Co-op Adventures

In our co-op, we just finished up the first 6 weeks of classes. Tiger and Butterfly took a class about King Tut so they would be familiar with the items in the King Tut exhibit we plan to see in December. The children all dressed up like pharaohs. They thought that serious faces would make them look more powerful :) They all made their crooks, flails, and jewelry during class.

 

Butterfly and Pumpkin Pie also took an adventures in fairy tales book club. Each week they dressed like princesses and talked about different versions of the fairy tale of the week and made crafts and had activities related to the book. for the final day, they had a tea party. Butterfly served as hostess.

Now on to the next term- Little House on the Prairie book club and Detective Book club and Cooking classes!

It is Project Week

This week was an odd week. The children were deeply engaged in projects. Tiger has been working hard on Webelos. He is earning his Arrow of Light! He also wants to earn the Super Achiever patch that is for those who earn all 20 activity pins. Even though he still has until March to finish all his activities, he has worked hard to earn a few extra this month.  Here is the frame he constructed for a piece of art he made.

Butterfly and Pumpkin Pie have been working on a doll show. They have plastered the walls with signs so we all know where the show will be. They created a stage and tickets and a ticket booth as well. It has been so consuming they have done nothing for 2 days except breath and work on their show. They want to charge for the tickets as well. :)

Crossbow Education Reading Rulers- Schoolhouse Review

Crossbow Education specializes in materials to assist people with dyslexia and other visual stress. The Schoolhouse Review Crew had the opportunity to review the 10-pack of Eye Level Reading Rulers. One pack of 10 rulers costs $16.95.

Reading rulers are a thick clear plastic sheet which has been tinted. The rulers are about 6” wide and are designed to highlight text , aid in tracking, clarify the words so they don’t blur or dance, and reduce page glare. There is a strip of opaque plastic in the middle to create one large strip for large text and a narrower strip for narrow text.  The 10-pack is their most popular product because it allows the student to  pick which color works best for him. Each person is a little different, and while one person might like one color, another will prefer a different one. Also, in different light situations, someone might find different colors work better, even though he will usually settle on one color eventually as a favorite. Once a favorite color is settled on, more aids in that color can be purchased from Crossbow Education. Another feature of the reading ruler was that one side was a matte finish and the other was gloss.

Here you can see the rulers in action. The green ruler is placed with the matte side up and the purple ruler is placed with the gloss side up. You can see the label in the middle as well as the two sizes of colored strips.

The rulers came in a plastic sleeve with instructions to help pick which color to use. It was pretty easy to select a piece of text, lay the rulers out in the suggested order and then allow my children to choose which works for them. 

I don’t have any children with diagnosed tracking, processing, or other reading difficulties but Pumpkin Pie has struggled more than my other kids to learn to read. I believe this is partly due to her love of being read to and her fear that if she learns to read people won’t read to her anymore. She also has said learning to read is hard. This wasn’t so much the case with my other two older kids. I had started considering taking her to a developmental optometrist to see if she was tracking correctly, but hadn’t had a chance. As a result, I thought I would give these a try for her.

Our initial experience was excellent. I wrote the following on the first day: I had Pumpkin Pie go through the rulers and find the one that she liked best. At first she liked yellow best and then she eventually settled on pink.  She said she found the matte side to be less distracting because the gloss side had the words printed on it. I noticed that she had an easier time tracking the words using the ruler. It is  hard to tell if this was due to the ruler color or because I told her she needed to hold the ruler and move it down the page. Either way, the heavy blue line at the edge of the ruler helped her stay in the line that she was on except for one instance where she read the word “in” and the sentence above had an “in” almost directly above it. She glanced away and then began combining the two sentences. Considering she is 6, this is pretty normal! Usually she will get through 1 page in the McGuffey reader and be done. Today she let me do a review lesson, a lesson she did a few days ago and a new lesson. She did very well and seemed to have less trouble with the b/d switching and confusion than usual. She still had a few struggles when she thought about it, but overall did much better. She was very excited to use the ruler and asked if we could keep it with her materials so she could continue using it. She also noticed that some of the rulers made the words less clear for her.

