A Net in Time

Curriculum and book reviews, faith, homeschooling and more!

Homeschooling

Relief Discovered

By 14 Comments

I was all prepared, hopeful actually, to have a five minute word prompt that I could use to do one of the acronym poems.  I had all sorts of thoughts running through my head even though I didn’t have a word. 

And when the word Relief finally presented itself, courtesy of Miss Kate, I drew a blank.  What in the world could I do with the word relief?

My thoughts slowly flew over my day, a day where much relief was felt.  Let me recount it for you if I may. 

relief discovered

First Relief

First we had women’s bible study this morning. It meant some rushing around since early mornings can be difficult.  But I went. I heard women laugh, honestly enjoying a moment together. Not at anyone’s expense, just the enjoyment of spending time with each other.  My heart relaxed, a quick relief in the moment.  Crowds can be hard, but this crowd good.  Then conversation ensured, a lady I don’t know making me feel at home.   We’ll be studying the life of Gideon. 

Second Relief

Before heading home I contacted hubster asking if he was going to the community meal.  Beef stew was on the menu, was he interested?  We agreed to meet there so I wouldn’t have to go home first. We arrived simultaneously, the joy there is in that!  No waiting around.

A warm greeting, hubby would eat the broccoli salad I couldn’t have and… the stew was good, warm in the belly.  Relief felt at being well fed, and the lad was happy too. 

Third Relief

This third relief is not mine, though I did play a part.  A phone call “Annette, I have a job for you, it needs to be done today.  Can you do it?”  I said yes.  Relief flooded the voice over the line.  My day got busier than I planned and I had to let a couple of things slide, but the relief in that voice… WORTH IT!

discovered relief

Reassurance
Ease
Lessen
Intention
Exempt
Freedom

And looky there!  I even managed a small poem too!  🙂

Studies in Philippians

By 6 Comments

I have to admit, I have been struggling with what to do for the letter P.  I almost decided to simply skip it, but thought Philippians!  Why not talk about my studies in Philippians? 

man in water with sunrise, text Studies in Philippians

Why study Philippians?

As you might know, I’ve been mostly housebound since late fall, and have recently been feeling a bit better.  Not better enough to go for my daily walks, but better enough to want to DO stuff.  I found a treadmill on facebook, and now I am walking inside the house! 

I’m using my time to delve deeply into the book of Philippians.  I started my studies in Philippians simply because when I was looking around at video options, it was the first book that jumped out at me!  🙂   I started off listening to the audio bible on youtube, and then moved into this introductory video. 

I gradually added speakers to listen to. I’ve gone so far as to create a playlist.  New skill for me by the way!  🙂  Born of necessity as I kept having to hunt up the video I was listening to! 

BUT I’ve not only been listening to youtube videos!  Part of having a membership to SchoolhouseTeachers.com is a membership to RightNow media.  My latest review of this k-12 membership site is available.  

RightNow Media is a subscription service where speakers across the spectrum of faith present biblical material.  They have a number of studies on Philippians. 

RightNow Media

What am I learning?

Knowing the background and history of Philippians is important!  Philippians was written to the people who lived in Philippi.  This Thracian city was taken over by Philip II of Macedon who named it after himself. It was later taken over by Rome and set up as a military outpost. It was the urban centre, and populated by mostly Greek speaking citizens, who lived Roman law and lifestyle. 

Paul went to Philippi in answer to a dream.  He ministered there and later became a prisoner.  During his imprisonment, most likely in Rome, he wrote this letter to the Philippian church. 

Major Themes of Philippians

As I listen to these various teachers one of the words I keep hearing is Joy.  This joy allows us to gladly live for the sake of Christ and others.  This joy we have allows us to rejoice in who God and the Saviour are and what he has called us too.  Even our prayers need to be based in joy. 

Live a life of service to God and those around us. Strengthen the faith of others,  Consider their needs before your own. 

Work hard in your faith, strive to work out your salvation. Don’t be apathetic in your faith, work to make a difference and to show your faith in a living, loving God. 

Studies in Philippians, count it all joy silhouette of girl jumping

Future Plans?

I’m not sure how long I will stay with my Philippians study.  I do want to finish the precepts class but find that it moves very slowly.   It’s hard when I’m walking fast to try to skip ahead past the sales pitch stuff (because it’s taken from her TV program).  I could just hang out in Philippians until the end of February.  I would hope by then I would know this book of the Bible really really well.  🙂

If you are intrigued by RightNow Media

If you are intrigued by RightNow Media, you can purchase (as a church) a subscription that fits your membership.  And let’s say your church doesn’t have a subscription and you’d like to be a part of it. You can get it with your SchoolhouseTeachers.com subscription.  Now in February the price is going up, and what price you start your membership at is what it stays at as long as your membership is current.  Therefore NOW is a good time to get your membership to SchoolhouseTeachers.com. 

