REVIEW: Star Chronicles: A Bible Based Study of the Stars

Make sure you scroll all the way down for the giveaway!

I was recently given the opportunity to review a new book by Dawnita Fogleman entitled Star Chronicles: A Bible Based Study of the Stars. I love astronomy, and have wanted to get started with some family studies, but wasn't quite sure how to go about it. We have a pretty cool iPad app that helps us identify what we're seeing, and I have quite a pile of books about stars and planets and such, but wasn't sure how to approach it all. I was given a PDF copy of the book to use with my family. It includes coloring pages for the youngest astronomers, as well as lapbooking elements and notebooking pages.

Dawnita is a wife, mother, editor and author of most of her website: Fogleman Forerunner. She is also a 5th generation Oklahoma Panhandle pioneer - how cool is that? She lives in a century-old farmhouse on 50 acres in, as she describes it, "Nowhere, Oklahoma." Sounds like heaven to me! She also loves old books. (That has nothing to do with the review, but it tells me she's a woman after my own heart, so I had to point it out.) You can read an interview with her here. She's nifty.

The first thing I did upon receiving Star Chronicles was to pull out all the books I could find relating to astronomy, fiction and non-fiction, and put them on top of the piano, where they would be visible and available to everyone. Then, I put Dawnita's book on our iPads. My girls and I each read through the book, and then the girls started researching constellations. They are 13 and 14, so they're able to do research on their own, and they went to town. Dawnita recommends studying one constellation per week or even per month, giving time for all the information to soak in. She said it's not necessary to work on the constellations that are currently visible, although that would make the most sense to me.

That's not what the girls did, naturally. For their first ones, Emma chose Aries, because that's her "sign," and Abbie chose Virgo, probably because it was the first one, and she's singing a song in Latin that uses the word "virgo" in her choir. All right then! (I suppose Aries is the right one, come to think of it.)

Our printer isn't working, so I couldn't print any of the notebooking pages, but we like to do our own thing anyway. Emma chose to do hers with Picmonkey:

Abbie made her own version Dawnita's drawing of Virgo, colored it, and attached it to her narration page:

This book is a great jumping-off point for a study of constellations. There is just enough information here to satisfy younger children, and plenty to pique the interest of older students to make them to learn more. I had only ever heard about the constellations with their Greek names, but there is so much more history there! You can see a sample lesson (Scorpio) here. Dawnita's focus was to share Biblically and historically accurate information, and you will not find anything about horoscopes or astrology. She shares information about the 12 major constellations, along with any associated constellations. I had no idea there were so many!

We learned a lot from this study, and enjoyed it. Dawnita's goal was to make the book friendly and engaging, and she succeeded in that. The full-color star maps are amazing. She shared many of her own connections with the material, and those were fun to read. I can think of a few things I'd like to see:

• Consistent information regarding when each constellation appears in the sky.

• Sources to verify information found on Wikipedia.

• A little more direction with regard to the Bible prophecies. For example, when we read about Aries, the Lamb, she had us read Luke Chapter 1 and discuss the prophecy. I could not for the life of me figure out what that chapter had to do with Aries; there is no mention of the word lamb anywhere in the chapter. I know this isn't a prophecy study, but if we're directed to read one, it would be helpful to know why. (Note: I had another friend explain to me that it was talking about Christ coming to redeem us, our Sacrificial Lamb (even though it didn't actually refer to him as the Lamb). I felt a little silly, once I heard the explanation, but I am new to studying Biblical prophecy, and just didn't make the connection.)

I confess that I found myself a little frustrated after reading the book, and couldn't quite put my finger on why, until I realized that I wanted to know MORE! I'm in the process of reading Adam and His Kin by Ruth Beechik, one of Dawnita's recommended books for older students to read along with this study, and will be seeking more information for myself. I'd say that's a unit study well done, when it inspires a learner to keep learning!

To celebrate the release of her new book, Dawnita is offering a 25% discount on the PDF version, available through her website, using the code STARMOMS. This code expires on April 20, 2014.

The PDF version is regularly $12, and is available through Dawnita's shop. A printed version is available through Amazon (affiliate link).

