www.TheOldSchoolhouse.com
minutes to an hour to complete. This
is what we are using this year for our
history;curriculum;and;look;forward;to
completing it all!
You;can;purchase;the;six;main;books
as;a;package;for;$99.95.;Student;work-
books;are;additional.;Considering;you
can use this as a group study and that
it includes not only history but geography and literature studies as well, we felt
with;all;the;textbooks;provided,;it;was
well worth the price!
—Product review by Jenn Porsche
blogging for the Crew at
treasuringlifesblessings.blogspot.com
Lady Jane Grey: Christian
Biographies for Young Readers
Simonetta Carr
Reformation Heritage Books
www.heritagebooks.org
1.616.977.0599
I had the pleasure of reviewing three
other;titles;in;the;Christian;Biographies
series;in;May,;2012.;At;that;time,;Lady
Jane Grey had not been published, and I
have;been;looking;for ward;to;its;release.
My ten-year-old son grabbed it before I
had the chance to read it myself. We are
both delighted with this title! Ms. Carr
explains that there is at once a lot of historical information available about Jane
Grey, but there is also much embellishment. Ms. Carr did a lot of research
to present a discerning account of this
young;woman’s;life.;The;result;is;a;thor-oughly engaging story of a life of faith,
tested to the point of death.
We learn about Jane’s childhood,
her upbringing, friends, and family
members. Ms. Carr explains some of
the culture and customs of the time. I
found it interesting to learn how fami-
lies often sent their children to live for a
time with other families or friends who
could offer better educational experi-
ences and opportunities for a better life
in the future. Ms. Carr also explains the
complex politics of the government and
the church in a very straight-forward
manner;that;kids;can;understand.;The
book;is;targeted;for;kids;aged;7-12.
In addition to the excellent text, this
lovely;hardbound;book;contains;origi-nal illustrations by Matt Abraxas, maps,
a timeline, photographs, and even text
of the letter Lady Jane wrote to her sister before Jane was executed. It current-
ly;lists;for;$14.00;on;the;Reformation
Heritage;books;website.;I;highly;recom-mend this particular title, as well as Ms.
Carr’s;Christian;Biography;series,;not
only for the engaging and inspiring stories of Christian heroes, but also for the
well-researched historical context they
provide.;When;I;asked;my;son;what;he
liked;best;about;Lady;Jane;Grey,;he;said,
“I;like;that;she;refused;to;turn;Catholic
even at the end of her life. She stood by
the;Bible.”
—Product Review by
Nancy Casari Dayton
French Essentials: Full Access
Online Program
French Essentials
www.FrenchEssentials.com
I took four years of French in high
school.;I;am;not;fluent;by;any;definition,
but;we;travel;often;to;French;speaking
countries, and I am pretty comfortable
understanding what others say to me,
and speaking in the most basic way.
However,;my;husband;and;kids;are;not,
so we used French Essentials: Full Access
Online Program to help brush up on ev-eryone’s;speaking;skills.;In;the;past;the
kids;have;not;been;able;to;do;more;than
say;please;and;thank;you,;but;the;last
trip;we;took;to;Luxembourg;was;much
more comfortable after a month with
these lessons.
What’s in a Lesson?
Each lesson contains a downloadable,
media-filled PDF. This PDF lesson
contains;audio;and;video;files;that;are
clickable;in;the;text.;When;you;click;on
the boldfaced words in the vocabulary
box, the audio file for pronunciation
plays. This way, as you read and learn
the vocabulary, you are getting the cor-
rect pronunciation each time. French
Essentials is so user-friendly—this fea-
ture;makes;it;easy;for;anyone;to;teach.
Along the way, the lessons contain
cultural and pronunciation notes which
help explain in what context certain
words are used, and how they should be
spoken.;For;example,;football;is;some-times;shortened;to;foot,;and;“salut”;can
be hello or goodbye.
There are many videos in the lessons
which allow you to see and hear native
speakers,;and;for;you;to;speak;“with”
them. This reminded me of French
class in high school when the teacher
would;speak;and;ask;us;to;repeat;or;ask
us questions. This program has a lot of
practice,;and;it’s;all;in;a;tidy;PDF;file;on
your computer.
About the Files and Website
Subscription
The files download quickly, although
you do have to manually download
them one at a time. The only issue I
had with the download process is that
each;file;is;individually;zipped,;and;the
file;names;are;not;clear;on;the;zipped
files.;Once;I;downloaded,;I;needed;to
unzip;them,;and;then;organize;them.
I was able to do this in a couple hours
(I popped a movie in and made a night
out of it).
The neat thing about French Essen-tials;is;that;once;you;download;the;files,
they are yours forever. One purchase is
all you need to get all the modules they
currently;have;released;( 1-4).;You;can
then use them for all your children as
many;times;as;you;want.;I;confirmed
with French Essentials that the media
(the audio and visual) aspects of the
PDF’s;will;continue;working;even;when
your paid subscription is up.
Of;course,;the;additional;flash;card
and tests in the student area of the
French Essentials website cannot be
downloaded or used after your subscription is up.
The Student Area—Exercises and
Tests
When you sign in to French Essentials, you have access to a student area
as well as the parent area with the
