Princess Cut {Review}

Who would have know that my son would grow into a young person so passionate about everything movie production.  In fact we now remain seated in theatres and read through the credits!  It's quite amazing what you can learn about the movie industry from a twelve year old. We were very excited to see Princess Cut as it was produced by homeschool graduate Paul Munger and Watchman Pictures.

The Story
Princess Cut is the beautiful unfolding love story of a young woman named Grace who has been with her boyfriend Stewart for fifteen months and is dreaming of  the perfect proposal, by her knight as he presents her with a princess cut diamond ring declaring his unfailing love for her. She however learns that true love waits for the perfect time along with some painful life lessons along the way.

As her dreams of the perfect romance fall away to ashes around her, two young men walk into her life - Jarred and Clint.  Two very different young men with two very different hearts and backgrounds.  One wants to get to know her and her family and change the trajectory of his life the other is interrested in a fast romance with intimacy and little else.  Who will win her heart and the love of her family and how long before Grace sees the truth?

Through the many turns that life takes Grace learns that discovering your soul mate and remaining true to your heart is a narrow road but one that is well worth the wait.

Princess Cut  is an old-fashioned romance that emphasises getting to know someone well before entering into a deeper relationship with them.  It encourages young people to trust their parents and enjoy being home.

For the Parent

• The Dove Foundation have rated Princess Cut to ages 12+
• Nudity - None
• Drugs - None
• Offensive Language - None
• Sex - some references to by the therapist who recommends that the young woman move in and live with her boyfriend comparing it to 'trying on a shoe' first to see if it fits, she however rejects this advice.
• Violence -  A young boy is hit by a vehicle but the scene is not shown, you see the badly bent bicycle, the boy is fine. There is a fight scene.
• Other - some tension between characters which is resolved through love and forgiveness.

Cast of Princess Cut

• Grace Anderson is played by Ashley Bratcher and has also appeared in the films War Room and 90 Minutes in Heaven. She was named One of “Top 15 People to Watch in 2015” by Out of the Woodwork. Starring as Jim Anderson is Rusty Martin, Sr., who has been seen in featured rolls in films such as Courageous, Love Covers All, The Carrington Event, The Remaining, A Long Way Off, and War Room.
• (Dad) Jim Anderson is played by Rusty Martin, Sr began his acting career a decade ago and his very "believable" presence on film has resulted in many featured roles in numberous films such as Courageous, Love Covers All, The Carrington Event and War Room.
• Katherine Anderson is played by Mimi Sagadin, who studied improv at The Players Workshop of the Second City before appearing in over 40 projects, most notably opposite John Rhys-Davies in “Return To The Hiding Place.” 
• Rusty Martin, Jr (Robert Anderson) has been acting since third grade when he found his passion.  He has starred in movies such as Courageous, Polycarp: Destroyer of God's, Love Covers All and has received the Best Male Actor award at the CMM awards in 2014.
• Evan Brinkman (Drew Anderson) started his film career at the age of nine as Sam Stein in Doctor Bello sitting through four hours of make up each morning for his character! He has acted in Torn, The Owl and Trainwreck.
• Actress Jenn Gotzon is Brooke McClaren. She portrayed Tricia Nixon in Ron Howard’s Oscar-Nominated “Frost/Nixon.” Since then, she has been in a nu7mber of redemptive movies, and has received the Film Advisory Board’s “Award of Excellence and Outstanding Contribution to the Entertainment World” for her role in “Doonby.”
•  Actor Joseph Gray is Clint Masters. He has had guest roles on such fare as NBC’s “Revolution”, Lifetime Network’s “Drop Dead Diva” & the CW’s “The Originals”. He also ad a supporting role in the National Geographic Channel’s record-breaking TV Movie “Killing Kennedy,” and portrayed ‘John’, a principal role in the Academy Award nominated film “Alone, Yet Not Alone.”
• Cory Assink portrays Jared Cunningham. He has had tenured commercial success, including multiple Super Bowl appearances and working repeatedly with Hollywood’s top directors.

