Wednesday, July 30, 2014

Chronicles of…A State History Notebook from Hewitt Homeschooling (Schoolhouse Crew Review)

We received this for review purposes!

Product Links: Chronicles of . . . A State History Notebook  (in binder)

Vendor Information Link: Hewitt Homeschooling

Age Appeal: Ideal for grades 3-8

Format: In a three-ring binder, 100 pages, printed on heavy stock paper

Price: $19.95

Have you been looking for a fun way for your family to learn more about your state or any other state? 

Chronicles of…A State History Notebook from Hewitt Homeschooling is a notebook filled with space to fill out information about your state.  Since it has been placed in a three-ring binder there are pockets on the inside to put maps, brochures, and extra items.  The outside of the notebook has space to fill out the cover or to slide pictures of your own.

The inside of this book has:

  • An Introduction
  • Student’s Title Page
  • Facts, Symbols, Emblems
  • Geography, Population
  • Industries, Jobs
  • History, Government
  • Miscellaneous, Field Trips, Photographs

Some of the activities include mapping, tourism, state government, and writing a poem.  Many fun filled hours of learning about the chosen state.

Our Experience: 

We were excited when we had the opportunity to review Chronicles of . . . A State History Notebook.  It was a notebook where we would fill out current and historical information about our state.  We live in two states during the year, Wyoming and Iowa.  We chose Wyoming, because we are currently in Wyoming.

During the review period we worked on filling out the notebook three to four times during the week.  We had started out by working on it a certain number of minutes per day, but we had to change.  It often took us more than our designated time to work on one page.

B, C, and I took turns writing the information we learned from the various state books we checked out of the library.  We also used the computer and the World Almanac.

As we continue to work on this book I know we will learn more and more about the state we love.  This notebook will be something we will enjoy looking at and studying for years to come. 

I think we will have to work on one for Iowa next. 

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Mama’s Thoughts:

  • I thought the layout of this book was a lot of fun and I liked how it was divided into sections.  The layout was neat, because each page had photo corners.  I liked being able to go to the section I wanted and then having all of the information at my fingertips. 
  • The only thing I did not like was that there were no page numbers.  It would have been very helpful to have the page numbers, so we would not have to flip through so many pages to find the page we wanted.  I understand though if people added more pages it would not work, so tabs to divide the sections would work out very well since there are no page numbers.
  • My favorite part of this book was the section for photographs and reports.  They had fun selecting and print out pictures to glue into the section.
  • I was really glad that our state had just a few counties and most of them had straight edges and corners.  It would have been very difficult to draw the 99 counties of Iowa.
  • I really liked how geography was included.  It is great to learn more about a state’s geography.  I liked the sections for the forest, wildlife, and water.  B and C had a lot of fun drawing the different wildlife.  I thought it was especially exciting to learn the different water resources in Wyoming.  There were more rivers lakes and reservoirs that I thought there were.  That is especially important in such a dry state. 
  • I am grateful for the introduction for the parent/teacher.  It gave me some good ideas on how to use this notebook.  
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B’s Thoughts (boy, age 10, officially in fifth grade):   

I liked Chronicles of…A State History Notebook. 

I thought it would be very helpful if there were page numbers, so then we could look it up in the table of contents.  For example if you wanted, “My Favorite Place in the State,” you could just flip to the desired page. 

My favorite part was the “Photograph Album,” because I got to put in my own photos.

We got to go on a field trip to Fort Caspar.  It was a lot of fun and we wrote a report about it.

I really liked drawing the different wildlife of Wyoming.  Drawing a moose was my favorite thing.  I also drew an elk, bighorn sheep, and bear.  This was my favorite part.

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C’s Thoughts (girl, age 8, officially in third grade):

I liked Chronicles of…A State History Notebook.  It was fun to do.  My favorite thing was “Natural Resources- Wildlife.”  My other favorite thing was the “Photograph Album.”  It was fun drawing some of the counties for the map. 

It is good for people of all ages.  I recommend it.

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Dad’s Thoughts:

Dad was not available.   

Mama highly recommends!

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Crew Disclaimer

Sunday, July 27, 2014

Picture of the Week! (July 27, 2014)- Tractor Tracks

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The tractor was pulling the grader to get it started.  It really had to dig in to pull the grader up the hill.

