Review: If He Had Not Come

My children and I have started to notice the first signs of the Christmas season appearing in local stores.  The holiday catalogs are finding their way to our mailbox.  The kids are beginning to ask, “When will it be Christmas?”  Ready or not, Christmas will be here before we know it!  It’s time to prepare the house – and, more importantly, our hearts – for the Christmas season!

One thing that my children & I truly enjoy at this time of year is bringing out our stack of Christmas books, reading a few of them together each day during the month of December.   We have traditional classics, silly stories, and beautiful Christ-centered Christmas books.  I try to find a few new ones each year.  This year, we’ve added a new book to our collection, and it’s sure to be read often in our home!  It is called If He Had Not Come, and this thought-provoking tale has been brought to life for a new generation by David Nicholson.

David Nicholson first heard this story almost thirty years ago in an adult Sunday School class, and the story has stayed with him ever since.  He shared it with his family each year at Christmas time, and he felt led to republish this story.  It’s been 55 years since If He Had Not Come has been in print!

This beautifully illustrated tale shares the story of a little boy, reading the Bible with his dad on Christmas Eve and focusing in on the words of John 15:22.  “If I had not come…”, the verse reads.  The little boy goes to sleep with these words heavy on his heart, and he wakes to discover what Christmas would be like if Jesus had not come.  The story is simple, yet complex, all at the same time.

The church is now a vacant lot. The hospitals and homeless shelters have disappeared.  The Christmas decorations are gone.  People are grumpy and rude.  There seems to be no hope, no joy.  The Bible ends with the Old Testament.  It’s a bleak picture.  And on each page, we see the words, “If I Had Not Come…”.

But it doesn’t end there, of course!  The story comes to a close with the little boy waking up in his own bed, hearing Christmas carols and celebrating that Jesus DID come!  His dream is a vivid reminder of what Christmas is REALLY all about!

When our package arrived in the mail, Jensyn (3) was the first to notice that I was opening a new book.  Our little book lover immediately reached for the book and ran to the big, comfy chair to wait for me.  I read it to her without hesitation, but knowing that the book is intended for children ages 6 and up.  She sat and listened to every word, but at three years old, she didn’t get the full value of the story.

Several days later, I read the book to all three of our children.  It was interesting to notice how each child reacted to the story at their own level.  Alex (6) and Max (5) seemed to understand the story quite well, and Jensyn (3) enjoyed hearing it again.  The children were caught up in the story, waiting to see how it would end.

Jensyn  was quick to point out when the Christmas tree disappeared, and she is able to make the connection that no Jesus means no Christmas.  Max  listened intently, but he didn’t have much to say while I read.  He simply took it all in.  Alex frequently pointed out details he noticed on the pages, and he commented on several pages throughout the story.  Several times throughout the story, Alex said, “But this is just a dream, right?  He’s just dreaming, isn’t he?”

After we read, the children wanted to flip through the pages again to look at the illustrations.  All three children pointed out details in the pictures.  Then I took the book back, flipped to the discussion questions in the back, and picked out a few questions for a casual discussion with my kiddos.

Some of the questions are a little too detailed for my young ones, but it was fun to choose a few to which they could related.  For example, “Put yourself in Bobby’s place as he walked into his living room…” or “When you hear someone calling for you to get up on Christmas morning, what’s the first thing that comes to your mind?”  These questions led to some interesting discussion!  (Max, who had been quiet during the story reading, was vocal now!)

As we enjoy re-reading this book - throughout the season  and throughout the years – the discussion questions will become more interesting as my children grow.  This is definitely a book that will be read often this year and in the years to come.  We are so blessed that Mr. Nicholson has shared his book with our family!

The illustrations in this book are simply beautiful, the story is captivating and thought-provoking, and it is wonderful reminder of what Christmas is truly all about.  If you are looking for a new book to read with your children in this Christmas season, I would highly recommend If He Had Not Come.

If He Had Not Come is best suited for children age 6 and up, but this story is a wonderful tale for all ages.  This 8.5x11” book is 40 pages in length.  This book is available here in hardcover for $18.95 or ebook format for $3.99.  

