Author: Wendy

Product Review: New Liberty Videos

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When I first found out that the Schoolhouse Review Crew would have the chance to review some DVDs from New Liberty Videos, I wasn’t too mussed. We don’t have a TV or a traditional DVD player (just the DVD ROM on the computer), so I didn’t intend to request this product. But then I saw the actual list of films that would be offered, and when I saw Warriors of Honor ($19.95 for a physical DVD) on that list, I had strong suspicions that Will and the boys would be really interested. You see, it’s a film about the Christian faith of two Confederate generals – Robert E. Lee and Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson. My boys (and man!) are big history buffs, and the Civil War is one that fascinates them all, so I went ahead and requested this movie after all. [Read more…]

A is for Armadillo

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a is for armadillo sbh

A colleague of mine through the Schoolhouse Review Crew (Marcy at Ben and Me) has done a “Blogging Through the Alphabet” series several times now, and I’ve never remembered to start when she’s back at “A.” She’s since decided not to do the series, but I think it’s a great idea, so I’m going to give it a go. Alphabet posts will happen once a week in addition to anything else I have to write about that particular week and may or may not relate to each other. Some will be about our homeschooling journey, some will be recipes, and some will simply my thoughts for the week. Enjoy!

So . . . A is for Armadillo. Pretty random, no? Not for our home this week. We just started a unit study on Wild Animals: Small Mammals (from the set of My First Reports by Hewitt Homeschooling) in our homeschool, and the first animal we’re studying is armadillos.

Here’s what’s on tap for this week of our study. [Read more…]

Homeschool Curriculum Review: Middlebury Interactive Languages

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Middlebury Interactive Languages ReviewIf you’ve been reading these pages for very long at all, you know that I’m a sucker for foreign languages, especially French. For over a year now I’ve been searching for “the perfect foreign language curriculum.” The conclusion I’m coming to is that it just doesn’t exist. However, Middlebury Interactive Languages comes pretty close. For the purposes of this review, we received a six-month subscription to their Elementary French 1 (Grades 3-5). As the product title suggests, this is designed for upper elementary students – roughly grades 3 through 5.

For this review, we were given several options of Middlebury courses – French, German, Spanish, or Chinese, each available in a variety of levels. It was a really tough call for me whether to start the boys with Elementary French 1 (which has no prerequisites) or Elementary French 2, which has the prerequisite of French 1 or equivalent. You know, of course, that we’ve been doing French off and on for a long time with the boys. But I wasn’t sure if the stuff they’d learned up to this point would be enough to qualify as “or equivalent,” so we went ahead and did Level 1. [Read more…]

Reading List – October 2014

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Inspired by The Unlikely Homeschool, I’ve decided to do a post each month of what’s on our reading list. It’s a little late in the month to be doing October’s, but that’s okay; we’re still reading these books, and likely will be throughout the rest of the month.

Read-aloud – Everyone

wayside school

We have two. First, we’re reading Sideways Stories from Wayside School. This is a classic from my childhood; it was my brother’s favorite book as an elementary school student. My kids haven’t had the pleasure of hearing or reading it, so I thought it would be a fun one. Plus, it’s a quick read which makes everyone feel like we’ve accomplished something in very short order.

We started earlier this week, and are already about 10 chapters in. The kids love it! And honestly, what’s not to love? Louis the yard teacher . . . Mrs. Gorf, the teacher who turns her students into apples . . . Mrs. Jewls, the teacher who thinks her students are monkeys . . . Maurecia, the girl who keeps ice cream in her desk. Good times. [Read more…]

Book Review: The iWitness series by Apologia

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Apologia Review
We are fascinated by things like Biblical archaeology in my house. Get us (especially Will and Seahawk) going on the subject, and an hours-long conversation is sure to ensue. So when I heard that members from the Schoolhouse Review Crew would have the opportunity to review the new iWitness series from Apologia Educational Ministries, I was definitely intrigued. They asked us to review the following books:

Written by Doug Powell, each of these books takes the reader on an in-depth search of different aspects important to the Christian faith. The books aren’t a boring tome, though. Each one is designed to look like a stack of documents, using different graphics and fonts, to introduce you to the evidence that has been discovered over the years. They follow a logical progression, but the goal is not to just tell you, “This is how it is, so you have to believe it.” Instead, the idea is to push you to do your own research and (ideally) come to the conclusions that “Yeah, this is probably really true” on your own. The books are good for a variety of ages (we read them aloud with all three boys), but the reading level is roughly 11 and up. [Read more…]

Gone Girl: an {unsponsored} review of the book and movie

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I mentioned last week that I was reading Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn, and that I hoped to finish it over the weekend to be able to see the movie on “$5 Tuesday” at the local (and by “local” I mean “only one town over”) Regal Cinema.

