Aletheia Writing Magazine

"Aletheia Writing Magazine is a quarterly publication focusing on the literary and artistic works of Christian teens, ages 13 to 19*." Our oldest daughter was intrigued with Aletheia Writing Magazine when we received it.  She is a writer and is always looking for outlets for her writing.  We were able to examine two issues of this lovely magazine.  After reading Aletheia, our daughter was inspired to create more of her songs, poems, and stories.  She loved seeing the artwork that had been created, too.  Full of stories, essays, poems, artwork, and book reviews all written by teens, this magazine provides an opportunity for teen writers to submit their original works for publication and for teen readers to enjoy submissions of their peers.  The magazine is published quarterly, consists of forty pages, and is available for subscription through the Aletheia website for $26 (including shipping and handling).  Aletheia is perfect for any budding teen writer.  It is a great way to encourage teens to both read and write.  My teen boys were not quite as enthralled by the magazine as my daughter was; but, they would rather read about football than anything, so that wasn't surprising to me.  As with any magazine, the reader may not agree with the content of all of the articles; however, this is a magazine for Christian teens, so the content is geared toward Christians and is clean and wholesome.  It is quite refreshing to allow your child to be able to read a magazine without fear of the content they may be exposed to.  All in all, we enjoyed Aletheia Writing Magazine.  To read other reviews from TOS Homeschool Crew members, visit the main blog post here.  If you would like to "try before you subscribe," you can view the Spring 2011 issue here. 


**I was not compensated in any way by TOS or Aletheia Writing Magazine in exchange for this review.  The honest opinions expressed are my own.**

Book Review: The Fight of Our Lives

The Fight of Our LivesKnowing the Enemy, Speaking the Truth, and Choosing to Win the War Against Radical Islam

By William Bennett with Seth Leibsohn

This book ranks with my favorite reads of 2011.  Ironically, while I was reading this book, Osama bin Laden was killed.  That event gave a different slant to the material presented because the parameters used as part of the premise of the book changed.  Containing eight chapters in 180 pages, Bennet and Leibsohn do a masterful job at presenting clear and factual information about the true war on terrorism we face not only as a nation, but as the world.  Read the following summary of the book (from the BookSneeze website):

Want to know the dirty little secret in the war on terror? Some of us have already surrendered.

Since the dreadful events of 9/11, America has waged an international war on terrorism. But are we prepared to win, or are we practicing surrender? We have foiled dozens of terrorist attacks since then. But while the Fort Dix terrorists were stopped, an Islamist terrorist at Fort Hood unleashed hell on American servicemen. Despite Maj. Nidal Hasan’s shouting “Allahu Akbar” as he pulled the trigger, the official Pentagon report refused to mention Islam or use the word Muslim. And said the army chief of staff, “As horrific as this tragedy was, if our diversity becomes a casualty, I think that's worse.” As William J. Bennett and Seth Leibsohn show, for lack of clarity, conviction, and determination, America is on the verge of declaring preemptive cultural surrender in the war on terror. The Fight of Our Lives will reinvigorate the discussion and embolden those who wish to win the war on terror.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading Bennett's book, and learned a great deal from it.  It was really interesting, to me, to be reading about terrorism and terrorist threats while watching the events surrounding the demise of  bin Laden unfolding.  Although he is gone, the war against terrorism still exists.  There are other leaders in place who are just as frightening, if not more so, than he was.  Because of this, I recommend Bennett's book to anyone interested in keeping current and accurate about the situation of our country.  Bennett' s book is available through Thomas Nelson for  $19.99, or through Amazon  for various prices depending on whether you purchase a used or new book.  

Tri-Cross from Games for Competitors

We are a game-playing family.  We love to play games!  We were chomping at the bit when I found out we would get a chance to try and review Tri-Cross, by Games for Competitors. 

This vendor was extremely generous and gave reviewers the standard board game as well as the eco-friendly travel version.  Both games are constructed of high quality parts.  Trading in the large cardboard box for a resource reducing, organic cotton drawstring bag, the organic cotton cloth board, printed with non-toxic soy-based inks, is easily folded to fit inside with the game pieces. Perfectly compact to fit on the shelf or to throw in your bag for on-the-go game play, Tri-Crosss’ eco-friendly board game sets the environmental benchmark for future game manufacturing.
Tri-Cross is a
strategy game designed for ages 10-adult. It is sort of a cross between Chinese checkers and chess.  The beauty of Tri-Cross is that it can be as simple or complex as the players want it to be.  There are many versions of the rules to choose from, each of which change the strategy and complexity of the game just a bit. Sound complicated? No problem! The Tri-Cross website is totally user friendly.  If you go to this page of the Tri-Cross site, you will find links to all of the rules as well as links to videos which show how to play Tri-Cross.  The rules seem a little complicated at first, if you just read them.  But, if you watch the videos and just dig in and play, everything makes sense and the game becomes really competitive.    

