Busy D's

Shoelaces -- how many ways can you lace them?

2009-07-08T14:17:00.000-07:00

Menu Plan Monday -- my first one!

2009-07-06T15:26:00.000-07:00

I have so desperately needed to do this! So, today I did it. It took me forever!

Monday: Salmon, tortellini (for the ones who don't like fish), green beans.

Tuesday: Garden Vegetable Pasta Bake, whole wheat roll or bread of some sort, kale.

Wednesday: Black Bean Torte, rice, salad, spinach.

Thursday: Left-overs or something easy, like spaghetti or burritos.

Friday: Brisket, potatoes, brocolli, salad.

Saturday: Garlic Lime Chicken, steamed baby carrots, salad.

Sunday (slow cooker noon meal for after church): Cheryl's Mac and Cheese from the Fix-It and Forget It cookbook.

Here's the inspiration for Menu Plan Monday: I'm an Organizing Junkie.

Supervised Driving Hours

2009-06-25T09:53:00.000-07:00

Some states require a certain amount of supervised driving hours for new drivers. Here is an article from AAA about the Texas law. If you live in a different state, go to the AAA home page and enter your zip. My search was for "texas law regarding supervised driving time." (I'm not that good at searches; there may be a better way).

They have tips and a log here.

Years ago, I read on a local homeschooling yahoo group about one mom's experience with this in Europe. She said that in some European countries, teens can get their learner's permit at 16, but they cannot get their driver's license until they turn 18 and have 150 documented hours of supervised driving time. They adapted this when they returned to the states and only required 100 hours. They kept a small notebook in the car and logged all driving time, including the types of roads (highway, suburban, city, rural), day or night and weather conditions. I decided that we would do this, too.

Then my sister-in-law sent me a copy of this press release:

News Alert

May 12, 2009

Parents can help keep teens safe with training tool for young drivers

"Novice Driver's Road Map: A Guide for Parents" offered by the non-profit Network of Employers for Traffic Safety

McLean, Va -- The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety last week issued results of a study that confirmed the value of graduated drivers' licensing laws (GDL) in improving young driver safety. Although each state establishes their own criteria, an important component to GDL laws is documented driving practice. To help parents cope with their newly emphasized role as teen driving coach during the extended licensing period, the Network of Employers for Traffic Safety (NETS) offers the "Novice Driver’s Road Map: A Guide for Parents."

The Road Map is designed to provide the missing link in a teen driver's education—practice. "The biggest risk to the health of teens is the possibility that they will be in a motor vehicle crash," said Jack Hanley, Executive Director of NETS. "Fortunately, there are steps that parents can take to teach their kids good habits that can lead to a lifetime of safer driving."

Built around a series of eight practice drives, the Novice Driver's Road Map provides a list of skills for each drive and instructions on how to perform those skills. Each drive exposes the teen to progressively more difficult driving conditions and environments. The guided practice drives provide parents with an organized practical approach to coaching their teen’s drive time.

A "Coach's Game Book" is included that is packed full of tips to help the parent or other trusted adult be a successful driving coach. Designed to fit right in the glove box, The Novice Driver’s Road Map can easily accompany parents and teens on every trip.

The Novice Driver's Road Map was created with support from the UPS Foundation. It is available at www.trafficsafety.org.

Founded in 1989, the Network of Employers for Traffic Safety (NETS) is an employer-led public-private partnership dedicated to improving the safety and health of employees, their families, and members of the communities in which they live and work, by preventing traffic crashes that occur both on and off the job. NETS, the only nonprofit organization dedicated exclusively to traffic safety in the workplace, provides organizations of all sizes and industry-types with guidance in developing or improving their driver safety programs. NETS also promotes education and outreach programs for employees and their families to support and encourage safe driving practices. Learn more about NETS from the organization’s web site at www.trafficsafety.org. Information on teen driving laws by state is posted at www.ghsa.org/html/stateinfo/laws/license_laws.html.

I ordered The Novice Driver's Road Map from this page. Scroll down to the bottom of the page and you'll see it in the center. It is a bit expensive, but since I have a current driver and two coming up, I thought it would be worth it. I did get some sort of discount (without asking for it), but I don't remember exactly what I paid. It comes with The Coach's Game Book.

The Novice Driver's Road Map is great because it gives you a graduated series of drives to do with your novice driver and even points out the typical mistakes that novice drivers make.

Two facts that stood out to me from The Coach's Game Book: A Guide for Parents:

According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, traffic crashes are the leading cause of death for 15 to 20 year olds.
The risk of being involved in a traffic crash is highest at age 16. The crash rate per mile driven is almost three times as high among 16 year olds as among 18 to 19 year olds.

And something else from The Coach's Game Book:

Many teen drivers receive formal driver education and training through a high school driver education program or through a private driving school. But all the textbooks and classroom time in the world do not replace actual time on the road. Unfortunately, the average road time in public and private driver education is about six hours and seldom includes nighttime driving, or driving in bad weather, work zones or in heavy traffic. ... Novice drivers need at least 150 to 200 hours of supervised practice time before driving solo. They also need monitoring after they begin driving unsupervised.

