Blog Archives

SightWords

6/12/2015

Just wanted to let you know about a site I was alerted to a few months back. Never got around to actually telling anyone about.

It's called Sightwords.com. It's all about it...you guessed it.. SIGHT WORDS!!! :)

And it's free.

Games, sight word lists, and more. If you are working with your child on learning their sight words then this site is for you indeed. :)

It has free tools to help parents and educators teach sight words to kids from Pre-K to 4th Grade.

This resource has free printable resources, crafted to facilitate learning at home and in the classroom. The website’s features include:

• 12 fully customizable Games such as Bingo and Snakes & Ladders (http://www.sightwords.com/sight-words/games/)

• Printable Flash Cards in a variety of sizes (http://www.sightwords.com/sight-words/flash-cards/)

• The latest Teaching Techniques, complete with “how-to” videos (http://www.sightwords.com/sight-words/lessons/)

Anyways, I know that I found the sightword lists to be helpful, perhaps you will too. :)

Five Minute Friday: World, #fmfparty

6/12/2015

Rules: Write for five minutes. Don't fuss on the editing. Just write for the joy of doing so. link up at Kate's blog and then take the time to encourage the person who linked up before you.

This week the word is WORLD.

World.
It's a round, spherical object.
Filled with plants, animals, people, rocks, water, air and so much more.

It's God's world you know.
He tells us to go out into and interact with it, being aware that if we don't praise him, the very rocks and trees will praise him. Do we want to be outdone by rocks and trees???

I know I don't. :)

That's one of the reasons my son and I maintain a thankfulness journal. We write done different things that we are thankful for.

On my part that includes such things as missionaries who have gone on before, food, drink, friends, good hubby, church etc.

On my son's part he thinks of friends, people who make fun to play programs, the internet, toads and tadpoles, worms and snakes.

The thing is... we remain thankful and that helps us to see how God takes care of us in this world he has made.

Let us then thank him for all he has done shall we not? Let us not be outdone in our praise to the Lord by rocks and trees! :)

What are YOU thankful for this day?

Review: Institute for Excellence in Writing (IEW)

6/12/2015

"What you want to do is use a pen".
A pen? I said?
MOM!?!?! He says I'm supposed to use a pen. Where are the pens mom?"

And so was my son's first surprise into the world of Deluxe Combo Teacher/Student Writing Package Level A [FIX-1 & 2]. It's been an interesting ride so far. Come with me through world of excited conversation, improved writing ability and more as I work through this review. :)

I have to admit, I've never used IEW materials before and I really wasn't sure what to expect.   I got this tremendously big package that I initially had NO clue what to do with. Where do I start, what do I focus on, AH!!   What if I can't figure it out? All these questions ran through my head.

Then I caught a grip and said... WHY did I want this?
I wanted this program for ONE reason only. To help my boy become more proficient in his writing. He writes every day for 15 minutes in his book (did you know he's writing a novel?).      So let's focus first on just getting him going, and let me sort out the rest.    So that's what we did. :)   It worked for us. :)   Part of my sorting it out was using the help features provided byIEW. :)

The first day, my son sat down and starting working on Day one Materials and just kept going. I actually had to call him off for lunch he was so enthused. :)   Let me tell you.. my son has never willing sat down to do anything that lasting longer than 1.5 hours unless he's watching a movie or playing x-box games. :)

As he worked I looked through what I received.
Five parts:

Teaching Writing Structure and Style, including the Premium Subscription
A Student Writing Intensive level (A)
Two Fix-It! Grammar levels, with hard copy for the teacher book and e-copy for the student (Books 1 & 2,)
A Word Write Now
Portable Walls

I will be going through each of these sections for you.

Allow me if I might to talk about what causes the most discussion in our household. Fix it Grammar. One sentence a day, each week focusing on different points of grammar. My son talks and discusses these sentences with me all the time. Today he was arguing with me over what small people can be called and that elfin was just wrong... it should only be dwarf! Then he learned the elfin means more than being an elf, it means be a small person and the pieces fit together for him. :) He still thinks it can be a confusing word, and my response was "welcome to the English Language". He groaned. :)

A comment that I often hear while my son is doing theStudent Writing Intensive Level A is "MOM!   He didn't ask me!   I had an answer!"
This statement was often followed by "Mom, you should tell them that they should stop and ask the computer people what they think as well.   It's not fair that we never get asked."

He's learning new words. He's better understanding why one can't use the same word over and over when writing his stories. He's seeing the value in picking out the major themes of story in order to better convey what the story is really about and not getting lost in the minutia.   This has been of benefit to him when he reads a story and I ask him "tell me what it's about".   I no longer hear every detail but the major highlights. :)   I love listening to him responding to Mr. Pudewa.   Geared for grades 3-5 we are doing the suggestion and really taking our time going through these lessons.      I let my son judge the length of time he wants to spend on it. Some days that 10 minutes and other days an hour.   He writes, he thinks, he exclaims and sometimes he explains it all to me and we talk.

