How to Find the Right Curriculum Without Breaking the Bank

The best way to find a curriculum that will work with you and your children is to sample as many different types as possible.  But of course there’s that little problem of cash to fund this little experiment. But there is hope …

Homeschoolers love to share resources. Because of this (and it’s just good business) many curriculum stores give away freebies and sample so that you can try before you buy. Another great source of freebies are homeschool expos.  You can check around to see when one is coming near you. Or you can enjoy a virtual expo from the comfort of your home. Virtual expos provide you with samples of all of the vendors that have participated that year.  You’ll get MP3s, ebooks and sometimes special websites for you to learn more and/or try out products.  I went to my first one this year and I’ve been enjoying it at my own pace.

There are also people who collect free resources from across the internet, such as Homeschool Freebie of the Day. The Erksine Family has great websites that give away free curriculum, ebooks and audio shows to enhance the homeschooling experience. The Erksines encourage people to sign up for their weekly notifications so that you know exactly what day each resource is offered. This is very important since they take down each resource at the end of the day and you don’t want to miss any of their finds!

Another way to experience all that is homeschooling is by getting a subscription to a monthly magazine and seeing how other homeschoolers are getting things done.  Right now there is a great Summer Bouquet subscription drive that not only gives you an in-depth look into homeschooling, but they’re also giving away 19 bonus curriculum packages. These packages contain ebooks, real books, software, DVDs, movies, etc. What better way to get an overview of the many, many different types of ways there are to educate your children today? Just a word to the wise, these particular bonuses are only available for the first 5,000 subscribers, so if you are thinking about doing this, you need to get it right away. (If you’re one of the first 1,000 subscribers you’ll get additional gifts!)

Oh, another cool aspect of this particular subscription drive is that they’ve also created a really cool interactive catalog so that you get an in-depth understanding of what you are really getting.  You know, I always hate those ads that tell you you’re getting free bonuses and then just list a bunch of stuff under it. I mean, what if you are unfamiliar with a certain product and want to know more? But these gals are taking full disclosure to new lengths, so you won’t be surprised when your packages arrive.

This short list should be a good place to start on your curriculum hunt.  And always remember that Google + FREE + curriculum is always a winning combination to find more great curriculum ideas and samples.

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Homeschool Curriculum: Points to Ponder

When people begin to toy with the idea of homeschooling their children one of the common fears involves the curriculum:

• Which curriculum is the best?
• Which one guarantees that my child will be able to do brain surgery at 10?
• Which one will take me by the hand and lead me through everything because I don’t have a degree in education?
• What happens if I don’t know the answer to a question?
• Will my child be doomed by my “ignorance”?

And the answer to all of these questions is … there is no magic curriculum. The purpose of homeschooling isn’t to create Einstein (even though that might be nice). It isn’t to prove to outside friends and family that your child is smarter than their child. It is to provide your child with an educational platform that will allow him to thrive as an individual and to be able to learn the skills they need for their chosen profession. The rest is all ego – parental ego.

So the first thing that parents considering homeschooling should work on is their own attitude. There is no one on this planet that loves your children more than you do. There is no one on this planet that will lay their life down for their children but you. So, you will not hurt your child by educating them. Education is really teaching someone how to find out the answers to the questions that they have in life. Common sense is a much harder thing to learn than regurgitating facts for a test, which unfortunately, the current educational system revels in these days. So before you pick out a curriculum, you need to have a good long talk with yourself about why you want to homeschool, make a commitment and do it. The rest will fall in line.

I have spent lots of money looking for the holy grail of curricula. But I was looking for things that interested me and not really considering the things that would interest my children or suit their personalities. So, before you pull out your checkbook, watch your children play and interact and see what works best for them. My eldest daughter must be in motion or she’ll explode. She’s a really smart girl, but sitting quietly is not her best learning style. My middle daughter is of a reflective nature, so I have to make sure that I leave her a lot of time to get her work done. She’s a daydreamer, but her work is always well done by the end of the school day. My youngest (he’s 2) seems like he’s going to follow in the footsteps of my first daughter. He’s always in motion and does his best “work” while he’s running around. So, we’ll be doing hopscotch alphabet and numbers in a couple of years. J

Now, that I’ve categorized my kids I can start thinking about which curriculum would be “the best”. I think “the best” curriculum is one that works for my family. It may not work for Fran’s family or Katy’s family, just my family. Every family is unique. So, I have a more eclectic approach. I like Sonlight’s curriculum, but my daughters had trouble with some of the math samples I printed up, so it didn’t make sense for me to invest in the whole year curriculum. But I do use their reading book lists that tie in what I’m teaching my girls right now. We’re learning Russian from a fellow homeschooling mom and her family. I like the language arts and history programs by Susan Wise. I have various science books around the house, so this year we’ll actually see which ones we will use.

