America in the 1880s - A DVD Review

$24.95 (Sale - $19.95)

The History of America in the 1880s

by Marshall Publishing 

 

This DVD is suggested for 4th grade - Adult.  Marshall Publishing also offers many other great items, including historical DVDs about other great Americans, such Abraham Lincoln and George Washington Carver. I recently reviewed the George Washington Carver DVD.

Running time is 60 minutes, including a very informative bonus track about Alexander Graham Bell.

Marshall Publishing offers a study guide, with interesting facts and discussion questions.  This will help you get even more out of the lesson and help you gauge your child's comprehension of the topic.

About the DVD (from the website):

"What was life like in America in the 1880s? Certainly nothing like today, yet many of the things we so cherish now had their roots during this significant and often time neglected decade in history.
Just like a time machine, we transport you back to discover the people and events that shaped this exciting decade: the Brooklyn Bridge ...Washington Monument ...Statue of Liberty ...Gunfight at the O.K. Corral ...Oklahoma Land Rush ...Johnstown Flood ...Thomas Edison ...Mark Twain ...Baby Doe ...Sitting Bull ...Sarah Bernhardt ...John Philip Sousa ...Buffalo Bill ...Gilbert and Sullivan ...Wyatt Earp...Jesse James and Billy the Kid ....Alexander Graham Bell ....John D. Rockefeller ....Andrew Carnegie ....Samuel Gompers ....Susan B. Anthony ....Lillian Russell ....and many more!
You will learn about fashion, politics, sports heroes, famous inventors, Wall Street financiers, railroad expansion, buffalo extinction, Indian resettlement, Civil Rights, union organization, urbanization, the music of the times, and much, much more!
Through the use of live re-enactments, rare historical photographs and drawings, and award-winning photography you will be amazed, amused, entertained and educated about many little known facts and some life changing events that have become part of the foundation of our society today.
As a special bonus feature, we also present an archival documentary film about the life of Alexander Graham Bell, his work with the deaf and the invention of the telephone!"




Code for FREE Shipping: TOS27




Our Thoughts:

I am fascinated with history, love to read about it...love to watch it...love to discuss it.  I also love teaching history outside of textbooks...biographies, documentaries, etc.  So I was quick to volunteer to review this DVD. 

The first 30 minutes is a documentary about the 1880s.  A cheerful narrator and soothing background music are our guides on the journey.  The journey is a walk through time to the 1880s.  We have a front-row seat to a decade full of adventures.  The DVD utilizes actual photographs, as well colorful video footage of landmarks and charming re-enactments of some of the decades highlights.

We explored famous people and landmarks, people's favorite past-times, politics, sports, inventors, and more.  Alexander Graham Bell, Baseball, Trains, the Erie Canal, Fashion, and many more topics of interest.  I learned how time zones were related to train travel and how soup cans were used to catch golf balls.  We learned about the very conservative dress of the decade, as well as the fact that Niagara Falls was the honeymoon vacation of choice.  So much great information was crammed into the 30 minutes of video, yet it didn't seem rushed or confusing. 

The 30 minute bonus track about Alexander Graham Bell is an actual black-and-white documentary called "Mr. Bell", filmed for the 100th anniversary of his birth.  It takes us on a journey showing how Mr. Bell invented the telephone.  This is amazing enough on its own.  But I also enjoyed hearing actual quotes of Mr. Bell.  He was quite the visionary, and so many (if not all) of his hopes for the phone have come to be. 

In addition to his genius, I am impressed with his character.  Towards the end of his life, he shared his knowledge and his hopes and passed the torch on to the next generation of inventors.

I learned a lot about not only what he did, but about who he was. 

Side Note:  I did find the two images of public hangings a bit disturbing, as did my daughters.  So if you have squeamish ones, you might want to have them look away.  It is during the discussion of outlaws and only lasts a few seconds.

Disclaimer: I received this product free of charge, as part of the TOS Homeschool Crew. The above is just my opinion. Please remember that opinions may, and do, vary.

Everyday Cooking - A Review

EveryDay Homemaking Presents:

 

Everyday Cooking

  $17.99

$14.99 Ebook

by Vicki Bentley

Other homeschooling and homemaking products are available.  Some crew members reviewed the Everyday Family Chore System.

A little about the book (from the website):

Collection of tried-and-true recipes and hints for simple, everyday cooking with an emphasis on whole foods - from a busy homeschooling mother of eight. 

A sample recipe from the site...

Sweet Rolls (Click here for step-by-step photos!)

