A Net in Time

Curriculum and book reviews, faith, homeschooling and more!

Homeschooling

The Good and Beautiful

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I want you to welcome Miss Yvie to the blog today. I asked on the Homeschool Review Crew for people willing to talk about an art program, art book or an art resource they wanted to talk about.

Miss Yvie took me up on the challenge.

Here is what she has to say about The Good and The Beautiful.

The gist of the video is :

  • covers level 3-7 (there is also a K, 1, and 2, but we didn’t use them)
  • Cover handwriting curriculum also
  • Talks about how art history, art appreciation and art instruction are incorporated into their language arts courses.

Here is the link to where they can find more information about the Good & the Beautiful’

The Good and the Beautiful is also a program I use with the lad. He wanted to learn spelling and do some work with grammar this year, so I went looking for something I thought might intrigue him and at least 20 people recommended The Good and The Beautiful. It is NOT just a language arts program, but also cover geography, art, poetry and more. He likes it! 🙂 That makes it a winner in my book (and his). 

 

The Good and The Beautiful is available through Jenny Phillips.  Free if you download online, you can also order the ready made books.  Now.. seeing the ready made books in the video makes me want to get them and hang the cost!  Aren’t they simply beautiful? 

You can find Yvie at Gypsy Road School. 

Yvie is a road-schooling mother of two active boys! While traipsing across the country, she creates Lego-themed school and enjoys meeting up with other families. At home, you can find her working at her homeschool ministry, The Book Shack. Find her at Gypsy Road, Instagram, or on Facebook.

Field Trip: Uncle Tom’s Cabin

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Last year, May I am pretty sure.  The lad and I headed out to Uncle Tom’s Cabin.  We were joined by other members of the KICK homeschool group.

It was a good visit where we learned a lot about black history.  The presenters were clear about their expectations and their knowledge base.   They did a good job of helping the children understand the problems of slavery and the new life black people had in Canada. 

our field trip to uncle Tom's Cabin

Since I’m short on a lot of writing time I did up a video.

 

The day was divided into three parts.

  1. Scavenger hunt.  The children were divided up into groups and given clues to follow.
  2. A play.  The children put on plays that had something to do with their scavenger hunt.  The plays encompassed history such as the underground railroad. 
  3. Lunch and some free time to explore.  They needed to stay out of the buildings and off the outdoor exhibits but otherwise were free to roam.   It was a really nice day outside so the children had fun playing games on the lawn after they finished eating. 

Learn more about Black History in Canada.

Review: UltraKey Online

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Last year my son used a typing program, he worked with it on the desktop we have upstairs and overall it went well, but he still struggled with his keyboarding skills.  When the option came to try out Ultrakey, by Bytes of Learning, my son was rather excited!   “MOM!  Will it help me type better?”   I said “we can always try it out and see lad.”  I invite you to come with me and see how the UltraKey Online Family Subscription can be as successful for your students.

UltraKey Online keyboarding class by Bytes of Learning is a success in our household

I’m trying to think where to start, I honestly haven’t needed to use this program at all.  I got my lad set up and have talked with him as he problem solves or tries to figure out how quickly he should do lessons and practices, but overall my lad has taken ownership of Ultrakey.   They set it up so each user can arrange the program the way they like it.  You can change the background, voice, speed, accuracy and so forth. My lad didn’t care what the voice sounded like, but perferred the building as a background. 

How we used it:

I initially walked my son through the set up, helping him see how the program worked, setting up his preferences and just letting him run with it.   The interface is easy to use.  You will find this screen on every page, helping you quickly move from one section to another.

The skill check is separate from the lessons, allowing one to redo a lesson, or redo a skill check without having to do both if you don’t wish to.   The typing forum allows you to take practice tests that are timed as well as more official tests.  My son hasn’t quite reached the skill level needed to do these yet.   He’s been repeating the skill checks until he feels confident in moving forward.

The lessons are in an easy to read font as well have having a voice over. The keyboard clearly shows where each letter is during the lessons.

Occasionally I would ask my son to show me how he was doing, we’d get screens like the one below.  you could check to see what you missed, and then the program would tell you if you had improved or not.

