Reading Eggs

Disclaimer: I received a FREE copy of this product through the HOMESCHOOL REVIEW CREW in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way.

My kids have enjoyed using Reading Eggs from Blake eLearning Inc in the past and were thrilled to be able to review it again. We've tried many online learning sites over the years, but this has always been their favorite.

Reading Eggs is an online program that teaches kids to read in a fun, engaging way. The program focuses on a core curriculum of skills and strategies by incorporating both activities and games. Because it is an extension of what students learn in school, it encourages sustained reading success and gives students the confidence to read. These quality literacy products are used successfully all over the world.

When you sign into your Reading Eggs account, you'll be taken to your family dashboard. If you have more than one student using it (up to 4), you can choose which profile you want from there. The dashboard also gives important stats like the student's estimated reading level, how many phonics skills and sight words he knows, his progress, how many books he's read, quizzes, lessons, and more. You can easily change between students and the various other programs and levels included in a subscription (Junior, Eggspress, Fast Phonics, and Mathseeds) by clicking the images on the dashboard.

The lessons, which are designed for ages 3-7, are divided into maps with the first one being for absolute beginning readers and the last one is geared to help early readers gain confidence. Your child should take the placement test so the program can determine where he needs to work.

The lessons are animated and incorporate a variety of options for teaching. There are songs, books, videos, and many games. The games--which teach letters, blending, word families and more,--include things like adding hair to monsters, squirting sauce on eggs, catching frogs on lily pads, hopping penguins to blocks of ice, adding stamps to letters, and so much more. These silly games keep my kiddos interested in learning.

Most of my kids are strong readers now, so I am thankful for the other programs that are offered, such as Reading Eggpress for ages 7-13 and Mathseeds for ages 3-9. Each program utilizes the same philosophy for teaching in an age-appropriate format.

A new learning option is the Fast Phonics section. This world, set in snow-capped mountains and surrounded by yetis, helps early elementary students or those older who might be struggling with reading to fully grasp phonics. This program includes powerful visual memory aids, colorful decodable books, and systematic phonics instruction as it takes the student through 20 fun-filled levels.

As the students progress through the lessons in the various programs, they earn rewards (golden eggs, acorns, coins, etc. depending on the program) to purchase various items. They can choose clothing for their avatar, furniture for their house, pets, background scenes, trading cards, and more. This is always a favorite with my kids! They love saving their rewards to add to their scenes.

A new variation to the rewards is the addition of monthly themes. Each month there is a whole new set of things that can be purchased based on a particular theme. For instance July was a Medieval theme that included options for a torch sconce, a stone fireplace, a wooden dining table, hanging coat of arms, and more. August was space-themed and offered an astro table and chairs, a hover bed, a Saturn plant, a transporter, and more. There are also costume options for your avatar such as a queen, princess, bard, aliens, and robots. Each reward is limited to that month only for buying, but is kept forever once purchased. My kids are already eyeing some things to buy for this month's party theme.

There really is so much included with a Blake eLearning Inc subscription, and they're adding new features all the time. A couple more new ones are the Mental Minute in the Mathseeds section which builds fact fluency in one-minute drills and the new Android app which allows you to take your learning on the go. There are also tons of online homeschooling resources which include over 500 printable worksheets and lesson plans and emailed progress reports. It's easy to see why the program has won dozens of awards.

We have a relaxed schedule in the summer months and though I don't require a lot of traditional school learning, I had no problems getting my kids to work through the programs. In fact, they often asked me if they could do Reading Eggs. They each have their favorite activities.

"I like bouncing the balls and racing and the yetis. And I like learning my letters."

"I like all of it! My favorite thing is to buy stuff for my guy."

"I like the Driving Test, because it's fun."

"My favorite part is the Library because it has books I can read.

I also like writing for the Story Contest." (And was even shortlisted for the weekly top five stories.)

And then my teenager even told me what he thought of it.

"I don't like Reading Eggs, because my siblings are always hogging the computer."

Ha! He was being sarcastic, but I think that explains just how much my kids enjoy using the program.

If you would like your kids to work through the learning path to strengthen their reading and math skills, you can try a free 30-day trial to Reading Eggs. I must warn you though, your kids might start "hogging the computer," too!

