Fun in Florida - Journey In Concert!

I confess that this post has nothing to do with homeschooling or books. Just thought I'd let you know up front!

I had the opportunity to accompany my husband, Todd, to Orlando, Florida this week, where he is attending a conference for work. I don't normally come to these things, but this time, Journey was going to be playing at the customer appreciation event, and they are one of my all-time favorite bands. I saw them in concert when Steve Perry was still with them. It was their "Raised On Radio" tour, October 1987, at the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit. We shall not discuss how old I was, 'kay? I love going to rock concerts; it's one of my favorite things to do. Too bad it's a rather expensive hobby because I'd definitely go more often!

Here are Todd and I with our Cisco Live hats on:

Steve Perry was the original lead singer for Journey. (They didn't start out with a vocalist - they got one because they needed one to get a record deal back in the day.)  He has an amazing voice. Truly, there is no one else who can sing like he does. I have had a hard time accepting new lead singers with the band since he left, and haven't listened to much of their music since then, to be honest. I must confess I was pleasantly surprised tonight. Arnel Pineda is the current lead singer, and has been with the band since 2006. He's from the Phillipines. It is truly amazing how much he sounds like Steve Perry. They were looking for a replacement voice for a long time, and they finally found one. It's really hard to tell it's not Steve Perry, if you're not looking at Arnel. It's kinda funny, actually, how young and energetic he is, next to those "experienced" musicians. Ha!

Arnel Pineda:

Neil Schohn:

They played all old stuff tonight, and I was glad. I did download their latest album today so I would be prepared, but they didn't sing anything from it. That was fine with me, because I love to sing along at concerts and I knew all the words tonight. Here is the set list:

Only the Young
Who's Cryin' Now
Separate Ways
Stone in Love
(Neil Schohn played the National Anthem)
Edge of the Blade
Lights
(Jonathan Cain piano solo)
Open Arms
Escape
Dead or Alive
(More Neil Schohn)
Wheel in the Sky
Faithfully
Be Good to Yourself
Don't Stop Believin'
Encore: Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin'

Sing along with me now: Na na nana na na, nana nana na....

REVIEW: "Lily" Books from Baker Publishing

By now, you know that I love books - living books. I'm always excited to review books with potential, so I signed up, gleefully I might add, to review Life with Lily (PDF excerpt) and A New Home for Lily (PDF excerpt) by Mary Ann Kinsinger and Suzanne Woods Fisher, from Baker Publishing Group. They are good-sized paperback books, about 250 pages, with glossy covers.

Mary Ann Kinsinger grew up in an Amish community, and now blogs at A Joyful Chaos about her  journey after leaving the Amish community. Suzanne Woods Fisher has written several books about the Amish, both fiction and non-fiction. Her interest was sparked by her grandfather, who was raised Amish in Pennsylvania.
These are some lovely books about the life of a little Amish girl. They remind me of the Little House on the Prairie books, except in the setting of an Amish community. They are written from the perspective of Lily, who is 6 when the first book begins, so the language is quite simple. They are written for children ages 8-12, and would be great chapter books for younger readers who are ready to take that step. I enjoyed them myself. My girls and I read these individually, although they would have made excellent read-alouds.

Life with Lily begins with Lily's Mama having a new baby. I found it interesting that Lily had no idea her mother was pregnant; her Papa woke her up to take her and her brother to their grandparents, where they had to wait and wonder what was going on. Even the grandparents didn't tell them, and little Lily was sure there was something dreadfully wrong.

Emma and I both enjoyed reading about the cranky neighbor, Mr. Young. He came over when Lily's Papa was building a fence to create a pasture for their new cow, and pitched a fit because he didn't want the cow eating "his" grass. Papa had Mr. Young show him where he thought the property lines were, and then simply moved the fence so there was no way Jenny the cow could possibly eat grass on Mr. Young's property. Lily was quite put out at Mr. Young's behavior, but Papa said whenever they thought of him, they would think good thoughts. There were other instances when Mr. Young was most unkind - including when he refused to take cookies from Lily's friend, Trisha, who happened to be African-American, but when Lily's family needed help, Mr. and Mrs. Young were both available to help. Sometimes "loving your neighbor" is not always easy, but this sweet Amish family refused to take offense at things that would have made me VERY angry and went out of their way to be kind.

One of my favorite parts of Life with Lily is when Mrs. Young gave her a sewing machine. Lily was absolutely delighted, and sat right down after telling her Mama she was ready to start sewing clothes for her doll. Mama gently informed her that she would have to learn to sew nine-patch squares first, and work her way up to doll clothes. Lily was not impressed. When Christmas time comes, Lily wants to make gifts for her parents. This quote makes me giggle:

"Later that day, Lily dug through Mama's bag of fabric scraps to see if she could find anything she liked. She didn't know how to sew anything except dumb nine-patch squares, but at least she could make a pretty nine-patch pot holder for Mama." p. 248

She also made a colorful tool belt for Papa. When her parents opened her gifts, they expressed such love and thanks to Lily!

In the second book, A New Home for Lily, Lily and her family left New York and moved to a new Amish community in Pennsylvania. Lily didn't want to leave her home and her friends, and it made me laugh that one of the things she disliked most was that her new house was painted olive green and it had orange counter tops. I would not have appreciated orange counter tops, either!

