Season 6, Underground Rising from the Brinkman Adventures Is Here!

We are longtime Brinkman Adventures fans here, so were delighted with a recent opportunity to review Season 6: Underground Rising and to offer you a coupon code.

Use the code!

Just use the code FALL10 on any Brinkman Adventures purchase through October 31, 2018 for 10% off!


New Season, New Format, Same Quality

As I already mentioned, our family simply loves Brinkman Adventures audiodramas!  In fact, my children look forward to the opportunity of reviewing each new season that comes out, and they often request to listen to CD's from prior seasons over and over again.  Therefore one CD or another from our Brinkman Adventures collection always seems to be in our minivan while the others are often at hand in the house.

We have all come to appreciate how the true, modern, missionary stories that the fictional Brinkman family tells offer a blend of excitement, humor, suspense, faith, and fun.  Every dramatized episode of the Brinkman Adventures proves faith-filled and action-packed, and we enjoy living vicariously through them as we listen along. 

This was as true for us with Season 6 stories as it has been of Seasons 1, 2, 3 and 4.  (Somehow we missed Season 5 and hope to add it to our collection one day.)

What was not the same for us with Season 6 was the format and length of the audiodramas.  For Season 6, we received a digital version oinstead of a CD.  

I had no problem downloading and unzipping the audiofiles, however, when I attempted to burn them onto a CD to keep in our minivan, our computer kept giving me error messages.  This was disappointing since we find CD's far more convenient than digital files, but I suspect the error was due to an issue with our laptop, not the files themselves, since other Homeschool Review Crew members had no problem burning CD's.

Not to be chagrined, I tried using our laptop in the minivan to listen to Season 6 in our minivan, but the volume just would not go up high enough to be heard clearly by everyone over the background noise of tires on pavement. Thus, we were unable to listen to Season 6 when driving and had to enjoy the missionary stories at home.

Typically, however, unless we are sick or doing a laundry marathon, we do not sit to listen things for long spells outside our minivan.  Thus, I was glad to that the Brinkman Adventures have moved to releasing audios after every six episodes now, instead of after more, which means Season 6 is 2+ hours long instead of the typical 5+ hours of earlier season.  That meant we did not have to spend so much of our precious home time in one room listening to the stories.

The flip side, of course, is that we enjoy the stories and wanted more of them!  So, my children and I have agreed that we'd like a CD format in the future and hope that Season 7 is more than 2+ hours long.

Our Thoughts about Underground Rising

My 8-year-old is my adventure-loving boy and had this to say about Season 6: Underground Rising:

I like his audiodrama, because it is exciting.  There were battles.  There was jail.  There was suspense.  Most importantly, there was faith.

My favorite story was Free Burma Rangers, Parts 1 and 2.  It was the most exciting because we heard all about a boy who became a man who was a green beret and, then, a missionary.

As a missionary, he formed a group that saved people.  The man was able to use his green beret skills to do God's work.

After we listened to that story, we looked at Real Stories online to learn more about the man and about being a green beret.  It was cool to watch the green berets sky jump.

I would recommend this audiodrama to families with boys like me who like battle, excitement, and faith!

I will add the caveat that some eight year old boys might not relish all the excitement of Season 6, since there are a few more intense scenes.  As with all Brinkman Adventures audiodramas, these are preceded by a suggestion for hose under 10 to listen with their parents, and, for my family a least, are well within the range of enjoyable family listening.

My 11-year-old is my most sensitive child and she was okay with all of Season 6, although she did ask that we not listen to it before bed "just in case".

She had this to say:

I thought Season 6 was okay.  We did not get this one on CD, and I prefer a CD. I also prefer more stories in one collection, but I still liked it!

One of the stories was about a girl named Samantha.  Her parents lost a baby and take her family on a camping trip a year later. 

During the camping trip, Samantha's dad is putting her to bed and her mom is out tending he fire.  When her dad goes back out, her mom says, "I just had a very strange thought. We are meant to go to India."  her dad has had he same thought and her brother Huck yells, "Where's India?" 

Soon enough, he finds out, because the family goes here and lives with orphans who they help.  At firs,t Samantha doesn't like it, but, then she does. Before they go to India, Huck has an allergy issue after eating a ham sandwich.  They have to use an epipen on him. Later, in India, he says he is healed of his allergies.  His parents test it and, miraculously, he is! 