You can connect with Reading Eggs and Blake eLearning Inc on the following social media sites:

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If you'd like to see how other homeschoolers used these programs, you can read more reviews on the Homeschool Review Crew blog.

Literature Study Guides

Disclaimer: I received a FREE copy of this product through the HOMESCHOOL REVIEW CREW in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way.

Our family loves reading. Literature is the foundation of our education, so we always appreciate reviewing products that are based around books. There's something very special about opening a story and getting lost in its pages together as a family.

When we want to take our learning deeper than just simply reading the book, we utilize the help of study guides. These aids enrich the experience and help the reader fully grasp the themes within the pages. One of our favorite companies to use for this purpose is Progeny Press. We've used their products multiple times in the past and were excited to work with them again. This time, we were able to use two of their downloadable resources: A New Coat for Anna Study Guide for elementary and My Side of the Mountain Study Guide for middle school.

Progeny Press is a Christian company owned by Michael and Rebecca Gilleland. It is their mission to "teach our children to think clearly, to understand literature, and to rely on the scripture for truth and values, and enjoy themselves while they do it!" They offer more than 100 study guides for classic, popular, and award-winning books. The guides are designed to help students better understand and enjoy literature by getting them to think through the themes and ideas written in the stories. The study guides are available in three formats: a physical book, a CD with a PDF ebook, and a downloadable PDF file.

The A New Coat for Anna Study Guide is designed for grades K-3. The guide accompanies the book by Harriet Ziefert. A New Coat for Anna is a picture book that is based on a true story. In it, young Anna had outgrown her winter coat. Because of WWII, stores were empty and money was scarce. Anna's mother used her resourcefulness to meet her daughter's needs. Anna learned the art of bartering and the value of hard work as she watched her mother trade her possessions for goods. She learned about sheering sheep, spinning wool to get yarn, using berries to make dye, weaving yarn into cloth, and sewing the bolts into a coat. It is a story of patience, sacrifice, thankfulness, and planning ahead.

The study guide has 30 pages of learning activities. It starts with a synopsis of the book and background information about WWII.  There are a handful of Before-You-Read activities including map work, questions to ask relatives who lived during the war, watching a movie, taking a field trip, and more. The next sections are the As-You-Read activities, Vocabulary, and Looking at the Story exercises. Each portion reviews the story through various means such as short answer, matching, defining, and chart work.

There are Bible verses that complement the lessons in the story in the Dig Deeper sections. The verses are written out in the guide itself, but we chose to pull out our KJV and read directly from the Bible. There are also questions that accompany the verses and reinforce the themes.

The study continues even after the story is finished through the After-You-Read activities. This is our favorite section as it is filled with hands-on learning! There is a recipe for a silver cake (reminds me of my favorite childhood recipe!), a craft idea and template, a writing and art project, and fill-in-the-blank questions which correspond with a word search. The guide ends with suggestions for further reading of other books by the author and those of related interest for the age range. A full answer key is available as a separate download.

My younger boys (ages 5 and 8) completed this study together. We enjoyed reading the story and expounding on the hardships of the war. We took advantage of the editable PDF and filled in the answers together on the computer. The boys learned some new things like how to take clothing measurements, the meaning of various words like garnet and bolt, how to paraphrase, and what the Bible teaches us about patience.

Because we like to learn as a family as much as possible, I chose a second study guide. The My Side of the Mountain Study Guide is for the 5th-8th grade group and has 63 pages. My kids range from preschool-9th grade, but everyone can benefit from spending time together enjoying a good story and hearing rich vocabulary used in context. My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George brings to life the dream of many people--running away from the hustle and bustle of city life and responsibility and living secluded off the land. It follows the story of young Sam as he learns to care for himself by finding what he needs to survive on the mountain. Though the story is fictional in nature, it mentions many factual survival skills such as how to find food in the river and on land, using all parts of an animal for various uses, finding necessary nutrients in foraged food, storing and planning ahead for difficult weather, building a fire, finding shelter, and more.  The story will resonate with anyone who loves the wilderness and adventure.

The guide begins with the same type of sections as the other (synopsis, author and background information, and pre-reading activities), but then suggests reading the entire book before delving into the meat of the study. This format worked well for us as the kids got to simply enjoy the story without stopping to work. There were a few times when we had to go back to review parts of the story where they didn't remember exactly, but that's all part of the process.

