Family Gravity Media, A Division of Families For Christ Ministries, Inc. Online Christian Filmmakers Academy Review

My family had the privilege of trying the Online Christian Filmmakers Academy from Family Gravity Media, a division of Families For Christ Ministries, Inc. for this review to use in conjunction with our own homeschool curriculum. This is a Schoolhouse Review Crew Review. All opinions expressed are my own or those of my family.

This course is put together by part of a homeschooling family, father-son team: Ken (father) and Zack (son) Lawrence. Since 2004 Ken & Zack Lawrence have worked together learning the film industry themselves and creating productions including; the feature film In His Steps, the TV series Welcome Home Antelope Valley, DVD releases: The Pastor's House, Father-Child Projects, The Courtship Formula documentary, and many short films.With more than a decade of experience under their belts they have created the Online Christian Filmmakers Academy.

From left to right, top to bottom of Video Lesson Layout: Ken, Zack, Zack teaching lighting accessories, and this video has a download with it.

Online Christian Filmmakers Academy is a online cinematography school that is taught by Ken & Zack Lawrence. This online film academy teaches cinematography which includes: lighting, camera operating, photography skills, directing skills, sound design, and film score composing. Within the training there are videos of Ken and Zack teaching. In the Introduction by Ken we learn that some of the videos might have been updated so as to keep the information up to date and current. In other words you might see a difference in time from one video to the next depending upon if they thought it was necessary to update the videos or not. Even though you do not need to go out and purchase any equipment for this course, it still is great to have some hands-on practice. As Zack tells us, "It is very important to put what you have watched into practice" so that you retain the information better.

Landing Page and Navigation Menus.

This Christian filmmaking course is jam packed with a lot of information! It includes video segments, quizzes and sometimes downloads. The course starts out with three introductions: Navigating the Website, Introduction by Ken, and an Introduction by Zack. There are a total of five modules after that: The Camera, Cinematography, Sound, Pre-Production, and Production. Each module has 5-15 videos which make up a total of 45 fairly short videos (including the introduction ones). Each are 1-22 minutes. They are currently adding quizzes after and sometimes even within a module to see what you have learned in each section (most of these say coming soon). The one after module 1 has 25 questions. When you take the quiz online you will immediately receive the answers upon completion. They will also be adding material to the Bonuses section which currently doesn't have anything. After watching each video lesson it will automatically mark it as completed and each one will receive a check mark beside it in the menu or you can mark it as complete/ yourself. Under each video lesson there is a place to enter comments/questions if you need to. Other students and even the company can then read your comments/questions and respond/answer. This makes it fairly interactive as well. Also the video lessons follow a Christian perspective but are not heavily indoctrinating with Christian theology. You just hear a few Bible verses here and there.

Here is an syllabus of the course modules:

1. The Camera – how it works and DSLR usage
• Module 1 Lesson 1 - Introduction to the Camera
• Module 1 Lesson 2 - DSLRs and Lenses (Part 1)
• Module 1 Lesson 3 - DSLRs and Lenses (Part 2)
• Module 1 Lesson 4 - Frame Rate
• Module 1 Lesson 5 - ISO and Shutter Speed
• Module 1 Lesson 6 - Tripods and Camera Support
• Module 1 Quiz
2. Cinematography and Lighting – working with different types of lighting
• Module 2 Lesson 1 - Introduction to Cinematography
• Module 2 Lesson 2 - Color Temp & White Balance
• Module 2 Lesson 3 - Hard vs. Soft Light
• Module 2 Lesson 4 - Types of Lights
• Module 2 Lesson 5 - Lighting Accessories
• Module 2 Lesson 6 - Using Lights
• Module 2 Lesson 7 - 3 & 4 Point Lighting
• Module 2 Lesson 8 - Painting with Light
• Module 2 Lesson 9 - Framing
• Module 2 Lesson 10 - Outdoor Lighting
• Module 2 Lesson 11 - Depth of Field
• Module 2 Lesson 12 - Jibs and Dollies
• Module 2 Lesson 13 - Green Screen
• Module 2 Lesson 14 - Setting Up An Interview
• Module 2 Lesson 15 - Final Considerations
• Module 2 Quiz
3. Sound – capturing the sound in the field and post production
• Module 3 Lesson 1 - Introduction
• Module 3 Lesson 2 - Sound Equipment
• Module 3 Lesson 3 - Microphone
• Module 3 Lesson 4 - Field Recorders
• Module 3 Lesson 5 - Location Recording
• Module 3 Lesson 6 - ADR and Foley
• Module 3 Quiz (Coming Soon)
4. Pre-production – preparing to make your film a reality and getting everything you need prepared beforehand
• Module 4 Lesson 1 - Introduction to Pre-production
• Module 4 Lesson 2 - The Story
• Module 4 Lesson 3 - Writing the Screenplay
• Module 4 Lesson 4 - Pre-production Paperwork
• Module 4 Lesson 5 - Assemble the Team
• Module 4 Quiz (Coming Soon)
5. Production – working onset, with budgets and making your idea a reality
• Module 5 Lesson 1 - The Crew
• Module 5 Lesson 2 - Set Hierarchy
• Module 5 Lesson 3 - Set Etiquette
• Module 5 Lesson 4 - Directing
• Module 5 Lesson 5 - The Slate
• Module 5 Lesson 6 - Filming Step by Step
• Module 5 Quiz (Coming Soon)

How We Used This and Our Thoughts:
Among a lot of other things, my husband has a background in animation and went to film school when he was younger. He had his own studio called Brian Pictures and he and a friend of his were trying to put together a production called Ohiomation in Ohio where he would be taking students from Ohio schools and putting them through a course to teach them animation and film. This ideally was to create an animated movie about the Wright Brothers first flight and called Kitty Hawk that was to be produced in time to celebrate Ohio's Bicentennial. This didn't ever materialize because of school politics, but he sure did learn a lot on his journey. I know that animation is totally different from learning cinematography and since it was a while ago that he learned about being a director and producing film I thought that maybe he could have a refresher and get caught up with all the new equipment involved.

I love photography and have a small background in theater. I have also always wanted to learn cinematography for myself. I thought that it would become a handy skill to have for vlogging and making fun home movies. I have very little experience in this and so I have instead stayed out of the limelight for the most part. I also thought it would be a wonderful experience to have my boys be taught this wonderful art for their homeschool studies and as an extracurricular curriculum.

