52 Lists #41 - Part of the Homeschool Review Crew

This post contains affiliate links - using affiliate links from Homeschool Coffee Break helps fuel this blog and our homeschool - thank you!

This past week there was no specific assignment for 52 Lists. Instead we were invited to make our own list or perhaps complete one of the previous lists during this Grace Week. See details and more lists at 52 Lists at Beauty Full Slow.

I had been trying to do my 52 Lists post on Friday mornings (the anchor post goes up on Thursday each week), but I'm changing that to Tuesdays now, because I've started a weekly link-up on Fridays. So we'll see how this works out. And I did look through the Lists from before I joined in, and found several that would be fun, but wasn't really getting inspired. Rather than skip a week, I decided to share my own list - a list of some of the blessings and benefits I've found in being part of the Homeschool Review Crew.

• Having the chance to try out fascinating homeschool resources without having to spend the money. Any homeschooler who is also a curriculum junkie (let's face it - the two go hand in hand!) probably knows what it's like to wander the aisles of the homeschool convention's vendor hall and wish they had the money to buy all the things! As a reviewer with the Crew, I've been able to try lots of wonderful curriculum for free. 
• Finding great curriculum! Of course it's fun to try things out for several weeks, knowing that if it's not a great fit we don't have to keep going with it. But even more exciting have been the times that we've reviewed something that turned out to be practically perfect for our needs. The times we were able to review VideoText Interactive, and products from IEW - at that time I would not have been comfortable spending the money even though these things were on our wishlist, so the reviews came along at the perfect time. Or the time we got to review DrumsWithWillie (online percussion lessons), which I would never have even known about otherwise, and turned out to be my son's favorite homeschool thing ever. 
• And it's not JUST curriculum we review either! Sometimes we get to review games or books, or products that are more for mom, such as the recent review I did of a freezer meal plan, MyFreezEasy.
• Anticipating what will be on the upcoming vendors list next, and eagerly looking forward to our favorites. We were able to review an audio drama from Heirloom Audio Productions a couple years ago (In Freedom's Cause) and I wasn't sure what to expect. Well, it blew us away and my daughter was crazy about it, and we have been devoted fans of Heirloom Audio ever since. Since being introduced to this wonderful company through the Crew, we've collected all of their audio dramas - we were so lucky to be able to review all of them except the first, which I purchased - and can hardly wait for the next in the series to come out. In fact, many of us on the Crew have a friendly competition ongoing, where we do our best to be the first to notice when a new vendor appears on the "upcoming" list!
• Enjoying the camaraderie of the Crew members. Being part of the Crew is so much more than just writing reviews of homeschool curriculum! We have a Crew message board that allows us the chance to chat about all kinds of topics - homeschool and other - and develop friendships as we support each other and pray for each other.
• Being challenged and encouraged as a blogger. When I started my first homeschool blog, I had a tiny handful of homeschool friends that read it, and I didn't think much beyond that. But when a friend nudged me to apply to the Crew (which was the Schoolhouse Review Crew then - same Crew, different name!) I became part of a larger blogging community. We have Crew members that are just "little" blogs and we have some with huge readership. We have blogging newbies and blogging experts. We have brand new homeschoolers and we have veteran homeschoolers. We're able to offer advice to each other, and promote each other on social media. Plus the Crew offers lots of writing opportunities for us as bloggers through the Blog Hops and Round-ups throughout the year, and chances to guest post on the Crew blog or for each other. Case in point? I just launched a new weekly link-up called Homeschool Highlights, and the positive response and participation from Crew members has blessed me greatly.

Sounds pretty awesome, right? If you'd be interested in being part of the Homeschool Review Crew in 2017, now is the time to check out the Homeschool Review Crew blog to find out more. If you are homeschooling at least one child and you have a blog, you are invited to apply to join this friendly group of homeschool bloggers and help us review curriculum and homeschool products! See the post 2017 Crew Applications Now Open! for more info. Or ask me! I'd love to tell you more about it and answer your questions. You can go directly to the application form by clicking HERE or on the graphic below.



You can check out the products I've reviewed for the Crew by using the TOS Homeschool Crew Review tag. There a lot of them! You can also use the list in the sidebar which has links to the products that I've reviewed in 2016, and on the page My Reviews I've listed all the reviews from previous years and linked them. TOS stands for The Old Schoolhouse, by the way, and that's because the Crew is the review arm of the magazine publisher and online store. SchoolhouseTeachers.com is also part of the The Old Schoolhouse family, and Crew members get some generous benefits from this amazing online curriculum source as well.

Do you want to know more about the Homeschool Review Crew? Leave a comment and let me know,  especially if you decide to apply. In fact, when you fill out the application, mention that you heard about the Crew from me! Also, remember to visit Beauty Full Slow to see more lists of all kinds.

This post is linked at the Hearts for Home Blog Hop hosted by Embracing Destiny and nine other blogs.

Visit the Homeschool Review Crew blog to find out what other Crew members have to say about What Being on the Crew Means in this week's Round-up. The link will be live on Friday, October 21, 2016.

 Don't miss a coffee break! Subscribe to Homeschool Coffee Break by Email!

 ©2006-2016 Homeschool Coffee Break. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. http://kympossibleblog.blogspot.com/