Who Wore It Better??

Today was a big day for Ashleigh at her weekly AWANA night. First, she completed her "Grace in Action" book tonight, a few weeks ahead of schedule.  She will now start learning her TruthScripts which include Romans 8 and Psalms 23.  

Ashleigh reciting her verses to Mrs Julie at AWANA

To complete her book, she had to recite 6 verses.  And she knocked it out of the park.  The six verses she had to recite were:

Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.  Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. - Romans 5:1-2

Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith?  Are you so foolish?  Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? - Galatians 3:2-3

Remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work. - Titus 3:1

Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. - Ephesians 4:32

Though formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent.  But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief.  And the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus -  1 Timothy 1:13-14 

And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.  So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.  -Galatians 6:9-10. 

This was a huge accomplishment for her as she received her Emblem 8 tonight. This is her first year in Awana and she is a few years younger than the rest of the girls.  So she's very proud of herself. 

Receiving her Element 8 for completion of her book

The smile says it all !!  So proud of you!! 

Tonight was also a theme night - Mustache Night.  The kids donned their best "mustache" in the hopes of winning a "Golden Awana Buck".. Unfortunately, Ashleigh did not win the buck but she had a lot of fun participating.  

Ash came in 2nd place. Her friend, the girl with the "hair beard" won.. But I couldn't help but laugh at the similarity between her mustache and a certain scene out of Forrest Gump.

Manhood Journey Father’s Starter Kit (A Homeschool Crew Review)

As the mother of three children, we often worry how to help bridge the transition between childhood and young adulthood.  This is especially scare to families of the Christian faith as we worry about what affects the influences of today's society will have on them during such a difficult time.  From the programming on television, music lyrics popular with today's youth and even pictures found daily on social media, it's hard for a child to transition without some negative influence.  This is especially true with boys who often find that certain negative behaviors are expected by their peers, behaviors that go against the Biblical teachings that we have tried to instill in them in their younger years. 

Over the course of the last few weeks, my husband and I have had the opportunity to review and use the Manhood Journey Father’s Starter Kit from Manhood Journey & City on a Hill Studio with our son, ten year old Garrett. This kit starts users with the first of 6 modules for the Manhood Journey series – Embarking.

City on a Hill Studios is a non-denominational, non profit ministry who’s goal is to bring Biblical teaching to a media-driven culture in ways in which they can easily understand. Through cinematic productions, small group studies and book publications, City on a Hill hopes to use real-life experiences to help use modern stories to teach God’s word.  Our family had already been familiar with City on a Hill Studios as we have taken part in other studies that they have produced, such as "Not a Fan", "Gods at War", "H2O" as well as the Christmas Experience and the Easter Experience.   

Included in the Manhood Journey Father’s Starter Kit is the Embarking 1 on 1 guide, the Embarking Group guide to be used for small group studies, 10 Maprochures, and a DVD that includes introductions for each of the 5 modules for the complete Manhood Journey series. Also included in the kit was a paperback copy of the book Wise Guys: Unlocking Hidden Wisdom from the Men Around You written by Kent Evans with Rob Suggs.

Packaged together in a book sized box, the Manhood Journey Father’s Starter Kit included everything needed to either use this program as a one on one study between a father and son or as a small study group. The Embarking module consisting of 6 weeks of study designed for a male role model to introduce the five key areas focused on throughout the Manhood Journey series. During each week of study, father (or any male role model) and son work through the Embarking 1 on 1 guide, studying scripture, completing activities and discussing what the Bible expects in order to be Godly men. For larger groups, the Embarking Group Guide helps to guide the leader through group discussions and homework assignments during a weekly small group setting.

For this review, I  will focus almost exclusively on the 1 on 1 guide.  Because this kit is designed for Small Group studies in addition to the 1 on 1 guide, the additional components such as the second guide and the maglogs are geared for the small group aspect of the study.  For those interested in using this for a small group through a church or men's bible study, the Group Study guide covers the same key points as the 1 on 1 guide but is worded and arranged for leader to guide a group meeting once a week and then allows for participants to accomplish the same assignments as "homework" between meetings. The included Maplogues show the suggested pathway in which to complete each of the 6 modules and includes a space to mark the time and dates for a physical reminder of group meetings for participants. 

The Embarking Module is the beginning of the Manhood journey and sets the groundwork needed to work through each of the other 5 modules.  It focuses on the five "rocks" that a young man needs in his life to build a solid foundations for his journey to become a man of God - 1. Trust God 2. Know his Word 3. Pray fervently 4. Build relationships and 5. Serve others.  

