First day back to school {happy, happy days!}

HOORAH!!!

Today was the first day back to school!!!

I love my breaks, but I hugely love the rhythm of life when we are in "school" mode.

In some ways, I don't like to call it "school" or "not school" time. Really, what I mean is that we are returning to structured, more formal education. They are, after all, learning ALL the time! In reality, our "structured, more formal" is "less structured and less formal" than it used to be. I try to be more fluid in how we learn, and yet we DO have structure.

I thought I would share with you some of the new things we started doing today. I've learned a lot over the summer about philosophies of education and educational styles, which has shaped how I want to do things.

As I shared a while ago, we had started doing what I called "Morning Time".  My desire had been that, no matter what else crowded into our day or interrupted what we were doing, we had certain elements I felt we MUST do.

Bible.

Prayer.

Operation World.

Reading Aloud.

Maths.

English/Grammar.

The first four parts we would do in "Morning Time", the latter afterwards (done independently).

That was going well and was well loved by us all. However, I was introduced to the ideas of doing several other things - all suggested and supported by many highly respected proponents in the field of home education.

Nature Study.

Memory Work. (scripture and poetry)

Hymn Singing/Memorisation.

Art appreciation.

Music Appreciation.

In true "first day back" style, I didn't manage to do EVERYTHING new I had planned.  Oops.  Never mind.  There's always tom... Erm... Thursday (tomorrow is a birthday - so, one day back, and immediately another day "off"!!! HA!)

I intend our routine to look something like this.

Prayer I feel it is always good to start your morning with prayer - acknowledging the One to whom we desire to honour and bless in all that we do. Thanking Him for His goodness and grace.  Asking Him to help us in our day, for wisdom as we learn and to give us strength for all we need to do.

Bible Reading  We are still working our way through the Gospel Story Bible. I wanted to finish that first and then begin Catherine Vos'  Children's Story Bible.

Scripture Memorisation  As much as we have always learnt Bible verses together, I wanted to particularly learn whole passages together, verse by verse.  I also wanted to incorporate copywork - something we had never done before, but felt it was good to begin. The first passage we are learning is the passage from Ephesians 6 about the Christian Armour, as we are learning about WWI for Tapestry of Grace in Unit 1 of Year 4. I will write it on our chalkboard each week.  We simply went over it, taking just a few minutes, by me reciting portions and them copying.  By frequent repetition, it should be committed to memory.

(copywork created at www.worksheetworks.com where you can choose font, size, types of lines etc )

Hymn Singing/Memorisation  We are in a Church where we do sing traditional hymns. I grew up on the same, and learnt many hymns by heart, simply by singing them repeatedly.  I wanted to be more intentional about it, though, and also include it in copywork, to reinforce what we are learning.  I chose "May the mind of Christ my Saviour" - it's one I have always loved.  (If you are on FB or IG you will have seen and heard me play the tune, but it's tricky to put videos on here.) It has 6 verses, and they are in quite a short metre, so simple to learn the tune and memorise the words.  I thought at least my older children would know it, but it seems it's one they haven't sung much, so I am gad I chose it.

Operation World. For us, this is a focus on another country, in order to understand how we should pray for them.  BUT, it is also an excellent way to learn geography, weather, climate, trade, language, demographics, politics, and general cultural studies. We often end up deviating as we find some terminology we don't understand, or some interesting piece of information we can't leave without learning more!  We've learnt everything from what coral islands look like, to how to produce heroin!!! (It came up when we learned about the Opium trade!!! No plans to start production ourselves!) If we only did this ONE thing for school we could absolutely use it as a backbone for most key subjects and still gain an in-depth, all-round education.  It's a book that is truly worth the investment.  Maybe I should do a blog post just on an example of what we learn from one country in this handbook.  I also got a lovely big Readers Digest atlas in a charity shop for only £2, which we used to find the country we were looking at. (Morocco today!) That led me to teach them about topographical maps, thus allowing them to work out the level of the land in Morocco. (Mostly higher elevation, interestingly!)

Prayer Board.  We started a prayer board just before the summer, with specific people and causes we wanted to pray for, as a family.  They range from missionaries, to people in need, to new people coming to the Church, and our coffee morning we have just begun at the Church.  Today we added Texas and Oregon, which also gave me the opportunity to teach the children about hurricanes, flood damage, forest fire causes and results (not always bad, as my daughter remembered from a homeschool co-pop lesson!), and what items we would choose to take with us if we had to evacuate! Today I also did something new.  I asked my oldest child, who knows and loves the Lord as his Saviour, to lead us in prayer.  That was such a wonderful thing to hear him speak - so grown up now - and to bring these things before our Heavenly Father.

We finished our time with reading aloud.  I read from a book we are reading "for pleasure" as well as a read aloud fro Tapestry of Grace.  For pleasure (although all reading aloud is pleasure!), we have been reading through this particular series for a while, and are nearly finished book 2, Race for Freedom.  The series is called "Freedom Seekers", by Lois Walfred Johnson and is a captivating story of a young girl who lives on a steamboat with her father and how they help with the Underground Railroad.  It's brilliant historical fiction and the stories are gripping for both adult and child alike! (The children find my attempt at the accent of the slaves quite amusing... I AM improving!!) If you don't know anything about the Underground Railroad, it will whet your appettite to find out more about the brave people who helped slaves escape to freedom, in 19th century USA. We have two chapters left, after which I need to make the decision as to whether we should read the next book or switch to something else.  Such hard decisions...  Our current Tapestry of Grace read aloud is Pollyanna.  I have never read it, but when I told the children what we were reading they initially groaned. I was puzzled, until they explained we have it on our Audible selection. "We've listened to it LOADS".  I was insistent, as *I* wanted to read it. My persistence paid off. They actually ENJOYED it, and claimed I was more captivating a reader than whoever narrates the version we have (his voice is "boring" I was told... oops) I'm hoping it will be an enjoyable read for us, and this way I can also raise topics that are good to discuss or terminology they don't understand.  That is just one reason why reading aloud is such a good idea.