I remember reading somewhere of one family that offered their kids some large sum of money (I think it was $1,000) if they wouldn't drive until they reached a certain age (I think it was 18). This makes a lot of sense to me.

We're keeping a log of my son's driving time. I think parents may overestimate how much supervised driving time their kids are getting. I added up the time after a couple of weeks when we first began and was surprised that it was only four hours! Of course, that was the very beginning and the drives were short, but I would have overestimated the time had we not written it down.

Bible Overview Chart

2009-06-24T14:34:00.000-07:00

I read about this chart years ago in Mary Pride's Big Book of Home Learning. I bought one right away and have used it off and on for years. There is a ton of information packed into this thing!

The Bible Overview Chart by Kenneth E. Malberg is available from Heritage Products.

1000 Gifts and Healing a Heart

2009-06-23T21:13:00.001-07:00

I stopped recording my gifts lists here because I wasn't sure I wanted to reveal so much about myself, as I explained here.

Eleven days later, Ann had a post at Holy Experience that really caused me to question my stance. You must read it, here. Good stuff.

So now I will be recording gifts here again from time to time. I have renewed my practice of writing them down, too. I had slipped away from that habit. But I know I need to make some heart changes and gratitude is one of them.

I had a heart attack. So I am contemplating what all that means, because I know it means more than physical muscle, veins, arteries, valves and blood.

Physically, I am not the typical heart patient (if there is such a thing). Not that old. Not overweight. No high blood pressure. Only borderline high cholesterol. No relatives with heart disease (at least not until they were well into their sixties or seventies or eighties...). I was exercising. Eating relatively healthfully. (We vegetarians until just this past year -- that's about 16 years for me, more for hubby because he was a vegetarian long before that.)

But stress, oh my, yes. And more negative emotions that I hate to admit: Irritable. Angry. Ungrateful. Seeing the negative. Worried. Afraid. Insecure. Controlling. And knowing that as a Christian, I should be experiencing the opposite. But not knowing how.

I'm asking God to show me the way and, as much as He wills, the why. And I think He has asked me to start with gratefulness.

Two Great Books

2009-06-23T20:49:00.000-07:00

Ann had an interesting post today at Holy Experience.

She mentioned Carol Dweck. I read her book Mindset: The New Psychology of Success several years ago. Her theory? There are two mindsets that someone can adopt. Not global mindsets, but about subjects.

The fixed mindset would say "I am good at math" or "I am bad at math." Both are fixed and can lead to trouble. This belief limits because when someone with a fixed mindset runs into problems, he or she perceives it as something about them that cannot be changed.

The growth mindset believes in effort and practice rather than innate talent. So when someone with a growth mindset runs into trouble, he or she will come up with some sort of plan to solve the problem, such as more study time, extra help, more practice and so on.

The great news is that it is not hard to switch from a fixed mindset to a growth mindset. Education about the two mindsets can go a long way.

I strongly recommend this book!

The other book I am reading now that was similar in subject to Ann's post is the book Talent is Overrated: What Really Separates World-Class Performers by Geoff Colvin. What is it that separates those world-class performers from the rest of us. Practice. Lots of it. But not just any kind of practice. It has to be deliberate practice of what comes hard. And that kind of practice is not easy or immediately rewarding. Which explains why so many fail to engage in it.

I'm still reading, but I would also strongly recommend this book.

The Odyssey: Audio Books

2009-05-08T19:56:00.000-07:00

Audible.com has copies of readings of unabridged versions of The Odyssey. I may purchase one from them, but I wondered about the translations. That information wasn't always available. I asked Audible and they referred me to the publishers. I thought I would summarize what I found here (because I don't think Audible is interested in including this in their descriptions).

Odyssey: The Story of Odysseus, by Homer, translated by W.H.D. Rose, narrated by Anthony Heald

The Odyssey, by Homer, translated by W.H.D. Rose, narrated by Nadia May

Odyssey, by Homer, translated by Stanley Lombardo, narrated by Stanley Lombardo

The Odyssey, by Homer, translated by William Cowper, narrated by Anton Lesser

The Odyssey, by Homer, translated by Samuel Butler, narrated by John Lee

The Odyssey, by Homer, translated by Stanley Lombardo, narrated by John Lescault

The Odyssey, by Homer, translated by George Herbert Palmer, narrated by Norman Deitz

And here is an easy explanation of the differences in some of the translations, from the website, The Greatest Literature of All Time.

Beginning a running program? Another plan

2009-05-08T19:26:00.000-07:00

Power in Motion is a beginning program for runners in the Houston area. It is part of HARRA, Houston Area Road Runners Association. They have posted their training program. Just change the dates and it could be used by anyone.

To find the plan for beginners (they call them Aerobic and Batons), click on Training on the left sidebar, then Aerobic and Batons. The Intermediate plan is called Carbo and Dawns. Advanced plan is called Enduro, Fitness, Gu and Hydration.