For math I like Math Mammoth. My 9-year-old and 6-year-old are both working in the same series (at different paces, obviously), but what I’m really impressed by is their mastery of each worksheet. My eldest really struggled with conventional math books and got more wrong than right. Now, however, she’s a consistent 95% and above on each one. That’s greatly improved her confidence which has led to better work habits. My six year old is adding and subtracting double digits with ease. Although she works more slowly than her sister (who is still in review mode) she gets 100% every time. So how can I complain about a little daydreaming?

My 6 year old is still working on her reading skills, but the book, “Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Lessons”, I’m using to teach her to read is much different than the ones that her big sister used. Why? Because she needs more time to think out her answers. The eldest (and probably her little brother) loved the computerized independent/discovery learning style. I used the Scholastic Reading Program (that they discontinued for some reason) as well as StarFall and IKnowThat coupled with the LeapFrog Videos and she pretty much taught herself. My point is that each child learns at his or her own pace. Our job is to find what works and encourage it. And that’s one reason I think the best way to start is not to spend hundreds of dollars on curriculum, but find something that is flexible while you work out the details of how your children learn.

I have fallen in love with the The Old Schoolhouse Planner. It’s an eclectic collection of resources that is also a complete year’s curriculum. First off, let me confess that I have not been the most organized homeschooler. I’ve purchased programs to keep records on the girls work, I’ve set up schedules (that I then proceeded to ignore after about a week), and changed my mind a couple of times during the course of the year on some of the books that we had chosen to use for learning. But after reading through this 375 page masterpiece of planning I am finally content. Each month is based upon a theme and all the activities and subjects that are taught in that month follow that theme. This would be just about perfect for new homeschooling families. When you start out homeschooling you always worry that you won’t get everything done. The planner is designed to help you not only get yourself organized, but to have fun while you teach and learn. (If you want to learn more about the planner you can go here or read additional reviews here.)

Another resource that you will find useful is called “Oklahoma Homeschool” and has a great breakdown of educational styles and ideas that will be a great help to you as you choose your curriculum. You can also visit The Homeschool Lounge and talk to experienced homeschoolers. You’ll see that the ways to have well-educated children are as diverse as the stars.

You can and will make the difference in your child’s education. The curriculum is just a tool in your hand. Take your time to pick the right one for you and your family and the rest will follow.

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FYI: Cool Career Book Series (for children) Released This Month

Hi,

I just got an email about a brand new book series called “When I Grow Up I Want To Be …” that I thought might be of interest. I have to wait until my husband gets paid (”Thanks Dad!”), but I’m definitely going to get this one. The thing I like about it is that it discusses a variety of jobs (i.e., Firefighter, Veterinarian, Chef, Military, Doctor, Police Officer, Missionary, Artist, Pilot, and Farmer to name a few) from a practical standpoint. They discuss how much money you can make at these professions, the skills you need, the actual day-to-day tasks, etc.

My daughter, Jade, wants to be a Firefighter (well when she doesn’t want to be a ninja) and I think this will be an excellent introduction for her. After we read it I’m going to take her to a firehouse so that she can do a little fact finding of her own! And as we read the other books, she may find discover a new outlet in another profession.

Anyway, the special pricing only lasts until the end of June, so you should check it out soon.
http://bit.ly/16IWXw

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50+ Ideas for Taking Care of Mom!

Hi,

I just got back from checking out the  Ultimate Homeschool Expo, and came across this cool article Cindy Rushton (the hostess for the expo) It’s given me lots of good ideas for taking care of myself better.  I hope it does the same for you.

Tired? Weary? Need some fresh ideas for taking care of mom? Feeling that push and pull on you as you balance all of the many demands in your life? Are you great about taking care of others, yet not quite so good about taking care of YOU? Has it been a long, long time since you have done the little things to just fill your cup back up? How about a few fresh ideas for filling your cup and ministering to your heart! I promise that these will be easy for you to do! Here goes:

–>  Grab Your iPod and go for a long, long walk! I LOVE my iPod. I have it filled with great Praise and Worship music, teachings and workshops, podcasts, tutorials, etc. My iPod has become my “pocket pal” when I work on my chores, take care of business duties, or even get out for my walk. Talk about my best investment of 2006!

