A Net in Time

Curriculum and book reviews, faith, homeschooling and more!

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Be a King

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Disclosure: I received this complimentary product (Be A King) through Raincoast Books.  Affiliate Links will be used, thank you for your support of my blog, costs you nothing to do so, and is so much appreciated. 🙂 

Are you studying the story of Martin Luther King Jr.?   If so, I have a picture book for you to stimulate the minds and hearts of young people to follow in his footsteps.  With full-colour illustrations and poetic text, discover key moments in his life.  Be inspired to stand up for what is right!

Be a King

The Basic Details about “Be a King”

You’ll find Be a king: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s Deam and You to be a full-colour illustrated picture book of 40 pages.  It is written with 4-8 year olds in mind, but I think you easily use it with older children to spawn good conversation.  It is not written so much to be a history book, but more to promote Mr. King’s ideology about a world of equal rights.  Racial and prejudice themes are very much part of this book written by Carole Boston Weatherford.   The illustrations frequently feature Mr. King’s profile as well as people of a variety of races, religions, and genders.   Published by Bloomsbury USA Children’s it comes in hardcover, paperback and on kindle. 

I am reviewing a softcover version on behalf of Raincoast Books.  

Learning the Specifics

Be A King seeks to draw us into the mindset of Martin Luther King Jr.   It does this by repeating “you can be a king” on every page.  Three lines of focused text encouraging the reader to stand up to bullies, be helpful and kind, dream big, answer your critics, stamp out hatred and stand for justice among others. 

Illustrations frequently show what you shouldn’t have happen, or what you shouldn’t let stand in your way of doing what is good and right. Some of these pages are in full colour.  Other pages use white space to show progression in action. 

You will find children of different races, religions, genders and abilities featured throughout, with some pages with adults only. One page featured an empty bus which I think gives teachers an opportunity to speak about Rosa Parks and her stand.   So many conversation starters to be found within 40 pages.

So what did I think?

A bit of a mixed review today.

There was much I liked.  I liked the cross-section of race and gender included on almost every page. It was great to see the inclusivity and the encouraging attitude for being helpful and kind.  The continuing refrain “You Can be a King” as an incentive to be more than what you are pushing us to follow a good leader.  Seeing illustrations demonstrating ways to be better is fantastic and provides excellent talking points with children. 

What I disliked… messages that seemed unconnected.  Like protest signs saying “Shop Local”, what does that have to do with equal rights or Martin Luther King Jr?  I also found myself querying, just what is meant by the “equal rights for all” message and wanted to know more.  Equal rights for all, doesn’t always mean what you think it does, and how do you start the conversation if you don’t really know what the author is meaning? I also strongly disliked the “follow your own conscience” message.  That’s not a good way to indicate good motives or ideals if you don’t have a solid standing.  Just rubs me the wrong way.   I just wanted something more in-depth I guess.   Particularly if it proposes to be about Martin Luther King Jr.  Most of this picturebook could have been about any activist in the equal rights community. 

A firm appreciation for the author’s note at the close of the book providing more depth to this picture book.  It’s good to know more details about Martin Luther King Jr.’s life.   It gave some needed information that was lacking elsewhere. 

Black history is part of our history and we should want to learn more about it.  Use this book to start conversations with your students today!

8 Options for Spring Nature Study

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The other day my summer nature post randomly popped up on me.  It got me thinking about the things I look for in the spring and how they could be turned into nature studies quite easily.   So today I would like to give you 8 options for Spring Nature Study. 

8 Options for Spring Nature Study

The first five ideas

Spring bulbs.

Once the snow starts disappearing I start looking for spring bulbs.  It would be an interesting study to sacrifice one of those growing bulbs in order to cut it in half and examine the parts. You can find a diagram of a tulip bulb. Or you can choose to cut up an onion like in this study.

Birds. 

Don’t we all like to look for that first particular bird of spring?  My hubby likes to look for robins. I watch for the flock of blue jays that hangs out in our hedge for a while.   If it were summer I’d be on the hunt for my smallest birds of the summer, the hummingbird.  

It would be most excellent to take an early morning walk and see what birds you can simply see flitting about, or going out later in the afternoon to see what nests you might see.

bird-nest-eggs-blue-158734.jpeg
Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

You could consider looking up high and watching for birds flying high and study wing patterns to determine what sort of bird you see. And if you are feeling adventurous, make some fun bird wings.   You might find some helpful books along the way (aff. link). 

Observe a plot of land

This is an easy one for any age.  Find a section of land and observe the changes that happen as the weather warms ups.  The grass growing, leaves budding, insects arriving, and such like.  Pick up a lovely journal and draw or document what you see. In fact, you’ll find some fantastic nature study pages over at notebookingpages which will help you round out your observations. 

