A Net in Time

Curriculum and book reviews, faith, homeschooling and more!

Homeschooling

Pass Me Not O Gentle Saviour

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Pass Me Not, O Gentle Saviour is a song that we’ve always sung quietly.  It’s never been a belt it out at the top of your voice type of hymn.  A song that is a call out to the Lord to hear us.   It did surprise me though, I did listen to a couple of youtube videos that were a wee bit peppy.  It struck me as a bit um… odd?  unexpected? different?

pass me not o gentle saviour

Lyrics to Pass Me Not O Gentle Saviour

Pass me not, O gentle Savior,
Hear my humble cry;
While on others Thou art calling,
Do not pass me by.

Refrain

Savior, Savior,
Hear my humble cry;
While on others Thou art calling,
Do not pass me by.

Let me at Thy throne of mercy
Find a sweet relief,
Kneeling there in deep contrition;
Help my unbelief.

Refrain

Trusting only in Thy merit,
Would I seek Thy face;
Heal my wounded, broken spirit,
Save me by Thy grace.

Refrain

Thou the Spring of all my comfort,
More than life to me,
Whom have I on earth beside Thee?
Whom in Heav’n but Thee?

Refrain

Author and History

Fanny Crosby wrote this lovely hymn after she ministered at a prison where she was often interrupted by the prisoners calling out to God to “not to pass me by”.  She was so moved by their pleas that she wrote this song.  As Fanny said, “I wrote the lines with the men’s plead­ing wail still in my ears.”

Fanny Crosby is also known as the “Queen of Gospel Song Writers”.  Over the course of her lifetime, she wrote more than 8000 hymns.  A medical treatment when she was a wee child left her blind. She did not let this stop her from writing poetry, working in missions, or composing music. 

She met her husband, van Alstyne, at the NYIB. Even though she was friends with her husband, it was not a happy marriage. Their only daughter was lost shortly after birth. For all of her success in writing hymns, Fanny often lived in very poor conditions. 

Other Hymns by Fanny Crosby:

Pondering Deeper

Psalm 73:25-26 (ESV) 

25 Whom have I in heaven but you?
    And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.
26 My flesh and my heart may fail,
    but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

Reading the story of how such a great lyricist often lived a life of poverty saddened my heart. When I think today of how so many people make a living off writing music, and Fanny lived in poverty.   

But she maintained her faith in God.  She didn’t let the circumstances of her life lead to live in despair. She really understood the meaning of relying on God. The words from Psalm 73 really show the heart of Fanny.

Do they show your heart as well? 

The Way Past Winter

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raincoast FTC

Grit, determination, and just a little bit of magic fill the pages of The Way Past Winter.  An old enemy plays his hand.  Can the survivors find a way to put an end to it all? Affiliate links will be used in this review, held on behalf of Raincoast books. 

the way past winter

The Basic Details

Kiran Millwood Hargrave is the author of this Chronicle books published middle school read entitled The Way Past Winter.  Youths grade 5 and up will be delighted with the bravery of Mila as she faces her greatest foe.   A mage Rune helps her along the way.  It is a page-turning adventure the shows the resilience of family, magic and friendship.   Will it be enough to see them through the end?   Will it see them past to the end of winter?    I received an advanced reader’s copy of this 284-page book.

The Way Past Winter

Based on Slavic folktales, this children’s sibling book from Chronicle books is a fast paced novel guaranteed to keep the reader interested in what will happen next.  As an adult reader I finished it in about an hour (mind, I am a fast reader).  

You’ll find five different images delineating each chapter heading, they show the progress in the story.  Scattered art work also help introduce the different sections of this tome based in fantasy and magic.  Since I received an ARC copy I don’t know if the images will be in greyscale in the final copy.

sample page, the way past winter

Font size was larger, making it an easy fast read.  Very comfortable for a youth 10 and up to engage with. 

the way past winter

I really liked the variety in the girls characters, so very different from each other and yet very focused on helping each other. It was in essence… family being family despite their differences.  This makes for a good read.  🙂   

Should you get it?

Yes.  I think so. 

I enjoyed it although the story went in a different direction than I thought it would.  My thought was it would all be about respecting the earth and the things of the earth. It was less about that, and more about family and combatting the things which made life difficult. 

The Way Past Winter shows the resilience of family and friendship. A determination from three unremarkable girls to make things right again. 

