Wordless Wednesday

May is almost upon us and for my Senior girl, that means Graduation is only weeks away. But first, that means PROM is right around the corner.

As an early graduation present, my husband and I gifted Alyssa with a new formal dress to wear to her prom.  We're a military household which means that formal dresses are a bit different that in some other households - many dresses today are low cut, backless, strapless, and have slits up the thighs. However, rules of etiquette in the military community say that a formal dress can have one of these things, but not all of them.  We abide by these rules (honestly, we LIKE these rules) and so when shopping for a dress for our daughter, we opted for a strapless dress with full coverage in the front, back and sides.

Alyssa loved it and it was a wonderful surprise for her as she thought she was going to wear one of her older dresses.

SpeedyPrep (A Homeschool Crew Review)

Most of the reviews that I do for the Review Crew are taken with the kids in mind.  When I decide if I want to try an item in my home, I consider if it's a good fit for my two youngest kids. Sometimes, I take in consideration if it's an item my oldest daughter can use, even thought she attends public schools.  However, when I was given the opportunity to review SpeedyPrep, it wasn't my kids I had in. mind but my husband. For the last few weeks, Charles has been studying to take the Natural Science CLEP test using SpeedyPrep's CLEP Study Course.

For those unaware of what the CLEP, it stands for College Level Examination Program. Administered by the College Board, the CLEP is a series of standardize tests that allow students to earn college credits without taking classes by showing proficiency in those courses.   By taking and passing the CLEP, students can save much time and money from not having to pay tuition and take those classes in a classroom setting.

Most often, CLEP tests are taken by current college students pursuing their college degrees. However, there are many occupations that require their employees to continue their education in order for advancement in their career field.  One such employer is the United States Air Force, which my husband is a proud member of.  As he advances in rank to a Senior Non-Commissioned Officer, he is expected to work on and eventually obtain a college level degree. Luckily, the Air Force has it's own college (The Community College of the Air Force) that awards over 22,000 Associate Level Degrees in Applied Sciences in more than 65 degree programs.  To help their Airmen further, the Education Office allows service members to CLEP many of the required classes.  Even better, the first attempt at each test is offered to service members for free - saving members the $80/per test price tag.  

Because my husband is at the current stage of his career where he needs to begin taking classes or taking CLEP tests for credit, I was pretty excited for him to have access to this valuable service offered by SpeedyPrep.  Charles has been out of high school since 2005 and being able to have the proper study materials would help him in having the best chance at passing the CLEP tests that he needs. 

About SpeedyPrep

The SpeedyPrep service is an online website that prepares you for the CLEP exam. Their materials meet the College Board perimeters set for each subject that most colleges accept CLEP testing for. Passing the CLEP the first time is guaranteed if a student takes the CLEP test after first achieving a 90-100% score on the SpeedyPrep study sessions.  It is advised that students using SpeedyPrep have at least completed the high school equivalent of the subject being studied before attempting to use SpeedyPrep.

SpeedyPrep works well on most website browsers but we were not able to load it on the Opera browser. I had no issues getting it to work well on Chrome, Microsoft Edge, and Firefox.  SpeedyPrep is completely online and runs from the website - internet access is necessary to access the website and nothing is downloaded to the computer.

SpeedyPrep is easy to use. Upon logging in, you are presented with a list of the  CLEP courses available for study such as Literature, Spanish, Natural Science and Government.

Each course gives you the option of viewing an introduction to the course that gives a breakdown of what will be studied and how much weight that particular aspect of the course weighs on the CLEP exam.

A second option allows the student to review videos that are used during the study sessions that explain and teach the material covered in the course. (Note: These videos are NOT the program and just watching the videos without working through the study material will not prepare you for the CLEP test).

Once a course of study is selected, the student is given a list of specific topics that are covered within that topic.  Students can select which of these options they wish to study during their session or they can select all of the options. Once selections are made, you then begin the actual study session.

During the study session, you are given a series of questions.  While the CLEP tests are given with multiple choice answers, SpeedyPrep instead uses a fill-in-the-blank format that they refer to as a "flashcard" system which requires the student to come up with the answer from what they have learned.  The understanding is if you can recall the answer and write it in, then you will easily be able to recognize the correct answer when taking the actual CLEP exam.

