Blog Archives

Review: Hands Of A Child

8/18/2013

Ponds...just what do we know about ponds? Before doing this study we knew some things about Ponds, but now we know a whole lot more. :) Thanks to a review we did for In the Hands of a Child and their lapbook Pond Life.

Vendor information

Vendor: In the Hands of a child
Product:Pond Life.
Price: Normally $12, currently $5.
Age/Grade Level: Kindergarden, 1st Grade, 2nd Grade

With this unit study you will be able to teach your early elementary classroom about life in and around a pond. Ponds may be small, but they are important ecosystems that are home to many plants and animals that support one another. Make your lesson planning easy with Pond Life Curriculum from In the Hands of a Child. This pack includes a 5-day Planning Guide, Related Reading List, 11 Hands-On Activities PLUS 1 Fun Extension Activity, and a 7-page Research Guide. Students will be introduced to how ponds form, how ponds are different from lakes, pond areas, plants and animals that live in pond areas, pond dipping, and more!

On the way up to camping I took the time (since it was an eight hour van ride) to read the text for "Pond Life". This gave us a good foundation to talk about the ponds that we saw while we were camping. :) It was easy to see and talk about the animals and plants you could find a various levels of the small ponds that surrounded us and then compare them to the lakes we saw.

emergent and floating plants. :)

We had a couple of rainy days so we used those to work on the lapbook. I had put the lapbook on my tablet for ease of references and had printed out all the activities before we left. We had lots of small pieces of paper to help us light our campfire. :) I did not print out all 70 pages, only the ones with the activities on that we were going to complete.

when we did this exercise the lad did all the ones he knew first, and then we went back to read about the ones he was uncertain about. As he listened he was able to finish it. :)

Most of the ponds we saw were quite small compared to the lakes we had. Some were so small they made for EXCELLENT frog catching areas. :)

small pond. the lad is just about to try scooping up a frog.

he ended up making a frog living area, it held 14 frogs. He caught about 18 frogs all together. He worked hard trying to catch a big bullfrog but that one was just too smart for him to manage.

I appreciated having this study to do, especially to read on my tablet on the way up. It gave me good words to use with my lad as we walked around enjoying the bounty of God's creation. Was he always interested? not really...frogs are much more exciting than examining the environment that they live in, but when it came to building a frog habitat it came it quite useful.

"Mom, frogs need plants the stick out right?"
"Mom, frogs like water that's all the same right?
"Mom, frogs like plants or things they can sit on or hide under right?"

And all those questions I could answer while giving him information about ponds. We enjoyed having this study right at our fingers tips to do something with. :) It was an excellent rainy day activity for us since it fit so well with where we were and what we like to do when on vacation.

most of the frogs he caught were green frogs, but he managed to catch one wood frog and two other kinds of frogs which names are eluding me at the moment. He learned alot about ponds just by catching frogs.

Suggestions I would have for change.

1. I personally find it easier to have lesson material, immediately combine with activity material. In the Hands of a Child puts all the activities at the end and then you need to figure out which part of the lesson material they belong with. I would rather it be connected immediately.
2. Some of the lapbook materials I had no clue how they were to be put together and could not find any instructions on how to do so. So that I would like to have a small diagram for each activity showing what it's supposed to look like when it is completed.

You can either click to read more reviews from the Schoolhouse Review Crew or click the banner below, whichever is more convenient for you. There were a variety of lapbooks reviewed, so it really is worth your while to check them out. In the Hands of a Child makes some GOOD lapbooks.

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Review: Lead Me Home

8/18/2013

Today I am reviewing, on behalf of Booksneeze, the book Lead Me Home, written by Stacy Hawkins Adams.

I was sent this book in order to review it.   I enjoyed reading this book, it was a good read, about the decisions that a pastor's wife made both good and bad and how God worked through them.

I found in intriguing to read about how people in a different church address their pastors and their wives...the behind the scenes stuff I found more interesting than the rest of the book.

