Work Week- Take Ad Infinitum

*1*

 Monday rocked every one's world with a great visit from grad school friends. Paul brought an arsenal with him, rifles, pistols and hand-guns. Clay pigeons, soda cans, paper targets and fence posts all bowed before us. Outside all day blowing through tons of ammo and getting sunburns. Labor Day love, right there.

*2*

Cub is taking an on-line Marine Bio class on-line. Tech/test run this week. Looks fantabulous! Flower keeps at the Time for Learning- her fav areas are science and language arts.

*3*

Lots of housework. We primed and painted and re-painted the basements worth of trim. It is one giant puzzle piece as we are using re-claimed 12" trim from the second floor. Instead of 4 rectangular rooms the basement has 3 rooms, including a 6 sided room. So it had to be measured and cut and then checked. Somehow about 60% of the 6 -sided room wasn't measured right and has to be re-done. This doesn't usually happen to my detail oriented, somewhat ocd dh. Back to the cutting table. Again. It's where he lives.

In other house news, 2 more door-knobs were installed. I hope to get the other half of the attic primed and then a color thrown up and the last laundry room wall just needs finish sanded and it's ready for prime and paint. It is really, finally, really getting finished.

I'm doing a Before/ After Pin of Summer Projects sometime soon- soon as in, as soon as I get caught up with my life.

*4*

I'm reading Mrs. Lincoln's Dressmaker by Chiaverini-  a well written, fascinating pov about the Civil War, abolition and Mrs. Lincoln's challenges, which were many.
Cub is reading Till We Have Faces by C.S. Lewis. I informed him that not liking the book was not optional.

picture here

Flower is reading Little Maid of Old Philadelphia.
Feeche is reading something by Karen Hancock. His fantasy kick continues.

*5*

picture here

Summer love. I am really much more of a summer/beach type than far north, dead of winter type. So we are all in we don't want to start school mode or summer to end mode. It's been an exhausting, hard work summer on every level. Either way, Monday is the big day.

*6*

Reviews: A Child's Geography by Knowledge Quest - don't forget to sign up for the massive give-away!
Beauty in the Heart by Doorposts

*7*

The Science and Art of Motivation by Andrew Pudewa
1) Children like to do what they like to do- they like to get better.
2) Children want to do what they think they can do.
3) Children hate to do what they think they cannot do. Children prefer punishment to failure.

I think the above it good to keep in mind. I also like what Leigh Bortiens says about not catering to our kids likes all the time, shoring up their weaknesses as we encourage their strengths. It's a fine line and difficult to walk, especially with strong willed kids, ld's or other challenges. What do you think?


@Golden Grasses 2008-2013. All photographs, artwork and text are the property of the owner unless otherwise stated. Don't miss a thing! Subscribe to Golden Grasses and get our articles right to your inbox!

A Child's Geography: Explore the Classical World- Review



 



I received a free copy of this product in exchange for an honest review.

Knowledge Quest has been producing very cool, much needed products for the homeschooling community for the past decade and a half, and their current offering is no exception. Introducing:
 A Child's Geography Volume Three: Explore the Classic World by Terri Johnson



This curriculum, available as either physical or ebook covers the following areas:
Greece, Macedonia, Albania, Montenegro, Serbia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Croatia, Slovenia, Italy and Malta.

This text takes a "living books" approach (think Charlotte Mason), like the previous two books in the series. In other words, the text is not bone-dry facts about people and places. It engages the student with interesting text, gorgeous, full color pictures, questions that challenge the students imagination, "field notes" (encouraging the student to think creatively and write about it) and timeline information.

As if that weren't enough the following add-ons are included (on a CD with the physical book):
Extra Reading- lists of additional resources and reading
"That Decisive Battle"- a bonus ebook
Maps- 3 full color, fully filled in maps are included along with 3 blank maps with longitude and latitude marks, oceans, rivers, mountains. Love that!
Prayer Guide- by country discovered, including flags and facts about each place and people group. This is a great way to make geography pertinent to today.
Recipes- mmm!
Timelines
Travel log and maps - the idea here is to chart your course as you use the study guide.