While entitled as the One on One guide, this program can easily be used at one time by families who have more than one boy and also is not limited to only the Biological father of the boy - any man who fills the role of a "father figure" can use this program and share it's teaching regardless of their relationship to the boy. 

Embarking is divided into 6 week long studies
Week 1:  Preparing for the Journey
Week 2:  Setting out on the Journey
Week 3:  Relying on the Compass
Week 4:  Seeking Guidance Along the Way
Week 5:  Encountering Others Along the Journey
Week 6:  We Have Embarked

Each week's lesson focuses on four main sections.

First is the BUILDING section.  Many times, fathers and sons live in the same household but in the course of the day, they rarely speak more than a handful of words to each other. The Building section is the time the father spends with the child, asking questions and actively listening to the way the child answers the questions and actually getting to know each other on a personal level.   begins with a section entitled "A Word to Dad" that helps to set the tone of the week and to help the father to think about the material that will be presented to the child ahead of time. Open ended questions are also provided to be asked to the child to help facilitate a discussion that draws the child into the lesson.  Also included are tips for listening to help make the child feel that they are as much a part of the program as the "teacher", rather than just being lectured to.

The second section is the KNOWING section.  This part of the week focuses on memorizing scripture, studying what the meaning behind the scripture is and learning how to both the father and the son might apply the message that can be learned from the scripture in their own lives.

The SERVING section teaches the duo how to serve others.  As Christians, we are expected to be servants and to be an example of Christ's love to those around us - to be the Salt and Light in today's world.  This section takes the knowledge learned in the previous Knowing section and makes the participants think about how they can incorporate it into actions that can have an impact on the community around them.

Finally, the lesson ends with the TALKING section of the lesson.  While the father and son have spent the week talking with each other, it's time for them to actually to talk with God.  Children who watch their parents pray learn how to do so themselves and spending time talking with God is one of the most important things we can do in our Spiritual journey.  During this time, the father and son spend time in prayer talking with God about what they have been learning together, thanking him for their time together and asking for help as they progress through the Manhood Journey together.


How We Used It

My husband is still new in his faith and while I would not call myself much of a Spiritual leader, I did find that my input was needed on a number of occasions.  What worked best for us is that my husband and I would sit down together at night, after the kids were in bed, and we could go over each lesson together and read it together.  Then we would be able to discuss what the focus of each lesson was and how it would be best for my husband to approach it with our son.  Since I stay at home with Garrett homeschooling him each day and my husband works, I was at a bit of an advantage in being able to know ways in which my husband could engage him and approach him in a way that he would understand best.  This also allowed for great time for my husband and I to discuss his own spirituality and growth.

After going over the materials together the night before, my husband would then spend a bit of time with our son to work through the lessons.  As mentioned above, the lessons are divided up into week long segments, which can be done at one time with older boys or spread out over the course of the week for younger ones.  In our case, we used the entire week, having short discussions and activities that worked well for my son's short attention span.

One thing I noticed is that within a couple of weeks, Garrett was reaching out to his father more than he had in the past.   Typically, both kids follow me around the house, ask me everything that pops into their minds and really don't interact with their father that much.  It's not that Dad doesn't have time for them, but more that they spend most of their time with me and so I'm the "go to" for them.  However, I began noticing Garrett going to his father more than he was coming to me.  If Charles left the house to run a quick errand, Garrett would wait for him to return and ask me where Dad went.  He also began to engage his father into more conversations, even about random things like his video games or to show him a build he made with his erector set.

I've noticed changes in my husband as well.  He's more engaged with all of the kids lately, engaging in more conversations in regards to their Bible lessons and Ashleigh's AWANA activities.  He has also been more engaged with me in discussions about the Bible and wanting to learn more about the Scripture.

We've still got a few weeks left before Charles and Garrett complete the Embarking module of the Manhood Journey.  Once completed, I'll probably buy the second 1 on 1 guide book for the "Clean Hearts" module.

To learn more about City on a Hill Studios or the Manhood Journey study series, please visit their website or one of their social media sites;

Manhood Journey

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/manhoodjourney 

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/manhoodjourney  @manhoodjourney

City on a Hill

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/FollowCityOnAHill 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/COAHStudio 

Embrace (Five Minute Friday)

Wow, another week has come and gone.  It's been busy busy here at the Prince Household and I've dropped the ball the last couple of weeks on getting around to my 5 Minute Friday post but I had a few minutes (Five to be exact  haha) to write this week.

