A Net in Time

Curriculum and book reviews, faith, homeschooling and more!

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Prickly Pear Cactus

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Welcome to week “P” of blogging through the alphabet, I’m so delighted that you have stopped by to visit with Amanda and I through this whole endeavor.  How are you doing with it eh?

Anyways, recently my son attended the Project fair for our local homeschool co-op.   His project was all about his cactus.   

Part of the gig was for children to answer questions about their presentation, and one of the questions asked was “does Canada have any native cacti species.”   The lad hadn’t researched that idea so had no clue, people offered guesses, most saying no it didn’t, but I did google and showed the lad the response.  

Did you know we have FOUR cacti species?   In British Columbia, Manitoba and in Ontario?   I KNOW!!!  A total shocker!!!

In Ontario we have the Eastern Prickly Pair Cactus…and low and behold guess what!

On Sunday we had a preaching engagement up in Kingsville which is REALLY close to Point Pelee.. the home of the Eastern Prickly Pear so we actually got to see some!  I know!  AH!!!!   My boy child was SO delighted!!!

It could be found everywhere it seemed, but the lad did some research on it when we got home and found out that its on the Ontario Endangered Species list.   Habitat loss and human interference play a big role in it’s demise, with invasive species NOT helping matters at all.  

So if you see it growing in Ontario LEAVE IT ALONE!!!   Don’t trample it, don’t dig it up, just enjoy it in it’s native environment and pull out those nasty invasive plants that want to crowd it out!

Let it enjoy the sandy dunes, and open sun, and let it flower.  Let it fruit and spread it seeds (even if the fruit is edible).   Just let it do it’s thing and help it along instead of hindering it. 

Let other boys, like my son, be delighted in discovering cacti in Ontario!!!!

So what’d’ya say… do you have a “P” post?   Come on in and join us won’t you?   We’re delighted to have you stop in.  🙂

A Net In Time Schooling

A Net In Time Schooling

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Books read in April

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This month has seemed very busy, so I’m trying to recall what all we read this month.   Not as much as some months.  🙂

Oh.. before I begin I have to tell you this funny story.

I told my mom-in-law how much we enjoyed the book Irish Chain… and suggested she read it.  She’s about 78 years old and she liked this book so much she stayed up all night.  Oh my…she looked so tired and frail but wow.. she was full of her enjoyment of it.  🙂   Gave her and the lad much to talk about. 

It took her four days to recover from her reading adventure.  🙂

So what else did we read this month?
We’re continuing our natural world adventures with Natural world.   We’re in the midst of learning about a variety of birds. It was rather interesting today, we had recently learned about swallows, and today we saw some swallows in real life.  My lad was fascinated!

The lad is continuing to read through Shepherd, Potter, Spy and Star-Namer.  Tells me he likes it.   His bed-time reading is all about the Warrior Cat series by Erin Hunter.

At breakfast we are reading the Golden Goblet.
So far this book has us very intrigued.  Has the lad asking lots of questions about why the boy’s brother has to be so mean.  

I’m glad my lad doesn’t really understand such cruelty.. he hasn’t experienced it.  I’m also pleased that it bothers him as much as it does me.

We are also reading a book about animals in urban life (very interesting), a book about Canada (a bit young but the lad asks questions so good), and a book about muskoxen (more fascinating than you might think).  OH… And we are also reading a second book in the Rip and Red series (review coming soon).   I don’t have pics as the books are upstairs in my sleeping sons room.


I have just started a new book: A Train in Winter. I picked it up at the hospital’s rummage sale.  I was hoping it would be written as a novel, but it wasn’t.   Still interesting, but won’t be as fun a read.  Well..I phrased that poorly.. as reading about women in the French resistance who were shipped to a death camp from the Nazi’s wouldn’t ever be a “FUN” read, but more clinical I guess this will be.

So far it’s been a good explanation as to why the French started to resist so much against German occupation.

Oh Remember Fledgling from last month?   I have the boys hooked, so we’re listening to it on MP3’s in the car!   They like it so much we’re into book two!  AND they are mad that I want to listen ahead to book three so my listening fun has been curtailed a bit.  🙁

Avian is not a book for young listeners though as there is a fairly NASTY fellow in the book who likes hurting people.   But Javed holds true to who he is learning he really is, even if others warn him not to be.   A compelling story that the lad says “NO drive around the block, drive longer!!  PLEASE!!!!”

I also read a Valdemar compendium.. thoroughly enjoyed it.  🙂
Tempest.  It’s fun to read fan fiction.. to see what people come up with that’s in the light of the whole series.

Some of the stories are really well done, others just leave you wondering “what were they thinking!!!” cause it seems so off.

This one was quite well done.

And that’s all I have in my brain for now.   NOTE!  A linky is up at the end of the post so… join in!

