tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24000135372379765842024-03-13T12:58:25.430-07:00Circling Through This LifeMy thoughts, reactions and musings as I go circling through this life.Tesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10647426494359111497noreply@blogger.comBlogger870125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2400013537237976584.post-66661540992604162572022-01-01T19:12:00.002-08:002022-01-01T19:12:17.729-08:00HAPPY NEW YEAR! NEW START - NEW YEAR - NEW LOOK!<p>Happy New Year! With the New Year, I opted to change the look of my blog. It's currently a work in progress and Tailorbear is doing some design work for me.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhmDc8l2oWNNJGrMVQhr4xHlA-omB_iAOhgBczM4buK3vP3kIdAa9UhhnLI11WWBNF2nSH8WFvwt52ODrxV5OkIdlrVntY2IFUhbzaqRzI34Oj0DyQaTdspj8MSnfGqCap0SRhAwPuh7cJ_VCRvhiG74R-x_1QRSZJLvXSWU8I6HHrCY9igCVGgunaTNg=s900" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Circling Through This Life New Year New Look!" border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="900" height="285" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhmDc8l2oWNNJGrMVQhr4xHlA-omB_iAOhgBczM4buK3vP3kIdAa9UhhnLI11WWBNF2nSH8WFvwt52ODrxV5OkIdlrVntY2IFUhbzaqRzI34Oj0DyQaTdspj8MSnfGqCap0SRhAwPuh7cJ_VCRvhiG74R-x_1QRSZJLvXSWU8I6HHrCY9igCVGgunaTNg=w640-h285" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p>It's been about a year since I last posted. I wasn't sure where I wanted to go with blogging. Did I want to continue to blog? What would write? </p><p>Then I found inspiration. It's a long story and I'll share it - bit by bit - going forward. I am still passionate about education. While BooBear, TurtleGirl, and Tailorbear are now busy being adults, Supergirl continues with her "homeschooling." As our special needs, medically fragile, miracle girl, she continues to amaze us, and we continue our commitment to keep homeschooling as long as she is interested and still making progress. </p><p>I will continue to blog about homeschooling-related topics. However, I am most excited about blogging about my health journey. I want to share what I am learning! I'm inspired to write about my new way of eating and my health goals because of how much progress I have made during 2021.</p><p>My goal for 2022 is to build on the progress I made. What is your goal for 2022?</p><p>Happy New Year!</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer">©2009-2018 Circling Through This Life. All rights reserved. Content, including text, photographs, graphics, artwork and all other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. www.circlingthroughthislife.com</div>Tesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10647426494359111497noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2400013537237976584.post-13932278512534796252020-12-06T07:58:00.135-08:002020-12-06T07:58:00.174-08:00Saint Nicholas of Myra<div>Today is December 6. Many people around the world celebrate December 6 as St. Nicholas Day. </div><div><br /></div>I don't ever remember not knowing that December 6 is Saint Nicholas Day. I knew that our American Santa Claus has its roots in the very real St. Nicholas of Myra. Growing up we didn't have a fireplace, so my sister and I didn't hang traditional stockings or put out our shoes on December 6th. We did, however, lay out our own socks on December 24th. Real socks. Not Christmas Stockings. That means they were little girl socks so not very big. My other always put an orange in them and sometimes chocolate. I didn't realize at the time that oranges and chocolate were very traditional St. Nicholas gifts.<div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gWtFY8uZ6kI/X8P-8itUtMI/AAAAAAAALGY/nYhGKSKOQJsB5Csl0lVMNU0WvBsJgeP7gCLcBGAsYHQ/s529/Supergirl%2Breceives%2Ba%2Bgift%2Bfrom%2BSaint%2BNicholas%255B6%255D.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="482" data-original-width="529" height="365" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gWtFY8uZ6kI/X8P-8itUtMI/AAAAAAAALGY/nYhGKSKOQJsB5Csl0lVMNU0WvBsJgeP7gCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h365/Supergirl%2Breceives%2Ba%2Bgift%2Bfrom%2BSaint%2BNicholas%255B6%255D.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div><div>Are you familiar with the stories and legends surrounding St. Nicholas of Myra? <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Nicholas" target="_blank">St. Nicholas of Myra</a> was a real historical figure though not much is known about him. One story is about how he gave coins to a poor widower for daughters' dowries. Another story is based on church history and the council of Nicaea.</div><div><br /></div><div>If you are familiar with or love early Church history you may already be familiar with the story of how St. Nicholas slapped Arius at the council of Nicea. If you are unfamiliar with the First Council of Nicaea, it was the first Ecumenical Council of the Christian Church convened by Constantine to resolve the controversy caused by Arius who taught that Christ was a created being. Arius was condemned and exiled. The Nicaea Council declared that the Son was of the same essence as the Father, but Arianism wasn't fully resolved until the First Council of Constantinople in 381 (The Second Ecumenical Council) when the council declared the doctrine of the Trinity. At this council, it was declared that the Holy Spirit is equal to the Father and the Son.</div><div><br />But back to St. Nicholas and Arius at the First Council of Nicaea. It is said that <a href="https://www.stnicholascenter.org/who-is-st-nicholas/stories-legends/traditional-stories/life-of-nicholas/bishop-nicholas-loses-his-cool" target="_blank">St. Nicholas was so agitated and outraged that he slapped Arius</a>. Nicholas was thrown in jail. I like Ms. Riggle's telling of the tale of <a href="https://charlotteriggle.com/st-nicholas-and-arius-at-the-council-of-nicea/" target="_blank">St. Nicholas and Arius</a>. She also talks about St. Nicholas's restoration and presents evidence for and against whether or not the story is true.<br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Whether all the stories are true or merely embellishments, the man was real and these stories teach us that we should care for the poor and stand up for Christ's Truth.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RQRHfKEOqVc/X8Pq6O3j99I/AAAAAAAALFo/LieRxCT9lFEtnb59Go9UJeY2bEXZUc2TQCLcBGAsYHQ/s840/Christmas%2BStockings%2Bfor%2BSt%2BNicholas%2BDay.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Christmas Stockings for St. Nicholas Day" border="0" data-original-height="689" data-original-width="840" height="328" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RQRHfKEOqVc/X8Pq6O3j99I/AAAAAAAALFo/LieRxCT9lFEtnb59Go9UJeY2bEXZUc2TQCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h328/Christmas%2BStockings%2Bfor%2BSt%2BNicholas%2BDay.jpg" title="Christmas Stockings" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>Supergirl loves St. Nicholas Day. Today we'll check the stockings and she'll find some "gold coins." She might even find an orange or two. We'll also take time today to read <i>The Saint Nicholas Day Snow</i> by <a href="https://charlotteriggle.com/" target="_blank">Charlotte Riggle</a>. </div><div><br /></div><div>Happy St. Nicholas Day!<br /><br /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">©2009-2018 Circling Through This Life. All rights reserved. Content, including text, photographs, graphics, artwork and all other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. www.circlingthroughthislife.com</div>Tesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10647426494359111497noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2400013537237976584.post-43930400518299306622020-11-29T07:56:00.001-08:002020-11-29T07:56:01.929-08:00Preparing our hearts for December (November Monthly Challenge Link up)<p>The Homeschool Review Crew hosts a Monthly Challenge with a theme for each week of the month. The theme for the last week of November is Preparing our Hearts for December.</p><p>It made me think of Advent which is more preparing our hearts IN December but then I realized that Thanksgiving helps my family's hearts to prepare for preparing our hearts in December.</p><p>We celebrate Advent. Advent is the preparation for the feast of the Nativity of Christ or Christmas. </p><p>So how does Thanksgiving, an American holiday celebrating the Pilgrims coming to the New World, prepare hearts for Advent?</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://schoolhousereviewcrew.com/harvest-decor-week-1-november-challenge/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="Thanksgiving is about giving thanks!" border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="900" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-00vDadxBQSQ/X8MHMz6pT3I/AAAAAAAALEk/WI1hZHcX9uoRnHKUZ9OFh1N8q0AVbOSXACLcBGAsYHQ/w300-h400/Pilgrims.png" title="Thanksgiving Pilgrims" width="300" /></a></div><p>Well for me it is because I do not view Thanksgiving as just about the Pilgrims. The Pilgrims had a feast because they had gratitude. They were grateful for surviving. They gave thanks to God. </p><p>It is that same vein of gratitude, the gratefulness to God for all things, that girds my family's celebration of Thanksgiving. 2020 has been an especially tough year. It is difficult to set aside our grief and pain and yet the Apostle Paul writes "Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus."1 Thessalonians 5:18.</p><p>My circumstances in 2020 in no way compares to the trials the Pilgrims endured. I have not endured a bitterly cold winter. I have had plenty to eat, and a roof over my head. I have grocery stores and during the summer fruit and vegetable stands. Yes, we've had a death in the family. Yes, we've been in isolation. Yes, Covid-19 has affected and impacted our lives but God has used and continues to use people and circumstances working in them and through them to care for us and meet our needs.</p><p>Being grateful to God opens our hearts. It prepares our hearts to seek a deeper relationship with Him and it leads my family into a desire to set aside the world to examine our hearts and to re-focus on why we need a Savior. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3120" data-original-width="4160" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xts9-CApWZc/X8MIDnEOV0I/AAAAAAAALEs/LA2wMmpPFXg_GoNYcYJCtE6WcU95NgOggCPcBGAsYHg/s320/IMG_20171112_171452.jpg" width="320" /></div><div><br /></div>One way to prepare our hearts for December is to create the advent chain that we use. Each chain has a Bible reading. These readings are from both the Old and the New Testament and point to our need for a Savior and God's plan to "save His people from their sins." (Matt 1:21). We create the Advent Chain in November to prepare our hearts for preparing in December.<div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://schoolhousereviewcrew.com/preparing-our-hearts-for-december-week-4-november-challenge/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="November Monthly Challenge" border="0" data-original-height="540" data-original-width="540" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-IIBWmNvX45A/X8MIfTGQZPI/AAAAAAAALE4/mabdAmDoaJAZYlYBG8dOlTNC3uLk6iIgQCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h400/November%2BSocial%2BMedia_Blog%2BChallenge.jpg" title="November Monthly Challenge" width="400" /></a></div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://schoolhousereviewcrew.com/preparing-our-hearts-for-december-week-4-november-challenge/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="928" data-original-width="628" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yP2VjXFg798/X8MJ-HrSSQI/AAAAAAAALFE/1FXe4ust6wAkHkSr-ySwmMcd_Zr6n1BlQCLcBGAsYHQ/w271-h400/Preparing-our-Hearts-for-December-2020-Pin.png" width="271" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div><br /></div>
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<!-- end LinkyTools script --><div class="blogger-post-footer">©2009-2018 Circling Through This Life. All rights reserved. Content, including text, photographs, graphics, artwork and all other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. www.circlingthroughthislife.com</div>Tesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10647426494359111497noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2400013537237976584.post-91829793230686106572019-12-15T18:04:00.000-08:002019-12-15T18:04:57.828-08:00Beautiful Christmas -- coloring book review<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i><b>Thank you Ancient Faith Publishing for providing the coloring book Beautiful Christmas for review.</b></i></span></div>
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Coloring is not just a great way to practice fine motor skills but it is also a wonderful tool for exercising your brain. When you color you develop planning skills and build your creativity muscles. My special needs daughter is developmentally delayed both cognitively and physically. While chronologically outside the intended age range of 5-12 this coloring book was perfect for where she is developmentally.<br />
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From the back the cover:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Beautiful Christmas is a 64-page coloring book for children aged 5-12. As they color Christ in the cave or the shepherds glorifying God with the angels, they are cultivating their own sensibility to beauty while learning to recognize some of the meaningful symbols, elements, and motifs of the Church. May this small book bless those children who color and create within its pages.</i></blockquote>
I love the wide variety of coloring pages. Some pictures have larger coloring spaces making it easier for those who are younger or have less developed fine motor skills and need a bigger space to practice staying in the lines. Others are more detailed with smaller spaces and delicate designs that require more patience and fine motor skill to complete. This is also great for children who can color an easy page one day and then work on a more difficult page another just as we sometimes read easier books just for fun and then at other times read more challenging books that cause us to grow.<br />
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Along with variations in the coloring spaces and details, we discovered icon coloring pages, coloring pages for St. Nicholas, St. Lucia, and Gabriel as well as some wonderful general Christmas pictures such as Christmas trees. These pages were tucked in with Orthodox Christmas scenes such as Mary and Joseph setting out on the journey to Bethlehem, the animals in the cave, the wise men, and even the flight into Egypt.<br />
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Many of the coloring pages are captioned. The captions sparked discussions. "Mama we sing that at Christmas!"<br />
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In addition, there are several mazes throughout the book. My daughter loves mazes. I love that these are included because they also help exercise the brain and strengthen fine motor skills, eye tracking, and planning! <br />
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When Supergirl was looking through the coloring book she got excited when she saw St. Nicholas. She pointed at his picture. I expected her to choose to color St. Nicholas first but she chose Mary riding on the donkey for her first picture and the angel coming to Joseph in a dream as her second.<br />
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The quality of the coloring book is excellent! It has a very sturdy cover. My complaint though is that the binding makes it difficult for the book to lay flat for coloring. I just bent it back to loosen the binding to help it lay more flat. This made it easier for Supergirl to color the pages on the left.<br />
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I asked Supergirl what she thought, and she said: "It is different." I also asked her what it made her think of and she said, "Christmas Eve." <br />
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We are enjoying the coloring book. This is an excellent choice for a Christmas gift that reminds children of why we celebrate this wonderful holiday. Check it out the <i><a href="https://store.ancientfaith.com/beautiful-christmas-an-orthodox-coloring-book-for-children/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Beautiful Christmas</a></i> coloring book at the <a href="https://store.ancientfaith.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Ancient Faith Publishing Store</a>!<br />
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<br /><div class="blogger-post-footer">©2009-2018 Circling Through This Life. All rights reserved. Content, including text, photographs, graphics, artwork and all other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. www.circlingthroughthislife.com</div>Tesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10647426494359111497noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2400013537237976584.post-64788202348415658042019-07-29T07:48:00.000-07:002019-07-29T07:48:47.777-07:00Free Online Piano Lessons with SimplyMusic {Crew Review}Recently the Homeschool Review Crew had the opportunity to check out the Music & Creativity - Foundation Course from <a href="https://pianoonline.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Simply Music</a>. This course is free so every member of your family, with their own email address, could create their own Simply Music account. With their own accounts, they can move through the program at their own speed and keep track of where they left off. If you have thought about piano lessons for yourself or your children but are unsure if it would be worth the time and investment you'll want to check out this free <a href="https://pianoonline.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">online piano course</a>.<br />
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As part of the Leadership Team for the Homeschool Review Crew, I do not typically write reviews. I volunteered to write this review. Originally I was thinking I would have family members use this program and tell me their thoughts and I would just tell you about the program. I set up an account for myself and then I encouraged my family to set up their own accounts. Honeybear, Turtlegirl, and BooBear all set up accounts. After working through several lessons myself, I really want Tailborbear to set up an account and give this a try.<br />
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While my family did poke around a bit and give me some of their thoughts, I decided to take this review in a different direction because I started really using the program and fell in love. I did watch videos and mark complete to get feel for the whole program but what I saw just blew me away so I started using the program for real while still "moving ahead to watch videos" for purposes of the review.<br />
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Background Information about the Program</h3>
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There is a six-minute video overview of the Music & Creativity Program from Simply Music right on the home page. Scroll down to find it and if you click on the watch on YouTube you will be able to watch using full screen. Neil Moore, founder of Simply Music organization and creator of the MAC Program introduces himself and the program. I encourage you to watch the video to hear it for yourself but I'm going to share a key point that sets this program apart.<br />
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Mr. Moore calls this a breakthrough program. Based on what I have read (so far) in the FREE eBook, <i>Music and the Art of Long-Term Relationships</i>, by Neil Moore, I agree this is a breakthrough in thinking and approach to teaching music. It is different than anything I have experienced as a student or as a parent of a music student. I think it is important that we understand why Simply Music's MAC Program is set up the way it is. It is their overall focus to
"contribute to causing breakthroughs in creativity for humanity." Their fundamental premise is that "everyone, without exception,
is deeply, naturally and profoundly musical."
