Dana has been hosting Home Education Week with writing prompts and daily surprises!

Earlier this week when I told my family about the writing prompts for Home Education Week, my husband felt left out.  He wanted a chance to say something.  I assured him that Friday would be the day!  My dc have been excited all week, asking me how many comments I've gotten for my posts and what the reactions were to what I had written.  However, no one wanted to sit here and blog for the day!  LOL  So I interviewed them Wednesday night. 

12 Year Old Son :  "I like homeschool because we can take it at our own speed and work ahead if we need to. Usually in homeschool we have better teachers than public school.  We have time to look up something if we have questions, instead of waiting until we get home and forgetting what we wanted to research.  Also, I don't have to listen to evolution.  My favorite subject is literature.  I like the action and mystery books. I like to do hands on projects, like when I did my Greek hoplite shield and armour. 

I also like to Nature Journal because I get to see new things, I can pay attention to detail, and I can be as creative as I want without being restricted to a certain assignment. "

Here's a drawing from his nature journal of the bird house he built.

Another view from the bird seed bell...

 15 Year Old Daughter:  "I like the Christian aspect of homeschooling because I get to study subjects in depth.  Also I prefer to study Creationism instead of evolution.  I am learning how to defend my beliefs and use them to witness.  I like Apologia Science, because the mp3 files allow me to listen to someone read aloud the textbook.  The videos help me to see what I am actually studying.  The experiments help me to experience the lesson being taught." (Editor Note: Here is yesterday's experiment.  She is learning about electrons while chasing a white balloon that hung from her bedroom ceiling!  That white balloon had normally been hanging down where she is standing.  She "activated" electrons on the green balloon so that she could "push" the white balloon around.  You can just barely see that the red string from which the white balloon is hanging is at an angle.)

Back to dd: "My favorite subject is literature.  I like books with girls as the main character.  My favorite books this year have been Not Regina and Dr. Oma.  Not Regina is about the Anabaptists during the reformation in Switzerland.   Dr. Oma is about Maria, the daughter of Prince William of Orange during the Protestant Reformation.  This is set in Holland while they are at war with the Spanish.  Since I like flowers, I enjoyed reading how Maria learns to use herbs from her grandma, while her father is away at war.  I also chose to do a research paper on Holland a few years ago, because I like their tulips.  Reading a literature book about some of the history I had learned was interesting."

When she was in the children's choir at church, she helped sing back up to the Mwangzaza Children's Choir 2004.  (She's hard to see but she's in the purple t-shirt, center, second row down.)

Here she is trying to keep the moves correct in the spring missionary outreach, "Acorns to Oaks".  She's wearing the green bandana.

Dad/Principal:  "I like having computers available for the kids to do their research.  I don't think public schools provide for this.  I like seeing my kids socialized across age lines.  When we sing at the nursing home, the children comfortably spend time talking to the senior citizens and distrubute music.  The unit celebrations are great because I get to eat!  I also enjoy seeing the kids' presentations.  I have enjoyed tailoring our summer vacations and field trips around the kids' studies.  We've been to lots of great places.  Laurie, you should post the pictures."   

To accomodate my dh's request, here are some vacation pictures that he wanted me to show.  ;)

We got to work at a loom at one of the Spanish Missions...

  Pretending to do school, at the very spot under the trees of the very first "public" school (mid 1800's) in central Texas!

At the Sauer-Beckmann Homestead near the LBJ birthplace in central Texas, collecting turkey eggs. First, the children were not too certain about going into that dark building to collect eggs from a scary looking turkey!  But they did!  Then my poor son tripped over the doorway into the kitchen and all the eggs went splat.  We assured him children in the 1800's and early 1900's (the era for this home of the midwife of LBJ's mother) probably had similar accidents!  

 One summer we went to the East Coast and experienced 3 hurricanes/tropical depressions.  No wind, thankfully but we were soggy!  First stop, Colonial Williamsburg (during Hurricane Alex).  (They have a Home Educator Visit every autumn and fall for about $5 a day with special activities.)  We had fun doing the maze at the Governor's Palace!

 Experiencing cruel and unusual punishment!  It was the kids' idea!  I promise!  They really do have big grins on their faces!