It would be interesting to use it as a character study as each of their girls, their brother and the mage are quite different.  Or as a way to jumpstart a conversation about how to care for the earth, or looking into Slavic folklore and how it influences different genres of books.   It’s a good story to just stand on its own as a fantasy novel. 

 

Review: Handbook for Writers

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DISCLAIMER: I received this product free through the Homeschool Review Crew

420 pages.  Just think for a moment.  How thorough do you think a Handbook for Writers could be?  Let me tell you, how through two main sections, why you need this resource in your schoolroom.  You will find Excellence in Literature Handbook for Writers a very thorough treatise from Everyday Education.  Let’s learn more about it.

Handbook for writers

What I am Reviewing

Janice Campbell from Everyday Education has put together a very thorough Excellence in Literature Handbook for Writers. Not only does your student learn how to write, but you as teacher are taught how to grade their work. Such a helpful book to own. 

It is available for $39.  I received my copy as a PDF which I downloaded to my computer and put on a thumbdrive for my son. This way it was easily accessible for both of us.  Normally I would send it out for printing, and I’m still considering doing that, but at 420 pages it’s a bit more than I currently want to do.  🙂   My son is not in a rush for me to do so as I tell him what page and section to look at, on the drive, when I’m having him correct his own work.  

Everyday Education is run by Janice Campbell.  She has a passion for helping high school students develop the skills they need to write university-ready essays. Her love for literature has led her to create a five-year program, self-directed program introducing the great books of literature.  The Excellence in Literature Handbook for Writers is a necessary part of this course. 

What you Get in Handbook for Writers

The Handbook for Writers is based upon the work by Ian Johnston who put together literature to help students become better writers. Ms. Campbell took that material, combined it, and turned it into a singularly helpful edition. If you have ANY questions in learning the mechanics of how to write, you’ll find the answers here. 
 
This handbook comes with two sections. The First contains detailed instructions and samples of written work for putting together arguments and writing essays. The second 
 
Part One: Introduction to Essays and Arguments
 
In this section you’ll be introduced to Arguments divided into the following areas:
  • Some Simple First Principles,
  • Setting Up The Argument: Definition,
  • Defining Key Terms,
  • Deduction & Induction,
  • Organizing The Main Body Of An Argument,
  • Paragraph Structure,
  • Paragraph Functions,
  • Writing Arguments About Literary Works,
  • Sample Outlines For Essays And Research Papers,
  • Critical Approaches to Shakespeare,
  • Some Criteria for Making Literary Evaluations.
Part Two: Introduction to Usage and Style
 
This section covers all the mechanics of writing.   
  • Phrases, Clauses, Sentences
  • Words
  • Basic Punctuation
  • Pronouns
  • Parallelism Or Parallel Structure
  • Clarity, Logic, Structure
  • Modifiers, Gerunds, Infinitives
  • References And Bibliographies.   
  • Basic Format for Essays and Research Papers.
  • Keyhole Essay Graphic

I can see so many ways to use this large resource

As a reference manual.  With its very clear table of contents, it would be so easy to look up a particular area and refine your skills. 

As a textbook.  One could simply read it, learn the skills, and then test one’s ability to put them to use. 

As a method of self-correction. If a teacher marks a section as incorrect in your essay, you could use this manual to learn how to write better. 

How Did I Use Handbook for Writers?

My goal for this Excellence in Literature Handbook for Writers was to use it to mark essays my son was doing for another course.  That was the goal.  Honestly, it didn’t turn out that way.  Best laid plans of mice and men… don’t always pan out.  

Instead, I asked my lad for some essays he has already written that I simply didn’t get around to marking yet.  This eased the pressure on both my lad and myself, in a time when Covid is starting to mess with our minds.   Seriously.  Too much lockdown, not enough getting out, it’s been a battle. AND these essays needed to be marked anyways!  🙂 

My goal with reviewing the Handbook for Writers was to have a helpful tool in grading my son’s written work.   I loved all the how-to’s for grammar, punctuation, word usage, etc.   It meant that I looked at my son’s work and a sentence would make me frown wondering why I knew it wasn’t written well, I could go to the specific section in the handbook and figure out why. 