General Information

• Produced by Watchman Pictures
• Written by: Paul & Sheilah Munger
• Director: Paul Munger
• Producer: Paul Munger
• Genre: Romantic Drama
• Runtime: 97 min
• Industry Rating: Not Rated
• Purchase: Princess Cut  
• Official movie resources: Princess Cut Resources

Connect with Princess Cut on Social Media



Over All I thought ...
Princess Cut  is an old-fashioned conservative romance with a Hallmark flare.  As a family we loved  the humour (Little brother Drew advertising his sister in the local paper.  Boy did we laugh at the outcome of that choice!) and the story line.  It was wonderful to know we could watch this movie without fear of bad content or wrong morals. 
Blessings
Chareen

Navigating the Rapids of Parenting {Review}

One of the things our family has walked through is immigration.  Both Paul and I had immigrated once before we met.  Since getting married we have immigrated once and migrated to another country after that. These have been huge transitions for our family and at times rather traumatic.  I was reminded of this while watching Navigating the Rapids of Parenting. In the opening scene Carla says: "During transitions our children are changing and so are we, because they are moving through a phase that for them they are growing into new things that they don't know how to handle." This is exactly the heart of parenting.  It's a road of transitions for you and for your child.

I first encountered Joey and Carla Link around twenty years ago in New Zealand while attending the local GEMS (Godly Encouragement for MotherS) group. I was really excited to be gifted Taming the Lecture Bug and Navigating the Rapids of Parenting from Parenting Made Practical.

To Encourage and equip parents to raise obedient, respectful and responsible children in today's world. - Parenting Made Practical

What we received
We were given the following two video's from their Parent's Night Out serries.

• Taming the Lecture Bug (Read My Review Here)
• Navigating the Rapids of Parenting 

Navigating the Rapids of Parenting

Length of video 1:26:00 (2.21 Gig in mp4 format)
Divided into two sessions

1. Session One: Birth to Middle School - Phase One and Two
2. Session Two: Middle School to College (starts at 41:45) - Phase Three and Four

"During transitions our children are changing and so are we, because they are moving through a phase that for them they are growing into new things that they don't know how to handle." - Carla Link

The goal in this class is to equip parents to proactively go ahead of our children before they walk through the changes that happen rather than tailing behind them and therefore trying to figure out what's going on as our children are trying to figure out what's going on.

• Phase 1 - Birth to 5 Years old This is the time that we have in teaching them what they can and can not do.
• Phase 2 - 6 to Elementary Years.  The training phase.  Teach them how to grow in the fruits of the Spirit.
• Phase 3 -  Middle Years (up to 8th grade) (11 - 18).  The Belief system years. These are the years that they begin to question you. They need their questions answered well. Helping our children to grow biblically and mature into adult hood. Fill in the why answers because Biblical Principles never change but what they look like changes as you age..
• Phase 4 - High School to College Years (19- 22)- Coaching Phase. Guidance and Council. Evaluate your goals. Discipleship years.

Cost of Parents Night Out downloads

• Taming the Lecture Bug - $12.95
• Navigating the Rapids of Parenting - $12.95

Recommended Age Range

• Taming the Lecture Bug - For parents of 5 yrs. – college age
• Navigating the Rapids of Parenting

Connect with Parenting Made Practical on Social Media


Over All I thought ...
Joey and Carla use scripture as the plumb line for instruction to us as parents. They help you to understand the phases your children will walk through on their way to adulthood.  You are empowered through scripture and insight to understand what is happening in your child's life as they walk through each of these phases and empowered to make informed decisions in your parenting. This is one video that is worth having on the shelf to listen to time and again as a refresher and an encouragement as a parent in the work we have in raising our children. 

Blessings
Chareen

Taming the Lecture Bug {Review}

This year marks 25 years of parenting for Paul and I. One of the things I often joke about is that parenting is the only employment I've never managed to conquer.  Every time I think I've got it figured out something changes and I'm back at the beginning. I first encountered Joey and Carla Link around twenty years ago in New Zealand while attending the local GEMS (Godly Encouragement for MotherS) group. One of the highlights was borrowing teaching tapes which Carla had recorded (Mom's Notes) and having something to listen to during the intervening days between one meet up and the next.  So I was really excited to be gifted Taming the Lecture Bug and Navigating the Rapids of Parenting from Parenting Made Practical.

