A Bit of Everything

Posted on February 26, 2010 by Kelly

As is normal at this time of year our family has been battling one illness after another. These times test me to my very core, forcing me to be miserable or to choose to give up that much more of myself. Dying to self so that others may benefit. Not fun, not easy, but the benefits promised are eternal.

Today will not feature a post from me. Caring for my family while they are sick is top priority. Instead I will deal with some “housekeeping” issues for Wisdom Begun, things I want you to be aware of. Below you will find a list of things on my heart that I want to share with you and also a thing or two that I hope you will take advantage of! Enjoy your weekend with your family. I pray you will be a blessing to those God has called you to serve!

Building a community is a hot-topic in the blogosphere at the moment. I desire this personally from this blog for many reasons. I changed the focus for this blog for a reason: to serve you. You will find here my heart in this matter of raising young children. Practical tips and resources to help you will be found here. Most of all I want this to be a place of encouragement. To this end, I hope you will check out the free forum I have set up over at Blog Frog. Some topics have been posted already in order to facilitate discussion. However, you are more than welcome to start discussions of your very own. Let’s encourage and pray and love one another through this journey! You can visit the Wisdom Begun forum and check it out for yourself or you can subscribe, or do both! Don’t be afraid to post a new topic just to introduce yourself.
I will be starting a new blog chronicling new steps I am taking toward frugality as well as share deals I run across with you. I will keep you updated!
On my heart is raising daughters to become mothers and homemakers, to turn away from feminism and turn back towards the biblical role of women. I am unsure if I will make this topic a series of post, a monthly column, or a brand new blog. Again, I will keep you updated.
You may have noticed that many of my posts have been reviews lately. As my time on the TOS Crew will be ending in the next few months I will be posting less of these. I hope that you have found some of the products reviewed here helpful.
Coming up will be a series on how to use your Point and Shoot camera by a special guest poster. Have you ever desired to have gorgeous photos grace your blog posts but you do not have those fancy cameras and lenses many bloggers have? Learn how to use your point and shoot camera in order to take the best photos you can.

That is all for now. Please pray for me as I nurse back to health those dearest to me. Much love to you all!

Photo credit: svilen001

Beehive Reader Review

Posted on February 24, 2010 by Kelly

One of my most favorite curricula for homeschooling is All About Spelling by Marie Rippel. I have been using this system to teach reading, writing, proper grammar and sentence structure – and yes, spelling. You can read my initial review about this program. Today I will be sharing and reviewing something I am equally excited about: Beehive Reader 1.

This reader is perfect for those with young children. This will be helpful for your family whether or not you homeschool or send your children to a school outside of the home. It is the most quality reader I have seen yet for the children in the age ranges mine are.

Beehive Reader 1 is a chapter book for beginning readers. The words in the short, simple stories are all ones that have been learned in All About Spelling Level 1. You do not have to be using All About Spelling in order for him or her to use this. If your child has mastered some basics of reading, they will still be able to read this.

As you read my review you will see sample pages from the book. You will notice the quality of these illustrations. They are not cheap cartoon-type characters you find in most children’s books.They are well done and are a joy to look at as a parent.

In my own experience I have had difficult finding books that are not fluff. We do not watch much children’s television in our home. Yet when we head to the bookstores most of what we find to purchase for our children to read is based on Sponge Bob, Dora, and the like. The books are stories without any substance to make it worth my and my children’s time brain power. They are filled with useless, silly stories that do nothing education-wise for my child. (No, I am not bashing these kinds of books as once-in-a-while entertainment.)

We prefer our to train our children to desire books with substance. We also want the books they read to challenge them. Beginning reader books with nothing but “cat” and “hat” and “rat” and “sat” are useful at times. However they do not encourage them to think hard about the sentence and words contained therein. This book is more than just rhymes. It is a book with simple stories that encourage them in forming and speaking sentences.

