A Net in Time

Curriculum and book reviews, faith, homeschooling and more!

Homeschooling

Marie’s Ocean

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raincoast FTC

You know what I love?  Well okay, one of the things I love?   Picture books that have meat to them.  These are books that not only entertain a child, but also teach.  Marie’s Ocean introduces us to the life and work of Marie Tharp.  Don’t know who she is?  A remarkable woman you lived in a time when what women could do work-wise was limited, and yet, she forever left her mark in history.   This is my review for Raincoast books.  

Affiliate links will be used. 

marie's ocean

Who is Marie Tharp

In Marie’s Ocean we get to know about Marie Tharp, a girl who was fascinated by the world from the time she was quite young.  She was determined that one day she would sail on a ship.  One obstacle – she lived in a time when women were not welcome aboard a working ship.  They were considered bad luck… it took years before she was able to work on a ship, but in the meantime, she studied and worked.  Eventually, she proved there was a rift, and through that, the theory of continental drift. 

What do you get?

I received an ARC version of Marie’s Ocean for this review.  You’ll find it comes as a hardcover picturebook of 68 pages.   Published by Henry Holt and Company Books for Young Readers, and written by Josie James.    After reading this woman’s biography I find myself wondering if Ms. James will tackle any other women of history. 

Written with children 5-9 years old, I can easily see older students using this well-illustrated picture book was a primer for a study of Marie Tharp. 

The finer details for Marie’s Ocean

Josie James is both author and illustrator.    I enjoyed learning how sounding works and seeing the paths the ships took.  It was excellent to learn her work progressed as she worked through her studies. 

This mixed-format picture book is detailed in both illustration and word.  We are privy to her thoughts and explorations, an excellent primer into the life she lived so well. 

I found the variety in which the material was presented an integral part of the story.  Seeing her bravery in standing up for her findings, her dismay that she couldn’t present her own work, observing her discoveries, and the pictures of what it all means. 

Marie's Ocean, sample page

At the close of the book we’re given the rest of Marie’s story and how for so long she and her work forgotten. She is now known as one of the four greatest woman cartographers. 

Should you Get Marie’s Ocean?

If you have any interest in oceanography, geography, science, noted women of history, numerology, or more….you can find much of interest in Marie’s Ocean.  This meaty picturebook is a great introduction to all those fields.  Teaching children what you can do as a woman if you are good with numbers, or are determined to follow your dream, or just want to follow where your research takes you.   

Marie was so patient and yet observant, willing to speak her observations and prove them.  There is so much you can do with it, the biggest of course is… just enjoying the story!  So go out, get a new book for your shelves.  🙂 

Review: Personal Finance Lab

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

For the last few weeks, my son and I have been enjoyed playing a financial game put out by PersonalFinanceLab.com.  They have come out with an online game to help teach the basics of personal finance and trading in the stockmarket.  Imagine a game that my son enjoys playing that has nothing to do with blowing things up!  Pretty good eh? Personal Finance Lab is a great way to having fun and learning too!

Personal finance Lab

What I Am Reviewing

PersonalFinanceLab.com has come out with PersonalFinanceLab Budgeting Game, Stock Market Game and integrated curriculum.  I have received access for a school year which is nine months. 

What you’ll get is an online, unique experience for each of your students in learning Financial Literacy, Business and Economics subjects.   Integrated learning and assessments are built into a personal budgeting game and a stockmarket challenge. The goal is to provide learners with real-world skills that last a lifetime. 

Parents/Teachers can register an account for each student, and each account will have access to our personal budgeting game, stock game, 50 Personal Finance lessons, and 20 Introduction to the Stock Market lessons. 

Our resources start by using our budgeting and stock games as long-term foundational activities – teachers usually dedicate at least 30 minutes per week for each game they choose to include. Students typically manage their long-term budget and/or stock game portfolio over a 6 to 12 week period.