One more thing! I'm authorized to give away a PDF copy of the book. Be sure you enter to win!

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Read what others had to say about Star Chronicles!

Connect with Dawnita via Fogleman Foreunner on Facebook, Twitter, and Google+. Don't forget to check out her blog!

Hey Mom, I'll Start Dinner Reviews

Hey Mom, I'll Start Dinner! is the first cookbook written by Cherilyn Dahlsten, a working mom of four boys. She's passionate about raising great kids, and has found that making kids a part of meal time preparation goes a long way toward raising confident, contributing, unselfish kids. Each recipe in this book has been written with explicit instructions so that a child (around age 12; younger with some adult assistance) can make them independently.  Our team of reviewers has spent 6 weeks or so using this book with their children, and we're excited to share our reviews with you.

Click here to read the reviews!

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Your job: Educate Yourself

This post contains affiliate links.

Now that you're outside, it's time to start learning about things. You and your children will love identifying all the things you find!

Please don't feel intimidated if you feel like you don't know anything about nature, or enough to teach your children. Everyone has to start somewhere. I thought I knew a fair bit, but honestly, it's so different in North Carolina than it was in Michigan that in many ways I started all over when we started nature study here. That's okay with me, because I love nature study and I love sharing it with my children.

The most important thing is to learn as you go, and intentionally work on increasing your knowledge. You aren't expected to give lectures when you go outside, I promise! You simply want to be able to answer questions from your children, and perhaps direct them if you're working on studying something specific. For example, if you happened to want to start with birds, you might see a robin hopping along looking for worms. If your children are focused on something else, you might say, "Look over there! What kind of bird do you think that is?" and go from there.

Consider this quote from Charlotte Mason:

There are MANY great natural history books out there that will teach you about wildlife from a non-scientific perspective, and I highly recommend reading books like that. I will make some suggestions in a future post. For today, though, I'd like to share some basic resources to get your nature studies off to a good start.

The first resource I'd like to recommend to you is the Handbook of Nature Study by Anna Botsford Comstock. This is a huge book. It's really thick and heavy, and it's not one that you are going to carry around with you. However, it is full of amazing information, and is a wonderful guide for you, the teacher. There is also the Handbook of Nature Study blog, home of the Outdoor Hour Challenge. Barb McCoy, the author, has graduated four children from her homeschool, and started the blog as a way to share their nature study adventures. Her blog is a great place to learn how to use your ginormous Handbook of Nature Study, and the Outdoor Hour challenges are wonderful! Here is her Getting Started page.

I also hope you'll consider investing in some field guides. These can get expensive, but they are a worthwhile investment. There are online resources for identifying things, but field guides are invaluable. You can take them with you much more easily than you can tote a computer, and believe me, the last thing you want to do when you're outside with your kids is whip out your phone (unless it's to snap a quick picture). Keep an eye out at thrift stores, because you can sometimes find them there. In our local nature club, my friend Cheri recommended two books for beginning nature study. We live in North Carolina, so the first book she recommended is the National Audubon Society Regional Guide to the Southeastern States. This book covers the states of Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, and North Carolina. You will find information on many topics in this book, including birds, trees, wildflowers, insects, reptiles, and more. It's a little bit about a lot of things, and is the perfect book to get your nature studies off the ground. These would also be great books to take along when traveling.

The National Audubon Society has eight regional guides available:

• California
• Florida
• Southeastern States
• Southwestern States (AZ, NV, NM and UT)
• Mid-Atlantic States (NY, PA, NJ, MD, DE, WV, and VA)
• Rocky Mountains (ID, MT, WY, and CO)
• New England (CT, ME, MA, RI, NH, VT)
•  Pacific Northwest (OR, WA). 

The other book she recommended to us is the Peterson First Guide to Caterpillars of North America. You will most likely find caterpillars when you're outside, and it's helpful to be able to figure out what they are.

That's it! That's really all you need to get you started. We do have some other fun things we like to have around, and I thought I'd share them with you.

• Small magnifying lenses are great for looking at things that don't move much, like lichens and tree bark and leaves. 
• You might enjoy having a magnifying jar. You can capture insects or other small things in them, and the magnifying lid helps you see them in more detail. I will warn you that house centipedes look like something out of a horror movie when magnified.

