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One Day in Our Life

4/16/2015

I tried, for one day, to take pictures of most all we did.

Our day, in pictures. I didn't take pictures of us caring for bunnies, doing breakfast, or washing dishes. Just know it was done. :)

we use this old math reader to do as much mental math as we can. :)

our dictionary word is Abandon. We had a chance to practice it off and on for the day. Examples: Abandon what you are doing there lad. Mom! They've abandoned the ship!!!!

stack of books we read through, a two page set or chapter a day. before we know it we've learned a whack of information. :)

guess what came in the mailbox today? Well...actually Purlator delivered... a review is coming of the Picaboo yearbook.

while the lad did his tutorsoft math, I hung out the laundry.

Since the weather was so glorious, we headed outside for the rest of the day. The lad found worms for his snake Fireheart, bugs for the lads' collection, and this fine fellow.

The first toad of spring!!!!

helping to plant seeds. Not quite the ones we wanted to, and not as soon in the year as we desired, but it's still a good month away before we can plant them outside. They'll get a good start. :)

Calvin and Hobbes is where it is at for daily 20 minutes of reading time. :) He's funny, the boy laughs, and reading time goes smoothly. We continue our hunt for easy readers with high interest.

while the lads playing minecraft, I built a small greenhouse. It's by no means perfect, but it will do the job I think. Just starting lettuces and such like a bit earlier. I have raised beds so I tend to start things early, but this will give me a three week jump on the season and still protect my greens. :) Have to have happy rabbits!

a lad doing all he can to negotiate with me. He lost x-box time as he's trying to wheedle some of it back. he managed, as he did point out I wouldn't have known he did something wrong if he hadn't actually told me. So being honest wins the game back. :) (but only for 1/2 the time).

looky looky!!!! I have a flower!!!!! Woot woot!! Spring is definitively here!!!

That's all I took as by the time I had the gardens turned over and the rabbits fed, but ankle was in full meltdown. My darling lad graciously made me supper... all he made was sandwiches...but someone else cooked so it was all good. :)

Review: How to Draw with your Funny Bone

4/15/2015

Elwood H. Smith did a great job with this book about drawing. It is called How to Draw with your Funny Bone. My boy hooted!

We are going to be sitting down and working our way through the pages, but for now just simply sitting down and reading it make us both smile. My lad thought that perhaps I could use this book to do a co-op art class. It would just be fun to do we thought. (we'll see what the fall months bring us).

Cleverly illustrated with a down to earth personal voice, Elwood draws you into his world of Funny Bone Art. He explains that ANYONE can do funny bone art and it looks different to anyone who does it. Your art won't look like mine and my art won't look like yours. It's just a matter of expressing yourself however you do that.

Every artist has their own voice.

He goes on to encourage people to use whatever they have around them to draw funny pictures. Make a pig with a hat, a letter that talks, a couch that is furry or whatever strikes your fancy. You could even do a dog and a pig fishing while wearing funny hats and catching capital letters. :)

The point is .... have fun expressing your voice in your own way.

The last couple of pages in the book give the reader an opportunity to do their own art along with Elwood.

The pig on the last page caused both me and my son to laugh out loud. "I liked that pig mom, he was funny".

Get this book. Laugh with your child. Explore your artistic funny bone and have fun.

Product Details:
Received: Hard cover art picture book
Title: How to Draw with Your Funny Bone
Author: Elwood H. Smith
Publisher: Creative Editions
Pages: 40
Ages: 6-8 (though my nine year old laughed and liked it alot)
Link: Get it Here.
Reviewed for : Raincoast books.

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Review: Star Toaster: Orphs of the Woodlands

4/15/2015

Imagine a world up for review, created by the folks at Star Toaster, called Orphs of the Woodlands, with good guys (you and WAK underground), bad guys (night creatures) and those in need of protection (the orphs). Now imagine having to navigate this world with the need to learn New Information Daily. To pass along that knowledge in the form of jobs, so that you can keep helping out the Orphs and solve the secret of High Tower Place. Now that is a world to review, and I'm delighted to have worked with my lad reviewing Star Toasters' world "Orphs of the Woodlands". The particular book we studied was "The Treasure of HighTower"

Orphs of the Woodlands is built upon the premise of build an engaging story, within which you put learning opportunities, and then provide a forum by which you can test out those learning opportunities. Let there be a reward for successful completion of that testing period. An online book, with online education opportunities and a game to boot! :) What fun (and it was).