Over time I didn’t notice as much of a difference as the first day. Over the next couple of weeks, she skipped around and just picked a color. She didn’t want to stick with one color and I began to wonder if the color aspect really mattered. She insists on having one during scripture reading and does use the little blue line to help her track the words. Most days she tends to grab the purple or pink or aqua. I think she likes those colors more than anything. One way or another though, they are helping her gain some independence with tracking and focusing on what she is reading.

Tiger also tried out the rulers. He settled on yellow and has stuck with yellow each time he read scriptures with us. He said that for him the purple “made the letters a mess and while it emphasized the letters it emphasized the wrong way.” I am not sure what that means, but he really liked the yellow one. He said it made the letters brighter, and clearer and made it easier to read faster. He tried reading a few pages with the yellow ruler and then tried a page without the ruler. He said his brain had gotten used to the ruler so taking it away made it harder to read the page. He also said he has no problem reading without the ruler but with the ruler it is easier.

While my children enjoyed them, I found the rulers to be distracting or disturbing to read through. I don’t think it has anything to do with the screens though- I am just very sensitive to films, screens, and lenses in front of what I am trying to see. I can’t handle 3D glasses, colored sunglasses, or tinted funny colors glass at all.

I caught a glimpse of the benefit of these rulers and can definitely see how they would be helpful to someone with an acute eye coordination or tracking problem. Pumpkin Pie has started reading with more ease in the past few weeks without the rulers. I don’t think the rulers helped her as much as our recent change in reading curriculum and a little maturation time, but I also don’t think they have hurt. They have been fun and encouraged her to want to read more. I know that color therapy is a legitimate tool to help people focus and see clearer so I believe that these rulers would be helpful to those who really need them as well as those who just need some tracking help.

Be sure to read about how my other crew members used Reading Rulers by clicking below.

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this product through the Schoolhouse Review Crew in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way. All opinions I have expressed are my own or those of my family. I am disclosing this in accordance with the FTC Regulations.

Pioneer Farm and Native American Village Tours

There is a neat museum about an hour and a half from our house that is hands on. Half is a Pioneer Farm and the other half is the 4 seasons of the local Native American tribes. What did their homes look like? What chores did the children do? What were clothes or toys made of? We got a chance to go a few days ago. It was well worth the drive to get there. As it happened, we got there on their founder’s day celebration tour day so we didn’t have to pay admission to either tour. Tiger got to use a forge and bend horseshoes in the blacksmith’s shop, Butterfly got to pet animals, and Butterfly and Pumpkin Pie got to milk a cow. Strawberry banged drums, kneaded bread dough, and saw some baby animals. Even though it was a bit wet and we got sprinkled on a few times, it was a great day.

   

The Wonders of a Fort

I came into our school room and found the following fort… inside were two little girls sharing in an adventure looking at books. Neither one could read the books they looked at but that was fine with them. There they stayed for quiet time. 

 

WealthQuest for Teens

When I was growing up I was aware of money and I knew that my parents watched their money carefully. I knew not to go into debt and to save. As a teen I saved a lot of my money with no purpose in sight. I just saved it. I would often spend some of it on presents for family members for Christmas or snacks but other than that, I saved my money. Eventually I graduated from high school and my budget was extremely tight. It went something like this: “Is this ABSOLUTELY necessary? If not don’t buy it.” When I got married, my husband and I were both full time university students. We worked the equivalent of 1 full-time barely above minimum wage job between the two of us. I remember digging through the couch cushions to find $1 so we could rent a movie. At the time, there was a video store down the street where you could rent an old movie (3 yrs or so or older) for $1. New movies were $2 and that was too expensive for us. Somewhere around here in a journal my husband has a label from a soda can where we had been out of town and were so thirsty we scrounged for the change necessary for the drink and then shared it. While those were good times, money was very tight. We never went into debt but we always felt like we couldn’t. Even after we graduated and had a real job, we still felt like we couldn’t. Our income had doubled, our expenses had dropped and yet we didn’t know how to plan our spending. We still didn’t go into debt but we didn’t know how to manage the money efficiently. As I reviewed WealthQuest for Teens I wished we had known what it teaches back then!