On some of the plans, there is something like this: 6x(3R/1W). That means: run for three minutes, walk for one minute. Repeat for a total of six times.

Computer-free Sundays

2009-04-25T13:44:00.000-07:00

I have made a commitment to myself to stay off the computer on Sundays. I kept this commitment for two Sundays and then broke it last Sunday. It started innocently enough, because my husband, who didn't have internet access, asked me to look up something. I did that and then rationalized that I had already blown it, so.... Sounds just like a dieter, doesn't it?

I did keep off the computer more than usual on Monday, to "sort of" make up for it.

Edited to add: Commitment kept on 4/5, 4/12, 4/26, 5/3!

In addition to that, I have made a commitment to keep off the computer until 12 noon Monday through Friday.

Edited to add: Commitment kept probably four days out of five each week. Need to do better!

These two commitments should help me reign in my excessive computer/internet time.

Bible Reading Plans, Part 2

2009-04-25T13:11:00.000-07:00

I wrote about my Bible reading plan here.

Then I wrote about some group Bible study plans in this post.

I just never got around to writing that "Part 2."

Here is one entry for individual Bible reading plans: The Five-Lane Reading Plan. I have not used this, but it does sound interesting. Plan to take some time to read about it and figure it out, but it seems to be a good plan.

Another plan that has been around a while is the M'Cheyne Bible Reading Plan. Read this first: a bit of history and explanation and even a "tune-up." Here is the plan, in a simple form.

An easy and interesting way to read the Bible in one year is to buy a chronological one year Bible. I own The Daily Bible: New International Version: With Devotional Insights to Guide You Through God's Word. I started it, but I never did finish it. I have trouble keeping the discipline up during the summer. I really liked it, however, and will do it again sometime.

And some other time, I would like to read the King James Version in a one-year format.

Beginning a running program?

2009-04-25T12:30:00.000-07:00

Here is a cool training program to get you from the couch to a 5K in a couple of months. It is called Couch to 5K training program and it is at Cool Running.

http://www.coolrunning.com/

And here are some podcasts to go with it:

http://www.ullreys.com/robert/Podcasts/index.html

Recording Gifts (or Gratitude) and other things

2009-04-18T21:28:00.000-07:00

I've decided that I don't enjoy posting the things I am grateful for here. I don't know why, except that I am, in some ways, a pretty private person. Someone could learn a lot about me by noticing what I am grateful for.

I am keeping an interesting list, though. At night, in a simple composition book, I write down these lists on a single page: "What I Did," "What I Didn't Do," "To Do," "Gifts" and "Prayers."

I write the "What I Did" list to help me not waste time. If I discovered that I goofed off too much of the day, it helps me focus the next day.

"What I Didn't Do" can be either things I procrastinated on, or things that waste time that I avoided.

"To Do" is, of course, a list of things I need to do.

"Gifts" is a list of the good things in my life.

"Prayers" is a list of things to pray about or people to pray for. It isn't the only list I have, but I kept noticing that I was thinking of things to pray about while writing these other lists, so I include it.

Our Hymn Study

2009-04-18T20:40:00.000-07:00

I realized a month or so ago that we had somehow dropped hymn study! We got back to it a couple of weeks ago and while the girls complained, I loved it.

I don't take the complaining very seriously. They have discovered popular music (they are almost 13 and almost 11), so the hymns don't excite them. But I do think they help keep things in perspective, which is even more important now that they have discovered popular music!

I love this resource: The Center for Church Music.

We use KISS Grammar: A Review

2009-04-18T20:21:00.000-07:00

I wrote a review of KISS Grammar for The Homeschool Library, a forum for homeschoolers.

You do not have to register to see the review. Click on the link to get to the forum, then notice the four tabs to the right of the page: Home, Forums, Reviews, Shopping. Click on Reviews, then on the thread 550.00 Language Arts Curricula Reviews. You'll find the KISS review there, plus some other comments.

I've decided to post it here, too. So here goes (it is a long review):

Review: KISS Grammar

Name of curriculum: KISS Grammar

Common Abbreviation: KISS

Which aspect of LA: Grammar, including punctuation, style, syntax and logic.

Age range of students: From second grade up to high school students.

Educational Philosophy: (choose from the master list ) (Master list was not available.) This program was written to meet a need for grammar instruction rather than from a philosophical perspective. After instruction about a concept, KISS uses classic literature for sentence analysis, which will especially please those who follow a Charlotte Mason and Classical philosophy. I somehow think that those who like what Ruth Beechick advocates would like KISS Grammar, too.

KISS Grammar was written by a college professor who teaches five freshmen English classes each semester. Every semester he works with students who have major problems writing essays because they have major problems with grammar. The author founded Syntax in the Schools, the only national publication dedicated to the teaching of grammar. He edited the journal for fifteen years. His desire is to change the way grammar is taught in this country because the approach now used in schools is not working.

Worldview: Secular. Uses classic, public domain literature.

