tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-83642086791698518232024-03-16T12:52:56.956-06:00Frolic and FarceTales of a HomeschoolAndreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14301232211779225287noreply@blogger.comBlogger312125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8364208679169851823.post-61818545249676865452016-04-27T23:39:00.002-06:002016-04-27T23:39:44.413-06:00For KamiMy sister just moved and she now has a four hour drive to the nearest temple. Since she's making the trip monthly with all her kids in tow, I told her I'd post all my favorite audio books so she could check them out of the library. Then I decided it was more advantageous all around to just make an "Audio Book" label and go through my posts and update the labels. So that is what I did. My sidebar now boasts an "Audio Book" linky. Enjoy!Andreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14301232211779225287noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8364208679169851823.post-24398731889904795572016-01-23T18:48:00.003-07:002016-01-23T18:48:43.126-07:00KindergartenMy sister, Lindsay, has decided to homeschool her kindergartener this next school year. I am impressed by her decision because she has absolutely zero interest in homeschooling. However, like moms have done since the beginning of time she is choosing to do what she thinks is best for her daughter instead of what she thinks is best for herself.<br />
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I have absolutely no delusions that Lindsay will actually homeschool the way I do as we all adapt homeschooling to our own personalities and the personalities of our children, but I had so much fun daydreaming about just having a kindergartener again (of school age--she has two younger kids as well) that I decided to post how I would homeschool in that situation. It is essentially how I did homeschool Miriam, with a few tweaks that I would make as I have more experience now. <br />
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Subjects I would teach: penmanship, math, reading prep/reading, history!!!, science. <br />
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Things I would buy:<br />
<a href="http://shopping.hwtears.com/product/LN/HWT" target="_blank">Letters and Numbers for Me</a> by Handwriting Without Tears. <br />
<a href="http://iseesam.com/set-1-reading-for-all-learners-b-w-edition/" target="_blank">I See Sam Phonics Set One </a>black and white edition. Color would be fine, but my kids didn't mind the black and white, it is cheaper, and if your kids want to color the pages you can photocopy them easily. <br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/LeapFrog-Letter-Factory-Ginny-Westcott/dp/B001TKUXUC/ref=sr_1_1?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1453597799&sr=1-1&keywords=the+letter+factory" target="_blank">The Letter Factory</a>. It is only $6.00 on amazon and I used it to teach all my kids their letters and sounds. <br />
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Other than that, I would use the library and internet for everything. If you felt that you absolutely had to have a math book I would definitely go with The Critical Thinking Co <a href="http://www.criticalthinking.com/mathematical-reasoning-level-a.html" target="_blank">Mathematical Reasoning Level A.</a> I think most people would be better off not using a math book but it doesn't do any damage and some kids (like all my weirdos) love worksheet type stuff. Plus, it does provide peace of mind to those who are new at homeschooling that they are adequately covering the basics. We use Critical Thinking Co for all our math books. We have used the kindergarten book before and it was just as good as the others. <br />
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I teach (or I did, before the last two babies) by units and I really think that is the way to go for the younger crowd. I would pull out my calendar and plan out what units I wanted to teach in four week on, one week off, increments. I know I usually do a six week on plan, but if you only have a kindergartener than a shorter unit is probably wise. Then I would teach whatever I thought my child would love best. Definitely an animal unit or two thrown in (what kids don't love learning about animals??), a history unit about something really fun like ancient Egyptians or slavery in America or exploring the world. I'd probably throw in a geography unit--use the one I created for the Babies documentary or create something that interested my child. Maybe a science unit on weather or magnets. That is always fun. <br />
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So let's say I decided to start with a unit on mammals. I would go to my library website and reserve a bunch of kids' books about mammals. Then I would reserve a bunch of books about numbers and counting. Then I would create a basic lesson outline for each of the weeks after reading through all the books and taking back the ones that are less good. It would look something like this:<br />
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Unit One: Mammals and Counting<br />
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Week One: Horses and Identifying the Numbers 1-5<br />
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Monday: Morning Devotional (read an article in the Friend, memorize something, morning prayers), read ______________ (a book about counting) then put up numbers around the walls, call out a number and have the kids smack that number with a fly swatter or their hands. Read ____________ (a book about horses) and read ____________ (another book about horses). Color and cut out several pictures of horses. Count how many legs one has and then how many more you have when you add another horse and then if you add another horse. How many heads? How many tails? What else can you count? Do any of the horses have spots? Etc. Complete one page in your penmanship book. <br />
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During naptime, snuggle with kindergartner on the couch with a white board and marker and have her write "at" and make the word "cat" by adding a "c" and then make the words bat, sat, hat, fat, rat. Put the first six letters of the alphabet in order (get some alphabet cards). Only read phonics books when the child already understands how to sound out and that every letter makes a sound. <br />
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And that's it for day one. Day two would be similar with different books and a different horse craft or maybe an education horse movie on youtube. Or maybe look at pictures of different kinds of horses in a horse encyclopedia, or look at all the pictures of Grandpa's horses, maybe pick names for the horses you colored. There are lots of counting activities you can look up online. <br />
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One day could be the care of horses, anatomy of horses, match the baby mammals with their mom, what makes a horse a mammal . . . that kind of thing. What can we count around the house? How many toes do we have individually and how many do we have altogether? Let's group the straws by color. Which groups have five straws? Which groups have three? Then just make sure you're reading a bunch of books. <br />
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The next unit might be a geography unit. <br />
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Unit Two: Denmark, Germany (we have ancestry from both countries) and Addition<br />
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Do the whole thing again. Get the books from the library, put together some fun craft and lesson ideas. Everyone loves coloring maps, so print off maps. There are lots of educational videos about every country under the sun on youtube or available from the library. You can make food from those countries, which is great for math. Teaching kindergarten should be fun, fun, fun, and cheap. <br />
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Definitely include a graphing/data gathering math unit. Miriam was so cute calling her relatives to ask what their favorite dessert was and tallying how many red cars there were in the parking lot vs. blue cars. <br />
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One last note. I would also have my kids listening to books on tape whenever we're in the car. I've done that for years and I think it really helped with comprehension--especially for my son who struggles with reading. He can't decode quite at level (he's made such huge improvements this year though!!) but his comprehension is way above level. Books on tape are AWESOME. My sisters have pointed out that I need to organize my book posts better and have a separate category for books on tape. I probably won't ever get around to that, but I have a ton of audio book recommendations on the blog. <br />
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And that's how I would do it. <br />
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<br />Andreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14301232211779225287noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8364208679169851823.post-33962534247447075542015-07-24T08:36:00.002-06:002015-07-24T08:40:50.947-06:00A rough sketch of how we try to eat--plus RECIPE LINKSI've had several people ask me for linkys to some of my favorite healthy recipes. I've had other people ask me to just post all my weekly menus from the past, present, and until the end of time. Ha. I won't be doing that. I will post a prototype of our weekly menus, though, with some linkys to the recipes I've tried lately that I love.<br />
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<u>Sun</u><br />
B: cold oatmeal (we have 9:00 am church so always have cold oatmeal)<br />
L/D: whatever I can scrape together--I'm terrible at planning Sunday food items<br />
Snack: popcorn<br />
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<u>Mon</u><br />
B: hot nine grain cereal (I get mine from Kitchen Kneads in 25 lb bags) and banana smoothies<br />
L: roasted cabbage (usually without bacon, but sometimes with--yum)<br />
D: tacos with lentil-walnut meat substitute (don't be scared by the meat substitute--my children, husband, and I all LOVED it and we are not vegetarians. I use it because it adds more lentils into our diets)<br />
Snack: peanuts and apple slices<br />
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<u>Tues</u><br />
B: whole wheat toast with peanut butter and banana slices<br />
L: green salad (we eat a lot of lettuce salad for lunch--we add kidney beans for fiber)<br />
D: apricot mint salad with brown rice<br />
Snack: cut up veggies and ranch dressing<br />
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<u>Wed</u><br />
B: oat pancakes with yogurt and maple syrup dressing<br />
L: roasted cabbage (we love that stuff) with a slice of bread<br />
D: plain old white pancakes because we have them whenever I don't manage to get supper on the table and that happens at least once a week<br />
Snack: banana smoothie<br />
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<u>Thur</u><br />
B: hot cereal and watermelon (I love watermelon for breakfast)<br />
L: green salad<br />
D: steak edamame salad with homemade baked potato fries<br />
Snack: strawberries<br />
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<u>Fri</u><br />
B: hot cereal (we eat it the most of anything for breakfast) with scrambled eggs (I always add onions and green peppers to our scrambled eggs because I love it. We also add mushrooms, spinach, asparagus--a favorite--or any other veggies I have on hand that sound yummy)<br />
L: whole wheat toast with peanut butter and bananas<br />
D: baked potato, fried green beans, cucumber and tomato slices (this is one of my favorite meals)<br />
Snack: celery sticks with peanut butter<br />
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<u>Sat</u><br />
B: oat pancakes with yogurt maple syrup<br />
L: leftovers (when I make rice I make double what I need so I can have one quick meal ready to go--a bowl of rice. I usually broil some zuchinni to toss in and some scrambled eggs. My children love this and call it a "rice bowl" though I think they use the term loosely. Bulgar wheat also works well for this).<br />
S: Sandwich with some sort of fruit. I dislike cooking after a long, physical work day.<br />
Snack: nothing. My kids grab carrots if they are hungry. <br />
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There you go--a one week menu. I usually have four nice meals per week, and the other three nights we munge along with lesser meals. I used to shop for one week, but now I can't fit all the milk and fresh produce in the fridge so I switched to shopping for three days. I find I waste WAY less now because if something happens and meals get switched around, there is more wiggle room. Someday, though, I'd like a second fridge. <br />
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<span style="background-color: #ffe599;">*Important note for LINDSAY: I make my homemade frozen burritos by taking one tortilla, adding a bit of the lentil-walnut meat substitute, sauteed green peppers and onions, and one scrambled egg. Then I roll that up, wrap it in saran wrap and stick three into one ziploc bag. When we eat one, we microwave for two minutes and douse with green salsa. Yum!</span><br />
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Here are some linkys:<br />
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Banana peanut butter smoothies: <a href="http://www.cranialhiccups.com/2014/10/chocolate-peanut-butter-banana-smoothies.html">http://www.cranialhiccups.com/2014/10/chocolate-peanut-butter-banana-smoothies.html</a><br />
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Roasted cabbage: <a href="http://www.thekitchn.com/recipe-roasted-cabbage-with-bacon-recipes-from-the-kitchn-105338">http://www.thekitchn.com/recipe-roasted-cabbage-with-bacon-recipes-from-the-kitchn-105338</a><br />
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Lentil-walnut meat substitute: <a href="http://ohsheglows.com/2014/06/17/ultimate-green-taco-wraps-with-lentil-walnut-taco-meat-vegan-gluten-free/">http://ohsheglows.com/2014/06/17/ultimate-green-taco-wraps-with-lentil-walnut-taco-meat-vegan-gluten-free/</a><br />
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SO YUMMY Apricot/Mint Salad: <a href="http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/romaine_salad_with_chicken_apricots_mint.html">http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/romaine_salad_with_chicken_apricots_mint.html</a><br />
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Oat pancakes with yogurt maple dressing: <a href="http://www.health.com/health/recipe/0,,10000001991442,00.html">http://www.health.com/health/recipe/0,,10000001991442,00.html</a><br />
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Edamame salad (this will be a staple for my kids' lunches this year--it is very hearty and is eaten coldish--though I'll omit the steak most of the time): <a href="http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/edamame-salad-with-crisp-steak">http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/edamame-salad-with-crisp-steak</a><br />
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ONE BONUS RECIPE; this is the recipe Timothy wants me to make and have on hand all the time for his snacking pleasure. It is a granola bar, but there is no sugar, so you should think of it as something else entirely or you won't like it. I like it because it is pretty healthy and filling, and I like all the crunch and chewiness. So--a healthy alternative to a granola bar. It is also gluten free, which matters to some of you and I like because I'm always trying to diversify my grains: <a href="http://ohsheglows.com/2014/05/20/feel-good-hearty-granola-bars/">http://ohsheglows.com/2014/05/20/feel-good-hearty-granola-bars/</a><br />
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Hope this helps someone!!!<br />
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<br />Andreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14301232211779225287noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8364208679169851823.post-76366220587651797572015-03-22T15:47:00.002-06:002015-03-22T15:47:59.393-06:00Miriam's 7th/8th Grade Book List--Weigh In!I've been trying to compile a required reading list for my oldest. She will be going into grade 7 and she is shifting in her reading from lazy, easy reading (how many Hardy Boy books are there???????) to pushing herself a little. I'm glad because I was starting to wonder how I would push her upward and onward. I read above my level because I wanted to read what my older siblings were reading. I'm already noticing that Emeline (age 8) does this as well. Since Miriam is the oldest she hasn't really had much impetus to push into the YA genre.<br />
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With that in mind, I decided to put together a required reading list for her 7th and 8th grade years. The idea is that she will read one book off the list a week. Most of the books can be read whenever, but a few--with similar themes or same historical time period--have to be read at the same time. That way we'll be working on history and/or science along with LA, some of the time anyway.<br />
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A few fun things have happened as I've been working on this list. One is that Miriam got wind of the list (I had to ask her if she'd read a few titles), she read through the list, and now she's been reading books from the list. Back to the drawing board again to add more! Not that I mind, funny girl.<br />
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The other fun thing is my perusal of every site I can find that suggesst good nonfiction titles. I didn't fall in love with nonfiction until college so I didn't read much YA nonfiction. In putting together the list I had to include some books on other people's recommendation (always scary) and debate internally about books I love. Some made the cut (Frederick Douglass's autobiography) and some didn't (<i>The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary</i>). Some were too old, some too young, some about topics that I don't find interesting but Miriam does (forensic science), or vice-versa. <br />
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It is such a joy to read about, think about, make lists about, and plan for books!!! <br />
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Bibliophile: a person who loves books, or, alternately, me!<br />
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Here's my mostly finished list, including the books Miriam has recently read that need to be replaced. If you have any thoughts, suggestions, comments on quality or age level of the books (or anything else!)--please, I'm seeking after those things.<br />
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Yes, I realize I have more books than weeks of school, but I thought that would give her some ownership in her choices.<br />
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Thanks for your help!!!!!!<br />
