tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-579650003061309922024-03-05T01:55:31.211-08:00Ozark RamblingsOur rural Missouri life, homeschooling, and thrift.Beth B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/17744700558848514081noreply@blogger.comBlogger696125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57965000306130992.post-57012418789869582642015-10-27T13:17:00.001-07:002015-10-27T13:17:26.885-07:00Review: IEW Resource Materials<p><img style="float: right; margin: 0px 5px 0px 0px; display: inline" src="http://i721.photobucket.com/albums/ww217/MOmama_album/Homeschool%20crew%20reviews/IEW%20Suppllements_zpskkzocfas.jpg" align="right"></p> <p><font size="3">After years and years of reviewing homeschooling curriculum and products, I can only count on one hand the number of vendors from whom I’d accept any product, just know it’s going to be good. The </font><a href="http://www.iew.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><font size="3"><strong>Institute for Excellence in Writing</strong></font></a> <font size="3">is one of those vendors. Every time we’ve reviewed a product, it has become a permanent part of our schooling. I’ve been using their Structure and Style writing program since my son was in first grade. A few years later came the Literature Analysis course and most recently was their Grammar program. This time, the products we received aren’t curriculum themselves, but resources to enhance or supplement homeschool studies—and not just in the area of language arts..</font></p> <ul> <li><a href="http://www.iew.com/shop/products/timeline-classics" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><font size="3"><strong>Timeline of Classics</strong></font></a> <li><a href="http://www.iew.com/shop/products/teaching-games-dvdcd-rom-set" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><font size="3"><strong>Teaching with Games Set</strong></font></a> <li><a href="http://www.iew.com/shop/products/word-write-now" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><font size="3"><strong>A Word Write Now</strong></font></a> </li></ul> <p><font size="3">We received a spiral bound book for all three titles. The Teaching with Games set also included two DVD’s and a CD-ROM. </font></p> <p> </p> <p><img style="float: left; margin: 0px 5px 0px 0px; display: inline" src="http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/-2015%20CREW/Timeline%20of%20Classics_zpsyo76tle7.jpg" align="left"></p> <p><font size="3">There are over ninety pages of charts in <a href="http://www.iew.com/shop/products/timeline-classics" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><font size="3"><strong>Timeline of Classics</strong></font></a>, each giving the Description or Time Period, the Title, the Author, and the appropriate age level of the resources. I use the word “resources” because you will find much more than books listed. I’ve also come across audios, movies, magazines, television shows, etc. A lot of listings have “Compact Classics” listed with the title—a little research determined this book provides two page summaries of many “classic” books. </font></p> <p><font size="3">I would say this book provides a jumping off place if you’d like to add books or movies to your study of a period of history. There is no synopsis of any title so you’d still need to do some research to see if the title is going to meet your needs. For example, since we were in the middle of studying ancient Egypt, I went to that section. There I found listings for <em>Motel of the Mysteries</em> (which I happen to know is a spoof of Howard Carter’s discovery of King Tut’s tomb) and the Cecil B DeMille version of The Ten Commandments. I wouldn’t consider either resource for a serious study of ancient Egypt, but the might make for some family fun time to celebrate wrapping up our study. Often you’ll find a title in more than one format, for example most of the G.A. Henty books list the original book and the audio versions available. </font></p> <p><font size="3">Of the three books I received, this is the on I use the least. If a book is worthy of being called a classic, then we will read the original (even if I have to read it aloud). I’m not interested in two-page summaries or film adaptations. I will keep the book with my other reading list resources because it does have a very thorough chronological list. </font></p> <p><img style="float: left; margin: 0px 5px 0px 0px; display: inline" src="http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/-2015%20CREW/Teaching%20with%20Games_zps75rbnhy2.jpg" align="left"></p> <p><font size="3">This year I’m help to teach a high school level biology co-op class. We’re alternating labs with review sessions to prepare for tests. What better tool for making reviews fun than the <a href="http://www.iew.com/shop/products/teaching-games-dvdcd-rom-set" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><font size="3"><strong>Teaching with Games Set</strong></font></a>. The book gives instructions and often samples of games that require No Prep, versions of Flash Cards, asking Questions, drilling math facts, and games the students build themselves throughout the study.</font></p> <p><font size="3">I happen to learn best by having someone teach me as we actually play the game rather than reading the rules. If you’re like me then you’ll want to get the DVD which shows a round of each game being played. The CD-ROM has a PDF version of the book (so you can print your own copies of the sample games) and some bonus grammar games. </font></p> <p><font size="3">For our science co-op I’ve found the Hot Potato card game to be a great way to go through vocabulary terms. Both the clue giver and the one shouting out the answer have to know the definition of the term so they can pass on the stack of cards before time runs out. Other times we’d play a simplified version of Jeopardy or a game called The Question Bag when we needed to review information that required more than a one word answer.</font></p> <p><font size="3">The introduction in both the DVD and the book share how students are more likely to be motivated to learn when it’s done through a game. I totally agree and can share my own story. My son is the youngest student in science co-op—he’s only 12 but is taking this high school level course because he’s mathematically ready for it. He has, however, won 4 out of 5 of the study games we’ve played thus far because he’s very, very motivated to win (winners get $5 gift cards to local stores and restaurants)—even if that means spending a lot of time with his nose in a science book. </font></p> <p><img style="float: left; margin: 0px 5px 0px 0px; display: inline" src="http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/-2015%20CREW/A%20Word%20Write%20Now_zpstn3ddh05.jpg" align="left"></p> <div align="left"><font size="3">If you’re familiar with the structure and style method of writing, you might find <a href="http://www.iew.com/shop/products/word-write-now" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><font size="3"><strong>A Word Write Now</strong></font></a> very helpful. If you’re not familiar, let me give you an example from one of Schnickelfritz’s recent assignments. He had to write a story based on three pictures, one of which shows a man swinging on a chandelier in a library. When he started revising his rough draft there were several required “dress ups” he needed to include in each sentence: strong verbs, quality adjectives, –ly words (the term used for adverbs), etc. </font></div> <div align="left"><font size="3">The first half of the book is devoted to two-page spreads of various positive and negative character traits (e.g. courage, honor, and pride). Fritz decided the chandelier-swinging man could best be described as “exuberant” so he turned to those pages of the book and found plenty of examples of all three dress ups listed above—he settled on “high-spirited,” “reveled,” and “overzealously.” The final word was chosen because Fritz decided the chandelier came crashing down when the man swung too hard. The catastrophe caused the women who’d been watching to get very angry. Of course Fritz’s next task was to turn to the anger section to find appropriate words to describe her thoughts and actions. This idea of a thematic thesaurus is so helpful for my struggling writer because even if he looked up “angry” in a regular thesaurus it wouldn’t help him find words to describe how an angry person spoke or moved. </font></div> <div align="left"><font size="3"></font> </div> <div align="left"><font size="3">In addition to words for various character traits, there is a section on descriptive words (color, size, texture, etc.) and a section on movement and the senses. Fritz referred to this final section to find suitable replacement for words that have been banned (go/went, say/said, think/thought). I think the descriptive section will be a great help when we get back to writing essays and research papers.</font></div> <div align="left"> </div> <div align="left"> </div> <center><a href="http://schoolhousereviewcrew.com/iew-phonetic-zoo-review/" target="_blank"><img border="0" alt="IEW Review" src="http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/2014TOSCREW/2014%20CREW%20BANNERS/clickformorereviews600x160_zpsc2cf0855.png"></a></center> <div align="left"> </div> <div align="left"><img style="float: none; margin-left: auto; display: block; margin-right: auto" src="http://i721.photobucket.com/albums/ww217/MOmama_album/Blog%20dislaimer/RamblingsFTCDisclaimer_zps6bf42fac.jpg"></div> Beth B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/17744700558848514081noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57965000306130992.post-2619055239525037262015-10-21T04:28:00.001-07:002015-10-21T04:28:06.805-07:00Review: Koru Naturals<p><font size="3"><a href="http://www.korunaturals.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><strong><img style="float: right; margin: 0px 0px 0px 5px; display: inline" src="http://i721.photobucket.com/albums/ww217/MOmama_album/Homeschool%20crew%20reviews/Koru%20Naturals%20Products_zpsryuqkslo.jpg" align="right"></strong></a>I’ll confess right up front that you’ll never catch me in the cosmetics aisle of the drug store—make up and hair styling products just aren’t my thing. That doesn’t mean that I don’t try to look my best, I’d just feel more comfortable with the face and hair that God gave me. And I want the products I use on that face and hair to come from God’s creation rather than a chemical laboratory. That’s why I’m so thrilled with <strong> </strong><a href="http://www.korunaturals.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><strong>Koru Naturals</strong></a><strong> </strong>and the latest products I’ve received. </font></p> <ul> <li><strong><font size="3"><a href="http://www.korunaturals.com/proddetail.php?prod=SC01" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Skin Clear Cream</a> </font></strong> <li><a href="http://www.korunaturals.com/proddetail.php?prod=MH23" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><font size="3"><strong>Manuka Honey Propolis Soap</strong></font></a> <li><strong><font size="3"><a href="http://www.korunaturals.com/proddetail.php?prod=ARST" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Argan Oil and Sandalwood Hair Tonic</a></font></strong> </li></ul> <p> <font size="3">The company’s name is based on the Maori word for a new, unfurling fern frond (what some may know as a fiddlehead). It symbolizes new life, growth, strength and peace to that New Zealand aboriginal culture. This single word reflects not only the origin of many of the company’s products, but their purpose as well. Since 2002, Koru Naturals has been offering products to protect skin and promote good health. In addition, all the company’s suppliers certify that there is no animal testing with the products. </font> <p><img style="float: left; margin: 0px 5px 0px 0px; display: inline" src="http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/-2015%20CREW/1%20Skin%20Clear%20Cream_zpsockdha63.jpg" width="203" align="left" height="203"><font size="3"></font> <p> <font size="3">The <font size="3"><a href="http://www.korunaturals.com/proddetail.php?prod=SC01" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><strong>Skin Clear Cream</strong></a><strong> </strong>comes in a 4 oz. plastic tub with a screw on lid, about 3 1/2 inches wide and 1 1/2 inches tall. There is a secondary lid inside that keeps the product from messing up the screw cap and holds a small plastic paddle (so you can remove the product without introducing your own body oils, etc.) The key ingredients are Manuka honey, manuka oil, and kawakawa. <font color="#ff0000"><strong>Please Note: Manuka oil is not recommended for pregnant women due to its spasmolytic properties.</strong> </font><font color="#000000">I applied a dime to nickel-sized dollop of crème to my washed face when I wake up and just before bed. The crème absorbs quickly and has a subtle, refreshing scent (no perfumes, just the ingredients). I have two competing concerns—my nearly 50 year old skin is drying out and I can see signs of crows feet, and yet my nose, cheeks, and chin still have oily blackheads. The Skin Clear Creme is really helping both issues. After a month, my black heads are nearly gone and my nose doesn’t feel as oily, but the rest of my face doesn’t feel dried out either. I can hardly tell I’ve made a dent in the container so I know it will last a long time. I’m anxious to see how it keeps my skin moisturized as we head into dry skin season. </font></font></font> <p><img style="float: left; margin: 0px 5px 0px 0px; display: inline" src="http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/-2015%20CREW/2%20Manuka%20Honey%20Propolis%20Soap_zpsccumnmyg.gif" width="197" align="left" height="196"> <div align="left"><font size="3">I let my son use the</font> <a href="http://www.korunaturals.com/proddetail.php?prod=MH23" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><font size="3"><strong>Manuka Honey Propolis Soap</strong></font></a> <font size="3">for his almost-a-teenager/developing acne face. The roughly 4 oz. cake of soap started out being about 3 inches across and 1 inch high. Honey and propolis are both produced by bees and a known for their antibacterial properties. I had my son wash his face with the soap nightly. It seems to be keeping the small whiteheads that form around his hairline in check. My son is very fair with sensitive skin, but this soap never bothered him. The soap itself doesn’t seem to be disintegrating into goo the way some natural soaps do either.</font></div> <div align="left"><font size="3"></font> </div> <div align="left"><font size="3"></font> </div> <div align="left"><font size="3"></font> </div> <div align="left"><font size="3"><img style="float: left; margin: 0px 5px 0px 0px; display: inline" src="http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/-2015%20CREW/3%20Argan%20Oil%20and%20Sandalwood%20Hair%20Tonic_zps3xzot05m.jpg" width="203" align="left" height="203"></font></div> <center> </center> <div align="left"><font size="3">Our final product was <font size="3"><a href="http://www.korunaturals.com/proddetail.php?prod=ARST" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><strong>Argan Oil and Sandalwood Hair Tonic</strong></a><strong>.</strong> It comes in a metal bottle (about 4 inches high, excluding the pump top). The metal is important to keep the <sub></sub><sub></sub>bergamot essential oil out of sunlight (it’s probably even wise to stay out of the sunlight for an hour after you apply it). I have naturally curly hair which can quickly turn frizzy when I step outdoors. It also get quite tangled and hard to comb through by the end of the day. Hair Tonic to the rescue! I’ve applied a pump’s worth to my towel-dried hair and kept the frizz in control. Sometimes at day’s end I’ll get 1 or 2 drops (not even a full pump), rub it on my fingers, and run my fingers through my hair before attempting to comb it—and it seems to help.