Review: Raising Uncommon Kids

Sami Cone has written a book to help parents raise selfless children. Raising uncommon kids - 12 Biblical Traits you need to raise selfless kids.

Book Synopsis:
Many parents are surprised to discover just how little we’re actually modeling the behaviors we hope to pass on–qualities such as unconditional love, gentleness, forgiveness, patience, gratitude, humility, and more. This unique book offers a fresh way to look at molding your children: by focusing more on adding good behaviors than on eliminating bad ones.
Grounding her advice in Scripture, Sami Cone shares stories from her own life to show these principles in action. And she outlines practical things you can do right now to create a home and family that exhibits love, harmony, and generosity of spirit in a self-centered world.

What you get:
 A book with three sections, each section broken down in character traits
One: Your heart at Home

• Love
• Harmony
• Gentleness
• Bearing with

Two: Your Attitude Toward Others

•  Forgiveness
• Wisdom
• Patience
• Kindness

Three: Your Influence in the World

• Gratitude
• Peace
• Humility
• Compassion

My Thoughts:
 I have to admit that the author lost me in chapter one when she started talking about how she organizes her day.   It felt unrealistic to me, and created a feeling of disconnect that was hard to fight past.   I stuck it through though and found things that I liked.

1. She talks from her heart and her devotion to God.
2. Mentor Moments - advice from other people who can speak into a situation
3. Make it practical - when she gives examples of how to make a particular character trait real.
4. Each chapter follows a similar format, makes it easy to follow.

If you would like additional support as you go through the book you can find it here.

Final thoughts: Not a sit down and read book.  It would be a good book to use for a class, to spark conversation and thought among parents as they examine their ideas about parenting children with each other.  



About the Author:
Sami Cone is a blogger, radio host, and TV correspondent. Known as the Frugal Mom on Nashville's top-rated talk show Talk of the Town, Sami hosts the nationally syndicated Family Money Minute and educates more than one million listeners every morning on the Family Friendly Morning Show. She and her husband, Rick, have two children and live in Nashville, Tennessee.

Product Details: 
Received: Softcover Book
Title: Raising Uncommon kids: 12 biblical traits to raise selfless kids
Author: Sami Cone
Pages: 204
Publisher: Baker Books
 Reviewed for: Nuts about Books.

 

Spring has Come!

I have to admit.. I LOVE spring flowers.. Don't you? I think my favourite are what I call my grass peepers. :) Small tiny flowers the peep up through the growing grass. Every year they cause my son to ask "Mom, why didn't you put them in a proper garden?" And every year I answer... "because when they peep out of the grass they make me smile lad". Then my lad just shakes his head at me. He is SO like his father. His father shook his head at me when I planted them in the lawn. Ah my fellows... they just don't understand my pleasure at my little grass peepers... and that's okay. :)

Last fall I moved dirt and some plants around and somehow (I know not how) one of my grass peepers ended up in one of my raised beds. I discovered that it brings me almost as much pleasure to see them come up in my gardens as well. :)

Another one of my joys in my daffodil/tulip garden.    When my mom moved off the family farm she dug up all her bulbs and moved them with her into town, and when my father moved into a nursing home, mom went to visit him so often that he gave up her big flower bed, leaving her with lots of daffodil bulbs to rehome.   I got a bunch of them.   So seeing them come up has that added bonus of a smile of history remembered.  :)    Some of these bulbs I purchased myself, but a good 2/3's are history bulbs.

Should we ever move from this place it'll be a job and a half.. but I'll be digging up all my bulbs.. except for my spring peepers... those I'll leave to hopefully bring a smile to the next people to live here (hopefully, unless they be head shakers like my boys). 

First Full Length eBook - Learn to care for your Pet Rabbit

 

To get this free ebook Click HERE. 

I'm very thrilled to have produced my first full length ebook.

Wanted to share it with you all.  :)

Recapping this week

So our week,

Started a new schedule with my lad,  making every day as much the same as I could to forestall those endless questions of "what do I have to do today mom?"

If I make our days the same, it has a calming affect on my lad... AS MUCH AS I HATE IT.   I like having things different, but I need to do what's better for my lad right?

Highlights of my week.

WhiskerSong had five babies born. 