–>  Laugh! Just sit there right now…laugh! Start small…just a little giggle! Then…laugh about laughing! Roll on the floor laughing!  Feel better?

–>  Begin a new Bible Study.  Either find a Bible Study guide…or dig out Words to study on your own!  For Word Studies, I LOVE my Strong’s Concordance. It helps to find all of the references of a certain word of interest. I also love my Vine’s Dictionary. I use it to look up the meanings of the words AND it also has other references for uses in Scripture. Another great help for Word Studies is my good old faithful Webster’s 1828 Dictionary. I LOVE it as a reference to deepen the studies. Usually it helps me to also find OTHER great studies to dig into also! Dig into the Word! It will feed your heart and soul during this tough time!

–>  Meet a friend at the park and let the kids play while you visit.

–>  Go for a drive around the city—look at the lights! Look at flowers. Look at the seasonal changes.

–>  Look at photo albums.  Remember the silly stories!

–>  Watch the sunrise! Or, not an early bird? Watch the sunset!

–>  Collect jokes and funnies! Barb Johnson…Chonda Pierce…Becky Freeman are just a few of my PERSONAL favorites! Get one of their books or videos. Then, snag some mom-time to just kick back and enjoy!

–>  Chocolate! Chocolate Candy…Chocolate Bars…Chocolate Shakes…Chocolate Latte’s…CHOCOLATE! REALLY! Chocolate helps to release endorphins in the brain—plus! It tastes great to boot! So, why not grab a bit for mom-time!

–>  Watch an old movie! Curl up under a great big quilt—even if you have to turn the air down COLD!  Don’t forget to turn down the lights and turn off the phone!

–>  Look at your old school albums!  Your HAIR! Ha! Enough said.

–>  Got a grassy hill nearby? Go to the top and just roll down it! Like a child! (Snowy? Get a sled! And SLIDE!)

–>  Take the kids to the park—just WATCH them! They are adorable!

–>  Begin a “Quote Book.”  Collect quotes that encourage you to keep on, keeping on!  Keep them in a special journal dedicated only to keeping your special quotes.

–>  Memorize your favorite Psalm. Try out Psalm 91…or Psalm 61…or Psalm 35…or Psalm 37…Oh! Enjoy!

–>  Begin a Tea Ministry.  Doing for others ALWAYS lifts even the heaviest spirit.  Get a tea basket to keep your goodies in…visit a shut-in…bless them. Then! Watch the blessing boomerang! You won’t be able to leave without a blessing.

–>  Take the kids to a candy store—sample the Jelly Bellies…or Sweet Tarts…or Sour Gummy Worms.

–>  Fly a kite!

–>  Take a ride in the country.  Turn up your praise music…roll the windows down…sing to the top of your lungs!

–>  Watch a funny video!  Elisabeth and I LOVE to watch old movies like If a Man Answers. It is one of our “chick flicks” that we always watch together. We love it! SO FUNNY! Chonda Pierce is another one of my picks. She is just totally hilarious. My children LOVE old comedy shows like I Love Lucy or The Three Stooges.  Oh, you may want to watch anything! Just find something that will make you laugh hard!

–>  Scrapbook!  Pick photos that you MUST tell the story behind! Kick up your favorite music…spread out your goodies…and Scrap till you drop!

–>  Read a biography of a GIANT in the faith!  My favorites are Corrie ten Boom…Hudson Taylor…George Mueller…Amy Carmichael…Jim and Elisabeth Elliott…etc!

–>  Get today’s newspaper and read the comics!

–>  Get a yo-yo! PLAY!

–>  Make Chocolate Chip Cookies with the kids! On a diet? Take them to someone who blesses you! Include a note of thanks and encouragement for all they do to bless you!

–>  Go out and sit on your boat—watch the stars! (Oh, watch the sunset or sunrise, if you can too!)

–>  Dig into the Bible and study what God says about trials…suffering…faith…death…depression…oppression…warfare…battle…

–>  Read a new book! Normally ready non-fiction/how-to’s? Get a fiction book for a change!  Normally read fiction? Get a humorous book! Renew your weary heart and mind!