Since we have a whole year to finish this whole course we are pacing ourselves. I decided that I would take the course first to get a feel for how involved it was. Since the video lessons are fairly short I was doing about a module every 3 days to a week/week and a half depending how long they were. The second module took me the longest. I expect my husband and boys will go through this quicker.

I don't have any of the equipment that they mentioned in this Christian film course, although like I said above you can take this course without any extra purchases even though you are highly encouraged to get out your own equipment and play with what you are learning as you go.  My camera is an old Canon PowerShot SX110 IS and I have used it for videos before, but I really had no idea what I was doing! They recommend a DSLR or a digital camcorder which my camera is not. I; however, have been wanting a DSLR for Christmas and so this just gives me another reason to get one.

Online Christian Filmmakers Academy is a exceptional course! It is very thorough in teaching you a strong foundation in cinematography. I highly recommend this for anyone that would love to learn all about the art of making motion pictures. I think this online film school is also perfect for the an extracurricular art and is perfect for homeschooling or supplementing education for public school.

BUY IT
You can purchase a full year of the course for $299 at the time of this post. You can get $100 off until November 30th, 2016 by using Coupon Code: FALLCREW16 at checkout. It includes a 30 day no questions asked money-back guarantee. The one year membership is good for your entire family and can be used by multiple students within your household. You can get tips and free video lessons on the Christian Filmmakers Academy Facebook page.

Follow Them on Social Media:
Hands-On Film Camp Facebook: www.facebook.com/christianfilmmakerscamp
Online Christian Filmmakers Academy Facebook: www.facebook.com/ChristianFilmmakersAcademy  
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MyFreezEasy MyFreezEasy.com Freezer Meal Plan Membership Review

My family had the privilege of trying the MyFreezEasy.com Freezer Meal Plan Membership from MyFreezEasy for this review to use in conjunction with our own homeschool curriculum and family/farm life. This is a Homeschool Review Crew Review. All opinions expressed are my own or those of my family. Affiliate links are in this post. Thanks for supporting this blog.

Erin Chase, $5 Dinner Mom, is the brains behind $5 Dinners, $5 Meal Plan, Grocery Budget Makeover, FreezEasy, and now MyFreezEasy. She puts out a free weekly email newsletter that I subscribe to where she shares recipes, tips and tricks for getting the grocery budget under control. I have loved these valuable emails and delicious recipes throughout the months. I also follow her blog where she posts recipes, coupon matchups and deals, printable coupons, and more to help save you and I money. Her Grocery Budget Makeover I cannot really vouch for myself as I have not taken this 10-week course, but from reviews I have read it sounds like it really works in cutting your grocery spending in half. FreezEasy is her freezer cooking meal plans that will help you prepare 10 delicious meals to load into your freezer in under an hour. MyFreezEasy is new. It is similar to Basic FreezEasy, but gives you even more control to personalize the plan.

The MyFreezEasy Premium Annual Membership gives you access to the online program and website for a whole year. Each month members have access to all eight meal plans to download: Traditional, Gluten-Free, Slow Cooker, Clean Eats, 20 Meals, All Chicken, All Ground Beef, All Pork Chops. The majority of the months meal plans have 5 recipes that have been hand-picked by Erin for that month. With these plans you make two of of each meal to freeze so that you get a total of 10 meals. These premade meal plans are all set for only 4 servings...so if you need more or less it is wonderful that MyFreezEasy Premium plan has the opportunity to Build Your Own Meal Plans unlike the Basic FreezEasy that only lets you purchase premade ones.



Along with the freezer cooking plan downloads you get a number of bonuses. First, you can also get a overview of the program by going to the How MyFreezEasy Works Resources and Instructions page which includes a how-to PDF, a Favorite Side Dish Recipes E-Cookbook to download, and a link to the Freezer Cooking Workshop videos to get you started. You can also download printable labels for each meal plan (that she recommends be printed on Avery #6874 sticker paper). Each month, they release highlights & tips videos for all 8 new meal plans, along with 1 assembly instruction video for the Traditional Plan in the Video Library. These assist with the production of making the freezer meals.

From the Build Your Own Meal Plans area you could select the recipe by three different aspects on this page: Type of Protein, Cooking Method, and Dietary Preferences. In each of these search categories they have the recipes further narrowed down. In Type of Protein you could pick from Chicken Recipes, Ground Beef Recipes, Other Beef Recipes, Pork Chop Recipes, Other Pork Recipes, Seafood Recipes, Vegetarian Recipes. In Cooking Method you could pick from Slow Cooker Recipes, Dutch Oven or Saucepan Recipes, Baked Recipes, Skillet Recipes, Grill Recipes, and One Dish Meals. In Dietary Preferences you could pick from My Favorites, Gluten-Free Recipes, Dairy Free Recipes, Gluten Dairy Soy-Free Recipes, Paleo/Whole30 Recipes, and Top 8 Allergy Free Recipes.

MyFreezEasy: 1. Search Categories, 2. Select Your Recipes, 3. Print/Download Your Meal Plan

Once you select one of these categories you can pick from the recipes listed in that certain one. You can click on each recipe title to see a popup of the actual recipe and also choose the serving size (2, 4, 6,or 8) in the drop down menu. You can then either drag and drop 5 recipes you want to prepare in the drop box or add them to it with the + sign from the popup of the recipe. You can go back to the main menu and select a different category as well for more recipes. You can also clear the whole drop box list or drag the recipes you don't want out of the box one by one. After you have selected 5 recipes total for the My FreezEasy Recipes drop box with the correct serving size you can hit the Review and Print button. This will take you to another page to see the 5 that you picked for one final look over before you press Print My Meal Plan and Print Labels (which actually downloads 2 separate printable PDF files onto your computer). You can also select Email which emails you the Complete Shopping List by Recipe with handy check boxes beside each item to take with you to the grocery store.

Each meal plan PDF for 5 recipes is laid out for easy instruction. Each one has the Recipes, Shopping Lists (Complete Shopping List by Recipe, Complete Shopping List by Store Section/Category, Freezer Meal Prep Day Shopping List by Recipe, and Freezer Meal Prep Day Shopping List by Store Section/Category), and Assembly of Meals (Assembly Prep Instructions and Meal Assembly Instructions).