</font></font></div> <div align="left"><font size="3"></font> </div> <div align="left"><font size="3">While researching this product, I read that Koru Naturals suggests it can be used in aromatherapy. Both the sandalwood and bergamot have sedative properties and helichrysum is a nervine (meaning it strengthens the nervous system and can help reduce anxiety or stress). My son has terrible troubles unwinding at the end of the day and falling asleep so I tried applying some tonic on the soles of his feet. It didn’t seem to make a difference—that may be because the Australian sandalwood in not as beneficial as the Indian variety. I will keep using the tonic on my hair though.</font></div> <center> </center> <div align="left"><font size="3">You can also read my reviews for <a href="http://oramblings.blogspot.com/2015/02/review-koru-naturals.html" target="_blank">Koru Natural’s Emu Oil and Koolpurrie Restoring Balm</a>. </font></div> <div align="left"><font size="3"></font> </div> <center><a href="http://schoolhousereviewcrew.com/koru-naturals-no2/" target="_blank"><img border="0" alt="Koru Naturals Review" src="http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/2014TOSCREW/2014%20CREW%20BANNERS/clickformorereviews600x160_zpsc2cf0855.png"></a></center> <p><img style="float: none; margin-left: auto; display: block; margin-right: auto" src="http://i721.photobucket.com/albums/ww217/MOmama_album/Blog%20dislaimer/RamblingsFTCDisclaimer_zps6bf42fac.jpg"></p> Beth B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/17744700558848514081noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57965000306130992.post-31996354929236767702015-09-25T03:27:00.000-07:002015-09-25T04:35:17.487-07:00Review: USAopoly Games<p><font size="3"><img style="float: left; margin: 0px 5px 0px 0px; display: inline" src="http://i721.photobucket.com/albums/ww217/MOmama_album/Homeschool%20crew%20reviews/USAopoly%20review_zpsqxx9rpqw.jpg" align="left">Every time the UPS man drops off a review product I feel like it’s Christmas morning. That’s not always the case for my son, but this time he agreed with me because our box from<strong> </strong></font><a href="http://usaopoly.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><strong><font size="3">USAopoly</font></strong></a><font size="3"> contained two games. <strong> </strong></font><a href="http://usaopoly.com/games/tapple-fast-word-fun-everyone" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><strong><font size="3">Tapple: Fast Word Fun for Everyone</font></strong></a><font size="3"><strong> </strong>is a battery-operated game for 2-8 players. I’m not sure what gets more of a workout—my memory or my creative thinking. </font><a href="http://usaopoly.com/games/wonky-crazy-cubes-card-game" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><strong><font size="3">Wonky: The Crazy Cubes Card Game</font></strong></a><strong>, </strong><font size="3">for 2 or more players. proves you can’t take something as simple as stacking blocks for granted. </font></p> <p><font size="3">This review couldn’t have come at a better time…in an effort to help my Schnickelfritz fall asleep in a timely manner, we have turned off the television/computer/Kindle an hour before his bedtime. To fill the void we’ve been playing games together and these two have quickly become favorites. They also work well with larger groups, like when we get together with another homeschooling family and there are seven of us sitting around the table.</font></p> <p><font size="3"></font> <font size="3">The <strong><a href="http://usaopoly.com/games/tapple-fast-word-fun-everyone" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Tapple</a> </strong>device has 20 tabs labeled with the most commonly used letters of the alphabet (no q,u,v,x,y,or z). In each round players think of of words that begin with each letter and fit into the category listed on a randomly selected card. I counted 36 cards with my game, each containing four color-coded categories- the white and blue ones are deemed easier and may be suited for younger players, the </font></p> <p><img style="float: right; display: inline" src="http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/-2015%20CREW/Tapple20Fast20Word20Fun20for20Everyone_zpsvdov2ssb.jpg" width="376" align="right" height="303"></p> <p><font size="3">yellow and red ones are tougher. The cards store on the underside of the Tapple wheel. Two AA batteries run the timer—each player is allowed ten seconds to give an answer, tap the appropriate starting letter, and tap the red center to reset the timer for the next player. If you can’t come up with a word using one of the remaining letters in your time limit you are knocked out for that round. If you sweep the board and are still playing the yellow knob resets the letters and you go again—this time naming two wor</font><font size="3">ds.</font></p> <p><font size="3">Scnickelfritz has issues with timers and since we were playing near bedtime when the goal is to calm down, not raise anxieties, we often played without it. Our best category was fictional characters. We managed to make it through 4 rounds jumping from movies to books. We hit all the dwarves from The Hobbit, Marvel superheroes, etc. I was particularly pleased when Fritz came up with Ichabod Crane and Ishmael (as in “Call me…” from Moby Dick) for his I words. This might make it sound like a game for intellectuals, but there are plenty of pop culture categories too like Sports team mascots.</font></p> <p><font size="3">Now first and foremost this is a game, a really fun game, that can be enjoyed by anyone—but since this is mostly a homeschooling blog I want to share how this can also be used as a review/drill tool. Some of the categories naturally lend themselves to school subject. I found: nouns, verbs, adjectives, bugs & insects, U.S. Cities, birds, body parts, etc. That’s grammar, science, and geography right there. You could also tweak it and decide the nouns and verbs had to be in the foreign language you are studying or make your own category. </font></p> <p><font size="3"><img style="float: left; margin: 0px 5px 0px 0px; display: inline" src="http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/-2015%20CREW/7f2320bd-adf9-4756-af54-cf401fc4accf_zpsjoviqjqr.jpg" width="384" align="left" height="381">I’ll be honest and say I wasn’t sure how my son would take to <strong><a href="http://usaopoly.com/games/wonky-crazy-cubes-card-game" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Wonky</a>. </strong>He’s been playing and building with blocks his whole life—(it’s his self-comfort thing), but these blocks are built with curved edges and less than perfect right angles. Would my perfectionist son be able to appreciate these slightly askew blocks? Turns out he could. </font></p> <p><font size="3">Each player starts with a number of cards that direct which block to place on the stack next based on the block’s attributes: size and color. For every block successfully stacked they get to discard the card. If the stack topples they must pick up three cards. First one out of cards wins (this takes several rounds since there are only nine blocks).</font></p> <p><font size="3">It seems like a game of dexterity and being able to sense center of gravity, but there can be a deal of logical thinking going on in a player’s head. If you don’t have a playable card, you must draw until you get one. I saw my son begin to intuit the value of </font></p> <p><img style="float: right; display: inline" src="http://i721.photobucket.com/albums/ww217/MOmama_album/Homeschool%20crew%20reviews/wonky_zps8ovxkqfp.jpg" align="right"></p> <p><font size="3">the cards—that it’s better to play the specific ones (e.g. stack the medium blue block) first when the chances of those blocks being available is highest and save the “wild cards” (e.g. stack any blue block, or better any size/any color) for later in the game. I even noticed the boys judging when it was best to try and sabotage the stack for the next player in hopes of it toppling (so that someone down to 1 card would be forced to pick up more). </font></p> <p><font size="3">The Wonky game comes with a bag to hold the blocks and cards and fits easily in my purse. I was able to take it to co-op and had several people play while they waited for friends and siblings to finish up tests. All you need is a smooth flat surface. If a table wasn’t available we’d use a book. The picture to the right was the first time my son succeeded in using all nine blocks in a stack. I was so nervous that my getting up and crossing the floor to get the camera would send his hard work tumbling down.</font></p> <p><font size="3">Again, this is a game first but it could be a learning opportunity for very young ones who need to learn the small, medium, large, concept. Because the cards show which block to play in addition to the text, it could be played by non-readers.</font> </p> <p><font size="3">If you’re looking for some Christmas gift ideas, I can recommend these two <a href="http://usaopoly.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><strong>USAopoly</strong></a> games.</font></p> <center><a href=" http://schoolhousereviewcrew.com/usaopoly-review/" target="_blank"><img border="0" alt=" USAopoly Review " src="http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/2014TOSCREW/2014%20CREW%20BANNERS/clickformorereviews600x160_zpsc2cf0855.png"></a></center> <p><img style="float: none; margin-left: auto; display: block; margin-right: auto" src="http://i721.photobucket.com/albums/ww217/MOmama_album/Blog%20dislaimer/RamblingsFTCDisclaimer_zps6bf42fac.jpg"></p> Beth B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/17744700558848514081noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57965000306130992.post-82615021755659342532015-09-12T04:28:00.000-07:002015-09-17T04:29:15.296-07:00Cast Iron Pans<p><font size="3">I’ve taken up ironing! Not the kind that fights wrinkles but cooking in cast iron. In another one of my maybe steps to improve our family’s health, I’ve ditched the non-stick pan (which let’s be honest had lost most of its non-stickiness). </font></p> <p><font size="3">At an auction last month we picked up a 6 inch and a 10 inch pan. These had both seen better days and were rusty so my husband had to go at them with a wire attachment on his drill and then reseason them. That could be a post on its own and if I ever get the pictures he took off his phone maybe I’ll do one. I will share that at one point he thought he’d overcooked the pans as the first layer of oil seemed to be bubbling and flaking. It turns out there was a second layer of rust that had been seasoned over before and he had to get the wire attachment out again.</font></p> <p><font size="3">When he was sure he’d gotten down to good clean iron, we applied a thin layer of oil, baked it in the gas grilled, let it cool till he could handle it again and repeated the whole procedure two more times. The final appearance of both pans were a glossy black. I was still a little skeptical—would they really be nonstick?</font></p> <p><font size="3">The best test I could come up with was scrambled eggs. I didn’t put any oil in the pan and I hadn’t cooked sausage or bacon in it before the eggs—this was straight out the the drawer and onto the stovetop. I did let it heat up for felt like quite a while (after all, you’re not supposed to have an empty non-stick pan over heat for long). Well, a picture is worth a thousand words—take a look at my results….</font></p> <p><img style="float: none; margin-left: auto; display: block; margin-right: auto" src="http://i721.photobucket.com/albums/ww217/MOmama_album/In%20the%20kitchen/eggs_zpskpny3epk.jpg"></p> <p><font size="3">And here’s another great thing—I can use this pan in my oven and over our firepit (in fact we originally bid on it for that reason). I found a great recipe for a deep dish pizza in a cast iron pan that I can’t wait to try.</font></p> Beth B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/17744700558848514081noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57965000306130992.post-58650223743726471572015-09-04T07:44:00.000-07:002015-09-07T07:44:39.208-07:00Rescued Book: The Pharaohs of Ancient Egypt<p><font size="3">I like to try and tie my son’s reading assignments with the period of history we’re studying. This year we’ve gone back to the ancient world—Greece, Rome and Egypt. How fortunate for me that in the box with a personal collection of Landmark books I snagged at a library book sale for $1 each was W59 – <em>The Pharaohs of Ancient Egypt</em>. </font></p> <p><font size="3"><img style="float: left; margin: 0px 6px 0px 0px; display: inline" src="http://i721.photobucket.com/albums/ww217/MOmama_album/Blog%20title%20pins/Pharoahs%20_zps066wryms.jpg" align="left"></font></p> <p><font size="3"></font> </p> <h3><i>The Pharaohs of Ancient Egypt</i>.</h3> <p><font size="3">Payne, Elizabeth Ann. New York: Random House, 1964. 192 pp.</font></p> <p><font size="3">This book isn’t a single narrative story, but a collection of stories of the events and people. Sometimes the chapter will be about a Pharaoh, like Cheops, Hatshepsut, or Ramses. Other times the focus will be on an archeologist, like Jean Francois Champollion who translated the Rosetta Stone or Howard Carter when he discovered the still sealed tomb of Tutankhamen. There’s even a chapter on “The Smiter of the Asiatics—Thutmose III,” the pharaoh from Henty’s The Cat of Bubastes that we will also read this year. </font></p> <p><font size="3">Did you know the cycle of the Nile flooding not only allowed the Egyptian civilization to develop along the fertile soil along the sides of the river, but also allowed for the building of the pyramids. It was during those four months of flooding, when farmers couldn’t work in the fields, that the Pharaoh would “generously” offer to feed, house, and pay them to build the great pyramid. The book cites historian James Baikie referring to this as the first unemployment program recorded. I’d like to point out that these ancient men were being paid to actually work, not paid for not working as we do today.</font></p> <p><font size="3">This is one of the few Landmark books we have with black & white photographs rather than illustrations. I also have a couple of DK books that we refer to because you really need to see Tut’s solid gold death mask in full color. </font></p> <p><font size="3">You can see all my rescued books by clicking </font><a href="http://www.oramblings.blogspot.com/p/books.html"><font size="3">here</font></a></p> Beth B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/17744700558848514081noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57965000306130992.post-69864272446855294412015-08-29T04:38:00.000-07:002015-09-02T04:40:32.476-07:00Canning with Tattler Lids<p><font size="3">A neighbor sent out a Facebook message that his apple trees were ready for picking. This fellow does most of his business in Christmas trees, but he’s got a few dozen apple trees near the road and he let’s people pick them on the honor system. The aren’t sprayed so they aren’t the prettiest things in the world, but I don’t care. I got a bushel of practically organic Gala apples for $22. </font></p> <p><font size="3"><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-sbggIc5VFUs/Vebf_oSZ-UI/AAAAAAAABBA/6jjdhhPzMMQ/s1600-h/tattler%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="tattler" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: right; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="tattler" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-nV9YEL3FKoI/VebgC68UYAI/AAAAAAAABBI/MyIboMKpDv4/tattler_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="383" align="right" height="430"></a>Last year I did a little experiment when it came to canning applesauce. When I stopped to buy lids, I saw a box touting reusable plastic lids. I bought a set of 12 and tried them—and they worked! I got seals with all 10 jars I canned. I even managed a seal when I accidentally used two of the rubber rings on the same jar.</font></p> <p><font size="3">This year I invested in two more boxes of Tattler lids—one wide mouth and one standard. Last weekend I canned 23 jars of applesauce and all but one sealed on the first try. The one remaining, I stuck in with another batch and it sealed on the second go.</font></p> <p><font size="3">The Tattler seals are a little more expensive than metal—mine were $9.99 for a set of 12 lids and rubber rings. But by the third time I use them they will have paid for themselves.