{Mosaic Reviews} Waterproof Bible

Every once in a while, I am introduced to something that is so unique it just knocks my socks off...or maybe in this case, I should say it floats my boat!  The Waterproof Bible by Bardin Marsee Publishing is spectacular!

 

 

I honestly didn't know what to expect of this Bible before receiving it.  I couldn't imagine how it would be made or how it could possibly be waterproof.  But I knew I was excited.  And so were my boys.  When I mentioned that I would be receiving the Waterproof Bible and the little I knew about it, my three oldest boys asked if I would give the Bible to them.  They were sold before even seeing it!

The gentlemen that created the Waterproof Bible have a passion for being in God's creation and years of experience and adventure in the great outdoors but neither of them had a good solution for taking God's Word with them.  One took inexpensive Bibles along on trips knowing that they would be ruined by the end of his trip.  The other just didn't take a Bible with him at all.  They longed for a solution...  Together they created the Waterproof Bible. 

 

We had a chance to speak with Bobby from Bardin Marsee Publishing and he said of the Waterproof Bible that we can "take God's Word anywhere with worry free confidence that it will stand the test of time..."  As their motto says, you can "Be Inspired.  Anywhere."

 

 The Waterproof Bible is made of synthetic paper and thread that is stain and tear resistant.  The Bible is sewn together in sections and then sewn as a block before also being secured with waterproof glue.  The synthetic paper allows the text to be ultra clear and readable.  The pages of the Bible stretch and it would take a great deal of stretching before tearing.  I stretched one of the back pages in the "notes" section and it didn't tear on me.  That spot is a little stretched out but it held up to the pressure I put on it.

 





 

The synthetic pages can be highlighted without worry of your markings washing off or smearing!  It is recommended that you use dry highlighters which are a cross between a crayon and a colored pencil.  I didn't happen to have a dry highlighter, so I just used a colored pencil.  It seemed to work just fine!   

 



 

The Waterproof Bible comes in several popular versions: KJV, NKJV, ESV, NLT, and the 2011 NIV.  Another option allows you to choose either the complete Old and New Testament Bible or just the New Testament with Psalms and Proverbs.

 

The complete OT and NT Bible is about 6" x 9" with a one inch spine while the NT with Psalms and Proverbs is pocket sized about 4" x 7" weighing less than a pound.  Perfect for camping, hiking, taking along on your fishing trip.

 

The Waterproof Bible comes with three cover options - blue, pink or camouflage.  Can you guess which cover my boys were hoping for?  They said, "Anything but pink!"  Ha, ha!!!

 

I really wanted to put this Bible to the test and one day we had a terrific rain storm.  All. day. long.  It felt wrong to be so excited leave our Waterproof Bible out on the patio table, but that's what we did.  My boys kept careful watch and kept asking if it was time to bring it in yet.  Nope!  It needs to stay outside for a long time to get a good thorough soaking.

Do you see how that water just bubbles up?!  Pretty awesome! 

 

When we finally brought the Bible back inside, we shook it off over the sink and dried the outside with a towel.  I fanned the pages and some drops of water flew out.  And that was it.  Dry.  Amazing!

 

Later on, the boys took our Bible out to their "fort" in our woods.  It was muddy.  The Bible got muddy.  The boys got muddy.  What cleaned up the most quickly?  The Bible.  A damp cloth wiped all traces of mud off the pages. 

 

The Waterproof Bible is one of the neatest products I've seen in a long time!  My boys are begging me to buy them each their own camouflage Bible to use for all their outdoor adventures - camping, fishing, and hiking.  (So, don't tell them they'll each be receiving one for Christmas with their names imprinted on the cover.  Shhhh!!!) 

 

As our family is trying to incorporate more outdoor activities into our lifestyle, I am confident this Bible will be a staple in our supplies.  I am just that totally excited about it!  And years from now, as my guys cross off one of their biggest dreams from their bucket lists - hiking the Appalachian Trail with their dad - I am confident their Waterproof Bibles will truly have stood the test of time ready to be pulled from their pack for a morning sunrise meeting with their Creator.

 



 

 If you are interesting in purchasing your own Waterproof Bible or other accessories, please visit the fine folks at Bardin Marsee Publishing.  You can even customize your Bible covers.  You won't be disappointed!

