George Washington Carver DVD: TOS Review

 

I am always happy to receive quality biographical DVDs to supplement our education, so when given the opportunity to review George Washington Carver:  His Live and His Work for Marshall Publishing, I jumped at the chance.  And I was not disappointed!

This DVD about George Washington Carver, although only about 30 minutes in length, was so inspirational and informative about his life and his work!  The DVD is full of wonderful photography and great music.  They share about his relationship with God and what inspired him to research the many uses for peanuts (for which he is most well known.)  It clearly shares the importance of hard work and a positive attitude, and how he was involved in changing how people thought about black people at that time.

If you want to inspire your children to good works and great character, this DVD will surely provide a great platform to do so.  My teens watched this DVD with me and were very touched by George Washington Carver's life and faith.

Marshall Publishing is a company that believes in great family DVDs, books and CDs.  They have a whole selection of educational historical DVDs, as well as DVDs for younger kids about fire trucks, jets and monster trucks!  If my son was younger, I am sure he would LOVE to watch these great DVDs!

The George Washington Carver DVD is on sale right now for only $19.95 and there is a study guide available right on line, too.  It will be a great addition to your study of American history, as well.

You can go to their website at www.marshallpublishinginc.com to check out all of their products.  And if you would like to read more reviews from the TOS Review Crew, click here.

I received this product for free in return for an honest review. I have not received financial reimbursement for my review of George Washington Carver: His Life and His Work by Marshall Publishing.

Say Anything Family Edition: TOS Review

A few days ago, I did another review of a game by the same company, Northstar Games.  Apparently, they major in great family games!  Say Anything Family Edition is a fun family game that reminded us a little of Apples to Apples, and a little of Wits & Wagers, which I reviewed here.

The great thing about Say Anything Family Edition is that you can go from opening the box the first time to playing a game in just a couple minutes.  It is very easy to learn how to play this game for ages 8+ and 3-6 players.  They provide everything that you need, including dry erase markers for each player, a dry erase board to write your answers on, dry erase scoreboard to use over and over, as well as the tokens and Select-o-matic 6000 which is used by the "judge" to select their favorite answer.  The Family Edition of Say Anything is brand new this year and provides a wonderful opportunity for your family to have a blast being silly or serious by guessing what the "judge" would say.

Here is how play goes:

Each player has a dry erase board, marker and 2 tokens.

The judge chooses a card and then selects one of 3 questions from the card to ask to everyone.

Players write their answer on their board secretly, then all show their answers.

The judge secretly selects the most correct answer on the Select-o-matic 6000.

Players then place their tokens on the answer(s) they think the judge will select.

The judge reveals his/her selection and points are awarded for those who selected the correct answer,  wrote the correct answer, and even the judge can earn points.

Then the next person gets a turn as judge and play continues.

If your family likes to be silly, the answers can be quite a hoot to read!  You never know what someone will come up with.  The game is played very quickly, so you can fit several games in even if you don't have a lot of time.  We had a lot of fun playing this game, although I have to admit that Wits & Wagers was favored in our house.

It is such a pleasure to learn about games for the family that are fun, wholesome and bring the whole family together for a time away from "technology-drive" things like computers, TV, video games, etc.  Northstar Games has created some great games and I am so very pleased to have the privilege of reviewing their products!

I found Say Anything Family Edition over at Amazon.com, so go check it out! Regularly priced at $19.99, it is apparently on sale right now for $13.85!! It would be a great family game for the holidays, which are coming up very quickly now!

You can read more reviews of Say Anything Family Edition by other TOS Crew reviewers here.

I received this product for free in return for an honest review. I have not received financial reimbursement for my review of Say Anything Family Edition by Northstar Games.

Wits & Wagers Family: TOS Review

Since the kids and I love to play games, I always jump at the chance to review games that are age appropriate for my teens.  So I was excited to be chosen to review Wits & Wagers Family by Northstar Games.

At first my kids were a little hesitant because they thought the game was probably for little kids.  However, once we started playing, we played quite a few rounds because neither teen would concede defeat.  So, I must share that, even for teens, it is a really fun game!!  It is designed for three or more players ages 8 and up.

It is very simple to get started with the game and they provide EVERYTHING that you need to play.  There is a deck of questions that you "guess" the answers to by writing down your answer on a write-on/wipe-off card with markers that are included.  Then everyone places their "wager" by using Meeples (small and large wooden people-shaped tokens) to indicate which answer they believe is correct (or closest without going over).  You can score points by selecting the correct answer as well as giving the correct answer.  Scores are kept on a write-on/wipe-off card which can be used over and over.