</font></p> Beth B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/17744700558848514081noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57965000306130992.post-8887220441533009602015-08-14T11:55:00.000-07:002015-08-16T11:56:03.071-07:00Books to Read this School Year<p><font size="3">I’ve always like to tie my son’s reading books to the period of history we’re studying. This year we’re headed all the way back to the beginning and going through the crucifixion. Here are the books that’s I’ve pulled from our shelves—most of these are old books that I’ve rescued from sales.</font></p> <p><font size="3"><em><strong>Dinosaurs of Eden</strong></em> by Hen Ham—This is the one book I bought new, when Mr. Ham was speaking at our church It covers the creation (not evolution) of dinosaurs on Day Six, explains how dinosaurs could fit on the ark, and how dinosaurs and man lived at the same time. Clearly a biblical worldview.</font></p> <p><font size="3"><em><strong>Men and Gods</strong></em> by Rex Warner—I just picked this up last weekend at a YMCA sale. It’s Roman mythology as the gods have names like Jupiter and Venus. I see Jason and the Golden Fleece, the Labors of Hercules, Midas, Echo & Narcissus, and more. I’m interested in one chapter called the Great Flood—to see how it correlates to the Biblical account. We probably won’t read all the stories, just get a good sampling.</font></p> <p><font size="3"><strong><em>The Iliad and The Odyssey of Homer</em></strong> retold by Alfred Church. I know one Mystery of History lesson covers Homer and another covers the legend of the Trojan War. Church has taken the epic poems and rewritten them as prose for boys and girls. </font></p> <p><font size="3"><em><strong>Archimedes and the Door of Science</strong></em> by Jeanne Bendick---The book is part history and part science. It covers Archimedes’ famous buoyancy discover (remember he ran outside naked and yelling “Eureka!”) buy also his work with math and measuring a circle ( pi ).</font></p> <p><font size="3"><strong><em>Pyramid </em></strong>by David Macauley—We have a whole slew of Macauley’s books: Castle, Cathedral, Mosque, etc. We’ve got some that have been reissued and redrawn in color, but I really love the original black and white line drawings. This year we’ll use Pyramid. </font></p> <p><font size="3"><strong><em>The Pharaohs of Ancient Egypt</em></strong> by Elizabeth Payne—You didn’t think I was going to get through this list without a Landmark Book title, did you? This is one of the few books in the series with photographs of many ancient sites. The book covers Cheops, Hatshepsut, Thutmose, Akhnaton, and Ramses, but it also covers the archeologists that uncovered the treasures starting with Napoleon’s army and the Rosetta stone and of course Howard Carter and King Tut’s tomb. </font></p> <p><font size="3"><strong><em>Alexander the Great</em></strong> by John Gunther—my second Landmark book. We obviously won’t be watching the Hollywood film so I’m glad to have my copy of this book. If you enjoy used book sales NEVER PASS UP A LANDMARK BOOK!</font></p> <p><font size="3"><strong><em>The Bronze Bow</em></strong> by Elizabeth George—This Newberry Medal winner will round out our year since it takes place at the end of our time period. </font></p> <p><font size="3"></font> </p> <p><font size="3"></font> </p> <p><font size="3"></font></p> Beth B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/17744700558848514081noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57965000306130992.post-79141343516411398222015-08-07T17:53:00.000-07:002015-08-10T17:54:00.452-07:00Mystery of History Memory Cards<p><font size="3">After spending two years on American history, we’re cycling back to the beginning with Mystery of History Volume 1. Since we did this originally when Schnickelfritz was in first grade I’m fairly certain my son will get more from each lesson and need to fill out new memory cards for each lesson. Normally, I use Photoshop Elements or Graphic Toolbox to make our printables, but I was able to do these with just Microsoft Word.</font></p> <p><font size="3"><img style="float: left; margin: 0px 6px 0px 0px; display: inline" src="http://i721.photobucket.com/albums/ww217/MOmama_album/memory-cards-3_zpsguneqqid.jpg" width="230" align="left" height="372"></font></p> <p><font size="3"></font> </p> <p><font size="3">First I put in the CD for Home School in the Woods’ History Through the Ages timeline figures. Next I opened up Word and set up the page for 3 X 5 index cards (under the Page Layout tab choose Size and look for the 3 X 5 Index card option. You’ll need to resize your margins as well—I uses .2 inches for all edges.</font></p> <p><font size="3"></font> </p> <p><font size="3">Then I found appropriate image for each lesson in Mystery of History. It’s helpful to print out the list of images in chronological order as this will match the closest to MOH. Then for each page I’d choose Insert>Picture> browse for the disc drive and then type the name of the image. The name will match the MOH list so if the title in the list starts with “The”, you’ll need to start with that.</font></p> <p><font size="3"></font> </p> <p><font size="3"></font> </p> <p><font size="3">Usually I centered the image on the page, but in some cases the lesson referred to more than one person. In that case I made one image right justified and the other left justified. You can see a few examples below.</font></p> <p><font size="3"><img style="float: none; margin-left: auto; display: block; margin-right: auto" src="http://i721.photobucket.com/albums/ww217/MOmama_album/memory-cards-1_zps2kp0rrfu.jpg"></font></p> <p><font size="3"></font> </p> <p><font size="3">I loaded my printer with multi-colored index cards. I resorted the pack so I had three cards of each color together so the entire week would match. Then down the road when I ask Fritz to review cards I may say he only needs to go through the green ones. If I’m really clever I’ll come up with a game to go with the colors, but nothing comes to mind yet.</font></p> <p><img style="float: none; margin-left: auto; display: block; margin-right: auto" src="http://i721.photobucket.com/albums/ww217/MOmama_album/memory-cards-2_zpstdksmtwn.jpg"></p> Beth B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/17744700558848514081noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57965000306130992.post-12163266114818879842015-08-05T06:30:00.001-07:002015-08-05T06:30:48.339-07:00Book Review: The Conversation<p><font size="3"><img style="float: left; display: inline" src="http://i721.photobucket.com/albums/ww217/MOmama_album/Homeschool%20crew%20reviews/The%20Conversation%20Book%20Review_zpsjdi4ym4x.jpg" width="319" align="left" height="474">We’ve now reached the halfway point in our homeschool journey (actually past half way if you consider kindergarten). I hesitate to use the term “over the hump” because that implies an easy downhill slide to the end and with middle school and high school still ahead I think we’d all agree we’re not going to be coasting to graduation. In fact several of my friends are too intimidated to continue teaching their kids at home. That’s why I was thrilled with the opportunity to read <a href="http://www.classicalconversationsbooks.com/coisuof20.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><strong>The Conversation</strong></a><strong>. </strong>Author Leigh A. Bortins, founder of <a href="http://www.classicalconversations.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><strong>Classical Conversations</strong></a>, has packed this book full of tips and encouragement for teaching you own high schooler. The book went with me on vacation and while I waited for my son at scout meetings and baseball camp.</font></p> <p><font size="3">The opening chapter covers becoming Confident Parents. This is for those people considering homeschool for the first time or homeschooling parents wondering if they will be able to teach high school. A key issue is the role of parental authority and how it looks when dealing with teenagers. Then the author answers a series of questions: How can I teach my kids when I didn’t do well in school? Can my kids get into college? What if my child is gifted or has special needs? I didn’t need convincing that I want to homeschool all through high school, still found some hidden gems buried in this chapter.</font></p> <p><img style="float: none; margin-left: auto; display: block; margin-right: auto" src="http://i721.photobucket.com/albums/ww217/MOmama_album/Homeschool%20crew%20reviews/Conversation-Quote-1_zpsjii0lxpw.jpg"></p> <p><font size="3">If you picked up on the “Classical” part of the vendor name, Bortins does use a classical approach to home education. I was very thankful for Chapter Two--Rhetoric Defined chapter to help me understand the lingo of classical education.</font></p> <p><font size="3">You may be familiar (as I was) with the three stages: Grammar, Dialectic, and Rhetoric. While it’s true that students naturally progress through these stages as they age (young children spend their time learning the vocabulary of their language and naming things they see in their world , as they get older they begin asking questions to further their knowledge), any time they begin a new course of study they will begin back at the Grammar stage. </font></p> <p><font size="3">New to me was a second list of classical terms having to do with the Five Canons of Rhetoric:</font></p> <ol> <li><font size="3">Invention—Discover ideas, research, and plan.</font> <li><font size="3">Arrangement—Arrange ideas in a logical and organized manner.</font> <li><font size="3">Elocution—Express ideas in the style that is most persuasive in appealing to the audience.</font> <li><font size="3">Memory—Add memorable features to your essay or speech. Commit ideas to memory.</font> <li><font size="3">Delivery—Deliver ideas in oral or written form.</font></li></ol> <p><font size="3"></font> <font size="3">The next nine chapters help you to understand what high school subjects look like in the classical approach. </font></p> <ul> <li><font size="3">Reading</font> <li><font size="3">Speech & Debate</font> <li><font size="3">Writing</font> <li><font size="3">Science</font> <li><font size="3">Math</font> <li><font size="3">Government & Economics</font> <li><font size="3">History</font> <li><font size="3">Latin & Foreign Languages</font> <li><font size="3">Fine Arts</font></li></ul> <p><font size="3">Each chapter has a similar format: there are articles (some republished from Classical Conversations Writer Circle), a chart on how the five canons apply to the particular subject, and examples of conversations (remember the title of the book?) that might take place between teacher and student. It was the sample conversations that intrigued me most. They are written like a script with ME being the author/teacher and a student name. The teacher is asking open ended questions, guiding the students yet still forcing them to think for themselves—in other words, the Socratic Method in action. It’s a meaningful dialogue. This is what I dreamed of when I started homeschooling seven years ago. How different from traditional schools where the teacher does all the talking. How different from where everything is compartmentalized and separated by the ringing of bells on the hour.</font></p> <p><font size="3"><img style="float: none; margin-left: auto; display: block; margin-right: auto" src="http://i721.photobucket.com/albums/ww217/MOmama_album/Homeschool%20crew%20reviews/Conversation-Quote-2_zpsw2hlszb6.jpg"></font></p> <p><font size="3">Finally the book ends with a Graduation Conversation where the author shares the secret to college admissions and life after college. Another hidden gem was the “Am I Too Late” section. We haven’t been following a classic approach to school. With all our review materials, we’re eclectic at best. As I read though I want to take the path that will lead to the types of conversations I read in the previous chapters, but could I redirect our course at the half-way point? That’s when I read the following….</font></p> <p> <img style="float: none; margin-left: auto; display: block; margin-right: auto" src="http://i721.photobucket.com/albums/ww217/MOmama_album/Homeschool%20crew%20reviews/Conversation-Quote-3_zpstgpbipys.jpg"></p> <p> </p> <p><font size="3">While researching for this review I learned that Leigh A. Bortins has a degree in Aerospace Engineering—she’s literally a rocket scientist!. The Conversation helps you understand that you don’t have to be one to teach your high schoolers at home.</font></p> <center><a href="http://schoolhousereviewcrew.com/classical-conversations-review-2/" target="_blank"><img border="0" alt="Classical Conversations Review" src="http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/2014TOSCREW/2014%20CREW%20BANNERS/clickformorereviews600x160_zpsc2cf0855.png"></a></center> <p><img style="float: none; margin-left: auto; display: block; margin-right: auto" src="http://i721.photobucket.com/albums/ww217/MOmama_album/Blog%20dislaimer/RamblingsFTCDisclaimer_zps6bf42fac.jpg"></p> Beth B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/17744700558848514081noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57965000306130992.post-21979378096245794692015-07-31T06:06:00.000-07:002015-08-07T06:06:33.055-07:00Frontiersmen Camping Fellowship<p><font size="3">I’ve written a few times about my son’s involvement in Royal Rangers (although perhaps not enough). He’s been earning merits and studying the Bible since kindergarten and he’s finally old enough to join their Frontiersmen Camping Fellowship. This is an optional branch within RR where boys and leaders learn skills and trades from the frontier days. </font></p> <p><font size="3">Schnickelfritz had to attend a Frontier Adventure and pass tests that involved throwing a knife & tomahawk, setting a trap, and starting a fire with flint & steel. Now he’s able to attend special camping events (called rendezvous) where he’ll learn about black powder shooting, dress in mountain man or voyageur clothing, cook in a Dutch oven, and more (even though I’m a mom and a female, I’m highly jealous). In order to advance he needs to learn a trade and right now he’s leaning towards becoming an apprentice to his own outpost commander, who does blacksmithing. </font></p> <p><font size="3">Right now he’s learning how to build primitive shelters and primitive snares for trapping so this is very much a scouting program. However it’s also a scouting program run by the church. For his regular Royal Rangers advancement he has to work on Bible merits as well as the skill merits. To advance in FCF he has to perform 60 hours of volunteer service for the outpost, church, community and missions work.</font></p> <p><font size="3">If you’re feeling frustrated with the path taken by the Boy Scouts, you may want to give Royal Rangers and Frontiersmen Camping Fellowship a try.</font></p> <p> </p> <p><font size="3"></font></p> Beth B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/17744700558848514081noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57965000306130992.post-83321835734994076662015-07-29T07:16:00.001-07:002015-07-31T06:03:31.616-07:00Review: With Lee in Virginia<div align="left"><font size="3"><img style="float: left; margin: 0px 5px 0px 0px; display: inline" src="http://i721.photobucket.com/albums/ww217/MOmama_album/Homeschool%20crew%20reviews/With%20Lee%20in%20Virginia%20Review_zpsskebojsd.jpg" width="279" align="left" height="415">Family reunion……road trip…..over fourteen hours in the car in two days, and that’s if we were lucky. Last year we got stuck in road construction traffic and spent an hour to cover six miles. What was one of the first things I made sure I packed in my car bag?</font></div> <div align="left"><font size="3"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7UGv6iShV_0MKjvv5b6UatlXkL7m6YewHMpXKsj3B-OMMoyWRid3IJvfAAcAbaMTWM0WPo6jguYoSjrsHOikWW8rKPuv1NHG9D5NHgRWBKK2zyPC_QQx_-0nfurp2Up6iYfhfQfikEf4/s1600-h/With-Lee-in-Virginia-tweet2.jpg"> </div> <p><img title="With-Lee-in-Virginia-tweet" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-left: auto; display: block; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="With-Lee-in-Virginia-tweet" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV1S1fKgvCyUZcBQk3QXKDKXaMV6hPdQFSSuE_hyR7a7yZJ_3jXa6dYBK28Bkpe-IKrG1RYbU43B4KNHvlBYCa8NJMCoU_7aWSFe_IcqzNWb71PXRtt2VM-7ubEiVNSl1o2uaXEtyiNT0/?imgmax=800" width="244" height="111"></p> <p></a>I tweeted the answer—our three audio adventures from <a href="http://www.withleeinvirginia.com//" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><strong>Heirloom Audio Productions</strong></a><strong>.