I'm not a huge fan of ebooks. My visual self can't see the thing in its entirety and for some reason this shorts out my ability to really organize the material. Our review copy came in ebook format. Did you hear my waaaa? No? That's because this ebook is laid out beautifully and simply enough for even easily visually over-loaded me. For one, the chapters follow the same format as you go, with tons of gorgeous visuals throughout. The field notes and questions are simply formatted at the end of each chapter. Additional information is included as separate pdf downloads, which we transferred to our school flash-drive. It's all visually clear and simple enough even for us die-hard, hold-the-book-in-your-hand-types.

Cub is my speed reader and leave the activities behind kind of guy. He devoured the text. This is the third back-to-back geography program he's had in 3 years, but the text was engaging and the pictures and maps stunning enough to keep him fully engaged. Have I mentioned he's my get 'er done guy? He did the map work and read the extras but really had no use for cooking (eating, now, is a different matter). Flower loves the scenic route and wants to sit on the couch with the printed version in hand and have story time with Mom. She's done a ton of map-work, too and each one that she does is a work of art. The maps included are ones that your artist type can have a ton of fun with.

A Child's Geography Volume Three: Explore the Classical World is available from Knowledge Quest as a physical book which includes a CD of timelines, map work, activities, recipes, prayer guide and more for $34.95 or as an ebook (pdf) (with access to the extras) for $24.95.  A Child's Geography Volume Three is recommended for students in Grades 1-6. Cub is a rising 8th grader but did not feel that the text was dumbed down in any way.

What did we think? We loved it. We wondered why we don't own Vol. I and II. We think you should get it and love it too!! A Child's Geography Volume Three: Explore the Classical World is available from both Amazon and Christian Book. Or enter to win your very own copy right here at Golden Grasses, along with a host of other great prizes!

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Prize List:

A Child's Geography Volume 3 with Wonders of Old Timeline Book ($59.90)

NotebookingPages.com Treasury Membership ($99.95)

Philosophy Adventure Physical set ($89.95)

Romans, Reformers, Revolutionaries Intro Pack from Diana Waring ($64.95)

Writeshop Primary Level (winners choice of A, B, or C) plus Activity Pack plus You Can Write A Story ($51.85)

Raising Real Men prize package ($100) Raising Real Men Book, My Beloved and My Friend Book, A Cry From Egypt Book, Boot Camp 9-12, Hero Tales Complete set

A Journey Through Learning $50 Gift Certificate

3 Months A+ Tutorsoft ($49.95)

Lilla Rose (2 Flexi Clips) ($32.00)

See The Light (2 DVDs) ($30)

King Alfred's English and Baktar (Laurie White) ($25)

 

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a Rafflecopter giveaway

Gun Fun

 

Friends, Paul and Lynn came up over Labor Day week-end and Paul brought guns- all sorts- to add to our paltry arsenal. Monday found us shooting, re-loading and shooting some more.

 

Pauls' #1 rule of shooting: Don't shoot the instructor.

Paul's #2 rule of shooting: Don't shoot the instructor.

Paul's #3 rule of shooting: Don't shoot the instructor.

Safety first. Ear wear, eye wear and a safety lesson.

 

Dr. Dh, Feeche and Cub were skeet shooting fools, hitting more than missing.

 

Skeet shooting victory!

 

Ground targets, including soda cans, shaken, and topping fence posts.

Bullets hitting metal posts make a very satisfying pinging noise!

 

Debris.

Worth every minute trash retrieval.

Lots of shells and iced tea consumed and a great time had by all. Lynn and I did take turns (love that handgun!) and then I introduced quilter Lynn to the joys of Pinterest. Pretty good of me, eh?

All of this after 2 non-stop days of fun at Family Camp. Swimming, hiking, canoeing, crafting and friend time!

photo courtesy of Jannell!

@Golden Grasses 2008-2013. All photographs, artwork and text are the property of the owner unless otherwise stated. Don't miss a thing! Subscribe to Golden Grasses and get our articles right to your inbox!