I will do a blog post next week about our nature study (which we began today) and our other new additions which I am yet to add - music and art appreciation - and explain what we are using and why we are doing it.

Getting back to blogging was on *MY* schedule for our "back to normal routine" life, so I can tick that off my to-do list for today! WHOOT WHOOT!

I hope this post is useful and maybe even inspires others to look into trying something new with their family - whether you home educate or not, many of these things can be woven into your family life VERY easily, but maybe not in one block like we do it.

Ohhhhhhhh dear {It's been TOO long!}

I knew it was bad, but I didn't realise it was THIS bad.

It's been a LONG time since I wrote a blog post. I've wanted to. I've intended to. I just haven't DONE it.

In those months of silence, as the keyboard has remained silent, life has been progressing. Change has happened. Growth has taken place.  I am now in a better position to take up the gauntlet, returning once again to the blogosphere!

My heart has been filled with things to share as I have taken on new challenges, read new books, found new podcasts, and learnt more lessons in life.

Above all else, the Lord speaks into my heart and teaches me - drawing me closer to Himself by showing me more of Himself. That, above all else, has been the best part of the days of "silence".

It's only when we really walk in step with the Saviour that we can get everything else in our lives to line up as well.

So, what have I got coming up?

Books.  Oh, the books I want to share about. Some new.  Some old.  Some not yet even published, but soon to be launched.

Art. How much fun have *I* been having, honing and developing my love for watercolour and lettering?  All culminating in the opening of an Etsy shop, after Bethany, my oldest daughter, persuaded me that people would want to buy my paintings! (Which still amazes and humbles me!!)

Learning. I've been honing and changing how I look at education. Adapting things to suit the needs of our family, whilst fulfilling a personal philosophy that we have narrowed down. All influenced by authors and helpful podcasts, that I will share with you and which I am sure you will also find  a blessing.

Gardening. Ohhhh yes. My garden is back this summer, with new plants, new challenges, and, of course, new lessons learnt from it all. To top it all off, I discovered a new book that ties in with my love of gardening, but aimed at the heart and spiritual walk. Perfect!

I am aiming at blogging at least once a week, possibly twice. But, I am not going to overwhelm myself by putting too much pressure on my own mind to do "too much". I have a desire to share, but I also have a desire not to commit to so much in life that I can't do it well as I want to.

So, I'm back. And, it's good to be back!

It's Holiday Bible Club, here in our Church, this week. It's a crazy busy week, but I had it in my heart and head to start back blogging today, so I shall! "Short, but sweet", and not letting the devil stand in the way of my plans and desire to encourage others.  I hope to return later in the week, to start sharing some of the many things I've been storing up.  See you soon!

"Bible" isn't just a subject {how we start our school day}

I've been meaning to share with you, for a while, about our new morning routine, during school time.

I can't remember exactly where I was challenged about our mornings. It may have been a podcast, or a book I was reading, or a Facebook post from someone.

That part doesn't matter.

What I WAS convicted about was that our schooling was working around me desperately trying to get the children to complete X, Y and Z. It was always a rush to DO. Any Bible learning we did was just part of any Bible centred curriculum we are using (and I try to use plenty with a Bible-centred emphasis). I became convicted about my priorities. Instead of rushing to do "learning", I needed to start off the day with what was most important. God, His Word, His people. If we didn't do ANYTHING else then so long as we had spent time learning about God, His Word, and His ways, then we had learned something FAR more important than any intellectual gain.

I decided we would jump back in with Sally and Clay Clarkson's "Our 24 Family Ways".  It's a great book guide that uses 24 "ways", that the Clarksons used in their own family, as the backbone. They are all based on scriptural principles, and each day has scripture that ties in with the character trait being taught. We have used it before, but it had been a while. I saw some character traits in my children that needed some training, so it was perfect to go through again.

I also decided to use "The Gospel Story Bible" every morning. This book takes all the major Biblical events and ties the gospel into each one, teaching children to see everything as working towards the Saviour coming, and the great plan of salvation. It's wonderful to see it all woven together and a simple read aloud for children.

Recently, I was talking to some homeschool friends about geography, and what curriculum they used. They told me about using "Operation World" prayer guide as a backbone to learn about countries and cultures around the world. I had NO idea what Operation World WAS! It turns out that it is a FANTASTIC resource. (As a side note, this is a "Must have" for any Church! It is packed full of helpful information that could be used in multiple settings as  Church - prayer meetings, children's ministry, youth work, outreach - it's simply super!!!) It goes through all the countries in the world, outlining some basic general information, and then praise and prayer points for that country. Some countries have fairly extensive information, which we have picked through. It's a massive tome, but an incredible resource. We also got the book "Windows on the World" which goes through many people groups, specifically from a child's perspective, and again highlights areas for prayer. It isn't as extensive as the Prayer Handbook for OW, but it's more child directed and visual. Operation World also has a fantastic website, also including prayer videos for many of the countries in the world.

What we will also be adding, in September, are the scripture memory verses from "Matters of the Heart". I think that Scripture Memorisation is something that I have not been intentional enough about with my children. They learn their memory verse for Friday Club, but I don't even put as much effort into THAT as I ought to.  *blush* As I plan to learn these verses myself, it seems sensible to do it as a family.  I  have now printed out the printable verses, which we will then learn together daily, with a new verse each week.