–>  Take a break and go for a long ride on a motorcycle! Don’t forget your headset and praise music!

–>  Take a hike! Really!  Find a nice nature trail OR go for the tough stuff!!

–>  Go to the mall with your teenager!  ENJOY!

–>  Buy a Mp3 Player and some great praise music—turn it up!  I LOVE my iPod! I have my iPod loaded with all of my favorite CDs. My favorites are Michael W. Smith’s Worship CD’s AND Hillsong’s Praise and Worship!  The moment you enter into worship, you will enter into the very presence of God—so, turn it up and devour the presence of our precious Lord!

–>  Pull out that old sewing machine and make some of those goodies that you have been wanting—new purse/tote…outfit…home decorations…doll clothes…etc!

–>  Buy a “whoopee” Cushion…or “Bubba” teeth… At least your family will laugh!

–>  Write out the funny family stories! Reminisce! Enjoy!

–>  Go skating!

–>  Try an afternoon of “Laser-Tag” with your teens! Get um!

–>  Make Homemade Bread—KNEAD yourself!

–>  Plan a regular Mommy Getaway. This is not an extra! It is essential!  I plan getaways for different purposes: to just get alone with God to hear Him, to plan, to work on my homeschool and business projects, to just fill my cup back up. Decide what will fill you up. What do you need right now? Decide what will help meet that need. Gather your goodies: Bible, journal, iPod, camera (I love taking pictures of little treasures along the way), your planner, your computer/Idea Notebook, etc. Pull aside and take that time to just get-away and fill your cup back up!

–>  Get a pet! My bird, Harley, has ministered to my heart MORE than I could remember! He is just SO funny! HE had the idea to “boogie” for Jesus! I had not danced for years! AND it is decent!  Elisabeth’s new puppy, Pooh, is a TOTAL delight!  I say all the time that she is JOY in fur! She has become my little buddy. She loves to sit with me while I work and follow me around while I am doing my chores. She keeps me in stitches. Struggling? Get a pet just for YOU…see that puppy in the window??

–>  Take the day to go for a flight!  Look at the whole world from a different perspective!

–>  Dance! Turn up your favorite music and dance! Dance your heaviness away! Dance till you laugh! Dance in worship to the Lord! Jump! Lift your hands in praise and worship!

–>  Clean out your house (only if this is NOT your struggle! Ha!). Attack those closets…cabinets…dusty bookshelves…paper piles!

–>  Go out for a cup of coffee…tea…or a good old Coca-Cola! Meet your sweetheart or a mommy pal! Or…take your Bible and make it a special time with the Lord!

–>  Find some silly-putty or slime—PLAY!

–>  Get up earlier (or take regular breaks throughout the day!) for your quiet time! You may feel SO weak that you can barely concentrate—if so, just turn on praise music and lift up your arms in praise and adoration. Watch what happens!  Make a list of your heartaches—lift them to the Father (then, hide them in your Prayer Journal—later they will be a praise record!).  Dig into the Word for comfort…perspective…and hope for tomorrow! Really tough days? Well, when the Israelites had very HOT days, they had to gather MORE manna—in the heat of your battles and toughest trials gather a surplus! It will help you survive your struggle.

–>  Make a quilt. You can EVEN cheat by making it on the sewing machine! ENJOY!

–>  Take an afternoon to go to the movies. Get a big bucket of popcorn…a super-HUGE Coke…sour Gummy Worms (unless you are due a BIG DOSE OF CHOCOLATE!). Take your sweetheart…or a friend if you want to share! Pick a movie that will make you laugh like crazy…OR CRY your eyes out! ENJOY!

–>  Ride three-wheelers! Get MUDDY!

–>  Treat yourself to a leisurely afternoon (or a bunch of afternoons!) at the pool…park…or creek.

–>  Try your hand at BOWLING. Take some friends!

–>  Take time for tea—each day.

–>  Exercise. Swim…walk…jog…hike…go skating…aerobics. Relieves stress AND boosts your health to boot.
Learn a new hobby!  What have you been putting off that you have ALWAYS wanted to know? Pottery? Quilting? Flight Training? Smocking? Scrapbooking? Jewelry Making? Sewing? Crochet? Horse-back riding?  Go for it! Now is the PERFECT time.

