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Showing posts from September, 2012

D is for (Great) Doxology

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For the last couple of weeks or so I have had the Great Doxology running through my head.  This is an ancient hymn that is sung/chanted in Eastern Orthodox Matins services.  Our Parish offers Matins services during the school year.  I think the hymn has been on my mind because we’ve just started having Matins again. According to Orthodox Wiki, the word doxology means a short hymn or verse of praise for the Trinity.  The Western Church has a shortened version and in my [limited] research I discovered that some variations leave our the bit about “Vouchsafe to keep us this day without sin.”  Orthodox Christians are not the only Christians who have doxologies or hymns of praise.  Many liturgical traditions have them.   When I think of NON Orthodox Doxologies I immediately think of the one that begins “Praise God from whom all blessings flow.” I found this version of the Great Doxology on YouTube.  It is the closest I could find to the version that my parish uses.   The Great Doxolog

September means Back-to-School

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The air has turned crisp. Leaves are beginning to change from green to gold, yellow, and red. Yellow school buses visit in the early morning and clog up traffic later in the afternoon. Children have started going back to school. We don’t necessarily follow a traditional September to June school year but I do usually make some sort of “back to school” type tradition in September that often involves fresh new school supplies and photographs. Not this year though.  I mean we did do “senior pictures” for BooBear because <gasp> she is a senior.  But here we are at the END of September and we’ve not really had a “back to school day”  Or a “Not back to school” since we’re home schooling and we don’t “go” away to another place. It could be that Fall and September just snuck up on me.  But I think it is more than that.  We did take 3 weeks off in July/August for a “summer break” but it didn’t FEEL like a break   Why didn’t it feel like a break?  I can think of a couple of reasons. We

Crew Review: Homeschool Legacy: Native America

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When I think of Unit Studies I think of a study that encompasses multiple subjects while focusing on a single topic.  For example you might have math, history, science, and language arts assignments all focused on frogs.  I’m not a fan of “true unit studies”, but I do like short, focused studies that encompasses one unifying topic that may have multiple disciplines.  Let me introduce you to Homeschool Legacy and the idea of a Once-a-Week Unit Study .   Sharon Gibson, a veteran homeschool mom, created Homeschool Legacy and the Once-a-Week Unit Studies from her “passion to help families build a strong, Godly, family legacy.” Homeschool Legacy offered 10 different studies from the crew.  We love history and we love studying other cultures so I requested Native America to review. Because I am only focusing on the product I received, you’ll want to be sure to check out the Schoolhouse Crew Reviews to see reviews of all 10 studies. The Native America study is a 6 week study for

Crew Review: Book Review: A Cry from Egypt by Hope Auer

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When I first saw the vendor name Raising Real Men , I thought, well that leaves me out since I only have girls.  Little did I know their association with Great Waters Press.  Hal & Melanie Young, authors of the book, Raising Real Men , are the chief publishers at Great Waters Press .  They offered the Schoolhouse Review Crew the opportunity to review one of two books: Children in the Church or A Cry from Egypt . As a literature loving, history loving home educating family, we jump at the chance to read historical fiction.  After reading a description of the book, and the short bio of author Hope Auer , the girls all said “YES, we want to read this book!” Thought provoking and moving, A Cry from Egypt brings history to life.  In the this first book from The Promised Land series we meet Jarah and her family.  Though primarily told through the eyes of Jarah, we get glimpses of the thoughts and feelings of other characters including the Queen. Jarah is a 12 year old girl who strug

Book Review: The Orphan King

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I used to think that I wasn’t much of a fan of fantasy.  Books such as The Orphan King by Sigmund Brouwer have made me decide that I do like this genre after all. I love the medieval time period.  Knights, quests, monks and mystery.  That’s my kind of book. About This Book: (From the Website) The future of the Immortals is in the hands of an orphan My greatest fear was that they would find us and make of us a sacrifice beneath a full moon. Now you, Thomas, must help us destroy the circle of evil. The last words of a dying woman would change the life of young Thomas. Raised behind monastery walls, he knows nothing of his mysterious past or imminent destiny. But now, in the heart of medieval England, a darkness threatens to strangle truth. An ancient order tightens their ghostly grip on power, creating fear and exiling those who would oppose them. Thomas is determined fulfill his calling and bring light into the mysterious world of the Druids and leaves the monastery on an important

B is for Berries and C is for Close-Ups

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I got very busy and just couldn’t squeeze out a blog post for the letter B for Marcy’s “Blogging Through The Alphabet” meme so I’m combining two letters and   two memes.   I have not participated in Debbie’s “Think Back Thursday” Meme since the end of August!  Where did the time go?  This week’s letter is C and this week’s Think Back Theme is Close-Ups. We have a blackberry bush in our back yard.  Here in the PNW wild growing blackberry bushes are generally frowned upon by civilized people.  Those of us who would like to garden but for whatever reason can’t, are grateful for these wildly growing bushes because then we feel we’ve grown something.  (OK maybe it’s just me LOL) I’m hoping to get enough blackberries to combine with some other berries to make some Bumble Berry Jam.  Or at least some to eat with cream for a dessert.   Our bush is not in an ideal location and the berries are much later than usual this year so it’s not looking too good but I am stubbornly clinging to hope. T

Crew Review: Family Time Fitness

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One area of home education that consistently gets shoved to the background is Fitness or Physical Education.  At least in my home school it was never a high priority. I confess that I really didn’t see or rather didn’t understand the need for a formal fitness program.  Send the kids outside to play and they’ll get plenty of exercise.  At least that was my hope.  Sadly, playing outside didn’t happen as regularly or frequently as it needed to and we, as a family, have developed a sedentary lifestyle.  It is clear that we need to do something to increase our daily & weekly activity levels.  Fortunately Family Time Fitness (FTF) has a program intended for homeschoolers: Fitness 4 Homeschool - Core 1 Physical Education Curriculum . Just last week I was at the doctor.  He recommends at least 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week of physical activity to improve overall health.   1 hour a day, 5 times a week would be optimal for maintaining health benefits.  In the introduction to parents a

