A Net in Time

Curriculum and book reviews, faith, homeschooling and more!

Contest

We Choose Virtues

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We Choose Virtues is a company that makes a quality product. They focus on providing materials that help parents/teachers teach their children virtues.

The Crafty Classroom is hosting a giveway of their products, and give an extra entry for blogging about it, so here I am. 🙂

I have to admit to having mixed feelings about a curriculum that teaches virtues.

On one hand I see it as a helpful tool for people to use to teach character to their children.

BUT on the other hand… with good biblical training doesn’t one teach these character traits as one lives life?

So it’s a mixed bag for me. The helpfulness on the one hand in promoting vs the taking away from the parental responsibility to simply train as one lives life. It seems schoolish to me. As in the public school actually have built curriculums to teach character in the school system because so many parents are working and abdicating some of their responsibilities in this regard.

I don’t tend to see homeschooling parents doing this. We’re with our children mostly all the time so it’s hard for us to let that sort of thing slip.

But on the other hand… it is an aid. And should aids be shunned? or merely carefully examined?

A mixed bag. I haven’t made up my mind.

What do you all think?

Hands of A Child Contest

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Hands of a Child is eagerly anticipating the release of their 400th Project Pack, and when they do, they will be celebrating with a HUGE 400th Project Pack Celebration!

How can one of my blog readers win a free Project Pack Bundle from In the Hands of a Child?

I am telling you readers to keep an eye on their website (and be sure to sign up for their newsletter) for more information about their HUGE 400th Project Pack Celebration.

Go over there, create a wishlist of your top 5 titles from In the Hands of a Child Project Packs and post your list back here. Then I get to choose one response at random, and that reader will receive a free bundle pack** from In the Hands of a Child! Isn’t that cool or what!

In the Hands of a Child offers a no-strings attached free unit study every six months. Anyone can get it. You just go here, click on the link and voila. One new study for your perusal and use.

Hands of a Child sent me this

Are you new to In the Hands of a Child and want to see what all the fuss is about? We can help! YOU can have a free Project Pack from In the Hands of a Child. We would like to offer you a Christmas Around the World Ebook Project Pack to review.

Just so you know

**Free bundle packs include a printed Project Pack, Kit Pack, and Answer Key
(when available) which will be mailed to your winner when the drawing is
completed. This is a $40 value with EVERYTHING covered by us, including
shipping!

Creation Camouflage – DNG Review and Contest

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Ah…animal lovers…here we come. DownLoadNGo has a unit study/lap book on Critters and how they hide. 🙂 Creation Camouflage available now. 🙂 Creation Camouflage was the review of the week for DownLoadNGo. Given that it is the Christmas Season, we had five days of an incredible amount of snow falling with needing the help clear it, we only brouched two days of this study. Day one and day four. All told we got about four feet of snow, which compacted down to 2-3 feet. It was heavy sloughing for a while. Download N Go studies are 5 day – complete unit studies. All you have to do is “download n Go”. There is no prep work needed!! They have lap book elements so it’s easy to turn your work into a lap book. Lots of graphics, lots of links, lots of information, and a really good book list which you can use or not.

Each day has a particular focus.

Day 1: Hiding in Plain Sight
Day 2: Getting to Know the Rain Forest
Day 3: What Is in the Desert?
Day 4: Hiding in the Ocean
Day 5: Cool Things About the Tundra

My lad was absolutely fascinated to learn that hunters and the hunted can use the same way to hide! Tigers can use stripes so what they are looking forward can’t see them, and at the same time what they are looking using stripes so they can’t be seen! Absolutely amazing for him to learn this. Having a bunny with a white coat on white snow was a good way for the bunny to hide…but I can still see him mommy. Showing him a brown bunny on snow made it really clear to him which one was easier to see. For a boy who likes bunnies and cats VERY much this section really worked for him.
🙂 I was able to remind the lad how we found the Cicada shell on the bike in the backyard and on the tree bark and which ones were easier to see, and how we found one still alive that had just crawled out and how it was able to cling to the bark and when we were farther away from it how hard it was to see it.

And how can one hide in the ocean? “It’s just water mommy.” He learned that in the ocean there is much more than water. There are plants and rocks and coral…. and all the fish can use those things to hide in. Learning about how a squid hides was hard for him to really get a grasp on until we played a computer game called Animal Genius from Scholastic. On that is a game where the octopus has to hide from a fish by using his ink! That was FUNNY and it worked “HE GOT AWAY MOMMY!”. was hollered with great excitement!
What my lad likes about these studies is he has lots of opportunities to draw things. He doesn’t always like what he’s asked to draw, but often he can encouraged to do so, or we find a new way to do things (aka can you trace over top of this drawing?). I love the fact that there are so many links included that finding different ways of doing an exercise isn’t very difficult at all.

Creation Camouflage will be on sale from Dec 13-18 for $5.95 at DownLoadNGo.
You can read other reviews here. And did you know that DownLoadNGo has a blog? Yep, you can find it right here. 🙂 Catch all the latest news.

Oh and Guess What? I’ve been allowed to offer up ONE copy of this study for you! Isn’t that cool? Leave me a comment by December 23rd with your favourite camouflaging animal. Tell me what makes the animal interesting. 🙂

There’s a contest up at DownLoadNGo...but I think it may be over by the time I get this posted. 🙁 Sorry about that.

As part of the DownLoadNGo Review Team I received a copy of for my free and honest review. I liked it and hope to finish it in the new year with my eager animal lover son.

Contest time folks! From AOP!

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This was sent to my inbox, seems to open to anyone willing to be part of their email list, they don’t overburden folks with things either, so go ahead an enter if you like AOP materials.

Here’s your opportunity to win this year’s Ginormous Homeschool Giveaway at Alpha Omega Publications! From now until February 28, 2011, enter for your shot at $500 in free curriculum, as well as other awards like a complete Monarch™ 5-subject set, a 3-session tutoring package, and a complimentary copy of the uplifting and encouraging Daily Focus® devotional book. Plus, just for entering this year’s drawing, you’ll also receive a fantastic discount offer on AOP’s award-winning homeschool products and resources.

Don’t miss this one-of-a-kind opportunity to get outstanding curriculum and products for your homeschooling family. It’s easy to participate. Simply click ENTER NOW below and fill in your information. Entrants must be at least 18, and there is a limit of one entry per household. For more details, check out AOP’s contest rules when you enter and remember that no purchase is necessary. Don’t delay. Get in on the fun and enter to win today!

ENTER!

Contest Entry

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I’m trying to get the world history course. 🙂

Epikardia has just released their second grade daily lessons curriculum.

For those of you clamoring for Second Grade Daily Lesson Plans – Set I is here! As with all of our Daily Lesson Plans, our Second Grade plans organize the study of history into nine chronological units integrated with:

  • language arts (reading, spelling, vocabulary, literature study, narration, copy work, poetry, simple dictation, etc.)
  • science
  • fine arts (picture, artist and music study)