12. November 2008 by Shannon.

… well, only partly laughing.

I’ve been waiting for some packages from both FedEx and UPS… well, they both showed up today. 

FedEx: “Excuse me ma’am (while Ev stands behind me with Poppy, our shepherd/huskymix, by her collar), I have a delivery, but you need to put the dog away, the boxes are big.” .. no problem, away goes Poppy, the guy delivers, and off he goes.

An hour later, I hear a low growl.. I go to investigate and she is snarling with all her fur on end at something she can see between the pocket doors that lead to the entrance way… so I open a door, patting her as I do and telling her what a “good girl” she is.  And there, beside my original two packages, are two more packages.  ?  So, I look out the door and there is the UPS guy driving away in his ugly brown van.

THEY OPENED MY FRONT DOOR AND CAME INSIDE!!!

I’m stunned.  And although he doesnt’ know it, he is VERY lucky that I slid those doors closed… Poppy woulda ripped him to shreds!  Dumb dumb dumb!  So now I have to make a “Beware of Dog” sign for the front window, but seriously!

How dare these people feel they have the right to open my front door and come in my house without my permission… while I’m home and while my little children are running around… that really made me mad!  But the whole experience reassured me that there is no way “Pops” would ever let anything happen to us… I feel safer in that respect.

But, my darling son decided that what we need is a door bell… so he found a “experiment” in one of his science books that tells you how to make a doorbuzzzer.  So, off to the hardware store we go.. and a whopping $30 later (!!! Oh my the price of science! Sheesh) we come out with the parts we need. 

As soon as we got back home, Ev got to work… and guess what?!?!  It works!!!  The most expensive doorbell imaginable.. and it isn’t even a bell.. it’s a buzz.  BUT at least we can put something inside the house so maybe we can hear when someone is at the door and not have strangers intruding into our home.

Imagine! 

Posted in Everett | Print | 2 Comments »

7. November 2008 by Shannon.

As a proud member of the TOS Review Crew, I was sent three books from a company I’d never heard of before (and kinda wish I had!!): Salem Ridge Press.  Started by a homeschool teen interested in bringing back wonderful literature from the past, Daniel Mills (mentored by his dad, Chuck) started this little publishing company with some pretty strict guidelines for what he would consider appropriate materials to make available to today’s readers.  Rule Number One?  No kissing.  Seriously!!  I love it! *grin*

So, ahem.. back to three books.  I’m not sure exactly what I am supposed to tell you, whether about the company itself or the books they sent.  So I’ll tell ya about both.  First the books…

Each of the three books has a pleasant type face to read… not tiny and squished like some of the older classics you find in the second hand store… all three of the ones I received have line drawing illustrations in them, with clothing styles reflecting the period of the story.. however, I’m not sure if these were original prints or if they were done by Salem Ridge Press.  The book is of good quality in it’s binding and covers… over all for that I’d be comfortable with giving as a gift (it’s not cheap looking, is what I mean).

The American Twins of the Revolution (softcover is $12.95) is based on a true story of the American Revolution!  It is written much like the style of the Little House on the Prairie books.. however one of the twins is a boy around (I’d say) 11 years old, so it doesn’t “alienate” the boy crowd during read-aloud time the way the Little House books might being stories of all girls (Farmer Boy excepted.. my son LOVED that book!! LOL!).  It’s a lovely read and I always love “based on a true story” historical books.