Don't misunderstand me... I enjoyed the book, but I found it quite predictable. I knew what was going to happen before it did.   But the Sister this, and Sister that, and just how the church operated, I found that to be of more interest and raised more questions in my mind than the actual story did.   Perhaps that's because I'm a pastor's wife myself. :)

If you are looking for a good read, this book will provide it.   It does an excellent job of showing how pastor's wives are also real people, and how we struggle with issues just like everyone else, just like our families do.   The honesty in living and how it is portrayed in this book make it worth reading.

The theology contained within I could not find fault with.   God does love and care for his people and promises to walk them through what needs walking through.

I do suggest that if you can the option of reading this book, that you take yourself up on it. :)

Recipe: Baked stuffed pattypan squash

8/17/2013

I plan to make this on Sunday. It sounds good and gives me a chance to try my pattypan squash for the first time. :) I'll cook up part of it tonight I think.

Baked stuffed Pattypan Squash

Ingredients:

4 Pattypan Squash, washed
1 Onion, chopped
1/2 lb. lean sausage, chopped
3/4 cup Parsley, chopped
1 1/2 cups Bread Crumbs
1/2 teaspoon Pepper
1 Tablespoon Olive Oil

Steps:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Cut squash in half (horizonally) and hollow.
Chop onion finely.
Crumble the sausage into a pan and cook until no longer pink.
Remove sausage from pan and set aside.
Add onion to the pan with sausage fat and cook about 2 minutes or until soft.
Mix together in a bowl the sausage, onion, parsley, bread crumbs, pepper and 2 tablespoons water.
Divide mixture among squash halves.
Brush the tops of the stuffed squash with olive oil.
Place squash in single layer in baking dish just large enough to hold all of the squash.
Fill baking dish with 1/2 inch water.
Cover and bake 30 minutes.
Uncover and continue baking about 15 minutes or until stuffing is browned and squash tender.

Serves 4

It turned out really well, everyone liked it, except for well.. the eight year old who is always HIGHLY hesitant of anything new. :) He gave it a so so .

Guest Post Next Monday

8/16/2013

Next Monday I'll be doing a guest post over at "to the moon and back".

Hope you all will jump over to see what I'll be talking about. (hint, has to do with my international student).

Butterflies and the Market

8/16/2013

Today we took our international student to the Farmer's Market in St. Jacobs and to the butterfly Conservancy in Cambridge. I had intended to get pics at the market but it was extremely busy today so that just didn't happen. We talked a fair bit... learned that in France they sell things by weight or by the 10's. So he found it quite interesting that we do it differently here. He finds there is good in both systems. Our way is easier, but their way is more accurate.

We had a good day.

my son looks for quail...and found a butterfly in the process of dying. :(

my careful and very gentle lad caught one of the quail. It was rather neat watching him with it, but then he needed to let it go as we don't want the quail thinking people contact is a good thing.

On a further note, the quail are there because they are scavengers and so will eat the bugs that come from having a hot humid environment, and they will also help clean up the dead butterflies. They have three kinds there: common, chinese painted and freyal? I'm not sure on the last one.

My Student really likes this fig tree, he likes how the roots go down to the ground.

aren't the butterflies pretty?

I talked with one of the staff for a while. Learned they do homeschool programs. She talked about them for a bit and my son got quite intrigued by one of the classes she'll be offering, so we will most likely do that. We learned that most of the butterflies come from farms in the Philippines and in rainforest areas. This encourages the farmers to buy sections of the rainforest and protect it from destruction. It's a good sustainable agriculture for them.

They have a fellow (Craig?) who's whole job is to hang the cocoons. They hang them or place them in the same way they are found in their natural habitat. So some are placed flat, others are an angle, and others up and down. Some cocoons wiggle when you pick them up and that makes it difficult to place them on in just the right spot. Putting the glue on the wrong spot will kill them.

this pretty lacewing was VERY hard to get a picture of. She moves VERY quickly and only lands for short periods of time.