  If you're unfamiliar with FMF, each week a word is given and you spend 5 minutes (no more than that) interpreting the word as it means to you.  It's hosted by Kate at the blog Heading Home. Each week, Kate invites other bloggers to reflect and write for five minutes on a word for that week. 

If your interested in joining up, by all means, click on the graphic below and join in the fun.

This week's word is Embrace.

Embracing can have so many meanings.. A hug, a touch, a caress.  We think of lovers, of friends, of our children.  But when is the last time you embraced yourself?

It's hard to love ourselves.  We see our faults, we know the wrongs that we have done, even if those around us do not.  I've struggled long and hard to love myself for who I am.  Years ago I couldn't fathem loving myself, until that one day, when I realized that no matter what I've said or done, no matter who I may have wronged in my life, or who may have wronged me and left those emotional scares on me and left me damaged, that there's been one who has embraced me and kept me close to their hearts every single day of my life.

Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart.  

Jeremiah 1:5

My Lord has embraced me ever single day that I have walked this earth, even before.  He knows every hurt, every fault in my character, every mistake I have made.  And yet, he still embraces me and holds me close. 

When I turned my back on him, thinking my way was the better way, he was still there in the wings, waiting patiently, even if it hurt him to do so, allowing me to find my way back to him. And when I finally managed, he led me to that green pasture, to those still waters.  

If Jesus can embrace me, though everything, then I need to learn to embrace myself. I need to be like him, learning to love myself and to accept the fact there are things that I cannot change but to instead love myself like he loves me. 

Wordless Wednesday

A bit of backstory:

In the military, there's always been a bit of friendly rivalry between both the branches of the service as well as between the individual units of each branch.  You'll hear them call the Navy "Squids" and the Marines "Jarheads".  The Air Force is usually referred to as "The Chair Force".   This base is a testing base, so we have more than just Air Force here - we also have a strong Navy and Marine presence, as well as a number of foreign Army members who train here.

There's a hill right outside our base that seems to be the location of a major "turf war" with the branches/units here.  This hill is the largest hill in the local area and anyone driving off base sees it as they drive by.  A couple of years ago, one of the units hauled up a bunch of white rocks to the top of the hill and arranged them in a way that looked like a Navy Anchor.  With that, the turf war was started.

Each week, a unit makes the hike up the hill to rearrange the rocks to represent their unit.  Over the course of the last few years there have been symbols, unit names, ect.  Each time you drive by the hill, you can expect to see either Air Force, Navy or the Marines represented in the rocks.

My husband's unit made the trek earlier this month and for a short week the F-22 boys were represented on the hill, until the F-35 guys made their way up and changed it yet again.

But I doubt the F-35 guys have a pic like this one ;)

Bessie's Pillow (A Homeschool Crew Review)

Every now and again, you pick up a book that typically you wouldn't pick up, thinking it's not your "type" and then you realize as you read the last word on the page that it was exactly what you wanted to read and wished there was more.  Such was the case when I was selected to read the book Bessie's Pillow published by Strong Learning, Inc.

Bessie's Pillow
A Young Immigrant's Journey

• Author: Linda Bress Silbert
• Publisher: Strong Learning, Inc.
• ISBN: 978-0-89544-201-7
• Copyright: 2014 
• Pages: 290
• Genre: Historical Non-Fiction/Biography
• Printed in English and Spanish
• Available as Trade Paperback or Ebook (Kindle Reader)

When I initially asked to review this book, I had my teenage daughter in mind to read it.  With immigration so heavy in the news today and playing such a role in our country's history and the fact that part of my mother's family immigrated here from Ireland, I thought it would be a great way to passively show her how it was for our ancestors and the others who passed by the Statue of Liberty in the early 1900's.

Unfortunately, my teenager being fickle as she is, she read about half of the book and it got tossed to the side for more "exciting" reads that fit her taste.  That meant that in order to do a proper review of the book, Mom would have to read it. I sat down on an early Saturday morning with my cup of coffee and got into the mindframe of reading a book that, admittedly, was outside of my typical reading genre. We all have reading preferences - I tend to read a lot of fiction being that I stare at schoolbooks day in and day out and want an escape. Reading non-fiction tends to be a chore for me.

I started reading Bessie's Pillow at around 10am that morning. By 2pm, I was more than halfway through the book and realized my own concern was would I be able to finish the book before dinner time when I would have to put it aside to prepare our meal.

