A Net in Time

Curriculum and book reviews, faith, homeschooling and more!

Homeschooling

Teach Independent Learning

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Are you looking for ways to make homeschooling easier?  Needing tips to streamline the process?   Over the next 10 days, I’ll be sharing strategies that will you teach independent learning to your students.  I hope you will come along on the journey.

teach independent learning text with image of student doing independent work

If my plans go as I’m hoping they will I still start from the early years and work my way forward to where we are now in highschool.  It’s been a journey to gain independence and self-motivation to learn.  My goal is to show you a few steps along the way.   

Steps such as accepting where your child is at, realizing that learning goals aren’t all the same, incremental steps toward an end goal and how trust is a big factor in the process. 

Learning to be responsible for your own education isn’t always the easiest thing to learn. With support, encouragement and timely guidance, your students can gain the independence they need. 

Outline for teaching independent learning

  1. Acceptance the start of independence
  2. Answering questions.
  3. Encouraging creativity.
  4. Organization.
  5. Involvement in electives.
  6. Learning when to take a step back.
  7. Building confidence.
  8. Establishing Trust.
  9. When Errors in Judgement Happen.

What advice do you have to teach independent learning? 

Others Joining In

There will be about 17 other bloggers joining in on the 10 blog hop and I hope that you will take the time to visit them. 

These wonderful bloggers will be discussing topics such as creating a stress-free home, Health worksheets for children, encouragement for parents, unit studies, preschool activities, dinosaur worksheets, homeschooling tips, nature study,  and much much more. 

Outside In

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raincoast FTC

Sometimes you run across a book that can be read in different ways.  Outside In is one such book. Between the images, and my take on text used, I had one impression, but when I read the description, I can see another vantage point.   Books like this linger with me, perhaps this one might linger with you as well.   This is my review.

Outside In Review

What I am Reviewing

Deborah Underwood (best selling New York Times author) wrote Outside In which has been published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.  Cindy Derby used a mixture of dark dreary colours with bright pops of colour to illustrate this hardcover picture book.   Written for primary school children, at 40 pages it is a nice book to share with a lap-child or for beginning readers to pick up.  

Because of the different perspectives, you can take with Outside In, it’s an imaginative book with good nature themes. 

Reviewing on behalf of Raincoast Books. 

The Details on Outside In

Cindy Derby’s artwork has left me feeling very conflicted about which way I should read this book.  Parts feel very low and depressive, and other parts feel very bright and ready for almost anything.  At the same time nature abounds, making this tome a place of exploration and dreaming.   It makes for an intriguing look-see.

Outside In

Ooh… the colours in the leaves eh?  Juxtapositioned against the bleakness of winter.  How sad and quiet it can be in the winter, unless we look for the colour and life within it. 

Outside In

Too often that bleakness stays with us.  Bring the light in, bring nature in, rejoice in the colour and life!

The large text size makes it easy for child and adult to read easily. 

sample page outside in

Should you get it?

Outside In is such an interesting book.  Nature, colour, and emotions.  There is much to see and discuss in this picture book. 

Bring nature indoors whether with light or colour.

Don’t get stuck in a rut of quietness within. 

Summer Reading Lists

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It’s a brand new month with new challenges from the crew, isn’t it fun?   This week, the challenge is Summer Reading Lists.  I was all set to do a middle school reading list for you, but decided I’d just share some books that I have particularly enjoyed.

Summer reading list

For all Humankind

This is actually a book I just reviewed.  About the moon landing, but from people all over the world.  Their perceptions.  I found it quite interesting. 

For all Humankind. An informative, eye-opening read.  It was really interesting reading stories from all over. 

The Last Lie

I found this book so very intriguing.  The last lie focused on…what is our use of language was limited?  What if language wasn’t spoken to anyone?  Could language simply be erased?  Isn’t that such a fascinating idea?