I liked this story, because it was interesting to think about living a normal life one day, and, suddenly, becoming a missionary another day.   

My daughter seemed to really connect with the character Samantha as we listened.  I can totally see her becoming a missionary some day and putting her own child in a similar situation.

My oldest son liked all the stories, too.  He found the "Free Burma Rangers" exciting like his younger brother did and was riveted by portions of "Dutch Underground" as the Brinkman's great grandmother told about how she was a part of he Dutch resistance when Nazis took over Holland and of the close calls and imprisonment she endured.

He also appreciated the allegorical story "Twice Born Fly", and had this to say:

Season 6 was good.  There were only a few stories, and I would have preferred if they has as many stories as earlier seasons, but the stories they did have were very, very good. The characters were believable and the plots were exciting!

The story "Twice Born Fly" was funny.  I had a feeling the story Jack Brinkman told in it was a dream - and it was!  He talked about being in prison, which was strange and a giveaway to the dream. 

 In the story, there is an analogy to how Jesus saved us.  It is well done.

I thought it was funny, too, how one of the kids in the story swallowed a fly,  I later learned this was a real thing that happened.  It said so on the website. 

After I read more, I watched a video where a larva turns into a fly.  It was slightly gross. 

Having real stories and videos on the website adds to the fun and learning of the audiodramas. 

I would recommend Season 6 to families who want to hear exiting stories about missionaries. In fact, I'd recommend all of the Brinkman Adventures!  

We've reviewed all of them but Season 1 (which I got for Christmas one year) and Season 5 (which I want).  They are all good and we listen to them a lot.

We sure do listen to the Brinkman Adventures a lot! We're delighted to have Season 6 to add to our collection and recommend it to others!
 
Learn More


You can listen to samples of the audiodramas online.

If you're curious about other seasons of the Brinkman Adventures, we've also reviewed:

Season 2

Season 3

Season 4

We've enjoyed them all and would recommend to anyone who like adventure, faith, and exciting audiodramas!

Seventy Homeschool Crew Review families listened to  Season 6: Underground Rising as a digital download.  See what each family thought by clicking through to the reviews.

Find the Brinkman Adventures on Facebook.

CashCrunch Careers {A Review}

When I was offered a chance to review CashCrunch Careers by
CashCrunch Games, I didn't hesitate for a second before voicing my family's interest.

Why We Chose to Explore Career Pathways with CashCrunch Careers 

Since we first began homeschooling, my husband and I have made an effort to note our children's growing skills and apparent interests and also to track their passions and possible career aspirations, so that one day, we might help them discern their callings and how paid work might fit into the overall balance of their lives. 

Further, my husband recently went through a job loss, and, with it, our 12, 11, and 8 year olds became even more interested in finding ways they might earn money at their young ages while also thinking ahead to possibilities for future employment or entrepreneurship.  

Likewise, my husband, though once again employed, still thinks about future career directions, and, I am always curious about career and personality quizzes myself.  So, trying out CashCrunch Careers seemed a well-timed thing to do.

Our Experience 

For our review, we opted to use CashCrunch Careers with four of us - my husband, my oldest son, my daughter, and myself.  

Doing so required using four separate email accounts - which was a bit of a nuisance for our family since not all of our children have their own email accounts and I often prefer to keep multiple accounts with one vendor under a single login address.  However, it was not too difficult to set up email accounts in order to get everyone up and running and, once we had separate emails, sign up/login were easy enough.

Once each person logged in, a survey was available.  This survey consisted of 75 pairs of descriptors where you could choose one or the other.  

Since once of my children is dyslexic and both of the children I had take the survey sometimes get confused by new (to them) vocabulary, I opted to sit with them as they took their quizzes, helping them to read and/or understand words in the descriptors as needed.

It was a good thing I did this, because there were a few descriptors they simply did not understand as well as others that they failed to note the nuances of.  (My children were a bit young for this product, but we wanted to try it with them anyway due to their recent increased interest in the working world.)

Another (unexpected!) reason it was good that we sat together to take the surveys was for the sheer laughs.  In our family, we know each other well, and can laugh both at ourselves and with each other. 

Words like "cooperative" brought eruptions of laughter as we'd had some issues earlier in the day when taking the quiz.  Words like "punctual" and "prompt" also brought giggles, because some of us are not well known for such attributes these days. 

