Opportunity for Bloggin' Mamas

A fellow member of the TOS Review Crew is preparing for her blog's anniversary and you can be a part of the celebration.

Free Sign Ups for the

Back to School/5 Year Blogiversary Celebration

Organized by Karen @ Tots and Me

There will be 1 Winner.

Prize Package is valued at approximately $340 

(there may still be some additions).

You can see the full list of prizes here.

Signups Close August 14th, 2014

Giveaway Dates: August 17th-31st
Open to US residents

You will get a free Facebook link for participating. You must post the giveaway on August 17th and promote 3 times a week. 

You can opt to get your choice of second link (Twitter or Pinterest) for posting the announcement post on your blog.

Co-host spots are available for $10. You will get three links (Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest) plus a comment link (to a non-giveaway post). Co-hosts will also be listed on the Giveaway image and have a back-link in the Giveaway post.

All Co-host money will go toward a Amazon Gift Card or Paypal prize (winner's choice). 

Co-host spots, with the same benefits, will also be given if you choose to supply a prize, of at least $10, to the prize package. You will be responsible for shipping the prize to the winner.

Sign up here!

O is for the Old Courthouse

Tourists looking down from the windows of the Arch to the west often see the federal style building with the oxidized copper dome and assume it’s the state capitol.  Nope, that’s in Jefferson City—not visible from the Arch.  St. Louisans refer to the building as “The Old Courthouse” Not terribly original, huh?  The basilica nearly across the street is referred to as the Old Cathedral.  I’m not presuming this is the only old courthouse in the country, in fact I’m sure there are many older buildings on the east coast where legal cases were heard. 

The building has ties to the founding of the city itself.  The land on which it sits was donated in part by Auguste Chouteau with the stipulation that it be forever used as the site of the courthouse.  (Chouteau was 14 years old when he laid out the plans for St. Louis – learn more about his story in the book A Boy for a Man’s Job).   Yes, it’s not being used as a courthouse anymore and yes,  the Chouteau descendants sued to have the land returned to them, but they lost and the courthouse and land was turned over to the National Parks Department where it’s now part of the Jefferson Expansion Memorial (along with the Arch ).

I hadn’t been to the Old Courthouse since my fourth grade field trip –and it’s a good thing I didn’t share what I remembered because they ripped out all those exhibits years ago.  Instead, I decided to invite my mother on an “adventure” (our family term for field trips) to the big city.  We took Metrolink and got off at the 8th & Pine station.  If you’re already visiting the Arch, you’ll just need take a bridge over the highway.  NOTE: they are in the process of making the highway go in a tunnel and creating additional parkland to better connect the Arch grounds to the rest of the city.

The first thing to impress me was the art and architecture of the building.  Just look at the elaborate iron scrollwork in the steps!

And then you reach the rotunda, with a very patriotic display I might add.

We were far too early for the guided tour so we browsed on our own.  Where the Museum of Westward Expansion under the Arch covers all of the Louisiana Purchase territory, the exhibits in the Old Courthouse focus on the City of St. Louis.  There is the diorama room…

Here’s a keelboat is bringing in supplies.  Can you see the flag in the background?  It’s Spanish, as are the militiamen on shore.  Spain controlled the land from 1762 to 1802 (remember I wrote about this in D is for Daniel Boone Home) The house is actually French in style, as were the original settlers of the city. There were also four galleries with photos and artifacts from four eras of St. Louis history:  founding to 1850, 1850-1900, 1900-1930 (this includes the St. Louis World’s Fair, 1930 to present. 

Even if you’re not interested in architecture or St. Louis history, it’s still worth visiting the Old Courthouse to learn about the significant 19th century trial that took place there.  Yes, this is another example of Missouri history overlapping U.S. history---in this case the Dred Scott trial, a significant step leading to the Civil War.

Dred Scott was a slave brought to the state by the Blow family and sold to a military surgeon, Dr. John Emerson.  The doctor was assigned to various forts and outposts, including at least two in “free” land –the state of Illinois and Wisconsin Territory (remember the Missouri Compromise prohibited slavery in all Louisiana Purchase land north of 36°30′ latitude).  Both Scott and the doctor married and both couples returned to St. Louis in 1842.  Shortly after, the doctor died and his widow inherited the Scotts as her property.  She hired out the Scotts (they did the work, but she collected most of the wages).