Specific Examples

It was wonderfully helpful to say, third paragraph, you had some trouble.  Go to section —— and see if you can figure out where you went wrong.  Correct it for me, please. It gave him the specific assistance that he needed.  THIS is the beauty of having a PDF copy.  Occasionally I spared him the effort of looking up the section and simply sent a screenshot for him.   Honestly… he MUCH preferred it when I did this.  🙂 

When I mark a students’ work I make a point of not pointing out EVERYTHING they have done wrong.  I don’t want to be a point of discouragement, but want to overtime, have their skills improve.   So I’ll point out different concerns in different paragraphs. 

Sometimes my lad will ask “why did you do it here, but not here?” My response is “well in this paragraph it was glaringly obvious, this paragraph, this other issue leapt out at me.   Well done in spotting it yourself.”   Overtime, he’s improving, which honestly… is my goal. 🙂 

In the paragraph above I referred my lad to the section on phrases, use of commas etc. 

From that, he was able to spot his incorrect use of a comma and changed a couple of his sentences so they read better. 

I love having a resource that helps my son learn how to correct his own work. To be able to say, go to this resource, this section, so you can figure out what you can do better.  95% of the time that was all the help he needed.  The rest of the time, we’d have a discussion about it and he’d understand.  An excellent resource for us.

handbook for writers

What I wanted to dig into

One of the sections I most looked forward to reading through was Some Criteria for Making Literary Evaluations.  I found this article well-written, articulate, and made me ask questions.   I don’t know if I agree with all the sentiments expressed, but I appreciated the fundamental need to judge a work according to the type of work it is.  So to not judge a dramatic work as if it were a comedy. 

Would I add anything?

As a Canadian, the only thing I can see to make the Excellence in Literature Handbook for Writers better would be add a “Canadian particularities” section.  This section would focus on our Canadian spelling and grammar as it differs from American usage.  This would make it a truly North American resource. 

Should you Get Handbook for Writers?

You will find this a very thorough work with 420 pages.  It is available as a paperback or as PDF ebook for $39.

You can use it with any literature or writing program, but has been designed to go well with the other offerings from Everyday Education.   This well-written work will serve your students well as they move into higher education.   

Excellence in Literature Handbook for Writers is everything you need to round out your high school literature courses!  With specific examples, attention to niggly details, well-developed table of contents, and an easy-to-read format it’s a winner to go on your resource shelf. 

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Everyday Education handbook for writers

Learn More about Everyday Education

28 members of the review crew have been privileged to look at the Excellence in Literature Handbook for Writers.  I urge you to read what others had to say about Everyday Education. 

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What to pack for a field trip

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I think every homeschool mom plans to include field trips into her children’s learning times.   With every plan to travel comes a need of figuring what to pack for a field trip.   Things to pack include lunches, supplies, and extra resources. 

what to pack for a field trip

Food

Of course, depending on how long your field trip is for you might not need to pack a thing.   If it’s just an afternoon or a morning, really, you don’t need food.   You might want to pack along some water.  Our current favourite water bottles are the Contigo fit bottles.  We’ve tried a number of water bottles over the years and these ones don’t develop mold issues AND they don’t leak! 

But a day-long trip… you need some food.   Some places don’t have a food court, others do and generally are a bit pricey.   My lad and I are simple eaters when it comes to going out.  This makes it super easy for us to pack a sandwich, a bag of chips or some fruit, maybe a granola bar, and our drink.  Often we’ll pack a muffin along for the road home. 

For years we used these tupperware containers for our sandwiches, and they are nice.  I like them.  BUT sometimes you need to kinda squish your sandwich in… and well.. that’s not so great.   Our current favourites my hubby found someplace and they are a lot like these ones, except they are slightly more rectangular than square.  Fits our bread better.

Supplies

There are some things you need on almost every field trip.

A way to take notes.  I love my tablet for this, my son likes to pop a notepad into his pocket. 

A way to commemorate your visit.  I either use my phone or grab up my point and shoot camera.   My son was gifted a nice camera much like this one from his uncle that he uses.   He’s taken some stellar images with it. 

Tortoise

Extra Resources

Most field trips won’t require any special resources beyond the willingness of your student to participate.   Some won’t even require a notepad!   Others though, will encourage exploration, either as part of a group or on your own.

For instance, having a pocket microscope would be excellent when on a forest study, trail walk, or any botany, biology or zoology trip.  If you carry a smartphone you might want to bump up your pocket microscope into this small microscope. 

You might need a map, a geometry set, specific crafting materials, critical thinking tools, or even nice clothes to take in professional arts events.  Consider the event that you want to attend and take along what you need to help your students make the most of their opportunities. 