Don't forget that for this week only, all the Matters of the Heart product are on special offer, for the launch! (Click on the visual below to go to the online shop.)




And, I have also found out that if you order the book this week, you get ALL the products below for FREE! Yes, for FREE!!! There are some really helpful resources in there. 

31 Days to a Better Marriage eBook by Carlie Kercheval of Fulfilling Your Vows

12 Printable Pocket Bible Verses for Women from Today's Frugal Mom

More than Words for Moms Devotional by Stephanie Eidson of Multi Taskin Mom

Mini Prayer Book Printable by Brittany Ann of Equipping Godly Women

DIY Personal Spiritual Retreat Kit by Arabah Joy

Without Regret (a Christian Fiction Novel) by Elaine Mingus of Radcial Christian Woman

Inspirational Quote Pack (3 Printable 8 x 10’s) from The Modest Mom Blog

Family Favourites Meal Plan from Sharla at Freezer Meals 101

3 Printable Scripture Verses (8 x 10) from Sunu at Faith Art Designs

That's a whole lotta love and kindness given to you for NOTHING, out of the generous spirit of those who have produced them - they want to bless YOU! These are other mums and women in the spiritual trenches, who desire to build up others in their faith, to the glory of God.

In addition, don't forget about the prayer and praise journal to go alongside the book, as well as the printable verses, all available at the special launch week prices, or as an extra special bundle price. 

One of my favourite parts of our new morning routine, though, is that I am now regularly praying with, and for, my children. They have heard me pray for them before - but now, specifically, they hear me plead before the throne for their souls. There is nothing I desire more in life than that my children come to know the Lord as their Saviour. I can teach them character - that's great. I can teach them facts and figures - useful and profitable. But, the best thing I can do is point them towards the one who alone can be their life and all, and only if they place their faith in Him, and seek forgiveness for their sins. That is what they hear me seeking the Lord for EVERY DAY. I trust that the Lord would even use that to lead the to Himself.

I think it's so important to have God and His ways at the centre of all we desire to teach our children. When we raise our children, God's Word shouldn't be incidental - it should be intentional. How can we ever expect our children to follow God's ways if we don't TEACH them to our children?

I'd love to hear what other people do to teach their children about the Lord and His Word. Do you have a daily Bible time? How does it work for your family? What do you love about it?

I trust you have a blessed Lord's Day tomorrow, and don't forget to make use of the Matters of the Heart book deal. Don't miss out - it ends in around 48 hours! 

Tots on a Tuesday {sentence building - FREE PRINTABLE!}

As I mentioned, last week, I am beginning an "experimental" stage of my educating role.

I am working with sight reading over phonics, just to see if it both helps my "early reader", and also if it kickstarts my non-reader.

So far, it's been going well! It's instantly giving my reader a lot of courage, and she is fast identifying the sight words she had previously struggled to identify.  That ALONE I consider success! Add to that the enthusiastic and speedily gained ability of my non-reader, to identify several of the words we have been learning, and you have a double whammy of early success.

Without a doubt, the use of repetition, and picture association, helps massively.  I think my non-reader could almost tell you it by memory.  I'm no dozer, though.  That is NOT reading - that's memorising.  He CAN, however, identify words if you ask him out of context.  Enter my newly created, printed, and laminated word "strips".  I figured that if repetition was undoubtedly going to be a key factor in this new reading malarkey, then I was going to make it fun and interesting! As my non-reader can't write, I needed a non-written way to reinforce.  The printed words, for him to replicate the sentences, seemed the obvious choice.



We sat together, looking back over the reading he had done.  I spread the words out on the floor (yes, the floor - who needs tables, right?...) and he was to find them for himself, and copy the sentences from the book.

I had TOTALLY forgotten how much joy and EXCITEMENT this kinda' thing can create for a small person - how incredibly thrilled and overjoyed he was to copy the sentences for himself!  It was a huge hit, and he would have stayed up all night copying all the sentences in the book, but, alas, it was bedtime!

Mean mother, making him SLEEP, instead of WORKING!

Yes, I forgot, also, how they don't realise it's work, to begin with - I DO remember that fazes pretty jolly quickly....

In the meantime, I am going to enjoy pressing on with this approach, and seeing these two little treasures learn to read!

I'm all for spreading joy, so if you think it may be of use to you, I have created a printable for you, of the words used in set "1" of the Key Words Ladybird reading scheme. Not everyone has these books, but I know they are out there, used by many over the years! I will list the words for you, so you know if they will be useful in your own education setting, before you bother to download them.  I will also create more as we go through, so, by the time we are at the last set of books, you would have most of the commonly used "sight words" to print and use.

I have created the printable over 4 pages, to include repeats of the more commonly used words, so there are plenty to use.  Just click on the image to get to the document, then print it off as you need it.  I hope they are of use to someone!

I will continue to update as we carry on with the Key Words scheme - so far, so good!

Tots on a Tuesday {Phonics vs Sight Reading}

I am super excited.

Yes, SUPER excited.

It truly doesn't take much, so don't you go getting too excited.

When I switched from using ACE as our main school curriculum, I had to decide which approach I wanted to take for teaching my subsequent children to read.  I researched it, and went with the same approach I was familiar with - phonics.  Albeit, the system I went with, Jolly Phonics, taught the phonics in a different order to what we had done previously, it still used phonics.  I was already having to face lots of new things, and staying with phonics seemed "safe".  I have loved Jolly Phonics, and I highly recommend it for British educators - it's relatively inexpensive, colourful, and BRITISH.  Yes, correct spelling, and MOSTLY correct pronunciation. (Why "mostly"?  It's ENGLISH..... Not Scottish..... )

However, I have been noticing that Abi seems to be learning some words by just reading them in her reading books, without sounding them out.  At the same time, I have noticed that Elijah has already taken a self-initiated interest in learning to write and read.  He seems to have a good memory for recognising letters, with very little instruction (he learnt to write his name from tracing it ONCE in a card... first of my children to do such a thing!). I got to wondering if he could learnt to read in a similar way.

