Hi Folks, I am SO delighted to welcome my blogging TOS crew friend here to my blog today.   Lori...thanks so much for welcoming us into your home.  :)

Today I started reading a book about William Cowper.   I chose this book to read because, as you know my dear readers, I like to do hymn studies and I recognized his name as a hymn writer.  I thought it would be neat to get to know more about him.

The first thing I learned was that he was an advocate for home education.

To that end he wrote a poem called the Tirocinium.

Doing a search on-line I found a copy of it as well.  :)   You can find it HERE.    It is a very long poem so I will be taking excerpts from it for you to enjoy.      I do encourage you to go back and read the whole poem through though.   Perhaps like me, you will find in it encouragement to continue your journey as one who keeps their child at home.  :)

Review of Schools by William Cowper.

It is not from his form, in which we trace
Strength join'd with beauty, dignity with grace,
That man, the master of this globe, derives
His right of empire over all that lives.
That form, indeed, the associate of a mind
Vast in its powers, ethereal in its kind,
That form, the labour of Almighty skill,
Framed for the service of a freeborn will,
Asserts precedence, and bespeaks control,
.......
For her the memory fills her ample page
With truths pour’d down from every distant age;
For her amasses an unbounded store,
The wisdom of great nations, now no more;
Though laden, not encumber’d with her spoil;
Laborious, yet unconscious of her toil;
When copiously supplied, then most enlarged;
Still to be fed, and not to be surcharged.
.......
For her the Judgment, umpire in the strife
That Grace and Nature have to wage through life,
Quick-sighted arbiter of good and ill,
Appointed sage preceptor to the Will,
Condemns, approves, and, with a faithful voice,
Guides the decision of a doubtful choice.
.......

