A Net in Time

Curriculum and book reviews, faith, homeschooling and more!

Homeschooling

Art Book: Meet Cindy Sherman

By 6 Comments

Cindy Sherman, an chameleon of a person who is also an artist and a photographer… likes to do things in her own way, allowing people to interpret her art in their own way.   In this book children are invited to see her art and say what they think of it.    Today I invite you to bring YOUR students along to interpret her art in their own way as well.  Meet Cindy Sherman: Artist, Photographer, Chameleon.

I half expect Cindy and I might get along as I also like to let individuals do art in their own way.  Giving parameters and lessons and letting them live out their vision of how they think it can be worked out.   It’s what makes art fun.  I thoroughly enjoyed reading the comments from different children about her work, some of them making up stories to go behind what they see, others describing colours and attitudes, and still others describing their emotion at the image.   That mix in attitudes and emotion intrigue me when it comes to introducing children to art. 

We are introduced to Cindy Sherman in all her many forms, and her life as she explored art.   Starting a child playing dress up to an adult experienced in her craft. A child could easily read this book as the language is written at a good level for upper elementary and middle school students.  We read of the work she did and HOW she went about achieving her ends.. from scouring thrift stores, to covering the walls of her room with images from the past, getting friends to help her take pictures in different locations.   She explores what makes a person…can a person wearing a wig and beard dressed in men’s clothes really be the same as the lady wearing a lovely dress and done up all nice?

Now, all this said, I can’t say I really appreciate all of her work, but I do appreciate the sentiment behind her work and therefore, should I ever see her work it gives me a glimpse into her mindset and therefore helps me appreciate what her aim is.   People being people without worrying about the window-dressing.  🙂

Cindy is a persistent lady with a vision of what she wants to accomplish in her art.  This book is well worth giving any prospective art student as an encouragement to them to continue in their endeavors. 

  
Meet Cindy Sherman: Artist, Photographer, Chameleon
Jan Greenburg & Sandra Jordan
Roaring Book Press
64 pages, ages 7-12
art, softcover, opinion, artist, middle school

Reviewed for: Raincoast Books.

Activities to Help with Snowflake Bentley

By 6 Comments

Thank you Leah for helping me out on my blog today.  Welcome!
I love biographies. Even young children can appreciate them when you read aloud a great picture book biography. When you add some fun and academic activities after you read, you can turn the biography into a great learning opportunity. 

The children’s book Snowflake Bentley is the story of Wilson Bentley, a boy who grew up in Vermont. As a boy he loved the beauty of snowflakes and longed to one day capture their artistry with a camera so that others could appreciate it. As a grown man, Wilson, nicknamed Snowflake Bentley, was able to demonstrate this beauty through his skill as a scientist and artist.

 
Snowflake art and science activities
 
These activities will help you to explore the science and art of snowflakes with your kids after you read the book Snowflake Bentley by Jacqueline Briggs Martin. 

Snowflake Art Activities

Make beautiful crayon resist snowflakes with the instructions at Classic Play.
 
 
Find some great printable snowflake templates at What Mommy Does. Kids could color or paint these or decorate them with glitter.
 
Make snowflake art on canvas with this fun activity from Kids Activities Woo!
 
 
Use pattern blocks to make snowflakes with the templates here at Moms Have Questions Too.

Snowflake Science Activities

 
Little Bins for Little Hands has instructions for making snowflakes with salt crystals.
 
 
 
Kids can learn about symmetry and do some STEM exploration with the Snowflake Tinker Tray idea at What Can We Do With Paper and Glue.
 
Explore how much water is in snow with this experiment from Discover. Learn. Connect.
 
Enjoy reading Snowflake Bentley and learning about the beauty and science of snowflakes with these activities.

Leah Courtney is a homeschooling mom of four. Her days are filled with being a mom, homemaker, and teacher. In her (very rare) free time, she enjoys blogging, reading, and reviewing books and curricula. These days she’s learning the joys of being a mom of teens. You can read about her family and homeschooling life at As We Walk Along the Road.

Review: Ellie, Engineer

By 2 Comments

Ellie, Engineer.  What can I tell you about a young girl who likes to build and create?  This lovely little easy read chapter book contains: One Ellie, one toolbelt, one skirt, one sketchpad and one very active mind along with one friend with a birthday coming up.  Then a mishap happens….

… and then another…. and then… well you know what.. I can’t tell you the WHOLE story. 🙂

Friendship and engineering fill the pages.   Truthfulness and dishonesty place close seconds.  Will Ellie and Kits’ friendship handle the tests put to it?   Will new friendships become needful? Will Ellie lose it all in the end or will more be gained than could be even dreamed of?

An easy read chapter book with decently developed characters.  It was a fun read with a handy “these are an engineers tools” section at the close of the book.   Ellie’s sketches filled several pages throughout the book.

