Monday, December 30, 2013

Catan: Boys vs. Girls

For Christmas, I gave my husband the game, Settlers of Catan.  We had talked about getting it for a long time.  It was on sale at Target just before Christmas and so I was glad to be able to get it for him.

We sat down to play it with our girls yesterday and had a great time!  But, I noticed a few things about our game.

When my younger daughter wanted a particular resource card, I said "okay."  My husband looked at me with incredulity and said, "You're not supposed to do that!"  I watched us reaction.  A minute later, she added another section of road and took a card from my husband that gave him some points towards winning.  Both my daughters and I responded by going "Ahhh..  Oh, we're so sorry.  It'll be okay."  

That's girls.  I sat there for a minute and realized what had happened.  Then, I made an announcement to the group. 

I said, "This is what happens when girls play this game!  If it had been a group of boys, they would have said to my husband, "Ha! Ha!  Yahoo!  You lost the road!  Whoo!"  with a voice of victory and taunting fun.  

Boys.

I burst out laughing because of the realization!  

I know that some girls are super competitive.  I am actually one of them and I have been a poor sport most of my life.  This happened to be one of my more successful times playing and being a good sport!  I was relaxed about it and wasn't out to win.  I was out to have fun and not stress.  I have raised my kids to enjoy playing the game, not to enjoy winning.  Because I didn't want them to think it wasn't any fun when they lose.  I've never emphasized the loser when we play a game.  

And now they're good sports.  I'm so proud of them!  They can win and play for fun.  But, they can lose and still be glad they played.  I played UNO with my older daughter yesterday and she didn't hold back any punches!  So, I matched her and played the same way.  We had a good time.  She won two matches and I won two.  

But, it isn't serious and it's just for fun.  I am so thankful for this gift.  I am thankful that my girls are better sports that I was and have been.  I am proud of them.

Thursday, December 19, 2013

Teaching the Alphabet

My little boy is in kindergarten.  He's sitting beside me looking at a dinosaur alphabet picture book.  He loves the pictures.  Teaching a child how to write their letters sound like a very simple thing, but I've discovered over the years that it isn't.  Especially if you have children who track from down to up and right to left instead of up to down and left to right!  All three of my children have found their own ways of writing some of their letters.  My oldest daughter is now in fifth grade and continues to write some of the letters the way she taught herself--not the conventional way.  My middle daughter has followed the same pattern.  And now my son...  Well, I began thinking about my middle daughter and youngest son this past summer.  I came to a few conclusions with the help of fellow classroom and homeschooling teachers.

Conclusion #1:  Children have learning differences.  Not all children's brains are wired the same way.  When I observe my children, they naturally write their letters from bottom to top.  My son is left handed and he naturally tracks from left to right.  These observations got me thinking...

Conclusion #2:  We often look at how children write and require that they all write their letters a certain way.  As I read many blogs and discussions, I began to realize that the general tone was very negative about the differences in how children write.  It was as if something was "wrong" with these children.  Is there anything "wrong" with my children?  Every bone in my body says, "no".  God made them the way they are.  He wired their brains.  Are they different?  Yes.  I need to remember not to fall into that trap of thinking something's wrong with my bottom to top writers and instead find ways to help them them cope with this difference.

The reason handwriting programs teach children to write from top to bottom is that it is quicker and because it helps children easily transition into writing in cursive.  Speed is really the advantage to the system of how we print our letters.

Conclusion #3:  It is helpful to teach children to write top to bottom, but if they don't, it's not the end of the world.  Try rhymes and gross motor handwriting practice.  Help children grow in their fine motor control through drawing and tracing exercises.  If their brains won't reset to write top to bottom, improved fine motor control will help them write faster.

One of the tools you could use is a book like Crazy Town Upside Down by
Vanessa Rouse.  She is a former special education teacher.  I emailed back and forth with her a bit as I was processing my observations of my children and their handwriting.  All three of my children have different levels of mixed dominance, though only my son is left handed.  All three track letters from bottom to top when writing--and have from the beginning.  Not all letters, but many.  They naturally make their o's opposite the way I always have.  These conclusions are mine that I've drawn.  They aren't scientific.  I have no list of research other than anecdotal evidence from several teachers, including myself, to draw on.  And books and the internet...  I read what I could find about being left handed and handwriting.

In any case, Crazy Town is a fun book that I've been using with my five year old son this school year to help him learn how to write his lowercase letters. It's been easy for him to make capital letters, but the lower case are much harder for him (as they are for most children because of the curves and the fine motor skills that are required).  For each letter, Ms. Rouse has a fun illustration and rhyme to help kids remember how to write their lowercase letters.  Use the book to first introduce the letters when children are two, three, and four.  Trace the letters in the book with a finger.  With my son, I have a table top chalkboard easel that I set up.  He stands and traces the letter as we recite the rhyme and simplify it down to just a few words to remember.  I use the whole easel to write a large letter because one teacher explained to me that it's easier for boys to learn handwriting as a gross motor skill first and then as a fine motor skill.  My son uses his whole arm in writing the letters on the easel.

I need to rabbit trail here because something happened as I began writing this review-- I realized that my son had stopped writing his own words over the past month or two.  I still remember when he handed me a paper at age 4 with a sentence on it.  It had a period and a mixture of capital and lower case letters.  All the words were spelled incorrectly, but they were spelled phonetically.  He understood that he needed to break words apart into their sounds and then write down the letters for those sounds.  But, his reading skills have developed so quickly this fall, that he has made the connection that words are spelled a certain way before he was able to write the sounds down the way he wants to.  And my little boy is a perfectionist--like many children.  He wants to do things right.  So, he won't write since he realizes that he doesn't know how!  So, I need to regroup.

But, I've seen this before...  children can shut down for lots of reasons.  But, the biggest one I've seen in my children is the belief that they "can't" do it.  Which really means that they can't do it "right".  

So, I started out this week differently than the past few weeks.  I knew it was crucial for him to start writing again.  Monday found me leaving blanks at the ends of sentences for him to write a word in.  Tuesday found me giving him robot notecards my son so he could write a note--in his own letters to a friend.  I use Great Source's Kindergarten Writing Curriculum which aims to help children understand the purposes for our writing.  On Wednesday, I told him he can write in capitals and lowercase letters whenever he wants.  I just need to get him writing!  As his lowercase penmanship improves, I know he'll be able to start writing these letters instead of the capitals (which are mostly straight lines or big curves (not many little ones).  

I'm going to keep pressing on using Crazy Town And The Writing Spot.  That's the hardest part about being a teacher.  You need to pick a course and follow it for a long time before you'll see results.  But, you also need to pay attention to the signs that tell you to turn or switch lanes.  I've learned a lot from teaching Eli this fall.  And I'm thankful for what he's teaching me.

Final note... Ms. Rouse sent me Crazy Town and the accompanying workbook for review.  I only use the book along with my chalkboard.  The workbook is nice, but here's my recommendation on what to do with it.  Separate the pages and laminate them.  As you're reading from the book, have your child trace the letter on the page.  Your child could also then use a dry erase pen and practice the letters on these sheets over and over.  For more information about her book, you can look up her website here:  www.mamabearbedtimebooks.blogspot.com  Her books are available on Amazon.

Please note that I received a complimentary copy of Crazy Town Upside Down from Ms. Rouse for review.  

Wednesday, December 18, 2013

A funeral for my beloved pencil sharpener...

I did actually think about it...  A few weeks ago, my electric pencil sharpener died.  I was honestly sad.  It was trustworthy and faithful.  It had survived twenty plus moves all around the country and kept sharpening pencils for me through seven years of homeschooling.  