• One last thing we have is a "critter keeper." If you find something you'd like to take home and observe for a few hours, or even a day or two, it's nice to have one of these handy. We've kept a toad in ours, and various insects. When we found our praying mantis, she got to hang out in there until we got her permanent residence set up.

I hope you're enjoying our brief foray into the wonderful world of nature study! I'm trying not to overwhelm you with too much information. I will have more resources to share at a later date. 

Don't forget to check out some the other participants in the 5 Days Blog Hop:

Aurie @ Our Good Life ~ Photography Tips and Tricks

Dinah @ The Traveling Classroom ~ Tips for Learning a Second Language

Julie @ Nurturing Learning ~ Art Resources

Tara @ This Sweet Life ~ Preparing for a New School Year

Sara @ Embracing Destiny ~ Purposeful Living

Rebekah @ There Will Be A $5 Charge for Whining ~ Culinary Adventures for Boys

Beth @ Ozark Ramblings ~ Photoshop Elements for Homeschool

Hillary @ Our Homeschool Studio ~ Fitting in the Extras

And, you can click on the banner to see everyone who's participating!

Let's Go Outside!

Now that you're excited with me about nature study, what comes next?

We get to go outside! You can, of course, learn about nature from books, and that has its place, but you really need to go outside so that you, and your children, can experience nature first hand. Consider this quote from Charlotte Mason:

You and your children need to experience the wonder and beauty of nature. There's nothing like seeing first-hand how ants behave by watching an anthill, or what kinds of flowers butterflies like, and what's blooming each season.

Making friends with
a caterpillar

Now, we don't live an a rural area. Our neighborhood consists of manicured lawns, and at first glance it doesn't look like there would be much going on here for nature study. We have found some great stuff, though!

We have a couple of small dogwood trees in our yard, and they're starting to come on. There are all kinds of flowers that come up in our lawn around this time of year. We've learned to identify henbit deadnettle, common speedwell, chickweed, violas, and cranesbill just from looking in the grass. We have a butterfly bush, and have seen swallowtails, black swallowtails, painted ladies, and monarchs, along with some smaller ones I haven't identified yet. We have bird feeders, and off the top of my head we've seen downy, hairy and red-bellied woodpeckers; goldfinches; cardinals; cedar waxwings; chickadees, blue jays; Carolina wrens; house finches and ruby-throated hummingbirds. We found a praying mantis by our front porch, and she became a beloved pet. We have three different kinds of oak trees alone in the little stand of trees between our house and the neighbor's.

My son and I went on a walk around the block in our small town last week, and just look at the flowers we found! If we hadn't been outside, we wouldn't have seen them. (Left to right: white violet, purple violet, cinquefoil, cranesbill, white clover)

Flowers from our walk

We like to explore other places, too. There is a nice park here with a little stream, and my kids enjoy splashing in it. I like to go there because different plants grow by the water than we find in our yard, and some different trees, too. There is another park on a little mountain (well, they call it a mountain) with some hiking trails, and we see different plants there, too. They also have a list they publish of the birds we might see there, so we like to keep an eye out. Our extended family lives in Michigan, and there is a whole different world of nature study up there, too.

Exploring the stream

Once you're outside, just start looking around. Do you have trees in your yard, or nearby? Adopt them as "year-long friends," as Charlotte Mason said. Do they have flowers in the spring? When do their leaves start to come out? What does their bark look like? Do they make fruit or seeds that animals like? Can you see any nests in them?

You might be wondering how to go about identifying things once you've found them. Be sure to check back tomorrow to hear about some tools we like!