Games for Competitors is even having a giveaway for the Eco-Friendly Travel Game on their website. You must be part of the Tri-Cross Facebook group to enter, but it is worth it because they are giving away 10 games!  I'm thinking Christmas present?!!  
Overall, we have enjoyed playing Tri-Cross.  It has been a great addition to our game collection and we will continue to play it for years to come.  The only drawback for us is that only four people can play the game at a time, and we have eight people in our family.  Not a problem, really, because we can have both of our games going at once or we can play tournaments.  Either way works for us.  Prices for Tri-Cross range from $19.95 for the Eco-Friendly travel game, to $24.95 for the standard version game, to $35.95 for a deluxe wooden version of the game (which is beautiful!).  I think any game loving family would enjoy taking a crack at Tri-Cross.  You can purchase through the Games for Competitors website, here, or find a retail store through this link.  Our family gives Tri-Cross a 5+ star rating.  Great family fun!!!  To read other reviews about Tri-Cross, visit the TOS Homeschool Review Crew Blog. Let me know what you think about Tri-Cross after you play it!
**I was not compensated in any way by Games for Competitors or TOS Magazine in exchange for this review.  The opinions expressed are my own.**

Aims Education Foundation Earth Book

As a TOS Homeschool Crew member, I was given the privilege to use and review the Aims Education Foundation Earth Book.  This is a giant activity book, geared toward grades 6-9, containing hundreds of hands on experiments and other educational opportunities dealing with understanding how planet Earth works.  Topics cover the geosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere.  I teach a General Science class at a local homeschool enrichment center, and the Earth Book has been and will continue to be an amazing supplement for this class.  I was impressed with both the thoroughness of each activity and the simple manner in which each topic is presented.  The lessons plans provided for parents/teachers are complete and very easy to follow.  Another plus to the Earth Book is that it is available both as a print workbook and a downloadable E-book.  The e-book is a great option for families with multiple children or a teacher in a classroom setting.  I also like to be able to make a new copy of a worksheet is a child "accidentally" destroys or messes up a worksheet.  All of the worksheets and activities are in black and white, but there is plenty of space to add coloring if desired.  At first glance, I thought that the Earth Book looked a little juvenile for eighth and ninth grade students.  After reading and using some of the activities, I have learned that the content is definitely appropriate and adaptable for 6th - 9th grade students.  Some of the activities are a little too simple for the older students, but, other activities are too difficult for the younger students, so there is a good mixture of projects and activities that can be chosen from by teachers to ensure age appropriateness.  The Earth book is a great supplement for any earth science class.  The Earth Book is available on the Aims website for $49.95.  Go here to purchase or investigate the product further.  A preview of the Earth Book is available for viewing here.  There is a c.d. containing printables included with the book. I highly recommend this book for any parent or teacher who is currently teaching earth science or contemplating teaching it in the future. With almost 500 pages of earth science resources at your fingertips, The Earth Book is a great item to have.
**I have received no compensation from TOS or Aims Educational Resources in exchange for this review.  The opinions expressed are my own.**

Before Five in a Row

Years ago, when my youngest daughter was kindergarten age, I had my first experience with Five in a Row products.  I was hooked from the beginning.  Before Five in a Row  is the preschool version of Five in a Row. It is a literature based curriculum for children ages 2-4.  Written by Jane Claire Lambert, Before Five in a Row, uses classic children's stories and builds entire unit studies around those stories.  Here is what Jane had to say about preschoolers in a recent article:
First Things First: Suggestions for Working with Preschoolers
by Jane Claire Lambert
Homeschooling Today Magazine, September/October 1997
Jane writes, "... these few, precious preschool years are so much more than just a season of waiting for school to begin. This is a special season when we have the opportunity to prepare our child for the life long adventure of learning; when we can equip him with the tools he'll need to tackle learning successfully." ...
Before Five in a Row contains 24 (plus 1 bonus) mini-units.  Each of these units are filled with activities related to the story for that unit.  Activities range from simple craft activities, to fun in the kitchen activities, to Bible activities, to Geography and Science activities, and the list could go on and on.  There are many more activities for each story than you could possibly complete.  It is wonderful to have so many well thought out and explained activities already provided for each unit.  All you have to do as the parent is assemble any necessary supplies.  Conveniently, most supplies needed are common household and school supplies.

