Growing Up Wild

Missionary stories. My kids love to listen to and read stories about the lives of missionaries around the world. So we have been fascinated by watching Growing Up Wild DVD’s.

Growing Up Wild is a DVD series featuring the four Wild brothers who are growing up in the wilds of remote jungles in Indonesia. There are five DVD volumes with 3 episodes on each DVD. Each episode is about 15 minutes in length and focuses on one aspect of their lives. On a separate CD included in each set, is an activity guide that corresponds with each volume. The guides are designed as a “jumping off “ point to further the fun and learning based on the videos. The goal of the Growing Up Wild DVD’s is to testify to the greatness of our God and how He is working in remote parts of the world.

ClarkClan Experiences

We received volume one and volume four of Growing Up Wild. Volume one introduces the Wild boys and includes the episodes: 1)Home Sweet Hut 2)Supply Trip 3)Sun and Water. Volume 4 continues the adventure and includes the episodes: 1)Amazing World Around Us 2) Adventures in Culture 3) Tribal Calling.

Ben and Rebekah were fascinated with the videos. Each episode brought new ideas to talk about and discuss. I liked using the activity guide along with the video. It brought a greater depth to what they were seeing on the screen. On the first episode we filled in a Venn diagram of what was different and the same between our house and the Wild brother’s hut. This discussion was continued even after we were done with the worksheet. Ben and Rebekah kept coming up with differences and what was the same for the rest of the day. Another activity was building a Wano house like we see in the DVD. Ben really took to this idea. He spent a long time outside trying to figure out how to build a house out of sticks.

When I asked Ben and Rebekah what their favorite episodes were they both stated, the Sun and Water episode from Volume One. They liked the idea that all electricity was solar powered. Ben was fascinated by how the water system worked.

I feel one of the best parts of these DVD’s is that they show what real life is like for them. They show their house and how supplies are received. They show the problems with bugs and mice in their hut and how they attempt to solve some of these problems. They also show how they assimilate into the Wano culture while still also maintaining remnants of American culture. One of the best study guide activities, in my opinion, is the “Culture Worksheet” comparing our culture to the Wano culture. I feel the Wild family truly showed us what it is like to be a missionary in a foreign land.

Cost

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

• $18.99 for each Volume separately
• $80.99 for all Five Volumes at once 15% savings
• Each volume includes an activity guide CD
•  Activity guide sample
• Order the DVD’s from The Wild Brothers store

Many of my Schoolhouse Review Crew mates also reviewed the Growing Up Wild DVD’s. Visit the Crew Blog to read what they thought about the video series.

Disclaimer: As an Independent contractor for The Old Schoolhouse and member of the Schoolhouse Review Crew, I received 2 DVD’s of Growing Up Wild for free from Growing Up Wild in exchange for my honest review of their product. All opinions given are mine and/or my children’s.

Apologia—Journeys of Faithfulness

• Journeys of Faithfulness
• by Sarah Clarkson
• Published by Apologia Educational Ministries, inc
• Written for ages 12 and up
• $13.00
• Available from Apologia Educational Ministries, inc.

About the Book

Journeys of Faithfulness is a devotion book written for women. It is a book that is easy for mothers and daughter from about age 12 to go through together. It is also appropriate for study by yourself.

Journeys of Faithfulness takes the life and faith of five women from the Bible draws you deeper into their stories. The book is written in the style of historical fiction. It takes the true story as found in the Bible, but adds the background details and characters. Sarah Clarkson captures the feelings of each of her chosen women. You can really feel the irritation of Martha with Mary. Feel the joy and concern of Mary as she tells her family of the visit from the Angel of the Lord.  Esther and Ruth round out the Biblical character studies in this book.

The book is divided in to four parts. Each part has three chapters. At the end of each chapter is a devotional and a short bible study. The Bible study is easy to understand yet has enough depth for both young women and adults alike.

