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Little Passports USA Edition Review

Learning US Geography with Little Passports copy

 
Our youngest son loves it when packages from the Little Passport world edition show up in the mailbox for him. Meanwhile, two other kiddos look on and want to be a part of the fun. When we were given the opportunity to review the Little Passports USA edition, I knew just who would be excited about helping out! We were sent the first three months to use together and then share our opinion with others.

Their requests of “Can we do Little Passports today?” should be a good indication of what they think about the program. They are in love with this fun program, learning some US geography at the same time, and I .

About Little Passports USA Edition

Little Passports

Before children begin receiving the monthly packets from Little Passports that teach about individual states, they receive a starter packet in the mail {pictured above} that includes a field guide, a full color US map, a scratch book, pocket to store materials, a disposable camera, and a letter from Sam and Sophia.

Our kids immediately had the map hanging on the wall and we started filling in answers in the field guide. The scratch book was a fun way for the kids to learn about various landmarks around the USA.

Little Passports USA Edition start pack

We did not use the included disposable camera for the activities, but saved it to use another time. Instead our children used a digital camera because they tend to be a little overzealous in the picture taking arena {ahem}. The camera is a great addition to the packet though as they have the kids work on a scavenger hunt and take pictures of themselves and other landmarks in their town.

Little Passports USA Texas

Every month {after receiving the initial start-up packet}, children will receive a new packet in the mail from Little Passports that includes the following materials to learn about 2 new states:

  • A 32-page activity-packed journal that covers the states
  • Stickers to use in the field guide for state flower, bird, official seal and more
  • Pop-out Models
  • Map markers
  • Postcards
  • and access to more information and activities online

My Thoughts on the Little Passports USA Edition

 

I have to say I am VERY impressed with the USA edition of Little Passports. The journals that come with each of the monthly packets are full color and not skimpy, providing science experiments, cooking ideas, and many other fun activities that go along with the state being studied. The New York and Texas packet that we received also included two different punch out 3D activities {the Alamo and a taxi cab – very cute!}. Additionally, the kids had postcards that they could save or mail to friends.

While we really like the World Edition of Little Passports {we are using it with our 6 year old}, I have to say that the Little Passports USA Edition went way beyond my expectations! The recommended ages for the program are 7 and up – and I would definitely stick with those guidelines {and maybe even say 8 and up based on a few of the activities}. The punch out activities are fun, but may require some assistance from adults, so be sure you are nearby when they are being worked on.

We love it enough that I am continuing our subscription {at our expense} for our 8 and 10 year old to share together. This will be great during the summer months as well {when school is out}. They love getting mail – and I like knowing they are learning {and don’t realize it!}.

If your family were to work through the entire program, there would be a good collection of books to review at the end of the program {26 months} and some fun creations from monthly activities. We’ll be saving a special shelf to keep all of our journals to review periodically and see what we’ve learned.

Overall, the Little Passports USA edition is a fun way to add a little excitement and geography learning to your school day. There are enough things included in the monthly packets that would allow a child to work on one or two things a day and spread out the learning fun over a time span. Add in the extra online activities that tie in with each state and your children will definitely be busy learning.

Find Out More

Little Passports is available on a month-to-month subscription basis, a 3 month subscription plan or longer term subscriptions. Rates vary from $10.95/month to $13.95/month based on the length of the plan that you choose. Packages are  delivered in your child’s name around the beginning of each month.

Jolanthe Signature

We received a three month subscription to the Little Passports USA Edition in exchange for our honest review. Our decision to continue our monthly subscription at our own expense was entirely our own.

Van Gogh Sunflower Art Project from See the Light

We received this product at no cost in exchange for our honest review. All opinions expressed are solely mine.

Sunflowers Art project from See the LightI’ve mentioned before that pulling out art supplies is enough to put me into a bit of a frenzy. And want to avoid another project forever and ever {amen}.