Don't forget to check out some the other participants in the 5 Days Blog Hop:

Aurie @ Our Good Life ~ Photography Tips and Tricks

Dinah @ The Traveling Classroom ~ Tips for Learning a Second Language

Julie @ Nurturing Learning ~ Art Resources

Tara @ This Sweet Life ~ Preparing for a New School Year

Sara @ Embracing Destiny ~ Purposeful Living

Rebekah @ There Will Be A $5 Charge for Whining ~ Culinary Adventures for Boys

Beth @ Ozark Ramblings ~ Photoshop Elements for Homeschool

Hillary @ Our Homeschool Studio ~ Fitting in the Extras

REVIEW: Victus Study Skills System

I really never learned how to study, or how to set goals. I've been concerned about teaching those skills to my children, since I don't have them myself. I was thrilled to have the opportunity to review the Victus Study Skills System, to see how it could work for our family. For the purpose of this review, I received a copy of the Teacher Edition ($40) and the Student Workbook ($20). The books are spiral-bound softcovers, about 80 pages in length each. You can see sample pages and watch information videos about the products on the website.

Susan Ison, the founder of the Victus Study Skills System, began developing the program when her daughter came to her and told her she didn't know how to study. The program teaches a way of thinking about study, rather than isolated skills. It's been taught to teachers and students across the country.

There are three "foundational cornerstones" in the study system:

- Where am I now?
- Where do I want to be?
- How do I get there?

There are ten lessons in the program:, and they take very little time to complete. The workbook pages include some fill-in-the-blank lessons so the students fill out key words while learning the information taught, and then there are pages where they learn to see how they spend their time and how to plan it out, and pages that show how things like mnemonic devices work. Lessons are structured so that older students (ages 11-12 and up) can work independently. For students ages 8-10, the teacher goes through information, reviews instructions, and then gives the student time to fill in their portion of the workbook. You'd want to do some tweaking with very young students, (4-7). I don't know that I'd use it with students in the youngest age range, beyond noting myself what their learning tendencies are and helping them learn techniques to get the most out of what they're learning, if necessary.

The sample lesson plan suggests completing the program in 5 days, but you can certainly use it as it fits in your own schedule. You could choose to do one lesson per week and spread it out over a term, or one lesson per day for two weeks if completing it in a week is too much added to your regular school work load. The lessons include:

1. Introduction and Study Habits
2. Learning Strengths
3. Mission and Goal Setting
4. Time Management
5. Organization and Study Environment
6. PQRST (Preview, Question, Read, State, Test)
7. Listening
8. Note Taking
9. Test Taking
10. Review

As my girls and I worked through the lessons together, I know I learned at least as much as they did. The first thing discussed was learning styles. From there, we learned about different techniques to maximize learning for our learning styles. I saw light bulbs go on for my visual learner when she read about things like using a large space - a big piece of paper or even a white board - to illustrate things for herself. My other daughter is able to learn in just about any fashion, but she picked up some good tips, too.

To me, the most valuable part of the program is the mission and goal setting portion. I truly had no clue how to set goals, but after working through this book with the girls, I have a much better idea. It's easier to prioritize when you have goals. (You probably knew that. I did not!)

As Charlotte Mason homeschoolers, our school day looks very different from that of a child in a more traditional school environment, whether they use textbooks at home or at a school. Because my children narrate everything to make sure they understand what they're reading, and their reading assignments are not merely for obtaining facts, the need to "study" like this isn't there on a day to day basis. I believe a lot of these skills are learned throughout a Charlotte Mason course of study, simply by following her principles. However, I see a lot of value in teaching these skills intentionally, probably because I never learned them myself. It helps to keep the concepts at the front of a student's mind as they learn to plan for themselves and manage their own time. Also, there will probably come a day when my girls do have to know how to study to retain information someone else wants them to know, perhaps in college, and this program gives them a solid foundation to be able to do that successfully.

Connect with Victus on Facebook and Twitter!

Click to read more reviews from the Schoolhouse Crew!

Why Do Nature Study?

This week I'm participating in a 5 Days Blog Hop, sponsored by the Schoolhouse Crew. I hope you'll join me for 5 Days of Nature Study!

Have you ever wondered why nature study is so important? Have you wondered if it even is important, given all the other things that seem so much more pressing in a child's education?

I've been reading through Home Education by Charlotte Mason with my local CM book club, and was re-inspired to do more nature study by our latest reading. Consider this quote:

Do you see what she's saying? Nature study gives any child skills that will take them anywhere they want to go in life. Think about it: children learn the critical habit of attention, the indispensable virtues of patience and perseverance.