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In the book Mr. Moore lists four goals that the Simply Music Organization has:<br />
<ul>
<li>Experience music as a natural self-expression</li>
<li>Play a huge repertoire, covering a wide array of musical styles and genres. We want our students to be able to sit down anywhere, at any time, and play lots of music.</li>
<li>Develop the ability to self-generate, meaning they
can progress on their own. They are equipped to teach
themselves, including having the ability to read music,
and then set the page aside, carrying the song with
them in their mind, heart, and hands.</li>
<li>Have a highly positive, self-affirming experience throughout the process.</li>
<lihave a="" experience="" highly="" li="" positive="" process.="" self-affirming="" the="" throughout="">
</lihave></ul>
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I will share the quote from the book about the overriding goal in a bit when I talk about my thoughts ane experiences with the program. Here is a diagram from the eBook (page 28) that lays out the overriding goal with the 4 goals I've listed above.</div>
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With the Music and Creativity Program - Foundation Course Simply Music lays the foundation. While you won't learn how to read music with this course, you will experience music as natural self-expression. You'll begin to build a repertoire and learn skills that will allow you to continue to build that repertoire. This course lays the foundation for growing the ability to self-generate and I have been having a highly positive, self-affirming experience so far!<br />
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How It Works</h3>
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Mr. Moore's approach is very different. He has a learn-by-playing approach that gets students playing real songs from the start. Mr. Moore calls it a "playing-based method." This method allows you to see music in terms of shapes and patterns.<br />
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In the video portions of the lessons, Mr. Moore breaks down the songs into the shapes and patterns that you need in order to play the song. For example, in Lesson 6 we learn more chords. In this screenshot, we see Mr. Moore's hand as he teaches us how to build the shape of the chord with the first, third and fifth fingers.<br />
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<h3>
<b>Lesson Set Up</b></h3>
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It is easy to look at the table of contents and see 19 Lessons and a Quick Start Lesson and think "oh I can finish this course in about 20 weeks. I can do one lesson a week." But that isn't how it works. To quote Neil Moore: "How long will it take? As long as it takes."<br />
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Some lessons are going to take longer. If you have some experience with the piano you may find that you move more quickly. One of the reasons that some lessons will take longer than others is the content of the lessons. Some lessons have multiple videos to watch as you can see from this screenshot:<br />
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Other lessons only have one video:<br />
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As you can see from both screenshots the resources you need for that lesson are available right there on the page. I liked being able to get to the music tracks or resources from the lesson page instead of having to download them to my computer and then transfer to my tablet.<br />
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There are different types of lessons. Some lessons teach a learning strategy, while others teach a song. There are lessons that build on each other for learning improvisation and accompaniment.<br />
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The first learning strategy lesson is Lesson 2 where we are taught the strategy of learning slowly in slow doses and "controlling the event." Mr. Moore refers to these strategies several times. He defines a learning strategy as an approach you would apply to any piece of music you are learning. It isn't specific only to the piece you are working on at the moment. So working slowly and in small doses is a strategy that we can apply to all the songs we are learning and it helps to minimize the number of errors and mistakes we will make.<br />
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Mr. Moore is quick to point out that making a mistake is not a problem and that we're going to make them. But breaking down learning the song into small doses and going slowly as we process the skill we will have faster success. Controlling the event is making sure we understand the process and that we tell ourselves which fingers play and in which order they play.<br />
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The "control the events" part of the learning strategy brings an auditory component to the learning as we explain out loud to ourselves exactly what each hand is going to do. In this screenshot Mr. Moore explains that we are going to say out loud exactly what we want the left hand to do and exactly what we want the right hand to do:<br />
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Another learning strategy teaches the difference between "what to play" and "how to play" and how separating those ideas helps the brain to focus and makes learning faster. The final learning strategy teaches you how to use the sustain pedal.<br />
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Because this is a free course I think it is worth the time to check it out just for those learning strategies!<br />
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<h3>
Using the Program:</h3>
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I highly recommend starting by watching the video on the home page that gives an overview of the program and then start reading the Music and the Art of Long-Term Relationships. The program has you begin with the Quickstart lesson but during the video, it says to skip that lesson if you want more of the background. To skip you'll need to mark it complete. If you skip the improvising Eliza in the Quickstart you'll want to come back to it after Lesson 3 and before Lesson 4 where you build in that first improvisation.<br />
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I watched most of the video lessons so I could write this review but then I went back to the beginning to actually use the program. I was thrilled with the idea of doing improvisation on the black keys. I have been playing around using only the black keys for a couple of decades but never thought of it as improvisation because I found an arrangement I really loved and never really varied from that concept. Oh and by "found" I mean by playing around with keys and liking what I did. In the video, Mr. Moore showed me that I could do more. I am actually looking forward to doing more improvisation.<br />
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I confess I did skip ahead a little bit and took what I watched from Lesson 6 about chords and have tried to add some of that into my own black key improvisation. It has rekindled my love of music and makes me feel that maybe just maybe I can be creative with music.<br />
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I am forcing myself through Lesson 3 which is learning Dreams Come True. I have mastered the RH and I think I've mastered the left hand but I need to continue working on putting them together so that I can get to the fun part of playing it with instrumental track provided by Simply Music. I really want to try the idea of listening to the instrumental with earbuds on a device and plugging headphones into the digital piano and wearing the headphones over the earbuds to get a full sound immersion.<br />
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Having peeked ahead I love that I'll be learning more about Jazz and Blues and more about accompaniment.<br />
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<h3>
Final Thoughts:</h3>
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This quote from Neil Moore spoke to me. In many of the videos, he mentions having music as a lifelong companion. On page 26 of the <i>Music and the Art of Long-Term Relationships</i> ebook, Mr. Moore states:<br />
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>This specific, overriding objective is far more important than a goal that focuses on a certain standard of musicianship. For me, whether a student emerges as agreat player, a good player or an average player isn’t nearly as important as whether a student develops to a stage where they can have music as a lifelong companion.
</i></blockquote>
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One of my regrets is that I didn't make music more of a priority for myself. I was frustrated with self-teaching books and I couldn't afford lessons for myself. I wanted my children to have lessons so we made that a priority. I feel I have pushed music aside and neglected a huge part of myself. I have rediscovered my love of the piano and of music. I feel that Mr. Moore is giving me the ability and the freedom to play for myself for the simply joy of music. When my mother would say "Tess plays the piano." I felt the need to correct them and say "no, really I play with the piano." I feel like I have permission now to "play with the piano.'' I have tools now that were missing.<br />
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This program isn't for everybody though. Some folks like Turtlegirl may find it difficult to change from a more traditional approach to this play-based approach. Turtlegirl was looking for something more theory-based to help her with composing music.<br />
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If you are a classically trained player like my BooBear you may find it very difficult to wrap your brain around this approach. She struggled with it. She has this to say about the program based on her background and experience:<br />
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<i>I am more a fan of highly technical and theory-based training as that worked best with my brain and personality. But I could see for those who rebel against highly structured training this might be a good fit. I think there is some value in both. Improv can encourage creativity but also studies have shown that the theory and technical aspects of music can have huge impacts on brain development.
</i></blockquote>
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I, on the other hand, have enjoyed this so much that I am seriously considering purchasing the next course which is the Foundation Enhancement Course which builds on what you learn in the Foundation course.<br />
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Several members of the Crew and Leadership took the time to explore <a href="https://pianoonline.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Simply Music's Music & Creativity - Foundation Course</a>. <b>I encourage you to visit the Homeschool Review Crew Blog to find links to those reviews and <a href="http://schoolhousereviewcrew.com/learn-to-play-the-piano-with-music-and-creativity-foundation-course-simply-music-reviews/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">read more reviews</a>.</b> My review is long but I didn' cover everything so do go read those reviews! I also encourage you to check out the MAC Program for yourself especially if you have ever wanted to be able to play the piano and felt you couldn't. This program will show you that you can!<br />
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<div class="blogger-post-footer">©2009-2018 Circling Through This Life. All rights reserved. Content, including text, photographs, graphics, artwork and all other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. www.circlingthroughthislife.com</div>Tesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10647426494359111497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2400013537237976584.post-66346461371919898862019-03-03T19:43:00.000-08:002019-03-03T19:43:45.496-08:00Just in time for Lent! A review of The Wilderness JournalLent is fast approaching Today is Meatfare Sunday. As a community, Orthodox Christians will not eat meat again after today until the fast is broken on Pascha. But<a href="https://oca.org/orthodoxy/the-orthodox-faith/worship/the-church-year/great-lent" target="_blank"> Lent is more than just not eating meat or dairy</a>. It's a time of preparation. We renew our minds by focusing on the spiritual. Along with fasting we pray more and do almsgiving. Many of us turn to books to help us renew our minds and focus on the spiritual. <i><a href="https://store.ancientfaith.com/the-wilderness-journal-365-days-with-the-philokalia/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Wilderness Journal: 365 Days with the Philokalia</a></i> by Angela Doll Carlson is an excellent choice for preparing for Lent.<br />
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First let's talk about the Philokalia. The
Philokalia is not a single continuous book with one author. It is is a mult-volume collection of texts from the 4th to the 14th centuries focusing on spiritual living. The writers are all spiritual masters in the Orthodox Christian Tradition. <br />
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<i>The Wilderness Journal </i>is
a devotional tool we can use to pursue Holiness by mediating on God, faith and Spiritual things. Unlike the common Bible devotions available where you read a short passage from scripture and then the devotional author shares his or her thoughts on the passage, this book helps us to mediate on spiritual living by using passages from the first volume of the Philokalia. Angela Doll Carlson invites you to come along with her as she shares her year long journey of reading and journalling the Philokalia.<br />
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From the back of the book:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i> The Philokalia - a collection of the best writings from Orthodox spiritual masters across many centuries - is a treasure trove of direction for the spiritual life. But it can be overwhelming at first glance. Popular author and podcaster Angela Doll Carlson set herself the mission of reading through The Philokalia in a year and journaling about the thoughts it called up in her. The result is a thoughtful, inspiring daily devotional that introduces new readers to this great spiritual classic and helps us apply the wisdom of the ages to a layperson's life in the modern world.</i></blockquote>
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The book opens with a short Explorer's Note letter. Angela Doll Carson shares how her wilderness journal began and how it is "a view of [her] own wilderness, words from words, in dialogue with the text itself. Because our dialogue might differ from hers, we are encouraged to "consider keeping a wilderness journal of your own." </div>
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<i>The Wilderness Journal</i> is divided into sections for each of the spiritual
masters. Each saint's section’s first day
is an introduction. These introductions are not written by Angela Doll Carlson. Each one is written by a different author but all of them provide background information to help readers learn a little more about the spiritual master.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Each day, after the introduction, begins with a couple of sentences. Some days there is only a one sentence such as Day 59 where we read "Cultivate great humility and courage, and you will escape the power of demons." Evagrios the Solitary, "on Prayer, p. 66 [ page 73] while others are more like a paragraph. Most days however, begin with a 2 or 3 sentence quote from the Philokalia. All of the quotes are from the first volume.<br />
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There is one reading for each day so there are 365 readings. The beauty of this though is that they are numbered Day 1, Day 2 Day 3 etc. So you can start any day and if you are like me and skip a day or three here and there you can just pick up where you left off without being hounded by the date across the top not matching.
There is a month listed in the upper right hand corner but it is smaller and in italics and I find it easy to ignore it and focus on the large bold Day 68 for example.
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We read quotes from these spiritual masters:</div>
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<ul>
<li>Isaiah the Solitary</li>
<li>Evagrios the Solitary</li>
<li>John Cassian</li>
<li>Mark the Ascetic</li>
<li>Hesychios the Priest</li>
<li>Neilos the Ascetic</li>
<li>Diadochos of Photiki</li>
<li>John Karpathos</li>
</ul>
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I have found that I get the most out of each day's readings when I take the time to read and re-read the quoted Philokalia text and think about what it means to me before reading what Ms Doll Carlson had to say about it. Sometimes she takes in a direction that I would have never thought and yet it makes sense.<br />
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This isn't an easy book to read but it is thought provoking. The readings are short but don’t let that fool you in to thinking they are not rich, deep, and thought provoking.
Angela Doll Carlson is a talented writer who paints pictures with her words. She shares her journey through the wildness and invites us to travel with her.
I find myself not just thinking about what the Spiritual Master had to say, but about how Ms Doll Carlson frames the application for our modern world.<br />
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Book Details:</div>
<ul>
<li>Author: Angela Doll Carlson </li>
<li> Format: Paperback </li>
<li> Dimensions: 5.5 X 8.5 inches </li>
<li> Page Length: approx. 400 pages </li>
<li> Publisher: Ancient Faith Publishing </li>
<li> ISBN: 9781944967512 </li>
<li> Retail Price: $18.95</li>
</ul>
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I recommend this book as an introduction to Philokalia. Angie Doll Carlson has made these gems accessible for those like me who find the Philokalia intimidating and overwhelming.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>I received this book from Ancient Faith Publishing in exchange my honest review.</i></span></div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">©2009-2018 Circling Through This Life. All rights reserved. Content, including text, photographs, graphics, artwork and all other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. www.circlingthroughthislife.com</div>Tesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10647426494359111497noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2400013537237976584.post-63713059830221061142018-10-29T15:39:00.001-07:002018-10-29T15:39:39.272-07:00My Love Affair with the Homeschool Review Crew!Yes I am specifically writing this post to link up to the Friday (I know it's not Friday!) Homeschool Blogger Link Up hosted by the Homeschool Review Crew a division of The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine. This Crew Blog's post is <a href="http://schoolhousereviewcrew.com/homeschool-review-crew-needs-you/" target="_blank">Homeschool Review Crew Needs You.</a> Yep we want to grow the crew an to do that we need more home educating bloggers. But not just bloggers. We want Vloggers too! Are you an active You Tube Vlogger? We have a section in the 2019 Crew Application just for you!<br />
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<a href="https://goo.gl/forms/vRlqQWxTNV3StNH52" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Make Friends, Have Fun Join the Crew! Now accepting Applications for 2019!" border="0" data-original-height="528" data-original-width="628" height="332" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yE6A0PQBim8/W9eKR2ffxyI/AAAAAAAAJaI/qX6wh2y9F20l1pcZMKYXSEIH-PPdPqy5ACLcBGAs/s400/Homeschool%2BReview%2BCrew%2B2019%2BCrew%2BApplications.jpg" title="Come Join the Fun! Apply now to the 2019 Homeschool Review Crew!" width="400" /></a></div>
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Now that you know why I am writing this post let me tell about my long term love affair with the Homeschool Review Crew. We meet to speak when it was brand spanking new in 2008. An online friend and co-moderator with me of an online email group for home school support had just embarked on the Maiden Voyage of this new concept of receiving home school product in exchange for a review! Back in those days you didn't have to be a blogger you just had to have a place such as a home school support group newsletter to share your review. It sounded scary and a bit overwhelming and when applications for the 2nd year were open I just couldn't bring myself to do it. BUT! Another co-moderator and good friend from that group applied and was accepted. I spent the next year hearing about how incredible the experience was. Not just with getting introduced to some really cool product but making friends and growing a blog. They wanted to expand for the 3rd year. I had been writing up reviews of sort as responses to questions so I had some experience but I was still so unsure. I had started a blog and then had let it kind of but in the spring of 2009 I was back to blogging. The Crew needed folks with high school students. I had a high school student. I had one in high school 1 in junior high and two in elementary. I gave in to the pressure of "encouragement." and was invited to join the crew for the 3rd year which ran June 2010 to May 2011.<br />
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It was the best decision I think I ever made regarding home schooling. We hit some really hard lows financially and if it were not for the crew I would not have been able to give my girls the amazing education they got. God provided for my family what we needed for education through the Crew. I would pray over goals and subjects and then watch as just what we needed (even if I didn't realize we needed it at the time) appear on my list of review products. Math courses, literature courses, electives, just-for-fun, science, history and lots of supplemental things.<br />
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But my love affair isn't just related all the amazing products we've received over the years. While I don't consider myself a highly technical person I've learned a thing or two about blogging. I've learned a thing or two about social media. I've learned a thing or two about writing as well so my writing and blogging has improved over the years. I choose not to be a "professional blogger" but I wanted to be there are lots of folks on the crew would be wiling to give me a lesson or two on how to do that.<br />
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You see we have the wonderful private forum just for Crew members! On this forum we have boards where you can get technical support for your blog or advice on your home business. There's a board for asking for a great recipe or ideas of lunches. We have a board for homeschooling support. I think my favorite board is the Prayer and Praise board. We support each other through prayer. We rejoice with the praises. And of course the main purpose of the board are the sections with the information crew members need for their reviews. Many folks say the forum is what they miss most when they step down from the crew.<br />
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In the fall of 2015 I was offered the position of Crew Leader. As a Crew Leader I join with the other Crew Leaders to make the Crew run as smoothly as possible. I accepted the job because I love the crew and because it gives me a chance to make sure that the crew is there for other folks like me who need the support and who need the products.<br />
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I have made friends through the crew. I have found support through the crew. I have received tools to give my daughters an amazing education. I love the Homeschool Review Crew and I'd love for you to join us!<br />