 

 

{Mosaic Reviews} Ooka Island

In our home, our kids don't spend a lot of time on the computer yet.  Our oldest boys spend a little time learning keyboarding skills, typing writing assignments, playing educational games, and looking up Lego sets.  There is always a bit of fussing when the older boys get to "play" on the computer and the younger ones don't have a chance. 

 

Well, the tables definitely turned when we were reviewing Ooka Island, a learn to read game adventure.  Isaac (age 7) and Sadie (age 3) had a chance to try out this exciting program.  In fact, as you can see, everyone was quite interested!  Even our cat, Hwin...he, he!

 

 

So, what is Ooka Island?

 

Ooka Island is a guided learn to read adventure geared for children ages 3-7 based on years of literacy research by Dr. Kay MacPhee both from a professional and personal level. 

 

Ooka Island incorporates science based reading methods using the Eye/Ear Reading Method where children use both visual and auditory skills to improve their literacy.  The Eye/Ear Method helps children obtain mastery skills in five important areas: phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension.

 

Ooka Island is an adaptive learn to read program.  Using the READirect algorithm, the program adapts to each child's strengths and weaknesses allowing them to make steady progress forward or repeat skills where they struggle.  When a child is playing Ooka Island, if they master a skill, READirect will move them forward in the game.  If they need more practice in a certain area, READirect will adjust for their needs and give more opportunities to practice those skills moving toward mastery. 

 



 

When we first set up our accounts, Sadie and Isaac were able to create their own character that looked like themselves.  The characters in Ooka Island are colorful, cute, and sometimes funny and surprising!  The character's voices were clear to understand and easy on the ears.

 

Sadie began Ooka Island at the very beginning level of play because she is three and that fit her skill level perfectly.  Because Isaac has growing reading skills, we were able to complete the Ooka Compass Reading Assessment that provided a variety of activities to assess his reading level and place him at a more accurate level of the game.  This is a wonderful aspect of Ooka Island!  Isaac didn't spend any time wading through unnecessary steps to get him to a place where he was actually learning and building new literacy skills.  From the very first time Isaac played the game, he was being challenged!

 

Ooka Island moves players through the Learning Flow Cycle which contains three parts. 

 

In Part 1: Guided Play, children work through skill building activities focused on phonemic awareness and phonics.  Sadie and Isaac loved playing these games.  I think this was their favorite part of the whole Ooka Island adventure.  I'm not sure I would have been able to convince Isaac, my first grader, that he was actually "doing school" while playing the games!  Ooka Island was a great way to reinforce our homeschool phonics lessons in a brand new way!

When children enter Part 2: e-Reader of the Learning Flow Cycle, they are transported to the Popcorn Library where they are presented with a leveled reader, again based on their individual skills.  This part focuses on concept of word, fluency, vocabulary, and reading comprehension.  While absolutely necessary, Isaac struggled with keeping a good attitude in this step.  This felt more like "school" to him and he just wanted to play the games.  But I encouraged him along reminding him that once he was finished with this part, he would unlock the next step - free play!  Sadie, on the other hand, really enjoyed this section and I don't think she saw it as anything other than another game to play.

Part 3: Free Play gives players a chance to play just for fun, read books from the Popcorn Library, or play activities that continue with their skill building and mastery.  Both Sadie and Isaac loved visiting the Mist Mart where they could select new costumes and clothing for their game characters.  I definitely heard the most giggling at this stage!

I think it is important to note, too, that no matter where you stop playing your game, Ooka Island remembers that spot and brings you right back to where you ended.  I think this eliminates the frustration of feeling like you're not making progress.

 

I was able to track each child's progress through Ooka Island's online progress reports via The Ooka Lighthouse which included The Report Card (a snapshot of progress), Reading Comprehension Report, Accuracy Analysis, Book Progress, and Red Line/Blue Line Trends (to show a reading break through).

 

On a fun note, I appreciated being able to send each of my children encouraging messages from the CHEEReader each time they logged in to play.  Both Sadie and Isaac would get so excited and say, "Mama, you sent me a message!" 