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 9.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Montmorency: Thief, Liar, Gentleman<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 9.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The Outsiders<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 9.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Across Five Aprils<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 9.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Adam of the Road<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 9.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Black Beauty<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 9.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Cheaper by the Dozen<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 9.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Christy<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 9.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Girl of the Limberlost<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 9.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The Hiding Place<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 9.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Invincible Louisa<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 9.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Johnny Tremain<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 9.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Princess and the Goblin<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 9.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Rifles for Watie<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 9.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Snow Treasure<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 9.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">A Wrinkle in Time<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 9.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">A Christmas Carol<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 9.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">A Long Walk to Water<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 9.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Main Street by Sinclair Lewis<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 9.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Treasure Island<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 9.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The Call of the Wild<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 9.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The Moves Make the Man<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 9.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The Red Pony<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 9.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The Devil's Arithmetic<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 9.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The Andromeda Strain<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 9.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Jackaroo<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 9.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Lyddie<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 9.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Up a Road Slowly<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 9.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The Prisoner of Zenda<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 9.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Smith by Leon Garfield<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 9.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Westmark<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 9.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Fever 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #e30000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 9.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">NONFICTION<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Breaker Boys: How a Photograph Helped End Child Labor by
Michael Burgan<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Tracking Trash: Flotsam, Jetsam, and the Science of Ocean
Motion by Loree Griffin Burns<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Who Was First? Discovering the Americas by Russell Freedman<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Moonbird: A Year on the Wind with the Great Survivor B95 by
Phillip Hoose<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Soul Surfer: A True Story of Faith, Family, and Fighting to
Get Back on Board by Sheryl Berk<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Behind Rebel Lines: The Incredible Story of Emma Edmonds,
Civil War Spy by Seymour Reit<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Temple Grandin: How the Girl Who Loved Cows Embraced Autism
and Changed the World by Temple Grandin<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Kids Who Rule: The Remarkable Lives of of Five Child
Monarchs by Charis Cotter<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Beyond the Dance: A Ballerina’s Life by Chan Hon Goh<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Bone Detectives:
How Forensic Anthropologists Solve Crimes and Uncover Mysteries of the Dead by
Donna M. Jackson<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Close to Shore: The Terrifying Shark Attacks of 1917 by
Michael Capuzzo<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World: The Extraordinary True
Story of Shackleton and the Endurance by Jennifer Armstrong<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Bad Boy by Walter Dean Myers<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Outbreak! Plagues that Changed History by Bryn Barnard<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the
Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793 by Jim Murphy<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Years of Dust by Albert Marrin<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Beyond Courage: The Untold Story of Jewish Resistance During
the Holocaust by Doreen Rappaport<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Black Potatoes: The Story of the Great Irish Famine,
1845-1850 by SusanCampbell Bartoletti<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Flesh and Blood So Cheap: The Triangle Fire and Its Legacy
by Albert Marrin<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Trapped: How the World Rescued 33 Miners from 2,000 Feet
Below the Chilean Desert by Marc Aronson<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Go: A Kidd’s Guide to Graphic Design by Chip Kidd<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The Family Romanov: Murder, Rebellion, and the Fall of
Imperial Russia by Candace Fleming<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Ida M. Tarbell: The Woman Who Challenged Big Business—and
Won! By Emily Arnold McCully<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The Port Chicago 50: Disaster, Mutiny, and the Fight for
Civil Rights<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The Nazi Hunters: How a Team of Spies and Survivors Captured
the World’s Most Notorious Nazi by Neal Bascomb<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Imprisoned: The Betrayal of Japanese Americans During World
War II by Martin W. Sandler<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Courage Has No Color, The True Story of the Triple Nickles:
American’s First Black Paratroopers by Tanya Lee Stone<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Bomb: The Race to Build -- and Steal -- the World’s Most
Dangerous Weapon by Steve Sheinkin<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Steve Jobs: The Man Who Thought Different by<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Karen Blumenthal<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Titanic: Voices from the Disaster by Deborah Hopkinson<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We’ve Got a Job: The 1963 Birmingham Children’s March by
Cynthia Levinson<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The Notorious Benedict Arnold: A True Story of Adventure,
Heroism, and Treachery by Steve Sheinkin<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Bootleg: Murder, Moonshine, and the Lawless Years of
Prohibition by Karen Blumenthal<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Music was IT: Young Leonard Bernstein by Susan Goldman Rubin<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Can I See Your I.D.?: True Stories of False Identities by
Paul Hoppe<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Unraveling Freedom: The Battle for Democracy on the Home
Front During World War I by Ann Bausum<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Truce by Jim Murphy (WWI)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The War to End all Wars by Russell Freedman<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony: A Friendship
That Changed the World by Penny Colman<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Elephant Talk: The Surprising Science of Elephant
Communication by Ann Downer<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The Great and Only Barnum: The Tremendous, Stupendous Life
of Showman P.T. Barnum by Candace Fleming<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Scribbling Women: True Tales from Astonishing Lives by
Marthe Jocelyn<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Into the Unknown: How Great Explorers Found Their Way by
Land, Sea, and Air by Stewart Ross (maybe use with the other kids for a whole
unit on navigation?)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I.M. Pei: Architect of Time, Place and Purpose by Jill
Rubalcaba<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Wideness and Wonder: The Life and Art of Georgia O’Keefe by
Susan Goldman Rubin<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Witches: The Absolutely True Tale of Disaster in Salem by
Rosalyn Shanzer<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Ghosts in the Fog: The Untold Story of Alaska’s WWII
Invasion by Samantha Seiple<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Tom Thumb: The Remarkable True Story of a Man in Miniature
by George Sullivan (go along with the biography of Barnum)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Terezin: Voices from the Holocaust by Ruth Thomson<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Raggin’ Jazzin’ Rockin’: A History of American Musical
Instrument Makers by Susan VanHecke<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
They Called Themselves the KKK: The Birth of an American
Terrorist Group by Susan Campbell Bartolletti<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The Dark Game: True Spy Stories from Invisible Ink to CIA
Moles by Paul B. Janeczko<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglas by Frederick
Douglas<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Frederick Douglas by David A. Adler<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We Are Not Beasts of Burden: Cesar Chavez and the Delano
Grape Strike, California 1965-1970 by Stuart A. Kallen<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Frozen Secrets: Antarctica Revealed by Sally M. Walker<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The Brave Escape of Edith Wharton by Connie Nordhielm
Woolridge<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Written in Bone: Buried Lives of Jamestown and Colonial
Maryland by Sally M. Walker<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Leaving Glorytown: One Boy’s Struggle Under Castro by
Eduardo F. Calcines<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Birmingham Sunday by Larry Dane Brimner (read with The
Watson’s Go To Birmingham)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Economix: How Our Economy Works (and Doesn’t Work), in Words
and Pictures by Michael Goodwin<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The Word Snoop by Ursula Dubosarsky (history of the English
language)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The Bat Scientists by Mary Kay Carson<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The Hive Detectives: Chronicles of a Honey Bee Catastrophe
by Loree Griffin Burns<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The Battle of Britain by Kate Moore<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Mr. Lincoln’s High-tech War by Thomas B. Allen (use it with
the novel about three days of the war)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Women of the Frontier: 16 Tales of the Trailblazing
Homesteaders, Entrepreneurs, and Rabble-Rousers by Brandon Marie Miller<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The Bronte Sisters: The Brief Lives of Charlotte, Emily, and
Anne by Catherine Reef (would work well with the other books about TB)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The Trouble Begins at 8: A Life of Mark Twain in the Wild,
Wild West by Sid Fleischman<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Through No Fault of My Own: A Girl’s Diary of Life on Summit
Avenue in the Jazz Age by Coco Irvine (use with Thoroughly Modern Millie)<o:p></o:p></div>
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St. Paul’s Historic Summit Avenue by Ernest R. Sandeen<o:p></o:p></div>
Andreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14301232211779225287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8364208679169851823.post-22559364815739022452015-03-03T11:59:00.004-07:002016-04-27T22:44:20.068-06:00Books!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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My nine year old niece recommended Laura Amy Schlitz's <i>Splendors and Glooms </i>and I am so glad she did!! First Miriam read it and loved it and then I read it and loved it. It is a Dickensian novel for upper elementary/middle school (but delightful for all ages). It has some dark magic in it but nothing too creepy. I thoroughly enjoyed it and put it in my basket at amazon to make sure I add it to my collection. You might be familiar with this author. She wrote <i>Good Masters! Sweet Ladies: Voices from a Medieval Village, </i>which won the Newbery. She also wrote <i>The Hero Schliemann: The Dreamer who Dug for Troy</i>--one of my children's very favorite biographies. In short, we're going to make sure all of Ms. Schlitz's books wind up on our bookshelf. She's fabulous. <br />
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We listened to <i>Igraine the Brave </i>by Cornelia Funke on audio book awhile ago and we all thoroughly enjoyed it. So much so that I bought a copy for Emeline (age 8) for Christmas. Since then she's read it twice (that I know about--sometimes I sleep and miss things) and has declared it her "favorite book ever." If you have a child in elementary school who likes humorous adventure stories, I recommend this one.</div>
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We had <i>Freight Train</i> by Donald Crews when Cowen was a baby/toddler, but it was destroyed as only truly beloved books can be destroyed. I figured Oskar would like it as much as my other kids had and so I gave it to him for Christmas. It hasn't replaced <i>Babies </i>by Gyo Fujikawa as his favorite book, but it is a very close second. My children were overjoyed when Oskar unwrapped the book because they all remember it and love it. The best Christmas book reaction, though, was when Oskar unwrapped <i>Jamberry, </i>another book that was destroyed out of sheer love, and Miriam grabbed it right out of Oskar's hands and squealed, "Jamberry!" in pure delight. Awesome. </div>
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My dad loaned me <i>Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet </i>by Jamie Ford and I loved it. I rarely read adult books, truth be told, as YA was always my happy place, but I'll be purchasing this book for my library. I loved everything about it. </div>
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I am always so, so, so, so excited when one of my children read one of my favorite books and love it as much as I do. Miriam just finished <i>Sabriel</i>, my favorite Garth Nix book. She then promptly read the sequel the next day. She loved it, I love it, anyone who likes fantasy will love it. Read it. <span style="color: yellow;">Gold Star Book.</span></div>
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<br />Andreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14301232211779225287noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8364208679169851823.post-48883555457774395422015-02-02T22:44:00.001-07:002015-02-02T22:44:45.974-07:00This Blogging Break Was Brought to You By<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: large;">Clover Mildred</span></div>
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born December 15, 2015</div>
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She is perfect and delightful and already sleeping 6 to 7 hours a night.</div>
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We started schooling today for the first time since her arrival.</div>
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It went well, but we didn't finish until 6:00 pm. Oops.</div>
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Hopefully we'll get into the swing of things and I'll be able to blog again soon.</div>
Andreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14301232211779225287noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8364208679169851823.post-29340225510774458142014-10-02T12:53:00.001-06:002014-10-02T12:53:28.321-06:00Presents the kids can make each otherI'm pretty sure that at least some of the kids should make this for each other for Christmas.<br />
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNge9xiwdc4<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/FNge9xiwdc4" width="420"></iframe>Andreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14301232211779225287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8364208679169851823.post-40070310168252854682014-10-01T21:53:00.001-06:002014-10-01T21:53:07.620-06:00Kids' Curriculum and Why I Like It (or not)I recently received an email asking me to review some of the curriculum we use around these here parts. I've been meaning to post about many things, but the email was a good kick in the heiny to actually do it, so I will.<br />
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<b>Miriam, grade 6</b><br />
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<b>Math and Critical Thinking</b>: We have been using <i>Mathematical Reasoning</i> books from the Critical Thinking Co for years now and I love them just as much today as when we started using them. Miriam is in <a href="http://www.criticalthinking.com/mathematical-reasoning-level-f.html" target="_blank">Level F</a> (grade five) because I keep my kids a year behind in math on purpose. I do that, for those of you wondering, because abstract thinking skills don't completely develop until a child reaches high school. If you hit pre-algebra before the abstract thinking skills are in place necessary to understand it, you can experience a great deal of frustration. Since it is hard to predict how developed each child's abstract thinking skills will be by grade seven, I play it safe and take things slower. I have not yet encountered a reason to regret this choice. None of my children have experienced any math angst up to this point (except the first few years when we were using Abeka math) and several claim that math is their favorite subject. <br />
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I supplement the Mathematical Reasoning books with some other "fun" math products from the same company. My favorites are the <i>Building Thinking Skills</i> books. Miriam finished Level One two years ago and was thrilled when I presented her with <a href="http://www.criticalthinking.com/building-thinking-skills-level-2.html" target="_blank">Level Two</a> this year. Note that when each books is listed as a "full curriculum" it means in critical thinking NOT math. Don't be confused by that. <br />
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A list of topics on the front cover includes things like logical thinking, similarities and differences, sequences, classifications, analogies, spatial awareness (Miriam excels at these problems and I stink--it usually takes me triple the amount of time to correct her work, which is always right, than it takes her to do it), vocabulary development, map reading, etc. <br />
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When Miriam was doing <i>Building Thinking Skills Level One</i>, I assigned her six pages daily from her Mathematical Reasoning book and then six pages out of her Building Thinking Skills book. She would inevitably do 12 + pages out of her Building Thinking Skills book because she thought it was so much fun.<br />
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Another favorite from the Critical Thinking Co is <i><a href="http://www.criticalthinking.com/building-thinking-skills-level-2.html" target="_blank">Math Detective A1</a>. </i>I must point out that Miriam does not like this book. She thinks it is way harder than her regular math book. However, I see a great deal of value in making her stretch herself. Basically, this book has a bunch of extended story problems that have to be answered with complete sentences. It is challenging because Miriam can figure out the answers but she has to really stretch herself to come up with the "why" of the answer. I think that is a healthy exercise for her brain. However, to avoid contention, I only assign one "problem"--usually a two-page spread with about six questions--a week. That keeps her muttering to a minimum. <br />
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I wouldn't get the Math Detective beginner book unless you have a really advanced reader/writer. Otherwise, you're just creating a lot of work for yourself.<br />
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<b>Language Arts: </b>Ah. This is a hard one. I've flitted about more with this subject than math. <br />
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First, we are currently using <i><a href="http://iew.com/shop/products/phonetic-zoo-lesson-cards" target="_blank">Phonetic Zoo: Lesson Cards</a> </i>for spelling. I did not buy the whole $99 program. I only purchased the cards for $15.00. It is a fine program. Not spectacular, but not bad. It might be stellar if you buy the whole kit and caboodle, but I've never found a spelling program I loved and I wasn't willing to invest in another failed effort. <br />
