One of the things I LOVE to do when I am on vacation is READ.. and so when we were on vacation I took every opportunity to read.  :)   I read some review books and some just for fun books.  I even (gasp) started a book that turned into fire starter... can you imagine... a book so bad that i didn't even save it to sell?!?!?!   (my fellows were stunned).  :)   In my defence....it was NOT a book that I bought.  :)   People give me books all the time and well I tend to read them... This one I simply didn't. 

BUT I did read some good books.  The review books I'll be writing up posts for them on their own over the next three weeks.     Some books I read just for fun, perhaps you might find a new treasure.

Crispin - Cross of Lead.   Looking back over the book the premise wasn't a bad one.   Unknown child, peasant, mystery about parentage, evil villains, scary individual who turns out to be a decent sort, plotting and maneuvering all round.   Solid premise... but you know what I thought as I read it?     What an ODD book.   j

Part of that I'm sure is due to the fact it was written from the point of view of Crispin.   That first person view is always disconcerting as it's such an unfamiliar style.    In the end the bad guys don't totally win and that's a good thing.  :)

King and Maxwell.   I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book.  Such a good read.    :)   Great book.   Lots of action.    Twists in plot line.    Great characters.    Bad guys lose,  good guys win.    

Premise: teen running madly across the road with a gun, ex-secret service agents turned PI instinctively follow and stop him, returning him to his home, offering to be of assistance if needed.   Turns out the assistance was needed.   Dead father isn't, and there's a mystery to be solved concerning why he disappeared and how to safely reunite him with his son.   Lots of governmental interference, twists and turns and just a good read.  You won't fall asleep reading it.  :)

God's Gift by Dee Henderson.   Have to admit, not my most favourite of Ms. Henderson's books.   One of her earlier works I believe.   Simple romance, felt sappy to me, but came in useful in a conversation with my son.  TWICE!

Once when he told me he worried about something really bad happening to him, so I was able to use these characters as an example of how something REALLY bad happened to a couple of the people.   It didn't make sense to eithr of them.  But it turned out well as they both were able to use their tragedies to help each other in ways they didn't expect.   True love happened, with God as their anchor.

The second conversation was about how two books with similar themes can generate different reactions from people.   I read a couple of romances (review books) this trip and I really liked one of them, other was so-so and this was just left me go "meh".   And why was that mom?   How come books aren't the same mom?   Shouldn't they all make you want to know more??

It was quite a good conversation and I thank Ms. Henderson for her part in that.  :)   NOTE I normally really really enjoy Dee Henderson's books so that fact this one doesn't hit my "read again" list is no reflection on the author.  :)

Deltora Quest.   Books 1-4.   Good book, would like to finish the rest of the series.  This book was on loan to me from a friend.  :)    Kingdom under threat.  The Shadow Lord has sneakily undermind the throne and destroyed the belt of power.   Can a group of friends retrieve the needed gems?      Follow the search, solve the clues!   Written for an older child, young teen it is still interesting enough for adults to read.  :)    Found the challenge of the sand trap intriguing.  :)

The Bridge Over Flatwillow Creek.   Lance Wubbels wrote a good book here.   Good guys, bad guys.  Learning discernment.   Seeing God in action.    Love comes but isn't the main focus (at least not to me).   Good to see growth in characters and see trouble avoided.   Good comes from bad.   And in the end good girl turns to good boy and all is well in the world.   :)

And there you have it.   Most of the books I read just for fun because I could.  :)  

Today I welcome Beth to my blog.   She writes over at As He Leads Joy.    She has done up a lovely post on Robert Morrison.    Thank you Beth for guest posting for me. :)

China has been a love of mine for years. It comes from having lived in Asia and within the Chinese culture for many years. Even though now we live in England our mission focus is still the Chinese students and scholars. 

  When I think of those missionaries who have gone before, those that pioneered the work in China, I think Robert Morrison, Karl Gutzlaff, Samuel Dyer, Hudson Taylor and others.

Robert Morrison is considered by many to be the first Protestant missionary to China. Robert Morrison was born in 1782 in North East England, the youngest of eight children. His parents were Christians and raised the children to know the Bible. Robert was converted at the age of 15. His dream was to be a missionary. He spent time learning Latin, Greek, and Hebrew as well as studying the Bible.