Signing into Orphs is a two part process. First the parent signs in, then as you scroll down the page you'll see the Student accounts. Same password, different passwords for each student account. As you can see my son had an account, and so did I. :)

To log into the student account you need to click on the student account options (located in red) and that pulls up another screen allowing you to see your student's progress, as well as have your student log into their account. If you click on student progress it opens up a new window where you see the progress made. I tell you this since it can be confusing if you fail to use student account log ins. :)

The Story and Details.

As you read the story there are several features to note.
1. At the bottom of the page you are told how many pages are left in the chapter.
2. Vocabulary words are highlighted in red. You can click on them if you don't know what a word means, and then a window pops up giving synonyms, starting with the most common, easiest word.
3. The black boxes either pop up lessons or recipes. You can click on them immediately or wait until you get the jobs part of program.
4. Also highlighted in red are interesting quotes that just add depth to the story.
5. The name of the main character is chosen by the student, along with your student's best attributes.

At the end of the story you are given a number of jobs to do. These jobs are divided into categories, such a language, life skills, vocabulary etc. Every 10 jobs you get a pay raise. The jobs are how you earn gold stars to help pay for the care of the orphs. The jobs are answered via multiple choice answers.

correct answer

incorrect answer

When the jobs are done you are shown to this screen where you help to provide care for your orphs. My son figured out before I did that there is a strategy to what you buy and where you place it. Some plots of land are definitely better to get than others are. :) And it apparently matters a lot where you put resources to help support the orphs.

Our thoughts:
My son said "There's lots of orphs". "I like it". "It's fun. Building the stuff and putting it in the right spots so you aren't wasting resources.

My thoughts: The story line is engaging, the placement of quotes, lessons and recipes are interwoven nicely. The jobs fit well with the story line of each chapter. Professor Forp made my son laugh when he first met him. The "Mom, do you remember when we learned ______? Hey mom, can we try that purple cabbage trick? Mom, ....". Means my son is engaged in what he is learning and remembers it even once the product is put down for a day or two.

What are the things that I particularly enjoyed about Orphs of the Woodlands?

Regular practice reading out loud for my son. He'd do a page, I'd do a page.
A lad enjoying his school time, and wanting to work through the lessons so he could help those poor orphs.
Regular emails. At first I found them annoying until I read them more thoroughly, and then I found them useful. Tons of information in those emails. :)
The customer service is excellent. My son said "Mom, you should email them about......." I did so, and they responded with a "excellent job noting that young man, but ........" So encouraging and nice. :)

Product Details:
Vendor: Star Toaster
Product: Orphs of the Woodlands
Type: Online Educational Resource and Game.
Age: Grades 4-7
Price: Normally $19.99 for 60 days for up to three students, One month extensions for $6.99 also for three students.. Currently there is a free trial offer. The first 100 pages, and access to 50 games/lessons for free.
To learn more about the premise of the program, go here.

Follow Star Toaster on Social Media:
Pinterest., Facebook, and Twitter.

Thinking Tuesday: Heraclitus

4/14/2015

Heraclitus taught that the road up and the road down where one and the same. He saw the world as being run by a divine Logos. The logos being a universal cosmic law. If one balances opposites, then one gains the unity of the universe.

Those opposites are in a constant state of flux, there is always a tension between the opposites. Day will be night, night will be day. This constant flux can be seen when you step into a river, it remains a river but the river itself constantly changes. It's waters are always new.

He believed that most people sleep-walk through life, never truly being away of the balance needed and the constant state of flux we live in.

Sources
Book The philosophy book
Internet encyclopedia of philosophy.
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.

Missionary Monday: James Hoover

4/13/2015

Despite fear, action.

That is what sums up the work of James Hoover and his wife.

At 27 years of age, James Hoover set out to be missionary in Malaysia.   he worked at boys school there and learned about the people of Borneo.   Being fascinated by the stories he heard he researched all he could be Borneo.   He discovered that the "wild men of Borneo" were a people called the Dyaks.   Fierce fighters and head-hunters for whom work did not appeal.

He also learned of a white rajah who ruled part of the land the Dyaks inhabited. He had created a settlement of Chinese Christians.   They farmed the land for him, but were a people frightened of the Dyaks, and were beset by illness. They were becoming a people discouraged, so they asked if a missionary could be sent to them to help.   James Hoover and his wife answered the call.

