This book is an outgrowth of the authors' longstanding website www.domestic-church.com and is a great companion to the seasons of Advent, Christmas and Epiphany. It is divided into four parts: Family Activities, Saints of the Season, Crafts, and Coloring Pages. The purpose is to provide families with activity ideas that foster a spiritual climate in those seasons.

While the book does have activities that other seasonal books contain, such as the Advent Wreath and Jesse Tree, there are some engaging original projects such as patterns for playable manger figures, cross-stitch patterns, instructions for making gift boxes, and a playdough recipe to make tree ornaments. One of my favorites in the book is an explanation of the Feast of the Holy Innocents, which is an often overlooked feast in the Church as it sits in the Octave of Christmas. Another totally unique project is the one entitled "Hidden Life--Forcing Bulbs" in which the family plants bulbs and then forces them in the spring. This provides great metaphors for the connection between Christmas and Easter, the hidden life of the childhood of Jesus, and the coming of his light into the world. The coloring pages include pictures of the saints that are featured in the book, manger scenes, angels, and a decorated alphabet.

Another really nice feature of this book is that the pages have a single line of scriptural text printed around the margins. I didn't notice this the first time I used the book last year. It is a lovely touch.

Recommended for the whole family!

This series for young readers, written by my favorite contemporary author, has all Husband and I look for in a children's book:

• excellent writing
• interesting story
• active, forward pace
• realistic character development and a setting that is foreign and fascinating
• and finally a virtuous protagonist

During a recent illness my ten-year-old and I spent a fair amount of time on the couch, and we took turns reading aloud three volumes of this series. I just requested the two others from our Inter Library Loan. A children's book is a winner when the teens and adults in the house stop to listen to the story. No juvenile fluff here, but interesting plots that appeal to anyone. Akimbo is the sweet, but courageous and clever young son of an African park ranger. Helping his dad, and armed with his noble soul and courage and determination, he is able to find adventure and ways to help others in each of the stories.

The illustrations are wonderful! We stopped at each illustrated page and made comments about how good they were. I am including one here that shows the amount of expression on young Akimbo's face as he tells the head ranger of what he just discovered...

Alexander McCall Smith, the author, grew up in Africa and returns there each year. He knows what he is writing about, and you can sense from his writing that in his heart there lives a deep love and admiration for Africa. I highly recommend this series for anyone looking for a good children's series!

Also see our review of Akimbo and the Lions, here.

Over the years I have used several different Algebra programs with my children. With Peter, this is the fourth Algebra program we have tried. For various reasons, they have never met our expectations. At long last with Teaching Textbooks Algebra I, we have found one that works.

Before writing a review, I wanted to wait until Peter had completed most of the textbook, so that I would avoid any unpleasant surprises. Right now, he has completed about 2/3rds of the text and my opinion has not changed. This program is a homeschool mom's dream come true.

Designed for homeschool students, there are many reasons to like this program. The material is written in a friendly, conversational tone. The text is laid out in an easy to understand fashion without dumbing down the problems. The pace is not rushed. The story problems often use silly examples, which keep the student's interest as he learns important concepts. The best part of the program are the Solutions CDs. They are like having your own personal Algebra tutor.

Algebra I covers 18 Chapters with 129 lessons for a total of 654 pages. This book is long because the authors take the time to thoroughly explain each new lesson. A sampling of chapter topics includes simple equations, negative numbers, longer equations, powers, and roots. Much more is covered. Lesson 85, for example, is "Completing the Square."

Each "lesson" includes the lesson, practice, and problem set. Each lesson portion presents a new topic written in a conversational tone. Important points are highlighted (literally slightly darkened). The lesson material also covers sample problems of the topic introduced in the lesson. In other words, he does not just talk about the topic; he walks the student through the problems step by step. Similar to any other good Algebra text, the lessons build on previously learned knowledge. The lesson may also include a humorous story problem.

For Peter, he just reads the lesson. There is a lecture CD available for the student to watch and listen to the teacher go over the lesson material. This would be helpful for the student who learns best by hearing or incorporating as many senses as possible. This is the same material as in the lesson.