The Art Projects from See the Light have been a wonderful addition to our homeschool curriculum this year. Not only are the lessons taught step-by-step, they do NOT involve a multitude of art supplies, and all of our kids {ages 6 through 11} have wanted to participate in them.

That, my friends, is a win-win for me. All I have to do is gather the needed supplies and we are on our way to learning about a new artist, technique and completing another beautiful project.

Sunflowers Art Project

The newest art project dvd from See the Light is called Sunflowers. This art lesson focuses on the style and artwork of Vincent Van Gogh. The lesson is recommended for children ages 10+, but all of our children wanted to work on the lesson {ages 6+} and were able to do so with a little additional help from me.

The Sunflowers Art Project has 4 video lessons with guided step-by-step instruction as well as art history lessons on the life and style of Vincent Van Gogh. The entire DVD is about 2 hours in length, but the lessons take a little longer since you will want to pause them occasionally to work on the art project.

A breakdown of the video lesson content:

1. Plan the Composition and First Layer of Color (26 minutes)

2. Detail the Petals and Leaves (25 minutes)

3. Fill in the Negative Space (26 minutes)

4. Value Changes for Shadows and Highlights (23 minutes)

Our Sunflowers Art Project

See the Light Sunflower Van Gogh project-2

Our tv and DVD player are in the living room, so we set up a table there, gathered all of our art supplies, and started working on our projects together. Supplies needed were simple to gather and we had all but one thing on hand:

  • An 11″ by 14″ piece of pastel or charcoal paper – tan, grey or light blue
  • Set of oil pastels (at least 24)
  • Stack of paper towels or paper napkins
  • Several artificial sunflowers
  • Baby wipes to clean hands

See the Light Sunflower Van Gogh project-006

During the lessons we not only learned a lot about art technique and using oil pastels, but we all learned quite a bit about the life of Vincent van Gogh. I love how these lessons not only focus on a project, but so much of the life and works of the artist.

Before I go further, I’m going to admit that a certain 8 year old decided to not follow directions and work ahead of the teaching. Which resulted in immense frustration on his part. It was very hard for me to let him not listen, but resulted in a great life lesson on why we shouldn’t rush ahead and should follow directions from the teacher.

See the Light Sunflower Van Gogh project-following directions

Can you see the difference? There were tears, but by the end of the lesson, Zachary was so proud of his re-worked pastel, there were smiles all around, and one of those ‘life lessons’ that he can be reminded of in the future and have a tangible example of the importance of listening.

Want to see our finished projects? The sunflowers below are in order of the ages of our kids: Kaleb {6}, Zachary {8}, McKenna {10}, and Laurianna {11}. Although targeted for ages 10+, all of our kids {ages 6 to 11} participated in the Sunflowers art project.

See the Light Sunflower Van Gogh project-Kaleb age 6See the Light Sunflower Van Gogh project-Zachary age 8See the Light Sunflower Van Gogh project-McKenna age 10See the Light Sunflower Van Gogh project-Laurianna age 11

Find Out More

Sunflowers is one video that is a part of the Art Projects from See the Light. You can purchase the DVDs individually {$14.99/ea} or purchase the entire year of nine art projects based on famous artists and receive a bonus cartooning video. We personally own the Art Class year 1 series and are working through that, but love these special projects.

I cannot recommend the Art Class and Art Project series enough. Both have made such a great addition to our homeschool time and make it incredibly easy to teach art with confidence. We now have several of the projects hanging on the walls of our homeschool room because they have turned out so beautifully!

Poppy Collage project

Be sure to check out the See the Light blog as well. They often share FREE art lessons with their readers.

Behold the Lamb Easter Wreath from Family Life

This post is our honest review of a product that we received for free. All opinions expressed are solely mine.

When a company creates a product that is both beautiful and helpful in sharing the true focus of Easter – well, they have my attention.  Family Life has put together another beautiful product to use year-round in your home – the Behold the Lamb Easter Wreath. You may remember their name because I recently shared The Messiah Mystery Lent study with you all a few weeks ago!

