Praiseworthy Blog: Kiddley!

I love this blog. The author endeavors to post a new activity for kids almost everyday. She is about to have a baby any day, so that might slow down. Don't worry, there are plenty of things in the archives to keep you busy. The posts include ideas, activities, tips, and web resources. The illustrations are bright and fun. Take a look at Kiddley!

Win $100 Shopping Spree at Old Schoolhouse Store!

The Old Schoolhouse is one of my favorite Homeschooling Magazines, but that is a post for another time! I wanted to let you know that right now they are having a drawing to win a $100 Shopping Spree at their site. The shipping is also free for winners! What an awesome deal!!

All you have to do is browse the store for a favorite product and leave an honest review letting other customers know what exactly you liked or didn’t like about it and what makes it special. For each completed review you will be entered into our random drawing for a $100 Schoolhouse Store gift certificate!

For more information please visit the publisher's blog here.

Praiseworthy Review: The Mystery of History

Part of the reason I homeschool is to be able to teach my children about our faith. I really wanted to blend chronological biblical history with our history studies. I looked at several ways to do this. I previewed some other biblical history curriculums, but found that they included a lot of extra-biblical information passed off as fact. Then I found this curriculum and my search was over.

The Mystery of History is a history curriculum written by Linda Lacour Hobar for all ages really. It's published by Bright Ideas Press. The book is 472 pages and jam packed with information, projects and teaching helpers.

Linda Hobar has done a fantastic job of reintroducing biblical details into the history our children learn. This book contains clear instructions for how to use it as well as activities for different age levels at the end of each lesson. There are pretests and quizzes, maps, book and video lists, and an answer key in the back. It's so easy to just pick up the book with a little bit of materials gathering and use this curriculum. My children love it and I love it. One of the perks of homeschooling is filling in the gaps of my own learning and this book has taught me so much. I find that I better understand the big picture of God working in our world after using this book. I used Volume one with my 7 year old and now she is eight and we have moved on to Volume Two. I will be cycling back through these when we repeat our history rotation and using the projects for older children at that time.

I highly recommend this book and Volume II which our family is now using. It's easy to use and highly readable. You won't be sorry. If you do decide on this curriculum, then consider joining one of the yahoo support groups for The Mystery of History. Linda Hobar is frequently writing on the list answering questions and giving updates on what is happening with the other books in the series. It has been a good place for me to glean ideas and learn from others.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MysteryofHistory1
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MysteryofHistory2

Or check out the website at here where you will find sample pages as well.

Praiseworthy Bread

I have loved baking bread for a long time now. I did it almost weekly by hand before I was married. For a wedding present I was given a Breadman Breadmachine which I still use daily and love it. Now that my children are old enough to not require constant supervision I have started making it again. I typed out this recipe for my friend so I thought I would share it here as well.

The bread I make is a hybrid of a few different recipes one of them being Cornell bread. Cornell bread was created by a professor at Cornell to try to bring more nutrition to bread. This professor hit upon the idea of adding 1 tablespoon of dried milk powder, soy flour and bran flakes to each cup of flour in a recipe. I find it delicious this way. Let me know what you think!

2 Tablespoons Honey
2 Tablespoons Canola Oil
1 1/2 cups 110 degree water (pretty warm)
2 Tablespoons lemon juice
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
3 cups whole wheat bread flour (see my explanation below for what to do with this)
1/2 cup cracked wheat
2 1/4 teaspoons instant rise yeast
soy flour, dried milk powder, bran flakes (see my explanation below for what to do with these)
4 Tablespoons vital wheat gluten

I just add the ingredients to my bread pan in order recommended and bake on whole wheat cycle with light crust and at the 1.5 pound loaf setting. Very good.

What to do with the flour. For each cup of flour first fill the cup with 1 Tablespoon dried milk powder, 1 Tablespoon soy four, and 1 Tablespoon bran flakes and then fill the rest of the way with WW flour.

The Clean Heart, Clean Home Challenge

It's so very praiseworthy to declutter your house. I'm actually in love with the after part so much more than the process. But Dandelion Seeds has started what looks like a most interesting challenge. She promises to help you not only spring clean and declutter your home - but also your heart! Her plan is to do this by following 52 weeks of online devotionals from Create in Me a Clean Heart. There is a strong focus on daily time with the Lord. The whole thing is really quite interesting so head on over to see the challenge on her blog

p.s. This is structured so that you can start it anytime, you don't have to do it live with her, but don't tell anyone!

p.p. s.s. It's actually 52 days. OOPS! See the comment from Amy!

Irish Soda Bread

Every year we enjoy celebrating St. Patrick's Day as a celebration not only of missionary who loved God, but also as a celebration of the Irish people. That celebration includes learning about Ireland, listening to Irish music and eating Irish food. This includes Irish Soda Bread every year. This year I tried a new recipe and my husband cast the deciding vote that this was the best ever! I got the recipe at allrecipes.com and the recipe I used was here. It's very different than any I have used before with the addition of eggs and sour cream, but I found two like it and both had been passed on from Irish women. I did follow the suggestions in the comments and only used 2 cups of raisins instead of 3. The texture is quite beautiful and the taste is exquisite.

I also used some tips that I found at one of my favorite sites Cooks Illustrated. This is a really nice tutorial with pictures. I did not use their recipe, but I did make sure not to mix the batter too much and I baked it in a cast iron skillet. I have enjoyed several pieces toasted today with butter and honey. Perfect with tea!

Praiseworthy Toys: Gears, Gears, Gears!

