In Freedom's Cause ( A Schoolhouse Crew review)

Monster and I have not done as much History this year as I would of liked. I am always looking for new ways to learn about history. I felt that the In Freedom' s Cause Single Package, from Heirloom Audio Productions, would give us the perfect chance to try out audio books! I had never heard of G.A. Henty until I was offered to review this and I am very glad I was. I will be looking into more by this author!
What we received: 

 One single set of 2 CDs in a full color trifold case. You can order here for the low price of $29.97

Digital Bonuses with online access:

• Instant access MP3 copy of In Freedom's Cause for download.
•  The complete In Freedom's Cause Study Guide and Discussion Starter.
• A printable copy of The Prayer Of William Wallace (Psalm 23 in the Latin Vulgate).
•  The In Freedom's Cause Soundtrack MP3 download.

About the story:
This Christian audio drama is 2 hours long, is based on the book from G.A. Henty, and is about the battle for Scotland to become free. William Wallace and Robert the Bruce, along with Ned Forbes, lead their Army to fight the King and his men to help protect and free Scotland. 
How we used this:
On the way to co-op on Friday mornings we would listen to this instead of the radio. Monster and I listened together and then my husband would listen to it also on his way to and from work the other days. I was able to take some of the questions from the study guide and discuss them with Monster as we listened to the story. I am planning to keep the study guide and cd for the future and plan to review it again when we learn more about Scotland! 
What I thought:
I honestly loved it!  I have never been one to listen to stories or people read to me, but I think because it actually sounds like you are listening to a movie instead of just a reading, I really liked it. It is one of those that you could close your eyes and listen to and feel like you are right there in the middle of everything going on. I really liked how the story taught about being honest, keeping your faith in God, helping others, and even some history! I loved listening with Monster and this audio production being something the whole family could enjoy! We could listen to this and discuss it and it seemed more like a fun activity than it did school work. We plan to use this again!  The study guide has three main focus areas. The Listening Well are questions I was able to ask Monster to make sure he was listening and able to understand what was going on. Even though the study guide could be printed and used like worksheets, I simply asked Monster the questions from the study guide and allowed him to answer questions that way. The second part are the Thinking Further Questions. These questions make your child think. I really enjoyed these to see how Monster would answer and if I had a different answer than Monster or how my answer and his would compare. We were also able to ask my husband a few of the Thinking Further questions to see how his answer compared to ours. The last part are the Defining Words. This was not a part we used as much as i had hoped. I think Monster still may be a little young for some of those words and meanings. If Monster wanted to know what a word meant we simply looked it up to find out. I think these will come in handy later when Monster is a bit older and we study Scotland and reuse this story again! I also liked that the study guide has extras in it. There are links to a website that shows the British Museum. There are also notes on the history of Scotland and three short bible studies at the end. Overall I find the study guide to be a wonderful tool to go along with this audio production! 
What Monster thought:
" It was really good. I really enjoyed being able to listen to the story in the truck. I like listening to the story and hearing all the action going on. It was like I was really there!" Monsters own words! 
Find them here: 
Facebook Twitter
Google+ Pinterest
Make sure you stay up to date as they are coming out with a new audio book called With Lee in Virginia. It is set to release right around Memorial Day! 

Want to know what others though of this audio book please check the reviews out here:

Today in Texas

We have been pretty lucky this Winter to not have any bad days. By bad I mean anything with snow, really cold or ice.

Well today we woke up to the ground covered in ice. I hate ice. I would much rather it be snow even though I hate snow.

I could never live in the North.

I like the warm too much.

So since most all schools are cancelled here, Monster thought he should get the day off. Techinally he is done with 2nd grade. I have been making him work on Math (which he is working on 3rd grade Math). So I had him do one lesson this morning and then I let him go play with the neighbor kids.

What we woke up to :( ( I know this is nothing like the North has but I hate it) 

Monster dressed himself to go to the neighbors. Thankfully our hallways are all indoors so I don't have to worry about him going dressed outside like this) 

Monster working on his Math program. ( I can't wait till I can share this with y'all and what the program is!) 

So we decided to all walk over to Toys R Us in our area. NONE of the stores were open except Toys R Us, Dillard's and Macy's. Everything else was closed. 

Hubby got to work from home thankfully and did not have to drive out in this! All that white it ICE! No snow ( yet! They are saying maybe Wednesday) 

Monster doesn't have much to do school wise right now since I am waiting to order his Writing, Grammar and Spelling. He is working on Math and I have Science we can do. History is still him watching movies about past events. So right now everything is pretty easy for Monster. 

Well hope everyone stays warm!! Review coming this week for a great product! 

8 Years Old

Well it was a week ago today that Monster turned eight.

I finally found him a cute shirt and took him outside this morning and did some shots of him. It was a little cold for us, so I did not get as much as I wanted and we may go back out later tonight and do some more. For now I have these and they turned out pretty well. I still can't believe he is eight!