WealthQuest for Teens is a program that teaches teens, ages 14-19, and parents how to have positive attitudes, relationships, and habits with money no matter how small or large the budget and income are. For $39.95, you receive the whole program which consists of four parts.

The first part  is an interactive online workbook type seminar. Here is a screenshot of that portion. It consist of a small video screen with teens talking about the topic as well as a workbook to answer questions and reflect on to the right of the video. The workbook answers can be printed once they are finished. The entire seminar consists of 7 modules and gives an overview to the entire program followed by more specifics and information on how to relate to money in a healthy and productive way. The entire seminar only takes about 2 hours plus reflection and discussion time should you choose to discuss with your teen. I think my favorite part was the portion on changing points of view. It was especially well done with excellent examples and illustrations.

 

The second portion of the program is a Parent guide. This 60 page ebook is designed to help parents understand how what they say and how their attitudes affect their children’s perceptions, attitudes, and relationships about money. It also teaches parents some of the same material that is taught in the teen seminar in a much less flashy way. There are many thought provoking ideas contained within it, especially regarding how to change our thoughts as parents from the old save and don’t go into to debt to planning ahead with a purpose in order to save and not go into debt. It also gave tips on how to help allowances be more meaningful, mistakes parents commonly make while teaching (or accidentally teaching through actions) their children about money.

The third part is a 30 Day workbook for the teens to further reflect, learn, and apply what was taught in the video seminar. Each day has one page with an activity or thought. Most take only a few minutes to complete with a few requiring a little more thinking time. The more effort put into this portion of the course, the more impact the seminar will have on attitudes and habits.

The fourth part of the program is advice to utilize a free online money management program called MoneyTrail. MoneyTrail is not affiliated with WealthQuest for Teens but can be used to help teens track their spending, create their “silos” and manage their money effectively. While I did not personally use MoneyTrail, I found that it dovetails very nicely with WealthQuest for Teens and would be an excellent tool for parents of younger children as well as teens or teens and parents.

As I do not have any teens, I used this program myself. I attended a seminar early in May on money management and learned many of the same principles. The biggest difference is that I paid a lot more for that seminar than this program! This program does an excellent job of teaching how and why to manage money. Some people might perceive that this program is only for those who aim to have a very high net worth. It would definitely benefit them, but truthfully, it would benefit anyone who has money at all. The definition that WealthQuest uses for wealth or rich is “the amount of money you need to have the life you want and to make a difference in ways that matter to you.” WealthQuest stresses the importance of giving 10% to better the world in some way as well as saving for education, everyday expenses, fun, large expenses, and future. I believe that if a person learns these principles at a young age, even when their income is $5 or $10 a week or month, his feet will be firmly planted on the path that is financial fitness.

Overall I found this to be a valuable tool to teaching about money management beyond the standard save, don’t go into debt, and budget. While those principles are great, they don’t explain what to do very effectively. WealthQuest for Teens does an excellent job of truly teaching how to manage money effectively in order to do the above adages in a systematic manner.  The only things that I think could really use improvement is the ability to rewind/fast forward during the video seminar and the video size. In order to rewind or fast forward you have to listen to the whole module again. The videos are very small, possibly smaller than an iPod Touch screen and can not be resized. Despite these minor inconvenience, the content was excellent. As I have been modifying my money management methods I have had the lessons I learned from this program in my mind and I am seeing that they are really effective. I would recommend this to anyone who wants to learn to manage money effectively. I will be having Tiger go through this shortly even though he is younger and it truly is geared to teens who are starting to look towards their futures as adults. Even so, I think planting the seeds of how to manage money will be beneficial.

Other members of the crew also reviewed WealthQuest for Teens. Be sure to read their reviews by clicking the banner below.

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this product through the Schoolhouse Review Crew in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way. All opinions I have expressed are my own or those of my family. I am disclosing this in accordance with the FTC Regulations.