</strong> These folks have been bringing G.A. Henty stories to life for the past year. Even though they’re relatively new to the world of audio/radio theater their production is professional, their narrative entertaining and thought-provoking, and their support materials superb. We’ve already traveled around the world <em>Under Drake’s Flag</em> and battled alongside William Wallace <em>In Freedom’s Cause</em> and now we were going to relive the Civil War <a href="http://www.withleeinvirginia.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><strong>With Lee in Virginia.</strong></a> The two CD set kept us entertained for about two and a half hours. And just check out the cast of voice actors!</font></p> <div align="left"><font size="3"><img style="float: none; margin-left: auto; display: block; margin-right: auto" src="http://i721.photobucket.com/albums/ww217/MOmama_album/Homeschool%20crew%20reviews/With-Lee-in-Virginia-Cast_zpsnyfhi8ip.jpg"></font></div> <div align="left"><font size="3"></font> </div> <div align="left"><font size="3">We tend to like to listen to the story and see if we can recognize the voices of the actors rather than look up their roles. Sean Astin was easy, but Kirk Cameron stumped us.</font></div> <div align="left"> </div> <div align="left"><font size="3">The opening act of Heirloom’s audios have two boys meeting“ Mr. George” who proceeds to entertain them with a story whose main characters “just happen” to share the same names—in this case Vincent and Dan. The other amazing “coincidence” is that the story characters always seem to encounter famous figures from history. As the title hints, one of these men is Gen. Robert E. Lee. Vincent also fights alongside Generals Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson, J.E.B. Stuart, and Joseph E. Johnston. </font></div> <div align="left"><font size="3"></font> </div> <div align="left"><font size="3">To be clear Vincent is a southerner and fights for the Confederacy. His family are slave-owners and he will inherit these staves when he comes of age. I’ll even go so far as to caution parents of young listeners that the story includes very realistic sounds of slaves being whipped and slave families being separated and sold at auction. Although Vincent defends the Southern Cause, he stops the whipping, intercedes in the auction to buy the mother and child, and risks his life to help the father escape to freedom in Canada. While reading his father’s Bible, Vincent is convicted that no man should own another and does right by Dan.</font></div> <div align="left"> </div> <div align="left"><font size="3">As with all The Extraordinary Adventures of G.A. Henty, there is an underlying theme as well as an action-packed story. For this title, the theme is Duty. In between the CD’s in the case is a quote from Robert E. Lee—“Do your duty in all things. You cannot do more, you should never wish to do less.” We hear this in the story along with a Stonewall Jackson quote—“Duty is ours, the consequences are God's.” As the mother of a son about to become a teen, I’m thankful for every opportunity to expose him to honorable ideals. It’s woven into the story without sounding “preachy.”</font></div> <div align="left"> </div> <div align="left"><font size="3"></font> </div> <div align="left"><font size="3"><img style="float: left; margin: 0px 5px 0px 0px; display: inline" src="http://i721.photobucket.com/albums/ww217/MOmama_album/Homeschool%20crew%20reviews/With-Lee-Study-Guide-2_zpsdvqi7pky.jpg" width="241" align="left" height="297">We have been listening to WLiV</font> <font size="3">simply for pleasure since our study of the Civil War concluded the first quarter of last year. Had the timing been right, we could have used Heirloom’s free Study Guide to make this more of a unit study. Each track from the CD has its own page of words to define—some military/war terms and some things we just don’t see any more, like a livery. The Listening Well questions test memory and comprehension. The Thinking Further questions deal with critical thinking, looking at actions/situations from a Biblical standpoint, and other historical/geographical research. The background and artwork would make it “ink intensive” to print the 52 pages out, but I highly recommend you letting students at least look at the pages. There are maps, inset texts with more information, and some thought-provoking photographs of the war. Look at this image of a Bible that had been carried in the breast pocket of a young soldier. It saved his life by stopping two minie balls and I pray it also saved his soul. </font></div> <div align="left"><font size="3"></font> </div> <div align="left"><font size="3">The Study Guide is just one of the free bonuses available to purchasers of the Cd’s or the MP3 download. Other gifts, depending on the package selected, include a download of the soundtrack, a PDF version of the book, a copy of Lee’s quote on duty, or a poster of the CD cover with the cast.</font></div> <div align="left"><font size="3"></font> </div> <div align="left"><font size="3"></font> </div> <div align="left"><font size="3"></font> </div> <div align="left"><img style="float: none; margin-left: auto; display: block; margin-right: auto" src="http://i721.photobucket.com/albums/ww217/MOmama_album/Homeschool%20crew%20reviews/With-Lee-Study-Guide-image_zps0pkwqohc.jpg"></div> <div align="left"> </div> <div align="left"><font size="3">I think it’s safe to say that all future Henty adventures will end up as Christmas or birthday presents.</font> <font size="3">We’re such fans of the audio format (my son has yet to read a Henty book). I highly recommend this series to any family, but especially those with boys. If you have younger children you may want to listen before they do or make sure you’re listening together as there are very realistic scenes of slave whipping and deaths in battle.</font></div> <div align="left"><font size="3"></font> </div> <div align="left"><font size="3">My reviews of other Heirloom Audio Productions titles:</font></div> <div align="left"> </div> <div align="left"><font size="3"><a href="http://www.oramblings.blogspot.com/2015/02/review-in-freedoms-cause-audio-adventure.html" target="_blank">In Freedom’s Cause</a></font></div> <div align="left"><font size="3"><a href="http://www.oramblings.blogspot.com/2014/09/review-under-drakes-flag.html" target="_blank">Under Drake’s Flag</a></font></div> <div align="left"> </div> <div align="left"><font size="3">Keep up with Heirloom Audio Productions:</font></div> <p><font size="3">Facebook: </font><a href="https://www.facebook.com/WithLeeInVirginia"><font size="3">https://www.facebook.com/WithLeeInVirginia</font></a><font size="3"> or </font><a href="https://www.facebook.com/heirloomaudio"><font size="3">https://www.facebook.com/heirloomaudio</font></a><br><font size="3">Twitter: </font><a href="https://twitter.com/HeirloomStories"><font size="3">https://twitter.com/HeirloomStories</font></a><br><font size="3">Google+: </font><a href="https://plus.google.com/b/114534826166314080647/114534826166314080647/posts"><font size="3">https://plus.google.com/b/114534826166314080647/114534826166314080647/posts</font></a> <center> </center> <center><a href="http://schoolhousereviewcrew.com/with-lee-in-virginia-audio-drama-review" target="_blank"><img border="0" alt="With Lee in Virginia Audio Drama Review" src="http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/2014TOSCREW/2014%20CREW%20BANNERS/clickformorereviews600x160_zpsc2cf0855.png"></a></center> <p><img style="float: none; margin-left: auto; display: block; margin-right: auto" src="http://i721.photobucket.com/albums/ww217/MOmama_album/Blog%20dislaimer/RamblingsFTCDisclaimer_zps6bf42fac.jpg"></p> Beth B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/17744700558848514081noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57965000306130992.post-88199506290497939582015-07-24T19:28:00.000-07:002015-07-27T19:31:02.767-07:00Looking forward to New School Year<p><font size="3">Where oh where has summer gone? I know that as a homeschooler I could stick to the calendar of old—you remember the one where we didn’t go back to school till <em>after</em> Labor Day. Still, by mid August the pool will be closed, Six Flags will only be open on weekends, and PS friends will not be able to play. Here’s what I have lined up.</font></p> <h3>Bible</h3> <p><font size="3">We completed that year-long merit badge and we’ll be returning to the Discover 4 Yourself series with Revelation (divided into two workbooks) and a study of covenants.</font></p> <h3>Writing</h3> <p><font size="3">We’re on the second year of IEW’s Student Intensive Continuation Course Level A (writing is still Fritz’s weak area but we’re making progress).</font></p> <h3>Grammar</h3> <p><font size="3">Another IEW product—Fix It! Grammar. It goes so well with SICC. We’ll be in Level 3—The Frog Prince.</font></p> <h3>Math</h3> <p><font size="3">We tried Teaching Textbooks for the last two years. With all the math reviews we’ve done I think the disjointedness of switching products really hampered his learning. Fritz also requested that we return to Math U See. We’ll be going back to Algebra 1 with no disruptions.</font></p> <h3>Science</h3> <p><font size="3">A leap forward for us, but Dr. Wile—the author of the text says students are ready for Biology when they start Algebra. We skipped General and physical science, but Dr. Wile says Fritz will more than make up for it by being able to use the advanced courses in his late high school years.</font></p> <h3>History</h3> <p><font size="3">We’re going back to ancient times with Mystery of History Vol. 1. I’ll be doing some supplementing to make it rigorous enough for Jr. High.</font></p> <p><font size="3"><strong>Reading</strong></font></p> <p><font size="3">Most of the title will tie into history—<em>Archimedes and the Door of Science, The Bronze Bow</em>, the Landmark books about <em>Alexander the Great</em> and <em>The Pharaohs of Ancient Egypt</em>, and the Alfred C. Church’s <em>The Iliad & the Odyssey for Boys and Girls</em>. I may try <em>The Cat of Bubastes</em> as a read-aloud. </font></p> <h3>Electives</h3> <p><font size="3">Fritz has a required merit on Healthy Body. I think I will pair that up with the Bachelor merit (which covers house-cleaning, budgeting, laundry, etc.) for a Home Economics course.</font></p> <h3>P.E.</h3> <p><font size="3">This one is more up in the air….Fritz is now too old for Upwards Basketball and his karate instructor has retired. </font></p> Beth B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/17744700558848514081noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57965000306130992.post-39819153687128191952015-07-17T05:00:00.001-07:002015-07-17T05:00:04.034-07:00Review: Project Passport Egypt<p><font size="3"><img style="float: left; margin: 0px 6px 0px 0px; display: inline" src="http://i721.photobucket.com/albums/ww217/MOmama_album/Homeschool%20crew%20reviews/Project%20Passport%20Egypt%20Review_zps0t9aalif.jpg" width="343" align="left" height="509">Summertime often means vacation time and we’re just finishing ours. You know the drill—itineraries, tour guides, postcards, photo albums, souvenirs, exotic foods. Did I mention our destination was Egypt? Did I mention we traveled back in time? It’s all true thanks to <a href="http://www.homeschoolinthewoods.com/ancientegypt.html"><strong>Project Passport World History Study: Ancient Egypt</strong></a>. This is one of three world history titles available from <a href="http://www.homeschoolinthewoods.com/"><strong>Home School in the Woods</strong></a>, the other two cover The Middle Ages and the Renaissance & Reformation. Two more titles are in the works for Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome. </font><font size="3">We received the download version of the study but it’s also available on CD-ROM. Since you have to do all the printing you should stock up on paper, colored paper, colored card stock, and ink. This is a good time to use a craft store coupon and buy a multicolor pack of 8 by 11 1/2 cardstock. </font></p> <p><font size="3">The program is Windows and Macintosh compatible (mine runs through Internet Explorer offline) and you will need Adobe Reader to access and print the texts and project printables. </font></p> <p><font size="3"></font> </p> <p><font size="3">This is not our first go with Homeschool in the Woods (I’ll link to my other reviews at the end of this post). <img title="Project Passport Travel Guide & Itinerary" style="float: right; display: inline" alt="Project Passport Travel Guide & Itinerary" src="http://i721.photobucket.com/albums/ww217/MOmama_album/Homeschool%20crew%20reviews/Project-Passport-Guide-amp-It_zpsgmyowogi.jpg" align="right">Standard drill for me is to print out the lesson texts and teacher’s instruction manual. Since this whole study is themed as a vacation tour they are referred to as the Guide Book and Travel Itinerary respectively. If you are familiar with HSitW from their Time Travelers American History series, you know that students work on craft projects (souvenirs), build a timeline (Snapshot Moments in History), write a newspaper (The Kemet Chronicle), and build a notebook (Scrapbook Sights) and lap book (I guess they couldn’t come up with another travel themed name). New additions to the world history series are Postcard Greetings from famous folks from the past, MP3 audios of tours through historic sites, and a final wrap up with the creation of a trifold travel brochure.</font></p> <p><font size="3"><img title="Project Passport Newspaper Project" style="float: left; margin: 0px 6px 0px 0px; display: inline" alt="Project Passport Newspaper Project" src="http://i721.photobucket.com/albums/ww217/MOmama_album/Homeschool%20crew%20reviews/Project-Passport-newspaper-_zps8fp2bmnv.jpg" width="294" align="left" height="373"></font></p> <p><font size="3"></font> </p> <p><font size="3">The other book I’ve printed out and bound holds all the notebook pages Schnickelfritz creates (we found a website that translated his name into a cartouche to add to the cover!). I print out all the base pages and assemble them and we keep all the timeline figures and other things that will be added to the base pages in a clear plastic binder (mine actually zips up so I don’t have to worry about little pieces falling out). I also include some blank card stock pages that will hold the mini books that would normally go in the lap book. The only things I don’t print before we start are the newspaper pages. Because my son has dysgraphia and doesn’t like to draw or color, I allow him to use Photoshop Elements to add photos and type in his articles (I actually wrote a <a href="http://oramblings.blogspot.com/2014/04/photoshop-elements-and-daily-bugle.html" target="_blank"><strong>tutorial</strong></a> about this process if you want to check it out).</font></p> <p><font size="3"></font> </p> <p><font size="3">With the Time Traveler series, I didn’t always follow the lesson plan in order however I do recommend that for Project Passport. The audio tours are really more like radio theater and they do have a chronological order—referring to previous stops, etc. When you start the program you can access everything you need for each lesson—the text, project instructions, any audios. One improvement over the Time Traveler series is that the project photos are included in the lesson rather than collected in a separate page. The other icons let us know what projects will be included with the lesson, the camera represents the Snapshot Moments timeline for example.</font></p> <p><font size="3"></font><img title="Project Passport Screenshot" style="float: none; margin-left: auto; display: block; margin-right: auto" alt="Project Passport Screenshot" src="http://i721.photobucket.com/albums/ww217/MOmama_album/Homeschool%20crew%20reviews/Project-Passport-Screen-sho_zpsulrgzzai.jpg"></p> <p><font size="3">I did mention that I like to print out the lesson text and instructions in advance so I wish they were also available in a single PDF file for quick printing.