 

I can’t say my lad is delighted at how slowly he is going through the course…but I’ve told him if he wants to improve he needs to spend longer than 10 minutes per day practicing, that I used to take typing classes for a whole hour!   Oh my.. he was so startled when I told him that.   He’s happy practicing for 10-20 minutes max per day and progressing slower.  🙂   I am seeing improvement now that he is not racing through the course.  He’s taking his time practicing and learning where the keys are.  I know in time he will be a proficient typist.

What we liked:

The lessons are straight-forward, and they give you lots of time to practice over and over again.  Along with games to help you practice the skills you are learning.  The skill tests have options so you can change what you are practicing or can pick the one that you are most interested in. They have tests you can take when you are ready to do so. You aren’t forced to do anything in a particular order. It has everything in it that my son wants to help him to improve his keyboarding skills.  Their media-rich instruction make this an enjoyable program to use.

My son’s thoughts:

"Yay!  I just beat mom's score.  Look mom!   I'm faster and better than you!"
"I like that I can practice as much as I want to!"  
"I can do the skill checks over and over again".

Things that came up.

1. The spacebar randomly stopped working during a skill test.    This is where I discovered how wonderful their customer service was.  I mentioned it to them and they immediately connected with me.   Putting me in on a conference call so we could work through what the problem was.   GREAT Customer Service.  We figured out it was just a random glitch and it hasn’t happened again.

2. Skill test: They used capital letters leaving my son feeling flummoxed.  How does one type a capital letter properly?  “Mom, they didn’t teach me how to do that yet!”  It was a great time for me to teach him how to do that.  🙂  It’s just something to be aware of.  It was just a step missed.

3. Games and The Test Forum are not done according to the progress of the student.  This means if they play games or do the formal tests they will run into letters they haven’t been taught yet (if they haven’t finished the program). 

My Thoughts:

Bytes of Learning has done a wonderful job of putting UltraKey together.  They have worked hard to make their success-based learning program as accessible as possible.  The finer details of their efforts is what sets it apart.  Their excellent customer service is just icing on the cake. The fact that It focuses on teaching typing skills and isn’t child focused appeals to him.  

UltraKey Online Family Subscription
Bytes of Learning
Pricing: Depends on package Click Here. 
Typing, Keyboarding, online learning,
success-based learning, media-rich instruction

Visit the other members of the crew who reviewed Bytes of Learning by CLICKING HERE.

Bytes of Learning can be found on Facebook.

Review: How Animals Build

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I don’t know about you, but I have a lad who is fascinated by a variety of animals and insects.  He enjoys focusing on different how they are the same but different.  How sometimes what they do relates to what people can do, and how they can often do it better than we can.  A book like “How Animals Build” is a book that appeals to him.  Burrows, tunnels, nests, towns and much more.  Come learn with us won’t you? 

My review of a fantastic children's book on animals. How Animals build

Lonely Planet Kids brings us another fascinating book to read, How Animals Build. Within the pages of this delightful read you will see termites town, penguin rock nests. bee hives, birds weaving nests and bowers, seeing fish living in rocks, bears hiding in ice packs, and beavers living in a lodge.   So many different animals, and so many different ways to build. 

 

I loved the illustrations contained within the pages, bright and colourful, reflecting well the variety of colour found within the animal kingdom. 

sample page from book How Animals buildI loved the fold out pages and the lift the flap elements.  It’s just a lovely way to cram more information into a book in an interactive manner that helps the reader retain the information.   This is a book you can go through several times, being amazed at the variety in the animals around us. 

Did you know that a spider went into space and learned to adapt to lack of gravity?!   We were both surprised. You can find a video showing the web creation here. 

Spiders in space from How Animals Build

What I thought:

I thought the book was well done, but felt that they missed a crucial couple of groups: the sheer variety of insect and spider nests, and reptiles were scarcely covered.  My son had hoped to see crocodile mounds, and bees that nest in hollow tubes, and spider webs of a variety of sorts.  He was impressed with the variety of animals nests that were included and we even looked up the inside a termite town.