In 1846, the Scotts filed lawsuits against the widow for their freedom (according to a movie we saw in the courthouse, nearly 300 slaves obtained their freedom this way as Missouri courts supported the “once free, always free” doctrine despite being a slave state).   Their first case was lost on a technicality, but they were allowed to re-file their suits.  In 1850, the Circuit Court granted the Scotts their freedom, but the widow appealed to the Missouri Supreme Court.  From that point on, the Scotts lost in both state and federal courts up to the Supreme Court decision in 1857.  Chief Justice Taney wrote in the majority opinion that no African descendant, slave or free, could be a citizen of the United States and that the provisions of the Missouri Compromise were voided (in other words congress couldn’t prohibit slavery in the territories). 

So what happened to the Scotts?  Shortly after the decision, the widow sold them back to their previous owners, the Blows, for one dollar. I’ve read that she did so because she had remarried, and her Massachusetts congressman husband was opposed to slavery, but the marriage took place in 1850.  Why not sell them then, or let them by their freedom (as Dred Scott had once tried to do), or just free them?   And when the Blows did free Dred and Harriet Scott, the widow went to court to collect the wages they had earned for the 11 years the lawsuit was being tried (the money had been held in escrow pending the outcome)—the court gave all the money to her!  Dred Scott died a year later from tuberculosis.

These are copies of the “Free Negro Bonds” for Dred and Harriet Scott.  The Blow family had to put up $1000 for each. The documents  lay out the rights and responsibilities required for the two to live in the state of Missouri.  If the Scotts were ever deemed “a menace to society”  they would lose the money.

It’s not a pretty picture of Missouri or U.S. history, but I left with a greater depth of knowledge and understanding than can be gained by the one or two sentences afforded to the case in history texts.  There is no admission charged to visit the Old Courthouse.

I’m linking up with …

N is for National Frontier Trails Museum

Do you remember me saying in my L post on Lewis and Clark that oftentimes Missouri history and U.S. history overlap.  We’re starting a string of posts that prove my point.  After the Corp of Discovery explored the new land in the Louisiana Purchase, a whole lot of people decided they needed some more elbow room.  Of course, traveling alone in a new country could be dangerous so most folks joined a “wagon train” of like-minded settlers.  And the best “meetin’-up place” was in Independence, Missouri.  It became known as the “Queen City of the Trails”  as the departure point for the California, Oregon and Santa Fe trails (this last one was really used more by traders and the military than settlers). 

The California Trail stretches about 1950 miles from the Missouri river to Sacramento, CA. Of all the emigration trails, it had the heaviest traffic.  It’s estimated that 250,000 pioneers traveled its path between the 1840’s and the 1860’s, the majority doing so after the discovery of gold in the territory.  It took four to six months to complete the journey and as many as 5 percent of the travelers died on the trail from disease, attacks, or freezing temperatures. 

The Oregon Trail was the longest route to the Pacific coast, measuring about 2000 miles.  Estimates say 80,000 traveled its route to Oregon while another 20,000 went on to what would become the state of Washington. The first organized wagon train left in 1836, but it stopped at Fort Hall (now Idaho).  The trail was eventually extended to Oregon in 1843.   Traffic on the trail declined when the government decided settlers needed to pay for the land that they had so far been able to claim for free.  In 1869, the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad became a much faster and safer alternative, but the Oregon Trail was still used by a few until the 1890’s/

The Santa Fe Trail (900 miles) was opened in 1821 as a trade route into what was then Mexican territory (they had just gained independence from Spain).  In Santa Fe, one could continue on the Old Spanish Trail or the Camino Real to reach Mexico City.  During the Mexican War,  the U.S. Army used the trail as an invasion route and later as a mean to transport supplies.  There were some pioneers who used the trail, settling in what would become Colorado and northern New Mexico.  In 1880, the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railway constructed their new line over the original trail.