</font></p> <p><font size="3">I usually read the lessons out loud to Fritz while he added figures to the timeline. Most lessons were 2-3 pages and while he could have read them to himself, the concepts—like the traditional vs. the new chronology of Biblical and Egyptian history were difficult enough to require us to stop reading and discuss. I did let him look through the lesson and choose 3-4 sentences to compose his newspaper article (I wasn’t worried about plagiarism, I was just glad he could determine which facts were most important to remember). Sometimes the notebook projects contained so much information they could have been their own separate lesson and if we hadn’t had the deadline of this review I might have scheduled them for their own day.</font></p> <p><img title="Project Passport Timeline" style="float: none; margin-left: auto; display: block; margin-right: auto" alt="Project Passport Timeline" src="http://i721.photobucket.com/albums/ww217/MOmama_album/Homeschool%20crew%20reviews/Project-Passport-Timeline_zpsruwfv1wj.jpg"></p> <p><font size="3"></font><font size="3"><img title="Project Passport Recipes To Try" style="float: left; margin: 0px 6px 0px 0px; display: inline" alt="Project Passport Recipes To Try" src="http://i721.photobucket.com/albums/ww217/MOmama_album/Homeschool%20crew%20reviews/Project-Passport-recipes_zpscbt5a7fn.jpg" width="246" align="left" height="364"></font></p> <p><font size="3"></font> </p> <p><font size="3">I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again—we love how HSitW makes history come alive. It’s not just names and places and dates, these were real people that had to eat and work and go to school just like we do. There are lessons on what everyday life was like for the common men and women: what they wore, what there houses were like, what games the children played and best of all what they ate! We may not do the craft projects, but we always like to try the recipes. We were already familiar with hummus and baba ghanouj but this cantaloupe juice was a new refreshing cooler for the hot weather. </font></p> <p><font size="3">We <strong><em>love</em></strong> our Homeschool in the Woods studies. They would be great if you’re teaching a range of ages. The younger kids might not get all the details but they could take part in the craft projects or making the recipes. They might even be the ones to color in all the printable images.</font></p> <p><font size="3">Here are the links to the other history studies we’ve reviewed:</font></p> <p><a href="http://oramblings.blogspot.com/2014/11/review-time-travelers-civil-war.html"><font size="3">The Civil War</font></a></p> <p><a href="http://oramblings.blogspot.com/2015/03/review-time-travelers-industrial.html"><font size="3">The Industrial Revolution</font></a></p> <p><font size="3"><a href="http://oramblings.blogspot.com/2015/05/review-time-travelers-wwii.html" target="_blank">World War II</a></font> <p><font size="3"><a href="http://oramblings.blogspot.com/2013/01/project-passport-middle-ages.html" target="_blank">The Middle Ages</a></font> <p> <center><a href="http://schoolhousereviewcrew.com/home-school-in-the-woods-review-2015/" target="_blank"><img border="0" alt="Home School in the Woods Review" src="http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/2014TOSCREW/2014%20CREW%20BANNERS/clickformorereviews600x160_zpsc2cf0855.png"></a></center> <p><font size="3"></font> <p><font size="3"><img style="float: none; margin-left: auto; display: block; margin-right: auto" src="http://i721.photobucket.com/albums/ww217/MOmama_album/Blog%20dislaimer/RamblingsFTCDisclaimer_zps6bf42fac.jpg"></font> Beth B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/17744700558848514081noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57965000306130992.post-50055441335364001852015-07-15T05:54:00.000-07:002015-07-17T05:54:59.491-07:00Royal Rangers Bible Timeline<p><font size="3">The Bible merit is one of three required merits for Adventure Rangers. We’ve spent the better part of a year reading the Bible and working on a timeline of biblical events and persons. The requirements state:</font></p> <p><font size="3">Create a biblical timeline from Genesis to Revelation. Use any of a variety of methods to create<br>this timeline, only be sure it is big and colorful. Make sure to include the following:<br></font></p> <h3>a. People</h3><br> <p><font size="3">• Adam • Samuel• Noah • Saul• Job • David• Abraham • Solomon• Joseph • Jeremiah<br>• Moses • Elijah• Joshua • Daniel• Gideon • Jesus• Ruth • Stephen• Esther • Paul<br></font></p> <h3>b. Events</h3><br> <blockquote> <p><font size="3">• Creation • Rebuilding of the Temple<br>• The Flood • Intertestamental Period<br>• Joseph’s Exile to Egypt • Birth of Christ<br>• The Exodus • Jesus’ Earthly Ministry<br>• The Time of the Judges • Crucifixion and<br>• The Rule of the Kings Resurrection<br>• The Building of the Temple • Pentecost<br>• The Kingdom Divides • Paul’s Conversion<br>• The Time of the Prophets • Paul’s Three Missionary<br>• Israel’s Exile Journeys<br>• Judah’s Exile • Sacking of Jerusalem<br>• Return from Exile by Titus<br>• John’s Exile to Patmos</font></p></blockquote> <h3>c. Chronology of Each Book of the Bible</h3> <p><font size="3">Here was our take on the project…</font></p> <p><font size="3">We used a foldable pattern board as the base (definitely fits the “big” requirement as it’s 3 ft. by 6 ft.). The idea isn’t original to me—Mystery of History uses the same thing only we used a landscape arrangement instead of portrait. Originally Schinickelfritz wanted to strips of poster board tom make the actual timeline, but it got complicated and didn’t look very nice after folding and unfolding the board several times. We flipped the board over and used the grid as a guide to paint in the lines (this also help with placing figures later).</font></p> <p><img src="http://i721.photobucket.com/albums/ww217/MOmama_album/Timeline_zpsqao2waz7.jpg"></p> <p><font size="3">We divided the line into four rows and could place baseball card sized figures both above and below the lines. The scale was 100 years for 8 inches with the bottom row being 10 years for 8 inches. The lightning figures in the top top represent a break in the time line for events that occurred before the flood that we don’t really have a good estimate of when they occurred. Since we had to add so many judges and prophets and kings we didn’t use pictures for them, but wrote their names and dates on symbols of scales, scrolls and crowns respectively. </font></p> Beth B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/17744700558848514081noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57965000306130992.post-55103148079582894202015-07-15T05:09:00.001-07:002015-07-15T05:09:56.489-07:00Review: Homeschool Planet<center> </center> <center><img style="float: right; margin: 0px 6px 0px 0px; display: inline" src="http://i721.photobucket.com/albums/ww217/MOmama_album/Homeschool%20crew%20reviews/Homeschool%20Planet%20Review_zpspjwrb1dd.jpg" width="252" align="right" height="374"> </center> <div align="left"><font size="3">While my son enjoys his summer break from school, I find it to be one of my busiest seasons. I have to choose new curriculum, plan hours, shop for supplies…on and on. This year I’ve had the opportunity to use </font> <font size="3">an online program from </font><a href="http://www.homeschoolbuyersco-op.org/"><strong><font size="3">Homeschool Buyers Co-op</font></strong></a> <font size="3">help me with those plans. <a href="http://www.homeschoolbuyersco-op.org/homeschool-planet-free-trial/"><strong>Homeschool Planet</strong></a> is a subscription based planner that comes with it all:</font></div> <ul> <li> <div align="left"><font size="3">A calendar to track classes, appointments, etc..</font></div> <li> <div align="left"><font size="3">A Planner for scheduling specific assignments</font></div> <li> <div align="left"><font size="3">Shopping lists for school supplies, groceries, whatever</font></div> <li> <div align="left"><font size="3">A Resources file to keep lists of books, DVDs, and websites to be used in your homeschool</font></div> <li> <div align="left"><font size="3">Reports for attendance, grades, tracking core hours, or building a high school transcript</font></div> <li> <div align="left"><font size="3">Lots, lots more</font></div></li></ul> <p align="left"><font size="3"></font> <font size="3">Each family member can have their own login so each can appointments to the calendar to share with the rest of the family and students can get their assignments. Because the program is internet based, you don’t have to be sitting in front of your home computer to access it. There’s even a feature that will send shopping lists to your smart phone so you’ll never again reach the store and realize the scrap of paper you used is still setting on the kitchen counter!</font></p> <p align="left"><font size="3">Entering data is fairly intuitive, but if you need help there are several <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCr4tCpF3mDknPy25UNuwuGw" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">tutorials</a> to help you schedule a class, add grades, and track attendance. For an example, let’s say I need to add <img style="float: right; display: inline" src="http://i721.photobucket.com/albums/ww217/MOmama_album/Homeschool%20crew%20reviews/Homeschool-Planet-Schedulin_zpst2pzfsfc.jpg" align="right">our read aloud title for the fall and I want to finish by Thanksgiving…</font></p> <p align="left"><font size="3">When I first joined Homeschool Planet, I set up our school year with start/end dates and any holidays and vacations. Now when I set up the class, it will automatically skip over those dates we won’t have school. Look at all the options that pop up for which specific days I’ll be reading. I found this feature very handy since we have a large chunk of time away from home on Wednesday so it’s a lighter school day. I can “deselect” Wed. from most of our non-core subjects.</font></p> <p align="left"><font size="3">After setting up the class—reading, I need to make the assignments—what I’m actually reading each day. If I click on the “More Options” in the assignment section I’ll get a new window where breaking up a long reading is one of the options.</font></p> <p align="left"><font size="3"></font><img style="float: none; margin-left: auto; display: block; margin-right: auto" src="http://i721.photobucket.com/albums/ww217/MOmama_album/Homeschool%20crew%20reviews/Homeschool-Planet-Reading-A_zpshygss2lx.jpg" width="679" height="352"></p> <p align="left"><font size="3"></font> <font size="3">After completing the next few pop-ups, Homeschool Planet assigns about 6-7 pages per day. If I’d been reading the Bible or some other text where I’d prefer chapters over pages I could type in “Read Chapter {1}” and the assignment generator automatically replaces the {1} and increases it by a value of one over the date range chosen. </font></p> <p align="left"><font size="3"><img style="float: none; margin-left: auto; display: block; margin-right: auto" src="http://i721.photobucket.com/albums/ww217/MOmama_album/Homeschool%20crew%20reviews/Homeschool-Planet-daily-pla_zpsxx8rt6dj.jpg"></font></p> <p align="left"><font size="3">Above is the screen shot of an upcoming day in our school year. I didn’t assign specific times for most subjects—we just move on to the next thing as we complete assignments. Homeschool gym is a scheduled event so it appears below everything else in its time slot. It may be hard to tell in this image but every subject is color coded and you can customize colors. </font></p> <p align="left"><font size="3">The key area of Homeschool Planet that I feel needs some improvement is the Class Hours report, and unfortunately it’s a deal-breaker for me. For my state I need to log 1000 hours of class per year, 600 of which must be in core subjects: math, social studies, science, language arts, and reading (don’t ask me why reading is separate from other language arts). Of those 600 core hours, 400 must take place in the home. This means I need to track core vs. noncore and home vs. away from home. After inputting my lesson plans this is the report that generated.</font></p> <p align="left"><img style="float: left; display: inline" src="http://i721.photobucket.com/albums/ww217/MOmama_album/Homeschool%20crew%20reviews/Homeschool-Planet-Core-Hour_zpszioinkzg.jpg" align="left"></p> <div align="left"> </div> <div align="left"> </div> <div align="left"> </div> <div align="left"> <font size="3">First, there is no way for me to track home vs. away hours. Second, you can see that I’m short in core hours but where? I don’t know if I need to add lessons to math or reading because this report just lumps it all together. I’m also not sure if God forbid I was contacted by a local official and asked to see my logs, they would accept just this number with no break down of subjects. </font></div> <div align="left"> </div> <div align="left"> </div> <div align="left"> </div> <div align="left"> </div> <div align="left"><font size="3">If you live in a state where you only have to track attendance days or at least don’t need to track hours, Homeschool Planet is a very user friendly, feature rich program. Homeschool Buyers Co-op offers a <a href="http://www.homeschoolbuyersco-op.org/homeschool-planet-free-trial/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">free 30 day trial</a> to see if the program will fit your needs. You have to join the co-op, which is free, but unlike many subscription trials you do not need to enter a credit card number.</font></div> <div align="left"> </div> <div align="left">Please Note: I only have one child/student so there are many features of Homeschool Planet I never used. You may want to click on the graphic below to see how other members of the crew tracked information on multiple students.</div> <center> </center> <center><a href="http://schoolhousereviewcrew.com/homeschool-planet-review/" target="_blank"><img border="0" alt="Homeschool Planet Review" src="http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/2014TOSCREW/2014%20CREW%20BANNERS/clickformorereviews600x160_zpsc2cf0855.png"></a></center> <p><img style="float: none; margin-left: auto; display: block; margin-right: auto" src="http://i721.photobucket.com/albums/ww217/MOmama_album/Blog%20dislaimer/RamblingsFTCDisclaimer_zps6bf42fac.jpg"></p> Beth B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/17744700558848514081noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57965000306130992.post-45495968106162632452015-07-10T04:41:00.000-07:002015-07-14T04:43:33.339-07:00Fermented Pickles<p><font size="3"><img style="float: left; margin: 0px 6px 0px 0px; display: inline" src="http://i721.photobucket.com/albums/ww217/MOmama_album/In%20the%20kitchen/Fermented%20Pickles%20-%202_zps09cidszg.jpg" width="246" align="left" height="365">I’m excited to say I finally made my first batch of pickles. “Big Deal” you’re thinking, you can lots of pickles every summer. I have too, but this batch is special because I’m try to add lacto-fermented foods to our diet. The concept is new to my husband, son, and me so I wanted to start with something familiar—thus the pickles. </font></p> <p><font size="3">This is just the latest step on my journey to health. The last of the three fermented foods that Donna Schwenk of <a href="http://www.culturedfoodlife.com/" target="_blank">Cultured Food Life</a> calls “The Trilogy.” I’ve been making dairy kefir for years now and have that routine down. Last spring I began brewing my own kombucha and this spring I thought I’d give fermented vegetables a go.</font></p> <p><font size="3">One positive note—I really don’t have that large a garden. When I’ve canned pickles before I’ve had to let some get too large on the vine or pick them and have them start shriveling while I waited to have enough to do a batch of canning. With this method I just use what’s ready and adjust the size of my fermenting jar. I’m using everything at its peak!