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.

The Hidden Message of the Great Seal is a book that delves into the history of the seal of the United States, the signers and writers of the declaration whom also created the seal, and the symbolism of the seal. With almost 300 pages of historical information, 295 images, and interpretations this paper back book by Micheal Kanis is rich with history and research. Published by Hidden Message, LLC the book is a treasure trove of pictures and images relating to the founding of our nation.

The book begins with chapters discussing the significance of the seal, discussion of the values system, and information about studying the seal. Then he goes into chapters that discuss some of the key players in the creation of the seal. Then he goes into the various elements of the seal, before finishing up with research-based interpretations. Throughout the chapters it is clear that he is writing from a Christian perspective and he includes various scriptures in a few places, as applicable.

My thirteen-year-old son is an avid reader and has been reading this book over the last several weeks. He said that it was a good book, but it had a lot of information and was not one of those books he could just sit down and quickly read. He had to stop and think and digest what he was reading. While he does not mind reading fiction books of this length, he found the length combined with the depth of the information to be a bit daunting. He was reading about one chapter per school day and is a little over half way through the book.  My husband will be helping him work through the rest of the information a little bit at a time.

My husband, our resident history buff, also read part of the book and shared his opinion.

“The Hidden Message of the Great Seal is well researched and supported, yet not too academic in nature. Riding a fine line between broad history and specialist style evaluation and assessment of some of the most notable public symbols of the United States and her government, focusing the majority of the work on the Great Seal.  Author Michael Kanis delves into the past, exploring the “foundational truth” during the first nine chapters and setting the stage for Francis Hopkinson’s work on finalizing the seal in 1782. Hopkinson is of course closely associated with several early American symbols, perhaps most famously the flag, likely creating the 13 star and 13 stripe flag authorized by congress by the June 14, 1777 Flag Act. Kanis points out that the 1782 seal revision, which resulted in our current seal, was influenced by the new American flag.

Popular fiction aside, symbology is a deep and meaningful subject, well explored and easily subject to conspiracy theory.  Kanis steers clear of conspiracy and tends to walk a rather conservative path, building the symbology of the seal piece by piece. Exploring the history and inspiration for dozens of symbols incorporated into the nation’s seal.

I believe, Kanis’ ultimate message to be one of inspiration and hope. Echoing a theme from the scientific community. We can advance our society and improve our civilization by understanding the past and striving to improve ourselves as well. Kanis’ closing chapter focuses heavily on virtues and their importance in maintaining our freedom as a nation and a people.”

Overall, I think this is a well researched and written book, but it is a pretty dense piece of research, it’s not light reading and it definitely has a specific message and objective, the “rescue [of] a republic in peril”. From an educator’s standpoint I think this book would make a great unit study for something like a high school history club. Or perhaps as a component of an advanced civics class. I would not consider it light reading and for any student younger than high school it would probably need some guidance. I see our family using it again when we do high school civics in a couple of years as a component of our study of American government.

Be sure to check out at the book The Hidden Message of the Great Seal at the The Hidden Message, LLC  website to get more information or to purchase the book.  You can even get a 50% off discount if you purchase by May 30, 2020. Simply go to the website and use the code: HOMESCHOOL. Don’t forget to click on the graphic below to check out the reviews from other Review Crew members who reviewed this book.

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.

Most of the time, when I recommend books, I am sharing books that are fun to read with your children or to let your children read for themselves. If I am being totally honest, I don’t think I would call reading Not If, But When with my children fun. However, I do believe it was very beneficial, and I am grateful to Christian Focus for the opportunity to review the book.

Not If, But When is a hardcover book written by John Perritt that covers the topics of Biblical sexuality and pornography. The book is 56 pages long and includes a variety of full-cover illustrations by Alice Mastropaolo. It is designed to be read with children ages 7-11, though I got it to use with my twelve-year-old daughter because pornography was a topic that I knew we needed to discuss to make sure she knew how to handle it if she was accidentally exposed.

The book is divided into two main parts, one to be read with girls and the other part to be read with boys. They cover the same material and are written in very similar styles, but the girl’s portion of the story has a mom and daughter discussing the topics, and the boy’s portion uses a father and son.

Each story is divided into eight sections, each section teaches a lesson through the story and includes a Bible reference, main point, and question/statement about what was learned in that section. The story is based around a child seeing inappropriate pictures from friends, telling their parents, and then learning about God’s plan for sex and the sinful nature of pornography through a conversation with their parents.

