Kidzaw Master Kitz The Starry Night ~ Review

Since my girls love to paint and create their own artistic pictures, I knew they would enjoy creating a masterpiece from Kidzaw.com by using the Master Kitz The Starry Night kit.

The Starry Night kit came with the following:

• Custom Acrylic Paints (child friendly)

• Custom Oil Pastels (child friendly)

• 1 van Gogh Roller specially designed to replicate van Gogh’s active stroke

• 1 re-usable Starry Night Cyprus Stencil

• 1 standard paint roller

• 2 pieces deluxe art paper

• 1 low tack “Mesmerizing Stars” sticker sheet

• Fun, easy-to-understand van Gogh learning materials

• Easy-to-follow step-by-step instructions

My daughters decided to work on this project together. They took out all of the supplies from the box and set everything up before starting. My oldest read through each step of the directions while she and my seven year old worked on each step together.

They put on the “reusable” sticker stars, but after they had painted the poster board, they could not get the stickers to come off easily. The poster board ripped and some of the stickers also started to rip. I’m not sure if they used too much paint or if they were to wait for it to dry before taking the stickers off. The instructions never said to let the paint dry on any of the steps, so they kept on working without letting anything dry.

After taking the stickers off, they then used the supplied stencil to make the houses. They both enjoyed this part because it was simple and fast. After using the stencil, they used the oil pastels to create the stars and shade in some of the foreground.

Although, it didn’t turn out exactly how it supposed to, my girls did enjoy creating this work of art. They also read through the included pamphlet about Vincent Van Gogh and was able to learn more about the artist.

They did have a lot of fun using the kit and working together. They said they would love to try out more of the kits and create more masterpieces. They are going to try to make The Starry Night one more time with the other piece of poster board that was included to see if they can somehow get it to turn out a little bit better.

I though this kit was a great way to introduce children to various artists and be able to create the artists famous works. The kits would make a great gift for someone that loves art. These kits would also be great to use in a homeschool when studying different artists. It would be great to have a collection for you and your child to enjoy over the years.

My girls would give this kit 4 stars since the stars ripped and the directions were not clear on if they should let the paint dry before going to the next step.

Overall – they loved creating this masterpiece and would love to create more!They have already asked to get another kit to try out. They may find one under the Christmas tree.

Be sure to click below to see what other crew members thought of The Starry Night kit.

Heirloom Audio Productions ~ Review

We love reviewing audio adventures, so when it was time for the new adventure from Heirloom Audio to be reviewed, my kids said “yes!”. We were so excited to receive our copy of St. Bartholomew’s Eve. Unfortunately, it was shipped right before Hurricane Florence and we had to wait an extra two weeks to receive it in the mail since mail delivery was on hold. But once it was delivered, we made sure to open it up and listen right away. It came at just the right time for us to have a distraction from all of the hurricane mess.

Heirloom Audio takes G.A> Henty books and turns them into an audio adventure your family will remember.  Their main goal is to bring the story to life to make the listener feel like they are actually in the story. It is like watching a great movie, but without the screen.

St. Bartholomew’s Eve takes place during the Huguenot War. It take place after the Reformation when the Huguenots are battling the Catholics for the right to worship God. Philip, who was raised in England, but has French ties from his mother,  goes with his cousin to France to help the Huguenots. Philip finds himself in many dangerous situations. When it came to what he thought was going to be the end, a voice from the crowd begins singing…A Mighty Fortress is Our God… Many of the Protestants did die during the St. Bartholomew’s Massacre, but there were also many that lived and had much more faith than when the war started.

As always, we enjoy listening to the audio adventures as a family. There is so much to learn from the stories, You are able to incorporate the story into your history lesson for the day. You can also listen and have a discussion with your children about the time period and how it is the same or different from today. There are many ways to use the audio drama in your homeschool.

My children would much rather listen to the well produced audio dram than have to sit and read the book. I do have one child that loves to read, but she also loves to listen to the drama stories. The actors do a wonderful job with the work and the production itself is well put together. We love how the sound effects make it feel like we are actually a part of the story. I also love that some well know actors help to make the productions. Brian Blessed (Star Wars), Elizabeth Counsell (Chronicles of Narnia), Andy Harrison (The Secret Garden), and Hugo Docking (Oliver Twist) are a few of the well known actors.

We never just listen to the drama once. We always have to listen again and see if there was anything we missed the first time. It never gets old or boring and it is like listening the first tie every time. 5 stars for Heirloom Audio Productions!

