Educents - Huge Back-to-School Savings

Disclaimer: This post contains my affiliate links. If you purchase through my links, there is no additional cost to you, and I make a small commission. Thank you!

Educents is having a huge Back-to-School Sale that I wanted to make you sure you don't miss. Have you shopped with Educents yet? Kate and Kaitlyn, the founders of Educents, are passionate about education. They are passionate about bringing YOU the educational products you love at an affordable price. Shouldn't everyone have access to education?

So, how does it work? Educents is an online marketplace for affordable educational products, providing daily deals to students, parents and educators by working with established educational suppliers. Whether it is a science kit, curriculum pack, books or art supplies, they make sure that Educents has the lowest price. Educators need a break, and they’re here to help.

Since the launch of Educents in April, 2013, Educents has saved educators over $15 million dollars and has helped more than 130,000 teachers, homeschoolers and parents gain access to affordable educational materials.

Check out just a few of the things on sale now (and even some FREEBIES)!

History/Geography Wall Play Sets

Life of Fred (all sets!)

Minion Math Centers

5 Kit Magic School Bus Variety Bundle

Magformers 30-Piece Magnetic Building Set

You can also enter some pretty great Giveaways during the month of August!

Happy planning, shopping and saving!

Blessings and love. xo

The Magic of Learning - Bees

Disclaimer: This post contains my affiliate links. Thank you for your support of The Scarlett Thread!


I love science and being able to show my kids videos of any aspect of science is always fun and exciting! 

Whether you are in the middle of your summer break and just want to share a spontaneous science lesson with your children and talk to them about what a creative and incredible God we have, or are already into your school year and want to supplement a lesson on bees (Five In A Row Mamas, this would go perfectly with The Bee Tree!), you many want to check out this video on the first 21 days of a bee's life. 

Amazing!








  Blessings and love. xo

Patterns of Evidence: The Exodus {review and giveaway}

Disclosure (in accordance with the FTC’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising”): Many thanks to Propeller Consulting, LLC for providing this prize for the giveaway. Choice of winners and opinions are 100% my own and NOT influenced by monetary compensation. I did receive a sample of the product in exchange for this review and post.

Hello my Friend!

If you are one who loves mystery or solving puzzles, or if you enjoy studying ancient history, or if you want to learn more about the Bible, I have something special to share with you today that is fascinating and exciting.

About Patterns of Evidence: The Exodus:

For more than 50 years, the vast majority of the world's most prominent archaeologists and historians have proclaimed that there is no hard evidence to support the Exodus story found in the Bible. In fact, they say that the archaeological record is completely opposed to the Bible's account. This view of extreme skepticism has spread from academia to the world. The case against the Exodus appears to be so strong that even some religious leaders are labeling this ancient account as historical fiction. Filmmaker Timothy Mahoney begins with the questions, "Is the Bible just a myth, or did the archaeologists get it wrong?" He decides to tackle this issue with a deliberate scientific approach. After examining the details in the biblical text, he journeys across the globe to search for patterns of evidence firsthand. The result is the most in-depth archaeological investigation into the Exodus from Egypt ever captured on film. This scientific documentary's goal is to communicate the TRUTH of the Bible and help equip believers with defending their faith and the Bible.  

The DVD features stunning animations and a cast including narrator, Kevin Sorbo (God's Not Dead, Hercules: The Legendary Journeys), interviews with leading archaeologists including Israel Finkelstein, Kent Weeks, and David Rohl, and guest appearances by Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Shimon Peres. 

Take a look at the trailer . . . 

My thoughts:
This brand new, 199 minute DVD releases August 4, 2015. It is not rated (NR) and has a Dove rating of Family Friendly. I was engaged with this fascinating documentary from the first note of music. Have you ever had a personal crisis of faith? Did you go looking for an answer to your crisis? That is exactly what happened to filmmaker Timothy Mahoney and is what led him on the search for Truth. He traveled around the world on a 12-year journey to find the answers. The results are an impressive amount of evidence, not only for the people of ancient Israel, but also for the Exodus, specifically. I'm not giving any of the evidence away here, because I highly recommend this film and encourage you to view it for yourself. 

I don't need archaeological evidence for my faith in Jesus but it can add to the foundation of faith I already possess. I appreciate Mr. Mahoney's search for Truth and all of the information he has shared in this film. I learned many things that I had never heard before and am in awe of my God once again as I ponder His Truth and Power. I have so many places I'd like to travel to, and Egypt is now on my list. I plan to have my homeschool children view Patterns of Evidence: The Exodus in the new school year. I think they will be just as fascinated by it as I am. 