My girls making friends with a ladybug

I love nature study. Love it. If I had my way, I would spend all my time outside, looking for interesting things, identifying them, and attempting to draw them. (Miss Mason introduced me to the idea of a nature journal - more on that later this week.) As a child, I lived in the country with a swamp in my back yard. We found all kinds of things - wildflowers, puffball fungi, salamanders, frogs, toads, snakes, you name it. My dad even brought home a baby skunk for us to see one time! We weren't directed to learn about nature, but it came naturally to us, and my dad was always willing to answer any questions we had.

When my children came along and I began to teach them, and started learning about Charlotte Mason's principles, suddenly I felt intimidated at the idea of nature study. What if I messed it up somehow?

The truth is, you really can't mess it up. Well, that's not entirely true. You can talk too much as the

Sometimes beauty finds us
in unexpected places

teacher, as I tend to do. As Miss Mason says, "The Mother must refrain from too much talk" (vol. 1, p. 78). That's a constant challenge for me, actually. The idea is to let the child form a relationship with nature, not listen to me lecturing about it. I love to share my connections with my children. I am every bit as excited as they are when we go outside and find things. I'm learning, though, to write in my own nature journal and let them have their own experiences, uninterrupted by my chattering.

There are some other more practical reasons to do nature study, too. When children are outside, they are
not inside making a mess. They're not staring at a screen. They're in the fresh air and sunshine, getting some exercise. Those are all very good things.

So, what are you waiting for? Go outside today with your children and see what you can find that is new to you!

Check out some of my friends' blogs, who are also participating in the 5 Days Blog Hop:

Aurie @ Our Good Life ~ Photography Tips and Tricks

Dinah @ The Traveling Classroom ~ Tips for Learning a Second Language

Julie @ Nurturing Learning ~ Art Resources

Tara @ This Sweet Life ~ Preparing for a New School Year

Sara @ Embracing Destiny ~ Purposeful Living

Rebekah @ There Will Be A $5 Charge for Whining ~ Culinary Adventures for Boys

Beth @ Ozark Ramblings ~ Photoshop Elements for Homeschool

Hillary @ Our Homeschool Studio ~ Fitting in the Extras

Saving Books

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Since deciding to start a library of living books, I've come to see myself as a book rescuer. I am continually amazed at the treasures I find at thrift stores and library sales. I just don't understand why people get rid of such lovely books. Have they not read them? I've recently found two brand-new looking copies of James Herriot's Treasury for Children. Do people not even open them? Surely if they'd read the stories to their children, they would realize they should keep it forever and pass it on to their grandchildren. Have you read All Creatures Great and Small? If not, you should. I have several copies of all of James Herriot's books because I just can't leave them behind. Those books are just the tip of the iceberg.

This week I discovered a Little Free Library on the way to my daughter's ballet class. My children assured me that it's been there for quite a while, but apparently we're always running late enough that I wasn't able to notice it before. Anyway, Isaac and I took a walk around the block when we dropped Emma off one day, and stopped to take a peek at the books inside this little treasure box. I found it delightful to find another book saver and sharer so close to home.

I found two things of interest: Legends of the Outer Banks and Tar Heel Tidewater by Charles H. Whedbee, and Worldy Goods by Lisa Jardine. Since we live in North Carolina, I thought the former would be interesting to read with my children. I chose the latter because we'll be studying the Renaissance next school year, and I thought it sounded interesting. The cover promises "a radical interpretation of the Renaissance." I have no idea what that means, but I am going to find out!

After we walked around the block, looked at all the little flowers blooming and borrowed books, we headed over to the "real" library to pay some fines (oops) and check out the little sale shelf they have. I don't usually find much there, but this time I did! The most exciting one, for sure, was The Young United States by Edward Tunis.

Edwin Tunis was an artist, a radio announcer, an engineer... he did lots of things.
The little bits of biographical information said he'd tried to be a commercial artist, but lacked a certain "snappy" style, so he became a freelancer. He wrote his first book when he discovered, while researching a mural on the history of spices, that "there was no one book which recounted the whole basic story of the development of ships in a simple way that might interest young people." So, he wrote and illustrated one, and Oars, Sails and Steam was born.