Make sure to read what other crew members that about St. Bartholomew’s Eve by clicking below.

Brinkman Adventures Season 6 ~ Review

Having reviewed Brinkman Adventures in the past, my family was excited to be able to listen to the brand new  Season 6: Underground Rising. We reviewed a digital download copy of this season. The season can also be purchased on a CD.

The missionary stories found on this season of Brinkman Adventures are real  stories about real missionaries. You can find out more about each story from the Real Stories page on the website. Season 6 is about two hours of listening time, perfect for car rides, during family Bible time, or really, anytime. You can even find a recipe on the page for some yummy treats.

The episodes that are included with season 6 are as follows:

• Dutch Underground, Part 1 &2
• Twice Born Fly
• I Wonder Why
• Free Burma Rangers, Part 1& 2

Not only are Brinkman Adventures great for Bible time, they are also great for learning geography. You can help your child find the places on the map where the stories take place. These are not just stories you can listen to, but they are action filled drama re-enactments that will make you feel like you are there with the missionaries. You can hear cars passing by, people talking in the background, bells ringing. You can also hear joy, excitement, fear, and heartache as you listen to each story.

Since many of the stories take place in the past, you can also use the stories to discuss the time period for history. For example, the story Dutch Underground takes place during World War II. This story would be great to listen to if you are studying that time period to  know how it affected different people. The story focuses on the Nazi’s in Holland.

We listened to each story during our homeschool day and discussed each story after listening. With having a wide range of ages in our family, we were able to have lengthy discussions with the teenagers and short to the point discussions with the elementary age child.  We discussed the time period and looked on a map to see where each story took place.  We also discussed what they thought it would be like to be the person during the time and how they would have handled each scenario.

It’s always difficult to pick a favorite since they are all well done stories and keep your attention the whole time, but for this season, I would have to say I enjoyed listening to the Twice Born Fly story. This story was based on a dream that Ian Brinkman had one night while he was sleeping. It talks about salvation and how with Jesus in us we should not fear death.

My boys enjoyed listening to the Free Burma Rangers story. My girls didn’t have a favorite. They enjoyed listening to each story and discussing the stories with us after listening. My seven year old enjoyed looking on the map to see the different ares where each story took place. As always, we definitely give Brinkman Adventures 5 stars!

You can save 10% on Season 6 (or any item on the website) by using the code FALL10.

Read what the other crew members thought about Brinkman Adventures, Season 6 by clicking on the graphic below.

Home School in the Woods ~ Review

While we have reviewed different items from Home School in the Woods in the past, I wanted to try something designed for my youngest daughter. I have not done much history with her and this was the perfect way to introduce her to some history while learning about a man from history who is interesting. This lap-pak is also geared for children in grades K-2nd grade where as the other products we have reviewed have been for the older kids. We spent the last several weeks learning about Benjamin Franklin from the Hands-on History Lap-Paks collection.

Home School in the Woods is a hands-on history company that offers several different products. The lap-pak collection offers a way to spend time on one topic through the process of making a lap book along with a text booklet. The student is able to focus on one topic and learn more about the person, place, or thing.

The Benjamin Franklin lap-pak has everything you and your child need to make a wonderful lap book and read a story with the text booklet that is included.  Your child learns more about Benjamin Franklin’s life, family, and what he learned while growing up. There are twelve hands-on projects to complete that include the following:

• The Franklin Family
• Leather Apron Trades
• Ben Franklin, the Printer
• Printer’s Type
• Ben, the Good Citizen
• Poor Richard’s Almanack
• Franklin’s Inventions
• Benjamin Flies a Kite
• Documents
• Vocabulary
• Pocket of Virtues
• A Timeline of Ben Franklin’s Life

As with all downloadable products, the lap-pak does take some time to print out and read through the instructions. After I had printed all of the pages, I organized them  in the way I was going to use them with my daughter. I know this product is to be made into a lapbook, but we like to do the pages and place them onto construction paper and put them into a three pronged folder to make a book project. The page shown below is how my daughter wanted to show the printing press page. She said “the label should be on the same page and just flip up so we can see the picture.”

We have done each section like the one above and have used more than one page if things didn’t fit just right. My daughter liked going through and coloring the pages and cutting them out and putting them together on different colors of construction paper. She liked making a book and making it her own way.