I did a co-op class this week on Earthquakes. 
Earthquakes are rather cool, and I never knew before this class that they were at different levels, or that they could measure S and N waves.

Canadian Homeschoolers is doing a link up this month on doing Conference Chats.   I did a post on Animals Help Us Learn.



Homeschool Copywork has been a success in our household.    I wrote up my review of it.

 It's been a surprise to me how much my lad is enjoying this copywork program. 

He gets to write on a topic he's interested in and colour pictures that intrigue him.








Come to the Saviour Now was my hymn of the week.    Sometimes I wonder if anyone reads my posts and then I get delighted when someone tells me how they add to their week.  :)  

Let's think, oh.. I wrote a blog post for Karen (it will be out sometime this month).  I also got some seeds planted outside, we're going to have a few days of quite warm weather so figured getting them gets them a good start.  I'll need to put up frost protection cloth for them though.

I continue to make head way with my rat problem (which personally I am delighted by).   I've only seen one little one yet that needs to leave the backyard....I really don't need a wild rat sleeping with my guinea pigs.

OH!!!   I went biking today.   You have NO IDEA... I was able to get in some exercise and MY FEET DIDN'T HURT.   I was so happy about this, able to get out, enjoy the weather without thinking man, I just want to go home because my feet hurt.  I just wanted to keep going.  :)   I'm going to go biking again!!!!!   :)

Review: Mercy, The Incredible Story of Henry Bergh

I have to admit that I am not a fan of the animal rights movement. BUT this story of Henry Bergh was quite interesting and eye-opening.   Horses, pigeons, cows, dogs, bears and more.   Henry Bergh took abuse upon abuse in order to work for the lives of those ill-treated.   Mercy, the incredible story of Henry Bergh is aptly named... one who shows mercy to animals.

Anyone who has read Black Beauty is aware of the plight of carriage and work horses...how easy it was to abuse these horses, and then to replace them.    Dead horses hauled out of the city daily.   Horses beaten and forced to pull loads too heavy for them to bear.

I wasn't aware of stray dogs being captured for a days work.
I wasn't aware of how folks thought they went made in the summer, so hundreds upon hundreds of dogs were destroyed over people's lack of knowledge.
The information about the dairy industry horrified.

I grew up on a farm.
Raised in a God-fearing household where one learned that God gave us dominion over the earth, which comes with a great deal responsibility to care well for the world we live in.. including caring for the animals that surround our lives.

Henry Bergh stood for showing kindness of animals.   That was it.  That's ALL it was.  BE KIND to animals.He didn't turn the ASPCA into the PETA driven movement it is today.   He wanted the animals that are part of our society cared for and railed against unwarranted abuses.

He understood the practicality of working animals, but he didn't want them to suffer unkindness when they were working for us.

He was eventually convinced to turn this helping animals into also helping the children.   He considered them to be little animals.

This book is filled with colour plates.    And I have to admit, it was rather neat seeing some of these old cartoons.  He really was vilified throughout his life.    But interestingly enough, when he died he was revered for his concern for the animals.

It also does cut outs to information mentioned in the book.   Like Louisa May Alcott.

It was a decent read.   Not sure that I would have children read it (as sensitive readers may be horrified by some of the scenes), but if you were wanting to do a unit of study on the ASPCA, it would be a good book to read to help prepare you.

Product Details
 Received: Advance reviewers copy
Title: Mercy, The Incredible Story of Henry Bergh, Founder of the ASPCA and Friend to Animals.
Author: Nancy Furstinger
Pages: 175
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Books for Young Readers
Reviewed for: Raincoast Books

The Land Of Story-books

Today my son and I enjoyed this poem. After I finished reading it I said to my lad "boy this poem makes me think of you."
He laughed and said "I know mom.   And it makes me think of you too!".

I laughed too.

It's good to laugh with a boy over good poetry isn't it?

I could have gone into the form and structure of the poem, but for today.. it was just good to laugh with a boy child.  :)

The Land of Story-books
by Robert Louis Stevenson
 At evening when the lamp is lit,
Around the fire my parents sit;
They sit at home and talk and sing,
And do not play at anything.

Now, with my little gun, I crawl
All in the dark along the wall,
And follow round the forest track
Away behind the sofa back.

There, in the night, where none can spy,
All in my hunter's camp I lie,
And play at books that I have read
Till it is time to go to bed.