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<a href="http://schoolhousereviewcrew.com/tag/homeschool-blog-link-up/" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="402" data-original-width="602" height="213" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_ragTA_l9PU/W9XjplaIZCI/AAAAAAAAJZ0/k2kHDv_-0kAYbnNxLyEoazib3TEJExxvQCLcBGAs/s320/Homeschool-Weekly-Blog-Link-UP-new.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br /><div class="blogger-post-footer">©2009-2018 Circling Through This Life. All rights reserved. Content, including text, photographs, graphics, artwork and all other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. www.circlingthroughthislife.com</div>Tesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10647426494359111497noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2400013537237976584.post-76759007662928899842018-09-05T04:30:00.000-07:002018-09-05T08:40:05.211-07:00Introducing GrammarPlanet ~ Homeschool Review CrewAs a Crew Leader for the Homeschool Review Crew I typically do not write reviews. I become familiar with the product so that I can do my job as Review Quality Manager. From time to time , I come across an amazing product that I love so much that I choose to write a review simply because I love the product.<br />
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<a class="bbc_link" href="https://grammarplanet.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">GrammarPlanet</a> is one of those products that I love so much that I want to share it with my readers.<br />
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GrammarPlanet is an online subscription based program to teach students of any level. This program can be used with students who have had no previous grammar instruction as well as students who have had quite a bit more experience.<br />
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So what is GrammarPlanet? GrammarPlanet "is the brainchild of Erin Karl and Jerry Baily." Let me share with you what Erin shared with me about GrammarPlanet:<br />
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<i>The creation of GrammarPlanet is the realization of a years-long dream to be able to make grammar education … REAL grammar education … available and affordable for anyone, regardless of the type of school, the economic background, the location, etc. While there are a lot of homeschoolers who will benefit from it, I also hope low-income schools, students who go to schools that don’t teach it, and adults who never learned it, will be able to finally learn HOW our language works and therefore learn how to speak and write it correctly. </i></blockquote>
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<i>The core philosophy behind GP is my mother’s creation: Analytical Grammar, a book-based program that has been on the homeschool market for more than two decades. Mom passed away more than three years ago, but before her death we were talking about how cool it would be to have a website like this. It’s SO exciting to me that the dream she (and Jerry!) and I discussed back then is now real. Her way of teaching grammar is just SO GOOD. I want as many people around the world as possible to have access to it, and digital is by far the way to go to achieve that dream. ~ Erin Karl, GrammarPlanet</i></blockquote>
GrammarPlanet teaches grammar through videos and pdf files of notes. Students practice parsing sentences using the interactive program. As I type this there are 13 Units available. In the How this Works section on the main page of GrammarPlanet.com you will find a pdf with a projected outline of what they are planing to cover. The list keeps growing!<br />
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This program will cover everything! This program also teaches how to diagram starting in Unit 6. The diagramming needs to be on a separate piece of paper but there is a key to check your work.<br />
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The Videos</h4>
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Each unit begins with a teaching video. The length of the videos varies from unit to unit with some only a few a minutes and others roughly 10 minutes long. The more complex the information being presented, the more time Ms Karl takes to explain the concept and walk students through the process steps needed.<br />
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For me the videos feel like Erin is sitting down with me at my desk and not just teaching me but encouraging me and coaching me. "If you take your time and follow the process steps exactly as I have outlined them, you'll be fine." She encourages folks to do no more than 15 minutes at time. "Sometimes your brain just needs a break." In one video I was nearly certain she had some type of intel on my home as she said "you have other things you need to do besides grammar." Really, Erin, were you looking in my window and seeing the dirty dishes?<br />
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There are some really great features of the videos I want to point out:<br />
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<li>They are interactive! ~ There are quiz questions sprinkled out through out the video. You can replay the section or answer the question. Some questions are true/ false and some are multiple choice. Examples include: "Which group is a list of proper nouns?" or "True or False Some linking verbs can also be action verbs." </li>
<li>They are Closed Captioned! ~ I am hard of hearing and my computer sound isn't so great so I appreciated being able to turn on those captions. </li>
<li>On the left is a panel with a outline of what's covered in the video. This is very helpful if you are trying to re-watch the video and just want to skip ahead to the section you need.</li>
<li>You can open the videos in another tab to get more of a full screen video. I much preferred having it play in a new tab. </li>
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How I used it myself:</h4>
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I set up myself as a student so that I could get a feel for the program. As a Crew Leader I wanted to get familiar with the program so I could answer Crew Member reviews. As a homeschool mom, I wanted to check out the program to see if I could adapt it to work with Supergirl. <br />
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At first I was like really watch a video? I know what a noun is? Read the notes? Come on I am a college graduate who has taught grammar to my students in my homeschool. I know that a noun is a person, place, thing, or idea. I think I cruised through Unit 1 Common Nouns and Unit 2 Proper Nouns when I realized I really did need to watch the videos so that I could get a feel for the program. Take my advice. Even if you think you know the topic watch the video. </div>
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I found that I loved the program. Parsing each sentence was fun and when I got to Unit 6 found that doing the diagrams were like solving a riddle. I think I cheered once or twice or I lost count of how many times I cheered when my diagram matched the key exactly. So working on GrammarPlanet became a fun way for me to relax or unwind. I am far enough in the program that I really do need to take Erin's advice and take it slow. I usually only do 2 or 3 sentences along with the diagramming. I have every intention of continuing this for myself until I have completed the whole course.<br />
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Using this With Supergirl:</h4>
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For my regular readers you know that Supergirl is different. She's my developmentally delayed, medically fragile, special needs miracle. She defies all labels. I don't recommend using GrammarPlanet with a neurotypical child who is not yet reading fluently. GrammarPlanet is intended for ages 10 to 99 nd I agree with that age range. I think for those of us with some grammar knowledge we need to be careful that we don't let that trip us up and for those like Supergirl with little to no understanding of grammar concepts, Erin Karl does a fantastic job of making the concepts understandable and doable.</div>
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The recommendation is to to use the program for about 15 minutes a day every other day. Some students may be able to use it every day but others will need the break to let the information marinate. </div>
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So for Supergirl we started by watching the video and reading the notes. Then we tried a sentence and stopped for the day. The next time we watched the video again and read through the notes again and did a couple of more sentences. The third session we did not re-watch the video.</div>
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Supergirl is not reading fluently though she is ready for grammar instruction especially the way that GrammarPlanet teaches it. So I read the sentence to her twice and then she picked out the nouns. The first few sessions she struggled with grasping that the common noun is just one word. She wanted to add the adjectives or articles.<br />
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When she was stuck we used the terminology used in the video. "What are we are talking about in this sentence? What are the topics?" "Oh we're talking about scientists!" or "Oh we're talking about math." Sometimes she would guess and pick a word that is not a noun so I would ask her "are we talking about revolving?" "No." By the end of Unit 1 she was correcting herself. Using the "what are topics," concept she was able to correctly identify "studying" and "learning" as nouns. Yes, they are gerunds but Erin doesn't expect students to know that at this level. She's teaching students about how nouns work. These were the things we were talking about so they are nouns because they function like nouns. They are being used as nouns.</div>
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Supergirl aced Unit 1 and we have started Unit 2. If we keep taking it just a couple of sentences a day a couple of times a week I know that she'll be gaining a solid understanding of the English language. I don't know yet how I will tackle diagramming with her when we get to Unit 6 but I think it might involve index cards and arranging those cards in the sentence diagram.</div>
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Supergirl's Thoughts:</h4>
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<i>I like it. I think it is fun because I like picking out the words. I like the teacher in the videos because she is so sweet. I like the quiz questions in the video.</i> </blockquote>
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My Thoughts:</h4>
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I think this is an excellent program that teaches grammar concepts in a logical easy-to-understand manner. While I knew what a linking verb was and what a predicate nominative was it seemed so simple. So basic yet earth shattering to hear Erin say "if the subject and the noun after the verb are the same person you have a linking a verb." Duh. Why did no one else ever put it that way?<br />
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I even have a better understanding of diagramming. I hated diagramming. I think because I didn't grasp it. Now I get it.<br />
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I have recommended that Boobear who will be starting her graduate studies in a few weeks to work this program to brush up on her skills since she will be writing graduate level papers. <br />
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Tailorbear has an account all set up and she'll be working through the program.<br />
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Looking for a painless way to teach grammar to your children? Want to improve your own grammar skills? I highly recommend checking out GrammarPlanet. Currently there is a free version available that is ad supported. Soon there will be an option to upgrade to a paid account. <a href="https://grammarplanet.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">GrammarPlanet</a> generously provided ad free paid accounts to Homeschool Review Crew members. You can click on the banner below to read their reviews!<br />
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<div class="blogger-post-footer">©2009-2018 Circling Through This Life. All rights reserved. Content, including text, photographs, graphics, artwork and all other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. www.circlingthroughthislife.com</div>Tesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10647426494359111497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2400013537237976584.post-89480756397534892162018-08-23T20:54:00.000-07:002018-08-23T20:54:35.347-07:00Thankful Thursday 5 Days of Homeschool EncouragementIt's Thursday! Thankful Thursday and day 4 of the <a href="http://schoolhousereviewcrew.com/thankful-thursday-5-days-of-homeschool-encouragement/" target="_blank">Back to School 5 Days of Encouragement Blog hop</a> hosted by the Homeschool Review Crew!<br />
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Today's post is simple and to the point.<br />
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I am grateful for the Homeschool Review Crew. I started as crew member in June 2010 which was the start of Year 3.<br />
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I've been serving on the crew since then coming back for Year 4, the short transitional 2012 and continuing with 2013, 2014 and 2015. In 2016 I stepped up into the role of Crew Leader.<br />
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Through the Crew I have made some fabulous friends. I've been introduced to vendors I never would have known about and tried products that I never knew i needed until I reviewed them.<br />
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Money has been tight. Some years more tight than others. God certainly used the Homeschool Review Crew to provide curriculum that I might not have been able to afford otherwise.<br />
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Because of the Crew I've had a change to try different reading and math programs with Supergirl and really get to know her learning style and what works best for her.<br />
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Because of the Crew Turtlegirl discovered she loves languages and has an aptitude for them. Because of the crew she studied Latin, Russian, and French.<br />
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I couldn't imagine trying to home educate without being part of the Homeschool Review Crew.<br />
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What are you thankful for today? Be sure to visit some other crew members to read what they are thankful for. See what makes them keep going on this journey of learning through home education.
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Here are just a few of the Homeschool Review Crew members who are participating. Visit their blogs and be sure to check out even more posts on the linky!<br />
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Jennifer @ <a href="http://dearhomeschooler.com/" target="_blank">Dear Homeschooler</a><br />
Joelle @ <a href="https://homeschoolingforhisglory.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Homeschooling for His Glory</a><br />
Karen @ <a href="http://totsandme.blogspot.com/2018/08/the-2018-back-to-homeschool-blog-hop-is.html" target="_blank">Tots and Me...Growing Up Together</a><br />
Kellyann @ <a href="https://walkinghomesk.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Walking Home ...</a><br />
Kimberley @ <a href="http://vintagebluesuitcase.ca/" target="_blank">Vintage Blue Suitcase</a><br />
Kristen @ <a href="http://momquesttoteach.blogspot.com/2018/08/back-to-school-homeschool-style.html" target="_blank">A Mom's Quest to Teach</a><br />
Kym @ <a href="https://kympossibleblog.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Homeschool Coffee Break</a><br />
Laura @ <a href="https://fourlittlepenguins.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Four Little Penguins</a><br />
Linda @ <a href="https://wp.me/p3wgIf-2ov" target="_blank">Apron Strings & other things</a><br />
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We live in a state that requires instructional hours. Something equivalent to 5.5 "instructional" hours a day for 180 days. Thankfully my state recognizes that home education can be more efficient than classroom education in a public school.<br />
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We tended to do 'year round' schooling taking breaks as life thew its punches. During the summer we did more "fun" school like hands on science but my favorite thing about "homeschool as a lifestyle" is that going on vacation didn't mean a break from learning. It meant a break from formal lessons and math workbooks but education still happened.<br />
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So how did we manage to get the instructional hours in? We did it on vacation.<br />
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Recently we had the opportunity to vacation in Port Townshend, WA. This is the most northern point of WA on the Olympic Peninsula. When we stopped at rest areas we look at the map. We find where we are and we look for where we are going.<br />
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We also took time when at the Marine Life Center (more about that! I promise!) and a couple of restaurants to look at maps they had posted. Supergirl started grasping the layout of the area.<br />
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Supergirl also got to experience and grasp the idea that Washington is a big area. This was an expansion of geography that she started exploring when we drove from Washington to Minnesota and back again. She knew that we lived in Washington but hadn't grasped that we lived in a city in Washington. She has a better grasp of that now and going forward when we look at a map of Washington or a map of the US she can use her experience of traveling as frame.<br />
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We visited two different Marine Life Centers while on vacation. One in Port Angeles and one at Fort Worden State Park near Port Townshend. It was actually our college girl that asked if we could do so. She isn't even homeschooling anymore and yet she was just excited to learn more. I guess I was successful in instilling a life long love of learning!<br />
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We learned that some sea stars think humans are tasty. I wish I had taken a photo of the HUGE sea star. It was not the typical 5 point "starfish" it had like 40 "legs". It was very near the edge of the tank and the volunteer told us to make sure we did not get to close as it would try to latch on to us. Yikes!<br />
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I got all excited as there was a display showing how the land was changing as they remove the dam and the water flows. We talked about land forms. So we had a bit of biology and a bit of physical geography. We talked about rocks too which was perfect since we've been studying Rocks and Minerals.<br />
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Supegirl loved the rockfish and we learned about how they saved the fish by removing its diseased eye. I think the fish may have been her favorite part.<br />
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She loved the Marine Life Center so much that she asked if we could go back but instead of going back we went to the one near Port Townshend. Supergirl got some one on one time with a volunteer who answered questions, pointed things out and encouraged Supergirl to get hands on.<br />
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They had two exhibits and one was about Orca whales! I learned that there are two kinds of Orca Whales. Transitional and Residential. Supergirl and I did a lapbook a few years ago on Whales and Dolphins and I am thinking I may have to pull that study out and look through it again!<br />
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We visited historical sites like Fort Worden and the Jefferson County Museum which was the old Courthouse/Jail and is now a history museum. These were fun memory making things we did that also happen to have educational value and if I needed more instructional hours for Supergirl, I could easily add in hours for history, geography and science. We also worked on some language skills by talking about what we learned. The fancy word might be "oral narrations" but she certainly didn't think she was doing anything other than telling me all about what she explored.<br />
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How do you work in more learning opportunities for you and your family? Here are just a few of the participants from the Homeschool Review Crew. There are even more blogs to check out on the linky!<br />
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Amanda @ <a href="http://hopkinshomeschool.com/back-to-homeschool-encouragement-coming-soon/" target="_blank">Hopkins Homeschool</a><br />
Angie @ <a href="https://runranfam.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Run Ran Family Adventures & Learning</a><br />
Annette @ <a href="https://anetintime.ca/" target="_blank">A Net in Time</a><br />
Ashley @ <a href="http://giftofchaos.com/" target="_blank">Gift of Chaos</a><br />
Betty @ <a href="http://www.letsgetreal2016.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Let’s Get Real</a><br />
Brenda @ <a href="http://countingpinecones.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Counting Pinecones</a><br />
Carol @ <a href="https://home-sweet-life.blogspot.com/2018/08/hop-back-to-it-homeschooling-that-is.html" target="_blank">Home Sweet Life</a><br />
Chareen @ <a href="http://everybedofroses.blogspot.com/search/label/5%20Days%20of%20Homeschool%20Encouragement" target="_blank">Every Bed of Roses</a>
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Having a "game plan" or a "road map" at the beginning of the year, meant that I knew where I wanted to go even if we didn't finish in June. We always schooled year around with doing more "hands on" and "fun" schooling during the summer so I gave up early on trying to squeeze 36 weeks or 1100 hours of education between September and June.<br />
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In today's <a href="http://schoolhousereviewcrew.com/take-a-look-tuesday-5-days-of-homeschool-encouragement/" target="_blank">Take a Look Tuesday</a> post which is part of the Back to School 5 Days of Homeschool Encouragement Blog Hop hosted by the Homeschool Review Crew I am going to share my general road map for studying American History for the 2018-2019 school year for Supergirl.<br />
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If you're you're hopping over form another Crew member blog, let me briefly share that Supergirl is developmentally delayed, medically fragile and is asynchronous with her skills. Socially and emotionally she functions around 4-6. Her reading skills seem to be solidly 1st grade and but her math skills range from Kindergarten to 2nd or even 3rd grade! She able to comprehend history and science at a 4th to 6th grade level when I read it aloud to her. This makes planning very difficult and often time consuming!</div>
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We'll be using TruthQuest History: American History For Young Students I (Exploration to 1800) as our road map. This is intended for grades 1-5.<br />
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We did actually start this awhile ago with learning about Christopher Columbus. We set it aside for a variety of reasons but we'll start back up with finishing our study of Christopher Columbus.<br />
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I have no idea how long this journey will last. We'll take it as fast or as slow as she wants depending on her interest level and the goals we set for developing her reading and writing skills.<br />
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I'm almost afraid of touching on Leif Erickson and the Vikings discovery of America because we could end up setting aside American History and studying Vikings in-depth. That is the beauty of homeschooling! And if we do take a detour I know that we'll eventually find our way back to the main road map.<br />
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I'll be adding in lots of hands-on opportunities with project packs and lapbooks from Home School in the Woods. Don't tell her but I have a whole lapbook for her about Benjamin Franklin! And we'll be making a little booklet about Christopher Columbus! We have several of the Time Travelers such as New World Explorers, Colonial Life, and American Revolution.<br />
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Home School in the Woods also has my favorite timeline figures so of course we'll be keeping a timeline and doing some map work too.<br />