How We Used it

I set up the program, though honestly, I got frustrated in the set up.  I had it all set to go and then something odd happened and I really don’t what it was but I had to start from scratch and it seemed like too much work.  So I ended up just doing all the defaults no tweaking.  There are lots of ways to tweak in regards to how many lessons to complete.  I set up an account for me and for my 15 year old. 

I have predominately played the budget game, and have forayed briefly into the stock market where I seem to be having success.  My son spent all this time in the budgeting game.  He wants to complete it before moving on to the stock market.  Currently, for the budgetting game I am in my 7th month, my son is in his fourth month.  Each month takes about 20-30 minutes to complete. 

The Set Up of Personal Finance Lab

As the parent I have my own dashboard so I can see progress made.  I used this to set up how the game runs. My son and I each have our own dashboard.   I appreciate that not only is there an overarching dashboard which shows your progress in both financial areas, but also that each separate area has it’s own dashboard. 

personal finance lab

You can see the difference in each dashboard below. 

Budget game dashboard
Stock market Dashboard

The Budget Game

The budget game from PersonalFinanceLab.com places each student into the scenario of being a college student with a part-time job. They can customize their living arrangements, grocery bill, and entertainments.   The job helps them learn to balance their expenses against their income while reaching for saving goals.    

Game play lasts 18 months, you start each month needing to figure out your income, potential expenses, and hopeful savings markers.  On average I found that a month took about 20 minutes to complete, occasionally a bit longer.   

Game play proceeds through rolling a dice.  The dice will move when it it time to roll it.  Sometimes you progress through one day at a time and occasionally one dice roll will go through a few days. These dice rolls generate expenses and occasionally benefits!   

These expenses range in value from cheap purchases for cutlery or snacks, all the way up to expensive repairs on cars.  These expenses were not predictable and didn’t always make sense from a living life perspective.  I know my son struggled with multiple speeding tickets in one month.  

personal Finance Lab

On Fridays you get your paystub with all expenses delineated.

On the weekend you are given four options to engage in.  Working extra hours, socializing, doing chores around house or studying.  Sometimes these activities earned extra money, sometimes they would cost you dollars. 

Lessons pop up with consequences

Lessons would occasionally pop up teaching things like managing credit card debt, how banks operate, as well as other financial matters.  You would need to read through the lesson and answer a question correctly.  Answering incorrectly would incur a debit, answering correctly earned a reward.  Sometimes lessons would need to be read carefully to get the correct answer, and I found didn’t always match real-life (for instance on what day to get your credit card bill). 

Each month a variety of bills will pop up, some scheduled like electric, phone and rent.  Each pops up with a query on how much to pay and how. 

personal finance lab can't pay rent

At the close of the month you could see all your expenses at a glance (debits in red, incoming funds in green).  You’d also receive a pop up so you could see if you met your savings challenge, any bonuses received, and see how your budget balanced. 

The Stock Market Trading

I have to admit, I am a wee bit intimidated by the idea of trading in the stock market.  I look at it as so much potential to lose thousands of dollars.  It’s so nice to have a game where I can learn and not actually risk real money.  A game that runs in real-time with real stocks. AND there are videos and tutorials to help you through it all!   You will find these tutorials in the blue bar on the top of your screen. 

Every trade you make whether buying or selling won’t show up until the next day.  To be honest… I’ve made some bad trades simply because I didn’t pay enough attention to if stocks were on a downward trend or upwards. 

I did note that using chrome I couldn’t click through on names in a list even though the video said I could.  It was easiest to simply select from the list that appears on the right of the screen when trading. 

Students start off with 10 Introduction to the Stock Market lessons and a virtual $100,000 in a brokerage account.  Can you imagine having 100,000 dollars to play around with? 

I personally loved the little touches like the word of the day and quote of the day.  They added completeness to this package for me. 

Overtime your students will be able to build a portfolio of stocks, bonds, ETFs, and mutual funds at real-time prices.

