A Net in Time

Curriculum and book reviews, faith, homeschooling and more!

Highschool

Snowflake Photography

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Living in Canada I see snow from December through end of March. Living in the snowbelt of Ontario means I have the joy of seeing a LOT of snow during those months. Snowflakes are great for combining to make forts, snowmen and snowballs. But today I thought we could learn how to do snowflake photography.

Snowflake Photography

The Anatomy of a Snowflake

Have you ever heard of Snowflake Bentley?  He spent his life learning about snowflakes. Bentley is the first person to discover that no two snowflakes are exactly alike.  Pretty neat eh?  AND part of what makes snowflake photography so much fun.  No two pictures will be exactly the same!

Snowflake Photography primer

photo of white vehicle crossing a tunnel
Photo by Magda Ehlers on Pexels.com

First off, you need a day when snow is actually falling.  If snow isn’t falling you won’t get individual flakes, nor will get crisp edges. 

Then you need a contrasting background that you can sweep clean of anything unnecessary. 

susan verhoog snowflake
Photo Susan VH

Use the right camera so you can zoom in to capture details. 

Photo Susan VH

Take lots and lots of pictures as fast as possible before the snowflake melts.

Photo Susan VH

Play around a bit, see what you can make work.  You might be surprised at what a different background can produce. 

Photo Susan VH

The colder it is outside, and the fresher the snow, the better your photos will be. 

Photo Susan VH

The settings you put on your camera will depend on the light that you find in your particular situation. 

YouTube Snowflake Photography

These two fellows use different cameras and do macro photography!

Huh… did you know that you can get a magnifer for your cell phone and use it to take pictures of a snowflake?   Amazing eh?   This lady uses a light box and her cell phone.

Resources

My friend took a photography class to practice and learn her skills, so if you can find a class do that!   Gives you people contact and some real-life mentors to help you fine-tune your art.

Some resources off Amazon (using affiliate link) that will help you (or inspire you) as you partake in your own snowflake photography.

All images of snowflakes (unless otherwise noted) have been taken by a friend named Susan. Wasn’t she gracious in allowing me to use them? 

Want to know about snowflakes and winter based learning?   SchoolhouseTeachers.com has a variety of winter-based ebooks and activities to engage your students.  Currently on-sale!

fresh start
January 2021

Living Books for World War 2

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Over this past year, my son has been working through a study on World War 2.   We’ve engaged in a number of different ways to do so, watching movies, working through a unit study from Home School in the Woods, doing small unit studies, using timeline figures, reading a lot of living books, and doing independent research.   He has learned a lot and has thoroughly enjoyed his research.  I thought I would share some of the living books for world war 2 that he has gone through. 

Living books for World War 2

Independent Reading

“MOM!  You have got to read this series.  It’s very interesting!”  The Series on Camp x by Eric Walters consumed my lad.  For a while, every time I saw him it seemed like he was reading yet another in the series.   He spent his time learning about Camp X, a camp for Canada’s spies. 

In this series you’ll find

  • Camp X
  • Camp 30
  • Fool’s Gold
  • Shell Shocked
  • Trouble in Paradise
  • Enigma

He also read Spy Smuggler which is the story of Paul Lelaud a 13 year old French boy who wants to fights the Germans. 

How to Lose WW2 by Bill Fawcett. This book is part of the How to Lose series, and focuses on errors made during the war. 

On the Horizon is a book of poetry that looks back on the lives of soldiers at Pearl Harbour as well as citizens in Hiroshima.  

living books for world war 2

Reading Together

One of my joys in life is reading books together with my lad, one to two chapters either at night before bed, or just after dad leaves for work.  It’s our time which I guard jealously… my son perhaps not quite so much.  🙂   

But we’ve read some good books this past year. All of these came in as review books and I’ve linked to the reviews I did of them. 

Not a living book

My lad has also read some less “living book” style books.  I picked up a few books for doing some research.  Sometimes it’s easier to just have a book at hand than to go to a library and have to return them before you are ready.  

Spies, Lies and Disguise was an excellent book.  Providing problems, and then the solutions to problems. 

World War II by R.G.Grant.  My son said, “This was a good book, I learned a lot!” 

Canada’s Wars: An Illustrated History by Jonathan Webb was an overview book.  “It just told me a bit about the wars Canada has been part of.  I liked it!”  It was a source of inspiration for a couple of research papers. 