Glaucia the Greek Slave (softcover edition is $14.95).  WOW.. I could not put this down for the life of me.. MOM loved it.. forget kids.. who cares! LOL! No, really, my almost 15 year old son has just picked it up to read it (he loves the greek/roman time period as that was also the early church).  But if you want MY opinion, this is a fantastic book… excellent quality, and wonderful deep messages that would inspire hours of conversation on beliefs, faith, theology, etc… it was a true joy to read, and I have to say my favourite of the three books…

and Mary Jane ~ Her Book (softcover is $12.95), was the third book I received.  This one was more challenging.  My almost 6 year old son wasn’t interested in listening to it (what self-respecting “pirate wannabe” boy wants to hear about dollies and tea parties?!?!? *grin*)… my 3 year old, well, she wanted to use it as a “building” in her little “town”… and my Bigs are kinda old for the story line… so Mom read it all alone.  It’s a very easy read but not very interesting… at least not to this never-you-mind how old Mom of four.  I don’t mean to say there is no merit to it… maybe in a couple of years, Chaeli might be interested in hearing the story of another little girl (younger than school aged) and her little adventures.  The plot is basically the preschool adventures of precocious Mary Jane… and the book explores several slightly deeper concepts such as how you DON’T give drinks to baby birds in nests with the garden hose… and Important Things To Know like that… *wink*

All in all, I love the quality of the books, I love that Daniel’s standards in literature are so high, and I’d feel safe buying any book they publish. 

Well done!

Blessings!!

PS.  Check out their Christmas Promotion Here!!

Posted in Great Finds | Print | 1 Comment »

6. November 2008 by Shannon.

I don’t have much to say for today… it’s been a long week - I promise to catch up soon!  BUT… I don’t want to leave you with nothing, so check this AWESOME Contest out… I hope you win!!! :o) (I can’t, I’m in Canada, but judging from my son’s “Cooooooool!” it’s a good contest.  LOL!)

The Official HSB Community Blog - The Quest for Thunder Mountain Contest!

Blessings!

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13. October 2008 by Shannon.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL MY CANADIAN FRIENDS!!!

Okay, in honour of a fun day… I have a completely frivelous, nothing at all related to homeschooling, parenting or anything post… Enjoy! :o)

What Your Pizza Reveals

Your appetite is pretty average. You don’t go overboard - but you don’t deprive yourself either.You aren’t particularly picky about pizza. It’s so good… how could you be? You fit in best in the Western part of North America. You like food that’s traditional and well crafted. You aren’t impressed with “gourmet” foods.You are dependable, loyal, and conservative with your choices. You are deep and thoughtful. You should consider traveling to Paris. The stereotype that best fits you is guy or girl next door. Hey, there’s nothing wrong with being average.

What Does Your Pizza Say About You?

Blessings!

Posted in Uncategorized | Print | 1 Comment »

11. October 2008 by Shannon.

I posted this review on my www.momlovesbooks.com blog… but it’s worth sharing here as well. 

Having been at this ‘Homeschooling Thing’ for 10 years now… I know the fears, doubts and frustrations with starting out… or restarting homeschooling. I’ve had the “homeschooled since birth” experience as well as the “yank ‘em out of school fast” experience, as well as one “he’ll finish up the year and that’s the end of that” experience. And every single time it comes with that butterflies-in-the-stomach feeling of

NOW WHAT?!

Well, a friend of mine, Terri Johnson, came up with a wonderful answer! She’s created an ABC’s of Homeschooling E-Course (oh, and btw, I’m not the ‘brightest bulb in the house’ as it took me to lesson F to realise that she was indeed going through the Alphabet - even the fact that there were 26 weeks to the course didn’t tip me off… *oh brother*).

Ahem! Back to what Terri did…

Imagine walking hand-in-hand with a Veteran Homeschooling Mom who is there helping you week-by-week to plan what you will be doing…

Imagine being introduced to all her Homeschool Veteran friends who want to bless you with gifts of curriculum and encouragement…

Imagine learning alongside your children, in a pleasant, RELAXED way…

Imagine knowing that what you will be learning and doing can be re-used and re-done a thousand times without wearing out either the learning or the fun…

Imagine developing your OWN Educational Philosophy (a lofty goal for some… but completely attainable!)…

Imagine having the time and know-how to create your own “Unit Study” geared to your children’s gifts and passions, or know that you can fully meet all Provincial or State requirements…

Or best of all - Imagine having the ANSWER when your neighbour asks “What about SOCIALIZATION?!”…

Would it be worth it to you to have this kind of help? Would you be willing to give up a cup of coffee at a Fancy Coffee Shop a week for it?