Once the answer is submitted, SpeedyPrep will then immediately let you know if your answer is correct or not and then provide study materials to read.

Some of the answers also gives the student access to one of the videos that correlates with the topic. For example, when given a question in regards to Angiosperms, a video option was given that explains Angiosperms and their traits.  By watching the video and retaining the information provided, students will then be able to answer the previous question as well as other questions in relation to Angiosperms.

After going through the questions, students are then given a percentage as to how they scored on the questions.  This helps to give a good indicator as to how the student would score if taking the actual CLEP exam.  By working through the questions and actually reading the study material provided and watching the videos, students should be able to increase the score until they are above a passing percentage.  At that point, students should be able to pass the CLEP test of that subject.

How We Used It

My husband has been working through the Natural Science course in preparation of taking the Natural Science CLEP for his Associates degree. I will admit, he hasn't used it as much as we would both like - being military, he recently tested for promotion during the same time he's been using SpeedyPrep and had to dedicate much time at studying for that test. Because of that, he's only in the last couple of weeks been able to focus on studying for the CLEP that he hopes to take in June.

During his second session at answering the flashcards on SpeedyPrep, he realized exactly how little he remembered from his high school years. I say the second, because his first session was answering Astronomy questions, something he is very involved with as a hobby.  He did really well with the Astronomy questions and it gave him a bit of overconfidence when he went into the second session of study. He didn't do very well - I think he scored 32% on that second session.  However, he read through the material and when he repeated that section of the course, he scored much higher.  SpeedyPrep keeps a record of how well you have done during each session, both in percentages as well as how many questions were answered correctly, making it easy to gauge your progress.

Charles is very meticulous when it comes to studying. He likes to concentrate on one particular aspect until he feels he has a good grasp on the material. What works best for him is to study for a few days, then take a break from the material and then return to it to see how much he has retained from the study session.   His first main focus was the section on Electricity and Magnetism. For his first study session with the program, he scored pretty low overall. After reviewing the study material given after his incorrect answers, he then returned to the questions and tried again, scoring much higher. He again studied the material for the answers he got incorrect.  After taking a break from the material, he returned to that section to try again, that time getting all the answers correct.  From there he has moved on to Heat, Thermodynamics, and States of Matter Part 1. He'll likely work through the entire Natural Science section using the same technique.

Here's what Charles had to say about using SpeedyPrep:

"I was a bit skeptical about the fill in the blank format because I had never used that format before, but after using it, I feel like I am able to store and recall the information better and I am able to recall the information much better when I return to the study sessions. Since it's all online and there's nothing to download to a computer, I am able to access the website from computers at my work to work through questions during downtime as well as from home. The website is easy to navigate, I am able to go back and look at past study sessions and trends in my performance. From what I have seen, I feel very confident that as long as I put the work into studying, I should be able to pass the CLEP exam without any problems.  Of course, the biggest proof if the program works will be whether or not I do pass the CLEP exam when I take it, which will be a great indicator that the program works as promised. "

Another Airmen in my husband's unit is also currently studying for his Natural Science CLEP, using the typical study guide that can be purchased at most book stores.  My husband had the opportunity to flip through this study guide to compare it to the questions and information that he's studied using SpeedyPrep and found that the questions are almost exact. However, unlike SpeedyPrep, there is no immediate feed back when a question is missed and there are no videos explaining and teaching the information so that retention is achieved.

My husband is aiming to take his first CLEP in early June and I have no doubt that this program will be the key to him passing it his first time around.  He's also hoping to knock out at least two more tests before our 6 month subscription is over with.  After that, I can easily see us continuing our subscription with SpeedyPrep as he knocks out the other tests necessary for his Associates degree.

For more information about SpeedyPrep, be sure to check out their website or visit one of their social media sites:

Twitter:  www.twitter.com/speedyprep   @speedyprep

Facebook:  www.facebook.com/speedyprep

Readers in Residence (A Homeschool Crew Review)

When it comes to trusting homeschool curriculum to be aligned with Biblical truths, there's one company that instantly comes to mind- Apologia Educational Ministries.  Most homeschool families who wish to teach a spiritual based science curriculum are familiar with the line of Apologia Science offerings, but what many may not be aware of is that Apologia also offers curriculum in the line of Language Arts.  For the past few weeks, Ashleigh has been working through Readers in Residence Volume 1 (Sleuth), a reading comprehension curriculum for grades 4 and up.

