Standard Deviants Accelerate Free Promo!

We’re just starting a new review for the Standard Deviants Accelerate site. 14 courses are available for biology, algebra, arithmetic, earth science, American history, and more. Emily is really enjoying the funny (but educational) videos and quizzes in the biology class she is trying out.

These courses are normally $99 a year each, but right now, Standard Deviants Accelerate is offering a free 6 months promo for ALL of the classes. (I receive no benefit for sharing this information—just wanted to spread the word!)

Fun with Lentil (Way back when…)

Teaching with children’s books is a fun way to learn and a great way to bring stories to life. One of the books we read and studied with Five in a Row when Emily was little was Lentil, by Robert McCloskey.

Lentil is a little boy who cannot whistle because his mouth won’t pucker. But he learns to play the harmonica and, by doing so, saves his down from disaster.

“In the town of Alto, Ohio, there lived a boy named Lentil.”

“His favorite place to practice was in the bathtub, because there the tone was improved one hundred per cent.”

 

“Old Sneep knew that when the musicians looked at him, their mouths would pucker up so they could not play their horns.”

 

 

S is for Science Class

This year, Emily is studying biology. In order to make it more fun for her and to get some social interaction into our week, I’m doing a Friday afternoon class/lab for 6 students. We’ll primarily be doing the labs from  Apologia’s Exploring Creation with Biology, but will also do some discussion and other (hopefully) fun activities to learn concepts and vocabulary.

Last week we started with Module 1. We talked about the meaning of the word “biology” and some of the branches of biology. Then I explained how to write a lab report.

The students worked in groups of  two to classify various organisms using a biological key. This turned out to be somewhat difficult. A few of the options had me stumped for a bit!

Then, we got to the fun part—learning to use a microscope. After learning the parts of the microscope and how to focus, the students made slides of a letter “e’' cut from a magazine, some colorful thread, and of cheek cells.

It was a successful first class and I’m looking forward to more!

 

 

Spiritual Renewal Study Bible

 

The NIV Spiritual Renewal Study Bible is a devotional Bible with the goal of guiding the reader to “experience new growth and transformation in [his] spiritual walk.” Features unique to this NIV Bible include:

• Bible Book Introductions that emphasize the spiritual renewal themes in each book.
• Text Notes that help the reader relate each passage to his own spiritual life
• Character Profiles that describe each character’s strengths and weaknesses and lessons from his or her life.
• Spiritual Keys Devotionals
• Spiritual Disciplines Devotionals
• Spiritual Disciplines profiles that focus on the specific spiritual disciplines described in Bible characters’ lives

I began with the Spiritual Keys Devotional Reading Plan. This includes 7 devotionals for each of the 7 Spiritual Keys for the Old Testament, and another 49 devotionals for the New Testament. Each is printed on or near the page with a corresponding Bible passage and directs the reader to the next day’s reading. Each devotional was based on scripture and helped me to relate it to my own life. Topics include:

1. Seek God and Surrender to Him
2. See the Truth
3. Speak the Truth
4. Accept Responsibility
5. Grieve, Forgive and Let Go
6. Transform Your Life
7. Preserve Spiritual Gains

There are many other ways to approach this Bible. The reader could pick a spiritual discipline and read the three to seven readings on each discipline. He or she could do a study of Bible characters, reading through the profiles on each. Because even the text notes are indexed, one could do a study on a theme, such as anger, communication, choices, or boundaries, reading the passages or notes for each.

I liked that most of the features corresponded to a chapter or so of  the Bible, making it a Bible study instead of just a devotional based on a verse or two. I think it would be particularly helpful for readers who need help relating scripture to their own actions and feelings.

I especially enjoyed the character profiles. I think most of us relate to other people, and reading about the right or wrong choices characters made and how God used them was helpful in relating the concepts to my own life. I am also interested in doing a study of the spiritual disciplines (fasting, prayer, service, solitude, etc.) and think this feature will be very helpful. I do like how there are many ways to use the devotions and features, depending on the reader’s needs.

One change I would like to see made is to put the indexes to the devotional readings, profiles, and spiritual disciplines at the front of the book instead of in the index. Since these are a prominent feature of the Spiritual Renewal Study Bible, having them at the front rather than hiding at the back would allow the reader to manage reading plans and understand the study features of the Bible. Despite the wonderful study features, I didn’t find it easy to navigate.