Well, Terri’s Homeschooling ABCs E-course costs as little as that… less than 2.50$ a week ( only $10 a month for 6 months)!!! And you’ll get lots of free goodies from Terri and her friends (your new friends!), not to mention the incredible opportunity to “sit at their feet” and soak up all their years of experience and wisdom!!

This course is worth every single penny, in my humble opinion… and I’ve seen lots of “ABC lists” for Homeschooling (or any other topic you might wish to research) and this is not just a list… each course comes in an email with a link to the Homeschooling ABCs Site with links for downloadable PDFs (which can be read/printed from the free Acrobat Reader ) and any links to your new Homeschool friends’ gifts to you (gifts totally hundreds of dollars, I might add.. nice friends, eh? *grin*). You’ll receive one course each week for (you guessed it… even if I didn’t! LOL!) 26 weeks… a whole Alphabet of weeks! :o)

One of the things I really REALLY liked about this course is that it was MUCH less intimidating than reading the ‘Guides to Homeschooling’ that are available in the market, and not full of all the “perfect homeschool - lookitus” mentality that can downright discourage a new homeschooler (heck, even a veteran like myself can be left wondering if I have what it takes in reaction to bragging like that!). This is not a collection of how all these wonderful things that happened when our kids got into “Ivy League schools on full scholarships the same year they won the Nobel Peace Prize just for being Homeschoolers” kind of encouragement - instead, it’s a PRACTICAL, HANDS-ON, WALK-YOU-THROUGH-IT-IN-BITE-SIZED-CHUNKS kind of encouragement. I like that kind! :o)

Terri (in case you don’t already know) is the talent behind Knowledge Quest Maps - she’s been homeschooling for at least 11 years - so she knows of what she speaks! I’ve had the priviledge of listening to web-seminars offered by her in the past, and her passion and vision is an inspiration.

So, If you are just starting out, or starting over - maybe what you are doing isn’t working and you’re ready to toss in the towel… WAIT! Don’t give up… think of Maria’s advice in The Sound of Music… “Let’s Start at the Very Begining, A Very Good Place to Start”… Well, Homeschooling ABCs E-Course will certainly get you off to a Very Good Place - and you might just hang that towel back on the hook (or better yet - why not wrap it around your head like a Pirate and chase the kids around the living room, fall laughing on the couch, pull our a copy of Peter Pan and snuggle down for a Good Read?).

Whatever you decide… don’t give up - just go back and learn your Homeschooling ABCs!

Posted in Great Ideas, Curriculum Choices, Great Finds, General Homeschool | Print | No Comments »

9. October 2008 by Shannon.

 Once again, you are all standing around scratchin’ yer noggins saying, “Huh?”  heehee….

A friend was wondering what to use that was more “Charlotte Mason Friendly” than a big science textbook (like Apologia).  I just wanted to share my reply to her concern here in case it blesses someone (else… I know my friend, Lori Lynn was blessed by it *smile*):

What we do for Science (using Aologia) is read Dr. Wile’s chapters together… very CM.  I read it to them, cuddled up on the couch, then we do the experiments together and have fun (I record my own lab sheet too!) and then we talk about the results before we move on to reading what Dr. Wile has written about “what was supposed to happen”.  We use a lapbook system for the “study questions” so they can quiz themselves effectively, then we do the test… it’s been very interactive.  I cannot imagine asking my kids to do that HUGE text alone… You can find some interactive hands-on materials for Apologia at Currclick  and you can get the lab kits at Sonlight (which can make a difference between facing the experiments confidently or not)… you can find them in the core 7 science they are called NSK and I’m not sure the other one, the other one is the one gears specifically for “General Science”)

I believe that almost anything can be done in a somewhat CM-y way… reading the lessons together and getting excited about it and discussing it with Dad ‘round the dinner table (narrations anyone?) cements the learning.  Don’t give up quite yet…