</font></p> <p><font size="3">My tools:</font></p> <p><font size="3"><font size="3"><font size="3"><strong>Airlocks</strong> are not a necessity for fermenting, but I live in a very humid climate with high mold counts. I didn’t want to be scraping mold off the top of my liquid. You can find lids available online, but at a premium price. <img style="float: right; display: inline" src="http://i721.photobucket.com/albums/ww217/MOmama_album/In%20the%20kitchen/Three-part-airlock_zpsrnyot94c.jpg" width="206" align="right" height="306"></font></font>Some weeks ago, my son had an eye doctor appointment to which we had arrived quite early (it was our first visit and I wasn’t sure how long it would take to arrive). In the same shopping complex was a home brewing store. I purchased several airlocks and gaskets for less than $2 each. At home I had my husband drill the appropriate sized holes in some of the plastic lids now available for mason jars—some standard sized and some wide-mouth. I can now use the airlock lids on pint, quart, or half-gallon jars depending on how many cukes I harvest at once. Note: I also purchase some silicone lid gaskets as these plastic lids aren’t absolutely air tight on their own.</font></p> <p><font size="3"><strong>Pickle Pebbles</strong>—When researching the whole fermenting process I came across a company that makes glass weights to keep the fermenting food under the surface of the liquid. At the time they only sold standard sized weights (and I’ve been able to fit 2-3 at the top of my wide-mouth jars. Now they’ve come out with Pickle Pebbles Plus+ for the larger openings.<img style="float: left; display: inline" src="http://i721.photobucket.com/albums/ww217/MOmama_album/In%20the%20kitchen/Pickle-Pebble_zpsxob18pxd.jpg" width="196" align="left" height="291"></font></p> <p><font size="3">I’ve heard several tips for keeping pickles crunchy when canning—cutting off the blossom end of the cucumber, keeping the cukes in ice water until your ready to can them, and adding a leaf with high tannin levels to the jar (grape, horseradish, oak or black tea). While we have abundant oak leaves at our disposal, I don’t think I want to learn what they taste like. I bought some organic black tea bags and added one (with the paper tag cut off).</font></p> <p><font size="3">For seasoning I used some heads of dill straight from the garden and cloves of garlic. I threw in a few shakes of pickling spice I had on hand fow extra measure. I left my cucumbers whole, or nearly whole while they were fermenting and sliced them after they’d reached a taste I was happy with. Of course I sampled a few and they really were still crunchy and delicious. You can see, I’m already working on my second batch!</font></p> <p><img style="float: none; margin-left: auto; display: block; margin-right: auto" src="http://i721.photobucket.com/albums/ww217/MOmama_album/In%20the%20kitchen/Fermented-Pickles_1_zpsudckugdu.jpg"></p> Beth B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/17744700558848514081noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57965000306130992.post-11480917876993915962015-07-07T17:40:00.001-07:002015-07-07T17:40:59.669-07:00Review: Prasso Ministries<p><font size="3"><img style="float: left; margin: 0px 6px 0px 0px; display: inline" src="http://i721.photobucket.com/albums/ww217/MOmama_album/Homeschool%20crew%20reviews/Prasso%20Bible%20Study%20Review_zpsuo5yxh5i.jpg" align="left">Since we began homeschooling eight years ago, we’ve always started our day with Bible study. It represents the place God should have in our lives and let’s face it…sometimes we can really use the prayer as we start the day. This fall my Schnickelfritz will officially become a teenager (gulp), so this summer I’ve been checking out a Bible study for this age range published by<strong> </strong></font><a href="http://www.prassoministries.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><font size="3"><strong>Prasso Ministries</strong></font></a><font size="3">.</font> <font size="3">The thirteen week curriculum consists of two spiral-bound books the <a href="http://prassoministries.com/product/teen-prasso-teachers-manual/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><strong>Teen Prasso Teacher's Manual</strong></a> and <a href="http://prassoministries.com/product/teen-prasso-homework-manual/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><strong>Homework Manual</strong></a>. To be clear, I used the Bible study myself, not my son. I worked in the Homework Manual during my quiet time and read the message & story from the Teacher’s Manual once a week.</font></p> <p><font size="3">Teen Prasso is designed to be used in a group setting. There are 13 weeks (or one quarter) of group lessons and the teen will have 12 weeks of homework assignment to complete (no homework after the last lesson). These are essential as they will be discussed at the next group session.</font></p> <p><font size="3">The <strong>Homework Manual</strong> (it says Student Journal on the cover) breaks down the weekly material into 5 regular days and a sixth day to rethink everything covered for the week. Each teen will need their own copy of the Manual. Most days consist of reading and rewriting scripture verses before writing out what you gathered from the text (usually answering “What did you learn?). There are occasions to check boxes, like a list of over 40 choices of ways in which you seek relief from bad circumstances. I would say the Homework Manual is meant to keep private, so the teen will answer honestly (how many will mark that they turn to anorexia or cutting if they think that mom or a Bible Study leader is going to browse through their book?). Each week does end with the questions that will be brought up at group discussion so the teen can prepare answers.</font></p> <p><img title="Teen Prasso Student Journal" alt="Teen Prasso Student Journal" src="http://i721.photobucket.com/albums/ww217/MOmama_album/Homeschool%20crew%20reviews/Teen%20Prasso%20Student%20Journal_zpsop8bwszr.jpg" width="656" height="445"><font size="3"></font></p> <p><font size="3">The <strong>Teacher’s Manual</strong> provides most of the material needed for a weekly group study. There is an ongoing story about two teenaged hikers and their dealing with a past family tragedy as well as current dangers. Then there’s the Message portion—what I’d call the lecture or lesson. Each week also includes an outline with some additional material the teacher will also need to prepare (e.g. verses to look up and read, questions to ask, preparations to make for next week). Each group lesson alternates back and forth between sections of the story and the message. </font></p> <h3>My Opinion:</h3> <p><font size="3">Let’s start with the group lessons from the Teacher’s Manual. The hiker story is absolutely engaging—I even read ahead to finish it before the review was over. The Bible teaching is sound and speaks to teens on their level. Reading it on my own, I preferred to read all the sections of the story and then all the sections of the message rather than alternate. I suppose this old brain needs continuity to stay focused. On the other hand, I know my son would be wondering in his head about what would happen next when we got back to the hikers and probably would miss most of the lesson if he heard this in a group situation.</font></p> <p><font size="3">I had no problems with writing out the Bible verses daily. It’s one thing to read the verse, but the act of putting it in your own handwriting really makes you slow down and ponder the words, whether you mean to or not. My son, on the other hand has dysgraphia, and would find all the writing very frustrating. </font></p> <p><font size="3">Because Teen Prasso is really designed to be done with group discussions, we won’t be using it for our Bible study this fall. If I were leading a Sunday School class or Bible study, I’d sure keep this Teen Bible curriculum in mind. I think it could work with young adults as well as teens.</font></p> <p> </p> <p><font size="3"></font></p> <center><a href="http://schoolhousereviewcrew.com/prasso-ministries-review/" target="_blank"><img border="0" alt="Prasso Ministries Review" src="http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/2014TOSCREW/2014%20CREW%20BANNERS/clickformorereviews600x160_zpsc2cf0855.png"></a></center> <p><img style="float: none; margin-left: auto; display: block; margin-right: auto" src="http://i721.photobucket.com/albums/ww217/MOmama_album/Blog%20dislaimer/RamblingsFTCDisclaimer_zps6bf42fac.jpg"></p> Beth B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/17744700558848514081noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57965000306130992.post-67414597818809356742015-07-04T09:43:00.000-07:002015-07-05T09:43:48.649-07:00The Words of Thomas Jefferson<p><font size="3">Considering it’s the 4th of July, you may think that I’m going to refer to Jefferson’s most famous document—the Declaration of Independence. Instead, in light of some recent court rulings I would like to share quotes on Jefferson’s view of the Supreme Court.</font></p> <h3>In an 1820 letter written to William Jarvis</h3> <p>You seem …. to consider the judges as the ultimate arbiters of all constitutional questions; a very dangerous doctrine indeed, and one which would place us under the despotism of an oligarchy. Our judges are as honest as other men, and not more so. They have, with others, the same passions for party, for power, and the privilege of their corps. Their maxim is “<i>boni judicis est ampliare jurisdictionem</i>,” and their power the more dangerous as they are in office for life, and not responsible, as the other functionaries are, to the elective control. The Constitution has erected no such single tribunal, knowing that to whatever hands confided, with the corruptions of time and party, its members would become despots….The judges certainly have more frequent occasion to act on constitutional questions, because the laws of <i>meum</i> and <i>tuum</i> and of criminal action, forming the great mass of the system of law, constitute their particular department. When the legislative or executive functionaries act unconstitutionally, they are responsible to the people in their elective capacity. The exemption of the judges from that is quite dangerous enough. I know no safe depository of the ultimate powers of the society but the people themselves ; and if we think them not enlightened enough to exercise their control with a wholesome discretion, the remedy is not to take it from them, but to inform their discretion by education.</p> <h3>In a letter to Judge Spencer Roane, Sept. 6, 1819</h3> <p>The Constitution, on this hypothesis, is a mere thing of wax in the hands of the judiciary, which they may twist and shape into any form they please.</p> <h3>In a letter to Justice William Johnson, June 12, 1823</h3> <p>On every question of construction, carry ourselves back to the time when the Constitution was adopted, recollect the spirit manifested in the debates, and<strong> instead of trying what meaning may be squeezed out of the test, or invented against it, conform to the probable one in which it was passed</strong>. [emphasis added]</p> Beth B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/17744700558848514081noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57965000306130992.post-7312275958793640962015-06-27T05:24:00.000-07:002015-06-30T05:25:16.891-07:00Blueberry Pickin’<a title="By Gordana Adamovic-Mladenovic from Windsor, Canada [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AHoneeeeeey%2C_I_know_WHAT_has_been_eating_our_blueberries!.jpg"><img style="float: none; margin-left: auto; display: block; margin-right: auto" alt="Honeeeeeey, I know WHAT has been eating our blueberries!" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f8/Honeeeeeey%2C_I_know_WHAT_has_been_eating_our_blueberries%21.jpg/512px-Honeeeeeey%2C_I_know_WHAT_has_been_eating_our_blueberries%21.jpg" width="512"></a> <p><font size="3">The sun was shining…the humidity was down (both rare in this wettest June on record)…my son was at camp…and I decided to go blueberry pickin’. You may think of blueberries as being a crop of Maine or Michigan, but we have several pick-your-own farms here in Missouri too (maybe it’s an “M” state thing?). I wasn’t the only one with that idea—parking spots were at a premium, yet the field of bushes didn’t feel crowded. There were times that I couldn’t see anyone, but I could here snippets of conversation: folks who had filled their buckets debated where to eat lunch, some discussed where they’d finished picking cherries and strawberries and where they planned to pick apples and peaches, toddler Oliver insisted “I can still see you, Mama” when she warned him not to wander off. He was even carrying a little metal pail~~it was a real <em>Blueberries for Sal</em> moment (even more real considering there had been a black bear sighting last week)! But the only animal encounters today were with the farmer’s dog and rooster—which caused Oliver to squeal with delight. </font></p> <p><font size="3">I plan to try dehydrating some of my eight quarts of berries and will freeze the rest for breakfast smoothies or perhaps make a batch of Blueberry Spice Jam for Christmas presents.</font></p> <h1><font size="3">Blueberry Spice Jam (Yield: 5 half-pints)</font></h1> <ul> <li><font size="3">2-1/2 pints ripe blueberries </font> <li><font size="3">1 tbsp lemon juice </font> <li><font size="3">1/2 tsp ground cinnamon </font> <li><font size="3">5-1/2 cups sugar </font> <li><font size="3">3/4 cup water </font> <li><font size="3">1 box (1-3/4 oz) powdered pectin</font></li></ul> <p><font size="3">Wash and crush blueberries in a saucepan (it’s easier if you crush one layer at a time). Add lemon juice, cinnamon, and water. Stir in the pectin and bring to a rolling boil over high heat, stirring frequently. And the sugar and return to a full boil. Stir constantly for a full minute with a rolling boil. Remove from heat and skim off any foam. Fill sterile jars allowing 1/4” headspace. Adjust lids and can in a boiling water canner for your altitude:</font></p> <p><font size="3">0-1000 ft. ~~ 5 minutes</font></p> <p><font size="3">1001-6000 ft. ~~ 10 minutes</font></p> <p><font size="3">above 6000 ft. ~~ 15 minutes</font></p> Beth B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/17744700558848514081noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57965000306130992.post-1737787013991311502015-06-19T06:19:00.000-07:002015-06-21T06:20:26.369-07:00Homeschoolers have a reputation—and it’s not good<p><font size="3">This past week my son went to basketball camp. It was about thirty miles away and I thought I knew the area since my father and stepmother had lived there while I was a teen. About two weeks before camp we happened to be in the area and I drove where I <em>thought</em> the camp should be~~and I was totally wrong. I never got lost but I never found the complex I was looking for either. That meant I had some homework to do: I called my stepmother who gave me some landmarks, I went to the complex’s website and took advantage of their directions. While MapQuest said to allow 40 minutes to arrive, we left an hour before the start of camp in case we got lost and to account for rush hour traffic. The 40 minutes was accurate and we had time to spare.</font></p> <p><font size="3">Why do I share all this? Because apparently at some point during that day it came out the my son was homeschooled. The next morning when I dropped off Schnickelfritz (still slightly early, but not like the previous day) the coach came up to me. He asked if we really were homeschoolers because he’d never met any that actually arrived on time, let alone early. “Most of them wander in a good 15 to 20 minutes late.” </font></p> <p><font size="3">Now there are a lot of stereotypes associated with homeschooling that I’m happy to acknowledge—I think we tend to be more religious, conservative,</font> <font size="3"> and tend to believe in a young Earth vs. millions of years. But this lack of punctuality really bugs me. Our homeschool 4-H club never could start a meeting on time…homeschool gym starts at 11:00 but most families don’t arrive until 11:15 (granted this is open gym time so you can arrive whenever you want). I don’t know if it’s because a lot of homeschooling families are larger and toting along babies which tends to slow things down? I know the largest homeschooling family on TV is so well known for tardiness that they’ve laughingly dubbed it “Duggar Time.” </font></p> <p><font size="3">It disturbs me that we homeschoolers can get so much right and yet this one area gets a pass. It not only makes us look unorganized, but the folks waiting for us may feel we don’t appreciate their time and effort. Be honest….when you’ve been sitting in the doctor’s office for 20 minutes past your appointment time don’t you ask yourself why that so and so thinks his time is more valuable than your own?