I received a free copy of this book from BookLook Bloggers in exchange for my honest review.

R is for Resources for Apologia Biology

 

As I was preparing to teach Apologia’s Exploring Creation with Biology this year,  I started with a web search. I was hoping to find some co-op ideas for the class I’m  teaching, and was pleasantly surprised to find quite a few great resources shared by those who have taught the class before. Some of my favorites are:

Quizlet Flash cards, games and tests for vocabulary—Biology is packed with vocabulary to memorize. As I was initially looking through the book, the amount of vocabulary seemed overwhelming even to me. I was glad to find some fun ways for the students to practice.

E-Learning Links has links to printable vocabulary cards, a crossword puzzle for each module, and a hangman vocabulary game.

Lab forms at www.donnayoung.org. I printed out a variety of these and passed them out to the students to put in their lab notebooks.

These blogs all chronicle the usage of Apologia Biology and include activity ideas, photographs, and videos.

Applie’s Place

Mindful Ramblings

Sahm I Am

Many of the photos and videos would be wonderful for those who don’t have access to a microscope. We do have the use of a good microscope, but I’m not sure what we will really find, so I’m glad to have the photos to give the kids an idea of what they should be looking for, and just in case we don’t find what we are looking for!

Q is for Quiet Time

From the time that my children were very young, we’ve had an afternoon quiet time. When they were preschoolers, this was the typical naptime. After they outgrew their need to actually sleep in the afternoons, I still required them  to spend an hour on their beds with books. When I had several little ones, this hour was a much needed break for me!

As they grew older, they all enjoyed having the hour or more of reading time after lunch. Sometimes they would read books that had been assigned for school, such as biographies or historical fiction. Other times, they would read books of their choice. It became such a habit that it was never questioned!

At 14 years old, Emily still disappears up to her room after lunch, although I never tell her to do so. My only problem is that she can get involved in her book and not emerge for several hours. Pre-lunch school time is our most efficient period, because it is really difficult to get her in a working mindset after lunch and free time. At high school levels of work, she still has quite a bit of work to do in the afternoons; we aren’t able to finish before lunch as we did in our elementary school days.

All in all, though our quiet time habit has been a good one, providing a break for me and encouraging a love for reading in my children.

Our Curriculum Plan: 9th Grade!

We are embarking on a new voyage into high school this year. These are the curricula that we plan to use for ninth grade.

Geometry: Singapore New Elementary Math—Emily completed Algebra last year using No Nonsense Algebra, so we’ll be pulling the geometry chapters out of NEM 1 and 2 and doing a bit of algebra review from NEM 2 mixed in. I hope to complete part of NEM 3 as well.

Biology: Apologia Exploring Creation with Biology—We’re going through this with a group of 4 other students. I’ll be leading discussions, activities, and labs on Friday afternoons and the students will do the bookwork at home each week.

Grammar: We’ll be reviewing IEW’s new grammar program FixIt! Grammar: Frog Prince very soon. Hopefully this will be something that we’ll want to continue with for the year.

Literature: Lightning Literature and Composition: Early British Literature, literature units from Schoolhouseteachers.com, Grammar of Poetry, and The Art of Poetry

History: History Revealed: World Empires, World Missions, and World Wars, by Diana Waring; I am so excited about this. We’ve been using the first edition of this series for several years and really enjoying it. (It’s old enough that we have the cassette tapes instead of cd’s!) However, by the middle of last year, I really wasn’t feeling like we were getting a good grasp of the flow of history because the original program had no core text and the other history materials I had just didn’t line up with the topics and activities in each chapter as they had for the earlier periods of history. So, I just bought the new edition last week and LOVE it already. The text books are fascinating and the discussion questions,  resources and activity suggestions are even better than before.

Computer Applications (first semester): Total Training videos (from a Groupon deal) and practice for Microsoft Office, and typing practice.

Bible/ Apologetics: Apologia’s What on Earth Can I Do?, Case for a Creator: Student Edition; Case for Faith: Student Edition, Beauty in the Heart Bible Study, Veritas Press’s Omnibus 1 (2nd semester)

Spanish: Mango Languages, Flip Flop Spanish, Spanish for Children ( Classical Curriculum Press) This may change because there’s a possibility of another foreign language product review coming up soon.

