Nov. 24, 2009 - Reducing Library Fees

Currently we have 209 library books in our house.  This is unusual, and a result of our reading week, but we often have over 100. 

Can you imagine what would happen if we returned them late? At fines from 25 to 50 cents, the bill could be astronomical.

That’s why, a few years ago, we designated Tuesday as book return day.  On that day, we renew or return all books due within the next week.  Although we’ll go to the library more often, and return books more often, Tuesday is the day that keeps it all under control.

When we return books, we mark them off on our computer slip and I keep the slip.  We count the books crossed off and compare that number with the number of books in our library bags; occasionally they don’t agree and I have to check all 60 or whatever again.  Needless to say, I do not welcome assistants who could confuse the piles of books. 

The final trick is to calculate how many books we should have on our card after our returns have been processed and to verify that number after the librarian has checked the books in.  We’ve found many computer errors this way and saved ourselves untold hassles and huge amounts of money by being right there to help the librarian find the ‘missing’ book in the piles she’s just sent through the computer.

For simplicity, our family only uses one library card, most of the time.  I check my husband’s card for returns and renewals on Tuesdays as well, although he often just uses mine like the kids do.

This post has been entered in Being Frugal's Tightwad Tuesday and in Canada Girl's Tightwad Tuesday.

Nov. 23, 2009 - Help! Need Advice for Newbie HS Mom

I have been asked to give some advice to a young mom who has come to the conclusion that she should probably homeschool next year.  This was not her dream in life, and her five children are very young—the oldest is in public school grade 2. 

What is the most important, most helpful information to give without overwhelming her?  I could talk for hours, days even, about all sorts of aspects of homeschooling, but now I want to present the most crucial elements in a quick morning visit.

Here are some suggestions I had in mind for her (in no particular order):

• Use 100 Top Picks by Cathy Duffy to determine what style of homeschooling would suit her family best.
• Take out a membership in HSLDA.  Our province is homeschool friendly, but issues sometimes arise when a family pulls children out of school.
• Be sure to take time for Bible reading, sleep, fresh air, and exercise.
• Streamline all the daily tasks such as food preparation, laundry, and cleaning.
• Check out my favourite homeschool supplier, Heritage Resources, which has excellent service as well as the best prices I’ve seen in Canada. 
• Check out The Teaching Home getting started section. Also look at all their archived newsletters for free and well-organized answers to any homeschool questions.   
• Check out The Old Schoolhouse e-newsletter archives for encouragement and support.
• Learn from others, but avoid comparisons.

Now, I know there are at least a thousand (make that a million) other things I could be telling her, but that would be so overwhelming.  I don’t know how to choose, and therefore I’m asking you.

What are the most important things that help you homeschool?  What advice would you give a newbie homeschooler?

Thank you so much.

Annie Kate

Nov. 21, 2009 - Global Warming Fraud Exposed

A few days ago hackers got access to a wealth of information that had been denied to the public.  It seems as though some global warming proponents know that the data contradicts their theory…but they were not willing to share that information.

You can read more at SDA.  (Caution:  Although this award-winning blog contains valuable information, it often has language issues and it is not Christian.)

On a similar note, recently  der Speigel published an article entitled “Climatologists Baffled by Global Warming Time Out.”

Nov. 20, 2009 - Our New Filing Cabinet

Today we had to go out, and since one of the thrift shops had a 50% off sale, we popped in.  There we found a two-drawer filing cabinet for $7.50!  Afterwards, we walked past similar filing cabinets in Walmart, and the girls were awed by their $53+ price tags. 

When we got home, I went through many messy binders and piles of papers and tucked them into that neat cabinet. I also collected a whole garbage bag full of useless and outdated papers.  Within a few hours the room went from being a discouraging mess to looking so pristine that I pop in once in a while just to enjoy the sight.    

Whoever first said, “Don’t pile it, file it,” was certainly right! 

Hopefully we’ll manage to do more decluttering tomorrow...but the kids are begging to go to a local second-hand book sale and that will have the opposite effect.

Wishing you all a happy and healthy weekend.

Annie Kate

Nov. 18, 2009 - Homeschool Crew Review: AVKO Membership

AVKO (Audio, Visual, Kinesthetic, Oral) Educational Research Foundation offers a wide range of help for those struggling with dyslexia or other reading and spelling issues.  Its mission is “to provide free and low-cost resources to home and school educators in order to achieve literacy for all, even despite learning challenges or dyslexia.”  Don McCabe, the founder of AVKO, is dyslexic himself and has spent much of his life working with illiterates, dyslexics, and others who cannot learn in usual school system. 

Here’s the key to McCabe’s method:

If a struggling student hears the word (Audio) and sees the word (Visual) as he writes or types it (Kinesthetic) and says it (Oral), he will be using a multi-sensory approach to learn spelling patterns.

Other keys aspects of the AVKO method include

• daily practice (absolutely no days skipped)
• learning spelling by writing words in logical sequences, rather than by studying (this is really cool!)
• encouragement, as typified by the motto, “Mistakes are opportunities to learn.”