P.S. The music is significant and incredibly beautiful, so I wanted to mention it, as well. Don't miss it!

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Giveaway:
Only one entrant per mailing address, per giveaway. If you have won a prize from our sponsor Propeller / FlyBy Promotions in the last 30 days, you are not eligible to win. If you have won the same prize on another blog, you are not eligible to win it again. Winner is subject to eligibility verification. Open to residents of the US and Canada, age 18 and over.

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Blessings and love. xo

Back-To-School FREEBIES from Homeschool Giveaways and Freebies

Disclaimer: This post contains my referral links. Thank you for your support!

Homeschool Friend,

Do NOT miss this bundle of FREEBIES, just in time for back-to-school! 

$130 in FREE Homeschool Curriculum

Check out all the goodies that are included:

The Egypt Book from Warfare by Duct Tape 

(retail value - $9.95)

Horsing Around - Once A Week Unit Study from Homeschool Legacy 

(retail value - $14.00)

A Presidential Scrapbook from Knowledge Quest 

(retail value - $14.95)

Bible Road Trip Year 3: The Books of the Gospels from Thinking Kids 

(retail value - $26.00)

Write Through The Bible - Philippians 2:1-18 ESV (Cursive) from Intoxicated on Life 

(retail value - $10.00)

Creative Freewriting Adventure from Homeschool Adventure Co. 

(retail value - $18.95)

Count Your Blessings: A Thanksgiving Hymn Study from Not Consumed 

(retail value - $10.00)

Raising Godly Children in an Ungodly World from Master Books 

(retail value - $9.99)

Cultivating Responsibility: Parenting Wisdom for Ages 9-12 from National Center for Biblical Parenting 

(retail value - $9.99)

Travel the World in 30 Days from Home Educating Family Association (HEDUA) 

(retail value - $9.95)

Click here to access your FREEBIES now!

Blessings and love. xo

The Great Backyard Bird Count

Nature-loving friends, have you been waking up to more and more birdsong lately? Even though it's still cold here in the Mid-Atlantic, the birds are starting to sing their lovely songs again, which means more opportunities to observe them and see what species are making an appearance again. Don't forget about the Great Backyard Bird Count! It runs from February 13-16, 2015, which means it starts today! Don't worry, it only requires 15 minutes of your time on one or more of those days. You choose how much time you want to devote to counting and observing the fine-feathered friends that come to visit your yard. 

How does it work? Count birds for fifteen minutes on one or more days of the GBBC. Count birds in one or more locations (your backyard, the park, your great aunt's backyard, or wherever you choose) and report your findings. Submit a separate checklist for each new day, for each new location, or for the same location if you count at a different time of day. Estimate the number of individuals of each species you see during your counting period. There are helpful tools on the GBBC website for assistance in identifying birds. There is also a bird list for your specific postal code. It's also fascinating to view the world map on the site to see where people from all over the globe are reporting on the birds they have observed. 

We participated in this when we lived in Canada but have not done so since we moved back to the States. Since my little girls and I went through the Birds Of A Feather unit study earlier in the school year, this is going to be a fun "extra" for them. You can see my review of Birds of a Feather HERE.

Are you going to sign up and count the birds in your garden this year? I'd love to know if you do and what kind of birds you have the opportunity to observe. Go here to sign up and print out your observation sheets. There's also a free app, if you would prefer to enter your data via your phone!

Happy bird watching!

Blessings and love. xo

Disclaimer: This post contains my affiliate links. This means that if you purchase through my links, there is no additional cost to you, and I make a small commission. Many thanks!

Birds of a Feather Unit Study {Review}

Have you been wanting to include a study of birds in your homeschool lessons this year? I have just the thing for you to introduce birds and bird-watching to your students!

I am delighted to introduce you to Sharon Gibson and her company, Homeschool Legacy. Sharon has written some wonderful unit studies, including the one I have had the opportunity to review: Birds Of A Feather (retail value $17.95). It is designed for use with children in grades 2-12. I have used this study with my two younger girls, ages 8 and 9. 