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Ms. Miller gives lots of book suggestions for each topic in American History for Young Explorers. We may not read the exact books that she suggests but if there is a YWAM Publishing Heroes of History book available for suggested person, we will be using as many YWAM books as we can. <br />
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Some of the book suggestions are the same books as used in Sonlight American History which I used with the other girls so I have those. I'm looking foward to re-reading books like A Lion to Guard Us and Pocahontas both by Clyde Robert Bulla.<br />
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Of course we'll be doing other subjects besides history but history is the easiest one for me to have a general road map and take lots of detours.<br />
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Do you need to have everything planned out in advance? Do you prefer to have a rough idea? Are you someone who is able to just wing it?<br />
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Here are just a few of the Homeschool Review Crew Members who are participating in this week's 5 Days of Back to School Blog Hop:<br />
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Lisa @ <a href="http://farmfreshadventures.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Farm Fresh Adventures</a><br />
Lori @ <a href="https://3gigglygirlsathome.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">At Home: where life happens</a><br />
Margaret @ <a href="http://creativemadnessmama.com/" target="_blank">Creative Madness Mama </a><br />
Marla @ <a href="https://www.jumpintogenius.com/" target="_blank">Jump Into Genius</a><br />
Meredith @ <a href="https://powerlineprod.weebly.com/blog" target="_blank">Powerline Productions: Being World Changers/Raising World Changers </a><br />
Michele @ <a href="https://familyfaithandfridays.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Family, Faith and Fridays</a><br />
Missica @ <a href="http://www.throughtheopenwindow.com/2018/02/how-do-i-start-homeschooling.html" target="_blank">Through The Open Window</a><br />
Monique @ <a href="http://mountainofgracehomeschooling.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Mountain of Grace Homeschooling</a><br />
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<div class="blogger-post-footer">©2009-2018 Circling Through This Life. All rights reserved. Content, including text, photographs, graphics, artwork and all other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. www.circlingthroughthislife.com</div>Tesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10647426494359111497noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2400013537237976584.post-36656324878929815222018-08-20T04:00:00.000-07:002018-08-20T04:00:03.895-07:00Monday Motivation Homeschool Review Crew Back to School Blog Hop I started investigating homeschooling as an education option for my family when my oldest, who was then my only, was 14 months old. We were an active duty army family stationed in Germany and my husband was deployed to another country. At the same time that I was introduced to home education my husband had stumbled across it. We felt it must have been God working it out to bring us to decide together to homeschool.<br />
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That was 22 years ago. My husband changed up his career path and we continued to be a homeschooling family. We've had 3 of our 4 daughters graduate from our home school. I continue to home educate Supergirl who is our medically fragile, developmentally delayed special needs daughter.<br />
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As I thought about what to write for this <a href="http://schoolhousereviewcrew.com/motivation-monday-5-days-of-homeschool-encouragement/" target="_blank">Motivation Monday, the first day of Homeschool Review Crew's Back to School 5 Days of Homeschool Encouragement Blog Hop</a> I couldn't decide if I wanted to talk about the encouragement I've been getting from Julie Polanco's <i>God Schooling: How God Intended Children to Learn</i> or to share the whys behind my family's decision to home school. After starting two other blog posts for this topic, I've decided to go in a completely different direction and share how I am taking what I've learned and working to apply it to this year as I home school Supergirl. I don't feel that last year was very successful.<br />
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Grab your favorite beverage, hot or cold, mine is Sugar-Free Caramel Breve hot, and let's chat!<br />
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Are there things I wish I had done differently over the years? Yes absolutely, but there have been some things that have been consistently helpful over the years.<br />
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One of the things that has been incredibly helpful is having menu plans. During one season of our lives I had a 6 week rotating menu plan that was nearly all crock pot meals. Years ago I blogged about creating your own rotating menu plan. Having a set meal plan reduces stress because it reduces the amount of decisions you have to make. It also makes building a pantry and grocery shopping easier because you don't have to think so much about the grocery list.<br />
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As life does, things change. Setting up the <a href="https://www.circlingthroughthislife.com/2009/02/meal-planning-rotating-menu-plan.html" target="_blank">rotating menu plan</a> takes an investment of time and it does need to be tweaked as seasons change and dietary needs change. Here are some options that have helped me at different points.<br />
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Through the Homeschool Review Crew I was introduced to <a href="https://www.circlingthroughthislife.com/2011/10/tos-review-e-mealz.html" target="_blank">e-mealz</a>. After my subscription ran out from the review I did purchase another subscription. But after I while it just didn't work for me anymore. It was a huge help as I loved having something tell me what is for dinner. It is just that I had to do too much tweaking for my family.<br />
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A friend of mine introduced me to Build-a-Menu. The advantage of this program is that I could pick the meals and I could do breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks! And it would create a grocery list for me. I paid for this program for two years! Eventually though I was finding I wasn't using it regularly enough and I let the subscription go. It takes time to pick the meals. Yes it saved me time and sanity in that it is far more easier to pick from list than to come up with something on my own but I was finding I needed more help with actually getting the meals from "planned" to actually "cooked" so we could eat.<br />
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I would have these fabulous menu plans so I knew what was for dinner or rather what was supposed to be for dinner. But often I would find that I was just too tired or busy to cook and we'd end up with take out.<br />
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I rediscovered freezer cooking and that helped! Taking time to make dinner ahead of time meant that I could plan dinner, cook dinner and eat dinner! What a concept! Even if you don't cook a month's worth of meals at time it is work looking at Freezer Cooking options such as cooking bigger batches of hamburger and freezing it in meal size portions for the base for things like tacos or spaghetti.<br />
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My current favorite meal planing site is MyFreezeEasy.com When I take the time, when I invest the time to choose my menus and prepare some meals for the freezer I save time, energy, sanity and money! And what I love about Erin Chase's method is it is mostly prepping things for the freezer. That means that your chicken goes into a freezer bag with the tomatoes and olive and Greek marinade but isn't cooked until the night you want to eat it. It is not like eating warmed over leftovers which in my early days of learning about freezer cooking a lot of recipes I had required you to cook the food and then you are reheating it and it tastes like leftovers.<br />
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I love having a freezer full of meals. Having those meals increases the odds that I'll get school done with Supergirl and we'll have homecooked meal. On the same day. I don't know about you but it seemed like if I had full day of school done and laundry done we ended up with take out if I didn't have a meal in the crock pot or freezer meal to pull out. And if I managed to cook a homemade dinner we probably didn't get much school done.<br />
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My crock pot is still a well used appliance that helps me take those meal plans and making cooking easier!<br />
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During the more productive times, I also had a schedule and a routine. Even with my most successful schedules and routines, we did not, not even for one day, follow the "schedule" completely. But when we have a schedule or least a routine we accomplish so much more than we do without one.<br />
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This year with Supergirl, I really want to work on a strong routine with a looser schedule. I'm working a schedule that has some anchor points like meal times and maybe schedule certain subjects for certain days like Science on Tuesday and Thursday but I want a solid routine that will help us work on some habits that have slipped away.<br />
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Supergirl thrives with structure and routine and I need to use that to my advantage. She is also far more cooperative and a more pleasant human being when she has structure and consistent time with mom.<br />
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So as I gear up for this new school year I am making sure I include time to invest in freezer cooking with <a href="https://www.circlingthroughthislife.com/2016/10/freezer-cooking-made-easy-with.html" target="_blank">MyFreezeEasy</a> and that I have a structured routine with some scheduled slots for anchors to our day.<br />
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I'm also mapping out my goals and a rough idea of what we'll be studying but I will share more about what we'll be studying tomorrow on Take a Look Tuesday!<br />
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Here are a few of the other Homeschool Review Crew bloggers who are participating this week in the Back to School Blog Hop!<br />
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Nicole @ <a href="https://blesstheirheartsmom.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Bless Their Hearts Mom</a><br />
Patti @ <a href="https://truthandgracehomeschoolacademy.wordpress.com/2018-back-to-school-crew-blog-hop/" target="_blank">Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy</a><br />
Rebekah @ <a href="https://chargeforwhining.blogspot.com/2018/08/get-your-5-days-of-homeschool.html" target="_blank">There Will Be a $5 Charge For Whining</a><br />
Rodna @ <a href="http://trainingchildrenupforchrist.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Training Children up for Christ</a><br />
Stacy @ <a href="http://www.ahomemakersheart.com/" target="_blank">A Homemakers Heart</a><br />
Tess @ <a href="https://www.circlingthroughthislife.com/" target="_blank">Circling Through This Life</a><br />
Wendy @ <a href="https://lifeatrossmont.blogspot.com/2018/08/five-days-of-homeschool-encouragement.html" target="_blank">Life at Rossmont</a><br />
Holly @ <a href="http://gypsyroadschool.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Gypsy Road</a><br />
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<!-- end LinkyTools script --><div class="blogger-post-footer">©2009-2018 Circling Through This Life. All rights reserved. Content, including text, photographs, graphics, artwork and all other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. www.circlingthroughthislife.com</div>Tesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10647426494359111497noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2400013537237976584.post-22479529134125799022018-07-24T04:00:00.000-07:002018-08-28T17:28:16.306-07:00Passing on the Love of Rocks!<i>Thank you <a href="http://northwestrockandfossil.org/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Northwest Treasures</a> and the <a href="http://schoolhousereviewcrew.com/online-geology-classesnorthwest-treasures-reviews/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Homeschool Review Crew</a> for the opportunity to review <a href="http://northwestrockandfossil.org/index.php?route=product/product&path=70&product_id=333" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Rocks and Minerals for Little Eyes</a> from their <a href="http://northwestrockandfossil.org/index.php?route=product/category&path=70" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Geology for "Little Eyes"</a> series.</i><br />
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Many years ago when I was trying to finish up my Associate of Arts degree I needed to take a science with a Lab or another math class. I looked at the math classes and went nope. Not happening. I looked at the science classes. Remember it had to have a lab. I quickly crossed off Biology. I was not about to dissect anything. Chemistry was the next to go as it had too much math involved. I settled for something called Physical Geography. It was listed as a science. It had a lab. It met the requirements I needed. I fell in love. Physical Geography is part of the Earth Sciences. It's geology that focuses on the physical characteristics of the Earth's lithosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere, and biosphere. I mostly remember the lithosphere stuff. I was hooked on geology.<br />
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I went on to study Historical Geology and Physical Geology and briefly considered moving on to get a Bachelor's degree in Geology and becoming a geologist. I was so smitten with rocks that I even spent time during spring break identifying rocks I found.<br />
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I passed my love of rocks down to Turtlegirl. She studied rocks and read books about rocks and minerals. She began her own rock collection. Her studies were always informal.<br />
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I remember stopping at the <a href="http://www.northwestrockandfossil.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Northwest Treasures</a> booth at the home school conventions I attended. Unfortunately, as much as I drooled over the rock kits, I just didn't have the ability to purchase them. Turtlegirl had to settle for teaching herself using whatever we could find but this summer? This summer we are developing a love of geology in Supergirl. She is so excited that she now has her own rock collection from the <a href="http://northwestrockandfossil.org/index.php?route=product/product&path=70&product_id=333" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Rocks and Minerals for Little Eyes kit</a>.<br />
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What is Northwest Treasures?</h4>
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Before I tell you about this kit let me give you a bit of background on Northwest Treasures and Patrick Nurre. Northwest Treasures is a 501(c)3 organziation. Patrick Nurre is "an ordained pastor, and is certified as a Biblical Creation Ministry Professional." He has spent years doing field study and conducts geology classes and seminars. He even leads <a href="http://northwestrockandfossil.org/index.php?route=information/information&information_id=7" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">field trips</a> to places like Mt. St. Helens or Yellowstone National Park.<br />
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From the <a href="http://northwestrockandfossil.org/index.php?route=information/information&information_id=4" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">About Page</a>:<br />
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<i>At Northwest Treasures, we stand unabashedly for a young earth and global flood as revealed in Scripture. Most of our classes will reflect that worldview. However, our classes can be tailored, depending on your group, to share simply the science of geology without reference to our philosophy.</i></blockquote>
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Rocks and Minerals for Little Eyes:</h4>
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We received the kit which included the book, a set of rock forming mineral samples, a set of rock samples, and a set of Alphabet Sheets.<br />
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Let me take a moment and tell you about these fun Alphabet Sheets. There is a picture and a definition for every letter of the alphabet. Some are rocks such as B Basalt. Others are minerals like J Jasper (a type of quartz). While others are places or names of volcanoes: N Northwest "Most of the active volcanoes in the United States are located in the Northwest US." These sheets came in a thick resealable plastic bag. We've just enjoyed snuggling together and looking through the pictures and reading them. I do plan for Supergirl to use the ones for minerals and rocks to see if she can find those in her samples but I don't see these actually referenced in the book.<br />
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Rocks and Minerals Book Lessons:</h4>
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This soft bound book includes an Introduction for Parents, 11 Lessons, 19 Activities and a Materials List. It is 54 full color pages. Questions and Activities are in red in the text.<br />
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The first two lessons really lay the ground work or foundation by discussing The Creation of the Earth (Lesson I) and the Flood (Lesson II). These lessons are more Biblical in their focus and include scripture references and verses for Memorization.<br />
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Supergirl is an unusual student in that even though she is working at 2nd grade level for most things she is 20 years old and has had lots of exposure over the years to many topics including Creation and the Flood so these lessons were a little below her level but these are perfect for young students whose parents wish to lay a firm foundation for young Earth creationism.<br />
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Lessons III through X are more science focused as they explore rocks and minerals. Lesson III explores What the Earth is Made of. There are lessons on what rocks are made of, what the differences are between rocks and separate lessons for each type of rock. The Young Earth Creation worldview is still clearly present woven into the lessons but these lessons do not have scripture and memorization verses. You will still find sentences like "Some were formed during the Flood, but most were most likely formed at the beginning of the Creation," or "The Book of Genesis reveals to us that God made all things."<br />
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Some lessons are longer and some are shorter. For example Lesson V is 3 pages long but lessons VIII, IX and X are each only 1 page. I really appreciate that Mr. Nurre takes the time to really explain rocks. Rocks are made up of minerals and minerals are made up of elements. Elements are the atoms or the basic building blocks God used for all created things. (page 12).<br />
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Activities</h4>
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Our most favorite part are the activities. Every lesson has at least one activity and with only 11 lessons and 19 activities that means some lessons have more than one activity!<br />
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In the back of the book there is a master materials list. This is great and I used it to start gathering what we needed but I do wish that it indicated which lesson it was needed for. I love that each activity also lists what you need for that specific activity.<br />
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Most the activities give a brief statement that lays out the purpose of the activity. For example Activity 14 (which we haven't gotten to yet but I am so looking forward to Making Metamorphic Rock Candy), says "Metamorphic rocks are thought to form through heat and pressure. This activity simulates that process. Some are pretty self-explanatory like making crystals.<br />
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One of the things that I appreciate about the activities is that they use common items. For the Density Column in Activity 2, I did purchase some things like a cheaper store brand honey since I didn't want to use our raw honey but we already had just about everything else they suggested. <br />
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I also really liked that many of the activities are edible. Children, or at least my children really love being able to create something they can eat. Our Making Crystals (Sugar.. aka Rock Candy) is not ready yet and we haven't gotten to Activities 13, 14, and 15. I sure am looking forward to Lava Rock Candy Dessert, Making Metamorphic Rock Candy and Making Sedimentary Rock Treats. I know we won't be getting there for a couple more weeks but I already bought the crisped rice cereal and marshmallows. Don't tell Supergirl. She's going to love that activity though!<br />
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How We Are Using Rocks and Minerals for Little Eyes</h4>
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We are moving at a pace of about two lessons per week. We do not always do the activity on the same day as the lesson so we work on this 3 to 4 times a week.<br />
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Turtlegirl is the primary teacher. She reads the lessons the to Supergirl and leads the discussion. I'm usually in the room when this happens and it really makes my heart happy to hear Turtlegirl sharing her love of rocks with her twin sister.<br />
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Usually the next day they would do the activity. We tended to do the activities more in the evenings or on weekends. Turtlegirl took the lead with those but they did become more of a family event at times. The Density Column sat on my counter for a few days. Supergirl made sure that everybody knew they should not drink it. "Daddy! Don't drink it! It will make you sick." <br />
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When we examined the crystals made from Epsom salts everybody took a moment to look at the crystals under a magnifying glass. Only Supergirl and I stuck our hands in the bowl though to really feel the crystals. I admit it, I really liked this activity even though it wasn't edible.<br />
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Turtlegirl shared with me that she thinks Supergirl's favorite activity so far was to make a clay model of the Earth. "She really enjoyed it, mom. She liked working with the clay."<br />
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Even Dad got a bit involved with our Rock Investigation. He asked what were doing and I said we were comparing rocks. He even held a few in his hand to see which was heavier.<br />
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<h4>
My Thoughts:</h4>
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If you are looking for a program from a Young Earth Creationism worldview to use to introduce your children to geology, then I highly recommend <a class="bbc_link" href="http://northwestrockandfossil.org/" target="_blank">Northwest Treasures</a>.<br />
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I also recommend checking out their video Taking the Mystery Out of Geology. In this video Patrick Nurre defines 13 terms. The video will give you a good feel for the philosophy and worldview that Northwest Treasures holds.<br />
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Crew Leaders Amanda and Michele wrote reviews for physical kits as well. Check out Amanda's review of <a href="https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fhopkinshomeschool.com%2Fvolcanoes-for-little-eyes-a-homeschool-crew-review%2F&h=AT0W0haFOQczJjUE1p_nepikYPW6pkbfnBdVOR2fX6SkvFpjP-RqTLvrmaA1SKxpfK8VhbjPZwraEFPrJ3s-iW6gaN2pEscx-XWht2OWqIEo-IvL5yTi7wo0iZJ4kg" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Volcanoes for Little Eyes</a> and Michele's review of <a href="https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Ffamilyfaithandfridays.blogspot.com%2F2018%2F07%2Fgeology-for-kids-review-with-lot-of.html&h=AT1KY40_n2zL1TguDXpu8-ePYAanXu3Qi3YqaStF-6LZPV9FIrC0Y9eZLdLL_HEPIDgJC5-P0K_vrJPrEl3EnQpoMV2i_Wgo_URQcn61DMuqb-9bVZAG5BDoNDtN" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Geology for Kids</a>.<br />