Books read for reviews:

Curious Constructions.  Engineering marvels from around the world.
Fish Girl.  A well done graphic novel.
Quick tips for busy families.  Parenting hacks
Your Next 24 Hours.   A book to teach us how to be kind.
John Deere, that’s Who.   I liked this meaty picture book.
Once Upon a Time Storybook.   I had mixed feelings about this bible story book
God’s Easter Miracles.  Picture book for Easter for children.

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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/

Blogging the Alphabet: OHIP

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Welcome to week “O” of blogging the alphabet, join me and Amanda as we wind our way through the alphabet, I do hope you will join us.  🙂

 When I was thinking about what I could blog about in regards to Canada and the letter O… I got to thinking about OHIP.   OHIP stands for the Ontario Health Insurance Plan.  It’s how we, who live in Ontario, manage our health care. 

Ontario’s health care system is one of the best in the world. Ontarians
who qualify can access a variety of health care services in their
community.  NOTE: the system is not perfect, but it’s pretty good…. and for the most part it works for us.

Imagine… being able to go to the doctor and not having to pay for it!  Well seriously, we DO pay for it, it comes out our taxes and salaries…. but since we don’t really see it… we can go to the doctor when we need to.  Mind, sometimes I think we should get a bill so we know what it costs to go see the doctor as it would help stop abuse of the system.

A weakness in our system is that to get a referral to a specialist you NEED a family doctor unless it’s life threatening.  When the lad was young he had troubles with his ears and we kept being told “ah, it’ll be fine, take this med”.   We scrambled like mad to find a family doctor and my mom-in-law talked to a doctor she knew who helped us to get a family doctor and voila!   Our son was put under care…WOOT WOOT!!! 

OHIP does not cover everything. 
Dental care, eye exams for adults under 65 is not covered and medication isn’t covered.  Insurance coverage remains important for covering some of the costs for dental, optical, and medication.

But it does allow us the freedom of being able to schedule a doctor’s appointment, of not going broke when a hospital stay is required, of knowing that if surgery is needed I don’t have to weigh out the costs to see if it’s affordable or not.

Do we always get surgery as soon as we want it?  No.  We don’t.  Sometimes we have to exercise patience (like getting my son’s ear fixed up).   Sometimes we can’t have a private suite at the hospital (part of life to have to share rooms eh?).   Those who can afford it can jump over the border and get surgery done there more quickly…but that’s a choice of affordability eh?

Somethings are covered that are politically based whereas some medical stuff that USED to be covered is taken away.   Well what can I say… it’s part of living in a politically correct society.  You need to take the good with the bad.

OHIP is for people living in Ontario.  You do need to apply.  You need to actually live here and you need a card to get service. Each province or territory in Canada has it’s own program for health care, and not all of them cover the same thing. 

Overall.. I love having OHIP.  I love knowing that my family can get the care it needs regardless if I am working or not.  Regardless of if I have insurance coverage or not.  We are covered and that is a good thing in my book.   I do know that sometimes, if you aren’t working, you can get help with medication bills, or need to take the generic version, and seniors get assistance.

When I hear of people having to make hard choices about surgery or having to do “go fund me” campaigns because a needed surgery is going to cost them in excess of $30,000 … .it bothers me.  People going broke over medical stuff…or having to choose not to have that needed surgery.   It’s hard on families.   I can’t fathom having to make those really really tough decisions.

Yes, it affects our bottom dollar.
But in the end…. it affects our health.
It’s an imperfect system, but, for the most part.. it works.  🙂  And that’s a good thing.

I hope you’ll come and join us eh?

A Net In Time Schooling

A Net In Time Schooling

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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 Book Series: Discover Great Paintings – A Child’s Book of Art

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 Do you want your children to understand the great artists?  Or even just to know how to look at some of the great paintings done?   Discover Great Paintings will teach you how to unpack these great pieces of artwork so you can discuss them well.

The first chapter in this book teaches a person how to look at art work.
Questions to ask, details to look at and facts about the artist.
The next 13 chapters unpack 13 different pieces of art work, helping the reader to understand them and learn the questions to ask about any artwork you can find. 

Learn to understand the colours, textures, emotions, shapes presented.

As you can see different elements are pulled out of the painting and discussed.

The facts about each painting are drawn out .. such as the castle belongs to a king, skulls show the dragon has been a danger, the princess wants to be saved, and the dragon is a symbol for evil (whereas the cross on the shield is a symbol for good). 

Learn the facts behind the scenes

Remember details about the artist:

 Learn how to look at art work, see everything you can in the paintings you see.  Be aware of all the great questions you can ask of an artist of the work that they do.  Or that you can ask of yourself if the artist is no longer living.  There is more in a piece of art then you might think eh!  🙂

Discover Great Paintings: A child’s book of art
Author: Lucy Micklethwait
Publisher: Firefly Books
32 pages.
Type: Hardcover
Art Book

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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/

Five Things We Enjoy: Miss Natalie

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 Welcome to day of the Homeschool School Review Crew Five Day blog hop!  It’s so nice to have you come for a visit.