Today, in Independence, MO you can visit the National  Frontier Trails Museum ($6/adults, $3/ages 5-17).  It is partially built on the remains of an old mill that used to supply grist and flour for the pioneers stocking their wagons.  On the property you can visit the spring where pioneers watered their livestock or walk in the swales, or ruts that their wagons left behind.  In the museum itself you can find quotes from pioneer diaries and letters as well as some of the artifacts they left behind.  The video with an intrepid Jr. Reporter shows one of the interactive displays where you have to make the hard decisions about what to take and what must remain.

Post by City of Independence, MO, Government.

 

 

An excellent complement to the museum is the Pioneer Trails Adventures wagon tour (you can buy a combo ticket).  A pair of Missouri mules pull tourists through the swales and around the town while they hear about the Trails and other local attractions (there were 2 Civil War battles in the town, Jesse James was locked up here and it was the home of President Harry S Truman). 

I’m linking up with …

Review: Hewitt Homeschooling

Don’t you just love Twain’s wit? This quote appears on the cover of the language arts curriculum we received from Hewitt Homeschooling. In fact, it’s probably safe to say it’s the inspiration for the title.  It addresses both literature analysis and writing skills.  The subtitle reads: Preparing for High School Composition Skills by Responding to Great Literature.  We received three soft-cover books:

• Lightning Literature and Composition: Grade 7 Student's Guide
• Lightning Literature and Composition: Grade 7 Student's Workbook
• Lightning Literature and Composition: Grade 7 Teacher's Guide

In addition to these books, you’ll need unabridged copies of several books:

• Stories & Poems for  Extremely Intelligent Children by Harold Bloom
• The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
• Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
• The Story of My Life by Helen Keller
• All Creatures Great and Small by James Herriot

For this review, I actually used my own copy of The Jungle Book for reading Chapter One’s subject: Rikki-Tikki-Tavi rather than the version in Stories & Poems for  Extremely Intelligent Children. If I were doing the full year’s study, we would need Harold Bloom’s book for all the poems used in other lessons.  The required books and the curriculum are available as a pack for $92.63.

The Student Guide ($20.00, 145 pp.) contains eight chapters written directly to the student.  The format includes an Introduction to the poem, book, or story to be studied; questions to ponder While You Read, a Vocabulary List of words broken down by chapter where applicable, Comprehension Questions, a main Literary Lesson, a Mini-Lesson on a second topic, and choice of Writing Exercises to be completed after reading and completing the exercises in the workbook. The student will read the Introduction before the reading assignment and can refer to the Vocabulary List during the reading. The parent determines when and how often to answer the Comprehension Questions (weekly, as you finish each chapter, etc.).  Everything else is saved for after the reading is finished. You can find a Sample Chapter online.

The Workbook ($20.00, 162 pp.) is arranged in chapters that correspond to the Student Guide.  You may find a crossword puzzle that works as a reading comprehension exercise (the clues ask you to remember names and events from the reading).  We also encountered a word search puzzle that used names and terms from Rikki-Tikki-Tavi, but was really just “busy work” to my mind.  Other activities dealt with grammar and writing and could be tied to the reading, the Literary Lesson or the Mini-Lesson.  Some assignments involved circling the correct multiple choice answer, others had him write paragraphs in his own words either from a sample paragraph or simulated “note cards,” still other times he acted as an editor—correcting missing capital letters and adding apostrophes. You can find a Sample Chapter online.

The Teacher’s Guide ($20.00, 105 pp.) begins with a How to Use the Book section before starting chapters that align with the Student Guide and Workbook.  Here you’ll find a planning schedule for two 18 week semesters. The eight chapters vary greatly in the length of time assigned to each.  The poetry chapters and Rikki-Tikki-Tavi take only two weeks each while All Creatures Great and Small and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer take nine weeks each. The chapters provide answers to the Comprehension Questions and answer keys for the workbook exercises.  In some cases, where the student is writing his own work, the guide provides some guidance for helping a struggling student. Each chapter includes Discussion Questions that deal with opinions and comparing personal experiences to the story rather than just Comprehension Questions.  There’s also a guide for parents to decide which Writing Exercise to assign.  You can find a Sample Chapter online.