Behold the Lamb wreath-2   Behold the Lamb wreath-3

The Easter wreath is designed for use during the week leading up to Easter, starting on Palm Sunday. Each day families talk about eight  “I AM” statements from the book of John. A small burlap pouch holds the “I AM” statement cards and after reading and discussing the card, it is displayed in the wreath. The eight “I AM” statements include: the Messiah; the Bread of Life; the Light of the World; the Door; the Good Shepherd; the Way, Truth and the Life; the True Vine,  and the Resurrection and the Life.

Behold the Lamb Easter Wreath - teaches about eight 'I AM' statements of Jesus during the week before Easter

The Behold the Lamb wreath includes: an antique white 15”  metal wreath with folding metal stand, a magnetic and removable ‘I AM’ centerpiece, and eight ‘I AM’ devotional cards in a burlap pouch.

My Thoughts

Home décor is NOT one of my strong points. While our house is finally painted something other than the standard white, very little hangs on our walls or is displayed. This is one of those pieces that makes me feel like I’m adding a beautiful touch to the house and we are learning more about God at the same time.

I love the antique finish on the wreath and the fact that the ‘I AM’ center can be removed so the wreath can be used beyond just Easter time {it attaches to the frame with magnets and removes easily}. Depending on your home décor, you could also add family pictures cards, etc… and display it by hanging it on a wall in your entryway.  This fall, Family Life will also be releasing another booklet and set of cards to talk about gratitude with your family. I love that it is so versatile!

Our wreath is currently on a shelf in our dining room so we can see it every night at dinner. Where would you display your Easter wreath?

 

Find Out More

 

 

The Behold the Lamb Easter Wreath is available from the Family Life website and is currently $15 off – just in time to order for Easter. Based on the popularity of their Messiah Mystery product, I’d be sure to order early – those sold out quickly!

Georgia O’Keefe Art Study – Poppy Collage Art Project

This post is our honest review of a product that we received for free. All opinions expressed are solely mine.

The Poppy Collage art project from See the Light has been one of my FAVORITE art projects with our kids so far. We are using the year 1 art curriculum from See the Light this year, but Poppy Collage is part of the Art Project series from artist Pat Knepley.

Our kids have really enjoyed the art lessons on dvd and I love that the teaching and history behind the lessons are all included in the four step-by-step lessons. Poppy Collage does have a little bit of prep involved {cutting tissue paper and gathering the few supplies}, but otherwise the lessons are full of art history taught from a Biblical perspective.

Poppy Collage focuses on the artwork of Georgia O’Keefe and her gorgeous close-up paintings. Throughout the lessons, teacher Pat Knepley shares the about the life of O’Keefe, different paintings and styles that O’Keefe worked on throughout her career, and then teaches children art elements and principles using different mediums.

The Poppy Collage Art Project

The video includes 4 step-by-step lessons and although the segments range from 17 to 22 minutes, you need to allow about 1 hour per lesson to work on the project. Our kids would pause the video every now and then to work on what the session assignment and would then resume watching. Here’s a look at the breakdown of the four lessons:

THE ABSTRACTED FLOWER DRAWING (22 minutes)

TISSUE PAPER COLLAGE TECHNIQUE (20 minutes)

LAYERING TRANSLUCENT HUES (21 minutes)

FINAL DETAILS TO CREATE INTEREST (17 minutes)

Creating Our Collages

Our kids set up camp in the living room around a table so they could see the video better and we put all of the supplies in the center of the table. We did have a live plant at first, but used some real pictures of poppies for the project as well.

Poppy Art Project from See the Light-9737

Poppy Art Project from See the Light-9726 Poppy Art Project from See the Light-9723

Long after the older kids were finished with their project, Kaleb was hanging out in the living room and finishing up the background of his poppy collage. He was so particular about this one!

