Are you looking for good books for your children that are wholesome, fun, and educational? After many years of struggling to find great books for my children I've decided to share the knowledge I have gained with you. I will only recommend books that I would read with my children or allow them to read on their own. If there is anything in a book that I feel would be objectionable to a Christian family I will tell you about it in my review. My goal is to help you find good books for your children, so visit My Book Reviews to see what I have recently reviewed. I will be adding reviews as time allows, so check back often or subscribe to my feed.
Jun. 25, 2008
Organizing Your Charlotte Mason School Records
Posted in Homeschooling
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If you like to keep detailed records for school (or are required to do so), and you just cannot seem to find a planning system that works for you check out the CM Organizer on the Simply Charlotte Mason website. It is a little pricey ($9.99 per month), but is an excellent resource for organizing all of your materials and lessons. You can view several videos on this site from an overview of the CM Organizer to overviews of the different components that make up the CM Organizer. From the overview that I watched I think this would even work for those using a unit study approach. You can sign up for a 30 day free trial if you like what you see and want to try it out before making the commitment to spend $9.99 a month for this resource. I hope someone find this helpful. Blessings, Missy |
Jun. 16, 2008
Courtship, Homeschooling, and the Status Quo
Posted in Homeschooling
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I found some more great resources on OnePlace.com (can you tell I really like the audios on this site?). Here are the links (and descriptions from the OnePlace.com website) to some encouraging and thought provoking discussions. From FamilyLife This Week: How Courtship Works
Saturday, May 24, 2008 With Mike and Vickie Farris, Richard and Kelly Welch, Bob and Yvonne Welch... The Choice to Home School Saturday, August 25, 2007 This weekend on the broadcast, Michael Farris, founder of the Home School Legal Defense Association, along with experienced home schooling parents, Dennis and Barbara Rainey and Joetta Witkowski, talk about the benefits of teaching your children at home. From Generations Radio - Kevin Swanson:
When the Status Quo is Unacceptable
Where to Get a Vision Education is in decline. The character of a nation has fallen drastically. Morality is sinking to a new low. The idea of family has faded. Suppose you were a parent who was actually concerned about his children and their future. Would you be happy with the status quo? Suppose you were a parent who no longer trusted the professionals who put together the education systems about you. Where would you go for a vision for something better? In this segment of Generations, Vision Forum's Doug Phillips and Kevin Swanson talk about where you might find that vision. I hope you will be encouraged and educated on these issues as you listen. Blessings, Missy |
Jun. 15, 2008
Training in Righteousness
Posted in Homeschooling
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Just a quick note
I just had to share this resource. You can listen to this wonderful audio by Gary Demar online at OnePlace.com (free...and it even works on dial-up). I think you will gain some insight with this one, so check it out. Training in Righteousness - Gary Demar Blessings, Missy  |
Jun. 13, 2008
Wrapping Things Up
Posted in How we are using My Father's World Curriculum
I'm so amazed that the school year is over and summer is well underway. Time just seems to get away from me so quickly. Lots of things have been going on with our family and I haven't had even a minute to post to this blog. I'm sure everyone understands those busy times because I know we all have them. I wanted to update you on the things that we were doing the last half of the school year. At this point I'm not sure that I can remember them all. There were so many things that we enjoyed learning about as we were studying Rome to the Reformation. I have worked a little on uploading some pictures of some of the notebook pages the kids did this year.  Last year I did a review of our study Creation to the Greeks. This year I hoped to do the same for Rome to the Reformation, but I'm not certain if I will have the time to do so. I really enjoyed putting the review together last year as it helped me to review what the kids had learned and remember why we chose My Father's World curriculum. It has been a great fit for us. We have tried computer curriculum and a few different workbooks/textbooks and never seemed to find the right fit. The blend of books and activities that My Father's World incorporates plus the notebooking, copywork, narration and dictation have all fit nicely into a very workable and enjoyable education experience for us. I've recently been learning a little about the Principle Approach. It seems that we are already doing some of this in our homeschool, but I am very interested in learning more so that we can blend that approach into our MFW curriculum even more. If you are not familiar with this approach and want to learn more...I'm not the person to ask at all! LOL!...you can learn more about it at The Foundation of American Christian Education. It is definitely something that I want to learn more about. For the coming school year we will be studying from Exploration to 1850. We are all excited about this