These are the hills, these are the woods,
These are my starry solitudes;
And there the river by whose brink
The roaring lions come to drink.

I see the others far away
As if in firelit camp they lay,
And I, like to an Indian scout,
Around their party prowled about.

So when my nurse comes in for me,
Home I return across the sea,
And go to bed with backward looks
At my dear land of Story-books.

Recent Posts March 28-April 3, 2016

Since I'm moving from one blog to the other and trying make the transition smooth.. I thought I'd start a weekly feature where I list the posts that I've written over here.  :)

I reviewed a book that my son totally loved.  SuperHeroes don't eat Veggie Burgers.

Figured out my curriculum for Grade six, and learned today I should have his writing program covered for next year as well (if it all works out as it should).

Reviewed an animal bok called Bridge to the Wild.  This was an interesting read I am glad I persisted in reading.

I participated in a five day blog hop on Tips for homeschooling parents.

day one:The Importance of family.
day two: Working and the Homeschool Life.
day three: Tips: Knowing when to take a break.
day four: Tips: Handling Curve Balls
day five: Knowing you have to decide.












Two reviews for early readers.  Paul Meets Jesus and Elijah, God's Mighty Prophet.

Hymn Study on Low, in the Grave he lay.   This hymn is also called "Christ Arose" and was written by Rev. Lowry from the USA.

The Language Arts program I'll be using next year called Logic of English.   This I will use for grammar, spelling etc.   While I will hopefully be using Virtual Education Systems for a writing program.

I did a first last week.. made my first printable!   Marsupial Gliders. 

It was a rather busy week.  :)   It was fun though and gave me something to do while recovering from this frustrating cold I am enduring.

Review:Ghost in the Key of A

I rarely review books for Ascot Media... the titles rarely resonate with me, but  Ghost in the Key of A intrigued me.    AND I was right to be intrigued, T. Katz wrote a book that immediately grabbed my interest and had me saying "I want to read this book with my boy!"

Book Synopsis:
Ghost in the Key of A: Pythagoras follows Pricilla, a budding young pianist whose piano is plagued by a quirky ghost after she discovers a sticky "A” key. The ghost teaches her some of the most fascinating things about music history.  She soon finds synergies in these lessons and her own life.  Readers will find Ghost in the Key of A: Pythagoras engaging and inspirational.    

My Thoughts: 
What a neat book.  I loved it.   Priscilla, living in a family where a mom encourages artistic expression and a father who well.... just doesn't get it.   Priscilla is floundering, not knowing how to fit in with her father, how to do her music when she wants to play with friends, and how to show her dad she can study the subjects important to him as well.

It's just so hard for her to focus on her music at times, it all seems like such a drudgery. Enter Pythagoras.  He's the ghost who lives in the Key of A. Pythagoras brings a new air of interest to Priscilla as she practices her music. He teaches her various aspects of music and musical terms, and her confidence increases.    

This book could easily be used for a beginning music theory class.  :)

It's an interesting book with small illustrations scattered throughout that expand the knowledge base of the reader.     Good book.  

Product Details:
Received: Softcover Book
Title: Ghost in the Key of A
Author: T. Katz
Pages: 79
Publisher: LuLu.com    
Price: $3.98 (ebook), $9.25 (book)
Reviewed for: Ascot Media 

One Dress, One Year, a Review

 One Dress, One Year is a book written by Susanna Foth Aughtmon about a 16 year old girl with a desire to make a difference.   Her heart lies with those caught up in human trafficking.  Her goal: wear the same dress for one year to raise money to fight human trafficking.   This is her story.

Book Synopsis:
When sixteen-year-old Bethany Winz learned about the millions of men, women, and children around the world trapped in slavery, her stomach churned. How can anyone do that to another human being? she wondered. And why aren't we doing something?

This is the story of Bethany's "something."

Journey with her as she wears the same black dress every day for a year to focus attention on the lack of choices people in modern-day slavery face and raise money to help end human trafficking. As Bethany works to bring freedom to people worldwide, she'll discover how much she too needs freedom. You'll be inspired not only to change the world in your own way but also to experience the life-changing freedom of God's irrepressible love.

My Thoughts: 
I find this a challenging book to review.   