It would make a wonderful Christmas gift for your own children, friends, or grandchildren.  I can imagine this book being shared in a Sunday School class or Children’s Church program for elementary-aged kids.

Click on the image below to read the thoughts and experiences of other reviewers and their children as they read this marvelous Christmas tale!

 

Review: Clued In Kids

Are your homeschool days dragging?  Are you and the kids feeling ‘stuck in a rut’?  Do you just need something fun for a rainy day?  Our latest product review is one EXCELLENT solution that adds some excitement to your day!

We have really enjoyed the opportunity to review Clued In Kids treasure hunts.  The kids and I received the Soccer Treasure Hunt and the Thanksgiving Treasure Hunt in PDF form.  These easy-to-use treasure hunts get all of your kids excited about working together, finding the clues, and discovering the prize at the end.

Clued In Kids offers a wonderful variety of treasure hunts in book form (called “Clue Pads”) or downloadable PDF.  Most are suitable for ages four and older, but the treasure hunts are designed to work with kids of multiple ages.  The hunts feature fun clues, ranging from easy enough for a four year old to challenging enough for an older elementary student.

To understand how the Clued In Kids Treasure Hunts work, please take a few moments to watch this short video:

Now that you’ve had a chance to see what it’s all about, I’ll walk you through our Soccer Treasure Hunt.   I downloaded and printed the hunt (which is eight pages of printing, if you’re curious).  I then looked through the clues, assigned a child to each clue (depending on the skill level required), and cut each page in half.  (If we had received a clue pad, we’d skip the printing and cutting steps…we’d simply remove the pages from the clue pad, assign the tasks, and hide the clues.) 

After sending the kids to play upstairs for a little while, I followed the instructions to hide the clues throughout the house.

That’s when the fun begins!  I called down the kids, handed them the first clue, and Max worked to solve it.  Once they had the answer, they were off to find Clue #2.   Since pictures will help you get a feel for their excitement, scroll through these images to see how a Clued In Kids Treasure Hunt works.

receiving the first clue
Max (5) solving a clue


all three kids looking on as Max solves the clue


Alex (almost 7) read the answer for Max


Max (5) found the next clue by the pasta in our pantry cabinet


Alex, with Mom’s (and Google’s!)help, solves the soccer-themed trivia clues
We both learned that a soccer field is also called a ‘pitch’!


A clue in the grill?!  That made everyone giggle!


Jensyn (3) folded her clue to find that she should go look in her bed!


on to the silverware drawer…


I love that I can assign the clues to the children,
as this clue was PERFECT for my soccer-lovin’ Max!
He had to dribble the soccer ball and shout “woo who” to receive the next clue!


reading a backwards clue in the bathroom mirror…


Showing off our ‘treasure’ – popcorn and fruit snacks for all!

What you can’t see if the SQUEALS of excitement as they ran to the next clue, and I completely missed capturing my five year old’s giggles as he pulled popcorn and fruit snacks (our ‘treasure’) out of his SHOES.

The kids absolutely LOVED this treasure hunt, and they were excited to do the Thanksgiving Treasure Hunt, as well.  (Yep, when you review, you sometimes have to do things at unusual times of year!  But it’s still fun!)

What I really appreciated about Clued In Kids Treasure Hunts (besides the simple set-up and the FUN activity) is that there are lots of learning activities throughout the hunt.  Hunts include fun facts, math, spelling, handwriting practice, and so much more.  Kids don’t even realize they are learning, as they’re having such a great time!

I also loved that the activities covered a wide age range; that way, I could assign clues to each child based on their ability level.  It was such a fun way to get the kids working together without fighting!  (I will say that a few clues were still pretty challenging for my oldest, who is almost 7.  I had to offer him some assistance, so if you have younger kids, be prepared to help from time to time.)

Clued In Kids Treasure Hunts are available for $5.99 in PDF form, and Clue Books are available for $8.99.  You can choose from a wide variety of themes – princess, sports, holiday, seasonal, and even a gluten-free hunt and a “Happy Tummies” hunt for children with food sensitivities or allergies. 