Website: http://home.pct.edu/~evavra/KISS.htm

Review:

KISS Grammar is not a traditional grammar program. A traditional approach will focus on grammar constructions such as nouns and verbs, subjects and verbs, verb tense, phrases and so on. Students will learn definitions, rules and see examples and then do exercises written specifically for the topic just studied.

So what is KISS, if not a traditional grammar program? KISS Grammar teaches students how to use a limited number of grammatical constructions (which are learned in a specific sequence) to analyze real texts and their own writing.

The program is divided into five levels:

Level One - The Basics
Level Two - Expanding the Basics
Level Three - Clauses
Level Four - Verbals (Gerunds, Gerundives, and Infinitives)
Level Five - Noun Absolutes and Seven Other Constructions

All students using KISS will progress through these five levels. Students who have previously studied grammar may move rapidly through the lower levels, but all should start at Level One, just to be sure they understand how KISS works.

The five levels are not directly correlated to a year's worth of study. KISS Grammar does require more than one year's study to master (although the author uses the material in one year for college freshmen). Ideally, students should study KISS Grammar spread over five or six years. This allows the student to have plenty of practice with every construction and to work on a wide variety of literature.

As stated above, KISS Grammar will teach students how to analyze sentences. In fact, the main objective of KISS is to enable students to explain how any word in any sentence is connected to the words in a main-clause Subject/Verb/Complement pattern. In other words, students will be able to explain every word in a sentence, which means they will understand why errors are errors.

KISS is also different because it is all available for free from the KISS website. There is hope that the materials may be published some day, but the author promises to use an inexpensive publisher (such as Dover), forgo royalties to keep prices low and keep the material available on the KISS website for free.

KISS Grammar is a work in progress. There is enough material on the website to take a student through all the KISS Levels, but the author is continuing to refine his material.

There are two ways to use KISS Grammar. The first method is "Working Independently" (http://home.pct.edu/~evavra/kiss/wb/PBooks/index.htm). This material is available online or printable booklets. Think of the Working Independently section as teacher resource: it include instructions for the teacher (including the instructions she would give to students) and some exercises, but most students will require more than is provided. The teacher will pull additional sentences from whatever sources they choose.

This is for teachers who wish to have the basics of KISS instruction through the five levels, and who are willing to determine the pace through the levels and create additional exercises as needed.

This can be an ideal way to use KISS for teachers who have the time. They can make sure the progression is the best pace for their students and they can pull sentences from what their students are reading and from their students' own writing for the analysis. The KISS List is available for all users, but can be especially helpful for those using the Working Independently through the KISS Levels booklets for any questions that come up when analyzing texts (including students' own writing).

The second way to use KISS Grammar is through workbooks (also available online and in printable versions). http://home.pct.edu/~evavra/kiss/wb/PBooks/index.htm.

This is for those teachers who want to be able to open the workbook and go. The workbooks are designed to be about one year's worth of grammar instruction. Currently available are the Second Grade Workbook and the Third Grade Workbook. The Fourth Grade Workbook will be finished soon. This is the most convenient way to use KISS.

The Second and Third Grade Workbooks have been used with success with older students, even middle school students. I recommend that the teacher do the exercises (at least some of them) along with students. When I use KISS Grammar, I print a copy of the student workbook for myself.

How to use KISS Grammar if you have elementary-aged students? The easiest way to use KISS would be to print the Second Grade Workbook and start there. If you have time and want to make exercises from literature the student is reading and his own writing, then use the Working Independently booklets, beginning at Level One.

How to use if you have middle-school students? This is trickier! If your students would not mind stories such as Bunny Rabbit's Diary, then start with the Second Grade Workbook. My girls, ages nine and 11, did not mind these stories for exercises. I did almost all the exercises with them and I didn't mind the stories, either. If I were reading them aloud or we were reading for comprehension, I would not have enjoyed it, but we were analyzing sentences (solving puzzles!) and so Bunny Rabbit's Diary was fine.

If your student wouldn't go for this, then use the Working Independently Booklets.

For high school student, you will probably want to use the Working Independently through KISS Levels booklets.

Note: the author's plan includes printable workbooks for all grades from 2 through 11, with an entry point at each grade. That means that when they are complete, a teacher could start a seventh grader in the seventh grade book at Level One. They would progress as far as possible, and then pick up the next year wherever they are in the Eight Grade workbook.

A quote from the website: The best place to start to learn about KISS Grammar is to take the time to read this: An Introduction to the KISS Levels. http://home.pct.edu/~evavra/kiss/wb/LPlans/Overview_Levels.htm. Here is the opening paragraph from that document:

The primary objective of KISS is to enable students to identify grammatical constructions such that they can explain the function of every word in every sentence. This will enable them to understand how sentences work, and that will enable them to understand and intelligently discuss the rules of punctuation as well as sophisticated questions of style and logic. To my knowledge, no other instructional materials on grammar even try to reach this objective.

Have you used this curriculum? What levels? Yes, I have used the Second and Third Grade Workbooks.

