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Teaching Creation Thursday~ A Fossil Float Trip

Written by Joy
Teaching Creation Thursday~ A Fossil Float Trip

Growing up near a river, I always remember going there with my dad, looking for arrowheads and just hoping to find an alligator tooth, see an alligator or just see anything that God created.  It was always a peaceful place to be.  Little did I know that there was always a possibility that I could find animal bones from the Ice Age.

Dr. Tom DeRosa and his staff have taken thousands of people on this fossil adventure over the last 10+ years.  Dr. Carolyn Reeves tells a little bit of her adventure on Peace River Arcadia, FL.

Head on over to Creation Conversations, Teaching Creation Thursday to read about this amazing adventure that you and your family can have exploring God’s Creation.

2013, Creation, homeschooling, , , , , , ,

Wednesdays Around the World~ The City of Rome

Written by Joy
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Wednesdays Around the World~ The City of Rome

Welcome to another week of Wednesdays Around the World!  This week for Wednesdays Around the World,  I am sharing with you our lesson on The City of Rome.  This is the 43rd lesson in the Mystery of History: Volume 1.

The kids and I learned that Italy got its name from Italiis, a tribe, that lived in southern part of the country.   One of the strongest tribes that lived in Italy was called the Latins.  They lived on the west coast of Italy because of it natural ports, for ships to come and go, which made it easy for trade.  The land was also fertile and made it perfect for farming.  With the land being great for farming and being by the ocean and by the Tiber River, this made the area perfect for settling in and it was where the Latins founded the City of Rome.

We also learned that the Latin everyone learns today is the same language from the Latins in Italy.  Many of the modern languages today came from Latin.  English, the language we speak is one of them!

Our activity for the day was looking for Latin words on a penny, nickel, dime and quarter.  While we do not speak the language,  some people do use phrases written in Latin.  The United States Government put “E Pluribus Unum” on the coins.   What does “E Pluribus Unum” mean?  It means, “Out of many, one”.  This refers to the fact that one nation, the Untied States  is formed and made up of many states.  You can find “E Pluribus Unum” on the back of the coins.  We used our magnifying glass to look for the phrase.

penny, nickel, dime and quarter

They also asked us to find another phrase that is on the penny, nickel, dime and quarters.  My son didn’t have to think to hard ont his.  He knew right off they were referring to “In God We Trust”.  You can find those words on the front of the coins.  “In God We Trust” was first put on the coins in 1864 and put on paper currency in 1957.  “In God We Trust” was adopted at the official motto of the United States in 1956, replacing “E Pluribus Unum“.  You can find “In God We Trust” on the front side of the coins

penny, nickel, quarter and dime

We were only able to get one lesson finished this last week.  I have been having some health issues, so it has been slow getting started back to school.

What have you been learning in history or geography?  Please link up and share with us!

****disclaimer~ This link-up is not officially affiliated with Bright Ideas Press but is my own project. I am a customer and fan.  This post also contains affiliate links.


2013, homeschooling, Wednesdays Around The World

Teaching Creation Thursday~ Awesome Science DVD review and giveaway

Written by Joy
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Teaching Creation Thursday~ Awesome Science DVD review and giveaway

Today for Teaching Creation Thursday, I am sharing with you an Awesome Science DVD.  Our family loves science, so any time I am able to review a science book or DVD, I get all excited.  Especially if it helps to teach about God and his creations!  I could not wait until we received the Awesome Science DVD in the mail.  I don’t know who was more excited, me or my kids!

Awesome Science: Explore the Grand Canyon with Noah Justice is the first DVD in a series that is produced by a homeschool family.  Noah, who is the host, is 14 years old and is exploring the many many layers of the Grand Canyon.   Noah and his family are teaching us how earth science  supports the biblical record.

The DVD is 30 minutes long and will teach you how the Grand Canyon was made in just days, not millions of years and how the Bible can be trusted as the Earth’s history book.  It also will show you how the many layers were made in less than a year’s time.

The DVD comes with a study guide and workbook that covers what you have learned in the DVD, to help reinforce what is taught in the DVD.  The study guide has a lot of fill in the blank and True/False questions.  It also has bonus activities that you can do.