Another thing I want you to know is that this is a chapter book. This is probably one of the things I loved most about it. Why? My children love to emulate me when I read my books. The like to see how big the book is, how many pages it is. They grab their own books and sit down. Oftentimes I end up reading to them. Most books geared towards young ones are just a story. There is no break up into chapters like “Mama’s books.” My kids notice these things. They can tell that their books are different. Beehive Reader 1 is broken up into chapters. They can now see that they are capable of reading books with chapters just like Mom. In this way it will not be as much of a transition to reading lengthier, more challenging books when the time comes.

This reader is hard-bound. At 160 pages it has many short stories. They are cute and interesting and my children love them. I am eagerly waiting for the next reader to come out because I know how much my daughter’s eyes will light up when I give it to her.

The price of $19.99 for this may seem a bit steep. And generally I would not buy a children’s book that was higher than say, $7 or $8. But this is a high-quality, well illustrated book that I know will last our family for many, many years.

I really do encourage you to get this for your young ones. If you do not have the money at this time to purchase it why not suggest it to Grandma and Grandpa or anyone else who is asking what Sam or Jenny want for birthdays/Christmas, etc.?

Be sure to visit the All About Spelling site to learn more!

Recipe for Raising a Godly Child

Posted on February 22, 2010 by Kelly

If your desire as a parent is to raise godly children then you know the hard work involved. You know it means getting dirty and lots of emotional and physical sacrifice. Training and discipline are time-consuming and with young children there will be periods of time when it seems that those two things are all you do for hours on end. Of course, we know that all this child-rearing early on will not be without its benefits. Learning to trust fully in Him who created us is a reward that I find most satisfying! But what about those times when you want to throw up your hands in frustration? What if you do not truly know what is involved in raising up a godly heritage? Just what is that recipe for raising a godly child?

“Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.” -Proverbs 22:6

Our children from very young are mired in their own love of self, their complete desire to please themselves. We parents are not capable of saving those souls. Only Christ can do that. A family can be obedient to God, loving, train and discipline their children and still have an errant, wayward child who ends up making all of the wrong decisions and becomes “a grief to his father, and bitterness to her who bore him.” (Proverbs 17:25)

However.

Along with the chastening and training and discipline that is necessary to raising a child in a home that strives to honor God (Proverbs 19:18, Proverbs 13:24, Proverbs 3:12, Deuteronomy 6:6-9), we are not left without some assurance. The book of Proverbs is full of the blessings that generally go hand-in-hand with a son or daughter who chooses godly wisdom. Psalm 144:12 says “our sons may be as plants grown up in their youth; . . . our daughters may be as pillars, sculptured in palace style. . .”

I have a few tips that I have either learned myself or been taught by older men and women on what is involved in raising a child up for God. Since I am young and still learning myself I suppose I will have to go back and add to this list as time goes on. And leave a comment telling me what you would add to this post!

1. Start with you. Generally speaking, in the Bible blessings of the parents are passed down to the children. In fact, David was promised a legacy of sitting on the throne in Israel if he and his progeny but obeyed the Lord. “The LORD has sworn in truth to David; He will not turn from it: “I will set upon your throne the fruit of your body. If your sons will keep My covenant and My testimony which I shall teach them, their sons also shall sit upon your throne forevermore.” Psalm 133:12

Remember that your child strive to model you. Starting from the newborn stage, they look to you on how they should act. Show them what godly obedience is!

2. Train early and often. Training and discipline can never start too early. Do not believe what the world would have you to believe. These early years are so much more than years to just play. They are not “just kids.” They can be taught to do the right thing even now.

3. Do not allow your home to become child-centered. Have you ever been to a home where all the childrens’ wants were granted but the marriage was neglected? Or where play time was rampant and the child was not taught productivity but to give in to self-centered desires? What about those homes where the activities of the day are decided on how or what the child wants or feels at any particular time?

Teach a child selflessness. Show him why it is necessary and Who commands it. Teach outward- instead of inward-thinking. If any activity outside of the home will greatly change family dynamics (think competitive sports, music lessons, etc) for just one child, are those activities really worth it?