But, it died.  At first, it sputtered.  Then, it really died.  I couldn't fix it.  I didn't know what to do.  I needed a new one fast because of all the pencils my kids write with every day.  As a bandaid fix, I went to Walmart and bought a $7 Xacto manual sharpener that used suction to stay on the table.  Ugh.  It was a disaster!  $7 completely sadly wasted.  So, I started looking around and came upon a sharpener that a lot of teachers seemed to love.  

I was skeptical.  It was a manual sharpener.  It didn't look like anything that special.  Was it worth the price? It was comparable to a good electric sharpener.  Hmm...  

So, I waited for it to arrive in the mail.  

It came last Friday and I opened up the box hopeful that this sharpener would do the trick!  My kids looked at it as I did with puzzlement.  No directions were included, but there was a clamp that obviously inserted into the sharpener.  After a minute or two, I figured it out.




1.  Slide the clamp bar into the base of the sharpener.
2.  Pinch the black boxes on top together and pull the silver plate out away from the body of the sharpener.
3.  Pinch the black boxes and insert a pencil through to the sharpener.
4.  Turn the handle towards you with your left hand three or four times.  This is all it takes.  I thought the sound of the sharpening would change when the pencil is done and it doesn't.

Voila!  You have one very (!!) sharp pencil.  With children, you will want to be specific and tell them only to turn it three, maybe four times.  

The black knobs hold the pencil in place so that you don't have to.  The drawer comes out very easily when it needs to be emptied.  It's clear so you know when it needs to be emptied.  The sharpener feels sturdy.  

My kids love this sharpener--and so do I.  I still my old one--it had been with me for twenty-one years!  But, this one is a worthy replacement.

You can find this awesome sharpener at Classroom Friendly Supplies' website.  The sharpener is $24.99, but it has free shipping which makes this a good price if you check around.  

Please note that I received a complimentary sharpener from Classroom Friendly Supplies for review.  

A Jumble of Disconcerting and Infuriating Ideas

Right now while I'm writing this post, there is a documentary playing in the background.  It is called Raw Faith.  It is a documentary about Marilyn Sewell, a unitarian minister.  It is honestly just what I expected.  My heart hurts for the pain of her childhood and family life.  But, I hurt too for some of the choices she made--like leaving her husband when her children were toddlers.  She talked about it--and didn't say there was abuse--only that he didn't feel like "the right one".  Interesting.  She talks over and over about people being "good" people.  She mentions having a "calling", but not WHO that calling is from or where that calling comes from.  She mentions love over and over, but not the source of that love.  She attributes that love to the beauty of people.  Her ministry took her from her children because she hasn't had much left over for them.  Several people, including her two boys, talk about the role that the church fills in her life.  It is her significant other.

Where is God in this picture?  She believes in the wisdom she has inside of her--"the divine is within".  It reminds me of what I heard over and over in the Quaker church I grew up in.  There was much focus on "that of God in every man", but none on Jesus.  In Raw Faith, Ms. Sewell's therapist encouraged her to listen to her own deepest longings.

I find this idea over and over in our culture.  The idea is that the answers can be found within ourselves.  I found it in a teaching book about poetry... I found it in Suzanne LaFleur's fiction book Eight Keys... I found it in just about every recent romantic comedy that I've seen in the past few years...  I see it in advertising every day.

He isn't shown encouraging her to read God's Word.  He never once quotes Scripture.  Hmmm...  In her sermons, she tells stories from history, but not from the Word (at least on the screen).  There is this idea of truth that continually comes up in this film--but I wonder where is this truth that she speaks of coming from?  The point I am starting to see in the eyes of this woman is wholeness--she is on a journey to wholeness.

I don't think she can find that without God.  Christ came to die for her sins and my sins and your sins.

It's very interesting to me to hear someone preach over and over that the answers can be found within us.  I don't think they can.  What I see in myself makes me realize more and more how much I cannot understand and how Great God is.  God amazes me.  No human can create a flower the way God can.  We can nurture it, but we can't create it.  No human can create the weather.  The big bang and spontaneous generation has not been able to be replicated despite many human attempts.

But, the reality of God is something that I see in my own heart when He washes it clean and compels me to forgive when I don't want to.  He rid my heart of anger when I prayed that I had tried for years to dispel on my own.  God is very real to me.

In contrast to this documentary, I have been reading Mark Driscoll's new book A Call to Resurgence. It's been interesting, eye-opening, and heart-cringing.  Pastor Driscoll has a very blunt, direct style.  My husband tells me constantly that I always choose the middle of the road.  He's right.  I do.  I try to be a diplomatic, peacemaker at all times without sacrificing what I believe.  Pastor Driscoll, on the other hand, feels called to live very differently.  He says those things that cut right to the quick.  He isn't averse to making people squirm.  He is a west-coast, Seattle-living Christian.  I think this is important to note because we recently had a visiting pastor preach at our east coast church. The pastor was from the west coast and his style of speaking was so different than what I am used to now.  But, it is very much like I was once used to in my youth growing up on the west coast. 

But, back to this book.  The premise of this book is that Christendom is dead--which Driscoll gives lots of support for (and I agree with).  So, as believers, we need to band together--to love others well, to overlook tribal boundaries (basically denominational boundaries), pray for one another, and seek to glorify God in our lives.  But, we need to do this without the false belief that we can rest on our laurels and think the world is friendly to Christians.  It's not.  That's basically the point to this book.  It's easy to be lazy and take it for granted that the world is going to make life easy for you.  But, when you realize it isn't, you realize, too, that you have to fight to live what you believe.  That's Driscoll's point.  He's not inflammatory about how Christians need to engage in politics and that our salvation will be found if our country becomes a Christian nation.  That's not the point of this book.  His point is that we need to stop criticizing other believers and instead focus on loving people--believers and unbelievers and sharing the Word of God.  True. 

The book itself was interesting.  But, I found that it went on and on.  Often Driscoll's examples almost offend, but don't quite.  He really gets close to an imaginary line between inoffensive and offensive.  He attacks a lot of people by name.  Sometimes I felt what he said in the book didn't need to be said.  I found myself mired down in the book and had to jump ahead.  The second half of the book about tribalism and getting over the boundaries felt unsettling to me.  How he spoke of himself and who he is (well known) also was a bit unsettling to me in the context of the tribal discussion.  But, I very much agree with what he says on the last page (295), "More than ever, it is important that godly tribal chiefs love one another, pray for one another, and labor together for the greater good of the Kingdom of God.  This does not require watering down our convictions but rather adding to them the Bible's exhortations to love and unity."  I whole heartedly agree.

Would I recommend this book?  Only if you know you like Mark Driscoll's style.  It can come off as very abrasive to people and I would definitely preview the book before purchasing it. 

Side by side, these two media inputs are quite a contrast.  One is without the Word and one exhorts the Word and truth.  If there was a continuum between the two, I am close to Driscoll's camp, even though there are many things I see differently.  I appreciate that he feels a deep conviction to call Christians to be alert and not sleepy.  Christians need to actively live their faith and love others with the love God has given us (I John). 

Please note that I received a complimentary copy of Driscoll's book for review from the publisher. 

Saturday, November 23, 2013

Switching Tracks

Sometimes curriculum works and sometimes it doesn't.  I think it has to work for both the parents and the children. Here are the conclusions I've come to over the past thirteen years since I began teaching.  

For the parent, it has to "make sense".  It has to be easy to follow and give the parent the information they need in order to teach the material.  

For  the child, it has to "make sense".  They need to be able to understand the material, process, and remember it.  