To Encourage and equip parents to raise obedient, respectful and responsible children in today's world. - Parenting Made Practical

What we received
We were given the following two video's from their Parent's Night Out serries.

• Taming the Lecture Bug
• Navigating the Rapids of Parenting (Read My Review Here)

Taming the Lecture Bug

Length of the video is 53:16 min.  (509 mb in mp4)

The title of this video jumped at me as I am sanguine by nature and hate confrontation so I end up nagging and lecturing my children.  As Carla said "We lecture because we don't know what else to do."

It was so refreshing to be reminded that I am my child's parent and that by handing out grace all * of * the * time I was addressing symptoms rather that working on the heart of the issue at hand.  Root issues are tied to character, and most of these issues are tied to lack of the fruits of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23).

Joey and Carla take the time to explain how we can train our children to use their strengths for good and equip them with ways to overcome their weaknesses.

One of the foundational principles being to ask the right questions because asking questions helps our children to learn to think in the right way so that they will start going in the right direction.

My favourite reminder was "Parents are often focused on correcting their kid's behaviour when they need to be more concerned with the why their kids acted inappropriately rather than "what" they did."

Is there anything I would like to change:  I really would appreciate having a pdf of the notes for the evening.  Especially the questions.  The questions are thought provoking and empowering for me the parent of a tween/teen. 

Cost of Parents Night Out downloads

• Taming the Lecture Bug - $12.95
• Navigating the Rapids of Parenting - $12.95

Recommended Age Range

• Taming the Lecture Bug - For parents of 5 yrs. – college age
• Navigating the Rapids of Parenting

Connect with Parenting Made Practical on Social Media


Over All I thought ...
I appreciated the encouragement to "Keep asking questions that will help my child to think at a deeper level in order to help him deal with the issues that he does not want to deal with."

 I appreciated the practical and empowering advice given in this video class.  I liked that their was no condemnation and that Joey and Carla offered practical hands on ideas that I could use to create my own personalised parenting plan. The class was thought provoking and encouraging.

I would like to thank Parenting Made Practical for gifting me this video class.

Blessings
Chareen

IndoctriNation {Review}

The new Schoolhouse Review Crew year kicks off with a DVD review from Great Commission Films.  They have blessed me with a copy of their new documentary DVD IndoctriNation.

Have you ever stopped to ask yourself "What are my children being taught during their 8 hour day at school ?"  Is it purely academics or not ?  If not just what is being allowed to be spoken about in class ?  For that matter most parents happily entrust their children to total strangers for 12 years of their lives never knowing who these people are, what their beliefs are or what they are being asked to teach our children.

IndoctriNation is a documentary that en devours to uncover the historical nature of the school system along with the consequences of the voices of those who have influenced the shaping of the school system as we know it today.  Colin and his family travel across the USA interviewing over 25 people on the differing aspects of the current educational system and uncovering some interesting historical information on the why behind the how of the current schooling system. 


What we received

• Physical DVD of IndoctiriNation.
• Duration: 1 hour 46 minutes
• Availability: Worldwide 
• The DVD contains the full length documentary, six deleted scenes,  a word from each sponsor (2) and a special interview with David and Kim D'Escoto (Author, "The Little Book of Big Reasons to Homeschool").
• The DVD features a cast of 27 people from all walks of life, preachers, historians, authors, school teachers, school principle, lawyers, educators and educational policy experts, administrators, political leader, economist and others.
• IndoctriNation has been awarded several awards.

