Inchworms

 I don't know why, but I always enjoy little inchworms. They are interesting and relaxing to watch!

Cleaning pyrex

 I have to admit that I have not been a fan of Mr. Clean Magic Erasers--ever since I used one on a wall when they first came out (15 years ago maybe?) and it messed up the paint on the wall. 

I recently got some for another try because there was a good sale on them :) and tried it on a pyrex dish that had those brown marks that, you know, appear ;) and it cleaned it right up so nicely! 

I was very pleasantly surprised:)

Bears!

 I like that we have wildlife in our backyard...but these bears are a little too brazen :/ 

Douglas MacArthur -- Heroes of History by YWAM -- my REVIEW

 Disclosure: I received this complimentary product through the Homeschool Review Crew

One of my daughter's favorite series of books is a YWAM series by Janet and Geoff Benge. We were given the opportunity to read and review another book by these same authors--Douglas MacArthur: What Greater Honor in the series Heroes of History by YWAM Publishing. 

This book, as the others in the series, is a biography of a "Hero." This book is about Douglas MacArthur, who we usually already do note as a hero. Throughout the book the reader is brought to an understanding of MacArthur--a better understanding than just reading a paragraph or two in a history book. The reader finds out about MacArthur's life from childhood to adulthood (and to death); we learn that he was involved in a military for his entire life--from having a father in the military to going to military school to acceptance and attendance (and hazing!) at West Point and finally in the service of his country. We also learn that his mother was a helicopter parent! :) There are many details about his life--for instance, did you know that Douglas MacArthur was rejected twice, two years in a row, from West Point due to a medical issue (curvature of the spine) which he finally conquered, thanks to exercises and strengthening?

This book, as with the others in the series, is an easy read--and a great read-aloud! Although my kids are too old for read-alouds now (they do enjoy audiobooks, but not necessarily me reading them a book!) books in this series and others by the Benges have been enjoyed by our family for years.

One of the things that the books in this series do is help the reader identify with the subject of the biography and see them as a real person. We all know that MacArthur was a brilliant military leader and tactical planner, but how many of us know about his background and how he grew into the man that he became? 

This book, alone as a book to read solo or aloud with a group or family, is an enjoyable learning experience. However, there is more to this book that may appeal to a homeschooling family!

Along with this book is a Unit Study prepared by YWAM Publishers which gives activities and exercises which expand this from just a book to read to an entire unit study which can last as long as you wish. The unit study is a handy pdf download and features things like chapter questions (and there is also a section written for parents about how to grade these and what expectations to have for these, such as writing answers in a full sentence). 

There are hands-on project suggestions ranging from things like creating relief maps to learning about Filipino cuisine (you will learn about MacArthur's affinity for the Philippines).There are recommendations for listening to some of MacArthur's speeches; for creating a PowerPoint of different parts of MacArthur's life, and for doing arts and crafts projects like crafting a kimono. 

There are field trip ideas and tips for processing those things learned and experienced on field trips. There are vocabulary lists and geography activities. 

Basically the unit study is full of an enormous amount of ideas that you can use to expand this from a book about Douglas MacArthur to a large learning experience jumping out from the book and expanding into different areas of learning. 

Some families may choose to enjoy the book as a read-aloud, to learn more about this hero from history while others may dive in and spend a month learning around his life story--it's up to you!

I would recommend this book and this series--even though it is written for kids, it is actually enjoyable for adults as well! My daughter (16) who also read this book noted that she was surprised that there was little mention of faith in the book--many of the other Heroes of History that she has read have featured the primary character's belief in God, but this one did not seem to; so that's something to note. We would still recommend it.

You can read more reviews of books like this one, including reviews of different books in this series by clicking on the link below:

The kids are home!

 It's that time of year...the kids have come home from college! Yay! 

Psalm 127:3 

Children are a gift from the Lord;
    they are a reward from him.

Thank you, Lord, for the three gifts of children that you granted to me! 

B is for blackcaps

 I am so excited because this spring we planted black raspberries! We only planted a few of them, but I have high hopes!! 

We had some blackberries growing wild on this property when we bought our house one year ago--but sadly they were super seedy (huge seeds!) and sour...and very prolific! SO we made the big decision to pull those out and purchase some raspberry and black raspberry plants. 

They arrived as little dead-looking sticks with roots on them...and we had to wait a few weeks until the soil had thawed. We planted them about three weeks ago and some of them finally have some teeny leaves popping out!

Can you tell I'm excited? I love the new growth all around us this time of year! :) 

(ps. Growing up we always called black raspberries blackcaps. I wonder if there is a specific type that is called the blackcap or if it's just a colloquial name? I'll have to look that up!)

Drawing with Graphite Pencils--my REVIEW

 Disclosure: I received this complimentary product through the Homeschool Review Crew

If you ask me if I can draw, I will say no. I wish that I could, but I haven't had much success with drawing ;) Maybe this is one reason that throughout our homeschooling years we haven't had many courses or units on drawing--because that is not a strength of mine. This course that we got to review, Beginner Level, Art Core 1, Drawing with Graphite Pencils by Artistic Pursuits, is a great way to introduce drawing into your homeschool day! 

  

This course, Drawing with Graphite Pencils, is an art course, not just a drawing course. The age level of it is 4th grade through adult. The book is nine units and each unit is made up of a video lesson (there are 2 DVDs to accompany the text) which the learner watches at the beginning of the unit. Within each unit is a creativity lesson which expands upon the topic, defining terms and explaining things such as line, form, depth, texture, and more. The learner is given an assignment or suggestion of a follow-up to this part of the unit, such as find an object in nature and think about how you might place the objects and then make an outline drawing using outside edges.

Another element within each unit is a focus on American Art Appreciation and History. The art technique which was highlighted in the particular unit is illustrated through American artists' works and times. Learners have the opportunity to try out some of the techniques which were used by these artists (try a cool silhouette on pages 20-21!)

The final part of each unit is a Master lesson in which the student applies the element that was taught in the lesson. There are step-by-step drawings that inspire the artist to create their own work of art. There are also student-drawn pictures in the "student gallery."

So what did we think of this? I think that this would be a great course to use on a weekly basis in your homeschool. The videos are very soothing to watch (!) -- my daughter and I both thought they had the feel of something that would be shown on PBS :) The historical section is a great way to incorporate learning about artists and their times (and you could definitely expand upon that as you wish!) The drawing instructions, though basic, do help you walk through steps of really seeing and observing so that you can draw a representation of what you are looking at. 

My daughter and I had a great time going through these lessons. I wish we had used this when all 3 of my kids were in school--they would have been ideal in the middle/junior high years! My 16-year old said this: "I liked that the videos were short, and easy to understand. The lessons did seem a bit younger, and the objects they drew seemed to be toys/etc, but it was fun to follow along and gave me a good excuse to practice drawing."

I may still not call myself an artist, but I had fun using these lessons, and I think that if my kids were a bit younger we would have loved incorporating this curriculum into our homeschool year! I can definitely recommend this product. 

There are art courses for different age levels, and if you click on the banner below, you can find out more about some of these other courses and read what homeschooling families have to say about these products.