Wouldn’t these hunts make a fun Christmas gift?  THIS POST, on the Clued In Kids blog, will share with you all of the Christmas options available from Clued In Kids.  You’ll also find out how to get a free treasure chest with your order!

If you’re interested in trying a Clued In Kids treasure hunt with your family, you can currently receive a FREE TREASURE HUNT by signing up for the Clued In Kids newsletter.  After signing up, you’ll receive a free downloadable Homework Treasure Hunt.

To read about other reviewer families and their fun with the Clued In Kids Treasure Hunts, please click on the link below.

Review: Preschoolers and Peace E-book

For almost seven years straight, we’ve had some combination of babies, toddlers, and/or preschoolers in the house.   As you probably know quite well, there’s rarely a dull moment with little ones around!  As we’ve started schooling our oldest (and now middle child, too), we’ve discovered it is sometimes quite challenging to balance schoolwork, home life, and small children.  There are days when trying to accomplish school work, keep a five year old busy, and keep a three year old out of trouble are a great big challenge. 



That’s why I was thrilled at the opportunity to read and review Kendra Fletcher’s new ebook, Preschoolers and Peace: Homeschooling Older Kids with Success while Loving the Little Ones at Your Feet.  I’d heard of Kendra Fletcher, and I’d visited her website (Preschoolers and Peace) in the past.  I knew she would have plenty of wonderful advice to share!

I was not at all disappointed! Her book is definitely full of wonderful, Godly advice from a homeschooling mother of eight children.  Mrs. Fletcher has many years of parenting and homeschooling experience, and she shares her wisdom in this wonderful little e-book.


To give you an idea of what you’ll find in this 47 page e-book, take a look at the chapter titles:

• What a Homeschooling Mom Needs
• Preparing Yourself to Homeschool Older Kids With Little Ones Underfoot
• Planning Around Preschoolers
• How Do I Keep Them Busy?
• What Does a 2-Year-Old’s Day Look Like?
• How Do I Get Any Preschooling Done?
• How Not to Just Kill Time
• Circle Time: Or How We Pull the Little Ones In
• Preschool Boys
• When All of Your Kiddos Are Preschoolers
• Preschool Chores
• Planning for Preschool
• When Mama is Worn Out (or Pregnant)
• Meal Planning 101

As you can see, this book applies to pretty much all preschool mamas, whether you have ONLY preschoolers or whether you’re balancing your time between school-age children and preschoolers.  I imagine that every homeschool mom with little ones can draw practical advice and encouragement from reading the Preschoolers and Peace ebook.

One of my favorite parts is how Mrs. Fletcher highlights the need to begin a day with quality time with God.  It’s so tempting to just whisper a quick prayer rather than have a quality devotion and prayer time, just for a little extra sleep or a long, hot shower before the kids are up and going for the day!  But Mrs. Fletcher reminds us:

How many times has your peaceful morning been shattered because you were not prepared in prayer? I know I often sabotage myself from the get-go because I do that “O Lord, bless our day and help me to survive” prayer before falling out of bed and stumbling to the shower.

She offers wonderful suggestions for a morning prayer time, including prayer binders, a prayer schedule, and prayer boxes to keep you focused and guide the direction of your prayers.

For more practical advice, she offers:

• schedule ideas (more of a set routine than a by-the-clock schedule)
• toddler activity ideas
• ways for older siblings to play with a preschool sibling while you spend time with another child
• explains how ‘circle time’ works for their whole family to focus on memorizing scripture, learning geography, and other creative suggestions
• a list of suitable chores for 2 year olds, 3 year olds, 4 year olds, and 5 year olds (Watch out, “Our Little Monkeys” children – this mama’s got some new chore ideas coming your way!)
• ways to keep young BOYS busy (yep, that applies here!)
• simple breakfast and lunch ideas, and ways to involve/schedule your older children in the meal preparation
• …and so much more, packed into 47 helpful pages!

I truly, TRULY enjoyed the wonderful wisdom found in this e-book, and I’m grateful for the opportunity to have read this book.  If you are a mother of toddlers or preschoolers, I do feel that the encouragement and advice shared in this book is worth your limited reading time!  Preschoolers and Peace: Homeschooling Older Kids with Success while Loving the Little Ones at Your Feet is available for Kindle through the Preschoolers and Peace website for $2.99.