ClarkClan Experiences

Sarah (15) and I enjoyed reading this devotional book. I, at first, wondered about the appropriateness of adding thoughts and words to the Biblical characters, but then decided that it added depth while not taking away from the true meaning of the actual Biblical account.

Due to our move that took place during this review period, I have used this book differently than I originally had planned. I had planned on doing it together. But with all the activity I had going on, we ended up each reading the chapter and devotion, doing the Bible study and then coming together to talk over what we had learned. This worked fairly well, but I am hoping for part four, to do a little bit more together.

Recommendation

I would recommend Journeys of Faithfulness from Apologia.Sarah Clarkson has a beautiful gentle style of writing I enjoyed. I found this to be a study that applied to both myself and to Sarah. Each of us found that we enjoyed reading the chapters and the devotional pieces. I know, for myself, that reading the devotional for the second chapter resonated with what I am feeling in my life. Sarah told me she really enjoyed each chapter and really liked the style of writing. She said it made the Biblical accounts of these women come to life for her.

Many of my Schoolhouse Review Crew members also reviewed the book Journeys of Faithfulness. Visit the Crew Blog to read what they and their daughters thought about the book.

Disclaimer: As an Independent contractor for The Old Schoolhouse and member of the Schoolhouse Review Crew, I received the book, Journeys of Faithfulness for free from Apologia Ministries in exchange for my honest review of their product. All opinions given are mine and/or my children’s.

Activity Bags

“Where Fun and Education fit in the same bag.”

• Travel Activities in a Binder – e-book 1
• Designed for elementary age children
• Over 40 activities included
• $15.00 available as an e-book

• Math Games In a Bag
• Designed for elementary age children
• 33 games with instructions

• $15.00 available as an e-book

About  the Product

Activity Bags began by the creativity of two ladies, Sherri MacLean and Paula Reetz. Both of these ladies homeschool their children. In 2002, Paula was wondering how to keep her 3 year old busy during the older kids school, while also having fun and learning. She called her friend, Sherri, and they got together and brainstormed ideas. From this small meeting of two mothers, Activity Bags came about and has been growing ever since.

Not only did they come up with the idea of creating bags filled with fun, educational activities, they also figured out how to create a swap with other mothers.  These swaps quickly became very popular.

A swap occurs when one person takes the lead, distributes the instructions, and sets a date to meet for the exchange. Then each mother gets instructions on how to create one activity. They make this activity as many times as they have participating in the swap. On Swap Day, everybody brings the activity they prepared. Participants will then exchange their bags so each person participating will go home with many different activity bags.

ClarkClan Experiences

We were the happy to be able to review the e-book Travel Activities in a Binder as well as Math Games in a Bag. I was given opportunity to choose which books to review. I chose the travel activities e-book because we tend to spend quite a bit of time in the car. I thought the math games would be a fun way to review basic math facts.

When I received the downloads for the e-books, I quickly downloaded them.  I encountered  no problems while downloading and saving to my computer. Then I set out to read the e-books and see what these books were all about.

I first checked out the Travel Activities in a Binder book. This e-book contains instructions and printable pages for over 40 activities. It was not hard to follow the instructions and, using colored cardstock, print out the various activities. Then I took an extra binder we had on hand, as well plastic sheet protectors. It took me about an hour to print and put together the activity book. I added the square of felt called for to erase the pages, two dry erase markers and two dice. Then the book was complete

I gave the book to Rebekah (9) the next day when she had to wait by herself at bell choir rehearsal. The book was a big hit instantly. She loved the variety of activities and spent the entire hour trying new things. Then I took the book back, and kept it for the next time we had to wait somewhere.

Ben (10) became so interested in what Rebekah  was doing that he quickly joined in most of the activities and liked them just as much as Rebekah. They loved to play “ad libs” and hangman together. The wide variety of activities was a pleasant surprise. There were, some two person games, some single games, scavenger hunts, mazes, road sign crosswords, blindfold drawing and many more activities to keep this book from getting boring.