This fun game is available from a variety of national retailers including Target, Barnes & Noble and Borders, so don't miss out on adding this game to your family's game cabinet for the holiday season!  Prices may vary depending on where you purchase.

Be warned - Wits & Wagers Family can be addicting!!!  And you will actually learn a lot in the process of playing the game - a side benefit!  My 17 year old son said, "You should give this game a good review.  It was fun!"  Yes, that is my varsity football lineman/wrestler son - it was that fun!

Northstar Games also offers the original Wits & Wagers version as well as Say Anything that I will review in a few days.  Check out their website at www.northstargames.com.

 

I received this product for free in return for an honest review. I have not received financial reimbursement for my review of Wits & Wagers Family by Northstar Games.

Educating the Wholehearted Child Review

Early in our homeschooling journey, I read the book "Educating the Wholehearted Child" by Clay and Sally Clarkson.  It had a great impact on how I approached homeschooling and really touched my heart about reaching my kids' hearts.  So when I was offered the opportunity to review the newly revised version of this book, I jumped at the chance.

I have been blessed to spend many hours reading through this book over the last several weeks and have been inspired and encouraged once again through the writings of Clay and Sally Clarkson.  Although the book is geared towards homeschooling ages 4-14, there is much that applies to all ages.  Now that my  kids are 15 and 17 years old, I can look back and see the impact that the original book had on our homeschooling journey.  I can also look back and wish I had done some things differently, but I am not one to spend much time with regrets.  I would rather make changes and move on towards the future.

Educating the Wholehearted Child is a huge book filled with so much that it is a hard one to describe.  First and foremost, it is a handbook on providing "a solid biblical foundation for educating and nurturing your children's hearts, minds, and souls."  It is about your journey of faith as a homeschooling family.  Discipling your children is your greatest calling and mission in life, and this book lays out that calling in a very relevant and systematic way, giving tons of foundation, insight and examples.


The over-sized book is comprised of 376 pages divided into four sections: Home, Learning, Methods and Living. There is also a great Resources section with forms and lists that are hugely beneficial.  You can see a list of all the chapters here, and they have even made a whole chapter available to read so that you can get a good feel for the book before buying.

I really appreciate the addition in this revision of updated technology and comments about the young adult years. Educating the Wholehearted Child is available from Apologia Press for only $22 and I believe it to be an incredibly valuable guidebook for any homeschooling family.  You can go to https://apologia.securesites.net/ to view the many resources available from Apologia Educational Ministries.

You can read what other members of the TOS Review Crew think of this book here.

I received this product for free in return for an honest review. I have not received financial reimbursement for my review of Educating the Wholehearted Child.

A Little Halloween Nostalgia

We don't really celebrate Halloween, except to pass out candy IF anyone comes to our house:-)  However, I was just looking through some old photos and came across this darling photo of our kiddos when they were really little.  They went to a daycare center for about a year before I quit working in order to homeschool when Cody turned 5.  So on Halloween, they had to dress up for the daycare center party.  Aren't they just the cutest?

Zaycon Chicken Event - Don't Miss Out!

Zaycon Foods is a family owned company that brings products direct from the farm / processor (or as nearly as direct as possible). The products are as fresh as if you had your own farm, but without all the chores.  They sell foods only by the case and bring them straight from the farm to you.  They set up a pick-up location where you can just drive thru and pick up your case(s) and be on your way in about 2 minutes.

I have bought the skinless, boneless chicken breasts from them several times now and LOVE them!  They are the best, most flavorful chicken I have ever bought.  The case is 40 lbs. and when I bring it home, I package it in ziploc bags and put in the freezer.  This keeps us in chicken for several months usually and I am usually on the last or next to last bag when the next even comes around - perfect!!


The best part is the price - just $1.49/lb!!!  That equals the absolute best sale price I have ever seen here locally and the chicken is SO much better and NEVER frozen!!!


So by now you may be wanting to know if Zaycon Foods comes to your area and how you can get in on this great deal.   Simply click on this link to go to Zaycon Foods and register for their email list.  Then you will be sure to know if and when they are coming to your area and what they are bringing.   They also sell ground beef, bacon and more.  I think they even had peaches this summer!  And, they are expanding like crazy all over the country, especially with their chicken events. They are now selling in all 48 contiguous states!! So go and register today and order your 40lbs. (or more) of chicken when they come to your area.  When you see an event get listed, don't wait too long to buy your chicken - they go pretty fast and DO sell out!