The real treasures found in Mr. Tunis' books are the illustrations. They are simply beautiful. Take a look:

Ferry

Log Cabin

Empire Dresses and a Postal Rider

Train

I don't often find wonderful things on those little shelves at the library, but when I find gems like this one, it makes it worth the times there is naught but twaddle. Have you found book treasures in unexpected places?

REVIEW: Captivated DVD from MediaTalk 101

Lately, I've felt the need to do something about the amount of media usage in our house. We are a techie family - my husband is a computer guy and loves all things technology, so we have a plethora of devices floating around the house and we love to use them. We also watch a fair amount of television. God has been showing me there are better ways we could spend our time, and the opportunity to review the DVD movie Captivated from Media Talk 101 came at the perfect time to foster discussion on this issue in my family.

Captivated is a documentary written, produced and co-directed by Phillip Telfer, a pastor who travels with his family around the country, teaching on the impact of media in our culture and the growing need for discernment. He created Captivated to address these issues. Throughout the film, we hear from many different people, including scientists, ministry directors, pastors, professors, authors, and regular people who share stories of how media affected their lives and their ultimate response to it.

The movie itself contains four sections: Consumption, Content, Battleground, and Freedom. There are many statistics shared, and all of them are supported by research. Here are some that stood out to me:

• The screen time for the average American child is over 53 hours per week, and the average high school graduate will have seen anywhere from 18,000-20,000 hours of television. That means they will have spent more time in front of a television than in a classroom.
• The more television a child watches before the age of 3, the more likely they are to have short attention spans when they start school.
• Media (specifically referencing high-action video games and HDTV) drains blood away from the executive center of the brain, producing the same effect as crack (without the brain damage), giving you a sense of accomplishment when you have done nothing.
• More than 50 years of research shows that content can be harmful to children.
• Video game addiction parallels gambling addition.

I watched the movie first with my husband, and we both felt the need to make some changes in ourselves and in our family. We're not quite ready to get rid of the television and everything else, but we did start having family devotionals in the morning together, and we're turning "Family Movie Night" into "Family Game Night." We're also discussing setting more limits on screen time, simply because it's far too easy for all of us to spend too much time in front of a screen, whether it's the TV, a computer, or a tablet. 

I also watched it with my girls (and my son, but he was bored, built a blanket tent and tried to trap the cats), and it made for a lot of good discussion. My 13-year-old said it made her want to put a giant piece of paper over the TV screen. Interestingly, my 14-year-old was quite resistant to the idea of reducing or eliminating screen time, so we will explore that a bit more. That tells me there is a problem, and a need to address it.

The movie is 107 minutes long, and isn't broken into as many "chapters" as most. You can navigate by choosing one of the four categories (Consumption, Content, Battleground, Freedom), and the credits. There are over 2 hours of special features, too, including extended interviews with 9 of the people you hear from in the movie, as well as "A Word from the Producer" that tells you who he is and how he came to make the movie. It's an excellent movie to watch and discuss as a family, and I could see it being used as a Bible study in churches or in a parent group. While some of the speakers may seem to take a somewhat extreme point of view, it's worth considering their position and remembering this is their passion.

The movie doesn't provide a bulleted list of steps to take to improve or "fix" a media consumption problem in your house. If you're like me, you will have lots of thoughts swirling in your head, and will be looking for some clear direction, Really, each family needs to evaluate their own situation and determine what, if any, steps need to be taken. You will hear a lot about "unplugging." They also make it clear that when you remove something, you need to replace it with something else, and I see a need to be intentional about what replaces screen time.

I appreciated hearing from one family, who shared their experience with their annual 30 day "media fast," in which they turn off everything - computers, TV, music, all of it. The first year, the children responded with some trepidation, but it sounds like they have all come to appreciate it and even look forward to it. There are several other individuals who share their experiences with various types of media addiction and why they chose to give them up. I also loved the statement that families have been entertaining each other for thousands of years - they would gather around, play and sing music, perhaps dance, play games - all in community. I feel starved for community in my life, and while I don't blame it entirely on media, I know I need to make some changes.