This guide for middle school includes vocabulary skills and comprehension questions, but they are more difficult than the elementary level. This guide also has an editable PDF so a student can type the answers directly without having to print it out. Because of that option, a separate file with the answer key is given, so a student does not have access to the answers himself. One way that this level is different is that the Bible verses are not written out, encouraging the learner to grab his Bible to look them up himself. There are a lot of "what do you think," "what does this mean,'' "why or why not" questions. The guide is also broken into sections that correspond with chapters of the book.

Other activities include discussing safety protocols and choosing a family safe word; measuring rooms in your house and calculating square footage; determining flashbacks and foreshadowing in stories; creating a shelter in your home using blankets and furniture; creating a journal and learning to record daily entries; making a wooden slide whistle; learning about skunk spray through videos and articles; following recipes for candied nuts, mock frog soup, and more; making snow dough with common household supplies, and more. There are multiple ideas for research topics, field trips, art ideas, and writing assignments. The study could easily take 8-10 weeks to complete by incorporating many of the learning exercises.

As always, my kids enjoyed these studies from Progeny Press. We had many thoughtful conversations about life of the past and how blessed we are now, about utilizing the resources that God has given us, and being content with what we have. The books were a good reminder that we could live a simpler lifestyle with many fewer possessions and that we take too much for granted. We make family read aloud part of our regular schooling, but it's good to take our learning deeper. I appreciate that these guides incorporate Bible lessons to help kids see a deeper meaning behind the stories.Whenever you can apply a lesson, rather than just hear about it, it's much more likely to make a lasting difference.

We reviewed an elementary guide and a middle school guide, but Progeny Press offers many different study guides ranging from kindergarten all the way through 12th grade and cover many popular books. There truly is something for everyone. If you have older students, make sure to check out the upper level guides, as well. Their resources are greatly enjoyed in our home.

You can connect with Progeny Press on the following social media sites:

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You can read more reviews of these study guides along with additional choices reviewed by my Crewmates on the Homeschool Review Crew blog.

Relating to Seuss

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Yesterday was Dr. Seuss' birthday! Our family looks forward to this day every year. Sometimes we create Seuss-themed crafts, most times we make green eggs and ham, and every time we spend the day in a reading marathon. Seuss published over 60 books, and we own the majority of them. I love his writing style. It's a combination of silly and whimsical with made-up words and animals off-set by deep concepts that are written for the littlest learners to comprehend. 

My kids love reading the Who Was Dr. Seuss? book and sharing details of his life that they've learned. Do you know which book was written because of a bet from his editor? Or which one was in reference to the Cold War? Or do you know which book and character were fashioned after Adolf Hitler? Many of this writings have more meaning than simple rhyming words like hop on pop for early readers. 

Nine years ago, I listed some of our favorite Dr. Seuss books and quotes. I also attributed a story to each of my kiddos. Of course, the kids are older now, and we've also added a couple to our family. It's time to relate a story to each of them again!  

The book I choose for Jake is The Rabbit, the Bear, and the Zinniga-Zanniga. It is a forgotten tale found in The Bippolo Seed and Other Lost Stories. In it, a little rabbit is about to become a big bear's dinner when he uses his quick thinking to outsmart the beast. It starts with a simple missing eyelash and swiftly escalates to a crooked head, a sore throat, a broken backbone, and more. The bear becomes terrified of dying from this missing eyelash ailment and eagerly obeys the rabbit's medical advice, leaving the wily creature free to escape with his life. 

"Unless I think terribly, terribly fast . . . I've got to be smart! Got to think of some trick! And that little old rabbit, he thought mighty quick!"

Jake is my quick-witted, philosopher, clever child. He is able to choose his words to manipulate situations, both to get his way and just for fun. When he tries it with me though, I often remind him that he came by that thinking naturally and can usually anticipate what is swirling around in his head. His mental ingenuity has the ability to frustrate yet impress me at the same time.

Alyssa's book is easily I can Read with My Eyes Shut! She is my bibliophile and is often found deep in a book. In this story, the Cat in the Hat explains just how much you can learn by reading. Bees. Hoses. Anchors. Wishbones. Foo-Foo the Snoo. Ice. Glad. And much more, too. 