DH and ds in boot camp!

 While avoiding the worst of Hurricane Alex, we met with Thomas Jefferson.  He gave a great presentation to the children!

Ahhh, the hurricane went out to sea.  Sunny day!  Chopping wood at Good Hopes Plantation.

Carrying the water...

Getting drum lessons for the drum and fife corps...

Designing a hat at the milliner's shop...

Meeting Patrick Henry.  He gave a wonderful talk and had me so worked up from his "Give Me Liberty or Death" speech, I was ready to join the militia!

Trying on armor at Jamestown...

Pounding corn at Powhaten's Village...

Scraping off fur from a hide with an oyster shell...

Keep those fires going!

Inspecting General Washington's tent at Yorktown...

A colonial soldier...

Water, please!  My children simply don't work this hard at our house!!!

Riding through the lochs at the Champlain Canal on the Sadie, a turn of the century craft, in upstate New York...

Riding the Erie Canal on a barge pulled by a mule named Sal, in Rome, NY.  Yes, we all sang the song while on the ride....

Visiting Mount Vernon.  Hurricane/downgraded Tropical Depression Bonnie dumped a deluge of rain on us the day before and that morning. Finally the skies are clearing.  

I loved the round barn that George Washington designed.  The children got to run around in circles, simulating how the horses do so to step on the wheat to thresh it.  The wheat sifts through the floor boards into the basement below.  Then the horses came and did it.  My dc slept great that night!

Boat ride on the Potomac to see Washington DC!  This is a great way to see DC with little ones.  Now that they are older, we are planning a vacation to go back and walk up to these places this summer!

Touring Monticello during Hurricane Charlie (downgraded into a tropical depression).  By the time we left, the sun came out and no more rain the rest of the trip...home!  boo hoo!  I called this our ABC trip!  Anyway, we did a special chidren's tour of the mansion and then dodged rain drops to see what we could outside!  Here is poor dd!

Another year we hiked in Palo Duro Canyon, the second largest canyon in the USA. 

 We saw a musical about the local settlers of Texas. There were pyrotechnics with a simulated, yet realistic, lightening strike and grass fire.

We went to the Colorado Rockies and got to see elk up close and personal at over 11,000' elevation in Rocky Mountain National Park.  We experienced how elevation gain is like driving towards the North Pole!  This area is like the tundra.

 We got to see the Manitou Cliff Dwellings of Colorado...

Horseback riding in Rocky Mountain National Park, in the montane zone.  The guide is up front, then dd, then me.  The guys are behind me...

While analyzing plants in Colorado, we just missed the bear a few yards away. Hikers showed us a picture on their camera.  Hmmmm, I should have given them my e-mail to send me a copy.  It was a cute picture!  Just imagine a cute bear a few yards away from this plant!  ;)

Meeting with a marmot at the top of Pikes Peak! 

In Colorado Springs we went to Focus on the Family and produced our own copy of "Adventures in Odyssey!"  DH and I were the foley...

The children each had a voice part.  The voices of Whit, Connie and Kris were pre-recorded.  We got to take home our very own version of "Adventures in Odyssey" starring us!  And it was free!  Each part of FOF we visited offered us a different AIO CD.  For doing the taping, we also got a coupon to buy one, so we got a couple and a few other things at the bookstore.  We also went to Whit's End for lunch and got a wod-fam-choc-sod!

Dana has had a week's worth of writing prompts and surprise activities for...

I asked my children what they would like me to feature on Show and Tell.  They wanted me to show the unit celebrations.  Last year we started doing unit celebrations with our Tapestry of Grace studies.  We have had a lot of fun. The children like to dress up, as long as Mom dresses up too.  My parents come and my mom is especially caught on every aspect of the presentation.  My husband enjoys the whole thing.  Last year my mil flew 1500 miles to come see one.  She hopes to come out to our last one of the year this year too.  ;)  These have changed slightly from unit to unit.  Because my dc were weak in writing and speech skills before we started Tapestry of Grace, I thought I'd start small in their weak areas and have them try a new skill with each unit. 

Year 1 Unit 1 was about Egypt and the first 5 books of the Bible. 