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Crew members had a choice between the Dinosaurs and the Bible or Geology and Apologetics <a href="http://northwestrockandfossil.org/index.php?route=product/category&path=90" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">online classes</a>. Be sure to read their reviews at the <a href="http://schoolhousereviewcrew.com/online-geology-classesnorthwest-treasures-reviews/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Homeschool Review Crew Blog</a>!<br />
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<a href="http://schoolhousereviewcrew.com/online-geology-classesnorthwest-treasures-reviews/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="528" data-original-width="628" height="264" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-nGy3Z92oXbo/W1aMZd7IfZI/AAAAAAAAI6Q/x3MHV-xvnUEam76-urCa0xuG1qTAGOF9wCLcBGAs/s320/Northwest-Treasures-Online-Class-Reviews.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<br /><div class="blogger-post-footer">©2009-2018 Circling Through This Life. All rights reserved. Content, including text, photographs, graphics, artwork and all other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. www.circlingthroughthislife.com</div>Tesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10647426494359111497noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2400013537237976584.post-3386125752961875092018-07-22T15:39:00.000-07:002018-07-22T15:39:43.304-07:00B is for Bug {Another Alphabet style update!}<br />
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<br />
I'm back again with another update! Did you see the A update? <a href="https://www.circlingthroughthislife.com/2018/07/a-is-for-academics-alphabet-style.html" target="_blank">A is for Academics</a>.<br />
<br />
I'm wanting to get caught up to fully participate in the newest round of Blogging Through The Alphabet which is now hosted by the lovely Amanda at <a href="http://hopkinshomeschool.com/" target="_blank">Hopkins Homeschool</a> and Kirsten from <a href="https://www.byebyebrickandmortar.com/category/blogging-through-the-alphabet/" target="_blank">Doodlemom</a>.<br />
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This part of my "Update Alphabet Style" series of posts since I did not have a blog posts for a very long time!<br />
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B is for Bug!<br />
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<img alt="Bringing Bug Home!" border="0" data-original-height="859" data-original-width="720" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-doWZiU5h6-c/W1TwIi5Y3OI/AAAAAAAAI40/0APKG1Q-v6w1DI7l2Va9pL5IZGRI1OgmgCLcBGAs/s400/BringBugHome.jpg" title="Bringing Bug Home!" width="332" /></div>
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No not an insect. Bug is a young, adorable, black, domestic short hair cat that we adopted Mother's Day weekend. She was Honeybear's gift to me for Mother's Day.<br />
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<br />
During Holy Week, our beloved George the Cat got very sick. His bladder was blocked and he spent the night in the vet hospital. We brought him home on Tuesday evening and the vet was hopeful that he would recover, but over the next few days he began to decline. On Holy Friday we made the difficult decision that it was time to say good bye.<br />
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His bladder was blocked again for the second time in 5 days. It was absolutely horrible to have to tell the techs that we needed to talk about our options. I knew what our options were: 1)put him through a painful procedure to empty his bladder and have to keep doing this to him or 2) let him go. When we talked to the vet and as soon as we said "this is the second time he has been blocked in 5 days and his lab came back and he has no crystals in his urine" it became very clear that option 2 was the best choice. <br />
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<img alt="George on Holy Monday waiting for the vet." border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="800" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-l4gnXqBMQtg/W1TwbzO0hCI/AAAAAAAAI48/XxaJBLNAqGU2qbUt_vRzKzetGHwIiGNvwCLcBGAs/s400/GeorgeWaitingVetMonday.jpg" title="George on Holy Monday waiting for the vet." width="400" /></div>
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I cried more than I thought possible. I missed him more than I thought a person could ever miss a cat. He was part of our family. We'd adopted him (and his littermate Lacey who we had to let go of two years ago) when he was a kitten. He was 16 when said goodbye.<br />
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Most of my family wanted to adopt another cat right away. I wasn't ready though. I needed more time. He was my baby. For weeks I would walk past a room and think I saw him and then I'd miss him all over again. <br />
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Honeybear mentioned going to the shelter to look at cats for Mother's Day. He brought this up about 10 days before and I wasn't sure if I was ready. I kept telling the family that I wasn't sure we would come home with a cat. I wanted to make sure it was the right cat. We filled printed out the application form and we had to go on Saturday since the shelter is closed on Sundays.<br />
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We walked in and looked around. I wanted a younger cat. Not necessarily a kitten but under 2 years old.<br />
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One of the volunteers pointed out Bug. She was hiding under her blanket but when my husband started talking to her she came out. She stretched and she responded by "making biscuits." She also growled but we were told that she would growl instead of purr. When asked if would like to visit with her we said yes.<br />
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I wasn't sure she was the right cat. She was black! I didn't necessarily want another tabby but I wasn't sure I wanted a black cat. And she was skittish. And shy.<br />
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<img alt="Bug was very shy when we first met her" border="0" data-original-height="857" data-original-width="720" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Gl_M1Pcw_Cw/W1TyP3nmZYI/AAAAAAAAI5I/wc3cICaX4ssHJGr8gglnMLCQ6QCqwEnzACLcBGAs/s400/MeetingBug.jpg" title="Meeting Bug!" width="333" /></div>
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In the visitation room she didn't want to come out of the carrier. She huddled in the back as far from the door as she could get. BUT, she let us put our hand in and pet her. And eventually she moved closer to the door.<br />
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We spent a good chunk of time talking to her and petting her even though she never came out of the carrier. When she purred for me as I pet her, I knew.<br />
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We wanted to be absolutely sure that we were not just bringing home a cat to bring home a cat. So we told them that we thought we wanted her but we wanted to look a bit more just to be sure. They kept her in a carrier rather than put her back in the kennel. Less traumatic for her.<br />
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We looked at the kennels of a few others. There was another black kitty, male who was a couple of months younger than Bug but he wouldn't come out of hiding for us the way Bug did. NONE of the other cats connected with us the way Bug did. Yep she was the one.<br />
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We think she may be part Siamese. Her meow sounds very loud and Bug is very talkative. She's also very smart and plays "fetch" or reverse fetch as we call it. I am told these are Siamese traits.<br />
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She's also polydactyl. Not just her front paws either but her back ones too! Typically cats have 18 toes. They have 5 on each of the front paws and 4 on each of the back paws. Bug has at least 22 toes but we suspect that she may actually have 23 or 24! She is so adorable with her mittens.<br />
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<img alt="Bug has extra toes on both her front and back paws." border="0" data-original-height="1056" data-original-width="800" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-VyTGBMEh34Q/W1TzIkg6fqI/AAAAAAAAI5Q/7e-NaVySLQoNHfMbXXXB5mARCUnLYWeyQCLcBGAs/s400/SheHasThumbs.jpg" title="She has thumbs!" width="302" /></div>
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She's certainly made herself at home and we all have fallen madly in love with her. She's been part of our family now for 2 months and 10 days. We're still getting to know her and she's still getting to know us.<br />
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We know she likes to climb so we got her a three tier "tree" and we got her a short one too. She likes to hang out with us in the family room and often uses the 'tree' as a base for her favorite game of "make the human fetch the toy." The shorter one is in front of my bedroom window and she loves to curl up there and take a nap.<br />
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<img alt="Bug sleeping in her short perch" border="0" data-original-height="945" data-original-width="800" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gAcyfMXSwPQ/W1T2DpdFqZI/AAAAAAAAI5c/KBZSV49JR0gn1reYmsTCeaB-mhSRnb_YQCLcBGAs/s400/BugSleepingPerch.jpg" title="Bug Sleeping in her short perch" width="337" /></div>
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<img alt="Bug loves to join us in the family room!" border="0" data-original-height="711" data-original-width="800" height="284" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-c-2gJ8_iQGY/W1T2J1gY5iI/AAAAAAAAI5g/D-I89kAwVxQ8L_1OTwmw51UrLJknaCvvwCLcBGAs/s320/BugonTreeTier.jpg" title="Bug sitting on her Tree" width="320" /></div>
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She has worked her way into our hearts and I think we've worked our way into hers!<br />
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<img alt="Blogging Through The Alphabet" border="0" data-original-height="309" data-original-width="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QAGKW-yVyG8/W1T86tfVGPI/AAAAAAAAI5w/ysQWb-L80nYQbWI0GtuFZ3jvxG5Jg0FtACLcBGAs/s1600/Amandaabcblogging2.jpg" title="Blogging Through The Alphabet" /></div>
<br /><div class="blogger-post-footer">©2009-2018 Circling Through This Life. All rights reserved. Content, including text, photographs, graphics, artwork and all other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. www.circlingthroughthislife.com</div>Tesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10647426494359111497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2400013537237976584.post-63498610553908254872018-07-05T21:44:00.000-07:002018-07-06T11:44:33.774-07:00A is for Academics (Alphabet Style Updating!)Yes, Yes we are still alive here!<br />
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It has been ages since I posted. I had such plans for posting far more frequently.<br />
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I even planned to join in a new round of Blogging Through The Alphabet which is now hosted by the lovely Amanda at <a href="http://hopkinshomeschool.com/" target="_blank">Hopkins Homeschool</a> and Kirsten from <a href="https://www.byebyebrickandmortar.com/category/blogging-through-the-alphabet/" target="_blank">Doodlemom</a>.<br />
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Since I am weeks behind I thought I'd do an update of sorts Alphabet Style!<br />
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<h4>
A is for Academics!</h4>
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Boobear applied to a few local grad school programs. I am so thrilled and proud to announce that she was accepted by her first choice school and will be starting the Masters in Social Work program this fall!<br />
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Turtlegirl finished up her 2nd year at University and will be heading back in the fall for her third year. She received recognition from the Foreign Language Department as an outstanding second year German student! Did I tell you that she is now officially a Pre-Law student? She's majoring in Philosophy with a minor in German.<br />
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Tailorbear rocked her first year at technical college and is really thriving as part of the Digital Entertainment and Technologies program. She will be continuing to take classes this summer and is registered for a full course load for both summer and fall. Oh and her spring term? 4.0! Yes, yes I am bragging just a bit!<br />
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Tailorbear started her her classes this week and is super excited about her Digital Art and Photography class. She's been taking pictures in black and white and I asked her if I could have one for this post. She let me use this one of Bug. She is still getting to know the camera. This photo hasn't been touched up at all.<br />
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<img alt="Photograph of Bug by ALH @2018" border="0" data-original-height="533" data-original-width="800" height="426" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-BYtzW4_jthQ/Wz7WDhsA2AI/AAAAAAAAIyw/kECnGeKPI4st83--qVte9tcwxsEJonC8ACLcBGAs/s640/TailorbearPhotoBug.jpg" title="Photograph of Bug by ALH @2018" width="640" /></div>
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(photo is used by permission)</div>
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Supergirl continues with her home education. Recently we started the Intermediate Level (3rd & 4th grade) from Bible Study Guide For All Ages. I absolutely adored this program when I used Unit 1 with ALL of the girls years ago and Supergirl enjoyed using the Primary for a few lessons a few years ago.<br />
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<img border="0" data-original-height="715" data-original-width="800" height="570" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-tBlX3LOcUjk/Wz7fesZCUsI/AAAAAAAAIy8/-L_UXf7kznAahTcPv41148eQZiAGgQ59gCLcBGAs/s640/BSGFASET.jpg" width="640" /></div>
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Supergirl is also continuing with <a href="http://schoolhousereviewcrew.com/reading-eggs-reviews/" target="_blank">Reading Eggs</a> for some phonics reinforcement. Our subscription ended in the summer and I actually purchased a year subscription for her. The crew had the opportunity to review <a href="http://schoolhousereviewcrew.com/reading-intervention-programs-maxscholar-reviews/" target="_blank">Max Scholar</a> so we've been using that a few times a week as well.<br />
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We took a break from our American History studies but are back at it again. We've added an American History for Beginners course from <a href="https://schoolhouseteachers.com/dap/a/?a=3863" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">SchoolhouseTeachers.com</a> (affiliate link) to go along with the YWAM Publishing books we've been using and TruthQuest.<br />
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Just this week we started playing with rocks. Well sort of! We'll be reviewing the <a href="http://northwestrockandfossil.org/index.php?route=product/product&path=70&product_id=333" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Rocks and Minerals for Little Eyes Kit</a> from <a href="http://northwestrockandfossil.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Northwest Treasures</a>. This week I read through the Text and came up with a plan with Turtlegirl. Turtlegirl, Honeybear, and I all sat down and watched the 20 minute video <a href="http://northwestrockandfossil.org/index.php?route=product/category&path=90" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Taking the Mystery out of Geology</a> Supergirl watched most of it with us but mostly it was good information for Turtlegirl and I to understand Mr. Nurre's approach.<br />
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<img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1379" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nyYsiH6NpoI/Wz7mVXmunaI/AAAAAAAAIzI/Z7kf9Hgr9gA5wK16VO0ircXA2UKUAyiSQCLcBGAs/s400/RocksandMineralsBox.jpg" width="343" /></div>
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I am so looking forward to growing crystals and making rock lava candy! We'll also get to make a clay model earth, explore a density column and split rocks with water!<br />
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So I've got summer school covered for Supergirl. Maybe I should start thinking about a fuller schedule for the fall?<br />
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Are you doing school this summer? What are you studying?<br />
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Linking up to:<br />
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ZCxAqKX2Afc/Wz7xkiGYq6I/AAAAAAAAIzY/BMqkaIL5MMMd7hlkAqHTTcyeNJBUWUTqACLcBGAs/s1600/Amandaabcblogging2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="925" data-original-width="963" height="190" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ZCxAqKX2Afc/Wz7xkiGYq6I/AAAAAAAAIzY/BMqkaIL5MMMd7hlkAqHTTcyeNJBUWUTqACLcBGAs/s200/Amandaabcblogging2.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://schoolhousereviewcrew.com/pond-life-exploration-homeschool-link-up/" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="402" data-original-width="602" height="133" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pgwD5UjDek0/Wz7xkLx_xgI/AAAAAAAAIzU/IHIuhMkwG20QBxkNxejZDVu8byZ72exNgCLcBGAs/s200/Homeschool-Weekly-Blog-Link-UP-new.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">©2009-2018 Circling Through This Life. All rights reserved. Content, including text, photographs, graphics, artwork and all other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. www.circlingthroughthislife.com</div>Tesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10647426494359111497noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2400013537237976584.post-1316111893058486682018-04-10T03:59:00.000-07:002018-04-10T03:59:23.224-07:00Revisiting First Form Latin from Memoria Press {Crew Review}Way back on my 2nd year on the crew I reviewed <a href="https://www.memoriapress.com/curriculum/latin/first-form-latin/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">First Form Latin</a> from <a href="https://www.memoriapress.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Memoria Press</a>. I was so impressed that I purchased two additional student work books so my three "big" girls could study Latin together.<br />
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Boobear wanted to revisit Latin. She asked me if we could get a new student workbook so she could go through the program again. Her timing was perfect. Memoria Press generously included a new student workbook in my Crew Leader package. We already had the rest of the set and only needed the Student Book.<br />
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ozp-7tLOUW0/WslRZGk4ruI/AAAAAAAAIXA/ZRRr4y7crEEago4FdjhqMcJPPzrBKKoxwCLcBGAs/s1600/First-Form-Latin-Set.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="502" height="381" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ozp-7tLOUW0/WslRZGk4ruI/AAAAAAAAIXA/ZRRr4y7crEEago4FdjhqMcJPPzrBKKoxwCLcBGAs/s400/First-Form-Latin-Set.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Memoria Press recommends First Form Latin for grades 4-9. I think this age range works well if the younger students have completed Prima Latina or Latina Christiana. I believe this to be an excellent introduction to Latin for students in 6th grade and older including adults.<br />
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The Complete Set of materials includes:<br />
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<ul>
<li><b>Student Text</b> -- 9 x 7.5 inches. Each of the 34 lessons are are concisely presented on a two page spread. 120 pages. Includes 7 Appendices which cover things like Prayers, Latin Sayings, Grammar and more!</li>
<li><b>Student Workbook </b>- Full Size! There are between 4 and 6 worksheets per lesson. It is recommended to do every workbook exercise. The Student book states "it's almost impossible to practice Latin too much." Student Workbook includes Grammar Questions Appendix with instructions for Rapid-Fire Review</li>
<li><b>Teacher Manua</b>l -- Full size! The Lesson plans have the student text inset. The TM also includes teaching guidelines. Like the Student Text the Teacher Manual includes several appendices.</li>
<li><b>Quizzes & Tests booklet</b> -- Exactly what it says! Includes Quiz for every lesson and Unit Tests. These are perforated for ease of tearing sheets out. I love that feature!</li>
<li><b>Teacher Key</b> --- This includes answers to the workbook sheets, quizzes and unit tests!</li>
<li><b>Pronunciation CD</b> -- This includes all the vocabulary and grammar forms for each lesson. Very helpful when trying to do recitation!</li>
<li><b>Flashcards</b> -- When I received mine originally they were in sheets. These are very helpful for drilling!</li>
<li><b>DVDs</b> -- In this 3 DVD set, instructor Glen Moore walks you through each lesson. I believe that the DVD was the only reason we were successful the first time. Boobear did re-watch lessons to refresh her memory. </li>
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For how to use this more traditionally you can read<a href="http://www.circlingthroughthislife.com/2011/10/tos-review-first-form-latin-memoria.html" target="_blank"> my previous review of First Form Latin</a>. Be sure to also check out the other reviews currently being linked to the <a href="http://schoolhousereviewcrew.com/spelling-music-appreciation-latin-memoria-press-reviews/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Homeschool Review Crew Blog</a>.<br />
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I asked BooBear to share her experience revisiting First Form Latin. Here is what she had to say:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>When I was in high school, I did the First Form Latin program. I went through the course with my younger sisters at the same time and we would watch the lessons together and sometimes work on worksheets together or on our own. We would also drill vocabulary together. It was a wonderful bonding experience to study a foreign language together and helpful to have a study partner. When I went to college, I wanted to take more Latin as my foreign language in college, however, the way the courses were structured when I needed to take my language classes the 100 level Latin classes were not being offered. Instead I took German, but I found my Latin background extremely helpful. The way German’s conjugate verbs and their grammatical gender is similar to how Latin is. There were a lot of differences but understanding German grammar was much easier because I had studied Latin.</i></blockquote>
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<i> Now that I have graduated from college I have wanted to get back into Latin, however, I took Latin close to 6 years ago and I need to refresh my memory. So, I am reworking through First form Latin. I have been watching the lessons which are all short and easy to get through. Because I am working full time now, I have less time than I did in highschool to study Latin. The way first form is structured that makes it easy to work through a lesson when I can. One of the things that I really appreciate that has changed since the last time I took the course is the student workbook. It is so much nicer to have it be spiral bound. The flat binding was very irritating to work with because it didn’t lay flat and it felt like you had to beat the binding into submission in order to get it to work with you. The spiral binding is great to use at my desk in my bedroom. I can move between that and checking any grammar or vocabulary in the student text without worrying about the student workbook trying to close on me. It is also convenient to take outside and work on Latin in the sun. Or in the case of my often messy desk, I have limited space and being able to have it lay flat and not be as spread out. The upgrade to spiral binding is best thing about this.