If you are going to teach reading in this way, I *KNEW* that the Ladybird Key Words reading scheme was a tried and tested method.  They use "High Frequency" words, and the child learns to read based on those.  Did you know, 12 Key Words make up a 1/4 of those we read and write? 100 make up HALF of those we red and write, and around 300 words are 3/4 of what we read!!! Yes, that few words are the "Key words" of our reading experience.

This reading scheme involves introducing words to the child, in each book, and repeating them in various ways - switching the sentence structure around  a little, and adding in new words.  In book 1a, there are 16 new words, and they are repeated an average of 10 times each. In level  a and b there is progressively more complexity and variety in how these words are used, and book c focuses on writing, with activities for the child to copy out in an exercise book.


It's quite different to what I have used previously, but I am going to try doing it with Elijah and Abi together.  It will be great practice for "tricky words" used in Jolly Phonics, and a good "trial" to see how Elijah gets on.  I plan to also use the Reading Eggs apps, on the iPad, with Elijah, so he is concurrently learning all the letter names and sounds, for the words you can sound out phonetically.
This is a tried and tested reading scheme that has been on the go for YEARS! Decades, even!  I am hoping that means it could be successful for us, or at least be a great addition to our literacy lessons.

It's funny, it's taken me all these years to get more "adventurous" in how I do things!

You have to live a little, right?

And, I'm sure Elijah won't mind me using him as a guinea pig in a reading trial.....

I love that home educating allows the flexibility to find things that suit your individual child's needs.  And, which home educator doesn't need more books?? She says, having carefully researched, and purchased, a new bookcase for her home, only today....

So, how did you teach your children to read? What methods did you find to be successful, and which ones were  a flop?  Do you use the same for all of your children, or did you switch about, from child to child?  Please link up your posts about teaching children to read, or other literacy resources you find helpful.  If you don't blog, please share in the comments below! I love to her from my readers, and your experience may be just what someone else needs to hear, to encourage them.

IF you link up, please grab my "Tots on a Tuesday" button, from the side bar, and pop it in your post. Thank  you muchly.

Tapestry on a Tuesday {Myth-busters - Part 2}

The next "myth" that the folks at Tapestry of Grace are seeking to dispel, is this...

"Everyone says Tapestry of Grace is expensive to use"

Now, this is a fairly subjective question, in many regards. What IS expensive?

I can firstly tell you from my perspective.

We used to use ACE curriculum.  It is by no means the cheapest curriculum out there, in fact, it's quite costly.  You pay for each student workbook, as they are consumable.  The score keys are non-consumable, so there is a little saving on that.  For a large family, the cost was starting to mount, even with only ever having three using it at once, before we ended our time with it.

When I was researching a new curriculum, I was coming from the standpoint of someone who was used to expense.  Pretty much anything was going to be a saving!

For me, the main financial attraction toward TOG is the fact that it only gets CHEAPER as you use it, due to the cyclical nature of it.

Let me break down the cost for you.

Initially, you need to be buy the curriculum.  There are three options available.  Digital, print, or both.  I went for digital, as an International customer, because it was virtually instant delivery, and no expensive shipping! The print version is pretty heavy, so shudder to think of the expense of getting it over to this side of the Atlantic!  I love digital formats.

The digital only version is $170 per year plan, print is $295, and both is $315.  As always, this works out better for us on the $-£ exchange. Whoppee-doo!  Now, bear in mind, once you have it, you HAVE it! If you plan to use this for many years, and for several children, it's GREAT value! One fab bonus of the print is that you can view it all on up-to-date Apple and Android products! I regularly pull it up on the iPad to reference things.

Next, you have the option to add on various products. I will tell you about the ones I consider the most useful - the rest you can find over at the Buying Guide. Firstly, there is MapAids, which is $25 per year plan. Again, like the main curriculum, once you have it, you have it. It has all the maps you need to print and use on the way through.  Then you have Writing Aids.  This is a complete writing programme, which includes elements of grammar, as well. It has 12 levels you can work through, and is very thorough. It is not at all ESSENTIAL, but having a writing programme that dovetails with the rest of TOG is just lovely! It is $40 for digital, and covers your entire 4 years. Next, there is the option of lapbook templates.  These are invaluable if you have learners who love this format, but not, of course, essential. They are $75 for a year. Then there are evaluations.  These are great for reviewing what the child has learned, and I use them more as an extra worksheet, rather than an evaluation. I didn't use them my first few years, but after someone else pointed out their usefulness, I added them on. (oh, another bonus - adding things on when it suits!) They are $15 per year, per LEVEL (4 levels), or $50 for all four levels.

There are a few other options of add-ons, which, in my opinion, are even less essential, especially if you are on a budget. You'll learn more about them at the buying guide.

In my opinion, you want to at least get the MapAids, and then WritingAids and Evaluations are next in line. If you got all of those, it would be around $250 (around £160) for the first year (maybe a bit more, depending on how many levels you were getting for the Evaluations.  Obviously more if you add on every element available. Now, when you consider that this is for multiple levels of learners, and you won't pay for year 1 EVER again, then it's not bad value at all.

