Monday, November 9, 2009 - ~25 Days of Gratitude~
Today I am grateful for.....
~Answered prayer...I have been praying about something for a long time. This weekend I finally got the fact that I was standing in the way of God answering my prayer in His way. I kept trying to fix/solve the problem. Within hours of surrendering it to the Lord, He answered my prayer in a great way.
~Great husbands.....my is the best!
~Grandparents....We had a fun time with Grandparents at our Keeper's Grandparents luncheon.
~My dog Belle....She is such a great dog and she likes me best!
Sleeping on my leg.
Poor dear, Grace dressed her up!
Thursday, November 5, 2009 - ~25 Days of Gratitude~
Today I am grateful for...
~love...faith...and continually answered prayers
~a beautiful teenage daughter who helps willing around our home
~two sisters who play together and claim to be "best friends"
~a husband who diligently prepares our home for winter, he is the best!
~a Friday tea party with loving Grandparents.
~health! We are all so healthy! Thank you Lord!
I am blessed!
Wednesday, November 4, 2009 - ~25 Days of Gratitude~
Today I am grateful for~
~full days...filled with grace, love, hope and joy! Many activities and lots of smiles.
~daughters with tender hearts. Grace and Elizabeth came home from Awana's wanting to send their favorite stuffed animals in the Operation Christmas Child boxes. They have a shopping list started for what to send.
~faithfulness....a faithful God who always their to speak loving words to me. A spouse that is faithful in so many ways. Children that are faithful in their learning. Parents who are faithful and taught me responsibility.
~a warm home and warm bed...
I am blessed!
Thursday, November 5, 2009 - ~Bright Ideas Press~TOS Crew Review~
As part of the TOS Crew, I received the following two books free from Bright Ideas Press, for review. The opinions presented in the review are solely mine.
Why take the time to “Crack the Code” of Classical Music?
• Music is from the Lord. He created it, and He created us with the ability to both make and appreciate music.
• “Classical” music is uniquely part of our Western civilization.
• Research suggests that both listening to and playing classical music aids brain development.
• Even rudimentary exposure increases one’s level of enjoyment and understanding.
This course provides a close-up look at famous composers, their music, and their times, with special attention to character traits and Christian testimony (or lack thereof). Even the musically challenged will enjoy this course! It’s perfect for grades 4–8 but is easily adaptable for younger and older students. Minimal teacher prep will return maximum enjoyment!
Within the book there are a variety of great learning activities to use within your home. Some of them include
• 32 Weekly Lessons
• 26 Bios of Famous Composers
• 6 Eras of Music Explained
• Easy-to-Use Comparative Timeline
• Easy-to-Use Maps
• Composer Info-Cards & Game Directions
• Note-taking Pages
• Quizzes
• Answer Keys
• Listening Suggestions
• Intricate Coloring Pages
• Resource Books
Authors: Maggie S. Hogan and Melissa Craig did extensive research and writing to bring this great resource. They had music expert, Richard B. Pinkerton edit the book as well.
Cost:
CD-Rom Book
Price: $29.95
To purchase click here.
In Our Home:
We've been using this great resource for over a month. At least twice a week I read through the detailed lesson with the girls. They take notes on their provided note-taking pages. Then we fill out a composer card. The composer card is a place to collect all the facts about each composer. There are also thinking questions to apply the interesting facts gleaned through the lesson. Then using the supplied map, we map where the composer was born. Each composer is divided by style of music and a great history of each music style is provided.
I like the way everything is self-contained for our Classical Music discussions now. I don't have to search for the perfect book to read, assemble the notebooking pages and make-up a timeline. The only thing missing for me from this curriculum is actual music to listen to. I want my daughters to also be able to recognize the composer's main pieces when they hear them. It is easy to find CD's or the pieces online though to add to the curriculum.
This is a picture of the folder that Jennifer has been putting together as we study Classical music.
Written from a Christian perspective, Hands-On Geography will get you excited about teaching an oft-forgotten subject. Includes specific instructions for many activities, games, and projects designed to be appealing to kids and easy for parents. An easy, yet thorough, introduction to a very important subject. Grades K – 5.
Written by Maggie S. Hogan.
This is a large paperback book stuffed with wonderful Geogrpahy resources. The beginning chapter has information about the National Geography Bee.
Also present in this book are directions for six homemade geography games for the early elementary years. Fun stuff that uses items you already have in your home to reinforce geography.
Included in this book is an extensive section of outline maps to copy. Then Maggie S. Hogan has a large chapter on ways to use these maps called "Maps Galore". Things like sticker geography, jigsaw maps and booking maps to name a few. There are sixteen projects in that chapter.
Jennifer did the chapter on Joseph's Journey, this is a detailed map and geography questionnaire to enhance her learning as we studied Joseph's life.