Like the Chinese they were frightened of the Dyaks.
One night the Dyaks came into their settlement. They were preparing for battle.   They demanded food, and then later shelter.   They practiced their battle moves and were working themselves up to a fighting frenzy when Hoover's wife Mary suggested they take out their portable piano and make music.

Through their "music box" they were able to lull the Dyak to sleep.   The Dyaks stayed with them for a week, being lulled to sleep every night by the portable piano.

Despite their fear.... they acted!

James and Mary, worked tirelessly among the Chinese, helping to establish ice plants, sawmills, schools, radio stations, churches and more. With no children of their own, the Chinese people became their much loved family.

Rev Hoover also introduced new ideas and technology to the town. He brought in new crops like pepper and rubber. When rice harvests became abundant he set up a rice mill with a two-ton, 10-horsepower ricehuller. He set up the first agricultural school near Sibu to provide new and modern training for the farmers. He also introduced other machines like the circular saw, steam boat, ice-maker, wireless telegraph, electric generator and the bicycle. (source)

A park was set up as a memorial for all the work that the Hoovers' did among the Chinese settlement. It is called the Hoover Memorial Square.

He was known for being an honest man.

Hoover created history and modernized Sibu by being the first person to pioneer the use of the following items to Sibu:

The very first rubber seedlings (1904)
The very first steam launch
The very first rice huller (1906)
The very first girls’ school (1911)
The very first generator (1912)
The very first agricultural school (1913)
The very first bicycle
The very first ice making machine
The very first circular saw
The very first wireless telegraph machine

Sources
Hero Stories missionary book
Methodist church.
sarawakiana
Hoover memorial Square.

FoodBank Detail

4/12/2015

Almost every week my boy and I head down to the Foodbank to spend three hours helping out. It's a regular event for us, it gives us a chance to reach out to the community as well as meet new people. :)

When we started at the Foodbank it was just the lad and I helping out on Wednesdays.   And there were a few times when it got a bit nutty... SO busy with people coming in needing help, and trying to keep up when it was just the two of us was a challenge, but in the past month we've had help!   She's a nice lady from another church in the area.

The Foodbank is run by the area churches.   We serve clients from all around South Huron.. so Huron Park, Credition, Exeter and so forth.

The people who come in are from all walks of life.    Some come in with smiles, others come a bit grumpy, others come in very shyly and others come in boldly.   Some come in wanting to be helpful and will do work first before accepting any help.   And still others come in all apologetic because they really don't want the help that we offer, but have children in need of feeding.

It doesn't matter who or why or how.   We give enough food for three days and try to send people away with a smile.    It's all good.   Large families, small families, single people and more.   We are there to lend a helping hand.

Why Do we help?
For a couple of different reasons.
1. God calls us to help others. To serve others in whatever way we can. This is a tangible way that we can reach out to those around us and help them in a way that is good and useful.
2. I've been there, done that. I've been in a position of needing the foodbank in other town and place. Injured from work and between jobs. The foodbank helps.
3. It's good to help a lad learn to help others.

What do we do?

We divide big items into smaller ones. Cutting egg cartons in half, putting oatmeal and sugar into smaller more usable bags, and so forth. Sometime we get these great big bags of french fries that could feed three families for three days, so we divide those bags into smaller ones so more people can be assisted.
We stock shelves. Put on display items that the area Food distributors bring us and that the community donates to us.
We rotate stock. We aren't supposed to hand out expired goods if we don't have a need to, so we need to keep those off the shelves.
We carry items out to cars.
We load grocery items into bags, double bagging them for those who walk. We sometimes get in an abundance of those bags stores give away all the time.. those plastic or cloth reusable bags. Those are so nice to pack groceries into for those who walk.
We keep things neat and tidy... sweeping floors, wiping tables, clearing snow, chasing out any mice (more like catching them and disposing of them). Keeping windows clean, cleaning shelves and what not.

What does my lad do?
When we aren't busy, he completes his school work.   It's nice to get it done before we get home cause then he's free for the rest of the day. :)
When we are busy he helps to pack bags and carry things out to vehicles.
He stocks shelves when we get supplies in.
He fills bins to make it easier to quickly serve customers when they come in.
And he is most excellent at making badly dented cans more badly dented as they find there way into the disposal. :)
He is also our floor sweeper, egg divider and helper at anything we ask of him.   He's such a useful helpful lad to have around.