4. Make godliness the norm instead of a rarity. Make your home Christ-centered. Spend much time in Scripture and less watching TV or playing with toys. Teach your daughters femininity and what it truly means to be female. Teach your sons what true leadership in a family means and what it looks like to be a godly male. Teach them to work hard and to become a productive and willing member of a family, working together towards the goal of glorifying Him in the family God has set them.

5. Ensure that the father and mother are living out their God-given respective roles. In Christian families, as well as un-Godly families, men have decided to not be men and women have decided that submission is to be scorned. Manly abdication and feminism have wrought evil upon our families. Speaking to wives, are you truly submitting willingly and happily to your husband for God? Or are you fighting every step of the way? Our children notice the tug-of-war that happens when Mom and Dad are not right in their marriage. They will bring this brokenness into their own homes. Show your children instead what a happy, right marriage is and how it can be achieved!

There is truly so much more I could say on this subject. Godliness and raising children to love Him is a vast subject. I would love to hear your thoughts on this!

Also, if you would like to chat with others about this subject, why not hop on over to the Wisdom Begun Blog Frog community and answer the questions “What would YOU say?”

Photo credit: plattmunk

Math Mammoth Blue Series

Posted on February 22, 2010 by Kelly

You may or may not remember my first review of Math Mammoth from last year. In it I discussed how direct and to the point their Blue Series was. Let me tell you a little bit about something else the people at Math Mammoth offer. Perhaps it may just be a fit for your family!

One thing that I love to do with my own children are worksheets, or “worktexts.” I find that they are able to reinforce what they are learning in mathematics this way. It also gives them some busy, quiet time which helps me as I run a household and care for my husband and children. My children love to work a sheet and come up to me to show off what they have done. They know their hard work will be rewarded with a smile and hug from Mama!

At the same time, because they have done the worksheets, I can quickly and easily notice areas where they need to be firmed up and ones in which they are excelling. Using a pencil I mark a small start next to any mistakes and then set them back down to rework those. I love the diligence this teaches and if you have coupled this with teaching them a proper and willing attitude then you have a budding hard worker on your hands!

Math Mammoth’s Blue Series is comprised of just these sort of worktexts for mathematics. Designed for Grades 1-4 (though some topics needed for grades 5 and 6 are included) they cover a myriad of topics such as:

Addition and Subtraction
Place Value
Clock and Money
Measuring
Multiplication and Division
Geometry
Fractions
and, Decimals

Why would this sort of thing be useful for me?

Well, quite simply put, many children need a little extra help in certain mathematical topics. Your child may have picked up addition and subtraction, time and money, and know their place values. But perhaps when it comes to measurement they need a little extra practice. The Blue Series allows you to print off those measurement worksheets right from your own computer and hand it to your child. Whether working together or independently those math skills needed being soaked up into their minds slowly but surely. Eventually, after practice, they will “get it!” Simply put, you are training them to know how to use those mathematical facts that they need to know in order to progress to the next level. Of course this method may not work for every child or every homeschool.

What format does this come in?

You can purchase this as a .zip file that you will download straight to your computer. Also, you can get these workbooks as a print copy or on a CD in some cases.

So how much does this cost?

Each individual workbook is available for purchase. You can see their individual prices here. You can also buy all 28 Blue Series books for $70 (download) or $75 (CD). Or get just the books needed for Grades 1-3 (18 books total) for $40 – Download only.

Want more information? Head on over to Math Mammoth to learn more!

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I have a discussion started over at my Wisdom Begun Blog Frog forum about mathematics curricula. I’d love to hear your suggestions for what works for you!

Passionate Housewives Desperate for God

Posted on February 18, 2010 by Kelly

I wish I had been able to post this sooner but hopefully you’ll have enough time to grab this. If you have ever wanted to read Passionate Housewives Desperate for God but have not had the money to pay for it – or just haven’t gotten around to it! – then make sure not to pass up this great deal.

Until February 19th at midnight you can visit this link to see what Passionate Housewives Desperate for God is all about. Then, using coupon code FREEPHDG you can get this book for free, all you have to do is pay shipping. How wonderful is that?