How we used it
Paul and I spent an evening watching IndoctriNation together, we paused and discussed parts of the video as we watched. One of the first statements in the documentary that grabbed my attention was this:

 "I don't think that there is anything else that 90 % of Christians do, together. Fight to the death over which bible you're going to use.. which denomination you're going to be a part of... 'Duke it out' there too ...

but 90% make the exact same educational choice, and nobody can point to book, chapter and verse to justify it. - Voddie Bacham, Jr., D.Min"

The more I thought about it the more I realised that in general this is a very true statement of the church today. I had never ever thought of education from a biblical perspective until we moved to New Zealand 19 years ago.  When we got married and were blessed with children we both assumed that when the time came they would attend the local government school.  It's got me wondering why do we as Christians make our educational choices exempt from our doctrinal beliefs ?
 

" This is the debate we need to settle. With sincere Christians on both sides asking: Should we protect our children by withdrawing them from the public schools OR should we leave them in the system to try to influence the schools for the better?  - Colin Gunn"

 We were both surprised at the history of education and recognised a few strategies we both experienced at school and did not realise were used on us and how that had shaped our perspectives.
We enjoyed the scripture document which represented the biblical view of the training and education of our children.

The DVD is now being shared out among our homeschool group and I will come back and edit with their perspectives and response to IndoctriNation here

• "90 % of Christians send their children to school. 80% of those children walk away from their faith! Definitely an eye-opener for Christian parents everywhere, who would wish to see their children in service for God as adults." - Belinda 

Interesting glimpses of IndoctriNation

• Creation Science in the classroom: is it a winning strategy ? (racism based on evolutionary theory being defended at the Scopes Trial.)
• What does John Taylor Gatto REALLY think of public education? interesting to hear the thoughts of this man 
• American public schools were never Christian. An interesting history in the foundation and beginning of the compulsory educational system. I was surprised at the theory used to start the school system in our world today. Did you know that the communist manifesto was to abolish home education  ?
• Loved this perspective of a public school graduate: Can you REALLY opt out of Sex Ed in school?
• When did American education first go wrong? an interesting look at the original textbooks used to educate students by Dr. Roer Schultz and the essay which influenced the foundation of placing all students of identical age in one classroom, the essay by John Locke - Essay concerning human Understanding. 
• LGBT's Secret Weapon: Values Clarification I was astounded at this part of the documentary. The use of relativism to teach children! This was an interesting look into a school classroom and a look at When a Nation forgets God. by Pastor Erwin Lutzer.
• Watch a timeline of school and the people and perspectives that have influenced it's development to what it is today.
• You can watch more clips on the IndoctriNation website.
• A message to parents from teachers in the public school system.

Cost* of IndoctriNation

• Rent it on demand  $ 4.95 (48-hour streaming period)
• Buy it for $12.95 (Stream + download anytime)
• Physical DVD $19.95 (discount pricing available for quantity purchasing.)
• IndoctriNation Book (372 pages)  $14.95
• DVD & Book Bundle $24.95

Available from the IndoctriNation store.
*Cost is in US $ and correct as at February 2015 and is subject to change without notice.  Please check the price BEFORE purchasing the item.


Connect with IndoctriNation



Final Thoughts

I really enjoyed watching IndoctriNation.  I found it thought provoking and interesting.  I loved the historical background on the structure of the school system as it gave me a better perspective of the why behind the how at school.

I especially enjoyed the questions that were both asked and answered throughout the documentary. I highly recommend this insightful thought provoking look at the educational system.

Blessings
Chareen

You can watch a long version {First 30 min of the documentary}or short trailor {2:42} of IndoctriNation on vimeo, or the first 30 min FREE on YouTube.

TT - In The BEGINNING

This week ...
I would like to share about a DVD we watched recently. This year we have started on our chronological history adventure and as part of this we started with creation.  A friend of mine knows we enjoy stage productions so she loaned me: In the BEGINNING from Sight & Sound Theaters. We loved it from the opening scene to the closing scene every single minute captured our imaginations and our hearts. This DVD was a visual and auditory feast and Sir N enjoyed it so much we watched it three times in one week.

In the BEGINNING

• Format: DVD filmed before a live audience
• Number of Pages: Nil
• Vendor: Sight & Sound Theatres
• Publication Date: 2007
• ISBN: DVD 
• Author   Sight & Sound
• Illustrator: N/A
• Duration: 115 min
• Format: Stage production
• Languages: English, Spanish and French
• Special Features: yes

You can find Sight & Sound Theatres on Facebook and YouTube.