 

Sadie and Isaac really enjoyed playing Ooka Island!  At times, I'm not sure who was logged in as the player and they worked together at the games.  I know Isaac felt a sense of pride that he could help "teach" Sadie her letters and sounds  building his confidence.  In the seven hours Sadie was logged in to play, I have seen improvement in her ability to recognize and correctly name the alphabet and a few sounds that she didn't already know.  Isaac is making leaps and bounds in his reading skills and I'm confident that Ooka Island has helped him move closer toward becoming a fluent reader. 

 

Ooka Island is OOKARIFIC!!!



If you're interested in Ooka Island for your family, be sure to check their website for pricing and a variety of other resources available for you (sing along songs, activity pages, motivational tools, and so on).

And here's a bonus just for you from the good people at Ooka Island...a 30% discount on your purchase!!!  Just follow the link!!!

{Family} We're Still Here...

We're still here... and we're doing well!  I've just been pretty terrible about blogging... 

 

 One of the first warm days this spring...of course, semi-warm temperatures necessitates bathing suits, soapy water buckets, blanket lounging, and all around outdoor fun!

 That same warm spring day...a boy who wakes a lot at night and wants his mama, a mama who feels exhausted but still adores her boy.

 Pigtails, daffodill bouquets, dirty nails

 She loves this winter hat...  It was a hot, windy day and she prefers a sweaty head over hair in her face.  And she picked more flowers for mama...

I took this picture last night in between shooting hoops with Isaac and clapping for Sadie while she rode her trike around.  He's nearly 7 months old and so grown up.  He is such a joy!  But, please, someone stop time!!!

 

The next few weeks find us finishing up our school year, preparing for a (driving) trip to Iowa, and a whole bunch of organizing and sorting of stuff in our home. 

 

I'll be back soon! 

 

Pinky swear!!!

{Mosaic Reviews} Spanish for You!

Teach my kiddos Spanish?!  Eeks!  I'm not sure I could do that...at least that is what I thought before being introduced to Spanish for You!.

 

 

Spanish for You! is a theme based approach to language learning for grades 3-8.  It combines vocabulary, pronunciation, syntax, verb conjugation, and grammar throughout its lessons giving students the opportunity to combine these components early on in their study to begin communicating in Spanish.  The author implements a spiral teaching method so students are reviewing older material while learning new material.  Each theme based package is designed so students can work at their own pace yet families can combine experienced and inexperienced Spanish speakers together for teaching times.  The lesson plans are written to allow families to combine multiple ages together as well making this an excellent choice for busy mamas and students of all ages.

 

I received the digital Estaciones package that included an e-book, lesson guide, flashcards, worksheets, and two audio files.  Having never learned Spanish, I had no clue what Estaciones even meant until I received my package...ha, ha!  I was excited to find out we would be learning about the seasons!

 

Being a hands-on person, I immediately printed out the necessary pages from the e-book and lesson guide to start our studies.  It was still necessary to refer back to the digital and audio files to complete our lessons, but the author has made a great effort to organize those files in a way that is easy to navigate and find exactly what you need for your lesson in a timely manner.   

 

 

The lesson plans are designed for an entire school year for grades 3-4, 5-6, and 7-8, but you can teach the same lesson to all of your children and have them complete the activities/worksheets for their specific grade.  We used the lessons plans for grades 3-4 combining four of my children ages 3 yrs. old up to my 10 yr. old.  Each week plans for four days of instruction giving you a variety of activities and suggestions to enhance your language learning.  You can find a variety of additional games, activities, and worksheets on the Spanish for You! website as well. I found the lesson plans to be easy to follow and implement with my children.  I appreciate the fact that this curriculum is flexible for my family's needs and schedule allowing to us to spend more time on one day, repeated days if necessary, or move along more quickly if we are learning the concepts at a faster rate.

 

One aspect of this program that I found absolutely essential are the audio files.  We spent the most time with these as my kids were fascinated with listening to and repeating the words and phrases modeled for us.  One audio file is a non-native Spanish speaker while the other audio file is a native Spanish speaker.  My children and I snuggled up close on the couch while listening to the audio files and followed along with the printed vocabulary pages.

 

 Each package comes with flashcards to accompany the vocabulary in the lessons.  We enjoyed coloring the simple hand drawn images and using them to practice what we were learning.

 

Do you want to guess our most repeated phrases we learned this spring??? 

 

"Hace frio" meaning "It's cold." (Insert frowny face!)

 

and

 

"Hace mal tiempo" meaning "It's bad weather."  (Insert double frowny face!!!) 