I felt this girls heart.  Her strong desire to be of use by the Lord for something bigger than herself.   I so felt her heart.    It brings me back to when I was 16 and went on a mission trip because I wanted to make a difference, to be used of the Lord for something beyond myself.

At the same time I found myself skipping sections, looking for something to draw me into the world of those who struggled with human trafficking.  To see the people involved.    I kept running into "this is what I was going through, and this is what I struggled with".

I saw the statistics that she posted, the money raised, the struggles she went through, but I didn't see the stories.  I didn't see websites to help me learn more about human trafficking.

So I left this book thinking well.. she learned a lot.   She influenced some people.   She did what God called her to.   BUT... "I" don't feel called to it.  I sit here thinking.. Good for her but that's as far as it goes and I want a book like this to draw me into her focus, into her dream and life and desires for change and feel none of that.

In essence, I'm wanting more than her story, I am wanting the stories of those she is fighting for.

Is it worth reading?  Yes.
Is it worth putting into a church library?   Yes.
Is it a great book that I'll be recommending others read?   That I am not so sure of.   Just left me wanting more.. depth, stories, call to action, more something.

Product Details: 
Received: Softcover Book
Title: One Dress, One Year
Author: Bethany Winz with Susanna Foth Aughtmon
Publisher: BakerBooks 
Pages: 149
Reviewed for: Nuts About Books 

A Giveaway and Review for FishFlix.com

I recently watched this movie and wrote up a review at my other blog.   Check it out here.   But wanted to let you know about a giveaway the FishFlix.com is hosting.    Sign up on their email list and have a chance to win $80 in movies.

You can sign up HERE.

Review: 5 Minutes with Jesus: Peace for Today

I would like to take a moment to tell you about a wonderful little devotional I am reading through lately.   It's called 5 Minutes with Jesus, Peace for Today.  It is written by Sheila Walsh.

Book Synopsis:
Brief and profound, these daily readings from Sheila Walsh will help busy women draw close to Jesus and walk in His peace throughout the day. It will become clear that even in the midst of a busy lifestyle, every minute we spend in the powerful presence of Jesus makes a difference in our lives!

My Thoughts:
I have to admit that I am not a big devotional fan.  I find many of them rather poorly written and with scripture verses chosen that seem to have nothing to do with what they are talking about in the devotion.  I find that VERY aggravating.   Not saying the devotion isn't good or anything, but if you read a verse and think about what it means and then the devotion seems to have nothing to do with the verse it just feels like a waste of time or like the writer is merely trying to convey a thought and the scripture was tossed in as an after thought.

In this book by Sheila Walsh she starts off with a devotion

 

 

 No scripture readings at this point.  Just a 2-3 pages of text.   

The writing is easy.   

There are a minimum of 30 devotions to read (if not more, I honestly haven't counted them all)











Then you will get this blue box with a question or a thought displayed to ponder on.

 



 After this blue box some scripture verses are written down along with what translation they are from.   
Usually three to five verses are given. 

Verses from the NLT, NIV, and the ESV bible translations.

 Written in italics to help them stand out.  This is God's word written down for you.   

Using different translations sometimes aids in the understanding.




I cannot say that I have read through the whole devotional at this point.   I find they take me much less than five minutes to read through which leaves me time to ponder the verses.   I cannot say that every verse seems really well connected with the devotion, or that some aren't taken out of context, but I much prefer this set up.   To be able to leave a devotion with God's word on my heart rather than a pithy devotion that seems disconnected from the bible verse.

I like this book and can see myself finishing it when I am done this review period.

 
 Product Details:

Received: hardcover book
Title: 5 Minutes with Jesus: Peace for Today
Author: Sheila Walsh
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Pages: 188
Type: Devotional
Reviewed for: BookLookBloggers

Family Literacy Program from HSBC

Check it out folks.. HSBC has pulled together some literacy materials.

a quote:

HSBC Family Literacy First offers independent learning modules each with a story and various activities, designed to bring families together to celebrate and practice their literacy skills. Modules are available in four languages: English, French, Simplified Chinese and Tagalog with more languages to be added in the coming years. Once you have registered, simply sign in, download and print the modules!

 Registration process is easy enough.  :)

I pulled out a couple of different stories and thought they would work well for a literacy/discussion time.