On Day One we talked about The Joy of Working at Your Own Pace.

Today I want to talk to you about one of our favourite people.

Miss Natalie.

Oh… we like Miss Natalie.  I’ll actually going running out the doors sometimes in my stocking feet to say hi to her. 🙂  (She ALWAYS scolds me for doing so).   She usually has a ready smile and a willingness to pass the time of day (until she needs to get going again).

You know what she does for us?

1. She talks happily with my lad.  Listening carefully to him.  She is kind to my boy.. he likes her and willingly talks to her whenever they meet.  She’s a grandma and I often read posts on facebook with her spending time with them, and sometimes they tag along and play with bunnies when we’re away.  

2.  She brings us books!   Lots and lots of books!!!   Many that my lad likes as well, so Natalie is a favourite around here.   Here’s one she brought recently the lad and Dad will be working through together this coming year.

3. She cares for our critters whenever we are away.   Caring for the lad’s snake, fish, plants, mice and cats.   Taking care of my bunnies.  Watering our gardens.   Without her we couldn’t do our vacation time, do extended field trips or many other things.

4. Peace of mind.  Oh my.. Natalie is an easy lady to talk to, she shows her care in her easy smile and her honesty.   Her care for our mail packages, our critters, and us, causes us treasure her dearly.    

5. Of course you need to understand something, over the past years of Natalie being part of our five day a week life, of her lending a hand here and there, she is not just our mail lady or our vacation/field trip allower, she has become a part of our lives.  She’s a dear sweet lady and I am grateful to know her.

We owe this lady a debt of gratitude.

A Net In Time Schooling

A Net In Time Schooling

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/

Parenting: Grace

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 Every three weeks or so I will be working through Parenting: 14 Gospel Principles. I hope you will join me. You can find the rest of the series here.   This week the chapter is Grace. 

Principle: God never calls you to a task without giving you what you need to do it. He never sends you without going with you. 

I am convicted by this statement
“There is nothing more important to consistent, faithful, patient, loving, and effective parenting than to understand what God has given you in the grace of his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.” p. 34

One needs to understand that we not only need past grace and future grace, but we need the present grace that God offers us in the here and now.  The grace to see God in our temper, in our wanting a break, in our dealing with a rebellious child and more.   God’s grace is right there minding us.  We need to know that God gives us what we need to parent the children that he has given us.

The feeling of inadequacy that we have as parents is there because we are supposed to feel that way.  It helps us to do what we are supposed to… RELY on God for help. 

God wants us to rely on him, NOT to feel able and like we don’t need him.  This is one way he shows his grace and goodness to us. It’s how his glory is made manisfest.

Eph. 3:20-21 
20 Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

See the truth there?   GOD is able to do it far more abundantly than we ever give him credit for.   Think on it eh?   Why don’t we do that?  Why don’t we talk to him more often when we are struggling in our parenting duties?  Why don’t we remember God’s grace and help and his hope more often?  

I think it would make our job of parenting easier if we turned to God more often eh?  If we remembered he is our ever present help in times of trouble.

Consider this fact, “My children don’t cause me to do and say what I do and say.  No, the cause of my actions is found inside my own heart.  My children are simply the occasion where my heart reveals itself in words and actions”.  (p 41).  We are not better than our children, just older with more experience, but still fighting the sin within us. 

I have found it to be true… that God’s grace changes you as a parent.  It has forced me to grow and become more reliant upon him.   It is like God is parenting me as I parent my son.   He parents all parents as they guide, lead, discipline, show the way to their own children.  He is our father.  Let him be your father as you parent your children.  Yes, mistakes will happen, regrets will be there, but through God you will learn tenderness and compassion, you will learn to give grace and receive it all the more.

If you’d like to follow along, amazon affiliate links:
Amazon.ca: Parenting: 14 Gospel Principles That Can Radically Change Your Family

Amazon.com: Parenting: 14 Gospel Principles That Can Radically Change Your Family

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/

Five Day Blog Hop – Things we Enjoy

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Hey folks…. you know how we homeschool right?  Homeschooling presents us with all sorts of good things, and I know my thoughts on it, but the other day I asked my 11 year lad what he liked about homeschooling.

This is the list he came up with:
 
 

1. Natalie … I know..you’re wondering about this but you’ll have to wait. 🙂

2. Get to stay Home

3. Work at my own pace.

4. No one makes me get out of bed before I want to.

5. Get to study what I want mostly.

I am not going to tell you all about this today though, I am going to ask you to visit the blog next week and find out why these things are so important to him.  🙂

The Homeschool Review Crew is doing a five day blog hop and I hope you will join in the fun.     Running April 17-21.   Come visit, won’t you?

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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/