Bessie's Pillow tells the story of a young 19 year old girl who immigrates from a poor town in Lithuania to New York City in 1906.  It follows her journey from the time she is about to board the steamliner destined for Ellis Island, her travels across the Atlantic Ocean, landing at Ellis Island and her life and the challenges that she faces once she arrives in a foreign country and makes a new life for herself.  She arrives to the United States penniless with only a few small bags of possessions and a handmade pillow that she was asked to deliver to the son of a woman she met before boarding the ship.
Bessie describes the world as she sees it around her, realizing that she has life much easier than many of the other immigrants who live in the surrounding area as she observes sickness and poverty that she has been fortunate to avoid.  That's not to say that Bessie has an easy life as the book tells of the devastating losses Bessie experiences in her own life and how those loses led to her learning to be self sufficient in a society where women were not typically expected to own or run businesses.

I couldn't put this book down.  My heart broke for Bessie many times but I was inspired by how she handled those heartbreaking situations and rose up from them.  Bessie was obviously a really amazing woman and I'm honored to have been able to be given an intimate glimpse in her life by reading this book.

Written by Bessie's granddaughter, Linda Bress Silbert, and taken from audio recordings of Bessie telling her story to the author's mother,  Bessie's Pillow is a story of love.  Love of one's family, love for the community around you, love of one's country, and love of one's self.   There's also romance (and even a love triangle to be honest.. lol)

In addition to the book, readers are invited to explore more on the website Bessiespillow.com . Here readers can listen to the author speak about the book, see photographs of the woman behind the story , read stories of other immigrants and learn about life in the early 1900's, such as about movies, housework, and news at that time.  Also available under the "Teachers" tab on the website is a 16 page PDF Teacher's Guide that offers suggestions as to how to use Bessie's Pillow in the classroom setting, with language arts and social studies ideas to adapt to the classroom.

 The Author Speaking about Bessie's Journey

This book is written for high school students and adults and I think it's perfectly appropriate for students of that age in order to give them a first person account of that period of time that a textbook just can't deliver.  Various social topics of that time are discussed, such as the differences between classes upon the steamliner, the treatment of women by men at that time, suffrage and woman's rights movements, mistreatment and the disadvantages of the lower/poor classes, ect.  While these topics are explained with a gentle hand in the story, they would make for great topics of discussion for older students.  I could also see this being a great read-together book with older elementary students and middle schoolers, so long as the parent is there to answer questions and help explain topics that might be a bit "old" for them to understand.  Right now, Ashleigh and Garrett are both a bit too young to really understand and appreciate the story but this book will remain on my bookshelf until they are old enough.  I do hope that my oldest decides to pick it back up and finish the story as well.

Bessie's Pillow is available in both English and Spanish and can be purchased as either a physical copy or as a digital book on the Kindle reader.

For more information about the book Bessie's Pillow and about Bessie herself, visit the book's website at bessiespillow.com or at their social media site one Facebook and Twitter. For more information about Strong Learning, Inc (the author's tutoring and learning services company and publisher of the book), visit their website at http://www.stronglearning.com.

Creating A Masterpiece (A Homeschool Crew Review)

We love art in our family.  My husband took art throughout high school, I took classes in middle school and both of my daughters seem to have the artistic bug as well.  Somehow, the gene skipped over Garrett, who doesn't even like to color, but everyone else seems to have an artistic talent to some extent. When we were given the opportunity to review the monthly plan for Creating a Masterpiece, I already knew it would be a huge hit in our household.

Created and taught my Sharon Hofer, Creating a Masterpiece is a series of online streaming art lessons that teach students of all ages and expertise how to successfully create works of art using various art mediums. A master artist in her own right, Mrs Hofer has years of experience teaching students one on one in her own home studio.  She has now begun to offer those same lessons through video instruction for those who cannot attend her classes, allowing those outside of her local area to have the same quality of lesson as those who attend her physical class.

For the purpose of this review, members of the Homeschool Review crew were given 6 months access to more than 50 lessons.  The lessons offered start at the Beginner level and progress through Levels 1-5, depending on how experienced the student is.  Art medium instruction offered include: Acrylic, Batik, Block Painting, Carving, Conte' Crayon, Copper Tooling, Glass Mosaic, Gouache, Ink, Mixed Media, Oil Paint, Oil Pastels, Pencil/Charcoal, Sculptures, Silk Painting, Soft Pastels, and Watercolor. Each lesson clearly states which medium will be used as well as a list of required and suggested materials needed to complete the project.  On average, lessons take between 30-40 minutes to complete, although in some projects, that time is extended over the course of a few days as mediums such as paints need time to dry between steps.

