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Showing posts from March, 2013

Our First Pascha {Think Back Thursday}

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It’s been many weeks since I’ve done a Think Back Thursday! Thanks Debbie for continuing on week after week!  This week’s theme is Easter. In the Eastern Orthodox Church we call Easter: Pascha.  The word Pascha, ironically, has Latin roots and means Passover.  Using the word Pascha helps make the tie between the Christian celebration of the Resurrection with the Jewish Passover.  The two are linked and the word helps solidify that connection. When the girls were very little we really didn’t do much with Easter. It’s a long story and maybe someday I’ll blog about it.  In February of 2010 at the start of Great Lent on Forgiveness Sunday our whole family was received into the Orthodox Christian Church.  That April we celebrated our first Pascha.  Oh my!  Words fail.  How on earth do you express all the emotions of Holy Week? The grief of His death and burial and the joy of His Resurrection?  We will be celebrating our 4th Pascha on May 5th. We’ve just finished our 2nd full week of Lent.

B is for sisters Baking Bread

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Last weekend we’d all been feeling under the weather  so I decided it was time to make some Virus Killing Soup . (I used a rotisserie chicken.) We love eating bread with this soup and Tailorbear has been experimenting with bread baking. It warmed my heart (as well as my kitchen) to look up and see Tailorbear and Supergirl working in the kitchen.  Tailorbear decided to let her developmentally younger sister help.  Both girls were wearing aprons.  I giggled when I saw granny’s apron wrapped around little Supergirl.  Grandma would have been pleased! I used to bake bread very regularly.  I used to grind my own wheat!  But that was a long time ago.  We’ve gotten away from whole wheat bread.  Making homemade white bread has got to be  step back in the right direction, though right?  Eventually, Tailorbear may try her hand a multi-grain bread or even an oatmeal bread!  For now though she is using an adapted “French Bread” recipe to make “regular” loaves of bread. Every now and again, Tailo

Random 5 on Friday {March 29th Edition}

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Just this week I became aware of a Random 5 on Friday meme.  Post 5 random thoughts for the day or week.  Miranda over at Pebble’s Pond has been posting these for awhile but this week she’s started a linky. Here’s my 5 Random Thoughts on Friday: 1. Today we finally got rid of the car that has sat inoperable in the driveway since the crankshaft thingy went out on a Saturday in October. It’s being sold for parts. I’m looking forward to having more space in the driveway, though I dislike having to face the reality of being a single vehicle family. 2. I’m sick. Yes, I’m whiney. Last weekend I had a fever and my body ached all over.  I also had some sinus congestion and a nasty headache.  I felt better by Tuesday but Thursday I came down with more of a traditional cold type thing.  Lots and lots and lots of head congestion of the nasal variety.  Sore throat.  No fever.  Extra tired. My children have been sick this week as well.  Yuck! 3. I received my download copy of Great Empires by

{Crew Review} Adventus: MusIQ Homeschool

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As part of the Schoolhouse Review Crew, I get the opportunity to try programs that I would never have known existed.  This time, my family got to try a piano and music learning software from Adventus .  We received downloads that are part of the MusIQ Homeschool bundle. We received download links with one year access to the following programs: Children’s Music Journey Vols 1, 2 and 3. Ear Training Coach Vols 1+2 and 3+4 Piano Suite Premier We also received downloadable PDF Files for Home School Lesson Plans for Children’s Music Journey and Piano Suite (These plans are available only in physical form.) Adventus also provided additional resources for parents and teachers using the MusIQ programs through this link:  MusIQ Library .  Supergirl is enjoying Children’s Music Journey Vol 1 (CMJ1) while Turtlegirl has been exploring music with Piano Suite Premier (PS).   Both Tailorbear and Boobear have more music experience.  Boobear has been improving her sight reading and playi