Before and After

*1*

The basement took the leading role this week. We moved furniture, swept, mopped, primed, painted and 2nd coated 600 square feet. This all entailed moving stuff around. And around. And around.
We also finished taping and mudding one of the laundry room walls. Paint, coming right up.

*2*

We also worked on getting the attic room finished. Half of it is primed. It's looking like a room.
We have new kick board to put up there- 12" in keeping with the rest of the house. The kids are back to negotiating for who gets that room again cuase it is one sweet walk up attic room.

*3*

AND, the boys sanded the classic stickney style stair-rail. Think itty-bitty spaces between square 2" rails. My plan for the stairs is 2-tone using gel-stain. So thankful for detail oriented workers with young fingers that don't mind repetitive, stressful movement.

*4*

AND we primed and painted the re-claimed 12" kick board from the 2nd floor to put in the basement. Dr. Dh and boys are working on getting the kick board installed today. Woohoohoohoo!

*5*

There is so much going on with some other massive projects that my head is spinning.

*6*

School? Cub and Flower are still on their comic book illustrator kick. So far they have gone through Charles Schultz, Bill Watterson and are now on Bill Peet. This includes reading every book they can get their hands on about them, including bio's, autobio's, comic books, DVD's and miscellany, usch as above. They are having a blast and busy comparing styles between them.

What's the thing you love about the beginning of your (home) school year? Right now it's deciding WHEN we are going to start; which isn't for another week, 'round here. What about you?

*7*

Help a boy GO HOME

Have you done your good deed for the week? If not, I'm here to help. Our friends are working, praying and HOPING to adopt their 4th child from an orphanage in Thailand. This boy is the best friend of their 3rd son - they were best friends in the orphanage before Gabriel came home. The agency contacted our friends- after a "sure-fire" adoption fell through for him- to ask if they would consider giving this boy a HOME. The only thing between HOME and a life on the streets in a couple of years for this child is $20,000. Would you please consider generously donating to make Dominic's hope of home become a reality?  With one click you can help change Dominic's life from that of before- abandoned orphan - to a beauitful after- beloved son and brother.

GOFUNDME

@Golden Grasses 2008-2013. All photographs, artwork and text are the property of the owner unless otherwise stated. Don't miss a thing! Subscribe to Golden Grasses and get our articles right to your inbox!

Beauty in the Heart- TOS Review

Doorposts has released two new Bible Studies for teens ages 10-12 and older, or for younger kids with adult encouragement and help. We received a review copy of Beauty in the Heart.

 

This is an inductive Bible Study. What's that, you ask? Fundamentally, it is a term of logic that means interpreting scripture with no pre-judgment, from the text itself, through analyzing the evidence and drawing out of it logical conclusions. (definition from The Mountain Retreat).

The purpose of this study is 2-fold:

1) To help the student grow in their understanding of Beauty

2) To help the student learn how to study the Bible.

 

Some of the Bible Study tools used in this study:

Comparing one passage of Scripture to another

Observe repeated words and themes in a passage

Outline the content of a passage

Gather all of Scripture's words about a particular topic

Study the lives of people in the Bible, nothing how their attitudes and actions portray the truths of Scripture

Study original Hebrew and Greek works and how they are used in other places in Scripture

Use printed and online study helps in your Bible Study

In addition there are many on-line tools and resources referenced in this study

 

In order to use this study you will need to have a Bible and a Strong's Exhaustive Concordance.

 

This study consists of 10 Chapters on Beauty:

Beauty in Submission

Beauty in the Heart

Beauty in Trusting God

Beauty in Humility

Beauty in Modesty

Beauty in Serving

Beauty without Discretion

Beauty in Crisis

Beauty in the Gates

Beauty in Review

(There is also a section with alternative questions for young men)

 

Each chapter has several days worth of lessons, which vary by chapter. Side-bars throughout include info on study helps, links, comments and questions, historical information and much more!