You can completely look into the different stocks/companies available for trade as they have income statements, balance sheets, cash flow statements, historical prices, analyst ratings, and more.  Additional lessons occur as students get more experience. 

Technical Glitches Happen

Technical glitches happen, and Personal Finance Lab is no exception.  I don’t think I’ve ever used an online system that didn’t have something needing tweaking.  None of these glitches affect how the budget game progresses.  You get bills, payments, rewards, unexpected expenses, unexpected treats etc. Everything continues to function as it should BUT occasional head-scratchers have occurred. 

  • the minimum amount for credit card continues to be paid or at least appears in your calendar as being paid even if the credit card has been paid off. 
  • occasionally when you go to pay the rent on the day the rent is due the program skips me ahead a day or two meaning the rent then is overdue.  Now MY PROFILE won’t let me pay the rent early.  I was talking with my lad, and his profile will let him.   So I LOVE that the simulation isn’t the same for every person…but .. I want to pay my rent early!  🙂 
  • Sometimes if you want to perform an action, another action will overlay it (life event, pay stub etc), which occasionally results in odd things happening to the action you’d intended to take (saving money, paying credit card, etc).  I have an overdue notice on my account that I can’t figure out how to pay off for instance. 
Personal finance Lab

What I love about Personal Finance Lab

It has been a pleasure to work with Personal Finance Lab.   I think it’s a great program and wish every teen out there could use it.  Seriously.

I love that every player has a unique experience.  From how they customize their lifestyle to what rewards and unexpected expenses they get. No two games are exactly alike. 

I love that the information pop-ups are clearly written, though I have to admit to needing to reread a few in order to get the right answer. 🙂  Consequences/rewards given for reading through each carefully. 

Everything is worded in a clear, easy-to-understand manner.  Proper terminology is used but within a context that doesn’t put finance up over anyone’s head.

I adore that such an easy way to learn personal finance has been created.  What a wonderful way to introduce students to how to watch their money and learn how to budget.

completed month

What My 15-year old has to say

Overall I like the budget game, however, there are some things which I think could be done to improve it.

Starting with the positives some of the things I liked were. The clear display of necessary information at the top of the screen, things such as credit score, checking balance, net worth etc. The calendar which shows when bills will be issued and are due, as well how much money is spent and gained each day of the month. The way that bills are displayed and paid, which makes it easy to pay them, understand when they are due, and how much needs to be paid. I also like the way that lessons are done. They are opened as a pop-up which makes it easy to switch between them and the budget game, and stops them from getting in the way.

Some changes which would be nice would be if the game could go full-screen so you could see the entire thing at once, as because of how it is now either a small portion of the top, or bottom of the game will be off-screen. It would also be nice if purchases which would be optional in real life (such as buying snacks) were also optional in the game, as well as a way to avoid speeding tickets.

Personal Finance Lab

Social Media Links

Facebook: Personal Finance Lab.
Instagram: @pfinlab 
YouTube: Stock-Trak – 

Read the Reviews

25 members of the Homeschool Review Crew checked out Personal Finance Lab. Click the image below to see what we had to say. 

click to read

Perfect Indoor Games

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The challenge from the Homeschool Review Crew this week is perfect indoor games. The best indoor games are ones that promote laughter and conversation don’t you find? 

It doesn’t matter if you are using your body on a balance board, making an indoor race track, mental challenges, callisthenics, playing board games, or doing indoor phys ed.  Whatever works for you and your family… makes for the perfect indoor games don’t you think?

perfect indoor games

Make Games to Suit Your Family

My son and I spent ages when he was a young child making up stories and playing games to go with those stories.  Sometimes they were based on the history coffee table books or the fun books we read, and yet other times just our imaginations fueled the activities of our characters.  These spilled out into other aspects of our homeschooling as jumping games for learning math, singing games to learn sight words, and more.  

I love how this mom used a track layout to practice education skills and to have fun doing new ones.  The accuracy for the toothpick challenge… how much fun is that eh?   What a great indoor game this is eh? 