 

The rest of the book, with it’s fold out pages and lift the flap elements was fantastic. Brightly coloured pages that were loaded with facts.  We both learned much!  Which is an excellent thing to do eh?  Leaf rollers “I’ve seen those before mom!” The bunny tunnels “They do a lot of damage in towns don’t they mom?” The beehives brought back memories of going to Clovermead and seeing the bees in action. Just a thoroughly interesting book with lots of talking points.  Well done. 

book cover of book How animals build 
How Animals Build
Moira Butterfield & Tim Hutchinson
Lonely Planet Kids
Hardcover, non-fiction, pull-out, lift the flap
Animals, activity book, elementary, animal homes.
12 pages (plus fold outs), 8-12 years.
Reviewed for: Raincoast Books.
Where to find: Amazon Link. 

Some other animal books you might be interested in:
Animals at Night.
Animal Camouflage. 
Building animals from Lego. 
Magnificent book of Dinosaurs. 
The Animal Book.

Black History Month

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In September 1915 Carter G. Woodson and minister Jesse E. Moorland founded the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History (ASNLH).  This organization is now known as Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH).  It is an organization dedicated to researching and promoting achievements by black Americans and other peoples of African descent.  In 1926, the second week of February they sponsored a black history week, choosing that week as it coincidence with Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglas’ birthdays.   Ever since then that celebration continued to grow until in 1976 President Gerald Ford endorsed it.  Each year the president endorses this monthly celebration and gives it a theme.  This years theme is  “African Americans in Times of War”.

A Canadian version of black history month complete with history, resources, books and a free printable.

Ever since the 17th black people have been part of the Canadian landscape, coming as slaves, runaways, freedmen and more.  The very first was Mathieu de Coste who arrived in 1608.  in 1793 a law was passed saying any black person coming to Canada was automatically declared free.  In 1910 an Immigration Act barred immigrants into Canada from undesirable races, therefore very few Black people came into Canada, for the next few decades.  In 1955 women aged 18-35 were permitted to come into Canada as working domestics for a year and then be declared immigrants. Finally in 1967 that act was dropped, thereby causing Black immigration to rise significantly.   The website Black History Canada tells stories of Black People in Canada. 

 

You may find this following video as interesting as I did.

 

I went searching for unit studies on black history in Canada and discovered NOTHING.  Not even one.. leaving me to think…hmmm… perhaps I need to make one?  🙂  Because black folk do have a history in my land so it should be talked about… or at least studied as part of Canadian culture right?

What else?  Oh.. I need to think

Websites where you can learn more about black history.

10 Famous Black people. 8 famous North Americans of colour.
Learning about Black Canadians. 
Black Female Freedom Fighters. 
Black Canadians.  Website listing helpful websites...some sites aren't accurate.
Three Canadians who made a difference. 
23 historical Black people.

Books I’ve reviewed on black history

The Forbidden Schoolhouse.
Betty before X.
March Forward, Girl.
One Last Word.

 

For a word search on Black Canadians.  Click Here. 

Review: The Forbidden Schoolhouse

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Imagine if you will, you have a nice life.  A good job, educating girls, teaching them, helping them to make their own ways in the community as well.  Respect in the community. Life is good.  You can’t really see anything in your life that needs changing.  Then someone asks you a question “Can you will admit me to your school?”  And so we have “The Forbidden Schoolhouse“.

Black history come into life. Hard story, good message.

This, this is the story of Prudence Crandall and her bravery in accepting the challenge of the question given her.  She would accept this student, a person of colour, into her school.  She would help her learn so that she in turn to teach other children of colour.

I found this book to eye-opening and simply um…it’s really hard to put into words how I felt.  I was horrified at the hatred and the lengths people would got through to maintain the status quo.   The fear, the anger, the self-justification, the meanness, and the kindness.   There are so many opposing viewpoints within the pages of this tome, and in the end…oh… the sorrow.

I don’t know if you know the story of The Forbidden Schoolhouse or the work of Prudence Crandall, it was totally new to me, but I am admittedly not up on black history, particularly black history in The States.  Learning about Prudence Crandall led to me searching out more information on her and her life.