–>  Treat yourself to a nice looooonnnnnngggg Bubble Bath! Don’t forget to set up your favorite music to play during your Bubble Bath.  Also…be sure to fix a nice cup of tea (or a Latte!) or a nice big Coke that will last till the water gets cold! ENJOY!

–>  Go to the park and just swing—HIGH!
Go get an ice-cream cone—with a double dip!

–>  Do a “Promise” hunt in Scripture.  Keep in a “Promise Notebook” of your very own! KNOW that they are yours.

–>  Snuggle up for the afternoon to read a great book!

Got some fresh ideas? Don’t let this limit you! Let your brain GO! Find some things that will fill you back up and take care of you all along the way.

This is not an extra. This is an essential. Carve out time on your calendar today to just take care of mom!

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Need MORE Help?

How about the ULTIMATE mom-time? Yep! Check out our Ultimate Homeschool Expo! Cindy Rushton is the hostess of the Ultimate Homeschool Expo, the very first online homeschool convention. She is recording Preview Chats for the Ultimate Homeschool Convention RIGHT NOW! Join her wonderful guests FREE as they count down to the Ultimate Homeschool Expo (June 1-5, 2009–BUT! NEVER ENDING because it is an ONLINE Convention!). Check out all of the details here.

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Mammoth: Making Math Easy

It’s all my fault. I admit it.  My eldest daughter is having problems with math right now because I changed direction and confused the heck out of her. I was snared in the siren’s song of cyber-schooling and now I’m doing damage control.  See, when I started teaching my daughter math I made if fun, practical and entertaining. When I hooked up the cyberschools they made it worksheets, boring, and repetitious. And that just doesn’t work for a blue child — I should know since I’m blue too! And the cyber-curriculum has created a division of education amongst the girls. Under my own regime (another aspect of my emancipation!) everyone pretty much learned at the same time with mild adjustment for age and attention span, of course.

But now I’m back into traditional homeschooling and I’m feeling great about it.  Except for getting my little girl back into loving math. Well, that was until I stumbled upon Mammoth Math Clock while hanging out at Currclick the other day. I was looking for a resource to build up my eldest child’s ability to tell time. If you ask her what time it is she can tell you, but since she can’t explain how she figured it out I translatethis as a need for more practice.  since if you should be able to teach something to others once you really know it.  Her little sister is just learning to tell time. so I was looking for something that will kill two birds with one stone.  And Mammoth Math Clock is the answer for us.

For one thing, Maria Miller’s approach to math is a simple one.  Work on one concept at time and build upon it. Her mathbooks don’t have a lot of colorful pictures, cute jokes or other distractions that has made Jade’s cyberschooling math experience so rocky. Just simple explanations, short practice examples to complete and move on to the next component.  This approach makes it easy to include children from different age groups. Ms. Miller also includes a load of online and offline resources you can tap into if you want to expand the lessons or your child needs more practice.

Let me give you one example. In the beginning she only uses the hour hand to teach the children how they can tell time.  She shows them how the position of the hour hand will tell them if the time is a whole hour or a half hour. She gives some illustrations and then it’s the child’s turn to tell time.  The beauty of this system, at least for my kids, is that they are onlyconcentrating on one thing.  There is no confusion about which hand they’re working with. Jade sometimes would confuse the minute and hour hand — now there’s no confusion. My six year old got it immediately and has never experienced the confusion of which is which.  When we moved on to the second lesson, the minute hand was intoduced, but the focus was only on the quarter and half hours. And so on and so forth.

My kids loved the fact that once they finished a section, they “knew” what time it was and how to manage the clock. Jade now confidently tells the time and explains how she knows — no more nervous glances at me to see if she’s on the right track or not. And her little sister, Alaya, enjoys telling me “Mommy it’s 2:35 p.m.” (or whatever the time may be when she gets into her silly mode).  And best of all, for me, is that I’m done teaching how to tell time for at least 2 more years!  We’re moving into the Mammoth Blue Series now.  I’ll be doing Addition and Subtraction with the ladies before moving on to Multiplication and Division.

And I’ll get to teach them both at one time freeing up time for me to work on other things during the day. And maybe even carve out some more time for fun and games. Yeah!

If you’d like to learn more about Mammoth Math, you can visit www.mammothmath.com and sign up for Maria Miller’s newsletter, free math worksheets and software.  She has a great deal where you buy even one of her workbooks and you get free math software for the kids!

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All Hail Percy Jackson!