The books clearly say “Seventh Grade” on the cover, but my son is an excellent reader who would be entering sixth grade if he attended public school.  He hasn’t had any problems keeping up with the work. We did not follow the recommended schedule during our review.  First of all, we’d spend several weeks (seven) just reading Tom Sawyer and never touching the Student Guide or Workbook, which wouldn’t make much of a review.  Second, my son’s least favorite activity is writing and to heap all the workbook exercises and Writing Exercises upon him in one week (after the reading) would be a recipe for disaster: whining, complaining and hair-pulling. 



After a week’s worth of reading in Tom Sawyer, I assigned a day to read the Main Lesson instead.  He was already familiar with the story so I wasn’t concerned he’d run across any “spoilers” as he read the analysis of plots and sub-plots.  There really aren’t any activities in the Workbook that required his finishing the novel first.  For the remainder of the review we read four days per week and did workbook activities on the fifth.  He prefers typing to handwriting so I allow him to use the computer for the longer writing assignments (makes it easier to correct & edit too).



This fall I’ll be teaching literature analysis for the upper grades in our homeschool co-op.  We won’t be reading the same books, but I’ve gleaned plenty of useful material from the Main Lessons and Mini-Lessons to share with the kids.  All in all, I’m fairly impressed with the Lightning Literature and Composition approach.

 

Rescued Books–Educator Classic Library

It’s time for another series of books—this time The Educator Classic Library.  The original 12 volumes were published between 1968 and 1970 and contained unabridged versions of the following titles.

1. Treasure island
2. 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
3. Pinocchio
4. Swiss Family Robinson
5. The Jungle Book
6. The Virginian
7. Casebook of Sherlock Homes
8. Arabian Nights (this title was apparently abridged to remove some sexual content)
9. Merry Adventures of Robin Hood
10. The Heroes
11. The Call of the Wild
12. Paul Bunyan

These hardback books all came with numbers on the spine.  Since acquiring the set, I’ve found several more unnumbered titles: Kidnapped, Captains Courageous, and Around the World in Eighty Days.  According to Valerie’s Living Books website there are several more I’ve never seen.

Back in the days before Kindles and Nooks and their built in references, readers would have to mark their place, go find a dictionary or encyclopedia and look up the unfamiliar word they’d just run across.  The Educator Classic Library books tried to aid the reader by including definitions and illustrations in the margins so when we come across the Robinson family escaping the shipwreck in several “hogsheads” tied together we know they using very large barrels and not the heads of pigs.

Back in 2013, we reviewed Progeny Press’s study of Treasure Island.  One of the activities was to draw a map of Jim’s adventures.   Fortunately, our Educator Classic Library edition had a large map of the island on the title page which I copied for my son.  As the story progressed, there would be small maps in the margins with to follow the action.

At the end of each novel, you’ll find “The Backward” – a gathering of material to enhance your reading.  It may be a brief biography of the author or schematics and the

science behind submarines in 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.  Did you ever read the dedication at the beginning of Treasure Island and wonder who Lloyd Osbourne, an American gentleman was?   He was Robert Louis Stevenson’s 13 year old stepson!  There’s a wonderful glimpse at what life was like in the author’s home in the 1880’s.

Yes, some of these titles are duplicates from my Illustrated Junior Library collection but each version has it’s own positive qualities.  One for the Educator Classic books is how slim they are –let’s me fit more one a shelf.  Still, it looks like I have room for one or two more, wouldn’t you say?  Looks like I need to go to a few more library book sales.

You can find a list of all my Rescued Books here

Review: Flourish

I tried to choose one word to describe my life as a homeschooling mom—aspire, adapt, tweak,  cope?  On the really bad days it might be “worry” or “survive.”  I’ve been challenged this past month with a book from Apologia Educational Ministries.  Its author, Mary Jo Tate, suggests that I might “flourish.”  In fact, that’s the title--Flourish: Balance for Homeschool Moms.  Don’t ignore the subtitle though—balance.  There’s a lot to balance: school vs. household, kids vs. husband, dreams vs. reality.