The only con I have with using these products is the time it takes to print out and figure out how everything is to go together. I love the hands-on approach and I think my children do learn more when they are doing the projects.  My daughter soaked up the information and learned a lot of great things from Benjamin Franklin’s life. I also learned some things about Benjamin Franklin that I did not know about. I also helped my daughter with some of the coloring and it was fun to have a one on one time with her while we were both learning.

Overall, I highly recommend Home School in the Woods for your hands-on history needs.

Be sure to check out their newest product on Ancient Rome.

Learning About Science Level 1 ~ Review

I’m not a science person and it takes me a long time to research what science curriculum to use each year. My oldest son loves science and I wish I had had these science supplements from WriteBonnieRose when he was younger. I am using the Learning About Science Collection, Level 1 with my 7 year old daughter. She also loves learning about animals and how things work. The level 1 science collection includes Familiar Plants and How They Grow, Fruits and Vegetables Around the World, Animal Habitats of the World, Our Senses and Systems and How They Work, Learning About Life Cycles, Earth: Layers, Earthquakes, and Volcanoes, and Exploring States of Matter.

This science collection comes as a pdf download and has pictures to color and simple copywork. Each topic is a different length. We worked through the senses topic and it is 19 pages long. It can be easily finished in a short time. Each page has a short paragraph to read. There are pictures to color and a word or multiple words for your child to trace. At the end of each topic/book there is a review for your child to see how much they remember about the topic.Some of  the other topics/books are around 30-40 pages. The one my daughter was most interested in is Animal Habitats of the World and the book is 51 pages! We are still working through this one and my daughter is loving it . The topics within this topic are African Savannahs, the Arctic, the Desert, the Australian Bush, Antarctic, the Beach, Caves, Coral Reef, Cypress Swamps, Farms, Fresh Water, Prairies, Forests, Bamboo Forest, Rain Forest, Mountains, Pets, and Oceans. There are so many animals to learn about where they live, what they can do, and how big some of them grow. This has been my daughters favorite topic/book so far and she loves learning about all of the different animals of the world.

While looking through the other topics to decide what to use next, I liked how the Life Cycle book is laid out. It tells about different animals and how they grow from a baby to an adult. It talks about how some animals lay eggs and how some animals start off as larva. It also tells about how mammals look when they are born and how they will look when they are older.

You will also receive a discussion guide with the level which tells about different websites to visit to learn more about each topic if you wanted to expand each topic/book.

My daughter has enjoyed going through the topics and learning more about God’s world. She (and I) love that the lessons can be short or long depending on the interest of your child. She loves to color and loves that the pictures are black and white and can be colored the way she wants them. I also like that the topics are kid friendly and focus on creation. I highly recommend these science packets if you are just looking to supplement or if you want to use these as your main science for the year.

Right now, until August 15,  WriteBonnieRose id offering my readers a 50% discount on any of the science levels with the coupon code REVIEWCREW50.

Math Essentials ~ Review

Having children that are now high school level and learning the higher math, I found that I needed to have some kind of refresher in certain areas, but could never find anything that would help me. I was able to review Math Refresher for Adults from Math  Essentials over the past few weeks.

The book contains math from general math to pre-algebra and algebra. The general math  portion covers whole numbers, percents, decimals, geometry, percents, and problem solving.

The pre-algebra and algebra portion of the book covers positive and negative fractions and decimals, exponents, square roots, order of operations, percents, graphing, and much more.

The website also offers videos even though they don’t necessarily match up with this book, you are able to find the correct category and watch a short video on how to do the math.

I wanted this book since some of my children are needing help with upper level math and I haven’t been able to help them much because I had forgotten how to do a problem. Even though they watch videos to help them with their math, they still needed my help and I had to go to the internet to try to find something to help me so that I could help them.

I haven’t worked through much of the book yet, but what I have gone through has brought back some math knowledge and I feel like this book will help me help my kids this coming school year.

I did skip some of the beginning pages since it was adding, subtracting, and multiplying. I started working on multiplying fractions and the directions were clear and helped me to remember how to do the problems. I then skipped over to review some geometry since that is one of the areas I was not string enough to help my child with last year.

I will have one child in pre-algebra this year and one child in algebra 2 this year and I know that this book will be a big help to me and them as we learn the math together.

Even though the book is titled Math Refresher for Adults, you could use the pages to have your child (of any age) do some problems of the area they need help with the most when they are having trouble learning or retaining math information.