Thursday, July 24, 2014

Prayer of the Week! (July 24, 2014)- Ephesians 2:1-3

A couple of years ago I took part in a Bible study where we studied the book of Ephesians.  Once a week I would like to mention the Bible verses which were studied, then give you my prayer involving those verses.
Today will be Ephesians 2:1-3.
Dear Lord,
Thank you for You.  I no longer want to be a child of wrath.  Thank you for taking me away from the prince of the air.  I will no longer follow him.  I will obey You and Your Son. 
In Jesus’s name.  Amen

Sunday, July 20, 2014

Picture of the Week! (July 20, 2014)- Strange Cloud Formation

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We always have a lot of clouds to see out here in the West.  This one was from a couple of weeks ago.  It was strange, but it was not a tornado.

Friday, July 18, 2014

Rope of Sand by C. F. Dunn (Review)

Rope of Sand (Book 3, The Secret of the Journal)

By Sue Duffy

(received in exchange for an honest review)

 

Genre- Fiction /

Published by- Lion Fiction

Copyrighted- 2014

Number of pages- 462

Age Group- Adult 

Description of book- paperback, listed price- $14.99, ISBN 978-1-78264-087-5

Rope of Sand, by C. F. Dunn, is the third book in The Secret of the Journal series.  Emma learned what Matthew’s secret was in Death be not Proud and now she is going to meet his family.  She isn’t sure what to think and they are not either.  His family is leery, because it has not always gone well when people learn the family’s secret.

Emma’s problems with Professor Staahl have not ended either.  He  has taken her to court.  Will Emma have to expose Matthew’s secret to keep herself safe?  Will Matthew’s family accept her?

About the Author-

C. F. Dunn lives in South-East England and has written Mortal Fire and Death be not Proud.  She has a specialist dyslexia and autism school.

My thoughts-

Rope of Sand, by C. F. Dunn, was the third book in The Secret of the Journal series.  I thought it was as intriguing as the other books.  The first book focused on Emma’s infatuation with Matthew, the second book focused on their relationship and Matthew’s secret, and this book focused on their relationship and the trials they faced with their special situation.

I was very glad that this book had a list of characters and a synopsis of the other two books.  It really helped me remember who was who and what happened in each book.  I was ready to start the book and enjoy it after that.  It was a long book at 462 pages, but Dunn did a wonderful job of including a lot of detail, which kept me captivated until the end.

While you do not need to read the other books in the series first, I do recommend that you do, so you can know everything that has happened.  I am looking forward to the next book in the series, Realm of Darkness.

Disclosure of Material Connection- I received Rope of Sand, by C. F. Dunn, for free from the Kregel Publications’ Blog Tour.  All links were current when posted.  I was not required to write a positive review.  The opinions I have expressed are my own or those of my family.  I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.

Thursday, July 17, 2014

Prayer of the Week! (July 17, 2014)- Ephesians 1:22-23

A couple of years ago I took part in a Bible study where we studied the book of Ephesians.  Once a week I would like to mention the Bible verses which were studied, then give you my prayer involving those verses.
Today will be Ephesians 1:22-23.
Dearest Lord,
You have truly put Jesus over all of us.  He is head over our heads and hearts, but also the church.  The church is his body and we need to be a part of that body.
I thank you for what you have done for us.  You have given us a leader.
In Jesus’s name.
Amen!

Sunday, July 13, 2014

Picture of the Week! (July 13, 2014)- More Clouds!

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I love taking photos of clouds.  This time I decided to take it in black and white.

Thursday, July 10, 2014

Prayer of the Week! (July 10, 2014)- Ephesians 1:20-21

A couple of years ago I took part in a Bible study where we studied the book of Ephesians.  Once a week I would like to mention the Bible verses which were studied, then give you my prayer involving those verses.

Today will be Ephesians 1:20-21.

Dear Lord,

You are ever so powerful.  You raised your Son from the dead.  He is over us now and forever.  Thank you.

In Jesus’s name.

Amen

Tuesday, July 8, 2014

Picture of the Week! (July 8, 2014)- Lichen on the Rocks

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We went for a 4-wheeler ride, so I had a lot of fun taking pictures.  I wanted to see all what my camera could do.  There will be more pictures from the ride coming in future weeks.