Look where he will, the wonders God has wrought,
The wildest scorner of his Maker’s laws
Finds in a sober moment time to pause,
To press the important question on his heart,
“Why form’d at all, and wherefore as thou art?”
If man be what he seems, this hour a slave,
The next mere dust and ashes in the grave;
Endued with reason only to descry
His crimes and follies with an aching eye;
With passions, just that he may prove, with pain,
The force he spends against their fury vain;
And if, soon after having burnt, by turns,
......
Truths that the learn’d pursue with eager thought
Are not important always as dear-bought,
Proving at last, though told in pompous strains,
A childish waste of philosophic pains;
But truths on which depends our main concern,
That ‘tis our shame and misery not to learn,
Shine by the side of every path we tread
With such a lustre, he that runs may read.
......
Were all that Heaven required of human kind,
And all the plan their destiny design’d,
What none could reverence all might justly blame,
And man would breathe but for his Maker’s shame.
But reason heard, and nature well perused,
At once the dreaming mind is disabused.
If all we find possessing earth, sea, air,
Reflect His attributes who placed them there,
Fulfil the purpose, and appear design’d
Proofs of the wisdom of the all-seeing mind,
‘Tis plain the creature, whom he chose to invest
With kingship and dominion o’er the rest,
......
This once believed, ‘twere logic misapplied
To prove a consequence by none denied,
That we are bound to cast the minds of youth
Betimes into the mould of heavenly truth,
That taught of God they may indeed be wise,
Nor ignorantly wandering miss the skies.
In early days the conscience has in most
.....
What friends we sort with, or what books we read,
Our parents yet exert a prudent care
To feed our infant minds with proper fare;
And wisely store the nursery by degrees
With wholesome learning, yet acquired with ease.
Neatly secured from being soil’d or torn
Beneath a pane of thin translucent horn,
A book (to please us at a tender age
‘Tis call’d a book, though but a single page)
Presents the prayer the Saviour deign’d to teach,
Which children use, and parsons—when they preach.
Lisping our syllables, we scramble next
Through moral narrative, or sacred text;
And learn with wonder how this world began,
Who made, who marr’d, and who has ransom’d man:
Points which, unless the Scripture made them plain,
The wisest heads might agitate in vain.
......
Ingenious dreamer, in whose well-told tale
Sweet fiction and sweet truth alike prevail;
Whose humorous vein, strong sense, and simple style,
May teach the gayest, make the gravest smile;
Witty, and well employ’d, and, like thy Lord,
Speaking in parables his slighted word;
I name thee not, lest so despised a name
Should move a sneer at thy deserved fame;
......
And guides the Progress of the soul to God.
‘Twere well with most, if books that could engage
Their childhood pleased them at a riper age;
The man, approving what had charm’d the boy,
Would die at last in comfort, peace, and joy,
And not with curses on his heart, who stole
The gem of truth from his unguarded soul.
The stamp of artless piety impress’d
By kind tuition on his yielding breast,
The youth, now bearded and yet pert and raw,
Regards with scorn, though once received with awe;
And, warp’d into the labyrinth of lies,
That babblers, call’d philosophers, devise,
Blasphemes his creed, as founded on a plan
Replete with dreams, unworthy of a man.
Touch but his nature in its ailing part,
Assert the native evil of his heart,
His pride resents the charge, although the proof
Rise in his forehead, and seem rank enough:
Point to the cure, describe a Saviour’s cross
As God’s expedient to retrieve his loss,
......
Prayer to the winds, and caution to the waves;
Religion makes the free by nature slaves.
Priests have invented, and the world admired
What knavish priests promulgate as inspired;
Till Reason, now no longer overawed,
Resumes her powers, and spurns the clumsy fraud;
And, common sense diffusing real day,
The meteor of the Gospel dies away.
Such rhapsodies our shrewd discerning youth
Learn from expert inquirers after truth;
Whose only care, might truth presume to speak,
Is not to find what they profess to seek.
And thus, well tutor’d only while we share
A mother’s lectures and a nurse’s care;
And taught at schools much mythologic stuff,
But sound religion sparingly enough;
Our early notices of truth disgraced,
Soon lose their credit, and are all effaced.
Would you your son should be a sot or dunce,
Lascivious, headstrong, or all these at once;
That in good time the stripling’s finish’d taste
For loose expense and fashionable waste
Should prove your ruin, and his own at last;
Train him in public with a mob of boys,
Childish in mischief only and in noise,
Else of a mannish growth, and five in ten
In infidelity and lewdness men.
There shall he learn, ere sixteen winters old,
That authors are most useful pawn’d or sold;
That pedantry is all that schools impart,
......
And, as maturity of years comes on,
Made just the adept that you design’d your son;
......
Yes—ye are conscious; and on all the shelves
Your pupils strike upon have struck yourselves.
Or if, by nature sober, ye had then,
Boys as ye were, the gravity of men,
Ye knew at least, by constant proofs address’d
To ears and eyes, the vices of the rest.
But ye connive at what ye cannot cure,
And evils not to be endured endure,
Lest power exerted, but without success,
Should make the little ye retain still less.
Ye once were justly famed for bringing forth
Undoubted scholarship and genuine worth;
And in the firmament of fame still shines
A glory, bright as that of all the signs,
Of poets raised by you, and statesmen, and divines.
Peace to them all! those brilliant times are fled,
And no such lights are kindling in their stead.
Our striplings shine indeed, but with such rays
As set the midnight riot in a blaze;
......
Say, muse (for education made the song,
No muse can hesitate, or linger long),
What causes move us, knowing, as we must,
That these mémenageries all fail their trust,
To send our sons to scout and scamper there,
While colts and puppies cost us so much care?
Be it a weakness, it deserves some praise,
.......
As happy as we once, to kneel and draw
The chalky ring, and knuckle down at taw;
To pitch the ball into the grounded hat,
Or drive it devious with a dexterous pat;
The pleasing spectacle at once excites
Such recollection of our own delights,