And when I keep them open I can read with much more speed. You have to be a speedy reader 'cause there's so, so much to read!

That perfectly describes my girl who reads stacks of books each week.

Anyone who knows my Zachary knows that he is a loving, compassionate child. Thidwick the Big-Hearted Moose is my book for him.  Thidwick is a moose who allowed a tiny Bingle Bug to hitch a ride on his antlers. As he traveled the countryside eating moose moss, more and more creatures took advantage of his hospitality. A spider, many birds, a family of squirrels, a bobcat and turtle, a fox, mice, fleas, and a bear all made their residence in his roomy antlers. The burden was cumbersome and cost him much, yet he continued to show kindness.   

"Of course not!" Smiled Thidwick, the Big-Hearted Moose. "I'm happy my antlers can be of some use. There's room there to spare, and I'm happy to share! Be my guest and I hope that you're comfortable there!"

Just like the moose, Zac lives a life of benevolence. He is always thinking of others and going out of his way to bless people, even when it comes at a cost to him. He is a people-pleaser and a problem-solver whose big heart can be hurt when people take advantage of him, but ultimately is full when he demonstrates his generosity. 

If this would have been a few years ago, I wouldn't hesitate to say that The Cat in the Hat was absolutely Tyler. The antics of the Cat--always getting into mischief, always causing trouble, always doing what he shouldn't and always with a smile--was Tyler as a toddler. I could write a book on the shenanigans he caused, but he has since outgrown that stage. Mostly. 

Instead, I decided on If I Ran the Circus. The book relates Morris McGurk's dream of creating a circus. His plans include acrobats and jugglers and clowns, of course, but also horn-tooting apes, the Remarkable Foon who eats sizzling pebbles that fall off the moon, a Blindfolded Bowman from Brigger-ba-Root, a Jott who juggles 22 question marks and 44 commas and 1 dot, a Flummox, a Harp-Twanging Snarp, and 5 layers of To-an-Fro Marchers. Page after page, the Circus McGurkus gets bigger and better with "wild ruckus-ing."

"But that's just my Side Show. A start. A beginning. This way to the Big Tent! You'll find your head spinning."

Tyler is my inventor. He loves to create elaborate designs--on paper, with Lego, using odds and ends from around the house. He draws detailed doughnut machines where the treats follow conveyor belts to be drizzled with chocolate or glaze or sprinkled just right. He builds all sorts of Rube Goldberg-type of machines where one feature triggers something new. His mind is filled with complicated feats, but then he creates and designs and constructs them into existence. In fact, he showed me his latest fabrication as I was typing this. If he ever decides to create "The World's Greatest Show on the face of the earth," you can be sure he'll bring it to life.  

Nick's book is Mr. Brown Can Moo! Can You? This was probably my favorite Seuss book growing up. I loved all the silly sounds and melodious rhymes. It's such a fun book to read to little ones.

Oh, the wonderful things Mr. Brown can do! Moo Moo Buzz Buzz Pop Pop Pop Eek Eek Hoo Hoo Klopp Klopp Klopp Dibble Dibble Dopp Dopp Cock-a-doodle-doo Mr. Brown can do it. How about you?

Nick is my performer. He loves to be in the spotlight and often calls for my attention as he lip syncs and dances along with songs, complete with dramatic faces and mannerisms. He spends his days singing--literally all day long--and makes silly sounds. Maybe one day he'll follow Mr. Brown's example and become a voice actor.  

I had originally planned to choose books for only the kids, but when I saw Oh, the Places You'll Go!, I immediately thought of Leighton. The book is a popular choice for gifting to graduates because it talks about possibilities. The chance to see great things, accomplish worthy tasks, and go amazing places. Sometimes, hard times will come and you'll make mistakes. That's life. Pick yourself up, work hard, and you'll succeed.

You have brains in your head.You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose. You're on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the guy who'll decide where to go.

Many people know that Leighton had a difficult childhood. He experienced things that no child should ever have to, yet he didn't let those circumstances break him. He is an intelligent man with many talents. I often say that there is nothing he can't do. He seized the opportunities he came across and has been successful in many ways. He used those brains in his head and decided where to go. And he chose wisely.