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There are three "levels" on the cards. On Monday I give Miriam a spelling pre-test and have her write each of the fifteen words on one card. I don't pay much attention to the levels with her. Then she writes each word she misses three times a day for the rest of the week. It works.<br />
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We use <i>Handwriting Without Tears</i> for handwriting.<br />
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For grammar we use Rod and Staff and I LOVE their program. Currently Miriam is working out of <i>Building With Diligence: English 4</i>. It is aimed for fourth graders and it is way too easy for her and she is flying through it at breakneck speed, but it is a good review while I try to get my hands on the writing program I want her to be using right now but can't afford.<br />
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Back to Rod and Staff for a moment. I think they do everything right with grammar. They include sentence diagramming from the very beginning. They build concepts in a logical and appropriate way--without jumping around too much. They have manageable assignments that I hardly ever tweak to cut back on the amount of work. I wholeheartedly endorse their grammar series as long as you realize that they excel at teaching grammar and not writing.<br />
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The writing program I want to be using right now is <a href="http://thewritefoundation.org/sentence-to-paragraph-level-1/" target="_blank">The Write Foundation: Sentence to Paragraph</a>. I haven't used this program but I have read several reviews that are very convincing. <a href="http://thepioneerwoman.com/homeschooling/2011/12/the-write-foundation-sentence-to-paragraph-writing-curriculum/" target="_blank">Especially this one. </a> I really think this might be a winner. I have tried other writing programs, including the Institute of Excellence in Writing and I just wasn't that impressed. I'm hard to impress. I'm a professional English teacher. :) That said, I have a hard time teaching writing because I feel like my children should just magically know how to write--much like I did. Instead, I have kids whose favorite subjects are math and science and for whom writing doesn't come easily. I don't have time to create my own curriculum right now and so I will eventually (too bad I can't sell plasma when I'm pregnant) buy this one and see how it works out for Miriam.<br />
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This year I bought <i><a href="http://www.growingwithgrammar.com/1DID.html" target="_blank">Digging Into Diagramming </a>. </i>I wanted a way to make sure my children were diagramming a few sentences every day--especially Miriam. I think diagramming is the best way to teach grammar, other than learning a foreign language. There isn't much on the market by way of straight diagramming. This book is great in concept and how it builds from simple to complex sentences. I can't give it rave reviews, however, because it doesn't have as many practice sentences as I would like. When I say the book doesn't have enough sentences, I mean it. Each lesson only has one or two example sentences with four practice sentences. There are 41 lessons, which sounds like a lot until you realize that the kids will only have diagrammed roughly 164 sentences over the course of the year using this book. It just isn't enough practice. It does, however, supplement Rod and Staff nicely since those books already have diagramming included. I still think <i>Digging Into Diagramming </i>is worth the purchase--just be aware of what you are getting.<br />
<br /><b>Cowen, grade 4: </b>Cowen is not an independent reader yet, so that makes everything I do with him a little trickier. He's getting there, but at his own speed. Also, I bumped his younger sister up a grade because her birthday was right around the cut-off. And she's a girl. And he's a boy. SUCH A BOY. Meaning that his development is crazy different than his sisters', or even his younger brother who is a little less of a stereotypical boy. Cowen and Emeline (grade 3) do the same grammar. It works. <br />
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<b>Math: </b>He's currently using <i><a href="http://www.criticalthinking.com/building-thinking-skills-level-1.html" target="_blank">Building Thinking Skills Level One</a> </i>and <i><a href="http://www.criticalthinking.com/mathematical-reasoning-level-d.html" target="_blank">Mathematical Reasoning Level D</a>. </i>The skills in his Building Thinking Skills book do not come as easily to Cowen as they came to Miriam, so I am focusing a lot of our math attention on that book currently. I also started Cowen on learning his multiplication tables on xtramath.com and created a fake student so he could practice addition under a different name. I did the same thing with Miriam. We are hitting computation really hard with the oldest two this year. Once we've finished the Building Thinking Skills book, I'll shuffle Cowen back into his regular math book. By then he'll know enough of his multiplication tables that the multiplying and dividing work in the math book will be easy and math will remain angst-free. <br />
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Small sidenote: I just starting giving weekly first and second place awards to the kids who make the most improvement on their xtramath work. The improvement in their effort has been downright astonishing. Amazing what a $1.00 box of candy can do for a child's motivation.<br />
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<b>Language Arts: </b>Cowen is working out of the Rod and Staff <i><a href="https://www.milestonebooks.com/item/1-123--/?list=Building_Christian_English_Series" target="_blank">Beginning Wisely Level 3</a> </i>grammar book. I already told you how much I love Rod and Staff. I take two years to go through the first book--making sure they don't get overloaded. We do one lesson a day, four days a week. I don't worry about teaching writing at this stage. I wait until grade five and with Cowen, I might wait until grade six.<br />
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Basically, I'm not really converted to teaching spelling to young children. Miriam was a terrible speller for years and I kept wondering why she didn't pick it up from reading like I had. Then, one day, she could spell. It was awesome. My son, though, has a harder time with all things verbal so I bought the <i>Phonetic Zoo</i> just to help him practice a little. I don't insist on memorization of the words. I tried that briefly and it led to much, much heartache. Instead, I show the kids (Cowen and Emeline) the spelling rule outlined on the card, pick six words, and have them write those six words three times daily for one week. Then we move on. My purpose? To help my kids start to recognize when something looks right and when something looks wrong. If they haven't miraculously learned to spell by the sixth grade, I'll get more serious about it.<br />
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They also diagram one sentence a day from <i>Digging Into Diagramming. </i>Miriam diagrams four sentences a day, but I don't want the younger kids to get in over their heads too quickly. They have barely started learning about nouns so I don't want them trying to diagram adjectives yet, for example.<br />
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<b>Emeline, grade 3 </b><br />
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<b>Math: </b>Emeline has a September birthday so she's technically in grade two, but I bumped her up to grade three one year to suit other purposes, and now she's still there. It doesn't really matter except she's flying through her math book (the younger grades have much shorter books). She doing <i><a href="http://www.criticalthinking.com/mathematical-reasoning-level-c.html" target="_blank">Mathematical Reasoning Level C</a> </i>which is one year higher than I meant for her to be in (it's the second grade level). After she completes it I will have her switch to the <i>Building Thinking Skills Level One </i>book just to slow her down a little before putting her into the third grade level. She'll still be farther ahead than any of my other children were at her age. We might have to take some time off math books to work on Mind Benders or something if I feel she's getting grumpy about math.<br />
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<b>Language Arts: </b>See Cowen.<br />
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<b>Eli, kindergarten</b><br />
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I don't really do much with my kindergarten kids. I want him in the <a href="http://www.criticalthinking.com/mathematical-reasoning-level-a.html" target="_blank">Mathematical Reasoning Level A</a> book right now, but money is tight with the baby coming and I haven't been able to get it for him yet. He works on xtramath.com and loves that. <br />
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As for language arts, he does the <a href="https://www.iseesam.com/" target="_blank">I See Sam</a> program that I've reviewed before to learn to read. Love that program! Then he writes funny sentences that I make up like "Dad sat on the fat cat."<br />
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This was probably longer than you wanted and less helpful than I hoped. If you have any specific questions, shoot them at me and I'll do my best to answer.<br />
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<br />Andreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14301232211779225287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8364208679169851823.post-86753823058898449002014-09-23T18:05:00.001-06:002014-09-23T18:05:04.375-06:00Children's Extra Reading Evaluation Post: Rats, Bulls, and Flying Machines; Magic Tree House Monday with a Mad Genius and Leonardo da VinciFirst, a review of <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Rats-Bulls-Flying-Machines-Renaissance/dp/1890517186/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1410839066&sr=8-1&keywords=rats+bulls+and+flying+machines" target="_blank">Rats, Bulls, and Flying Machines: A History of the Renaissance and Reformation</a> </i>(nonfiction) by Deborah Mazzotta Prum. I linked to amazon in case you want to read more reviews. Miriam, age 11, is being interviewed by me--her mom.<br />
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Did you enjoy this book?: "Yes, I loved it. I want more books like it."<br />
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What was your favorite part?: "All of it. I liked reading about Shakespeare and Leonardo."<br />
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Anything else you want to say about the book or the author's writing style?: "I learned what a papal bull is. Papal means having to do with the Pope and bull is a word meaning document issued by the Pope. The author had lots of good little cartoons. The author was talking to you like she was a cartoonist, kind of. She was funny." <br />
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Who would enjoy this book?: "I think people that like cartoons that add funny bits to a history book. I think age 9 to old age would like this book."<br />
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Emeline (age 7, grade 3) reviews <i>Monday with a Mad Genius </i>by Mary Pope Osborne (fiction).<br />
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Did you enjoy this book?: "Yes, I did. It was very, very fun. Leonardo da Vinci and the two kids were fun to read about."<br />
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What was your favorite part?: "About Leonardo da Vinci's big bird."<br />
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Did you learn anything about history from this book?: "I learned tons! I learned that Leonardo was a great painter and a great architect."<br />
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Who would enjoy this book?: "Kids that are 8, 7, and 6."<br />
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Emeline's review of <i>Leonardo da Vinci: A Nonfiction Companion to Monday with a Mad Genius.</i></div>
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Did you enjoy this book?": "Yes, I did. It was very, very awesome. I liked the things it taught me about Leonardo da Vinci. His most famous painting is the Mona Lisa. I really liked how he paints and draws. I really want to go and see the Mona Lisa."</div>
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Did you learn anything about history from this book?: "I learned tons about history."</div>
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Who would enjoy this book?: "You would [meaning me, but probably you too!], Dad would, Miriam would, Cowen would, Kiersten would."</div>
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<br />Andreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14301232211779225287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8364208679169851823.post-72471443432074557812014-09-17T21:41:00.000-06:002014-09-17T21:41:00.055-06:00Cortes, Pizarro, and Exploring Turns Into ConqueringCowen and Eli were riveted by the books we read on this day. The girls were still a little meh. If I had more time I would think of something to get them invested, but I don't have time. <br />
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I did one very smart thing for the day we talked about the Aztecs and Incas and that was having a bunch of books on hand with photographs of real relics from the civilizations. We didn't read all the books, but the kids have been poring over them in their free time. <br />
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We did read <i>Francisco Pizarro </i>by Jeff Donaldson-Forbes. I didn't realize that Pizarro lacked even basic honor and decency. Sad. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMGkRpCJSi556-9sVRXAY5Nxkg65JsLu1E2JaTI1eUVbqj939GPYDb3JikdrrmNWqxzRbJ5__o9xwhztLXF7M9Hyw34uE0rGgB4KCRhkeqa3SDp1mKc_q97bZE5Rpy136JjFHI3e3RWmCY/s1600/imgres-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMGkRpCJSi556-9sVRXAY5Nxkg65JsLu1E2JaTI1eUVbqj939GPYDb3JikdrrmNWqxzRbJ5__o9xwhztLXF7M9Hyw34uE0rGgB4KCRhkeqa3SDp1mKc_q97bZE5Rpy136JjFHI3e3RWmCY/s1600/imgres-2.jpg" height="400" width="372" /></a></div>
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We also read <i>Aztecs and Incas AD 1300-1532 </i>by Penny Bateman. I couldn't find a picture but it is available at the Davis County Library in Utah. I thought it had a good overview of both civilizations.<br />
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For the children's perusing pleasure, I had the DK Eyewitness book <i>Aztec, Inca, and Maya </i>on hand as well as the World Book reference titled <i>The Aztec. </i>The children also enjoyed flipping through <i>The Incas </i>by Tim Wood because it has see through, cut-out type pages. (Funny: Miriam just walked by and saw me holding the Tim Wood book. She said, "That's a good book." So there you have a firm endorsement.)<br />
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Lastly, after reading books, looking at books, and finding the Incan and Aztec empires in the children's atlas (I tell you, Cowen is obsessed), we watched a movie. I broke all my personal and family rules and let the children watch it before I had seen it. Therefore, I cannot say anything about the quality/accuracy/appropriateness of the movie. The boys said it was awesome, but it had quite a bit a fighting and some artwork with nudes. <br />
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Here's the linky to the Cortez movie: <a href="http://youtu.be/A8niQ1ZAbwU">http://youtu.be/A8niQ1ZAbwU</a>Andreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14301232211779225287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8364208679169851823.post-90685176412835170252014-09-15T21:25:00.002-06:002014-09-15T21:25:25.495-06:00Columbus and MagellanWe haven't done as many activities with history as I would like. Part of that is my being preggers and tired, and the other part is that we are still getting in the swing of things. Hopefully more time will be devoted to history in the future. Hopefully, I'll figure out how to put myself to bed at a reasonable time so I get up earlier. That would help too!<br />
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Here are a few of our favorite books from our Columbus/Magellan day.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifNSpSgoUe1Ffs1ctkjrp3Kp7pPRLPADjXeV_EFnn1NwUgK1kyYxtJ5yYunX1I1LLesf1aERDdY2RKZfVELgw-WSbQc35_hNNWo5SUCrIuKcvSyaL6HCqnNV6SNl5sl3P0GKa1yGH8retI/s1600/imgres.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifNSpSgoUe1Ffs1ctkjrp3Kp7pPRLPADjXeV_EFnn1NwUgK1kyYxtJ5yYunX1I1LLesf1aERDdY2RKZfVELgw-WSbQc35_hNNWo5SUCrIuKcvSyaL6HCqnNV6SNl5sl3P0GKa1yGH8retI/s1600/imgres.jpg" height="315" width="400" /></a></div>
<i>How We Learned the Earth Is Round </i> by Megan Lloyd is my favorite that we read. It had a lot of great information, but it was very child-friendly and accessible. I highly recommend.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYaPghPI_KNyJWmRpgb736rtn9qW_zwGXGg-tdWlx_i2VesQeBxNL-09PrEwAmLAOVDP0WX8U8iJvwwUkoVDe6QBcYAljpXgwM3CxIQ-746dzSpPmzf81DmjGW7hX9Y8unHLrl3xh23dad/s1600/imgres-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYaPghPI_KNyJWmRpgb736rtn9qW_zwGXGg-tdWlx_i2VesQeBxNL-09PrEwAmLAOVDP0WX8U8iJvwwUkoVDe6QBcYAljpXgwM3CxIQ-746dzSpPmzf81DmjGW7hX9Y8unHLrl3xh23dad/s1600/imgres-1.jpg" /></a></div>
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<i>1492: Year of Columbus </i>by Genevieve Foster was also pretty good. We skipped a few pages about the Aztecs and Incas because I knew we were going to study them more in-depth later. <br />
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I didn't love any of the Magellan books. <i>Magellan and Da Gama: To the Far East and Beyond </i>wasn't terrible, but it had too much info for my younger kids. I skimmed it with them and mostly talked about Magellan.<br />
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Cowen is definitely more interested in the explorers than my girls. He has happily pulled out our children's atlas every time we've read an explorer book--just to make sure he knows exactly where the explorer traveled. It has been fun to engage with him and answer his questions. The girls . . . eh. They aren't as interested.<br />
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All my children, however, loved this handy dandy little video about Magellan:<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/pM-igYjn6E4" width="420"></iframe><br />
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I also thought this one was pretty informative, although not as entertaining:<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/Nh8dmW18s38?list=PLZDJN5z2VUc2NnVZL5seHpRKOxbeCYrIv" width="560"></iframe><br />
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<br />Andreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14301232211779225287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8364208679169851823.post-81155112740628657312014-09-14T19:15:00.001-06:002014-09-14T19:15:07.553-06:00History Review Days<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
We've been accomplishing a great deal these past few school weeks. We've ironed out the last of the new work assignments, got into the groove of doing diligent school work every day (except Tuesdays, when I've been bottling). We've read and laughed and . . . not laughed. </div>
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Since it had been awhile since we focused our attention on history, I decided to do a bit of review. We started with a large review timeline. I wanted something the kids could manipulate. It took a bit of jogging their memories, but eventually the timeline took shape. Obviously, since this timeline covered the history of the world since the creation to the end of the Middle Ages, I really limited the events to the highlights. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihNWrNH0VsLfmGLt7vHDBqmy0ijgcK_U9_wEpzACFyZDtH4frg4ZljcUedbnsEWc4qbxy70ISo8wx6F2pQW6cIPXu20zoQxEa3gHM4DZeDQcZl51X_PnGyvXjiWrEsLDe5gr_wfCO_iGJU/s1600/DSCN9600.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihNWrNH0VsLfmGLt7vHDBqmy0ijgcK_U9_wEpzACFyZDtH4frg4ZljcUedbnsEWc4qbxy70ISo8wx6F2pQW6cIPXu20zoQxEa3gHM4DZeDQcZl51X_PnGyvXjiWrEsLDe5gr_wfCO_iGJU/s1600/DSCN9600.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></div>
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We also read some books to review. One of our favorites was <i>Joan of Arc</i> by Diane Stanley.<br />
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We also really liked <i>The Silk Route: 7,000 Miles of History</i> by John S. Major.</div>