 

If someone asked me if this study met it's two stated goals above I would answer with a resounding, "YES!" This is a comprehensive Bible study that digs deep into Scripture, is not doctrinally defined, and demands that the student draw their own conclusions (that noise you hear in the back ground is me cheering over a really great Bible study for teens!).

 

Secondly, it requires the student to wrestle with the text in order to search out meaning, based on who, what, when, where in order to answer Why and Apply. (that noise you hear is me cheering again!). In other words, this is really great stuff. It teaches actual Bible Study (can I pause for a minute to introduce the concept of "study as worship" again?) along with content study.

 

That being said, this is an intensive study for those who are young or unfamiliar with inductive Bible Study (like Flower, aged 10). We did it together, which was great because we had a ton of fun and interesting discussion. But it did require quite a bit of time, just even as far as how much Bible reading there was to do. Secondly, the amount of writing required seemed like sheer torture to my more mathy girly. We mostly did the questions orally, or I filled in charts, which was a great relief to her. I share this because, while this is an excellent study that teaches how to use great tools, this is probably not a study that you can hand over to a child who is still functioning in concrete operations mode and have them be able to do it on their own.

 

Now Cub, aged 13, moving from concrete operations to more abstract thinking, could do the study on his own just fine. I just needed to point him to some on-line helps, put the concordance in an easily accessible location and he was good to go. He wasn't too keen on studying a book about beauty with a flower on the front, but he managed just fine.

 

Flower and I will continue this study throughout the fall. It's meaty, full of great discussion starters and of definite interest to any pre-teen or teen girl.  If you want your kids to understand HOW to study the Bible for themselves, (you know, so they can work out their own salvation with fear and trembling, instead of being spoon fed by whomever for the rest of their lives) you'll want to check out this Bible Study. It does just that.

 

Doorposts has also just released:

Because You Are Strong, A Study of Godly Strength for Young Men

You can pre-order Beauty in the Heart for $14; the printed books will be available August 28 but if you order now you will receive a free instant- down loadable copy of the study in addition to the text.

Free resources from Doorposts

Content -excellent
Presentation -excellent
Organization -excellent
 

Click to read more reviews from the Schoolhouse Review Crew

 

@Golden Grasses 2008-2013. All photographs, artwork and text are the property of the owner unless otherwise stated. Don't miss a thing! Subscribe to Golden Grasses and get our articles right to your inbox!

Expo Party!

*1*

I spent the week listening to the 2013 Schoolhouse Expo. 40 inspiring speakers over a 5 day period. I took pages of notes, was totally inspired and am actually changing some things up schedule wise for fall. It was like a week long party- lots of laughs, great chat, inspiring speakers and resources galore!

*2*
My fav take-aways of the week:
Jessica Hulcey (of Konos) "Communist Lunch." Politics served up in a way the kids will never forget or romanticize un-Godly precepts masquerading as political sophistication.
Carol Topp's Microbusiness for Teens- we are making room for this THIS fall.
Evonne Mandela's crazy, non-stop, action-packed presentation on cool things to do for free on-line. She's teaching film making at Schoolhouse Teachers.com. You DO want your kids to have her for a teacher. (along with Carol and Jessica) Trust me.

*3*

Best questions/ comments of the month:
1) Why did you spray paint your yard? Um, that's just the fall-out from scrapping a 3 story almost 90 year old farm-house and 2 major paint spills (cause my gift is klutz-dom), kiddo.
2) What have you been doing since you painted the house? In response to my answer the inquirer stated,

  "You all should have your own T.V. show. 

I have been laughing over this since. 
But yeah, why not? Dr. Dh and Feeche can rival the Duck Dynasty hair growth factory and we are probably as crazy as the Osborne crew-just from a "G" rated pov.

*4*

Painting the basement floor this week so if you need some hands on fun, give me a call and come on over - there are brushes for everyone! Then the newly painted floorboards will get nailed up and wow, it will be more amazing than ever!

 

 

*5*

So, school is so NOT starting this week or next. We have the basement, stairs and wood doors to finish and I still need to order a couple of things and co-op hasn't started anyway.
Plus, it's still gorgeous out and this summer has flown by. My paint the house tan is fading already. Which makes me sad.