</font></p> <p><font size="3">I’ll go even further~~sometimes homeschoolers don’t show up at all! There are several museums in the are that are reluctant to work with our homeschool co-op because they’ve been burned before. We even do it to our own. I can still remember a homeschooling mother of 10 who had organized a day for us to make apple butter in big copper kettles over and open fire. She needed to can dozens and dozens of jars to sell at a German heritage festival so over 20 families had signed up to peel apples, tend fires, and fill jars. During the down times she’d organized apple themed games and crafts. My son and I were the <em>only </em>people to show up! Now granted she had 10 of her own kids, most in their teens, to get the work done but her disappointment in the group that should have had her back was immense. To my knowledge she has never volunteered to organize another event in the six years since.</font></p> <p><font size="3">So while your busy thinking about next year’s math and science courses and how to teach your kids to keep their b’s and d’s straight, maybe think about including a lesson on organizing and scheduling and keeping commitments.</font></p> Beth B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/17744700558848514081noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57965000306130992.post-24300366380465872412015-06-17T09:02:00.001-07:002015-06-17T09:02:04.834-07:00Review: CTC Math<p><font size="3"><img style="float: left; margin: 0px 5px 0px 0px; display: inline" src="http://i721.photobucket.com/albums/ww217/MOmama_album/Homeschool%20crew%20reviews/CTC%20Math_zps5uieyldl.jpg" width="336" align="left" height="500">For better or worse, math is one of those subjects you can never get away from. It’s not like the lifecycle of a butterfly, which you can cover once and never study again (or maybe skip entirely). You start with counting blocks and continue throughout a student’s education. And for some mothers, this can be intimidating because it wasn’t their best subject. When you can’t teach what you never learned yourself, what are you to do? You may need to turn to outside help like <a href="http://www.ctcmath.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><strong>CTC Math</strong></a><strong>.</strong> We’ve been reviewing their <a href="http://ctcmath.com/ctcmath-for-homeschoolers/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><strong>12 Month Family Plan</strong></a> this summer. While they have courses to cover everything from kindergarten math up to Calculus, Fritz has been trying to prevent the summer brain drain by going through their Algebra lessons. </font></p> <p><font size="3">When you log on to CTC Math you may notice that you’re redirected to a website with an .au extension~~that stands for Australia! Yes, when my son was watching his online lessons it sounded like he was being taught by the Man From Snowy River. Who knows, he might have been more engaged just by listening to that accent. I also noticed on login, that we were receiving the United States curriculum. Although it didn’t affect anything we covered, I’m assuming that means some lessons would include American currency or units of measure, but also that there would be other curricula available if you lived in another part of the world.</font></p> <p><img style="float: none; margin-left: auto; display: block; margin-right: auto" src="http://i721.photobucket.com/albums/ww217/MOmama_album/Homeschool%20crew%20reviews/CTC-3_zpse5uduxec.jpg"></p> <p><font size="3">The start-up screen gives the student access to all the levels on the left hand side of the screen. You can narrow in on your course of study by choosing a stream and then topic (the gold bar in the topic shows the progress you’ve made in that section). </font></p> <p><img style="float: none; margin-left: auto; display: block; margin-right: auto" src="http://i721.photobucket.com/albums/ww217/MOmama_album/Homeschool%20crew%20reviews/CTC-2_zpslsunom0d.jpg"></p> <p><font size="3">When you select a topic, you move to a new screen with the individual lessons. If you’re not sure where <img style="float: left; margin: 0px 5px 0px 0px; display: inline" src="http://i721.photobucket.com/albums/ww217/MOmama_album/Homeschool%20crew%20reviews/CTC-1_zps4n2kud3s.jpg" width="304" align="left" height="286">to begin, there is a diagnostic test (gray bar at the top of the list). You can get immediate feedback on what your student already knows and what should be reviewed (or learned for the first time). I didn’t notice this test at first and had Fritz start at the beginning~~he really could have jumped ahead because he’s already mastered the order of operations. </font></p> <p><font size="3">I find it interesting that the test had you type in the numbers (with fractions they give you two spaces to fill for numerator and denominator) because when it came time for the worksheets they use an entirely different format for submitting answers/grading. </font> <font size="3">I would print out a page for Fritz with problems to solve and at the bottom of the page was a list of possible answers with a letter assigned to each. After completing the paper he’d return to the website where he’d click on Enter Results. If he’d missed any, he could click on view solutions where he’d see the correct answers, but nothing on how that answer has reached.</font></p> <p><img style="float: right; display: inline" src="http://i721.photobucket.com/albums/ww217/MOmama_album/Homeschool%20crew%20reviews/CTC-5_zpsjnkancfn.jpg" width="461" align="right" height="324"></p> <p><img style="float: left; display: inline" src="http://i721.photobucket.com/albums/ww217/MOmama_album/Homeschool%20crew%20reviews/CTC-4_zpsthubd1w9.jpg" width="227" align="left" height="304"> </p> <p><font size="3"></font></p> <center> </center> <center> </center> <center> </center> <center> </center> <center> </center> <center> </center> <center> </center> <center> </center> <center> </center> <center> </center> <center> </center> <center> </center> <center> </center> <center> </center> <center> </center> <center> </center> <center> </center> <center> </center> <div align="left"><font size="3">I’m still on the fence about this “answer key” method. Yes, it’s better than multiple choice where a student may have a one out of four or five chance to guess at the right answer. As far as I can tell each of the answers is used only once so a kid could leave questions he was unsure of until the end to improve his odds of guessing correctly. Of course since algebra involves letters and the worksheets don’t always use the same letter for the unknown, you could also eliminate some answers that way. I did see some answers that were designed red herrings, that is, answers a student would get if they made a common mistake like switching positive to negative. Still, if CTC has the capability to let students just type in answers I think that would be the best way to see what they know or don’t know.</font></div> <div align="left"><font size="3"></font> </div> <div align="left"><font size="3"><img style="float: right; margin: 0px 0px 0px 5px; display: inline" src="http://i721.photobucket.com/albums/ww217/MOmama_album/Homeschool%20crew%20reviews/CTC-6_zpsvvmg2new.jpg" width="254" align="right" height="332">To that end, I received a weekly report via email that showed Fritz’s progress. It let me know how long he’d worked on math and his grades. You may notice the small red dot on the report or the red line on the screenshot of the lesson topics. On that particular day I’d called Fritz during math time to come see a mama fox and her kit running through our back yard. He missed seeing the pair and blamed it on math. He had been entering his answers and when he returned to the computer he hit submit in a fit of anger. When he’d calmed down he tried to return to the exercise and finish submitting his answers, but the damage was done. He’s initial score was 22 percent. I’ve found no way for a parent to “reset” the system. He could repeat the activity over and over and raise his score, but it’s weighted to the first submission and he’ll never get to 100. So that day Fritz learned a life lesson (repercussions of acting in anger) as well as algebra~~Lesson learned. I do think a parent reset might be a good feature to add, especially given that this program is delivered via the internet. I don’t know what would happen to a students records if a storm or something else interrupted the connection during a lesson.</font></div> <div align="left"><font size="3"></font> </div> <div align="left"><font size="3">Still, I think we’ll keep using CTC through the summer. The lessons are relatively short (around 5 minutes) and the teacher is pleasant to listen to.</font></div> <div align="left"><font size="3"></font> </div> <div align="left"> </div> <div align="left"><font size="3"></font> </div> <div align="left"><font size="3"></font> </div> <center><a href="http://schoolhousereviewcrew.com/ctcmath-review/" target="_blank"><img border="0" alt="CTCmath Review" src="http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/2014TOSCREW/2014%20CREW%20BANNERS/clickformorereviews600x160_zpsc2cf0855.png"></a></center> <p><img style="float: none; margin-left: auto; display: block; margin-right: auto" src="http://i721.photobucket.com/albums/ww217/MOmama_album/Blog%20dislaimer/RamblingsFTCDisclaimer_zps6bf42fac.jpg"></p> Beth B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/17744700558848514081noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57965000306130992.post-6591633510467161582015-06-13T09:30:00.001-07:002015-06-13T09:30:29.080-07:00A giggle to start the dayEverything your mother has every said to you (and probably some things you've said to you own kids" summed up in under four minutes. Please don't drink anything while watching---it may end up on your screen.<br />
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Don't miss a thing! <a href="http://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailverify?uri=OzarkRamblings&loc=en_US">Subscribe to Ozark Ramblings </a> and get my posts in your inbox. Beth B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/17744700558848514081noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57965000306130992.post-28356576525008862122015-06-09T05:26:00.003-07:002015-06-09T16:33:36.446-07:00Review: TWSS and SWI-B<p><font size="3"><img style="float: left; margin: 0px 5px 0px 0px; display: inline" src="http://i721.photobucket.com/albums/ww217/MOmama_album/Homeschool%20crew%20reviews/IEW%20title_zpsbpobzwvf.jpg" align="left">The past April I had the opportunity to attend my local Homeschool Expo and meet Andrew Pudewa from the <a href="http://iew.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><strong>Institute for Excellence in Writing (IEW)</strong></a>. I wanted to thank him personally because I’m not sure I’d still be homeschooling if it weren’t for the products his organization has created. For this particular review we received <a href="http://iew.com/TWSID-B" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><strong>Teaching Writing: Structure and Style and Student Writing Intensive Level B</strong></a><strong>.</strong></font></p> <p><font size="3">I don’t make that claim about not homeschooling lightly. Writing is my son’s most difficult subject from the actual act of putting pen to paper and his handwriting issues to organizing thoughts to coming up with creative ideas. I on the other hand am one of those girls that could fill a small notebook on a writing assignment. Because it came so easily to me I struggled with how to teach my son~~obviously saying “You just do it” wasn’t helping matters. We’d save writing for the last subject, because I wanted to get as much accomplished as possible before the whining or complete meltdowns ruined our day.</font></p> <p><font size="3">We’re both winners with IEW. My son’s writing assignments are broken into manageable baby steps. He’s spared from the idea that he needs to come up with a story that has never been thought up in the history of the world. I can let Mr. Pudewa do the teaching on the DVDs or I can follow the teaching guidelines in the manual. </font></p> <p><font size="3"><img style="float: left; display: inline" src="http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/-2015%20CREW/TWSS_zpsy4xcfrdd.jpg" align="left">I first reviewed <strong><a href="http://iew.com/shop/products/teaching-writing-structure-and-style-second-edition-dvd-seminar-workbook-premium" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Teaching Writing: Structure and Style</a></strong> my third year on the TOS Crew, but the program has been entirely updated. I received twelve DVD’s stored in a book/folder with individual pockets for each disk (there are extra pockets on the back sides of each page so you could also store other IEW product disks in is as well). The first nine disks contain over 14 hours of workshops to teach you how to teach your kids. The remaining three discs have 5.5 hours showing how Mr. Andrew Pudewa teaches kids at four different learning levels. The second component of the course is a three ring binder with 234 pages of teaching tips, answers to frequently asked questions, student writing samples and more. Currently offered with the premium package is 1 year of access to streaming versions of the lecture recordings, audio recordings, and PDF files of classroom posters and source material for all nine units of the writing program. I found that I’d already received a lot of the material through IEW’s annual Twelve Days of Christmas giveaways, but new material will be added/updated every June. </font></p> <p><font size="3"><img style="float: right; display: inline" src="http://i721.photobucket.com/albums/ww217/MOmama_album/Homeschool%20crew%20reviews/sid-b_thumb_zpsriwntgte.jpg" align="right">We also received the <strong><a href="http://iew.com/shop/products/student-writing-intensive-level-b" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Level B of the Student Writing Intensive</a></strong> curriculum.</font> <font size="3">There are four discs with lessons and one with an overview of the entire program. A manila envelope is included in the set holding with both teacher material (course syllabus, DVD scene listings, Teacher’s Notes for each lesson) and student material ( that will be given to the student when called for throughout the course). The three ring binder for this set is meant to help the student organize his work with sections for Structural models, outlines, style charts and banned words list. </font></p> <p><font size="3">It’s these last sections that is really pulling the writing out of my son. While Charles Dickens or Victor Hugo seem to squeeze in as many words as possible (Dickens at least was paid by the word), my son is the exact opposite. Because he will eventually have to write it himself (I act as his scribe during rough drafts), it’s an understatement to say he keeps his words to a minimum. When he begins to manipulate the sentences to make sure he’s included the “dress ups,” and now making sure that sentences start with something other than the subject, that he’s forced to expand his writing. </font></p> <p><font size="3">This is not our first go round with IEW (We’ve been through SWI-A and this year we did the first half of the Student Intensive Continuation Course (SICC-A). We jumped into Unit 6 Summarizing Multiple References, since we’d just wrapped up Unit 5 Writing From Pictures. Fritz watched the process on the DVD’s and we used the provided source material. By “virtually” participating in the class, he was able to take advantage of the brainstorming with other students. In the next lesson we did not use the source material provided. He needed to write an essay on the history of Dutch Ovens for a merit badge. I gathered a Lodge cast iron booklet, a cookbook on outdoor cooking and several internet article for him and we went through all the steps on our own. I don’t think his Royal Ranger Commander expected such craftsmanship in the essay, but as a homeschooling teacher I was thrilled.