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We read those books, and a few others, to review what was going on in the world and to set the stage for the major world exploration we studied next. I wanted the kids to understand how Europe received goods from China and India and how the balance of power and prices changed when Islamic empires shut down the overland trade route. We read a little bit about Marco Polo and then we did one of my favorite things. We mapped.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNuQFim4Gyp_Tb9Q8zAG-l4oTBDyIkipIltRv3iX_BsMVrGrgfx7583ui0_K_38uLFicttdJUnyQgoDakMvn0nstv-X4oUiZA_bHTx_joTnTKtxdKbusGaY3adHkKAZBcl1GqOQ1YPTuUv/s1600/DSCN9609.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNuQFim4Gyp_Tb9Q8zAG-l4oTBDyIkipIltRv3iX_BsMVrGrgfx7583ui0_K_38uLFicttdJUnyQgoDakMvn0nstv-X4oUiZA_bHTx_joTnTKtxdKbusGaY3adHkKAZBcl1GqOQ1YPTuUv/s1600/DSCN9609.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></div>
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The purpose of the map was to remind the children of basic divisions of power in Europe going into the Age of Exploration when things started changing fast. We also looked at a map of Asia and Africa, but I couldn't find a good outline map for those areas. </div>
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Here's a linky for the maps we did use: <a href="http://people.hofstra.edu/geotrans/eng/ch2en/conc2en/img/silkroad.png">http://people.hofstra.edu/geotrans/eng/ch2en/conc2en/img/silkroad.png</a>; </div>
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Lastly, we made individual, and slightly more detailed, timelines on calculating machine paper. I love that stuff for timelines. <br />
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There are lots of places online that offer a highly simplified overview of world history. I used one of those sites as a reference when choosing the events for the timeline. Mostly I wanted to remind my kids of things we spent time on in the hopes it would all come back to them. It did--for Miriam at least.</div>
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Here's what is included on Miriam's timeline:</div>
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Timeline Events:<o:p></o:p></div>
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8000 BC: beginning of farming<o:p></o:p></div>
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3100 BC: Egypt is ruled by pharaohs<o:p></o:p></div>
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3000 BC: Sumerian civilization began; cuneiform writing<o:p></o:p></div>
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2000 BC: First Chinese dynasty<o:p></o:p></div>
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1200 BC: Oldest known civilization in the Americas, Olmecs<o:p></o:p></div>
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800 BC: Greek city-states formed, democracy explored<o:p></o:p></div>
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776 BC: First Olympic games<o:p></o:p></div>
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550 BC: Cyrus forms the Persian dynasty<o:p></o:p></div>
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334 BC: Alexander the Great conquers his empire<o:p></o:p></div>
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27 BC: Roman way of life spreads throughout the Roman Empire—mightiest empire in the ancient world<o:p></o:p></div>
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AD 33: Jesus is crucified<o:p></o:p></div>
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AD 410: Barbarians plunder Rome marks the beginning of the end of the Roman Empire<o:p></o:p></div>
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AD 527: Justinian 1 becomes Byzantine Emperor<o:p></o:p></div>
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AD 622: Muhammad starts religion of Islam<o:p></o:p></div>
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AD 814: Charlemagne unites much of Europe, starts the Holy Roman Empire<o:p></o:p></div>
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AD 900: Viking Age<o:p></o:p></div>
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AD 1066: Battle of Hastings; William the Conqueror defeats the Saxons<o:p></o:p></div>
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AD 1099: First Crusade<o:p></o:p></div>
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AD 1279: Kublai Khan conquers China<o:p></o:p></div>
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AD 1298: Marco Polo publishes his adventures<o:p></o:p></div>
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AD 1347: Black Death arrives in Europe</div>
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Here's a video that might also be valuable if you are reviewing. <a href="http://www.historycentral.com/dates/Overviewhistory.html" target="_blank"> http://www.historycentral.com/dates/Overviewhistory.html</a> It is a link to a 15 minute video that discusses all major world events through AD 1500.<br />
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And that was the first two days of history of the new school year!<br />
<br />Andreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14301232211779225287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8364208679169851823.post-60458080138677025172014-09-01T20:16:00.003-06:002014-09-01T20:16:33.380-06:00Calendar Magic<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Today I labored, as is only appropriate on Labor Day, over the school year calendar. I like to have the year mapped out (a residual effect of being a professional teacher or just Type A behavior?) and now that it is, I haven't stopped patting myself on the back. The calendar worked out brilliantly. We're studying the pilgrims (legitimately) the week of Thanksgiving and the Revolutionary War (legitimately) the week of July 4th. How is that for amazing?<br />
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Granted, my yearly plans never go as planned but let me have a few more minutes to gloat over my calendar's awesomeness before I face that reality. <br />
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I spent all day poring over my two spines: <i>The Age of Discovery </i>by Timelink and <i>The Elements: Ingredients of the Universe </i>by Ellen McHenry. I will also be using Ellen McHenry's second chemistry course, <i>Carbon Chemistry</i>, but I don't own it yet.<br />
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I broke everything down into pieces and then assigned each piece to a day. So very, very time consuming, but so very, very worth it for me.<br />
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September is devoted to history. Here is how it breaks down--<br />
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3rd: Joan of Arc, any other catching up, start timelines on paper roll<br />
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4th: map practice, what the world looked like at the end of the Medieval period, work on timeline<br />
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5th: Columbus and Magellan, read books about them, map where they went, discuss expanding world<br />
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8th: Cortes and the Aztecs, Pizarro and the Incas, Jacques Cartier in Canada--maps and timeline<br />
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10th: Ottoman Turks under Suleiman 1, Babur in India and the start of the Mogul Empire, maps, any documentaries I can find, books if I can find them<br />
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11th: Protestant Reformation, Martin Luther, Calvinism, Venn diagram for Catholicism and Protestantism, Henry VIII divorces first wife so England breaks with Catholicism<br />
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12th: Review of major world religions, Venn diagrams, books<br />
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15th: overview of Renaissance, definition of rebirth, ancient Greeks, ancient Romans, humanism--humans can accomplish anything--focus on this life instead of afterlife, Medici (look for documentary), patrons, Gutenberg<br />
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16th: Painters that made a difference: Titian, Raphael, Michelangelo, Donatello, etc., try to draw like one of them<br />
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17th: Perspective, Erasmus, Machiavelli (maybe)<br />
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18th: Guest lesson on perspective, draw<br />
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22nd: Durer, Hans Holbein, Leonardo da Vinci, try to make one of Leonardo's inventions<br />
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24th: Akbar--Mogul India--map; Toyotomi Hideyoshi--Japan, maps, timelines, Africa beginning of slave trade, French Civil War<br />
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25th: guest artist--another perspective lesson<br />
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29th: Spain's Golden Age; empire, Cervantes, El Greco, defeated Portugal, Dutch revolt against Spain, map Spain's empire<br />
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October 1st: Elizabethan England; England's Golden Age, new worlds, Richard Chancellor<br />
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2nd: Shakespeare<br />
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3rd: Pirates/Spanish Armada<br />
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At that point, we start chemistry. I assigned one week to each chapter in the chemistry book, so I won't bore you will listing the dates here. <br />
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I wrote out the whole year like this. Granted, I might end up scratching some things (like Machiavelli), depending on what is available at the library and how interested I think my children will be. We might spend an extra day on pirates if I find enough cool things to justify it. My schedule is usually pretty fluid, but having it laid out allows me to focus further planning on the nitty gritty of how I'm going to introduce the ideas to my kids.<br />
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Having everything outlined also allows to me focus my library searches and limit how many books I have out from the library at one time. It also allows me to figure out how extra reading assigned to Miriam and Emeline fits in with the overall calendar.<br />
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Today was so productive! I keep thinking I should work on school some more but . . . I think I'll rest on my laurels, read a novel, and eat something Chinese. Happy labor day!<br />
<br />Andreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14301232211779225287noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8364208679169851823.post-16681182509462287462014-08-26T21:43:00.002-06:002014-08-26T21:43:49.014-06:00First Day of School Pics!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Harriet (3)<br />
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Cowen (9)<br />
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Eli (5)<br />
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Emeline (7)<br />
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Miriam (11)</div>
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Oskar (18 months)<br />
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The first day of school was awesome. It felt so good to be following a schedule again--even though there were glitches here and there. I'm still working on training the children in their new chores and helping kids stay on task. We didn't get to history, but that isn't very surprising. I figured we wouldn't do the extras until we got into the groove of things.<br />
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Today was nice too. Miriam went to the DaVinci Academy for her day of classes. I decided to give it a try with the new program but I'm definitely lukewarm. One foot in, the other foot out. I wanted a little homeschool $ and this was the last year for Miriam to take classes, so I put her in and kept the other kids out. We'll see if the money is worth the requirements. <br />
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Miriam loved her classes. The other kids and I lost focus around 10:30 because the weather was so nice. We headed to the hills for a nice ambling walk on the canal road. We might have to stick to paved trails though because carrying Oskar when he got tired was not fun. A stroller might help me get to the end of this pregnancy. Still, lovely day. <br />
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My favorite things that have happened over the past two days: Cowen and Emeline figuring out how to alphabetize and Cowen sitting by Harriet on the couch helping her go over her touch-and-trace alphabet cards. Harriet wants so much to "do school" and Cowen was so sweet with her. Loved it. <br />
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Funniest thing? Emeline was trying to find a word in the dictionary for her language arts assignment and kept singing the alphabet song through the letter "o" over and over. None of us were paying attention until she muttered, "I have got to learn the alphabet." Then we realized she couldn't remember the rest of the alphabet and we erupted in a massive fit of giggles. Emeline looked sheepish but appreciated her siblings singing the song repeatedly for her until she found the word in the dictionary. <br />
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Good times.<br />
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I'll leave you with another pic of Oskar--guaranteed to make you smile.<br />
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<br />Andreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14301232211779225287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8364208679169851823.post-7132615773026641352014-08-23T23:14:00.000-06:002014-08-23T23:14:49.583-06:00Everything Feels More Manageable Now<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I've decided that for a person who usually muddles along without a "spine" for each subject I'm pretty happy to not muddle this year. </div>
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I was really starting to feel desperate about where to start with the Renaissance (yes, I have a masters degree in history. Would you care to know about masculinity during WWII, because I could really help you out there). My sister, Kami, who likes history as much as I do but actually knows about the Renaissance sent me a bunch of links to help me out. I went to each and every one and started to break down my units into logical sections and assign books to the units. I was starting to feel better about things.</div>
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Then, I skimmed through the library books I already checked out and realized that I had unwittingly found a "spine." A perfectly AWESOME spine. It is called <i>The Age of Discovery </i>by Brian and Brenda Williams. The book is laid out in sections by date and all the important things going on around the world during those years are broken up by geographic region. There are timelines on the bottom of the pages to further clarify things. For example, on pages 52-53 the date box says, "1770-1789" and the sections are titled: "First fleet to Australia," "Settlement of Australia,""The Maoris of New Zealand," and "Tom Paine--Revolutionary." </div>
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Awesome!! At a glance I can see what the important topics are, whether or not I feel they are important enough to find an additional book about them, and how they fit together. I can then skim over the timelines at the bottom of the pages that are in text boxes organized by continent. It is seriously genius. Now I don't have to worry that I'm going to leave out something critical from our studies. It also gives me a way to fill in information without needing a whole book on the subject. </div>
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I'm feeling much more confident!! It is too bad Eli threw up today because now I'm pumped for school to start on Monday. If all the kids are sick, we'll postpone. :) </div>
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As a small sidenote--I apologize to any and all of you who know me in person or who run into me on facebook periodically, or in any other way have to endure me during pregnancy. This pregnancy has been harder on me emotionally than any other I can remember (the stress of the move? increasing sensitivity to hormonal changes? knowing it is my last one and just running out of grin-and-bear-it? having six other kids?) and I basically don't like anyone right now. Grumpy is an understatement. Please don't be offended! I'll get over it the minute baby is born (or a week later when the hormones have settled a little). Thank you for bearing with me!</div>
<br />Andreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14301232211779225287noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8364208679169851823.post-24174206695487224892014-08-22T15:34:00.001-06:002014-08-22T15:34:29.334-06:00Homeschool Wall Ready<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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More organizing!! Today I finished up last minute changes to our school and work schedules. I decided Eli was old enough to do the downstairs vacuuming on Saturdays, so I took it off Miriam's chart and put it on his. I also switched Tuesday and Thursday around since Miriam ended up attending classes on Tuesday when originally I thought she would be attending on Thursday.<br />
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The top row is our daily schedules, Monday-Friday. Below that is our chore chart and scripture reading charts. <br />
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Timothy would love to have cooler walls someday, but in the meantime--I find this set-up very convenient.<br />
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A closer up view of Monday's schedule. Yellow is play time, green is school, red is chores.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGwmWfKlXEeXzkCFJ9L1waLa3e0Xj_tMedpWfU5LcrsZHwZsLK9ZtIJOM-GbnGPqNCw8xUAm9qCov8avfQMwbKU6ziUDpXhZ9FF1BGyOnkvKDkJSKoCYzDcN72ZZ-9rLOljPnsqcwqyu9p/s1600/DSCN9498.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGwmWfKlXEeXzkCFJ9L1waLa3e0Xj_tMedpWfU5LcrsZHwZsLK9ZtIJOM-GbnGPqNCw8xUAm9qCov8avfQMwbKU6ziUDpXhZ9FF1BGyOnkvKDkJSKoCYzDcN72ZZ-9rLOljPnsqcwqyu9p/s1600/DSCN9498.JPG" height="400" width="300" /></a></div>
Tuesday.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBLrqE85HYYc3735PR07bI_YbMnrAAJuZC8OkGIb6Pp-myUXNj0cfIelYXPDqsuh-I283Wi5n9yV2ssMe5aUVNo0jFYJ0zam65E_P0ugoBU2nSyLo_im8ujTpZLAtdKC0f9H3g6BgUVNop/s1600/DSCN9499.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBLrqE85HYYc3735PR07bI_YbMnrAAJuZC8OkGIb6Pp-myUXNj0cfIelYXPDqsuh-I283Wi5n9yV2ssMe5aUVNo0jFYJ0zam65E_P0ugoBU2nSyLo_im8ujTpZLAtdKC0f9H3g6BgUVNop/s1600/DSCN9499.JPG" height="400" width="300" /></a></div>
The chore chart.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUGW5HEIlTNG1HFCYVk_9RHcYuXCI4Wcfnj_16ntpTy32Yme0rrKy7Zww0Y9J3KqGsuP-dcE6HVYTj3M2CWq5VNV61Ay3qgilROwzSP5FGVLbl4xbAltTT3lWIrO71EjykBSkdpHrubQY9/s1600/DSCN9500.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUGW5HEIlTNG1HFCYVk_9RHcYuXCI4Wcfnj_16ntpTy32Yme0rrKy7Zww0Y9J3KqGsuP-dcE6HVYTj3M2CWq5VNV61Ay3qgilROwzSP5FGVLbl4xbAltTT3lWIrO71EjykBSkdpHrubQY9/s1600/DSCN9500.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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We set the goal that our children would read the Book of Mormon during the year they are 11 to prepare them for the temple. Miriam is 11 so we are all helping her reach this goal by reading the Book of Mormon ourselves. I have the tree chart. I have a ways to go before our challenge ends on Miriam's 12th birthday.</div>
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My wall is in place, my schedule is in place, our boxes are ready. Now if I only knew how to approach studying the Renaissance!! Ack!!!</div>
Andreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14301232211779225287noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8364208679169851823.post-79337073083272274862014-08-16T20:10:00.001-06:002014-08-16T20:10:40.588-06:00More Getting ReadyAfter paying a bunch of fines at the Weber County Library, I officially decided I was only using the Davis System. I can't afford to use the Weber. That decided, I ordered a bazillion books a few days ago. Timothy is going to pick them up for me on Monday. Then I can kick getting ready into high gear!<br />