Your muse might be board games

educational board games

So many games to play!   Games to learn words or math, spelling or history.  Games like scrabble, nab-it, settlers of Catan, The game of life, payday and more.  Teaching specific skills, or highlighting needs people would face from History. 

This game from  Home School in the Woods resulted in my son spending a few hours playing with his dad. My son adores strategy games and this one worked well for him.  So nice when a company includes a good game into their studies don’t you think? 

home school in the woods

I’ve listed some of my favourite games below, affiliate links to make it easy for you to check them out.  It helps support my blog without any added cost for you. 

Physical ways

Did you know that my son is two belts away from getting his black belt in Karate?  Even though with covid going on with so very few classes being held, it’s given him a physical energy outlet.   

Sometimes we have to be a bit more creative about how to use up our energy in the house. 

Have you ever done nature study in the house?   How about taking a good look at your household pet? Giving your children a chance to encourage their pet to move so they can study their pet’s movement, and perhaps copy it.  Can’t you just see your children being bunnies, cats or puppies? Can’t you see all the energy they will use up learning as they play with their pet? 

You could also go on a scavenger hunt for spiders, insects, or even mice. (depending on your house of course!).  🙂 What can you find in your house?

Other ways to add in some phys ed into your perfect indoors games.

  • table tennis
  • ping pong
  • darts
  • Skeball
  • bowling
  • target practice
  • perfecting your putt

Looking for Phys Ed inspiration?

Affiliate links to books and games on amazon that might inspire you. 

What are your perfect indoor games?  Have I missed ideas?  Share your inspiration with me!  🙂 

February Social Media Challenge

O God, Our Help in Ages Past

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O God, Our help in ages past…. our hope for years to come… 

All I have to do is hear those first few words and in my mind I’m belting out the words in my slightly off-key voice.  Sitting here the thought makes me smile.  I think perhaps this was Mr. Watts goal.  Create simple tunes that help people long-term learn about the God they worship. 

O God our help in ages past

Lyrics

O God, our help in ages past,
Our hope for years to come,
Our shelter from the stormy blast,
And our eternal home:
 
Benearth the shadow of thy throne,
Thy saints have dwelt secure;
Sufficient is thine arm alone,
And our defense is sure.
 
Before the hills in order stood,
Or earth received her frame,
From everlasting thou art God,
To endless years the same.
 
A thousand ages in thy sight
Are like an evening gone;
Short as the watch that ends the night
Before the rising sun.
 
Time, like an ever-rolling stream,
Bears all its sons away;
They fly, forgotten, as a dream
Dies at the opening day.
 
O God, our help in ages past,
Our hope for years to come,
Be thou our guide while troubles last,
And our eternal home!

Author and History

Isaac Watts was a prolific songwriter who was born in Southampton, England.  A congregation minister, hymn writer, theologian, and logician.

He once bemoaned the state of spiritual singing in church saying :  “To see the dull indifference, the negligent and thoughtless air that sits upon the faces of a whole assembly, while the psalm is upon their lips, might even tempt a charitable observer to suspect the fervency of their inward religion.”   He very much wanted people to pay attention to the words they lifted up in praise to God, ergo he wrote hymns.   Mr. Watts wrote some 750 hymns, in language that the common man could easily sing.

In 1703 he began suffering from a psychiatric illness which caused him to depend more and more upon his assistant when he was pastoring at London’s Mark Lane Independent Chapel.  He needed to resign in 1712. 

Other Isaac Watts Songs:

Thinking Deeper

So… do you see how God is your help and hope?  

I was talking with my mom the other day about how I have learned to trust God more deeply.  By seeing how his word has been lived out in the people in my life, the changes he wrought in them, to enable them to be people of God he has called them to be.  This, in me, builds trust.  It’s what God’s word does as well doesn’t it?

Shows us God in action in the lives of people. Shows how people can depend on God, and how God provides for his own throughout the years. 