Today is bittersweet for me. Today is the release of the final book in the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. I can’t wait to find out how Percy’s prophecy will affect his quest to save the world. I mean, our lives hang in the balance so it’s kind of important.

But as excited and happy I am to listen to the story, I am saddened because we it seems that this will be the last time we’ll catch a glimpse of the realities that half-bloods face everyday. I mean, that big hairy guy you’re sitting next to on the train just might be a cyclops or other monster from Greek mythology. It’s just a good thing that we mortals are pretty much uninteresting to these beasts — the subways of New York are savage enough without adding man-eating monsters.

Speaking of New York City, Mr. Riordan, Chief Scribe of Camp Half-blood, explains that Olympus follows the pinnacle of Western Civilization, and right now is located on the top of the Empire State Building in NYC. Zeus wears a pinstripe suit, Ares is garbed as a Hell’s Angel motorcyclist, and Hera is dressed like Donna Reed or the mom in “Leave It to Beaver”. Artemis is a feminist, Hades is an overworked bureaucrat and the list goes on. Being a Greek mythology aficionado, it’s very entertaining seeing these ancient Gods hanging out in the Big Apple having parties on the top of the Empire State Building. I mean, Hermes jogging around in his running suit with his caduceus (disguised as a cell phone) drinking Coca-Cola isn’t exactly the traditional way of thinking about the ancient ones.

There are six books in the series:

“The Lightning Thief”

“The Sea of Monsters”

“The Titan’s Curse”

“Battle of the Labyrinth”

“Percy Jackson: The Demigod Files”

And the final book, which was released today:

“The Last Olympian”

There is also a companion book called:

“Demigods and Monsters: Your Favorite Authors on Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson and the Olympians Series”

I haven’t “read” that one yet since it’s not an audiobook so I’ll have to read it the traditional way.

**********

The basic premise of the story is that Percy Jackson is an undiscovered demigod that has been accused of stealing Zeus’ master bolt. Hades has sent his minions after Percy, Zeus wants him dead and there’s a third, unknown party that is also in the mix.

Percy doesn’t know about any of this. He’s just struggling through his class work, trying not to get expelled and trying to figure out why he doesn’t fit in anywhere. Then one terrifying night everything changes and Percy must quickly get up to speed on the “real” world of Olympian intrigue, betrayal, friendship and powers he never knew he possessed, before the Olympian gods kill him.

Obviously Percy survives and each book builds upon the events in “The Lightning Thief.” We learn more about the demigod world and the treacherous plans of the unknown instigator behind most of Percy’s troubles.

Before going any further, I want to give a rousing applause to his alter audio ego, Jesse Bernstein. Jesse Bernstein is the perfect narrator for this series. He captures the youth, the wonder and essence of Percy Jackson, an unlikely key to the survival of the Olympians. Each of his characterizations is well planned and executed.

If you’ve listened to many audiobooks, you’ll understand that some narrators are very dry, can’t keep their characters voices consistent and make the book uninteresting. Sometimes, I’ve even had to stop listening to the audiobook and just go to the library and finish the novel myself because the reader was just that bad!

But Jesse is a delightful reader and I wish him well in the rest of his audiobook career.

**********

Enough about the alter ego, let’s start singing the praise of Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson. The thing that I liked right away about Percy is his complete candor and lack of artifice. He doesn’t take himself too seriously, and when you meet some of the other demigods you’ll see why this is so refreshing. His mom is really cool – I want to be just like her when my kids are teenagers. She is willing to accept Percy for who he is – she disciplined him, advised him and set a good example—but ultimately she trusts him to do the right thing. Sometimes trusting that our kids have what it takes is the hardest job of all.

My husband, up until the past few weeks, thought that we (the girls and I) were a little nutty because of our enthusiasm for the series. But has actually become a bigger fan than we are! He’s currently up to “The Battle of the Labyrinth” and has decided that aside from Percy, his favorite character is Chiron, the Centaur Teacher of Heroes. He’s credited Chiron for teaching him how to be a mentor to his eldest daughter, who was making him just a tad bit crazy with her decisions of late. So now when he’s ready to blow he asks himself, “What would Chiron do?” So far it’s been working, so I’ll leave it at that.