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Although I am painfully slow in the "achieve something" department these days, I do feel quite good about a few to-dos being checked off my list. The hardest job I finished was going through all the hand-me-down clothes and making every child try on all their clothes. During the process I kept a scribbler handy to write down each child's needs going into the fall season. At the end I felt all teary because of the tender mercies of the Lord. We need almost nothing for the kids compared to what I thought we would need. There were clothes in the hand-me-down boxes that I don't even remember obtaining but they fit the kids who need them. It was miraculous. <br />
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We told the kids they were getting a new house and new sister for Christmas, but I had some creative present ideas come to me and today at DI I found one of the things I needed for only $6.00. We're giving the kids dress-up clothes and I got most of them free, including a Matrix looking black coat for Cowen, but I needed something cool for Eli. In the women's section I found a black leather coat that is perfect. I expected it to be at least $25 and did an internal happy dance when I saw the sticker! DI, thank you!! No, my children have no idea what Matrix is. Neither do I, but I think my kids will instantly think "spy" when they see the coats, so we're building on that concept.<br />
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The day after sorting clothes, I spent six hours (without chocolate!!!!!!!!!) organizing my bedroom/office. It was brutal and I hated every minute of it but it had to be done and it looks so much better now! I'm ready to stock my bookshelf with this year's library books and homeschool helps. <br />
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Yesterday we went through the kids' homeschool boxes (they no longer have cubbies so we improvised). We made new cover sheets for their binders with the correct grade (I have a sixth grader this year--how did that happen????) and subjects being studied. Then I built interest in chemistry and the Renaissance/early modern subjects by having the kids pick pictures about those topics to put on their cover sheets. We go through this process every year and the kids love it. We even made Harriet a a binder this year so she wouldn't feel left out. After looking at the cool images that come up when you search for "chemistry" the children have been deciding what things they are going to learn to make during the coming year. They feel pretty confident they can make a light-saber or two. Hmm.<br />
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Although there is much left to be done, I feel like progress has been made. Now my pears just need to be ready to bottle on Monday so I can thoroughly enjoy my two day break with my hubby that I'm taking. We wanted to fit in a day or two away before the new baby arrived so when my SIL offered to watch the kids we jumped on it. Two days without kids!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I can't wait. <br />
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Until then . . . I keep feeling my pears (I have three boxes) and praying that they ripen enough for me to bottle before the get-away. <br />
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How are your preparations coming along?Andreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14301232211779225287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8364208679169851823.post-89729188385254763842014-08-13T11:55:00.000-06:002014-08-13T11:55:08.197-06:00Getting Ready for the New Year
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Getting ready for the new school year has been especially difficult this year for several reasons. One) I hate the library system in Weber County and can't decide whether or not to order my books from Davis and plan on driving once a month to Clearfield, or toughen up and really transition to using a Weber County location. This dilemma has resulted in my not requesting any books to prepare for the first few units of the new year and so I am much farther behind than normal at this stage. <div>
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Two) I'm still trying to organize the new house. While this is mostly done, it still feels like I can't cope with anything because I have stacks of books on my desk and boxes around my room, and my husband's piles of antiquated technology that he doesn't use but won't get rid of rounding out the disaster that is my bedroom/office. I really can't handle clutter--it makes me feel like I am drowning. </div>
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Three) I don't know how to tackle the Renaissance. I know I want to do a lot with art (but I know nothing about art) and famous people like Leonardo (obviously) but I don't know much about anyone besides Leonardo. I haven't found any good book lists to put together Miriam's, Cowen's, and Emeline's school reading lists, and I don't know about many good historical fiction books from my own personal collection or personal reading. Because I'm not sure how to tackle the time period and because I don't have one hundred library books on the subject to browse through, I find it hard to progress to putting together an actual plan of study.</div>
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Four) I'm pregnant. This is really the crux of the problem. We found out we're having a girl (yay) and I'm thrilled about her and finishing our family and all that good stuff, but I really struggle when I'm pregnant. I mostly just want to stay in bed and pretend I don't have children. Accomplishing anything is a huge ordeal. Thus, I'm waaaaaayyyyy behind. </div>
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Now, you sweet people will tell me that the baby is the lesson and it is fine if we don't do much school. I agree with you. However, it is also true that children are happier with a schedule and limited free time. Another truth is that I feel crummy unless I'm accomplishing something. Type A and all that. So for everyone's emotional health, I really do need to force myself to continue moving forward with all my homeschooling, children, and church responsibilities. </div>
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Some of the worst parts of my to-do list have been checked off. Two days ago I went through every stitch of clothing in the house (excepting the adult sizes) including all the hand-me-down boxes and created a master list of what we need for children this fall. I hate doing that job, but God is merciful and my list of what we need is much, much shorter than I anticipated. </div>
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I also did all the laundry and made the kids do another deep cleaning of the downstairs. (One huge drawback to a larger home is that the kids can spread out and wreak more havoc in more places without my noticing.) I think I even made dinner . . . nope, camping leftovers, but it was tasty.</div>
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Yesterday I did make dinner, thank you very much. I also created a new chore chart and school schedule. That was important. Last year I implemented an idea I got from Latter-day Homeschooling and assigned everyone the same chores for a year. It worked beautifully for us. It has been a year and a house change and a new chore chart was desperately needed. Here's what our chart looks like:</div>
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<!--StartFragment-->
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 16.0pt;">2014-2015 School Year
Chore Chart<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Miriam:</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Keep bedroom
clean every day<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Morning chore:
make breakfast Monday-Wednesday and also Friday<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Evening chore: Help
Eli clean and tidy the downstairs, mop steps by side door<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Dish night:
Friday<b><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Supper Prep
night: Monday<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Saturday: vacuum
downstairs, mop downstairs, downstairs bathroom, kitchen cupboards up, lawn<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Cowen: <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Keep bedroom
clean every day<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Morning chore:
tidy bathrooms<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Evening chore:
dog poo, feed dogs <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Dish night:
Tuesday<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Supper Prep night:
Wednesday<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Saturday:
upstairs bathroom, kitchen cupboards down, lawn<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Emeline:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Keep bedroom
clean every day<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Morning chore:
tidy and vacuum upstairs<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Evening chore:
tidy upstairs<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Dish night:
Wednesday<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Supper Prep:
Tuesday<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Saturday: dust
and vacuum upstairs, water plant, mop dining room<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Eli: <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Keep bedroom
clean every day<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Morning chore:
feed dogs, tidy downstairs<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Evening chore:
tidy downstairs<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Supper Prep:
Thursday<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Saturday: dust
and tidy downstairs, scrub kitchen sink<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">If you'll notice, Miriam was assigned cooking breakfast for the year. That will hopefully solve a pressing school problem: my not taking time to help Cowen and Emeline with their piano practice as much as I should. With this new schedule, I can help with piano practicing while breakfast is being made, then Miriam can practice while the rest of us do the breakfast dishes and our most important subject (piano) will be done by 10:00 am and I will feel like we accomplished great things and feel more motivated to keep going. Awesome.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Harriet does do chores, but it is mostly helping pick up books and toys and keeping her room clean. I might hang up a chore chart with pockets for her to help her remember to brush her teeth and make her bed--things like that. She'd like that.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Our school schedule isn't very different from last year except for one major change--all three of my oldest kids will be working on language arts. We've done a little spelling and handwriting in the past, but I don't start actual grammar/writing kinds of things until 3rd grade. I didn't start Cowen in LA last year because I knew it would be easier to wait and teach him and Emeline at the same time. So, the schedule needed a LA slot. I'll tell you more about my LA plans in a different, less lengthy, post, but I'm pretty excited about it.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Here's Tuesday of our schedule. If my hubby was here he could show me how to make an excel document look nice but I'm just going to cut and paste and hope for the best.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">If any of you have any brilliant Renaissance ideas--lay them on me. I hope your preparations are going much more smoothly than mine!!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
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<!--StartFragment-->
<colgroup><col style="mso-width-alt: 3456; mso-width-source: userset; width: 81pt;" width="81"></col>
<col style="mso-width-alt: 4138; mso-width-source: userset; width: 97pt;" width="97"></col>
<col style="mso-width-alt: 4096; mso-width-source: userset; width: 96pt;" width="96"></col>
<col style="mso-width-alt: 3626; mso-width-source: userset; width: 85pt;" width="85"></col>
<col span="2" style="mso-width-alt: 3285; mso-width-source: userset; width: 77pt;" width="77"></col>
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<tr height="22" style="height: 22.0pt;">
<td class="xl63" height="22" style="height: 22.0pt; width: 81pt;" width="81"></td>
<td class="xl64" style="width: 97pt;" width="97">Mom</td>
<td class="xl64" style="border-left: none; width: 96pt;" width="96">Miriam</td>
<td class="xl64" style="border-left: none; width: 85pt;" width="85">Cowen</td>
<td class="xl64" style="border-left: none; width: 77pt;" width="77">Emeline</td>
<td class="xl64" style="border-left: none; width: 77pt;" width="77">Eli</td>
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<td align="right" class="xl65" height="23" style="height: 23.0pt;">7:00 AM</td>
<td class="xl66" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"> </td>
<td class="xl66" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"> </td>
<td class="xl66" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"> </td>
<td class="xl66" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"> </td>
<td class="xl66" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"> </td>
</tr>
<tr height="23" style="height: 23.0pt; mso-height-source: userset;">
<td align="right" class="xl65" height="23" style="border-top: none; height: 23.0pt;">7:30
AM</td>
<td class="xl66" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">bath/dress/hair</td>
<td class="xl66" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">bath/dress/hair</td>
<td class="xl66" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">bath/dress/hair</td>
<td class="xl66" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">bath/dress/hair</td>
<td class="xl66" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">bath/dress/hair</td>
</tr>
<tr height="23" style="height: 23.0pt; mso-height-source: userset;">
<td align="right" class="xl65" height="23" style="border-top: none; height: 23.0pt;">8:00
AM</td>
<td class="xl66" style="background: rgb(198, 239, 206); border: 0.5pt solid windowtext; color: #006100; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; text-underline-style: none;">:piano</td>
<td class="xl66" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">make breakfast</td>
<td class="xl66" style="background: rgb(198, 239, 206); border: 0.5pt solid windowtext; color: #006100; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; text-underline-style: none;">:piano</td>
<td class="xl66" style="background: rgb(198, 239, 206); border: 0.5pt solid windowtext; color: #006100; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; text-underline-style: none;">:computer work</td>
<td class="xl66" style="background: rgb(255, 199, 206); border: 0.5pt solid windowtext; color: #9c0006; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; text-underline-style: none;">chores</td>
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<tr height="23" style="height: 23.0pt; mso-height-source: userset;">
<td align="right" class="xl65" height="23" style="border-top: none; height: 23.0pt;">8:30
AM</td>
<td class="xl66" style="background: rgb(198, 239, 206); border: 0.5pt solid windowtext; color: #006100; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; text-underline-style: none;">:piano</td>
<td class="xl66" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">make breakfast</td>
<td class="xl66" style="background: rgb(198, 239, 206); border: 0.5pt solid windowtext; color: #006100; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; text-underline-style: none;">:computer work</td>
<td class="xl66" style="background: rgb(198, 239, 206); border: 0.5pt solid windowtext; color: #006100; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; text-underline-style: none;">:piano</td>
<td class="xl66" style="background: rgb(255, 199, 206); border: 0.5pt solid windowtext; color: #9c0006; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; text-underline-style: none;">chores</td>
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<td align="right" class="xl65" height="23" style="border-top: none; height: 23.0pt;">9:00
AM</td>
<td class="xl66" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">breakfast</td>
<td class="xl66" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">breakfast</td>
<td class="xl66" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">breakfast</td>
<td class="xl66" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">breakfast</td>
<td class="xl66" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">breakfast</td>
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<tr height="23" style="height: 23.0pt; mso-height-source: userset;">
<td align="right" class="xl65" height="23" style="border-top: none; height: 23.0pt;">9:30
AM</td>
<td class="xl66" style="background: rgb(255, 199, 206); border: 0.5pt solid windowtext; color: #9c0006; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; text-underline-style: none;">chores</td>
<td class="xl66" style="background: rgb(198, 239, 206); border: 0.5pt solid windowtext; color: #006100; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; text-underline-style: none;">:piano</td>
<td class="xl66" style="background: rgb(255, 199, 206); border: 0.5pt solid windowtext; color: #9c0006; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; text-underline-style: none;">chores</td>
<td class="xl66" style="background: rgb(255, 199, 206); border: 0.5pt solid windowtext; color: #9c0006; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; text-underline-style: none;">chores</td>
<td class="xl66" style="background: rgb(255, 199, 206); border: 0.5pt solid windowtext; color: #9c0006; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; text-underline-style: none;">chores</td>
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<tr height="23" style="height: 23.0pt; mso-height-source: userset;">
<td align="right" class="xl65" height="23" style="border-top: none; height: 23.0pt;">10:00
AM</td>
<td class="xl66" style="background: rgb(198, 239, 206); border: 0.5pt solid windowtext; color: #006100; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; text-underline-style: none;">:Cowen read</td>
<td class="xl66" style="background: rgb(198, 239, 206); border: 0.5pt solid windowtext; color: #006100; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; text-underline-style: none;">:piano</td>
<td class="xl66" style="background: rgb(198, 239, 206); border: 0.5pt solid windowtext; color: #006100; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; text-underline-style: none;">:read</td>
<td class="xl66" style="background: rgb(198, 239, 206); border: 0.5pt solid windowtext; color: #006100; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; text-underline-style: none;">:school reading</td>
<td class="xl66" style="background: rgb(255, 235, 156); border: 0.5pt solid windowtext; color: #9c6500; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; text-underline-style: none;">play</td>
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<tr height="23" style="height: 23.0pt; mso-height-source: userset;">
<td align="right" class="xl65" height="23" style="border-top: none; height: 23.0pt;">10:30
AM</td>
<td class="xl66" style="background: rgb(198, 239, 206); border: 0.5pt solid windowtext; color: #006100; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; text-underline-style: none;">:Eli read</td>
<td class="xl66" style="background: rgb(198, 239, 206); border: 0.5pt solid windowtext; color: #006100; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; text-underline-style: none;">:computer work</td>
<td class="xl66" style="background: rgb(198, 239, 206); border: 0.5pt solid windowtext; color: #006100; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; text-underline-style: none;">:Walk with Wilson</td>
<td class="xl66" style="background: rgb(198, 239, 206); border: 0.5pt solid windowtext; color: #006100; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; text-underline-style: none;">:Walk with Wilson</td>
<td class="xl66" style="background: rgb(198, 239, 206); border: 0.5pt solid windowtext; color: #006100; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; text-underline-style: none;">:read</td>
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<tr height="23" style="height: 23.0pt; mso-height-source: userset;">
<td align="right" class="xl65" height="23" style="border-top: none; height: 23.0pt;">11:00
AM</td>
<td class="xl66" style="background: rgb(198, 239, 206); border: 0.5pt solid windowtext; color: #006100; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; text-underline-style: none;">:Eli piano</td>
<td class="xl66" style="background: rgb(198, 239, 206); border: 0.5pt solid windowtext; color: #006100; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; text-underline-style: none;">:Spanish/French</td>