Learning is much easier when both parent and child also want to study the curriculum and enjoy it.  If this is missing, learning can turn into a long, grueling period of pulling teeth.  Not always, but it can happen.  Sometimes you just have to plug and chug away knowing that there is a subject that neither of you enjoy and you just make the best of it.  

Yesterday in the car on the way home from art, my middle daughter said to me, "Mommy, I don't like our science."  I asked her why and she explained that it was hard for her to understand.  Her comments made me start thinking.  I switched science curriculums last year and this year.   Last year's curriculum, though one that the kids liked, was one that I struggled to get through.  The teacher's manual was very hard for me to read and glean what I needed to know from the text.  The kids did learn some great information, but in all honesty, my procrastination and dislike for the teacher's manual meant that we did not get through the whole text.  Prior to that, we had used Harcourt Science--which both the kids and I loved, but was shaped by evolutionary theory and natural selection.  I switched away last year but hit some bumps...

So, this year we switched to another Christian curriculum, Christian Kids Explore Biology, and I tried again to find a Christian science curriculum that we would like and that would be easy to use.  

Unfortunately, after two lessons, I quickly realized that there were lots of holes in the curriculum and it was difficult for my kids to follow auditorily.  There is no student book and the text would be way above their reading level if I were to copy it for them (which isn't legal since the text portion of the book isn't reproducible).  I worked through several lessons and assembled additional materials and supplements so that the curriculum would be what I thought it should be.  

Here's a quick example.  Instead of clearly saying, "There are two types of cells:  Eukaryotic and Prokaryotic.  Animal and Plant cells are both eukaryotic, but they have some differences."  The book says on page 8, "Eukaryotic cells have a particular organelle inside called the nucleus...  and on pg. 9, "Some cells do not have a nucleus.  They are called prokaryotic."  No examples are given of what a prokaryotic cell would be.  Then the assignment asks kids to label an animal cell and a plant cell, before first saying that both of these cells are eukaryotic because they have a nucleus.  That was Lesson 2 in Unit 1.  Honestly, I love the stuffing of this curriculum, but there just isn't enough of it and there are statements that are missing so that me (a non-science lover) can teach it easily.  I was constantly running to the internet so that I could thoroughly explain the lessons to my kids.  I had to clarify that there weren't more than two types of cells.  I also wanted my kids to know the word "mitosis" which wasn't mentioned in the lesson at all.  

So, where does that leave me?  The reason I had switched because of my concerns about evolution and natural selection and how that teaching permeates secular science curriculum.  I've looked for a curriculum that I like as well as Harcourt Science.  Now I've tried two and have looked at many others.  
But Harcourt Science works for my kids and it works for me.  As my oldest daughter said to me today.  Mommy, "I know creation is the truth, but I like this book and how it teaches."  

I was sick yesterday so we didn't do any school work.  Instead we worked on science all afternoon today. Sami completed two chapters and Autumn one chapter.  We have a little catching up to do.  It was different today, though, than when we used this curriculum before.  I've learned a lot in the past two years.  Using two curriculums that are more hands on and do not have a student text have made the science entirely auditorily oriented and required hands on craft activities and/or notes.  Autumn used to work her way through the curriculum and I would not do the experiments.  Today, we did the experiment on density.  Sami did the instant labs for each of her lessons.  I integrated phonics and noticing word structure into Sami's lesson which we read aloud.  With Autumn, I made sure to read over her answers and correct her errors.  She wrote down her observations from the experiment and her conclusion.  

I thought we would cover more if I was teaching them together.  I found the opposite to be true.  My kids are visual learners, not auditory.  Sami is more kinesthetic than visual, but all her senses work together.  The bigger problem I encountered is that Sami needs a book written at her level and that is what Harcourt does so well.  It covers the same topics every year but in writing that is grade level appropriate with appropriate details.  The curriculum naturally scaffolds students' background knowledge and understanding of science. There are lots of color pictures and the experiments use materials I have. Although... I just picked up a digital scale three weeks ago at a garage sale for a dollar that we needed today!  God was so gracious to provide something we needed before I even knew we needed it.  

I told my husband today that we've switched back.  He said, "Good."  Let's stick with it.  Harcourt goes through 6th grade and then we'll go from there...

It might be easy to wonder if we wasted our time.  I don't think we did.  The kids did study science last year and some this year.  I needed learn more about how to teach science.  Studying science in elementary school is basically about building children's background knowledge.  They've learned some good lessons along the way and so have I.  Most of all, I trust the Lord and I've learned that sometimes he takes me on rabbit trails so that I can see why I need to get back on the path I was on.  





Friday, November 22, 2013

Spelling Thoughts

In homeschooling, there are so many different ways to approach spelling.  Many people choose a line of yearly spelling workbooks that their children work through each year.  Others use Spelling Power as a guide.
Last year, I wrote a post with my spelling plan.  I use Spelling Power as my foundation for my oldest daughter.  For the words that she misspells, I use a plan similar to what my students used when I taught in public school.  Spelling Power includes a long explanation of how to teach spelling in the beginning of the book (in very small font!).  This program has worked wonderfully for my oldest daughter who rarely gets a word wrong from the lists.

My second daughter is a different speller and so she needs a different approach to spelling to help her.  I wrote this post in August as I prepared to tackle spelling in a different way this year with her.  Much of it has been successful, but some of it has not.  I discovered as we settled into a busy fall that because I hadn't assembled the phonics component beforehand that I only did it sporadically.  So, now I am taking a step back and figuring out what I have or need that is preassembled and that I can pick up and teach from.  Because I have three children that I'm teaching at the same time and engaging, I can't assemble as I go.  There simply isn't time.  But, the modifications I've made in my approach to spelling have been very successful!  She is feeling much more successful at spelling and is hopeful!  I realized that my sweet daughter needs direct instruction.  Where my oldest daughter understood spelling rules implicitly, my younger daughter needs to be taught these rules and when they apply.  So, now when she misspells a word, I explain why.  We talk about long vowels and short vowels.  And my daughter thinks about what she's spelling.

When I taught school, it was a common practice to add misspelled words from a student's writing to their spelling lists.  Some teachers I knew were able to integrate this practice and some weren't.  It's difficult in a classroom of thirty children because then you have thirty spelling folders or lists to keep track of!  I assumed this would be easier in homeschooling and yet it is something I haven't integrated into my homeschooling until this year.  When I considered how to improve my daughter's spelling, I did a lot of reading from a lot of sources and then I culled through to collate the ideas I thought would be useful to me.  It would have been nice to have a book at the time that was easy to read and understand...

And of course there is a book out there, right?  Yes, of course.  There are
probably several, actually.  But, recently I found one of them.  It is titled How to Teach Any Child to SPELL by Gayle Graham.  There is a companion book, Tricks of the Trade: A Student's Individualized Spelling Notebook.  Ms. Graham's book is very easy to read and does summarize a lot of what I learned in the course of my reading.  There are a few minor differences like the practice of penciling--underlining syllables instead of using Phonemic Sound Boxes (Elkonin Boxes).  But, the ideas are the same.  It is nice because the spelling rules are all there.  The spelling notebook is for students to use as they categorize the words from their own writing that they misspell.  Using a notebook can be a tedious process.  But, some children sincerely can benefit from it--especially when grouping words together according to rules clicks for them and helps them to spell more correctly consistently.

