Tales of Terrestria

Tales From Terrestria, written by Ed Dunlop are the latest Terrestrian stories to be released from Cross and Crown Publishing. The Terrestria Chronicles, an allegorical fantasy series was written by Dunlop to "honor Jesus Christ as King, challenge young readers to serve Him, and to teach them to guard their hearts for Him". Although The Terrestria Chronicles are complete, Tales From Terrestria continue the adventure with stand alone stories of new characters from the land of Terrestria. Both Tales From Terrestria novels and The Terrestria Chronicles are written for children aged 10 and older.

I received the first Tale From Terrestria: The Quest for Thunder Mountain from the publisher for free in exchange for this review. The 203 page paperback sells on the publisher website, www.talesofcastles.com for $7.99. My children Sierra, Micah, and Jonah assisted me with this review.

Set in the middle ages, The Quest for Thunder Mountain introduces readers to young Gavin, an unemployed minstrel. Sick, hurt and needing direction he fortunately meets Sir Wisdom who ministers to his needs and sends him on a quest to Mount Thelema to seek the will of King Emmanuel. The journey is long and dangerous testing Gavin's strength, will and faith. Gavin uses a special book provided by the King to guide him on his journey.
Gavin a true hero is an inspiration, optimistic and strong in his faith. For example, during an unfortunate imprisonment in the "Dungeon of Condemnation" Gavin is bitterly asked by his traveling companion, "Do you have a plan?" Gavin replies, "Nay, but Emmanuel does....He'll show us a way out of here".

The Quest for Thunder Mountain is well written but at times predictable. My older children were not surprised by plot twists nor amazed by the allegorical references. We did understand, however, that these novels could easily draw children with a limited spiritual background into deep and meaningful conversations of Christ. Indeed this is the author's mission. Dunlop dedicates a section of the website to his reasons for trying to reach children with the Gospel. According to his statistics, 85% of people come to Christ between the ages of 5-14.

I asked the kid review panel for their honest reviews of the book. Their comments included the following:

"I can see how the novel would be good for little kids or for kids who really haven't studied the Bible. It was a pretty good story, but since I could understand the symbolism, like the "Shield of Faith", etc. it lessened the affect the story had on me. I would probably recommend these to a friend if they were interested in dragons and Medieval stories" ~ Jonah age 15.

"I thought the storyline was interesting. I think if I was a little bit younger it would seem more exciting to me. The plot was very creative and different from what I find in most books. The beginning especially really caught my attention and helped me care about the safety of the main character, Gavin. I would recommend this book to kids who like Science Fiction or fantasy adventure books"~ Micah, age 12.

"I really liked the story of this book. I liked the people, the action, and that it was in the middle ages. I really like fairy tales and stories of castles, princesses and dragons. I hope I get to read more of these books. There is NOTHING I didn't like about it at all!"~ Sierra, age 8"

The Quest for Thunder Mountain is the first in the Tales of Terrestria series novels. The Golden Dagger and The Isle of Dragons are also currently available with a fourth book, Return of the Dagger planned for release Spring of 2010. All books in the series average 200 pages and carry the $7.99 price tag. In addition, a special price of 3 books for $19.99 is currently being offered on the website.

Worship Guitar

Available in English or Spanish, Worship Guitar Class DVDs offer students aged 10 and older guitar lessons in the home taught by Jean Welles, of Los Angeles, CA, professional guitarist and teacher for over 30 years. A student of the guitar herself, Welles holds a Master's degree in Guitar Performance from USC.

"One of the reasons I came to Christ is because at that time I didn't see a purpose in life. Now I have a purpose. It's to enjoy God and to help others know how great HE is!", states Welles in a letter provided with the Worship Guitar Class DVD.

I received Worship Guitar Class DVD-Volume 1 and separate student music book as a

member of TOS Review Crew to use in our homeschool in exchange for this review. According to literature provided with the DVD, Volume 1 promises:

• Step by Step Instruction
• The ability to learn to play the guitar at home
• Easy enough for 1st day beginner to beginner/intermediate students
• Instruction regarding creating a personal worship time
• Instruction for learning to lead worship in a small group setting

Volume 1 consists of 7 lessons each designed to teach one worship song per lesson and the ability to master a dozen chords. Several strumming and picking patterns are presented in the lessons. Songs taught throughout volume one include:

• He's Got the Whole World in His Hands
• My All in All
• More Precious than Silver
• Take My Life
• Lord, I Lift Your Name on High
• This is the Day
• I Love you Lord