<td class="xl66" style="background: rgb(255, 235, 156); border: 0.5pt solid windowtext; color: #9c6500; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; text-underline-style: none;">play</td>
<td class="xl66" style="background: rgb(255, 235, 156); border: 0.5pt solid windowtext; color: #9c6500; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; text-underline-style: none;">play</td>
<td class="xl66" style="background: rgb(198, 239, 206); border: 0.5pt solid windowtext; color: #006100; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; text-underline-style: none;">:piano/computer</td>
</tr>
<tr height="23" style="height: 23.0pt; mso-height-source: userset;">
<td align="right" class="xl65" height="23" style="border-top: none; height: 23.0pt;">11:30
AM</td>
<td class="xl66" style="background: rgb(198, 239, 206); border: 0.5pt solid windowtext; color: #006100; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; text-underline-style: none;">:grammar/LA</td>
<td class="xl66" style="background: rgb(198, 239, 206); border: 0.5pt solid windowtext; color: #006100; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; text-underline-style: none;">:LA</td>
<td class="xl66" style="background: rgb(198, 239, 206); border: 0.5pt solid windowtext; color: #006100; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; text-underline-style: none;">:LA</td>
<td class="xl66" style="background: rgb(198, 239, 206); border: 0.5pt solid windowtext; color: #006100; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; text-underline-style: none;">:LA</td>
<td class="xl66" style="background: rgb(255, 235, 156); border: 0.5pt solid windowtext; color: #9c6500; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; text-underline-style: none;">play</td>
</tr>
<tr height="23" style="height: 23.0pt; mso-height-source: userset;">
<td align="right" class="xl65" height="23" style="border-top: none; height: 23.0pt;">12:00
PM</td>
<td class="xl66" style="background: rgb(198, 239, 206); border: 0.5pt solid windowtext; color: #006100; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; text-underline-style: none;">:history/science</td>
<td class="xl66" style="background: rgb(198, 239, 206); border: 0.5pt solid windowtext; color: #006100; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; text-underline-style: none;">:history/science</td>
<td class="xl66" style="background: rgb(198, 239, 206); border: 0.5pt solid windowtext; color: #006100; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; text-underline-style: none;">:history/science</td>
<td class="xl66" style="background: rgb(198, 239, 206); border: 0.5pt solid windowtext; color: #006100; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; text-underline-style: none;">:history/science</td>
<td class="xl66" style="background: rgb(198, 239, 206); border: 0.5pt solid windowtext; color: #006100; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; text-underline-style: none;">:history/science</td>
</tr>
<tr height="23" style="height: 23.0pt; mso-height-source: userset;">
<td align="right" class="xl65" height="23" style="border-top: none; height: 23.0pt;">12:30
PM</td>
<td class="xl66" style="background: rgb(198, 239, 206); border: 0.5pt solid windowtext; color: #006100; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; text-underline-style: none;">:history/science</td>
<td class="xl66" style="background: rgb(198, 239, 206); border: 0.5pt solid windowtext; color: #006100; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; text-underline-style: none;">:history/science</td>
<td class="xl66" style="background: rgb(198, 239, 206); border: 0.5pt solid windowtext; color: #006100; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; text-underline-style: none;">:history/science</td>
<td class="xl66" style="background: rgb(198, 239, 206); border: 0.5pt solid windowtext; color: #006100; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; text-underline-style: none;">:history/science</td>
<td class="xl66" style="background: rgb(198, 239, 206); border: 0.5pt solid windowtext; color: #006100; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; text-underline-style: none;">:history/science</td>
</tr>
<tr height="23" style="height: 23.0pt; mso-height-source: userset;">
<td align="right" class="xl65" height="23" style="border-top: none; height: 23.0pt;">1:00
PM</td>
<td class="xl66" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">lunch</td>
<td class="xl66" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">lunch</td>
<td class="xl66" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">lunch</td>
<td class="xl66" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">lunch</td>
<td class="xl66" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">lunch</td>
</tr>
<tr height="23" style="height: 23.0pt; mso-height-source: userset;">
<td align="right" class="xl65" height="23" style="border-top: none; height: 23.0pt;">1:30
PM</td>
<td class="xl66" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">devotional</td>
<td class="xl66" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">devotional</td>
<td class="xl66" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">devotional</td>
<td class="xl66" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">devotional</td>
<td class="xl66" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">devotional</td>
</tr>
<tr height="23" style="height: 23.0pt; mso-height-source: userset;">
<td align="right" class="xl65" height="23" style="border-top: none; height: 23.0pt;">2:00
PM</td>
<td class="xl66" style="background: rgb(198, 239, 206); border: 0.5pt solid windowtext; color: #006100; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; text-underline-style: none;">:scriptures</td>
<td class="xl66" style="background: rgb(198, 239, 206); border: 0.5pt solid windowtext; color: #006100; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; text-underline-style: none;">:scriptures</td>
<td class="xl66" style="background: rgb(198, 239, 206); border: 0.5pt solid windowtext; color: #006100; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; text-underline-style: none;">:scriptures</td>
<td class="xl66" style="background: rgb(198, 239, 206); border: 0.5pt solid windowtext; color: #006100; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; text-underline-style: none;">:scriptures</td>
<td class="xl66" style="background: rgb(198, 239, 206); border: 0.5pt solid windowtext; color: #006100; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; text-underline-style: none;">:scriptures</td>
</tr>
<tr height="23" style="height: 23.0pt; mso-height-source: userset;">
<td align="right" class="xl65" height="23" style="border-top: none; height: 23.0pt;">2:30
PM</td>
<td class="xl66" style="background: rgb(198, 239, 206); border: 0.5pt solid windowtext; color: #006100; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; text-underline-style: none;">:math</td>
<td class="xl66" style="background: rgb(198, 239, 206); border: 0.5pt solid windowtext; color: #006100; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; text-underline-style: none;">:math</td>
<td class="xl66" style="background: rgb(198, 239, 206); border: 0.5pt solid windowtext; color: #006100; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; text-underline-style: none;">:math</td>
<td class="xl66" style="background: rgb(255, 235, 156); border: 0.5pt solid windowtext; color: #9c6500; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; text-underline-style: none;">play</td>
<td class="xl66" style="background: rgb(255, 235, 156); border: 0.5pt solid windowtext; color: #9c6500; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; text-underline-style: none;">play</td>
</tr>
<tr height="23" style="height: 23.0pt; mso-height-source: userset;">
<td align="right" class="xl65" height="23" style="border-top: none; height: 23.0pt;">3:00
PM</td>
<td class="xl66" style="background: rgb(198, 239, 206); border: 0.5pt solid windowtext; color: #006100; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; text-underline-style: none;">:math</td>
<td class="xl66" style="background: rgb(255, 235, 156); border: 0.5pt solid windowtext; color: #9c6500; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; text-underline-style: none;">play</td>
<td class="xl66" style="background: rgb(255, 235, 156); border: 0.5pt solid windowtext; color: #9c6500; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; text-underline-style: none;">play</td>
<td class="xl66" style="background: rgb(198, 239, 206); border: 0.5pt solid windowtext; color: #006100; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; text-underline-style: none;">:math</td>
<td class="xl66" style="background: rgb(198, 239, 206); border: 0.5pt solid windowtext; color: #006100; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; text-underline-style: none;">:math</td>
</tr>
<tr height="23" style="height: 23.0pt; mso-height-source: userset;">
<td align="right" class="xl65" height="23" style="border-top: none; height: 23.0pt;">3:30
PM</td>
<td class="xl66" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"> </td>
<td class="xl66" style="background: rgb(255, 235, 156); border: 0.5pt solid windowtext; color: #9c6500; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; text-underline-style: none;">play</td>
<td class="xl66" style="background: rgb(255, 235, 156); border: 0.5pt solid windowtext; color: #9c6500; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; text-underline-style: none;">play</td>
<td class="xl66" style="background: rgb(255, 235, 156); border: 0.5pt solid windowtext; color: #9c6500; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; text-underline-style: none;">play</td>
<td class="xl66" style="background: rgb(255, 235, 156); border: 0.5pt solid windowtext; color: #9c6500; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; text-underline-style: none;">play</td>
</tr>
<tr height="23" style="height: 23.0pt; mso-height-source: userset;">
<td align="right" class="xl65" height="23" style="border-top: none; height: 23.0pt;">4:00
PM</td>
<td class="xl66" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"> </td>
<td class="xl66" style="background: rgb(255, 235, 156); border: 0.5pt solid windowtext; color: #9c6500; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; text-underline-style: none;">play</td>
<td class="xl66" style="background: rgb(255, 235, 156); border: 0.5pt solid windowtext; color: #9c6500; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; text-underline-style: none;">play</td>
<td class="xl66" style="background: rgb(255, 235, 156); border: 0.5pt solid windowtext; color: #9c6500; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; text-underline-style: none;">play</td>
<td class="xl66" style="background: rgb(255, 235, 156); border: 0.5pt solid windowtext; color: #9c6500; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; text-underline-style: none;">play</td>
</tr>
<tr height="23" style="height: 23.0pt; mso-height-source: userset;">
<td align="right" class="xl65" height="23" style="border-top: none; height: 23.0pt;">4:30
PM</td>
<td class="xl66" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"> </td>
<td class="xl66" style="background: rgb(255, 235, 156); border: 0.5pt solid windowtext; color: #9c6500; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; text-underline-style: none;">play</td>
<td class="xl66" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">Scouts</td>
<td class="xl66" style="background: rgb(255, 235, 156); border: 0.5pt solid windowtext; color: #9c6500; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; text-underline-style: none;">play</td>
<td class="xl66" style="background: rgb(255, 235, 156); border: 0.5pt solid windowtext; color: #9c6500; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; text-underline-style: none;">play</td>
</tr>
<tr height="23" style="height: 23.0pt; mso-height-source: userset;">
<td align="right" class="xl65" height="23" style="border-top: none; height: 23.0pt;">5:00
PM</td>
<td class="xl66" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"> </td>
<td class="xl66" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">Activity Days</td>
<td class="xl66" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">Scouts</td>
<td class="xl66" style="background: rgb(255, 235, 156); border: 0.5pt solid windowtext; color: #9c6500; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; text-underline-style: none;">play</td>
<td class="xl66" style="background: rgb(255, 235, 156); border: 0.5pt solid windowtext; color: #9c6500; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; text-underline-style: none;">play</td>
</tr>
<tr height="23" style="height: 23.0pt; mso-height-source: userset;">
<td align="right" class="xl65" height="23" style="border-top: none; height: 23.0pt;">5:30
PM</td>
<td class="xl66" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">dinner prep</td>
<td class="xl66" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">Activity Days</td>
<td class="xl66" style="background: rgb(255, 235, 156); border: 0.5pt solid windowtext; color: #9c6500; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; text-underline-style: none;">play</td>
<td class="xl66" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">dinner prep</td>
<td class="xl66" style="background: rgb(255, 235, 156); border: 0.5pt solid windowtext; color: #9c6500; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; text-underline-style: none;">play</td>
</tr>
<tr height="23" style="height: 23.0pt; mso-height-source: userset;">
<td align="right" class="xl65" height="23" style="border-top: none; height: 23.0pt;">6:00
PM</td>
<td class="xl66" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">dinner prep</td>
<td class="xl66" style="background: rgb(255, 199, 206); border: 0.5pt solid windowtext; color: #9c0006; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; text-underline-style: none;">chores</td>
<td class="xl66" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">chore</td>
<td class="xl66" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">dinner prep</td>
<td class="xl66" style="background: rgb(255, 199, 206); border: 0.5pt solid windowtext; color: #9c0006; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; text-underline-style: none;">chores</td>
</tr>
<tr height="23" style="height: 23.0pt; mso-height-source: userset;">
<td align="right" class="xl65" height="23" style="border-top: none; height: 23.0pt;">6:30
PM</td>
<td class="xl66" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">supper</td>
<td class="xl66" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">supper</td>
<td class="xl66" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">supper</td>
<td class="xl66" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">supper</td>
<td class="xl66" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">supper</td>
</tr>
<tr height="23" style="height: 23.0pt; mso-height-source: userset;">
<td align="right" class="xl65" height="23" style="border-top: none; height: 23.0pt;">7:00
PM</td>
<td class="xl66" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"> </td>
<td class="xl66" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">bed prep</td>
<td class="xl66" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">Dishes</td>
<td class="xl66" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">bed prep</td>
<td class="xl66" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">bed prep</td>
</tr>
<tr height="23" style="height: 23.0pt; mso-height-source: userset;">
<td align="right" class="xl65" height="23" style="border-top: none; height: 23.0pt;">7:30
PM</td>
<td class="xl66" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">bed prep</td>
<td class="xl66" style="background: rgb(198, 239, 206); border: 0.5pt solid windowtext; color: #006100; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; text-underline-style: none;">:school reading</td>
<td class="xl66" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">bed</td>
<td class="xl66" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">bed</td>
<td class="xl66" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">bed</td>
</tr>
<tr height="23" style="height: 23.0pt; mso-height-source: userset;">
<td align="right" class="xl65" height="23" style="border-top: none; height: 23.0pt;">8:00
PM</td>
<td class="xl66" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"> </td>
<td class="xl66" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">read in bed</td>
<td class="xl66" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">bed</td>
<td class="xl66" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">bed</td>
<td class="xl66" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">bed</td>
</tr>
<tr height="23" style="height: 23.0pt; mso-height-source: userset;">
<td align="right" class="xl65" height="23" style="border-top: none; height: 23.0pt;">8:30
PM</td>
<td class="xl66" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"> </td>
<td class="xl66" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">bed</td>
<td class="xl66" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">bed</td>
<td class="xl66" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">bed</td>
<td class="xl66" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">bed</td>
</tr>
<!--EndFragment-->
</tbody></table>
<!--EndFragment--></div>
Andreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14301232211779225287noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8364208679169851823.post-22682468031250474052014-07-29T14:21:00.000-06:002014-07-29T14:21:30.401-06:00I'm actively starting to hate the Weber County Library SystemI know, I know--you should never hate libraries, but the policies are so punitive and make it so costly to use the library that I find my blood pressure rise every time I have to interact in any way with the library system. Oh, Davis County Library System, I miss you so!<br />
<br />
First--Davis lets you renew books after they are overdue, Weber does not<br />
<br />
Davis renewal period is two weeks and Weber is one week <i>from the day you renew</i>. If you are on top of things and renew early than you only get an extra few days. If you wait until the day the books are due to get the full week, you run the risk of forgetting and not being able to renew at all (no renewals after the books are overdue). <br />
<br />
Davis doesn't make you have a pin number.<br />
<br />
Davis you can use your card until you have $14.00 in fines (at least, that is the amount I need to pay on the card that is locked). Weber it is <b>$4.00. </b>Are you kidding me?<br />
<br />
Davis you can put books on hold even if you have outstanding fines. Not so, Weber. <br />
<br />
Davis still has librarians check your books out and have outside drop-off boxes at all their locations. The two Weber locations I have tried you have to check out your own materials (which is fine if you are there by yourself but not if you are there with six children) and the outside drop off boxes are only available after hours. <br />
<br />
At one location I tried in the Weber County system you have to check in your own books one at a time on a little conveyor belt. What do you think my six children were doing while I checked in 30 books one at a time? I don't know--I couldn't watch them, I was checking in books!<br />
<br />
One Weber location has the children's nonfiction mixed in with the adult nonfiction. I understand that space is limited in that location, but that's a pretty anti-boy thing to do. Most boys prefer non-fiction, and you should encourage boys to read every single way possible. Also, as a parent, how am I supposed to patrol my offspring if the children's materials are not all in one location? <br />
<br />
Weber you <b>can't renew books if you have any outstanding fines. </b>What????????????????<br />
<br />
I've been getting more and more frustrated but today when I sat down to renew some books and put some others on hold and I couldn't, my pregnancy hormones exploded and I had a bit of a melt down. I recognize that for most normal, childless people, these regulations and organization are not a big deal. I usually have about 60 library books at my house at all times. My kids get to pick out three each (theoretically, if they find something awesome I let them get more) so that is 20 right there. Then I usually have science books for our science unit (20 + 20), and then the history books for my history unit (20 + 20 + 20). I don't mind the occasional fine for legitimate things, but I'm finding it really discouraging trying to navigate the Weber County System. <br />
<br />
I wanted to put some books on hold today and then make a big trip to the library in a few days, but I can't because I can't renew the books because of fines and I can't put any on hold. So that means two trips to the library this week. I can't afford the gas, I can't afford the time, I can't afford the assault to my sanity of taking my children to the library that often. And thus, my hating rant. <br />