 

 

 

*6*

"The days are long, the years are short."

Celebrating Feeche's birthday as well as my own this Saturday- He turned 19 and I turned...39; give or take a decade year or two.

*7*

It was a break-down kind of week- as in stuff.  Thanking God for generous friends who rescued us literally and figuratively: Feeche, Ruth B and Laurie R.

Thank-you from the bottom of our hearts for giving us your time and stuff so we could keep going!!

And, because the hard drive crashed (again, woe is me) and the cookies were piling up I am behind on reviews and blogging. Stay tuned 'cuase between painting the basement floor and trim I'll be posting like a mad woman to catch up!!

 

Reviews to come:

An on-line Virtual Assistant Course

Student Keys: Unlocking Student Potential

Beauty in the Heart

Time for Learning

 So MUCH good stuff out there!!

 

One more for good measure, 'cause you need a good cause to support:

 Did you know that EVERY DAY 5,760 children are orphaned. Please help bring one of these children HOME. In a couple of years, this young man will be kicked out of the orphanage and are no longer eligible for adoption. For most kids his age (12) this means a life of starvation, poverty and prostitution.

It's as simple as a click of a button to help this family and this child: Go Fund Me.

 

@Golden Grasses 2008-2013. All photographs, artwork and text are the property of the owner unless otherwise stated. Don't miss a thing! Subscribe to Golden Grasses and get our articles right to your inbox!

The Mighty Big Sue

Happy Birthday, Feeche!

Dr. Dh had the great idea to take Feeche on the Big Sue for his Birthday. 

A little adventure among men (with a girl or 2 thrown in for good measure) is a good thing, right?

 A gorgeous day for a picnic and a paddle!

This little boat flew through the water- tons of fun!

Cub mastering the waves!

After sailing some smooth waters, the men-folk told Flower and I they'd meet us down-stream and started out alone. The were having a blast until they hit low water. Very low water. A couple of miles of it. It took about 4 hours to go 1 mile because they ended up portaging, pushing, pulling, and dragging both the canoe and kayak. They were more than happy to end their adventure long after dinner!

Cub's first words out of the boat, "LAND!" 

His second words were, "Where's the food?!"

Here he sums up the energy level all three of them had at the end of their little adventure. 

But we stayed long enough for Flower to hop back in and paddle around the gorge area.

She and I traversed the entire park several time waiting for the mighty adventurers to get to the landing point! 

Gluten free cake party on Saturday to dual celebrate both our b'days.

Thank-you M family for your support!!

 (i.e. the loan of the boats, and loading them into and on-top of the car ; )

Ya'll rock! 

@Golden Grasses 2008-2013. All photographs, artwork and text are the property of the owner unless otherwise stated. Don't miss a thing! Subscribe to Golden Grasses and get our articles right to your inbox!

2013 School Pictures

Introducing the Gracious Heart Homeschool 2013 Student Body. 

Cub- 13, rising 8th grader

Flower- 10, rising 6th grader.

I haven't homeschooled in a house with only 2 kids---well, ever. When we first started homeschooling, Dr.Dh and I were both in grad school and after a year of paying $400+ a month in child care costs, I quit my decent job and ran an in-home day-care; 7:30 -5:30 a.m. 5 days a week. We had 5 kids, 10 hours a day, plus our 2 for 3 years. Decent money, especially since we weren't giving most of it away for childcare and gas, but I earned every penny. I hauled 2 infants, 4 toddlers and a K-er to every park day and field trip all across southern California in our Ford LTD, read out loud for hours to the lot of them and spent hours and hours in parks and swimming pools and play grounds with them, did art projects and prepared and cleaned up mass quantities of food each week. Looking back on it I'm not sure when I studied, but I did earn a grad degree in the midst of it all.

Then we moved and had our 3rd child, so we were homeschooling with a 2nd grader, pre-K and infant. It would have been a great year homeschooling but my baby boy just couldn't get the hang of breathing and we spent an inordinate amount of time at the doctors, E.R. and hospital.  Then we moved and were homeschooling a 3rd grader, a k-er and an infant who was still struggling with the breathing thang and because he couldn't breathe laying down, he didn't sleep much, which meant I didn't sleep much because I was rocking and patting and praying over my distraught little guy and so it was a tiring year or two.