What have we learned?
1. Past expiry food should not be handed out to people BUT just because something is past expiry doesn't mean it's gone bad.   We deliberately hand it out, but we can make people aware of it and allow them to take it if they like. Canned goods are good for up to 10 years past expiry, the worst that tends to happen is the flavour might not be the same.   That said... once it's five years past I toss it. My figuring is if I won't eat it, I won't offer it to someone else.   :)
2. People donate expired goods frequently.   I don't understand this.   I love it when we get in goods that aren't expired...they are so easily put to good use. :)
3. Fresh foods are desired.   Apples, oranges, cucumbers, potatoes, meat, potatoes, milk, eggs and such like.   When we have them people are so happy to get them.
4. There are a lot of interesting people in my area that I've never met before and it's nice to have more faces that I recognize.   The other day we were out and my son recognized one of our customers and said a very pleased "hello" to the fellow.

Five Minute Friday : Relief

4/11/2015

"Plop Plop fizz fizz oh what a relief it is."    That jingle popped into my head as soon as I saw Kate's Five Minute Friday word for this week. The word is Relief.

Receiving relief.

That's what Christ did for us you know.   He gave us relief, a break, a removal if you will from the wrath of God.

We receive from him the gift of eternal life, all we have to do is trust him and turn from our sin, and voila... we have that everlasting relief from sin.   That everlasting knowing that we don't need to face the wrath of God.

We just celebrated Easter.

I find myself filled with relief when Easter is over.
Partly because I'm married to a pastor who generally is tired from Christmas all the way through to Easter and I know that after Easter, that life will resume to it's normal ebb and flow and not be filled with a man tired from extra services.
Partly also because I tend to look up against Easter. Knowing the Christ needed to die for MY SIN. Me personally. He died.
And then on Easter I see him risen from the dead. His death wasn't permanent. He beat death.

And so I am filled with relief.
THAT is very good thing, is it not my friend?    That relief of sin forgiven. A total relief. :)

______________________

The rules for Five Minute Friday are simple.
Write for five minutes on a single given word.
Don't worry on the editing and making things perfect. It's so NOT necessary.
Just write, enjoy writing.
Then go link up. After you link up take the time to encourage the person who linked up before you. :)
And go.... refreshed by not having to worry, for one blog post, about editing and making it all just so. :)

Review: BigFoot Is Missing

4/9/2015

I recently received a stack of books from Raincoast. This book about Bigfoot Is Missing was one of the first books that my son grabbed.

It was a bit confusing to read until we got to the end of the book. There good descriptions were given about the different beings talked about in the pages of this colourfully illustrated book.

Bigfoot is Missing was written by J. Patrick Lewis and Kenn Nesbitt. It was illustrated by Minalima. The first page in Bigfoot is a page talking about what Cyptids are. Did you know that there are a god 400 cyptids in the world, scattered over every continent. Critters that there is no proof of existence but that many people believe to exist none-the-less? A quick search in google will bring up lists such as the "top 50 cyptids", "the 10 most bizarre cyptids". I knew about Loch Ness Monster, and Bigfoot, and I heard rumblings about a blood sucking fiend in South America, but there are so many I have never heard about! Shadow people I am familiar with as well.

What cryptids have you heard about?

Anyways, back to the book. Bigfoot is Missing is written in a fun, get to know you style. For the page on Bigfoot we read a "wanted poster", the page on the Kraken we are given a news article about helped needed on a ship, for the Mongolian Death Worm my son was caused to say "boy... that thing must be ugly" when we read the breaking story about tribesmen being attacked. The page about the mothman left him with a "HUH? I don't get this one" expression on his face, but when we turned to the back of the book for more information it was like "okay, that was funny. Do you think that would work mom?"

Product Details:
Received: Hardcover picture book.
Title: Bigfoot is Missing
Authors: J. Patrick Lewis and Kenn
Illustrator: Minalima
Pages: 40
Publisher: Chronicle Books.
Link: Find it here.
Reviewed for: Raincoast Books.

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Real life homeschooling: Expectations

4/9/2015

"Firstborns bask in their parents' presence, which may explain why they sometimes act like mini-adults. Firstborns are diligent and want to be the best at everything they do. They excel at winning the hearts of their elders". SOURCE.

This SO describes my boy. Granted he is the offspring of two people who like to do things perfectly as well. BUT my boy worries on it. He stresses over having his routines and his ways of doing things just so.