How about you?  What is important for you when you pack for a field trip? 

march2021

You are my Hiding Place

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I used to sing this song all the time.  I rarely hear it anymore as newer songs have taken it’s place.  You are my hiding place is a great song that reminds of our safety in God. 

You are my hiding place

Lyrics

You are my hiding place
You always fill my heart
With songs of deliverance
Whenever I am afraid
I will trust in You
 
I will trust in You
Let the weak say
I am strong
In the strength of the Lord
 
You are my hiding place
You always fill my heart
With songs of deliverance
Whenever I am afraid
I will trust in You
 
I will trust in You
Let the weak say I am strong
In the strength of the Lord
I will trust in You
 
You are my hiding place
You always fill my heart
With songs of deliverance
Whenever I am afraid
I will trust in You
 
I will trust in You
Let the weak say
I am strong
In the strength of the Lord
I will trust in You
 
You are my hiding place (I will trust in You)
You always fill my heart (Let the weak say)
With songs of deliverance (I am strong)
Whenever I am afraid (In the strength of the Lord)
I will trust in You

Author and History

Michael James Ledner wrote “You Are my Hiding Place”.  I looked for information about him but failed to do so other than this one post. 

Mr. Ledner found himself in a time of despair.  In that moment he took the time to take the words of David and turn them into a song.  A song he wasn’t sure he wanted to live out, but needed to try. 

Thinking Deeper

 Psalm 32:7

You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance.

What songs of deliverance do you have?

I read the words of this oh-so-familiar tune and that was the first thought, what are MY songs of deliverance?  What were David’s songs of deliverance?

Mine include things like — meals delivered when there was nothing on the table, meeting my man, minor car accidents that forced me to stop, friends who really listened when it was needful, and many more things.  God has been so amazing in my life.

How has he been amazing in yours?   How has he shown you that he is YOUR hiding place?   What songs of deliverance do you have? 

Entrepreneurial Skills

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Over the years I have been working on developing the entrepreneurial skills in my now 15-year-old lad. Not everyone is cut out to have a boss… and I’m one of them. And honestly, I don’t know if my son would do well having a boss or being responsible for his own future.  Making sure he knows how to run a small business is, therefore, kinda important to me.

In today’s post, I’ll talk about some of the things we’ve done, some courses to take, and skills learned throughout.  

entrepreneurial skills

What Have We Done?

When my son was little he grew and sold vegetable plants.  He made some 50$.  He thought it was great and anything leftover went into the garden.  Some of those were mini tomatoes and he sold whatever we didn’t eat.  For an 7 year old at the time that worked out pretty good for him.  🙂   

Tomato

Enter in the rabbits.  I’ve raised rabbits for years now.  At one point my lad said “mom, can I have a rabbit?”  I said “sure, but she’s going to be part of the herd and any babies she has and we sell you get most of the money.  Not all”.  “WHY?” he queried.  

I went on to explain about how I paid for the feed, the housing, did most of the work, dad paid for the hydro and water.  Everything costs money so he had to do his bit too.  It all made sense to him.

Now his role in the rabbitry is … if he sells a bunny for me, he gets a 10% commission.  He much prefers this to owning a rabbit and having to make decisions about them. 

Fancy mice are a big part of his life now.  I happen to adore a good mouse and have successfully passed this along to my lad.  He asked three years ago if he could take over the mice.  He feeds, waters, cleans out, plans who to keep, what colours he likes and so forth.  Assistance is given with selling (as I post online) and do driving for him.  I get a commission in my sales and some extra to help with feed costs.  It works for him.

Skills learned in these jobs?

You need some skills to be successful.  These are just some of the ones my son has needed to learn.

  • attention to detail
  • photography
  • animal husbandry
  • communication skills
  • selling and what all is involved beyond the pitch
  • inventory management
  • people skills
  • Decision making
  • independent thinking 
  • and more I can’t even think of right now
entrepreneurial skills

Skills Needed to be an Entrepreneur

To be a good entrepreneur you need to have some talents you can share with the world and skills in which to market those talents.

If you can turn something that you are interested in, into a passion and saleable product, you can be an entrepreneur.