Math Activities in a Bag also provided a much needed respite from the ordinary math drill. I made up about 4 of the 33 bags to choose from. We played a multiplication toss game with dice and beads. It also helped Rebekah solidify her math facts using another of the games made with math fact triangles. When these bags have served their purpose,  I  plan on putting together new bags to keep things fresh and fun.

Recommendation

I would whole heartedly recommend these e-books. They were simple, easy to use and easy to put together. Rebekah and Ben have really enjoyed using both the travel binder and the bag games. The bag games gave them a little bit of fun before we started our regular math for the day.  The travel binder took about an hour to print and put together, but has been well –used. They take it along on long car trips and other times they need a quiet activity while I am at a meeting.

I did not hold a swap, but read through how it is done. It looks fairly straightforward and easy to put together. If you are part of a co-op or have many homeschooling friends, a swap would be a great way to get all the activities with minimal effort on each participants part.

Many of my Schoolhouse Review Crew members were able to review many different Activity Bags books. Visit the Crew Blog to read what they had to say about these books.

Disclaimer: As an Independent contractor for The Old Schoolhouse and member of the Schoolhouse Review Crew, I received two e-books, Travel Activities in a Binder and Math Games in a Bag, for free from Activity Bags in exchange for my honest review of their product. All opinions given are mine and/or my children’s.

Beloved Books–Sugar Creek Gang

• Beloved Books presents
•  Sugar Creek Gang audio series
• 6 volumes available each volume containing 6 stories
• Available for $54.95 individually or $279.70 for all CD’s

Beloved Books is a company dedicated to bringing wholesome stories and books to life on audio CD’s. They carry a wide variety of audio CD’s from Scripture Songs to Historical Fiction to Missionary Stories and Life. Their main ministry is to share the Sugar Creek Gang stories.

The Sugar Creek Gang  stories are a series of Christian adventure stories originally written by Paul Hutchens in 1939. A few years ago a man named Paul Ramseyer began to dramatize the books for radio. Now they are available as audio CD’s. There are over 100 hours of audio on 72 CD’s. These stories are loved by families because they present the gospel in an easy-to-understand way. The whole series becomes a discipleship journey.  Nature study, poetry, hymns and science lessons all find their way into these delightful stories.

The author, Paul Hutchens, began his career as an evangelist. He became a Baptist minister and traveled around the U.S. When he developed tuberculosis he began writing. The first Sugar Creek Gang book was published in 1939. Each story takes you back in time to one room schoolhouses, hot summer days and barefoot boys. Christian principles and the courage and confidence to share the gospel are woven into each adventure story.

ClarkClan Experience

We were graciously sent the first volume of the Sugar Creek Gang audio CD’s.  This includes six different stories: The Swamp Robber, The Killer Bear, The Winter Rescue, The Lost Campers, Chicago Adventure, and The Secret Hideout, presented on 12 CD’s.

Ben (11) and Rebekah (9) as well as mom were the testers for this product in our family. Ben and Rebekah have a long history of loving books and stories on CD. The Sugar Creek Gang was no exception. We received the CD’s one day as were were getting in the car. I popped one into the car’s CD player and when we arrived at our destination, the Ben and Rebekah were not ready to get out because the story was not finished.

This enthusiasm remained high throughout the review period and they continued to listen to find out what was going to happen next to the Sugar Creek Gang.  I knew these CD’s were a hit when Ben did not want to stop them when it was time for dinner. These stories really captivated Ben. They are full of adventure and suspense.The stories follow a continuing story line, although each one can stand alone. We listened to them in the order they are on the CD, as recommended.

The stories present real life, with its real problems and emotions. One story I remember has a father who is a drunk. This is handled tastefully, giving enough information to know the seriousness of the situation without being judgmental. Another time, the main character has a new sister and is having trouble with his emotions over it. Once again, this situation is handled gracefully and works out nicely. There is quite a bit of suspense and even some danger within these stories. You can tell they were written in the late 30’s and early 40’s. The kids are allowed to play by themselves in the outdoors and also work out their own problems. While this is different than our day and age, it nevertheless makes for exciting adventures. Ben often talked how he wished he lived where he could just play outside in woods and near ponds.