So how have you seen God’s help in your life? What have you experienced that helps you to dwell securely in him?  In what ways have you been aware of his guiding hand? 

If you aren’t aware and would like to talk… I’m always happy to talk about the things of God with folk. 

The Wanderer

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Peter Van den Ende has put together a marvellous wordless storybook for us.  Black and white images flood the pages as we watch the adventures of a little paper boat exploring the oceans of the world.   The Wanderer is filled with imagination and stories.  A delight to behold. Come, be delighted.

Affiliate Links will be used. 

the Wanderer

Children 8 and up who like to explore or make up stories including boats and ships will find The Wanderer by Peter Van Den Erde to be a delight.  I love the imagination shown in this 96 page hardcover edition published by Levine Querido.   

Selling for $15.99 on Amazon, The Wanderer is a black and white journey around the world.  A little paper boat explores the ocean in a meandering voyage through the oceans most interesting places. 

the wanderer map

Wordless images = stories

Don’t you just love books that encourage children to make their own stories?   I would have no compunctions about sharing this book with children younger than 5, but I might skip over a couple of the illustrations.  Some very young children might be alarmed by dark sea monsters and gloomy buildings.  But children 8 and older should have no problems enjoying the possibilities presented. 

I would love to sit down with a group of children and youth and just open up the book and say “so, tell me a circle story, everyone… just one line” and just listen to what they come up with.  

You could use the images to talk about ocean life, pollution, northern lights, pirates, boats, ships, jobs at sea and so much more. A virtual springboard of ideas to delight and educate. 

sample page for the wanderer

There’s the fun of looking for the paper boat on every page, most being standalone two-page spreads.   On some pages the hunt is a bit of a challenge, on others, not at all. Throughout, details feast the mind. 

Should you get The Wanderer?

Yes!  Be delighted with the illustrations, be surprised by unexpected stories.   The Wanderer is fantastic just to look at and consider, and a lovely conversation and/or story-starter.   It has been my delight to review it for Raincoast Books. 

Other wordless books

Other wordless books that I have reviewed.

God’s Love Shown

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I recently joined an online book club where we are given a monthly theme.  This month’s theme is God’s Love.   Seems a fairly obvious theme, what with Valentine’s day and all.  It really difficult to come up with a post for it though, what can I write about God’s love being shown?  I don’t regularly read books about love or Valentine’s or stuff like that. 

I pondered a number of ways I could approach this topic

  • What I’m learning about God’s love as seen in the book of Proverbs.
  • Books I’ve reviewed that cover the topic of love such as Bear meets Bear. 
  • Questions my lad is asking, and how I’m seeking to answer them in a variety of books I’m buying.  Why? Because of my deep love for him, and wanting to help him sort it all through. 
  • What I like to read.  I have a list that I am working through, and I love my books on audible. 
God's Love Shown

Spending time in Proverbs

In the end, I decided to go with the topic God’s love shown.   This is how God shows love to me.

He helps me to see the parameters of his love for me throughout my study of Proverbs.  For instance the other day I was listening to a sermon where the pastor took the time to show how Jesus exemplified wisdom.  All these examples from the life of Jesus on earth from these snippets from Proverbs 11 and 12.  It struck me as odd at the time, but it’s stuck with me.  God gave us a supreme example to watch for and copy. 

Helping the Lad

My time in this book of wisdom is helping to me to do what I need with my lad.  Ask him questions, give him things to research and occasionally to challenge some of his assertions. Asking him what kind of wisdom he’s actually seeking, learning to help him even to ask the questions.  I’m not doing it perfectly, and I fear for him, but I’m doing as God himself leads. 

I’m affiliate linking through amazon some of the books I’ve picked up that are helping me ask questions and answer some as well.  Books like Why Trust the bible, can science explain everything,  how we got the bible, stranger on the road to emmaus, contested bones, no God but one, taking God at his word,, can man live without God, evolutions achille’s heel. 