Poppy Art Project from See the Light-9747

As a mom without a lot of art history knowledge {or memory – ahem}, I love how the video covers not only the history of the artist and famous pieces, but also the techniques and processes used in artwork. If I tried to explain art terms and model how to do something it can be really difficult, but the videos easily show the kids how to do certain techniques {and I can even participate along too!}.

Supplies for the projects are simple – glue, pencils, tissue paper, poster board, etc… no hunting around for some crazy things that I’ve never heard of before. Although targeted for ages 10+, all of our kids {ages 6 to 11} participated in the Poppy Collage art project.

Our Poppy Collage Projects

Each one of the kids created a project that was definitely ‘showcase’ worthy, leaving us with the question of how to display all of the artwork around the house! For now a few are displayed in the schoolroom and one child claimed the artwork as her own and has it hanging over her bed. Here’s a little peek at the girls’ work…
Poppy Art Collage-11yearoldLaurianna, age 11 Poppy Art Collage-10yearoldMcKenna, age 10

While all of the kids created beautiful pieces, I was really amazed at the time and detail that Kaleb took with his project. Occasionally I would see McKenna lean over to help him with a few things, but he faithfully sat and finished his project and was SO excited when it was finished {me too!}.

Poppy Art Collage-6yearold

Note: Zachary did one as well, but he didn’t want me to take a picture of it because his did not have a ‘filler’ background, so he thought it wasn’t as nice as the other kids {it was!}. His is hanging above his school desk where we can all see it still. Smile

Find Out More

Poppy Collage is one video that is a part of the Art Projects from See the Light. You can purchase the DVDs individually {$14.95/ea} or purchase the entire year of nine art projects based on famous artists and receive a bonus cartooning video. We personally own the Art Class year 1 series and are working through that, but love these special projects. The kids are excited to work on another project soon!

These lessons have been so fun for us to work on and we can’t wait to share more with you soon!

 

Our family was given a copy of Poppy Collage to use and review. All opinions expressed in this post are solely mine.

Challenge on the Hill of Fire – an Imagination Station Book

This post is our honest review of a product that we received for free. All opinions expressed are solely mine.

Finding fun ways to learn about history can make such a difference in helping children remember different stories from the past. We recently studied the life of Saint Patrick in our history studies, so Challenge on the Hill of Fire was a great addition to our reading time with the kids.

From the PublishersChallenge on the Hill of FireKidnapped by Celtic Druids in 433, Patrick and Beth are headed to certain death when followers of a former Irish Slave (Saint Patrick, called Patritius in this book) save them. The cousins find themselves in the midst of a power struggle between Ireland’s King Logaire, Patritius, and the leader of the Druids, Lochru. A spiritual showdown begins on the Hill of Slane when Patritius builds a fire, challenging the King’s authority. Will Patritius prove to the king that the God of the Bible is the true God? Or will the king take sides with the Druids? The Emerald Isle holds many tales and legends, but this story of truth and standing strong for God is not one to be missed.

About the Series

The Imagination Station series, published by Tyndale House, is a historical fiction book set for children ages 7 and up. The chapter book series follows cousins Beth and Patrick as they travel through time and visit different points in history. Each book also shows the historical period from a Biblical perspective ~ and in a fun and exciting way for children.

Parents and children can also visit TheImaginationStation.com to find out secret words, family devotionals, parent guides and more that tie in with each of the books in the series. The website also lists what is true or exaggerated for each of the books along with additional links to characters in the stories.

The Imagination Station books are available for purchase through Amazon and are reasonably priced at $4.99/each {they are also frequently part of the 4-for-3 promotion}. We have the entire series and they are great readers for Zachary. They are books that we will continue to add to our library as they are released – and enjoy as a read aloud {unless someone sneaks a book off!}.