So go on..  check them out.   They are free!

You will also find them linked on my language arts freebies site.

Remember I've moved

Please do me a favour and move over to my new website.

Please sign up on my linky there so you can more easily follow my blog.

Thanks!

My blog is A Net In Time.

Helping a friend, learning with friends

Yesterday the lad and I went over to visit a friend. We spend most of the day there. Life has been a challenge for this friend lately so it was good to spend some time to assist in bringing some sanity to life again. :) 

I had told her that I needed to do some schooling with the lad, and I've be enlisting the aid of her children.

We did a drawing from "imagine a day" and then we put some daises into coloured water.   The pics don't show the results well, but I hope you can see some of the tinges that were occurring by the time we had to go home.

After we finished our schooling time the children played and my friend and I were able to chat a bit.

She lives on a farm so I was able to pick some grass for my rabbits and on the way home a ladybug found it's way out of the grasses I had picked much to my son's delight.  it was captured and is currently munching on aphids in a bug jar.

It was a good schooling and living day.  :)

Tonight's Poem: A was an Apple Pie

Out of the mother goose nursery rhymes book we read a poem called

a was an apple pie.

I wanted to know more about it so I did some googling and found out that the original name to the poem was read is this: the tragical death of A, apple pye who was cut in pieces and eat by twenty-five gentlemen with whom all little people ought to be very well acquainted with.

A was an apple pie
B bit it
C cut it
D dealt it
E eats it
F fought for it
G got it
H had it
I inspected it
J jumped for it
K kept it
L longed for it
M mourned for it
N nodded at it
O opened it
P peeped in it
Q quartered it
R ran for it
S stole it
T took it
U upset it
V viewed it
W wanted it
X, Y and Z (and amperse-sand) all wished for and had a piece in hand.

NOTE: the italics were added in the version that I read, but were not in the version found on-line.

Wikipedia gives more detail on this poem.

I just want to say how much the lad enjoyed listening to his poem and his reaction was just priceless.

I stopped reading.

He turned and extremely excitedly said... Mommy... that was a pie and all the letters ate it and put it into pieces and just like their names are!!!!!  Mommy!!!   Read it again!!!!

He loved it.
I will probably read it again, and possibly if he's up for it, get him to memorize it.  :)   Time will tell.  :)

Night Time Reading

At night I make a point of not just reading story books with my son.   I do read story books, but I also make a point of reading different types of literature.

We read: a bible story, a chapter book, a primer, a fun book, a library book, and a story book.   I also read a biography of some sort.  we've done the rounds of missionary stories, the autobiographies I had in the house, some Canadian stories we found at the library and such forth.

Currently we are reading the following.

We just finished reading Billy Mink.   This is part of The Dover Children's Thrift Classics.



and have JUST started the adventures of chatterer the red squirrel


these books are just fun.  They incorporate factual information so children learn, but they learn in such a way that it is just fun to read.   The chapters are short and sweet making it really easy to stop.  the lad needs to remember what happened the night before.

happy birthday bad kitty.

Just a fun read. my son loves this series of books.

Two books that I can't find in amazon.
Mother Goose Nursery Rhymes.  I had originally wanted to make this book part of our morning reading books, but it just didn't fit and was often left out.  Adding it at night means we'll read it.   and the lad is enjoying listening to the short poems.

Windows to the world is the primer that we are using currently.  It is from the ABEKA line of readers.   it's a good book. Meant for older students, which makes it a great just listening to book.  Some of the stories cause the lad to ask questions and sometimes he adds elements of them to his stories/pictures.

The great escape by farenhorst

this is our 'true' story book for this go round.  We've read a variety of missionary stories, autobiographies, heroes of the faith type books.  This one is a bit different as some are heroes-type stories, but many are just life stories that have a biblical truth in them.  I am very much enjoying it, and it's good to expose the lad to ideas bigger than himself and to give him ideas to ponder.

update in where I will post information

The sheer amount of frustration with facebook not allowing me to post my blog to it, annoys. so many of my posts will now be at my website http://anetintimeschooling.weebly.com/

I will still post things here, but more often will post at the website.

Black Holes and Gardening and whatever

Today we started off our homeschooling day by looking up black holes.  This site was sent to us by clickschooling.