The Last Lie

Fight Your Fears

Fight your fears became my pass it along book.  Shortly after reading it, I sent it along to a church friend, who then promised to pass it along to the next person.  A useful book to help people realize their fears and through God, to combat them. 

Review image for Fight Your Fears by Kristen Wetherell review

Keeper of Wild Words

In The Keeper of Wild Words we get to go on a treasure hunt for words removed from the Children’s dictionary.  Such a fun picture book.

The Keeper of Wild Words, review image
June TOS

So, what is YOUR summer reading list?  What books would you like to share with others?  Are there any must haves on summer reading lists?  

For all Humankind

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raincoast FTC

I don’t know if you’ve ever noticed it…but most of the literature about the moon landing is all focused on the U.S.A?  But there’s this funny thing about the moon landing, it was a global effort.  People and materials from all over the world worked together.  In For All Humankind author, Tanya Harrison makes sure we know about the global impact of the moon landing. 

For All Humankind: The Untold Stories of How the Moon Landing Inspired the World

What I am Reviewing

For All Humankind: The Untold Stories of How the Moon Landing Inspired the World was inspired by the author’s desire to see the Moon Landing from the vantage of non-USA people.  8 chapters over 200 pages. Written by authors Tanya Harrison and Danny Bednar and published by Mango.

These previously untold stories reveal the impact of the moon landings around the globe, and what having a “man on the moon” meant to the international community.
In this exciting new book, For All Humankind, readers will:
* Get to read interviews with eight non-Americans to get their perspectives
* Be inspired by their memories of the event as they saw it
* Have a unique opportunity to learn more about one of the most historic events in human history

The Details on For All Humankind

8 stories from all over the world.  We meet men and women, boys and girls, from places such as Chile, Canada, Iran, England, Sudan, Mexico and India. Some faced disbelief, others had shared joy from family members, but always, there was excitement and wonder about a man being on the moon. 

For all Humankind

These stories are personal, speaking to how they were impacted by the moon landing. Boys, girls, men, women…the impact of the moon landing was felt worldwide. 

Images in black and white dot the pages showing us scenes from the moon landing.  The whole book is done in shades of black and white. 

For all Humankind

I really enjoyed the preamble before we got to the stories from around the world.   Did you know that “a Canadian company built the legs for the Eagle ….. Australian radio telescopes received the live footage“? (p.11)   Rather cool eh?  Even the work that others did before Saturn V was built enabled the Moon Landing to happen. 

For all Humankind

Should you Get it?

For All Humankind is an informative, eye-opening read.  It was really interesting reading stories from all over. If I were truly into the Moon Landing and outer space and wanting books, I would definitively add this to my library.  Otherwise, I would be just as happy borrowing it from the library.  It’s definitely worth a good read. 

Journey Through the Continents

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Do you ever dream of exploring the continents?  Or ever want your children to have a good understanding of them?  Well.. have I got just the thing for you.  Books, crafts, history, videos, playlists and so much more.  Everything you need to peak your interest in learning about our world!  Introducing to you Journey Through the Continents, my review of a great product produced by Homeschool on the Range. 

journey through the continents review

What I am Reviewing

Journey Through the Continents.  A New study produced by Homeschool On the Range and provided in the shop by the bookshack.  Journey through the Continents is a complete unit study.  This unit study covers geography, history, art, social studies and language arts. It is 162 pages and comes as a downloadable file as a PDF.  You can find this helpful resource for students in 5th-9th grades for $29.99 in the BookShack Shop. 

The Details of Journey Through the Continents

One of the things I love about this unit study is the encouragement to dive in wherever you want.   If you want to pick up an art project from Africa you can do so.   Following the instructions provided OR you can play around with an image creator and see what you can do there instead of doing a paper plate craft. 

Or perhaps you are just looking for some good book suggestions, because that’s what stimulates how you or your children learn.  You will find copious book lists divided into age groups. 