To do that you need to learn how to

  • manage your time –  how to use your time wisely in management, creation, publicizing, etc.
  • develop your curiosity so you can problem-solve, create solutions, discovering opportunities, etc.
  • be resilient so you can handle rejection, bad days, slow progress etc.
  • communicate.  If you can’t communicate, how will you convince people they need YOUR particular product?  How will you understand any issues that come up with it?
  • Think critically and strategically – problem solve, sorting our difficulties, planning steps to take
  • Network – finding others who be partners, help you find new opportunities, provide spin off markets etc.
  • handle money – from who to hire, saving for a rainy day, planning expenses, 
  • Learning how to make sales – from public speaking to organizing the information to be shared, to figuring out a sales pitch. 

Entrepreneurial Classes to Take

Classes like

  • Financial management
  • Entrepreneurial classes 
  • Public speaking
  • Classes to increase your skill level in whatever your passion is.   So for instance if you sell essential oils… really learning what each oil can do, food safety, sales, etc. 
  • Business classes
  • really, take whatever class helps you to learn specific skills that you need to succeed well. 

SchoolhouseTeachers.com is one such place to take a class in entrepreneurship for your teens. 

You can take a class at your local community college like this one at Fanshawe. 

Teaching Entrepreneurship is a website devoted to teaching these skills. 

How about you?   What have you done to encourage your children’s entrepreneurial skills?  Have I missed any classes or courses they should take?  Any important skills?

February Social Media Challenge

If You But Trust in God to Guide You

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If you but trust in God to guide you, a song I’ve sung with thee’s and thou’s, and also with the more current you’s.   This song calls for us to trust in God faithfully. Sometimes we need to be patient within that trust, waiting for God to act.  We are called to follow God unsweringly, regardless of the situations he leads us into. 

If you but trust in God to guide you

Lyrics

If thou but trust in God to guide thee,
And hope in Him through all thy ways,
He’ll give thee strength, whate’er betide thee.
And bear thee through the evil days.
Who trusts in God’s unchanging love
Builds on the rock that nought can move. 

What can these anxious cares avail thee,
These never-ceasing moans and sighs?
What can it help, if thou bewail thee,
O’er each dark moment as it flies?
Our cross and trials do but press
The heavier for our bitterness. 

Only be still and wait His leisure
In cheerful hope, with heart content
To take whate’er thy Father’s pleasure
And all-deserving love hath sent,
Nor doubt our inmost wants are known
To Him Who chose us for His own. 

He knows the time for joy, and truly
Will send it when He sees it meet.
When He hath tried and purged thee throughly
And finds thee free from all deceit;
He comes to thee all unaware
And makes thee own His loving care. 

Nor think amid the heat of trial
That God hath cast thee off unheard,
That He whose hopes meet no denial
Must surely be of God preferred;
Time passes and much change doth bring,
And sets a bound to everything. 

All are alike before the Highest.
‘Tis easy to our God, we know.
To raise thee up, though low thou liest,
To make the rich man poor and low;
True wonders still by Him are wrought
Who setteth up and brings to nought. 

Sing, pray, and keep His ways unswerving.
So do thine own part faithfully.
And trust His word ; though undeserving,
Thou yet shalt find it true for thee —
God never yet forsook at need
The soul that trusted Him indeed.

History and Author

Georg Neumark was a German poet and a composer of hymns.  This is his most famous song and was originally entitled Wer nur den lieben Gott läßt walten.  His studies in law got interrupted when he needed to flee due to war. He was able to finish, and even as he studied for the law he wrote more poetry and hymns.   

Twice he lost nearly all his possessions, once through robbery, the second time through fire.  In fact, after he lost all his possessions the first time and found himself in dire straits, he finally landed a job as a tutor.  This was when he wrote “If you but trust in God to Guide You”. 

Overtime his fortunes picked up and he was introduced to people who could help his career.   He died at age 60, in 1681. 

Thinking Deeper

Did you notice?   Both youtube videos contained different verses.  It was actually a bit of a challenge to choose lyrics because the hymn that I grew up with, was not in the preponderance of versions I found.   The second video actually contained a couple of the verses that I know. 

It’s one of the beauties of music right?  Take a tune, find words that fit the tune and sing praise to God. It’s also part of the frustration of singing songs out of different songbooks. Different editors keep different verses. And hymns get updated to current language sometimes changing word order and/or usage as well.

I know how much this frustrated me and I’m only in my mid-50’s. I wonder what it does to our faithful seniors when we change the words to the hymns they have sung for years?  Do we even consider them when we so blithely change songs to fit modern sensibilities?  I find it regretful.