So there you have it.  Have you had your students delve deeply into a subject?  How did you approach it?  Did you utilize living books?  Or perhaps unit studies or hands-on studies? How does your student like to engage in in-depth study?  My son has enjoyed the mix of living books for World War 2 alongside his independent research and unit studies. 

Simply Coding, a Crew Review

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DISCLAIMER: I RECEIVED A FREE COPY OF THIS PRODUCT THROUGH THE HOMESCHOOL REVIEW CREW IN EXCHANGE FOR MY HONEST REVIEW. I WAS NOT REQUIRED TO WRITE A POSITIVE REVIEW NOR WAS I COMPENSATED IN ANY OTHER WAY.

Are you looking for a homeschool computer science curriculum?  I need to tell you about Simply Coding’s Coding for Kids Annual Membership.  What a fantastic program that my son has been digging into for the past five weeks. 

Simply Coding

What I am Reviewing

Coding for Kids Annual Membership is a coding program designed for students 11-18 years of age. Put together by the team at Simply Coding, they use live demos, videos and slides to help students actively engage in coding lessons.  Students will learn to create websites, build games, and design apps. 

Annual Membership Pricing (Through Oct 1st):

Normally $149 Currently $99 – Single Student (33% OFF) + 10 Day Free Trial
Normally $229 Currently $179 – Family Membership (20% OFF + THREE student accounts) + 10 Day Free Trial

How is Simply Coding Set Up?

Once you login as parent it is easy to set up student accounts.  You do each need your own email. 

When students login they are greeted with an overview page.  This shows them which courses they can do.  Some courses require prerequisites so you won’t be able to do them until you have completed the necessary courses. 

On this student overview page you will see your victories and any uploads you have done.  Victories are completed lessons. 

simply coding student overview

Once you select your course you will be lead to your work area.   On the left side of the screen will be the course outline.  

The main part of the screen will be for the lesson.  The lessons aren’t all presented the same. 

For instance with the Digital photography course I was presented with a series of videos. 

With the Intro to Websites, there were a series of slides to go through with video that pulled up on the side. 

My son has been working through JavaScript Game Design. He tells me that it’s presentation is the same as the intro to websites course. 

The lad working on making a pong game

The My Progress button on the overview page gives you a quick snapshot of where you are in the different programs.  For instance, you can see that I have made 8% progress in the Digital Photography course. 

Live Teacher Sessions actually shows how to create small games.  The teachers will demonstrate what you need to do to recreate the game.  Currently they have 20 demo videos available with a promise of more to come.  What a great way to learn practical application of skills eh?

How Did We Use Simply Coding?

The trial of these online coding classes that we received gave us access to all the classes Simply Coding provides.  It was marvellous to have so many options available to us. 

We could choose from four categories

  • Coding
  • Media
  • Tech Essentials
  • Tech4Kids

My son was immediately drawn to the JavaScript Game Design course.  He is planning to work his way through the entire selection of coding.   Since I didn’t use this course I’ll be letting him tell you what he thinks of it.

My lad says: 

“Logging on was very easy, and the lessons are well arranged and easy to access.  The quizzes are simple to use and access.  You are able to take the quizzes again, and you are graded immediately.  I think that the program could be better if rather than using a code library it took the time to teach you how to code the various functions yourself.”

What about me?

As for myself, I’ve been dabbling.  

I started with Intro to Websites, but then moved on to Digital Photography 1 as my focus for the website course just wasn’t there.  This video-based course is rather interesting and makes me realize the shortcomings of the camera that I actually have!  🙂 

I love the immediate feedback on quizzes. 

 They have a course on learning to use GIMP!!  I’ve been wanting to understand GIMP a bit better so I’m going to work on that course.   I’ve done some work with GIMP in the past but I’m still a novice.  Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to truly create my own images instead of having to rely on programs such a picmonkey or Canva? 

In starting the GIMP program I’ve discovered a small issue.  The demonstration model is a different version than what I downloaded.  So finding where everything is a bit more of a challenge.   BUT HEY!  I created my first GIMP image!   

I’m not the fastest learner with some of this stuff so I’m hoping between their program and my stick-to-it-itiveness I can master GIMP!  Wouldn’t that be a good thing? 🙂

Should you Get Simply Coding?

If you want to improve your skill and knowledge in creating media or computer programs, this program will suit you very nicely.  Spending 3-5 hours each week should get you through the bulk of the materials within a year. The variety of options available means you can find just the right course for your students.