That, viewing it, we seem almost to obtain
Our innocent sweet simple years again.
This fond attachment to the well-known place,
Whence first we started into life’s long race,
Maintains its hold with such unfailing sway,
We feel it e’en in age, and at our latest day.
Hark! how the sire of chits, whose future share
Of classic food begins to be his care,
With his own likeness placed on either knee,
Indulges all a father’s heartfelt glee;
And tells them, as he strokes their silver locks,
That they must soon learn Latin, and to box;
Then turning, he regales his listening wife
With all the adventures of his early life;
His skill in coachmanship, or driving chaise,
In bilking tavern-bills, and spouting plays;
What shifts he used, detected in a scrape,
How he was flogg’d, or had the luck to escape;
What sums he lost at play, and how he sold
Watch, seals, and all—till all his pranks are told.
Retracing thus his frolics (‘tis a name
That palliates deeds of folly and of shame),
He gives the local bias all its sway;
Resolves that where he play’d his sons shall play,
And destines their bright genius to be shown
Just in the scene where he display’d his own.
The meek and bashful boy will soon be taught
To be as bold and forward as he ought;
The rude will scuffle through with ease enough,
Great schools suit best the sturdy and the rough.
Ah, happy designation, prudent choice,
The event is sure; expect it, and rejoice!
Soon see your wish fulfill’d in either child,
The pert made perter, and the tame made wild.
The great indeed, by titles, riches, birth,
Excused the incumbrance of more solid worth,
.........
But families of less illustrious fame,
Whose chief distinction is their spotless name,
Whose heirs, their honours none, their income small,
Must shine by true desert, or not at all,
What dream they of, that, with so little care
They risk their hopes, their dearest treasure, there?
They dream of little Charles or William graced
With wig prolix, down flowing to his waist;
They see the attentive crowds his talents draw,
They hear him speak—the oracle of law.
The father, who designs his babe a priest,
Dreams him episcopally such at least;
And, while the playful jockey scours the room
Briskly, astride upon the parlour broom,
In fancy sees him more superbly ride
In coach with purple lined, and mitres on its side.
Events improbable and strange as these,
Which only a parental eye foresees,
A public school shall bring to pass with ease.
But how? resides such virtue in that air,
As must create an appetite for prayer?
And will it breathe into him all the zeal
That candidates for such a prize should feel,
To take the lead and be the foremost still
In all true worth and literary skill?
“Ah, blind to bright futurity, untaught
The knowledge of the World, and dull of thought!
Church-ladders are not always mounted best
By learned clerks and Latinists profess’d.
..........
A friend, whate’er he studies or neglects,
Shall give him consequence, heal all defects.
His intercourse with peers and sons of peers--
.......
What need of Homer’s verse or Tully’s prose,
Sweet interjections! if he learn but those?
Let reverend churls his ignorance rebuke,
.....
Depend not much upon your golden dream;
For Providence, that seems concern’d to exempt
The hallow’d bench from absolute contempt,
In spite of all the wrigglers into place,
Still keeps a seat or two for worth and grace;
And therefore ‘tis, that, though the sight be rare,
We sometimes see a Lowth or Bagot there.
Besides, school friendships are not always found,
Though fair in promise, permanent and sound;
The most disinterested and virtuous minds,
In early years connected, time unbinds,
New situations give a different cast
Of habit, inclination, temper, taste;
And he, that seem’d our counterpart at first,
Soon shows the strong similitude reversed.
......
A boyish friendship may so soon decline,
‘Twere wiser sure to inspire a little heart
With just abhorrence of so mean a part,
Than set your son to work at a vile trade
For wages so unlikely to be paid.
........
Boys, once on fire with that contentious zeal,
Feel all the rage that female rivals feel;
The prize of beauty in a woman’s eyes
Not brighter than in theirs the scholar’s prize.
The spirit of that competition burns
With all varieties of ill by turns;
Each vainly magnifies his own success,
Resents his fellow’s, wishes it were less,
Exults in his miscarriage if he fail,
Deems his reward too great if he prevail,
And labours to surpass him day and night,
.......
And you are staunch indeed in learning’s cause,
If you can crown a discipline, that draws
Such mischiefs after it, with much applause.
Connexion form’d for interest, and endear’d
.......
Great schools rejected then, as those that swell
Beyond a size that can be managed well,
Shall royal institutions miss the bays,
And small academies win all the praise?
Force not my drift beyond its just intent,
I praise a school as Pope a government;
So take my judgment in his language dress’d,
“Whate’er is best administer’d is best.”
Few boys are born with talents that excel,
But all are capable of living well;
Then ask not, whether limited or large;
But, watch they strictly, or neglect their charge?
If anxious only that their boys may learn,
While morals languish, a despised concern,
The great and small deserve one common blame,
Different in size, but in effect the same.
.......
Your son come forth a prodigy of skill;
As, wheresoever taught, so form’d, he will;
The pedagogue, with self-complacent air,
Claims more than half the praise as his due share.
But if, with all his genius, he betray,
Not more intelligent than loose and gay,
Such vicious habits as disgrace his name,
Threaten his health, his fortune, and his fame;
Though want of due restraint alone have bred
The symptoms that you see with so much dread;
Unenvied there, he may sustain alone
The whole reproach, the fault was all his own.
Oh! ‘tis a sight to be with joy perused,
By all whom sentiment has not abused;
......
A father blest with an ingenuous son,
Father, and friend, and tutor, all in one.
.....
Then why resign into a stranger’s hand
A task as much within your own command,
That God and nature, and your interest too,
Seem with one voice to delegate to you?
......
But though the joys he hopes beneath your roof
Bid fair enough to answer in the proof,
Harmless, and safe, and natural, as they are,
........
Of filial frankness lost, and love grown faint,
Which, oft neglected, in life’s waning years
A parent pours into regardless ears.