Right now the price is only $99/year (code ONLY99) or $12/month (code ONLY12). In February the price will be will rise to just under $225.  Who wants to spend that if you don’t have to?    

alphabet

Others in this Series

Come Ye Faithful Raise the Strain

By 2 Comments

Come, ye faithful, raise the strain is an old song, written by John of Damascus.  A man who delightfully became serious about faith in his middle age.  See…there’s hope for all to realize the truth of who God is!  Rather cool eh?  🙂 This is a lovely song showing the joy we find in Christ’s work and resurrection. 

Come, ye faithful, raise the strain

Lyrics

Come, ye faithful, raise the strain
Of triumphant gladness;
God hath brought forth Israel
Into joy from sadness;
Loosed from Pharaoh’s bitter yoke
Jacob’s sons and daughters,
Led them with unmoistened foot
Through the Red Sea waters.

’Tis the spring of souls today;
Christ has burst His prison,
And from three days’ sleep in death
As a sun hath risen;
All the winter of our sins,
Long and dark, is flying
From His light, to whom we give
Laud and praise undying.

Now the queen of seasons, bright
With the day of splendor,
With the royal feast of feasts,
Comes its joy to render;
Comes to glad Jerusalem,
Who with true affection
Welcomes in unwearied strains
Jesus’ resurrection.

Neither might the gates of death,
Nor the tomb’s dark portal,
Nor the watchers, nor the seal
Hold Thee as a mortal;
But today amidst the twelve
Thou didst stand, bestowing
That Thy peace which evermore
Passeth human knowing.

Alleluia! now we cry
To our King immortal,
Who, triumphant, burst the bars
Of the tomb’s dark portal;
Alleluia! with the Son,
God the Father praising,
Alleluia! yet again
To the Spirit raising.

Author and History

John of Damascus was born John Monsur, a member of an Arab Christian family living in Damascus.  He became embroiled in a conflict over the use of icons within the orthodox church.  In the end his thought process won out, so icons are used within the Orthodox church.  He not only dealt with icons, but a”codified the practices of Byzantine chant, and wrote about science, philosophy, and theology“. (source)

He lived a life of wealth and power until his 40’s when he gave away his wealth and power and retreated to a monastry.  Most of the songs he made centred around the Incarnation. 

Learning from this hymn

Can you see the history of this hymn?   The walk through the Old Testament and then the joy of Christ’s death and resurrection.  The sheer joy of Christ the Immortal king.  The joy of it!  Out of such extreme sadness of captivity to this unmitigated joy. 

But Jesus, he beat death!  And not only that, the 12 he taught, they spread the news.  They taught his message, and so Christ’s message of peace was bestowed upon humankind. 

Emily Writes

By 2 Comments

Who doesn’t know Emily Dickinson?  A beloved poet born in Massachusetts in the 1800’s, she pushed the boundaries of poetry. She has been loved ever since.   A new generation of children are waiting to meet her in Emily Writes.  Jane Yolen shows us a delightful young Emily Dickinson.  Let’s dig into this review shall we?

Emily Writes

What I am Reviewing

Emily Writes: Emily Dickinson and her poetic beginnings by Jane Yolen is a walk into the early years of Emily Dickinson. 40 pages of engaging art work were provided by Christine Davenier. These delight the senses as we wander through Emily’s early days. Children aged 4-8 are invited to follow Emily as she discovers her own love of poetry.

Step into United States history as you read this biography of an important American Poet.  Emily Writes was published by Henry Holt & Co.  I am reviewing this advance readers edition on behalf of Raincoast Books. 

Emily Writes book cover

The Details for Emily Writes

Emily Writes is an imagined story of Emily Dickinson’s early life.  Elements from different stages of her life were included in this one day of her life. Was her first poem really what it was?   I don’t know.  🙂  But it does showcase her love for poetry from an early age. 

And as the author explains at the close of the book, her envelope poem as captured above wasn’t actually written until some 40 years later.   

Emily Writes - author explanation page

Every page is filled with colour, with ample white space so as to not overload the senses or crowd out the words. Her yellow dress dotes the face of almost every page.  This is Emily’s day. 

emily writes - sample page

We catch glimpses of how it was to live in her family.  An older brother Austin who also loved poetry, a hard-working, not particularly attentive father, a sickly mama and a younger sister. 

Emily Writes - sample page

Recommendation

I love how the illustrations by Christine Davenier really help to make this story.  This is an imagined walk through one day in Emily’s life. We see her wandering through the pages in her yellow dress.  She enjoys life, visits with her family, and more. We get to see everything she does. It inspires conversation between adult and child.