A is for Awareness {Blogging Through The Alphabet}

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During Lent we develop a heighted sense of awareness.  Some of this is merely physical, such as a heightened sense of hunger but even the physical awareness may bring out a deeper spiritual awareness. After the first pre-sanctified liturgy of the 2012 Great Lent season, I was suddenly more aware, more in tuned with the problem of hunger. I chose to not eat as preparation for the liturgy. It was my decision to follow the guidelines for communion but so many more are hungry not by choice.  As I looked at the wonderful bread in my hand I could not help but become more aware of the problem of hunger. “What if I only had a slice of bread.  What if I only had one meal a day.  What if that was all I had was this one thick slice of bread and I had to survive on that?” This heightened awareness reminds me that as Christians we are called to feed the hungry.  During Lent we are encouraged to increase our almsgiving.  We have a responsibility, as Christians, to to care for the poor, the sick, t

{Crew Review} Discovery of Deduction

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I have always been fascinated by the subject of logic.  I fell in love with those logic puzzles, the kind you can purchase at the grocery store check out counters.  Logic is a necessary component to being able to think critically. Studying logic is a requirement in my homeschool.  I want my girls to be able to evaluate a claim or argument and find the logical flaws.  I want them to be able to construct an argument that contains no logical fallacies. Above all I want them to think and to reason in every area of their lives. Classical Academic Press offers several logic programs and this time the Schoolhouse Review Crew had the opportunity to review  Discovery of Deduction: An Introduction to Formal Logic .  We received both the Student Edition ($26.95) and the Teacher Edition ($29.95). What is Logic? Logic is the art of reasoning and it is the science of reasoning.  Logic is either informal or formal.  What does that mean?  Informal logic tends to be more inductive with a focus

The Time When Shrimp Becomes a Vegetable

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Yes, a vegetable.  At least for Eastern Orthodox Christians who observe the fast of Great Lent.  There is a joke among my friends (and other EOC) that the Orthodox define shrimp (and other shellfish) as vegetables. Traditionally the Orthodox Christians eat a vegan diet on fasting days and during fasting periods.  That is vegan except for things “without a backbone”. There are many theories about why but I’ll just say “I have no idea.  Something maybe to do with shrimp being plentiful in certain areas? Maybe?” Before I talk a bit more about menu plans for Great Lent (that is really my purpose for this post <grin> )  Let me say that fasting is a spiritual discipline and we do not judge one another for where we are at in this journey.  Some are not as far as I am and most are much farther along than I may ever be.  Your Spiritual Father (usually your confessor or parish priest) will give you advice.  Follow it!  Do not try to do too much too soon. So as I start thinking about mea

Creamy Cheesy Cauliflower Potato Soup

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I was desperate last week.  We’d entered Cheesefare week, the last week before Great Lent begins for Orthodox Christians.  I had some cauliflower that begged to be used up or else it was moving to the trash can.  I needed it to be milk and cheese based and taste decadent because during lent we eat vegan soups. This was a complete experiment.  I had no idea how it was going to turn out.  It ended up being a complete and total success.  Turtlegirl declared it “postable and the title should include the words extremely delicious”.  Tailorbear agrees “very delicious.” You’ll Need: 1 Head of Cauliflower, cleaned and broken into bite size pieces about 6 potatoes peeled and cut into slightly bigger than bite size pieces 1 large carrot, diced (yes we peeled it too!) 1 Knorr Veggie Bullion cube 2 teaspoons salt pepper to taste 1 (12 oz.) can evaporated milk 1 (10 1/2 oz.) can condensed cheddar cheese soup enough water to cover the veggies What to Do: Combine cauliflowe

{Crew Review} Essentials in Writing Grade 11

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    If you’ve followed my blog for awhile you’ll know that I have, at times, really struggled with finding a writing instruction program for my girls.   Though awesome at supporting and helping with our home school, my husband gives little input to specific educational goals.  Except for one.  Our daughters must learn how to write well.  They must be able to organize their thoughts and compose an essay.  They must be able to write a research paper.    Turtlegirl has always been on the advanced side of things for language arts.  She’s done well with grammar,vocabulary, and spelling. She’s had less formal instruction with writing essays and even less instruction with research papers so we were thrilled with the opportunity to review Eleventh Grade Essays/Research Paper Curriculum from  Essentials in Writing .      A Bit About the Curriculum Grade 11 has 3 DVD discs containing video lessons for four sections: Sentences,  Paragraphs, Essays and Research Paper.   There are 8 lesso