Whether your interest starts with food, crafts, videos or books there is something in Journey Through the Continents to whet your appetite.   I WISH I had remember to capture my result of making this recipe!   But sometimes the food gets ahead of my brain……  (though it’s quarantine time I did leave out the Korean paste). 

It did lead to the inspiration to try another dish from a different country on the same continent though.  It’s one of the things I love about unit studies, one exploration can so easily lead to additional ones… 

Basic Set-Up

You may be asking yourself by this point, so.. just how is this unit study set up?  What am I really in for?  Will I be overloaded, or given too many options, or just what’s the deal.

First off.. there are never too many options, there are always opportunities to fit the needs of different learners.  The opportunities allow you to pick what suits you best. 

Second the suggested resources.  Two big ones.  A subscription to SchoolhouseTeachers.com and AmazonPrime.  Without those, it will be more difficult to complete this unit study.  And… if you live outside the United States…. you’ll find AmazonPrime titles and series that you simply aren’t allowed to access.  Yes.. it stinks.   There are always workaround, like going to YouTube and sussing out videos on your own.  This is one area that could be improved.  For the creators to look provide alternatives should a major resource not be a possibility. 

Third: the basic set-up.   No table of contents which really surprised me, but the unit study progressed in an orderly fashion covering geographic concepts and then the continents.

Visual aids nicely break up the text, creating interest and reducing eye-strain.  Most of the pages were are white, some gray-scale worksheets were present. A good amount of full-colour images were available making for a vibrant walk-through our beloved earth. 

Layout of Each Section

Each section follows a similar layout, though the depth of each area might vary from one unit to the next. 

  • Geography: includes maps, location, climate, landmarks etc.
  • History: in the form of a timeline
  • Resources: videos, books, 
  • Crafts: a whole variety of crafts with no age suggestions.  You never know what might inspire a person, or how they might want to do the craft, but perhaps a bit different. 

After crafts

  • Music Appreciation
  • Art Appreciation
  • Connections and Folklore
  • Cooking
  • Mapwork
  • Research, vocab
  • Famous People
  • and various worksheets

This is a very thorough walk through the continents.  If you did everything this would be a rather lengthy and complete geography/social studies curriculum. 

So it’s rather cool.  At the close of Journey Through the Continents I found a coupon!  10% off anything in the store.  Looks like it’s a regular part of the offering.  Hmm..now what would I choose?  I’m leaning toward Cooking through the World.  Doesn’t that just sound intriguing?

Studies in Malachi

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The theme this week with the Homeschool Review Crew is something old.  I was pondering what this post could be on and then thought… you know what?  The bible is the oldest book and it tells the oldest story. I got to thinking about how as I study through books of the bible I am engaging in “something old”.   The desire to know God more.  My studies in Malachi started on April 28.  I will be finished probably May 26.   

Studies in Malachi

What is Malachi all about

I started my studies listening to Peter Baker.  He summed up the history of Israel before Malachi came on the scene.   You can view my entire playlist should you wish to. 

I love this idea you know.  That discipline starts from a place of love. God demonstrates his love for us. Stating his love for us BEFORE he exercises discipline.  We should be like this with others in our lives don’t you think?

Malachi

I was captured this week by a recurring thought in Malachi 2. How do we honour God?  If we don’t go to church expecting to meet God and just go through the motions… how does that honour God?   If we fail to consider the one that we call our Lord and Saviour throughout the day… how does the honour God?  

We need to consider who God is as we go about our faith duties.  Perhaps duties is the wrong word, but how we live out our faith matters!  In James, we were oft reminded that if we didn’t let our lives be changed by the words we hear we are merely fooling ourselves.  So if God’s word doesn’t cause us to honour him more… what are we really doing?