I am actually not a big math person, but have one child (my oldest) who loves math and has been able to help his younger siblings. I am enjoying going through this book and it has been fun re-learning and knowing that I can actually do the problem.  Even though my son loves math and has helped in the past, I know he will be happy if I am the one that can actually help the other children so I don’t have to take hi away from his school work during the day. I think this is a great book for anyone of any age to work through and highly recommend it even for non-math children and adults!

Reading Kingdom ~ Review

Over the past several weeks, my seven year old daughter has been using Reading Kingdom to help her read better and at a faster speed.

Reading Kingdom is an online program that is designed for children ages 4-10 who are beginning readers or struggling readers. The program was developed by Dr. Marion Blank and uses a six skill integrated method.

This program allows your child to use the keyboard and mouse if you are using the program on a computer or laptop. The child needs to be able to click on letters of words using a mouse or they need to be able to find the right letter on the keyboard of the laptop to make words. My daughter had used the mouse before but had not typed out words before. She picked up where the letters were on the keyboard quickly since they only introduce a coupe of letters at a time. You are also able to use the program on a touch screen or tablet.

My older children picked up reading  quicker than my seven year old and while I have tried various programs to help her with her reading, I think she has found this one to be the most enjoyable. I think she learns better having something that is more visual.

I had my daughter start at the beginning of the program instead of taking the assessment. Since she had been struggling, I wanted her to start at the beginning to build her confidence with reading. She enjoyed it and while some things did come up, I tried to get her to use it at the recommended four days per week during the review period. It is also recommended that only one or two lessons be done each day. The first day (and all the other days) when her second lesson was done and it told her she should take a break, she was upset and wanted to do more. She has loved going through the program and doing her lessons and gaining confidence with her reading.

Each lesson is a short 10 – 15 minutes long and each lesson builds on the prior lesson. The words start out simple and progressively get more difficult as the lessons go on.  At first, she disliked having to type out the words, but I just told her it was good for her to learn where the letters were on the keyboard and she started getting better at it and started liking it more.

During the lesson, there are several different games where the child needs to identify the letters in the word and also identify the word itself. I think her favorite game was having to choose which word would make the word she was learning (there would be four words with letters missing and she had to choose which one would make the word she was learning).

After the first couple of lessons when I knew she knew how to use the mouse and keyboard, I did not sit with her. I think she did a lot better without someone there with her. I was still able to go into the account and see how she was doing and how much she had accomplished. You are also able to download a report that will tell you what words the child has learned, what their comprehension is on the word, and their Lexile score after completing each book in the level.

Overall, both my daughter and I like this program. She likes that she gets to play on the computer ad I like that she is learning.

Check out other crew member’s reviews  of this program and the ASD Reading Program.

Weigl Publishers

We were recently given the chance to review three media enhanced children’s books (A Lion's World, There Once Was A Cowpoke Who Swallowed An Ant, and Glaciers) from Weigl Publishers. They offer several books that have codes to unlock media content for the book.

Each book has a special code that you put in on a certain website and then you are able to view the media for each book. Each book has different media like videos to watch, activity pages you can download and print, or have the book read to you.

There Once Was  A Cowpoke Who Swallowed An Ant is a story that is designed for children in grades K-2. It is about a cowboy that swallows an ant but soon figures out that it was not the best thing to do. He then swallows other animals and even himself to get the ant.

The media on this book is just the story being read to you. There is a narrator’s voice and the cowpoke’s voice. There are also different sound effects as the story is being read to you. The words are highlighted as the story is being read. You can see what it looks like on the computer in the picture below.



A Lion’s World is also designed for children in grades K-2.  This is a simple one sentence on each page with a picture that a child could read alone. When you log onto the EyeDiscover website with your special code, you will see a video of the lion’s in the background while the story is being read by a narrator. You will also be able to hear the lion roar in some of the videos.  There are some things included in the book that are not on the website. The book includes some lion facts and keywords. The media on the website just shows video of lions and reads the book.



Glaciers is a book that is designed for children in grades 3-6. The book tells about the size of glaciers, where glaciers can be found, and different aspects of glaciers. The media found on the website includes videos, interactive maps, web links, slideshows, activities that can be downloaded as a pdf, and much more.

Side note: Because this is not a Christian science book, the book does talk about millions of years ago. I don’t keep my children from reading books that talk about this because I tell them from an early age that we don’t believe in that, but they can still the read the book, but remember what we believe.

This book and website has a lot of great information and I would definitely use it to teach my children more about glaciers.