Going overseas was difficult with many obstacles. His mother did not want him to go overseas. He honored his mother’s desire and did not go until after her death. He was 20 years when she died. After some further studying, he was ready to depart for China in 1807. He could not sail directly from England to China, as the policy of the East India Company was not to transport missionaries. Finally on September 4, 1807 Robert Morrison arrived in China. His problems were not over rather they were continuing. At that time it was forbidden for a Chinese to teach a foreigner the language and the only foreigners that could stay in China were those that there for purposes of trade. He was able to find someone to teach him Chinese and began work on translating the Bible.

Because of his language ability the East India Company hired him as a translator. It was not something that he necessarily wanted but in order to stay there he needed that.

Robert Morrison spent 27 years in China. His accomplishment was translating the Bible into China as well as a few converts. He died in China and was buried in the small Old Protestant cemetery in Macau. The Old Protestant Cemetery in Macau was one of our favourite places to visit during a trip to Macau.

 As Robert was on his way to China, he was asked if he expected to have any spiritual impact on the Chinese. His response, “No sir, but I expect God will.” Robert Morrison knew that he needed to be faithful and leave the results to God.

Want to learn about woodpeckers?   Well, this book called Woodpecker Wham that my son and I recently reviewed will totally do the trick for you. 

Woodpeckers are cool!

The book is done in rhyme...
"Flufffy Fledglings
now are grown,
Wik-A, Wik-A!
On their own."

The neat thing about doing the book in rhyme is it gave me an opportunity to ask my lad what the thought the poem was talking about.   We quickly discovered the fact section at the end of the book where we learned what the poems were all talking about.   Learning that woodpeckers have clutches of 3-6 babies, and they share the duties of raising their young.

We flipped back and forth, the lad reading the poem, me reading the corresponding fact sheet and we learned.  :)

Without the fact section, the poem book was a bit young for my lad, but the fun was looking for the answers and thinking about what the poem might be talking about and that's a good thing.

A few different species of woodpecker are shown throughout the book,  It was interesting to see their colour variation.   And did you know they hide from predators by going to the other side of the branch or tree?   Neat huh?

If you want to learn more about woodpeckers check out these resources:
Unit study.
Woodpeckers of North America.
Woodpeckers of Canada.
Reading Comprehension.
Identify woodpeckers.
lesson Planet has a variety of worksheets.

Product Details:
Received: Softcover picture book Woodpecker Wham!
Author: April Pulley Sayre
Illustrator: Steve Jenkins
Pages: 40
Age range: 4-8
Publisher: HenryHolt and Company
Reviewed for: Raincoast Books.

Social Media Links for Raincoast Books are as follows.

https://twitter.com/raincoastbooks
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https://instagram.com/raincoastbooks/
https://www.pinterest.com/raincoastbooks/
http://raincoastbooks.tumblr.com/
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Last week I had to make the difficult decision to unfriend someone on facebook.   This individual was being unkind in her approach to me and had generated comments from non-Christian friends who are on my facebook page to ask "what's up with that"?

It was a difficult thing to do since the person I unfriended (and then blocked) is a believer.  We have a different approach to how we share our faith with others.    

I was challenged that EVERYTHING I post MUST point to Christ and if I didn't do so, I was showing that I was truly pagan.   I found that statement very difficult to consider.  Am I pagan if I don't make every post a message about Christ?   Or if I don't counter all the wrongs I read about in a facebook post?

My hubby pastor quickly reassured me otherwise.  

A sermon he recently preached brought it home to me.   You know why we talk about Christ?   It's because of the HOPE that is within us as believers.  We know the Lord and we know that we will go to live with him someday.   That hope that is a fulfillment of Christ's work on our behalf.  Cool eh?

We don't do it to prove we aren't pagan.. we do it because of  the HOPE.

That hope allows me to share in the joy of my son's love of toads (which yah..I post about).   That hope allows me to laugh at being Canadian and how silly we can be as people.  That hope gives body to my homeschooling journey with my lad.  That hope allows me to be gracious as I see the sin in my life and in the lives of those around me.   Christ died for ALL of us.     That is our hope, and that is what I build my life around, he died for all us... Me particularly.. but for you too.  and then he came back to life to show that Death has no power over us.

THIS is my hope.

Tell me.. what is yours?