I began writing this post and then decided I needed to think a little bit more about teaching spelling and what to say in this review.  I realized that it's easy to give a child a workbook on spelling and let them learn on their own--if spelling comes easily to them.  But, any spelling program aimed at teaching the rules of spelling takes time.  The idea behind Ms. Graham's program is to underline the words that are misspelled in a child's writing and then find where they fit in a notebook of spelling rules.  She includes a daily spelling plan.  That spelling plan includes a daily phonics review.  The worksheets from my previous post on Carl's Corner would be a great tool to use.  I like her plan.  Begin with phonics, move on to reviewing child's spelling notebook, then reading and observing spelling, and finally daily writing.  

I have to admit that How to Teach Any Child to Spell is quite general.  It has enough guidelines to give you a framework, but then you have to fill in the content.  So, here's what I'd do with this little book...
1) Read it completely.  Make a shortcut guide for the daily lesson plan.  
2) Assemble phonics worksheets from Carl's Corner.  Begin with the blends ch/sh/th/wh and other sounds that the child doesn't recognize from the consonant list included in the book.  My advice is to assemble a notebook ahead of time so that you can follow from one digraph to the next.  Then teach short vowels and long e.  Use the Clue Sheets from Tricks of the Trade as a guide for what phonics combinations need to be taught.
3) Read Aloud.  Pick a book you both enjoy or a poem each day.  Poems are nice because they are short and have many word patterns.  Point out the rules you've been teaching them about.  I like Ms. Graham's explanation of how to do this.  
4) Place a mini word wall page in the front of your child's planner for them to use as a shortcut spelling list when they are writing.  As they use words from it, ask them about the rules that tell them how to spell those words. How do they know?  Here is a link to the one I use.
5) Use the Tricks of the Trade to catalog the words with spelling errors from their writing.  This is the most time consuming part.  I would use an adhesive tab (or make one) for the front index of where to find the pages for each rule in the book.  That's the problematic and time consuming part of this.  If your child is young (3rd grade or younger), you will need to begin by helping them categorize each individual word.  As the child is more independent, instruct your child to write a few words in themselves.  Independence will come gradually though.  First check the words after they done them one by one, then check them as a group.  Ask your child to reason and explain why they put each word on the page he/she did.  The child's explanation is an important assessment of whether or not he/she understood the spelling rule applied. 
The Tricks of the Trade clue sheets in the front are very helpful because they can be a guide to you about how to teach the phonics sounds (and how many combinations there are!).  

Ms. Graham also identifies a tool that I've realized is very important for my daughter--learning to break words into syllables.  In order to do that, a child must be pronouncing words correctly.  I ask my daughter to repeat a word to me to make sure she's hearing it in her word correctly.  If she's not, I repeat it back to her and emphasize where the pronunciation needed to be corrected.  Explode the Code does a wonderful job of teaching the syllable rules in Books 4 and 4 1/2.  I would recommend using those two books even if you don't use the whole series.  But, don't make the mistake I did at first.  Don't give your child the book and let them work through the rules on their own and just plug and chug.  Talk through each syllabication rule and take it slow.  Review the rules as you go through the book if you can.  Juggling three learners at the same time means that this can be difficult for me at times.  And I know many more moms that have more learners working simultaneously than me!  It's tricky.  But, spelling rules are important for multiple ages.  Children can be grouped for reviews and for reviewing syllabication.  

Is syllabication necessary?  Maybe.  Maybe not.  It doesn't help all students.  But, I think part of that is because some children need a lot more practice with it than they get and instruction on how to break apart syllables.  Not all children hear that natural breaks in words that syllables form.  They have to learn to listen for them.  And learning comes through practice, I think.  I've noticed that the worksheet I made for sound boxes really helps my daughter pause and think about the sounds.  Here's a link to the worksheet I made.
With her spelling words, she writes the letters that make one sound in each box.  So, Were takes two boxes: w and ere.  Now that she's thinking more about sounds, she can chunk them together to form syllables.  

I am thankful to have found this book combination by Ms. Graham.  It reinforced some of the conclusions I'd drawn myself about spelling this summer and fall.  But, it also has renewed and challenged me to consider the time Spelling needs from me.  I am going to implement the practice of daily reading and observation that Ms. Graham recommends.  Most programs for children that struggle with spelling are quite expensive.  These books are not.  The two books together cost about $16.  It isn't a complete program without phonics supplements though.  This website http://www.carlscorner.us.com/  can give you worksheets and expansive word lists that can be used a long with Ms. Graham's approach to spelling.  

As a homeschooling parent, I've realized that the best way to become a good homeschooling teacher is to be a student of your student.  This spelling program fits with that idea.  It will require some preparation.  But, most spelling prorams that teach the rules do.  That was something I was reminded of as I thought about this program and asked myself if I have the time I need to teach spelling well to my daughter.  I have to adjust my expectations of how long spelling will take and give it more room.  She needs me to do this and as her teacher, I need to do just that.

Please note that I received a complimentary copy of Tricks of the Trade and How to Teach Any Child to Spell from Common Sense Press for review.  





Tuesday, November 19, 2013

One of my favorite teaching sites...

Right now, my printer is working really hard.  It's printing off a bunch of phonics worksheets from one of my favorite sites that's of course--free :)  Yay!  The site is: http://www.carlscorner.us.com/  I realized that I had good goals for my middle daughter's phonics instruction this fall, but it has fallen far short of what I'd hoped becuase I didn't have an assembled packet for each week.  My plans were good ones, but the execution needed help.  

So, this morning I set to work to get things together.  I came across an older boxed set of Hooked on Phonics, levels 2-5 at a book sale last week.  I did use the newer version of Hooked on Phonics with her already, but I need to accompany the sounding out with writing out the sounds.  So, we're doing the reading form the older books (which she hasn't seen before) and then following it up with worksheets from carl's corner.   (There's also a link to little book lane on the site that links to other blend worksheets from the same creator and are free as well!)

Sometimes children need extra reinforcement.  But, it doesn't make sense to me to repeat the exact same workbooks.  I love Explode the Code and it's a wonderful series. It covers all of these blends that I'm working on with her.  But, she needs me to engage with her and I missed realizing that the first time around when she did all of this in Explode the Code.  She needs me more than I thought she did.  

I'm excited and encouraged.  Even as I sit here writing this, she asked me how to spell "roof".  She broke out the word into sounds and I asked what letters make the "oo" sound.  She answered oo and spelled her word herself.  It sounds like a little thing, but it's a big thing when you have a girl who two months ago would only write a sentence and now just wrote two pages retelling the story of The Three Little Pigs with a new twist.    It's been eye opening for her and me as I've begun to continually explain everything to her--explain the spelling and grammar rules in context and in simple language.  Over and over.  It's clicking and she recites the rules back to me.  There are several spelling errors in the story she just wrote, but now she knows that she can spell and will learn how so she's willing to try.


Friday, November 15, 2013

Choosing a Bible

A few years ago, I wrote a post about the different translations of the Bible.  In the process of reviewing many books over the past few years, I considered different translations and the importance of what Bible I choose to read.  I had read the NIV translation for years.  Then, the ESV was published.  The church we attended at the time switched over to the ESV.  

When it was time to choose a Bible for my children, I was puzzled.  I ended up choosing a NIrV Discoverer's Bible for my oldest daughter's first Bible when she was seven.  Then, she grew into the Grow! Bible ESV translation.  A year or two later, that Bible became my younger daughter's Bible and my older daughter acquired the ESV Seek and Find Bible.  Both girls have enjoyed both.  And for their needs and ages, these have been great Bibles.  They're both the ESV translation that we read in church so they can follow along easily.  But, both have notes and added information around the text that my children have enjoyed reading.

I have been reading the Reformation Study Bible ESV for several years.  A lot of people I know read this edition.  I have enjoyed it.  There are cross references and notes below the text.  This is the same edition that most of my friends who use the ESV have.  But, I think that there is a new one I would recommend if you're thinking of getting a new Bible.  It is the Gospel Transformation Bible, a new Bible being published by Crossway.

