A Net in Time

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Using Books to See Canada

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Just wanted to share with you some books we are using in our study on Canada.  We don’t use them all the time, nor do we use the entire book.

Books that my son reads and then narrates.  The point of these books is to introduce the lad to some great Canadian people over the years, from scientists through to engineers or history makers.  Courage, conviction, patience, strength…many virtues to be seen.

Seeing Canada Overall, Catching glimpses of our great nation.   Sometimes walking through the provinces, other times just seeing specific moments or places.

Seeing Canada through the annuals of history.  Several of these books are quite good, others we need to pick through.   The Story of Canada is fascinating, and Canadian Exploration is an easy read.  Vimy Ridge we haven’t gotten to yet because the World Wars haven’t been reached yet.

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Breakfast Poem

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The
Homeschool Review Crew does word prompts for Instagram fun, I think
it’s great to have these words prompts for doing quick posts.  🙂   I
find them fun as sometimes it surprises me where my brain goes.  🙂

The word for today is Breakfast.  Let’s follow my thoughts along the way eh?

Breakfast
Day in
Day out
 Always the same 
Cereal
Honeycomb
Mini Wheats
Favourites of mine
Sugar Crisp
Kaptain Krunch
Favourites of dad
No meeting in the middle.
Along comes a boy child.
Middle ground.
Honeycomb yum!!
Kaptain Krunch is great!
Add in 
Fruit loops
Corn Pops
Alphabits and more.
Stretching
Growing
Not just Cereal
Push a boy child
Pancakes
Waffles
Bacon and eggs
Yogurt too.
Add in 
Fruit bowl
Toast and jam
Bagels sneak in
Cream cheese
Breakfast
Day in 
Day out
No longer always
the same.
___________________________
So what you do you say?
What do YOU have for breakfast?
Can you give me some new ideas?
 

Review: The Amazing Animal Adventure

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The Amazing Animal Adventure is a large, hardcover book, filled with illustrations from all around the world.  A look and find book that teaches about different ecosystems.  Let me show you through this book eh?

This is such a neat book, one of the things I like about it is, it doesn’t just talk about the typical ecosystems, it does mention the taiga and the rainforest and systems like that.

BUT it also ventures into the lesser known ecosystems like the Japanese Hot Springs, the mountains of the moon and hydrothermal vents.  I have NEVER seen an ecosystem book talk about hydrothermal vents so I was most impressed.

21 different ecosystems, each with a two page spread.  Each system has a small write up about it and numerous items for the reader to locate.  Along with another challenge to complete.

It’s simple enough for a child to complete, yet challenging enough to intrigue older people as well.  Some pages I really had to hunt to find the hidden items, and other pages were fairly simple.   It’s all in how the eye looks and the brain processes what it is seeing.

As you can see, each two page spread is in full colour, with lots of details added.

The teaching block is written clearly, with good lettering and size.  Making it easy to read along with your children if desired.

I very much appreciated how each of the items you are search for has a picture beside it as well as a brief description with it.  Did you know that the burrowing owl uses old prairie dog burrows?

I found the add-on challenge a nice little touch, giving the reader an extra item (or three) to look for when they are done the main search.

This is a great resource to have on hand if you are studying ecosystems.  You can easily give to a student and, depending on age, ask them to find out more about any of the systems in the book and give you a report on it.

You could use it with younger students to simply introduce the huge variety in ecosystems that can be found on this great planet of ours. 

If you are concerned that you won’t be able to find all the hidden items, there is a solution page at the end of the book as well as additional resources such as animal world records, endangered animals and how animals are classified. 

It’s a wonderful book that we won’t be letting go of quickly as it’s fun to have around and gives me ideas for research subjects for the lad.  🙂

Just as a sidenote: the book binding was superb.  It’s very sturdy, my lad noticed the yarn showing through on the pages and said “neat!”.  Not something often seen in a book now. 

The Amazing Animal Adventure: An Around-the-world Spotting Adventure
Illustrator: Brendan Kearny
Publisher: Laurence King
Pages:  64
Age Range: 6 and up
Size: 10.55 x 14.1

Reviewed for: Raincoast Books

 Amazon.ca: The Amazing Animal Adventure: An Around-the-World Spotting Expedition

Amazon.com: The Amazing Animal Adventure: An Around-the-World Spotting Expedition

Dad’s Do

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Since Hubby isn’t working right now I am emboldened to ask my hubby if he can help out with specific things in the schooling of our son. You see, before his work took a lot out of him, kept him really busy and he helped when he could, but asking him to actively do something so that I wouldn’t have to try to squeeze it in, just wasn’t something I could do.   But right now, while he’s between jobs, he does have the time AND the energy.   

