A Children’s Nativity Set October 20, 2008

Any body else have trouble keeping little hands off a porcelain nativity set every year?  Prepare now to have a stress free  Christmas. 

Little hands are free to play with the new Tales of Glory Nativiy set by One2Believe.

My oldest child enjoyed setting it up.

My son enjoyed the freedom to actually play with it.  He even took baby Jesus outside on the tricycle with him.  He said it was probobly more fun than that bed of heigh he had.  I love the innocense of childhood.  This set makes the characters come to life.

My 2 year old loved the Shepherds and I have to admit the sheep are very cute!

Even my youngest got into the fun.  Apparently donkey tastes good.

 

This might seem to be a review of my family more than of a product.  I think a good product will always help you see your family better, and pull you together in some way.  This Nativity brought my kids together, and will continue to as the Christmas Season approaches.

Why shouldn’t the nativity be accessable to a child?  I want my kids to always feel they have access to Jesus, whether plastic, porcelain, or the real deal.

Also, in the package was a paper on how to demonstrate your love of God to young children.  I thought the list was a nice bonus, and a great reminder for Christian parents.

Check out their site at:

www.One2Believe.com

The Tales of Glory Nativity Set cost $24.99.  While you’re there check out the other goodies in their toy store.  One2Believe is full of quality bible based toys that belong on any child’s christmas list.  Be ready for little hands this Christmas.

Homeschool Library Builder

Are you a homeschooler who loves to incorporate good books into your child’s learning?  Maybe you don’t homeschool, but you love watching your child curl up beside you to read a great book.  Maybe your church has a Library that you’d like to help expand in a cost effective way.  This is something any book lover can benefit from.

Homeschool Library Builder is wonderful way to pick up nice books at bargain prices. Sales run often and any trip to their site usually turns up some treasure. They provide both new and gently-used books.   Membership is free.  It takes only a minute to fill out.  The benefits are well worth it.  Let me point out the things that really made me smile:

• $1.00, $2.00,and $5.00 Sales Bins (I purchased 12 books today myself for $23.38 . . .that includes shipping)
• I love products that promote savings.  Our economy is tough.  We need to squeeze the value out of every cent.  You can do that at HSLB. To test this, I looked up all of the stories for the  Before Five in a Row Curriculum to see what savings I could get.  I did not find all of the books, but of the nine books I did find, I calculated a savings of $56.02!!!  A few books were 92% off!  That’s something to smile about.
• Access to out-of-print books.  The owners are two homeschool mothers who are determined to bring this service to homeschoolers. They are happy to help look for hard to find books and stock many.
• If you are a small business owner who has something of use to homeschoolers, they will advertise and link to your site for free!  You can’t beat a free ad right?
• Members receive a discount on future purchases.  Their Book points add up quickly and never expire.

There are plenty of other things this site has to offer like a fundraising program, a newsletter for members,a seasonal resources list for educational websites, just to name a few.  What I really liked was the fact that this is a small home-grown service.  It is run by moms just like me who want to see their children excel in reading and are kind enough to help others to (economically) do the same.

My only complaint was the difficulty placing an order through my credit card.  This was frustrating for them as well as they are currently switching processors.  My advice is , if you plan to pay through credit card ,call them to place the order.  They are very friendly and happy to take your order by phone as well.  Their phone number is located at the site, but I’m not giving it here.  You’ll just have to go and see.  You’ll like it, I promise.

Help Me 2 Teach October 11, 2008

For $25/year you will gain access to this time-saving Internet directory.  You can’t beat that! Read on and learn why I think it’s worth it, and what you can expect from this great offer.

If you spend too much valuable time on your computer, seeking out resources to apply to your lessons, HelpMe2Teach could be a great time-saving resource for you!

HelpMe2Teach is a subscription-based Internet directory designed to equip teachers with quality, cost-effective, teaching tools.  This site has well over 2000 pre-screened sites to save you time.  They are categorized and described so that you can quickly find the resource you need.

The creator, Elaine, is determined to make this a valuable tool for teachers and she does just that.  She is commited to the satisfaction of her subscribers and invests a lot of time getting the site current.  She adds new sites often and the updates are always improving.

I thought that I had found some great freebie sites in my searches, but I can’t even come close to what Elaine has dug up.

She actually found a site with free foreign language lessons!  Have you priced these out?  They are usually priced to make me shudder.  This was a valuable find!

I also enjoyed a few sites on spelling and art that I have applied to our curriculum.

I liked knowing that whatever I needed was right there, categorized, and found at the click of the mouse.

As we began the review this was a site designed for secular homeschool, but Elaine was not afraid to expand her vision for this company.  She has now included sites on Christian Bible Stories,Creation, and Character.

Honestly, I liked her site even without those changes (though I do appreciate them).  Her commitment to custumer satisfaction really won me over and sold me on the site.  She showed her teacher’s heart by her willingness to grow and to learn.

Sign up for a 3 day trial offer for only $4.95 and see and see just how much information will be at the ready.