Strengths: It works. My and I kids enjoy it. Simple to use. Lessons are short. Constant review. Exercises are interesting. Materials are available online or as printable documents. The printable material is very well laid out, which large margins and pleasant, old fashioned graphics from public domain sources. Author maintains a very low volume list so you can ask him questions directly. The cost is hard to beat! (Materials are free; your cost is your printing expense and the usual items needed, such as a binder to put the workbook in and so on.)

Weaknesses: Expect to take some time to understand the KISS Grammar and the website. Some may perceive the amount of information on the website as a weakness (or perhaps the organization of the material), but there is lots of good information there. Sometimes things are moved around or renamed on the site, but this has never been a problem for me. If you want an "open and teach" program, this probably won't work for you (although starting with the Second Grade Workbook is very close to "open and teach").

Comments:

I have been very pleased with KISS.

Our background for comparison: our previous grammar instruction was with Sonlight's Language Arts Program, Rod and Staff and The Hedge School Diagramming Program (http://hedgeschool.homestead.com/diagrams.html), plus the odd resources such as Grammar Songs, Schoolhouse Rock and grammar picture books. I have seriously looked at Shurley English, but we did not use it. I like this better than all those.

I have created an additional yahoo group for those interested in KISS: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/KISSGrammarGroup/

Leah

P.S. I will update the review if things change on the KISS Grammar website.

Three disaster books

2009-04-18T19:59:00.000-07:00

I recently re-read Isaac's Storm by Eric Larson, then checked out A Weekend in September by John Edward Weems and for some reason, that led me to The Perfect Storm: A True Story of Men Against the Sea by Sebastian Junger.

The first time I read Isaac's Storm, I enjoyed it, but I felt like I missed a lot because I read it quickly (there are lots of details in the book). So when I re-read it, I read more slowly and carefully. I found that I didn't like it this time around. I just don't think it is well-written. It goes too fast in some places and in other places goes on too much. It has some interesting facts in it, but I didn't enjoy reading it.

Somewhere I heard that A Weekend in September was the definitive book on the hurricane that destroyed Galveston in 1900. It looks like it was written in 1980 (I returned the book to the library, so I checked Amazon.com for the date). Reading this right after Isaac's Storm was a mistake. This one is written in a more formal style and moves more slowly. I wonder if I would have enjoyed it more if I had read it first? It seemed a little dry, but I already knew a lot of the story he told.

Then I decided to read The Perfect Storm. I felt so sad for those people! Especially as I read the opening, I kept hoping that they would turn their lives around. It was a hard book to read, knowing that the men died, perhaps a terrible death, and I don't think they had the comfort of salvation.

I was a little sorry at the time I had spent reading these books (and I didn't finish A Weekend and I skimmed the end of Isaac's Storm and The Perfect Storm).

I've decided that my reading habits are very different from most of the reading population!

Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain

2009-02-02T18:27:00.000-08:00

"Supercharge Your Mental Circuits to Beat Stress, Sharpen Your Thinking, Lift Your Mood, Boost Your Memory, and Much More"

by John J. Ratey, M.D., with Eric Hagerman

Interesting book. Certainly motivating for someone who is trying to exercise more.

The recommended regime at the end of the book:

walk or jog every day (low to moderate intensity; 55 to 65 percent of your maximum heart rate for low intensity, 65 to 75 percent for moderate intensity)

run (or some other comparable activity) a couple of times a week (high intensity; 75 to 90 percent of your maximum heart rate)

sprint (or comparable) every now and then (the high end of high intensity)

or, in other words,

some form of aerobic activity six days a week for forty-five minutes to an hour

four of those days toward the longer amount of time at moderate intensity

two of those days on the shorter side at high intensity

include some form of strength or resistence training on the shorter, high intensity days (not back-to-back days)

if you are new to activity, begin with walking

The book opens with a very interesting report on what schools in Napierville, Illinois, are doing for P.E. and the effect on grades.

Published in 2008.

The New Books Shelf at the Library

2008-10-04T09:14:00.000-07:00

I always pause at the New Books shelf at our library. Frequently, I'll check one out just to look through; it seems that I never love these books enough to read word-for-word, but some are interesting to skim.

So on my last trip, I saw this book called It's My Heart. I picked it up because I thought the perspective would be interesting. I've been thinking a lot about my children's hearts -- the emotional side -- and how, as much as I love them, I tend to be mostly about "making them" behave and "making them" do what they need to do (school, homework, chores, church and so on). The "making them" doesn't work very well with pre-teens and teens. Instead of changing my strategy (which would be good for us all and probably less stressful), I up the ante, so to speak. I try to find the logical consequence to "make them" act right.

I checked out the book to read through at home. What would it tell me about kids' hearts?

Got home and opened it up and, guess what, it is about kids' hearts. Not heart as in emotions and the seat of the soul and so forth, but actual, physical hearts!

I laughingly told my two girls about this and my older one looked me straight in the eye and said, "you can't judge a book by its cover." She's right.

So I now need to think about what a book about kids' hearts (not the physical organ) would say.

I think it would be a lot about relationships and connections.