So with some of that energy: Research

One of the fun things that we thoroughly enjoyed doing last year was studying one country every two to three weeks.   The lad’s schedule is a bit busier this year so that study has fallen to the wayside.  The lad and I were talking the other day about how we miss that study and wondering how we can fit it in again.  We had a brain spark… could Dad help?

And so Dad helps.  🙂   He has the list of the countries we finished, so in a couple of weeks we’ll be eating a meal and learning the culture of another country and hopefully inviting someone to join in with us. (as that was always part of the fun having friends come and help us make it and learn with us). 

So with some of that energy: Guidance

Dad is also becoming more actively involved in “Can you help me with this math problem?” and in intervening when the lad wants to call it quits early or doesn’t want to do anything.

So with some of that energy: Field Trip Support

Today he was an active participant at field trip to Boston Pizza today… with no push to hurry back so he could get to work again, no computer or writing tablet or needing to stop in to say hi to anyone along the way.  

I have to admit…it’s a change I’m needing to adjust to.. but it’s a GREAT change that I am learning to relish as long as it lasts.  🙂

What does Dad do in your homeschool that you simply relish?

A number of other Homeschool Review Crew people are writing on the topic of Dad in Our Homeschool.  You can find a list of those posts HERE. 

http://schoolhousereviewcrew.com/wp-content/uploads/Dad-in-Our-Homeschool.jpg

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©2006-2017 A Net In Time. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. A Net In Time/

Art Series: Sister Wendy’s Story of Painting

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It is my total delight to introduce DoodleMom to you, also known as Kirsten to the blog today. I put a call out for people to do an art book post for the blog and Kirsten stepped up to the challenge. 🙂

Kirsten blogs at  DoodleMom’s Homeschooling Life and is a new to me blogger this year.  Let me tell you…she is a gal who makes me think and ponder in a way I sometimes don’t expect and that is a good thing eh?  🙂  Keeps me from being stagnant and who wants that eh?

 Sister Wendy’s Story of Painting

I did not notice until recently that a very proper and very, very smart nun with a history of teaching English and Art was also a master of polite sarcasm. 

My kids and I were watching Sister Wendy’s Story of Painting (available free on Docuwatch) and reading another chapter in her book of the same name. Art history with Sister Wendy reinforces and makes additional connections to the events and people of the history the kids are learning, as well as helping them to understand composition and technique. And Sister Wendy is also teaching my kids the fine art of polite sarcasm. 

My children sat on either side of me, magnifying glasses in hand so they could investigate each tiny detail of the paintings discussed in the text. We were looking over Sister Wendy’s comparison of illuminations from England, France, Ireland, and Spain, all from the same rough time period.
And we came to this statement, “Like the Irish monks, the British also produced manuscripts of great beauty, this being one of the very few periods in which the least visual of national groups, the English speakers, attained international fame as artists.”
“Hmmm,” I thought to myself.
As we continued, my children began to pick up on the sarcasm as well. 

We got to the section discussing the Bayeux Tapestry and Sister Wendy wrote, “It displays the same jerky animation that we find in English manuscripts. A sort of Anglo-Saxon glorified comic strip…”
Finally we read through the section on French illumination in which Sister Wendy wrote, “A lovely missal survives…,” and “…with a magnificent pictorial “O” and…”
“OK,” said my son. “She definitely likes the French best and the English least.”  While her sarcasm stings and is quite apparent, it is also exceedingly polite. A grand way to show her preferences and dislikes. 

And, once my children recognized her sarcasm, the whole activity of studying art became an interactive one. First understanding Sister Wendy’s preferences, the reasons behind them, enjoying her wit, and finally forming their own opinions on the art or artist in question.
All in all, a perfect way to study art.

Where to Find More

Book:
Amazon.ca: Sister Wendy’s Story of Painting

Amazon.com: Sister Wendy’s Story of Painting

Documentary: Sister Wendy`s Story of Painting (6 episodes)

 

 

About Kirsten

Kirsten West is a Christian Homeschooling Mom who blogs at DoodleMom’s Homeschooling Life. 

This post may contain affiliate links – using affiliate links from A Net in Time helps fuel this blog and our homeschool – thank you!

©2006-2017 A Net In Time. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. A Net In Time/

J starts with Jump Canada and carries on..

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Welcome to week J of Blogging through the Alphabet.  I am so pleased you have joined Amanda and I in this venture.  🙂

I wasn’t sure what to do with the Letter J.  