My copy is on its way and I look forward to reading it. Who knows, maybe I’ll write a blog post on what I think of it!

Italic Style Complete Program Zeezok Review

Posted on February 18, 2010 by Kelly

Zeezok Publishing has put together a compilation of handwriting sheets that have found a permanent spot on one of my homeschooling shelves. My daughter is doing so very well in print writing. We have used copybooks for the most part to practice penmanship. But italic handwriting was another matter. Thankfully as part of the TOS Crew I received the Presidential Penmanship Italic Style Complete Program CD. Let me tell you more about it.

This CD, priced at $39.99, contains handwriting practice sheets for grades 1 through high school. I used the 1st grade set with my oldest. That level alone has 36-weeks worth of Italic style penmanship practice. Each week contains 1 quote – ”presidential quotes and speeches along with famous documents from American history.” 2 sheets for that week have a bold version of the quote, followed by two tracing versions and then an area for students to practice on their own. This is not a daily practice and I was only able to get 1 day’s worth of work out of each week. I suppose you could print out 5 copies of each quote and have them complete it each day.

Also included are some extra lined worksheets for children to copy whatever they (or you!) would like.

The style of Italic penmanship is Getty & Dubay. The 1st grade level is very basic and easy, as are the quotes. As the levels progress, the Italic practice becomes a bit more advanced and the quotes much lengthier and meatier. One wonderful benefit of this type of practice and copywork is that your student will be memorizing while he or she is learning neat penmanship.

And since the feasibility using this with many children will be in question, from the program itself:

“Permission is granted to make/print copies for the original purchaser only.” While not allowable for commercial use, you are free and able to make as many copies for your homeschool as you need. A HUGE bonus in my book!

The only problem I have with this is the price (what is it with me and the price of things lately?). While this is a useful compilation I feel like $39.99 may be a bit steep. However, when you factor in that it has all grade levels and that you will not have to purchase many different individual books, the price of printing does not seem so bad.

Overall, I love this program and I am grateful I have it. I feel it could benefit almost any family who desires their child to learn neat, practical handwriting in an efficient manner. It will definitely become a mainstay in the Wisdom Begun household! Be sure to check out the publisher’s website to browse around their other offerings!

The Ultimate Guide to Homeschooling Review

Posted on February 17, 2010 by Kelly

I had the advantage of being raised in a homeschooling family. Because of this, when we started homeschooling our own children, I knew many of the “ins and outs” of what homeschooling is and how to go about it. While I am certainly not the perfect homeschooling mom I do feel I was more adequately prepared because of my background.

Not all parents who want to start home educating their child have this advantage. Schooling one’s child at home is a daunting to task to many. Questions are raised: How do I start? What forms do I need to fill out? What about legality? Where can I find support?

Filtering all the information on the Internet is overwhelming. You will find more than you need to know on the various methods of homeschooling, curricula, and the like. The problem is that it is hard to retain all of that because most everything is scattered all over the world wide web and is not conveniently at hand for when you have a question.

I was pleased to review The Ultimate Guide to Homeschooling by Debra Bell. To find out why, keep reading!

The Ultimate Guide to Homeschooling was written to be “your personal roadmap to both the well-traveled highways and hidden trails of Christian home education.” It is meant to answer many of the questions I mentioned above. Folks, this book is hefty. The reason for this is that topics from figuring out if homeschooling is for your family all the way to a resource guide are included. Clearly Mrs. Bell is a veteran homeschooler and knows what she is talking about.

Let me give you a sampling of other topics covered. I will make in bold those topics that I found especially useful.

Determining Your Child’s Learning Style
Preventing burnout
Creative Solutions
Organization and Planning
Homeschooling on a shoestring
Homeschooling Teens
and more

As if knowledge and wisdom on these topics was not enough, Mrs. Bell writes in a very humorous way that made this book so easy to read. It was not a dry writing style that I have found is prevalent in many “how to homeschool” type books. I especially love this type of writing and so it was a joy to read. I loved how I felt as if I was in the room with her and she was talking to me about homeschooling and sharing personal stories to illustrate her points.