Lily gets into some funny scrapes in this book, too, like getting caught up on the billy goat's horns with her coat. It wasn't funny to Lily, but I certainly laughed (and so did Mama). It's interesting to read how her responsibilities grow at home. As she learns to cook, she makes rookie mistakes (just like I did), such as when she put cayenne pepper on the stuffed eggs instead of paprika, and made a bucket full of Jello for dessert. She made me laugh when she got upset about yet another "ugly" baby, when Mama has another little boy - not only did Lily want a sister, but she was really hoping for a prettier baby.

At one point, Lily decided to write different Bible verses to hang on the wall at home, because she has lovely handwriting. Mama thought it was a good idea too. After a visitor leaves in a huff without explanation, and Mama's brother who is visiting from out of town tries to leave after a very short stay, they realized that Lily had copied this verse for the wall:

Withdraw your foot from your neighbor's house; lest he be weary of you, and so hate you." -Proverbs 25:17

Lily's parents laughed and laughed when they saw what had happened (and so did I)! Mama hadn't seen this particular verse before Lily hung it on the wall because she'd been resting after having a baby. She did tell Lily that she'd like to see the verses before Lily put them up, in the future.

Charlotte Mason's first principle of education is that "Children are born persons," meaning they are not blank slates or empty buckets. Any parent with more than one child knows how very different each one is, right from birth. The Amish truly value their children. They have high expectations of them, but nothing unreasonable for their age. They certainly do not coddle their children, and the children don't complain to their parents about much at all. However, the parents are quite aware of what is going on, and when there is a problem, they step in. There was one instance in Lily's school when the teacher, who was not particularly nice, did something over the line - she forced a little boy who had a problem with stuttering to wear a garbage can on his head for the rest of the school day after he had a hard time reading aloud in class. Lily was very upset, but didn't complain at home. Her mother noticed she was upset, though, and when she heard what had happened, she didn't rail aloud against the teacher - but every day after that, one parent or another would show up and spend the day in the classroom, and at the end of the school year, the teacher was not asked to return. This was often the way: that when something happened, nothing was said at that moment, but later on, a parent would make a comment to a child that let you know they were fully aware of a situation and they gently instructed their child how to handle it without lecturing.

I enjoyed these books very much, and so did my girls. They are a wonderful peek into Amish life, which I've always found interesting. They also show good examples of teaching with love and offering grace to those who are less than gracious to us. The Amish are hard workers; I don't think most of us have any idea what it's like to work as hard as they do anymore. There aren't many modern-day books that I recommend, but these are lovely.

Life with Lily and A New Home for Lily are both available from Baker Publishing Group for $12.99 each, and you can choose between paperback and e-book formats.

Click to read more reviews from the Schoolhouse Crew!

You know your children are schooled at home when...

My girls have been taking their end-of-year tests this week. It's been fairly entertaining for me. You can tell we've not done much standardized testing - in the past, they've taken the Woodcock-Johnson test, which is nothing like the fill-in-the-bubble kind they took this year.

Yesterday, I saw Abbie come out and get her iPad. I asked, "Are you done with your test, Sweetie?"

She said, "No, I need to look up what 'perpendicular' means."

I got to explain that if she doesn't know something, that's fine, but she can't look things up while she's taking the test. She was not amused.

Today, I heard the girls talking and went in to tell them they needed to be quiet.

"Emma's just explaining how to factor and cancel," says Abbie.

I tried very hard to keep a straight face, and told them they are not allowed to help each other on their tests, either. The looks they gave me were priceless - they were aghast. Emma informed me that she is against testing. If she only knew, right?

Isaac wants to spend lots of time outdoors, and I'm trying to make sure he can do that as much as possible, which means I get to go, too. This is not my favorite time of year for out-of-doors adventures, but it's not as hot and humid now as it's going to be in July and August, so I go. This morning, he wanted to dig up the dirt where our little pool used to be, because he has a plan to lay a foundation with our friend Jeremy. (Jeremy is an adult friend who mulched our flower beds and has done some other landscaping for us, and he let Isaac help him. He's always amused by the plans Isaac makes for them.)

Then, we had to go explore "The Woods." "The Woods" are a small line of trees and brush between our house and the neighbors. We had a dead tree fall across our driveway last week, so he wanted to go look for more dead trees. Then he found a small, gnarled dogwood tree with a really big vine crawling up through it, and discovered he could sort of climb it. This afternoon, we got to go back out and look for more climbing trees. Alas, we don't have any that are good for climbing. Poor boy. He worked hard to climb what we have, though!

WhenI told him it was time to come in, he asked if we could please do "just one more thing." He wanted to go on a nature walk. I agreed. He said, "You know, Mom, part of a nature walk is finding out what things are." Yes, son, I know this. I thought he might want to identify things and was debating running in for an insect book when he said, "Oh, look, this is a stick. And look over here! Another stick!" We spent a few minutes finding interesting sticks and even found one that looks like a gun. He said, "This was the best nature walk, EVER!"

REVIEW: Prima Latina from Memoria Press

I have wanted to teach Latin to my girls for years, but have felt strangely intimidated by it. I have no idea where my fears came from; I love languages, have a degree in linguistics, and know quite a bit of French and some Spanish. Latin should have been a no-brainer, but for some reason, it wasn't. My girls were resistant to the idea, too, so it was easier to avoid it altogether.