To read more reviews from the Review Crew, please click on the image below:

Review: UberSmart Software

Sometimes a review really catches you by surprise.  You think it’s going to be a ‘simple, little program’, and you find out that it is actually so much more.  That’s what we’ve discovered with UberSmart Software’s UberSmart Math Facts program!



Although I was very excited about this review (seriously!), I thought we’d be ‘doing flashcards’ on the computer screen.  That’s all.  I thought it would be helpful, but I wasn’t sure that UberSmart Math Facts would be anything amazing.  Let me just put this out there: I. WAS. WRONG.

Though UberSmart Math Facts seems so simple, and it’s offered for a very reasonable price, it’s not such a ‘simple, little math program’ after all.  It’s packed full of terrific math learning, practicing, testing, and assessing.

UberSmart Math Facts was created by homeschool dad, David Kocur, in response to his wife’s request for a flashcard program for their children.  This downloadable software program teaches basic math facts (addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division) to children of all ages.  It uses a flashcard and rote memorization learning method, which has proven so effective over the years.  The main goal of UberSmart Math Facts is to encourage children (or users of any age, really) to memorize basic facts so they will be able to answer with automaticity.

All users may begin with an assessment test to determine the level at which they are currently able to work.  It begins with counting dots, moves on to sequencing, number relationships, and odd/even numbers.  From there, it goes on to test basic addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division.   (There is an “I don’t know” option to keep your child from feeling frustrated if the problems become too difficult.)

Once the user has completed this assessment test, the program offers a written (and printable) assessment of the user’s math skills to show you where your children should be working in the UberSmart Math Facts program.  I was very impressed with this report!

The levels begin with simple ‘dot cards’ that look somewhat similar to dominoes.  These are suitable for young learners, and they are a wonderful way to learn counting and addition skills in a simple way.  (Our 6 and 5 year old boys are beyond this, and our 3 year old daughter is not quite ready for the dots, so we have not spent much time in this portion of the program.)

If your child is ready for more, he or she may begin to work on basic addition facts.  You may choose a level, such as focusing only on “+1” facts or “+2” facts.  Flash cards appear with a blank in which to type the answer.  Once you’ve typed an answer, you hit the enter key and the next fact appears.  At the end of the fact practice (around 15 facts), you’ll see the results.  These are worded in an encouraging way, and the results show whether the user has mastered this level or needs to continue practicing.


UberSmart Math Facts works like typical flashcards, but because it is a software program, it has the ability to do so much more!  For example:

• If you choose, the program will automatically filter out facts that your child has mastered. 
• It will let you know when it’s time to move from practicing a set of facts to testing on that set of facts. 
• You can adjust time limits and track response times and test results with graphs. 
• It allows you to print a certificate when your child has completed all facts.
  

UberSmart Math Facts can be used by all members of your family.  In a passworded parent account, you may set up a username for each family member who will be using the software program.  In this way, multiple children can utilize the program at the same time.  This is an amazing benefit for homeschool families, but it’s also terrific for public or private school families who would like their children to have a little extra practice with basic math facts.

UberSmart Math Facts is not a high-tech, game-like program with fancy bells and whistles.  It has a very basic appearance, as you’ve likely noted throughout this post.   It IS, however, a very effective method of learning and retaining basic math facts.  This program is full of features to help you assess your child’s math abilities and encourage math success.  I very much appreciate UberSmart Math Facts, and I believe we will use this program with all three of our children over the next decade!

For now, we will DEFINITELY continue to use this program with Alex, our 6 year old.  With Alex, the fancy ‘bells and whistles’ can be a distraction.  He does well when he is able to focus on the task at hand without feeling rushed.  I feel that UberSmart Math Facts is a great fit for him!  It is absolutely perfect for his needs right now, and I am incredibly thankful that we had the opportunity to review UberSmart Math Facts!

My only complaint about UberSmart Math Facts is that we noticed a few typos scattered throughout the program.  These were minor issues like spelling errors (your instead of you’re) and pop-up messages that told me I mastered an addition section even though I’d just completed a multiplication section.  I only noticed this twice, and reviewers were using the pre-release version of Ubersmart 4.0, so it is possible that these errors have now been corrected.  The typos do NOT affect the program’s ability to assess or teach your child.