And then, by the grace of God, we added the two yahoos in the pictures above. Of course, we could have just stopped having kids, which I was told was the sensible/ responsible thing, and I could have gone back to work and we would be in much better shape in some ways. But these 2 kids have brought us joy unspeakable, brought healing to our hearts in a year of the deepest heart-ache, sing constantly, make crazy jokes, are awed by life and remind us that God is good and loves us so much, all of the time. They are living proof of His love for us.

It's going to be a good year. A bit quiet maybe, but a good year.

Check the Hop for tons more great pics! 

@Golden Grasses 2008-2013. All photographs, artwork and text are the property of the owner unless otherwise stated. Don't miss a thing! Subscribe to Golden Grasses and get our articles right to your inbox!

Busy, busy, busy

*1*

This week: cut and rolled chain link we pulled out of the paddock. Gave away everything we could to whomever would take it and then gifted the left-overs from garage sale to Savers.

Stripped, sanded, stained and primed more 12"kickboard and doors. Worked on reviews.

Took our yearly haul of trash to the city dump. $32 for a family of 6/5. One suburban + 1 small trailer worth of trash, for the year. We burn and compost the rest, buy in bulk and local and frankly, really like the idea of leaving a small environmental footprint. I'm thinking of starting a blog: The Crunchy Con Chronicles, just to find other Crunchy Cons to celebrate the little things with. Whaddya' think?

*2*

From my blogger buddy Marcy; a great list of advice on how Decreasing your stress in the new homeschool year

*3*

*4*

The 4 Best Days of Summer happened this week; The longest running county fair in the Territories. Our state has just over 1/2 million inhabitants. 100,000 show up for our little county fair. Which rocks. Flower's name was picked in the free kitties drawing (actually mine was- she put every one's name in about 5 times). She was one happy fair going girl!

 

*5*

Reading Never Give In; The Extraordinary Character of Winston Churchill by George Grant this week. Love George Grant. Love Churchill. And yes, I love reading.

 

*6*



Ana White Knockoff Wood

This might have to happen. Right after we finish the trim and paint the basement floor.

 

*7*

Speaking of doors- we have a few extras, complete with solid brass handles and I'm loving the look of this:

I even have a GREAT place for it to go.

 

How'd your week go?

 

@Golden Grasses 2008-2013. All photographs, artwork and text are the property of the owner, unless otherwise noted.

The Family Hope Center- TOS Review

The  Family Hope Center exists to provide hope, support and real life help for families with children who are hurt or disabled in a variety of ways. Whether suffering from profound trauma, mild autism, ADHD or a host of other symptoms, the Family Hope Center has over 90 years of combined expertise in the area of child brain development. This clinic, located in Pennsylvania, operates from the belief that you know more about your child than the experts and that the brain has an amazing capacity to heal itself. If you are eager for the information and hope offered by The Family Hope Center, but don't live in PA, don't despair. The clinic offers some GREAT resources, along with workshops facilitated by clinic professionals around the world.



One of these resources is the  15 chapter DVD Understanding Child Brain Development. Dr. Dh and I both sat down to watch; being the neuropsych nerd that he is, he couldn't stay away.  This 2 hour video did not disappoint. Clinic Director, Matthew Newell does a great job explaining the neurology of the brain, some of the methods used in healing the brain and the fact that there is hope available for those with ADHD, Autism, traumatic brain injuries, reading disabilities, and much more. For instance, at the Family Hope Clinic, they believe that a coma is actually a sign of hope because it's the body's last ditch effort to live.  This sort of paradigm-shifting way of thinking is part of the reason why The Family Hope Center can look at seemingly hopeless situations and hack them. They utilize a number of different methodologies, including nutrition, clean water and prayer. Love that!