When the opportunity arose to review Prima Latina from Memoria Press, I decided the time had come to give Latin a try. Although the program is geared toward students in grades 2-4, and my girls are in 6th and 7th grades this year, I thought it would be a gentle, low-stress introduction to Latin, and it has proved to be just that.

We received the complete set (priced at $90.90) from Memoria Press, including the teacher's manual, student book, flash cards, DVDs, and pronunciation CD. I was able to obtain a second workbook from a friend so each girl had one to use. The workbook is printed in two colors (see a sample here), and the pages are nice and uncluttered, with plenty of room to write. The teacher's manual (sample here) has the entire student book with answers, as well as teaching tips, a vocabulary drill sheet to copy, tests, and answer keys. The flash cards contain all the vocabulary words in Prima Latina, as well as all the words you would need for the next program in the series, Lingua Latina. The pronunciation CD contains all the words from each lesson, as well as 4 hymns from Lingua Angelica, Memoria Press' Latin reading and translation course.

Prima Latina is an introduction to Christian Latin, which means that students learn ecclesiastical pronunciation. (If you're interested, there is a nice post about the differences between ecclesiastical and classical Latin here.) The program consists of 25 lessons, with a review scheduled after every set of 5 lessons. Students learn 5 vocabulary words in each lesson, along with their English derivatives, as well as a practical Latin phrase, and one line of a prayer. They will have learned an entire prayer by the end of every 5 lessons.

The DVD is truly the pièce de resistance. It contains 9 hours of instructional videos, done by Leigh Lowe, author of the program. She speaks to the students, and encourages them to interact with her. It was fun for me to listen to the girls repeating things back to her, and having them engage orally made it much easier for them to retain the information they learned.

Prima Latina Sample DVD Lesson

I was able to assign the girls to watch the DVD and complete the workbook pages for each exercise, and since they are older, they completed 3-4 lessons per week. They would never admit it, but I think they had fun. I loved the vocabulary and the English derivatives—it helped them make great connections with both languages. My favorite part, though, was learning the prayers, particularly the Gloria Patri. I can still hear the Gloria Patri in English in my head, from the years we attended a Lutheran church. I've found myself appreciating hymns and liturgy more and more, and for some reason, learning the Gloria Patri in Latin has been a precious, precious experience.

My goal with using Prima Latina was to introduce my girls to Latin, so they would be ready for a more age-appropriate program in the fall. We've accomplished that, and it's gone very well. We will be continuing with it through the summer, and I look forward to using the program with my son in a couple of years. If you're looking for a Latin program for younger children, or even for older children with some angst about Latin, Prima Latina is a great place to start.

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REVIEW - Logo Adventures from Motherboard Books

Have you ever taken a computer programming class? I did once, in college. I had no idea what I was doing. It was not one of my more stellar moments, I confess.

When the opportunity arose through the Schoolhouse Crew to review Logo Adventures from Motherboard Books, I was intrigued - and a little anxious. I certainly did not feel qualified to teach any kind of programming. However, Phyllis Wheeler, the author of the program, is not only a mechanical engineer with programming experience, she is a fellow homeschool mom. She has developed products to fill a need for homeschoolers looking for computer curriculum. She made sure they were accessible to parents who might not have extensive (or any) background in computers.

Here is a great thing: when I received my copy of Logo Adventures, I found that it is written so students can work independently! Also, I have a computer-savvy husband, so he has been the teacher for the material these past few weeks. Here is what he had to say:

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I was excited to have the opportunity to work with my girls on learning the basic skills of computer programming. I learned BASIC long ago on an Apple ][+, and have used those skills many times over in school and my job. I had never heard or used Logo before, so I was learning too!

Installing the included MicroWorlds EX Logo environment was smooth, and we were up and running quickly. It runs on Mac or Windows so everyone can enjoy the fun.

Logo Adventures does a great job of introducing Logo to new users. Logo is a neat first programming language due to the instant graphical feedback. It takes the concepts of programming, including sub-routines and if/then statements, and brings them to a graphical media that is fun to observe. The Logo interpreter provides instant feedback to the issued commands, making the language easy to learn and use.

The first few lessons went quickly, as the girls easily picked up the basics of Logo. The mix of graphics with the programming really kept the interest of both girls through the introduction. Also, the some of the well-placed questions in the lessons would lead them to some really cool patterns, which would then lead them to experiment further.

Here are some screen shots of the work they did:  

Abbie's practice drawing a triangle, with some variations:

My eldest likes to be colorful:

Each lesson was progressively more difficult. There are a couple of projects, each a couple of chapters long, completing the book. We did not finish the projects before this review, but I will certainly be continuing this until we do get through them.

Logo Adventures teaches the basics of computer programming, and introduces the logic needed to be successful at it. I have found the lessons enjoyable myself, and the girls have found them fun and challenging. There were days where the "Logo Laptop" was very heavily used at the expense of other subjects, to the dismay of my wife, who would have liked to see a little more work in some of their other subjects.

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Well, there you have it - a review from someone who knows about computer programming! My girls really do enjoy working in Logo. It was hard to get them off the computer sometimes, and on to other things. My older girl is somewhat averse to anything that makes her think through things carefully, which Logo did - but she kept with it. I know what a difficult time I had with a very basic computer programming experience when I was in college, so I am thrilled that the girls have had this introduction. I believe it will ease their way into any other programming skills they decide to learn later on, because now they know they CAN do it and it's not excessively difficult. Also, they enjoyed it, which is not something I can say about my own programming experience. They were excited to share their work with their dad and me, and that means a lot.