Here is our Egyptian family, protecting the cat of Bubastees from harm.  Right before my mom arrived, my ds got the idea that we should give a little speech at the beginning to tell who we are and how we became believers of God.  What a terrific idea!   That was the only formal presentation of the whole thing.  Mom had no idea what this would be like.  Her eyes popped out when she saw us!  She asked about every single food item, project and book that had been read.  My dc had been learning to write strong paragraphs with IEW (finally, structure and style!). 

Opening with blowing the shofar.

Egypt display.

Time to eat.

 Days of creation book...

DS is quite the artist...

DD's page...

We made a model of the tabernacle...

DS made all the clay "furniture."  The dc explained the significance of each part.  This was so cool to do.  It was a lot of work, but finally we understand how this is set up and what it means.

For Unit 2, we dressed as a Hebrew family.  We had studied history from the books of Joshua to David's reign as king.  We also studied other ancient cultures during this time.  This time we each gave a speech on who we represented.  I was Deborah (Judges), dd was Ruth, and ds was a Phoenician trader of purple dye who had learned of the one true God in his travels, and now followed Him.  We used IEW's method of doing a KWO and studied that for our speech.  

Ancient India.  All of this is a lot of work. But the dc enjoy it. Also it employs a lot of SI work!

The Mayas...

Early Minoans and Myceneans...

Ancient China...

Hebrews...

Unit 3 we studied Ancient Greece...

DS made that hoplite costume!

They put on a Greek play, featuring one of Aesop's fables!  Once again, we did a KWO for the parts and practiced the week before.

We made a model of Solomon's temple.  Once again, ds did all the clay work.

The white squares are our feeble attempts at friezes.  The dc gave up on those, but they certainly appreciate them when they see them now!  ;) 

DD gave a 5 paragraph speech (using a KWO on notecards) for Greek architecture.

DS gave a speech on hoplites.  He also explained the layout of the temple.  He used a 3D site on the laptop to give us a tour.

 Unit 4 was the Ancient Romans.

Because they were all about being oratory, we did a lot of that!  DD prayed "The Lord's Prayer" in Latin. Each of the dc gave a speech of who they were. Ds was Paul and quoted his speech from Acts given on Mars Hill. 

 Ds art projects.  The scrolls are each of their 5 paragraph essays on Ancient Rome. They were read aloud...oratory. 

 DD's projects...

This year we've been doing Year 2.  Last November, our unit celebration was a Medieval Feast!  It was all scripted out to be as authentic as possible, right down to the singing birds in the pie!  For dinner entertainment, they read a sampling of their papers.  (I couldn't convince them to learn acrobats or juggling or anything.) It was soo much fun!  Once again, Mom and Dad were blown away!  Doing these have helped the extended families embrace homeschooling more and get more involved in what their grandchildren are doing!

In February our unit 2 celebration went up to the Elizabethan Era.  Each of the children gave a speech on who they were. Each of the children chose a Renaissance art piece and did a power point presentation, explaining the artistic style.  They also shared what they learned from a small, 4 page research paper, on Leonardo da Vinci. Each memorized a piece from Shakespeare. The cat even came in on cue!  

Our next unit celebration is this Sunday!  Last night they just completed a 13 page research paper on the settling of the 13 Colonies. In IEW, we used the Super Essay format. Whew!  We feel so good to have that done!  It's a real sense of accomplishment. Next we will put together a power point presentation on the colonies. My husband just taught me some of the basics of making slides. So the dc and I plan to do that today, based on the points that were in their essay. (I don't like to do double duty. I like writing about what we are already studying.  I like doing this power point based on all the history reading, which they compiled into a term paper.  It really hammers in the main idea while processing it from different angles and saves lots of study time!)   They will divvy up the colonies between themselves and take turns presenting the settlement of each one.  They will also give a short speech on who they are dressed up as.  

There you've seen something the dc really enjoy.  It's a lot of work but worth it since it motivates them to do present information before an audience.  The grandparents are more involved and embrace homeschooling more.  I am thrilled that my children are finally learning to write and give speeches!  Whew! 

Dana has been hosting this special week.  She has writing prompts and surprises each day! 