Phase of Learning

The other day we revisited the phases of learning and discussed what each phase looked like. Then I asked the children where they thought they were in the progression of phases. They were pretty excited to be where they are.

Strawberry is most definitely in Core Phase. She is learning about work, good/bad, right/wrong, true/false, family relationships, etc. What did her day look like? A whole lot of play, work along side mom, and sitting with the family for family learning when she wanted to. She helped me load her breakfast dishes, fold laundry, and then she put her laundry away all by herself. Do her drawers look pretty? Nope. But she was proud of herself for her hard work! 

Pumpkin Pie placed herself in Core phase closer to the Love of Learning Phase. She spent her day doing her family work, playing, and LOVING her reading and writing lessons and a little bit of math. She also joined us for family learning, story time, devotional, etc.

Butterfly placed herself in the middle of Love of Learning. She needs lots of guidance to fill the educational part of her days, but she spends more time reading and learning than seeking play these days. She still LOVES to play and takes any chance she can to play a quick game of animals or baby or dolls with Strawberry and Pumpkin Pie, but she also relishes her time with a book. Like a true Love of Learning phase child, she reads books of all sorts. (I am so grateful for a fabulous library system so I can check out lots of different books!) The other day she asked if she could have quiet time in the school room so she could read the books on the library shelf without going up and down stairs.

Tiger placed himself transitioning to scholar. He participates deeper with family learning than the girls, works longer on his math and notebooks, and spends even more time reading. He also spent at least an hour practicing piano because he loves it. He has many activities he wants to do and get better at and he sometimes has a hard time picking which of many great things to do. He is working hard in swimming and karate as well as scouts. He is working in his mentor meetings on setting more goals and working towards them in preparation for scholar phase.

Dayspring Academy Pilgrim Story

Dayspring Christian Academy is a Christian school in Pennsylvania. Dayspring Christian Academy utilizes the Principle Approach to education to teach children about the biblical Christian values which shaped this nation and to train them to be great citizens and leaders with Christian values. They have several programs including an on-campus K-12 school, support for homeschoolers, and online classes. The Schoolhouse Review Crew had the opportunity to review one of their three online self-paced courses. The course we reviewed is The Pilgrim Story. Purchasing The Pilgrim Story for $99.00 allows the family access to the program for six months. Classes don’t meet at any specific time because they are always ready and available and are self-paced.

The Pilgrim Story is geared for grades 3-6 and focuses on telling the true story of the pilgrims using primary sources where possible. The  course was written by Mary Stauffer, a third grade teacher at the Dayspring Academy. The class consists of five units, each with three to four lessons and a test. Following the five units there is a virtual field trip to Plymouth, Massachusetts. Each lesson is an interactive slide show with various activities, notes to take, quotes to add to a notebook, and reflection questions which are often focused on Christian character. Each lesson begins with a review of the previous lesson in a multiple choice interactive quiz and then continues where the previous lesson left off. The units start with the establishment of the Church of England, Geneva Bible, and the splintering groups who wanted to return to more biblical teachings than those of the Anglican church. It then progresses through emigration to Holland and the trials faced there, eventual emigration to the New World, Mayflower compact, and trials and experiences the first three years.  Before beginning a lesson, the student is instructed to download and print pages with quotes, vocabulary, note taking guides, and other resources needed for the activities. They are full color but we printed them in black and white without any problems.

One of my frustrations with modern accounts of the pilgrims has been the politically correct tendencies to paint the pilgrims as evil. While I will freely admit there were many atrocities committed by various people who settled in the New World, there were also many atrocities committed by the natives. The truth is that people came from Europe seeking a better life with freedom of religion, freedom from classes, and freedom from tyranny. They did not set out on an errand of oppression. I feel it is important to teach my children the truth- that there was providential assistance in the settling of America and the people who came here in the early 1600s suffered much, worked hard, and had incredible faith.  The Pilgrim Story teaches not only the story of the pilgrims, but also the incredible faith and Christian character they exhibited as they settled in the colonies.

