Grapevine Timelines {Review & Giveaway}

Don’t you just love it when you have a problem and you find a product that will solve your specific problem EXACTLY? Well, that is just what Grapevine has done for me with their newest products: Timelines and Wall Timelines!

We are already Grapevine fans! My kids and I LOVE stick-figuring through the Bible. In fact, we are about to finish up The Life of Joseph. We took a little break and worked on The Birth of Jesus over the Christmas holidays! Now that school is back in full swing, we are excited to finish up Joseph and then begin the Old Testament Timeline!

PROBLEM: Now, back to my problem. For the last few years we have proudly displayed the timelines that my daughter made using our My Father’s World curriculum on the wall in our classroom. Well, now that the boys have started doing the same timelines, I wanted to display theirs. However, that meant that my daughter’s needed to come down…and I didn’t know what to do with them.

PROBLEM SOLVED: Well, Grapevine has completely solved my problem with their Blank Wall Timelines. So, I know what you are thinking…how did a WALL timeline solve the problem of needing to take your daughter timeline OFF the wall? Well, first I printed out the blank timeline. (View a color sample here.) I trimmed the pages and taped them together using the timeline folding method shown at Ginger-Snap-Shots. Then I glued the images from my daughter’s original timeline onto the blank wall timeline.

Using the special taping/folding method allowed me to fold the wall timeline so that it could be easily stored away. 

The special taping allows the timeline to retain the folds and lay completely flat when it is stored away. Here is the wall timeline looks like all neatly folded up.

Below is a photo of what the timeline looks like spread the length of my dining room table! I just love how it looks! Isn’t the scroll design great? Now I have a cute, space-efficient way to store the timeline that was once on the wall!

More about the timeline: The blank timeline measures over 10 feet long. However, you can print as few or as many pages of the timeline that you need. I only needed 8 of the 12 pages of the pdf to accommodate my daughter’s timeline.

The blank wall timelines can be used with any study requiring a timeline! There is plenty of room to chronologically draw (or in our case, glue) important events onto the timeline, making it a great visual for any classroom!

Not only does Grapevine have blank timelines (both in color and black/white), but they also have Old Testament and New Testament Wall Timelines, plus Old and New Testament Timeline books/eBooks with teacher notes for instruction. The OT and NT Wall Timelines are designed so that they can be used in conjunction with the corresponding Timeline booklets.

Whether you are in need of the Old Testament or New Testament timeline, or even the blank one to accommodate whatever information you would like to chronologically display, the Grapevine Wall Timelines would make a wonderful addition to your homeschool!

Discount & Coupon Code: All the Grapevine timelines are currently on sale. Plus you can use the discount code JANFS for FREE SHIPPING on any order. (Sale price & discount code expire 1/31/12.)

 

Giveaway Info:

~Giveaway is Closed~

Would you like to win a Wall Timeline of your choice? I have the opportunity to give away a student and teacher Wall Timeline to one of my readers! The first and mandatory entry is to check out all of the Grapevine Wall Timelines and let me know which one (OT, NT, or Blank) you would be most interested in using and WHY!

Optional (Additional) Entries: The following are additional ways that you can enter to win. However, you MUST complete the mandatory entry above. (Be sure to leave a separate comment for each entry!)

• Follow Mama Jenn via Google Friend Connect (see right sidebar on blog) AND/OR subscribe to Mama Jenn via RSS and/or via email and leave a comment letting me know that you do. Leave a comment for EACH follow or subscription. (max 3 entries)
• “Like” Grapevine Studies on Facebook AND/OR “Like” Mama Jenn on Facebook. Leave a comment for EACH like. (max 2 entries)
• Follow @MamaJennBlogs on Twitter AND/OR @GrapevineStudy on Twitter and leave a comment letting me know that you do. Leave a separate comment for EACH follow. (max 2 entries)
• Sign up for the Grapevine Newsletter and leave a comment letting me know that you did.
• Tweet about the giveaway and leave a comment letting me know that you did. You can copy/paste/tweet this:

  @MamaJennBlogs is hosting a giveaway for @GrapevineStudy Wall Timelines. Enter to win here: http://bit.ly/zQByuD

The giveaway ends at midnight on Monday, February 6th! Winner will be randomly selected and emailed. Be sure to leave a separate comment for each entry and a way for me to contact you in case you win!

This product was given to me for review purposes. I do not have to return the product to the vendor and I was not paid for this post. All opinions expressed in this post are my own.

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Moments to Remember: At the Aquarium

Moments to Remember is a linky for homeschoolers hosted by my pals Carisa from 1+1+1=1 and Jolanthe from Homeschool Creations!

 

Moments to Remember was developed as a simple way to look back on our week as homeschoolers and find photos that encompass the memories we want to remember. The week may have been tough, there may have been more bumps than smiles, but in the end these are the moments that keep us going, the ones we need to remember.

I can remember at time when I was T.E.R.R.I.F.I.E.D to take my kids on field trips unless my hubby was able to come along to help. After a memorable trip to Costco by myself with all five kids in tow (a few years back), it is no surprise that I have been so hesitant to venture out on field trips.

However, I have since become more confident and I actually take my kids to a number of places that I otherwise would not have dared to attempt with five little ones. To date, I am most proud of our trip to the aquarium. Not only did I take the kids all by myself, but I had to drive over an hour to get there (and I don’t like driving). Plus, it was Homeschool Day, so there were TONS and I mean TONS of other kids around. But, we survived…{ahem} I survived! We had lots of fun. We got to see and touch lots of really cool marine life…and I was even able to snap a few photos! Now I call that success! LOL!!