The details:

Logo Adventures come as a spiral-bound book with the answer key in the back. We were instructed to tear out the answer before giving the book to the girls. Obviously, Ms. Wheeler has met my oldest child. :-) The book also comes with the MicroWorlds EX installation CD, which installed easily onto the little Apple laptop the girls used, as Todd mentioned above. The system requirements are Windows XP/Vista/7/8, and Mac OS X Version 10.4 or higher. 

This program is available from Motherboard Books for $129.99. It's intended for children ages 8-12, and works well for younger children because there are no variables used; however, my 13 year old daughter was engaged and challenged by the lessons, so if you have older children who've never been exposed to programming, I think it's a nice intro for them too. It's also an excellent introduction to reasoning, and is another reason I was excited to review the product. I didn't tell the girls they were going to learn good reasoning skills; they were excited to be doing something fun and connecting with their dad.

My family really enjoyed using Logo Adventures. If you're looking for computer programming curriculum that's easy to teach and fun for the students, look no further!

Click here to read more reviews from the Schoolhouse Crew!

Shower the People You Love with Love

News of a tragedy has left me heartbroken this week. I'm sorry to be vague, but I can't share the details.

Take time to tell those you love how much they mean to you. When someone makes this world a better place, makes the sun shine a little more brightly, be sure to let them know. Truly, you never know when your last chance to do so will be.

I saw this quote on Facebook yesterday:

Encourage someone today. Be an angel to somebody today. Be a blessing to those who deserve it and those who do not, because you may never know whose life you are turning around. Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see.  

I know you've seen those "pay it forward" things - how one act of kindness can grow into something so beautiful it takes your breath away; and how one person reacting badly can start a spiral of ugliness that is also breathtaking in its tragedy.

So. Make an effort to bless someone--with a smile, with a word of thanks, with a helping hand. Perhaps you can forgive, let go of a grudge, restore a relationship. You will never regret reaching out in love.

New from TOS - Schoolhouse Library!

The folks at The Old Schoolhouse Magazine have put together a great library of digital resources for homeschoolers! There are more than 175 items available, including audio books, blackline maps, ebooks, lapbooks, video, and more. It's a fantastic price, too! Check it out!

Schoolhouse Library

MOLLY CREW REVIEW: Simplified Pantry

As a member of the Schoolhouse Review Crew, I received three ebooks from Simplified Pantry to review, and chose to focus on Paperless Organization:

I'm sure you've heard the term "paperless organziation" - the idea is to stop printing everything from articles to receipts, and instead develop a system that makes them available to you electronically. My husband is working toward going paperless for the things he does for our home, and I know he would love it if I could do the same. It has always seemed a little overwhelming to me, though, so I haven't done much before now to that end. I am constantly printing things that I'd like to read later, but what usually happens is I get piles of paper that are messy and disorganized - not to mention unread.

Have you ever made a home management binder? I have. I still have it, in fact - it moved with me from our previous house, over three years ago. It was a lot of fun to print all that stuff and put it in a notebook. It's so pretty! I have not looked at it much, except sometimes when I'm cleaning my room when I run across it and think, "Oh, yeah, I did have this, didn't I?" I haven't updated the information in it and it just needs to be taken apart and recycled at this point.

Mystie Winckler, the author of Paperless Organization, is a busy homeschool mom of three who works hard to maintain an orderly and harmonious home. She found, after her third child was born, that she needed to simplify things like grocery shopping and meal planning. She had a home management binder, but found it too bulky and time-consuming. As a fellow homeschooler, she knows what our days look like, and how little time we have to spare. She developed these ebooks from her own efforts to keep her home running smoothly. She blogs at her Simplified Pantry site, as well as at Simply Convivial, about how she implements what she's written in her ebooks.

Mystie's book on paperless organization describes her electronic version of a home management binder. She explains what organization is, and what it isn't - along with the wisdom that one cannot truly "get ahead" with organization, one can merely keep up with it, like treading water. I think that's been part of my mental block about organization: I can't make it instantly perfect, and it's going to take consistent effort to keep on top of it.

She recommends using some free, online tools and their corresponding apps for wireless devices. She also explains exactly how to use them, which is SO helpful. She gives examples of setting up your calendar, to-do lists, daily schedules for home and homeschool, and so much more. Her system is based on the principles in the book, Getting Things Done by David Allen. I haven't read it, but I plan to do so.

The first thing I did was create accounts in the three programs she recommends, if I didn't already have one: Evernote, Remember the Milk and Google (mail and calendar). Evernote is free, but in order to access your notes without internet access, you have to upgrade to a premium account ($45 for 1 year). Another option is to use Simplenote for your shopping lists. I opted to sign up for Simplenote, for now. Once my accounts were set up, I started working through her instructions.

Setting up mail filters and Remember the Milk were both pretty simple. I have tweaked the system a bit - I use Apple Mail, because I have more than one email account, and all my email collects there. I did learn how to apply filters in Apple Mail, which is something Mystie recommends, to file away email I need to keep but don't necessarily need to see, like order receipts. Also, shortly before I received this ebook, I started using Cozi as my calendar, and I like it, so I'm going to continue with it.