Likewise, words like "creative", "truthful", and "independent" brought smiles of positive recognition. So, each 10-15 minute survey, then, became a fun group experience for us.

Then, reading our reports became even more fun. 

In some of our cases, the reports "nailed it"...

In others, they made us say, "hmmm..."

However, all proved illuminating and fun to read.

Plenty of Resources to Explore Skills, Jobs, College, and Career

Each of our our individualized reports offered career categories that, oddly, appeared almost identical - but, in reality, were an invitation to dig deeper.

Indeed, as we reviewed our individual results, my children found it a bit bizarre that the listed career categories were so similar for all of us even though our personalities and interests - and, therefore,  resulting narrative reports -  differed.  

However, once we realized that the career categories were just that - categories - and that jobs within each category can vary considerably,  we "got" how that portion of CashCrunch Careers works.

Your individualized survey results in a report which gives you insight into yourself, including your strengths, motivators, demotivators, etc. 

As a part of that report you get a list of general career categories. 

This list, in turn, offers you areas to explore further, using the linked database, where you can find details about different jobs within specific career categories.  These can match up with the insights gleaned in your personalized report.  And, they can also lead you to checking out linked information about colleges, career videos, etc.  

So, while on the surface, CashCrunch Careers seems like it is just a quick quiz, with clear (and, at times, humorous!) personalized results about your strengths, etc, alongside some generic career categories, as you dive deeper into it and use the database, you realize CashCrunch Careers is a well-fleshed out resource for exploring future career paths.

Learn More

You can watch this quick overview to get an idea of  how all the features of CashCrunch Careers come together:


You can also take our word for it that taking the survey results in interesting personalized reports and a database which can provide helpful information for a man seeking career changes, a mom curious about where she might direct future work energy, one child discerning how best to follow personal passions, and another child who is learning that focusing on strengths - not just the challenges of dyslexia - is vital.

You can also check out what all seventy Homeschool Crew Review families who tried our CashCrunch Careers have to say about it.

Read the reviews!

We would recommend CashCrunch Careers to people looking for a tool for exploration and would also like if  CashCrunch Careers added a bit more direct specificity to the job list you get.  For, while there is plenty to dig deep and discern with within the reports and databases, sometimes, having a clearer, more specific idea of actual job titles (as opposed to career categories) up front is  helpful for certain personalities.

CashCrunch Games can be found on social media at:

• Facebook
• Twitter @cashcrunchgames
• Pinterest
• Instagram @cashcrunchgames
• YouTube 

How We Plan an Our Annual All Saints Day Party

Are you planning to host an All Saints Day party for your parish or homeschool group, but don't know where to start?

Please, let me help!

I've been the coordinator for our homeschool group's All Saints Day party for several years now and have fine-tuned our party plans to work wonderfully within a 2-3 hour time slot - from set up to clean up, with an hour to two hours of actual party time pending the year, number of participants, and location.

(Last year - when all the pictures in the post were taken, we had a small group, so we enjoyed the entire party in one hour.  Some years, we have had larger groups, so have stretched to three hours.  One year, my crew and I missed the big party due to illness and did a small one with just a few friends and that took about two hours.)

Pre-Party Planning and Preparation 

 
The first thing I do each year is ask one or two dependable friends what day and time they are available for the party and, that settled, ask a local parish or friend with a large home for use of a space.

Date, time, and location settled, I, then, put word out in our Facebook group to see who would like to join our party and to ask every family coming to do one or more of these things:

• dress as saints.

• bring saint-themed snacks or drinks (or tablecloths, disposable cups, paper plates, etc.).

• bring prizes (saint cards, like-new books and toys to pass along, anything but candy - but you can do candy if you like).

• bring art supplies for our St. Luke's Studio table (where kids use scissors, paper, glue, stickers, markers, etc. to make hank you cards for whoever let us use their space and create notes and cards for others, too).

• prepare a saint-related game or activity.

Once everyone has volunteered to bring snacks, prizes, art supplies, and/or games/activities, I see what we might still need and either bring it myself or ask others to do so.  I, then, plug everyone into jobs on an agenda, which I send out to everyone.  (See a sample here.)

Finally, the week before the party, I send out a reminder, check in to see if anyone needs anything, and gather all the supplies I am responsible for bringing.