Below is a scrapbook page that I created with some of the photos that I took using my new digital scrapbook software!

Oh, and, YES, I did dress everyone (including myself) in red! I figured it would make it a bit easier to keep track of everyone! Next time I think I should try fluorescent orange! LOL!

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Christmas Thank You Letter for Little Ones (FREE Tracing Printable)

As a young girl, I can remember my parents insistent on me writing thank you letters. In fact, it is something that I have continued into adulthood. Now that I have children of my own, I want them to show kind gestures of gratitude as well. So, while my older three kids are very capable of writing notes and thank you letters on their own, my 4 year olds need a little bit of help! So, I created Little Letters!

Little Letters is a collection of notes/letters that younger children can trace and illustrate. The idea of this printable is to get our little ones in the habit of having a thankful heart and expressing their gratitude through letters. Plus it is a fun way to sneak in some extra writing practice!

The first FREE printable from the Little Letters collection is the Christmas Thank You letter!

Directions: Simply download and print the tracing page. Talk about being thankful and have your little one trace the note and add an illustration at the top. (Perhaps they could draw a picture of the gift they received.)  Then help your child mail the letter or hand-deliver it!

**Be sure to fill in the “Dear ______” part and have your child sign their name at the bottom of the letter. (See below how I wrote Granny and Papa in dotted letters for my boys to trace.)

My little guys loved being able to “write” and illustrate Christmas thank you letters for their grandparents!

Plus they get extra penmanship practice and I feel great about getting them started early with letter writing to express gratitude! It is a habit I hope to develop in them that will stick…forever!

Download the Little Letters: Christmas Thank You printable here.

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Mama's Mission of the Month {Jan Mid-month Reminder}

Alright, all you mama’s who are participating in Mama’s Mission of the Month for January, this is the January 2012 Mid-month reminder about the goals that we set for the month of January. With the month more than half-way over, I just wanted to check in to see how you all are doing!

As for me, God has really been rocking my world in the area of goal setting! In fact, I have been working hard to purpose to do what God wants me to do as opposed to just being concerned about what I want to do. With that said, I have been working on the chore/job chart and playing games with my kiddos, but I have also been working to be more in tune with God’s planning and direction rather than my own!

With that said how are you coming along with your January Mission of the Month? Feel free to leave a comment letting us know how your mission is going! {No, you don’t have to leave an update comment. And yes, you will still be able to write your complete Accomplished post and link it up at the end of the month. The update comment is simply a way of keeping you on track with completing the goals you have set for the month.}

If you have no clue what the Mama’s Mission of the Month is all about, it is basically a monthly blog carnival designed to help me {and you} follow through on some of the goals that we have set for the month! For more information or if you want to know how to join in next month, check out the intro post!

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Martin Luther King Jr. Artwork

In honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, I wanted to share some artwork from my kids. Initially my kids did MLK coloring pages from Our Black Heritage Coloring Book. Below is one of my 6 year olds coloring pages.

However, the kids decided that they wanted to draw their own pictures of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. I am so impressed with how they turned out!

by KJ (age 8, 3rd grade)

 

by DC (age 6, 1st grade)

 

by JJ (age 6, 1st grade)

When we let freedom ring, when we let it ring from every tenement and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old spiritual, "Free at last, free at last. Thank God Almighty, we are free at last." -- "I Have a Dream" speech, August 28, 1963

Today we thankfully celebrate some of the freedoms that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was foundational in helping establish!

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Top Ten Most Popular Posts WRITTEN in 2011

In addition to wanting to know the most VISITED blog posts in 2011, I was interested in knowing what my most popular posts are that were actually written in 2011. So, I took a look at my Google Analytics and here are the top ten most popular posts actually written and published in 2011:

#10 Roll it. Write it. {Spelling Printables}

 

#9 Growing Grass

 

#8 Advent: CHRISTmas Countdown {FREE Printables}

 

#7 Astronauts to Earth Game {printable}

 

#6 Read it. Spell it. Write it. {Spelling Activity}

 

#5 Read it. Stamp it. Write it. {Printables}

 

#4 DIY Magnetic Phonogram Tiles  

 

#3 DIY {Bottle Top} Stamps

 

#2 Puff Ball Magnets

 

#1 Our NEW Calendar Board

There you have it…the top 10 most popular blog posts here on Mama Jenn that were actually written and published in 2011!

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Top Ten Most VISITED Posts in 2011

I was interested in knowing what my most popular posts were in 2011…you know…to see what people are actually interested in reading about. So, I took a look at my Google Analytics and here are the top ten most visited posts during 2011, excluding my printables page. (FYI, although this list contains the most visited posts in 2011, not all posts were actually written in 2011…stay tuned for that post!)

Alright, here we go…

#10 Printable Nativity Sets

 

#9 Our Workbox System

 

#8 My Homeschool Planning Pages (Since creating these I have switched over to using Jolanthe’s Weekly Homeschool Planner.)

 

#7 Make Your Own Geoboard

 

#6 The Snowy Day {Activities & Crafts}

 

#5 Our Calendar Board (This post and photo below is about our OLD calendar board. We are now have a much improved new calendar board.)

 

#4 Printable Color Wheel Activity (This is my old Color Wheel post. I have since created a tertiary color wheel.)

 

#3 Our Calendar Notebook 

 

#2 The Jelly Bean Prayer {printable}

 

#1 “Mama & Me” Journal

There you have it…the top 10 most visited blog posts here on Mama Jenn during the year 2011!

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