Lists and everyday life

2008-10-03T23:16:00.000-07:00

Loved this about making lists!
http://clbeyer.wordpress.com/2008/09/04/living-with-lists/
I'm trying to grasp this concept of finding beauty in the ordinary, everyday life I live.
I think that I sometimes like the planning of life and the reading about life (or some part of life) more than I like the actual living/doing.

Fireproof, the movie

2008-10-03T18:43:00.001-07:00

I saw Fireproof with my kids last week. Great movie. Would like to see it again with hubby.

Going to movies like this is the easiest "ministry" I do! I really like supporting those who are making movies that have Christian values.

We own Facing the Giants on DVD. I would like to rent or buy Flywheel.

1000 Gifts

2008-10-03T18:25:00.000-07:00

Gifts...

loss of electricity...we got to spend time with family and neighbors outside
my understanding husband
tears
goodness of most people
my church (the building and the people)
libraries and their books
KISS Grammar! (what a surprise--I didn't used to like grammar)
changing seasons
new days, ability to start fresh and try again
forgiveness
Ann at Holy Experience
Ambleside Online Advisory

"Habits are like stray kittens..."

2008-09-25T22:16:00.000-07:00

That is the thought that came to mind a couple of days ago. I have been thinking about it since, wondering if it was silly or profound.

I certainly am not very good at establishing habits. (Big sigh.) Nor am I very good at helping (making) my kids form habits.

So, "habits are like stray kittens..." might mean that they are skittish, not resolute, not like an old cat that thinks (knows) she owns the place. A stray kitten will scamper away at the least bit of turmoil.

My habits seem to be like that. I work on them and work on them and then, bam!, something comes up, I stop the routine and it is as if I never had that habit. In some ways, it is worse, because I no longer have that enthusiasm that trying to form a new habit can give me.

This speaks to my self-discipline, of course. I just don't have as much as I should. I find myself thinking, "I don't want to..." I indulge that voice too often.

Here are some habits that I wanted to have formed and either haven't formed, or I started on them and then got sidetracked:

Gratitude: the 1000 gifts list. This is so important to my whole attitude and, goodness, how hard is it to do? I think about doing it, but I don't often get the things written down. I did spend time considering where the list should go- in this blog, on a yahoo list I created for that purpose, on my Amy Knapp Family Planner pages, in a notebook, etc. I have some gifts written down in a variety of places.

Exercise: I start and stop. Really, there is just no excuse.

Fixed Hour Prayer: This was working! Not perfectly, but very regularly and I was pleased. A difficult stretch and now I forget to pray much more than I remember.

Bible Reading: I was going to read the Bible in a year (or more). I got behind and then ran into the same difficult stretch (criticism about the time I was spending praying and reading the Bible) and it has stopped. Now I don't know what to do. (I am a bit of a perfectionist and thus the dilemma: skip the missed readings, go back and try to catch up, go back and continue forward, reading beyond the one-year mark...)

Flossing my teeth: okay, how many times will you see "Bible reading" and "flossing teeth" on the same list?

There are others, including books I want to read and projects I want to complete.

Part of the problem is that I resolve to do things without enough forethought. This season of my life is busy! I have too much enthusiasm for things that I want to do. Yet, those habits I listed (gratitude list, exercise, Bible reading, prayer) are vital!

Part of this wanting to do so much comes from a sense of having wasted part of my life. What part? Well, that part that was sitting in the classroom. I am learning so much with my girls following Charlotte Mason's teachings to the best of my understanding and the Ambleside Online curriculum.

Another part is the part that was reading twaddle voraciously during my free time.

Another part I wasted has to do with being a Christian but getting off the path and losing so much time that I could have used to gain Christian maturity and be a servant to the Lord.

You know what? I am going to finish this and go get ready for bed, including flossing my teeth) and then I am going to pray and read the Bible. Even if I tell myself, "I don't want to."

Charlotte Mason's "Use of Books Makes for Short Hours" part 2

2008-09-25T21:26:00.000-07:00

My problem is that when I look at the subjects covered (even with lots of them only covered once a week), it is very hard to plan a school day that has short hours. My schedules end up being about seven hours of work. Then, when you consider that we probably have a longer lunch hour than they do at school (we don't have any cafeteria ladies...), our day is as long or longer. However, I think the education is richer.

Our school week is Monday through Friday. I understand that in Charlotte Mason's day, the children went to school five and a half days. With my children's outside activities (music and sports) and friends, we just cannot count on having school time on Saturday. I'm not sure I would want to even if I could.

So now, I am wondering, what was the comparison that Charlotte Mason made? How long were other children in the late 1800's going to school?

I have seen schedules for a Charlotte Mason-inspired homeschool with short hours, but the rigor of the curriculum seemed to be lost.

On a practical note, I can get most of our academics scheduled to be done in five hours, but that is just too long to go without lunch. My hope was to be able to get all those things done before lunch (even if we needed a snack), so there would be that sense of a different kind of work done "after lunch." We leave at noon one day a week for music lessons. Combine this with no Saturday lessons and it is easy to see why our day is long--or at least, not short!