(This year, I may use Perfect Potluck to help with planning instead of just using Facebook messages.)

A Word About Game/Activity Choices

I typically plan to have 8-15 game and activity stations.

In one corner, I set up a "little ones" area.  This area typically has Lincoln Logs, blocks, and Duplos, so children can Build like Saint Joseph or Build a Church Like St. Francis of Assisi.

Then, I aim to have a variety of games and activities that encourage physical skill, sensory input, or creative problem solving.  

As I do this, I try to balance activities that require large motor skills (running,  jumping, etc.) with ones that require concentration (balancing, building, etc.)

Find them here.

Many years, I plan the games around a specific picture book, making printables for to post by each game.


Of course, I also welcome whatever games and activities other families wish to prepare and run.

Somehow, it all works out without anyone having to go to too much trouble or expense and with everyone enjoying themselves as they key into facts about saints' lives!

Set Up in 30' or Less 

Set up has become quite easy.

A few volunteers arrive 15 minutes early and set up 3 tables close to one another - one for snacks, one for prizes, and one as St. Luke's Studio.

They also ensure there are enough tables or clear floor spaces set up around the room (or outdoor space during good weather years) for each of the planned game and activities.

For the snack table, we simply put a tablecloth down, put disposable cups, napkins, paper plates, and plastic silverware at one end.  Then, as families arrive, they drop off snacks with saint-related name cards and a volunteer arranges them in an attractive manner.

For the prize table, we put a tablecloth down, place a coin bank, and have sticky notes or small pieces of paper and a pen to write "costs" on.  Then, as families arrive, they drop off prizes, and a volunteer arranges them nicely on the table, with "cost" notes saying, 1, 5, 10, etc. pending how many tokens kids will trade for the prizes.

For our St. Luke's Studio, we use a disposable tablecloth or shower curtain and put out paper, scissors, stickers, old religious calendars and magazines, glue sticks, etc.  A volunteer stays at this table at all times to help children keep supplies tidy and attractive and to collect finished thank you cards for the parish.

At each game/activity station (table of floor space) around the room, a volunteer places a small cup of tokens that children later take and trade for prizes.  (We use bingo chips or plastic coins as tokens.  Plastic gems, paper money, or really any small item could work just as well.)

Then, all families arrive, and in 15 minutes, drop off snacks, prizes, art supplies and/or set up their game/activity station.  As they do so, children are encouraged to work at St. Luke's studio or to help with set up.  (Some years, when we have larger groups, we also set up a All Saint Bingo table (with thanks o Jessica to Shower of Roses!) to keep the kids busy during the final 15 minutes of set up when all families are present.)

Let the Party Begin

Once everything is set up, I ring a bell to call everyone to attention.  Then for 1-2 hours we enjoy the actual All Saints Day Party.

Our parties typically flow like this:

Gather, Chat, and Prayer

I gather everyone together and welcome them.  If a priest is available, we ask him to chat with the children about All Saint Day and to lead them in prayer.  If no priest is available, I chat with the children and pray a prayer such as:

Prayer for All Saints Day 

Dear God, thank you for the example of the Saints.  I desire to join in their company, worshiping you forever in Heaven. Please help me follow their footsteps, and yours, Jesus Christ. Please help me to conform myself to Your image, seeking Your will in all things, as the Saints did. Please help me to devote myself, and all that I do, to Your glory, and to the service of my neighbors. Amen.

Parade of Saints/Litany of Saints

Depending on the size of the group, the age of the children participating and the space we have, we then do some combo of having the children parade to the song "When the Saints Go Marching In", process while praying a Litany of Saints, and introduce themselves and the saints they have dressed up as.

Games, Activities, Snacks, and Prizes

If we have enough adults or teens to man each game or activity station, I, then, dismiss children to enjoy the games and snacks freely, using he honor system to earn tokens for participating in games and to trade them in for prizes.

When we do not have enough adults or teens to man each game, I take the children on a tour of all the game/activity stations and quickly explain or demonstrate how to play. Then, I dismiss them in pairs or small groups, with at least one reader per group, to play and enjoy.

As children play, I have specific adults or teens monitor the snack, prize, and St. Luke's Art Studio tables, while other adults participate in games and activities with children, take photos, offer help, etc. as needed.

Closing and Clean Up in 40' or Less 

About 45 minutes before we have to depart the space, I ring a bell to give a 5-minutes-until-closing heads up.  Then, five minutes later, I ring a bell again to call all the children to gather with me.