Rolls:

One batch Vicki’s Bread Recipe

1 egg

honey to drizzle

¼ cup cinnamon

½ cup chopped nuts (I use walnuts)

Frosting:

¼ cup softened cream cheese or neufchatel cheese (2 oz)

½ cup butter

dash vanilla

1½ cups 10X sugar or powdered Savannah Gold

To a 2-loaf batch of Vicki’s Bread Recipe, add one egg and increase the honey a tad to make sweet rolls. After rising, roll out with oiled rolling pin to large rectangle (see photo). Spread with some honey (just drizzle enough to be able to pat it by hand to make it all sticky); sprinkle liberally with cinnamon and nuts. Roll up jelly-roll fashion; cut with dental floss into 12-15 spirals.

Place in greased jelly roll pan and let rise till double. Bake at 325 for about 25-30 min.

Combine frosting ingredients to till smooth and fluffy. When the rolls come out, spread while warm with cream cheese frosting.

Whole-grain cinnamon rolls are simple to make and yummy to serve. After you've read the recipe,

click here to see a step-by-step photo tutorial.

Our Thoughts:

I signed up for this review to get some creative ideas for some new recipes.  To get some ideas and try out something new.  And I did get that.  I tried out several of the recipes and I liked them all.  My favorite?  The "Very Good Cake".  Why?  Because growing up, every time we would visit Grandma, she would have this cake waiting for us in the fridge.  And I always looked forward to it and thought it was the most delicious cake I had ever eaten.  Well, time passed and it has been decades since I have tasted that cake.  So when I saw it in the cookbook, I was so surprised and super-excited. I just had to try the recipe...and it was so yummy.  It truly is a "Very Good Cake", whether I am 4 or 40 years old.

Very Good Cake

I like the personal touch in the recipes.  Vicki doesn't just give me ingredients and directions.  Scattered throughout are helpful hints, tips from her experiences, photos, and substitution ideas.


But the cookbook is so much more than a cookbook.  It has ideas for bulk cooking.  These ideas show ways to spend a little time upfront, to save a lot of time later.  Did you just buy 10 pounds of ground beef at a bulk discount?  Brown all 10 pounds the night you get home.  Vicki offers several ideas of what to do with the meat.  She also mentions several ideas of foods that freeze nicely.  Cook it ahead of time, freeze it, and you only need to warm it back up when you are ready for it.

Russian Tea Cakes

Vicki encourages readers to use whole foods and cook from scratch as much as possible.    This is something I have heard more and more about.  Still, I can't just change my shopping and cooking ways overnight.  But, she offers me some very practical ideas of places I could start, to see some immediate benefits.    

Breakfast is a challenge in my home.  You wake up and everyone is hungry.  So my tendency is to grab something "packaged" or to make something quick and easy, but not always all that healthy.  Vicki gave me several ideas for breakfast that are both quick and healthy, and most importanly...very yummy.

Vicki also offers some help with weekly meal planning and 30-day meal planning.  If you are like me, it is very hard to come up with creative ideas.  I get stuck in a rut and have a hard time thinking up new ideas for dinners.  

So to sum it up...there are some really great and yummy recipes in the book.  You should try that "Very Good Cake"...because it is so very good.  But it is much more than just recipes.  Vicki has shared so many helpful tips and hints and checklists.  It is almost like a crash course home economic course.

 Disclaimer: I received this product free of charge, as part of the Schoolhouse Review Crew. The above is just my opinion. Please remember that opinions may, and do, vary.

Ten Girls From History Ebook - A Review

Ten Girls From History Ebook - $12

Ten Girls From History Printed Book - $20

Ten Girls From History MP3 Audio - $20

By Kate Dickinson Sweetser, Edited by Amy Puetz

Published by Golden Prairie Press

Ages 10 and Up

Table of Contents and some sample pages...

About Amy Puetz:
Amy is a homeschool graduate and the owner of Golden Prairie Press.  She is the author of several history-related books and the publisher of a bi-monthly e-zine, "Heroines of the Past."

About Ten Girls from History (from the website):
Prepare to befriend ten of the bravest girls of history! Whether facing a band of Indians with Madeleine; or saving lives at sea with Ida Lewis; or experiencing the battlefields of the Civil War with Clara Barton, you will be inspired by their faith, courage, and devotion.

Girls of all ages will enjoy meeting these ten remarkable girls from the past, and parents will appreciate the godly examples found in these pages. Both inspirational and entertaining, this book will bring history alive for your family.

Each chapter dramatizes the life and accomplishments of these ten girls:

Louisa May Alcott: Author of Little Women
Clara Barton: The Angel of the Battlefield
Molly Pitcher: The Brave Gunner of the Battle of Monmouth
Cofachiqui: An Indian Princess
Madeleine De Vercheres: The Heroine of Castle Dangerous
Dorothy Quincy: A Girl of the American Revolution
Ida Lewis: The Heroine of Lime Rock Lighthouse
Elizabeth Van Lew: The Girl who Risked all for the Union
Virginia Reed: Midnight Heroine of the Plains
Clara Morris: The Girl who Won Fame as an Actress

Prices on website reflect discount

Other products are available at the online store, including the America the Beautiful history curriculum.