My student intrigued by butterflies.

My son fascinated by the birds. :) Both needs met, fun had by all. :)

They had this display of African (I think) nymphs. The females are very large and green, the male (you can see the antennae) are so much smaller and are brown. I never would have thought they were the same type of insect.

they had a whole whack of these finches. They add them just for colour and flight. They mostly eat seeds and just keep things busy.

They had this poster up of the types of butterflies they get in. They rarely get in Atlas Moths. They also don't like the butterflies to lay eggs because they simply can't keep up with the amount of food some of them would naturally eat.

We did see one of the butterflies laying eggs on the citrus tree they had up though. It was rather neat watching her. She'd lay one here and there. all these little bumps of yellow in the edges of the leaves.

We finished up our time looking through some of the interactive displays they have set up. Here's Dad looking through a display with son. :)

the lad here is being a bit of a goob. He so enjoys being an eight year old. :) i really liked the wall displays, and my student mentioned how much he enjoyed them as well. He said "It was very pleasant to look at all the displays."

Needless to say, I took tons of pictures but I can't post them all up here. :)

We had an excellent day, and life experiences help us to learn more about each others countries and how they operate. A slide show to finish us out I think would be good. Enjoy. :)

Review: I am Second

8/15/2013

Hi all

I'm supposed to do a review of the "I am Second" website.

I have to admit, the concept of "I am Second" strikes a chord with me. People from ordinary walks of life, talking about how God impacts their lives in a variety of manners. It does make sense. If we truly love God he must come first in our lives, making us second.

Now this site has films. Or so I am told. The site even says film.

BUT no matter what I did.. I couldn't see films. Not a one, so I can't link to them to show them to you. It just isn't happening.

Not sure if it's my browser or what. (I use firefox).

But hopefully it will work for you. :)
And if it does, guess what? YOU can help make some films speaking to how God worked in your life. Isn't that awesome? Showing God at work in your very life. I just think that's a very cool thing to do.

If you'd like to know more about I am Second please consider checking out or following these links.

1. 'Like' the Nashville page - https://www.facebook.com/Iam2nd.Nashville to stay up to date on more I AM SECOND videos, activity and movement to change lives!
2. Visit or friend on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Iam2nd.Nashville
3. Get their Twitter feeds: https://twitter.com/IamSecond

But definitely go check out their Website: http://www.iamsecond.com

About: I AM SECOND
Actors. Athletes. Musicians. Business leaders. Drug addicts. Your next-door neighbor. People like you.The authentic stories on iamsecond.com provide insight into dealing with typical struggles of everyday living. These are stories that give hope to the lonely and the hurting, help from destructive lifestyles, and inspiration to the unfulfilled. You’ll discover people who’ve tried to go it alone and have failed. Find the hope, peace, and fulfillment they found. Be Second.

About: Seconds Change Give Change, Make Change- Many more stories are waiting to be told. You can help. Commit $2 every Tuesday to build film funds, and your contribution will be used to develop, produce and promote new films. Join the project and become an I am Second insider with access to exclusive content via Facebook.

Disclaimer

I am Second sent me a tshirt and a wristband as a way to promote their site. I wasn't encouraged to write a good review or anything, I was simply invited to check over the website and given you my thoughts on it. :)

Review: Family Hope Centre

8/14/2013

Do you have a child that you are struggling to help? The Family Hope Center is there to help you. They primarily work with children with special needs, helping parents help their children to do what might not be ordinarily expected.

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Vendor: Family Hope Center
Product: DVD: Understanding Child Brain Development.
Price: $19.00
To order the DVD, please call 610-397-1737 or you can order Understanding Child Brain Development from IEW. or for a direct link to the DVD: go here.

Age: For parents seeking to know more about the Family Hope Center and what it does.