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-p_fni_AZjUY/WsxSYbChZvI/AAAAAAAAIdw/H9_nFYGWRWAbuZLh1m42kKywWiMMLBdhwCLcBGAs/s1600/Lesson4CompletedWorksheet.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Completed Worksheet from Lesson 4 -First Form Latin" border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="800" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-p_fni_AZjUY/WsxSYbChZvI/AAAAAAAAIdw/H9_nFYGWRWAbuZLh1m42kKywWiMMLBdhwCLcBGAs/s400/Lesson4CompletedWorksheet.jpg" title="Completed Worksheet from Lesson 4 -First Form Latin" width="298" /></a></div>
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Unlike BooBear, Turtlegirl moved on to <a href="https://www.memoriapress.com/curriculum/latin/second-form-latin/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Second Form Latin</a> while still in high school. She too found that studying other foreign languages were easier because of her Latin Studies. Last summer when she got home from college, Turtlegirl began working through <a href="https://www.memoriapress.com/curriculum/latin/third-form-latin/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Third Form Latin</a>. I wrote about <a href="http://www.circlingthroughthislife.com/2017/07/still-learning-latin-crew-review.html" target="_blank">her experience using Third Form Latin</a>. She plans to continue on to <a href="https://www.memoriapress.com/curriculum/latin/fourth-form-latin/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Fourth Form Latin</a>.<br />
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Because there are so many benefits to studying Latin, I encourage other homeschooling families to study Latin. I recommend using the materials from Memoria Press.<br />
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In addition to offering Latin, Memoria Press also has a brand new <a href="https://www.memoriapress.com/curriculum/art-and-music/music-appreciation-i-set/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Music Appreciation I</a> course and brand new spelling programs: <a href="https://www.memoriapress.com/curriculum/phonics-and-early-reading/traditional-spelling-i/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Traditional Spelling I </a>and <a href="https://www.memoriapress.com/curriculum/phonics-and-early-reading/traditional-spelling-ii/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Traditional Spelling II</a>. Watch my blog for how I am using Traditional Spelling I with Supergirl but in the meantime visit the Homeschool Review Crew to read reviews of the different Music, Latin, and Spelling programs from <a href="https://www.memoriapress.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Memoria Press</a>.<br />
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<br /><div class="blogger-post-footer">©2009-2018 Circling Through This Life. All rights reserved. Content, including text, photographs, graphics, artwork and all other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. www.circlingthroughthislife.com</div>Tesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10647426494359111497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2400013537237976584.post-44575065355656550932018-04-05T12:06:00.000-07:002018-04-05T12:55:38.426-07:00Planning a Different Kind of Graduation Ceremony {Homeschool Diploma Review}If you are a regular reader of my blog then you know that I have four daughters. Three of my beautiful girls have graduated from our home school. The oldest has even graduated from a local university with her Bachelor's Degree. My fourth daughter, who is actually my 2nd oldest is on her own path. Medically fragile and developmentally delayed she's on the "we'll keep homeschooling as long as she keeps making progress plan" which means that she may never actually have a high school graduation.<br />
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When her third sister graduated she began to ask about her own graduation. We came up with a plan. When she finished Level C of her reading program or reaches the equivalent reading level she can have a graduation.<br />
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When I found out that the Homeschool Review Crew would have the option of reviewing the <a href="https://www.homeschooldiploma.com/graduation-apparel/kindergarten-graduation-caps-and-gowns.html?utm_source=tos&utm_campaign=tos_crew_review_2018" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Cap, Gown, Tassel and Diploma</a> package for kindergarten from <a href="https://www.homeschooldiploma.com/?utm_source=tos&utm_campaign=tos_crew_review_2018" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Homschool Diploma</a> I started thinking this could be the motivation we need to make this happen.<br />
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<img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="800" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-yzEJnn08obI/WsGsW-b09II/AAAAAAAAIRg/o3h742g12wErVBSspeyncTfn4maA88HbQCLcBGAs/s320/CuteSupergirlCapGown.jpg" width="239" /></div>
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Supergirl isn't just mentally developmentally delayed. She's physically delayed as well. At 20 years old she is just at the beginning of puberty. She is tiny but would the K sized cap and gown work for her? I checked out the sizing on the gowns and yes the largest size they offer, size 36, is for those who are 4'3" to 4'5". The sizes are based on the actual height of the graduate from top of head to floor. You will want to measure your graduate with the shoes that will wear for graduation as that will affect their height. Because of her short stature the gowns for older students graduating from high school would be far too big. I love that she gets to have a real cap and gown like her sisters did and that it fits her.<br />
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Ordering was super easy! First pick your gown color. There are three choices: Royal, White, and Red. Supergirl wanted green. She was disappointed that green, her favorite color wasn't an option. She chose Royal because "Twinnie's graduation was blue." For some reason Turtlegirl has become Twinnie. I mean they are twins so it makes sense but it's only been recently that Supergirl began talking about "my Twinnie."<br />
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After choosing the color, you are taken to a short order form. For an additional cost you can choose an optional Kinder V-stole. I choose not order one of those. I didn't order one for Turtlegirl when I ordered her cap and gown in 2016. Boo Bear didn't have one when we borrowed a cap and gown for her ceremony.<br />
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The Kindergarten Diploma is optional. You can include it at no charge. The design you receive may vary. It is a full 8 1/2 x 11 inches and it feels like magazine paper. Mine arrived tucked between two stiff, thick pieces of cardstock for protection. This is high quality and is definitely a keepsake to treasure.<br />
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<img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="300" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-AmrovuJrZmg/WsZv7cgtHXI/AAAAAAAAIVM/jqa7-Qv0vT8slFfY8dkkKmDgL5TBelZSACLcBGAs/s400/AdorableKindergartenDiploma.jpg" width="400" /></div>
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Then you choose your size. Gowns are sized by height. Next select your tassel. They have 40 color combinations to choose from! Guess what color she wanted. Did you say green? Yep. She wanted green. I talked into in a green and white one with a silver clasp. We got a 2018 charm.<br />
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Unlike the 8th Grade and High School Diplomas the Kindergarten Diplomas are not customized. You must fill the name of the student and where it is presented and there is a line to sign and date it. It is adorable. I'm including an image of the one on the website so you can see the another design as mine shown above is different.<br />
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The <a href="https://www.homeschooldiploma.com/kindergarten-diploma.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Kindergarten Diploma</a> is available for purchase separately if you want the diploma but do not need a cap and gown.<br />
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I won't be giving the beautiful Kindergarten Diploma to Supergirl though because hers is not a Kindergarten graduation. It's not a high school graduation so the <a href="https://www.homeschooldiploma.com/standard-diploma-details.html?utm_source=tos&utm_campaign=tos_crew_review_2018" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Standard Diploma</a> won't work and neither will the <a href="https://www.homeschooldiploma.com/eighth-grade-or-junior-high-diploma.html?utm_source=tos&utm_campaign=tos_crew_review_2018" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">8th Grade</a>. I am not sure what we will do but I will want it to be as beautiful and special as her sisters' diplomas are.<br />
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I do not know when we'll have her ceremony because it is a reward for reaching a goal. She's on her own timetable so it could be this summer or we could be looking at a Fall Graduation like some colleges do. I do know that Daddy will give a speech just like he did for the other three girls. We'll get all dressed up and we'll go out to dinner. We may even have an "open house" and invite a few close family friends to celebrate with us. She'll have her moment to celebrate her achievements of reaching an academic goal just like her sisters!<br />
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If you are looking for a High School Diploma check out my review from earlier this where where I discuss <a href="http://www.circlingthroughthislife.com/2018/04/diplomas-for-your-homeschool-graduate.html" target="_blank">the Personalized and Standard Diplomas</a>. We have a few crew members who also reviewed Caps and Gowns and a few more who reviewed 8th Grade Diplomas. Be sure to visit the <a href="http://schoolhousereviewcrew.com/diplomas-caps-gowns-for-your-graduates-homeschool-diploma-reviews/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Homeschool Review Crew blog</a> to read about the other options for your homeschool graduates!<br />
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<div class="blogger-post-footer">©2009-2018 Circling Through This Life. All rights reserved. Content, including text, photographs, graphics, artwork and all other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. www.circlingthroughthislife.com</div>Tesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10647426494359111497noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2400013537237976584.post-67705707153846404712018-04-03T06:12:00.000-07:002018-04-03T06:12:54.075-07:00Diplomas for your Homeschool Graduate! {Review}Yes, my three big girls have all graduated from our home school. In 2013 when BooBear graduated, we didn't have a beautiful professional diploma to give her. We did a small ceremony and printed out a nice piece of paper to give her. Her dad gave a really touching speech.<br />
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In 2016, the Homeschool Review Crew had the opportunity to review a high school diploma from <a href="https://www.homeschooldiploma.com/?utm_source=tos&utm_campaign=tos_crew_review_2018" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Homeschool Diploma</a>. I received a <a href="https://www.homeschooldiploma.com/personalized-diploma-details.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Personalized Diploma</a> for Turtlegirl and I purchased a <a class="bbc_link" href="https://www.homeschooldiploma.com/standard-diploma-details.html?utm_source=tos&utm_campaign=tos_crew_review_2018" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Standard Diploma</a> for Boo Bear.<br />
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In 2017 Tailorbear graduated and I had every intention of purchasing a diploma for her. My husband and I had talked about it. We were so impressed with the quality of the diplomas and the service provided by Homeschool Diploma but I procrastinated. I kept putting it off and putting it off. I am pretty sure I win the loser mom of the year award for not having it for her at graduation.<br />
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<img border="0" data-original-height="907" data-original-width="800" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-oXrHGEO4um4/WsMKNInatbI/AAAAAAAAITM/2n1FnWfFVrA3kas2lT4cR_AG8Zb8sky1QCLcBGAs/s320/TailorBearDiplomaCover.jpg" width="282" /></div>
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We then found out that the Homeschool Review Crew would have the opportunity to review Homeschool Diploma again. Tailorbear was excited when I told her that mom now had the kick in the pants to order her a diploma. Did she want the Standard Diploma? Did she want the Personalized One? We actually pulled out her sisters' diplomas and looked at them. She said she didn't have a preference but I decided I preferred the options available with the Personalized Diploma.<br />
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Homeschool Diploma offers their High School Diplomas in two sizes 8.5 x 11 and 6 x 8. We chose the larger size for each of the girls. Homeschool Diploma also offers a savings when buying multiple diplomas. This is available for both Standard and Personalized and for both sizes.<br />
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Both diplomas can be customized with graduate information, location, date of graduation. Both diplomas have a center seal. With the Standard Diploma you only have three choices of embossed foil seals. With the Personalized Diploma you have those same three seals plus an additional choice of five engraved seals. There is an additional cost for the engraved seals.<br />
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Another major difference between the standard and the personalized is wording. With standard you do not have a choice. You can customize the personalize one with several different wording options. There are four options each with two to three choices.<br />
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<img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="300" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9R6S34_v9dg/WsMPFPXKOVI/AAAAAAAAITc/HJluyAT8iO4PbHhGOwjdQZRrn67NWEcewCLcBGAs/s400/TailorbearDiploma.jpg" width="400" /></div>
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The Personalized Diploma overs an optional Verse or Motto and customized signature lines. The Standard version has two signature lines. One is labeled Administrator and the other Instructor. Withe Personalized for both Turtlegirl and Tailorbear we chose to put Administrator under both lines.<br />
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Either Standard or Personalized will give you a choice between Ivory and Cream paper but only with the Personalized will you be able to choose, for additional cost, optional hand calligraphy. We did not choose the hand calligraphy for either of the girls.<br />
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For a small additional cost you can add an honors seal to either diploma. One of the things I loved bout ordering was the link to a chart to help decide which honors seal we should choose. I was thankful that this was available for all diplomas. While I could have gotten an honors seal for Tailorbear she chose not to have one.<br />
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Here you can see the High Honors seal on BooBear's diploma:<br />
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Both diplomas offer 7 colors and 8 designs for the cover. Here is Turtlgirl from her 2016 high school graduation. Yes she is wearing a cap and gown from Homeschool Diploma but sadly that particular style is no longer available. She choose a black cover.<br />
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For each of our girls we had a simple family only ceremony. We decorated the house. We all got dressed up. The graduate got to wear a cap and gown. Honeybear as Father and Principal gave a speech. Each year those speeches have made me cry. He would spend some time working on them jotting down things very specific to the graduate.<br />
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<img border="0" data-original-height="598" data-original-width="800" height="239" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-G7kDGhMLlyY/WsMEoO5AnsI/AAAAAAAAIS0/3a5PzcBZnzYCgtpk4nYHfnq17Zfz3E5UQCLcBGAs/s320/TailorbeaDadGraduationSpeech.jpg" width="320" /></div>
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We are so blessed that Honeybear's parents could fly out each time to be part of the special celebration. After the speech and the photos we would all go out to dinner at special restaurant. Graduation is a milestone event and we wanted each girl to have a special memory of the event.<br />
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<img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="800" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4OWoH2jwAOQ/WsMJqMY81gI/AAAAAAAAITE/rjrhlgmjjrcdcrU72pUG5WKyR-djzfYngCLcBGAs/s320/BeautifulTailorbearGraduationDay.jpg" width="239" /></div>
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These diplomas are very professional. Having a professionally done diploma is important. It's not just a piece of paper. It represents an achievement. It's opens doors for further education and meaningful employment. Thanks to Homeschool Diploma each of my graduates have a beautiful diploma to commemorate their achievement.<br />
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<a href="https://www.homeschooldiploma.com/?utm_source=tos&utm_campaign=tos_crew_review_2018" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Homeschool Diploma</a> offers an <a href="https://www.homeschooldiploma.com/eighth-grade-or-junior-high-diploma.html?utm_source=tos&utm_campaign=tos_crew_review_2018" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">8th Grade Diploma</a>, and a <a href="https://www.homeschooldiploma.com/graduation-apparel/kindergarten-graduation-caps-and-gowns.html?utm_source=tos&utm_campaign=tos_crew_review_2018" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Cap, Gown, Tassel and Diploma</a> package for kindergarten. Looking for Graduation Announcements or Thank Yous? They offer those as well.<br />
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Some crew members reviewed high school diplomas. We even have a few who reviewed caps & gowns for their graduate. Visit the <a href="http://schoolhousereviewcrew.com/diplomas-caps-gowns-for-your-graduates-homeschool-diploma-reviews/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Homeschool Review Crew Blog </a>to read more reviews!<br />
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<div class="blogger-post-footer">©2009-2018 Circling Through This Life. All rights reserved. Content, including text, photographs, graphics, artwork and all other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. www.circlingthroughthislife.com</div>Tesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10647426494359111497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2400013537237976584.post-2134844373159604272018-03-31T18:48:00.000-07:002018-03-31T20:45:36.732-07:00Supergirl and Lazarus SaturdayToday the majority of Eastern Orthodox Christians celebrate Lazarus Saturday. For Western Christians today is Holy Saturday, the day after Good Friday and the day before the great feast of the Resurrection of Our Lord and Savior.<br />
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I've written about <a href="http://www.circlingthroughthislife.com/2015/04/lazarus-saturday-dead-will-be-alive.html" target="_blank">Lazarus Saturday</a> before. My last post that was just about Lazarus Saturday I shared the hymn <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=ycDTHJyr5sg" target="_blank">Rejoice O Bethany</a> because I had been mediating how how Lazarus's resurrection is a foreshadowing of Our Lord's rising from the dead but also meditating on how we are made alive in Christ.<br />
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Today though I experience Lazarus Saturday through the perspective of Supergirl.<br />
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<img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="800" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-KN4J133tKXA/WsAwRJNNH5I/AAAAAAAAINU/ocLZJWK-elA_phSygfEcz9hfRmI63eU3gCLcBGAs/s320/SupergirlLazarusSaturday2018.jpg" width="239" /></div>
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It started on Friday:<br />
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From the backseat: "When will we put Jesus on the cross? Is that this weekend?"<br />
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Me: "No dear. This weekend is Lazarus Saturday and Palm Sunday. But this week will be Holy Week. The 12 Gospels service will be on Thursday"<br />
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** Note the service that is served on Holy Thursday evening in the 12 Gospels Matins. We have 12 gospel readings that that us through the Passion of Christ and at the appropriate point cross is brought out an an icon of Christ is hung upon the cross.<br />
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Then this morning at church: "Mama! Where is the purple? I don't see the purple."<br />
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The cloths that line the altar and the stands are purple during Lent. For Lazarus Saturday they are gold. The priests and altar servers were purple during Great Lent and they switch back to gold for Lazarus Saturday.<br />
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I explain: "Oh well Lazarus Saturday falls out outside of Lent. Lent ended yesterday so today we have gold. Do you know what color tomorrow will be?"<br />
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Mantha: "Green! Palm Sunday is green!"<br />
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She grins from ear to ear because green is her favorite color.<br />
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A little while later we are singing:<br />
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"As many as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ." She has two questions this time:<br />
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"Mama, will we see sing this on Pascha? When do we put Jesus on the Cross again?"<br />
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She is really hung up on putting Jesus on the cross but I think I understand why. You see if he doesn't go up on the cross, he can't come down. He can't go into the tomb and he can't rise again. She very patiently explains that he will live again. He is living now and he will live again.<br />
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She also commented on the fact that we did not sing Rejoice O Bethany. I told her that we didn't have enough choir members and we would listen to it on You Tube when we got home. She then remarked, "but we'll sing it tomorrow." Yes peanut we will.<br />
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From the second to the last verse of Rejoice O Bethany:<br />
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To Thee O Lord of Creation<br />
We kneel down in rev'rence profound reve'rence profound<br />
For all we who are dead in sin<br />
in Thee, O Jesus are made alive<br />
We are made alive! We are made alive!<br />
For all we who are dead in sin<br />
in Thee, O Jesus are made alive!<br />
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For my readers who celebrate the resurrection of Our Lord and Savior tomorrow Blessed Feast Day! For my readers who celebrate Palm Sunday tomorrow Blessed Feast Day!