How his writing has changed:
from this: Your first day in Minecraft you you shod mine 20 dirt than make a house than you shod mine 2 small threes than make 12 wood planks and than make crafting table than place the crafting table in the house than use the crafting table to make 4 sticks than use 2 of the sticks and 3 wood planks to make 1 wood pickaxe and mine 8 stone and go back to the house and use the crafting table to make 1 furnace place the furnace beside the crafting table than mine 1 more three put 1wood in the top and 1in the bottom wait until charcoal appears in the third slot than take the charcoal than use the crafting table to make 4 torches with 1stik and the charcoal put the torches in the house make enough wood planks to make 1 wood door place the door at the entrance to the house if you still have time make a sword and kill three Shep and make a bed than play the game.

To This
He dove down the tunnel and the rest of them followed him. When they reached the bottom there was a small room about six by six blocks big. The walls, floor and ceiling were made with oak Wood planks. There was just one torch lighting the room. There was a crafting table in the left corner from the stairs and there was a double chest beside it. There was two beds in the right corner.
"so what do you think" Charlie oinked?
"I like it"Steve responded.
"Or so that's were my beetroot is" Grever scowled!

He's making a fine improvement is he not???   :)
So for us the program is a success!   It is doing exactly what we wanted!!

This part of the premium subscription, Teaching Writing: Structure and Style, Second Edition is meant for YOU the parent/teacher.   It helps teach you how to help your young writer become a better writer.

This whole section helps you to talk with your student about what they are learning.   So when my son wanted to talk about what he was learning I was able to back up his thinking (or correct or expand upon it). :) Pretty neat to have this tool eh?

I have to tell you... trying to find time to listen ... in this household is not easy.   Interruptions, or "Where are you" requests... But you will find if you persevere through the 9+hrs of instruction, that it is a beneficial part of the program. :) (Which, if you didn't know, has some Canadian influence in it!). :)

Throughout the nine lessons the Student Intensive Writing program, the students write out lists of words they can use instead of others. A Word Write Now is a handy thesaurus. Organized in a way that makes it sense for children: by character qualities and behavior traits. Words are also classified by parts of speech. Very handy! My lad hasn't ventured into looking through this book yet, when I advised him on what was in it, he gave a rather non-committal "okay, that might be helpful mom, but I like remembering things." So far he hasn't had need of it, but I foresee a time down the road when he will have need and then it will ready for him.

Pictured with it as the Portable Wall. Think stand up poster. Easy reference right at your fingertips without having to post it to a wall somewhere. Sturdy and able to stand up on its own, it's right there, ready to go and be used. Makes a great bookmark my son has learned for holding his place. Learning to use it.. that he hasn't figured yet. :)

I must take a bit of time to tell you two great aspects to this program. One is the supportive elements. First there is a live chat help support section. You can type in your concern and someone will actually type back to you within a couple of minutes and you can get the support that you need. It's way better than talking on the phone and they include links if needed to get you on your way quickly and easily. It's great! From the live chat session I had, I learned about the forum where you can go and get help with any aspect of the program. Rather cool to have that.

But the other aspect I want to talk about is the FILES section. When you login you have access to everything you get. So the Teacher help section is there in streaming video, they give helpful audio talks, the PDF for the Fix It grammar. Everything. Neat huh? So nice to have it all contained in one area. :)

So in a nutshell what do we think?

IEW is a good fit in our household. The lad enjoys it for the most part. :) He's learning, it's accomplishing our goals, the support from IEW is great, and once you got it figured out it's not hard to do. :)

Product details:
Vendor: Institutes for Excellence in Writing.
The whole program which includes the following, as a combo package sells for $299.

Teaching Writing Structure and Style, including the Premium Subscription
- dvds in a leather binder
- online materials, audio and pdf
- retails for $129
A Student Writing Intensive level (A)
- binders
- DVD's
- worksheets
- retails for $109
Two Fix-It! Grammar levels, with hard copy for the teacher book and e-copy for the student (Books 1 & 2,) Nose Tree and Robin Hood.
- hardcopy teacher's edition
- PDF student editions - a week's lessons on one page
- retails for $15 each for teacher's editions which includes PDF student editions. If needing hardcopy Student editions an additional $15 each.
A Word Write Now
- retails for $35
- child friendly thesaurus
Portable Walls
- retails for $7
- short form information right at your finger tips.