Let me take a moment to talk about the Family Hope Center. The Family Hope Center works with families to empower parents as they worked to heal their children. They provide individualized assessment and treatment plans. They focus is on the child’s ability rather than on their disability. So they don't dwell on the "I can'ts", but look forward to the "I cans". It's an good perspective.

When I receive an informational DVD to watch, I sit down and familiarize myself with the contents first, and then I take my time to watch it, and then to listen to it. The DVD is broken into sections so it's easy to pick a chapter, watch it, think on it and then go on to the next. This video is 2 hours long, so not overly long or short.

I enjoyed listening to this DVD play in the background as I did other things on the computer. The speaker has a good voice and frequently I would stop and backup the player to listen to a point again. I had many "AH HA" moments.

Browsing their website is also an informative place. Videos to watch, information to read, and hope offered. T'is a good thing yes? :)

The DVD, put on by Matthew and Carol Newell, has ALOT of information in it, so taking the time to really listen is important, and then to do your research on whatever you are unsure about. It covers the basics of brain development and how working with the different parts of the brain, you can help a child who is struggling.

Their approach is this:

Present a diagnosis without a prognosis. What is going on, without placing limitations.
Comprehensive history and evaluation of the child.
Develop an individualized therapy strategy
Focus is not on the symptoms
See that the brain and the body can heal itself and they work to create the pathways for this to happen.

I liked the emphasis placed on how families are the best therapists for children. I used to work in social services and I've seen the affect that motivated loving parents/families can have on their children...those children learn more. That's simply the way it is. Proper diet and varied stimulation helps as great deal as well.

My thoughts: if you are a parent, watch this video. Learn from it. If you are a parent with a special needs child, be inspired by it. Help your children grow... consider the I cans more than the I can'ts. :)

To know what other reviewers thought of this DVD, please click to read more reviews from the Schoolhouse Review Crew OR if you prefer, click the image below

Aquafest, Grand Bend 2013

8/14/2013

This past Saturday we headed up to Grand Bend to attend Aquafest. I've never been before and thought it might make for a nice time with our international student and my son. We had an enjoyable time. We packed a lunch and had no solid agenda other than enjoying ourselves. Also packed our bathing suits but it was too cold to want to swim.

School Art display. this one impressed me.

photo contest. Small room, three sides filled with photos from the local Photo Club. Some of the pictures were good. Most were for sale.

Moved on to the art gallery. This canvas picture was impressive. really caught the eye.

the three of us could NOT figure out what this was supposed to be. The lad puzzled over it for quite some time. It was done in a metallic finish. Made us think of a tree or a canyon...but really... we had no clue.

The lad took part in a race...potato sack, hola hoop, bounce a ball, toss a chicken. He had a lot of fun. :)

Watched a "mad science" demonstration on dry ice. The lad was fascinated, though sad he wasn't picked to take part in anything.

The snapping turtle was a hit. :)

Black rat snake are endangered in Ontario, and Ontario Laws make it difficult to help repopulate them. Snakes need to be released as babies to help them overwinter, and to raise them you need a zoo license....so snake enthusiasts are struggling with how to help them.

Three different corn snakes, the lad held them all and wanted to take them home with him. Found out it's illegal to take any animal from the wild in Ontario and keep it. But short term is okay for observation.

Fun competitions, the lad tied for second.

Wordless Wednesday: Creativity from a Child's Mind

8/14/2013

Wordless Wednesday on Only Passionate Curiosity

A+Tutorsoft Kindle Giveaway and New Site Launch

8/14/2013

A+ Interactive Math is giving away a Kindle Fire to celebrate the launch of the brand new website.

The Kindle Fire will be loaded with 8 different A+ Interactive Math eBooks for a value of almost $300 total.

Kindle Fire is also compatible with the hundreds of A+ worksheets, so you can take math on the go.

The new website promises a whole new look and feel offering a brand new A+ math experience.

The site launch is only a portion of the exciting new changes coming from A+ Interactive Math.

Anyways, if you want to know more, go check it out here. :)