Like caterpillars, dangling under trees
By slender threads, and swinging in the breeze,
.........
The mind and heart of every sprightly boy;
Imaginations noxious and perverse,
Which admonition can alone disperse.
The encroaching nuisance asks a faithful hand,
Patient, affectionate, of high command,
To check the procreation of a breed
......
Watch his emotions, and control their tide;
And levying thus, and with an easy sway,
A tax of profit from his very play,
To impress a value, not to be erased,
.....
And is he well content his son should find
No nourishment to feed his growing mind,
But conjugated verbs and nouns declined?
......
Perhaps a father, blest with any brains,
Would deem it no abuse, or waste of pains,
To improve this diet, at no great expense,
With savoury truth and wholesome common sense;
To lead his son, for prospects of delight,
To some not steep, though philosophic, height,
Thence to exhibit to his wondering eyes
.......
To show him in an insect or a flower
Such microscopic proof of skill and power
As, hid from ages past, God now displays
.......
To teach his heart to glow with generous flame,
Caught from the deeds of men of ancient fame;
And, more than all, with commendation due,
To set some living worthy in his view,
Whose fair example may at once inspire
A wish to copy what he must admire.
Such knowledge, gain’d betimes, and which appears,
Though solid, not too weighty for his years,
Sweet in itself, and not forbidding sport,
.......
Art thou a man professionally tied,
With all thy faculties elsewhere applied,
Too busy to intend a meaner care
Than how to enrich thyself, and next thine heir;
Or art thou (as, though rich, perhaps thou art)
.......
His mind inform’d, his morals undefiled.
Safe under such a wing, the boy shall show
......
So sure to spoil him, and so near at hand;
A point secured, if once he be supplied
With some such Mentor always at his side.
Are such men rare? perhaps they would abound
Were occupation easier to be found,
Were education, else so sure to fail,
Conducted on a manageable scale,
And schools, that have outlived all just esteem,
Exchanged for the secure domestic scheme.--
But, having found him, be thou duke or earl,
Show thou hast sense enough to prize the pearl,
And, as thou wouldst the advancement of thine heir
In all good faculties beneath his care,
Respect, as is but rational and just,
A man deem’d worthy of so dear a trust.
.......
But recollect that he has sense, and feels
And that, possessor of a soul refined,
An upright heart, and cultivated mind,
His post not mean, his talents not unknown,
He deems it hard to vegetate alone.
And, if admitted at thy board he sit,
Account him no just mark for idle wit;
Offend not him, whom modesty restrains
From repartee, with jokes that he disdains;
Much less transfix his feelings with an oath;
Nor frown, unless he vanish with the cloth.--
And, trust me, his utility may reach
To more than he is hired or bound to teach;
Much trash unutter’d, and some ills undone,
Through reverence of the censor of thy son.
......
The world accounts an honourable man,
Because forsooth thy courage has been tried,
And stood the test, perhaps on the wrong side;
Though thou hadst never grace enough to prove
That any thing but vice could win thy love;--
Or hast thou a polite, card-playing wife,
......
Here Nature plead, show mercy to thy son.
Saved from his home, where every day brings forth
Some mischief fatal to his future worth,
Find him a better in a distant spot,
Within some pious pastor’s humble cot,
.......
Where all the attention of his faithful host,
Discreetly limited to two at most,
May raise such fruits as shall reward his care,
And not at last evaporate in air:
Where, stillness aiding study, and his mind
Serene, and to his duties much inclined,
Not occupied in day dreams, as at home,
Of pleasures past, or follies yet to come,
His virtuous toil may terminate at last
In settled habit and decided taste.--
.......
Forgetful that the foot may crush the trust;
And, while on public nurseries they rely,
......
Yet make their progeny their dearest care
(Whose hearts will ache, once told what ills may reach
Their offspring, left upon so wild a beach),
......
Whose character yet undebauch’d, retains
Two-thirds of all the virtue that remains,
Who, wise yourselves, desire your sons should learn
Your wisdom and your ways—to you I turn.
....
Prove, rather than impeach, the just remark:
As here and there a twinkling star descried
Serves but to show how black is all beside.
Now look on him, whose very voice in tone
Just echoes thine, whose features are thine own,
And stroke his polish’d cheek of purest red,
And lay thine hand upon his flaxen head,
And say, My boy, the unwelcome hour is come,
When thou, transplanted from thy genial home,
Must find a colder soil and bleaker air,
And trust for safety to a stranger’s care;
What character, what turn thou wilt assume
From constant converse with I know not whom;
Who there will court thy friendship, with what views,
And, artless as thou art, whom thou wilt choose;
Though much depends on what thy choice shall be,
....
Of natural pity, send him not to school.
No—guard him better. Is he not thine own,
Thyself in miniature, thy flesh, thy bone?
And hopest thou not (‘tis every father’s hope)
That, since thy strength must with thy years elope,
And thou wilt need some comfort to assuage
Health’s last farewell, a staff of thine old age,
That then, in recompence of all thy cares,
Thy child shall show respect to thy grey hairs,
Befriend thee, of all other friends bereft,
And give thy life its only cordial left?
Aware then how much danger intervenes,
To compass that good end, forecast the means.
His heart, now passive, yields to thy command;
Secure it thine, its key is in thine hand;
.....,
One comfort yet shall cheer thine aged heart,
Howe’er he slight thee, thou hast done thy part.
Oh, barbarous! wouldst thou with a Gothic hand
.....
Survey our schools and colleges, and see
A sight not much unlike my simile.
From education, as the leading cause,
The public character its colour draws;
Thence the prevailing manners take their cast,
Extravagant or sober, loose or chaste.
And though I would not advertise them yet,
Nor write on each— This Building to be Let ,
Unless the world were all prepared to embrace
A plan well worthy to supply their place;
Yet, backward as they are, and long have been,
To cultivate and keep the morals clean
(Forgive the crime), I wish them, I confess,
Or better managed, or encouraged less.