I have been using The Pilgrim Story with all of my children. We gather around the computer with the two littler ones on my lap and work through each lesson as a family. Tiger is in 5/6 or whatever grade he is in, Butterfly would be in 3rd this year, Pumpkin Pie would be in 1st, and of course my preschooler Strawberry. Although each lesson is designed to take 30-45 minutes, my children and I found it took much longer. As a result, we are crawling along at a snails pace. Each time we sit down to study, we are at the computer for at least an hour and might not finish the lesson. This is probably due to the fact that we pause often and talk, clarify meanings, discuss the story, or gain consensus from all children before answering a question.  (You will have to imagine me sitting under the girls in the desk chair and Butterfly on the other side of Pumpkin Pie like below.)

Butterfly, almost 9, found it difficult to write the sentences and listen at the same time on the note sheet. Allowing enough time for Butterfly to write the fill-in words resulted in spending twice as much time on the lessons. After about three lessons like this, we decided to skip the note taking guides and do a narration at the end. She still wanted to record all her notes though so she went back through and recorded notes later during individual work time. Tiger greatly disliked the notes and was happy to give them up for a narration.

Overall I think that The Pilgrim Story is a quality course. I appreciated that when complex ideas are being taught, like the difference between union and unity, the explanation is given in a way that it is relative to the child. As as a result, it is very detailed yet understandable enough that even my 1st grader understood what was being taught. For an adult, at times it seemed to repeat points multiple times, but the children thrive on the repetition and really begin to understand not only what happened but why it happened. Because The Pilgrim Story started with King Henry VIII, the children were able to see why the pilgrims were seeking a different life in order to worship according to what they read in the Bible.

At times The Pilgrim Story did seem a little dry. Most of the activities that we encountered were writing assignments or reflection questions. While there were some interactive aspects to the program, like unscrambling the order of events, I would have liked to see a little more hands-on activities off the computer. I did look ahead at the downloadable and printable resources and saw that there is at least one craft in one of the later units which we haven’t gotten to yet.

We are grateful for the opportunity to review The Pilgrim Story and for the chance to dig deep into the topic. I have never done an online course with my children, but I am glad we are doing this one and wholly recommend it. Many other crewmembers also got the chance to use The Pilgrim Story with their children. Be sure to check out what they thought by clicking the banner below.

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this product through the Schoolhouse Review Crew in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way. All opinions I have expressed are my own or those of my family. I am disclosing this in accordance with the FTC Regulations.

Almost Wordless Thursday

I meant to post this yesterday but didn’t get around to it. Oops. Sorry this isn’t a great picture, the light was behind my subjects, but this captures ones of the reasons I homeschool. Here is Tiger assisting Strawberry with reading scriptures during family devotional.

Story Time

Each day I read to the children out of a book. In order to help the children stay quiet while reading stories, I will give them coloring pages or paper to draw on.

We are currently studying the pilgrims and early settlers in the US. Before the pilgrims came from England, they left England and went to Holland to escape persecutions. While the story of Hans Brinker or the Silver Skates has nothing to do with the colonies, it does have to do with Holland. So far it is a wonderful book that I can't believe I missed! Thankfully, through the Early Settlers study we are working through I found it. 

This is the picture that Butterfly drew today.

Here are a couple of the coloring pages recently completed from a fabulous coloring book I found at the homeschool consignment store. They are from a coloring book by Sue Coccia.I love the designs. some of these pages kept my children busy for several readings.

Beeyoutiful Herbals- Schoolhouse Review

Beeyoutiful.com is an online store which carries natural products to promote health and wellness. I can’t describe Beeyoutiful any better than they can, so here is their purpose in their own words:

At Beeyoutiful.com, we believe that each individual is responsible for their own health. It is not a doctor's responsibility to keep you in good health. Instead they are a tremendous resource, especially for those times when urgent care is required. But, they are only one of many resources. And the tools they use, while powerful, are not the only tools available. But a tool is worthless unless one knows how to use it…
As much as is in our power, we want to aid others in obtaining and maintaining good health.
Our mission is to do good to all men.