BUT…another resource (with the exception of the first course, which I recommend ONLY if you omit the last lesson) are the connect the thoughts science courses… they are thorough, however NOT faith based (and in my humble opinion it is impossible to separate the two and get a “good” science education… since a good researcher would go to the source of the thing they are studying, right?  Well, since God made everything, it seems logical to go to Him about His creation.  Ya know?).  However, from a completely “separate from God” point of view.. these are excellent.  They can also be done as a “read together” then “discuss the questions or do the projects together” kind of way, although it’d be a bit more challenging.  You can find them at also at Currclick.

High school science is tough… not tough to understand with the right “teacher”, but a tough “responsibility”… you don’t want to leave your kids short changed, yet it’s hard to make a not-text book type choice and be sure you’ve covered all the basics. 

I was also thinking, maybe ask around and see if anyone else in your homeschool community is doing the Apologia and see if maybe you guys could organize “group experiments” or something, your son might be more interested if he knows he’s not alone and has something to look forward to (getting together with some science buddies)?  I have the benefit of both my Bigs doing this science together with me, so it makes it a “mini-group” and we’ve had some fun “arguments” over what we think should happen or should HAVE happened (um, the balloon apparently wasn’t *supposed* to explode all over the kitchen – who knew?) and to discuss the lesson together.  

I hope you can find something that works for you…

Blessings!

Posted in LapBooks, Great Ideas, Curriculum Choices, General Homeschool | Print | 2 Comments »

8. October 2008 by Shannon.

I was visiting my friend, Lia, the other day and of course, whenever homeschool moms get together there is the eventual, “So, how do YOU do it?”… of course I asked.  You see, my friend Lia has 9 children, all homeschooled from the start… she has graduated 2 or maybe 3 of them already into Post Secondary and right now one of them is actively pursueing a job as a fire-fighter!!!  (Personally, I don’t need any more white hairs, thank you very much!)

Okay, back to “how she does it”.  Well, the way she homeschools isn’t really what I want to write about… I want to just share one little nugget of gold that she practices that jumped out at me and I immediately had to go home and implement… and my kids are THRILLED!

Lia makes a binder full of pageprotectors (nothing special yet, eh?  hang on to your hats… there’s more!) and then she FILLS said page protectors with several copies of different layouts of templated notebooking pages.  There are so many amazing Homeschool Moms out there who have designed incredible notebooking pages; with spaces for pictures, maps, timelines even!  And of course… a written narration (summary) of that days/subjects lesson. 

So, her children do their school reading/research, then go over to the Master Binder, flip through and choose something that appeals to them that day, slips a page out of the page protector and go back and do their notebook page.  When finished they slip it into the last place in their own personal notebooks and have added to their “Personal History Book”.  It’s so simple an idea.  When they take out the last sheet, they inform Mom who then looks at the sheet they printed out, goes to the computer, prints out more copies of that particular sheet (and believe it or not, it’ll surprise you which ones your kids will “click” with!) and plops them back into the empty page protector … ready for the next lessons!

Now, as you all know, I’m all about the pictures, so here is a picture of a few pages from MY notebook page binder… and a picture of a page Kenzi did today on Madeleine de Verchères:

 So, my thought for today is….

THANK YOU LIA! :o)

 Blessings!

OH!  PS, here is my “creepy crawly of the month”… I found him crawling up my study window—>

 And here is my other little friend who is OBVIOUSLY not doing his job!

Sweet Dreams! *grin*

Posted in Notebooks, LapBooks, Great Ideas, General Homeschool | Print | 1 Comment »

2. October 2008 by Shannon.

Well, my first attempt at a book draw has come to a close (yesterday) and thank you to the ladies who participated for not attacking me with emails about not paying attention that the 1st came and went.. I was working really hard yesterday and time got away from me.. it wasn’t till I looked at the calendar today that I realised I’d missed it by a day.  Sigh.. busy homeschool life, eh?