 

I have to admit, it’s easy to look back and say “what these people did was wrong”.  It’s very easy to do so.  It’s easy for us, looking back, to judge the status quo. I have a hard time understanding the vitriolic actions taken against Ms. Crandall and her girls. I can’t really conceive of it, but I don’t live in a place where people have cause to act out such hatred and horror of an outstanding change in the status quo.  It brings to mind to me of how in some places if a person changes their faith, how the family can shun them and cast them out.  In essence, Ms. Crandall’s family “cast her out” for daring to stand up against the established norm. 

The immense bravery of Ms. Crandall in standing against what she believed was wrong.  She knew things could end horribly and yet, and yet she moved forward anyways. She got some good advice, and put a support system into place should it be needed, and then she STOOD. Steadfast, determined in her convictions. Can very many of us say that would we do the same?   To stand against the judgement we would know we would face?

Ms. Crandall stood fast until the lives of her girls and her own life were in immediate and ready danger.  Then she got everyone to safety and left. 

This is a non-fiction book and is filled with images of the people and places talked about in the book. We see copies of letters written, coins and newspaper clippings. 

My thoughts:

This book left an impact on my life.  I would definitely recommend reading it.  Not just to learn about black history, but also to act as an encouragement to standfast in your decisions.  To seek good advice (and to continue seeking), and then once you make up your mind to standfast, until there are no options left for you. It was good to see the goodness of others, folks prepared to help her to standfast, I loved seeing the bravery of her girls and observing the support of her family. Reading level is middle school and up. 

I wish that Ms. Crandall had listened to her friends with their hesitations about her love of Calvin. But in the end, she made the best of it. I thought it was marvellous the response of the town years later. 

  
The Forbidden Schoolhouse
    The true and dramatic story of Prudence Crandall and 
         Her students.
Suzanne Jurmain
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
160 pages, middle school
black history, Prudence Crandall, USA history, non-fiction
Reviewed for Raincoast Books.

Where to find: Amazon Link.

Other Black History books that might interest you.

One Last Word. 

One Last Word. 

March Forward, Girl. 

Art Book: Creative Lettering Sketchbook

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Creative Lettering, I tell yah, I have friends who do this and I am just amazed at how by writing a bible verse creatively, it helps you to ponder that verse just a bit longer.  It’s a good thing to ponder words just a bit longer.. stimulates the mind you know?  🙂

Anyways, as I ponder how creative lettering of verses or sayings helps you ponder them a bit more it has me wondering, if reading it helps, what would actually creating those letters do to your pondering?   Would it help you to think on that passage or quote just a bit more?  It’s a thought you know?

Okay, this book contains 500 stickers, all gathered on pages in the last half of this 64 page sketchbook.  They vary in style and colour which I very much appreciated.  Letters, symbols, animals and more. 

One of the aspects of this Imaginative Illustration Journal that I really like is the teaching, followed by the doing page.  12 lessons with creative pages to practice following, 1-2 pages each.  I like that it’s not all “fill in my design” but leaves room for creative expression.  You can stickers where you want, adding embellishments to make your work all your own.

My Thoughts:

I have to admit that when I first looked at this book I wasn’t wildly impressed. As I stopped to really look at it, I came to appreciate how Marissa Giambrone set this sketchbook up.  First with a teaching page, then with a free form.   Kinda like how I teach my boy a new art form, showing him how to do it, giving lots of examples, and then asking “what will you do with it?”  This book teaches art the way I do.  And that’s a good thing no?

It’s a good book for people of all ages who want to improve their basic ability to make their lettering more creative.  Admittedly, I’d be more inclined to give to a youth 8-15 years rather than an adult, due to initial impression as well as there are more adult oriented lettering books out there that are more expansive than this one.  Though if you just want to fool around on a rainy afternoon, it’ll work regardless your age.  🙂

  
Creative Lettering Sketchbook
Series: Draw, Color and Sticker
An Imaginative Illustration Journal
Marissa Giambrone
Quarry Books
Art Book, Lettering, Sketchbook, How-to, Stickers

Reviewed for: Quarto Books, 64 pages

Where can you find it?  Amazon.