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­Now, AVKO is not only, or even primarily, for young children.  It seems to be largely for older ones who are having difficulty, and for adults who cannot read or spell.  But can it be used with younger children?  Yes, it can.  It provides a phonics system and it involves a unique and appealing spelling system.  If a child is having difficulty learning to read, the AVKO approach would most likely help.

The Homeschool Crew Reviewers were asked to review an AVKO membership which includes the following freebies:

• five downloadable books (described below)
• discounts on other AVKO books
• audio conference presentations
• readings for comprehension
• supplemental curriculum materials

The Teaching of Reading and Spelling: Starting at Square One by Don McCabe  $59.95 in book form or free as a download with membership

This handwriting/keyboarding curriculum teaches reading and spelling as the alphabet is being taught.  It is essentially a phonics program and was made for students who have difficulties reading. As each letter is taught, its name, sound, and shape are taught, and words involving the sounds are included.  Words are listed in families such as

            at, bat, cat, rat, sat, tat (p 22)

            paper, papers, papered, papering, wallpaper, wallpapers, wallpaper, wallpapering (p 206)

After completing this program, a student can begin Sequential Spelling 1 (not included in membership).  He or she can also read some pretty significant sentences like

Nine winners had dinners and dined in the diner. (p 104)

The nose knows the difference between a rose and rows of stinkweed. (p 165)

Pros are professionals.  Can professional poets write prose? (p 208)

I love the upbeat character of these sentences.  The author obviously had a lot of fun making this program, and that shines through these books time and again. 

Notice, however, that these sentences seem too sophisticated for six year-olds. McCabe says it’s important for a struggling learner to be able to read and spell words even if he doesn’t know what they mean.  He also points out, quite logically, that a student is more likely to learn from these sentences than from simpler ones like, “See the pretty red balloon.”

The Reading Teacher’s List of Over 5500 Basic Spelling Words by Don McCabe   $29.95 for printed pages in a binder or free as a download with membership 

Mr. McCabe lists the 5500 basic spelling words in four ways

• in order of difficulty according to the scale developed by Dr. Harry Greene of the University of Iowa
• alphabetically, with the difficulty score listed beside each word
• alphabetically, with percentages of students, grades 2 to 8, who can spell the word correctly 
• alphabetically, referenced to the relevant page in The Patterns of English Spelling

This book is handy for spelling review, since I can go directly to the words of appropriate difficulty for each individual child.  It’s also great for teaching spelling since each word is linked to similar words in The Patterns of English Spelling.  Thus, rather than teaching only the one word the student can’t spell (or read), you can easily teach a whole family of words. 

I’m using these words to help some of my children prepare for a spelling bee.  At this stage, I hate to get them started on a different spelling program, but we may do so in the future, if necessary.

Patterns of English Spelling, Volumes 1-10 by Don McCabe (huge, over 1600 pages!) almost $400 for printed pages in binders or free as a download with membership 

These ten volumes are not easy books to be picked up and used within fifteen minutes.  They take a while to understand, partly because they are so comprehensive, and partly because they are so thorough.  They are not difficult to use, though.  Each pattern of spelling in the English language is represented, with lists of word families put in sentence context.  Words are classified by families and difficulty, and entries include spelling demons, related families, homophones, homographs, and heteronyms.  (Yes, I learned a bit of vocabulary today!  I’m running out of space to share definitions of these three ‘h’ words in this post, but I can post them later if anyone asks.)  This is priceless for teaching spelling, and I encourage you to look at some of the samlples.

On top of all this, Patterns of English Spelling is a fabulous rhyming dictionary for poets, since it lists words by their end patterns and has cross references between rhyming patterns.

The Teaching of Reading & Spelling: A Continuum from Kindergarten to College by Don McCabe  $59.95 for printed pages in a binder or free as a download with membership

This book is for “College Education Majors,  Parents Who Want to Homeschool Their Children, The Training of Adult Literacy Volunteer Tutors, & Especially College Reading Instructors Willing to Try New Approaches to Old Problems.”  It includes information about phonics, reading, writing, spelling, and testing, and could be helpful to parents of dyslexic children.

For me, the most fascinating part of this book was the discussion of what dyslexia actually is.  There I read a description of Littlest Miss who becomes incredibly frustrated when words don’t follow rules!  Instantly all my reading for this review became personal.  We’ll give our current phonics and spelling systems some more time.   (As the Moores point out, some children just aren’t ready to read competently at the age of seven—none of our other children were.)  If necessary, however, we’ll be switching to AVKO methods in the future. 

Nov. 17, 2009 - Feel Better with Garlic

Our family often enjoys garlic as food, whether in bruschetta, in soups, added to stir fries, or with meat. 

When we’re sick, however, we take large amounts as medicine: chopped up raw (my husband makes a very garlicky bruschetta when he’s feeling off), simmered in chicken soup, or even added to mashed potatoes.  Garlic is known to have significant antibacterial, antiviral, antifungal, and anti-parasitic properties, and it helps us feel much better.   