<br />
Does anyone else have these issues or are you all going to tell me to be more responsible and not rack up $4.00 in fines in the first place?Andreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14301232211779225287noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8364208679169851823.post-48744365283984432552014-07-28T20:47:00.000-06:002014-07-28T20:47:25.216-06:00Dissecting--Life Science at Its Most Hands-on<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
I had this really awesome post planned, all about dissecting a cow eye and the books we read and the youtube videos we watched. It was going to be thorough and helpful and worth reading.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
Sadly, due to our move we have to use a new library system and it feels very much like I can only have the books for approximately three minutes before the books are overdue. Also sad is that you can't renew the books once they are overdue, like our last library system, and the renewals are for one week from the day you renew. If you renew early then you only get the books an extra day or so. If you try to wait and renew on the day they are due, you forget and can't renew them and have to make frantic trips to the library so the fees don't get too outrageous because if you owe more than $4.00 you can no longer check out books. What???!!! My frustration is high.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
The point is that I had to return the books to the library in haste and I failed to write down what we read. None of the books were so good that I'm willing to search through online catalogs trying to figure out what they were. We read them, the children liked them. </div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
After showing you the books we read, I was going to post the youtube cow eye dissection tutorial that we watched. I just spent 15 minutes on youtube and couldn't find it. There are lots of options. Youtube knows how to do everything. </div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
To review, we read three books about eyes and how they work. Then we watched a youtube tutorial on how to do a cow eye dissection. Then we dissected a cow eye. Sweet.</div>
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The kids take the gloves very, very seriously.<br />
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Eli has to have a buddy because I draw the line at giving a five year old a scalpel.<br />
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First they cut away the excess fat.<br />
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Eyes were cool. Brains . . . a little boring.<br />
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Miriam keeps pretending that she can't possibly dissect because it makes her "feel sick." I say, "Fine" and the rest of the kids and I proceed. Then Miriam wanders by about 50 times before giving in to her insatiable curiosity and joins us.<br />
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Emeline loves dissecting. She is very serious and methodical.<br />
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So far we've dissected a sheep heart, a cow brain, a cow eye, a crayfish, and a grasshopper. After we started dissections all my children announced they were going to be scientists (except Miriam who stated, quite rightly, that private investigators have to use a lot of science so she will still be an actress and private investigator). <br />
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We watched a Bill Nye episode on hearts and another on brains on youtube. The kids always think that is awesome. TV for school! <br />
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Here is one of the youtube videos we watched about dissecting a heart. I am sharing it because it was by far the most memorable dissection video of the several we watched.<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/yE3Y-XR8Ax4" width="560"></iframe>
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We ordered all of our dissecting apparatus online at <a href="http://www.hometrainingtools.com/?gclid=CJ6X-ZK-6b8CFRIcaQodazoAqA" target="_blank">Home Science Tools</a>. <br />
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We are wrapping up life science this next week and finishing up medieval history in August. Then we'll be ready to jump into chemistry and the Renaissance/Early Modern time period in September when we officially start the next school year. Any ideas are welcome. I ordered Ellen McHenry's <i>The Elements </i>book as our chemistry spine since it was recommended on so many blogs. I don't know enough about chemistry to write my own curriculum. We'll see whether or not I can actually follow a curriculum--it has been so long since I tried!<br />
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Come September, I'll have four children officially enrolled in Frolic and Farce Homeschool. Where is the time going?<br />
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Speaking of time flying by--I have my 20 week ultrasound on August 7th. I'm halfway to having my 7th (and last) baby. Remember when Miriam started kindergarten and I started this blog?? I don't remember it either! Maybe the formaldehyde is affecting my brain. :)Andreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14301232211779225287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8364208679169851823.post-91329743352464359032014-07-22T22:45:00.001-06:002014-07-22T22:45:48.329-06:00Book Review for Parents: Free to Learn by Peter Gray<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I just finished reading <i>Free to Learn: Why Unleashing the Instinct to Play Will Make Our Children Happier, More Self-Reliant, and better Students for Life </i>by Peter Gray and I have some thoughts.<br />
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First, everyone should read this--and I mean everyone. Not so much because everyone should homeschool or unschool or even send their children to a "unschool-school" but because it helps provide a different vision of our schools than the media currently espouses wherein our children need to go to school younger and work more intensely to be more competitive. While I am still on the fence about a lot of things Gray said, I am adamantly opposed to the politician/media model that is ruining our education system currently and stressing out our children.<br />
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Second, I think Gray's overall premise is correct: children learn better when they are having fun. I disagree with Gray's conclusion that school inhibits all fun and learning. I had a lot of fun in public school. I read a lot of great books, assigned and unassigned. I had a lot of great friends and some excellent teachers. I had three recesses, gym, art, and music. I was good at school so I rarely felt much stress or pressure. I may be the exception, but I think public school works just fine for a lot of kids.<br />
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Gray spends a lot of time in this book examining hunter-gather societies and how children are reared within those communities. He then then takes certain characteristics of those child-rearing approaches and tries to apply them to our current first world society. I didn't think it worked very well. <br />
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Then Gray moves on to talking about the importance of self-directed, adult-free play. This is the section of the book that is easiest to buy into. Gray defines play as: 1) self-chosen and self-directed, 2) motivated by means more than ends, 3) guided by mental rules, 4) imaginative, 5) conducted in an alert, active, but non-stressed frame of mind. Gray then proceeds to explain how many people play while working because their work meets all the criteria of play. I think my husband feels this way about his work as a computer programmer. My hubby has often described his work as "spending all day solving really cool puzzles." When my hubby was an accountant he dreaded going to work every day and he was not happy. Accounting was never play for him.<br />
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I saw a lot of myself as a homeschool mom in this section of the book. My favorite part of the day is when we are working on school. I chose to homeschool my children and continue to choose to do so every day. It is very much a creative outlet for me. I love picking the books to read, reading to my children, putting together curriculum, enjoying my children's enjoyment of everything we do for school. Sometimes my kids get annoyed about practicing piano, or computation practice, but overall the school part of our days are pretty awesome. I wouldn't hesitate to call it play. (Getting my children to do the chores around the house is another matter entirely.) I sometimes worry a little bit that the reason I don't want to put my children in school is because I get so much out of homeschooling. On the other hand, all of my children adamantly refuse to attend public school so I can't feel too guilty about it.<br />
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After he defines play, Gray explains why play is so valuable for children. The man was clearly preaching to the choir (me). He said everything I've ever thought about children needing more time away from adults to make their own decisions and take their own risks. He also talked about the value of multi-age play and the value of "dangerous" play. I liked that he has the science degrees to make what he says sound more legitimate than my ravings on these topics. :)<br />
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Where are you on the free-range parenting vs. tiger mom parenting scale?? I'm so curious about other homeschoolers' perspectives on these topics.<br />
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So, overall, I thought his ideas were pretty awesome and inspiring. The drawback, as I see it, is his absolute conviction that learning should be entirely self-led. He is a huge fan of unschooling. His son attended Sudbury--a school model that is very like unschooling, only with lots of kids together in the same building. <br />
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I've thought about unschooling a lot over my five years of homeschooling. When I first started homeschooling, I tended to worry a lot more about getting things done. However, I've never thought children should be studying academics in the early grades so my approach to homeschool was a tad more flexible than many newbie homeschoolers. As Gray correctly pointed out on his blog, most homeschoolers start out fairly rigid and then relax as the years go by and they realize that their children learn all the time, with or without much effort on the part of the parent. I am far more trusting of my children's basic curiosity then I was at the beginning.<br />
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However, I am not an unschooler and am not entirely convinced that unschooling is a good model of schooling in the younger grades. As a child gets older--say early teens and upwards--they develop more pointed interests. An unschooling approach, at that point, makes a lot of sense to me. The older child can create a plan of action to develop those interests and he is old enough to understand why a broad base of knowledge (we'll call it a classical approach or cultural literacy approach) can be helpful. He can also cut out the unhelpful parts of a traditional education (like high school gym) and streamline his learning to best work with other areas of his life.<br />
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A younger child doesn't have the life experience and knowledge to know what his interests are. I know unschoolers would adamantly disagree, and I understand their point of view and freely admit that I might be wrong. However, I see a lot of value in exposing my children to a more typical classical approach in the younger years to help make therm aware of all the possibilities out there. Also, I think they should have a familiarity with some general concepts like WWII and atoms. Sure, if my 16 year old had no interest in history I could see myself not being too worried about it, but only because I'd already have covered history during the elementary and middle school years. Teenager has been exposed to ideas, is not interested in said ideas at this time, does not have to pursue those ideas. This works for me. <br />
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The child-directed model from birth does not. How does a seven year old know if he's interested in history or not? How does a seven year old know if he's interested in chemistry or not? How does a seven year old even know what chemistry is unless an adult introduces him to the idea? <br />
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Maybe I still don't trust my kids enough, but I feel strongly that my purpose as a homeschooler of young children is to expose my children to a variety of ideas in all subject areas. When my children have been exposed to many subjects and ideas then they can start to specialize. <br />
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Where are you on the unschooling scale? I would love to know.<br />
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Regardless of my disagreeing or, at least, questioning some of Gray's conclusions, I really think the book is a must-read.<br />
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Now really, tell me where you are on the unschooling scale.Andreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14301232211779225287noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8364208679169851823.post-74485145073848483342014-07-02T16:34:00.001-06:002014-07-02T16:34:53.920-06:00Clay Castles<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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We're still working on history in fits and starts. One day we read a bunch of books about castles (none of them were so fantastic that I felt they needed to be mentioned on the blog) and then tried to make castles out of clay. <br />
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It was pretty much a flop. <br />
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The kids had a lot of fun, however. I even baked their creations and let them paint the next day. Yes, you read that right. I let my children paint. I'm basically a rock star.Andreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14301232211779225287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8364208679169851823.post-70645429547789050642014-06-30T16:13:00.000-06:002014-06-30T16:13:06.127-06:00Viking Era Historical Fiction Reviews from Miriam<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Argh, I am behind AGAIN! I forgot to post this way back when we finished the Viking Era (800-1000 AD). Miriam was unwilling to go into great detail about these books, but she did give them star rankings, which I hope is helpful. </div>
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Miriam turned 11 this month (wowsers) and she enjoys books at grade level and significantly higher.</div>
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Viking Quest books, including <i>Raiders from the Sea, </i>by Lois Walfrid
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<span style="color: #ffe599;">(That's a crazy high recommendation. These were by far her favorite "assigned" books she's read so far this year.)</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTkcw8Y7vYBLagYlXLrD0zcT3uuXLVrXxaDJ3DIT4gG1Jj-mAfV14-18-75GZX-UNYFxAs393Tso1rj_Vc9CefJe5oG0zh_DNx0cjkqM6AErrRIjg8n4QtM_3yVxn_qDnmbbI_M3oM3VbM/s1600/imgres-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTkcw8Y7vYBLagYlXLrD0zcT3uuXLVrXxaDJ3DIT4gG1Jj-mAfV14-18-75GZX-UNYFxAs393Tso1rj_Vc9CefJe5oG0zh_DNx0cjkqM6AErrRIjg8n4QtM_3yVxn_qDnmbbI_M3oM3VbM/s1600/imgres-1.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: green;"><o:p><br /></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: green;"><o:p><br /></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>The Namesake: A Story of King
Alfred</i> by C. Walter Hodges. Miriam: 3 stars; I liked it. <span style="color: green;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicuqwmw3R19u8WKdxF8ZMrjUsJru3dZdbVKtDlMI3KFBT1VioGpptzA2ZpQGyVoKUCOpHMZVS61SIxvihN3b3TpkzV8jARcPXmIQXJqq_JJ0dXPfD3LmSkL3RJiUe2Fs1UXpyjn0gO8jmu/s1600/imgres-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicuqwmw3R19u8WKdxF8ZMrjUsJru3dZdbVKtDlMI3KFBT1VioGpptzA2ZpQGyVoKUCOpHMZVS61SIxvihN3b3TpkzV8jARcPXmIQXJqq_JJ0dXPfD3LmSkL3RJiUe2Fs1UXpyjn0gO8jmu/s1600/imgres-2.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: green;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: green;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>Black Fox of Lorne</i> by Marguerite de
Angeli. Miriam: I loved it, 5 stars.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvFt_GQHJQMINJnKPMVhzf0gai-6ErJDTkcrzOwmb24qh5zjRg0zufPBnxSPDVMtDNDC1hIFjw-ukXvOIo8lpnqoEE5uuMsGH6YhfshepCl9TcaHlZUMqQrrW_1p4b8OMyvFXTN27kj-EB/s1600/imgres-3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvFt_GQHJQMINJnKPMVhzf0gai-6ErJDTkcrzOwmb24qh5zjRg0zufPBnxSPDVMtDNDC1hIFjw-ukXvOIo8lpnqoEE5uuMsGH6YhfshepCl9TcaHlZUMqQrrW_1p4b8OMyvFXTN27kj-EB/s1600/imgres-3.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>Beorn the Proud</i> by Madeleine Polland. Miriam: I liked it, 4 stars.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKDc3oWrtEqIGVk3cscmTqDwHxN9xxYGMF6qIhuCNmuGX9KVUZDvUDJ3g3VZXOAWMOoHrMuYbPBTK6z-eBbBIazHghnR9aDbr07plLAVq2irDO3rWTkTdegJiDROJ4xjHsKAIYW2cDetuq/s1600/imgres-4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKDc3oWrtEqIGVk3cscmTqDwHxN9xxYGMF6qIhuCNmuGX9KVUZDvUDJ3g3VZXOAWMOoHrMuYbPBTK6z-eBbBIazHghnR9aDbr07plLAVq2irDO3rWTkTdegJiDROJ4xjHsKAIYW2cDetuq/s1600/imgres-4.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>The Shipwreck</i> by Jorn Riel. Miriam: I liked it, 4 stars.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
There you have it. Miriam might be getting the Raiders From the Sea series for Christmas. Shhhh, don't tell. :)</div>
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Andreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14301232211779225287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8364208679169851823.post-89582223660304779182014-06-28T17:09:00.000-06:002014-06-28T17:14:51.707-06:00Tall TalesIf you have a 9 year old scout (Bear) then this post is for you. One of the requirements is to learn about tall tales. I am *learning to love* scouting and thought I'd start with something interesting to me to increase my motivation. For that same reason we are doing cooking next. After that, things get trickier.<br />
<br />
Back to tall tales. I decided to throw a mini-unit into our summer homeschool plans to accommodate the tall tale requirement.<br />
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First, we went to the library and checked out a gazillion tall tale books. We read about the people I already knew about--Davy Crockett, Paul Bunyon, Pecos Bill, John Henry. We also found some tall tales about people of whom I'd never heard--Gib Morgan (our favorite find), Sally Ann Thunder Something Something Crockett (my girls loved her because she was the only female--I just wish her name was easier to remember), and Casey Jones's coal man, Sim. <br />
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My kids loved this book (notice the author is Nancy Farmer of <i>The Ear, The Eye, and The Arm </i>fame; if you haven't read that book, repent and do so immediately):<br />
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(warning: the devil is very freaky looking in the Sim Webb book and Harriet was greatly disturbed by him the whole time we were reading)</div>
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My kids also loved this book:</div>
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And this one:</div>
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There were many, many others my children liked as well. Just go to the tall tale section of your library and check out everything. They are all fun.</div>
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After we read a bunch of tall tales, I taught my children the word "hyperbole" and also threw in "character" and "plot" while I was at it. We don't really do language arts units very often, so I had a bit of fun using LA vocabulary around the house during our two weeks of tall tales. Since my children understood the concepts, it was no problem to teach them the vocab. </div>
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We did some other really fun things as well. The scout book has little paragraphs about random people in their tall tale section. I decided that while I don't consider those people "tall tales," we might as well learn about them.</div>