My Thoughts:

I laughed more than once.  🙂  I think it’s geared more 8-10 years. It was a good story filled with all sorts of engineering tasks and explanations about how a youth could engage in engineering tasks.   I love the list of tools at the close of the book. A fun read with short chapters and sketches that add well to the story. 

Ellie, Engineer
Jackson Pearce
Bloomsbury Kids
Softcover, trade paperback, fiction
ages 8-12
Engineering, girls, creativity, 

Reviewed for: Raincoast Books.

Where to purchase: Amazon Link.

Bibles and Devotional Plans

By 14 Comments

What with the new year coming up and people starting to think about making a new start I thought I would talk with you abit about doing regular devotions (yes, talking to myself here as well) and about some of the different bibles you could use in your journey.

First up, what do I use? 

This is the bible I use almost exclusively when I am not at home. 

It’s the ESV bible app.    It’s on my phone, I use it for church, devotions with the lad and whenever I need quick access to God’s word.  

I love it’s portability, and how this translation was done.  Suits me all round. 

 

Devotions on line catch me using this site: BibleGateway.  I like that I can toss the footnotes out, and customize it to my preferences.   

One of the things I really like is that if I am struggling with understanding a passage is just how easily I can switch from one translation to another.   Different translations bring insight. 

Bibles:

Over the past year or so it’s been my delight to review a number of different bibles, I’d like to point out some of our favourites.

Hubby’s Choice: The NIV Reader’s Bible. 

This is just a lovely book.  Good paper, great readability.  Just read the bible just like you would any other book. Not looking for verses or section headings, just the words of God written down for you.    He’s not a fan of the NIV but he likes this bible just for it’s readability.

My Son’s choice: Kids NIV Visual Study Bible.  

For my son’s church youth group he needs to have a physical bible and over the year he’s had a chance to see different bibles and the various elements that make them useful.  He had one he used a lot until he saw this Visual Study Bible and asked if he could have it instead. 

 

 

 

Some other bibles of note that we’ve seen:

Faith Builders Bible.  There was much we liked in this theme based bible. 

The Jesus Bible.  Which I know I reviewed but in the change from one site to another I can’t find it.  A nice bible that my son preferred until The Visual Bible came along.  And I have to admit, if I needed to pick one from this list, this bible would be the one I would use.   It was very simple, just a nice solid bible. 

NIV Revolution Bible.  This is a bible geared to guys.   Good bible this one with lots of helps to encourage young men in their journey of faith. 

ANYWAYS, Before I forget the point of this post… It’s the start of a new year coming up.  Have you thought about becoming more focused in your study of God’s word?

Devotional Readings/Bible Study

Navigator’s have some bible reading plans. 

Bible Study Tools has a number of differently focused bible reading plans for you to consider. 

BibleGateway has some bible reading plans you might like to follow. 

You can follow along on this blog as I do my devotions.  I tend to read through books of the bible and post my thoughts as I go through sections. 

You can follow along with Traci’s Group on Facebook. 

If you simply want to read through the bible in a year and are good with checklists, go here!

 

Original Photo: Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash

Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash

Review: The Spinner Prince (Pride Wars)

By 2 Comments

Oh my Lanta… I’ve heard that expression occasionally and I really don’t know what it’s origins are…but I know it’s meant to display surprise and appreciation mixed together.  🙂   I DON’T think it’s supposed to be a polite way to use God’s name in vain (so don’t want to do that!) so if it is let me know!   Anyways, Oh My Lanta… I enjoyed this book “The Spinner Prince”.   Leo is a very real character, fighting to fit into society and his role in life…and meeting some difficulties along the way.  I want to know how this story will ultimately turn out!

This is a “coming of age” book with Leo at the centre of the story.  He engages with some intriguing characters along the way, showing his heart and hinting at his passions as he does so. The fierceness of his people strikes me as real, but there is an unbalance in their lifestyle, an unbalance I suspect that Leo is born to face. The question is… will Leo be up for the task?

We get hints in this first book that he will be up for the task, even if he is the Spinner Prince.  He’s gathering some stalwart (and perhaps not so stalwart) people around him.  He’ll battle prejudice.  He’ll have to fight for what is right. He will have to stand against the crowd.  He will need to find unconventional ways to prove himself.   The only question is.. WILL HE?  Will he redeem himself well?  Honour and Duty, Ferocity and Faith…these things will be tested.  How will Leo and his people stand up to this?   Read the book and find out!  🙂

The Spinner Prince
Matt Laney
HMHKids, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Age 10-12
352 pages
Fiction, Faith, Character, Middle School
Series: Pride Wars

Reviewed for: Raincoast Books

Where to Find it: Amazon Link.