I would say that my Recipe for Success, first and foremost, is spending time with the Lord, listening for His Word, and submitting to Him. Psalm 119:105 A daily quiet time is essential, to help me be the mother/teacher that I need to be for my dc. Psalm 47:10 He created my dc, who best to go to for advice? Psalm 139 I read and study His Word. II Timothy 2:15  I pray for insight and wisdom. Psalm 119:18 I pray for my dc, praying specific verses for them. Luke 2:52 I confess sin and ask for the Holy Spirit to fill me and guide me, so that He can do His work through me. John 16:13 I pray that I can be a good example to my children, through His power. Philippians 4:4-13 We begin each day with Bible time, looking to see how to apply His Word to our lives. Psalm 5:3 Throughout the day if a teachable moment comes up to instill God's Word, we take time to train in righteousness. Deuteronomy 6:5-7 

Of course, I am human.  As in ruining a meal because I failed to follow a recipe, likewise there are times I don't follow this recipe from God.  Sometimes I don't have the quiet time.  Sometimes I don't confess the sin.  Sometimes everything goes wrong.  Now that's not to mean that just because I follow this recipe, everything in life will be hunky dorey.  However following this recipe helps me to withstand the storms of life.  When I can't hang on when the going gets tough, and I realize it's because I am holding on to the wrong thing (not God), then it's time to regroup and return my focus to Him.  Whereas I am wobbly, He is unchanging.

When my dc were toddlers, we had tumultous hurdles while learning to deal with Sensory Integration.  I spent much time in prayer, asking God to help me train my children. My utmost concern was whether they would fully understand who Jesus is.  Corrie ten Boom's work with special needs children greatly encouraged me, as documented in her book In My Father's House. In her experience, if anything was to be grasped by these children, it was God!  Encouraged, I shared God's message with my children through flannelgraph, activities and books.  One of my favorite resource books was Mommy Appleseed: Planting Seeds of Faith in the Heart of Your Child by Sally Leman Chall. Rejoicingly, I was blessed to lead each of my children to pray to accept Jesus into their hearts as preschoolers.  Today they continue to grow and I am amazed at the work God is doing in their lives.  My 12yos wants to become a lawyer, join the USAF JAG corps, and then become president of the United States.  His goal is to restore traditional values to our country, in particular to fight for the lives of unborn babies. He is a real live wire full of questions and deep thoughts. Everyone knows him.  He has collected future votes from ladies in all the gift shops in the cute little towns I like to frequent.  Everyone gives my outgoing son a big howdy whenever they see him again in these stores, or passing through the halls of church.  At the age of 5 he amazed an USAF general with his profound knowledge and deep ponderings.  My 15yod has the sweetest spirit of God I have ever seen in anyone. She is quiet and rarely gets noticed. She wants to become a teacher for grades 3-5.  Little does anyone know that if you are having a down day, she is the one you want as your friend.  She can give you a big hug and comforting pat and pick up your spirits with her love.  Thank you with how you created them Lord.

When my children were little, I devoured all the books I could get my hands on written by Dr. Paul Warren, a Christian behavioral pediatrician.  His books were a gold mine.  I read his Stepping Stones Series for Christian Parents. My dd had major fears.  I read Things that Go Bump in the Night. Wow, great advice! She learned to trust God for her fears!  Kids Who Carry Our Pain   was also instrumental in training me as a parent. 

Then at church in our moms' group we studied Dr. Kevin Leman's (brother to Sally Leman Chall of the Mommy Appleseed book) Making Them Mind Without Losing Yours.  Wow! This was a great tag onto the Dr. Paul Warren books.  I now have a more complete book for all age levels (the other book is about toddlers), Bringing Up Kids Without Tearing Them Down: How to Raise Confident Successful Children.  Yes, I could quite agree!  The power of training our children to make their own choices (with our guidance).  Giving them responsibilities.  Using intrinsic motivation.  Wow!  Gone are the extrinsic rewards.  They only worked about a week.  Now that the children are learning to be motivated from within, they work as unto the Lord, instead of becoming greedy with what bigger reward can they recieve because the old reward is boring.  Now we do fun things, because we are going to have fun as a family and do fun things. Not because my children have to earn them.  As a result, they feel better about themselves, because they don't have to prove themselves with rewards anymore.  They are daily learning more about working as unto the Lord...something I think most of us struggle with anyway.  ;)  I now try to give my children grace in learning to work as unto the Lord, as the Lord has shown me grace, more than once! Colossians 3:23   

Then I devoured all the books by learning styles author Cynthia Ulrich Tobias.  She helped me gear my brain for teaching my children differently than I had been taught!  I have also pondered her theory, that children do not have disabilities, their brains simply learn in a different way.  Hmmmm, interesting.