A chapter on nature geography was filled with tools on how to include nature in your geography study. A great guide to making your own field guide is on my to-do-list for the spring. We will be using her helpful pages on studying birds that live in our area this winter.
This is a valuable resource that is well worth the cost of $14.95
Orderhere.
Maggie S. Hogan has written an extensive amount of great Homeschooling curriculum.
Please click the logo to read reviews of her other products.
Tuesday, November 3, 2009 - ~25 Days of Gratitude~
Continuing my 25 days of gratitude, with day number 3.
Today I am grateful and thankful for:
~answered prayer and His continue soft whispers in my life.
~praying with my sisters in Christ this afternoon, what a blessing.
~Jesus...He is the way! No matter what happens, He is watching over me.
~I don't have to worry or fear the date December 21, 2012! If the Lord chooses or doesn't choose to return on that date, so be it, but I say Marantha!
~a warm fire, made by my wonderful husband and a hot cup of tea to warm me up!
~Thank you!
Nov. 3, 2009 - My Thumb
On Sunday night I slammed the car door on my thumb. I stood there in shock for a moment before managing to extricate it and then caught up with my husband and friends who had gone ahead into the restaurant, not realizing my distress. They could tell by my face that something was wrong, and I'm surprised in hindsight that I was so quiet about the whole episode. No screaming or tears. I simply held my breath and waited without success for the wave of pain to pass.
I spent the meal in hazy distraction with my thumb immersed in an icy-cold glass of water. A couple of Advil also helped to mute the throbbing. Still, by the end of dinner I was happy to be heading home until everyone suggested that I get it checked out at Emergency. Unfortunately we were too late to stop by a clinic which in my opinion would have been the lest dramatic of my options. After several hours, avoiding patients who seemed to be smitten with flu and drenching our hands in anti-bacterial wash, the doctor announced that there was nothing broken. However, he did puncture the nail to allow the blood that was pooling underneath to have a way out. Lovely. Truly.
So, for the last couple of nights I've been sleeping with my hand carefully laid on the pillow and trying to avoid bumping it on anything when I turn over. During the day I've discovered a renewed respect for this particular digit as I didn't realize, until it was incapacitated, just how much my thumb is involved in most everything I do. Although the pain has significantly reduced, it still remains bruised and swollen and I'm unable to put pressure on it. Just another reminder to slow down and do less during the strange season of learning to live life differently.
Wednesday, November 4, 2009 - ~ACT Inc.~Discover Program~ TOS Crew Review
As Jennifer begins her high school years, we are all beginning to ask the question, what next? Jennifer has some ideas, but has struggled to put those ideas into tangible work opportunities. Even more important to us is that Jennifer has a job that fits her talents and desires.
As part of the TOS Crew I received a free month's subscription to ACT Discover to review.
DISCOVER can help you choose a career, find training, or learn how to find a job.
This is an inventories based assessment tool. The inventories help you think about yourself, and which occupations would fit you best your interests, abilities, and values. As you grow older, you become more certain of your interests, abilities, and values.
DISCOVER offers inventories to people based on your grade level.
Inventories available:
If you have not yet selected an occupation, this is a great place to start.
DISCOVER has three types of inventories:
Interests asks what you like to do
Abilities asks you to rate your ability levels
Each inventory may be taken online or you may enter scores from inventories you have taken on paper.
Take all three inventories to get the best sense of which careers might fit you best. Each inventory focuses on a different part of your profile.
Based on your inventory results, DISCOVER suggests Career Areas on the World-of-Work Map.
| World-of-Work Map |
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The World-of-Work Map below shows the locations of all 26 career areas (groups of occupations). Career areas differ in how much they involve working with Data, Ideas, People, and Things. |
In Our Home:
I had Jennifer take all three inventories; interests, abilities and values. She then received a detailed report of what would be the best careers that she was suitable for. Very detailed descriptions were given for each career including skills necessary, length of education and starting salary. She then read through the list of occupations and marked her favorites. This really narrowed the field but also sparked great discussions and areas for future career exploration. It was a great discovery process for Jennifer(9th grade). She continually says that she doesn't really know what she wants to do post-high school. We prayerfully will take these results and use them to help guide her in her decisions.
They have a great tutorial and site menu to ease navigating the site. Also present are help screens to futher provide education on the information. I appreciated that the website is clear, not cluttered with unnecessary information. I believe this to be a valuable tool for the homeschooled high schooler who does not have a clear idea of what they want to do post-high school. It honed in on my daughter's strengths and presented clear career fields.
Cost:
Price: $19.95 for a three-month license, $24.95 for a six-month license.
To view the site for purchase click here.
Also ACT provides a FREE curriculum guide and other resources to help enhance the career planning process. Click here for that resource.
To view other TOS Crew members review of this and other great products click the logo.
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