The next thing you will need is the books.  TOG has a reading list, with the primary books you will need.  They also provide a secondary list, but these titles will not be referenced in your reading schedule every week, so you'll have to hunt for the content you need in these.  You can, of course, buy these books.  I have managed to find nearly all of them over here in the UK.  All of them are available directly from Bookshelf Central, TOG's book store.  You can also find most of them second hand, on sites such as Amazon.  Additionally, you can get many of them in the library system.  There are many ways in which you could also make this cheaper, including borrowing them from someone you know who has them, who also uses TOG.  The one major thing, which benefits people with multiple children, especially over a wide age range, is that the books will also be used again! I have taken great joy in coming back to year 1, and already having all the Lower Grammar level books.  For Year 2 onwards, I also have all the Upper Grammar books.  This year, I am having to add Upper Grammar and Dialectic books, so next time around I will only have Rhetoric to buy. Of course, it's ONLY the books I need this year, as the curriculum was bought first time around! That's making it so much cheaper, which is fabaroony!

One of the other fabulous reasons to BUY the books you need, is the excellent quality, detail, and range of books they use.  My children take great delight in picking them up and looking at them when we are not even studying that era of history.  The literature titles, in particular, especially the picture books in lower levels, are a pure joy! Brilliantly chosen, in my humble opinion.

You will want to add science, maths, English, and any other subjects you consider to be vital.  Those, of course, can be obtained as cheaply or as costly as you wish.

My summation is this - there is a reasonable amount of cost involved in the purchase of TOG.  You can spread the cost of certain elements, if you need to, which is a plus.  The next benefit is the fact that when you come round to use it again, the costs are far reduced.  Then you only need to find or purchase the books which you use with the curriculum.  Are there cheaper curricula available? Yes, of course! Are they as thorough, detailed, delightful to use, and multi-faceted in their options of learning styles you can use? I doubt it.  Then, I AM biased, being a sold out user of TOG. It's worth every penny, to have such a well planned, full of detail, Christ-centred curriculum, with a whole ton of support and encouragement from staff and other users.  I have made so many wonderful online friends through it, who have blessed and encouraged me in ways that money could never buy, and for which I will ever be thankful to the Lord for.

If you want to read a far  more detailed break down of the costs and value for money of TOG, go over to their Mythbuster post here.

Tapestry on a Tuesday {Virtual Co-op}

This new term has heralded a slight change in direction for our homeschool.

Recently, I was made aware of a concept that was new to us, and which I felt would benefit Joshua, in particular.

Currently, we attend a homeschool co-op, where we get together with other families and learn together.  Different parents take turns teaching lessons, with the children in a group setting.  The children love it, and it gets in that ALL essential aspect of the "s" word..... (tongue firmly in cheek there)...

Aherm


The children love it, and it's nice for the parents to get together and encourage each other, too.

My ideal would be to meet together with others who use Tapestry of Grace, but as yet, there are still very few families using it over here.  I would LOVE to see more using it, as it's a GREAT curriculum!

The next best thing came on my radar.

VIRTUAL co-op.

It's when children get together ONLINE, and have a class together! One parent teaches, and the children all listen in, on whichever conferencing platform used by the co-op. They  have opportunity to type or speak their answers, as they enter into discussion, or even share by video.  The teacher tends to use PowerPoint presentations, whilst teaching the class.

I particularly liked the idea of Josh participating in the Dialectic level History class, because it is where they discuss their "Thinking" and "Accountability" questions.

"What are THOSE?", you may ask?

First of all, it may be a good time to explain the stages of learning, included in a classical approach to education.

Grammar  - this is the stage where a child soaks up facts. It's the foundation stage of learning, where a child will then build upon these facts in later years.  This level, particularly in Tapestry of Grace,  is all about fun and interesting books, and activities,  packed with factual information, put across in a captivating way.

Dialectic - at this stage, a child wants to question things more, and start to take a more analytical approach to learning, also applying logic. They are trying to understand what they learned, in order to apply it better. It's the starting to ask "why" about things, instead of just accepting as fact.

Rhetoric - this is when they take the facts they learnt in earlier life, the questioning and reasoning they learnt in dialectic years, and coherently express it in oral or written. It's the level at which they can demonstrate that they have learnt and understood facts, because they can explain them to someone else. Expression, hypothesising and demonstrating more abstract thought processes, are all key elements to this stage.

Having worked for several years with grammar level (TOG splits it into Lower and Upper - younger ones using more basic texts, and older using more detailed ones), I was a little apprehensive about moving up to dialectic.  However, I realised that we already, as a family, tend to do what is expected in Dialectic - ask QUESTIONS! I regularly ask them why we think something happened, or happens. Discussing and analysing, at the simplest level, the whys and wherefores of what we are learning. Dialectic just does this as a formal part of schooling. Josh has a list, every week, of Thinking Questions, which get them to, well, THINK, and Accountability Questions, which are more to make sure they have read, and understand, what they were assigned.  Getting them to think it through more, rather than just understanding facts, like grammar level.

Here is an example, of the Questions for Dialectic.

History
Accountability Questions
1. What is the difference between “superstition” and “religion”? Look up both words in a dictionary and then summarize
the difference in your own words.
2. Which were the major idols or “gods” of Egypt? List the ten or twelve deities that Egyptians considered the most
important.
3. Egyptian idols were often pictured as animal/human combinations. Prepare to share details about two of these.
(Your teacher may choose to assign you two specific “deities” to tell your classmates about in a mini-report.)
‰‰ What did your chosen “deities” represent to the Egyptians?
‰‰ What do scientists think is the most probable reason for these half-human representations?
4. Why did the Egyptians develop a pantheon of over 2,000 “deities”?
Thinking Questions
1. Were the Egyptians polytheists or pantheists? Using a dictionary, define these two terms precisely. Then answer
the question, listing specific aspects of Egyptian beliefs that support your answer.
2. Connect factors in the Egyptian environment with the development of Egyptian religion.
‰‰ What was the basis of the relationship between the Egyptians and their idols?
‰‰ Outline ways that the climate and location of Egypt may have affected their belief system. For instance, did
the Egyptians have a god of the mountains?
3. Why do you think Egyptian mythology included several versions of the stories of creation?
4. Consider the concept that the Egyptians worshipped evil gods in order to placate them. How is this different from a Christian’s reasons for worshipping God?