Did I Ever Tell You How Lucky You Are? is my book. It describes example after example of someone whose life is worse than the next. Be thankful that you don't have to work on the Bunglebung Bridge or that you didn't take your Throm-dim-bu-lator apart or that you're not like Mr. Bix who has every day his Borfin to fix. Be glad that you haven't spent 32 years trying to teach Irish ducks to read Jivvanese  or that you can produce a shadow because nothing is wrong with your Gizz and that you don't live in France by the pants-eating-plants. Each situation is crazy and impossible and depressing (though humorously told).

When you think things are bad, when you feel sour and blue, when you start to get mad . . . you should do what I do! . . . Don't grumble! Don't stew! Some critters are much-much, oh, ever so much-much, so muchly much-much more unlucky than you! 

Did I ever tell you how lucky I am? I truly have nothing to complain about. God has blessed my life abundantly. And when situations happen that don't align with my personal plan, God is still good. He loves and provides and protects. He's given me so much. And to top it all off, I know I'll never have to worry about having a tail that is filled with unsolvable knots like the Crumple-horn, Web-footed, Green-bearded Schlottz!

And that's our family through Dr. Seuss!

Do you love Dr. Seuss like we do? What is your favorite book?

* Some of the links in the content above are affiliate links. If you click on a link and purchase an item, I may receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I recommend products or services that I have used personally and all the text and opinions are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 225.

LitWits

Many people know that literature is near and dear to our hearts. Our family reviews books quite often, but it's always fun when we receive resources that help us enhance our study of classic books. Even though my kids spend a large portion of their school day quietly lost in a story, I still work to incorporate read-aloud selections as a family. Quite often, the kids will be building with Legos, sketching, or crafting as they listen to me read. If they keep their hands busy, it help their minds to focus on my words. We've spent many, many hours together in this way. 

Sometimes we read simply to enjoy both the story and our time together, but other times, we like to dwell on themes and principles through enrichment activities. We've used many different resources over the years to deepen our learning, but recently we were introduced to LitWits. Even though this was a new company for us, I was immediately drawn to their style of education. Their LitWits Kits start with great books and then engage students in fun, hands-on, and meaningful activities.

LitWits was founded in 2010 by two sisters, Becky and Jenny. The pair have backgrounds in literature and journalism, and both have experience with teaching. Growing up, they thrived on good books and spent their days reading and reenacting the stories. They got older and wanted to share their love of books with others. At LitWits Workshops, they conduct experiential literature classes for ages 7 and older in Santa Cruz. Obviously, not everyone can make a trip to California, so the sisters have adapted their classes for classroom and homeschool teaching in the LitWit Kits.

Over 100 books have been brought to life through the LitWits workshop through the years. Nearly half of those have been converted into downloadable kits. We had the opportunity to choose 4 titles to use in our home. For a literature-loving family, this was no easy task! I eventually settled on the following kits:

A Wrinkle in Time
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

Maybe it's because we just finished a biography read aloud or because I'm personally reading a heavy historical account on my own, but I realized all the books I had chosen were fantastical and whimsical. I knew they would be the perfect books to bring to life with my kids.

I had recently purchased A Wrinkle in Time to read with my kiddos since I had surprisingly never read it myself. That was an obvious choice and the perfect first kit for us to use. Since you read the story in its entirety before starting the activities, I grabbed the book and a cup of tea while the kids gathered some toys, and we spent a few days traveling the universe. Once we returned, we delved right into the kit.

Each LitWit Kit includes the following:

• sensory prop ideas -- see, hear, and smell what the characters did
• bookbites ideas -- taste what the characters ate
• creative project ideas & instructions/templates -- make something a character made
• kinetic activity ideas & instructions/prompts -- do what a character did or should have done
• academic handouts -- learn the story's narrative, vocabulary, setting, and more
• creative writing handouts -- write what a character wrote or felt
• takeaway topics -- know what the characters knew
• learning links -- learn more about the characters' world
• audiovisual links -- see and hear the characters' world

You can access all of the materials on their site (either by scrolling or clicking the section title) or download it directly to your device. All of the activities list supplies and directions along with the application to the story. There are also pictures included from the student workshops.

Some of the sections have questions and prompts to get your kids thinking more about the story and deeper about other things in life. For instance, while we were scaling the solar system with objects from around the house, we talked about how to remember the planets in order, just how far we are from the sun in light years, and tried to fathom how large the universe truly is. We even got a view of the basketball sun from the marble planet of Pluto.