Each recipe is laid out well. At the top of each recipe you have the title, yield, active time, cook time, and a small summary. Then it goes into Ingredients for Single Meal, Cooking Directions for Single Meal, Assembly Prep Directions for 2 Meals. Under that there is Freeze & Thaw Instructions, Special Notes, Dairy-Free Modifications, and Gluten-Free Modifications for each recipe.

How We Used This and Our Thoughts:

We received the MyFreezEasy Premium Annual Membership which gives us access to the online program and website for a whole year! We started the membership back in September and also got access to October's meals this month so far. I made two of each of the 5 meals that I chose for September for the freezer so far. We have access to each month's meal plans as they become available every month. These were easily customized and I really loved that fact.

Freezer Meals -1 that we made for dinner that same night.

Having a family of 6 I couldn't really just go with the premade meal plans because they were all set for only 4 servings. So, I opted to make my own freezer cooking meal plan from the available recipes in the Build Your Own Meal Plans area. For September I made a list of 5 recipes that sounded good to me at the time: Baked Honey Mustard Pork Chops, Ranch Chicken & Baby Potato Bake, Roasted Cod with Pesto, Slow Cooker Shredded Beef Tacos with Mango Avocado Salsa, and Slow Cooker Taco Soup.

I had a few problems with MyFreezEasy...

1. When I went to change the serving size to 6 I think things got a little jumbled. The canned ingredients didn't really convert well and so when the ingredients lists were read, we had things like: 3/4 x 1 15 oz. can(s) black beans...of which I thought was quite awkward and to me really didn't make sense. Also some of the ingredients in the different sections had different amounts, for example, Slow Cooker Taco Soup for 6 says 1/2 cup(s) beef broth in the Ingredients for Single Meal, but for the Freeze & Thaw Instructions it says 2 cups beef broth. This is inconsistent and quite confusing.
2. The My Favorites online didn't seem to work for me. I couldn't add any recipes to it by dragging and dropping them into that section and when I hearted them from the popup recipe they didn't seem to go to that section either.
3. After I baked the Ranch Chicken & Baby Potato Bake I noticed that the potatoes in the dish didn't taste right. From what I am told certain ingredients including raw potatoes need to be blanched before freezing so they maintain their integrity and correct texture. The recipe never mentions blanching and so instead, the potatoes turned out gritty and watery...inedible in my family's opinion. The Ranch Chicken & Baby Potato Bake also took me the longest to prepare for the freezer because of all the chopping of chicken and potatoes (because I couldn't find "baby potatoes"). It also said to get bacon crumbles and I couldn't find these so I made actual bacon and crumbled it myself. This recipe took the longest and was a big disappointment, so I will not be making it again.

Roasted Cod with Pesto (top) and Slow Cooker Taco Soup (bottom)

All in all most the recipes that I prepared and tried were really good. I especially loved the Roasted Cod with Pesto (we made this recipe the same night we put the ingredients for all the recipes together) and the Slow Cooker Taco Soup. These didn't take me long to prepare for the freezer and they were delicious and easy to cook. I am excited to still try the Baked Honey Mustard Pork Chops and the Slow Cooker Shredded Beef Tacos with Mango Avocado Salsa of which were both also very easy to put together for the freezer. I am also excited to try even more meals in the months to come.

The MyFreezEasy MyFreezEasy.com Freezer Meal Plan Membership is well worth the investment in my opinion. Even with its quirks it definitely takes the edge off of finding something delicious for dinner and getting a meal thrown into the oven/crock pot/skillet/grill etc. quickly. The freezer meal prep doesn't take too long either and you can get 10 meals prepared in an hour although I do admit that it took me longer. I highly recommend this to busy parents everywhere.

BUY IT
Basic Monthly is $7 a month. Basic Annual is $77 per year with 1 month free. Premium Monthly is $10 a month. Premium Annual is $95 per Year with 2+ Months Free!! Get Started!

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Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/freezeasy
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Hashtags: #hsreviews #freezeasy #freezermeals #5dollardinners #freezercooking 

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If You Were Me and Lived in… Volumes 1-4 By Carole P. Roman and Awaywegomedia.com Review

We got to try these books for this review to use in conjunction with our own homeschool curriculum. This is a Homeschool Review Crew Review. All opinions expressed are my own or those of my family. Affiliate links may be in this posting. Thanks for supporting my blog.

We are so excited to share with you about four new books in the If You Were Me and Lived in... Civilizations Throughout History Series brought to you by Carole P. Roman and Awaywegomedia.com. The books we received are:

• If You Were Me and Lived in...Ancient Greece (An Introduction to Civilizations Throughout Time) (Volume 1) 
• If You Were Me and Lived in...Renaissance Italy (An Introduction to Civilizations Throughout Time) (Volume 2)
• If You Were Me and Lived in... Elizabethan England (An Introduction to Civilizations Throughout Time) (Volume 3)
• If You Were Me and Lived in...Colonial America (An Introduction to Civilizations Throughout Time) (Volume 4)

Carole P. Roman is the author of many books including the Captain No Beard series, If You Were Me and Lived in... Cultures Around the World series, and the If You Were Me and Lived in... Civilizations Throughout History series. She loves combining her teaching past with her love of exploration and interest in the grand world all around us. She also loves sharing history and culture with her readers.

If You Were Me and Lived in... Civilizations Throughout History Series currently consists of 8 books with more to come later. These softcover books take you back through time to visit different civilizations throughout history. Discover Ancient Greece, Renaissance Italy, Elizabethan England, Colonial America, Ancient China, Middle Ages, American West, and Viking Europe. These follow what it would have been like to live and grow up in these places through the eyes of a young person. This makes the books more relatable to children who read them. These physical books cover occupations, food, clothing, recreation, important people, etc.

Zari and Teela enjoying the Civilizations Throughout History Series.