Retailing for $24.95, Volume 1 is part of a 4 Volume set which can be purchased at the Worship Guitar Class website for $99.80. Once on the website, www.worshipguitarclass.com, I noted the student book included in each volume is also available for separate purchase for $5.95. When purchasing the 4 volume set, customers receive a $40.00 value bonus of 4 e-books titled:

• Tips, Tricks & Exercises for Great Guitar Technique
• Favorite Hymns For Guitar
• 200 Chord Charts and Pictures and Much More
• Chord Charts with Pictures for 5 Major Keys and How to Use This Guide Book

Welles offers a DVD course for the younger set, "Worship Guitar for Kids" designed for students ages 5-9. In addition to the DVD courses, customers will find guitars, gig bags, guitar stands, music stands, assorted guitar instructional books for further study, piano and drum curriculum and vocal CD's at the Worship Guitar Class website.

I was anxious to see Worship Guitar Class DVD in action based on my experience with children and music lessons. I grew up learning to play the piano, trumpet and french horn and have always valued the importance of music instruction in a child's education. When my older children were younger we were fortunate enough to find quality music lessons for them locally. They took piano, violin, voice and guitar lessons over several years, but unfortunately, great teachers seemed to move on to bigger and better opportunities. My younger children have missed individualized music instruction to date and thinking I could have a guitar instructor in our home at my disposal was a wonderful one.

I assigned my 12 year old daughter, Micah to the task of helping me with this review and she attempted the lessons with no previous guitar experience. We don't own an acoustic guitar, but she blew the dust off of her older brother's electric guitar, hooked it up to the amp and put the DVD in the player. I sat down beside her to watch the process and see if the DVD truly offered, "step by step instructions" simple enough to follow.

Jean Welles presents a professional demeanor and the set and video quality are of high standards pleasing to watch. Unfortunately, we found the instruction to move very quickly making Micah extremely frustrated even to tears within the first lesson.

The first lesson included specific instruction regarding proper holding technique of the guitar and two chords, A and E7. Students learn specific placement of fingers on strings in order to properly strum the chords both with visual demonstration and the use of a giant chord chart which Welles uses in her explanations. Micah had trouble from the beginning determining why her chords lacked musical quality when she played. Because I have no guitar experience, and Micah's hands might not have been placed exactly where they should have been, I could not help her with her frustration in finding just the right finger placement. We paused the DVD, repeated over and over the specific portion explaining the finger placement, but very quickly, Micah was frustrated and in tears over her lack of accomplishment.

I reminded Micah that "Rome wasn't built in a Day" and music like all great things takes lots of patience and practice for mastery. We wiped the tears and returned to the lesson with greater fortitude. Once Welles demonstrated finger placement of the two chords for lesson one she combined the chords to play the first song taught, "He's Got the Whole World In His Hands". I wanted to build a campfire when I heard the wonderful familiar and simple worship song, but instead of inspiring Micah this section of the DVD made her want to throw the guitar into the fire. Unfortunately, Welles, didn't explain verbally when to change chords while playing rather the instruction was provided through a close camera shot of Welles' hands strumming the guitar, making use of the chords A and E7. For a new student like Micah unfamiliar with the guitar and its elements this simplistic visual only instruction was very confusing.

"For the first lesson it would have been nice if she slowed down a little bit, just because I'm a beginner. I think something that should be added is explanation of which chords to do when she sings the songs, so you can play and sing along with her," said Micah.

I encouraged Micah to spend a week or so practicing chords A and E7 and become more familiar with holding the guitar before deciding to move on with the DVD lessons. After she practiced those skills, she decided to attempt lesson two of the video and felt much more positive about the experience.

"The second lesson was a little bit easier because I knew which fret to do and which string", she said.

When I asked Micah for a recommendation she added, "I think it would be easier to have a real instructor, but I still think I can learn a lot from this too. I think I'll keep up with the lessons and see how it goes."

A sample of lesson one of Volume 1 is available at www.worshipguitarclass.com/brochure. Customers can sign up for a free newsletter on the website and Jean writes a blog that offers tips and lessons to encourage students at www.jeanwelles.com. For more information regarding Worship Guitar Class visit the company website at, www.worshipguitarclass.com.

Life on the Farm by We R Fun

A few months ago my college aged children convinced me to start playing a new Facebook game, Farmville. Many of my grown up friends make fun of me, but Farmville brings more to my life than organizing cows, pigs, chickens and crops. Playing this virtual game is another way I can connect with my grown up kids who all have very busy lives running in directions opposite of mine.