 

Oh well, that's spring in NY!  Ha, ha!  I'm happy to say that the sun has finally been shining and warming us up allowing us to use the phrase "Hace buen tiempo!!!" meaning "It's nice weather!!!" 

 

Spanish for You! is an affordable, flexible language learning curriculum that allows families to learn together (including the mamas!) and start communicating in simple terms right from the very beginning.  The author has done an excellent job creating a program that is easy to use and implement even with the busiest of schedules. 

 

If you are interested in learning more about Spanish for You!, please visit their website and check out their products.  You will find an excellent option for your language learning!

 

{Mosaic Reviews} The Ultimate Homeschool Planner

I like to be organized.  I don't like clutter or messes which is kinda funny if you were looking around my house right now because it's pretty messy.  Ha, ha!  However, there really are only a few things that I feel like I have well organized.  One of those things is my homeschool "recording sheets" for our daily schoolwork. 

 

In the past six years of homeschooling my children, I've tried a variety of recording methods.  It is very important for me to keep close track of our work because our state has some pretty strict regulations about the information we need to report to our school district on each student yearly and quarterly.

 

I've found, in the past few years, that my best option was to create my own "recording sheets" in a Word document so I could customize it very specifically for each of my children.  I have been so completely sold on only using my own sheets and haven't even considered checking out any other products on the market.  

 

 

I was given the opportunity to review The Ultimate Homeschool Planner by Debra Bell.  To be honest, I sat on it for a few weeks, kind-of unsure how to use it because I liked my own recording method so much.  Besides that, I have a dated daily planner for keeping track of appointments, extracurricular activities, play dates, and so on.  Plus, I have my blog planner to help me stay organized with my Mosaic Reviews responsibilities.  Having so many planners to use left me somewhat paralyzed.

 

I finally decided that I needed to just go for it and start using The Ultimate Homeschool Planner to record our daily homeschool work.  I also needed to let go of my silly perfectionistic thinking that all my recording sheets for this year wouldn't match...seriously, sometimes I annoy myself! 

 

 

The Ultimate Homeschool Planner really is more than simply a planner - it is a planning system that allows you to keep track of a variety of aspects of yours and your student's lives.  When used in conjunction with the student and teen planners, it is designed to help you "count your blessings, encourage independence, and record your progress."  This system helps you to teach and encourage your children to accept greater responsibility and independence for their homeschool journeys.

 

The Mom's Planner has so many neat components:

(1) a yearly calendar up to 2016. 

(2) a user's guide with instructions for how to use the planners together

(3) a one-year planning guide

(4) setting family priorities

(5) a student goal setter

(6) undated monthly planning pages

(7) undated weekly planning pages

(8) Monday morning tutorials and Friday afternoon reviews

 

Each week's planning actually contains four pages.  The first two pages allow you to place the focus of your homeschool back to the Lord.  My husband and I believe we have a tremendous opportunity to teach our children according to God's Word and to develop their character to line up with God's Word.  These first two pages are the most exciting piece of these planners for me personally.  Too often, my goal is to simply get down to the business of teaching and learning the three R's and sadly, I overlook this gift of time all day, every day to be very purposeful in training my children in the ways of the Lord.  

 

The Ultimate Homeschool Planner will cause you to stop and think about your:

(1) Bible Plan

(2) Battle Plan with a fighter verse

(3) Prayers

(4) Hospitality/Outreach

(5) Memorable Moments and Achievements

(6) Evidences of Grace - God's mercy, faithfulness, protection, and provision

 

The next two pages of the week's planning allow you to plan for up to six children for Monday through Saturday (with Sunday being recognized in the first two weekly planning pages).  I recorded a few projects and "to-do's" for myself and kept track of my school aged children's completed work, extra activities, field trips, etc.  I imagine when it comes time to write my quarterly reports for my school district, this method of having each boy's work on one page will make the report writing move along more quickly.  I am all for making that necessary process easier!

 

 

The Student Planner is the second aspect of the planning system I had a chance to review.  My fifth grade son was completely on board with using it.  He got right down to business filling out the "All About Me" pages.  