They help us see Emily’s fascination with making her first poem.  The joy she had in walking through the garden. It was easy to see the fun she had with the housekeeper. There is so much in this book to make for a nice story.  Images to expand the story line and the joy in words Emily shared.

This is a good first book to introduce children to Emily Dickinson.  Enjoy Emily Writes!

Emily Writes

Canadian Online Homeschool Conference

By 5 Comments

Put on by Canadians, but not only for Canadians. 🙂    Welcome to the Canadian Online Homeschool Conference.   34 speakers, about 40 topics.  In both French and English (not all sessions, just some).  Sessions for parents, kids, youth, highschool, homeschooling, preparing for beyond college and more.  

canadian Online Homeschool Conference

Some details for you

REGISTRATION FOR THE 2020 CANADIAN ONLINE HOMESCHOOL CONFERENCE IS OPEN!

This year, you have two options. The first is to join us for free – this will give you access to daily sessions for 24 hours (until Midnight Eastern) starting on February 5th.

The second is to grab a Complete Access Pass. It’s only $17 (until Feb 12th). You will get lifetime access to all sessions on the 5th to watch at your leisure.

Find out what sessions we have this year, see the speakers that we have lined up, and grab your spot now!

access pass for Canadian online homeschool conference

Some Sessions To Perk your interest

Homeschooling Sessions

  •  How Can I Get My Kids To ‘KNOW’ Their Times Tables?
  • Gameschooling
  •  Why Homeschooling Your Child With Unique Needs is a Good Choice

French

  • Découvrir les étoiles et les constellations 
  • Apprendre en s’amusant avec les technologies

Kids and Youth

  • Learning About Rabbits  
  • Start Your Own Business
  • Watercolour Ice Cream Cones
alphabet

Others in this Series

I Stand Amazed in the Presence

By 2 Comments

I saw this song in my hymnal and my heart just smiled.  I stand amazed in the presence is a great song that answers my hearts question.  

and wonder how he could love me
a sinner condemned unclean

i stand amazed in the presence caption with person looking at mountarin

Lyrics

I stand amazed in the presence
Of Jesus the Nazarene,
And wonder how He could love me,
A sinner, condemned, unclean.

Refrain

O how marvelous! O how wonderful!
And my song shall ever be:
O how marvelous! O how wonderful!
Is my Savior’s love for me!

For me it was in the garden
He prayed: Not My will, but Thine.
He had no tears for His own griefs,
But sweat drops of blood for mine.

Refrain

In pity angels beheld Him,
And came from the world of light
To comfort Him in the sorrows
He bore for my soul that night.

Refrain

He took my sins and my sorrows,
He made them His very own;
He bore the burden to Calvary,
And suffered and died alone.

Refrain

When with the ransomed in glory
His face I at last shall see,
’Twill be my joy through the ages
To sing of His love for me.

Refrain

Author and History

Charles H. Gabriel of this fantastic song.  He also wrote Send the Light.  In the ways of music, Mr. Gabriel was a self-taught man, teaching himself to play the reed organ in his formative years. 

Charles Hutchison Gabriel spent the firsts 17 years of his life on his Iowa farm. In his early years he was interested in military bands and wrote several marches.  He devoted his life to music putting together music books, composing melodies, writing a variety of songs, and writing how-to books for playing instruments. 

Pondering

What happens when you stop for a moment to recognize how wonderful something is?  Do you feel taken aback, surprised, delighted, afraid, or something else?   

We should feel all these things when we are faced by the Lord, after all we just saw last week how he is majesty and meekness at the same time.  But I Stand Amazed in his Presense asks us to hold dear to us the Love he holds for us.  Not just at the moment of salvation but throughout our lives.

I don’t know about you, but two things happen to me. Either I’m amazed that Jesus came, loved me, and then died for me.  I don’t truly understand such love.  Or the flip side happens.  I know of his love but I don’t pay it the heed it should have. I don’t marvel at it, seem impressed, afraid or even awestruck.  Hymns such as this one draws me back to that wonderful and it’s FANTASTIC to sing about it with others who love the same Lord. 

Review: Ultimate PreK-12 Annual Membership

By 2 Comments

FTC disclaimer review

Are you looking for a complete curriculum, all in one place, where one price meets the needs of your entire family?  Let me introduce you to SchoolhouseTeachers.com.  It is my pleasure to once again review their Ultimate PreK-12 Annual Membership.  In this membership you will find a variety of  video-based, printable text-based, and/or interactive courses. 