Sharon has designed her unit studies to be used in once a week lessons. In other words, you can take one day, let's say Tuesdays for example, and do the entire week's unit in your homeschool session that day. The lessons are also flexible enough to be broken down into small, once a day lessons, several times per week, which is how I have used them.  Since we already had our days planned out, I just plugged this unit in to our day and it worked very well for us. 

Here is how the unit study is laid out:

Week 1: Birds Basics and Your Backyard Habitat

Week 2: Bird Identification

Week 3: Ornithology

Week 4: Birds of Prey

Now, I'll start off by saying that my children have been nature lovers since they were wee things, and I have tried to nurture that love by giving them experiences to learn and explore. We have taken hikes, gone on nature walks, had bird feeders in our garden, participated in The Great Backyard Bird Count, and while living in Canada, we would go to certain hiking trails to feed the birds from our hands. The Black-Capped Chickadees and the White-Breasted Nuthatches, especially, would flock to peck from the seeds in our hands. One of our friends even had a skittish Northern Cardinal land on her hand for all of half a second! Those experiences are so special and some of our favourite memories. 

(Feeding the birds in Ontario.)

 (One of the first things we did after moving into this house was to put up a bird feeder!)

(And we have had so many lovely visitors pass through our backyard, including this Indigo Bunting. We had never seen one before, so he was an extra-special guest.)

I love this unit study because it incorporates many subjects and can be used with all ages. Sharon has done such a great job of including not only the scientific aspects of birds, but also literature, Bible, history, geography, arts and crafts, life skills and field trip suggestions. I love seeing the read-aloud and movie suggestions Sharon included and was delighted to find a couple of new-to-us books and movies, including these:

Here are some of the activities we enjoyed while studying Birds Of A Feather:

1. We already had a birdbath and a bird feeder in our garden, so we decided to make a simple version of a bird feeder to place around the yard. We used toilet paper rolls, peanut butter and of course, bird seed. Then we placed them in the bushes outside and waited for the local birds to find these special treats.

(Sorry for the blurry photo. Mr. C wouldn't hold still for the photo session.)

2. I had introduced nature journals to my older children years ago, but this was something new and exciting for my younger children. They have had such fun going out into the yard to see what treasures they could find for their books.

 (We started their journals with our state bird, the Northern Cardinal.)

(We've been adding leaves, bark, feathers, acorns, and whatever else we can find. They are going to enjoy these journals for a long time!)

3. We have enjoyed studying John James Audubon. His book Birds of America has produced hours of pleasure, not only for the little girls but also for the entire family. 

(This book is the largest book we've ever seen. When I went to the library to pick it up, the librarian said I would need a crane to get it out to my car. LOL!)

4. We've had some great discussions, i.e. "How would our lives be different if Benjamin Franklin had had his way and the turkey was our national bird instead of the Bald Eagle?".

We have thoroughly enjoyed our time with Birds Of A Feather and recommend it highly for anyone wanting to add a fun and thorough unit study on birds to their homeschool lessons! We look forward to working through some of Sharon's other unit studies.

Here is a list of additional unit studies offered by Homeschool Legacy:

Forest For The Trees

Horsing Around

Weather On The Move

Christmas Comes To America

Knights And Nobles

Native America

Early Settlers In America

Revolutionary Ideas

We The People: Getting To Know The Constitution

Lewis And Clark: From Sea To Shining Sea

Westward Ho: Part 1

Westward Ho: Part 2

Each of these studies also includes badge requirements if your students are in American Heritage Girls or Boy Scouts of America. What a neat way to accomplish your schoolwork and your badge requirements all at the same time!

Follow Homeschool Legacy:

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Blessings and love. xo

Disclaimer: This post contains my affiliate links, which means that if you make a purchase with my links, I make a small commission. Thank you!!!

Galápagos Islands: A Different View {Review}

Galápagos Islands: A Different View from New Life Publishing and Moms of Master Books Review Team was provided to me for the purpose of review. 

About the book:

• Observe the wondrous diversity of life, including birds, reptiles, and plants
• Learn how Darwin's worldview and the biblical worldview differ and the importance of this in studying the Galápagos
• With poignant chapters from Ken Ham, John Morris, John C. Whitcomb, Danny Faulkner, Gary Parker, and more!

Where Darwin once visited and later used evidence from to support his faulty case for evolution, discover the wonder of God in this full-color book filled with vibrant images of these glorious islands in the Pacific, as well as powerful insights that give Him the glory due His name. Your faith will be strengthened as you learn the importance of a biblical worldview from some of the best apologetics speakers in the country. It's an overall emphasis on Galápagos as testament to God's majesty and mercy rather than the empty legacy of one man!