(On a side note, I love how Tapestry of Grace looks at mythology and false religion ALWAYS side by side with God's Word, and pointing out the error of it.)

We had been trying to fit in our discussion every week, but it was quite the juggling act for me!

Then, I learnt about the virtual co-ops! Having someone else go through it all with them, and having them discuss it together, sounded like a great idea - both for the basic aspect of discussion, and also getting to know others.  The added bonus of being accountable,  to an outside party, was also particularly appealing!

So, through the TOG Facebook group that I am on, I heard there was one commencing for Year 1, Dialectic level.

Hang on, though.  They were, of course, starting Year 1 in September.  We had begun our school year in JANUARY!

What to do?!?!

Well, I decided that the benefits of joining in with a virtual co-op was sufficient to restructure our schooling schedule.  I decided to pause our studies with Tapestry of Grace, on a family level.  Josh has re-started Year 1, for his History and Writing, leaving the other TOG subjects, so he can join in. We will all start back together, with the whole curriculum, when Josh reaches that week in his virtual co-op.

In the mean time, I have come up with a few other projects to keep the children busy, as an alternative to TOG!  Beth is working on a Unit Study, based on Anne of Green Gables, called "Where the Brook and River Meet".  (I got it from Icthus Resources, here in the UK) It covers many different subjects, all based on each chapter of the book.  It covers history of the period the book is set in, geography of the area, nature study, cooking, craft, Bible, writing, and literature studies.  There are probably others I have forgotten about, too! Beth is loving it! I am doing a Unit Study with the younger ones, based on a Classic Starts version of Swiss Family Robinson.  I will share a bit more about that in another post, and will hopefully share ALL that we did, once we have finished. I am just putting it all together myself, rather than following a curriculum or online resource.  We are reading a chapter a week, and doing activities that spring from that. So far, we have covered storms, poetry, labelling a ship, comparing and contrasting agouti and pigs, and we also have a lapbook we are doing, which answers comprehension questions.

Josh has been really enjoying his virtual co-op. He has also joined in with a Writing class, even though, initially, he only wanted to do the History. He is loving them both, and thinks his teachers are great. (So do I - truly inspiring - hats off to you ladies - you know who you are!) I think that having someone, other than just Mum, is a good thing! I am still working alongside him, and directing him in certain areas, of course, but it's working well for him, on a motivational level. He's also enjoying connecting with the other children, of a similar age.  It's amazing to think that children, from across the world, can sit and discuss history together, in real time!

Often, I will listen in, as well. I set up Josh on the iPad, and I have the laptop open, with myself signed in. I do jobs, or work with the others, and pop in and out to listen in. It helps me to keep a track on what Josh is to do for the next week, as well as flagging up anything I want to discuss with him further.

I am hoping this opportunity will both enable him to dig deeper into Tapestry of Grace and encourage him to cultivate friendships with children across the globe. That "S" word, again.... *winks*

The long and the short of it is this - we love virtual co-op, and it's just another great reason why people should consider using Tapestry of Grace!

(Yes, he is sitting on an unmade bed, in the spare room - it's called "A Quest for a place of solitude"!)

Tapestry on a Tuesday {Timelines - with a review of Timeline Cards}

(This post contains affiliate links)

I want to share with you about a wonderful resource, for anyone who is, or will be, studying Ancient History.

When Janeen, from Sprouting Tadpoles, asked for people to review her new printable product, I jumped at the chance. As part of Tapestry of Grace, they suggest that you make a Timeline.  It was one of the things that we did not do the first time through, and I had wanted to pick up this time. Due to the fact that I had been finding it hard to find good resources, which were cheap, or free, I had kind of put it off.  You can, of course, make your own Timeline, adding in dates or pictures yourself.  I personally like the concept of having the images and dates laid out for you.


Time saving, we call it.

Or something like that.

Janeen's product is simply perfect for Tapestry of Grace users.  She has produced a set of printable cards - 136 different images/events. Included are 4 different sizes of cards, which could be used in lots of different ways. I will show you how we are using them, in a moment.  They cover the period from Creation to the Early Greeks. There are a set, in each size, with dates, and a set without dates. You could use all of one, all of another, or mix and match if you find you have come to a different conclusion about certain dates.

The largest size fits 4 onto one printed page.  You could use these to make cards which the children can write facts onto the reverse. There is an option to print lines on the backs of these cards, for this purpose.

The next size fits 8 on a page. These are "Top Trump" size, and you could make them into a game, or print doubles of some of them and play games like pairs or snap. You could print one set with dates, and one without, and have the children try and memorise the dates of each one. Lots of games and fun could be had with this size!

The next size down fit 16 per page and could equally be used for games, or notebooking type pages.

The smallest fits 32, and this is the size I went for.

Janeen has also included some ideas for  memory work and copywork, (including printable tables) as well as suggestions for how to use them in a Timeline, including one with a map, to identify WHERE these events were taking place!

I found a timeline that seemed to fit the periods of time I wanted to cover per page - 500 years.  This works better for older dates, when there was less "happening".  I would want to do it differently as history progresses, as more happens in shorter periods of time - just think what has happened in the last hundred years, never mind any other century!

I cellotaped the pages together, so they folded out into one long timeline, but also fold back up neatly, in the folder.