Evernote takes quite a bit more time. I had signed up for an account previously, but had no idea how to use it. Mystie's book has made that so much simpler! She showed me how to use features of this program I didn't even know were there - like stacks. She explained how Evernote works like an electronic notebook, and it makes ever so much more sense now. She walks through using Evernote as a filing cabinet, a home management system, a homeschool system, and a blogging system. I'm still working on getting all my stuff set up, but I really like her method. She has created some templates for things like To Do lists, which you can access and use as they are, or tweak to suit yourself.

Here's a picture of Evernote on my iPad:

Like any new system, implementing it and keeping it up takes time. It's worth it, though, to have less paper making a mess in my house, and to have everything available at my fingertips in one place. This is a great system, and it's certainly making my life easier, even with the learning curve to get it up and running.

In addition to Paperless Organization, Mystie has two other ebooks available:

Simplified Dinners:

and Simplified Dinners Gluten/Dairy Free:

These two books show you how to keep staple ingredients on-hand for easy dinner planning and prep. They contain the same recipes, with modifications on the gluten/dairy free book. The recipes included are:

• Slow-Cooker Roasts
• Slow Cooker, No-Defrost Chicken Pieces
• Chicken-in-a-Pot
• Skillet Cutlets with Pan Sauces
• Marinades for Grilling or Broiling
• Foil-Packet Fish
• Stovetop Pasta
• Bean Pots
• Fajitas
• Quesadillas
• Taco Bar
• Burritos or Enchiladas
• Taquitos
• Frittata
• Oven Omelette
• Pizza
• Simple Stir-Fry
• Potato Hash
• Baked Potato Bar
• Bean Soups
• Stews
• Blended Vegetable Soups
• Quick Soups
• Main Dish Salads
• Vegetable Side Dishes
• Salads
• Starch Side Dishes

Each book includes a master pantry list, and a menu planning chart. She recommends keeping your recipe list limited for ease of shopping and preparation. Her statement is that limitations bring freedom - you make very few decisions on the spot in the store, and knowing what you need and don't  need allows you to walk through the grocery store without stressing. Her system in these books works really well with her Paperless Organization system - imagine that. ;-)

All three of Mystie's ebooks are available at her website, Simplified Pantry. You can choose PDF or Kindle format for your files. Paperless Organization is $3.99, and each of the cookbooks is $12.99. 

Mystie is offering a special right now: 30% off when you enter TOS2013 at checkout! 

The discount will work on any or all of my eBooks, from May 20 through June 3rd. This makes it a GREAT time to try her books. You won't be sorry!

Click to read more reviews from the Schoolhouse Crew!

The Beginnings of My Library

I don't know if I've mentioned it here before, but I'm working towards opening a library of living books in my home. I was inspired last summer by the wonderful women at Living Books Library in Virgina, Elizabeth Cotrill and Emily Kiser.

I have always loved books, and since starting my journey with living books thanks to Charlotte Mason, I want to share them with other people too. My friends laugh at how obsessive I can be about books, so I thought I'd share some pictures of what I'm doing.

In the pictures above, you see some of my collection, beginning with the top left and going clockwise:

1. Some of the books I need to enter into my database
2. Books that have been entered, but need to be sorted to see if they need repair
3. Books in various stages of repair
4. Books that don't need repair, might need a label removed, but are mostly just waiting for bar codes

What is a living book, you might ask? A living book is one that "conveys truth in beautiful language," according to Liz and Emily. It will most likely be written by one author who is passionate about the topic, often in narrative form. A living book is one that will help a child form a relationship with its subject. There is an excellent article on living books from Simply Charlotte Mason here.

Where do I find all these books? Well, I go to library sales when I can, and have found some great things - my best deal to date was a copy of Andy and the Circus by Ellis Credle for $1! That's a book listed in a popular homeschool curriculum called Five in a Row. It's out of print and can be very hard to find. As I type this, the cheapest copy on Amazon is $58.

I make lots of little trips to the local thrift shops, and am continually amazed by what I find there. My family takes an annual trip to Michigan, and my favorite part is visiting the thrift shops in Marquette. I always find TONS of books up there. I am glad people donate their treasures, but I always feel a little bit sad that they've let go of something so wonderful. I also go to used book stores when I can, but there aren't many of those in my area.

I keep an eye on what other homeschoolers are selling - I have some friends who hit library sales in their area and then decide to part with some of their treasures.

"Kerri the Book lady" comes to the Charlotte Mason conference each year, and she spends the rest of the year combing book sales for living books. She brings what she finds to sell at the conference and I come home with quite a stack from her inventory every time.

So, how do I know what specific titles I'm looking for?

For starters, I've been using the Ambleside Online curriculum for several years now with my girls, and they have book lists for each year. There isn't a bad book among them. I try to collect those whenever I can.

There are many books about books out there - you may have heard of Honey for a Child's Heart by Gladys Hunt, Books Children Love by Elizabeth Laraway Wilson, or The Read-Aloud Handbook by Jim Trelease. These are all excellent references for good books. My favorites, though, are Who Should We Then Read? Vols. 1 and 2 by Jan Bloom. Jan discovered wonderful books as a child, and home educated her own children with living books. Together with her friends Karen and Mari, she compiled her two amazing books, which include lists of authors with a short bio for each and their entire bibliography. She printed them as spiral-bound, half-page sized books, easily portable. They might not contain every good book, but they certainly contain quite a number of them, and I carry them in my purse when I go book shopping and refer to them whenever I have a question about an author. I try to highlight the titles I already own, so I don't repeat purchases, but I'm a little behind on that.