Our Thoughts:

This is the way that I like to teach history, with living books and biographies.  I'm not a fan of textbooks, as far as history goes.  I would rather learn about history from the people who have a passion for it, from people who have a thorough knowledge of the subject they are writing about.

This book is a good choice because it tells about young girls who have done great things.  You not only learn about what they did, but a little about their character and their thought processes. This is inspiring for my three daughters.  It helps show them that you don't have to wait until you are all grown-up to do great things, to make a difference.  

The book has an interesting mix of girls in the stories.  Some we have heard of before, but definitely could use the reminder . . . girls like Clara Barton.  Others' names were brand new to us and learning of their challenges and victories was a new journey of learning for us . . . girls like Madeleine De Vercheres of the Castle Dangerous.

The book includes pictures, a glossary, and a timeline.

I have been enjoying the stories and so have my daughters.  We reviewed the Ebook, and I used it as a read-aloud off of my phone.  I took turns letting my daughters pick the order in which to read about the ten girls.  Of course, my 13 year old picked the Castle Dangerous first.  I had a feeling she would since it mentioned a castle.  What a great story about a very brave girl, and the castle truly was dangerous.  My 11 year old picked a story about a childhood actress, not surprising since both of my daughters are involved in drama.  What an inspiring story of a young girl who pulls herself up out of the ashes of poverty.

There are several other books in this series.  I look forward to reading them along with my children.  I can't express the importance of books like these any better than the original author herself.  

"My first aim in bringing the lives of these ten girls from history
to the attention of the girls of today has been to inspire them to like
deeds of patriotism and courage. Second only to that purpose is a
desire to make young Americans realize as they read these true
stories of achievement along such widely varying lines of work,
that history is more thrilling than fiction, and that if they will turn
from these short sketches to the longer biographies from which the
facts of these stories have been taken, they will find interesting and
absorbing reading.
May the book accomplish its twofold object, and so justify its
publication at this time of the testing of all true Americans."
Kate Dickinson Sweetser
August 1, 1917

Disclaimer: I received this product free of charge, as part of the TOS Homeschool Crew. The above is just my opinion. Please remember that opinions may, and do, vary.

Mr. Pipes and the British Hymn Makers - A Review

Mr. Pipes & the British Hymn Makers

Mr. Pipes and the British Hymn Makers - Ebook - $8.79

Book Format - $9.89


 by Douglas Bond



 from Christian Liberty Press

List of British Hymn Makers Covered in this Book

Book Description (from the website) -

"This first book in the series by Douglas Bond tells the story of two teens who, while on vacation in England, are befriended by an elderly English gentlemen called Mr. Pipes. Through this relationship they learn about famous British hymn writers. They also learn about the value of traditional worship and praise." 

Our Thoughts -

Last spring, my daughters participated in a musical about some of the more well-known hymn writers of the past, writers like Fanny Crosby and Isaac Watts.  It was neat to learn the stories behind the songs, to learn about the writers who had penned the words. So when I saw what this book was about, I thought it would be really neat to continue the study of more hymn writers.  I hoped to be picked for this review and was glad when I was.

"Mr. Pipes" is a charming story written in 1999.  Two teens are spending the summer in England.  The brother expects it to be a bore.  The sister is always the optimist, looking for an adventure.  Then they meet Mr. Pipes, the local church organist, and he turns their summer upside down, opening their eyes to the beauty of nature, music, and the simple life.   While sharing his world with them, he also shares fascinating stories of some of Britain's most popular hymn makers, including Isaac Watts and Charles Wesley.

Things I like about this story:

1.  It makes a great read-aloud, which is how we used it.

2. It is wholesome and G-Rated.  I didn't have to worry about what might be said or what the characters might do.

3. This story focuses on the simple life.  In our high tech world, it is nice to be reminded that we can have a great day without any of those gadgets.  Playing the piano, going fishing, even having a cup of tea with friends.

4.  Although the book includes hymns that many of us have known all of our lives, it makes us stop and really listen to the words.  Think about Isaac Watts' words, "such a worm as I".  Have you ever stopped to think about just how lowly that is?  We are as lowly as a worm; yet, Jesus still died for us.

5.  Along the same lines, the book also teaches about the hymn writers.  It is nice to know the authors on a more personal level.  To know who they were and what they were like and what challenges they faced.  How they came to be hymn writers.

I find this to be a charming story on so many levels.  While at the same time, being very educational.  This book makes a great history lesson and also a great music appreciation course.

 Disclaimer: I received this product free of charge, as part of the TOS Homeschool Crew. The above is just my opinion. Please remember that opinions may, and do, vary.