My kids had a lot of fun making origami cubes and transporting themselves into scenes from the story, dressing up their little brother as Mrs. Whatsit, creating their own odd characters in a writing prompt, eating "alien eyeballs" while listening to space music in the dark, and more.

Along with the hands-on activities and worksheet handouts, there are many learning links to take your study deeper. There are links about the book and author, including a biography, videos, reviews, an obituary, and others. There are nearly two dozen links to supplement ideas in the story from learning about the Kennedy Space Center to study about the Theory of Relativity and irrational numbers to viewing images of the brain. We even learned the difference between hot chocolate and hot cocoa!

You can take your study even deeper by learning about specific warriors against the Black Thing (think Jesus, Einstein, Shakespeare, Bach, etc.) There is an entire Beyond the Book section and many audiovisual resources. There is also a Pinterest board dedicated to A Wrinkle in Time with additional ideas.

There are so many learning opportunities included in this one kit that we might choose to study it for weeks still! Even though we're still very much involved in the A Wrinkle in Time activities, I'm eager to get started with the other kits, too.

We'll send Alice tumbling down an interactive rabbit hole and eat delicious little cakes in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, become the characters while determining their responses and actions and invent magical candy prototypes in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and create tiny Kansas tornadoes in jars and learn about perspective and clarity while transforming our world through DIY green spectacles in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. The possibilities are endless once we add in all the supplemental links, too!

The LitWits kits are the perfect combination of literature and intentional learning. They are filled with both worksheets and hands-on activities along with additional links for further study. Because there are many opportunities for learning, it is easy to adapt the plans to fit your needs. You can do a quick review adding in a few projects or lengthen the study by incorporating additional subtopics and ideas from the book.

If you love good literature and expounding on its aspects like we do, LitWits might have the perfect resource for you.

You can connect with LitWits on the following social media sites:

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You can learn more about additional LitWit Kits by reading the reviews on the Homeschool Review Crew blog.

Appaloosy Horse Books

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Anyone who knows our family knows that we love to review books. Since the foundation of our schooling is literature, I require my kids to read a substantial amount every day. There is a lot to be learned from fiction, and the kids generally relish in it daily, however, I also insist that they read nonfiction, too. I always appreciate when we find books that blend the two types, ones that teach factual history through a fictional story. That is what we received from Author Mattie Richardson/Appaloosy Books.

Mattie Richardson has been called "North Dakota's Teen Author" as she wrote her first book at 13 years old. She has since written more books while juggling a full-time journalist job and a part-time music career. She also speaks to schools and groups to encourage other young writers. Horses are another passion of hers and evidently the inspiration of Mattie Richardson's Horses in History Series. We received all four books in the series and couldn't wait to learn about the past.

The Horses in History series is just that, horses in history. Mattie's stories each highlight a portion of history and the importance of horses during that time.  We've heard these accounts from men over the years, but Mattie lets us see the stories from the horses point of view. These original narratives add a whimsical touch that helps ages 8-14 get a better understanding of our past.

My 11-year-old read three of the books and helped me with the summaries.

Appaloosy  is set in 1877 during thr Nez Perce War. It is 125 pages.

It's about an Indian's horse named Storm. The Indian breaks him, but didn't wear a saddle. The Indians and the White men battle and Storm is stolen and sold. The man who bought him thought the horse is good for nothing, so he sold him to a girl named Faith. Storm liked the girl, but since she didn't know his name, she renamed him Star. He got to know Faith and her family, and then he was stolen again with the rest of the family's horses. The horses escaped and had the choice to be free horses or return to Faith. He chose to return. 

Dusty's Trail takes place in the early 1860s during the Pony Express era and is nearly 75 pages long.

It's about a horse named Dusty. His owner Levi wanted to get a job with the Pony Express to help care for his widowed mother. She was afraid to lose him, but he ran away and took the job. They spent their days riding from place to place. One day, they show up at a station to find that all the people were dead and the horses stolen. Levi and Dusty rode to the next station to warn the people. Dusty became famous because he was so fast and ran so far as a cow horse. Then, Indians attacked. Levi fell off and was captured while Dusty ran away. Eventually, Dusty decided to save Levi. Another horse named Ace went with him. A man tried to capture the horses, but some flour from the man's wagon fell on Dusty and made him white. The horses escaped and made it to Indian Territory. Dusty found Levi tied up in a teepee. As they were escaping, the Indians woke up. Since Dusty was white from the flour, the Indians thought he was a spirit and let them leave. Dusty became famous again.   