William Cowper

I love this quote from Art Before Breakfast, by Danny Gregory.

This book was my inspiration for a change in our schooling days.   Having a creative lad, who plays and builds paper craft toys regularly, who uses them to help learn math and play games, who extensively borrows my tablet to use different drawing apps made the change all the easier.

Tuesday, Wednesdays and Thursdays I set the timer for 15 minutes and we "do art".   We get our inspiration from a number of different sources, but predominately from the books below.

My son doesn't like to write in books (or draw for that matter).   So all we use these books for is ideas.    Using art sketch paper gives us more room to draw and and detail.  My boy using a full sheet and me using a half sheet.

My son's favourite Idea book is the 642 places to draw book.   It is simply a bunch of blank pages with ideas printed in the upper corner of each section.    We simply leaf through the pages until we hit one that intrigues.   This one was "draw a greenhouse with exotic plants"

I have to admit, some of the idea presented to us make my lad scoff.   The idea of drawing what he had for lunch... he just really can't see the point of it.     Whereas a windy day has the lad grinning at the possibilities...

Other ideas intrigue him... but "they don't leave enough room for me to draw what I want mom!"   This is why using a sketchbook is so handy.   Inspiration doesn't have to be limited by lack of room.  :)

I have to admit, it's simply fun to draw.   I don't much care WHAT I draw, as long as I have an idea of what to do.   (I know.. sometimes I'm limited)    It's actually rather neat some of the ideas presented to us.   LIke the fun of drawing the home of a hobbit. :)

The Art Before Breakfast is a rather neat book.   It talks about all the different ways you can do art, as well as talking about different art techniques.   It shows options for how to encourage doing art spontaneously ... draw your children, draw your pet, draw your morning coffee, draw the stranger or a friend, draw the animals that you see and more.   Just draw, and draw some more.      Then to make sure you don't get stuck in a rut draw with something unusual like lipstick, mud or a paintbrush.