How We Used This and Our Thoughts:
 
The If You Were Me and Lived in... Civilizations Throughout History Series of books are historical non-fiction. We love them for use with our homeschool history curriculum and plan on using them with our unit studies for each historical place. All of these books start out with how the civilization or place looks today, how it looked around the peak of the time period, where it was located, and a short history of the place, civilization, and society. Then they say, "If you were me and lived in..." and goes on to tell: when you would have lived, what your name might have been, what you would be proud of, what you worshiped, where you would have lived, about life in those places, habitat, food, occupations, education, clothing, travel, recreation, politics, currency, and more. We found that these history books were jam-packed with information and fun facts.

The first book in the series is If You Were Me and Lived in...Ancient Greece. This book has illustrations by Mataya Arkova which are done in pastel colors. It has 54 pages and a special section on Gods & Goddesses of Ancient Greece. This book focused on life in Classical Greece in about 350 BC. We thought that it was interesting that both the homes and cities had open fire pits and they kept them burning with coals never letting the fire go out. We also thought it was interesting that they used bread as napkins, then gave it to the dogs to eat. This would be great to use with a unit study of Ancient Greece.

The second book in the series is If You Were Me and Lived in...Renaissance Italy. The illustrations of this book are by Silvia Brunetti and are colorful and whimsical. It has 58 pages and a special section on Renaissance Art and Famous People from the Italian Renaissance. This focused on life in Florence during the 15th century. We thought it was interesting that on feast days the cook roasted swans and peacocks and put the feathers back on when she served them so they looked still alive. It was also very interesting to learn that all stylish ladies painted their faces white with lead powder to look pale and elegant. This would be great to use with a unit study of Renaissance Italy.

The third book in the series is If You Were Me and Lived in... Elizabethan England. The illustrations of this book are by Paula Tabor and these cartoon like illustrations are more realistic than the other books. It has 50 pages and a special section on Important People to Know in Elizabethan Era. This focused on life in London around the 16th century. We thought it interesting: that people back then just threw their waste out on the streets, how we might have got the saying, "It's raining cats and dogs.", that tomatoes were considered poisonous so were not eaten, and that chocolate was bitter and only used as medicine. This would be great to use with a unit study of Elizabethan England.

The forth book in the series is If You Were Me and Lived in...Colonial America. The illustrations of this book are by Sarah Wright and they are cartoon drawings of people and things. It has 61 pages and a special section on People Who Influenced the Colonies on the Entire Eastern Seaboard. This focused on life as a Puritan starting in London England and moving to the American Colonies in New England in 1620. We thought it interesting to learn that 32 children made the trip over on the Mayflower to settle the country with their parents, Native Americans taught the colonists how to plant corn with dead fish so it fertilized the ground, and the colonists built homes out of timber, reeds, wattle and daub. This would be great to use with a unit study of Colonial America, Puritans, or Thanksgiving.

The If You Were Me and Lived in... Civilizations Throughout History Series is a wonderful supplement for history lessons in homeschool. These are great to be used with unit studies and wonderful even just by themselves.  My children loved reading these and learning so much more about these times and civilizations. I love how these cultural books teach a huge amount of children's history because they are through the eyes of a child. They are great for children's education!

BUY IT
You can purchase the If You Were Me and Lived in... series: Ancient Greece, Renaissance Italy, Elizabethan England, Colonial America, Ancient China: The Han Dynasty, The Middle Ages, The American West, Viking Europe on Amazon for about $14.99-$20 per book.

Follow Them on Social Media:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CarolePRomanAwardWinningAuthorAndBooks
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/caroleproman/
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Twitter: https://twitter.com/caroleproman  
Hashtags: #hsreviews #childrenshistory #historystorybooks #culturalstudies

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Heirloom Audio Productions The Cat of Bubastes Review

My family had the privilege of trying the The Cat of Bubastes from Heirloom Audio Productions for this review to use in conjunction with our own homeschool curriculum. This is a Homeschool Review Crew Review. All opinions expressed are my own or those of my family.

My family and I love audio books! We love to listen to them while: I am multitasking, we have a long drive ahead of us, or there is cruddy weather and we are stuck inside. My family usually enjoys them better if they are fun and adventuresome. I believe they are better than movies because audio books require more imagination which is great for growing minds.

The Cat of Bubastes is Heirloom Audio's 6th dramatization which is adapted from a novel by George Alfred Henty. G.A. Henty authored many historical fiction novels in the late 1800's and early 1900's, including The Cat of Bubastes in 1889. All six Christian audio dramas are from Heirloom Audio's series known as The Extraordinary Adventures of G.A. Henty. This audio production and theatrical radio drama consists of 2 and a half hours of masterful storytelling on 2 CDs recommended for ages 6-adult. I cannot say enough good things about this. Really, the presentation is very extraordinary! It brings the history to life.

This audio theater follows the young prince Amuba and his faithful friend and mentor Jethro since their capturing by the Egyptians and enslaved in the city of Thebes. Their loyalty is tested when they are trapped in a murderous plot to attack the family of their Egyptian friends. Along the way, Amuba and Jethro uncover the wonder and truth of the one true God.

I had some definite favorite parts of the Christian radio theatre. The part about Jethro having to dress up to be disguised was funny and interesting. Also, I liked how Ameres was so nice to Amuba and Jethro from the start. They did have God smiling down on them for sure and even their misfortunes lead them to better things.

inside the case to The Cat of Bubastes audio theater

Along with the 2 CD audio theater set I also received many other awesome package bonus downloads. The 2 CD set also has a list of the cast on the back of the case, a pamphlet insert that has a bit about Heirloom Audio's other audio dramas, and in the center under where the pamphlet goes is the 1 Chronicles 17:20 scripture. This inspirational verse also comes as a digital download so you can print it out as a poster to put on your wall.

The Cat of Bubastes Single Package (what I am mentioning in this review) includes:

• The Cat of Bubastes (CD Set - Physical Copy + MP3 Download Version)
• The Cat of Bubastes Study Guide (Digital Download)
• The Cat of Bubastes Soundtrack (MP3 Download)
• Printable copy of the Inspirational Verse Poster (Digital Download)

I want to also mention that Heirloom Audio was being generous to the Schoolhouse Review Crew that received this for review. We received additional bonuses other than that were supposed to be in the Single Package. The additional items are only be available if you buy the Family 4-pack.