Clouds

Watch the clouds roll in and learn what they mean.  Does that light fluffy one mean nice weather or does it mean that it will rain later?   

After watching a youtube video or two you can print out this Cloudviewer or if you have littles, make a sensory bin with cloud dough.  Older children can make a lapbook, and middle through high school can learn the dynamics about cloud formation. 

This of course can lead to a study of how the wind moves. 

Studying the wind is easy… you can watch debris blowing around, see trees bend, and the deeper you get into the study you can discuss vortexes, wind streams, and more.   Of course, you can just have the fun of sitting back and watching the wind move the clouds far above.  🙂 

orange tulip field
Photo by Barbara Webb on Pexels.com

The last 3 options for spring nature study

Frogs and Toads

I don’t know about where you live here, but early in the spring, we’ll hear the toads and frogs singing in our backyard pond.  When we go for walks in the bush at the dam the spring peepers will also be out in full force.   There is so much to learn about frogs. Around the world, you will find frogs in almost any environment.  You’ll find them up in trees, in lakes, in little streams, and in backyard ponds.   

Did you know that they are an indicator species?  They will tell you if there is something wrong in the environment, this makes them so important to learn about.  We need to keep them safe!   Pinterest has a number of frog and toad nature studies. 

nature summer garden animal
Photo by Caio on Pexels.com

Seasonal Change

Watching the snow melt, dealing with the season of mud (at least here in SW Ontario), and plants start to emerge.  It’s a natural thing to discuss the different seasons.  You’ll find books like Hedgehog’s home for Winter and The Leaf Thief very helpful with youngsters.  With these books, you can easily create lap books, or fill out notebooking pages about what you see in each season. 

With older students, you can have them create polls and study the why of seasonal change.  Perhaps even have them track seasonal change around the world, or the differences over the equator. 

Bees and Dandelions

Friends of ours keep bees.  Did you know that dandelions are one of the first flowers that bees visit in the spring?   They come out early and help bees recover from their winter hibernation.   Wouldn’t it be great to add these to your spring nature study?   You can build a bee hotel, learn how a beehive is put together, and the importance of a gentle queen.    Add in the life cycle of a dandelion, dandelion necklaces, and dandelion recipes.

 

close up photo of bee on a yellow flower
Photo by Ralph on Pexels.com

What would you study?

So these are the 8 Options for Spring Nature Study that I came up with.  What would you like to study this spring?   I know that every area has their own signs of spring, it would be great to know what yours are. 

Bee Scared

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Disclosure: I received this complimentary product (Bee Scared) through Ascot Media.  Affiliate Links will be used, thank you for your support of my blog, costs you nothing to do so.

Bees are in trouble!   Richard Faith tries to alert young readers to their plight in his new picture book Bee Scared.  Through careful story telling and potential problem solving, Mr. Faith hopes to encourage young people to help be part of the solution.  How can we help these small members of our world thrive again? 

Bee Scared

What I am Reviewing

Bee Scared, is an Old Doc Turtle adventure from author Richard Faith.   This picture book follows the Queen and her community of family and friends as they try to find a solution to a rather scary problem.   They come up with a rather creative solution, but I have to admit, it didn’t really seem like a solution to me. 🙂   Makes me wonder if young children reading it will think of it as a solution or realize that more work needs to be done. 

Can your young reader think of any ways to help Auntie Bee save the honeybees?   Will their eyes be opened up to the need to protect the vulnerable insects among us?

I was supposed to get a paperback copy sent to me but that somehow disappeared so I’ll be reviewing a PDF copy of this softcover picture book.  Bee Scared is the first in a series Old Doc Turtle Adventures.  29 pages of full colour illustrated by Todd Hobin. It brought to mind the bumble bees I dealt with this summer. 

Digging Deeper

You’ll find the text has been helpfully placed on a screen of white to make it easier to read.  The lyrics are provided in rhyming meter.  The rhyme is not consistent, sometimes being alternative lines and other times being rhyming couplets.    Either way, it makes for easy reading for all ages. 

Artist Todd Hobin provides not quite realistic bee hives, going for the cartoon model rather than the more natural bee hives in trees or in man-made hives.   I love how he filled each page with colour while providing white space for the text.  The natural colours throughout fit well into the lives of bees and their world. 

A solution was provided….the flight of the bumblebee dance… which I’m not quite sure was a good solution.  And I’m not so sure the message was clear that MORE and BETTER solutions need to be found for the honey bee crisis.   But I did find the solution funny to think of the dance being used. 🙂   Would be a great way to introduce this music to young children though, don’t you think? 