Ultimate PreK-12 Annual Membership, image for review

What I am Reviewing

SchoolhouseTeachers.com is a premier homeschooling site, particularly if you use their Ultimate PreK-12 Annual Membership. It is host to a complete PreK-12 education.  Loaded with resources for child, youth, teen and their parents you will find it a treasure trove of information.  Many of these courses are video-based, others are PDF’s, and yet others are interactive lessons.   You get parent resources and access to World Book Online (a fascinating resource).

You can find SchoolhouseTeachers.com on facebook, twitter, and pinterest.  Normal price is $179 for the Ultimate Membership, or $19.95 monthly.  Stayed tuned for the current sale later in this post!

schoolhouseteachers-statistics

Learn more about SchoolhouseTeachers.com

SchoolhouseTeachers.com has so much potential to explore. There is quite literally something for everyone. 

I would like to show you two of the programs we are actively using.   My son is a high school student, and this past semester he is using French.   

SchoolhouseTeachers - French class logo

My son loves that he gets to hear the French spoken, and has easy to print off PDF’s.  He saves them to his laptop and then prints off what is needful.  This class is just PDF’s to download and listen to, standard worksheets to fill out and learn from. I would love to show you some of his work, but my 14 year is becoming quite private in his studies (at least in an online format). 

I’ve been investing some time in learning the Inkscape program.  This is a video series that walks you through the different aspects of using a graphic design course. I started it back in October but then hit a spell of bad health and am just picking it up again.  Learning how to make rectangles and ovals all over again.  🙂

schoolhouseteachers - inkscape course

Future Plans

Next semester I will pick up a bible class called foundations for teens.   Videos from RightNow Media along with worksheets makes a class that sounds appealing to my lad. 

schoolhouseteachers - foundation for teens banner

We will also be doing a daily grammar, working through the world war materials in the World Book Encyclopedia Online and Dr.D’s geometry course over the next semester.  Plans are in the works to take Latin down the road as well. 

Doing the courses is easy, you can do a couple of things depending on the class.  Go straight to the class lessons, or open the lesson plan. 

class lessons

 Most of the courses have a lesson plan which is a suggested plan of action for completing the course.  Just like with anything homeschooling though, tweak as needed. Most of the time you’ll find an overview, and then a daily activity list.  Some courses will have both, others will just have the overview, it all depends on the needs of the course.

schoolhouseteachers.com - lesson plan

My son gains access to these courses easily by using the bookmarks feature.  This feature is found through the member dashboard.  You can make a new section for every member of your household.   My son has a desire to take Latin down the road, will be taking geometry with Dr. D in semester two and is currently studying WW2. We’ll be adding the foundations for teens to his collection. 

schoolhouseteachers.com - bookmarks

Focused Learning Centres

One of the interesting parts of SchoolhouseTeachers.com that many people are not aware of is the focused learning centres.  These focused centres narrow in on one topic such as math, reading, science, highschool, careers and seasonal just to name a few. 

schoolhouseteachers.com - focused learning centres

Opening up the highschool centre led me to discover the mirade of help for highschool like making transcripts, exploring careers, and figuring out the scope and sequence of each grade level. 

schoolhouseteachers - highschool focus

Flexible and Customizable

One of my favourite things about SchoolhouseTeachers.com is how you can make it your own.  You can make a curriculum for your children just by letting them pick what they want to learn (with your guidance).  Alternatively you can use the scope and sequence to choose.  

They present their material in a variety of formats.  You can look under subject matter, grade level, or see all the courses in the grade level chart.

Below you can see a comparison of the various math courses (just part of the list).

schoolhouseteachers.com - grade level chart

Whatever method works best for you, use it.  The process of choosing curriculum is made as user friendly as possible. 

Video Library

If you can think of a topic, the chances are high that it will be covered somewhere in SchoolhouseTeachers.com video library.  Art, bible, history, math and so much more.  Watch for fun, watch to learn. 

schoolhouseteachers.com - video library

Do I Recommend?

I’ve been using The Ultimate PreK-12 Annual Membership by SchoolhouseTeachers.com for much of my son’s educational needs.  We don’t use it for everything as we are Canadian, therefore we need more Canadian content in our learning.  🙂 

I could easily have my son do most of his schooling through SchoolhouseTeachers.com even without the wanted Canadian content.  Perhaps, I should help create more Canadian focused content on SchoolhouseTeachers.com just to make it even better.  What do you think?  🙂

Promotion

SchoolhouseTeachers.com January Promo

SchoolhouseTeachers.com is currently running a promotion.  The Fresh Start sale where you can get the year for $99 (only99 is the code you’d use).  Or monthly for $12 (need code only12).  My affiliate link for this deal.

Read More Reviews

106 other members of the Homeschool Review Crew have reviewed the Ultimate PreK-12 Annual Membership by SchoolhouseTeachers.com.   Click on this link to read those reviews.