The main drawback to using garlic as a medicine is, of course, smelling funny.  If you’re sick in bed, a garlicky odour won’t offend anyone, but when we’re well enough to be involved in outside activities, the children and I eat less.  To reduce the odour, we also occasionally raid our parsley patch (which, by the way, is still flourishing this late in the year!).

What’s more, garlic also has significant cardiovascular and anti-cancer benefits.  That’s exciting news to me, because I have a higher cancer risk due to celiac disease. 

So whether we enjoy it in moderation for its pungent taste, or occasionally eat huge amounts to reduce the impact of a cold, our family is hooked on garlic.  It’s yummy, healthy, and inexpensive.  

The internet is full of all sorts of informative and practical garlic links, many of them advertising various forms of purified garlic supplements (we just buy the bulbs from the grocery store).  However, I only included two (impractical) National Institute of Health links in this post to show you reliable and verifiable research results.  Some people may need this ‘ammunition’ to convince sceptical family members and others.

For more helpful hints, see Being Frugal’s Tightwad Tuesday , We are THAT Family's Works for Me Wednesday, and Life as Mom's Frugal Friday.

Nov. 16, 2009 - Reading Week

We’re still getting well, with sniffling and coughing and long nights in bed.  I don’t think it was the flu, since we had no fever...or perhaps all the vitamins and garlic helped more than we imagined.  

This week is scheduled to be our annual reading week.  Sure, the children will work ahead a bit in their schoolwork, and we’ll do some extra home projects, but the emphasis will be on reading—all sorts of books on all sorts of topics.  We’ll be picking up quantities of library books including a huge selection of Canadian picture books for everyone to enjoy.

Wishing you all a happy, productive week.

Nov. 12, 2009 - Tomatoes

Yesterday we finished the last fresh tomatoes of this year’s crop, chopped fine in a pot of garlicky chicken soup.  We’re all a bit under the weather, and that chicken soup was wonderful! 

All the rest of the tomatoes, and there weren’t that many this year, are either frozen or made up into salsa.  It seems funny, in the middle of November, to have no more trays of ripening tomatoes on our windowsills and elsewhere.  In the past I’ve collected salad tomatoes from our furnace room almost up to Christmas!

Our tomatoes had a disease this year and many spoiled, even while still in the garden.  We’ve been very careful to put all diseased tomato scraps into the garbage, not the compost pile.  We’ve also raked up all the plants themselves for the garbage.  I hope this will prevent the disease, whatever it was, from spreading.

Since we’re always careful to rotate our garden, there should be no difficulty with this tomato disease next year.  Just to be sure, we’ll be planting only disease-resistant varieties next year instead of a mix of heritage tomatoes and our own saved seeds.

I can hardly believe I'm thinking about next year's planting already! 

Thanks for stopping by for Tea Time with Annie Kate.

Nov. 11, 2009 - Remembrance Day

My parents were little children in the Netherlands during World War II, and they were freed by Canadians.  I am humbly grateful to Canadian veterans and thankful to be a citizen this great country.  As it is Remembrance Day, I want to share two verses of ‘O Canada.’  The first one is the official anthem; the second is the final verse of the original poem.

O Canada! Our home and native land!
True patriot love in all thy sons command.
With glowing hearts we see thee rise,
The True North, strong and free!
From far and wide, O Canada,
We stand on guard for thee.
God keep our land glorious and free !
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.

 

Ruler supreme, who hearest humble prayer,
Hold our dominion whithin thy loving care;
Help us to find, O God, in thee
A lasting, rich reward,
As waiting for the Better Day,
We ever stand on guard.

God keep our land glorious and free !
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.

Nov. 10, 2009 - Microwaving a Pumpkin

Pumpkins are yummy.  They make great pies, delicious breads, and hearty soups. 

But there’s always the challenge of going from the round, orange pumpkin itself to the puree you need in recipes.  The quickest, simplest way we’ve found to prepare a pumpkin is to microwave it.

• Choose a small pumpkin (4”-6” across works for us, but it depends on your microwave)
• Wash it, remove the stem, and stab it all over with a fork (just like you do for a baked potato)
• Put it on a plate and microwave it on high for 10 minutes
• Turn it over, and microwave for another 10 minutes
• If the pumpkin is soft, it is cooked.  If the sides are still firm, you may need to turn it over again and cook it for another 5-10 minutes, depending on the size of the pumpkin and the power of your microwave.  (see Caution below) 
• Let it cool, and then peel off the skin (it will come off easily), cut it in half, and remove the seeds
• Depending on the recipe, we either mash the cooked pumpkin with a fork or blend it with the liquid ingredients in the recipe we're using

CAUTION:  Make sure that your microwave does not overheat!!   If the outside of the microwave is getting too hot, you must give it an hour or so to cool down.  If the pumpkin isn’t quite cooked, continue with the cooking later, and use a smaller pumpkin next time.

For more tips and hints see Canada Girl’s Tightwad Tuesday  and Being Frugal’s Tightwad Tuesday.   You should also check out Works for Me Wednesday.