I used to fear the teen years.  Then I read Chuck Swindoll's The Strong Family: Growing Wise in Family Life.   He wrote that the best tip he had for raising children was to listen to them.  Parents often do all the talking and little listening. That's when the children leave the house to go find someone who will listen to them.  Chuck Swindoll got into a habit of listening to each child at bedtime.  He'd start with the youngest child and listen and let them talk about anything they wanted.  After about 30 minutes he'd go to the next oldest child and put them to bed and listen to them for a while.  And so on.  Since I'm home all day,  I have all day to listen to my children, so I don't lay in bed listening to them like Chuck Swindoll did. (Chuck Swindoll was often traveling or at church, kwim? The point is, he made time to listen!)  I try to listen to what my dc are trying to tell me.  If they clam up or get upset, I try to use tips I learned from Gary Smalley on opening them up, listening to them and restoring our relationship.  Sometimes they have a valid opinion or fear.  Other times there is a misunderstanding.  Once in a while,  the dc has to go through the situation, but they feel better having had a listening ear and moral support.

Those are my favorite books for spiritual guidance, which I think are the most important.  I've also found some other wonderful resources, that I hinted at earlier this week.

The Out of Sync Child Has Fun: Activities for Kids with Sensory Processing Disorder by Carol Stock Kranowitz is wonderful!  There is fun stuff in here for any child.  So if any of you saw my SI pictures and wondered how you could come up with ideas, this book is full of them!  She has another book too which I have not yet read. 

I buy most of my personal books at the used bookstore.  I found this gem:  Brain-Based Learning by Eric Jensen! It is power packed with information on how the brain works.  This gets my own gears in my own brain turning on how to turn on my kids in school!  For example, when ds does his math facts and gets stuck (which he always does although he really knows them) I have him cross the mid-line with his arms and/or legs to get his brain reactivated.  In other words, raise the knee to the opposite elbow and switch.  Do this a few times and suddenly his brain is out of the rut!  I have done some brain research in the past and it is phenomenal. I think if I went back to do my masters and even doctorate (which I probably won't) I would do my thesis and dissertation on the brain and learning disabilities as well as the educational model of classical education.  I have formed some opinions that we are putting to practice here at home with terrific results! Anyway, this book is loaded with snippets of bite sized information on the brain and how to use that information to make school more productive.  He also has other books that focus on different learning disabilities.  

I think exercise and a good diet are extremely important.  Not that I'm a fitness geek.  I have a long ways to go before I earn that nickname.  ;)  But I have a few health issues and the docs always tell me that to overcome them (after I pass all the medical tests) that I need a good diet and exercise.  Simple as that. In addition, after everything we've been through and learned about Sensory Integration Disorder, I see a lot of importance in moving!  I have to keep motivating myself, because I am a quiet person who prefers to sit, read, write, sew, etc.  But then my body gets all cramped up, I get stress headaches, my muscles all over get sore and cramped.  Although I have to yank myself out of my chair to get moving, I feel better when I do so!  ;)  I found Fit Kids!: The Complete Shape-Up Program from Birth through High School by Kenneth H. Cooper MD for a couple of bucks at CBD a few years ago. Not that this is necessarily definitive or cutting edge, but it was cheap, thorough, excellent and motivating!   

The states of Nebraska and Florida have set aside next week, March 30-April 5, as Home Education Week.  Isn't that cool?  Ummmm, Gov Perry?  Well, I don't think he reads my blog.  ;)  Well, who needs an official proclamation?  Dana at Principled Discovery  is inviting us to participate in celebrating homeschooling with some cool writing prompts to get us all in the spirit next week to participate. She also promises some cool activities that she'll post each day!            