Valentine’s books

I haven’t reviewed a whole ton of valentines’ books, but a few have crossed my path. Amazon affiliate link, review.

The truest “Valentine” though, God’s love shown to us.  His son died for us so that we might return God’s love freely. 

Bear meets bear

Books I love to read

As much as I would like to say I love to read non-fiction, I am drawn in by fiction every single time.   I love fantasy, don’t really care for most sci-fi, love thrillers and a good mystery, but dislike scary stuff.   Some psychological thrillers I can read but often I have to read them super slowly – like over the course of two years- (Patricia Cornwall), but others I can’t handle even from the very first page.  Most drama type books are BORING, oh heavens, just so boring but I did like reading Jane Austen. Historical fiction that tells a story with rich characters can be good. 

It is surprising at how often I check glimpses of God as I listen. The care and concern, the willingness to give of oneself to help others, the sacrifice so often demanded, etc. I know much of that is simply my worldview, but God so often reminds me of his care. 

Currently, my favourite authors in the fiction realm are Brandon Sanderson (anything), Mercedes Lackey (valdemar series), Anne McCaffrey (pern books), Robin Hobb (anything about the rainwilds), and John Flanagan (ranger’s apprentice series).   

How Do you see God’s Love Shown?

How is God’s love shown you?  What glimpses have you see of him this week?  Do you felt led to see God more clearly in the books you read? 

Visit all the participating bloggers sometime during the month to find out their reading plans:
 
Hopkin’s Homeschool
At Home where life happens
The Life we build
Homeschool Coffee Break
 
February Social Media Challenge

My Jesus, I love Thee

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From my hymnal Lift Up Your hearts, (affiliate link) comes my hymn of the week My Jesus, I love thee.  I’ve known this hymn for a long time.  I was surprised to learn that it didn’t start out as a popular hymn.  Keep reading and you’ll learn what caused the change.  

My Jesus I love thee

Lyrics to My Jesus, I love Thee

My Jesus, I love Thee, I know Thou art mine;
For Thee all the follies of sin I resign.
My gracious Redeemer, my Savior art Thou;
If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, ’tis now.

I love Thee because Thou has first loved me,
And purchased my pardon on Calvary’s tree.
I love Thee for wearing the thorns on Thy brow;
If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, ’tis now.

I’ll love Thee in life, I will love Thee in death,
And praise Thee as long as Thou lendest me breath;
And say when the death dew lies cold on my brow,
If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, ’tis now.

In mansions of glory and endless delight,
I’ll ever adore Thee in heaven so bright;
I’ll sing with the glittering crown on my brow;
If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, ’tis now.

Author and History

 Will­iam R. Fea­ther­ston was only 16 years old when he penned this hymn.  Sometimes his name is spelled Featherstone.  Born in Montreal, Quebec he travelled to Toronto when he was 16 where he became a believer.  It is believed this Canadian wrote this hymn shortly thereafter. 

He sent the poem to his aunt who had it published as a hymn.  It wasn’t highly popular until evangelist Adoniram. J Gordon discovered the hymn.  He changed the tune of it, and ever since then, it’s been a favourite for many believers. 

Mr. Featherston lived 1846-1875, he died shortly before his 27th birthday.  He was married and had a son John.   We do not know much more about him.  This is the only hymn he wrote. 

Hymntime has an interesting story concerning this hymn. 

Scriptural Reference

I John 4:7-21

7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. 10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.

……. 16 So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.  17 By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world. 18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. 19 We love because he first loved us……. 21 And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.

Thinking Deeper

What a call in this song isn’t there?  The call to have a love that is devoted to Christ.  A love so rich that nothing will stop it. 

I love the assurance that Featherston has eh?  The knowledge he has that he loves God because God first loved him.  This is such a grounding needed in our faith.  It feeds our ability to love God throughout our entire life and to praise him in all things. 

Do you know this Jesus?  Do you love him whole-heartedly and forever like Featherston did?   Ask questions if you want to know more.