Another source for wonderful living books is Truthquest History. Michelle Miller has put together a wonderful history curriculum, with lists of living books for each topic, for multiple ages. I've been going through the lists in her American History for Young Students I (Exploration to 1800) and looking for books to read with Isaac this coming fall. Michelle also runs the Children's Preservation Library in Michigan.

I don't pretend to know everything there is to know about living books. Far from it! I'm learning as a go, and am so grateful for the resources available. There is a Yahoo! group for homeschool librarians, where several people who either already have libraries or are hoping to start them share their knowledge and ideas. The amazing people who attend the Charlotte Mason conference are willing to help too.  The mission - and it is a mission - to share living books is alive and well.

REVIEW - Educational Dice Bag from Joyce Herzog

I recently received the Educational Dice Bag from Joyce Herzog to review through the Schoolhouse Review Crew. I'm always interested in new (at least to me) educational products, and my kids LOVE to play games (don't they all?), so this was right up our alley.

Joyce Herzog is an educator with 25 years experience teaching elementary and learning disabled students in both private and public schools, and has served homeschoolers for more than 25 years through her speaking engagements, the books she's authored, and consultations. She wants to help students learn as they learn best, according to their individual learning style.

The Educational Dice Bag comes with three sets of dice: Alphabet Dice Delight, which includes a 30-sided alphabet die (all the letters plus four "wild" spaces) and a vowel die (AEIOUY); Rolling Math Games, which includes 1 die with numbers, one die with number words, and two dice with colored dots; and Deca Dice Math Games, which includes 1 deca die with numbers, 1 dotted deca die, 1 number word deca die, and 1 double deca die (a die within a die - so cool!).  There is also a math operations die. Each bag contains instructions for simple games to play. The label says "fun for all ages," and that's certainly true. There is a game in there for everone.

Alphabet Dice Delight, Rolling Math Games, and Deca Dice Math Games

My children all enjoyed playing with these dice, but I used them most with my 5-year-old. Many of the games are just perfect for him at this age, and he loves to play with me. Once he's learned something, he loves to teach it back to me, so I got to brush up on my addition and alphabet skills, as well. :-) This is a quick, easy thing to get out when we have some time to fill while the girls are working.

I gave Isaac a printed alphabet chart, and we played one of the recommended games, which has him roll the alphabet die with lower case letters on it, and match the letter that comes up with the corresponding upper case letter. He was really good at that game, and it was helpful for me to see that he does, in fact, know all of his upper case and lower case letters. The die also has a few "wild" spaces, so when that would come up, he could choose any letter he wanted. Turns out his favorite letter is "A."

Take a look at that picture on the right. He rolled those dice and told me that added up to 7. I was so impressed! It's probably not that big a deal, but I was pleased to see that he could process dots and numbers together. He did put away the die with number words on it after I made him sound out and read "six" to me. I guess that was not in HIS rules for that game. 

Once we have finished with the games I ask him to play, he loves to make his own fun with the dice. I have yet to find something that will not allow Isaac to bring cars into it somehow, and as you can see, his little trucks are excellent at hauling the dice away.

There are games in here for older children, too. You can use the alphabet die to teach kids how to use the dictionary. How cool is that? The deca dice math games, in particular, would be challenging for older kids. There is even a game for practicing long division!

I really, really like the dice and the game instructions. The games are simple, so not hard to figure out, but they teach great stuff. For example,the instructions encourage you to have students keep score using tally marks, and then learn to count their points by 5. That's a nice little trick for slipping in some extra skip counting practice.

What I love:

• Connecting with my kids as we play together.
• The games are fun, and they give students great practice in important skills. 
• The dice are portable! The instructions suggest keeping them in a small plastic container, and taking it with you to the doctor's office, etc. so you always have something to do. Isaac and I spend a lot of time waiting for the girls at their various activities, and it's been fun to play dice games while we hang around at the dance studio.
• NO ELECTRONICS INVOLVED.

The only thing I would suggest improving is perhaps printing the game instructions in a larger font. My old-ish eyes had a hard time reading them. I know it's to keep the paper small so they fit easily into the bag, but I'd take a little extra paper for ease of reading.

The Educational Dice Bag is available from the Joyce Herzog Products Store for $23. You have to create an account to get into the store, but it's simple to do. The Schoolhouse Crew reviewed several Joyce Herzog products and I hope you'll check them out!

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REVIEW: Spanish for You! Estaciones Spanish Curriculum

It's important for children to learn another language. Not only do most colleges expect it, but it teaches them a whole new way of thinking. Other languages work differently than English, and it is a good brain workout! We have struggled to implement foreign language in our homeschool; the girls haven't been terribly motivated and we've had plenty of other things to keep us busy. They took an excellent Spanish class at out homeschool co-op, but they only went twice per month. Foreign language instruction really needs to be more often that that.