and the next year's studies as we will be learning about American history in addition to history for other parts of the world during these time periods. Since we began with MFW we haven't studied American history, so the kids are happy to be getting to something they've been hoping to study for a while. I'm very pleased that we have been studying history chronologically. I think it helps to put things in perspective when you learn history from beginning to the present day rather than "chunks" of history from this time period and that. As for this school year I thought I would share our book list with you. I have many of the books on the shelf in the right sidebar, however if you want to see all the books and get some information on what the curriculum covers click here. Exploration to 1850 Book List * Teacher’s Manual * Boy, Have I Got Problems! * Trial and Triumph * Then Sings My Soul * Exploring American History * In God We Trust * Building a City On a Hill * George Washington’s World * The Last 500 Years * The Story of the World, Volume 3 * State Flags Stickers * State Sheets/Cards * Map of the United States/World—placemat size * U.S.A. Wall Map * U.S. Presidents Flashcards * The Animal Kingdom * The World of Animals * Exploring Creation with Botany * Exploring Creation with General Science (7th graders) * Easy Grammar * Writing Strands * Progeny Press Literature Guides for "Amos Fortune, Free Man", "Anne of Greene Gables", and "Johnny Tremain " * State History from a Christian Perspective (last 6 weeks) * Almost Home * Amos Fortune, Free Man * Madeleine Takes Command * William Carey * Mary Jones and Her Bible * Bound for Oregon * Schubert Symphonies (music only) * The Best of Mendelssohn (music only) * The Best of Chopin (music only) * God and the History of Art * American Pioneers and Patriots * North American Indians * Red, White, and Blue * The Fourth of July Story * Squanto, Friend of the Pilgrims * The Courage of Sarah Noble * Sarah Whitcher’s Story Items in RED are items I have chosen to add, not items that MFW includes in their curriculum package (though some are suggested by MFW).
I also found a great deal at one of our local libraries. They were cleaning off their shelves and sold me 92 books for 25 cents each! That was the best $23 I've ever spent. I was told by one of the librarians recently (at another local library) that they would be doing the same soon, so I'll look to see what they have as well. This is a great way to get good books for your personal library. The library books I purchased had lots of biographies of famous Americans and other books from early American history in addition to some books from other periods of history. These were all old books that no one will check out because they don't have a new cover or because they have yellowed pages. I find that these are often the best books because they contain historically accurate information, and the author's weren't afraid to include the information that helped build an understanding in the reader of the character and moral integrity of people during that time in our history. These books are so much better than the junk books that so many kids are reading these days. I'm talking about the books that don't teach children anything, but rather fill their minds with fluff. Children need quality books with substance, characters with integrity and moral character....a book that will cause them to walk away thinking about the good in people and how to make wise decisions. I've heard many others recently saying that their libraries were removing good quality books from their shelves in an effort to provide more "entertaining" materials. This is very sad, but if books are not checked out they will be removed. I think this is just another sign of the direction our country is going. Blessings, Missy |
May. 21, 2008
Summer Reading...Make a Splash!
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What a great idea! Thanks goes to The Old Schoolhouse for coming up with a great summer reading program for our kids. Beginning this week (May 18, 2008) through July 31, 2008 your kids can participate in the Summer Reading SplashSummer Reading Splash sponsored by The Old Schoolhouse. You can visit the website for information on how to participate, and to download reading logs and bookmarks. You will also want to visit the Summer Reading Splash Blog each week for some added fun and weekly opportunities to win books. That's right, the Summer Reading Splash will be giving away books weekly! This week's giveaways are "Say Daddy!" from Sleeping Bear Press (for younger children), and the entire "Terrestria Chronicles" book set by Ed Dunlop (for older children). If you've seen my book review blog you know from my reviews that the Terrestria Chronicles are excellent! If you haven't read my reviews of these books stop by my book review blog to read reviews on books 1 and 2. You may also want to check with your local library to see if they are offering a summer reading program. We are making plans now to volunteer at one of our local libraries this summer. The kids and I will be helping with the activities the library will have related to their summer reading program. We absolutely love the library, and this is a great opportunity for us to get in some community service. Who knows, we may participate in the library's summer reading program and the Summer Reading Splash; and you could do the same. Whatever you do don't miss out on this excellent opportunity to get your children excited about reading this summer. Until next time.... Blessings, Missy |