When kellieann started Flashback Friday a few weeks ago, I was hooked!  I couldn't wait to tag on!  But I've been sooooooooo busy!  That's why I haven't been blogging.  =(  I am having blogging withdrawals!  =0  I do stop by y'alls blogs and enjoy, but I've not had time to comment, and it's killing me!  We are gearing up for our TOG Year 2 Unit 2 celebration with my parents and cousin on Sunday.  Today we are finalizing our speeches, planning the menu, the layout of the presentations, printing the term paper and looking at the finished costumes!  So what does this have to do with flashback?  Well, we just got done viewing a few episodes of our favorite tv show years ago that relate to our unit 2 studies.  Kellie Ann, I realize the 90's might not be far enough back to count for a flash back, but because my children grew up on this little guy and it is no longer available, I thought I'd make this my first flashback attempt!  =) So without further adieu....(is that the correct use of the word?)....

Helloooooooo, does anyone remember this cute little guy?

He was a little dog with a big imagination! His owner was a boy who loved basketball, whose mom was a librarian.  The eccentric next door neighbor, btw, was played by a talented lady who graduated from my alma mater, SWTSU! The story was shot north of Dallas, TX in Plano.  Wishbone made his literary loving debut around 1995, when my son was born.  For any life event in this dog's hometown of Oakdale, he imagined how it correlated to literary classics of yore.  While telling children about the classic, he'd imagine himself all dressed up in the cutest costumes and with some of the best lines!  My children were raised with him!  Even though they were toddlers, they loved the little dog!  My children were getting introduced to Shakespeare, Homer and the Bronte sisters because of a cute dog's antics! 

One year we got to meet "Joe", at the local bookstore, who shared about the show and autographed some of our books.  If you can get your hands on any of these books, now only to be found in the used bookstores or ebay, grab them!  They are a wonderful way to introduce children to the classics.

Today we watched "The Tempest" by William Shakespeare.  Wishbone played Ariel.  Last week the children read Tales From Shakespeare by Charles and Mary Lamb.  (This book is excellent for the dialectic level!)  "The Tempest" was one of their favorites.   Seeing the little dog dressed up is hilarious, allowing us to smile as we listen to the wonderful lofty words of Shakespeare.  Even I am still learning how to understand his works, and this is a terrific way to break everything down to appreciate the real thing!

Then we watched "The Muttketeers" based on what else but, "The Three Musketeers" by Alexander Dumas.  We even have a copy of this book, the Wishbone version, as I've designed and sewn my son's costume for our unit celebration.  He will be D'Artagnan and has made his own sword and researched various fencing posters.  I did wish one of my blogging friends was close by so that she could give us first hand tips!  We did reference the pictures on her blog!  ;)  

I think the very first episode of Wishbone was "Romeo and Juliet".  I thought I had taped that too, but we can't find it.  So why do I consider this a flashback?  Because the tv show has not been made since 2000 or around that time.  This was a high quality children's show, an asset to homeschoolers as a leg up into the classics.  Wishbone is a wonderful way to introduce young children to some of the best stories written, and has been known to bring more than one smile to many an adult face as well!  One of our Wishbone tapes, which I had recorded over 10 years ago, is on the fritz.  How I'd love to buy the series on DVD.  Oh well, we do have the stuffed animal, three costumes, and many books grabbed from our used bookstore!  Oh, and we also have a card game on the classics we forgot to get a picture of!

Here is a close up of "Joe" whom we got to meet.  He gave us this photo, as well as autographing a book for each of the kids. 

www.wwwishbone.com

If you would like to share in the Flashback Friday fun, you can check out kellieann 's blog and sign up with Mr. Linky.  ;)

to our Medieval Feast!

I got my dress finished, whew!  I'll share those photos on Sew Crafty Friday.  I have the script typed out, printed out, highlighted for each participant, and the children are going through their parts.  I made the broth Sunday and tonight I got a few supplies at a few stores.

