkey

One of our family favorites...  The Plump and Perky Turkey.  I shared it with my co-op literature class, and they loved it too.

Then, we painted our own "Turkey art" with these adorable wood turkeys I found at the Target dollar spot!

I love getting to revisit all these old favorites with my younger kiddos :-)

It was a Maizing!

We finally made a trip to the South Texas Corn Maize!  We had a great time in the maze, on the slide, on the cow train and "corn popper".  Best of all, we got to share the experience with friends!

Here's a few snapshots of our fun:

Chloe really is having fun...despite the look!

The MatterCorn slide...  not my kind of fun, but the kiddos liked it!

The Corn popper!  I love how the sisters were helping each other,

It's always better with friends to share it with!

My Cow train partner...

RISE Academy 2015 - our first "official" field trip!

Can you find Josh...?

They could have done this part - all.day.long!

Nothing better than brotherly love!

Birth of Jesus: Multi-Level from Grapevine Studies: A TOS Crew Review

Birth of Jesus: Multi-Level from Grapevine Studies 


Grapevine Studies  are Bible study curriculum where your child draws stick figures, even your non-artistic types can do this, to document and interact with the Bible as they study God's Word.

I love how they describe their program:   "Grapevine Studies teaches the Bible as if it were a puzzle, doing the frame first. Once the framework is in place then individual pieces (Bible passages, characters, and events) are much easier to place and understand in the context of the "whole puzzle" (the whole counsel of the Word of God)."

Activities vary in each level.  Starting with tracing, they will progress to learning Biblical timelines, geography, and how to use different Bible study tools as they get older.  This is truly a unique Bible curriculum that you can use with the entire family.  My testers range in age from 6 to 18.

For our review, we got a PDF download of Birth of Jesus: Multi-Level - for ages 7+. This includes:

• 65 page Teacher Manual 
• 49 page Student Book
• Special Bonus - Traceable Student Book , designed for ages 3-6.

To complete this study you will need a Bible, colored pencils, markers, access to a Bible dictionary, and atlas or map.

The study contains 4  lessons, and a Final Review which can either be completed 1- 2 lessons  a week or 24 daily lessons.  This study focuses on the Christmas story with chapters on:

• The Announcement
• The Birth of Jesus
• The Proclamation
• The Wise Men and Herod

The first lesson is drawing the Biblical timeline in stick figures,  My testers are about 50% creative, and 50% not-so-much.  That's one of the reasons we like this curriculum... it fits all of them!  
Each Lesson is clearly outlined in the must-have Teacher's Manual with the goal, key points, and memory verse.  You can use what ever version of the Bible you prefer.  I like that it gets my testers using their own Bible to look up the passages. 
The Student Lesson begins with a Timeline Review.  The main section of the lesson is drawing stick figures to illustrate the Bible passage.  You can either print the Student pages (that have notebooking style sections for them to draw in)  or simply use blank paper to create your own.  You'll know which one works best for your family!
Each lesson includes review questions for you to discuss.  These questions made my testers really think about the passage and notice the details.  It's a great way to get them truly interacting with the Word. Each lesson wraps up with a "drawing review" where your child draws their favorite part of what they have just studied.
The Traceable pages have the stick figures drawn in (light grey) so your child can follow along, and simply trace the figures.  My younger testers liked this - it let them focus on what we were reading.    I will admit, my younger testers loved this program (they are the 50% creative).  My teen age testers were not quite as enthusiastic (they are the 50% not-so-much).
It's a very easy to use, and affordable way to study God's Word together.  I think this would make an excellent study to do together during the Advent season as well.
Take a peek at some of the other levels the Crew reviewed:

Birth of Jesus: Beginner
Old Testament 1: Level 1 Creation to Jacob
Old Testament 1: Level 2 Creation to Jacob
Old Testament 1: Level 3 Creation to Jacob
Old Testament 1: Level 4 Creation to Jacob 
Find  Grapevine Studies  on Social Media:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GrapevineStudies
Twitter: https://twitter.com/grapevinestudy
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/grapevinestudy/
Google+: https://plus.google.com/u/0/+Grapevinestudies/posts
Periscope: @Grapevine Studies

See what other members of the Crew thought here

Practical Critical ThinkingThe Critical Thinking Co.: A TOS Crew Review

Practical Critical Thinking and Teacher Manual from  The Critical Thinking Co.

For grades 9-12+, This is a combo of a 376 page color, Student book and the accompanying 240 page, black & white - Teacher’s Manual.

The Bentz Test Laboratory has been a long time fan of products from The Critical Thinking Co.  I was excited to get to try a new product for us - Practical Critical Thinking and Teacher Manual.  My tester is in 10th grade.

The Student Book is in color.  A very nice touch, it makes it instantly more appealing to today's teenagers.  This program really focuses in on developing Critical Thinking in our teens.  By focusing on emotion and meaning, we get them motivated, grab their attention and build their memory.

The book is organized with 4 Units, each unit includes 2 chapters, and each chapter features 7-9 lessons.  The lessons are short and concise.   My testers enjoyed the variety and the humor.