For younger children, you may want to read one section at a time over the course of several days or weeks. It is carefully worded and appropriate, but it could be a lot of information to absorb at once. However, since I was dealing with an older child, we chose to go through it all in one-afternoon session. I would read the story, she would use her Bible and read the scripture reference, and then I answered any questions before moving on to the next section. I feel like it was a good way to open up the conversation in ways that were age appropriate and not overwhelming.

We also chose to go through parts of the book with my thirteen-year-old son. He had more background than my daughter, but there were some points that I thought were important for him, and this was a good way to get that conversation started. The story was written for a younger audience, and so it was a bit childish for him, but it did help us start the conversation, and we were able to have a good discussion.

Overall, I think this book is a great way to start a conversation with your child about the appropriate context for sex and the dangers and evils of pornography in a way that is developmentally appropriate and God-honoring.  Christian Focus recommends this book for ages 7-11, and I think that it is a fair assessment.  While this book does not need to be your only conversation about sex with your child, it can give you a good foundation to start on and open up the dialogue between you and your child.

Be sure to check out the Not If, But When book on the Christian Focus website to get more information.   Don’t forget to click on the graphic below to check out the reviews from other Review Crew members who reviewed this book, as well as several other Christian Focus titles.

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.

Over the last month, I had to the opportunity to review BJU Press Focus on Fives which is a kindergarten phonics and literature program that also includes science, heritage studies, and Bible.  The program is produced by BJU Press Homeschool.

The program arrived in two boxes and included the teachers manuals, write now book, phonics practice, worktext, review cards, teaching visuals, phonics flip charts, and reading books.

The program is split into five lessons per week. Each week has a theme, for example, week two was Firefighters at Work and week five was Healthcare Workers. The curriculum includes learning center ideas for each week as well as a snack of the week.

My kindergartner loved the program. He enjoyed singing the songs, learning about the different children that were included in the stories, seeing the puppets that helped you work through the program and the fun activities. He happily asked to do it each day.

Each day includes a variety of activities that may include singing songs, heritage study, listening story, comprehension questions, phonics and English skills, handwriting, science, Bible, and practice. Each day includes a variety of this activities but not all in one day. There are also extension activities that you could use at the end of every day that includes categories such as science, story time, arts and crafts, motor skills, and learning center.

In addition to the basic reading and phonics, students will learn about different community helpers, planting a garden, pets, and so much more. There are even review lessons included that can be used at different holidays such as: Labor Day, Veterans Day, Christmas, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Valentine’s and more.

I found that it took us about twenty or thirty minutes to get through a complete lesson without any of the extension activities.  The extension activities varied and based on which ones and how many you chose could take just a few minutes or several hours to complete everything.

The student does work in three books for their independent practice. The first is the Write Now! book which develops handwriting skills. It starts with lines and tracing, moves into letters, and by the end of the curriculum the student is copying sentences.  The phonics practice book starts with letters and moves into blends and words to coordinate with the lessons in the teacher’s manual. Finally, there is the worktext which includes a variety of activities such as matching, tracing, and cut and paste. The worktext works on different skills and often includes a connection to the theme for the week.

Extension activities includes suggestions such as drawing their favorite patriotic symbol, making a seed mosaic, using a carnation and food dye to understand how plants get water, tic-tac-toe with words, or show and tell of a favorite vegetable.

Overall, I think that this program is well laid out, has some great educational opportunities, and would give a child a firm foundation. I loved that Bible was interwoven into other aspects. For example, the alphabet song they used also taught them about Jesus. However, as a mother of four children, it was honestly more than I would want to try to keep track of and use for a whole year. It was a bit overwhelming with all of the different components and parts of it were more geared towards a classroom with multiple children. They have a series of videos coming out this summer that are designed to help teach the program through distance education. Those videos may help simplify the approach and make it easier for a parent to coordinate everything.

If you only have one or two children, your five-year-old is your youngest, or if you really want to replicate a classroom style program then this may be a great fit for you. It is a solid educational program that includes a lot of topics in one program.  The videos that are being released this summer might also make it more adaptable to large families and lower the parental time commitment.

Be sure to check out BJU Press Focus on Fives at the BJU Press Homeschool website to get more information.   Don’t forget to click on the graphic below to check out the reviews from other Review Crew members and see how it worked for their families.

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.