Now that you know a little bit about the DVD, let me tell you what my kids and I think about it.  WE LOVED IT!!  The DVD is very well made.  It has a lot of beautiful scenery and the information that they provide is wonderful!  Noah Justice is an excellent host that will hold your attention from the beginning, all the way to the end.  My children who are 15, 8 and almost 7, watched the whole DVD without getting up once.  What I really loved about Awesome Science: Explore the Grand Canyon?  It was so interesting that my kids kept wanting to learn more about the Grand Canyon once the DVD was over with!  The kids told their dad about the DVD and now they are wanting to take a trip to visit the Grand Canyon!

I am so excited about this DVD series.  There are 13 in all.  I know this series will become a favorite in our household.  I highly recommend that you check it out!

Now for some good news!  I have an Awesome Science: Explore the Grand Canyon DVD to give to you all!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

2013, Creation, homeschooling, , , , ,

The Family Illustrated Bible – review

Written by Joy
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The Family Illustrated Bible – review


When I saw the Family Illustrated Bible, I was excited to review it.  The Family Illustrated Bible is written by Sally Tagholm and published by New Leaf Publishing Group.  The book is hardcover and is 8.5×11 inches in size.  The illustrations in the book are beautiful, being in detail and in very bright and vibrant colors.  It is written in a storybook formation with the stories written in 1-3 pages.

You will find that the major stories of the bible are in here, like Adam and Eve, Moses, Noah and birth of Jesus.  You will also find stories from the bible that you normally wouldn’t see in a child’s bible story book, like Sodom and Gomorrah and Rahab and the spies.

The overall appearance and stories found in the bible are very nice.  However, I did find a few things that concerned me.   First off, they include The Gospel of Thomas in the New Testament section.  This book is not included in the Bible.  Some statements in a few of those stories also showed that God was worried.  Which is definitely not true.   Some of the stories just had inaccurate information, like when they Red Sea was parted.  It says the ground was muddy and the Bible clearly states that they walked on dry ground.

Overall, it is a nice book, but I don’t think I would recommend it to families.  To me, there is more wrong with the book than there is right.

Disclaimer: I received this book for free from New Leaf Publishing Group. No other compensation was received. The fact that I received this book does not guarantee a favorable review.

2013, homeschooling, review, , , , , ,

Wednesday’s Around the World~ A History and Geography Link-Up

Written by Joy
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Wednesday’s Around the World~ A History and Geography Link-Up

We had a wonderful Christmas break and I was so excited to start school back on January 2nd.  I was excited that we would begin our history and geography so that I could do the Wednesdays Around the World.   We did begin school on January 2, except by evening time, my husband and youngest son had gotten sick.  Eventually, one by one, our whole family would be sick with me being the last one to get sick.  Hit hit me like a freight train on Monday night.  I have spent most of the day, Tuesday, in bed.  Since we have been sick and unable to do our schooling, I thought I would go over why I started Wednesdays Around the World and what you need to do to link up with us.

Wednesdays Around the World: A History and Geography Link-Up, came from my love of the history curriculum that I am using.   I started using Mystery of History in the fall of 2011 and immediately fell in love it it.  History has always been a favorite subject of mine, but I loved how it was written and put together by Linda Lacour Hobar.  I then started using the Illuminations program from Bright Ideas Press, who also publishes the Mystery of History.  They also have some great Geography curriculum that they publish as well.  The more my kids and I did the lessons with the projects and activities, the more I wanted to share with everyone else what we were learning.  That got me to thinking about doing a history link-up for those who love and use any of the Bright Ideas Press curriculum that they publish.  I contacted a couple of people I know from there and told them about my idea.  They loved it!   While they love my idea and support me on this, they do not have anything to do with the link-up.  I am doing this on my own with their blessings!

I started this link-up the week of Thanksgiving and then continued it until the week before Christmas.  We took a few weeks of for the Christmas season and I am ready to get back to sharing what we are learning in Mystery of History, Volume 1.

Who can link-up to Wednesdays Around the World?  Anyone who is using the history, geography or WonderMaps curriculum that is published by Bright Ideas Press.  This includes Mystery of History (all volumes), All American History, WonderMaps, The Ultimate Geography and Timeline Guide, Hands-On Geography, Cantering the Country and Galloping the Globe.

If you have any questions, please feel free to e-mail me.  I want this to be a fun learning experience for everyone!

If you have started school and have a lesson, activity or project that you want to link up, I would love to see it as I am sure others do, as well!  Grab the button (although it is not mandatory) and just follow the instructions on the link-up below!

**disclaimer~ This link-up is not officially affiliated with Bright Ideas Press but is my own project. I am a customer and fan.  This post also contains affiliate links.


2013, homeschooling, Wednesdays Around The World, , , , ,