AOI book 1 AOI book 2 AOI book 3 AOI book 4 AOI book 5
AOI book 6 AOI book 7 AOI book 8 AOI book 9 Challenge on the Hill of Fire

Visit these pages to learn more about the series:

Official Imagination Station website

Adventures in Odyssey Facebook page

Adventures in Odyssey on Twitter

We enjoyed Challenge on the Hill of Fire as much as the other nine books in the series and are always excited to see when a new book is released! Our family highly recommends this series!

Building Bridges Blocks from Larsen Toy Lab

This post is our honest review of a product that we received for free. All opinions expressed are solely mine.

Larsen Toy LabReplacing batteries in toys is one of my pet peeves. Despite the ‘shiny’ and noise that so many of today’s gadgets offer, I truly long for our kids to get back to the basics ~ using their imaginations to create, build, and learn. When I find educational toys that are created with that concept, it makes me extremely happy and want to share about them with others.

Building Bridges wooden block set

The Building Bridges block set from a new company Larsen Toy Lab is one of those toys that I want to spread the word on and get you as excited as I am about them! The set of 24 classic wooden blocks comes with a story book and the largest block is personally engraved for your child or family.

About the Building Blocks

While I can attest to the quality of the blocks, understanding the why behind the company is important as well:

Our idea is simple – to build a company around blocks.  Throughout generations wood blocks have cultivated problem solving, critical thinking, and social skills. Quite simply, blocks are one of the most educational and inherently creative toys available.  We’ve added to these values by blending a story, game or a puzzle into each of our sets.

Larsen Toy Lab produces high quality, all natural, wooden block sets that are 100% Made in America.  We strive to minimize our environmental impact and promise to give back to the communities we serve through block donations.

~ Alex and Courtney

Currently, there are three main sets that are available from Larsen Toy Lab via Kickstarter ~ Shape Match, Building Bridges, and Ten Towers.

ShapeMatch Building Bridges wooden block set Ten Towers

Shape Match and Building Bridges are focused on the story of a young boy named Leif and his travels. Throughout the story, children are encouraged to build structures that imitate pictures in the book. Some of the structures can be recreated using the blocks that are included in the set, and others require children to use creativity to recreate them with what they have on hand.

Larsen Toy Lab-9569

What We Love About the Building Blocks from Larsen Toy Lab

There are many things to love about the building blocks from Larsen Toy Lab ~ other than the fact that they are made in the US and also eco-friendly {definitely safe when my young nephew and niece come to visit!}. Here are a few other things we are enjoying about these toys.

Larsen Toy Lab

The block sets are personalized for your family. Our block set came personalized just for us – love it!!! The kids were all excited {and since it was the blog name it MAY have cut down on the arguing over who the blocks belonged to – grins}.

Larsen Toy Lab-9577

The toys tie in reading with learning. When Kaleb saw the blocks he was very excited, so he and I spent almost an hour reading the book together and recreating things that we saw in the book. Bringing them to ‘life’ and off the page was so much fun. The story isn’t just a quick read, but includes talk about building friendships as well – tying literature in with learning just makes me happy.

Larsen Toy Lab-9573

Creativity is encouraged when creating. At first Kaleb thought that everything he needed to build was in the box, but he discovered that there were times when he needed to think through things to build and couldn’t just copy what he saw. That is something that I LOVE about this educational toy.

Larsen Toy Lab-9580

The block set includes a clean-up guide! Have you ever taken something out of the box only to puzzle over how in the world to fit it all back in the way you took it out? Maybe that’s just me. When you open the box, the underside gives you a visual on how to repack the blocks so they all fit back in nice and neat. This makes a mom super happy.

Find Out More

Be sure to stop by LarsenToyLab.com and take a moment to watch their intro video – or visit them on Facebook to say hi and follow along. We are looking forward to using these blocks again and again ~ and know that you will enjoy them as well!

 

Jolanthe Signature

I was provided a set of the Building Bridge blocks from Larsen Toy Lab to review in exchange for my honest opinion ~ and the truth is we love them enough to have backed their company.