We love to start our school day with Critical Thinking as a way of "waking up our brain".  Take a peek at the contents:

Unit 1. Becoming a Critical Thinking -

• Chapter 1: The 411 About Critical Thinking 
• Chapter 2: Playing Games, Doing puzzles: Practice Critical Thinking Skills

Unit 2. Adding to My Critical Thinking Toolbox

• Chapter 3: Some Basics Concepts for Critical Thinking
• Chapter 4: Critical Thinking and Language

Unit 3. Critical Thinking and Arguments

• Chapter 5: Analyzing Arguments
• Chapter 6: Informal Fallacies

Unit 4. Applying My Critical Thinking

• Chapter 7: Advertising
• Chapter 8: Eyewitness Testimony, Direct & Circumstantial Evidence

This program is designed to be used either independently (the way we did) or can be used in a classroom setting.  I think it would make a great Co-op class!   Different activities are used to teach and practice essential Critical Thinking skills like; evaluating evidence, creative problem-solving, ambiguity, doublespeak, vagueness, arguments, fallacies, advertising, eyewitness testimony and more.

Activities include:

• Thought Experiments 
• Student Polls 
• Practice Sessions 
• Games and Puzzles 
•  Predictions 
•  Important Takeaways

Teacher's Manual is a valuable addition to this program!  It's divided into two sections:

• Answers - I need this section to make sure they are on the right track.  Critical thinking is much more complex than simple math solutions.  This is where you get to stay one step ahead of your teens.
• Reproducible Activities - Nice, especially if you are using this with multiple students.

Check out some of the other great products from The Critical Thinking Co. that the Crew Reviewed:

  Fun-Time Phonics!  (Gr. PreK-2)
Surfing the Net: Science  (Gr. 3-6)
The Basics of Critical Thinking  (Gr. 4-9)
U. S. History Detective, Book 1  (Gr. 8-12+) Find The Critical Thinking Co. on Social Media:
Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/TheCriticalThinkingCo
Google +: https://plus.google.com/114500823774999703181
Twitter: https://twitter.com/criticalthinks
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/source/criticalthinking.com/ See what other members of the Crew thought here

Around the World in 8 Kids

This year's "Reverse Trick or Treat" theme.....  Around the World in 8 Kids!

Reverse Trick or Treat is when we dress up and take candy to all the people in my hubby's office.  

Our final year of all 8 kiddos participating...sniff...  Can you guess their countries?  Best of all, we didn't spend a penny!

Trick or treat!

Eat Your U.S. History Homework from Ann McCallum Books: A TOS Crew Review

Eat Your U.S. History Homework: Recipes for Revolutionary Minds from Ann McCallum Books

Check out this 48 page colorful,  hardcover book  that gives you a history lesson and a historically inspired recipe for 6 time periods in American History with tasty treats that are easy to make.

• The Pilgrims at Plymouth, 1620 - Thanksgiving Succotash
• The Thirteen Original Colonies, 1607-1776 - Colonial Cherry-Berry Grunt
• The French and Indian War, 1754-1763 - Lost Bread
• Slaves and the Southern Plantation, 1619-1863 - Southern Plantation Hoe Cakes
• The American Revolution, 1775-1783 - Revolutionary Honey-Jumble Cookies
• The Declaration of Independence, 1776 - Independence Ice Cream

The Bentz Test Labortory is studying American History this year, so Eat Your U.S. History Homework was the perfect compliment to our studies,  after all...who doesn't love to eat?  Ann McCallum believes that we are all connected by our "need for and love of food" - I believe she's right! This is a great resource for your 7-10 year olds, but all of my testers love to eat!

Each section begins with a short history lesson, perfect for introducing your children to this time period, and whetting their appetite to learn more.  Key words are in bold, and can be found in the glossary in the back, as well as a timeline.

My young testers loved the "rabbit"  in the cute, whimsical illustrations by Leeza Hernandez, the illustrator throughout this book.

The historically inspired recipe follows the history lesson.  We got a kick out of some of the "authentic" ingredients...i.e. Thanksgiving Succotash features not only bacon, but "2 hot dogs".  Wonder what the Pilgrims would think about that today :-)

The recipes are very easy to follow - and include illustrations of each step.  (I wish all my cookbooks did that!)  My testers could easily follow along.

There are "side dishes" through out the book as well.  These add another tidbit of history for your children to digest.  Most of these "side dishes" contained questions you can use to expand learning.  For example... "Take a look in your refrigerator, what food items would have been available to the Pilgrims of 1600? " This is where we laughed about the hot dogs!

On their website - I found a great 17 page Teacher's Guide to go along with this book that you can download.  It contains games, maps, graphs, activities and more.  This is a great way to add to the learning.

We all really enjoyed both reading and cooking from this book.  I think history is so much more memorable when you get to eat your way through it.  Sharing time in the kitchen together makes for some of your very best homeschooling memories!

Be sure to check out the other Ann McCallum titles:

Eat Your Math Homework

Eat Your Science Homework
Rabbits, Rabbits Everywhere: A Fibonacci Tale
Beanstalk: The Measure of a Giant



See what other members of the Crew thought here