A Stable Beginning

Wednesday, March 11, 2020

Wordless Wednesday ~ moved up to coach pitch

Tuesday, March 10, 2020

Time to Read with The Boxcar Children Early Reader Set from Albert Whitman and Company ~ a TOS review

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.

You know we are a book loving family here at A Stable Beginning, so I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to review The Boxcar Children Early Reader Set. Micah and I are enjoying The Boxcar Children Early Reader Set based on the books by Gertrude Chandler Warner and published by Albert Whitman and Company.

My older girls have read some of The Boxcar Children books through our main curriculum and loved them so when I saw that Albert Whitman and company has published a set as part of the Time to Read program I was excited to get this set for my Kindergarten son, Micah.

The Boxcar Children Early Reader Set tells the familiar story of Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny in these Level 2 reader set that is geared towards children aged 5-7 or grades K-2. These books help your child make the transition from pictures books to chapter books.

There are four books included in this set including:

The Boxcar Children ~ In an effort to stay together as a family, Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny find an abandoned boxcar in the woods and make it home.

Surprise Island ~ As the children spend the summer on their Grandfather’s island they have awesome adventures and encounter fun surprises.

The Yellow House Mystery ~ Who was the man who disappeared from the yellow house and why?

Mystery Ranch ~ The children make an amazing discovery at their Aunt’s ranch house.

As part of the Time to Read series that is geared towards early reader these books were created to provide reading success for all. This series includes three levels to help parents and teachers to be able to pick the best fitting books for the Childs reading level.

The levels include:

Level 1 ~ Beginning to Read

Level 2 ~ Reading with Help

Level 3 ~ Reading Independently

I love that these books are hardcover books with bright colorful illustrations to grab the young readers attention. Micah and I have been reading these books over and over for the last few weeks. He is not quite able to read all the words himself, but he does know quite a few. Plus, he loves looking at the detailed pictures and asking questions.

These books went with us on several trips and Micah would be in the back reading as we traveled. Or we he would be reading while we were at the ball field before his own practice or while waiting for his big sister.

Overall, this is a great set of books! Not many books can earn a spot on our overflowing bookshelves, but these have! Not only do they tell a great story, but I can feel confident giving handing over the book to my son without wondering if there is any questionable material inside. I look forward to adding more titles to our collection in the near future. I think these would make a great birthday gift for any young reader. But don’t just take my word for it! Check out what my fellow CrewMates thought of this series by clicking the banner below.

The Boxcar Children Early Reader Set {Albert Whitman & Company Reviews}

Company ~ Albert Whitman & Company

Product ~ The Boxcar Children Early Reader Set

Price ~ $14.99 Format ~ hardcover books

Ages ~ 5-7 year olds

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Thursday, March 5, 2020

PRIDE Reading Program, Red Book Level 3 ~ a TOS review

For the last five weeks McKenzie and I have had the opportunity to work with the PRIDE Red Book Program Kit - Level 3 from PRIDE Reading Program to provide structured literacy in our homeschool. Let me tell you more!

The PRIDE Reading Program is an Orton-Gillingham based phonetic reading program geared for beginning readers on up. PRIDE gives parents, teachers, and tutors and easy and fun way to teach beginning or struggling readers through its multi-sensory approach.

The PRIDE Reading Program is a self-paced, multi sensory program that offers an affordable way to teach this researched based curriculum so that everyone can be successful readers. Each level kit also offers teacher training so that you will be confident in teaching the program.

We received the PRIDE Red Book which retails for $159.85 and includes a student handbook, online teachers guide, white board, PRIDE Sound cards, and the PRIDE Letter tiles, in addition to the online teacher training mentioned above.

To start out, it is recommended you have your student take the online placement test. The test is simple and will guide you to the correct placement within the program. McKenzie tested at a 15 the day we took the assessment but after checking out the Red and Purple examples I choose for her to start in the Red book. McKenzie can actually read pretty well, but her spelling definitely needs some more work so it was great to be able to use this to help her with this area.

The Red Book has 21 learning modules that are divided into 3 units. Each unit contains 9 steps to complete the lesson. Each unit is broken down into three steps, introduction, practice, and reinforcement. The lessons are scripted so you the teacher will not have to worry about what to say and when. The Red - Level 3 provides instruction on Long “i” and “e”, vowel digraphs, closed syllable rules for -ind, -ild, -old, and -ost, as well as the suffix “ed”.