This is the write up sent to us by diane flynn keith

Age Range: 9 and up (approximately, with parental supervision; non-readers will need assistance)
The Space Telescope Science Institute offers this terrific website that allows you to engage in a multi-media, in-depth inquiry into the astronomy and physics of black holes through animations and interactive experiments. Explore light, gravity, and the scale of our universe.

When you get to the site, watch a brief, narrated animation that provides information on how black holes are formed. Then, begin your virtual journey to a black hole through three interactive modules that include:

*Finding the Invisible — Loc ate and identify various objects in the universe such as a binary star, the Cygnus galaxy, the Andromeda spiral galaxy, the sun, the moon, the Milky Way, a quasar, a red giant, Saturn, the crab nebula and more. As each object comes into view, read more about it on the sidebar and by clicking on the "Learn More" button.   

*The Voyage — Learn about scales and distances by taking a virtual trip to a black hole. Find out about the objects you pass on your trip through space. Measure your speed and distance traveled. Get explanations of the concepts of lightspeed and lightyear. When you reach your destination, mouse over the black hole to learn about its features.

*Up Close and Personal — Orbit a black hole and learn all about it. Try some interactive experiments and answer related questions. Get the latest scoop from notable scientists.

You can also explore the "Black Hole Encyclopedia" and "Glossary" to learn even more.

We found it be quite interesting.  I can't say my six year old understood everything, but he was able to pull information out of this site to go with other things he's learned about black holes.  It was quite interesting and answered some of his questions.   We did not read through the whole site but I imagine it will be one that we come back to.

We then went out to finish the gardening that we started yesterday.

The lad wants to have his own garden this year so He's going to share daddy's "pepper" garden.  Daddy likes hot peppers and I like bell peppers and having them in their own "bed" means they don't get crowded out by other plants so it should work well for the lad to have his carrots, lettuce and corn in the same bed (at least we hope so).  :)

Water Clock

Doesn't this sound like something fun to try?  
I need a stop watch first though....

GIVE IT A TRY #1: WATER CLOCK

The ancient Babylonians were some of the first people to keep time. Sundials and water clocks were frequently used to keep up with the time of day. We know this from information that archaeologists have learned from clay tablets found in the area. The water clock allowed people to know how much time had passed even in the middle of the night. You can make your own water clock to get an understanding of how ancient people knew what the time was.

Items Needed:

• Medium to large glass jar
• Paper or plastic cup
• Embroidery needle or stick pen
• Permanent black marker
• Stopwatch

Directions:

First, use the stick pen to poke a small hole in the bottom of the cup. After this, fill the cup with water, and make sure that the water drips out at a steady rate. With the marker, make a fill line inside the cup so that you have a measured amount of water each time.

Next, place the cup into the mouth of the jar. Fill the cup with water to the fill line and immediately start your stopwatch. Make lines with the marker on the jar at predetermined intervals. Note that the water will drip more quickly at first due to water pressure; therefore, your lines should get closer together as more time passes. Remember not to let the water in the cup run out.

By looking at the jar of water and seeing how much water has dripped into it, you can tell how much time has passed. Enjoy this old way of telling time!

Practical homeshooling and it's results

We learned about gardening....from a very practical standpoint.

We learned that maple tree saplings need to be removed from gardens.

We learned how to trim a bush so it doesn't go over the doorstep.

We learned about killing ant hills that are too close to the house.

We learned about watering plants when you transplant them.

We learned about using maple branches as a fan and that giving them to bunnies is perhaps NOT a good idea (said bunnies will say LUNCH!).

We had fun going to the store and finding presents for daddy when he goes away next week.

We had fun handling chickies and baby ducks at the feed store.

I was very proud of my helpful boy child and his ability to prune a bush by himself, and pleased to honour his request to not throw out those particular branches until he was ALL done with them.

I was pleased with his willingness to help and to learn.

I was filled with joy at his ability to chat with complete strangers even as I wish he was chatting about something OTHER THAN mommy's thing for chickens. :)

My lad was pleased at his own efforts.
He was disappointed we couldn't find any black bugs.
He was angry at bunnies making lunch of his maple leaf fan.
He was happy he was able to do good work with mommy.
He was uncertain about using poison to keep ants out of our house...but happy he was able to help daddy find where the ant hills were.

It was a good day.  :)