There is much food for thought here. Parenting can be a tough gig, and media can be a difficult subject to address. As with anything, we will take what is right for our family from what we've learned from Captivated. I'm grateful for this resource, because it has opened the door for discussion in way that may not have been possible otherwise.

Captivated is available from Media Talk 101 for $16.95, and they're running a special right now that allows you to purchase a second copy for just $5. If you're interested, check out www.mediatalk101.org, where they have lots of articles and ideas for you.

I'm going to leave you with this video clip from the movie, which addresses my main concern: relationships. Take a look - I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Connect with Media Talk 101 on Facebook and Twitter!

Click to read more reviews from the Schoolhouse Crew!

Blogging Essentials Giveaway!

Hosted by : The Squishable Baby

What is the Boost Your Blog in 100 Day Event?

Boost Your Blog in 100 Days (#BB100) was created by Something2Offer.  This event consists of a number of mini-challenges on topics ranging from Grammar Mistakes Bloggers Make and Creating Original Content - to how to be a smart social media guru on Facebook, Twitter and Google+.  The overall goal of this event is to help everyone improve their blogging skills in a wide range of areas.

Welcome to the 

Blogging Essentials Giveaway Challenge!

The giveaway challenge runs from April 13-23, 2014.  During that time I will offer a giveaway, and will post tips on improving your giveaways.  For the giveaway, I have brought together a collection of phenomenal items which will give 1 blogger a professional start (or overhaul) to their blog.  This prize package is worth $440 and is open worldwide!  The Prize Package includes A blog design/redesign or SEO work-up by Amber Galore Designs, a 1-year subscription to Picmonkey so that you can make professional images, 1-year subscription to Inlinkz so that you can create blog hops, linky parties and giveaway hops, 1-hour Consultation with Amazing Success Academy which will help get your organized and on track, 1-year of free ad swaps from Passionfruit Ads, and two wonderful and helpful ebooks from Frantic Mommy (Creating Awesome Sharable Images with Picmonkey and Eliminate Overwhelm and get Organized with Trello).

Would You Like to Promote this Giveaway?

Here are the guidelines:

1. Grab the Blogger Opp HTML and post the announcement on your blog.  Find the HTML here.
2. Sign-up for the giveaway and report the "blogger opp" post here.
3. Post the Giveaway on April 13th by 9 AM EST, and report your post by 12:00 PM EST on the on April 13th.  The link for the report will be sent when I send you the email.
4. Promote the giveaway on Twitter AND Facebook 4 times per week.  To pre-schedule your tweets and status updates, try Hootsuite.  It's a free service!  The Giveaway lasts a total of 10 days.
5. Keep all the links intact.  The sponsors have already been no-followed.
6. All participating bloggers CAN enter the giveaway.
7. Other links can be purchased for $3 each or 2 links/$5.

Giveaways are a group effort and promotion is key.  If you do not report, or promote, your links will be deleted.

The Challenge - Who will be left standing at the end?

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REVIEW: Spelling You See

I have a confession. I have an addiction to spelling and reading programs. I majored in linguistics in college, and I love to see how different programs teach children the intricacies of the English language. (I have a similar addiction to grammar curricula.) I was excited to learn about a new program from Demme Learning - Mr. Steve Demme of Math-U-See fame - called Spelling You See. Isaac and I were privileged to review Spelling You See: Listen and Write (Level A), and we received copies of the Teacher's Manual and Student Pack, which includes the Student Workbook, the Guide to Handwriting, and the Listen and Write Sticker Pack.

We worked on his pages several days per week. He liked being creative with his letters - you can see in the picture his large "s." "Look at my super big 's,' Mommy. Isn't it cool?" I know we're supposed to be working on perfection, but he makes me laugh with his "ideas." This is the first time he's shown willingness to do any "real school," so I was thrilled.

This level has short lessons, which is perfect for him. Prior to starting the program, he knew all his letter sounds (consonants and short vowels) very well, but had not shown any interest in reading. Now that we've been using Spelling You See for a few weeks, he loves to show all the words he knows, writes them on things other than his school work, and is willing to read words here and there when we read books together. I will point at a word, and he will look at it and sound it out. He's so very proud of himself!

