Crooked Creek Life

If You Were Me and Lived In… (Book Series Review)

It can often be hard for kids (or even adults) to imagine what it would be like to have lived in the past. Carole P. Roman has written a great series of books: "An Introduction to Civilizations Throughout Time" and we were given three of these to review. The Carole P. Roman books and collections feature many other titles as well, but I chose three from this particular series because my kids love history and I wanted to help them understand better what life was like during each of these time periods. If You Were Me and Lived in...Renaissance Italy was my personal favorite of the three. ... Continue Reading...

Zirrly Super Beads (Review)

My kiddos love fuse beads (the kind you iron) but they always need me to do the ironing part. Wouldn't it be great if there were some fuse beads that didn't need to be ironed? Well there are and we were given an opportunity to try Super Beads by Zirrly. Zirrly's Super Beads fuse together with water so kids can complete their craft projects without adult help. No dangerous iron needed! Please note: small children will need supervision and assistance, but for the most part they can assemble and spray their creations all on their own. The Super Beads Mega Kit by Zirrly includes ... Continue Reading...

Parenting Made Practical Resources

Fact: Parenting is hard. I've been struggling lately with nagging my kids to obey and cooperate so I was glad to get Taming the Lecture Bug and Getting Your Kids to Think from Parenting Made Practical to review. Since I'm not one to read non-fiction books outside of the Bible, I was very excited that this resource comes in both a book and a DVD! Taming the Lecture Bug is from the "Parent's Night Out" series. It is filmed as Joey and Carla talk to the audience (and us) about what to do when kids and teens disobey. Instead of reminding, threatening and nagging them, I learned how to ... Continue Reading...

Magic Stix Washable Markers Review

Do your little artists love to use markers but forget to put the caps back on? The fun folks at The Pencil Grip, Inc. have come up with a solution: markers that don't dry out even if the cap is left off for up to 7 days! If you are constantly replacing dried out markers Magic Stix Washable Markers may be just what you need to keep your school supply budget in check. We put these markers to the test with this art project. (Source) We turned ours into piranha with some sharp teeth, but of course they can be nice, non-flesh-eating fish too if you prefer. Chalk that one up to having mostly ... Continue Reading...

Our Homeschool Curriculum Choices (2017-18)

Every year in the spring I start researching and choosing our homeschool curriculum for the fall. This is probably my favorite thing about homeschooling (from the mom side of things anyway). I love browsing and comparing and choosing, I even love the ordering and especially the part where it all comes in the mail! First, a little about our homeschooling style and schedule. In Georgia we are required to school 180 days per year. In the past I've tried to use the M-F scheduling method, but with our family's comings and goings we often do school on weekends and I needed our schedule to be ... Continue Reading...

Drive Thru History Adventures

I'd like to share about a great history curriculum that has brought history alive for my family. Drive Thru History Adventures is a full history curriculum we were invited to review and so far we love it! I'll be the first to admit history is my weak link and I struggle with teaching it, but since we started the Drive Thru History Adventures curriculum I feel like history is stress-free. The idea behind Drive Thru History is Dave Stotts (the witty and sometimes hilarious host) drives around, usually in his Jeep, but sometimes in a rental car, and explores the sights of historical events and ... Continue Reading...

Keyboarding for the whole family!

In this age of computers it is essential to learn to type, but the program I picked out for my kids originally was very limited and didn't have good foundations, just skippable lessons and some games. Thankfully we were given the opportunity to try (and review) UltraKey Online Family Subscription from Bytes of Learning. So far this feature-rich typing program has been a blessing to our family. My reluctant typists now ask to work on the games and lessons in UltraKey Online! UltraKey Online Family Subscription includes your own URL to login to your personal program. There will be an ... Continue Reading...

Building Character with Audio Adventures

Several of my kids have trouble listening to things being read to them and retaining the information, and practice makes perfect, so we try to work on this often with audio books or radio shows. The wonderfully creative folks at Heirloom Audio Productions sent us Wulf the Saxon to listen to and review. Wulf the Saxon is just one in a series of Audio Adventures Heirloom Audio Productions has released called "The Extraordinary Adventures of G.A. Henty®". These adventures are all based on real historic events and full of the biblical principles I am trying to instill in my kids. Wulf the ... Continue Reading...

Valentine Boxes

Every year our homeschool cooperative has a Valentine party. We take a picnic lunch, have dessert, play games, and exchange Valentines. Each kid makes a box or bag to collect their treats. My kids always look forward to designing and putting together their collection boxes. All of these boxes are either cereal boxes or Amazon boxes turned outside-in. I just removed all the tape and glue holding the box together, flipped it and re-taped it. This saves a ton in paint or paper. Drewdle wanted a monster on his box. I cut triangles in the colors he decided and Smidget helped him ... Continue Reading...

Taking my Bullet Journal on the go!

Bullet journalling has been a great thing for me. When I first started last month I wondered if I would keep it up and so far I have. I really enjoy using the habit tracker to hold me accountable for important things like my personal Bible time, eating well, drinking enough water, and getting in bed at a decent time. However, my new hobby was taking over the dining room. Then if I wanted to journal in the living room, I'd have to lug it all in there. Long story short, I got this cool little tote at Michael's and loaded it up with my journaling and brush letting supplies. It's so ... Continue Reading...

ICB Prayer Bible for Children

I have struggled with a good way to teach my kids how to pray. I try to set an example with my own prayers, but children's prayers are usually vastly different from adult prayers. So how do you teach your kids to pray? I was offered a chance to review The Prayer Bible for Children (ICB version) and we have really enjoyed going through it. This beautiful Bible comes in two colors: pink and blue. Since I have more boys than girls I chose blue. The Bible has a hard cover with gold accents. It includes a matching 64-page prayer journal for children to write notes and prayers to God ... Continue Reading...

How to avoid sticker disasters

Way back when I had just one child I had few worries of mishaps and disasters related to stickers. I simply didn't see a problem. Of course there came an incident where he left the doctor's office and they gave him a sticker for good behavior. He stuck it on his shirt and we both promptly forgot about it. I remember the shirt. It wasn't particularly nice or even special to either of us, but when the sticker went through the washer and the dryer and made a huge mess on said shirt, I knew there had to be a better way. We've all seen (or maybe you own) a car with stickers all over the inside ... Continue Reading...