My lad says:  

“I have used other coding programs that go more in-depth that I prefer.  I like how easy it is to use Simply Coding but I wish that it taught more in-depth coding.   Not sure that I would recommend it at this point.   Perhaps as I get further into the lessons it will teach harder things.”

Answering quiz questions.
One of the games Simply Coding provides

Social Media Links

Facebook. 

Youtube.

Read the Reviews

Can you believe that 65 members of the Crew reviewed Simply Coding?  We all got to choose our own courses to try out.  So you have GOT to read the reviews to get a really good feel for this online computer science program. 

Click on the image below to go do some reading.

My Teaching Library – Crew Review

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DISCLAIMER: I RECEIVED A FREE COPY OF THIS PRODUCT THROUGH THE HOMESCHOOL REVIEW CREW IN EXCHANGE FOR MY HONEST REVIEW. I WAS NOT REQUIRED TO WRITE A POSITIVE REVIEW NOR WAS I COMPENSATED IN ANY OTHER WAY.

DO NOTE that affiliate links are used throughout this post. 

For the past few weeks I’ve been granted access to a program called Download Club.  This is a club put together by My Teaching Library where you can download product to help you in your homeschooling journey.   But get this… they not only help in your homeschooling journey but in your personal life as well!  How cool is that!?!?!?!

My Teaching Library

What I am Reviewing

My Teaching Library is an online resource is chockful of downloadable PDF’s.  You’ll find worksheets, lapbooks, notebooking pages and more homeschooling resources. You’ll find resources for students in PreK-12.

You have two options.  Purchase a subscription to the Download Club or buy individual courses.   An individual course will run a gambit of prices, or for a year do one fee and download anything you want.  There is also a lifetime subscription as well that, if you were planning on homeschooling for a few years, would be an excellent cost-saving option. 

As part of the Download Club you’ll find mazes, puzzles, wordsearches, unit studies, textbooks, and more.  You’ll find some random videos as well. 

How Does My Teaching Library Work?

Once you login into My Teaching Library you’ll be able to choose from a variety of educational resources.  If you click on the tab you can choose by grade, subject, or any of the miscellaneous topics. 

That will lead to a subject area where you can click on a product to learn more about it. 

All products that you purchase end up in your downloads cart.  You click on the purple button to download the product.  Everything I looked at came as a PDF.  I could then save it to where I wanted it on my computer.  You can then print it off if you’d like.   

How we used the Download Club

Most files I didn’t print off. 

I shared the Holocaust one with my son to make the reading of the stories easier.  Fascinating case stories for us to discuss and learn from. 

I struggled with French Cookery.  The highlighted links in the text didn’t seem to work so I needed to manually search for what I wanted to try out.  Most the recipes didn’t have oven temperatures so it was a bit of guesswork to choose a recipe to try. 

I thoroughly enjoyed the Marine Science study. I really only used the student edition.  Reading and then answering questions. 

The History of Music surprised me.  I thought it was something different than it was.  Going through a textbook via PDF simply didn’t work well for me.  700 pages with footnotes.  I tell you I learned a lot!  And much of it was fascinating reading, it’s just hard to read as a PDF and then needing to find my place everytime. I’m just not as organized as I need to be.  🙂 

My goal was to read some poetry with my lad.  UNFORTUNATELY a 15 year old lad isn’t always into poetry.  🙂  I quickly learned to avoid the longer poems.  This shorter one he didn’t complain about listening too.  🙂 

Perhaps my dutiful lad found something of himself in it?   I don’t know, but he was quiet after listening to me read.  Quiet is good no?

Should You Get It?

This is a bit of a mixed bag for me right?  I had really looked forward to the History of Music and the French Cookery.  Finding incomplete instructions in the cookery PDF was frustrating. The more text-booky feel to the music history left me feeling meh, EVEN THOUGH I learned a ton! 

But I enjoyed the poetry (even though my son was less than enthused). The marine science book was excellent! (I look forward to finishing it) And the scenarios in the Holocaust PDF were sources of excellent conversation with my lad.

Given my varied reaction to the materials I used, overall I’d say it’s worth your time.  For $45 a year annual membership, or $225 for a lifetime membership, it’s not a bad deal.

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Seventy members of the Homeschool Review Crew gave the Download Club from My Teaching Library a good solid look.  Click the banner below to check out those reviews. 

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Goals for the New School Year

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The other day I reached a bit more than halfway to a goal.  I was BEYOND thrilled.  Even though my progress is erratic, over time it remains consistent.   I am looking forward to getting into a consistent routine with cooler weather again. 