My 5 year old son is one of those very mechanically minded kids. He loves to see how things work, take them apart and then build his own. From the time he was very small he was always making tools. He would usually attach a shoe string to one end which he would then stick into a drawer or something. That was his power cable of course! Well, for those of you how are getting really tired of your kitchen implements (you know egg beaters, whisks and such) being employed for these purposes, let me give you some advice. Buy Gears, Gears, Gears! for your child. I came across them on the Amazon website and thought they would be just the thing for him. I was really worried about buying them because all too often I have given my kids something that seems really great and then two weeks later they could care less. This toy is not like that because it is endlessly creative. My son has built robots, towers that move, tools that turn and all manner of things with this toy. According to Amazon's website this toy encourages independent play, mathematical and motor skills and I couldn't agree more. What's more, after a year and a half he is still playing with it on a weekly if not daily basis. If you've got a builder on your hands, I think you'll be quite pleased with this.

Praiseworthy Poem

A wise, mature friend sent this poem to me and I thought it was most praiseworthy.

Let Me Grow Lovely

Let me grow lovely, growing old----
So many fine things to do:
Laces, and ivory, and gold
And silks need not be new:

And there is healing in old trees,
Old streets a glamour hold;
Why may not I, as well as these,
Grow lovely, growing old?

Karle Wilson Baker

Today we have what we call "youth culture" and there seems to be a great deal of emphasis on youth. But I think the youth have much to learn from those who have lived and experienced life. For centuries we have included our elderly in our lives and families, but it seems more and more the elderly are put aside. Fortunately, I grew up in a family that did not do this. I knew and spent time with my Great Grandmother, three great aunts and uncles, grandparents and even my Great, great Aunt. In addition I knew many older people in my church family growing up. They were wonderful people. They all had so much to share and were such a valuable part of my formation. I'm so blessed to have known them and I am forever changed by them. The Bible instructs the older generation to teach the younger. There is so much wisdom in that. Emerson said that, "every generation creates their own bible." Well, in anything great that I undertake I like to consult the experts. Who more expert in life than one who has lived it and lived it well?

Praiseworthy Review: The HomeschoolEstore

I was recently invited to review the "eCurriculum experience" at HomeSchoolEStore.com. The concept of “eCurriculum” is curriculum available on downloadable eBooks. These books might be workbooks, texts, audio books, supplemental educational materials, or comprehensive curriculums in an electronic format. After downloading the eBooks can be used on the computer, the entire book can be printed or (my favorite way) pages can be printed as needed to use with your student. If your purchase is an audio book it is in Mp3 format and can be moved to a folder on your computer or placed on a cd. The beauty of this type of curriculum is the convenience. Books are ready to be downloaded immediately after payment is made online. No more running out to the mailbox to see if it’s here yet!! Another incredible convenience is printing what you need when you need it. This really helps with that storage problem in the homeschool cabinet! And worksheets are then easily placed in notebooks or portfolios when the work is completed. No more ripping off a binding to get the pages loose. My favorite part of eBooks however is the price. Because the cost of printing has been removed it is much cheaper to purchase curriculum this way.

The HomeSchoolEStore website is easy to navigate and searchable by age, subject or publisher. There are many things to choose from such as the very popular Miquon Math, Writing Strands, Visual Manna’s Art Curriculums and G.A. Henty novels on audio books. After selecting your items it’s a simple matter of entering payment information and downloading your books. I also appreciate the fact that you don’t have to download the products at the time of purchase. By just going back to the website to “my account” the books can be downloaded at a later time as well. In addition you are allowed to download your purchased material a total of five times. This took care of that nagging fear I had of “what if my computer dies and I lose this file?”

I purchased three eBooks. I was very pleased with them all. The books were in Adobe PDF format and one of them included features like clickable links from the table of contents so I could go instantly to the page I needed. Overall my experience with HomeSchoolEStore was excellent. Easy to find materials, easy to use and FAST!! I had my files in a matter of minutes and I can start using them tomorrow if I want. I strongly urge you to try them out at HomeSchoolEStore.com.

Praiseworthy Review: Teaching the Trivium

"Teaching the Trivium"
by Harvey and Laurie Bluedorn

Having come to Christianity late in life I have always been put off by what I like to call “Christianese” that being any number of stock phrases that Christians use to communicate complex ideas to each other. These are phrases such as “fed” or “washed in the blood.” I’m so pleased to find Christian authors who have intelligent minds and use them without relying on a lot of Christian lingo to get their point across. The Bluedorns believe that educating our children is a mandate of God. They spend an entire chapter of this expounding, arguing and providing proof for this argument. That chapter alone is worth the price of the book. I found it so thought provoking that I often read portions aloud to my husband and we had many interesting discussions based on this. However, this is only the tip of the iceberg. What the Bluedorns continue with in the book is a systematic approach for teaching our children in a manner that glorifies and honors God. They show us how to teach our children to not only love God with their whole heart and soul but also with their whole MIND. This is the great strength of this book.

If you are interested in Classical Education I strongly urge you to get this book. I, and many others I know, consider this a handbook or a manual if you will for how to classically educate your child. Once it has been read and understood then you can put it on the shelf close at hand to turn to again and again for answers to questions you encounter along the way. The how and the why of their plan is clearly laid out in a format that is easy to understand.

There are also chapters devoted to helping parents to use the Trivium with other methods such as Charlotte Mason as well as a discussion of some methods that do not fit well with the Trivium such as Unschooling. These chapters contain discussions and explanations of each method. This would be very valuable for those approaching educating their child for the first time as they investigate what method they will use.

Part two of the book is titled “The Practical Trivium” and contains valuable, hands on information for how to teach your child. All areas of study and ages are covered. Finally lists of specific resources and where you can obtain them are given. This is the part that I turn to again and again. The information here is extensive and exhaustive. The explanations and reasons are clear and easy to understand.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who home educates their child. The information is intelligent and thought provoking. You will come away well educated on the subject of homeschooling in addition to having valuable tools for carrying out homeschooling.