Recommendation

I would recommend these audio CD’s to other families. We have truly enjoyed them. They are fun, exciting and most important teach a good lessons about God. The only caveat I would have is that they come from a Baptist perspective.This shows up in the story lines as someone needing to be “saved”. This is not exactly the language we, as Lutherans, use, but it gives us an opportunity to talk about other denominations and how they differ and are the same as ours.

Many of my Schoolhouse Review Crew mates also were able to review The Sugar Creek Gang.audio CD’s.  Visit the Crew Blog to read what their thoughts and opinions on the product are.

Disclaimer: As an Independent contractor for The Old Schoolhouse and member of the Schoolhouse Review Crew, I received volume one of The Sugar Creek Gang, for free from Beloved Books in exchange for my honest review of their product. All opinions given are mine and/or my children’s.

A Breakfast Favorite

Today I thought I would share one of the ClarkClan’s favorite breakfasts. Baked Oatmeal, Yum! We just love this breakfast. Easy to prepare, filling and most importantly: very tasty.

I have been making this basic Baked Oatmeal recipe for years.

Baked Oatmeal

3 cups rolled oats (I use old-fashioned)

3/4 cup brown sugar (originally was using 1 cup, but found I could cut that amount with no problems.)

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoons salt

1 cup milk

2 eggs

1/2 cup melted butter (1/4 cup works well, too)

1 teaspoon vanilla

3/4 cup dried cranberries (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. In a large bowl, mix together oats, brown sugar, cinnamon, baking powder and salt. Beat in milk, eggs, melted butter and vanilla. Stir in cranberries. Spread into a greased 9x13” baking pan.

3. Bake in preheated oven for 40 minutes ( my oven never takes that long, about 30 is right for us.)

That is the basic recipe. Now for the fun parts. I end up adding other ingredients for the fun of it. This week I have been adding a cup of cooked, butternut squash. I mix it in with the liquid ingredient, without changing any proportions. The Baked Oatmeal comes out, moist and delicious. I think pumpkin would work equally as well.

This recipe also works very well made up ahead of time. I have made the entire recipe, exactly as written, but instead of putting it in the pan to bake now, I put the mix in a zipper bag, label and freeze. Then all that is needed is to pull a bag out the night before, put it in the refrigerator to thaw, dump it in the pan and bake. This recipe can also be easily doubled. Double all ingredients and put in either two 9x13” pans or one large double cake pan (bake the double cake pan just a bit longer)

Crossbow Education–Duo Window Reading Rulers

• Crossbow Education – Reading tools anyone can grab
• Duo Window eye level Reading Rulers
• $16.95 for Pack of Ten. All ten colors, one of each included in the package
• This can by used by any school age child as well as adults who may have trouble reading.

Crossbow Education is a company originally based out of the U.K. Bob Hext was a teacher who devised games to teach his dyslexic students. From a small beginning, they now have their products in over 60% of schools and colleges in the UK. They also have  a US branch which concentrates mainly on resources for Visual Stress and Junior Learning.

Their Crossbow name and logo refer to their beliefs as Christians. They believe the symbols of the Cross and Rainbow stand for the powerful life-changing truths of Christ dying in our place and the rainbow that symbolizes God keeping His promises.

Product

We reviewed the Duo Window eye level Reading Rulers ten pack. This pack includes all ten colors of the reading ruler. The colors include: yellow, sky, celery, purple, grass, magenta, jade, pink, aqua, and orange. Each ruler is approximately 8 “ wide by 3” tall. They are made of lightweight, yet sturdy, plastic. They have a 1/2” window at the top, an opaque 1”section, then a 1 1/4” wide window at the bottom.

The duo window helps in two different ways. With the smaller window at the top, the focus is confined to approximately one maybe two lines of text, depending on text size. This is useful for early readers and readers who have trouble in with skipping lines in chapter books. The bottom window shows  a chunk of text at a time.