But today I was plunging a sink in the basement I realized something.   Since Jim has started this job where he works evenings and he’s tired ALL THE TIME I’ve needed to learn new skills (like plunging a sink).  

That got me thinking again about how, what your perspective is, changes what your attitude is.  I could resent that my hubby is tired all the time and how I can’t depend on him to do all the stuff he used to do.  OR and this is the perspective/attitude adjustment part… I could rejoice that he has a sorta decently paying job AND that I can learn new skills.  Including the skills of being persistent in the face of unexpected challenges. 

So when this challenge popped up of goals for the new school year I got to thinking… what other goals might I have?

Goals for the New School Year

Support the lad’s education

I have to admit, I’m not exactly sure how to go about doing this, but I very much what to help my lad continue to develop his discernment skills. Learning how to tell non-truth from truth, to be able to discern hidden agendas, will help him when he faces challenges from the world. 

Future schooling will bring challenges, as does the ready access to knowledge which doesn’t always speak truth into the lives of people reading/viewing it.  How to help him navigate that using good solid judgement is a minefield that I’m not sure how to navigate well.  But try we surely shall.  🙂 

To learn how to plan out his learning agenda.  I’m teaching him to take the number of lessons and divide that by the weeks to completion. Give him a better idea this year on how to stay on track. 

He’s already figured out that doing 2 then a different 2 per semester, like the local high school is doing makes more sense to him. 

Produce Something

A year or two ago I had this goal of producing a book of poetry.  I think this year it is doable.  Just pull up posts from my blog, and write some new stuff and mix it all together.  Should be fun yes?  I’ll need to sort out just how to do that using Amazon…but it should be doable I think.  🙂 

I also want to put together an ebook for middle-to-high school on dealing with “errors in scripture” and how to help students figure out truth from error. Give students more than one perspective from which to learn startling details so they can discern better the steadfastness of God. 

I have other ideas in my brain, but right now those two are the biggest. 

Continue the other goal

Expect reaching the goal that I alluded to in my initial paragraph will take a good year yet most likely. Never-the-less I will continue on my journey.  Persistence is a good thing you know?   But strict adherence to a regime will probably never happen!   But long-term goals are good things to have!

Other goals for the new school year

I’m in the process of painting all my rabbitry trays, and I think I want to paint some of my rabbit cages as well.  Slow down the rust damage.  Reduce the number of trays/cages I have to buy next year!   (at least that’s the plan).

I want to replace the sides on the storage part of my rabbitry. This will give me a bit more space I think, and reduce damage possible by various varmints that wander through. 

Hubby is going to build an enclosed room in the basement, so want to be able to help him, possibly learn some new skills.  Might not work though as hubby works best without anyone helping him.  🙂 

Find a part-time job I think.  Just two days a week if I can. 

Figure out the whole…. doing a newsletter thing for my blog.  I am hoping to increase my affiliate sales this year, you know… actually MAKE some money at this blogging thing. Apparently having an active newsletter helps tons with this. 

August

How about you?

Having goals for the new school year gives me items to aim for.  Not just for me, but also to support my family. A huge joy it is to do such.   What sort of goals do you have for the coming year?

Keep Track of Grades

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I have to admit, I haven’t really known what to write for this final day of the blog hop.  What does a non-planner person do for a planning/record keeping day?  Then I got to thinking about how my son’s in high school now, and I’m now required to keep track of grades.   This reminds me of the stack of papers I have sitting under my laptop for me to file in the appropriate spot. (but we’ll just let that be my little secret eh?)  

AND it’s five minute Friday today so I”m hopeful to combine two challenges at once… Think I can do it?  

Keep track of Grades

Keep Track of Grades

Highschool has crept upon us
The grades we need to keep
Looking back I do remember
something rather sweet.

Transcripts be made easy
I do remember well.
Keeping grades and scoring
My son thinks that is swell.

Do it right or not at all
My momma used to say
And highschool is done easiest
When approaching it this way.

Mistakes they sometimes happen
Deliberate or not.
And when they do, we’ll see it through.
In time it be forgot.

Be careful on those transcripts
Mark those tests fairly
For colleges and higher
Want the truth you see.

Figuring out the codes to use
It makes my old heart race
What happens if I do it wrong?
Will it slow my dear son’s pace?

I have to always remember
To use the brain I got
God gave it to me years ago
Let not it go fraught.