 

The Student Planner has many useful parts:

(1) undated monthly pages

(2) undated weekly pages with check boxes for done and approved work

(3) a check box for daily quiet time

(4) grade keeping

(5) reading list

(6) a reference section with a variety of useful facts/information

(7) year at a glance up to 2015

(8) fun stickers to mark important events like appointments, birthdays, tests, etc.

(9) a Study Smart Student Toolkit

 

 

 

As it turns out, it was a lot more challenging to keep my son interested in using this planner without my direct input all the time.  I realize I haven't created an environment where he needs to keep track of his own assignments.  For our basic subject areas he knows to complete the next lesson or the next few pages, etc. and then I check his work.  Once his assignment has been completed and checked, I have held the sole responsibility for recording his schoolwork in my planner.

 

The biggest lesson I learned from using The Student Planner is that I need to create opportunities to help my son develop more independence and responsibility with his schoolwork.  You can bet that we will be working on this and continuing to utilize The Student Planner.

I am thankful to have been given the opportunity to try out this planner.  I really liked the layout of the four weekly planning pages.  I was able to easily record each boy's daily work.  Even though this planner is completely different than my beloved (ha, ha!) homemade recording sheets, I could see this planner working for me long term.  One big thing I realized is that I really should spend more time planning ahead - yearly planning and setting of goals, compiling lists of resources, and monthly planning. 

 

I would prefer to have the option of ordering a three-hole punched copy rather than having the planner spiral bound.  I keep my homemade recording sheets in a binder along with correspondence from my school district, individual plans of instruction and dates for submission of quarterly reports, fliers about field trips, syllabi's from our homeschool co-op, etc.  Because this planner is spiral bound, I still need to have a separate binder to keep my other important papers together.  That being said, I could honestly see myself combining my daily planner, my blog planner, and this planner month by month in one three-ring binder and having great success in keeping my life well organized.

 

If you are interested in purchasing The Ultimate Homeschool Planner, The Student Planner, or The Teen Planner, please visit Apologia for pricing and other great products.

 



{Change One Thing} Kid's Bathroom Stool

It's time for {Change One Thing} again!  And this week is full of color and oh, boy, do I love color!!!

 

But first...What is {Change One Thing}? 

 

The idea is that you shop your house (because we are frugal and it will make us see and think differently!) for one thing you can change that will make an impact in what you see day in and day out. It could be any kind of change, big or little, like a different picture next to your reading chair, or moving your potted plant to the dining room table, or swapping a rug or piece of furniture from one room to another...

You decide what one thing will brighten your day because little things do matter.

 

A little background this week... We moved into our home about a year and a half ago.  The wall colors were mostly all neutral enough for me to live with and even like quite a bit.  I was happy that we didn't need to do a whole lot of painting initially.  

 

Looking back, it seems that life has moved at whirlwind pace since we unpacked our moving truck and I am so ready to dive in and really make this house our home.  It feels like we've lived here forever and that's a good thing.  But now I know this house.  I know how the light hits each room during each season.  I know how we use each room.  I have a pretty clear direction as to where my decorating style is going and how it could work in this house.  And now I want to put my personal stamp on it!

 

This is our kid's bathroom.  Our home was built in 1968 and still has the vintage tiles to prove it.  But we work with what we have and we are grateful!  It does help that most of it is still in nice condition, too!  After a fresh coat of white paint, this bathroom will be crisp, clean, and colorful!!!

 

I bought new towels for the kids today.  Each kiddo will get their own color mostly so I will know who has left their wet towel laying on the hardwood floor...ahem...

 

And so, here is my one thing...

 

This wooden stool was a $12 find at an antiques mall many years ago.  I painted it black to coordinate with our bathroom at our old house.

 

 

One sample can of "Vintage Teal" paint by Valspar that was all ready in my paint stash...

 

 

So pretty now...

 

Bring on the color!!!

 

Won't you join me and "Change One Thing?"

If you do, please leave a comment and a link to your blog post!!! I'd love to see what changes you make!

{Mosaic Reviews} We Choose Virtues

One of the biggest benefits I find as a homeschool mama is the ability to work on character training as life rolls along at its usual pace.  And, to be completely honest, I'm not just talking about my kids' character development.  I have not "arrived" nor do I expect to any time ever, so my lovies and I work on our character development together.  I always take a step back when I hear my own negative attitudes or words being repeated by my children.  Yikes!  That's eye opening, for sure!