SO… without further ado…

The winner is *insert drum roll here* ….. RACHEL LARKIN of http://www.Rachel-Larkin.com.  I’m inspired like crazy at all the possiblities now (why didn’t *I* think of that?).  BUT… since all the entries were on the same “wave length” in ideas (hers just took it to another level) - I’ve decided to send everyone something…. so Danielle, Jennifer and Laura… keep your eyes open in your inbox for a treat from me! :o)

On another note… my husband is an addict.  Okay, not *that* kind of addict… but a sports addict.  He’s a die-hard fan of the Montreal Canadiens Hockey Team… and this week he decided it was time to fully indoctrinate our youngest son into the ranks of the truly addicted.  He took him to his First Game. 

This is Greyson’s report on the game:

“Daddy took me the hockey game.  It was so loud but I wasn’t even scared, I was humming to myself.  People were screaming except for me!  A big huge machine and another came out and they cleaned all the ice up.  And the other got rid of the scrapes.  I saw a guy with a costume.  I liked him.  He was hiding from me -  he was sneaky.  I was looking for him.  I wanted him to come and see me but he didn’t, he just came to see the other kids.  He was big and hairy!   The hockey players made the scrapes and made snow and the man witht he shovels cleaned up the snow.  In the picture, that is the thing that shows the players playing the game.  This is a picture of me with my costume, I went in front of Daddy and he took this cute picture.  There was nothing else I could see.  Daddy bought me some pizza with pepperonis and some pop.  The best part of the hockey game was Daddy taking lots of pictures.”

I think narrations of events count too, right? ;o)

The “big and hairy” guy was the Youpi (I think I spelled that right) mascot who was the mascot of the Expos, but then they left, so he was adopted by the Habs (the Canadiens).  See, I know SOME stuff about sports… not much, but I do know a little!  LOL!

I also wanted to share a pretty picture of Chaeli too… I think Kenzi took it, but I just love her eyes… and this is “so her” because she’s ALWAYS got an apple on the go… I’ve read it might have something to do with her GERD, apparently apples can help ??

Posted in Chaeli, Greyson | Print | No Comments »

29. September 2008 by Shannon.

Bonnie commented on my blog post about Connect the Thoughts from a Christian Worldview:

I am trying to find out some things about Steven David Horwich and Google brought me to this post. I found his curriculum on CurrClick. I am trying to determine if the curriculum is built upon the Scientology theme. Are you a Christian? What do you know of the religious theme of Connect the Thoughts? I tried to access the Yahoo group you mention in this entry but it was not available.

I wanted to address in a new post my answers to these concerns (btw, I am doing this not as an “expert” on anything, but as my humbly offered opinion):

Connect the Thoughts is NOT religion based.  Not Faith-Based at all.  I am a Born-Again Christian and with the exception of the first course in Science, and the first course in History (and that one only a very little, and used it as a sounding board for my own faith based discussion) have read EVERY Upper School history course and found nothing offensive in it. 

I am helping with the editing of the courses (slow work with 4 kids underfoot er… underkeyboard?) and we are addressing aspects which could be construed as anti-God.  Steven Horwich has made every effort to be as neutral as humanly possibly in his POV as far as religion goes, and the courses offer NO Scientology references/theology/ideals or anything else.  He has done an exceptional job at producing something of incredible importance. 

Steven believes that in order to improve the world, people need to be educated.  He offers his courses at a often ridiculously low price to keep them affordable for the average person… shortly all written materials will come with the course (meaning, there will be no other books to buy as resource materials… I’ll be updating when this is finalized sometime in the next few weeks).

When I first posted this I’d only recently “discovered” CTT myself, but now I have worked with Steven quite closely and constantly amazed at what a compassionate and thoughtful person he is, having no intent to offend anyone.  He holds in very high regard those with ANY beliefs at all, as he says it is sad how so many now have no strong beliefs at all… or at least nothing that brings good to the world.