Take your time
and think it through
Each code needed
Will come to you.

Ah searching hard
The right words find
Course codes for Ontario High School
Takes a load off my mind.

Easy does it one by one
History, science, music too.
Keep track of grades
Four years to do.

blog hop 2020

Oh, that was fun!  It was. Combining Kate’s FMF word RIGHT with the crew’s blog hop planning and record keeping!   Took a load off my mind too! 

This is day five in the not back to school blog hop. 

Chareen @ Every Bed of Roses shares Planning / Record Keeping Ideas for Homeschooling. .

Yvie @ Homeschol on the Range shares School Rooms, Charts & More!.

Jessica @ My Homeschool with a View shares Homeschool Planning: Record Keeping.

Lori @ At Home: where life happens shares Record Keeping in High School.

Annette V @ A Net in Time shares Keep track of grades.

Grade 10 Curriculum Choices

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Grade 10 is just around the corner for my lad.  He still doesn’t know what he wants to do when he’s an adult ergo our choices are fairly eclectic.  We are working with the thought that he will go into one of the trades. He will then use his skills, and time to eventually pay for any changes in direction he wants to take in his vocation.    Today I will present you with his Grade 10 curriculum choices. 

grade 10 curriculum choices

He Likes Math and Science

I have a complete love of science.  I find it so immensely interesting to see how the world around us works.  It’s rather amazing what God has done.  My son… has inherited that delight.  🙂   He shows it somewhat differently than me revelling in the intricacies rather than the overall picture. 

Ergo doing science at least once a year is rather important to my lad.   Last year he did Apologia’s Biology course, this year he’ll be doing Physical Science. 

We are hoping to get the review for Teaching Textbooks Geometry.  If we don’t get it he’ll be doing Algebra 2 from SchoolhouseTeachers.com.  Leaving us to pick up a different geometry course next semester. 

schoolhouseteachers algebra 2 course

Writing/Language Arts

The power in your hands (amazon affiliate link) was decided upon since the lad wants to learn how to write better essays.  The thought is that this will help him formulate his thoughts more clearly.  Since he doesn’t have to focus on grammar… hopefully he will enjoy this course. 🙂 

Power in your hands by Sharon Watson

Foreign Language

Turns out this was a hard decision.  Will he continue in French or decide to take on Latin?  In the end, French won out.  He did the French course on SchoolhouseTeachers.com last year, and decided this year he’d rather do something laid out a bit differently.  I found two courses that I liked, and ultimately made the decision to do the SOS French 1 and 2 course.  It will come to us on USB.   It was almost $150 cheaper than the other course and I know from friends that this will do the job.  🙂 

Public School Courses

In highschool he’ll be taking Computer Tech and Manufacturing.  Both of these courses really interested him when he took the tech overview course last year.  It, therefore, makes sense for him to pursue them.   We aren’t sure at his point what highschool will look like for him, he just knows he’ll be wearing a mask and not getting buddy-buddy with anyone. 

Geography

Geography was a good matter of discussion.  The lad really wants to understand world geography…. like where the countries are in the world.  At the same time, he really wants to study Canada and what makes up our land.   He finally decided that what he wants is simply to know country placement and he can either do that on his own or I can find a simple country placement program for him.   Our decision was this text Encounter Canada along with Rowan’s companion workbook. 

encounter canada

So, you know my son’s Grade 10 curriculum choices, what choices are you making in your homeschool room? You can see what we did last year.  Do you let your children decide, make joint decisions, or do you make the choice for them?

Chareen @ Every Bed of Roses shares Homeschool High School Curriculum Choices for 2020.

Annette @ A Net in Time shares Grade 10 Curriculum Choices.

Yvie @ Homeschool on the Range shares Curriculum Reveal.

Vickie B @ Tumbleweed News shares Our Favorite Curriculum {Blog Hop}.

Jessica H @ My Homeschool with a View shares Tips for Curriculum Shopping.

Yvonne @ The Life We Build shares Our Kindergarten and 4th Grade Curriculum Choices.

Dawn @ Schoolin’ Swag shares Morning Time.

Teresa B @ Teresa Brouillette shares Homeschool Curriculum .

Kristen @ A Mom’s Quest to Teach shares Top Five Homeschooling Curriculum Choices.

Lori @ At Home: where life happens shares 5 Tips on How To Pick a Curriculum.

Laurie @ School Days shares Curriculum .

Blog hop august 2020