Beeyoutiful carries many products for children and adults from herbal supplements to skin, hair, and body care products. The Schoolhouse Review Crew had the opportunity to review several of their products. The ones I reviewed are primarily herbal in nature although others reviewed skin care products.

In the interest of full disclosure, before I share my opinions and experiences on these products, I need to state the following: I am a Master Herbalist. I earned my Masters of Herbology from The School of Natural Healing. I am not a doctor or nutritionist. I understand and teach about the historical usage of herbs. Please do not take anything I write in this post as medical advise, diagnosis, or an attempt to cure anything. You should consult with your doctor for that type of information.

 
Berry Well is a syrup made from Elderberries, Echinacea, Apple Cider Vinegar, Propolis, and Raw Honey. All of these ingredients are have immune helping properties, are anti-bacterial and anti-viral and are helpful for colds and flus. Berry well does contain a very small amount of alcohol to assist in the proper extraction of the Echinacea. The amount present in one dose is less than the alcohol consumed in 8 ounce of cola. I am very sensitive to the smell and taste of alcohol and was unable to detect it. There is an excellent article detailing some of the properties of the ingredients here.

We used Berry Well when we got a cold over the summer. Since I am pregnant and prefer not to use what I typically use while pregnant, I decided to use some Berry Well. Please remember that use of Berry Well in pregnancy is not evaluated by the FDA. I felt comfortable using it because elderberry is a mild herb, honey, apple cider vinegar, and propolis are also mild herbs, and I know that in small quantities Echinacea is not harmful in pregnancy even though it is usually found on lists of counter indicated herbs in pregnancy. I noticed that it helped my head remain clearer and I was able to get over the bad part of my cold within about a day. Usually colds last longer for me when I am pregnant. I also gave some to Pumpkin Pie. She really liked the flavor and it helped balance her fever so she was able to get better quickly. When Butterfly began to get sick, I gave her some too. It also helped her get better fairly quickly. Berry Well costs $19.75 for an 8 ounce bottle with tiered discounts available for orders of more than 3 bottles.

 Ow!-Ease is a salve to relieve pain and speed healing of bumps, bruises, and contusions, strains, strains and pulled ligaments and muscles. Ow!-Ease should not be used on broken skin. It comes in a 1 ounce tube similar to a lip balm tube to allow easy application. It costs $15.00 with bulk discounts available for 3 or more. Ow!-Ease is made from Extra virgin olive infused with organic chamomile, organic calendula, organic St. John's Wort, organic arnica, cayenne, coconut oil, beeswax, lavender essential oil, rosemary essential oil. Arnica has long been known to be healing to bruises, strains, and sprains. Cayenne has a constituent which is actually analgesic. Chamomile, calendula, St. John’s Wort, lavender and rosemary oils are soothing as well. Both cayenne and arnica help bring relieve the pressure in the blood vessels to alleviate pain and speed healing. There is a brief article on Ow!-Ease and its use here (you will have to scroll down to Ow!-Ease).

We used Ow!-Ease quiet a few times. With 4 children there is always someone bumping something. Just the other day while Butterfly was at a friend’s house for a book club she got a bonk. She was waiting to be picked up and was playing in the backyard with another girl. They were trying to catch a bunny and her friend ran under the trapeze bar with rings and pushed it. Butterfly ran after her but didn’t see the bar as it came swinging back. The bar hit her on the cheek bone. It was immediately red. When we got home (2 miles or so) she had a small bump and it was bruised. She said it was hurting too. We rubbed some Ow!-Ease on it and the pain subsided. The bump flattened and most of the bruise went away. Over the next couple of days she asked for the Ow!-Ease to rub on her bruise whenever it began to hurt. I found it was really helpful in minimizing the pain from bumps and bruises.

Miracle Salve is an all-purpose first aid salve. Miracle can be used for many purposes including the following (taken from website):

• Cuts and abrasions (cover with a bandage if necessary!) • Stubborn splinters (to help them work their way out) • Insect bites and stings • Inflamed and swollen injuries or bruises • Painful hemorrhoids • Diaper rash and tender bottoms • Dry, chapped skin • Minor burns • Yeast-related rashes like eczema and psoriasis • Cold sores • Post-staph infection and skin surgery sites (to reduce scarring apply daily for 2 to 3 months).