</font></p> <p><font size="3">We’ve moved on to Unit 7 Inventive Writing for another merit badge writing assignment. This time Fritz needed to write a devotion for his Bible merit so rather than use the SWI materials, I’m teaching him from what I had learned by watching the Structure and Style DVDs. Normally this kind of assignment would have caused a complete meltdown with crying and screaming. However, we are following Mr. Pudewa’s example of asking yourself questions to draw information out of your head and we created an outline before starting to write. Fritz jumped on the idea that there’s nothing we can do to work our way into heaven. For an analogy, he compared heaven to the top of the Gateway Arch. His first paragraph provides information about the Arch, the second covers various world records (high jump, pole vault) and other stunts people have tried to get to the top. The final paragraph compares the ticket you must buy to the free gift of salvation. With his permission I may share when it’s finished.</font></p> <p><font size="3">One of the reasons I was chosen for this review is that IEW has a heart to help special needs children. My son is an Aspie, and while most people associate Asperger's Syndrome with social awkwardness, they also have problems with writing. I already mentioned the actual act of putting pen to paper. According to the Jan/Feb 2013 issue of Autism Asperger’s Digest “<em>The writing process involves skills in language, organization, motor control and planning, and sensory processing: four areas that are problematic for many individuals with ASD</em>.” IEW provides the tools to help with the first two. We’re building vocabulary by banning simple words (good/bad, said, went) and creating lists of verbs and adjectives that create a stronger image or feeling. Organization is built into the program~~every unit begins with creating an outline of some form before writing the first sentence.</font></p> <p><font size="3">When we started it was definitely slow baby steps. According to Mr. Pudewa, there’s no such thing as giving too much help. When my son couldn’t identify key words, I would reread the source paragraph sentences and verbally emphasize the best choices. I usually write his key word outlines based on the words he underlines. He dictates his first draft to me. While he’s demonstrated mastery of the dress ups, when it comes to sentence openers he’ll often say “I’m open to suggestions”~~ my cue to offer help. Because it requires so much of his energy to physically write, he really needs a mental break—using source samples so he doesn’t have to come up with original ideas provides that. He is slowly learning to come up with his own material (the Unit on developing a story based on a series of three pictures for example). </font></p> <p><font size="3">I’ll be the first to admit that opening a box with all this material in it is intimidating. Understand that you don’t have to learn it all yourself before you begin teaching your children. If I were a newbie, I would begin by watching the Overview Disc that comes with the SWI set. Then I’d let Mr. Pudewa do the teaching—at least to start, with the Student Writing Intensive materials. At the same time, I’d watch the same unit on the Teaching Writing: Structure and Style discs on my own~~and do the practicum work so that you really understand what your child is being asked to do. Be patient. Remember the motto “Mastery and then one more thing.” Then as both teacher and student grew more comfortable with the process, you could expand the source material to other subjects you were teaching, history or science perhaps. If you or your child are struggling in any area be sure and sign up for the forum kept on the IEW website. I’ve received quick responses to my questions and found some tips from other IEW users. </font></p> <p><font size="3">I would also highly recommend the Fix It! Grammar series. The two programs work together to reinforce concepts. For example in Fix It! Grammar one of my son's weekly tasks was to choose the best strong verb (one of the dress ups) of the week. Some weeks in Fix It! there are two sentences with the instruction to combine them with a who/which. We also learned some sentence openers in grammar before they came up in the writing program.</font></p> <p><font size="3">The Institute for Excellence in Writing has earned a special spot in our homeschool. I’m keeping all my materials in hopes that someday my grandchildren with use them! When a new homeschooler comes to me not knowing where to turn, IEW is one of the first vendors I recommend they check out. Their products, indeed the company itself, are truly among the best of the best.</font></p> <p><font size="3">In case you’re interested in some of my other IEW reviews, try the links below.</font></p> <ul> <li><font size="3"><a href="http://oramblings.blogspot.com/2013/07/tos-review-institute-for-excellence-in.html" target="_blank">Teaching the Classics</a></font> <li><font size="3"><a href="http://oramblings.blogspot.com/2014/09/review-fix-it-grammar.html" target="_blank">Fix It! Grammar</a></font> <li><font size="3"><a href="http://oramblings.blogspot.com/2011/05/review-institute-for-excellence-in.html" target="_blank">TWSS (1st edition) and SWI-A</a></font></li></ul> <p> </p> <p><font size="3"></font></p> <center><a href=" http://schoolhousereviewcrew.com/iew-teaching-writing-with-student-writing-intensive-review/" target="_blank"><img border="0" alt="IEW Review" src="http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/2014TOSCREW/2014%20CREW%20BANNERS/clickformorereviews600x160_zpsc2cf0855.png"></a></center> <p><img style="float: none; margin-left: auto; display: block; margin-right: auto" src="http://i721.photobucket.com/albums/ww217/MOmama_album/Blog%20dislaimer/RamblingsFTCDisclaimer_zps6bf42fac.jpg"></p>Don't miss a thing! <a href="http://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailverify?uri=OzarkRamblings&loc=en_US">Subscribe to Ozark Ramblings </a>and get my posts in your inbox. Beth B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/17744700558848514081noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57965000306130992.post-40037322701345701522015-06-05T07:47:00.000-07:002015-06-30T05:48:32.692-07:00Spring HarvestingHarvest is usually associated with the fall, but I've been busy in the garden and around our property. The snow peas are going crazy. I've been able to fix one of our favorite dishes~~Szechwan Chicken Pasta at least twice a week. And the black raspberries need collecting every morning (before the birds get to them). Blackberries are growing in the same area and they won't be long. In addition, I've been collecting several herbs and drying them in the dehydrator: red clover, dandelion, plantain, and cleavers. I know they all sound like weeds, and if you lived in the suburbs you'd probably be spraying your lawn to get rid of them. <br />
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But I've been studying about herbs lately. Did you know plantain is great for disinfecting cuts and scrapes, treating acne, and is high in vitamin C and calcium? All parts of the dandelion can be used--the roots may help balance blood sugar, the greens can lower blood pressure.<br />
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Have you ever noticed (and how could you not) the long list of possible side effects in the commercials for medicines on TV? Herbs tend not to have those issues. If you're interested in learning more I highly recommend the book <a href="http://www.drmomsherbs.com/store/products/be-your-own-doctor/" target="_blank">Be Your Own Doctor</a> by Rachel Weaver. <br />
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Don't miss a thing! <a href="http://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailverify?uri=OzarkRamblings&loc=en_US">Subscribe to Ozark Ramblings </a> and get my posts in your inbox. Beth B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/17744700558848514081noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57965000306130992.post-87444381861045606472015-06-04T05:19:00.001-07:002015-06-04T05:19:44.043-07:00Review: Latina Christiana I<p><font size="3"><img style="float: left; margin: 0px 7px 0px 0px; display: inline" src="http://i721.photobucket.com/albums/ww217/MOmama_album/Homeschool%20crew%20reviews/Latin_zpszpgc2zfu.jpg" width="303" align="left" height="451">Salvete, amici Latinae! That’s how my son and I have been starting every Monday morning for the past several weeks. We’ve been students together, using the <a href="http://www.memoriapress.com/curriculum/latin/latina-christiana-i" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><strong>Latina Christiana I Complete Set</strong></a>. <font size="3">This Introduction to Christian Latin is a product of <a href="http://memoriapress.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><strong>Memoria Press</strong></a>, a family-run publisher of classical style education materials for over twenty years. The term Christian refers to the pronunciation coming from the Catholic church usage of Latin. </font>We received:</font></p>
<p><font size="3">A <strong>Student Book</strong>, softback with 88 pages. Each lesson had the Latin saying, new vocabulary and grammar summarized and a page of exercises. The back of the book had maps, the songs and prayers to be memorized, a list of verb forms and nouns forms, and an extensive vocabulary index.</font></p>
<p><font size="3">A <strong>Teacher Manual</strong>, spiral bound with 158 pages. Each lesson has small reproductions of the student book pages (with answers filled in) surrounded by helpful information and tips for the teacher. The back had reproducible quizzes, the songs and prayers to be memorized, charts with noun and verb forms, and a vocabulary index (this time with Eglish to Latin as well as Latin to English).</font></p>
<p><font size="3">A <strong>Pronunciation CD </strong>with a speaker saying all the vocabulary and Latin Sayings. It also included three beautifully harmonized songs: Adeste Fideles, Dona Nobis Pacem, and Christus Vincit.</font></p>
<p><font size="3">A five disc <strong>Instructional DVD set</strong>, each disk contains five lessons. The teacher would appear in a portion of the screen along with slides of the materials being taught. There are no captions for the hearing impaired. </font></p>
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<p><font size="3">A set of <strong>Flashcards</strong>. The pages of slick cardstock were perforated for easy separation. </font></p>
<p><font size="3">I have always thought of myself as an eclectic homeschool with leanings toward Charlotte Mason if anything so studying Latin was never on my radar screen. I always thought the goal of studying a foreign language was to be able to ask directions/hold a conversation while visiting another country. When I was in high school I took French so I could be an exchange student and see the view from the top of the Eiffel Tower. Since there’s no where in the world I could go to speak Latin, I assumed the only reason to study it was to be “high-falutin’.” Then I attended a workshop at Homeschool Expo on A Classical Approach in a Modern World. It turns out the reason to study Latin is to understand English grammar! The advantages are no one speaks it so you can’t offend someone by butchering their native tongue. Also, since it’s a dead language the meanings of individual words aren’t evolving. I was intrigued enough that I decided to learn right alongside my son when we received this review.</font></p>
<p><font size="3">I could do that because this program comes with its own teacher via the DVD lessons which tend to be at least half an hour each. We begin with recitation~~a song, a prayer, and review of the basics: vowels, diphthongs, conjugations, parts of speech, and the latest: declensions. I thought the first lesson would be the longest as she explained the program, but with each lesson the review portion get a little bit longer. Next we learned a Latin phrase for the week. You probably know some of them yourself~~”Veni, Vidi, Vici” and “E Pluribus Unum.” New vocabulary came next, usually a combination of nouns and verbs but once we learned numbers one through ten, hundred, and thousand. After we learned the new Latin words we studied some English derivatives. And finally we’d hit some grammar. I was familiar with the concept of conjugating verbs from French, but declining nouns was entirely new. So far we’ve only been responsible to learn the endings for the first declension and that one column represents singular nouns and the other plural.</font></p>
<p><font size="3"><img style="float: left; margin: 0px 5px 0px 0px; display: inline" src="http://i721.photobucket.com/albums/ww217/MOmama_album/Homeschool%20crew%20reviews/latin-2_zps0q7kd7g5.jpg" width="380" align="left" height="464">In the Teacher Manual is a reproducible worksheet for vocabulary drill. Three times a week we would write our new vocabulary words and their English translations—usually on Mondays after the video, Tuesdays, and Thursdays. The back side of the page had tables to write and practice conjugations and declensions. On Wednesday we worked in the Student Book (my son in the book and I used notebook paper) and Friday was quiz day (quizzes and tests can be found in the Teacher Manual). Every fifth lesson is a cumulative review, after which comes a test. We’ve only had one so far and I was surprised to see Roman history included. There is a page or two of history and some maps in the Teacher Manual, but it seems most of the questions assume you are also using Memoria Press’s Famous Men of Rome curriculum.</font></p>
<p><font size="3">Another great drilling tool is the set of flash cards. One side has the vocabulary word, the lesson number and usually some English derivatives, the <img style="float: right; display: inline" src="http://i721.photobucket.com/albums/ww217/MOmama_album/Homeschool%20crew%20reviews/latin-1_zpsrcogikzz.jpg" align="right">opposite side has the English translation and part of speech. There are also flash cards for the Latin phrases and cue words for conjugating and declining. I punched holes in our set and kept them on a ring. Throughout the week we’d flip to a word and see if we knew the definition or the translation for the English side. I realized just how useful these cards were after I lost the set for lesson three. I ended up making my own version~~they were that helpful, at least for this old brain.</font></p>
<p><font size="3">The least used part of the set was the pronunciation CD. During the recitation we’d be prompted to stop the video and use the CD to sing one of three songs. Instead, we just listened to the songs as they played on the various menu screens of the DVD. Since Latin is a dead language, I wasn’t concerned about getting the pronunciation exactly right so I didn’t feel it necessary to listen to the CD over and over~~not to mention the speaker had a rather thick southern accent. We simply applied the pronunciation rules we’d learned in our first lesson (and the teachers themselves didn’t always follow the rules~~sometimes they pronounced “e” as “eh” rather than “ay.”</font></p>
<p><font size="3">After six weeks, we still can’t form a single Latin sentence (other than the phrases we’d memorized), but I will concur with that workshop speaker that we were learning a lot about grammar—both Latin and English. Our English vocabulary was also increasing as we studied derivatives of our Latin words. So I guess study Latin is worth while, even if I’ll never need it to ask directions while vacationing.</font></p>
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Don't miss a thing! <a href="http://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailverify?uri=OzarkRamblings&loc=en_US">Subscribe to Ozark Ramblings </a> and get my posts in your inbox. Beth B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/17744700558848514081noreply@blogger.com0