Once the children are settled in front of me, the adults (who already know what to do), begin collecting non-disposable supplies, recycling or trashing disposable ones, etc.

Meanwhile, I thank the children for coming and participating so well, note aloud a few making-of-a-saint moments I witnessed during the party (examples of when I saw children exercising virtue) and ask if anyone else has any quick examples to share. 

Then, I call adults attention, too, and we all close with a prayer, a reminder about All Souls Day and the focus on praying for All Souls during November, and a challenge to live each day saying "yes" to God as the Church Militant here on earth as we aim to become the Church Triumphant one day in Heaven.  Sometimes, I offer prayer cards or copywork for All Souls prayers.

At this point, I ask everyone to spend 10-15 minutes clearing their own things from the space, helping with any obvious clean up that has to be done, and, then, departing to a foyer, outside space, or parking lot unless they are on the final clean up crew.

In the last 15 minutes, a few volunteers stay behind to ensure that the space looks the same or better than when we arrived. And, with that, we call it another successful wrap!

If you need game ideas, be sure to look at all my past All Saints Day posts.

If you have questions about anything, just ask me on Facebook or leave a comment here.

I pray you have a blessed and beautiful All Saints Day!

Saints in Heaven, pray for us!

Printable Books of the Bible Summary Sheets {A Review}

I admit, although I know many Bible verses, can retell many Bible stories, and have no problem sharing Bible truths, if you named a book of the Bible and asked me to offer you a handful of its salient points, a summary of its stories, or highlights of its verses, I may not be able to do so on my own without some research and thought.  A quick look at Books of the Bible At-a-Glance by Teach Sunday School, though, can help me remedy that!

It can also help me tell you who wrote ache book of the Bible, when, and where the books are found in the Bible, and what the "claim to fame" of each is.

I just love how each of the Printable Books of the Bible "Summary Sheets" offers a well-organized, easy-to-digest snapshot of an entire book on the Bible in a visually appealing way.  It is so handy!

Recently, my children and I have been reading a Christian fiction book about Jericho.  Enter the Book of Joshua page to give us some quick context and food for thought...

...and also some quotes for copywork.

One of my children is reading through books of the Gospel this year as part of his studies. 

So, enter the Luke page to give him an overview to pin his readings on.

Indeed, having the 74-page Books of the Bible At-a-Glance pdf e-file on hand has proven a helpful resource for my family when we find allusions to Bible stories in the various books, videos, and audios we dive into. It makes it easy to key into when different Bible stories happened in history, what important points about them are, and more.

We use Books of the Bible At-a-Glance as a quick reference in our home.  I can also see it being used as a stand-alone resource for anyone who would like to do a concise study of the books of the Bible.

Anyone, that is, who does not mind that the Books of the Bible At-a-Glance is missing the deuterocanonical books.   Fellow Catholics, do take note that this Bible resource comes up seven books short according to our Bible.  However, do not let that deter you from considering Books of the Bible At-a-Glance.  I can attest that in using it so far we have found it convenient, quick, eye-pleasing, and helpful and my children have not yet noticed the missing books.  (I am waiting for them to so we can chat more about the development of the Bible and also so I can challenge them to make their own summary pages for the deuterocanonical books.)

Any which way, I am glad to have Books of the Bible At-a-Glance in our collection of resources and have found it to be a quick and handy go-to.

As indicated, I have only used it as an at-our-fingertips electronic resource to go along with reading we are already doing - sometimes printing out pages for easy off-screen reading.  I can also see Books of the Bible At-a-Glance working as:

• a conversation starter (using the "Important Points" section
• an introduction or review of the Bible as a whole (minus the  seven Old Testament books found in the Catholic Bible that some other Bibles disclude)
• a help for timelining and placing Bible history in context
• a source for quotes for copywork, speeches, and more
• a resource for quiz-show like games (using the claims to game, famous stories, and more)

Simple, streamlined, and successful in its goal to "give famous characters, Bible verses and situations placement and context", Books of the Bible At-a-Glance is a resource I can recommend.


Learn More

Find all the reviews.

Seventy-five Review Crew families have been using Books of the Bible At-a-Glance in various ways.  Check out the other reviews for more ideas on how to use this wonderfully handy product.

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