Find IEW on Social Media:

https://www.facebook.com/excellenceinwriting
https://www.pinterest.com/iewriting
http://vimeo.com/iewtv
https://twitter.com/iew
https://www.youtube.com/user/iewtv
http://iew.com/help-support/blog
https://plus.google.com/+Iewriting/

Review: Finding Me

6/9/2015

A life lived and loved. A strong bond with a parent, knowing the others had all died.
A parent dies.
A step-mother passes away.
A life time needs tidying up before a house is sold
A secret discovered.
Suddenly Kelli is on the search.   Who is she REALLY?

Against the advice of a best friend, off she goes looking, searching, hiding, seeking, wanting answers...who is she REALLY?

The book answers this question and more.
It's an easy read.
No real definitive answers for why what was done was done.
BUT answers were received and Kelli discovered more than she bargained for and THAT was a good thing.

Written by Kathryn Cushman with carefully weaved characters I was drawn into the world of Kelli with all her wonderings.   Who is she really?    Can she truly build for herself a family?

My Thoughts:

Good read.   Easy.   Character development is well done.   Has some romance but is more backburner than front and isn't more important than the central theme of the book. I appreciated that.   Be a good book for teens and up to read.

Product Details:
Book: Finding Me
Author: Kathryn Cushman
Pages: 330
Publisher: Bethany House
Reviewed for: Nuts About Books.

Missionary Monday: Michi Kawai

6/9/2015

click image to go to source: Michi Kawai

Michi Kawai, the daughter of a Shinto priest, was born in Japanese and educated at a missionary school by Miss Smith.

She was a strong-minded, intelligent girl who later went on to be educated at the Bryn Mawr College in Philadelphia.

She returned to Japanese to do two things.

1. Start a YMCA. She wanted to foster good friendships among girls that she saw established at the Y in the States.   She worked at the Y for 20 years, developing life-long friendships with people world-wide.

2. To start a school for girls. At this school she taught not only the normal Japanese subjects but also Faith in God and vegetable and fruit tree propagation as well.   Her goal was to establish faithful Christian believers who were well-rounded in their education, and able to take care of themselves and their families.    She maintained her school and it's focus throughout World War II despite government disapproval.

She was a firm advocate for good Japanese-Western relations.   She had a firm love for her students and only wanted what was best for them.

Sources:
Missionary Heroes
Silver Bay Blog
Child Research Net.
Wiki.

click on image to go to source

Field Trip: African Lion Safari

6/5/2015

On May 27, my son and I joined some friends, and we gathered with a homeschooling group in Mississauga for a day at the African Lion Safari. It was a great way to get a group discount and to have fun with friends.

We signed up to take the Safari bus through the different park zones. My lad and I shared picture taking duties. :)

This lion male would not turn and face me before the bus moved off.

I have to admit, it was really neat to ride in the bus and have a clear view of all the animals. The variety of hooved animals and the predators that might go after them. They did keep the predators and prey sections quite separate.

My son took a good deal of time to finally get a photo of this baboon on top of the climbing toy.

The baboon above kept darting away so it was great when he finally got the shot he wanted. The while lions below captured our interest. They had a tribe of about five that they are hoping to breed. The male kept lying down so we couldn't get a good shot of him.

GIRAFFES!!!! I have to admit, it was neat to see them walking about. I'm so used to seeing them in a small area at the zoo, so seeing them out free to roam in a fairly large area. :) Not quite as good as the African plains but not bad. :)

Not all the animals at African Lion Safari are from Africa

My son was delighted by this particular find. He thought to be eating lunch with us would be a good thing.... I disagreed, but hey..sometimes one must let a boy have his enjoyment.

Elephants swimming.

We took a boat cruise around the monkey islands.

We took in the elephant show.

My son was delighted to take part in the parrot show

After a day of seeing the animals, the children finished off their day at the waterpark. I had forgotten the lad's wim things, so we jury rigged protection for his ear..

We had a lovely day. And I'd be happy to do it all over again. :)

The Adventures of Pajama Girl

6/5/2015

I won this book!    Cool eh!   :)   It's always fun to win things isn't it?   :)

Anyways, being as it's a book, I do what I do with books. READ THEM. :)

I sat down and read it with my boy who was HIGHLY skeptical of it (after all it's main characters are female and it has a girlie theme).      By the time we were finished reading it his response was "it's not bad".

Pajama Girl has learned that what design is on her pajamas influences what she dreams about.    Tonight she is going to dream about cupcakes.   In her dream the characters learn to do what is right.   In the dream about the Cupcake Queen's coronation the girls learn the value in being helpful and kind, and therefore to do what is good and right.

It's an easy reading book with good clear pictures.
It should particularly appeal to girls, but boys won't be totally turned off either. :)

#FMFParty : Gift

6/5/2015

Today's Five minute Friday prompt is the word GIFT.