This Bible includes a commentary like others and cross references, but it is very different too.  The goal of the contributors and editors of this Bible was to show Christ in all of scripture.  The editors put the overarching goal well on the first page, "1) to enable readers to understand that the whole Bible is a unified message of the gospel of God's grace culminating in Christ Jesus, and 2) to help believers apply this good news to their everyday lives in a heart-transforming way."  There's a wonderful introduction in the front of the Bible that goes on in more detail about the focus of the notes in the Bible and the thread--Christ.  A different contributor wrote study notes for each of the books.  The notes are different than ones I've read in other Bibles.  The notes in this Bible connect together.  I like that a lot!  Interestingly, the notes are not all written by men.  Four women did contribute notes for the Bible.  I am glad for this.

If I had a friend whose faith was new and they were new to reading the Bible, this is a Bible I would give to them.  It is a wonderful guide.  The Word is easy to read because the notes and references are below the text not beside it.  There is an easy to read introduction before each book as most Bibles have.  The comments help explain the verses. The notes in this Bible remind me of Warren Wiersbe's Bible commentary--of his easy to understand and relateable style of writing.  I read several of the passages that have caused me concern over the years but I had no issues with the commentary for these passages.  You're probably wondering what passages I mean.  One of them is the passage in the Ephesians 5:22-27 about wives submitting to their husbands and husbands loving their wives.  The comment in this edition was very well put and addressed the whole passage.  

On CBD, you can preview the text from Genesis and Mark and get a sample of the notes and how the text looks.  On Amazon, you can preview the introduction, but the preview helped me to know I would never recommend the Kindle edition of this Bible!  The notes are not with the text on the Kindle edition as they are in the hardcover print edition.  

If you're looking for an ESV hardcover Bible with notes for yourself, I would definitely recommend this edition.  And if you are looking for a gift for another, I'd definitely recommend taking a look at this one.  I like it and plan on using it for my personal Bible study.  I know that sounds very simple and straight to the point, but this isn't a fluffy scholarly review of a Bible translation.  This is just me saying that I like this Bible.  It's easy to read, the print is clear, and the notes are helpful.  And that sums it up.

Please note that I received a complimentary copy of this Bible for review from Crossway.  

Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Milestones

Pierced ears... Going to church with a friend in someone else's car (non-family member)... going shopping for clothes... talking on the phone...

Ah... Growing up.  My oldest daughter is growing up.  On Sunday, she had her ears pierced.  I was the same age she is when I had mine pierced.  We went shopping last week for the first time for clothes.  I explained to her that many moms and daughters do this a lot.  She looked at me incredulously, "Really?" she asked. And then added, "I don't think I'd want to do that."  She surprises me.

Then, last night came the phone.  A friend of hers had asked her to call at a certain time, so she did.  Her friend asked if she could talk for half an hour.  My daughter replied that she didn't think so.  That would be too long.  But, then she proceeded to talk.  I overheard bits and pieces as the two of them figured out what to talk about.  My daughter asked about her friend's lizard and gerbil.  "What do they like to do?"  "Does the lizard like to climb trees?"  and so on.  I couldn't hear the other side, but I realized that my daughter was figuring out this talking thing for herself.

It's funny.  She now goes around sharing with everyone about her ears.  But, last night, she pretended along with her little brother that she was a bat.  I love her.  I am thankful for her and I am thankful that I get to enjoy her every day.  Happy Birthday dear girl!

Saturday, October 19, 2013

A Unique Calling

Last week I read a book that I enjoyed.  I began reading the book cautiously, but with curiosity.  The author's unique life experience intrigued me and I wanted to hear what God had taught her and what conclusions she arrived at along the way.

The book is a surprisingly popular book.  It has unexpectedly gained national recognition because of three interviews with the author on Family Life Today in September and there are over three hundred reviews of the book on Amazon with only five reviews giving the book under 3 stars (and one of them isn't a real review because the review doesn't agree with the rating).  That says something about the book.

The book is The Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert: An English Professor's Journey Into Christian Faith by Rosaria Champagne Butterfield.  The book has been talked about by John Piper, Family Life Today, World Magazine, and many other Christian media sources.  I'm sure it's all over the blog rolls, actually.

I have to be honest, I didn't know that there was so much attention being given to this book before I read it.  But, after I finished, I went looking around.  I started with Amazon and the reviews posted for the book.  There were over 340 reviews with only 5 under 3 stars. That's actually far better than I expected it to be.  There is a particular issue that the Ms. Butterfield touches on that I knew could really incite people to comment negatively on her book--whether they'd read it or not.  One of the reviews was actually misrated, so I considered there only to be 4 real, negative reviews.  The negative reviews, though, didn't surprise me.

Ms. Butterfield's book is the story of how she came to believe in Christ and the story of her reformed faith.  Her story begins when she was a tenured English professor at Syracuse University in New York.  She was a lesbian women's studies professor.  This book is her story--her testimony.  I began reading the book knowing these basic facts about her.  I was curious to see how she would address homosexuality and Christianity.

In her interview with Family Life Today, she explains that she doesn't see her homosexuality as the crux of her conversion.  But, I understand why many people are reading it simply because she addresses this issue.  She addresses many more issues of faith than homosexuality, though.  She tells the story of how it was the relationships she had with people that God used to bring her to Him.  She shares her thoughts about faith, life, and church.  I don't want to share too many details about what she writes, because it was how her book unfolded for me that drew me in.  

She tells her story well.  She was an English professor.  Her book is very well organized, thought out, and clearly conveyed.  There are lots of big, descriptive words--in all the right places.  What I mean is that the reading level of this book is appropriate for a high school or college student, rather than a middle school student.  In reading so many books over the past few years, I've noticed that many authors use simple sentence structures and common descriptive words to convey their ideas.  Ms. Butterfield stays true to her literature professor roots and writes as one would expect of her.  

Before I finish this review, I want to address the four negative reviews on Amazon.  They were all written by individuals that had been given this book by well meaning Christians.  The intention and hope behind these gifts (I presume) was that this book would open the eyes of the receivers to Christ's love for them.  But, the giving of this book to someone who is homosexual is the opposite of the example that this author's story is for believers.  Ms. Butterfield's testimony is about the relationships in her life and how they shaped her and her faith.  It is about how God used people in her life--not to preach at her, but to first listen to her with respect, and then discuss faith with her when she was ready.  No one handed her a gospel tract or the four spiritual laws.  A local pastor asked her a question and invited her over to dinner at his home.  He built relationships with her and the people in her life.

One of the questions that students consider when analyzing literature is who the intended audience of a book is and what is the author's purpose.  I believe the author's intended audience is other Christians and that her purpose is to inform.  I don't believe the author's purpose is to persuade.  She is very strong in her opinions and states clearly why she believes what she does.  But, these are her convictions.  For example, I can imagine that some readers may feel put off by her exposition about why she feels only psalms should be sung in church.  This is a worship practice specific to the RPCNA, the denomination of which she is a member.  I see this book as Rosaria Butterfield's memoir, testimony, and philosophy about life all rolled into one.  We each could give one.  We all have our own convictions, too.  We are not identical to one another.  It's even scriptural.  I am okay knowing that she feels strong convictions about foster care and adoption.  I am okay that she feels strongly about psalm singing.  I am okay that she has certain convictions about the way the world works that I don't share with her.  When I read this book, I felt like I was getting to know someone--learning who she is, what has shaped her, and how God is working in her life.  This book isn't meant to be a Christian "How to" about anything.  It's a testimony, a collection of thoughts, written with the desire to give the reader something to chew on.