Some other DVDs in the series that we have enjoyed

• Joseph  this rendition of Joseph inspired us to walk in integrity.(YouTube Trailer)
• Psalms of David is not a story it's a summary and overview of Psalms in song.
• Ruth was a delightful journey of God's story of redemption.
• and we are looking forward to watching Noah

Blessings

 Welcome to Tuesdays Treasures.  I started these posts as a way of sharing great books in honour of my friend in New Zealand who would arrive with the treasures she had unearthed at her weekly trip to the library!

There are so many wonderful books out there hiding on shelves so I invite you to blog about a book on your shelf, one you're reading or one you found at the library.

A Christmas Cottage

This movie is one of the most beautiful Christmas movies I have seen in a long time.  The message at the heart of this movie will inspire and encourage you.  Take some time this season and watch something with a positive message and best of all it's inspired by a true story.

This is the story of Thomas Kinkade. Take some time to have a look at some of Thom's paintings. There are plenty of YouTube clips about Thomas, his art, and teaching art to look at.

Blessings this Christmas Season
Chareen

The Private Life of Plants

For the last week in Sonlight Science A week 17 we have been studying plants. As part of this study I dug this DVD off the shelf. It's been amazing seeing just how much Sir N has learned from watching an episode here or there.

The Private Life of Plants [BBC]

Recently we purchased The Private Life of Plants (The Complete Series) produced by BBC EARTH.

As per their reputation the BBC have put together an excellent series. Stunning macro and time lapse filiming bring you up close and personal with micro sized plants not normally seen.

There are two discs containing the six episodes in the series:

• Travelling
• Growing
• Flowering
• The Social Struggle
• Living Together.
• Surviving

Each episodes runs for nearly an hour giving you a total of 292 min of running time.

From a creation point of view the only negative is the occasional reference to evolution as fact.  We are really enjoying watching this series of DVDs.

To Read more about the series

• About the Private Life of Plants
• The Private Life of Plants on Wikipedia
• Top Documentary Films
• BBC one: The Private Life of Plants
• Documentary Heaven

On YouTube

• Venus fly trap
• Fungi Plant growth
• Giant Waterlillies in the Amazon
• Poisonous Pitcher Plant 
• How the fig tree strangles other plants for survival in the rainforest 
• Earth Stars
• The Snowbell

Purchase from (non affiliate links)

• Fishpond
• Amazon
• BBC Shop

As a family we are enjoying this series of videos. What are the science / natural history video's that your family enjoys watching?
Blessings
Chareen 
This post is linking to: Learning All the Time Favourite Resources

Life in the Undergrowth [BBC]

DVD cover.

Recently we purchased Life in the Undergrowth (The Complete Series) produced by BBC EARTH.

As per their reputation the BBC have put together an excellent series. Stunning macro filiming bring you up close and personal with micro sized bugs not normally seen.

There are two discs containing the five episodes in the series:

• Invasion of the Land
• Taking to the Air
• The Silk Spinners
• Intimate Relations
• Supersocieties. 

Each episodes runs for nearly an hour giving you a total of 275 min of running time.

From a creation point of view the only negative is the occasional reference to evolution as fact.  We are really enjoying watching this series of DVDs.


To Read more about the series

• Life in the Undergrowth
• Life in the Undergrowth on Wikipedia
• The Science behind the Series
• Insects tricks of survival
• Wild Facts
• Top Ten Video Clips

On YouTube

• Weird mating calls of the leopard slug
• Silk thread hunting trap
• Oak tree and wasp eggs
• Clever queen bumble bees 
• Butterfly eggs and caterpillar survival 
• Life of Insects 
• Amazing Cicada life cycle 

As a family we are enjoying this series of videos. What are the science / natural history video's that your family enjoys watching?
Blessings
Chareen 
This post is linking to: Learning All the Time Favourite Resources