Since we cannot get all the academic work done before lunch, I am wondering if I should schedule the start of school earlier, followed by lunch after three hours. Then, continue with two more hours academic work, then have a break of an afternoon snack before we get to the music practice, art, nature walk, handicrafts and artist and composer studies.

And in implementing the schedule, I need to be better about ending the lesson at the prescribed time (or time expended). I am so guilty of going over.

Charlotte Mason's "Use of Books Makes for Short Hours"

2008-09-20T21:08:00.000-07:00

I picked up volume 3 of The Home School Series: School Education. I wanted to see what she said about the time needed for school for this age group (since School Education tends to deal with middle school-aged students).

I found the emphasis she placed on "Books and Things" for a good education interesting. Books, of course, should be living books and should be part of a wide curriculum.

"Things" included:

natural obstacles for physical contention, climbing, swimming, walking
material to work in -- wood, leather, clay, etc.
natural objects in situ (in site) -- birds, plants, streams, stones, etc.
objects of art
scientific apparatus, etc.

Then, on page 240, she says that the use of books makes for short hours.

In her schools, all bookwork, writing, preparation and reports were done between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. for the youngest group and 9:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. for the oldest group. That is six days a week, not just five, from what I understand (it doesn't say this in the book). That makes from 15 to 24 hours per week of the work described above: bookwork, writing, preparation (of what is not specified) and reports.

Then, there was one to two hours in the afternoon for handicrafts, field work, drawing and more. (Music practice comes to mind.)

Evenings were free for hobbies and family reading.

In the past, I have scheduled our days with a bit of variety, moving from one type of activity to another, not paying any attention to the "bookwork in the morning" aspect.

I am considering scheduling our day so that all this bookwork is done in the morning hours. I think it might be a good way to do school. I'll have to see if I can fit everything in in those morning hours and what it is like, but I can imagine the relief in getting those things done and then having the afternoons for more outside or other types of studies.

Charlotte Mason's Table of Centuries, Century Charts, Century Books and Timelines

2008-09-20T18:55:00.000-07:00

I have been thinking on what Charlotte Mason wrote about Century Charts and the Century Book and really trying to understand them.

Table of Centuries
She first advocated a Table of Centuries. This, as I understand it, was to be for the younger students. You made columns on a page, labeled each one with a century, then as the students read, they would put names on the table in the correct column. The order of the names in the column was not important. I get the impression this was a tool to help the students understand that things happened in different centuries only, but the students were not to be too worried about the details yet.

I find it interesting that she didn't write about this in volume 6, which is her final work written after years of experience. I wonder if she found the century chart and century book to be better ideas? I never did a table of centuries with my children.

Century Chart
I have had what I think is a breakthrough on my thinking of a century chart! See this earlier post, when I really starting mulling over these options.

My breakthrough came as we started our Plutarch study for this year.

It occurred to me to make a century chart for Plutarch!

But before I tried that, I wanted my girls to make a century chart for our family, as described in the article, The Teaching of Chronology.

Since 100 years is about the limit of man's life, and we generally speak of centuries in history, we take for biography, or for history, a square divided into 100 squares, thus, and it is read as a page of ten lines:--
<diagram 1>
Now this may represent the life of a man or that of a century. To a little child it should stand at first for the former, as we must proceed from the known to the unknown, for his own life. The first square stands for the time before he is a year old--i.e. The year "nought" of his life; the second square for the time when he is one year old, and so we mark the squares accordingly. The first line gives the first decade of life, in the second line we have all the tens, in the third all the twenties, and so on; whilst, looking vertically downwards, we have in the first row all the numbers ending with zero; in the second those ending with one, and so on. A child very quickly learns to read on a black chart the number corresponding to any square in the century of squares; a line somewhat thicker is given down the centre to help the eye, and it is easy to remember that the fifty comes just beyond the central horizontal line and five beyond the central vertical line.

I decided to make it just a little different for our family. We started with the year my husband and I got married. Children followed quickly, so they could plot their older brother's birth and then their births. They ended up being interested in presidents and Olympics (no doubt because of current events) so we put those in there. They will keep these charts and add to them from time to time. We will only put one or two events in each year. It is hard to decide what to put in and when you do a century chart on 8 1/2 by 11 inch paper, the squares are really small! My daughter really liked the idea of symbols (as described in the article above), but I much prefer words.

We each did one. We all wrote this on our chart, which is something I got out of the book, Facts Plus: An Almanac of Essential Information by Susan C. Anthony: "A century is 100 years. The first century was from the birth of Christ through 100 AD. The second century was from 101 to 200 AD. The year 2000 is in the 20th century. 2001 is the first year in the 21st century."

So back to the Plutarch Century Chart:

After some review, I determined that a five by five chart would do, with each square representing 100 years. Our chart starts at 1500 BC and goes to 1000 AD. Because the BC years can be somewhat confusing--we aren't used to counting that way--we numbered each square with beginning and ending dates. For example, the first square is numbered this way: 1500 -- 1401 BC.