For the purpose of this review, we were given the two book full set which includes:

Readers in Residence Volume 1 (Sleuth) Student Text and Workbook 
This 562 page, full color, spiral bound text includes both student lessons as well as all activities and work required. Targeted Grade Level: 4-6 (but could used with struggling readers at higher grades)

Readers in Residence Volume 1 (Sleuth) Answer Key Book 
This softbound answer key book contains all the answers for the activities and questions found in the Student Text and Workbook.

This two book set can be purchased together from the Apologia website for $89 .



About Readers in Residence 

Written by Debra Bell, Readers in Residence Volume 1 (Sleuth) is a one year Language Arts curriculum that focuses on helping students develop the tools necessary to read "beyond the lines" in order to comprehend the story they are reading beyond just face value.  Sleuth is the first offering in the Readers In Residence series: other books in the series will be released in the future.

Readers in Residence guides students as they read through various genres of fictional books. Genres include Historical Fiction, Animal Fantasy, and Contemporary Realistic Fiction as students read through novels such as Sarah, Plain and Tall, Charlotte's Web and Because of Winn Dixie.  (Books must be acquired separately and are not included with the set).  While reading each book selection, students also read lessons in the text about things such as plot, setting, context, personification, metaphors and similes and hyperbole.

Activities in the workbook focus on skills like recognizing the characters and recognizing "clues" that the author uses to help you understand each character better, learning to make inferences based on what the author has written, discovering the meaning of unknown words based on the context in which they are written, and understanding the accepted conventions authors use when writing. Students also learn the skills necessary to recognize literary elements that authors use and understand their intent in writing a particular story.

Vocabulary Building and Learning How To Use a Dictionary

Also included are lessons entitled "Sowing Seeds" which focus on important lessons that can be learned from the text that can be used in the student's everyday life and pairing them with scripture from the Bible to reiterate how these are behaviors that God wants from us.

How We Used It

While Readers in Residence  is aimed at Grades 4 and up,  I decided to use this program with Ashleigh to help push her beyond her comfort zone when it comes to reading.  While we consider Ashleigh a 3rd grader on paper, she does excel beyond her grade level in Language Arts and Reading and I felt this might be a great option to help accelerate her beyond where we currently are with her.   After researching the Readers in Residence program, including downloading the sample pages available on the Apologia website,  I felt that the workload and reading level would be perfect for her.

Deep Concentration 

This is a program that older students could easily do independently as it's easy to follow and stay on track as students work through the text. There is a schedule provided in the beginning of the workbook which gives suggestions to how much work should be completed daily and students are able to check off each assignment as it is completed.  Since Ashleigh is a bit younger than the intended targeted age group, we did lessons together rather than have her complete them independently.  Typically, I would read the lessons aloud to her, she would read the required chapter of the novel to me and together we would read and discuss the questions and work through the daily activities.  This worked well for the both of us, allowing Ashleigh to work on her reading but also avoiding being overwhelmed.

Currently, we are working through the book Sarah, Plain and Tall which is a book we have not read
before. After Ashleigh reads through each chapter of the book, she returns to the workbook to complete the activities that coincide with the chapter.  We found that the suggested schedule seems to fit well with what she can handle each day and the activities, while challenging for her, are not too complicated for her. The text does a great job at breaking down each concept into terms she can understand easily and require very little extra explanation from me as the teacher.

One of my biggest gripes about workbooks for the kids is that there never seems to be enough writing space for them, as they tend to write letters bigger that the lines typically accommodate. Because of this, Ashleigh (and Garrett as well) tend to get extremely frustrated when doing work out of a preprinted workbook.   I do not have this gripe with this workbook.  Each question provides enough lines and plenty of space between each line  for Ashleigh to write her answers, which really cuts down on her frustration.