Would I recommend this book?  Yes.  Unequivocally yes.  I hope you will enjoy it.  I'd love to discuss it with you if you read it!

Please note that I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher Crown and Covenant Publications.

Weird feeling

Sometimes I watch a movie that leaves me feeling...  well, I don't really...  just weird!  Someone asked me this weekend about the movie Silver Linings Playbook.  The person thought I might have seen it.  I hadn't.  I knew the basic plot of the movie and I felt like it could go either way--I could either really like it or really hate it.  There were some details of the story that you know going into it that made me a little uncomfortable about the characters.

So, I watched it today.  Granted, I did fast forward some clips.  But, I watched most of it.  At the end, I didn't feel better than I did before I watched it.  I felt puzzled.  I am still trying to figure out the message in the movie and what the author and director believe.

Here's my thought.  The movie seems to say that we just have to take people as they are.  Our world tells us this constantly.  I am who I am.  Love me the way I want to be loved.  

Tonight I was talking to one of my brother in laws who had seen the movie.  I have wanted to talk to someone all week who has seen it and hear what they thought of it.  It was interesting to hear his view of it.

He said that there's a lot of movies today that want to be "true to life".  And this film falls in that category.  Most of these films, though, end up with the main characters just slightly (if at all) better off than at the beginning of the film.  He felt this film did have a happy ending because it was a contrast to the other films he's seen of this type.  I can definitely understand why he'd say this.

One of the parts of the film that unsettled me was how the characters talk to each other.  I just don't talk to people the way the characters do in the film.  And I wouldn't.  The film is set in Philadelphia, an east coast city.  My brother in law explained that that's just how east coasters talk--which I knew from a friend who grew up in Jersey.  I grew up on the West Coast.  He said people on the west coast are passive aggressive.  I wasn't sure what to say--I think I might have disagreed.  But, later my husband explained to me how folks in LA are passive aggressive.  I have to be honest--I had never thought of this way.  So, let me explain.

He explained that the entire social culture of LA, in which you'll be nice to someone to their face and then talk behind their back is passive aggressive.  I could see his point.  He's right that a lot of emphasis is put on appearances.  I just hadn't thought of it as passive aggressive.  He went on to explain that in New York, your friends will be direct and tell you like it is--they won't be gentle or say one thing to you and another to someone else.  

Hmmm...  Something to think about.  This one little piece of the puzzle helped me make a little more sense of Silver Linings Playbook.  The weird feeling in my stomach settled down a little.  

Tuesday, October 8, 2013

The saga continues...

I've known many women who read all of the books in a series.  Karen Kingsbury is known for writing book series with five to eight books in them.  Series typically drive me crazy because they leave me hanging at the end of the book and I have to wait for the next one.  That happened to me with the Cedar Keys novels.  The books were released so far apart that I couldn't remember what had happened in the other books and who was who.  It was quite frustrating for me.  

When Jen Turano began her series of books that began with A Change of Fortune, I wondered how the series would go.  The first one was a funny melodrama and I had high hopes that this would be a fun, lighthearted series to read.  The first book turned out, in my opinion to be the best one of the series.  The others seemed to all follow the same kind of formula revolving around the same families (which I did like), which seemed to be entirely (entirely!) predictable.  I missed the humor from the first novel in the other books.  

I just finished reading the most recent edition to this series, A Talent for Trouble.  This story centers on Miss Felicia Murdock.  This young woman is crushed when the minister she had been pining for marries another woman.  She's actually quite a spunky lady who has suppressed her own outgoing personality for four years in hopes of being the demure woman the minister might choose to court.  Alas, she was not and the beginning of the novel finds her quite crushed in spirit.  From there, she sets out to remake herself into who she really is--a talkative, bubbly, energetic twenty-something young woman.  Her wardrobe and behavior lose the demureness that had shrouded them for the past four years.  Along the way, Grayson Sumner comes into the picture.  He consistently ends up in her path day after day.  Several times he rescues her from her own naive behavior.  And so the story goes on...

This is a historical Christian romance novel like all the Lori Wick novels and others that are out there.  The focus of this novel definitely more on the romantic element than the historical one.  A Talent for Trouble, like its predecessor A Most Peculiar Circumstance, did not live up to the enjoyment I had in reading A Change of Fortune.  These are stand alone novels and do not need to all be read in order to be understood, but the same characters are linked through the stories.  

Please note that I received a complimentary copy of this book for review from Bethany House Publishing.

Saturday, September 28, 2013

Good Fiction

I've been in the car lately and that means that I've been doing a lot of reading.  I finished up another book on my Kindle last night.  I had looked forward to this book because of a book I'd read in the past--June Bug.  It was Chris Fabry's first published book and I enjoyed it.  I didn't enjoy the next two books that he published quite as much as the first, but I still saw him as a good writer--worth reading.

A new book by Fabry came out in August--Every Waking Moment.  It isn't a romance or historical fiction
novel.  It's plain, old realistic fiction. There's a touch of the supernatural to it, but I'd still call it realistic fiction. The story centers on Treha and her gift with older folks beset by dementia and alzheimers.  I found myself drawn into the story as it began and slowly meandered along its way.  At the beginning of the story, Miriam Howard is being forced to retire.  Ms. Howard has been a protector of the elderly in her care at the retirement home and of Treha.  She has allowed her to use her gift to benefit the residents of the center.  But, with Ms. Howard's retirement comes deleterious changes that affect all at the center, including Treha.  

The story was an unexpected one for me.  It was enjoyable and well written.  I'd definitely recommend this one if you enjoy Angela Hunt's novels or Lisa Samson's!

And if you haven't read June Bug, I'd recommend it!

Please note that I received an ebook copy of this book for review from Tyndale Publishing.

Looking Up to History

Yesterday, I called a good friend of mine to discuss a quandary I was puzzling over.  I finished reading Carry On, Mr. Bowditch recently because Autumn and I are discussing it for her literature right now.  I was inspired by Nathaniel Bowditch's life as I read.  He was independent, creative, determined, a seeker of knowledge, hopeful, and didn't give up.  

But, my ideas of this man began to change a little when I assigned Autumn a worksheet for historical fiction.  Her assignment was to identify five factual statements from the book and five statements that were fiction.  I realized that she needed another biography of Nathaniel Bowditch to compare to Carry On, Mr. Bowditch.  I found two different biographies online.  They began to paint a different picture for me.  One was that this man was a Unitarian.  Here is a quote from one site "When asked about his religious beliefs he answered, "Of what importance are my opinions to anyone? I do not wish to be made a show of. As to creeds of faith, I have always been of the sentiment of the poet [Alexander Pope, Essay on Man],—'For modes of faith let graceless zealots fight; His can't be wrong, whose life is in the right.'"" It occurred to me that Unitarians might have had different beliefs back in the 1700s than they do now.  I discovered that this was true, but it's very confusing!  

I found myself pondering many questions...

We look up to many historical figures as being "Christian heroes".  But, what if they weren't believers?  What then?  What do I tell our children?  Not tell our children?  Should we study Christian figures more than people who didn't believe in God?  Should we sugarcoat people's faith and say they were Christians if their memoirs tell otherwise?  What makes people important?  Do I separate life from faith?

I found myself struggling to figure out how to teach history.  

So, I called my friend, who has her master's degree in history.  She shared me with me several stories.  One was about how Thomas Jefferson, a brilliant man, tore out whole sections of the Bible.  Yet, we call him a Christian and look to him as a "Christian" figure in American history.  Yet, he was a brilliant writer who had a profound influence on the formation of our government.  