Crew Review: Lots and Lots of Penguins

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Supergirl has an obsession with penguins.  She has toy stuffed penguins.  She has a penguin game.  She even has a set of singing penguins.  When we go to the zoo the first exhibit she wants to visit is the, you guessed it, penguin exhibit. I should have taken a video of her reaction to receiving the Lots and Lots of Playful Penguins and Their Toe-Tappin’ Feet 2 DVD set from Marshall Publishing & Promotions .   This 2 DVD set also includes a bonus video ,“Party Like a Penguin,” on a separate DVD. The first DVD, Lots and Lots of Playful Penguins and Their Toe-Tappin’ Feet , is 75 minutes long.  The main video is roughly 42 minutes  long containing ‘penguin videos” which are songs set to penguin footage, interspersed  with narrated sequences giving penguin facts.  The animated penguin, Pj Penguin introduces different segments and his cousin Artie teaches viewers facts such as there are 17 different kinds of penguins and all penguins live in the southern hemisphere.  This DVD inclu

Tyndale Blog Tour: The Judge by Randy Singer

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Secretly, I love the law.  When I first enrolled in community college <mumble mumble> years ago, I was officially a Pre-Law student.  I loved my sociology and criminology classes and I started to research law schools.   My life has gone in a completely different direction but my love for the law, particularly criminal law, is fed through books by authors such as Randy Singer.   I just finished reading The Judge which was previously published under the title The Cross Examination of Oliver Finney.  Like the other Randy Singer books I’ve read, this one is compelling, gripping and full of twists and turns. About the Book: (From the Website:) “When a brilliant billionaire is diagnosed with inoperable brain cancer, he realizes that all his considerable wealth cannot prepare him to meet his Maker. But he has an idea that might: he will stage the ultimate reality show. With his true agenda hidden, he auditions followers from all the world’s major religions, inviting them to the t

Crew Review: Speekee TV

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I have to start this with a confession.  Spanish is not my thing.  In junior high, when we had the opportunity to try several different foreign languages, I fell in love with German but had absolutely no desire to learn Spanish.  Supergirl on the other hand has begun to beg to learn Spanish.  If she is watching a DVD that gives language choices she would choose to watch it in Spanish! K nowing that she has a strong interest in Spanish how could I not give Speekee TV a try? What is Speekee TV?:   Speekee TV  is a subscription to 10 Episodes containing over 150 minutes of Spanish immersion for ages 2-10.   You can subscribe to Speekee TV for as little as $7.50 per month.  An Annual Subscription is also available.   From the Website: 10 EPISODES OF SPANISH OVER 150 MINUTES OF PURE SPANISH LEARNING LEARN SPANISH FROM REAL SPANISH CHILDREN IN REAL SPANISH LOCATIONS FEATURES SONGS, ANIMATION AND PUPPETS OPTIONAL SUBTITLES IN SPANISH AND ENGLISH FREE ACTIVITY SHEET DOWNLOADS GREA

Crew Review: Math911

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Upper level math can be a challenge to teach.  I know that I feel more comfortable teaching high school subjects when I am more of a mentor and provide accountability. I appreciate having someone else do the hard work of teaching and explaining topics such as “simplify a rational function” or “graphing linear Inequalities in two variables.” I can use all the help I can get.  Math911 is a complete Introductory Algebra Course.   The Premier versions also include some Intermediate Algebra, College Algebra, Trigonometry, Pre-Calculus and Statistics topics. In A NutShell:   Product Name: Math911 (This is the same software as Algebra In A Flash ) The Professor: Martin Wiessmann The format: software that you download The Cost: Student Special is $49.95 for any of the Premier Versions, Free for the regular standard version The Website: www.math911.com Installing: I had no problems setting up Math911.  I downloaded the program via the link on the left hand side of the website. 

A is for Acceptance

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I never made it all the way through the alphabet last time.  Maybe this time I’ll do better.  Marcy over at Ben & Me finished up the alphabet, took a break and has re-started her Blogging through the Alphabet meme.  When thinking about what topics I do with the letter A, I kept coming back to acceptance.  I keep thinking of the Serenity Prayer .  For some reason I thought that St. Francis of Assisi wrote that one (along with the famous “make me an instrument of thy peace" which is beautiful and a favorite from my childhood.) Anyway, when I was growing up I had this little plaque that read: “God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference.” This has been a lifelong prayer for me and until I started this post I had no idea that a) it has a second stanza or b) it is so closely associated with AA and other 12 step programs.  See, I really do live under a rock or in a cavern. But  neither th

Crew Review: Reading Kingdom

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During my first year on the Schoolhouse Review Crew, I had the opportunity to review Reading Kingdom , an online learning to read program.  Supergirl really enjoyed the program so I am thrilled that we have the opportunity to use it and review it again .     Reading Kingdom is not a phonics program.  It is not a sight word program (whole word).  I would call it ‘whole language’ but the whole word/sight word method is sometimes called whole language so let me explain what I mean by ‘whole language’ Language Arts is the art of learning how to communicate.  Reading and writing are two forms of communication that require different skills.  When you are learning to read you are learning to decode those symbols into meaningful language.  When you are learning to write words, you are learning how to take meaningful language and encode it for others to read or decode.  When I say that Reading Kingdom is more ‘whole language’ I mean that it teaches both decoding and encoding .  Children le