A Net in Time

Curriculum and book reviews, faith, homeschooling and more!

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Review: Let’s Explore … Mountain

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Today I have this cute, well-done children’s book for all you about mountains!  Put together by Lonely Planet Kids so you know it is a quality book.     Let’s Explore… Mountain is an interactive book with stickers, puzzles and activities.

So let me tell you about this great book, it’s a bigger sized book with a whole variety of ideas to intrigue and delight your 8-12 year olds. 

They will find themselves introduced to a number of mountains from around the world, as well as the gear you need to climb them, the animals you might see, and different activities you can do on them.

Imagine Cherry blossoms in Japan with Mount Fuji, or skiing down hills of black sand in Nicaragua, or let’s visit the snowy peaks of the Matterhorn.

 With over 250 stickers to use, dot to dot, colouring, multiple choice questions and a host of other activities, your children will be kept busy learning about the mountains of the world.   Geared more for 8-10 according to my lad, it is an entertaining book.

 If doing some learning about mountains, this book should prove to be helpful to you in your studies.  Learning, reading, doing…it’s a good mix don’t you think?  🙂

Let’s Explore….Mountain
Put together by Lonely Planet Kids

9.11 x 12.13
60 pages
Ages 8-12 years

Reviewed for: Raincoast Books

 Amazon.ca: Lonely Planet Let’s Explore…  Mountain 1st Ed.

 Amazon.com: Lonely Planet Let’s Explore… Mountain (Lonely Planet Kids)

Walking with the Waodani and a Boy’s Questions

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For the past few weeks, my lad and I have had the joy of Walking with the Waodani, as a review, a four part study put together by the Home School Adventure Co.. Imaging history, seeing God in action, trying new recipes and talking….oh the conversations we’ve had.  🙂

 Walking with the Waodani is a four part study Lesson 1 = Shell Mera (Then), Lesson 2 =
Shell Mera (Now), Lesson 3 (Ecuador) and Lesson 4 (Quito). For the purposes of this review we mostly worked with lesson 1 and 2.   It was created by the Home School Adventure Co., a company that has produced such wonderful resources such as Philosophy Adventure and Philippians in 28 weeks.  Producers of faith-centred products to broaden our hearts and minds. 

We received the preview version of this brand new study, it’s a study near and dear to Stacy Farrell’s heart, as she’s been working on it for the past four years, gathering information, conducting interviews and just learning about an amazing group of people.  🙂

We start off meeting a young man who made a great trip into Ecuador with an older mentor, where he met the Waodani.  In case you didn’t know, the Waodani is the preferred name for Auca, the group of savage natives who killed a group of missionaries (the Nate Saint story) back in the day.

Each lesson is set up the same with lesson introduction, people & places, meals & markets, animals & agriculture and worlds and worldview.    We get the chance to read blog posts that further our education, interact with websites, and fulfill worksheet requirements.   The worksheets (taking the form of a travel journal) had a variety of components to it… question and answers about the material (often found in a blog post), a chance to rate a recipe, draw a picture of a favourite animal learned about and … a creative writing opportunity.

I have to admit that my son freaked out the first time he saw one of these.  He was completely flummoxed and I needed to explain it a few times.   Once he figured it out though, he simply had fun with it.  It was indeed a joy to read, and for lesson two he was asking “What do I get to do this week?”   He did this work sitting on the computer as getting this lad to hand write anything is like pulling teeth.  🙂  He was so very very pleased with his efforts when completed, but not enough to share them with everyone. 🙂  I honoured his request by hiding most of his work.   I expect that week three would cause him to grin…writing about a giant sloth snatching him away… it’s an adventure!!!

Admittedly part of the work didn’t interest him in the way intended, my story telling lad, rather than draw an animal  would instead tell me a story about the animal he would have drawn if he felt like it, stories about ants and a jaguar.   It’s good to have the details in story form and hear about why he chose that animal and all the information he knows.

My son thoroughly appreciated the aspect of judging a recipe.  He thought roasted grubs would be good but was rather unsure about the live ones.  He would have liked to try them, but frankly…where does one find live eating grubs in Canada in the middle of winter?   I had no idea, and wasn’t keen enough on the idea to research it.  🙂

  Our fish experiment.. well.. let’s just say that making up the fish recipe was not a hit in our household and lead to me making my first ever fish chowder.  A great way to use up the fish that I didn’t want wasted.  🙂

Lesson three has a meal that intrigues me, but not sure what the guys will think of it.  Good to experiment with new things though eh?     I am looking forward to reading through the history with my lad, I am positive he will ask lots of interesting questions. 