When those same college aged kids were young I deliberately planned board game days during school hours. Rolling dice and counting the dots, counting the spaces on boards, reading

directions, clues, keeping track of scores, etc.; board games provided endless learning practice in a variety of disciplines without the pressure of filling in all the blanks of a worksheet. The best kind of learning builds memories. I hope my older kids remember fondly our long afternoons of PayDay, Clue, Uno and Yahtzee.

When I received We R Fun's Life on the Farm board game to review for TOS Review Crew

my heart filled with warm memories of game days past. Board game days have sadly disappeared from our schedule as a regular part of school curriculum

and Life on the Farm reminded me to bring back the fun. I received Life on the Farm as a gift in

exchange for this review.

Life on the Farm is designed for 2-6 players aged 8-108. It won the Teacher's Choice Award from Learning Magazine in 2006 and 7 other awards from various organizations. Ranking Life on the Farm against previous board game experiences I found it to be of superior quality in construction, easy to set-up and capable of promising hours of family fun.

The object of Life on the Farm is to "retire" by building a herd of 60 cows (long game) or 30 cows (short game) plus have all the money you originally start the game with. The money distributed with Life on the Farm comes in 1,000's with cows on the face, 500's with sheep, 100's with chickens, 50's with pigs, 20's with geese and 10's with dairy farmers. It is organized neatly on rows of a plastic tray for banking ease throughout the game. Cows collected are represented on small cards much to my little kids disappointment. They were hoping for small plastic cows, but I was secretly relieved not to have so many tiny parts to care for over time.

After spending about 15 mins. to unwrap money and read the brief playing instructions I recognized that Life on the Farm played like a distant cousin of Monopoly. Instead of collecting property and railroads, however, my empire would consist of cows while attempting to hold on to some sort of income as I experienced thrills and spills of life on a dairy farm. My test marketing team of Micah, age 12, Sierra age 8 and Aidan age 5 assisted me, but after one hour of playing time Sierra and Aidan wandered off to other interests. Micah and I continued play for another half hour before stopping for lunch still far from nearing the end of the game. Micah collected 14 cows and was rolling in money, but I had only 10 cows and I think, $40.00 to my name. Life on the Farm is tough for some.

Players begin the game by rolling two dice and moving the appropriate number of spaces. Instructions along the game path direct play and can include things like, "A Hunter cuts your fence and you have to pay both neighbors $10 per cow". Once players have found their way around the board they simply begin another round with the benefit of collecting "milk money" or $100 for each cow in their possession. Besides collecting milk money, players earn income from Farm Income cards stacked neatly on the board and played when directed. One quickly learns that Life on a Farm is often difficult and full of tough decisions. For example one income card states "slaughter one cow and collect $300. Remove one cow from your herd". In addition, Farm Expense cards can be played which include financial penalties for things like electric bills, tractor repairs, and fertilizer purchases.

I tend to have bad luck with board games and true to form I constantly landed on depressing scenarios for my dairy farm which cost me money and cows. I thought most of the scenarios were excellent learning opportunities giving players a glimpse at the reality of farm life. I was

not prepared however for the discussion which evolved from one Farm Expense card stating, "Pay artificial inseminator to breed your cattle. Pay $100 x roll of 2 dice". Surprise! It was time for a quick biology lesson too involved for the 8 and 5 year old to understand.

When asked for their review of Life on the Farm the marketing team enthusiastically gave Life on the Farm two thumbs up.

"Life on the Farm is really fun. I like how you get the cows. There are many things in the game that are different like getting paid for the milk and losing a cow. It's kind of like a real dairy farm, but its a game. I liked the different animals they made on the money. I hope I can play it again with my family soon", said Sierra age 8.

"It was good. I liked it very much. I liked when you get all the cows and got some money. I want to play again some time, like tomorrow", said Aidan age 5.

"Life on the Farm is a fun twist to a plain old Monopoly game. I didn't mind spending lots of time playing the game, because it felt very productive. You could sell cows, buy cows and each turn brought new experiences. I definitely want to play this game again and would highly recommend it to all my friends whether city folk or farm people " said Micah age 12.

Life on the Farm retails for $25.00 on the company website. A pre-school version requiring no reading skills and color matching practice is available for only $20. Based on my family's experience I think it is a good investment for hours of educational family fun. If you need to find a new "udderly delightful" learning experience for your homeschool, you should play too.