I was intrigued when I looked at the Spanish for You! curriculum, and pleased to have the opportunity to review it. Spanish was a good place for us to start, since the girls were a little familiar with it already. We received a physical copy of the Estaciones workbook; downloadable audio files of the entire book, including audio with a native Spanish speaker; PDF downloads of self-correcting worksheets, a weekly lesson guide, and flashcard/activity game pictures. It's a year-long program (24-27 weeks), intended for grades 3-8, and the recommendation is to use it 4 days per week.

Debbie Annett, the author of Spanish for You!, has been teaching Spanish to all ages for 14 years, and was in international business for 8 years before that. She spent time studying in Spain. She wrote this curriculum to be effective, flexible, and affordable, and to work for multiple ages, with or without prior Spanish experience. She wanted to create a program that would flow well into any high school Spanish program. Because each book is written to be used with many ages and levels, they are theme-based, rather than leveled by grade. Currently, there are two books available: Estaciones (Seasons), and Fiestas (Celebrations). A third theme, Viajes (Travels) is available as a short trial unit; the complete package will be available in June 2013.

As we began to use this program, I was a little confused. It's very different from how I remember learning Spanish! I finally decided to STOP trying to remember what little I knew of Spanish and just go with the way the program was written - and I have been VERY impressed.

As a Charlotte Mason homeschooler, I've been trying to learn how Miss Mason would have implemented foreign language instruction. I've heard a lot about Gouin Sequences, and have recently started to learn how they work. François Gouin was a French teacher of Latin who tried to learn German as he had learned Latin - through grammar and translation. Apparently he memorized thousands of German words, translated Goethe and Schiller - all without actually speaking to someone in German - and found he could not hold a conversation with a native speaker. He ended up having children teach him simple phrases, like "Open the door." He found the key to be speaking and interacting with a language.

This is what I found in Spanish for You! Our book, Estaciones, is about seasons. We've learned the days of the week, the months, of the year, and how to talk about the weather, as well as things you can do in each season of the year. From the beginning, we learned to say things that we could put into action - to look at things, to write things, to draw things. Each unit starts out with vocabulary, and making flash cards; then some verbs and conjugating so you can use the vocabulary, and then some grammar, so you see how it all works together. The flash cards are not for "kill and drill," by the way; they are to help the students connect with the words while they make their cards, and then there are several options for activities using them listed in the front of the book. As we've learned more and more words, we've been able to speak to each other in Spanish a bit. We're able to use the language - and that is key to being able to think in it and speak it well.


When we received our downloads, I saved them to the computer, and printed out the 7-8th grade lesson plans and the first set of worksheets. On our first day, the girls made flash cards. They had a GREAT time doing this. I forgot that images were included for the cards in a PDF, so they made their own.

Once the flash cards were made, we moved on to practicing what we'd learned. First, we had just a few commands - "Mira," which means look, "escribe," which means write, and "dibuja," which means draw. With a piece of paper in case they needed to write or draw, I read the commands and they would do them. It got to be more fun when we learned a little grammar, and could ask each other about the weather, what month it was, what the weather was like during a particular month, etc. My girls are at that tween/early teen age when they can't admit to having fun with anything, but *I* enjoyed speaking Spanish with them, and I think they enjoyed speaking it with me, as well.

Ms. Annett offers wonderful support for her program. She answers questions very quickly, and is responsive to feedback. During the review period, she changed how the downloads were organized to make them easier to use. Two things I'd like to see:

• Worksheets in one file for each grade level, instead of lesson-by-lesson; I'd rather print them out once
• Answer keys in a separate file

Each level of Spanish for You! is available to purchase as a complete package for grades 3-8 for $64.95, or per grade level (3-4, 5-6 or 7-8) for $39.95. Extra books are available for $12.95 each. With each package, you receive:

• Soft cover book
• PDF Download of the 24-30 week lesson guide for the grades you need (Click for sample)
• PDF download of self-checking worksheets (Click for sample)
• MP3 download of audio files of the entire book (including bonus audio of native speaker reading the entire book)
• PDF download of flashcard/activity pictures

This is a great program. You don't need to know any Spanish to teach it - the audio files read everything for you! If you're looking for a simple, affordable way to teach Spanish in your homeschool, I hope you'll consider Spanish for You!

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REVIEW: Papa's Pearls

It's no secret that I love books, so when the opportunity came up to review Papa's Pearls: A Father's Gift of Love and Wisdom to his Children and Grandchildren by Diane Flynn Keith, I jumped on it. It sounded like a wonderful book - a glimpse into life during the Depression Era, as well as "pearls" of parenting wisdom to share from Diane's Papa, Carol Flynn.  Dianne, in addition to being Papa's daughter, is an alternative education specialist, parenting coach, and author of a nifty-sounding book called Carschooling: Over 350 Games & Activities To Turn Travel Time Into Learning Time. Check out her other website, Homefires.

I was not disappointed. I loved reading this book, laughed a lot, and even cried during parts. I treasured reading it with my children, because it inspired some wonderful discussions. It's written to parents, intended to help you pass on some solid, practical knowledge to your children. It's well written, very much what I would consider a "living" book on parenting, and a quick read. I think it's within easy grasp of middle school students, but I would say it's best shared as a read-aloud, so you can discuss things as you go along. There is nothing horrible, but there are some situations you'd want to talk about when they come up in the book.