Let’s face it, where can homeschool moms turn for tools and encouragement for our unique circumstances?  Women who “work” for a living (read that “get paid for their labors”) think we must have all the time in the world to get things done and if we can’t it’s because we’re lounging and eating bon bons all day.  Even other homeschool moms can turn on one of their own…I had one mom share how hurt she was by comments from others in our co-op when she shared that her son was going to try public school (he wanted to try out for sports).  She was still homeschooling several younger kids, but was made out to be a traitor to “the cause.”  And sometimes our harshest critic is that little voice in our own heads—my kid isn’t learning as fast as the others, what if I leave out something important?

Within the 289 pages of this softcover you’ll find action steps, affirmations, and advice that all moms can use – setting goals, dealing with interruptions, etc. and also some chapters for specific needs –single moms and those running a home business.  Scattered throughout are shaded boxes with quotes by many people I already respect like Zig Ziglar and Elisabeth Elliott.  The appendices contains a list other helpful books to read,  pre- and post- reading evaluations, and several using planning forms (you can also download blank forms if you purchase the book).

I did not read the book straight from cover to cover but let my personal needs and interests guide me.  I confess I was first drawn to a chapter titled “Oxygen Masks and Monkey Bread Days”  simply out of curiosity.   It turns out Monkey Bread Days are those where everyone wants a piece of you and you’re being pulled in multiple directions.  Having flown a lot I had an idea (and was right) that your must put your own oxygen mask on before you help anyone else – a great word picture that we moms must see to our own mental, physical, and spiritual needs if we want to be effective in meeting the same for our spouse and kids.  After finishing the chapter I got over my guilt of spending a little money on myself and ordered a kit to brew my own kombucha.  I had already started a “Couch to 5K” program before I got the book, but it certainly helped my resolve to keep jogging.

A second idea that intrigued me was to start keeping a “Stop-Doing” list.  This is not necessarily focusing solely on time wasters.  It may be a very good activity, but I need to be willing to give it up to pursue a really great activity  (I used to work for a national organization that worked with Jim Collins and his Good to Great program, but I never thought of applying it to my personal life).

While the book is meant for moms, I did find a few things to share with my Schnickelfritz.  He’s involved in Royal Rangers and is starting to prepare for his Frontier Adventure (which includes a series of skill tests like starting a fire with flint and steel).  Although he’s been looking towards this for several years, he came to me the other day and said he wasn’t interested in it anymore.  It turns out he’s afraid of his own reaction if he fails. I found some great stories and quotes in the attitude adjustment chapter dealing specifically with fear, perfectionism, and negativity  that I shared with him.  We even printed out a Mark Twain quote to “Sail away from the safe harbor…Explore. Dream. Discover.” to keep him motivated.

Flourish: Balance for Homeschool Moms retails for $15.00.  You can find the Table of Contents and a sample chapter on the website.  It probably wouldn’t be a book I’d lend to a parent just considering homeschooling, but it may now be my go-to choice for a mom half-way through the school year that finds herself floundering.

 

M is for Missouri Botanical Garden

Let me tell you, I had a hard time choosing a special destination for the letter M of ABC Blogging Across Missouri.  I mean, the name of the state starts with M so anything that incorporates the state’s name qualifies.   I settled on one of the oldest and most respected institutions in the state and also a National Landmark.  I could have saved it for the letter S because most old timers still refer to it as Shaw’s Garden (we also call Highway 64 by its old number-40, so don’t ask us for directions).  Its official title is The Missouri Botanical Garden.

Henry Shaw, an Englishman, migrated to St. Louis, MO in 1819 and set up a hardware store in what was then still a small village.  The city was growing however and Shaw supplied goods to build up the town as well as goods for pioneers traveling further west on one of the national trails that begin in the state (hint, hint about next week’s topic).  Within 20 years he was able to retire as a wealthy landowner.  He took roughly a decade to travel, but returned to his holdings in 1851 to build a home and extensive garden.  In 1859 he opened the garden to the public.  Today, the 79 acres where his home and mausoleum still stand are are green oasis for visitors from around the world.

Here are some of the highlights as numbers on the map.

5. The Sensory Garden – Built especially for the blind or seeing-impaired, the plants of the Sensory Garden were chosen specifically for their fragrance or texture—yes, you’re encouraged to touch the plants.  Signs and plant labels include braille.  There’s also a fountain and a “Bell Tree” sculpture to make it an auditory experience as well.