UberSmart Math is available for the low price of $24.95, but for a limited time, you can enter “v4 Early Bird” in the discount code box on the purchase page for a 30% discount!  This discount is only valid through September 30, 2014.

System Requirements: UberSmart Math is designed for Windows 7, 9, XP, and Vista.

To read more reviews on UberSmart, please CLICK HERE or on the image below.

 

Review: Happy Kids Songs

Over the summer, we’ve had the chance to review three MP3 downloadable song sets from Happy Kids Songs.  Each of the sets pictured below contains five songs designed to teach your children character, social, and emotional skills through music.

Friends & Sharing (Set 1)
Happiness & Attitude (Set 5)
Manners & Character (Set 6)

These cheery, upbeat songs encourage good manners, positive attitudes, and traits such as sharing, giving complements, and honesty.   Since music is an amazing way to teach young children, these songs offer you a great opportunity to help your little learners commit these character lessons to their memory!

In our home, there are some songs we sing to help us remember when to clean, remind us to have a positive attitude, or encourage us to tell the truth, etc.  Once you and your children have learned the Happy Kids Songs, you’ll be able to start singing a song as a reminder of the character trait or attitude that needs to be encouraged in your home or classroom.  Isn’t reminding your children through music a much better option than nagging or scolding?  We think so!

You and your children will enjoy songs such as:

• Everybody Wants To Find A Friend (reaching out to others)
• H-o-n-e-s-t-y (the value of honesty)
• Shake It Out And Dance (from I can’t to I can)

The song “Everybody Wants To Find A Friend” has particularly good lyrics for one of our children, who tends to be quiet and sit back rather than joining in with others to play.  The lyrics encourage children to take that courageous step of asking someone to play:

Everybody wants to find a friend.
Just say hello. Let “another body” know
That you want to play with them again.

Along with our the song downloads, we also received a Happy Kids Songs workbook containing lesson plans,  a song lyric page and an activity sheet for each of the 40 songs available from Happy Kids Song.  This book is completely reproducible, making it suitable for classroom or co-op use. 

The lyric pages have cheery black and white pictures to accompany the words.  The activity pages vary in difficulty,  with some being simple matching activities or coloring sheets and others containing word searches or crossword puzzles.  When these activities are too challenging for your littlest learners, the song lyric pages will give them a great coloring page to work on while older learners complete the activity page. 

The song lyric sheets and activity pages are also available for free if you subscribe to the newsletter.  Once you’ve subscribed, you’ll receive an email link where you can download a PDF file of the lyric sheets and activity pages for each album.  (These free files do not contain all of the lesson plans/activities found in the workbook.)

Happy Kids Songs is designed for children ages 4 – 8, but both younger and slightly older children could also benefit from these songs and accompanying pages.  We personally prefer a more Biblical approach to character education, but Happy Kids Songs would make a nice character education supplement for a co-op, daycare, preschool, or kindergarten class to focus on one song each week.

Song samples are available on the Happy Kids Songs website.  This is a great way to check out the songs to see which songs or albums might be suitable for your kiddos!

Each of the eight downloadable MP3 albums is available on iTunes or Amazon for $4.95.  There is also an option to buy individual songs for $0.99 each.  CLICK HERE to view all available albums!  (The workbook, which is a great addition, is available for $12.56.)

To read more Crew Reviews about Happy Kids Songs, CLICK HERE or on the image below.

 

Review: Wizzy Gizmo

Have you ever wished to be so immersed in a book that you actually felt as if you were really there?  Our most recent review gave us the opportunity to do just that!

Our family has enjoyed listening to an audio drama from Wizzy Gizmo called “Audio Drama One: Who Created Everything?”.   This creative drama is based on the concept of a special machine, created in the laboratory of a man known around town as ‘Wizzy Gizmo’, that can place you inside of a book and make you a part of the story.