There are so many ways to draw, so many things to see and do and recreate.

For 15 minutes every day... just draw.

I have found it makes for a more settled boy if I give him time to just create, and because we have these lovely books for inspiration it takes the pressure off of having to come up with ideas on our own.

All these lovely books were sent out to me by Raincoast books.  

Product Details:
PocketDoodles for Christmas.  By Anita Wood.  
642 Places to draw.  Published by Chronicle books.
Art Before Breakfast.   by Danny Gregory.
Doodle Your Day.   By Anita Wood.

“Let the heart of them rejoice that seek the Lord.” 1 Chronicles 16:10

Lyrics

More about Jesus would I know,
More of His grace to others show;
More of His saving fullness see,
More of His love Who died for me.
Refrain
More, more about Jesus,
More, more about Jesus;
More of His saving fullness see,
More of His love Who died for me.

More about Jesus let me learn,
More of His holy will discern;
Spirit of God, my teacher be,
Showing the things of Christ to me.
Refrain
More about Jesus; in His Word,
Holding communion with my Lord;
Hearing His voice in every line,
Making each faithful saying mine.
Refrain
More about Jesus; on His throne,
Riches in glory all His own;
More of His kingdom’s sure increase;
More of His coming, Prince of Peace.
Refrain

Miss Hewitt was an invalid for most of her life, she had a fairly serious spinal problem that she partially recovered from in her later years.  She had originally planned to be a teacher before she suffered from her back injury.    She was a close friend of Fanny Crosby and wrote this hymn in 1887.   She lived and died in Philadelphia, PA (1851-1920).     She wrote over 70 other hymns. 

Miss Hewitt could have become bitter about how her life unfolded, but instead chose to study English literature, work as a Sunday School Superintendent and to sing and write hymns.    She chose to study and learn more about Jesus, even as she daily struggled with pain.

Sources:
Cyberhymnal.
Hymnary.
Hymns we love.
Hymn Chords.
Tan Bible.

Homeschool Connection:  Learn more about Jesus, hide his word in your heart.
Scripture CopyWork.
Free Bible handwriting Sheets.
Alphabet Smash Copywork, PDF.


If you would like to view more Hymn Studies please go here.

BookLookBloggers recently sent me two Easter Books to review.

One Spring Lamb is a board book suitable for little children.
A Royal Easter Story is a picture book, suitable for children under 8 years.

Book Synopsis for One Spring Lamb:
Celebrate the joys of Easter with this adorable spring lamb, and count your way through the season with the fun, rhyming text. Your kids will love the die-cut and glitter-embellished cover.
Book Synopsis for A Royal Easter Story:
Joy, Grace, Faith, Charity, and Hope are busy with the preparations for the annual Easter celebration, held in a neighboring village. The journey is made more exciting when the girls decide to race their new friends, the five young knights. Along the way, the princesses meet challenges that show their trust in God and kindness of heart.

My Thoughts:
One Spring Lamb.. wow.. what a cute book for young children.  Written by Anne Vittur Kennedy.  This is a classic children's counting book.  Rhyming patterns, cute pictures, lots of colourful pictures, and at the end of a message of God's concern and care for us.   It has glittery selection of flowers on the front cover, counting objects that are good for girls and boys, and a good variety in the objects used.   It's slightly longer than some board books, but not overly long to be either boring or too much for youngsters.   It's a nice little book for children.

A Royal Easter Story:
This book is part of the Princess Parables and I can totally see little girls liking this story.   Glittery dresses in the front cover just add to the fun.   This is a simple story of four young ladies learning to care for the larger family of God before worrying about your own needs.  They start out focusing on a race, and quickly revamp their plans to serve the people who run across their path.    A parental guide included.

Both books reviewed for BookLook Bloggers.

Kate's word prompt this morning is Forget.
Doing five minute Friday posts is one of my joys.   Writing for five minutes on a word prompt without worrying about editing.  Just plain writing (mind I do check for typos).  Then going back after I link up to encourage others?   Just fine.  It's what makes this community so nice.. most everyone stops to encourage others along the way.   A good thing that!  :)   I rarely forget...but sometimes I run out of time especially if a word prompt is one that i really have to ponder.