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<div class="blogger-post-footer">©2009-2018 Circling Through This Life. All rights reserved. Content, including text, photographs, graphics, artwork and all other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. www.circlingthroughthislife.com</div>Tesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10647426494359111497noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2400013537237976584.post-49096502269244726362018-03-28T11:07:00.000-07:002018-03-28T11:12:15.146-07:00Captain No Beard ~ another treasure from Carole P. Roman {Crew Review}A couple of days ago I shared about how Supergirl and I are using Carole P. Roman's Cultural Series as the spine for our geography studies. Today I want to introduce you to another <a href="http://www.caroleproman.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Carole P. Roman</a> series: Captain No Beard.<br />
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<a href="http://www.amzn.com/Carole-P.-Roman/e/B008ZOXI0W" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Carole P. Roman books and collections</a> include the Cultural If You Were Me and Lived in . . . series, the Historical If You Were Me and Lived in . . . series, Chapter books, Bedtime Stories, and of course Captain No Beard. There are currently 10 volumes in this delightful series about a boy and his imagination. We do not own them all and we did not read them in order except that we did start with volume 1. I am going to introduce you to four of these treasures today.<br />
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<h4>
Captain No Beard</h4>
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The first volume is simply titled <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Captain-No-Beard-Imaginary-Pirates/dp/1478151706/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Captain No Beard</a> but has a subtitle of An Imaginary Tale of a Pirates Life. In this book we are introduced to Captain No Beard, his cousin First Mate Hallie, Mongo the Monkey, Linus the lion and Fribbet the Frog. We learn that Captain No Beard lives on an island and with his crew they sail the mighty frigate the Flying Dragon. A name he chose because it sounded scary. We learn a bit of pirate talk and sailing terms such as "shiver me timbers" and "swab the decks." The pirates are looking for treasure, run into a storm and encounter a mermaid.<br />
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Supergirl said her favorite part was when mom called out "You'll have to clean all this up before dinner," and then joined the fun by presenting them with a treasure of cookies.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>"Did I hear you say you were looking for treasure?" She lowered a plate filled with golden cookies. "I come bearing doubloons. Just don't leave any crumbs, me hearties."</i></blockquote>
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<h4>
Strangers on the High Seas</h4>
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I think <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Captain-No-Beard-Strangers-Story-ebook/dp/B013K9AV4M/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Strangers on the High Seas</a> is Supergirl's favorite. I let her choose which 4 books to include in the review and she said "you have to do the one with the baby." This book introduces a new crew member: Cabin Girl Cayla who just happens to be Alexander er um Captain No Beard's baby sister. You can tell Cayla is new. She makes the mistake of calling Captain No Beard Alexander. In this conversation we learn that Captain No Beard is in charge of Cayla today and he doesn't like it. But he and the rest of the crew learn that she is just as valuable a crew member as any of them when she says them from the strangers on the Shark Bait. The book teaches in a gentle but fun way about stranger danger. It's a great way to talk with young children about what to do if a stranger tries to talk to you and you feel uneasy.<br />
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<img alt="Four of the books from the Captain No Beard series by Carole P. Roman" border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="300" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RKVitsQjDO8/WrvYDNHh4JI/AAAAAAAAIL0/3VUyqIOaBWM2ehFPG50SbmA1tquZy6dUACLcBGAs/s400/CaptainNoBeardCovers.jpg" title="Four of the books from the Captain No Beard series by Carole P. Roman" width="400" /></div>
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<h4>
The Treasure of Snake Island</h4>
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As a literature loving family I think <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Treasure-Snake-Island-Captain-Beard-ebook/dp/B073RW8YNY/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Treasure of Snake Island</a> could easily be my favorite. A beautiful and colorful sunrise prompts Polly the Parrot to make an observation and from there the crew begins to ask Polly about books. Captain No Beard pulls a treasure map out of his pocket and they are off to find the x that marks the spot. They work together to find the x and dig until they find something. When they open the treasure chest they find the greatest of treasure: books! "That there be the greatest treasure of them all, Captain!"<br />
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<h4>
A Flag for the Flying Dragon</h4>
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This one caught Supergirl's eye because of the baby on the cover. She noticed right away that this baby looked different from Cabin Girl Cayla. I noticed that this book which is volume 9 in the series is thicker than the others.<br />
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This time the Captain is pondering <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Flag-Flying-Dragon-Captain-Beard-ebook/dp/B073RVVWLM/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">A Flag for the Flying Dragon</a>. He wants it to be perfect. A new member has joined the crew and he doesn't have a job. Each member of the crew has job. First Mate Hallie swabs the deck. Cabin Girl Cayla fills holes on the deck. Linus the lion polished a huge lamp and so on except for Zachary. First he tries helping Mongo the Monkey and one by one tries to help each crew member but with disastrous results. Finally Captain No Beard finds an important job for Zachary and he has a flag for the Flying Dragon. Peace is restored to the crew. "It was probably the most beautiful flag in the world. It united his crew."<br />
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<h4>
Supergirl's Thoughts:</h4>
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>My favorite is the Strangers on the High Seas. Captain No Beard was worried about his sister falling off. She said she would be careful but called him Alexander and Captain No Beard had told her to call him Captain No Beard. It's my favorite because I like the baby sister. I like that Captain No Beard became Alexander again and the ship became his room and he called his mom the Admiral and asked her to report to the poop deck for a diaper change for the baby.<br />My next favorite is A Flag for the Flying Dragon because Cayla is in it and she is a big girl now and she has two cousins now on the crew. Zachary joins the crew. He is a baby and his big sister is First Mate Hallie. They need to find something to do with Zachary.<br />I love the books and I love cuddling with my mom when she reads them.</i></blockquote>
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<img alt="Supergirl holding her two favorite Captain No Beard books" border="0" data-original-height="608" data-original-width="800" height="303" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-K_sZjko8PL4/WrvWh5XTgnI/AAAAAAAAILo/lsTE3a3byxkLQ3ZEPFmISIYe1E7GCQ3EwCEwYBhgL/s400/ManthaHoldingBooks.jpg" title="Supergirl holding her two favorite Captain No Beard books" width="400" /></div>
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<h4>
<i>My </i>Thoughts</h4>
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I love these books. They are fun to read aloud and they remind me how important imaginative play is to children's development. Play is work. Even in these stories we see that children test out and explore real concepts in the safe place of their imagination.<br />
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I love that at the end of each book the Flying Dragon transforms back into Alexander's bedroom. I love how mom is the mermaid in one book and the Admiral in another.<br />
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The concept makes me feel warm inside as I remember my own children and their imaginative play. I've enjoyed snuggling with Supergirl and hearing her giggle as I say "arrrgh" or "shiver me timbers" and she fills in the rest of the sentence when I say "being a captain is . . . " she immediately responds "hard work." She loves that we have been taking time to snuggle on the couch to read and enjoy fun, not school related, books. They've become part of our bedtime routine.<br />
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I recommend these books. If you don't have children in the 3-8 years old range you'll want these books available to read when babysitting or for grandchildren or nieces and nephews.<br />
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Quality children's books are timeless. Carole P. Roman writes quality children's books be sure to check out some of her titles from other series such as <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Oh-Susannah-Things-That-Story-ebook/dp/B0743JL9LY/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Oh Susannah: Things That Go Bump</a> from the Chapter book series or <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Rocket-Bye-Carole-P-Roman/dp/1530243378/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Rocket-Bye</a> from the Bedtime Stories.<br />
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Check out my reviews of these books from the Cultural Series: From the Old Schoolhouse Product Reviews: <a href="http://www.theoldschoolhouse.com/product-reviews/?rid=5483" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">If you Were Me and Lived in . . . {India, Kenya, Turkey</a> From my blog: <a href="http://www.circlingthroughthislife.com/2013/11/if-you-were-me-and-lived-in-book-series.html" target="_blank">If You Were Me and Lived in . . .{France, Mexico, South Korea, Norway}</a>, and from earlier this week: <a href="http://www.circlingthroughthislife.com/2018/03/introducing-children-to-culture-around.html" target="_blank">If You Were me and Lived in . . .{Germany, China, Russia}</a>.<br />
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The Homeschool Review Crew reviewed different combinations of books from the different collections. Be sure to visit them to read about more Carole P. Roman books!<br />
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Check out Award Winning Author Carole P. Roman on Social Media:<br />
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<li>Facebook: <a href="http://www.facebook.com/CarolePRomanAwardWinningAuthorAndBooks" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Carole P. Roman Award Winning Author</a></li>
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<div class="blogger-post-footer">©2009-2018 Circling Through This Life. All rights reserved. Content, including text, photographs, graphics, artwork and all other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. www.circlingthroughthislife.com</div>Tesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10647426494359111497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2400013537237976584.post-62117829764486178922018-03-26T04:00:00.000-07:002018-03-26T04:00:27.955-07:00Introducing Children to Culture Around The World ~ Carole P. Roman {Review}I was first introduced to <a href="http://www.caroleproman.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Carole P. Roman</a> in 2013 when <a href="http://www.circlingthroughthislife.com/2013/11/if-you-were-me-and-lived-in-book-series.html" target="_blank">we reviewed</a> first 4 books available in the If You Were Me and Lived in . . . A Child's Introduction to Culture Around the World. We fell in love with them. I had the opportunity to review 3 more titles for <a href="http://www.theoldschoolhouse.com/product-reviews/?rid=5483" target="_blank">The Old Schoolhouse Product Reviews</a> and as a Crew Leader I've been adding to my collection.<br />
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We love the <a href="http://www.amzn.com/Carole-P.-Roman/e/B008ZOXI0W" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Carole P. Roman books and collections</a> so I want to share a few more titles from her culture series with you.<br />
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These books are perfect when studying geography. Geography is more than just learning where a country is on a map but also learning more about the people, customs, and culture of that country or region. Our geography lessons go in fits and spurts but these If You Were Me and Lived in . . . books are my go to spines.<br />
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<img alt="Carol P. Roman books are fantastic for introduction to geography!" border="0" data-original-height="652" data-original-width="800" height="325" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6t7lGuldAY0/WrhRJwXHTyI/AAAAAAAAIHs/uNOEurOXXy80pTKHJrRH28wmmBadWjBiwCLcBGAs/s400/CarolePRomanBookCovers.jpg" title="Carol P. Roman books are fantastic for introduction to geography!" width="400" /></div>
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We study geography in spurts alternating with spurts of history and science. We do have a geography course that we are using and I chose <a href="https://www.amazon.com/You-Were-Lived-China-Introduction/dp/1511440848/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">If You Were Me and Lived in .. . China</a> as that was one of the countries covered in our Year 1 course. I choose <a href="https://www.amazon.com/you-were-lived-Russia-Introduction/dp/1493781987/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">If You Were Me and Lived in . . . Russia</a> because we have several Russian families at church and our church has a rich Slavonic history. I let Supergirl choose a third one and she choose <a href="https://www.amazon.com/You-Were-Lived-Germany-Introduction/dp/1539135942/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">If You Were Me and Lived in . . . Germany</a>. She chose it because "I was born in Germany!"<br />
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Each of these books follow a similar pattern. The first page is a map showing the country and the capital city. The next two page spread introduces the country and it's location in the world. Next you're introduced to the capital city. After learning a bit about the capital city you then learn about children's name and from this point you learn about the culture and people from the perspective of "if you were . . ." These books cover children's names, and what they call your parents. You'll learn about some of the places to visit and what kinds of toys and games children play. You'll learn about the currency and the book introduces you to the kinds of food you would eat. Each of the three we read for this review had information about an important cultural festival.<br />
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The books also introduce children to the language of the country and thankfully includes pronunciation guides. I very much appreciate that these books have the pronunciation in right in the text as well as a pronunciation guide in the back.<br />
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<h4>
If You Were Me and Lived in . . . Germany</h4>
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We started our geography spurt with Germany because it was the one that most excited Supergirl. With this book our tour guide is a little boy. The book is then told from perspective of if you were that little boy. "When your Tante and Onkel come to visit, your sister always wants to take them to see Neuschwanstein Castle." Later you read "you remind Papa you have to rush home to watch Fussball."<br />
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When I read about how Tante was born in America Supergirl immediately piped up with "She was born in America but I was born in Germany!" She thought it amusing that the aunt was living in Germany but was born in America and she lives in America but was born in Germany.<br />
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<img alt="We colored a German Flag for our Geography Notebook" border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="800" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7dToH51a_94/WrhuMQ5ycEI/AAAAAAAAIII/atpiVoKdqmgTDUNlXhRYTPovXDB1K3zfACLcBGAs/s400/SupergirlColorsGermanFlag.jpg" title="We colored a German Flag for our Geography Notebook" width="298" /></div>
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When we read about Fussball she declared that she preferred basketball over soccer and wanted to know if they have basketball in Germany.<br />
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Germany is a little different from the other titles I've read in that it has a list of 5 facts about Germany. It presented as a report that the boy asks his father to help him with.<br />
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In addition to discussing the information presented in the books we colored a map of Germany and labeled a few cities and we colored a German Flag. One of my geography resources has a great summary page with a map so we filled that out as much as we could from just the book and added all those things to our Geography Notebook.<br />
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<h4>
If You Were Me and Lived in . . . China</h4>
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Supergirl chose China to be next on mini-tour. She said she would not want to live in China. I couldn't get a clear reason why but I think it was because China has so many people. She said "because I am shy." I thought she would get super excited about the different types of food but she was more excited about the mentioning of basketball though she did tell me that she would be willing to try fried ice cream.<br />
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<img alt="We did a coloring page related to China to go along with our book!" border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="800" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6nTH902PYwg/Wrhs3BXGpgI/AAAAAAAAIH8/VgPkTJ38BDgt7f5n9i4IWbNgBQJa16yZwCLcBGAs/s400/SupergirlColorsChinaStatue.jpg" title="We did a coloring page related to China to go along with our book!" width="298" /></div>
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One of things I noticed right away when reading this book is that it has lot more text per page then the German and Russian books. China is very large with different climates and the food is different depending on the region. I love that Ms Roman addressed that by talking about a dish or two from each major region. I recognized the dishes and the style from Mandarin to Cantonese as well as Szechuan and Shanghai. I love how she wove those all in using family.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>When you visit your cousins in the south, you would enjoy a Cantonese dinner with stir fried rice with sweet and sour pork. Grandma, who might live in the southwest, would cook in the Szexhuan style, which would be very spicy and include a lot of chili peppers.</i></blockquote>
Yes reading that page made me very hungry and started a craving for some Chinese take-out. Supergirl was immediately asking "what's for dinner?" <br />
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<h4>
If You Were Me and Lived in . . . Russia</h4>
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Russia did not give as much information about climate as China did but it did acknowledge the vastness of the country and pointed out that there are nine different time zones.<br />
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We looked at photos on the internet of St. Basil's Cathedral and talked about how maybe Fr John visited it when we traveled to Moscow. She didn't recognize any of the Russian names though I know we have a Maxim.<br />
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<img border="0" data-original-height="804" data-original-width="800" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fTgz4KtPDdg/Wrhx8rnAUiI/AAAAAAAAIJI/5RTeqkHF6p4mlbdFdzYNuodkcokgF8BBQCLcBGAs/s320/RussiaSummary.jpg" width="318" /></div>
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When we read about piroshky in the book I thought of the deep friend bread dough stuffed with ground beef, onions, and cheese. We get these at the State Fair. In my mind they are different from pierogies which are more like little dumplings. Piroshky is pronounced the same as pierogie. When we talked about how we always eat pierogies on Christmas Eve Samantha wanted to know if we could have them for Pascha. I didn't tell her that she could try caviar next week. It is a Slavic tradition to eat caviar on Lazarus Saturday which is the day before Palm Sunday. In case you ever want to know: the orange caviar is not so good. The black caviar? Much better. Different fish; different taste. Just sayin'. I think I'll be skipping the caviar this year.<br />
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<b>Using These for School</b><br />
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Depending on how much you want to add or how deeply you want to explore you could do one book a week. Here's my ideal layout:<br />
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Day 1: Read the book. Take time with it. Pause and look at the pictures and discuss the book. Ms. Roman includes questions like "can you guess what do you think a wawa is?" or "Do you have a game like that too?"<br />
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Day 2: Do some map work. Find the country on the map or explore a globe. Color the country on a map. Depending on age and interest of student you can mark mountains, bodies of water, and major cities in the country. You could also color a picture of the flag or save that to do the next day<br />
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Day 3: Using the internet or other resources explore a topic from the book such as learn more about the Great Wall of China or try a food from the country.<br />
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Day 4: Do a craft or coloring project or if you didn't do the flag do it here.<br />
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Day 5: Read and enjoy the book again.<br />
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These are fabulous, fun, and educational books. They can be simply enjoyed on their own and Supergirl loves to just look through them.<br />
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Another fun and educational series are the If You Were Me and Lived in . . . historical series. We'll be adding <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Were-Lived-Colonial-America-Civilizations/dp/1523234075/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">If You Were Me and Lived in . . . Colonial America</a> to our American History Studies. We also enjoyed <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Were-Lived-Renaissance-Italy-Civilizations/dp/152323427X/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">If You Were Me and Lived in . . . Renaissance Italy</a>.<br />
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<a href="http://www.caroleproman.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Carole P. Roman </a>has written many other books such as the <a href="http://www.amzn.com/Carole-P.-Roman/e/B008ZOXI0W" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Captain No Beard </a>series, Bedtime Stories, and even a couple of beginning chapter books. Be sure to visit the Homeschool Review Crew blog and scroll down to read more reviews!