Golden Sunrise centers around the Alamo in 1936 and is just about 100 pages. It is sprinkled with Spanish words to add to the authenticity. 

The story is told by Cheyenne, a Golden Palomino in Northern Texas. Cheyenne's owner, Jared, longs to become a volunteer soldier in Texas's fight for independence. The pair becomes stationed in San Antonio to help defend Fort Alamo. As the battles rage, Cheyenne and Jared hide a cannon, help protect each other, and befriend James Bowie and Davy Crockett.

When Jared died at the hand of the Mexicans, Cheyenne became moody and withdrawn and refused to eat. It took the loving touch of Jared's younger brother Austin and his use of her secret name to restore her will to live. Over time, Austin gained her complete trust and friendship. As Texas became free and independent, the new friends vowed to "Remember the Alamo!" 

Day and Night is set during the Civil War and is around 150 pages in length.

It's about two horses: Shiloh and Tucker. The chapters swap back and forth between the two horses. They are as different as day and night. Tucker is sold to a man who needed a work horse. Eventually the Yankees come and called him a Rebel and stole his horse. Tucker was sold to the army. He ended up with a man named Ben. They went through war until he proved himself. Then he became a colonel's horse. In battle, he saw his brother Shiloh, but he didn't recognize him at first. At the next battle, someone got shot, and Ben offered to help. 

Shiloh was sold as a last resort because his owner needed money. The man who bought him was really mean. Shiloh was stolen by a girl. When her mother wouldn't let her join the army, she ran off with the horse. She then asked the general if she could join, but since she was a girl, he wouldn't let her. She decided to cut her hair off, pretended to be a boy, and changed her name. The men let her join. In battle, Sarah was shot. Ben offered to take her to a doctor, but since she was really a girl, she refused. Ben stitched her up. 

In the end, Ben and Sarah got married and the horse brothers were united again.    

The beginning of each book has a list of words the reader should know. There are both foreign words and period words that are no longer commonplace. Each one is given a short definition to help the story flow.

The end of each book dedicates a few pages to a Blast from the Past, which is the background history from which the story is set. Of course, there is information about the wars, but other interesting facts are noted as well, including how the appaloosa horses got their name, what a quarter horse is, the mystery behind the word palomino, and more.

Along with the four paperback books, we received the PDF version of the Day and Night Enrichment Guide. The guide is divided into eight parts that correspond to the book. The first seven sections follow the same format:

• Reading Comprehension
• Vocabulary
• History
• A Soldier's Life
• Living History Activity
• Geography
• Horses and History
• Creating Your Own Stories
• Biography
• Further Reading  

The last section finishes up the story with a conclusion and optional field trip activity.

The guide has nearly 100 pages of enrichment ideas: fill-in-the-blank, short answer, coloring, crafts, map work, recipes, word search, and more. There are photographs and much historical information to supplement your study of the Civil War. There is a full accompanying answer key, as well.

This impressive enrichment guide is packed full of information. It could easily be used as a full study on the Civil War.

Day and Night was my daughter's favorite because it followed the story lines of the two horses. She appreciated the historical information woven into the books.

If your child is interested in horses and the past, you should consider Mattie Richardson's Horses in History Series.



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You can read more reviews of these books on the Homeschool Review Crew blog.

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Goldtown Beginnings

Our family is always reading, so it's no surprise that we love book reviews! I have a little one just learning to read all the way through a high schooler who is an advanced reader. We have many picture books and even more novels for the older ones, but I've realized it's trickier to find good books for kids who are just venturing into chapters. If your child is ready for more complex sentence structures, a richer vocabulary, and a much heavier emphasis on words over pictures, this new series from Kregel Publications might be perfect for you.

My boys have been enjoying the first couple books in this six-book series: Jem Strikes Gold and Jem's Frog Fiasco.