Diane's Papa, Carol Flynn, grew up in a family where illegal activity was accepted as the norm. When he was a teenager, he was sent to reform school. While he was there, he learned useful trade skills, and more importantly, came under the influence of a great mentor: his teacher, Mr. Brammer. Instead of letting the experience send him further down a path defined by bad choices, he used it to turn his life around, and became a true example of the American Dream - a man who made a success of himself through hard work and perseverance, and lived by the Golden Rule.

Each chapter of the book shares one or more of Papa's bits of timeless wisdom, along with sweet memories of Papa from his children and grandchildren. He taught his children to be independent and responsible, and gave them plenty of opportunity to develop their "street smarts" - to learn common sense and how to handle themselves in just about any situation. He also gave them a strong foundation of love and the confidence that comes from knowing your parents are always on your side. That didn't mean they didn't suffer consequences for making bad choices - they did - but Papa always made it a learning experience. For example, when he caught his son smoking with his friends near their gas meter, he didn't yell - simply asked his son, "What were you thinking?" and then told him if he was old enough to smoke, he was old enough to work, and had his son come to work with him in his plumbing business every day after school when he didn't have another activity planned. Not only did this keep the boy from having too much free time to indulge questionable choices, he learned a lot about plumbing, how to manage his time well, and to follow through on a job.

When I read this book, occasionally I felt like a pretty good parent. My children are very familiar with the ideas behind, if not the exact wording of, phrases like:

 "When you fall down, get back up, brush yourself off, and try again." 

"Ya gotta do what ya gotta do." 

"I love you. You know that, right?" 

"Let it go, like water off a duck's back." 

The look they would get on their faces when they heard someone else saying things they hear often from their dad and me was priceless! I wish I'd been taking pictures.

I also felt challenged to be a better parent. Papa was not prone to lose his temper; no one talked about him yelling. I tend to yell; I can do better. Papa was also an intentional person and parent. He did the best he could do in every situation. Also, he was kind. He put his family first, but was always willing to offer a helping hand to someone in need. One of my favorite stories in the book is about a toothless, unkempt man named Andy who lived in a shack next door to Papa's plumbing business. Papa gave him a job, and introduced him to anyone who came to the shop. He honored the dignity of a man that many people, then and now, would probably prefer to ignore.

My favorite was chapter 10, when Dianne told how Papa always put his family first, and would tell anyone how proud of them he was. One precious memory from his granddaughter, Katie, was his telling her that he would say hello to her photo every day. Papa had a way of letting his family know just how important they were to him. That was the part that moved me to tears. I had grandparents who loved me like that, and I treasure their memories. I hope to leave a legacy of love like that for my children and, Lord willing, my grandchildren.

I hope you will take the opportunity to read this book. It's available for $14.97 plus shipping and handling from the Papa's Pearls website.

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Day 6 - A Favorite Author and Day 7 - Onomotopaeia

I had the HARDEST time coming up with just one favorite author yesterday - so I decided on two. :-)

For older children, I love, love, LOVE Edith Nesbit. I can't remember now how I discovered Five Children and It, but I loved it, and went on to read The Story of the Amulet and The Phoenix and the Carpet. Then, I found The Enchanted Castle, The Wouldbegoods, The Railway Children... all of her books are wonderful. I most recently read The House of Arden, and Abbie is reading that now. Her children's books are wonderfully imaginative, with adventure and magic awaiting the main characters, who are always children. They usually get in some kind of trouble, and have to get themselves out of it.  These are the kinds of books one can get lost in, you know? I highly recommend them.

She also wrote a book about the importance of imagination called Wings and the Child or, The Building of Magic Cities. It's available for free on Kindle. Give it a read if you have a chance. Here's a quote for inspiration:

I would have every man and woman in whom the heart of childhood still lives, protest, however feebly and haltingly, yet with all the power of the heart, against machine-made education—against the instruction which crams a child with facts and starves it of dreams, which forces the free foot into heavy boots and bids it walk on narrow pavement, which crushes with heavy hand the wings of the soul, and presses the flower of imagination flat between the pages of a lexicon.

For younger children, I can't think of anyone better than Beatrix Potter. Is there any child who does not love Peter Rabbit? Who wouldn't be drawn in by Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle or Jemima Puddle Duck? My personal favorite is The Tale of Benjamin Bunny. Benjamin is rather fractious and gets into all kinds of trouble, though he does assist Peter in getting back his clothes that he lost in Farmer MacGregor's garden. My 5 year old boy loves to read about the Fierce Bad Rabbit.

The language in these stories is simple, but lovely. In addition, her illustrations are beautiful. Please, please read the original writings, and avoid anything abridged or reworded. If you want a good collection, try this one.

Now, on to onomatopoeia. Isn't that a fun word? It's also fun to find it in books. A fairly recent find is Alphabeep: A Zipping, Zooming ABC by Debora Pearson. Isaac loves to read about construction vehicles, or any kind of vehicle, really. I enjoy reading this one more than some he's found. Here is a quote:

A is for Ambulance, that makes alarming sounds. Shrieking, wailing, whooshing by, it's in a rush to help someone.

Another fun one is Chicky Chicky Chook Chook by Cathy Maclennan. This is another board book, and Isaac enjoyed it when he was littler. I love the sound of the thunderstorm: "Crash, bang, WALLOP!" Isn't that great?

I feel like my onomatopoeia examples aren't the best, but they're what I found when I was flipping through the picture books. I'd love to hear if you have better ones!