Miracle is made from coconut oil, extra virgin olive oil, beeswax, organic plantain leaf, organic comfrey root, organic calendula flowers, propolis, lavender essential oil, rosemary essential oil. It is a smooth and creamy salve that is easy to apply yet sticky enough to stay in place. A 2 ounce container costs $15 and a 4 ounce container costs $25 . Both are available with tiered bulk discounts for orders of three or more. For an excellent article about the properties about each ingredient and more uses for Miracle, please go here.

In the 4.5 weeks we have been using Miracle, we have used half our container. The first thing I tried Miracle on was dry hands. I have chronically dry hands and nothing really helps. Sometimes they hurt because they are dry. I was getting ready for  bed and my hand was bothering me. I rubbed a little Miracle into my hands and the pain was gone as well as the dryness. I loved how smooth and creamy it was without being heavy or greasy. I also packed Miracle for our trip to homeschool camp. I was really glad I did! When we were at camp, a little girl was swinging on a swing and hit her cheek on the trunk of a tree. It was instantly red and was a fairly large abrasion on her cheek. That night, her mom brought her to my cabin and asked for some salve. She put the Miracle Salve on her daughter’s cheek and covered it with a bandage. Her little girl, who was only 4, wouldn’t keep bandages on during the day because they were bugging her. The only time her mom could put the bandages on her was at night. She used the miracle salve that night and there was noticeable improvement the next day. By the end of camp, it was mostly healed. I saw her a couple days ago and her cheek bears no mark from her injuries. Also at camp, I used Miracle multiple times on myself and my children. Thankfully our camp doesn’t have many mosquitoes thanks to the many bats- but there are a few. I got a particularly itchy bite and couldn’t find my plantain salve (plantain is the bug bite remedy). I then remembered miracle and glanced at the ingredients again since I had only had it a couple of days. I saw the plantain and was thrilled. I rubbed some on and instantly the itch was gone. The bug bite was gone shortly thereafter. One evening during camp I burned my wrist on a rice cooker. Ouch! it stung and hurt really badly. I got relief from the pain by using Miracle. the lavender essential oil is excellent at removing the heat from a burn and calendula is also soothing. I kept Miracle on my wrist the rest of camp and a few days after camp. There was a very faint scar where the burn was on my wrist after about a week and a half after it healed. Now, about two weeks later, the scar is almost invisible.

 B.A.L.M. or Beeyoutiful All Natural Lip Moisturizer in peppermint contains grape seed oil, shea butter, beeswax, and peppermint essential oils. One lip balm tube costs $3 each or $2.70 each for orders of 3 or more. It is also available in orange.

When I first got my Beeyoutiful package, the first thing I tried was the lip balm. I am pretty picky about lip balms because so many are full of chemicals that actually dry out your lips and make you use more balm. Not only that, but because it is going on your lips, inevitably you will consume some of the lip balm. I will not use any lip balm that is not 100% natural with a short ingredient list. B.A.L.M. fit the bill. Going on, it was smooth without being slimy, sticky, or too thick. It also had a nice mint tingly sensation. It quickly absorbed without leaving me with dry lips. It definitely passed my lip balm test.

Beeyoutiful Views DVD is a collection of short video clips with Stephanie Tallent covering many of the products that Beeyoutiful carries. She discusses their properties, uses, and tips.
I thought that for someone new to herbal products, this video might be a good thing to watch. Stephanie goes through many of Beeyoutiful’s products and explains why she likes them and how she uses them with her family. She also throws out periodic tips while she is talking. Many of the video clips are on the website, but if you don’t want to do the digging, it is available for $3.00.

Be sure to check out what the other crew members thought about Beeyoutiful products. Some of them got to review some pure mineral makeup from Beeyoutiful’s sister site Beeyoutiful Skin.   Disclaimer: As a member of the TOS Crew, I received this product, at no cost to me, in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are mine. No part of this review is to be construed as medical advise.