About the Author:

Dr. Georgia Purdom - Dr. Purdom is a researcher and speaker for Answers in Genesis. She graduated with a Ph.D. in Molecular Genetics from Ohio State University in 2000. Her specialty is cellular and molecular biology. Dr. Purdom’s graduate work focused on genetic regulation of factors important for bone remodeling. She is a compelling and dynamic lecturer and well qualified to speak on the relevance of Genesis to the issue of biblical authority. She is the only female Ph.D. scientist engaged in full-time speaking and research for a biblical creationist organization in North America. Dr. Purdom is a member of the Creation Research Society and serves on the editorial board and executive council of BSG: A Creation Biology Study Group. She serves as a peer reviewer for Answers Research Journal and Creation Research Science Quarterly. She along with Dr. Joseph Francis of Master’s College are co-founders of the Microbe Forum. This forum sponsors research, collaboration, and conferences in the field of creation microbiology.

My thoughts:

This beautiful hardcover book is 104 pages. It is a wonderful resource for any home which believes God created our world or for anyone who is interested in learning more about Creation. This book has beautiful photographs and intriguing text. If you've ever wondered how to share your faith and beliefs in opposing Darwin's theory of evolution, this is a fantastic resource to add to your reading shelf. I have learned so much about the Galápagos Islands and their beauty. I would love to be able to travel there one day. I am thrilled to have such high quality material that teaches Biblical principles. My children were also excited to pick this one up, as they enjoy science, geography, history, zoology and learning more about a Biblical worldview.

Price: 
$18.99 or on Amazon

Join us for a fun party tonight at 9pm ET on Facebook to find out more about this wonderful resource and for the opportunity to win some great prizes!

Disclaimer: I received one copy of this book from New Leaf Publishing in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review and all opinions are my own.

Exploring The World of Astronomy {Review}

I am honoured to be included on the Moms of Master Books review team, and today I have the opportunity to share another exceptional product from Master Books (a division of the New Leaf Publishing Group) with you. This time I received Exploring the World of Astronomy: From the Center of the Sun to the Edge of the Universe by John Hudson Tiner. Because I am new to this group, this was the first of the Exploring series that I have received, but if you are interested, the other great titles are listed HERE. 

From the publisher:
Think you know all there is to know about our solar system? You might be surprised at some of the amazing details that you find when you begin Exploring the World of Astronomy! From the rugged surface of the moon to the distant and mysterious constellations, this book provides an exciting educational tour for students of different ages and skill levels. Learn about a blue moon, the 400-year storm on Jupiter, and what is meant by "the zone of life." Discussion ideas, questions, and research opportunities help expand this great resource on observational astronomy into an unforgettable educational course for middle school to high school students!

Chapter titles include:
  1 - Exploring the Moon
  2 - Mars
  3 - Terrestrial Planets
  4 - Jupiter
  5 - Saturn
  6 - Jovian Planets
  7 - Plutoids and Denizens of Space
  8 - Telescopes
  9 - Breakthroughs in Astronomy
10 - Deep Sky Wonders
11 - Stars
12 - Extrasolar Planets
13 - Starlighted Nights

My thoughts:

This 176-page book is great for ages 10-18 (and older). I am going to use it as a reference book in our homeschool, although I will say that I am already learning some interesting facts as I have looked through it. It is well-written and an important aspect to me is that it is written from a Christian world view. I do wish the pictures were in colour, but that is not a deal-breaker for me, just a personal preference. This is a great resource for a science curriculum for middle school through high school ages (it includes quizzes after each chapter and parent/teacher lesson plans in the back), a reference book to be perused as needed, or a book to keep out on the coffee table for a child who doesn't have a current book to read to pick up and engage on their own. Since we live in an area that is great for star-gazing, we are ready to identify more constellations, with the help of the charts in this book. This is a wonderful resource to have on our science shelf. 

You can purchase this title for $14.99 (and add the digital download for only $4.50 more).

Mark your calendars!!! There will be a Books and a Treat Facebook Party on Tuesday, October 22 at 9PM EST! Come and chat with the review team, learn fascinating facts about astronomy and enter to WIN some great prizes, including a copy of Exploring the World of Astronomy!