Sometimes he makes us smile as he can be quite particular in the managing of his toys and games, and in the placement of items in the house. It makes him very useful at the FoodBank on Wednesdays as he knows where things should go and once he knows how to do something you know it will be done just so. Useful trait that.

BUT it makes it hard to help a boy learn to do something new. Then the concern and worry can be a problem and if overwhelmed this lovely nine year old will literally shut down. Too much too fast and he just won't do it.

So as mom I'm learning. :)
I learn that I can give him one page with 12 questions on it and expect him to bargain about what to do.. and settle for the 10 that i actually want him to do.

I can give him a program like GPA Math and watch him soar as he can skip over what he knows, and go slowly with what is new...and it is such an encouraging program that it fits for him. BUT another on-line math program we are currently reviewing, we have to slow right down and take it in bite-sized steps or it suddenly becomes too much and we have an upset boy. And then nothing gets learned until he chills out. What makes the difference? I don't always know, he'll find something that sets with him wrong and then it just goes downhill.

He is getting better he is. Our homeschooling days are improving all the time. He's learning to walk away, He's learning to just talk to me, and on those days that it is all just too much we slow it down and do things like science and practical learning skills like cooking, cleaning, building, helping and what not. It all comes with time and we've learned to just set back and enjoy the journey. To see how perfectionism and desire to be right are NOT bad things, that as an adult he'll stand by his convictions and not be swayed. How he will not want to waste time and will take the time to just think through the problem at hand until he knows how to do it right the first time. False starts are not for this boy and having to redo things is a bust. Efficiency is where it is at. :)

But there are days... when yes... it's hard. When a person has had one melt down too many because one chose the wrong words to describe what needs to be done and misunderstandings occurred. But persevere we will and love the people God has made us be.

What struggles do you have in your homeschooling day?
How do you back up even if you don't always want to, so you can walk at a pace best for YOUR student?

Discover real life in other homeschools with the Schoolhouse Review Crew bloggers! Join the blog hop to read more!

Indy Homeschool The Open Window-An Autism Blog Creative Madness Mama Hopkins Homeschool Tots and Me...Growing Up Together Our Journey Crystal Starr A Little This ... A Little That For the Display of His Splendor

Real Life Homeschooling : Faith Concerns

4/9/2015

My son and I have been struggling over the last year or so to find a way to put God's word into our lives on a regular basis. We do attend services regularly (after all I am a Pastor's wife). And we do talk about God all the time, but I'm talking about a regular study of God's word.

We have tried numerous things.

Working through old Sunday School Lessons.
Trying to memorize Philippians
Reading through Genesis
combining hymn study with scripture study
reading keys for kids

It has proven to be somewhat unsustainable for us.
So it's been hard. As i want much to make this a daily part of our lives. And it bothers me. God is so important to me and my hubby and my son that it shouldn't be such a struggle. But it was. SO VERY HARD. I think it was trying to do two different things and not being able to fit it in well.

So I finally hit upon something that seems to be sustainable. We've been doing this for about a week now and my son is thoroughly enjoying it. I hit upon this as something to do as occasionally I would share with my boy about what I was reading from God's word and he was not bored with me doing so. AND sometimes he even wanted to know more so we'd go off on a rabbit train learning aboutlocusts.

I get up early and I have devotions. (good eh?) :)
But instead of keeping that time to myself, I document it. Then over breakfast (instead of reading the paper).... we talk about what I read in God's word.

We are working through the book of Mark. We take turns on who reads the scripture and then we talk about what is in the verse. Since my desktop computer has DIED (man.. that was frustrating) we use my laptop and can bring it right to the table with us (who would have known that would be such a blessing? .. the desktop dying I mean). Yesterday, knowing I share what i write with my boy, I took the time to include a map of the area to make our discussion more relevant and easy to follow for him. He spent a lot of time looking at the map and asking questions. :)

I have to admit.. I love the questions.

There is no pressure.
If I don't have time to do my devotions I'm honest about it and we just go, God will forgive us BUT if we want to know God better what do we need to do? Spend time with him and it helps us to be more faithful. God wants us to be faithful but isn't going to be so angry with us if we have a harder day.

I want to encourage this faithfulness to God in my boy, and ergo am needing to encourage it more in myself. Perhaps in time he'll take some more responsibility in this area for himself, but in the meantime I think this is a good start. What think you?

What do you do in your family?
What works best for you?
If you use a devotional, what do you use?
Do you just read God's word and talk about it?

What can I say, I'm curious about what others do in this area. :)

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