I love this closing page with old Mr. Turtle’s call to action.  Can we find ways to help the honey bees?   How can we (young and old) make the honey bees safe again?   We need these pollinators so we musn’t let them disappear! 

Bee Scared, should you get it?

I think Mr. Faith makes a decent stab at helping to alert young readers to the honey bee crisis.  Is Bee Scared the complete answer?  Of course not, it’s a picture book for children!  But it will help. 

The pictures fit the story.  The bees recognize the problem, and they want to live safely.  I love the closing where he calls young readers to action.  Save the bees!  Think on ways to help these tiny creatures if you can. 

Hedgehog’s Home for Winter

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Disclosure: I received this complimentary product (Hedgehog’s Home for Winter) through Ascot Media Group.  Affiliate Links will be used, thank you for your support of my blog, costs you nothing to do so.

Oh my…. I like this book!  🙂   Hedgehog’s Home for Winter is a look into seasonal change and how animals live through the winter. So if you are looking for a way to help your littles (or even introduce some olders) understand how animals survive the winter… this book will help.  Hedgehog has much to learn, and so we can learn with him! 

hedgehog's home for winter

Learning about Hedgehog’s Home for Winter

Clever Publishing has put together this lovely book entitled Hedgehog’s Home for Winter.  This hardcover book was written by Elena Ulyeva.   And boy, it’s a cute book, while being educational!   You’ll find the animals are rather anthropomorphized but it suits the style of the book.  It provides talking points, at least it would for me, asking children if they really thought wild mice slept in bed like people.  🙂 

The Illustrations are provided by Daria Parkhaeva, she has illustrated both of the Hedgehog books.  You’ll find lots of colours, with about 1/2 the 32 pages done in full colour.  The other half make good use of white space, showing action as Hedgehog moves from friend to friend. Children up to grade two will enjoy the excellent depiction of the various animals and the natural use of colour. 

I love hedgehog’s heart desire.  He wants to help his friends!   Birds, fish, bear, squirrel and more.   He takes the time to check in on all them.  Itsn’t that thoughtfulness a wonderful thing to see? 

You’ll find the font a great size to read sitting down in a comfy couch with child at your side, or reading with a large group of children gathered round.  There are authomatic stopping points as you walk with hedgehog checking on his friends.  Who might he go to next, what might he find?   Do you think he’ll check on a toad or a bird next?   Why don’t we find out together? 

Should it be yours?

Learning about how animals make it through the winter is an important part of nature studies.  Hedgehog’s home for winter is a good introductory book into learning about their survival skills.   Since Hedgehog is the main character it makes me think this is European based (no wild hedgehogs in Canada at least!)  🙂  So it might also be a good introduction to learning a bit about European wildlife.   I never knew that hedgehogs hiberate! 

This is a wonderfully illustrated book with tons of talking points, and a hedgehog showing compassion to others. Well worth reading whether looking at animal survival skills or character development.  It’s must have been hard for a hibernating hedgehog to stay awake and then run all over the forest checking in on his friends.   But because he cared… we got to learn about how his friends manage the cold.  A good premise for a book yes? 

The Best Middle School Reads of 2021

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Finding good books to read is sometimes a challenge.  That’s where reviewers come in handy isn’t it?  We’re able to give you a heads up about good, or potentially not as good books to read.  Over this past year I have taken a look at some solidly good reads.  I thought that giving a list of the Best Middle School Reads of 2021 would be in order.  Perhaps you’ll discover some books that you (or your middle schooler) would like to read!

Best middle school reads of 2021

Fiction

I will link to my review wherever possible to make it easy for you to see my complete thoughts. 🙂 

Dealing with historical events

Just like That.  Struggles with the Vietnam War, fighting to make a change.  Not easy, but necessary. 

Chance – Escape from the Holocaust.  Learning about Polish refugees in WW2.  An interesting retelling that taught.

Biography of Gary Paulsen in Gone to the woods. Fun, but not always an easy read.

Dawn Raid.  Learning about these Dawn Raids that were held in New Zealand. 

just like that

Stories

Alone in the Woods: Two girls lost, can they use their skills to survive?

Of a Feather: learning about fostering, complicated families and falconry.

The Sea-ringed world.  Stories from Native Americans.  Such an interesting read. 

These Unlucky Stars.  I was glad to have read this book about unlucky Annie.

Unleashed.  Technology, fantasy, middle schoolers, I found this a fascinating read that had me thinking up my own variations of the theme.  🙂  MIght inspire your own youth!

Willodeen: themes of conservation, respecting nature, friendship and more.  A touching, short story.