DS has been insistent that his Robin Hood character have boots.  At Jo Ann we found leather looking "fabric" in the clearance bin.  So we bought it.  I only had one idea of how to make an idea of a boot.  DS wanted the real McCoy!  There is no way I  can fathom trying to make real boots for him!  lol  I have enough with everything else to help the kids pull off this feast!  I told ds that in the real world, apprentices work for years to learn to make boots.  Undaunted, he undertook the project on his own, after a few ideas from me.  This way he is happy because now he understands the difficulties that lie in making boots, yet they'll be made to his level of acceptance!  lol

Here is my young determined cobbler.  Where does he get this drive to do the impossible???? 

I had never heard of Drive Thru History until we took our tour of Focus on the Family.  This is one of their newest DVD projects in conjunction with the National Day of Prayer.  The tour guide raved about it and said it was an excellent resource, especially for homeschoolers.  When we went into the FOF bookstore there was a large screen tv playing the series and we immediately went to check it out. 

Well, I was shocked!  There was this goofy guy in front of the Eiffel Tower talking about croissants and the camera kept focusing on his...teeth!  His teeth were huge!  I think he had some geeky glasses.  The camera angles were playing all of this up and I didn't know how this was supposed to teach me anything about the Eiffel Tower.  I stepped away to look at the boxes of DVDs and saw they had some for Ancient Greece, Ancient Rome, Turkey, and Asia Minor...all of which we have been studying for the last year.  There is also a set about people who shaped America.    

I looked back at the tv and now the host was dressed in colonial attire, like Washington or Jefferson, with a contemporary look, a day's growth of beard and a very short haircut.  Well, scratching my head, I checked out the rest of the bookstore and found some other things. When done shopping, I found the family parked in front of the tv watching this guy.  They seemed to like it, but I didn't know.  I figured I'd do more research at home and that I'd eventually come across a sale.

Well I forgot all about it until last month when I got my sale e-mail from Library and Educational Services.  They were featuring Drive Through History.  Hmmmm, I did a google and found this to check it out more thoroughly.

   http://www.dthamerica.com/home/index.cfm?flash=1

I called the family in to get their opinion and I didn't have to say a thing.  They saw it on my pc screen and started raving about it and said I had to buy it.  We viewed the sample clips and they were funny and informative.  I bought the set, and last night we watched the first one, Ancient Greece.

It is a bit fast for my dh and I.  I don't normally like to have my kids watching things that are this fast paced action, because I don't think it contributes to brain development.  But I decided to take it for what it was and enjoy the benefits.  It was light hearted, yet a thorough review of everything we had learned last year.  It even brought in Biblical applications, mostly the same that we had learned through Tapestry of Grace.  Most of it was an excellent review and it was neat to see these places in context.  We had already seen many of these places in the Ray Vander Laan series (more our speed) but now we saw these places in context.  In other words, if I were to go there today, I'd probably see scaffolding at some of these places, we saw the numerous stray dogs, the busy city of Athens, and the ability to get lost!  The host turned every opportunity into a light hearted moment to put us in modern context.  

I especially enjoyed his showing us the Parthenon.  I had seen a replica of it here in America on This Old House with my husband and I was disappointed.  Although it was built to scale, it looked so small.  I had always thought the one in Greece looked huge!  Well that's exactly what the host brought out.  The Parthenon "was built perfectly imperfect to look perfect."  In other words, things were placed out of proportion to trick our eye.  As we look up into this temple on top of the highest hill, we think it is bigger than it is.  It's amazing to me how people in ancient times could figure stuff out like this. 

It was funny listening to the host complain about the switchbacks getting to the top of these hills!  Coming from Colorado, that's nothing, but we can appreciate the fear! One should really adventure and try those switchbacks at 14,000'!  Oh, and he had guardrails.  Nope, no guardrails in Colorado!  

The other feature I found interesting was the segment on Corinth.  Right now in devotions with the children, we are studying I Corinthians and I had told them this was a decadent culture and we had made comparisons to what we see in our own culture today.  Well, the host set out to explain why Corinth had such a decadent culture.  And the result, is a beautiful canal!  I loved the canal ride the host took!  To understand the connection, you'll have to buy the series for yourself!  lol  Yes, I'd have to say, you might enjoy... a Drive Thru History!