For newbies and veterans alike will find something valuable in this book. While, I did not agree with everything Mrs. Bell discussed, but I did find that this book would be a great resource to anyone approaching homeschooling and not knowing where to start. It is priced very frugally at $20 and is available from Apologia Press.

Fear in Children

Posted on February 16, 2010 by Kelly

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One of my daughters is very fearful. Darkness, becoming lost in a public place, and doctors’ offices are struggles. She panics very easily and has been this way since she was born. Fear in children is a topic discussed often in parenting magazines and online. It is seen as “normal.”

As a mom I do not want to see her be conquered by fear. I want her to rise up again fear and to rest comfortably in God’s presence. Knowing that He will protect her with His loving arms. Looking to Christ and His mighty strength.

However.

Friends, I just do not know how to teach her this.

This is where I ask for your help. Have you dealt with a fearful child? In what ways have you taught your young child to deal with fear in a Godly manner? What Scripture has become especially important in this way for you and your children?

Please share in the comments. Thank you for encouraging me!

Photo credit: bies

Dollar Homeschool Review

Posted on February 15, 2010 by Kelly

When I started on the Homeschool Crew this year I was excited to learn that Dollar Homeschool was one of the vendors on board. Several people whom I respect use the Ray’s Arithmetic that Dollar Homeschool offers and so I wanted to try it out in our own home. Thankfully, Dollar Homeschool blessed me their Ray’s Arithmetic in download version to review.

I am just going to start off the bat and tell you . . .

What I didn’t like

I had major problems because this was an eBook. I have to admit, this is an item that I feel is just too much to be an eproduct. While I generally balk at products that are electronically viewed, this is usually my reluctance to move away from the printed paper version. Printed is easy and convenient. Printed is something I can set down and pick up again from the comfort of my couch, bed, table, etc. And printed does not involve electricity or power cords. But. This thing is huge. I mean ginormous. There is a reason this is sold as an 8-volume set. So starting out I felt a little deflated with Ray’s.

Yet this arithmetic curriculum is not without its pluses. I liked very many things about it. This is very hands-on and children are encouraged to touch the pictures as they count them out loud. Using manipulatives found throughout your home is something that can be easily added to this. For hands on learners this is excellent.

Also, the word problems and oral exercises are rampant and an integral part of this curriculum. Rapidly going are the days where children could figure out in their heads what 512,839,210 divided by 20 is, or what 4,762 times 30 is. This kind of mental exercise is little seen in modern education. For this very reason, I feel Ray’s is perfect as a supplement to what you are already using for a math curriculum. I would not personally use this as the sole mean to teach math but I feel it adds that extra “oomph” that is needed.

A few facts about Ray’s:

Covers grades K-12. (Yet another great thing about this; you buy one thing and it can use it to cover ALL grades if you so choose! Very economical.)
Priced at $59 for all grades on one CD-Rom
Comes with a 30-day Unconditional Guarantee
Covers all the way to Calculus

Dollar Homeschool also offers McGuffey’s Readers and a few other well known classic educational resources. Their prices are definitely frugal if you are comfortable with eBooks and don’t mind reading off of the computer and printing things out on your own. They also have a Ray’s Arithmetic yahoo group forum if you want help or run into any trouble.

Bottom line

I think the program will become an important and much-needed supplement in our home education. It probably will not be used by us as a full curriculum. And more than likely I will be looking to buy the actual print volumes instead of having to read this on the computer and print off.

Weekly Menu Template

Posted on February 14, 2010 by Kelly

Since I know a little about meal planning I have been asked numerous times to share my weekly menu template. I have put together a bare-bones template for you to print and/or download. I will continue to revise this to be more aesthetically pleasing. I will also have available soon bi-weekly and monthly menu templates. You can access the weekly menu template here. Please let me know (in comment section or via contact form or email) what you would like added to this template or what you think needs to be changed!

I hope this helps.