I have to admit that has been my favourite part of this unit study…. watching my lad’s eyes as he learns new information and thinks about the sacrifice people make.   Families lose the husband/father …and then go and serve among the people who killed them.  Changing an entire culture. 

Sussing out that sometimes “civilized” societies help best when they step back out of the way and let the “natives” handle things themselves… as the natives know best what works in their own culture.

We’ve had delightful conversations and those moments I treasure.  🙂  OH… and the laughter… we laughed at some of the exploits of that young man.

You know you have options right?   You can easily complete one lesson over the course of a week (each day is colour-coded for ease), or you can stretch it out over a month.  You can use the material as a jumping off point for a more in-depth study of Ecuador, missionary work among indigenous people, innovative methods for travel and so much more. 

What else can I tell you?
I haven’t seen the entire study as week four has yet to be released (along with a blog post).   I know you can see it in the store HERE.  I know that the price is flexible with the anticipation of $14.95 for the digital edition and $18.95 for the print edition.

I know there will be a giveaway involved in the release but beyond that….

It’s a great study and I think you and your students/children could get a great deal out of it.  Seeing God in action, being inspired to try new foods, learning about some wonderful animals, seeing how a people group functions that is completely different than one’s own and more.  I know that you should come prepared to laugh, to think, to be surprised and filled with wonder at God’s amazing work.  Learn the history, learn the geography and the people.  It’s good stuff indeed.  

This unit study covers geography, history, social studies, culture, and more.  It is a flexible curriculum that should suit most learning styles and families. 

 If you want to stay informed about the release, click here to stay in the loop.

 Other products being reviewed are: 
 Creative Freewriting Adventure which will also include the Creative Freewriting Adventure Coloring Book Edition  
I’d Rather Be Your Mommy, which includes I’d Rather Be Your Mommy Coloring Book Edition and the I’d Rather Be Your Mommy Print Set  
Celebrating Manhood: a rite of passage guide 

A couple of updates you might be interested in:

1. Digital Download $18.95
2. Print Edition: $21.95
3. Subscriber Preview can be found here.

 

Resources with a Biblical Worldview{Home School Adventure Co. Reviews}

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The Highlights of This Week

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This week has gone by much too fast so this week I’m only going to talk about my highlights of the week .

1. My son cooking another meal.. a good one.    Then Hubby made Spaghetti and meatballs last night.   It’s so nice not having to think of what to make a couple of nights a week.
     Poutine and ribs.

2. Learning that I and the lad may be accompanying hubby to the states in May. We do some sightseeing, he does some pastoral learning.   So plans are in the works.  Biggest thing will be to find affordable place to stay (most likely Pinchot State Park) and then affordable things to do driving around the area.    Will be looking at the Hershey Chocolate factory and apparently there’s a driving tour of Gettysburg and such like.

3. Building Lego together because the Lego Fair is coming up (tonight in fact!)  and I can’t show you pictures until AFTER the fact… oh and making cookies!   Always good to make cookies you know?  🙂

4. Two litters of bunnies born.  Not as big of litters as I hoped, but alive so all is good.  One litter had two broken orange (though one might be a really like tort.   And the other had two torts.   Both were litters of holland lops.

I have a litter old enough to go to new homes, spunky kits these three.   The broken chestnut already has someone interested in her.

 Let’s see.. other highlights of the week… My sweetheart brought home a few more things from the church this week.  Slowly he’s getting his stuff out of the church.  It’s a hard process so this is a step forward.. 18 years of his life was invested in this church.

Homeschooling and life:
Abandon – a word prompt post 
From Singleton to Many – finding ways to teach many when having a singleton
A wife’s understanding of sin – continuing to learn from “the Excellent Wife”
Middle – a poem on Middle
Five Advantages in Learning how to Cook.
Profile: Henry Hudson. Learning about the man behind the name
Multi-grain, whole wheat bread. 
A God who Hears and Acts.  Devotion on Ezekiel 37:1-14

Reviews: 
 A Kid from Diamond Street – women in baseball – Edith Houghton
 Fantastic Planets.  adult colouring book
 A Dog in A Cave.  Humans and Dogs, influencing each others development
Really Woolly Easter Blessings.  Board book  
 Three Great Middle School Reads.   Good books
 

From Singleton to Many, Lessons Learned

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As you, my lovely readers know, I am a mother (and teacher) of one.   I wouldn’t treade it for the world, but sometimes it would be lovely to have a group you know?  Like when you are using a curriculum that calls for a group of students, or when you just need an extra hand or …  (sometimes the solution is to use the cat as an extra body).  But sometimes… more than one child would be great.  It teaches things like taking turns, spurs on creative thinking, gives you another person to bounce ideas off on and so forth.