Review: This Book is a Planetarium

By 4 Comments

Who doesn’t like a hands-on book, a book that let’s you experience it as you read and learn?  This book is a Planetarium is one such book.   Kelli Anderson brings us a book filled with pop up’s like you have never seen before!

You get these pop-ups: A speaker, a planetarium,a spiralgraph, a decoder ring, a perpetual calendar and a music instrument fill the pages of this book.   Heavy paper supports them, which considering their quality is an integral part of each construct.

When you first open this pop-up book you will find tissue paper protecting each of the constructs. This attention to detail helps to reinforce the obvious care and concern put into making it.  Defying every expectation of what a book can be, this pop-up extravaganza transforms into six fully functional tools: a real working planetarium projecting the constellations, a musical instrument complete with strings for strumming, a geometric drawing generator , an infinite calendar , a message decoder , and even a speaker that amplifies sound. 

Now will this book last forever?  🙂  Of course not, it’s made of heavy paper, but it is well made and if parents and their offspring use it carefully it will last for a good long while, at least as long as many of the disposable toys made now-a-days.  🙂   Uses?  Oh…. varied eh?   A good book to explore the senses, for studying the engineering of paper, to attempt replication, to get an introduction to making codes or to just have fun!   It’s a rather neat book!

Why do I like it so much?   This book is meant to be a hands-on, tactile science book.  A book with explanations and then “do it”.   The object is to be involved in the world, doing, listening, experimenting.   Then, as you’ve experimented with the book, to see how the book is brought to life in the physical world.  It’s geared to help the reader/doer.. ask questions and want to know more.  The fact that the font is smaller and in dark print helps you to focus on the learning and discovery FIRST, and then to go back after for answers.  Well designed.

My thoughts:

I LOVE, just LOVE books that help people ask questions.  That don’t necessarily provide ALL the answers, but enough to get the student going in the right direction.  This book encourages those questions, giving the student a good place to start, and then leaving them to it.  A good thing that!

 

This Book is a Planetarium and other extraordinary
    Pop-up contraptions
Kelli Anderson
Chronicle Books, hardcover, 5 pages
Pop-up, activity, science, engineering, Papercraft
Age range: 6 and up 

Reviewed for: Raincoast Books.

Where can you find it?    Amazon Link.

Accept the Mess

By 6 Comments

Remember how I had this list of books I wanted to read and go through?   My mom-in-law added to that list over Christmas (and hubby’s promised one as well) so the list just keeps growing.  It’s good to learn eh?  Anyways, I was pondering what book to pick up for today’s post and Pep Talks came to mind so here I am.  

I was browsing through the table of contents when “accept the mess” caught my eye.   So.. shall we, accept the mess?  

Oh.. this chapter made me laugh.  Oh my, it did.  🙂 I am just grinning as I write these words ACCEPT THE MESS! 

But seriously …. it’s good to clean the house.. it is.  I was raised that way.  Unfortunately my mother NOR my mother-in-law live with me.  They don’t.. and guess what.. THEY DON’T WANT TO.  Bet you can’t guess the reason.  🙂  AND … it’s not because they don’t love me or care about me.. but MY style of living and THEIR style of living is well.. not quite a polar opposites.. but frankly I would rather write or do art or talk with my boy, or play a game or .. almost anything… then to get my house spotless.  There is far too many interesting things in the world that get my attention than the cleanliness of my floors.. or the cobwebs in the corners.   

So reading this post made me grin.

The author’s point is this NO ONE ever from their deathbed said “I wish I had cleaned my house more”.  BUT there are lots of people who wish they had spent their times differently.. written that novel, gone on the cruise, played with their kids more…. or almost anything… but cleaning the house.. not even near that list.

If you want to be a writer, you need to think to yourself.. can I do that “housework” later?  Can I let the mess around me inspire my brain synapses and just write?  Can I just take that five minutes or hour and just spend that time writing and creating and let the mess take care of itself?  Can I do that?  Can YOU do that?

Just so you know.. YOU CAN.  

Have you ever noticed that seriously creative people tend to have a less than tidy home?  Did you know that messiness.. or helter-skelter room arrangements tend to foster creative and novel thoughts?  Tidy rooms tend to foster tidy conventional minds.   You are called therefore to let that messiness flourish when needed. 

Mind.. you need to be concerned about others living with you and their sensitivities (ergo today I cleaned some stuff up in the bookroom) and tonight I sat and wrote.  It’s good yes?   But there are afternoons that I sit and write because well.. writing is something I love to do… and then rush through the dishes in the evening (so glad we have a dishwasher now.. like seriously). 

“Give yourself a break and accept the mess — because you are immersed in a deep act of creation.”  Realize your goals of creation. Decide when to make it important… it’s a good thing to do. 🙂

Learn more about this book through Raincoast.

or if you want to follow along, Amazon Link.