In addition the focus is on treating the brain, not the symptoms; working smarter, not harder. This clinic takes a holistic, approach to treating difficult and seemingly  hopeless situations.

My first Master's Degree was in Human Development - which is all about ages and stages. One of the things I think we overlook today is that developmental stages need to be successfully completed to insure success in the next developmental stage. For instance, the developmental task of crawling was addressed. Many children nowadays are in walkers, jump-ups, swings, etc and perhaps not on the floor enough to really fulfill the developmental task of crawling. Crawling is important in brain development and specific disabilities and injury can be helped by re-learning to crawl. The unique approach the Family Hope Center takes is to treat the actual problem. In other words, the parents aren't the problem. The child isn't the problem. The problem is the problem. The focus on treatment is not on symptoms but on a wholistic approach to healing Love that.

I believe that one of the best investments you can make as a parent and as a homeschooler is to get educated yourself. I am always on the look-out for information that will help me understand and educated my kids in more effective ways. This DVD is a great resource for parents everywhere as it is a great introduction to some basic information about the importance of brain development. I could definitely see this being used for a homeschool Mom's meeting- watching the DVD together with discussion following.

For those families who are dealing with some of the following symptoms, "Stories of Family Hope," are from the Center from Family Hope web-site:      

• ADD/ADHD
• Autism & Brain Trauma
• Down Syndrome
• Cerebral Palsy
• About FHC

The web-site also hosts several informative videos here.

Cost for the DVD is $19.00. To order please call 610-397-1737 or you can order Understanding Child Brain Development from IEW.

 

 

 

The School Room

 

It's School Room week over at the Not Back to School Blog Hop.

 

Here's the classic post that show the gutted first floor and what my big plans were. Big plans have been way-laid by painting the house, building brick paths, refinishing doors, actual homeschooling,  etc. etc.

Our trusty little library cart still rocks the Cabana (and it's never as empty as it is in this photo!)

 

And the breakfast bar, dining room is pretty much where we live.

 

Unless we're on the front porch.

We'll still hang out all over the house. Which just gets more beautiful by the day. We finally have the space for the rocking-est school room, but honestly, at this point, they have so much space and along time, they are good hanging out together in the dining room, living room or front porch.

Looking forward to seeing other people's spaces!

Notgrass' American History -TOS Review

 

  

We recently used and reviewed the America the Beautiful Curriculum Package from the Notgrass Company. This is a complete history and literature program and includes the following.

 

In addition to the textbook materials, you'll be reading excellent "living books":

The Sign of the Beaver by Elizabeth George Spears
Amos Fortune: Free Man by Elizabeth Yates
Brady by Jean Fritz
Bound For Oregon by Jean Van Leeuwen
Across Five Aprils by Irene Hunt
Little Town on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder
All-of-a-Kind Family by Sydney Taylor
Blue Willow by Doris Gates
Homer Price by Robert McCloskey
Katy by Mary Evelyn Notgrass
 

We are history, lit loving fools 'round here. That being said, I don't think I've ever, in 22 years of homeschooling, used a text book for either.  It's not that we don't use TONS of history/ lit resources, we do. It's just that I LOVE original source docs, living books and lots of discussion. I have, however, heard great things about Notgrass History and was curious what it was all about. Plus, I figured a history curriculum that used some of our favorite books (Amos Fortune is one of my  all time favs) it had to be worth taking a look at.



We were not disappointed. There are two textbooks; they are weighty tomes and I'll tell you why. They are CHOCK full of pictures, along with maps and illustrations. Every time we read together, we spent a good amount of time just looking at the pictures. Time well spent? Absolutely! In addition there are side-bars throughout with fun facts to know and tell that include information about the President's, fauna, toys of the decade, etc.These books are visual feasts!

In addition they are sturdy, hardback, full-color volumes, built to last. Each of the two texts includes 15 units: Vol. 1 covers American from 1000-1877, beginning with The American Indians and going to post-war re-constructionism. Vol II covers American from the Late 1800's  to the Present. Each unit consists of 5 Lessons.