Since I can’t change my son’s lot in life (or mine), my solution has been to engage in my homeschool co-op classes that are held spring and fall.

I have to admit that it has been a work in progress.

My first co-op class I thought I would teach something that my lad was interested in.
I made two assumptions
1. my lad would transition well to me teaching a group (not just him)
2. similar aged children would learn the same

Let’s just say that first class was a mix a lot of FUN and a lot of FRUSTRATION, and a decision to not have my son in a class I was teaching until he was old enough to understand the difference between how we teach at home … scattered and experiential and class..more organized, with everyone being noticed. and given a chance to participate.

Lesson ONE: Teaching one child is COMPLETELY different than teaching a bunch of children, even if they are approximately the same age. 

Over the
years, adjustments were made on both our parts and he is able to join in
my class WHEN he wants to.  Sometimes he does, other times.. not so
much, depends on what is available and what I am teaching. 

Lesson Two: Politeness matters. I helped in one class where I was asked to please bring in some bunnies to be models for their photography lessons.   It was an older class where it was VERY apparent which students wanted to be there and which ones did not (and were pleased to let us know this as well).   This aspect of teaching the many I don’t like and made a point of teaching my lad that even if you don’t like the class, you be polite to the person teaching as they are putting the effort into helping you learn something. Along with Lesson Three: That you can get something out of a class that you don’t want to be in if you adjust your attitude.   Learning something you aren’t interested in, just might be what you need to learn, to spark an interest, to spur on new thoughts, you never EVER know where learning new information might take you.

Lesson Four: Some classes are just challenging.   Teaching archaeology to a bunch of talkative 6-8 year olds is challenging… I had planned worksheets and question answer times and it was just beyond these children, so one adapts and makes it very hands on with reinforcing the learning as one goes.

Lesson Five: Some classes are just plain fun!   Seriously.  🙂   Using regular tempera paint as finger paint and learning to do circles and shading, and experimenting with all the different ways you can use your hands and objects to do art.  🙂   This art class was great, teaching youth about different artists and art forms and giving them a challenge to recreate it in their own way.

As I sit here typing I realize something… teaching the many has taught ME as much as teaching my singleton.  How children are different, how adjustments need to be made,and  how it’s just as hard to teach many as it can be teach one.  

But boy oh boy…sometimes it’s just a hoot!   🙂

Many Ways to Homeschool Many

Five Advantages in Learning to Cook

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What can I say.. I’m finding it rather nice to see my lad working in the kitchen.

I’m kinda bad though…he’s cooked with me off and on throughout the years and about a month ago I just said “you’re cooking one night a week”.  Just kinda threw him into it.

He’s missed a week when we’ve been away.  But he’s taken to it like a duck to water.  Making poutine, hamburgers, Spaghetti and meatballs with dad, along with pulled pork and mashed potatoes.(again with Dad).

Realizing all his skills are coming into play.

1. Practical use of Education

  •  Reading…he has to follow directions.  Sometimes reading and re-reading the directions for making something,  (like tonight with the ribs).
  • Math.. figuring out the 1.4 litres was 1400 ml, and having Dad show us how to do that on the scale. 
  • Geography works for some meals (like learning poutine was originally French Canadian.
  • Science…it’s cooking!   The interplay of ingredients that make pudding!  Who would think it!!!  🙂  Sauces to keep meat moist.  Flour, sugar, oil and more makes cake.

2. Learning how to run appliances 
 … like the electric mixer, the hot oven, a microwave, and toaster oven. Learning what different implements are called like a baster, a siphon, a salad spinner etc. He’s developing important skills AND the confidence to use them without hands on support. 

  

3. Learning how to ask for SPECIFIC help.  Not just “help me now mom!” But rather “Mom, I need help getting these ribs out of the oven cause they keep sliding on me and I think they will fall off”.   And “Dad, how do you cook hamburgers?   What do I push to start the bbq?”

4. Coming up with ideas on what makes for a good meal.
    Tonight he added chocolate mousse to the menu.   He originally only wanted to  have poutine but I asked “Do I cook only for myself lad?  What do I do if I know that someone doesn’t like what I am making?”  After a quick I don’t know he thought and said “you make something that I like too”. Therefore he needed to ask questions about what I might like with the poutine.   He came up with ribs and chocolate mousse.