19. The English Woodland Garden—Probably my mother’s favorite area when the dogwoods are in bloom.

20. The Japanese Garden – Added more than 100 year’s after Shaw’s Garden opened, it is THE place to see azaleas and rhododendrons, feed koi, walk over traditional bridges, and see the white gravel raked in patterns in the Zen garden.

26. The Center for Home Gardening—The Missouri Botanical Garden has teamed up with the University of Missouri Extension to help us average Joes and Janes. You can view 23 demonstration gardens to discover how to use native plants, take a Master Gardeners course, or bring a sample of your sick plant for evaluation.

28. The Climatron –The first geodesic dome to be used as a conservatory.  It was opened in 1961, rising 70 feet high and spanning 175 feet across.  There are no columns or support structures inside to interfere with light or plant growth.  It’s kept warm with high humidity to house tropical plants like a rain forest—it even has an indoor waterfall.  In front of the Climatron is a lily pond with pads so big people could stand on them.  Since this practice is not allowed now, you’ll have to look at this old picture as proof.

Every year, the Garden has a special display.   This year there are giant Lego butterflies and other creations in the Climatron but two years ago there was a magnificent display of Japanese Lanterns.

 

 

Bonus M – The Muny

Here I thought I had my M post all wrapped up and then my son and I went to see Suessical the Musical and I new I had to share The Muny with every one.  So here is a bonus M (and who doesn’t like M&M’s).  In the heart of Forest Park lies the Zoo, the Art Museum, and The Municipal Theatre Association of St. Louis –this time old timers and newbies alike refer to it simply as The Muny.  Every summer it hosts a season of Broadway worthy musicals.   Some of this years productions are Disney’s Tarzan, Porgy and Bess, Grease, and Hello Dolly!

These aren’t national touring companies. The Muny produces their own performances, using local talents for the orchestra and chorus.  They even “grow” their own talent through the Muny Kids and Muny Teens programs (both groups perform for guests waiting to enter the outdoor theater).  Okay, the secret is out…you’re sitting outdoors in the St. Louis heat and humidity, but when the sun goes down and a breeze comes by it’s actually pleasant.  Last year The Muny invested in ultra-quiet fans that can be run during the performance to ensure the air keeps moving.

I grew up going to The Muny—it’s where I first saw Cats, Fiddler on the Roof, and 42nd Street.  I even saw Mikhail Baryshnikov and his ballet company perform.  In the last two year’s I’ve taken my son to see Mary Poppins and Les Miserables for ….are you ready for this?  ABSOLUTELY FREE!  The Muny sets aside 1500 free seats for every performance—all you have to do is be willing to come early and wait in line.  And maybe bring a small pair of binoculars, but the sound is perfect—everyone is miked.

Here are a few tips if you’re coming for the free seats…

• The gates open at 7 for the free section, plan on getting in line somewhere between 6:15 and 6:30.  Weekends are more crowded than weeknights and family friendly shows are more crowded than those meant for adults.  I usually stand in line while Schnickelfritz plays on the hillside with other kids (it is a park after all). If you bring chairs or Frisbees, have one person hold the place in line while another returns these things to the car before the line starts moving (there’s a large free parking lot just to the right of this picture).
• Bring you dinner.  You can either eat in line or wait till you’ve found your seats—there’s still an hour+ wait for the show.  You may bring in soft sided coolers if they’ll fit under the seats and your own food and drink (we usually opt for sub sandwiches and lemonade in old Gatorade bottles).
• Bring something to “reserve” your seats – a jacket or blanket to drape over them.  I’ve never seen anyone disturb or steal items placed over seats.  Then you’ll be free to go watch the Muny Kids or Muny Teens perform (or visit the restroom before the long lines form).  For family shows, there’s often a “storybook” presentation to give kids the gist of the story before the performance and often a drawing for free teddy bears (Build-a-Bear is a St. Louis based company that supports the Muny).
• Be aware that you won’t get a program.  If you aren’t familiar with the musical try to research songs etc. online before you go.

 

I’m linking up with …