My kindergartner has been fighting me on learning how to read, so I was excited to review this 12 month subscription to Reading Unlocked.  This program is online and designed to be used three to five days a week for 10 to 15 minutes each day.  Reading Unlocked uses what they term, ‘simplified phonics’ to teach students to blend sounds into words.  They start with simple three letter words that have three sounds and build up to four letter words.

During each lesson of  Reading Unlocked the student goes through a series of activities related to the letters that are being worked on and reviewing the letters that have previously been covered.  The student has an opportunity to hear the sounds, say the sounds, write the letters and words, match the words with pictures, and at the end of each lesson the parent reads a poem and the student reads one or two words that they learned that day as you reach them in the poem (they are noted in red).

Each lesson has ten to thirteen different short activities that the student completes. There is a series of open dots at the top of the screen that are filled in as the activities are completed to show the student their progress. A student that was very motivated and grasping the concepts could finish this in about fifteen minutes. However, if a student is struggling it could easily take thirty minutes or more.  For example, my son was learning a lot about writing his letter and the letter sounds but really struggled with remembering from one day to the next how to blend the letters to make words. This meant that some of the sections were very challenging for him. to help keep him motivated, some days we only did part of a lesson and then finished it up the next day.

A student could complete most of this program unassisted which is helpful for a busy mom trying to juggle multiple children and lessons. However, I do think it is important to note that on most of the activities they can select multiple answers until they get the answer correct. This is good for building confidence; however, I also sometimes found my son just clicking answers until he got the right one and not trying to figure it out.

I think this simplified phonics approach of Reading Unlocked could be very beneficial for some students. Particularly those that are really ready to learn to read and just need some basic instruction. For my son, it moved a bit too fast for him because he struggles with the letter sounds. However, I saw huge improvements in his writing skills because of this program. He diligently practiced the letters that he was learning and was finally able to write his name independently and have the confidence to copy words that I would write for thank you cards and other tasks.

Be sure to check out the Reading Unlocked website if you have a student that is learning to read, they even have a free trial so you can see for yourself if it is a good fit for your student.   Don’t forget to click on the graphic below to check out the reviews from other Review Crew members.

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.

History and books are one of my son’s favorite combinations, so we were excited to get a chance to review History on Horseback: The Early Years. This nonfiction book, published by Sonrise Stable Books, shares great stories from history through the eyes of the horses that were present for the events.

The book was written by Vicki Watson. The illustrations included a variety of pictures and drawings of horses from various sources which are credited at the end of the book. The book is a study paperback book with a full colored cover and black and white illustrations on the interior of the book.

The book is recommended for ages 12 through adult and is good for an independent read or as a supplement to a history curriculum. They are also currently working on a study guide that would allow it to be more of a stand alone history curriculum. My thirteen-year-old son chose to review it and used it as a fun read and not a part of our history curriculum.

History on Horseback: The Early Years includes stories from the years 1493 through 1866. There are 53 chapters and each chapter is a short story about a different horse or event. For example, one chapter focuses on several different important horses in the Confederate army, another focuses on a horse named Copenhagen from the battle of Waterloo.  Each chapter is relatively short with most of them ranging from two to six pages in length, for a total of just over 180 pages.

“One of my favorite stories is the story about George Washington and his horses Nelson and Blueskin. One of favorite things in this is why he rode the horses for different occasions. He rode Nelson on campaign and in battle because he was much calmer under gun fire. However, he almost always rode Blueskin to formal events as he was a nicer looking horse. I think this would be a good read for anyone who likes history or horses. I think the book is a great book for people between 10 and 15.”  Matthew, age 13

 While my son enjoyed reading the book for fun, I think it would be a great book to use along side of a history program to help give a different perspective. It would also be a great way to engage a student that loves horses but may not be as interested in history. With the chapters being short and specific to a certain horse or event, you could easily read the chapter or chapters that coordinate with the topics in your history curriculum as an introduction to the various events. You could also use it as the basis for creating your own history curriculum by adding some extra research or projects to the reading.

The book is recommended for ages twelve through adult and I think that is a fairly accurate recommendation. The chapters are interesting but contain a lot of factual information that might be a bit dense for younger readers. If you had a younger student that really enjoyed horses or history, you could use it as a read aloud.

Be sure to check out the History on Horseback: The Early Years if you have a horse lover that would enjoy learning more about history.   Don’t forget to click on the graphic below to check out the reviews from other Review Crew members.