Yesterday my mom celebrated her birthday.   It's been her first since my dad died.    My son and I called her in the morning and sang Happy birthday to her over the phone and last Sunday, as a family, we surprised her by going to her church and staying for a meal.

We chose to gift mom in this way.   She was surprised and so very pleased. :)

When I think of gifts I think of them often as being surprises.

Those unexpected moments when you take the time to share of yourself without expecting anything in return.

Gifts can also be planned ... birthdays, holidays etc. And I don't want to diminish those, because planning gifting is important to.

But the gifts I find I treasure the most are those unexpected things.   Like one day when I was out gardening and a lady from church came and actually HELPED me.   It still brings wonderment to my heart that someone would be so kind as to unexpectedly stop by and just help.   No questions asked.   That quiet giving of time just touches my heart.

I have another couple minutes to write but I have nothing in me right now.   I'm very tired due to hardly any sleep and a busy day ahead.   But I know that God is indeed gracious and will gift me with the resilience to see it through. :)

So can you tell me what gift means the most to you???

Party Rules:
Write for five minutes on a word prompt. Link up over at kate's blog.
THEN importantly, take the time to be an encouragement to others being as bold as you are. Visit the blog ahead of you in the link up. Just comment and encourage. Not hard that is it? :) So go on, write your own post. Be brave this week, please gift us with your words. (if you do...leave a link, I'll visit). :)

Thinking Thursday: Socrates

6/4/2015

I think almost everyone has heard of Socrates of Athens. Famous philosopher.

He started with the basic premise of:

The only life worth living is a good life.
Ergo
I can only live a good life if I really know what "good" and "evil" are.
Since
"Good" and "evil" are not relative, they are absolutes, that can only be found by a process of questioning and reasoning
Ergo
In this way, morality and knowledge are bound together.
SO
An unquestioning life is one of ignorance without morality.
THUS
a life which is unexamined is not worth living.

Socrates introduced to us the Dialectical Method...that is the method of questioning everything.   People dialogue with each other by asking and answering questions.

He believed that if we understand what we are, then we are better able to live the life that we want to live.    We should question even our most cherished beliefs. We shouldn't do what society thinks of as being the right thing, unless we are firmly convinced that it is indeed the right thing.

He wasn't always particularly nice about his approach to his quest for finding TRUTH either.   He would go to the rich, help them build up their case about why they believed something, and then promptly tear it down. He made a lot of enemies.    (source)

His most famous student was Plato.   He taught by the use of Pedagogy: wherein a teacher questions a student in a manner that draws out the correct response. (source)

The Delphi oracle called him the wisest man in the world....at which he scoffed, saying that honestly he knew nothing.   So to disprove her he went around to wise people and asked them questions, thus exposing their lack of knowledge.   He started from a point of ignorance and through questions showing where there are gaps of knowledge, or even contradictions.   This method became foundational to Western philosophy and empirical sciences.

He ended up being sentenced to death (which he chose rather than face exile).

Sources
Book:The Philosophy book
Gadfly
Ancient Greece.
BIO.   be alert, this page has a video that plays automatically.

You know... I totally get people getting angry with Socrates. Questioning everything, pretending to know nothing, building up cases only to destroy them. I can see that HE would have fun doing so, but facing him as an opponent could be extremely aggravating. I know this from having a brother who delighted in doing this with me when I was a teenager. That whole question and point out and trying it seems to deliberately make someone look foolish.... and then LAUGHING about it. Aggravating to say the least. I can understand the anger of the 500 jurists who sentenced him to death.

BUT as a method it is very effective in helping people to hone their thoughts and ideas into a cohesive whole. And for scientists to question themselves to see where the gaps are in what they are learning about. HIGHLY effective.

Review and Giveaway: Farewell Floppy

6/3/2015

I have to admit, when I first read Farewell Floppy by Benjamin Chaud it made me angry.

Why?   Because it talks about leaving a bunny in the forest to fend for itself when a child gets tired of it.   That makes me angry as tamed animals should NEVER be abandoned in the wild (or even near a farm) to "just survive".

But I gave the book another read and realized it was actually a pretty good book. :)   It really wasn't about what I first thought. :)

Surprised I was.

The book initially presented itself one way, but the second read helped me see a different level of reading.

A child struggling with maturing.
A child having a beloved pet.
A child wanting to fit in.
A child trying to figure out how to change and stay true to themselves as they mature.

And a child learned and developed new friendships.

No pets were abandoned forever in the forest. :)

My son's response was "It's okay.   Why do you think he was going to do that with his Floppy in the first place mom?   isn't it good that he didn't?"

What's great is that YOU have a chance to read and have this book for yourself isn't that cool?

Do NOTE: this contest is open to Canadian residents only.   Thank you for understanding.

a Rafflecopter giveaway