God works in our world through Christians and unbelievers.  He works for the good of those who love him (Romans 8:28).  He provides for us through farmers who grow food--some who know Him and some who don't.  He provides for our safety through police men and women--some who know Him and some who don't.  He provides for us through teachers--some who know Him and some who don't.

God shapes each one of us uniquely.  He has gifted us.  There is something called common grace.  From Wikipedia: "common grace is seen in God's continuing care for his creation, his restraining human society from becoming altogether intolerable and ungovernable, his making it possible for mankind to live together in a generally orderly and cooperative manner, and maintaining man's conscious sense of basic right and wrong behavior." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_grace)  

I grew up in the Quaker Church being taught to look for that of God in every man.  Though I see now how the idea can get twisted, I appreciate the idea that we see God in a man's ability to create, to write, to invent, to discover, to name, to bear children.  So, although these historic figures may not have given credit for their achievements themselves to their creator, we can.  

We can help our children see what men and women in the past have achieved and done.  We can see who they were and how they withstood adversity.  We can see how they didn't give up.  We can teach our children about God and help them understand that it is He who helps us stand and weather the storms.  We can teach them about standing up for others.  We can show them the examples of others.  We can remind them that God has a plan and He works in our lives and He worked to care for our ancestors as well.  

It is good to see the good in people.  It is good to see the admirable traits and things they have done.  I think it's important, though, not to misrepresent people.  I am going to be careful about how I present people from history.  I don't want to present them as Christians if they weren't.  We often talk about Christians forming our nation and assume that all of the leaders of our country during the revolution were Christians.  But, some of the men who formed our nation had some strange ideas about God.  Perhaps, it's wise to remember that and not present people as something they weren't.  

I hope this post didn't wander too much and that it is coherent.  I am still sorting these ideas out in my head, trying to come to cohesive conclusions.  

Read With Caution or Avoid Altogether?

I hate delete!  I just had to get that off my chest.  I just spent a half hour sorting out my emotions and then my finger accidentally hit the delete button.  Crummy!  

So, here's the jist of it.  

I read Becoming Myself by Stasi Eldredge.  I thought I could read it and it would not affect me.  

I was wrong.

A week and a half later, I was struggling to find contentment in the place God has put me in my job--as a mom, homeschool teacher, and wife.  The tears hovered behind my eyes continuously.  

I was wrong.  I knew that what Ms. Eldgredge's book went against what I have felt God convict me of--that I need to be content with his plan for my life and not my own.  Still, my heart was unsettled.

Many believe that you can read books you disagree with and they won't affect you if you know the truth and are strong.

I thought I was strong.

I was wrong.  

I'm climbing back up, humbly.  I'm working to forget the ideas that had unsettled me.  I'm trying to focus on God and my family and not myself.

In a much shorter nutshell than my original post, that's it.  That's what I've been thinking about.  
I'm not as strong as I thought I was.  

Monday, September 23, 2013

A Few eBook Fiction Reviews

Recently, I had the chance to read several ebooks while we were on vacation.  I wrote several years ago on this blog about how I was dragging my feet when it came to reading on a Kindle. I am old school!  I love printed paper books.  But, last year we purchased a basic kindle for $30 (with coupons) for my husband.  Then, we decided a few months later to purchase a basic kindle without the ads, which costs $20 more (current price $89) because it was going to be for our kids to use.  This is also the kindle that I use and I'm so glad we paid the extra $20.  It was definitely worth it not to see the ads for adult books that usually come up on Kindle's screensaver.  

I have discovered that there are books that are perfect for reading on a kindle and others that are not.  Books that are more challenging to read, like Dickens' Our Mutual Friend, or books that I need to flip back and forth in are not ebook friendly for me.  But, light, easy to read fiction is perfect for a kindle.  

Since we were heading on vacation and a kindle is easier to pack than several books, I opted to load several books on my Kindle for our trip.  It worked out really well.  I now understand why people like carrying a Kindle on vacations.

The three books I finished were Home Run: A Novel by Travis Thrasher, An Accidental Life by Pamela Binnings Ewan, and Lost and Found by Ginny Ytrup.  

I started with Home Run by Travis Thrasher.  I had noticed this movie recently on CBD and was curious about it.  The story follows Cory Brand as he crashes and burns while playing baseball as a pro.  He is an alcoholic and is required by his team to go to a recovery group and try to "recover".  The story interweaves the present and Cory's childhood in his abusive family.  It is heartbreaking.  90% of the story is very sad.  I did learn a lot about the program Celebrate Recovery, which I have heard of.  The story describes Cory's meetings and the accountability in the group. This is a novel based on the movie and it reads like that.  But, it jumps back and forth a lot!  I became very bogged down in Cory's self-pity.  It was hard to read.  One hard part for me was that Cory's brother didn't understand the emotional burdens Cory had taken on when they were children and what he had done to protect him.  That was very strange to me.  As I've talked to people in my life and reflected on my own childhood, I've heard several times that they knew when someone was protecting them--whether it was a parent or sibling.  They also knew when they were being left to fend for themselves.  Additionally, I think it was particularly hard for me to read about Cory's unrelenting drinking through the majority of the book since one of my close family members is an alcoholic.  Is this a book I'd recommend?  Probably not.  It's very sad and left me feeling drained, though the ending is hopeful.  


After finishing Home Run, I moved on to An Accidental Life by Pamela Binnings Ewan.  I was very curious about this book.  The back of the book explains that it is about Peter and Rebecca, two jet set lawyers climbing the ladder--one in public defense and the other in corporate law.  Peter, a believer, comes across a case that rocks him to the core.  Rebecca's life changes when the unexpected happens and she is forced to confront the pain of her childhood and God's love.  Essentially, this book tackles the question, "What happens when a baby is born alive after a late term abortion?" in story form.  I had never given it much thought before but was aware because of an interview I once heard on Focus on the Family that it happened.  A few years ago, the movie October Baby also opened my eyes.  This book tackles the issue head on when a baby dies because of a failed abortion.  Peter prosecutes the case, while Rebecca is forced to make life-changing decisions.  I enjoyed this book.  The beginning is a little slow, but I remained engaged in the story.  The second half was compelling.  I liked the characters in the story and the writing.  This is a book I would recommend reading.  It isn't a romance.  It is realistic fiction set in 1982.  Yes, set in 1982!  It isn't set in the present day.  Just as I felt good after I'd watched October Baby, I felt good when I finished reading this book.  


Finally, I began Lost and Found by Ginny Yttrup.  Earlier this year, I read Ms. Yttrup's book Invisible (which I really liked), so I was interested in reading this novel.  Lost and Found centers on Jenna Dulaney Bouvier, the wife of Gerard Bouvier and daughter in law of Brigitte Bouvier.  The title comes because Jenna has lost herself in her marriage and life, but finds herself again in the course of the book.  This book didn't connect with my heart the way Invisible did.  The plot and writing were fine, good in fact.  The story kept moving.  I had a concern or two.  The first is the relationship between Jenna and Matthew MacGregor, Jenna's counselor.  Although he seeks accountability, professional lines were crossed.  One of my friends is a psychologist and she explained that a therapist cannot be friends with one of their clients within two years after ending services.  It is unethical and a psychologist will lose their license or at the very least have it suspended for a period of time if brought before the licensing board.  Counseling within the church is tricky my friend explained to me because of this issue.  Counselors have to be extremely careful.  Seeing Jenna outside of his sessions with her, alone, was totally not professional or a wise decision.  The ending has a lot of holes in it and a lot is left unexplained which is my second concern about the book.  It affected me as the reader because I was left very puzzled.  It also bothered me because it talked a little bit about Matthew and his wife, Tess, but never once really identified that it wasn't appropriate for him to have the friendship with Jenna that he had.  At the end, I wasn't sure that I would recommend this book.  It okay and filled the ten hour car drive home.  I wanted to finish reading it and find out what happened, but...  well, but.  I don't know.