The Schoolhouse Review Crew that received this for review received all of the above and these additional bonuses:

• The Cat of Bubastes eBook (Digital Download)
• The Cat of Bubastes Cast Poster (Digital Download)
• The Cat of Bubastes Behind the Scenes Documentary (Digital Download)
• Newsletter Website (Link)

The all-star cast in this audio book is expansive and amazing. Some of the cast consists of Brian Blessed as G.A. Henty (Star Wars, Tarzan, King Lear), Anthony Daniels as Permotep (Star Wars), Sylvester McCoy as Chigron (Dr. Who, The Hobbit), Elizabeth Counsell as Amense (The Chronicles of Narnia), Russel Boulter as Moses (Ben Hur), and John Rhys-Davies as Rabah (The Lord of the Rings, Indiana Jones). It is always great to hear the boisterous voice of Brian Blessed on these productions. All of the cast's performances are wonderful! The character building is wonderful too as long as you can keep up.

I love the music and sound effects that accompany this program. The music that is used on the CDs is adventurous and is also by itself in soundtrack form as MP3 downloads. It is an original score by Emmy-winning composer John Campbell (of Narnia). The foley sound effects make you feel like you are right there with the characters and immerses you more into what's happening.

There is also a study guide that is 50 pages long. It has discussion points and questions to ask your children as they listen to the program. This is wonderful to use as part of a history curriculum while homeschooling. It is really easier to listen to the whole program before you do the study guide and then listen again a second time to do the study guide, in my opinion. It feels awkward to stop and start the program so many times (every 4 to 10 minutes) during play. The study guide does have the tracks and timestamp to stop at marked in the guide so you know where the narrative takes a new turn.

At the beginning of the study guide there is a list of the cast and crew, a brief introduction, and short descriptions about G.A. Henty and Moses. Each track has questions in the study guide having three parts: Listening Well, Thinking Further, and Defining Words. There are questions in the Listening Well section which are to see if you and your child are really paying attention. There are questions in the Thinking Further section that helps you understand deeper and get you and your child thinking more. The Defining Words section is a list of words that will enhance the vocabulary of your child and places more meaning for the story. Having a dictionary handy might be appropriate because the definitions are not already spelled out.

At the end of the study guide there are five main parts. The first gives us a recommended reading list for learning more about Ancient Egypt. After that there are three Bible Studies: one on God Meant it For Good, one on The Knowledge of God, and one on Idolatry and Tyranny. Lastly there is some historical background for The Cat of Bubastes.

My children learned and understood so much more with this study guide. We used the questions and Bible study section throughout and it made for a very lengthy, but interesting discussion session with my older kids. I am very glad that it was included. I love the scriptures it had you look up and ponder too. I also love that there were Expand Your Learning sections throughout the guide for sources for further reading and other information to further your knowledge. I do wish, however, that there was an answer guide as well to the questions, because it would make the whole thing flow better in my opinion.

This was a very good production and my family enjoyed listening to it thoroughly. Even in the face of adversity the main characters discovered how the truth sets you free. This audio book would be a wonderful addition to a Christian homeschooling curriculum and perfect to go along with an Ancient Egypt or Moses study.

BUY IT
Three options to choose from: Download version for $19.97, Single Version for $29.97, and the Family Four Pack for $99.97.

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Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HeirloomAudio
Twitter: https://twitter.com/HeirloomStories
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Armfield Academic Press Getting Started with French Review

My family had the privilege of trying Getting Started with French from Armfield Academic Press for this review to use in conjunction with our own homeschool curriculum. This is a Homeschool Review Crew Review. All opinions expressed are my own or those of my family.

Armfield Academic Press produces high-quality materials for learning language for homeschoolers and self-taught students of any age. They currently have curriculum for learning Latin, Spanish, French, and soon Russian. The books allow the student to go at their own pace in the comfort of their own home and don't require a teacher that specializes in the language to learn the language being taught. These beginning foreign language books give the student practice before mastering the ideas and moving on. They also have free downloadable audio recordings of pronunciations on their website so you can hear what the word or phrase is supposed to sound like in the language and orally say it back correctly and authors commentary lesson by lesson in case the student needs more help. This foreign language curriculum can be used with multiple students since it is non-consumable and requires no additional materials.

Getting Started with French is the newest foreign language program of study from Armfield Academic Press. It is written by William E. Linney and Brandon Simpson. It comes in a 281 page soft cover book. This book starts off with a preface that tells you about the book. Then it goes into an explanation of how to use the book. The lessons 1-172 are after that. Near the end it has some general advice, an answer key for easy checking of answers, a pronunciation guide, glossary, and subject index. The lessons are fairly short and don't take much time to do. The book refers to their website which has downloadable audio recordings with a native French speaker and the authors commentary.

How We Used This and Our Thoughts:

Ma famille apprend le français dans notre maison. (OK...so I might have cheated a little with this sentence on Google translation...I am just starting out with French after all.)

A little background...I took 3 years of Spanish in high school and lettered in language. My younger sister, Melody, on the other hand took French. Learning a foreign language was intriguing to me and since my father went on a Spanish speaking mission for our church when he was younger we could converse in Spanish around our home a little bit and . After taking Spanish and learning enough to get by when I traveled to Curacao in the Caribbean in college...even though it was a different dialect, I thought it would be neat to learn another language. I didn't really pursue that further until now.

My other children are learning Spanish this year...so I dove into the French myself. After I received the Getting Started with French from Armfield Academic Press I started the short lessons. I like how I don't have to spend a tremendous amount on each one because my time is precious and usually pulled fairly thin.  Each lesson can be completed in just a few minutes.

In Getting Started with French correct pronunciation is a huge part of learning to speak French properly. I found that with French their are sounds that I had never used before. These sounded unusual and unfamiliar to me. I went into my room to do the pronunciation part because I was a little embarrassed about my beginners accent and my kids were looking at me funny when I was making all these weird sounds with my mouth. I think the r sound was on of the hardest sounds for me to master. I was used to the English r sound and the Spanish r that rolled. This new r was a strange gurgling sound.

Getting Started with French Lesson 11.

I like that in the book they don't only teach pronunciation, but correct grammar in French as well. Not unlike other languages there are so many rules to remember, but this book goes and makes each a bite size piece that is not at all hard to handle. New words show up in the book in bold. The exercises in the book I both tried to pronounce to the best of my ability and translate them to the written English equivalent in a notebook as the book says to do. These exercises have the answers in the back of the book which also helped me see if I had gotten them correct.