{Crew Review} TouchMath 1st Grade

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Supergirl and I have been working on number sense and counting skills for years.  At one point, about a year ago, I nearly concluded that she was just never going to “get numbers.”  We’ve tried so many different programs and so many different products.  She likes math but I was starting to wonder if she would ever truly understand numbers and counting. Until TouchMath. So go grab a cup of coffee or tea or whatever your favorite beverage is and get comfortable. I want to talk to you today about this amazing math program. We’ve been playing with using the TouchMath First Grade Homeschool program and I am in love! TouchMath is a multisensory program that utilizes TouchPoints or counting dots to make the abstract concepts concrete. These are used to teach a variety of skills such as understanding the relationship of symbol and quantity, one to one correspondence, counting, even and odd, addition and subtraction, and more.  You’ll want to read the TouchMath Story to learn the birth

Not What I Wanted But Still Good

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I’ve been feeling a little (lot) sorry for myself today.  The computer crashed.  I thought it was NOT going to recover. (It did and I’m using it now.)  We haven’t kept up with the laundry and so my clean clothes supply is rather low.  I did manage to find a skirt with a shirt but they do not match (so if you come to visit, I am NOT opening the door!  I do not feel decently dressed LOL) Then lunch time came.  What to do?  What to make?  Lunch is my enemy.  But that is a topic for entirely different post.  But back to my dilemma.  What do I eat for lunch?  What do I serve the kids?  It should be full of dairy and eggs because this week is Cheesefare week. I decide on a salad.  Romaine lettuce, hard boiled eggs, shredded cheese.  Wouldn’t that be perfect with French dressing?  No French dressing in the house.  Ok so we’ll use ranch.  But now it cries out for bacon bits.  But I smartly used those up last week and we don’t have any in the house.  So use ranch with romaine lettuce and add

Yes, I Know It’s a Game. It’s Still School.

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When teaching and learning are just part of your life like eating and breathing it is easy to incorporate little lessons in creative ways.  We have a running joke in our family that goes something like this “hey wait a minute today isn’t a school day.  STOP. We can’t learn.  STOP this school. “ followed by lots of laughter and more joking and teasing. Today for the 5 Days of Teaching Creatively we’re talking about Toys, Games, and Puzzles .  I don’t want to talk about the games or toys or even puzzles that are designed and intended to be used as part of school.  You know the ones: Alphabet Bingo,  Math Fact Concentration etc.  I want to talk about learning while playing games intended for entertainment.  Okay, some of the intended for entertainment games were purchased at home school conventions but they’re played for fun. My family loves games.  We are very much a board game family. We have certain days of the year that are just GAME DAY and we play games all day (eat junk food, han

Kitchen School Doesn’t Just Mean Cooking Class

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I confess that when I think of “school in the kitchen” I have an image of my daughters sitting at the kitchen counter filling out math worksheets or learning how to cook by helping me in the kitchen.  But d oing school in the kitchen doesn’t have to just mean cooking lessons. Today we’re doing talking about School In the Kitchen for the 5 Days of Teaching Creatively Blog Hop.   I confess that I don’t actually use cooking to try to teach math.  I mean it happens.  Cooking is a wonderful real life application when you are working with measurements.  But in my house school in the kitchen usually means science.  I do not claim to be creative at all.  When we do science related school in the kitchen, it’s generally because whatever science program we’re using has suggested an activity that uses kitchen stuff. (You’ll want to watch for my review of Supercharged Math in April.  The e-science program has lots and lots and lots of experiments and so many of those just scream “kitchen school”