I thought about Jump Canada which has to do with equestrian jumping.  I LOVE watching horses jump.   In fact it is one of my yearly joys to go the Royal Winter Fair and take in one of their horse shows.    Of course when I go looking for a website to show you … all I get is the Jump Canada hall of fame nominees or references to their jumping program for young riders, but no actual website.   Suffice it to say I have see a lot of horse jumping and the term “Jump Canada” used in relation to them.   My older sister was (and still is) horse crazy and showed her 3/4 Arab mare and trained her a bit to jump.

Then I thought about the JumpStart program run by Canadian Tire to encourage children to get more physically active.   You know cause horses jump and so do children right?  🙂 They do skip rope competitions/days in schools, help families put their children into sport activities, and more.  Their vision is this: Canada, where all kids have a chance to fulfill their dreams.

And since my son and I love to watch our bird feeders out back, thinking about active children made me think about birds so…

I thought about the Blue Jay that frequents our bird feeder out back, how he’s a big, slightly bossy fellow but gets pushed out by grackles frequently (one bird against a mob tends not to work).  He’s a handsome fellow but we rarely see his mate though we know he has one (at least last summer he did). We’ll see young blue jays briefly before they are gone.   They are a lovely looking bird. 

Talking about the Blue Jay of course will lead me to talking about the Toronto Blue Jays our local baseball team.  🙂  I used to love watching the Blue Jays on TV until I was hounded (quite literally) out of watching them.  People mocked me once too often for watching them so I stopped.  It simply wasn’t worth it to me.  I can’t even remember why it was such a big deal to other folks at the time.   (maybe the Jays were in a slump or something).   I got my baseball fix by sitting and watching the small teams play when I went out walking the dog I had at the time.   That was fun. And oddly enough wasn’t frowned upon. 🙂

I have a desire to go to a Jays game at the SkyDome sometime .. it’s now called the Rogers Centre or something along that line.   It would be fun if we could get reasonable tickets…be good to show the lad a major league baseball team.   I also think it would be neat to be sitting in the stadium when they open the roof.  🙂

 So there you have my letter J of the week for blogging through Canada.  🙂  
Join us won’t you?   For one week or more it’s good to have you eh?

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This post may contain affiliate links – using affiliate links from A Net in Time helps fuel this blog and our homeschool – thank you!

©2006-2017 A Net In Time. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. A Net In Time/

Recipe: Fish Chowder

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The other day I made fish for supper.  I tried a recipe new to me and lets just say no one really liked it so I put it back in the fridge.  I later got to thinking…there must be something I can do about that fish, otherwise I’d might as well toss it.

Fish Chowder!  That was my solution, why not give fish chowder a chance?

I found a recipe.   I made a couple of modifications based on other recipes I looked at.  This recipe seemed the most affordable to make though and didn’t require any odd ingredients.

Ingredients

1 tbsp (15 mL)
butter
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 onion, chopped
1 bay leaf
1 tsp (5 mL)
dried dill or dried thyme
Salt and pepper, to taste
2 large Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and diced
2 cups (500 mL)
water or fish stock  (I used chicken broth)
1/3 cup (80 mL)
all-purpose flour
3 cups (750 mL)
Milk
2 cups (500 mL)
chopped raw skinless fish fillets or cooked seafood (shrimp, lobster, scallops, crab, clams, oysters) or a combination
2 tbsp (30 mL)
freshly squeezed lemon juice
Whole grain crackers, crumbled
Changes I made to the recipe
  • I added 1 tsp parsley
  •  instead of butter I cooked up some pancetta and used the grease from that instead.  🙂  The pancetta will be added to another dish later on.
  • Oh.. and I had some whipping cream leftover from something else so I used that and topped it up with milk to the 3 cup mark.
  • the seafood I used was the leftover trout from the night before
  • I didn’t use the whole grain crackers as I don’t like crackers in my soups or chowders.
Directions:
In a large pot, melt butter
over medium heat; sauté celery, onion, bay leaf, dill, 1/2 tsp (2 mL)
salt and 1/4 tsp (1 mL) pepper for about 5 min or until onions start to
brown. Stir in potatoes; sauté for 2 min.
Increase heat to
medium-high; stir in water and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to
medium and boil for about 5 min or until potatoes are almost tender.
Whisk flour into milk
and stir into pot; bring to a simmer, stirring often. Stir in fish or
seafood; simmer, stirring often for 5 min or until fish is opaque and
flakes easily with a fork or seafood is hot. Discard bay leaf. Stir in
lemon juice and season to taste with salt and pepper. Ladle into bowls
and top each serving with crumbled crackers.

Family Results:
My son’s thoughts who is reticent about anything new, MOM!  It’s edible!   Save some for me for later okay?”
My thoughts: I’ve only ever had Campbell’s clam chowder…(which I like) so I wasn’t sure what to expect.  I approached this with skepticism and was pleasantly surprised.  I liked it.  🙂  Easy to make.