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<div class="blogger-post-footer">©2009-2018 Circling Through This Life. All rights reserved. Content, including text, photographs, graphics, artwork and all other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. www.circlingthroughthislife.com</div>Tesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10647426494359111497noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2400013537237976584.post-62207425760991606152018-01-23T18:45:00.000-08:002018-01-23T18:45:49.102-08:00It's Tuesday Mama!Today like many other weeks Supergirl looked up at me and said "It's Tuesday Mama! You're supposed to call your mom." And like many weeks since October she goes on to say "but you can't cause she's gone."<br />
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Sometimes I can't tell if she brings it up because she misses my mom? Maybe she brings it up because it was part of the routine we had. She very rarely got to talk to Nana on the phone but she was always very excited when I told her that yes I would tell Nana about this or that or the other thing that Supergirl was convinced that Nana needed to know in order for all to be right in the world.<br />
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It's been a couple of weeks since she commented on it being a Tuesday and that I call my mom on Tuesdays. I don't know if is because something made her think of her Nana today.<br />
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Sometimes she'll see me crying and she'll say "you miss your mom don't you." Yes, peanut I do. A lot.<br />
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She continued her conversation with "who will do school with me if you die?" Huh? I tried to brush it off. "Well let's just not have me die ok?"<br />
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"but Mama, I'm just saying what if you do?"<br />
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"Well maybe Turlegirl can do school with you then."<br />
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"But mama, she's already away doing her own school."<br />
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I saved by the bell. The timer of the microwave dinged and her Pirate Killing Soup was heated through.<br />
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We all grieve in different ways and sometimes I forget that my children are grieving too. It doesn't help that today is the 3 month anniversary of the funeral. I wonder if she had some type of internal timer.<br />
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We all miss her. The girls miss their Nana. I miss my Mama. Memory Eternal Mama. I love you!<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>My Mama with Tailorbear and Supergirl May 2000</i></span></div>
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<br /><div class="blogger-post-footer">©2009-2018 Circling Through This Life. All rights reserved. Content, including text, photographs, graphics, artwork and all other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. www.circlingthroughthislife.com</div>Tesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10647426494359111497noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2400013537237976584.post-10446146234694012562017-12-15T12:20:00.000-08:002017-12-15T12:20:28.260-08:00Where have I been? A Random Five style UpdateI know I've been missing. I only wrote a handful of posts in 2017 and most of those were reviews I wrote for the Homeschool Review Crew.<br />
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I mostly blamed my blogging silence on being too busy. But I think the real reason goes much much deeper.<br />
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2017 was a hard year for me. Harder than I want to admit. And it was busier. Yes I was very busy with homeschooling and doing the Crew but the busyness of 2017 was different. Harder. It's taken so much more out of me.<br />
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I'd be lying if I didn't say that I was worried about 2018. The new level of normal busyness doesn't seem to be slowing down at all but I'm hoping I can learn to manage it better.<br />
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In the style of Random Five on Friday here's a rundown of what's happened in the last year:<br />
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1) December of 2016 ~ very near the end of the month, my older brother passed away. I intend to blog about this sometime maybe. <br />
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2) Supergirl got very very very sick. She was diagnosed with Protein Losing Enteropathy or PLE a complication of being HLHS post Fontan. She also didn't want to walk anymore. This turned our world upside down. PLE crisis has resolved and she's stable. We've had 6 months of OT and PT. She has spiffy new green custom built for her wheelchair. <br />
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3) BooBear graduated from university. This most definitely needs a dedicated blog post if for no other reason for me to gush and post pictures. I am so proud of her! But the month of May was so busy with her finishing up! <br />
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4) Tailorbear graduated from high school! So busy trying to get things figured out for her to attend a local technical college and so in September she started a new job and a new school. The Taxi Driving keeps us all busy. <br />
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5) My Mama went into hospice and I went into denial. Mama passed away on October 16. I still don't think I'm ready to talk about it. Memory Eternal Mama I miss you so much.<br />
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I do hope to post more regularly in 2018. My blog might be less about homeschooling and more about random bits of my life but since I am still homeschooling Supergirl and still part of the Crew I am sure that I will still be talking about homeschooling.<br />
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<br /><div class="blogger-post-footer">©2009-2018 Circling Through This Life. All rights reserved. Content, including text, photographs, graphics, artwork and all other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. www.circlingthroughthislife.com</div>Tesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10647426494359111497noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2400013537237976584.post-79174946319501351232017-12-14T21:59:00.000-08:002017-12-14T21:59:20.105-08:00A Wild West Audio Adventure! {Crew Review}Have you heard of <a href="http://www.heirloomaudio.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Heirloom Audio Productions</a>? If you are a regular reader of my blog you may recognize the vendor name. My family first encountered these fabulous audio dramas when we reviewed <a href="http://www.circlingthroughthislife.com/2015/02/in-freedoms-cause-audio-drama-review.html" target="_blank">In Freedom's Cause</a>. I also reviewed <a href="http://www.circlingthroughthislife.com/2016/08/beric-briton-history-brought-to-life.html" target="_blank">Beric the Briton</a> on my blog. We've also enjoyed several titles such as In the Reign of Terror and The Cat of Bubastes. This time we received <a href="http://www.captainbayleysheir.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Captain Bayley's Heir</a>.<br />
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Confession time! As much as I have loved Beric the Briton and Cat of Bubastes from Heirloom Audio Productions I wasn't too sure about Captain Bayley's Heir. You see it is set in the Wild West of America and I'm not terribly fond of that time period. Mostly because of all those old Western movies my dad would watch. But I was pleasantly surprised to find myself not only enjoying this new title but shocked when I discovered that it has become my favorite one! Here is a short summary of the story from Supergirl:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
The story is about Captan Bayley's Heir. The story talks about how Mrs. Hall found a baby and took care of it as their own. The baby's mom died. Frank is Captain Bayley's nephew and he is at school. He might get expelled for stealing the 10 lb note. He didn't do it. His cousin is Fred and Fred was helping him. Fred gave him money to go to America. Frank wants to be like his Uncle.<br />
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Frank goes to America He met some people. They were friends with him and they sang a song called Amazing Grace. His sweet uncle found him. He has at the hospital. He was hurt. Alice didn't believe he was guilty she said "he didn't do it."<br />
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Uncle Harold was my favorite because he was crying over his daughter who died.</blockquote>
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I love this title the most because it is a tale of grace and forgiveness. We even learn a little bit about the history of the hymn Amazing Grace. Supergirl loved hearing the references to the song and hearing it song and played. She said "you sang that to me." When my girls were babies, I sang Amazing Grace as a bedtime lullaby. It is a protestant hymn but still one of my very very favorites. God pours out His grace on us wretched sinners.<br />
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The theme is established in the very beginning when Mr. George sets up the story. A young American named Frank is chatting with Mr. George. He tells Mr. George that he isn't much for religion. He doesn't think he'd ever be good enough for God. I've thought that! I've felt that! When I didn't understand the relationship of faith and works (read the book of James!) and thought if I have to do all these things to earn God's favor I'll never be good enough. I might as well give up! But Mr. George responds with: "It's not about what you can do for God. It's about what He's done for you."<br />
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There are two plot lines in this adventure woven together and connected by Captain Bayley. Supergirl shared more about Frank but referenced the other with her comment about Uncle Harold and his daughter dying. Both story lines exhibit grace: both giving and receiving.<br />
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The audio alone is well worth listening to but Crew Members were also given access to the Live the Adventure Club which is a treasure trove of wonderful ways to dig deeper with each of their titles.<br />
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One of the best extras available is the Study Guide. It is available as a PDF download or you can view the PDF online. Some parts of the Study Guide are available as Questions and an online Quiz. If you are part of the Live the Adventure Club you can access the Heirloom Audio story and answer questions or take the online quiz. You can even follow along with an online script.<br />
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Back to the Study Guide. This 38 page document starts off with a short biography of G. A. Henty. The bulk of the study guide are the two types of questions and the vocabulary section title Defining Words.<br />
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The questions and vocabulary are arranged by CD Track. This very helpful if you need to go back to the CD to re-listen to answer the question.<br />
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One type of question, Listening Well are comprehension questions such as "What request does Harry have?" or "What does Frank do with the money?"<br />
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The other questions are Thinking Further and may require some research or ask the student to draw conclusions. Some examples are "Harry has grown up in poverty. He is severely handicapped. How can he demonstrate such happiness and joy?" or "What were “dime store novels”? How influential were they in shaping eastern America’s ideas about the Wild West?"<br />
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Sprinkled through the pages of questions are sections called Expand Your Learning. Some topics include Manifest Destiny, Gold Mining Camps, and Victorian Money.<br />
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The Study Guide also includes a one page list of additional resources and three one page Bible Studies: God's Grace, Becoming a Christian, and Honoring Your Parents. All three of these topics are themes woven into the story.<br />
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Whether you choose to add Captain Bayley's Heir as a supplement in your home school, or just want to have a wonderful audio drama for entertainment, this is an excellent production with a beautiful message of love, forgiveness, and God's Grace! <br />
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Check out Heirloom Audio on Social Media: <br />
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.facebook.com/HeirloomAudio" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Facebook</a></li>
<li><a href="https://twitter.com/HeirloomStories" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Twitter</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.instagram.com/HeirloomAudioOfficial" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Instagram</a></li>
<li><a href="https://plus.google.com/b/114534826166314080647/114534826166314080647" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Google+</a></li>
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<div class="blogger-post-footer">©2009-2018 Circling Through This Life. All rights reserved. Content, including text, photographs, graphics, artwork and all other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. www.circlingthroughthislife.com</div>Tesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10647426494359111497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2400013537237976584.post-36336341110262463962017-11-16T10:09:00.000-08:002017-11-16T10:09:38.780-08:00Even a House Full of Adults Needs A Chore System! {Review}Five years ago I had the opportunity to review <a href="http://www.circlingthroughthislife.com/2012/09/molly-crew-review-everyday-cooking.html" target="_blank">Everyday Cooking</a> from <a href="http://everydayhomemaking.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Everyday Homemaking</a>. This time, as a Crew Leader, I received an updated digital version of <a href="http://everydayhomemaking.com/books/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Everyday Cooking</a> as well as a digital copy of <a href="http://everydayhomemaking.com/books/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Everyday Family Chore System</a>.<br />
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Like the Ninth Edition (revised in 2011), the new 12th Edition of Everyday Cooking,revised just this past July 2017, is full of recipes and tips. This new edition has 203 pages and more recipes!<br />
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I know I said this 5 years ago but I must say it again. Vicki Bently cooks like me and I think that is one of the reasons I love this cookbook! When I think of old fashioned home cooking, I think of things like Mom's Roast, Chicken and Dumplings, or Hamburger Gravy. Yes, those are all recipes included in this book. When I think of everyday food or meals, I think of hamburger stroganoff, sloppy joes, and "unstuffed" chicken breasts.<br />
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One of the new recipes is for an Asian Sweet and Sour Sauce. I also spotted new Skillet Chicken recipes and a Low-Carb Biscuit recipe. These are all on my to-try list.<br />
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During the review period we adapted the Banana Muffin recipe to be Banana Chocolate Chip. When Boobear was lamenting that she hadn't had baked oatmeal in a long time I pulled out the Baked Oatmeal recipe. It was as good as we remembered.<br />
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But what I really want to share with you is the Everyday Family Chore System. In 2012 when the Crew reviewed Everyday Homemaking last, I only had the opportunity to use the Everyday Cooking eBook. I needed to see the Everyday Family Chore System to perform my duties as a Crew Leader but I didn't think I would actually use it. I was wrong.<br />
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My family is in a new season of life. We started transitioning a year ago when Turtlegirl went away to college. Now we have to find another new normal for us as Boobear is an adult living at home. Tailorbear started classes at a local technical college. It will be just Supergirl and I home alone many days.<br />
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We are all busy. We all live here. Chores still need to happen. We still need a system. We may not be in the season of chore training but just because the girls grew up doesn't mean the need to do chores has stopped.<br />
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I don't know about your house but at my house I frequently hear the lament "I don't want to be the only one doing chores." Everyone feels like they are the only one who does it so they don't do it. That means nobody is doing chores. Things are just not getting done. <br />
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I needed inspiration. I needed a jump start. I think I've found it with th Everyday Family Chore System. This book is divided into three parts plus the introduction. The three parts are:<br />
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<ul>
<li>Laying a Foundation</li>
<li>Implementing a Plan</li>
<li>The Actual Chore System</li>
</ul>
<h3>
Laying a Foundation:</h3>
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In this section Mrs Bently shares four basic principles that need to be understood. These principles are the foundation that lays the groundwork for the how-to sections. These principles are:<br />
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<ul>
<li>Have Age Appropriate Expectations</li>
<li>Establish Rules or Standards</li>
<li>Have a Working Knowledge of Family Discipline</li>
<li>Tie Strings to Their Hearts</li>
</ul>
<h3>
Implementing a Plan:</h3>
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In Part Two Implementing a Plan Mrs Bently includes a Life Skills Checklist. This checklist is divided into sections based on how old the child should be to start learning those sills. She also includes the age that the child should be proficient. For example she lists that a 7 year old should start to be responsible for washing and drying own hair and by age 10 should master this. She also lists that a 7 year old could start to clean bathrooms but not necessarily be able to fully accomplish that task until around age 12. She emphasizes:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>The age category under which an item falls lets you know the age at which you might consider beginning to train a child at this task; the age in parentheses is the age at which you might expect him to be able to fully accomplish the task. (p. 15)</i></blockquote>
This checklist should be a guideline and not a strict measuring stick. I love that she keeps it real by acknowledging that she is not competent in all the areas that she includes in the checklist. That made me feel better about the gaps I've noticed in my children (and myself!).<br />
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In this part she has sections titled:<br />
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<ul>
<li>Delegate/assign Responsiblities</li>
<li>Suggestions for the actual "set up" of the system</li>
<li>Teach them How to Work</li>
<li>Make it Easy to Succeed</li>
</ul>
Each of those sections are full of information! Even though much of this is focused on young children and teaching them how do the chores, I found reading this section to be what I needed to jumpstart my brain into thinking about possible systems.<br />
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I keep coming back to the Delegate/assign Responsibilities section because I think this is the heart of what I need. There are 4 of us plus Supergirl. Even Supergirl is capable of doing some chores.<br />
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Before we can divide up the chores (assign them!), we need to know what it is we need to do be doing and deciding how often it needs to be done. She does have a list of possible jobs in Part 3.<br />
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Like with the cookbook, I found myself nodding in agreement as I read through some of her tips and ideas in the Make it Easy to Succeed section in Part 2. I am glad I am not the only one who says "don't put it down, put it away!" I wonder if she is more successful with that in her family? I know several of my family members who really struggle with this concept. We once found math homework in the refrigerator. Still not quite sure how it ended up there but usually the object gets put down anywhere and we can't find it when we need it. This also means clutter and things laying out everywhere. Even as adults this is something we need to work on.<br />
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The Implementing a Plan part of the book is the heart of the book. It is the longest section and it is filled with practical tips and ideas including suggestions for rewards.<br />
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<h3>
The Actual Chore System</h3>
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Before moving on to part 3 The Actual Chore System Mrs Bentley gives a quick review of parts 1 and 2. It is very tempting to jump right in with Part 3. I encourage you to read through parts 1 and 2 no matter what season of life you are in. The author does state that you may want to refer to Part 3 as you read through Part 2 and I agree that was helpful but do not skip over Part 1 or Part 2 just to get to Part 3!<br />
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The Chore System has two parts: The How-To Cards and the Job Labels. I really wish I had used How-To cards when I was teaching the girls different chores. I'm thinking a few of those now would not be a bad idea.<br />
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She included several pre-printed how-to cards such as Setting the Table or Wash Bathroom Walls. She also included job labels for the most common tasks. Some of the job labels are: Groom Animals, Sort Laundry, and Cut Grass.<br />
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I love that she included job cards for Help Brother and Help Sister! Vicki Bentley even included Assistant Cook as a job label.<br />
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What I love best are the blank cards. Because my copy is a PDF Download I can just print however many sheets I need directly onto Card Stock. If you purchase the printed copy she encourages you to photocopy the blank pages onto card stock though you can use them straight from the book.<br />
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There is a Suggested Resources page after the last page of blank cards but with the new website design I couldn't find the referenced list of resources. Hopefully Everyday Homemaking will put the list back on their website or better yet include it in the next printing or edition of the book.<br />
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<h3>
</h3>
<h3>
Our Chore System</h3>
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So Boobear, Tailorbear and I brainstormed how to take the ideas from The Everyday Family Chore System and put together something that we could use. Something VISIBLE. Something easy. The original Bentley system used clothespins on a large board. Mrs Bentley describes several ways you can use the Job Labels.<br />
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We decided we liked the board idea. But instead of having the names of family in the center with weekly chores on one side and daily on the other we would color code them. We put names in different sections. We also decided to laminate the job cards and use velco.<br />
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Our Family Chore System is still in the "working out the kinks" and "testing". It's a work in progress. I'm excited though. It's a step in the right direction.<br />
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Do you have a chore system that works for you? Do you have a cookbook that will help you teach cooking skills to your children? <br />
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Go read more reviews! I think you'll want your own copy of Everyday Cooking or the Everyday Family Chore System!<br />
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Visit Everyday Homemaking on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/everydayhomemaking" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Facebook</a>! <br />
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