Now, having begun using it, I realise that the timeline I printed starts way before when we actually believe creation to have been. I wouldn't use that one again.  I also finding that I am struggling to fit on all the printed pictures, for some of the 500  year periods.  I am thinking of adding a page that flips up and down, to add to the "height" of some of the pages, to fit more in.

We decided that we would place the information in a certain order.  Below the centre line we will put Biblical events up to the time of the early Church, then after that time we will place British history events. Above the line we have worked from Egypt nearest the line, to further afield places closer to the top of the page.  This may not work out as we go through time, but it's working for us just now.

Also below the line we are adding in any dates, events or people covered in Tapestry of Grace which are NOT in the printable set.  There are not many, so far, that we felt we needed to add in.

You could do things in a far more detailed way than we are doing, but already we are finding it's helping us to understand how the world was developing at the same time as Biblical events, rather than stand alone events and developments.

We are keeping all the not yet used pictures in a little clip lid pot. I have them arranged by date.

I really love these Timeline Cards.  They are very comprehensive, with so many dates and events included in the package. Janeen has put in a lot of time an effort, to provide us with a quality, and versatile, product!

You can purchase this set from Janeen, but how about this for a bargain?  This product is currently available in the 4th-6th Grade Bundle, in the Build your Bundle sale, OR as an individual item to add to your "Build your Own" Bundle option!  For $39 you can get these Timeline cards, along with all the other products you see below.  Click on the image to go to the Build Your Bundle site, to see more information.

Also, if you want another piece of good news, they are offering a "Buy 2, get one FREE" deal, on the bundles! (They have to either be all "Build your own" or all pre-assembled, you choose!)  This is a fantastic deal, especially if you have children of different ages you would like to buy for.

Whatever you do, get your hands on these Timeline Cards! They are a fantastic tool for anyone learning about Ancient History, and will help you with working on a Timeline in your school setting. 

You can buy them *directly* from Sprouting Tadpoles e-shop, for the knock-down price of $5. $5 well spent, I say!  On her site, you will also find some lovely, FREE printables, which are a fantastic educational tool, too.  

Thank you, Janeen, for producing these cards!

New Build your OWN Bundle - coming soon!

(affiliate links are contained in this post)

It is my joy to share with you, that, in only a week, there is a new concept in book bundles, arriving on your "doorstep"!

In the past, eBook bundles have contained a large number of books, invariably including titles that may not interest you, or apply to your situation.  What's new about THIS one, is that you can choose what to add to YOUR bundle - customisation is the key word.

Yes, you are going to be able to choose a personal selection of e-products, at a knock down price, to suit your own situation.

Also available will be "sets" already put together, to suit certain academic groups. Included in these sets are going to be some amazing, high value items, which won't be available in the "build your own" options, so they are an even better offer!

The first ever sale will be for Homeschooling, just ready to start your new academic year at the end of summer! Perfect timing, I say! So, from the 21-28 of July, you can have a look at what's there, and get buying and building!

I'm really excited about this opportunity, and I can tell you there are many excellent products lined up waiting.

Also rather exciting, is the chance to win $100 towards your purchase, when the sale goes live on the 21st of July. Yes, ONE HUNDRED dollars! You can enter from now until the day before the sale goes live, and the winner will be announced on the first day of the sale.

Click on the image below to enter!

If you are worried you may forget, and miss out, don't fret.  You can head on over and register your email address, so you have a reminder that it's happening!

 Click here and enter your email address and click "Remind Me!"

(Be sure to look for the special coupon code you will get when you pin the giveaway on Pinterest!)

(If you have never heard of Cathy Duffy, it's well worth checking her site out, to give you a fantastic overview on different curriculum.)

**********

So, how about a bit of an idea of what will be available in these bundles?  Actual details will not be available until the day the sale kicks off, but here's a bit of a tempting tid-bit to suggest what's ahead.
Take a Sneek Peek at Our Bundles:
	Tots & Preschoolers Bundle This Bundle includes products for little ones: Character Training Resources Handwriting Curriculum Preschool & Toddler Activities Bible Curriculum Full Preschool Curriculum & More
Kindergarten - 3rd Grade Bundle The K-3 Bundle includes products in the following subjects: Reading Math Science History Handwriting Character Training Bible Resources Full Kindergarten Curriculum
	Elementary: 4th-6th Bundle The 4th-6th Bundle includes products in the following subjects: History Language Arts Geography Art Math Bible Keyboarding Writing Guides Handwriting andCopywork Resources Timeline Cards & Notebooking Pages Customizable Homeschool Planner
Middle School Bundle This bundle features a full language arts curriculum from Cathy Duffy’s Top 100 picks and two science curricula, one of which is also from Cathy Duffy’s Top 100 picks, as well as: A Complete Geography and History Curriculum History Timeline/Book of Centuries Renaissance and Reformation Notebooking Pages Classical Music Curriculum Creative Writing Course Math Materials Keyboarding Course
	Bundle for High Schoolers This bundle features: New Testament Bible Curriculum Introduction to Psychology A full year of math curriculum Resources for World History and Geography Philosophy Home Economics College Prep Tools Grammar Creative Writing Course Anatomy Science Unit study from Cathy Duffy’s Top 100 picks, and more! You will receive enough materials for a full year of high school!
Charlotte Mason Bundle This bundle features a complete curriculum using the Charlotte Mason Methods for: Language Arts Handwriting, and Reading Geography Nature Study Artists Study Poetry And a variety of "extras" just for mom! Learn all about Charlotte Mason and enjoy a special bonus (a $90 value all by itself) of great, classic audio books!
	Bundle Just for Moms! Save money, strengthen your marriage, and streamline your schedule using our Mom Bundle. Find the encouragement you need and the insight to speak to your child’s heart (even that difficult child!). Whip your home into shape and train your children to do their chores effectively using a popular book "chores program". This bundle brims with useful tools to help you bring calm to the chaos. Get them all for just $10!
"Build Your Own" Bundles Our "Build Your Own" bundles offer you the opportunity to select a certain number of products with a retail price of $19.99 or less for up to 80% off! We have MANY items to choose from, including Cathy Duffy Top 100 Picks! When you purchase a combination of any 2 "Build Your Own" bundles, you will get the 3rd one at 50% off!