So COME ON.. join us eh?  :)

803 START
I have to admit, I didn't really have to ponder the word forget this morning.  It seemed to fit so well with my morning devotions.    Reading from Mark 13 about the coming devastation and these important words.   God shortened the days because of his Elect, His Chosen.

It's easy to forget that the end of this world is coming.
That devastation waits for us just around the corner.

It's also easy to forget in the bustle of just living our lives at just how much God watches over us.
God knows these days are coming and has ALREADY ACTED.
Do we remember that?
Do we even think about it?
God has already acted.
He has shortened those days because of his elect, his chosen people.  He has acted.

It just makes me ponder eh?
How many times I forget the actions of God on my behalf.
The world in operation, the love of family, the sustaining grace of each day.
I shouldn't forget these things.
I should remember them daily.

Let me then, let us then, strive to remember more and forget let us.
808 STOP

So folks, my dear readers, if you want to join in let me know.  Leave a comment saying where you are in the link up.  I'll be pleased to stop by.  :)

I have to admit, this has NOT been a great homeschooling week.   Been a combination of things setting us off.

1. Monday was Family Day here in Canada so we basically took the day off.   We had a cart ride with some horses, visited with neighbours over cookies, watched a movie in the community and had pizza for supper.  :)

2. Tuesday was odd...trying to remember why.  OH.. NO ONE felt like doing school AT ALL.   Tiredness or what. .Not sure what was at play but schooling with books was SO nt for us, so we worked on building mouse feeders instead.  Project based learning is good too right?

3, Foodbank Day.   So the lad does bookwork and helps out as needed.   Normally we have a shipment come in but something got messed up so it didn't come in so the lad helped me with some organizing instead.

And that brings us to today.

Math... the lad was brought to tears today by math.   It was odd.   If I asked him the question he could do it in his head. Explain it all to me and everything, but doing it on paper simply wasn't working for him today.   So we did four questions verbally and said "done".    It was beyond frustrating for him .. I can see the answer mom but every time I try to write it down it's WRONG and it's NOT MY FAULT!!!!  Seeing as he could do it verbally I had to agree that it wasn't his fault it was just a brain glitchy day.

Grapevine studies.  We've started a new review for Grapevine.   Working through the New Testament.   I have to admit, the lad was simply having fun with drawing the characters today...i would show you up close what he was drawing but he begged me not to,but this image passed his inspection.   I don't mind silliness as long as the message is getting through.

Geography.  We changed this up a bit.  The lad HATED drawing out the shape of the country.  He could never get it perfect enough and it was driving him crazy, so now he has to find the country that we are studying and colour it in.  This week we are learning about Azerbaijan.  It's rather interesting how studies of other countries help us understand our own.  How like many Azerbaijan's are Muslim by identity but not by belief.   Much like Canada eh?

We did our reading together.   We covered Octopus/Squid; John Knox; Hudson (after whom Hudson bay is named for), Mrs. Quack; Two poems...one which just weirded me out (and the lad found interesting), and something else.  :)

The lad did his narration, copywork (starting a new study on Astronomy), and... Logic of English.

I have to admit, we aren't following the lessons very well with Logic of English. We just aren't, if we do my lad stresses out too much, so we use their materials in our own way.  Today we were working on knowing if phonographs have two letters or one.  He had fun!   OH MY.   So nice to see my lad having fun with phonographs.   Our biggest battle is helping him figure out what things sound like... he gets that from me, its just the way it is.  We often guess at how words sound and hubby is frequently correcting us both.  :)

We also use the cards differently.  I give him three cards per week to study,  One of the cards always has a spelling list on the back and I'll randomly throughout the week ask him to spell words.   Keeps him practicing without adding the stress of "I HAVE TO BE PERFECT" to his day.

So that's our week/day.  Tomorrow will be different again as we'll planning to be out of the house most of the day.