Interface makes it easy to see the projects and determine what medium it uses

For our projects, we opted to start with some of the Beginner and Level 1 projects.  We already had oil pastels, soft pastels and watercolors available to us, so with that in mind, we sat down together as a family (minus Garrett) and decided which projects we would all like to work on together.  Over the last few weeks, we've worked on three different projects: Lessons in Watercolor (Floral Medley), Lesson in Oil Pastels (Winter Cabin) and Lessons in Soft Pastels (Peaceful Lake).

Each video lesson is broken down into sections as Mrs Hofer breaks down step by step how to copy her techniques and create your own masterpiece.  Through the lesson, she gives various tips and advice on how to make the most of each medium and how to avoid (or correct) mistakes that might be made during the process.  Her lessons are clear and concise as she demonstrates how to turn a blank canvas or piece of paper into something any student could be proud of.  Pausing or rewinding the lesson is very easy, so that you can stop the video and take the time needed to work on your own project before moving on.   We found it super easy to just keep the laptop within arms reach on our kitchen table where each of us could see it easily and hit pause/play as needed.

For our first lesson, the Winter Cabin from the Beginner section, it was just myself and the girls working though the project.  Pastels were a new medium for Ashleigh to play around with and this project was a perfect introduction on using them and we were all very happy with the outcome of our projects.  We did realize we were using the wrong paper for pastels (we were using watercolor paper instead of pastel paper) but even still, everyone's picture came out nice.

Winter Cabin  - Alyssa on top, Mom and Ashleigh's on the bottom.

For our second project, we opted for one of the watercolor lessons as we were waiting on an order for the proper paper for pastels.  For this lesson, Dad decided to join us and the four of us decided to try to Floral Medley together.

We did worry when Mrs Hofer started using pancake watercolors and we had tube style watercolor paints.  But this turned out not to be that big of an issue and is one of the beautiful things about her lessons - Your artwork does not have to look exactly like hers and you can experiment with other media.  Our tube paint worked perfectly fine and as we followed her lessons step by step, we once again came up with some really nice finished projects.

The water color projects do take few days to finish as each step needs time in which to dry, so this project took us a bit of time to complete.

This project also showed us that each of us interpret her instructions differently.  None of our projects looked anything alike but each turned out nice. I was really impressed with Ashleigh's finished project as her flowers reminded me of Hibiscus flowers.  It also showed that regardless of age, anyone can achieve something they would be happy to display.

Floral Medley in Watercolor:     Top - Alyssa and Dad    Bottom - Mom and Ashleigh

For our final project of this review period, everyone agreed they wanted to try the Peaceful Lake which was a lesson in Soft Pastels.  By this time, we had finally gotten the proper paper that we had ordered (they were out of stock when we ordered after the Winter Cabin lesson and we had to wait for it to arrive).  Again, the four of us sat at the table - this time opting to remove our table cloth since we had been warned ahead of time of the dust created by this medium.

Working on the Peaceful Lake project with soft pastels

Soft Pastels indeed turned out to be an extremely messy process and the girls had a lot of fun.  Granted, when all was said and done, both were covered head to toe in colorful streaks (as they decided to rub their smudging fingers on each other's face) but everyone had a great time working together.

My oldest with her project  along with her "War Paint"

Once again, I was very impressed with how everyone's finished project turned out.  Everyone's looked equally wonderful and without our signitures on our artwork, it would be hard to distinguish which one was done by an 8 year old and which one was done by a 41 year old. 

Peaceful Lake in Soft Pastel :  Top - Mom and Ashleigh   Bottom - Alyssa and Dad

Although, I take that back, it would be pretty easy for someone to figure out which one was my husband's.   

The Peaceful Lake has been invaded by War of the World's Alien Tripods

As a whole, we really enjoyed the Creating a Masterpiece website and the lessons offered and we look forward to continuing to spend family time making some really nice artwork together.  I can easily see how the techniques and tips that we are learning from each lesson can carry over to when we decide to venture beyond the step-by-step lessons and planned projects.

For more information about Creating a Masterpiece (including a free lesson using soft pastels), visit their website. You can also find them on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/createamasterpiece

Wordless Wednesday

Don't you hate it when you have a post typed out and totally forget to publish?  It's been a long week.. haha

Wanted to share a photo of Ashleigh's car racing at the Grand Prix the other weekend..  :)  That Kit Kat bar beat her each time she raced it.. but at least a good time was had by all :)

Circle C Stepping Stones (A Homeschool Crew Review)

For the past few months, I've been pushing Ashleigh to read more "chapter" style books rather than just picture books.  Finding books that sparks her interest, however, is a big difficult, as there are not a whole lot of books that focus on things like rats geared for girls.  When we were given the opportunity to read and review two new books from author Susan K. Marlow's Circle C Stepping Stones series published by Kregel Publications, I jumped at the chance to add a few more books to our reading library that might peak Ashleigh's interest.