It was important to follow the order and not skip around and I could understand why. Each lesson built upon the next which was very helpful to me and how I learn. The chronological order made sense.

The downloadable audio recordings have a native French speaker from Paris France saying the words and phrases learned in the book. The author commentary was a dialog between the author and Francois, a native French speaker. This further explained how and why things are pronounced the way they are. Both the pronunciation recordings and the author commentary comes in mp3 format so that you can either listen to it on your computer or take it with you on an mp3 player, thumb drive, or CD. This lets you learn the pronunciation of the language while you travel in the car too! Sometimes that was also where I practiced.

I believe that learning another language is very important. I know that many from other countries require learning English as a second language to their students. I believe that native English speakers should also learn other languages as part of their learning of different cultures and places.

The Getting Started with French course is perfect for those that want to teach themselves French. It is also wonderful for homeschooling as well. I recommend this homeschool foreign language curriculum to anyone. They are simple and straightforward. I can't wait to learn more!

BUY IT
You can order Getting Started with French here. You can also purchase Getting Started with Latin, Getting Started with Spanish now and soon Getting Started with Russian.

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Apologia Educational Ministries Exploring Creation with Astronomy, 2nd Edition Review

The set of Exploring Creation with Astronomy, 2nd Edition curriculum.

My family had the privilege of trying the Exploring Creation with Astronomy, 2nd Edition from Apologia Educational Ministries for this review to use in conjunction with our own homeschool curriculum. This is a Schoolhouse Review Crew Review. All opinions expressed are my own or those of my family. This post contains affiliate links that will benefit the blog.

Apologia Educational Ministries, Inc. is the #1 publisher of creation-based science and Bible curriculum. They focus on Christian based homeschool curriculum. Their products are all taught from a biblical worldview. They have creation-based science, apologetics, language arts, Constitutional Literacy, and resources and books to help homeschooling families succeed.

Exploring Creation with Astronomy, 2nd Edition is a creation-based astronomy curriculum that is part of the Young Explorer Series consisting of a Student Text, Notebooking Journal, Jr. Notebooking Journal, and Audio CD. It is geared towards grades K-6. Here students will explore the most distant reaches of God's creation and His incredible universe. This is the newest and most revised edition, now in full color and with even more activities. Students will explore our solar system, including our sun, the planets, the asteroid belt, dwarf planets, and the Kuiper belt, then stars and other galaxies far far away in our night sky.

We Received The Exploring Creation with Astronomy, 2nd Edition Which Included:

• Student Text
• Notebooking Journal
• Jr. Notebooking Journal
• Audio CD

Exploring Creation with Astronomy, 2nd Edition Student Text is a hardbound textbook. This textbook has a total of 14 lessons that explain astronomy and its many wonders. The book starts out with Apologia's Young Explorer Series Instructional Support that explains the curriculum parts. It then has a table of contents and Introduction To Astronomy which tells you about the textbook, activities, course website, notebooking journals, and Apologia science kit. Each lesson has colored boxes that contain scripture and things to contemplate, activities to do, vocabulary words in bold, color pictures and charts, questions and writing prompts in orange text, cautions in red text, and questions at the end of each lesson to summarize what was learned. At the end of the textbook there is an Appendix with a supply list for the activities in each lesson, Answer Key for the questions at the end of each lesson, Index to help find things in the book, and Photo Credits.

There are two slightly different notebooking journals. They are both spiral bound. The regular Notebooking Journal is for older elementary students (meant for grades 3/4 and older) and the Jr. Notebooking Journal is for younger elementary students (meant for grades K to 2nd/3rd). These are both consumable books and each is intended to be used by a single student. The main differences between the Jr. Notebooking Journal and the Notebooking Journal is that the Jr. Notebooking Journal has handwriting lines for copywork and writing assignments, beginning letter clues for the crossword puzzles, and coloring pages where open-ended questions are in the Notebooking Journal. Both versions have both manuscript and cursive copywork. The junior version also gives a lot more guidance and less writing. At the beginning of the journals there is a suggested daily schedule that outlines four to seven assignments per lesson. There are three different types of assignments: textbook reading assignments are designated in green, notebook section assignments are designated in blue, additional activities found exclusively in the Apologia Science Kit are designated in brown, and the additional bonus activities only found in the kit are designated by a symbol.

The Audio CD contains the complete audio recording of the course Exploring Creation with Astronomy, 2nd Edition. It is read by Jeannie Fulbright (the textbook and journals' author). This is great for auditory learners, slow readers, or students with other learning disabilities that make reading difficult. This is an MP3CD so you have to play it in a MP3-compatable CD player or a computer.

I also want to mention that Apologia Educational Ministries has an Astronomy 2nd Edition Science Kit as well. We did not receive this, but I really wish we did. It has all the materials needed to complete 63 total activities: 42 activities found in the textbook and 21 bonus activities noted in the textbook and found only in the Apologia Astronomy Science Kit. These bonus activities are marked with a symbol in the textbook. Since we did not have this kit we could not do the bonus activities and for some of the activities we needed to go purchase the things we were missing because we did not have all of the required materials at home. This kit looks like it would be a great addition to the rest of the set because it would give you everything you would need to complete all the activities.

Also listed in the textbook as one of the recommended resources for the Astronomy course is the Field Trip Journal that I reviewed previously. This is great to record up to ten field trips from planning stage to memories. Great to take textbook lessons to the next level with real-life adventures.

How We Used This and Our Thoughts:

I used this curriculum with my daughter Teela who is 8 years old and in 3rd grade. I used the Jr. Notebooking Journal with her because she needs a little help with her handwriting. She also tires of writing too much. We did an average of two daily assignments per week, and starting at the beginning of the book, which got us through Lesson 1 (What is Astronomy?) and Lesson 2 (The Sun) during the review period.

Teela reading the Exploring Creation with Astronomy Textbook.

Both the textbook and journals have a lot of  wonderful full color pictures and charts that make the learning a lot more fascinating. We also made spelling lists with the vocabulary words from each chapter too. I loved the wonderful lesson by lesson supply list located in the back for knowing what to have on hand for the activities from each lesson. Having an answer key for the "What Do You Remember?" pages also was a tremendous help to me.