 

As a result, I am always open to new ideas for helping to shape our character.  I, like many others, prefer to call this shaping "heart training." It is very important to me that our character training is linked with God's Word for we learn in the Bible that what comes out of our mouths flows from what is in our hearts (Matthew 15:19, Luke 6:45, Proverbs 4:23 to name a few verses).  I want my life and the lives of my children to honor God above all else so we use God's Word as our guidebook for life. 

 

Recently, I was introduced We Choose Virtues, a character training program designed to be fun, catchy, and simple to use that makes a positive impact in kid's lives.  There are twelve virtues taught that fall under the three main categories: Obey, Be Kind, Be A Helper. 

 

The "Obey" virtues are: Obedient, Attentive, Self-Controlled, and Honest.

 

The "Be Kind" virtues are: Kind, Forgiving, Patient, and Gentle.

 

The "Be A Helper" virtues are: Helpful, Perseverant, Diligent, and Content.

 

 

I received the Virtue Flashcards shown above.  Each virtue has an adorable cartoon kid from VirtueVille and short story associated with that character quality.  These flashcards teach each virtue by using the phrases "I am..." followed by its catchphrase explaining the virtue in simple to understand words.  The flip side of each card also teaches the antonym of each virtue "I am not..." or "I don't..." along with a Bible verse connecting the character quality to God's Word!

 

For example, the "I am Helpful" card has the sweet boy, Hat Matt, on the front of the card.  The catchphrase says, "I find things that need to be done and I do them."  Helpful's antonym is "I am NOT...selfish, lazy, or unwilling to serve and I don't have to be asked."  The Bible verse is Ecclesiastes 4:9, "Two people are better than one.  They can help each other in everything they do." 

 

I really appreciate the way these cards are laid out with several different ways to explain and illustrate each virtue.  With the variety of simple to understand words, it has been easy to teach the virtues to my three year old all the way up to my ten year old.  Coincidentally, four of my children fall exactly into the We Choose Virtues target age range.  Pretty perfect fit!

 

 

One interesting and helpful aspect of We Choose Virtues is the Family Character Assessment.  This assessment allows each family member to grade themselves on a scale of one to ten for each virtue...one being that you really struggle with this virtue, ten being that you have a good handle on this virtue.  I had one of my sons fill this assessment out and it's interesting to see where he placed himself on the scale.  I agree with him on some areas but not on others.  I plan to use this with each of my children and myself, then go over it with them individually.  I am curious to see how my husband would evaluate me on each virtue...  The point of this assessment is to see where each person needs individual attention, training, and goal setting in regard to each virtue.

  

 

 Another aspect of We Choose Virtues that I liked was the list of Memory Verses and Bible Heroes.  We were able to read about a Bible hero that displayed the character qualities we focused on during the review period.  Again, this meets my goal of tying our heart training to the truth from God's Word!

 

My three and six year olds enjoyed the Coloring Pages of each sweet kid from VirtueVille.  My two older boys were not attracted to the cute kids or coloring pages but they certainly benefited from the content we discussed.  I am considering purchasing the Coloring Book in order to have the stories that tell about each adorable kid and help to explain their catchy names - Kind Kettle Gretel, Content Cake Jake, Forgiving Feather Heather, etc.  Because we didn't know the background stories of each VirtueVille kid, we didn't focus on their names, but notice that each kid's name begins with the same letter as their virtue making it easier to remember the virtues you are working on developing. 

 

As an alternative to the coloring book, the Parenting Cards also explain each Virtue Kid's story and character quality along with the basic information from the flashcards as well as helpful tips, what to do after saying "Sorry," and so on...

 

We Choose Virtues is jammed packed with valuable character training for kids of all ages.  The materials are visually appealing, strong in Biblically based content, and easy to implement in whatever way works for your family.  As an added bonus, you can purchase a kit that contains the essential elements or pick and choose the most valuable items to meet your family's needs!

 

Please visit We Choose Virtues for more information about the people behind the company and all their great products.  If you decide to make a purchase for your family, please take advantage of these discounts codes!  Any purchase you make can receive 15% off by entering VIRTUE15 at checkout.  If you decide to purchase the Homeschool Kit during the month of April, you can receive a 20% discount by entering HOME20 at checkout!

 

You can also find We Choose Virtues on Facebook and Pinterest!