Disclaimer: I received one copy of this book from Master Books. All opinions are my own. No other compensation was received.

Science, Naturally {Review}

One Minute Mysteries: 65 MORE Short Mysteries You Solve With Science! was sent to me for review by Science, Naturally and has been a fun and interesting book to read with my children. We were not familiar with this company or the first book in the series called One Minute Mysteries: 65 Mysteries You Solve With Science!, which we hope to read, too, at some point.  

These books are written by father-daughter team, Eric Yoder and Natalie Yoder. The age range for this book is 8-12 and it is 180 pages in length. The cost of this book is only $9.95 and can be purchased from Science, Naturally. They also have some great educational resources on their website, including iPhone/iPad/iPod apps, found here. 


The book is divided into six sections:
* Introductions
* Life Science
* Earth and Space Science
* Physical and Chemical Science
* General Science
* Five More Minutes of Mysteries
and
* Bonus Section: One Minute Mysteries: 65 Short Mysteries You Solve With Math!


The chapters in One Minute Mysteries: 65 More Short Mysteries You Solve With Science! are one page scenarios, in which a science question or "mystery" is presented. The second page of the chapter gives the answer to the question. We read these brainteasers during our lunchtime read aloud sessions, which included all five of my children, ages 6, 8, 10, 13 and 16. Emma (16) was actually the reader to the rest of us. It was important to listen to all the details given in the short story to be able to figure out the mystery. Some of the mysteries were simple to solve for my older children, but it was fun to let the two younger girls try to figure out the answer before letting one of the older children explain it to them. A couple of the chapters stumped everyone until we talked through what details to consider. 

We had an enjoyable time reading these science-lessons-in-disguise. I love this kind of gentle and engaging learning. There were no textbooks, just real life situations that we can relate to on a daily basis. One of the lessons that stumped some of us for a few minutes was Chapter 49 titled "Science Friction". The story involves a science class which was divided into three groups, and then given the assignment to make one movie poster per group in a science fiction style but with accuracy in the basic science facts. The posters are described, along with the titles given. We had to remember that insects do not include spiders (which are arachnids), the south pole would not contain an octopus (this one stumped us), and bats are mammals which fly and ostriches and penguins are birds that do not fly (easy one for my animal and bird lovers). We enjoyed talking it through to pick the winning poster!

Our family recommends this unique and fun science resource for any home with science students.

(We even took this book of sleuth-building exercises on a recent picnic!)

To read what other families thought of this book, click the banner below:

VocabularySpellingCity {Review}

I was given the opportunity to review VocabularySpellingCity with my younger two girls. I will just start off by saying, this is an incredible website. I have been thrilled with all the content and choices the girls have had. It teaches spelling and vocabulary, but with the premium membership there is a wealth of additional activities and subjects to explore. 

Here you can see the differences in the free vs. premium activity choices . . . 

Here is just one example of the geography offered on VocabularySpellingCity . . .

And another example of games offered . . .

Here is Maya enjoying her Word Search . . .

It is very easy to customize the program for each child according to their learning level. For this game alone (above), there is choice between easy/hard, short/long, and timer on/off. As well, you as the teacher/parent get to choose which words your child/student works on in his/her lessons.

This is a fantastic website that I highly recommend for any child, whether homeschooled or not. Teachers in a regular school setting should also know about this great resource for their students. We look forward to continue our learning with VocabularySpellingCity! 

VocabularySpellingCity offers a variety of Premium Membership options, depending on whether you are a parent, teacher, school, or district. 

Options include:

Family - A family membership includes five student licenses for $29.99

Classroom - A classroom membership includes 25 student licenses for $49.99.

Additional student licenses may be purchased for $1.95 each (with a minimum purchase of 5 student licenses). For orders of 300 students or more, contact us at 954-357-1150 for discounted rates.

They also offer Apps for iPhone/iPad/iPod and Android.

Find them on Facebook or Twitter.

Disclaimer: I was given a Premium Membership to VocabularySpellingCity.com for a candid, personal, online review. VocabularySpellingCity helps students study word lists using 25 different learning activities such as Unscramble, Hangman, WordFind, andCrossword Puzzle. Parents can create their own spelling lists, find published lists already available on the site, or use any of dozens of free teaching resources on topics such as Multiple Meaning Words and Possessive Nouns .

There might be more free memberships available for bloggers. If you're interested, find out how you can review VocabularySpellingCity.com.