A young boy named Eli is new to the town of Sunnyville.  As he meets new friends, the children introduce him to Wizzy Gizmo and take Eli to visit Wizzy’s shop.  Wizzy asks the children to try out his newest invention, Gizmovision.  This special invention takes the children and Wizzy directly into the book of Genesis, where they fully experience the sights, sounds, and smells of the days of creation.

The drama itself is 36 minutes, but the Wizzy Gizmo CD also contains many musical tracks, which extend the running time of the CD by 24 minutes.  The drama is short enough to hold the attention of my 3 year old, yet fun enough to captivate my almost-5 yr old and 6 year old.

I first listened to the CD in the car with Jensyn, my 3 year old, when she and I were out together one day.  Only minutes into the drama, Jensyn had a big grin on her face.  She was truly enjoying the CD!  She commented, “I wish I could see the picture, mama!”  I agree that a DVD would be a lot of fun!

The next time we listened was on a 4 hour drive to a campground.  This was my boys’ first experience with the CD, and they enjoyed it just as much as Jensyn.  I heard an awful lot of giggles coming from the kids as they listened to the drama!

The Wizzy Gizmo drama is a wonderful blend of both Biblical truths and silliness.  That might be hard to explain without listening for yourself, but my children are both learning and laughing while they enjoy this CD!

The Biblical truths shared in this drama are so good for kids to hear!  I think it helped my children to gain a better understanding of what creation is all about.  The children in the drama ask important questions that help listeners get a good grasp of the ‘whys’ and ‘hows’ of creation. 

What’s even better is that, though I know that my littles will not pick up all of the theological and Biblical knowledge in one listening, they are excited to listen to Wizzy Gizmo again and again!  With each repeated listening, they will pick up on more details, and I love that!

Throughout the audio drama, the narrator shares verses directly from the Bible.  In this way, the entire Biblical account of creation is shared straight from God’s Word.  The CD has a very strong Biblical base, yet shares the information through a fun and imaginative story that captivates young listeners.

The quirky characters found in the drama, Qwacky and Pepe, keep things light-hearted and fun.  My kids loved the silly jokes and funny voices of these two characters, and they had lots of giggles as they listened to the CD.  They especially love the “Mango Oh How I Love You!” song, and we’ve sung and danced to this many times. 

At the end of the story, there’s a “Giz Quiz” that asks questions about the story.  It’s a wonderful review of the drama you’ve just heard, and it helps to solidify the Biblical facts of the creation story.

After this, the next 7 tracks are songs.  The first song, “Third Heaven”, gives a great account of the days of creation.  The song is appropriate for children, yet still appealing to adults.  It’s a beautiful, well-performed song.  The remainder of the tracks are instrumental, and many, possibly all, of these tracks are the background music found throughout the audio drama.  It’s beautiful music, and very well done!

We felt that “Wizzy Gizmo: Who Created Everything?” was a very professionally made CD, and everyone in our family enjoyed this audio drama.  It’s great for passing time on a long car ride, and I think it will soon work its way into our boys’ rotation of bedtime CDs.  I love knowing that they are learning Biblical truths as they drift off to sleep at night!

Would you like to find out more?  To hear Wizzy Gizmo for yourself, you can listen to samples of the CD by scrolling down at THIS LINK.

This wholesome, Biblical, family drama will provide entertainment for all ages.  ”Audio Drama One: Who Created Everything?” is recommended for ages 4 – 12.  My 3 year old and I are both obviously outside of that suggested age range, but we both enjoyed it, as well, so I’d definitely consider it appropriate for the whole family!

Wizzy Gizmo “Audio Drama One: Who Created Everything?” is available for $14.99.  By following the instructions on the website, you can save up to 10% by ‘liking’ and ‘sharing’ on social media sites.

Wizzy Gizmo also offers two Old Testament books: Who Created Everything? and In His Image, as well as a New Testament fact card set called “Fast Track Bible Pack”.   Along with our CD, we also received one Fast Track card for the book of Hebrews, and this looks like a GREAT Bible resource for elementary age and older.  You can view a sample card for the book of Matthew on the Wizzy Gizmo website.

If you’d care to read more reviews of the Wizzy Gizmo audio drama or other products available from Wizzy Gizmo, please click here or on the image below.