Today I am going to be talking about CursiveLogic. a learning to write cursive program I have recently reviewed with my lad called the CursiveLogic Workbook.   This is a curriculum that makes sense to my lad.  We had started learning cursive using a freebie that I had downloaded ages ago, I printed it off page by page and my lad would copy the letters ... But I could tell it wasn't making sense to him, random letters and words was all it was to him.   Learning that letters have shapes and can flow together... THIS he GETS now.   It's working and he's happy and I'm happy and it's all very good.  

So come with me as I walk you through this cursive writing program by CursiveLogic.

My son has struggled with holding a pencil properly ever since he started writing.     I've utilized a variety of methods to assist him in holding his pencil properly, and this year he has just been starting to do so well.    One of the things that CursiveLogic does is have children practice the generalized movement that children need to use in order to write properly.     It's actually one of the things that I have found fascinating.  My son is taking this flow that he is learning and applying it to his drawing and creative abilities.  He's finally "SEEING" how flow works better when you hold your pencil differently.

CursiveLogic takes the viewpoint that teaching flow immediately helps children learn cursive lettering more easily. 

To that end they group the lowercase letters into groups, and then teach that group as a string of letters.  Here you can see how this string is coloured orange.  The other strings they each have their own colour.   These colours help to reinforce learning.    If your student needs extra practice, three dry erase pages are included at the end of the book.

They have an audio component as well, a verbal rhyme that children can make as they are learning each letter shape.

CursiveLogic provides two styles of tracing.   One is the normal thin line, and the other is a double line.   Each section of tracing is always followed by a chance to write without tracing.    Some days my son did not want to write on his own immediately after tracing.  The beauty of this book with that you can work through it on your pace.   By the end of the first lesson one can already write real words...how cool is that!?!?

We normally did one page a day.  We took it one day at a time.   It worked well for my lad.    "Mom, I like that I can do one page at a time.   Did you see I could this page with my left hand?   Am I getting better mom?"   I so enjoy seeing that enthusiasm.  :)

He likes that this program makes sense to him and that, like the free program we used previously, he can just do one page at a time.   Slow and steady wins the day in this household.

I can totally see older students whipping through this workbook a great deal faster.  It's a great book to learn cursive from, or to bone up on cursive skills.  Fast or slow, one develops the muscle memory, the verbal rhyme, and skill set to become a better, quicker writer.  Definitely recommend this logical approach CursiveLogic takes to teaching the skill of cursive writing.

WHY?

Why is cursive necessary in this day and age of online writing and technology?
I have to admit, I struggled with this.   Trying to figure why it was so important, and why it was important to my hubby for our son to learn it besides "it will be good for him".   This is what my research showed:

1. having a good signature is important
2. not all writing is done via electronics
3. writing is faster than printing
4. one won't always have a computer or phone or tablet to type on
5. teaches letters as part of whole words, not as separate entities
6. writing in cursive rather than print utilizes different areas of the brain.
7. it can help those with brain injuries or conditions such a dyslexia learn better, or even be able to write and read.
8. cursive looks nicer than print and shows a higher state of learning
9. it's a good part of our history
10. it doesn't take that long to teach.   One page a day takes my son 5-15 minutes.

So teach your children cursive.  It will do them good.  :)

Product Details:
Vendor: CursiveLogic
Product: CursiveLogic Workbook
Version: Hard-copy, a physical book
Price: $29.00
Ages: 7 through adult
Pages: 96

Did you know that CursiveLogic has some practice pages?   Great eh?   Gives you a chance to check them out without obligation.  :)   CLICK HERE.

Social Media Links:
Twitter: http://twitter.com/cursivelogic
Facebook: http://facebook.com/ilovecursive 
Instagram: http://instagram.com/cursivelogic

Just because I love watching people dance well with their dogs... Here's a video for our viewing pleasure.  :)

Where that one was pretty, this one is fun.  :)

This Worthington Destiny book by Dr. Kevin Leman and Jeff Nesbit was an interesting book to review.   In fact, I would like to know what happens in the second book... I want to know that the bad guys in this first book are found out and learn the errors of their ways.
An environmental disaster causes potential world wide issues.  
People turning on each other.   Twisting and turning, looking to ....
Save their own bacon regardless of the costs that are paid.
Protect your own!   Keep out the contenders!
Put up screens of protection.
And learn to listen to the still small voice within.

The main protagonist William Worthington is a typical first born.   Sure of him and his leadership abilities, born into wealth and continuing that tradition.   Oldest of three children, birth order plays a heavy role in how the children live out their adult lives.   William is not a believer but he is somewhat aware of the things of God.   He had learned the importance of family and doing what is right, come what may.  