I included enough centuries so that we could plot Plutarch's life and the lives of the Greek and Romans he wrote about (just the ones we will study). This will cement the knowledge of when he lived and how far back he was looking to write the biographies he wrote. Since we have just started with Plutarch (it took a year of inconsistent reading to finish Publicola) there are not many entries, but this is what I included:

Founding of Rome: 653 BC
Rome kicks out her kings: 509 BC
Publicola (in the square 600 - 501 BC)
Rome conquers Greece: 146 BC
Julius Caesar born: 100 BC (we will start will him this term)
Jesus born: about 1 AD
Jesus died: about 34 AD
Plutarch born: about 46 AD
Plutarch died: about 122 AD

Edited to add: here is the document that we started with, then we added the dates noted above:
Century Chart of Plutarch's Lives Century Chart of Plutarch's Lives leahintexas The beginnings of a centruy chart based on Plutarch's Lives.

Publish at Scribd or explore others: Study Guides, Notes, School Work ambleside online century chart

Next, I thought a century chart for Shakespeare could be useful. The same idea will be used: enough centuries to include Shakespeare's life, plus the histories he wrote about. (The tradegies, romances and comedies cannot be pinpointed to specific times and even if they could be, that is not really useful or needed information.) I have done a little research with an encyclopedia to get these dates, but haven't actually made our charts yet.

When I make these charts for our use, I use the table feature and usually just print that out. We hand write in the dates and so forth. Or I may include a few key dates in the printed copy and then we complete the rest.

So what was the (for me) breakthrough idea? That students can create a century chart for any specific subject to help clarify the historical chronology of that subject. The article, "The Teaching of Chronology," (noted in my earlier post) gave this example:

Later, we should make such a chart on a larger scale, and with room for ruling and marking important events. We use charts coloured for various periods of English History--e.g., the Roman occupation, the various Royal Houses. * The four periods of five centuries each, form good divisions for Modern History. In the first line we have, roughly, from Augustus to the fall of Rome, and in England the period of Roman occupation. In the second line we have the period of barbarian settlements--tribes are changing into nations. In the third line we have, speaking roughly, the Mediaeval period. In the fourth, Modern History.

I made a century chart of what I think this example means. It is in the HEO yahoo group's file section.

Then I went back to Charlotte Mason's writings in Volume 6 and found this, which, although I had underlined it previously, I had missed part of its meaning:

The pupils make history charts for every hundred years on the plan either adapted or invented by the late Miss Beale of Cheltenham, a square ruled into a hundred spaces ten in each direction with symbol in each square showing an event which lends itself to illustration during that particular ten years. Thus crossed battle axes represent a war. Volume 6, page 177

What I now noticed for the first time was that the student in these forms (Form V and VI)--ages 15 to 18, are to "make history charts for every hundred years" they study.

What this said to me was that my students (who are younger than the recommended ages) could make century charts for the era they were studying.

Here is what the Ambleside Online students are studying in the various years:

Year 1 -- early history, focusing on people rather than events
Year 2 -- 1000 AD - Middle Ages
Year 3 -- 1400 - 1600 (Renaissance to Reformation)
Year 4 -- 1700's up to the French Revolution and American Revolution
Year 5 -- 1800 to 1920 up to WWI
Year 6 -- end of WWI to present day, then a term in ancient history
Year 7 -- 800-1400's Middle Ages (Alfred, King Arthur, Joan of Arc)
Year 8 -- 1400-1600's (Reniassance to Reformation)
Year 9 -- 1688-1815 including French and American revolutions
Year 10 -- 1815-1901 including the American Civil War
Year 11 -- 20th Century
Year 12 -- ancient history

from the FAQs on the AO website. (That link doesn't look right....)

So my AO Year 5 student could have two century charts, one for the one hundred years from 1800 (or 1801) to 1899 (or 1900) another for the next one hundred years. My AO Year 3 student would have three century charts for her time period.

I think many homeschoolers used a timeline instead of these century charts, but I find it interesting that Charlotte Mason never described a timeline as we think of timelines now; at least, not that I have read. I think many people assume that the modern timeline replaces the century chart and the book of centuries.

But I have to say that I really like working with these century charts. They are better than timelines in at least one way and that is if you want to clarify something specific, such as Plutarch or Shakespeare and their works. Timelines cover so many years that I think some of the details about these specific topics might not be so apparent.

Century Book or Book of Centuries
OK, what I found interesting about this was that it, too, was not a timeline like we do timelines now. I kept thinking about the idea of taking the Book of Centuries into the museum and drawing the everyday items from an era. Charlotte Mason did not talk about putting people in these books, at least not that I can find.

One day it hit me that these Books of Centuries are like the Usborne books that feature the everyday items of a particular time period. Now, I don't really care for these Usborne books, but if I had created one of my own (with my own sketches and notes) it would be much more meaningful!

Sorting this out has been interesting.

I forgot this book!

2008-09-12T10:55:00.000-07:00

The Gospel According to Moses: What My Jewish Friends Taught Me About Jesus by Athol Dickson.

It has been said before, but I heartily agree:

So many books, so little time.

I wonder who first said that?