5. Skills for the future.
Like every parent, my goal is that my son will be able to take care of himself as an adult.  To know how to cook is a big part of that.  It will be good for him to know how to make more the pizza or sandwiches (though one can live on that).   If he learns how following instructions gets him a good product in the end….isn’t that worth something?

Here’s just one more.
Just maybe I am working myself out of a job!   🙂

What advantages do you see in children knowing how to cook.

ACK!! Mom adjustment time!!

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The other day my lad was complaining about his nose hurting, dad looked over and said “oh, pimple!”

And my heart just dropped.

TOTALLY unexpected.  My goal is to raise a God-fearing young man, who knows how to work and have fun, who WANTS to leave home and make his own way in the world.

BUT ACK!!!   A pimple…just totally threw me off and made me want my little boy again.     The boys laughed at me they did.   Mockery is a good way to ground a person again isn’t it?  🙂

Anywho.. moving on to our week.

Monday was a lazy day.  Honestly.  I was still on “I was away all weekend doing nothing and want that to continue” mode.   The lad did his basics and then we left for London.  He camped out at gramma’s for the afternoon while Jim and I schleped about town.

I had a whack of books for sale in the trunk and met their new owners later in the afternoon.  I simply LOVE selling books and stuff.  Meeting new people and doing small talk… It’s a wonderful thing.  (yes, I know.. I’m weird).

Tuesday we headed off to the Science Centre in Toronto.  We took in the new exhibit and an IMAX movie called “think big”.  We wandered a bit more of the museum but then hunger struck.  We had a bit of a shorter day in the end, but it was still a good day.

Wednesday was the Food Bank and schooling, Thursday and Friday schooling again.   Friday I made a bunch of Tuna Recipes (you’ll see them later on the blog). The lad has been sewing a new pokemon figure and on Thursday asked me to show him how to use the sewing machine.   So today he’s been sewing up a storm and having a hoot!    It is wonderful to see that passion and excitement.

Tomorrow hubby is off to a Denominational Meeting.  He’s supposed to be there for 8 a.m. but he’s considering going late.  After all…. without having a pastorate it’s not like they can get mad at him or anything?   Give him a chance to get a touch more sleep eh?  Some freedom eh?

The lad is really really interested in what people think of his latest research project.  He’d be delighted if folks would comment on it.  The Lad’s Research: First Native Hunting Methods.

Word Prompt Posts: 
Purpose in Blogging.  Five minute Friday post.
Short.

Homeschooling and Life:
Books Read in February.  A variety of the books we’ve read.
Tasty Buns.   Our go-to recipe for making buns.
The Greats of Canada.  The letter G in the blogging the alphabet series. 

Reviews:
642 Things about Me.  A book for young authors and artists.
Armstrong & Charlie. A great middle school book on unexpected friendship.
Math Mammoth International Light Blue Series, Grade Six. A great math program.

Linking up here:
 

Art Series: 642 Things about Me.

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You know how art is about more than drawing, painting, cutting, gluing and making.  How art is also about words and how to use them beautifully?   Here is a book to encourage beauty in both of those formats for your young artists and writers.    642 things about me.

Chronicle Books has come out with another 642 things book!    This one is geared for the 8-12 year old writer and artist.    

As you can see there is plenty of space to write and to draw, sometimes to do both for the same topic.

Some of the things you might be asked to write about are:

  • something you collect
  • a cheer you could chant
  • describe what thunder sounds like
  • the music at the dentist office

Things to write and draw

  • an historical figure image, quote, question to ask
  • an artist that inspires, art work, a project you could do

Things you can draw:

  • treasure chest at the bottom of the ocean
  • colossal bike ramp
  • flag of your country
  • a valentine 
  • a merit badge for bravery

So many things to write, to draw.
So many things to see and to listen for.  Thoughts to consider, quotes that inspire.

Get this book into the hands of your young artist and watch them get busy being inspired to learn, draw, grow, and develop.  A good thing yes?

You can find my reviews on 
642 Big Things to Draw
642 Places to Draw.

If looking for the complete series of the 642 books visit Chronicle books.

642 Things About Me: Young Writer’s & Artist’s Edition
Chronicle Books
7.5 x 8.95 
304 pages
Ages 8-12

Reviewed for: Raincoast Books.