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For Molly Brown we watched "The Unsinkable Molly Brown." I tried to find a children's book about her without success. Someone should write one. My kids loved the movie. I love the movie too although there is a LOT of yelling. Holy cow people, inside voices!</div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/Vk10MoMpMIA" width="560"></iframe><br />
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For Hiawatha we listened to a short reading on youtube. At first my children whined (no pictures??!!!), but they were hooked in less than 30 seconds. <br />
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For Barbara Freitchie (if you haven't heard of her, don't feel bad, neither had I) we listened to this reading that we all quite liked:<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/9VRU3yadYfs" width="560"></iframe><br />
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We read through a little about the Lost Dutchman at <a href="http://www.lostdutchmandays.org/legend.htm">http://www.lostdutchmandays.org/legend.htm</a>. My hubby was surprised that I'd never heard about the Lost Dutchman so apparently it is common knowledge among westerners. Can I blame my ignorance on this matter on being Canadian?<br />
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We read about King Kamehameha the Great on this website: <a href="http://www.aloha-hawaii.com/hawaii/king-kamehameha/">http://www.aloha-hawaii.com/hawaii/king-kamehameha/</a>. <br />
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Then we spent some time learning about the only Utah tall tale I could find: the Bear Lake Monster. It's a bit of a stretch, but there is a youtube video about it. I can't find the video the kids and I liked best, but here is this one for all you Utahns out there:<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/THDyuFSbBSA" width="560"></iframe>
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After all that preparation, I thought the little scout quiz in the scout book would be easy for my kids. Not! Just a warning, the quiz is based on the info paragraphs in the scout book. My kids have read about four different Johnny Appleseed books and watched the movie and they (and I) still couldn't figure out the answer for Johnny Appleseed on the quiz. We finally halted the quiz half-way through, read the info paragraphs in the scout book, and then resumed the quiz. <br />
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If you want your kids to take the quiz, you can find it here:<br />
<a href="http://pack45.com/pdf/Bear/BA-4.pdf">http://pack45.com/pdf/Bear/BA-4.pdf</a>. Take it without reading anything in the scout book and tell me how you do.<br />
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Finally, we wrote our own tall tales. None of my kids are really independent writers and this was a supplemental bonus unit, so I didn't want to take a lot of time helping kids write tall tales. Instead I purchased a tall tale outline at teacherspayteachers.com for $1.00 and had the kids fill in the outline. They kids enjoyed it, the activity took no time at all, and it was a good final project for our mini-unit. You can buy one too, if you want, here: <a href="http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Tall-Tale-Story-Pattern-51344">http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Tall-Tale-Story-Pattern-51344</a>.<br />
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JUST FOR FUN BONUS: while I was looking for youtube videos about Hiawatha, etc, I stumbled across Johnny Cash reading my dad's favorite poem! When I was little and one of us would say, "That's weird," my dad would say, "But is it as strange as the night on the barge at Lake Lemarge that I cremated Sam McGee?" He had a lot of the poem memorized and would recite it randomly. So you can imagine my excitement at finding Johnny Cash reading the poem. My kids liked it too.<br />
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That's it! Congrats on wading through this ridiculously long post. Hope you are all having a fun summer!!!Andreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14301232211779225287noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8364208679169851823.post-84350179505781348662014-06-15T22:03:00.002-06:002014-06-15T22:03:35.691-06:00Scripture Study: The Joyful Burden of Discipleship<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 40.5pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 1;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16pt; letter-spacing: -0.75pt; line-height: 40.5pt;">The Joyful
Burden of Discipleship</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 10.0pt; text-transform: uppercase;">By
Elder Ronald A. Rasband<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 10.5pt;">Of the Presidency of the
Seventy<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">To sustain our
leaders is a privilege; it comes coupled with a personal responsibility to
share their burden and to be disciples of the Lord.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Harriet: </span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">On May 20 of last year a massive tornado
pummeled the suburbs of Oklahoma City, in the heartland of America, carving a
trail more than a mile (1.6 km) wide and 17 miles (27 km) long. This storm, an
onslaught of devastating tornadoes, altered the landscape and the lives of the
people in its path.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Eli: </span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Just a week after the massive storm struck, I was assigned
to visit the area where homes and belongings were strewn across the flattened,
ravaged neighborhoods.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Emeline: </span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Before I left, I spoke with our beloved
prophet, President Thomas S. Monson, who relishes such errands for the
Lord. With respect borne not only of his office but also of his goodness, I
asked, “What do you want me to do? What do you want me to say?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">He
tenderly took my hand, as he would have done with each one of the victims and
each of those helping with the devastation had he been there, and said:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">“First,
tell them I love them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">“Second,
tell them I am praying for them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">“Third,
please thank all those who are helping.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Cowen: </span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">As a member of the Presidency of the Seventy, I could feel
the weight on my shoulders in the words the Lord spoke unto <a href="http://lds.org/ensign/1998/04/moses-witness-of-jesus-christ?lang=eng"><span style="color: windowtext;">Moses</span></a>:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">“Gather
unto me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom thou knowest to be the elders
of the people, and officers over them; …<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">“And
I will come down and talk with thee there: and I will take of the spirit which
is upon thee [Moses], and will put it upon them; and they shall bear the burden
of the people with thee, that thou bear it not thyself alone.”<sup><a href="https://www.lds.org/general-conference/print/2014/04/the-joyful-burden-of-discipleship?lang=eng&clang=eng#1-10985_000_13rasband"><span style="color: windowtext;">1</span></a></sup><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">These
are words from ancient times, yet the Lord’s ways have not changed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Miriam: </span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Currently in the Church, the Lord has
called 317 Seventies, serving in 8 quorums, to assist the Twelve Apostles in
carrying the burden placed on the First Presidency. I joyfully feel that
responsibility in the depths of my very soul, as do my fellow Brethren.
However, we are not the only ones assisting in this glorious work. As members
of the Church worldwide, we all have the wonderful opportunity of blessing the
lives of others.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Dad: </span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Explain the structure and organization of the 1<sup>st</sup>
presidency, the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, and the Quorums of the
Seventies.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">DAY TWO:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Harriet: </span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">I had learned from our dear prophet what
the storm-tossed people needed—love, prayers, and appreciation for helping
hands.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Eli: </span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">This afternoon each of us will raise our right arm to the
square and sustain the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles as
prophets, seers, and revelators of The Church of <a href="http://mormon.org/jesus-christ"><span style="color: windowtext;">Jesus
Christ</span></a> of Latter-day Saints. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Emeline: </span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">This is not a mere formality, nor is it
reserved for those called to general service. To sustain our leaders is a
privilege; it comes coupled with a personal responsibility to share their
burden and to be disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Mom: </span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">What is a disciple?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>How can we share our leaders’ burdens?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Cowen: </span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">President Monson has said:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">“We
are surrounded by those in need of our attention, our encouragement, our
support, our comfort, our kindness—be they <a href="http://mormon.org/family"><span style="color: windowtext;">family</span></a> members,
friends, acquaintances, or strangers. We are the Lord’s hands here upon the
earth, with the mandate to serve and to lift His children. He is dependent upon
each of us. …<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Miriam: </span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">“‘… Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one
of the least of these … , ye have done it unto me’ [Matthew 25:40].”<sup><a href="https://www.lds.org/general-conference/print/2014/04/the-joyful-burden-of-discipleship?lang=eng&clang=eng#2-10985_000_13rasband"><span style="color: windowtext;">2</span></a></sup><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Will
we respond with love when an opportunity is before us to make a visit or a
phone call, write a note, or spend a day meeting the needs of someone else? Or
will we be like the young man who attested to following all of God’s
commandments:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">“All
these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">“Jesus
said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to
the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.”<sup><a href="https://www.lds.org/general-conference/print/2014/04/the-joyful-burden-of-discipleship?lang=eng&clang=eng#3-10985_000_13rasband"><span style="color: windowtext;">3</span></a></sup><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">The
young man was being called to a greater service at the side of the Lord to do
the work of the kingdom of God on earth, yet he turned away, “for he had great
possessions.”<sup><a href="https://www.lds.org/general-conference/print/2014/04/the-joyful-burden-of-discipleship?lang=eng&clang=eng#4-10985_000_13rasband"><span style="color: windowtext;">4</span></a></sup><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Dad: </span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">What of our earthly possessions? We can see what a tornado
can do with them in just minutes. It is so important for each of us to strive
to lay up our spiritual treasures in heaven—using our time, talents, and agency
in service to God.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Mom: </span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">What are earthly possessions?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What does a tornado do to earthly
possessions?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What are spiritual
treasures?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What does it mean to “lay up”
spiritual treasures?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Day Three:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Harriet: </span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Jesus Christ continues to extend the call
“Come and follow me.”<sup><a href="https://www.lds.org/general-conference/print/2014/04/the-joyful-burden-of-discipleship?lang=eng&clang=eng#5-10985_000_13rasband"><span style="color: windowtext;">5</span></a></sup> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Eli: </span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">He walked His homeland with His followers in a selfless
manner. He continues to walk with us, stand by us, and lead us. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Emeline: </span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">To follow His perfect example is to
recognize and honor the Savior, who has borne all of our burdens through His
sacred and saving Atonement, the ultimate act of service. What He asks of each
one of us is to be able and willing to take up the joyful “burden” of
discipleship.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Cowen: </span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">While in Oklahoma, I had the opportunity to meet with a few
of the families devastated by the mighty twisters. As I visited with the Sorrels
family, I was particularly touched by the experience of their daughter, Tori,
then a fifth grader at Plaza Towers Elementary School. She and her mother are
here with us today.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Miriam: </span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Tori and a handful of her friends huddled
in a restroom for shelter as the tornado roared through the school. Listen as I
read, in Tori’s own words, the account of that day:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">“I
heard something hit the roof. I thought it was just hailing. The sound got
louder and louder. I said a prayer that Heavenly Father would protect us all
and keep us safe. All of a sudden we heard a loud vacuum sound, and the roof
disappeared right above our heads. There was lots of wind and debris flying
around and hitting every part of my body. It was darker outside and it looked
like the sky was black, but it wasn’t—it was the inside of the tornado. I just
closed my eyes, hoping and praying that it would be over soon.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">“All
of a sudden it got quiet.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">“When
I opened my eyes, I saw a stop sign right in front of my eyes! It was almost
touching my nose.”<sup><a href="https://www.lds.org/general-conference/print/2014/04/the-joyful-burden-of-discipleship?lang=eng&clang=eng#6-10985_000_13rasband"><span style="color: windowtext;">6</span></a></sup><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Dad: </span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Tori, her mother, three of her siblings, and numerous
friends who were also in the school with her miraculously survived that
tornado; seven of their schoolmates did not.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">That
weekend the priesthood brethren gave many blessings to members who had suffered
in the storm. I was humbled to give Tori a blessing. As I laid my hands on her
head, a favorite scripture came to mind: “I will go before your face. I will be
on your right hand and on your left, and my Spirit shall be in your hearts, and
mine angels round about you, to bear you up.”<sup><a href="https://www.lds.org/general-conference/print/2014/04/the-joyful-burden-of-discipleship?lang=eng&clang=eng#7-10985_000_13rasband"><span style="color: windowtext;">7</span></a></sup><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">I
counseled Tori to remember the day when a servant of the Lord laid his hands on
her head and pronounced that she had been protected by angels in the storm.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">DAY FOUR:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Harriet: </span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Reaching out to rescue one another, under
any condition, is an eternal measure of love. This is the service I witnessed
in Oklahoma that week.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Eli: </span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Often we are given the opportunity to help others in their
time of need. As members of the Church, we each have the sacred responsibility
“to bear one another’s burdens, that they may be light,” “to mourn with
those that mourn,”<u><sup> </sup></u>and to “lift up the hands which hang down,
and strengthen the feeble knees.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Emeline: </span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Brothers and sisters, how grateful the
Lord is for each and every one of you, for the countless hours and acts of
service, whether large or small, you so generously and graciously give each
day.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">King
Benjamin taught in the <a href="http://mormon.org/book-of-mormon"><span style="color: windowtext;">Book of Mormon</span></a>, “When ye are in the service
of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Cowen: </span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Focusing on serving our brothers and sisters can guide us to
make divine decisions in our daily lives and prepares us to value and love what
the Lord loves. In so doing, we witness by our very lives that we are His
disciples. When we are engaged in His work, we feel His Spirit with us. We grow
in testimony, faith, trust, and love.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Dad: </span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">I know that my Redeemer lives, even Jesus Christ, and that
He speaks to and through His prophet, dear President Thomas S. Monson, in
this, our day.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">May
we all find the joy that comes from the sacred service of bearing one another’s
burdens, even those simple and small, is my prayer in the name of Jesus Christ,
amen.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Mom: </span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Read part of my patriarchal blessing that talks about
compassionate service and the memory I wrote down called “Spaghetti and
Visiting Teachers” in the Book of Remembrance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Dad: </span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Read what Kenny wrote about Compassionate Service in the
Book of Remembrance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then what Grandpa
Young wrote:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">“Quite
often as I awaken in the morning a church hymn will be going through my
mind.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One day it was, ‘Have I Done Any
Good in the World Today?’ The words continue, ‘Have I cheered up the sad or
made someone feel glad?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If not, I have
failed indeed.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>These are not idle words.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The message they portray is strong.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With each new generation the message in this
song continues to be tested.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What a
different world we would have if all its inhabitants abided by this
message.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As to whether we have failed or
succeeded in life can pretty much be measured by comparing oneself to the words
of this song.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Mom: </span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">How can we better serve those around us, especially the
people with whom we live?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Andreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14301232211779225287noreply@blogger.com0