Kregel Publications was founded in 1949 to provide quality, life-changing, Christian resources to pastors, missionaries, teachers, and leaders. Their mission is "to develop and distribute--with integrity and excellence--trusted, biblically based resources that lead individuals to know and serve Jesus Christ." They now offer over 1,000 titles on Christian education and ministry, contemporary issues, reprints of classic works, and more. Their fiction selections appeal to adults as well as children, as seen in these Goldtown books from author Susan K. Marlow. Along with authoring dozens of books, Susan was a homeschooling mom, taught writing workshops, and cares for a 14-acre homestead. Some of her other books include the Circle C Stepping Stones that we reviewed a couple years ago.

The Goldtown Beginnings series follows the life of Jem Coulter, a nearly 8-year-old boy living in California during the Gold Rush. The stories weave in interesting characters as they teach history in a fun, exciting way. Each book is less than 80 pages long, 10 chapters, and geared toward the lower elementary ages.

My 7- and 9-year-old boys read the stories. I asked the older one to help me with the summaries. Here is what he said about Book one, Jem Strikes Gold:

Jem was panning for gold and found a small gold flake. His fingers were too big to pick it up. His sister Ellie wanted to help, but he wouldn't let her. He eventually gave in since her fingers were smaller. After that, it was time to deliver his mom's pies to the miners. They pulled a wagon with the pies and got gold nuggets as payment. Everyone was living in tents and trying to make enough money to survive. 

Before they finished delivering the pies, a rich boy named Will started picking on them. He tried to steal a pie, so Jem pushed him. Will pushed him back and made Jem fall in the wagon on top of the pies. His pants were covered in mushy blueberry pie. When they got home, Ellie told her mom everything that happened. Their parents comforted him and told him it was ok. They helped cleaned everything up. The Jem and his dad delivered more pies. 

Next, their neighbor had a dog follow him home. Jem and Ellie wanted it, but they knew their parents wouldn't let them have it because they couldn't feed it. The dog kept following them though and would play with them all the time. When they went to deliver pies again, the dog followed and bit Will's pants when he started teasing them. Their mom was happy and let them keep the dog and their dad found some gold. They named the dog Gold Nugget.

 Here is my son's description of Jem's Frog Fiasco:

Jem and Ellie went to deliver pies again. Jem wanted to get another job, so he went to the cafe to ask for one. The cafe owner said he could have a job catching bull frogs to put on the menu. When Jem and Ellie went to catch bull frogs, they saw one. Ellie tried to get it. When she grabbed it, she started screaming. Then it slipped out of her hand. All the other bull frogs hopped away. 

The next time they went to catch them, Jem wanted to do it by himself, but Ellie tried  to help anyway and scared the all the frogs away again. Then he yelled at her and she stomped home. Jem waited a while and caught a lot of bull frogs. After he caught them, he couldn't lift the pail, so he had to drop a few out. When he went home, he realized Ellie wasn't there. Everybody in town went looking for her. Someone told Jem to use Gold Nugget to find Ellie. The dog sniffed Ellie's doll and found Ellie in a coyote hole. He got her out and they went home. Jem realized he wasn't being nice and Ellie forgave him.  

One thing that I appreciate about Susan's books is her passion for teaching. She realizes that books for young kids can be much more than simply entertainment. Each one contains a list of new words that might be more advanced. Vocabulary such as pester, fiasco, hoarse, and tuckered out are listed and given a brief description so the reader can better understand the text. The end of each book contains a short two-page history of a relating topic from the story, in this case, gold miners and coyote holes.

Not only that, but she offers many other learning resources to enrich the experience. There is an activity guide that offers a daily schedule, a lapbook that includes read-to-be-cut colored pages, and coloring pages that correspond directly to the books. The free activity pages include something for each chapter. There is a wide variety of exercises: short answer, vocabulary matching, maze, math problems, writing prompts, Bible lessons, dot-to-dot, and more. There are also activities that involve drawing, cutting and gluing, graphing, and a recipe. A full answer key is at the end of the guides.

The Goldtown Beginnings books are morally sound and filled with much learning. They are great as both read alouds and silent reading for 1st-3rd grade or so. My guys enjoyed the stories and had fun completing some of the activities.

I can't wait to see which adventure Jem has next as the series continues!

 
You can connect with Kregel Publications on the following social media sites:
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You can read more reviews of these books on the Homeschool Review Crew blog.