My girls love Percy because he’s funny. One of the things that makes him such an entertaining character is that he comes across as a real person; a really funny person. One example of this is when he’s fighting the Chimera and has to jump out of a window from a great height. He doesn’t try to fix it up that he’s a brave guy – he reports that as he fell the only thing that he was thinking was “AAAAAAAH!” They also enjoy the internal disputes amongst the demigod camp (which is located on Long Island, don’t you know?) and the Olympian Gods. The personalities are very vivid and it’s easy to get caught up in their world.

**********

The series is very enjoyable and has enough real life in it to make it an excellent jumping point for discussions on loyalty, love and friendship. Rick Riordan has also created a curriculum guide for those who want to do a unit study on his book, “The Lightning Thief” or Greek mythology. Rick was a teacher before he became a novelist, so he also includes his favorite mythological sources. It’s a free download. You can also find a teachers’ guide to “The Titan’s Curse”, some videos and other cool learning activities submitted by teachers and students who also love Percy.

You can read all about Rick Riordan, Percy’s world and his other book series (children and adult) in the works. I was especially touched to read how his two son’s interests and struggles helped shape Percy Jackson’s world. I guess, as parents, we need to let ourselves be inspired by our children just as much as we strive to inspire them to be the best that they can be. Thanks guys for getting your dad to write this series!

All hail Percy Jackson and the Olympians!

P.S. I’ve found one consolation. I can now get fully absorbed in his new 10 book collaborative series called The 39 Clues. And if you like your kids playing educational video games, they definitely should visit the 39 Clues game website that ties in with the books.

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On the Wings of a Butterfly

Wow! That pretty much sums up my experience with Michelle Eichhorn’s Wee Book “Science on the Wings of a Butterfly”. I am humbled and greatly appreciative of the way Michelle approaches the subject. I am not a huge science fan. (Probably too much time spent in those stinky science labs at school!) Even when I buy science curricula for my kids, I rarely use it. I’m quite content watching The Magic School Bus and doing science experiments on the computer. Needless to say, my husband is in charge of our families’ scientific education. J

From the moment that I began reading this particular Wee-book, I was enchanted. I know that sounds silly, but there’s no other way for me to express it. Her descriptions and writing style really drew me into the subject and left me with a strong desire to know more. I actually checked my print out to make sure that I hadn’t lost any pages! Her resource guide at the end of the book is really cool and my girls liked the idea of adopting a Monarch butterfly. As a rule I don’t like bugs, but Michelle has opened my eyes to some of their more positive aspects.

My daughters have always expressed an interest in moths and butterflies, but I haven’t been a font of information on them since I knew so little myself. Now I can impress them with my newly learned facts. For example, butterflies always rest with their wings up, while moths rest with their wings flat. Go Mommy! Michelle also placed simple instructions on how to attract butterflies for closer inspection. She has so motivated me that I – the anti-outdoor living mom – am anxiously looking forward to a trip to the store to pick up the supplies necessary for our very own butterfly garden and puddle.

The long and short of it is that this is an excellent Wee-book for anti-insect people like me as well nature lovers. She treats her subject with respect of not only the butterflies, but their Creator. She is an excellent communicator and has transmitted her love for the subject to me. This is a priceless gift that I plan to pass on to my children. This quick, but powerful, reading has been greatly appreciated by my family, and I’m sure you’ll enjoy it too.

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Cursive Writing Clues for the Letter R

I just finished working with my girls on their cursive writing. I find it funny that my 3rd grader hadn’t shown any interest in learning until her five year old sister started learning. Aren’t kids interesting that way?

Jade has troubles with the letter “r” both in print and cursive. When she prints the letter “r” it grows from a diminutive mid-line letter to a gargantuan top line monster. In all of her words that’s the letter that overshadows them all. So, I thought that would be a great letter to add to her skill list. And perhaps eliminate the need for me to constantly repeat “the letter ‘r’ is a midline letter” over and over and over.

As you know, the lower-case “r” is a bit strange looking, especially if it’s hanging out all by itself. For some reason, my daughter just wasn’t getting the hang of the shape. Perhaps it wasn’t aesthetically pleasing (she goes through that sometimes). So, some of her attempts ended up looking like an “n” and other times it just took on alien formations.

She likes to make pictures out of letters so I thought of a great idea which helped her tremendously. I told her that the lowercase “r” was set up like her chair tents. The first thing that you make is the chair on the left. Then you drape your comforter over that chair — that kind of sags in the middle, and then you put the right chair at the end.

And we now have a row of perfectly formed cursive lowercase letter “r”s. I hope this hint helps!

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