Loads of Writing Space Means Less Frustration for Younger Writers

Overall, I'm really impressed with Readers in Residence Volume 1 (Sleuth) and it has been a perfect fit for Ashleigh.  First, I am grateful that the books included are popular books currently in print and are not more obscure texts that are harder to find.  Paperback copies are easily acquired online or at a brick and mortar book store. They can also easily be found at any public library.  Second, the workbook text and questions are at the perfect level for my advanced 3rd grader.  I also like that the answer key is separate from the student text/workbook, meaning that I don't have to worry about Ashleigh simply copying the answers from the back of the book.  I like that the material breaks down the concepts into understandable text that young students can understand.  I like that this material is challenging enough for Ashleigh without being over her head.  It pushes her just enough without overwhelming her.  We've had no tears in the four weeks we have been using this curriculum, which is always a plus, and she's actually enjoyed the reading as well as the book work.

To learn more about Readers in Residence Volume 1 (Sleuth) and Apologia Educational Ministries, be sure to visit their website or one of their social media sites:

Facebook:  www.facebook.com/apologiaworld

Instagram:  www.instagram.com/apologiaworld   @apologiaworld

Twitter: www.twitter.com/apologiaworld   @apologiaworld

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/apologia/

Wordless Wednesday

Now that the days are longer and we have more sunlight, we get a bit of light from the stained glass windows at the chapel.  They're pretty simple, but I really enjoy just looking at them and the feeling of peace that comes over me when the sunlight shines through them.  Garrett also loves them and spends most of the time in the chapel examining them.. LOL 

Wordless Wednesday

It's hard to believe that my daughter will be graduating from high school in less than 60 days.  She only has 37 more school days left and then it will be over, she will walk across the stage, shake the principals hand and be handed a diploma..

It became more real this week, when she brought home her box of formal invitations along with her cap and gown, tassel and thank you cards.

Shepherd, Potter, Spy--and the Star Namer (A Homeschool Crew Review)

Imagine living  during the time immediately following the Exodus and the time of Joshua, when the Hebrews are waiting to enter the promise land but are currently living in exile.  Imagine still being a young shepherd boy, unsure about the outcome of the invading people who want to claim your homeland as their own and saying the land is their's by their God's decree, and watching the entire story unfold before your eyes.

For the last few weeks, I've been digging through the pages of the book Shepherd, Potter, Spy--and the Star Namer by Peggy Consolver - Author.  This is a 375 page book published by Carpenter's Son Publishing brings the above scenario to life vividly.

About Peggy Consolver

First, I have to say, my hats are off to the author as she annually reads through the entire Bible each and every year.  I'm 41 years old and have only completed this feat once and it took me a bit longer than a full year.  She also has taught Sunday school for 35 years, so it's safe to say that she has a pretty extensive knowledge in regards to scripture.  Using the books of Joshua, Genesis and Psalms, she was able to take that knowledge in regards to the Gibeonites and weave together the novel Shepherd, Potter, Spy--and the Star Namer.  On top of that, she's also visited Gibeon in the Palestinian West bank and has participated on an archaeological dig.  In all honestly, I'm really in awe with the author and the wonderful experiences she has had.

About the Book

This book follows the story of Keshub, a 13 year old Caaninite shepherd who lives a pretty mundane

and boring life, guarding his family's sheep in 1407 BC.  He longs for adventure and dreams of experiencing some of the journeys that he hears about form the passing traveling caravans who pass his flocks on their way to much more exciting destinations than the green grass hills he lives. And he also longs for the time when he will no longer be bullied and tormented but instead can be a warrior and hero.   But all that changes when he rescues the son of the Amorite king.  Suddenly Keshub finds himself in a precarious position, playing the role of a spy for the Gibeons as the Hebrews begin their conquest to pursue the Promised Land.  Through it all, Keshub and the Gibeons debate the truth of the God if the Hebrews might be the God of their own ancestors.

The author describes this book as "a Bible Study disguised as a novel" and I can definitely understand this to be true as she invites you to return to the Scriptures to read it for yourself and approach it as more than just "a dusty old book of theology".  Readers are also invites to dig out Biblical maps to locate places of importance as the story takes place.  Consolver brings Biblical history to life with attention to the smallest of details which comes from her knowledge of the time period as well as the area, using her experience to get the facts accurate and creating a truly immersive Biblical experience far beyond just a book of fiction based on Biblical evenst.  After the story, she also includes a page of 10 discussion questions for small groups.

Also available from the author's website is a 12 unit study guide that allows teachers and students to dig even digger into the life of the time period.  From learning about the Gezer Calendar (an agricultural calendar of events), learning to tie a tripod lashing or videos on bow making, these quick lessons teach about skills and locations that would have been very important to a young boy responsible for keeping his flocks safe or to understand how worship has changed over the years.