My youngest daughter looked at and read through A lion’s World and There Once Was  A Cowpoke Who Swallowed An Ant. I had her go through the books on the website and she enjoyed having the books read to her and seeing the videos of the lions. She thought the cowpoke book was the funniest and had a good laugh as the story was being read to her.

I looked through the glacier book and website myself and liked that there was so much information that can be used for future studies with my youngest. I did show this to my oldest daughter who will be starting 8th grade in the fall. She said she would enjoy parts of the book and website if her studies included glaciers.

Overall, we enjoyed the media enhanced books and will take a look to see if there may be other books that we would enjoy.

YWAM Publishing ~ Review

Having reviewed books from the Heroes of History line from YWAM Publishing, I knew we would not be disappointed with any of the choices that were offered to us. For this review, our first choice was Laura Ingalls Wilder: A Storybook Life. My oldest daughter had just finished reading one of Laura’s books and I thought she would love to read more about her growing up years and her family.

YWAM, which stands for Youth With A Mission, publishes different biographies to encourage Christians to make a difference. in the world.

Laura Ingalls Wilder was written by Janet and Geoff Benge. Janet and Geoff are a married couple who have twenty years of writing experience. They desire to make history come alive.

This biography is less than 200 pages and has 15 chapters. It could be read fairly quickly or you could read it slowly over a period of time. This book would make a great read aloud book or you could choose to have your children read through it themselves. The book covers Laura’s life from when she was a small child until her death. It talks about the hardships the family encountered, but it also talks about the fun they had as well.



These books have an accompanying digital unit study that can be used with them. The unit study is a downloadable pdf that includes study questions, ideas for a display, essay and creative writing, and hands-on projects. There is also a fact sheet that you can fill out that lists the full name, date of birth, parents, siblings, and date of death. A timeline of important events during the person’s life is included, as well as some maps of the area where the person lived or traveled.

In the past, I have used this books as a read aloud for my children. This time I decided to let my 7th grade daughter read the book on her own. She had just finished reading one of Laura’s books and I thought she would like to read about the author’s life.  My daughter read through about a chapter a day. She did know some of the things she read just by reading Laura’s books and also by watching Little House on the Prairie. She enjoyed learning about some things she didn’t know like Laura’s Christmas present of a doll one year.

When my daughter had finished the chapter, I would go over the questions with her. I had her pick one hands-on project to do after she finished reading the book. She picked to make a rag doll like Laura’s. We found some instructions online and made a no sew one easily and quickly with some scrap fabric I had laying around. I was hoping she would want to bake or make something to eat, but she said she wanted the doll because Laura’s doll was named Charlotte and that is my daughter’s name.

She enjoyed reading the book, going through the questions, and making her new doll. I also had her fill out the fact sheet and had her look at the states where Laura lived and traveled through. We also went over some of the events on the timeline.

My daughter enjoyed the book and said she would love to read another biography soon. I had her look through some of them and she mentioned Amy Carmichael might be one she would enjoy.

Princess Cut Movie Review

I am always on the lookout for a good family movie that has a good story and something my teens won’t find too cheesy. When I heard about Princess Cut from Watchman Pictures, it sounded like something my twelve year old daughter would enjoy watching.

The movie is set in a small Carolina town and tells the story of a young women who has been through a few relationships, but always gets jilted by her boyfriends. She thought she had found true love, but then realizes that is not the case each time. She tells her friend that she is done with guys for a while. Her parents talk with her and tell her true love is worth the wait, but being young, she has a hard time believing them. She ends up meeting a guy, but he is not at all what she had hoped it would be. Realizing her parents were right about true love, she gives her dating life to God and tells Him she will wait for the right man. Little does she know that God is already working on a young man for her. In the end, she learns that true love is really worth the wait and that we should rely on God to guide us as we date.

Initially, I was just going to watch this with my daughter, but after I watched it, I decided that it was not a movie just for girls, but teen boys could benefit from also watching the movie. This movie teaches how to treat a young woman and how to treat her parents as well. Girls can learn what kind of guy to not date and to trust God and her parents for knowing what is right. Teen boys can learn that they should respect a girl's parents and also respect the girl they are dating.

After the movie, I was able to talk with my sons about how they should treat a woman, not only when they are dating, but at all times. They should treat all woman with respect. They should also be respectful of their elders which include parents of who they will date and marry.

I talked with my 12 year old daughter about how she should not date just any man, but date one that shows her respect and treats us (her parents) with respect.

We all enjoyed the movie and I didn’t have to worry about the content (even though I did preview it beforehand).