This program is a great complement to any phonics program. It incorporates beginning phonics skills, as well as handwriting, and introduces the concept of dictation. It's very close to what Isaac and I would be working on according to a Charlotte Mason philosophy of education: perfecting single letters and writing short words.

There are 36 weekly lessons, with one page per day to complete. The first three weeks of Level A focus on on proper letter formation and consonant sounds. You can use the handwriting guide included with the program, or you can use your preferred handwriting style. The handwriting guide provides a continuous-stroke printing font that looks like a blend of modern and traditional printing. Level A goes through beginning blends, digraphs, end blends, and double consonant endings. With each new concept, the lessons start out with the square for the vowel shaded, but as they progress all squares are unshaded.

Spelling You See has no grade levels, so you can start where your student needs to begin without worrying about them feeling "behind." It focuses on creating visual memory of words and how they are correctly spelled, which is a natural way of learning. It is an open-and-go program; you really don't need anything but the teacher's manual and student workbook. It does require teacher involvement, but we all do spelling together anyway (my older girls do studied dictation). Isaac loves to do things with me, so this was perfect for us.

There are currently six levels of Spelling You See available:

Level A: Listen and Write
Teacher's Manual: $14
Student Pack: $20

Level B: Jack and Jill
Teacher's Manual: $16
Student Pack: $30

Level C: Wild Tales
Teacher's Manual: $14
Student Pack: $30

Level D: Americana
Teacher's Manual: $14
Student Pack: $30

Level E: American Spirit
Teacher's Manual: $14
Student Pack: $30

You can see sample pages for each level currently available at the links above, and read more about the Spelling You See philosophy as well as how to get started on their website. Two more levels are in the works, too: Level F: Ancient Achievements and Level G: Modern Milestones. If you're looking for a spelling curriculum, this might be it!

Connect with Spelling You See on Facebook and Twitter!

Click to read more reviews from the Schoolhouse Crew!

Garden Progress!

I few weeks ago, I mentioned we were starting our very first garden by making some origami pots from newspaper, in order to plant some seeds. I have a very low-tech seed starting setup. I put the pots in disposable 9"x13" cake pans, which came with plastic lids that served to make mini-greenhouses. I used coconut fiber seed starting medium in the pots and planted the seeds. I hadn't planned on using lights, but my sister told me her seeds sprouted much more quickly with one, so I decided to try it. I went to a local home improvement store, and asked for grow lights. They showed me some large shop light fixtures and fluorescent tubes, but I had no place to hang the fixtures. I ended up getting clamp-on shop lights with the strongest daylight bulbs I could find. My wonderful husband found a light timer for me, so I don't have to remember to turn them on and off. Guess what? I have PLANTS GROWING! I know this is the expected result, but I have not done well with seedlings in the past. I have either drowned or dried many, many seedlings to death. This time around, I have LOTS of little plants growing and they're getting more than two leaves!  I have hope they may actually live long enough to be planted outside.

I have a hard time keeping myself limited to a reasonable number of kinds of plants to grow. I really want to grow tomatoes, and I know it will be easier to do so if I buy tomato plants, but I couldn't resist starting some seeds. I found Green Zebra tomato seeds, Yellow Pear tomato seeds, and purple tomatillo seeds! I have no idea what to do with purple tomatillos, but I had to try to grow some. So far, I have plants of all three types growing.

I also have some watermelon plants, some peas, and some very gangly green bean plants. Since I planted the beans, I've learned it's not necessary to start those inside because they sprout so quickly. I can affirm that. Heh. I have some dragon beans that I will plant outside when we get dirt for the beds, and cucumbers, and a few other things.

This week, my parents visited to celebrate the girls' birthdays with us, and my dad built two little raised beds for me. They are 3' by 3'. When we put them outside, we will put landscape fabric in the bottom, which will keep weeds from growing into the soil and also keep the dirt from eroding from underneath the frames. My dad also built little covers for them out of PVC pipe and "critter netting." Hopefully, those will keep any marauding animals from eating my plants or my produce.

I'm really excited about my little gardens! I will share pictures when we get them set up with dirt and planted.