To put it in perspective… I am doing Apologia Science, and using CTT for history, Creative Writing (absolutely the best writing course out there!), Current Events, Art and my kids read all the time.  The reason I am not using CTT for science is because I like to do science as a family, and Apologia affords me a more conversational tone for science that I like, while keeping with my belief system.  CTT’s science is Very Good… but it must be understood that there is a clear separation of God/Creation and Science from his POV… but the courses themselves are very informative.  I think if I Christian were to skip the last lesson in the first course and move on to the next book, they’d do just fine with CTT Science courses… the last lesson has a fair bit of what can be interpreted as opinion (in my humble opinion), but the materials in the rest of the course and the following courses are exceptional.

I hope this has helped! :o)

You can find all the CTT courses at Currclick and OOPS - I goofed on the Yahoo group… here is it:  http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ConnecttheThoughts

Blessings!!

PS - for those who haven’t seen them… I wanted to share a picture of my “gang” doing school that I think I’m going to have blown up and framed to remind them what they *should* look like… LOL!

Around the table from back to front:

Chaeli (Pre-K), Kenzi (Gr7), Greyson (K) and Everett (Gr9)

Posted in Curriculum Choices, Great Finds, General Homeschool | Print | 3 Comments »

20. September 2008 by Shannon.

How I Taught My Child to Read for Less Than $1

Check out the great article above - it uses a book I know can be found on MOST homeschooler’s shelves in a natural (unscripted) way… I have 100 Easy Lessons on my shelf, it’s nice to think of a new way to use it.  Greyson isn’t liking it at all…. Chaeli isn’t too picky, she just loves the one on one time, any way she gets it! LOL!

I have some index cards in front of me right now, and a marker beside it… I think I’ll try this with the Littles and see how it goes.

I’m sorry I’ve been so neglectful of my blog of late, but I have been blogging!!! HONEST!  I’m trying to think of a new way to use this blog… maybe more as a forum of my own ideas about homeschooling or things we’ve tried and had work (because lots doesn’t work.. LOL!).  But as for the weekly stuff, we’ve set up a whole new system… go check it out!!!

www.homeschoolblogger.com/ratcliffeauthor - is Everett’s blog which he’s “required” to post in once a week for school.

www.homeschoolblogger.com/horseridergirl - is McKenzie’s blog, same deal.

www.homeschoolblogger.com/ratcliffeblessings - is the blog that I am keeping for updates on what Greyson and Chaeli are doing for school each week.  I get in there once a week, towards the end of the week to keep it current… as they do projects and the likes, we’ll take pictures and post those too.  I also am using it for the funny little things they say, which are abundant!

I also have a blog (well, it could be a blog or a website, right now it’s set up as a blog, but I can undo that…) called www.momlovesbooks.com.  I liked the name of the domain, but I’m not sure what to do with it now… I’d love to hear people’s ideas!!! PLEASE comment and tell me what YOU would do with it… hmmm… maybe I’ll offer a prize for the person with the idea I choose to implement… hmmm… what could I offer?  Let me think… hey, I know!

Alright… here’s the deal.  I a very nice copy of the book “How to be a God Chaser and a Kid Chaser” by Tommy and Thetus Tenney.  SO… leave me a comment about what I should do with my momlovesbooks website, and whoever’s idea I choose, I will send this book to, at my discretion (within Canada or the States - unless you want to help me with the shipping… sorry!).  Okay?  I promise to send it to someone - so y’all better come up with some good ideas!!! *grin* 

So… contest closing… hmm… how about the 1st of October at noon EST?  (this is getting technical!  I’m a homeschool mom, no one is allowed to jump down my throat if I don’t check or decide till after school that day, okay?  It just means you have a longer time to think of an idea! *wink*)

Be sure to leave me some way to get in touch with you! :o)

Blessings!

Posted in Chaeli, Great Ideas, Greyson, Kenzi, Everett, Blogroll | Print | 6 Comments »