The author is the writer of "the birth order book" and birth order plays a heavy role in this book.   William the oldest taking the leadership, Sean the youngest with tons of connections, and Sarah, the middle born being an excellent negotiator.   All three siblings are vastly different, and yet all pull together to help resolve the mystery that stands before them.

I had to admit, I enjoyed the story.   I found myself able to read it at my leisure instead of desperately wanting to get to the end.  I found the ending disappointing though since there promises to be much more to the story, but in this round, it seems as if the bad guys are winning out, and the Worthington's were forced to back down and away. 

Do I recommend reading it?
I have to admit, I really am not sure.   It was not a bad book, but I didn't find it riveting, and found it somewhat predictable and too tied into the birth order theory.   I disliked the feeling of the bad guys winning...even with the promise of a comeback.

At the end of the book there was additional information on birth order.

Product Details:
Received: softcover book "A Perfect Ambition"
Series: The Worthington Destiny
Author: Dr. Kevin Leman and Jeff Nesbit
Pages: 308
Type: Mystery, Suspense
Publisher: Revell
Reviewed for: Nuts about Books.

Kate's word prompt for today is Favourite.   And yes, she spells it the American way and I do the British/Canadian...but does it really matter eh?   :)   Anyways, the rules are simple.. write for five minutes, worrying not on the editing, just write from your heart.  Link up.  And then (very importantly) go and encourage the person who linked up before you.  Easy peasey eh?   :)   Some come on.. JOIN US... really it's fun.

The prompt this week is on the word favourite.

If one needed to pick the most favourite thing in the whole world it would be God.  Afterall he created it and he created me and you and everything else and by his word he sustains it all.

But if one needs to look at some of the favourite things in the world beyond our faith, beyond our families (as honestly.. my favourite things are the people in my life).

Next to that for me would be critters (right now that is mostly bunnies.. but I like mice, rats, guinea pigs, dogs, cats.. basically most any critter though spiders I like to keep a safe enjoyable distance from), books (oh..how I love to read) and writing (love writing ergo.. I blog!).  :)   I also adore my amaryllis and growing them in the garden every summer.  The one pictured above rarely fails to flower for me and I don't do all the standard "how you care for them stuff" I just plunk them in the ground, they grow.  In the fall, I pull them out and plunk them in a box.  No specialized care.

My lad.. oh how my lad loves the people close to him.  He also loves TOADS and is beyond thrilled that he gets to watch a whole whack of them grow.  We have a pond.. we have tadpoles and he goes out ALL the time to watch them.  He frequently plays with the adults as well.  Life is good if there is toads in it.  "Mom, could I making a living with toads you think?"  he asked me the other day.     :)  Made me smile.

My hubby... pastor man, quiet living man.  LOVES his quiet times, holds his family close to his heart.  :)   Yesterday he sold a van that was a real favourite.  He truly liked our van, but it no longer ran well and was taking up too much space so it's gone.   He missed it yesterday and I have to admit, the driveway looks bear without it.  BUT it will go on to help other van like it run better and so it will live on.. a good thing that!

Those are some of our favourite things in this household... What are favourite things in YOUR household?   Please tell me.. I'd like to share your joy in them.  :)

Like Plato, Aristotle had a wide range of interest covering most of the sciences and many of the arts.   He particularly liked studying nature... helping to develop the study of zoology.   He developed the system of formal logic.

Aristotle firmly believed that we can understand the world around us by studying it.  For instance we can see different evidence of "dogs" around us.   We understand that different dogs still have common characteristics.   We can use our senses and our logic to understand just what a dog is... that truth is gathered from the world around us.   So unlike Plato, Aristotle believed that we can trust our senses.

Just as we can understand the physical world by studying, we can also understand the emotional or philosophical world by studying it.   So to understand virtue and justice, we need to study it.   Through this method, Aristotle was able classify logic, metaphysics, poetics, ethics etc as separate classifications.

This ability to classify items led him to start the classification of animals, breaking them up in to different categories. 

From his system of classification he developed a syllogism.   This is where you have two truths which lead to a third truth.   So you'd have premise, premise, plus conclusion.   This ability to reason is what separates us from all other animals.

Not all that Aristotle believed and put together in his writing was accurate, but so much of what he did think and learn still holds true or relevant.

Sources
Philosophy book
Britannica.