He saw this at the end of the stairway and said " mom look, a P for Preston!" Good eye kid. I have walked down those steps several times since we have lived here and never noticed it! 

*all photos are copy-write with my photography name. These are my photos please do not take off the watermark or use any of my photos without my consent first! Thank you! 

2/18/15

The last two days have been so easy and nice.

Monster has been working online in a Math program (which I will be sharing in a review later). He is working on 3rd grade Math in the program and doing fantastic! He has been getting 100% on all of the quizzes so far! I am very impressed with him. I haven't made him work on his last few lessons in Saxon because he is pretty much doing the same thing in this program and moving ahead. Like in Saxon we talked about hundreds place. Well in his program he is already past hundreds place and learning thousands place. I think Saxon is great don't get me wrong! I also think he was bored since a lot of it repeated. So I reviewed the last few lessons and he has already mastered them all. So we moved on...

Today, Monster finished his last Spelling test! He also got them all correct! WAHOO!!! He is finishing up book 9 in Lifepacs and next week he will do all of his review book and be done!!! How exciting! I am debating though reviewing every single spelling word he has had. Maybe break them day each day next week... twenty here, twenty there till he has wrote them all again.

We also got our next Science kit in Science. I feel bad we have not worked on these lately, but really they can be done whenever. We got a magnet one and that one seems fun. I told Monster we would work on them tomorrow. The first lesson is learning how magnets repel or attract.

I have a review I am working on (not for the program above) and it should be posted soon!

We are dog sitting this week and I got a cute snap of the puppy. Monster has not been much into letting me get pictures lately. I am behind on his 8 year photos!

Buddy! 

Watching a movie.

His birthday dinner at Dave and Busters! Still can't believe he is 8! 

Monster turned...8.

When did growing up happen so fast?

I swear I feel like Monster just turned seven and now a year later he turned eight.

His birthday was on February 12th. I gave him the whole week off from school work as a little treat. We also went to Dave and Busters for his actual birthday with a couple of friends he has made. It was a good day overall.

I just can't believe my one and only is eight.

Next week, well Monday, I want to start Monster on learning about Egypt and how the Egyptians used to live. I found a few books at Barnes and Noble just need to go pick them up! 

Monster will also be finishing up Math and Language Arts this week and next. He has already started an online Math program for 3rd grade and I feel like if he does well with it I may hold off on Saxon 3. He did two lessons right away and got all correct. He seems to really enjoy being online and working. I also believe I found a different curriculum for Writing, Grammar and Spelling. The cost difference is not much between Growing with Grammar and Lifepacs either so it may just work out that GWG would work better for us. I like that the books are all separate from each other too. Lifepacs is all in one and it just seems cluttered. 

Well, we have been dog sitting this week and Monster is not doing well with it. Allergies we never knew existed have now shown themselves :( Needless to say Monster needs some extra cuddles... and I am ok with that :) 

Where did this time go?

Ten days into February. Where did this time go? 

Monster turns 8 in two more days. Where did this time go?

We aren't really doing much, if any, schooling this week. I am letting Monster take a break for his birthday. Great thing about homeschooling. Breaks whenever you want.

 Really Monster only has a week and a half left before he is done with 2nd grade work. He is already working on an online 3rd grade Math program and doing great with it. 

I really can't believe our 2nd year of homeschooling is almost at a close. Where did this time go?

In this last week I have had several friends decide to homeschool and I am so excited for them and their journey! 

I have tons of things I need to post about. Reviews (great ones!) coming up also! I wanted to sit down today and post a good post, but the day is over and hubby is on his way home with dinner. Where did this time go?

I will leave you with a photo I took a couple of weeks ago but forgot to post until tonight. 

Monster is still taking piano lessons and loving it. It amazes me how quickly he is learning the keys and how not to look at his fingers as he is playing. His favorite song right now that he can play without even looking at his hands or his book is Old MacDonald had a Farm! Simple but it is a start! 

Dallas Zoo days

Last week we took Thursday off and went to the zoo with my sister in law and niece.

It was the perfect day for it as the weather was not too cold or not too warm. It was about 65 degrees.

Admission price for the Dallas Zoo is also only $5 for each adults and child during the months of January and February. So perfect time to go. There were other kids there but the zoo was not busy at all.

Monster loves getting to hold the birds and feed them. 

Kinley and her first time to hold the birds. She loved it! 

Alligator got him! 

It took him several tries but we stood there until he was able to flip this way! He was so proud! 

Yes! You get to feed the giraffes and get this close to them! 

He ate Monsters! 

Now he is going to eat the cookie in Kinley's hand! 

We love going to the zoo and the Dallas Zoo is the perfect fit for us. It isn't huge but there is enough to keep you there for a good few hours. We were there from about 11am till 3:30pm.  Best of all...kids had a great time!