Art: Artistic Pursuits—second semester.

Extras: PE (No firm plan yet, possibly walking, riding bikes, Family Fitness, and tennis or ice skating lessons)

Piano practice—I’m determined that Emily achieve basic competence at the piano, but I don’t think she puts enough effort into it to receive a credit. 

Five in a Row Memories

Some of my favorite homeschool memories include the years we were using the Five in a Row curriculum. Emily is into “serious” high school studies now, but we had a very relaxed start to homeschooling with Five in a Row—lots of snuggling on the couch reading books, and fun hands-on activities that brought the books to life.

Riding along in Mr. Gumpy’s Motor Car

Evaporating salt in How to Bake an Apple Pie and See the World

Making a model of the Boston Public Gardens while studying Make Way for Ducklings

The dining room table became “under the ice” in Very Last First Time.

Learning about Steam Power with Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel

Dissecting an Owl Pellet with Owl Moon

Five in a Row is one of my favorite curricula to recommend for families with young children. If you have a 4-8 year old, you should take a look at this program!

The Case for Faith, Student Edition (Review)

The Case for Faith, Student Edition, by Lee Strobel and Jane Vogel, is a short volume that explores some of “the toughest objections to Christianity” in a format that is very accessible to teens.

Lee Strobel is a former atheist and reporter who actually set out himself to research the truth of Christianity. He has written several books for adults about faith, Christ, and creation. This particular book is a simplified version of The Case for Faith, written especially for young people.

1. Each chapter focuses on one of the common objections to faith:

1. Since evil and suffering exist, a good God cannot.

2. Miracle contradict science; therefore they cannot be real.

3. Evolution explains life, so God isn’t needed.

4. It’s intolerant to claim Jesus is the only way to God.

5. A loving God would never send people to Hell.

6. I still have doubts, so I can’t be a Christian.

Much of the content is present through as interviews, in which Strobel travels around to talk to theologians, philosophers, and scientists, asking questions as if were a seeker (as he once was). This isn’t a book of his own opinions, but a compilation of the opinions of experts in their field, which lends it a great deal of credibility.

I think this is a great little book for any young person—Christian or not, who is thinking about the “big  questions” of life. In fact, my 14 year old leafed through the book and exclaimed that “These are all the questions I have been wondering about!” She promptly disappeared with the book!

Emily says:

The Case For Faith is a book that answered a lot of questions I had about God. This book really made me want to share it with people I know are not Christians. All the questions that had me stuck on a certain level have finally been answered. I feel a lot more confident in my faith.

I would recommend this book for middle schoolers or for high school students who aren’t avid readers—ones that are questioning the Christian faith or ones that are looking some answers to faith questions to share with others. Older teens may prefer the regular version of The Case for Faith, which is much meatier.

As a member of BookLook Bloggers, I received this book free in exchange for my honest opinion.

P is for Posters

Over the years, we’ve collected a large variety of maps educational posters. Many came with subscriptions to Scholastic News, God’s World Magazines, and Scholastic Super Science magazines. Others came from school supply stores. We have a nice set of posters that teach about trees and plant life that were free from the International Paper Co. We don’t really have a lot of wall space in our study/school room to hang posters—2 windows, 2 doors, and lots of bookcases pretty much take up the wall space, so for many years we hung posters in the bathroom.

I may have been inspired to do this when we first read Cheaper by the Dozen; I think the dad in the story, an efficiency expert, did this to keep his twelve children learning all the time without wasting time. I always figured that I had a captive audience in the bathroom and maybe the kids would pick up a concept or two while they were in there! It has actually been quite a conversation topic with guests to our house as well, who would also take note of the latest poster when they were visiting!

I’m a fan of sneaking learning into all parts of our day. How do you do this in your home?

First Day of School Breakfast

As I was brainstorming something fun to do on our first day of school, I came up with this fun breakfast.

I put sliced strawberries and bananas in a glass, then speared pancakes (cut with a flower-shaped cookie cutter) and blueberries onto pencils to make an edible back-to-school flower arrangement.

Emily’s first comment was, “What is this?!”  I figured that my new high school student was beyond cutsie breakfasts.

Then she pronounced it fun. It even produced a rare early morning smile!