The colors help to cut the glare from a white page with black printing. The preference for one color over another is entirely personal. Crossbow recommends that you test each color, choosing the one you feel works best for you. They also state that you may like one color one day and a different color the next. Lighting conditions can also make a difference in which color works best for you.

ClarkClan Experience

Rebekah(9) was our tester for this product. I showed her the product, how it worked and then let her pick the color she wanted to try first. She choose the purple first and picked up a book.

She found that it was hard to use this product while lying on her back to read. On her stomach was better, but the best way to use this was sitting in a chair with her book on the table.  She had no trouble figuring out how to use this. She would put the reading ruler on the page, then move it down as she read. She told me she uses the large window near the bottom more often that the single line at the top. She never settled on a favorite color, she would use whichever color struck her fancy that day.

I did notice that while she never complained when I asked her to use this for her schoolwork, she did not pick one up while reading on her own after “official” schoolwork was done for the day. When asked what she thought about the product, Rebekah replied, “They were ok. I just liked them for the color, because I don’t have trouble with skipping lines anymore.”

One thing I noticed was that the size could sometimes be a bit cumbersome for smaller books. But the paper work included with the product states that you can easily trim the reading ruler to fit your needs.

Recommendation

I think that this is a very well made product. The plastic was sturdy, yet lightweight. The reading windows were a good size. I found that at times I liked using one to read in bright light on a white page. It just seemed to tone down the glare.

I would recommend this product to parents of beginning readers, as well as, parents of kids who may be having trouble reading. The Duo Window reading rulers can really be good for kids who have trouble skipping lines while reading. I would also recommend trying it for kids who complain reading make them tired to see if the colors help reduce fatigue while reading.

Many of my Schoolhouse Review Crew members also tried out the Crossbow Education Reading Rulers. Visit the Crew Blog and read what they thought about the product and how it worked in their family.

Disclaimer: As an Independent contractor for The Old Schoolhouse and member of the Schoolhouse Review Crew, I received a ten pack of the Duo Window eye level Reading Rulers, for free from Crossbow Education in exchange for my honest review of their product. All opinions given are mine and/or my children’s.

Me First

Sometimes I wonder if I give too much advice. I never want to seem like a “know it all”. But there are times I see parents having a problem with something I have gone through with my kids. If I can, I try to offer a solution that has worked for us. The other day, I was able to share my solution for the “me first” attitude kids can get.

I don’t remember Matthew or Sarah having this problem. But I remember realizing one day that Ben and especially Rebekah were getting really bad about wanting to be “me first”. They would fight each other to be the first at just about anything, snacks, getting in the car, toys, you name it there was a fight over who was going to be first.

So I came up with a solution that worked like magic in our family. It was not instant but was easy to implement and practical. It works not just at home, but also while we are out in public. I have also taken this idea and used it while teaching younger kids in Sunday School and it works just as well out.

My solution is based on Matthew 20:16 says, “So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”

And that became my go to phrase. When Rebekah would push Ben out of the way so she could be first, I would simply state, “The last will be first, and the first will be last.” Then she would have to wait until everybody went ahead of her.

A practical application goes something like this. I am fixing a snack of apples and peanut butter dip. Ben and Rebekah are fussing over who will get the first apple. So who does mom give the first apple to? Well Matthew or Sarah, who have been sitting quietly and patiently. Who will be the last to get their snack? Ben and Rebekah.

Because I tried hard to consistently use this technique, the behavior eventually extinguished itself. But I have found it is a great technique to use in a classroom setting as well. One Sunday this summer, I brought in a snack of pretzels. One little boy yelled “pretzels!” and before I knew what was happening had his hand inside the bag. I quickly extracted his hand and told the kids the rules in our family. I explained how in our family if you try to be first, you will be last. Then I made him sit and wait until everyone else had been served. Only one other time over the summer did I have to remind them of this rule. The kids, of all ages,  learned Miss Jill would make you last if you tried to be first.