So, the verdict?
If you haven't seen October Baby, I'd definitely recommend it!  
If you're looking for a good read, pick up An Accidental Life or Invisible (see my review HERE).  

My Kindle was very good to keep me company on our ten hour car drive home.  My husband likes to drive in silence, so I think my Kindle is going to be making a lot of trips in our car.  I don't mind really because my children all like to read in the car as well and it's a time when I have a few minutes of peace to just read.  

Please note that I received complimentary copies of each of these books from the publishers for review.

Friday, September 20, 2013

Kid Safe Search Engine

Fifteen years ago, when I was teaching computers to grades K-5, yahooligans was the popular, safe search engine that I used with my students.  This year, I tried to use yahooligans with my kids and quickly got frustrated because the search didn't bring up any results.  Bah.   

I don't know why I didn't think of this before, but I just typed in "kid safe search engine" on google and came up with a result.  

Google has developed a safe search engine filtering technology that is used by several other sites.  I found one that is the primary site:
http://www.safesearchkids.com/
If you scroll down, there is an explanation of what is filtered and what isn't.

Then, I found another one called KidRex.  It uses the safe search technology and then goes beyond it to add their own list as well.  http://www.kidrex.org/

I googled for "consumption illness" while writing questions for Autumn's Carry On, Mr. Bowditch unit.  I came up with several results that I was comfortable with.  

I'm sure neither of these sites will be perfect, but I'm glad to have an option other than the unfiltered Google engine.

If there is another one that you like to use, please comment and let me know!

Thursday, September 19, 2013

A Book to Read With Caution

Sometimes I come across books that are hard to review. I, like other reviewers, fear negative remarks and attacks. So, why even write a review that isn't positive and what people want to hear? Well, because of concern--concern about how ideas and words can get twisted. I like to read some of the books that I think will be popular in mainstream Christian circles, so that I'm aware of what people are reading and thinking about.  So, I decided to read Stasi Eldredge's new book Becoming Myself.  It was published a month ago.  


My husband and I have read several of John and Stasi Eldredges' books over the past years. We've noticed that there are some good ideas in their books, but that the points can get carried away.  I discussed their books with our pastor this morning and he used a phrase that I thought was very apt to describe their books.  He described their approach as being very "emotionally charged."  I agree.  It is.  

As I started out reading this book, I was very curious about what the pages ahead held for me. But, as I read the first few chapters, I began to get a little concerned. I was surprised by the rabbit trails and paths that she took. The goal of the book, I believe, is to encourage women to understand that they are loved by the Lord for who He made them to be and that they are continuing to become that woman as they trust and walk with the Lord. Along the way, she addresses cultural issues (among them was misogyny and the hatred of women). She addresses the role of one's mother in a woman's life and specifically devotes time to how one's mother cared for you while you were in her womb. She asserts that this care of a baby while in a mother's womb would either lead a woman to be secure or insecure, to feel rejected or accepted. She doesn't include any scientific or psychological support for this statement. She sites a video by a woman that I did not recognize as her only support for several pages of assertions. She then moves on to freedom and not judging others.  Along the way through the book, I found several statements that concerned me.


Here are some examples:
From pg. 72, "What happens in the womb sets the foundation for our life.  When a mother is happy, secure, and hopeful, the blood flow to her uterus opens up and fully nourishes the fetus.  When a mother is worried, anxious, or fearful, the blood vessels constrict, and the flow of blood to the fetus is constricted.  The developing baby does not get enough.  If that experience is predominant, the baby comes to believe in her core that she will not have enough; she is not secure, not safe, and not taken care of.... and then on pg. 73, Ms. Eldredge encourages readers to ask "While you were being formed in your mother's womb, think on it: do you think you were satisfied?  Did you get enough?"

On Pg. 169, Ms. Eldredge encourages women not to judge others with these words, "Judgments are dangerous; judgements are like curses.  They release the hatred of the Enemy upon those we have judged.  When Christians pray with a spirit of judgment it is not a prayer, it is a curse.  Christian curses happen when we pray wanting vengeance, when we pray with a spirit of hatred, judgment, anger, or revenge.  Prayers like "Get him, God," "Teach him a lesson," "Rebuke him, God" have the same energy as witchcraft.  Actually they are witchcraft, and they hurt people.  They damage them spiritually and physically...When I say "judging," I'm not talking about the wisdom of discernment between evil and good.  I'm talking about cursing others."  She makes some strong statements there.  Ones that I'm not entirely comfortable with.   

At several points, I had to put the book down for a while. The first time it was because I was puzzled by the author's statements and realized that while what she said could be true, it felt like it could be very easily twisted and misinterpreted. Later on, I set it down out of frustration over the discussion of misogyny and attributing an adult woman's struggle with insecurity to her mother's pregnancy and treatment (or neglect) of her at that time. But, I picked it back up. I finally set it down again after reading a long chapter about dreams and how we need to have dreams, because if we don't we won't be successful or happy--because dreams only come true when people have them. At this point, I set the book down, looked out the window and cried.

Dreams are a tricky thing. This is a theme that comes through in several of the Eldredges' books. That we are to dream and that God will give us the desires of our hearts. Well, yes... and no. God often does not give me what I want or dream of. I had dreams for my life when I was a young woman just out of college. Those dreams have not come true. Instead, God has given me other gifts and a different life than I ever thought I'd lead. I can see how my life is what He had for me. I can see how it is best for me--though not easy. I have come to feel that God kept me from some successes that could have led me down a path away from the Lord. I couldn't reconcile my views with Ms. Eldredge's ideas about dreams. I suppose that is sad. I suspect there's a middle ground between what she writes in this book and the cynicism that has stolen into my views about dreams.

I will say, there is some good stuff in this book, too.  Here's a good quote from pg. 133 "A word about honest.  The Scripture exhorts us to speak the truth in love.  Speak the truth in love.  Which means, don't speak the truth in anger or resentment or with the desire to wound.  We need to be careful to check our motives underneath our speaking the truth.  We want to be aware of the "why" behind the desire to share something."  I completely agree.  Earlier in the book on page 45, she says, "Though our past has shaped us, we are not our past.  Though our failures and sin have had an effect on who we are, we are not defined by our failures or our sin.  Though thought patterns and addictions have overwhelmed us, we are not overcome by them and we will never be overcome by them.  Jesus has won our victory.  Jesus is our victory."  Again I agree.  Isaiah 43:2 NIV

When you pass through the waters,
    I will be with you;
and when you pass through the rivers,
    they will not sweep over you.
When you walk through the fire,
    you will not be burned;
    the flames will not set you ablaze.

There is some good truth in this book.  But, it was some of the author's rabbit trails and applications that concerned me and give me reason to not recommend this book.  I think it is very important for women to understand that God loves them and created each woman uniquely. We are loved. And what we think shapes who we are and how we live. But, instead of this book, I would recommend a different one--The Silent Seduction of Self-Talk: Conforming Deadly Thought Patterns to the Word of God I'd also recommend Cynthia Heald's Bible study series Becoming a woman of... I'd particularly recommend starting with Becoming a Woman of Freedom. I think it covers the same topic, but by going straight to the Bible. Becoming a Woman of Grace (and honestly all the other ones in the series) also deeply encouraged me.