I can't tell you what's going to be available until the day it all kicks off, but be assured you will find something that will appeal to you.

What's even better, for us folks on this side of the Atlantic - the EXCHANGE RATE! It's particularly strong for us at the moment, so $25 is around £15, and $39 is around £23. So, around £3 per item for the bundle of 5, around £2 per item for 10, and if you do the "buy two, get 50% off the third", that makes it around £1.70 per item! Where would you get these products for that little money any other time??

NOWHERE!!

The build-your-own option is great if you have loads of children, at different stages, but only need a few products.  The ready prepared bundles have the bonus of the extra items not available in "build-your-own", and also make it an easy option, as it's all thought out for you!

So, only a week until this all starts.  You can either sign up for the reminder by email, or else I will be giving you the "heads up" when the time comes, too.

Blogging through the Alphabet {illness, imps, imperfections and iMovie}

Well, this week has been interesting.  We are still waiting for the "axe to fall" on the other 7 children, in the chickenpox department.  Every day we have random inspections, to see if any spots have appeared.  Possibly, just possibly, I think some may be appearing today!  I really just want this whole thing done and dusted, and the suspense is about killing me! *grin*  Did you know how many little, random spots and blemishes children have? Many, I tell you.  Not helped at all by my next subject.

My imp.  Simeon.

Another trying week with my rambunctious 2 year old.  I think, having been ill, he has had  an enormous amount of energy returned, which he is putting into making mischief.  He is constantly getting into things, and also has developed a liking for screaming when he doesn't get his own way.  Children have uncanny knack for wanting their own way.  It's why we are told, as parents, that we need to "train up a child".  They need to learn that it's not the right way to behave, and they can't always get their own way. It's a tiring job, raising children, I can tell you.  Mostly, on our part, determined by the amount of effort we put into being consistent and attentive in our duties.  Not as much as I ought to, so often, I fear.  I see my imperfections REGULARLY as a parent, and bemoan my selfish, and sinful, and lazy heart, that doesn't do as much as I ought to.  I pray that the Lord would help me to be more of what I should be.

My imperfections were made manifest yesterday, all sparked by my aforementioned imp.

I was busily trying to get the dinner out, as well as getting ready for some Church folks coming round to plan for Holiday Bible Club.  My prideful heart felt I MUST make something home-baked, or I wouldn't be the hostess they were expecting.  I was sure I would have criticism for only giving out shop bought treats.  How silly.  How sinful of my heart.

Well, Simeon soon put an old proverb into practice in my life.

Yes, my friends - pride goeth before..

destruction.

Not a fall.  That's a misquote.

Destruction, and a fall, is what happened.

My brownie mix, which had everything done, other than the flour stirred in, was sitting on the counter.  I was busy doing some other, more vital, jobs, when Simeon knocked my bowl - tipping out a good lot of the mix, and nearly all the flour, onto the floor.

Yes.  That's a brownie splat.  The children were all seeing "pictures" in it - "Ooooh, I can see a face" - "I can see a duck" - I was seeing a mess which I couldn't clear up because dinner needed to be served.

*Sigh*

Thankfully, my husband and son blessed me immensely by clearing it up after dinner, whilst I did other things that needed my attention.  It was no small job, and I am very grateful!

My biggest sigh was over my own pride.  Had I just focussed on one thing - caring for my family's immediate needs - instead of worrying about what others may say or think, then it would not have happened.  I wanted  to give the visitors what I thought was best - my own cooking. Ouch. How awful does that sound, actually typed out in words?

I deserved destruction.

However, in an effort to prevent waste, the mixture that wasn't tipped out was adapted, and cooked, and it was entirely edible (or so I was told by those who could eat it - not me, it has sugar and gluten and other things I don't eat!).

When will I learn?

My imperfections - my sinful heart - are ever before me. I am SO glad for God's love and mercy in my life.  Sadly, I wasn't so merciful on my son. He needed to learn, yes, but I was so angry.  My heart is not perfect, like my heavenly Father. Simeon had been told to stay out, and to stop touching things, and he didn't.  Whom the Lord loveth, He chasteneth.  That's why we need to train our children, too. Simply, because we love them.  It could have been worse than mixture tipped on the floor.  It could have been a hot oven touched, or knives causing harm, by his disobedience.  I really hope he learns soon.  That, or my patience needs to be improved faster.

I humbly listen to my own words, and I pray I learn, too.

I will finish with my "iMovie" point.

My friend kindly introduced my children to an app, called iMovie.  You can do all sorts of fun things with it, and the children have used it for educational purposes, in the last two weeks.  I really cannot rate it highly enough, for usability, and inventiveness.  It encourages children to use their creativity in producing short films.  They can do it as  "trailer" type setting, or just in a free form way.  The first was a "trailer", outlining the science they were doing that day.  The second was a "dramatic production" of a scene from the life of Solomon (being studied in our Tapestry of Grace work, this week - it was an assignment to incorporate the whole family).

I gave the children feedback on it all, but I think it's a great first attempt at a dramatic adaptation! I can't wait to see what else they can do in the future.

Without further ado, I shall share their "movies" with you!

                                      



As ever, I'm linking up with Ben and Me.  Check out some of the other bloggers, and see what "I" they have shared.