Each Lesson is set up in the same way. There is a map reference at the beginning. Then the student text, complete with tons of those lovely visuals I told you about. Each chapter concludes with a scripture reference. And then begins the list of Activities for each lesson which can include:  Thinking Biblically, Map Study, Time-line, Family Activity, Vocabulary, Literature, Creative Writing, Student Workbook or Lesson Review. Don't think for a minute that you'll be bored using this textbook approach to history- it is full up of wild, crazy and very do-able ideas- dancing the Virginia Reel, making an Iroquois longhouse out of gumdrops and toothpicks, cooking projects, making puppet stages, research projects and much  more! And just like the text, the Family Activity Pages have clear instructions and great pictures to help your go at it hit the mark.

I haven't even gotten to one of my favorite aspects of this whole program. It is an additional hardcover text that includes source documents that cover the entirety of the program. "We the People: Words from the Makers of American History." This is 220 pages of source documents; Books and stories, newspaper articles, journals, letters, advertisements, speeches, songs and poems from the people. Love that!

In addition we reviewed the Student Workbook, Lesson Review, Maps and Timeline. Because I used this with both Flower and Cub, I did the review orally, and they took turns (in theory) answering questions. Initially I let them choose the pages in the student workbook they wanted to work on, but Cub felt that it was juvenile. In all fairness, he is a history loving fool (i.e. he didn't really need the re-enforcement at all), and can't stand workbook pages of any kind except science (he's my get 'er done guy). Flower, however, loves workbook type games and puzzles and loved it. The pages are quite varied; fill in the blanks, crosswords, matching, ordering, Morse Code, Word Scrambles and more. Lots of fun for everyone with really nice graphics and clear pages (in other words, they aren't visually crowded pages and the type is clear).

The Map book has text on the left page, map on the right of each 2- page lesson.  Again, excellent, clear graphics. You'll need a set of colored pencils for this, and you'll have a nice Map Book to treasure when you are done.

The Timeline is unique. Each page represents 100 years, in 10 year increments. There is space next to each decade to fill in events. Along with this there are graphics throughout, and some events are already recorded. For example, under 1100: "The Hopi people of the Southwest region to occupy the present-day village of Oriabi"

The Timeline and Map texts are staple bound with a glossy card stock covers. The Student Workbook and Lesson Review are spiral bound with glossy card stock.

So, what you get is a full year of American History, including quality literature, source documents, add-on resources, tons of visuals, activities (your Family Fun nights can easily be planned from the Family Activity ideas!), and FUN. We've done the 4-year history cycle for years, but this year we're breaking out and adding in American History, all because Charlene Notgrass had to put her creativity to good use! While this is a decidedly Christian program, it is not preachy or pedantic. I love how it starts out with the American Indians, and not in any off-handed way. There are tons of pictures, discussion about how the Indians in different regions and climates lived and how they treated each other. Ms. Notgrass does not demonize or romanticize the Indians, or other topics that we've read so far. Nor does she tell the reader what or how to think "correctly" during any of the lessons. I truly appreciate it when the author believes that the reader can form opinions for themselves!

My only criticism of this program is the Creative Writing lessons; which I believe to be too vague for kids in this age range. That's my steeped in a specific writing philosophy opinion, so take it with a grain. Definitely NOT a show-stopper; there is so much in here that you won't even miss any aspects of the program that you decide not to use.

The reading and discussion took us about 45 min to an hour a day. The Timeline and Maps can take from 15 minutes to much longer- Flower likes to  make each page a masterpiece, so she took much longer. The activities can take from 15 minutes to however long you get lost in them.

If you are going to study American History for a full year, make it this study. It is well written, visually beautiful, with tons of fun activities thrown in. Not only is this program perfect to use at home, it would be a blast to do in a co-op or Tutoring Center group.

 Notgrass Company’s America the Beautiful Curriculum Package is priced at: $99.95 and geared for ages 10-14 (grades 5-8).We also used The America the Beautiful Student Workbook is priced at 11.95 and the America the Beautiful Lesson Review which is priced at: $9.95.

Content -excellent
Presentation -excellent
Organization -excellent