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La flor amarilla.  2003.

 

 

This picture looks so warm and silky, quite in contrast to how my throat and nose feel.

 

It's at times like these, when I can't dredge up enough energy to follow through on a frustratingly ill-timed burst of creative mental activity and resolve, that my thoughts flow downhill:  I don't require my kids to narrate enough, I don't do enough memory work with them, I haven't even gotten them all the way through the Greek alphabet yet...  And soon I have a river of negativity worthy of a street winding down a Guatemalan mountainside during the rainy season.

 

But sometimes this can work to my advantage.  When I realize that I can't do as much I ought to, I look for ways in which to transfer responsibility to the kids.  Okay, so I can't always remember to call them in to narrate a chapter of a book they're reading; I'll devise a system in which they come to me.

 

But does that really need a system?  Yes, it does.  The kids become involved in reading, and they forget to stop at the end of the chapter.  They pick up the book at odd times, when I'm unaware that a narration might be required.

 

So I've made a Narration Bookmark.  It consists merely of a list of chapter numbers and two checklist columns:  "Read" and "Narrated".  There is a place for the book's title and author at the top, and it comes with a duplexing option for books with more than 25 chapters.

 

The system requires the student to write his name on the back of the card and fill out the book information on the front of the card.  He inserts it at the end of the chapter he's currently reading, and when he arrives at the bookmark, it's time for him to trot off to Mommy or Daddy for his narration.  His work is checked off on the list, and he has a visual record of the work he's completed.  Plus, the homeschool has a paper record of the books that have been read.

 

I don't know if the system will work as I envision it today, but I pray that it does.  I'd like to think that my difficulty in falling asleep last night (when I'm sick and need it the most) can be redeemed somehow.  And if others can benefit, that would be great, too.  So let me know if it works for you!

 

 

 

from Acts 8:

30 So Philip ran to him, and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah, and said, “Do you understand what you are reading?”

 

 

posted on Friday, September 22

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Translation Trans-nation

 

Las orquídeas.  Rainy Season 2003.

 

 

One day Aelsa came home from church with some papers that a visitor had given her.  She didn't have much of an explanation for it, and I knew I needed to take a closer look at it.

 

What I found couldn't have delighted me more.

 

It was called simply, "The Translation Game," and it had come from the missionary father of a young woman attending our church.  It consists of 2 pages that painlessly engage the participant's grammar and logic skills with the Nalca language of Western New Guinea to practice some of the basic skills used in Bible translation work.

 

What a beautiful way to ennoble the study of grammar!

 

I asked Mr. Roger Doriot if I could post it on this blog and make it available for other homeschoolers, and he happily agreed.  His only hope is that you drop him a line to let him know how you used it, and if you have any questions.

 

You can download a .pdf version of it here (45k).

 

I'd also love to hear about the fun you've had with it!

 

 

 

from Psalm 19:

 1 The heavens declare the glory of God;
         And the firmament shows His handiwork.
 2 Day unto day utters speech,
         And night unto night reveals knowledge.
 3 There is no speech nor language
         Where their voice is not heard.
 4 Their line has gone out through all the earth,
         And their words to the end of the world.

 

posted on Monday, July 17

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What First? An Exercise in Logic

from Dale Seymour Publications' Critical Thinking Activities, page 117

 

 

So, which one would you do first?

 

Apparently, an astute observer lives in our household who recognizes that choice A. comes before choice B.

 

Of course, that's not the "right" answer, but it's right in line with the reality of our home: my husband or I "pre-read" the books to judge if any of them are worthy of being invited into our home.

 

All too often they just aren't.

 

 

from Psalm 119:

97 Oh, how I love Your law!
         It is my meditation all the day.
98 You, through Your commandments, make me wiser than my enemies;
         For they are ever with me.

 

posted on Tuesday, January 24

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"I Before E" As You've Never Heard Before

 

 

 

Because on exam day I missed one punctuation mark in this poem, I failed to get extra credit in my 9th grade English class.  Imagine the devastation!

 

However, being able to run the complete poem through my mind has proven to be worth much more than an extra half-grade on my unit exam, even if my punctuation is worse today than back then.

 

Use i before e, except after c

or when sounded as "ay", as in neighbor and weigh.

 

But their, weird, and either,

foreign, seize, neither,

leisure, forfeit, and height

are exceptions spelled right.

 

 

from Psalm 119:

 103 How sweet are Your words to my taste,
         Sweeter than honey to my mouth!
 104 Through Your precepts I get understanding;
         Therefore I hate every false way.

 

 

posted on Thursday, January 19

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