We loved using the link to the course website that is referenced in the textbook. It had a lot of fun third party websites that contributed more information to the study of different things. We loved the Planet Size Comparison website that lets you compare the size of two planets, NASA on The Commons Flickr page with lots of pictures to look at, discussion of What was the Star of Bethlehem?, The Sun website which provided information about the sun and the Total Solar Eclipse that will be happening August 21st, 2017 and a movie from NASA of 3 years of the sun in 3 minutes. There was a lot more too, but I did run into a few links that no longer worked as well and need updating.

Teela doing the minibooks and coloring in the Jr. Notebooking Journal.

Both the regular Notebooking Journal and the Jr. Notebooking Journal has some pages (for example the minibooks) to cut out and glue to other pages. This reminded me a lot of a lapbook in this regard. I like that they also have copywork and activities that included science experiments and observations from what was taught in the textbook. These were lots of fun and were hands-on way of learning the material. Teela especially loved the crosswords and making mnemonic devices to remember the planets in order.

Teela working on the writing portion of the Jr. Notebooking Journal.

The Audio CD is very useful when Teela got bored of reading the textbook on her own. She liked listening and following along a whole lot better and the lady that reads has a nice voice that makes it more interesting. I liked that I was given the option of listening too because I could hear what she was learning about without reading the text myself and my younger daughter, Zari, who is in Kindergarten and does not read yet could listen as well and glean information from it too.

I love the Apologia Educational Ministries Exploring Creation with Astronomy, 2nd Edition. I would recommend this highly to anyone searching for a creation-based astronomy course for their homeschool. Apologia also has other great homeschool curriculum for science as well that I would love to check out.

BUY IT
Exploring Creation with Astronomy, 2nd Edition Student Text is $39. The Notebooking Journal and Jr. Notebooking Journal are $27 each. The Audio CD is $29.


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jollyphonics4u.com and just2ducks LLC Can Do Cubes Review

My family had the privilege of trying the Can Do Cubes from jollyphonics4u.com and just2ducks for this review to use in conjunction with our own homeschool curriculum. This is a Schoolhouse Review Crew Review. All opinions expressed are my own or those of my family.

jollyphonics4u.com provides products that help to teach literacy and reading. They have a product called Can Do Cubes as well as Jolly Phonics and Jolly Grammar. I just reviewed Jolly Phonics and Jolly Grammar on my blog here. The Can Do Cubes are wonderful to use by themselves or with a synthetic phonics and grammar program like Jolly Phonics and Jolly Grammar.

Can Do Cubes Stage 1 & 2.

Can Do Cubes is a multi-sensory way of teaching synthetic phonics, a simple to complex approach to teach and learn alphabetic code. They are small wooden cubes that you can hold in the palm of your hand. These are six sided and most have a phoneme laser engraved onto each side. These are very hands-on and tactile-kinesthetic. These can be used for teaching: spelling, letter recognition, letter sound awareness (phonemes), blending, digraphs, building words, and later building sentences. Each letter, blend, or digraph has a very faint line under them so the child knows how to position the letters even if they are not yet reading. Each block in Stage 1, which represents simple alphabetic code, has a small number in the lower right hand corner to signify where to put them back into the cardboard tray when they are done being used. Each block in Stage 2, which represents complex alphabetic code, is put back easily where they go in the cardboard tray by looking at each individual block and matching the code on the tray.

Can Do Cubes Starter Set

We Received The Can Do Cubes Starter Set Which Includes:

• 1 Tray of 27 Cubes in Stage 1 which represent the transparent (simple, basic) alphabetic code
• 1 Tray of 30 Cubes plus 2 cubes connected with a string to represent split digraph sounds in Stage 2 Cubes which represent the opaque (complex, extended, advanced) alphabetic code
• Handbook for Stage 1 and Stage 2
• DVD: Teaching, learning and 'sounding out' with Debbie Hepplewhite
• DVD: of PDF files for Teacher's Guide and Template Book
• Phonics Chart
• 2 At-a-Glance Word Charts

The cubes themselves come with all sorts of extras in the starter set we received. There is a spiral bound Handbook for Stage 1 and one for Stage 2. These help you teach synthetic (systematic) phonics at home with Can Do Cubes. One DVD goes through an introduction of Can Do Cubes, a demonstration for teaching with Can Do Cubes, Hepplewhite 'sounding out' the simple alphabetic code, an introduction to synthetic phonics, synthetic phonics for Can Do Cubes Stage 1 and Stage 2. It is all introduced in a British accent. The other DVD has PDFs of Teacher's Guides and Template Books. These have fun workbook pages for Phonological Awareness, Phonemic Awareness & the Alphabetic Principle; Blending, Segmenting, Dictation, Handwriting & High Frequency Words. The Phonics Chart teaches a simple and complex alphabetic codes overview. There are also two At-a-Glance Word Charts showing a cumulative word chart for the Stage 1 Can Do Cubes: one for 1-5 and another for 6-8.

How We Used This and Our Thoughts:

I have been using Can Do Cubes with my daughter Zari. She just going into Kindergarten next year, is not yet reading, and doesn't know her letters or letter sounds very well. We have been doing one lesson a day in the Jolly Phonics book and using Can Do Cubes along with it. We also tried some of the PDF worksheets in the Teacher's Guide and Template Book and some of the other activities they recommend with them.

Can Do Cubes with Jolly Phonics

In the first Jolly Phonics Book Zari has been finding the cube phoneme that matches the phoneme being taught in the book. For example on the first page is has the letter "s". So I had her find the letter "s" in the tray and on the cubes and say the sound the letter makes as well as everything else it says to do in the book. When we got to page 4 in the book she found "t" and "s" and "a" and make those sounds. Then she would make the letters and words in the word bank with the Can Do Cubes, blend the sounds of the letters in the words together slowly...and then faster to make the word.

Can Do Cubes PDF worksheets in the Teacher's Guide and Template Book

We had some fun with these too. My eight year old daughter spelled some things and I spelled my nick name finamoon :) You can do all sorts of neat things with these cubes besides learning phonics. We liked that the Stage 2 tray had symbols for punctuation too so we could spell out whole sentences. We did wish these were laser-engraved darker, because some of the phonemes were very hard to read... especially since the letters were quite small already.

Fun with Can Do Cubes!