A children's book that is good for adults to read to, as soon as I was doing reading it I thought, my boy needs to read Mr. Zip and the Capital Z by Kimberly Bryant-Palmer.  It's been added to his reading pile.  :)

Book Synopsis:
After a terrifically hard and terribly disappointing day before the Fourth of July, Peanut Johnson, wandering aimlessly down Main Street, stumbles upon The Capital Z, a This and That Shop. Stepping inside, he meets Mr. Aloysious Zip, the kind and eccentric shopkeeper, who introduces Peanut to a most wondrous place. There are toys and trinkets, model cars and miniature wagon trains, even memorabilia from days gone by. Discovering “everything from A to Z” inside The Capital Z, Peanut also finds history unfolding before his very eyes. But Peanut’s visit to The Capital Z turns out to be much more than a journey through history. As he peers into the past with his Uncle Milkweed and some of America’s greatest leaders, he finds courage and hope to face his own mistakes.

My Thoughts:
The introduction to this book sucked me in immediately, learning about Peanut's family and why the children were named as they were.  The quirkiness drew me in. 

The drawing in of history and the life lessons taught kept me there, and this is why I wish for my son to read this book.  I have to admit, sometimes the characters seemed .. too good to be true.. but that's okay you know.   People aspiring to do their best and children maturing to be people they aught to be.

Mr. Zip just sounds like a character I would love to meet and his store would be simply delightful.  I love going into stores that have a little bit of this and that, they are fun to visit and get the imagination going.   Mr. Zips store does a wee bit more than of course.  :)   His store draws the person into experiencing history and eyes are opened to see history in a new way.

Good book, good read.  Written for upper elementary children (I'd say 8-12) but I enjoyed the book as well.   It comes complete with chapter questions.   Jerry Palmer added some good illustrations that go along well with the chapters.

Last week was a snowy week... We had over two feet of snow dumped on us over a period of three days... and this week there is more coming.   So what do YOU do on those snowy days where doing school seems so VERY optional?

We had a day like that yesterday.   Snow falling still, mom and boy with no desire to do school so we opted out.. we did a Project instead.. we worked on building a bigger feeder for the lad's mice... we'll need to rework it a bit more yet.  :)  But it gave us a time to problem solve, to work with new materials, and to communicate with each other differently over our schooling/work.    It was a fun way for us to do math that seems practical rather than "AH MORE WRITING!!!

If you need a different option for doing math, Educents just might have the answer for you.

Weekends with Max and His Dad.    Written by Linda Urban this is a story about Max and the weekends he spends with his dad after his parents have split up.    A 3rd grade boy adjusting to life in two households.   It's an adjustment for both Max and his dad.   My son likes this book because "Max is a real boy mom.   He does things I would do."   

I like that Max is just a nice boy,   His dad seems like a real man, trying to help his boy adjust to a new way for their family to live.    A new building, with new people and new challenges.. even to the finding of a new sofa.   Each weekend Max and his dad embark on a new adventure.   They help each other out and this is good, this is how families operate.

I have to personally admit to being sad that Max is in this situation, of having to learn to spread his time out between his dad and his mom.  I am though delighted in how Ms. Urban writes the story to show how together families can make things work even if they are difficult.   This book a review from Raincoast books.

Pages of History, Volume 2.    This book is part of our Veritas Press history studies.   I am so glad that I bought the books to go along with them history.    Occasionally as I read through the Pages of History with my lad he would blurt out things he was learning from his studies.      Why does my lad like this book?   "I like how the animals talk and tell them things.   I think it's good that Lance is learning that God is important and listens to us."

God King.  A story in the Days of King Hezekiah.   Oh my, did we enjoy this book.   Joanne Williamson wrote a compelling story full of intrigue and careful thought.   A lad who unexpectedly becomes Pharoah, thinking all the while that there has been a grievous error.   A threat to his life, a threat to another land, a threat to his own.    How will it all work out.   Clever escapes, interesting characters, growth in Taharka turning from a boy to a man, from an unconvinced Pharoah to a chosen God-King.    To cap it off we learned that much of the story was true (my lad was SO delighted by that).

We finished the fifth book (The Brightest Night) in the series Wings of Fire by Tui T. Sutherland.     In this book, the Dragonets finally find a way to stop the war.    They stopped it in a way we didn't expect and the lad was impressed at how smart little Sunny was.  

We often stopped while reading, to sing the Dragonets of Prophecy song.

The Dragonets are coming,
They're coming to save the day.
They're coming to fight for they know what is right
The dragonets hooray   (and repeat)

Admittedly we sing it to a different tune than what's implied in the book or in the videos.
I found this video of the actual prophecy.