In addition to the free unit study available on the author's website, a more lengthy and in depth study guide is available for purchase ($2.99 in Ebook format and $12.99 for a physical copy at time of writing) which includes discussion questions, research topics, geographical mapwork, Scripture reading and craft projects to be completed while reading the book. Digging Deeper into HIStory is available for purchase on Amazon.

To learn more about Shepherd, Potter, Spy--and the Star Namer and Peggy Consolver, visit the website or on facebook at https://www.facebook.com/peggy.consolver

Beauty and the Beast

Yesterday, we decided to have a family day and take the kids out to see a movie and enjoy a nice dinner. 

 This had been in the works for a while now, since we heard that the Beauty and the Beast live action was being released. Since the 1991 Beauty and the Beast, to this day, remains my favorite Disney animations of all time, I was pretty hyped about this release. 

 And then the director opened his big mouth.

 I'm sure many of you heard about it. Bill Condon, just days before the release of the film, stood up on the highest rooftop and crowed loudly in regards to a "delicious gay moment" that would be in the film. We heard all about the "first openly gay character" in a Disney film.  Condon is quoted in saying“And that’s what has its pay-off at the end, which I don’t want to give away. But it is a nice, exclusively gay moment in a Disney movie.” 

The backlash of this interview Condon did was felt around the world, literally, with countries like Malaysia banning the movie.  Parents were quick to say that they were no longer going to take their children to see the movie because they didn't want to expose their children to it.  I was upset myself, especially after reading many of the hints that Condon gave in regards to what the "gay moment" would be.  LeFou (which means The Fool) was not gay in the 1991 animation, he was simply a society reject who idolized Gaston and worshiped the ground he walked on in order to be part of the "in crowd" - to be friends with the popular guy. 

 After much internal debate and after reading various reviews of people who had seen the movie in private screenings prior to the release, I made the decision to go ahead with our original plans and take the kids.  

Yes, the live LeFou (played by Josh Gad, who also voiced Olaf in the Frozen franchise) is flamboyant. Yes, there are many insinuations that he's probably gay in the movie.  But, it's not "in your face".  There is not absolute "delicious gay moment" as Condon says there would be, and in all honestly, there's no true "first openly gay character"..  One can watch the film and make the decision that LeFou is gay, but there's never any one moment or one line that announces the character's definite sexuality or preference.

There are three scenes that Condon MAY have been referring to.  One is during the "Gaston" song, at the end LeFou plops down on the arm of the chair where Gaston is sitting and reclines back close to Gaston and then he says "Too close?" to which Gaston replies "Yes, too close".  The second is during the fight at the castle, with the wardrobe dressing three men in woman's garments (this occurred in the original animation but it was only one character).  Two men run away in fright while the third smiles, winks and saunters off like he's comfortable in the attire. The final moment is during the final dance scene, LeFou and another man bump into each other during the dance and then dance together.  None of these scenes are bothersome and are very quick, minor things that happen in the movie.  If these three brief images are something you would find offensive, so be it. I didn't find them offensive, in my honest opinion and I doubt small children would notice anything amiss.  

My honestly opinion in regards to the whole "exclusively gay moment" comment from Condron was nothing more than a ploy to bring more attention to a movie that already had loads of attention, maybe in the hopes to increase those from the LGBT community who might not otherwise go watch a Disney movie in theaters. However, for all the hype, it seems Condron should have just kept his mouth shut.  While the movie has done well in the box office, it would probably have done much better without the  unnecessary controversy that in the scheme of things kept many who were originally wanting to spend their money from the theater because the director made a mountain out of a molehill. 

So, what about the actual movie, beyond the "gay moment" that was really overhyped?  

I ended up having a love/hate relationship with this movie.  Visually, this movie is breathtaking.  The recreation of the

castle, the village and the Beast himself are all amazing. Casting seemed spot on as far as trying to recreate the characters and to be true to the original. Yes, Luke Evans isn't the muscular meathead that Gaston was but he does a great job at bringing the character to life and he's just as shallow as his animated counterpart. (Although this Gaston does have an even more sinister side to him that we didn't see in the original).. LeFou is flamboyant but Gad's version brings a bit more intellect to the table, fighting an internal debate as he realizes that Gaston isn't the hero he thought - a new line added to the "Kill the Beast" song even has LeFou stating that there's a monster lose but it's not the monster everyone thinks.  We see an internal debate with LeFou as he decides which side to be on and a change of heart in LeFou, making for a great lesson about hero worship that wasn't available in the original 91 classic.  Maurice isn't the eccentric father he was in the animated version but instead shines as a loving father who sacrificed so much in order to provide a life for his daughter and Kevin Kline shines in this part.