The Can Do Cubes are a fun multi-sensory, interactive way of learning phonics. We highly recommend them with any synthetic phonics curriculum. These are perfect for teaching literacy, phonics, and reading. Great for Pre-K and Kindergarten age students trying to master the English language.

Building words with Can Do Cubes

BUY IT (these are prices out of their current catalog as of this post)
You can purchase these from jollyphonics4u.com from their catalog. The Can Do Cubes for Synthetic Phonics STARTER SET is $95 + applicable tax & shipping costs.

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jollyliteracy.com and just2ducks LLC Jolly Phonics and Jolly Grammar Review

My family had the privilege of trying the Jolly Phonics and Jolly Grammar from jollyphonics4u.com and just2ducks LLC for this review to use in conjunction with our own homeschool curriculum. This is a Schoolhouse Review Crew Review. All opinions expressed are my own or those of my family.

jollyphonics4u.com makes Jolly Phonics and Jolly Grammar, a synthetic phonics and grammar program with interactive songs, stories and actions that go along with the student books and teacher's books. The Jolly Phonics program is multi-sensory, active, and perfect for younger children. It includes worksheets in three student books, and a teacher's guide. Jolly Grammar is to be used after the Jolly Phonics program. This is also multi-sensory and active. It includes worksheets in one book and a teacher's guide. There are also Jolly Songs on CD and printed so you can follow along that also go along with what is being taught.

Jolly Phonics, Jolly Grammar, and Jolly Songs.

Jolly Phonics and Jolly Grammar Included:

• Jolly Phonics Teacher's Book in print letters
• Jolly Phonics Student Book 1, 2 and 3
• Jolly Grammar 1 Teacher's Book in print letters
• Jolly Grammar 1 Student Book
• Jolly Songs in print letters

The Jolly Phonics Teacher's Book in print letters takes you through how to teach phonics to your student the Jolly Phonics way. The book is divided into two sections: a comprehensive introduction to Jolly Phonics and the teaching method with yellow page borders and structured lesson plans for use with the Student Books with red (Student Book 1), blue (Student Book 2), and green (Student Book 3) page borders. The first section is further divided into five basic skills that are taught: Learning the Letter Sounds, Learning Letter Formation, Reading (Blending), Identifying the Sounds in Words, and Tricky Words. The first four of these are taught simultaneously from the start and the last skill, tricky words, is taught after the first few weeks. The second section has lesson plans first using Student Book 1 explaining using flashcards, a story to tell, actions to do, formation of letters, blending of letters with sounds being taught in words, sounding of words to listen for the letter sound, word bank words, dictation of calling out sounds for students to write, and further ideas, etc. For Student Book 2 the lesson plans go into more detail with alternatives, handwriting, tricky words, and words & sentences. For Student Book 3 it has lesson plans which go over the alternatives, tricky words, short or long vowel?, and comprehension pages.

The Jolly Phonics Student Book 1, 2 and 3 introduces the student to 43 letter sounds (42 if you count that the sound of c and k make the same sound). These short lessons are easily introduced at a rate of a letter a day. These are introduced in a specific order, not alphabetically so that children can start building words as early as possible. In the Student Book 1 each page with a letter to learn has it in both uppercase and lowercase, the action to do with a picture and description, a black and white line drawing picture to color, how to form the lowercase letter on the line for writing, a word and letter bank, and a listening activity. After the main workbook pages there are tricky words and other activity pages. In Student Book 2 it goes into more detail to teach alternatives (for sounds), handwriting, tricky words (words that don't sound like they are spelled), and words & sentences. For Student Book 3 it has alternatives, tricky words, short or long vowel? (if it is a vowel), and comprehension pages (which gets them to write the story told to them in their own words and draw a picture).

The Jolly Grammar 1 Teacher's Book in print letters takes you through how to teach grammar to your student the Jolly Grammar way. Jolly Grammar is to be used after the Jolly Phonics program. The book is divided into two sections: a comprehensive introduction to Jolly Grammar and the teaching method and structured lesson plan for each day of teaching with the Jolly Grammar 1 Student Book. Jolly Grammar teaches: parts of speech, plurals, punctuation, and the tenses past, present, and future. It also teaches spelling rules including: vowel digraphs, alternative spellings of vowel sounds, plural endings, short vowels and consonant doubling, tricky words, and consonant blends. In Jolly Grammar colors and actions are used to help children identify parts of speech in sentences, for example verbs are red and nouns are black. This makes it easier to remember and more fun to learn.

The Jolly Songs in print letters is a music CD with a book of the words of each song in print. There are 40 CD tracks that teach phonemes: s, a, t, i, p, n, c/k, e, h, r, m, d, g, o, u, l, f, b, ai, j, oa, ie, ee or, z, w, ng, v, oo oo, y, x, ch, sh, th th, qu, ou, oi, ue, er, ar, & vowels. All of these songs are sung to well known tunes and the book that accompanies the CD also has games and activities that are ideal for car trips.

Zari working out of the Jolly Phonics Student Book 1.

How We Used This and Our Thoughts:

I have been using Jolly Phonics with my daughter Zari. She just going into Kindergarten next year, is not yet reading, and doesn't know her letters or letter sounds very well. We have been doing one lesson a day and she seems to be enjoying it. She is not yet ready for the Jolly Grammar and so I will be doing that with her after she finishes and masters the Jolly Phonics Student Books.

The first Jolly Phonics Student Book is very thorough so far. Zari and I have liked the stories, Jolly Songs, and actions the most. Since she is still mastering knowing her letters and letter sounds and printing them, she needed help on these things. I am glad that Jolly Phonics seems to be helping her learn her phonics and letters. She likes that it is fun and interactive.

We love this curriculum and recommend it to homeschoolers needing to teach phonics or grammar. These are great for beginning literacy and reading. We have also been using jollyphonics4u.com Can Do Cubes in addition to the Jolly Phonics...so look for that review soon.

BUY IT (these are prices out of their current catalog as of this post)

You can purchase these from jollyphonics4u.com from their catalog. The Jolly Phonics Student Books are $4.50 a piece and the Teacher's Book is $12.95. The Jolly Songs book and CD is $17.50. The Jolly Grammar 1 Student Book in print is $7.50 and the Teacher's Book is $8.50.

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