Our family is beyond preschool years now; but, I have a dear friend who teaches a 3-4 year old preschool class.  She was so excited to be able to implement the Before Five in a Row curriculum in her classroom.  The books used were either already in her collection or easily available in the library and the supplies were easy to obtain.  She was able to pick and choose activities based on the needs and interests of the children in her classroom.  She loved Before Five in a Row and is going to keep my copy as a gift for using it and giving me her opinion on it.  I am so thankful she was able to use and enjoy the curriculum.  Before Five in a Row is a great curriculum for beginning homeschoolers to use.  It is a gentle way of getting into the process of parent directed learning.  As the parent, you are able to schedule and select activities based on the needs of your child.  Before Five in a Row can easily be used with more than one child.  This makes it very economical for the family with more than one preschooler.  Before Five in a Row is available through Rainbow Resources for $35.  If you do not have access to the books used in the units, you may also purchase a complete set of the literature used in Before Five in a Row here for $97.50.  Many of my TOS crewmates have also been able to use and review Before Five in a Row.  To read their reviews, go here. I highly recommend Five in a Row resources for families with preschool or Kindergarten age children.  They are quality products fostering creativity and age-appropriate play and interaction.  Exposing children to the beautiful and exciting world of literature at a young age can be the springboard to a lifetime love of reading. 
**I was not compensated in any way by TOS or Five in a Row.  The opinions expressed are my own.**

Time4Learning

“Time4Learning is a new approach that takes advantage of today's technology. It's a convenient, online home education program that combines learning with fun educational teaching games.”

As a TOS Homeschool Crew reviewer, I was given a 30 day membership for our family to Time4Learning.  It has been an interesting 30 days, to say the least.  On a positive note, Time4Learning is a comprehensive program.  There are hundreds of lessons from which to choose and the program covers children in grades preK – 8.  Time4Learning can be used as a stand alone curriculum for Language Arts, Science, Social Studies, and Math; or, it can be used as a supplement to your existing curriculum.  Parents are given the opportunity to set up a parent account which is linked to student accounts.  The parent account allows parents to assign lessons, track progress, and award success.  From a curriculum standpoint, this is a thorough program which tackles tough topics very systematically with careful attention to detail. 

From my kids viewpoint, unfortunately, Time4Learning was not a good fit for us.  We used the 6th and 8th grade levels in Time4Learning.  The kids did not like the sound effects and computer voice talking to them, so they had to mute the sound.  Also, they felt like the explanation of every answer (especially in math), whether right or wrong, was overkill.  I think they would have enjoyed the program more if these upper levels had been a little more fast-paced with feedback and opportunity to correct at the end.  There was quite a learning curve with the Algebra area, also.  It took my son a long time to get through all of the tutorials on how to enter answers and he was tired of the program by the time he completed them.  I think, with some changes to make Time4Learning less childlike in the upper levels, it would be a hit with my kids.  But, at this time, and with the program as is, it was not.

From my viewpoint, Time4Learning appears to be a good program overall.  It was not a good match for our family, but definitely will be a good match for others.

Time4Learning is available on a monthly subscription basis for $19.95/month for the first child and $14.95/month for each additional child. To read about what other crew members had to say about their experiences with Time4Learning, go here.

**I was not compensated by TOS or Time4Learning in any way in exchange for my honest review. The opinions expressed are my own.**

Family Game Time

Flea Circus is a fabulously fun family game by R&R Games.  Designed for kids age 6 and up, Flea Circus has become one of our favorites.  Our entire family enjoys playing Flea Circus. The funny thing is, we are not really cat lovers at our house and that is reflected when we play the game. (Meaning, everyone likes to collect the dogs over the cats.)  The object of the game is to collect the most cats and dogs by the end of the game.  Our family loves to collect the dogs, even to the point of exchanging 2 cats for one dog when able.  We have gotten a lot of laughs out of that!  Flea Circus is easy to play.  You need to learn the meanings of the “special” cards before you play.  For instance, when one plays the dog catcher card, he/she gets to take the number of dogs/cats showing on each player’s top card.  This game can get really competitive.  It is great fun and play goes quickly which makes it ideal for a game night where you want to be able to play lots of rounds of a game instead of one long game.  I recommend it highly for families.  To find out more information about Flea Circus, visit R&R Games website here.  Retailing for $15.95, Flea Circus is a game kids will want to play over and over.  I enjoyed the fact that our younger kids were practicing math skills (adding and subtracting their point) without even realizing it.  To read other reviews about Flea Circus, go here.
R&R Games is graciously offering a 20% discount to anyone purchasing Flea Circus through the TOS Homeschool Crew reviews. Just enter the coupon code, CREW20, to receive the discount now through December 31. Gotta love discounts!!!
**I was not compensated in any way by R&R Games or TOS in exchange for this review.  The opinions expressed are my own.**

Happy Anniversary Dickson and Shirley!!!