I don’t want to be seen as offal in the sight of God…the gross bits of cattle, goats and sheep when they were sacrificed to God.  Do you?  I want God to be pleased when he sees me, to know that he makes a difference in my life. I want God to see the respect I offer to him, as insufficient though it be. 

malachi 2

Opinions Abound

Occasionally the comments that made me think caused others to think as well, sometimes with strong opinions.  This one on tithing was one such post.    The point with tithing though is this… doesn’t matter what you give to God.  Other things are much more important.  First, we have to remember it’s all his in the first place.  Second, our giving needs to be done joyfully and generously.  Third, 10% is a basic amount, a good starter for saving for yourself, for encouraging people in ministry and for helping to grow the kingdom of God.  

One of the speakers I was listening to made this statement “Our spouses are like a garment”.  I was fascinated by that idea and almost forgot to listen to the rest of the sermon!  🙂  But it made me think of how some women need to dress the part or their spouses are looked down upon… even if the wife has no part in her husband’s work.   Then I got to thinking about how my hubby doesn’t care about what I wear, if I dress up or down, but how if I dress up, his eyes smile.  Kinda like my eyes smile when I’m wearing something that I particularly like to wear.   Smiles are worth it, even if it causes you to do something you’d rather not.   I keep thinking I might be missing something but for now, isn’t it an interesting thought?

Excellent Sermons

On my second last day of listening to Malachi Sermons I watched this video below.   I loved the message of his sermon.  Malachi is a book of God calling his people back, offering hope instead of wrath. A call to see something deeper, that something more is offered.   Which has people looking forward to the New Testament where Jesus’ birth is the first thing talked about!

Oh…and that depiction of cattle when released from the barn for the first time after winter!  Brings back memories from my childhood of crazy cows and heifers delighting in freedom.   We should delight in the same way!

Have you written a post about something old?  Share it in the linky below!

May 2020

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

O Master Let Me Walk With Thee

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O for a closer walk with God reminded me of O Master Let me Walk with thee.  With a different author and theme, this song calls for us to remember that God helps us be faithful in our walk with him. 

O Master Let Me Walk with Thee

O Master Let Me Walk with Thee, Lyrics

O Master, let me walk with Thee,
In lowly paths of service free;
Tell me Thy secret; help me bear
The strain of toil, the fret of care.

Help me the slow of heart to move
By some clear, winning word of love;
Teach me the wayward feet to stay,
And guide them in the homeward way.

O Master, let me walk with Thee,
Before the taunting Pharisee;
Help me to bear the sting of spite,
The hate of men who hide Thy light.

The sore distrust of souls sincere
Who cannot read Thy judgments clear,
The dullness of the multitude,
Who dimly guess that Thou art good.

Teach me Thy patience; still with Thee
In closer, dearer, company,
In work that keeps faith sweet and strong,
In trust that triumphs over wrong.

In hope that sends a shining ray
Far down the future’s broadening way,
In peace that only Thou canst give,
With Thee, O Master, let me live.

Author and History

The Still Hour was a section of the Sunday Afternoon paper.  Washington Gladden wrote this song for that section in 1879. It was written as a three-stanza poem with 8 lines each.  Later it was adapted to music with the unsuitable lines being dropped.  The original purpose was to be a poem not as a hymn, it took his friend Rev. C. H. Ri­chards to see the potential. 

Born in Pennsylvania, Gladden started his working life as a newspaper reporter.  Eventually, he received his pastoral credentials and started pastoring in Congregationalist churches throughout the United States.   He was not a prolific hymnist with only 7 known hymns, he also wrote papers and books. 

Thinking Deeper

I can hear the cry of the believing heart in this hymn, can’t you?

The plea of the believer to God, for his help, in maintaining a faithful walk with him.  The plea for faithfulness and steadfastness.  Don’t we all need that?

I know that through this Covid crisis that I am needing God’s help through it. The worry and concern I feel for those losing their businesses, for people struggling to find balance, weighs on me.  It’s not an easy thing to be denied our freedoms.  When I combine the two, it’s only through God that I’m doing okay.  🙂 

How about you?   Does this song strike a chord, reminding you that we have a God with whom we can plea for help?