And of course, there's Belle and the Beast.  

Emma Watson had some huge shoes to fill and her vocals will never be Paige O'Hara and the weakness in this movie is that her voice isn't strong.  Singing, she's pretty weak and with the extremely loud soundtrack that accompanies each song, this is very apparent.  Beyond that, her acting was great, she was believable as the character and I won't begrudge her too much the singing performances.  After seeing the movie, I can't say I could see anyone else in the role.  The movie does go a bit more into the backstory of Belle (and Maurice), answering the question as to what happened to Belle's mother, some of the struggles that Belle faces living in a "poor provincial" town and what exactly she means by " I want so much more than they've got planned".   



But everyone loves the Beast and this movie just re-establishes that for a whole new generation.  Both my kids walked out of the theater stating Beast was their favorite and it brought a tear to my eye remembering my 15 year old self also loving the Beast the first time I saw it.  The CGI effects to bring Beast to life are amazing, right down to the piercing blue eyes that let you see into his soul. I loved that Dan Steven's voice is altered to resemble the original, reminiscent of Robbie Benson's performance.   Like Belle, we see more of Beast's backstory, a selfish pompous Prince who cared only for himself and was punished for his arrogance.  This movie eliminates the questions in regards to the 10 year old child who just didn't let a stranger into the house but instead alters the timeline to a man old enough to make decisions on his own, old enough to be accountable for his actions and misdeeds and old enough to change. Beast in the classic couldn't read and is taught by Belle - Beast in the new movie is well educated and well versed in Shakespeare and the story of Lancelot and Guinevere. We also see a bit of his childhood and why he is the way that he is.  

However, I did have issue with one major thing lacking in this movie.  Where are the birds??  One of the most memorable moments in the original was when Belle and Beast are feeding the birds but they are scared of the Beast and we see his disappointment when the birds do not respond to his trying to "force" them to eat from his hand.  Belle uses that opportunity to show him how gentleness goes a long way and then we see Beast covered in birds, completely bewildered.  This scene was left out, which left me disappointed.  Yeah, that's nitpicking, I know, but I thought that was a pretty pivotal part of the original, as minor of an instance it was. 

I will admit, I didn't like a few of the new songs.  The two exceptions to this being "How Does a Moment Last Forever" performed by Kevin Kline and "Evermore" performed by Dan Stevens.  These two songs stand out from the rest of the soundtrack (even over the original songs)- though I wish that the score that accompanied "Evermore" would have been slightly lowered to really allow for Steven's voice to shine.  Other new songs, such as "Days in the Sun" (which replaced "Human Again"), and "Aria" fell flat for me and I could have done without.  "Be Our Guest", "Kill the Beast" and "Gaston" do well to pay tribute to the originals, although each have new verses that were not included in the original.

The other thing I didn't like was the new version of Cogsworth.  Ian McKellan does a fine job as the voice of the clock, but I think the animators dropped the ball on the design of the character.  To me he just seemed muddled looking and really not resembling any clock I've ever seen. He looked like a thrown together pile of junk, which is disappointing.  I did, however, like the new look of Lumiere, although Jerry Orbach will always be the voice of the candleholder for me ;)   I thought Emma Thompson did a great job as Mrs Potts, at times even reminiscent of Angela Lansbury's performance. And the new characters were a nice addition - although the spunky dresser has somehow developed narcolepsy. 

Overall, I liked the movie and I will purchase it on DVD once it comes out... I felt comfortable allowing my children to see it and didn't take issue with any of the content that was included... I wished at times that the scores that accompanied the musical numbers would have been dampened just a bit as it's hard to actually hear the singers themselves, but this seems to be the current trend in all movies, not just this one.  Go into this one knowing Emma Watson is no Paige O'Hara and you shouldn't be disappointed.

I just wish they would have included the scene with the birds....