For the purpose of this review, we were given the two books "Andi Saddles Up" and "Andi Under the Big Top", books 1 and 2 from six book set Circle C Stepping Stones series.

About the Circle C series

Written by Susan K Marlow, the Circle C series of books offers 4 graduated levels of books starting with the Beginning series for young readers around 6-9 years of age, progressing though the Stepping Stones series (7-10 years), continuing with the Adventures series (9-13) and ending with the Milestones series (13+). Each series follows the story of a girl named Andrea (Andi) as she tackles age appropriate challenges and struggles while teaching the reader valuable lessons at a level appropriate for their understanding.  Books in the first two series also includes beautiful illustrations by Leslie Gammelgaard that help to bring the story to life.

Andi Saddles Up
Circle C Stepping Stones #1
Juvenile Fiction/Historical
ISBN : 978-0-8254-4430-2

Andi is celebrating her 9th birthday, her palomino Taffy has just turned three and now both are old enough to start their journey together as horse and rider.  But all the excitement is dampered when a land dispute comes barging in the front door.  In this book, Andi learned important lessons about friendship, obedience and compromise.









Andi Under the Big Top
Circle C Stepping Stones #2
Juvenile Fiction/Historical
ISBN: 978-0-8254-4431-9

Andi is excited about getting to attend the Circus that has come to town and seeing the famous bare back rider perform. But when she meets a young runaway boy who works with the Big Top, Andi quickly learned that what she thought would be an exciting life is not all it appears to be. In this book, Andi learns about secrets, gratitude, trusting God and helping others.

What We Thought

I enjoy proving Ashleigh with various books for her "free reading" time each day and these books fit the bill perfectly for her.  What little girl doesn't dream about owning a horse of her own and being able to ride, fish and make new friends to explore with?   So Andi and Taffy provided a perfect escape for her when it came time to curl up on the couch with a book.

Each of these books were just over 100 pages and we found them to be at a perfect chapter size for Ashleigh to handle at her age.

One thing I did like is that the book included a few extras such as a glossary of new words with definitions that Ashleigh might be unfamiliar with, as well as extra information at the end such as a brief summary of the Sheep and Cattle Wars, which helped explain the conflict in the story a bit more. Also, a page directs readers to the author's website where they can download activities and coloring pages that tie in with the books.

While I do admit we did not use the activity pages (as I

One of the Activity Pages Available

wanted Ashleigh to read during her free time and didn't want to make it more "school time" for her), I did look over these pages to see if they would be something I could use later and was very pleased with what I saw.  The activities include comprehension questions, math word problems, vocabulary practice, and other activities that could easily be used to turn these reads into a comprehensive short unit study.   The coloring pages are larger reproductions of the illustrations included in the book.  Ashleigh really enjoyed getting out her map colors and coloring these.

Probably the thing I enjoyed most about these books is that it gave me a good platform to talk to Ashleigh about some of the troubles Andi experiences and to discuss character values explored in the story.  For example, in one of the books, Andi does something rebellious after being told not to by her older brother and knowing that her mother would not approve either. As a result of these actions, she gets hurt.  It gave us a great opportunity to talk about why parents often tell a child not to do something, not because they are mean and don't want the child to have fun, but because we understand that they are not ready to do that activity and could get hurt trying to do it without learning how to do it first.  It also allowed us to talk about what our conscience is and how it's God warning us about the situation. These types of learning situations are found within both books that we read in this series and the results of these actions provided for a great discussion of cause and effect based on the Andi's actions.  While the character might live in 1877 and the situations themselves do not apply to the lives of children today, they are presented in such a way to easily lend to a discussion as to how similar choices or actions might be presented in today's everyday life.  Discussions about family values and character traits can easily be taken from the text and discussed in such a way to make children recognize those same values and traits in their own family life and in the decisions they make each day.

Overall, I found these books to be age appropriate for Ashleigh, with a good story behind each book, and with wholesome values and lessons that are important for her to learn without any questionable content that is often found even in children's books today.

For more information about Susan K Marlow's Circle C series of books, be sure to visit her website or one of the following social media links below:

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