I almost made it. I finished Monday evening.

So now I’m going to try to focus my thoughts on the story into a blog post – without giving too much away. Because I’d hate it if you read this post and then didn’t feel the need to read the book because of it.

Let me start by giving what’s become my general feedback about this story to anyone I know who’s considering or planning to read it. The book is written in three parts. Part one is a quick jog. From the final paragraph of Part 1 clear up until the last word of the last sentence of Part 3 is a full on sprint. There’s no break in the action. Just when you think there should be some falling action, and it feels like you might be entering some, you find out that you’re wrong. You can see on the cover of the book (in the image above), that it’s been called “Thriller of the Year.” I think that’s a pretty great description. This book was a wonderful read. Outside of sponsored book reviews and read-alouds with the boys, it’s the first book I’ve finished in a long time. I like reading, but I’ve been having trouble finding something “worth” reading recently, so I think my finishing this book is pretty high praise.

[Read more…]

Wednesday Chat #13

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chatsonthefarmhouseporch

There’s still no new questions from Patrice, so I’m going to answer questions from her “Farmhouse Chat #153,” which I didn’t do when it posted new.

What are you most looking forward to in the remaining months of 2014?

Well, I love the cooler temperatures of Fall, but what I love the most about the last few months of the year are the holidays. I positively adore Thanksgiving and Christmas. I would like to try some new home decor this year, but I don’t know if that will happen or not.

Tell us the last movie you saw, or book you read. [Read more…]

Simplicity: To Top it All Off . . .

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simplicity copy

My wardrobe post from this past spring is my most-read post of all time, so I thought I’d take a day this week to discuss changes we’ve made to our current clothing selections.

We each have a few more clothes than we did in May, but certainly nothing approaching “normal” American levels of attire. You’ll remember from last week that we all now own rain boots. These are in addition to our regular shoes. Also, I purchased a pair of sneakers for myself earlier this summer because we like to play tennis; doing so in sandals is, while not impossible, not practical. Munchkin recently had a birthday, and he received as gifts new undergarments, two pairs of jeans (so the old ones went away – they were really ratty), two shirts, and a pair of shoes (slip-on sneakers). Earlier this week, Will traded his sandals out for a pair of black sneaker-esque shoes. His goal was shoes that would be comfortable for walking and go with both jeans and more dressy attire. He’s very happy with his choice. Seahawk is the only one currently still only in sandals and boots. His birthday is later this month (can you believe it’s already October?!!), so I’m sure he’ll end up with new shoes then, if not before. [Read more…]

Book Review: Preschoolers and Peace

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Preschoolers and Peace Review

As a mother with school age children and a little one, let me tell you: homeschooling with a toddler underfoot is hard. Don’t get me wrong; I wouldn’t change it for anything, but that doesn’t mean it’s not difficult. Small Fry, much as I love him, makes our school hours a challenge sometimes. So when I was given the opportunity to review the e-book Preschoolers and Peace: Homeschooling Older Kids with Success while Loving the Little Ones at Your Feet by Kendra Fletcher of the Preschoolers and Peace website, I was definitely interested. And let me say, I was not disappointed. This resource for moms was a wonderful addition to my e-book library.

This 50 (or so) page book is available on Kindle (currently the only format you can purchase it in) for only $2.99, and I think it would be three dollars well spent for anyone looking for ideas to incorporate your little ones in with your homeschool. Kendra offers loads of tips and tricks for both involving the toddlers in “school time” as well as recognizing the importance of (and giving more tips for) teaching them to play on their own. [Read more…]

Picture of the Week: In the Rain

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rain collage cbw

It’s officially the rainy season here in the Pacific Northwest. To “celebrate,” we purchased the boys (all of them, including Will) new rain boots, and a raincoat for Small Fry (which he is not wearing in these pictures – these were taken before we left, and we bought the coat while we were out that day). Will and Small Fry have never had any, and Seahawk and Munchkin either outgrow or wear out theirs each year. Mine are two years old but still in good shape, so I didn’t get new ones. When Will brought the boots home one night earlier this week, Small Fry was so excited! The kids were already in bed but not asleep, so Will let them out to try on their new boots. Small Fry and Munchkin got matching pairs; this is likely the last year Munchkin will have “fun” ones before he’s into the bigger sizes that come in black.

The morning after Will brought them home (the only way to convince Small Fry to go to bed was to promise him that he could wear his boots again in the morning), it was raining, so we all put on our jackets and boots and walked to the store. Small Fry absolutely loved going out in the rain with his boots on. There’s something magical about walking (and jumping) in puddles and staying dry!

Blessings,

Wendy