I was able to work with McKenzie three days a week with this reading program. Lessons were quick and easy for her to complete and usually took no more than 20 minutes. McKenzie has enjoyed the lessons, but at times she and I felt that it was way too much review and that she already knew the material being presented. She could read all the pages of fluency words without hesitation and because there was no real challenge to some of the lessons I found that McKenzie would get bored and loose focus at times.

As we have been using this for a few weeks now, I do wish we would have had the option to choose the next book up, the Purple Book. However, that doesn’t take away from the program as a whole. The instruction and activities are excellent and the fact that it is multi-sensory really appealed to McKenzie as a whole. We are going to continue plugging away at the lessons to continue to strengthen her spelling skills because I have seen improvement with using this program.

Many of my Cremates were able to review the different levels of the PRIDE Reading Program including the Beginning, Yellow, Level 1, Orange, Level 2, so be sure to check out what they have to say about each level by clicking the banner below.

PRIDE Reading Program Level Kit. {PRIDE Reading Program Reviews}

Company ~ PRIDE Reading Program

Product ~ PRIDE Red Book Program Kit - Level 3

Format ~ online teacher training, online lesson plans, physical student kit

Price ~ $159.85

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Wednesday, March 4, 2020

Wordless Wednesday ~ progress

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Thursday, February 27, 2020

Christian Apologetics Course from Pilgrim's Rock ~ a TOS review

Every once in a while we are given the opportunity to review a product that I am not fully convinced we need and then I am totally blown away. Today I want to share with you one of these products that I didn’t know that I needed but I am so glad I have it! If you are studying Christian Apologetics or beginning to plan what you will be using next school year with your high schooler, you want to make sure you check out The Unbreakable Faith Course from Pilgrim’s Rock, LLC.

The Unbreakable Faith Course is written by Craig Biehl to strengthen your faith through clear presentation of the infinite excellence of God and the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The Pilgrim’s Rock mission is to “Build strong faith, comfort, and joy in Christ by teaching the infinite excellence of God and the Gospel, the reasonableness of faith, and the irrationality of unbelief”. Through sound theological resources, Pilgrim’s Rock seeks to equip Christian students and parents with knowledge necessary to defend the faith.

Just look at the world around us and you can see we are in a spiritual battle. All you need to do is turn on the tv or listen to the radio and you can see firsthand the battle that evil is waging. Our job as Christian parents is to instill in our children the Biblical truths that they can carry on to the next generation. To equip them in a strong faith that will carry them through life’s trials and tribulations, especially when they leave the nest and head off to University.

The Unbreakable Faith course is written to students 15 years and older. When this review first was offered I imagined that my 17 year old would use it independently. However, things changed in her schedule to make this impossible this year (she will take this course her Senior year of High School instead so that she is ready for University life) so I stepped in to be the student. And let me tell you I am so glad I did! This course is amazing and I have grown so much in the last six weeks. Let me tell you a little more about it.

For a typical High School Student this course will provide one credit when completed. The majority of the self-paced, 36 week course is found online, however, there are two “textbooks” required for the course as well. These are available as PDF eBooks or Physical copies. We received physical copies.

A detailed syllabus is included and it breaks down everything from weekly assignments, quizzes, and tests. I love this, because you know exactly what needs to be done and when. My favorite part of the course has to be the video portion. Altogether there are 38 videos for the course. Every morning I been reading my portion of the book and then watching the corresponding video. These video’s are short, roughly 10-15 minutes, but are jam-packed with beautiful images and audio.

So far I have progressed through the first textbook, The Box, and completed the first quiz. The quiz is timed and is multiple choice and true/false type of questions. Feedback is given once the quiz is completed and then you are able to move on to the next section. Right now I am on chapter two of God the Reason. The format of the course is similar to a college course and will definitely cause you to think and process what you believe. The author even has scheduled office hours, which are live video chats, where you can meet and ask any questions you have. Being the introvert that I am, I did not take advantage of these but I am glad that the option is there.

Completing the first section of this Course has helped me grow more confident in my ability to talk with unbelievers. By no means am I fully ready to engage with a professed atheist or unbeliever, but I am not as intimidated since taking this course and learning how to defend what I believe. Overall, I am pleased with each part of this course and recommend you checking it out if you are looking for an Apologetics course. But don’t just take my word for it, thirty-four of my CrewMates have also reviewed this course. Check out their thoughts by clicking the banner below.