Being an election year, I want my kids to have a better understanding of our government.  As you may have noticed on our Homeschool 2016-20-17 plans, we intend on using Uncle Sam and You curriculum for social studies with our older children.

Our friends at Timberdoodle have sent us this Notgrass curriculum set and we looked forward to writing this  Uncle Sam and You review.

About This Product:

This Notgrass Company kit includes:

• Uncle Sam and You Part 1, 75 lessons.
• Uncle Sam and You Part 2, 75 lessons.
• The Citizen’s Handbook
• Uncle Sam and You Answer Key

Between all of the books, you have a full year of learning about civics and government.  This program is geared for children in 5th-8th grade, but can be used with guidance for younger students.  Lessons focus on America’s founding documents, branches of government, patriotic symbols, voting, the election process, Washington, D.C., the presidency, how Congress works, American holidays, and aspects of federal, state, and local government.

Each text includes 15 units, and 4 lessons per unit.  Perfect for 4 day a week learning.  Each full-color lesson includes a short chapter to read that explains the topic to the student; chapters feature both modern and historical photographs and illustrations. Lessons conclude with a variety of subject-based activity ideas that relate to Biblical studies, literature, creative writing, art, vocabulary, reading assignments, and notes for the sold-separately (and optional) student workbook/lesson review. A weekly family activity that involves crafts, meals, and other multi-age activities is also provided.

My Thoughts:

At first, I was overwhelmed and didn’t quite know where to start!  Where was the teacher’s manual to show me what to do?  I opened Uncle Sam and You Part 1 and the instructions are right there for teachers and/or students.  I really appreciate not having to keep up with an extra manual and having the simple instructions right with the text.  This way, children can work independently, or you could work together as a family.  We are choosing to work through it together.

I like that it suggests additional reading materials and lets you know exactly when you will need them throughout the lessons if you so choose to add them in.  It’s enough material without being too overwhelming and can usually be completed within about 30-45 minutes.

This is our first experience with a Notgrass curriculum and we are very pleased.  We will be checking out more of their items through Timberdoodle in years to come.

For More Information:

The Notgrass Uncle Sam and You curriculum set is another outstanding component of Timberdoodle’s 2016 Sixth-Grade Curriculum Kit!  You can also get the optional Lesson Review or Student Workbook .

A few weeks ago, a local Athens, Georgia author asked me about checking out her work.  Melia Keeton-Digby has written a book called The Heroines Club: A Mother-Daughter Empowerment Circle.

I’m all about supporting local businesses, so I agreed to check it out.

About the Author:

Melia Keeton-Digby is a Speech Language Pathologist, mother of 3 and is the found of the Mother-Daughter Nest.  Through the Mother-Daughter Nest, Melia works to encourage and empower women to build meaningful relationship with their daughters.

About the Book:

The Heroines Club: A Mother-Daughter Empowerment Circle offers nourishing guidance and a creative approach for mothers and daughters, aged 7+, to learn and grow together through the study of women’s history. Each month focuses on a different heroine, featuring athletes, inventors, artists, and revolutionaries from around the world – including Frida Kahlo, Rosalind Franklin, Amelia Earhart, Anne Frank, Maya Angelou and Malala Yousafzai as strong role models for young girls to learn about, look up to, and be inspired by.

Offering thought-provoking discussion, powerful rituals, and engaging creative activities, The Heroines Club fortifies our daughters’ self-esteem, invigorates mothers’ spirits, and nourishes the mother-daughter relationship. In a culture that can make mothering daughters seem intimidating and isolating, it offers an antidote: a revolutionary model for empowering your daughter and strengthening your mother-daughter relationship.

My Thoughts:

The Heroines Club: A Mother-Daughter Empowerment Circle has been an interesting read for me.  Having 3 daughters, I feel that building relationships with my girls is extremely important, especially through the preteen and teen years and on into adulthood.  My oldest daughter is turning 13 (13!!!!)  in just a couple weeks, and I have been realizing how much more communicating we need to be doing now before the rough years hit.  I think learning from other women, especially our own mothers, has been becoming less and less.  There is so much that I could have learned from my grandmothers that I never did!

For me, I think there is a lot I can glean from The Heroines Club book, but there is a few things that I would likely skip.  I’m not quite sure I agree with the sacred circle and a few other things that are discussed in the beginning of the book due to my personal beliefs, however the curriculum included in the main part of the book is very intriguing.

I really liked the idea of taking Heroines like Amelia Earhart and discussing them with my daughters.  The book helps to facilitate discussions about these wonderful heroines, what they did, how we can learn from them, and how we can achieve our dreams as well.

Activities are also included from making Dream Boards to share your dreams with each other to discussing stereotypes.  All important things to do.

In a nutshell, this is a great book to help strengthen the bond with your daughter(s), but depending on your personal beliefs, there may be sections that you would want to skip.

For more information:

For more information, you can find The Heroines Club: A Mother-Daughter Empowerment Circle on Amazon.  You can also check out The Mother-Daughter Nest, The Heroines Club website, or The Mother-Daughter Nest on Instagram.

Thank you Melia for offering us your book to read.

We love hands on learning here in our homeschool adventures.  We were thrilled when Timberdoodle asked us to review another fun product by Thinkfun.  This time, we checked out the Circuit Maze.

Circuit Maze Review:

Circuit Maze is an electronic current logic game that helps introduce electricity and currants to ages 8 and up.  The game offers 60 challenges from beginning to expert.

You use the challenge cards to lay out the pieces and try and put together an electric currant.  Once the circuit is completed, the beacons will all light up and you win!

You will need 3 AAA batteries in order to play.

Our Thoughts:

My kids just loved the challenges of the Circuit Maze.  I have found them spending a lot of time working on the challenges.  With each challenge, I know it requires them to think about how to make the circuit work.  You can practically see the wheels turning in their heads as they work on each challenge.

I like that it is quiet and something that can be played by themselves, so it is perfect for our daily afternoon quiet time.  I have even enjoyed playing with it!

Big win in the logic department!  We are fans!

For More Information:

For more information, you can find Thinkfun’s Circuit Maze on Timberdoodle’s website and as part of Timberdoodle’s 3rd grade curriculum kit.

Big thanks to Timberdoodle for giving us the chance to do this Circuit Maze review.