The next section is the "practice," which includes problems that review the material just covered in the lesson. The last section is the "problem set." This includes previously covered material from other lessons. Just like Saxon Algebra, the problem set covers a variety of topics. The last problem in the "problem set" is a silly story problem. For example, here is the story problem in problem set 7. "The husband and wife toy makers named their son Ken and their daughter Barbie. If 19,125 people in the couple's hometown--exactly 75% of the population--think the couple is crazy, what is the total population of the town?"

What makes this Algebra program a homeschool mom's dream come true are the Solutions CDs. These allow the student, for the most part, to work independently, freeing me to work with my other children. Now there are times when my son does ask me questions. He may want to know if he is doing a problem correctly or why a problem is coming out wrong. He could ask me or he could go to the Solutions CD, which explains the problem. The times he asks me, however, are few and far between. And if he asks me a question that I can't answer (I'm terrible with story problems) or if I am busy working with another child, he can always pull out the Solutions CD.

There are Solutions CDs for all the problems: the practice problems, the problem set problems, and the chapter test problems. If a student doesn't know how to work out a problem, or after correcting his lesson or the chapter test, the answer is wrong and he doesn't know why, he pulls out the CD he needs and pops it into the computer. There is a menu and he chooses the exact lesson and problem. He doesn't waste time looking for the answer. The answer begins with the problem displayed. The teacher then builds the answer from there, explaining the answer line by line. It is as if the teacher is standing at the head of the classroom, working through the problem. You hear the teacher's voice as he writes out the problem step by step on the "board" (screen). His voice is pleasant and very relaxed, which helps when you are dealing with a frustrated student.

Since the answer key only includes the final answers, the Solutions CDs are essential. There is no solutions manual. The answer key book includes practice set answers, problems set answers, and chapter tests with answers.

I won't say Peter doesn't get frustrated at times. Algebra and math are not his favorite subjects. But I will say his frustration level is far less than if he had used some of the programs we had used in the past. Also, I will add that this program won't work, just like any other math program, if the child does not correct and redo his work daily, since new material is based on previously learned concepts. If foundational concepts are learned incorrectly, the student will dig himself into a deeper and deeper hole. Sometimes, all that is necessary is for a parent to ask the student to show her his daily corrected work to see that he is on task.

This Algebra program has made my job as a homeschool mom so much easier. It is like having an Algebra tutor whenever I need him. Teaching Textbooks now has available Pre-Algebra, Algebra I, Geometry, and Algebra II. You can preview sample lessons, sample lectures, sample solutions, the table of contents, and more at www.teachingtextbooks.com. The complete package includes spiral bound student textbook, answer key & test bank, lecture and practice CDs, Solutions CDs, and Test Solutions CD.

I've had a chance to skim the book briefly and read the chapters on the Greeks and on the Aztecs and found them helpful and enlightening. There is a distinct effort to be fair to our Catholic legacy without whitewashing faults. (e.g. I noticed that Charlemagne is treated very favorably with the exception of one paragraph that honestly and without sensationalism explains a terrible thing he did in killing a large group of people who refused to be baptized. It also clears up the false rumors regarding the "evils" of Spain while still criticizing where there is fault).

It is quite specifically Catholic in mentioning many great saints and Catholic figures and the role of Christianity in shaping Western Culture (without ignoring the contributions of the Hebrews, Egyptians, Greeks and Romans) and being written from a Catholic point of view even where Catholics aren't specifically mentioned. There is a significant focus on World Cultures including chapters on many non-Christian cultures - eg. Japan, China, India and the Middle East - as well as a great deal about the largely Christian west. I think it is important for our children to understand these cultures and it is so helpful to have a book that honestly highlights the good and beautiful things from these cultures without acting like it doesn't matter that they weren't Christian (In other words, it's NOT in any way new-age or modernist in presenting these other cultures). I think this is an excellent antidote to modern multiculturalISM.

The book is very visually appealing without being overly-busy. It has beautiful full-color pictures throughout with informative captions. There are some fun features as well, such as a "Let's Eat" segment for each culture with information on what people ate and some simple recipes. The book is intended for 6th grade, but would be profitable and enjoyable to anyone wishing to get a better sense of history and culture. This is the first book being published in a series of Catholic history textbooks. (6-21-03)