Thoroughly enjoyed the stolen prince of cloudburst.  Go out and read this book. 🙂 

of a feather

Non-fiction Best Middle School Reads of 2021

Unstoppable: True Stories of Amazing Bionic Animals.  What an interesting book learning how bionics can help animals live a normal (or as normal as possible) lives. 

Kwame Alexander’s Free Write.  A nice introduction to poetry writing. 

From here to there: nine inventors, Can they do what they think they can? 

Prank Lab: 25 science experiments that make great pranks!  A fun and educational read. 🙂 

 

from here to there

How about you?   What are some of the best middle school reads you have run across this year?

What would YOU recommend to people?

So Many Beginnings

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Disclosure: I received this complimentary product (So Many Beginnings) through Raincoast Books.  Affiliate Links will be used, thank you for your support of my blog, costs you nothing to do so.

Did you like the book Little Women?  If so, So Many Beginnings is just the book for you.  This particular book is written with an African-American point of view, during the American civil war.  You’ll find yourself immersed in the lives of Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy along with their momma, and their own twists of the character. 

so many beginnings

The Basic Details

So Many Beginnings: a Little Women Remix. This is the second in a series of remixed classic books.  These remixes allow you to enjoy a classic book from a different perspective.  It’s a rather neat idea.   Bethany C. Morrow  does a really good job of copying the form and story of Little Women.   Fiewel and Friends, published a beautiful hard-cover book, for the 13-18 year old range, with 304 pages. 

Learning more about So Many Beginnings

Just as in Little Women, in So Many Beginnings you’ll find Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy.   Four young ladies and their momma living our their lives.  Meg a teacher, Jo a writer, Beth a sewer and often sickly, and Amy a free-spirit.  We are led into the drama of their lives. 

Well-developed characters fill the pages. I found that I understood Jo better in this book than I did in the original Little Women classic.  You won’t find a lot of adornment in the pages.  Occasionally a page break could be found. 

This is a lovely book to hold in your hands with a comfortable font.

The familiar storyline draws you through.  You’ll find the characters a bit different, the style is the same, but the story takes a different turn in areas.  

Should you Get it?

I have to be honest.  As I was never a fan of Little Women, I approached this historial novel with some trepidation.  I wasn’t wildly enamoured, but I know so many people who LOVED Little Women, that I wanted to tell you about this read.  This book would SO suit that audience.   Honestly, if you love the style and story of Little Women, Bethany C. Morrow will NOT disappoint you in this novel. And just so you know, wildly enamoured or not, overall… a good read. 

What did I like?  I loved the different perspective. My enjoyment of the historical aspect, of seeing the world out of African-American eyes, was significant.  I love learning about different aspect of wars that I didn’t know about before. To see a side of history, with some of those little things that make history come to life, that I so much appreciate. 

So many beginnings is rift with those little details. 

So…. if you are a fan of little women… read this book.  You’ll enjoy it.

If you want to see a side of the civil war that perhaps you haven’t seen before, read this book. 

And/or if you want to catch a glimpse of freed slave lives in the 1860’s, you’ll see it here. 

This Year’s Reviews from The Crew

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So it’s been a busy year with the homeschool review crew.  This is my last year with them I think.  My lad is in grade 11, and I’m finding myself busy with other things.  Maintaining the crew reviews is something that I’m choosing to let go of.  BUT this year… We’ve done some interesting reviews with some favourites.  Soon the crew will be doing it’s blue ribbon winners, and since I needed a topic this week I thought I’d share with you this year’s reviews from the crew. 

this years reviews from the crew

The Reviews I’ve completed

I’ve completed 13 reviews with one left to do.   I’ll update this blog post once I’ve completed that final review. 

Which Review Did We most Appreciate?

My lad came to me just this week. 

MOM!  I’m glad we have CTC Math.  They do a good job of teaching me Pre-Calculus.  They teach a bit, let me practice, teach some more and then help me put it all together.  I just keep gradually learning more and more and it helps me to learn it really well! 

Highschool Math with CTCmath

My favourites are

Total transcript solutions – I need to put something together for the highschool for a program the lad wants to be part of.  Being able to put a transcript together so easily is hugely helpful! 

Though not a flashy resource, The Handbook for Writers is hugely helpful and I appreciate having it as a resource.   Being able to pinpoint areas to help my essay writer is so handy!

Handbook for writers

this year’s reviews from the crew honourable mentions

Those three would definitely be our top products this year.   I would hope that you will find them just as helpful in your homeschool journey. 

We do have our honourable mentions of course.  🙂  I hope to use the style of Progeny Press to help my lad complete some book studies. Pursued to Eternity gave me some questions for my evolution leaning lad to help him think more deeply.  And personal finance lab gave my lad the opportunity to practice budget setting.