Earlier this month Captain picked up Prince Caspian off our bookshelf.
I said...'Stop', and purchased the first three in the Narnia series to complete our set.
He has since read
The Magician's Nephew...17-20 July
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe...20-24 July
The Horse and His Boy...25-27 July
and has now begun Prince Caspian.
I also managed to find another book in the Swallows and Amazons series, and he began Pigeon Post yesterday.
Friday, July 31, 2009
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Fireproof
Never Leave Your Partner Behind
A lovely couple from our local church put on a special Candlelight Dinner followed by the movie Fireproof.
A great inspiration for the married couples in our church, with a strong gospel message.
At the same time our latest Challenge newspaper had an article entitled:
Avoid The Top Reason For Marriage Failure
"It has been my experience that the number one reason behind the collapse of marriage is plain, old fashioned selfishness...
Marriage is not so much about finding the right person as it is about being the right person...
As simple as that statement is, it has enormous consequences for you if you decide to put it into practice because it forces you to stop focusing on yourself and to begin focusing on the other person, which is the essence of true love...
I find this kind of wisdom about relationships in the Bible, especially the Proverbs.
Here are just two for you to think about:
"An excellent wife is the crown of her husband, but she who shames him is as rottenness in his bones."
Excellent here refers to a virtuous woman - a woman of tremendous class and quality. A woman who is proud of her husband; one who shows him respect and is unashamed to do so. Such a woman has the highest place in a man's life - she crowns it! But a woman who openly despises her husband and is constantly critical of him and his decisions is like an infectious disease. Simply put, a woman can make or break her man. If she is going to "make"him, then she will need to be unselfish.
And husbands are also told "to rejoice in the wife of your youth".
In other words, instead of moaning and complaining about what she does and does not do, remember why you married her in the first place and keep on encouraging those good things in her today. How easy it is for us men to forget all the good things about our wives and only focus on the negatives that we see.
If we want to change our relationship for the better then we must stop focusing on ourselves and begin asking ourselves how we can better serve our partner - this is called unselfishness and it has the power to transform both you and the other person."
(Rob Furlong, from Challenge newspaper, edition 315)
A lovely couple from our local church put on a special Candlelight Dinner followed by the movie Fireproof.
A great inspiration for the married couples in our church, with a strong gospel message.
At the same time our latest Challenge newspaper had an article entitled:
Avoid The Top Reason For Marriage Failure
"It has been my experience that the number one reason behind the collapse of marriage is plain, old fashioned selfishness...
Marriage is not so much about finding the right person as it is about being the right person...
As simple as that statement is, it has enormous consequences for you if you decide to put it into practice because it forces you to stop focusing on yourself and to begin focusing on the other person, which is the essence of true love...
I find this kind of wisdom about relationships in the Bible, especially the Proverbs.
Here are just two for you to think about:
"An excellent wife is the crown of her husband, but she who shames him is as rottenness in his bones."
Excellent here refers to a virtuous woman - a woman of tremendous class and quality. A woman who is proud of her husband; one who shows him respect and is unashamed to do so. Such a woman has the highest place in a man's life - she crowns it! But a woman who openly despises her husband and is constantly critical of him and his decisions is like an infectious disease. Simply put, a woman can make or break her man. If she is going to "make"him, then she will need to be unselfish.
And husbands are also told "to rejoice in the wife of your youth".
In other words, instead of moaning and complaining about what she does and does not do, remember why you married her in the first place and keep on encouraging those good things in her today. How easy it is for us men to forget all the good things about our wives and only focus on the negatives that we see.
If we want to change our relationship for the better then we must stop focusing on ourselves and begin asking ourselves how we can better serve our partner - this is called unselfishness and it has the power to transform both you and the other person."
(Rob Furlong, from Challenge newspaper, edition 315)
Whittington
by Alan Armstrong
Captain finished this book last week. He just has to have a book to read.
Captain finished this book last week. He just has to have a book to read.
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Getting Organised
Well I haven't been here for a while, and its for a few reasons. One of them is that I am getting organised. And I have just found the organisational tool that I have always dreamed about. This sounds too good to be true.
I was checking through my Yahoo groups yesterday, and on AmbleRamble found a link to this.
It's called, wait for it....(drum roll) Sue Patrick's Workbox System. One homeschooling mother describes how its going for her on http://www.enduringprize.com/.
This inspired the purchase of the ebook, and 5 minutes later, I had the user's guide on my screen.
I'm up to page 38 of the 122 page manual, and have already learnt an incredible amount of excellent ways to get some order and structure in our homeschool. This is becoming increasingly important with a 4 year old and 20 month old seeking attention as well as Master 8 and Missy 6.
Will post you further on this.
I was checking through my Yahoo groups yesterday, and on AmbleRamble found a link to this.
It's called, wait for it....(drum roll) Sue Patrick's Workbox System. One homeschooling mother describes how its going for her on http://www.enduringprize.com/.
This inspired the purchase of the ebook, and 5 minutes later, I had the user's guide on my screen.
I'm up to page 38 of the 122 page manual, and have already learnt an incredible amount of excellent ways to get some order and structure in our homeschool. This is becoming increasingly important with a 4 year old and 20 month old seeking attention as well as Master 8 and Missy 6.
Will post you further on this.
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Whack the Word (or phonogram, or whatever!)
A friend of a friend (FoF)who is a remedial teacher in a local school, and also does private tutoring has taught me a few great tricks of the trade - games. Lots of fun, wild and whacky ones.
She teaches children to read using the original Spalding method. This was introduced by Romalda Bishop Spalding, whose book The Writing Road to Reading I have on my shelf. I remember my mum looking into it when I was little. She completed a Spalding course, but I'm not sure what became of it. It was to help some of us with our reading, I know that much.
Anyway FoF was saying some of the elite schools in Sydney where she used to work would only allow those who utilised the Spalding method were admitted to teach little ones to read. She is so passionate about the phonics system, and sees its benefits over and above the sight word method for both spelling and reading. She has been asked to do remedial work in the school to help those who are struggling with the sight word method.
I use LEM phonics to teach reading, which is based on the Spalding system.
To try to memorise these phonograms, FoF recommended a number of games, one of them being Whack the Phonogram.
Today I stuck the latest four or five phonograms on the wall. Then I grabbed a new, clean fly swot, called out the phonogram, and Possum whacked the correct phonograms.
We love it! What we love, we learn, really well!
Other games she uses are:
Brain Beans (jelly beans for great work)
Tongue Twisting Words
Snakes and Ladders (with phonograms)
The key is to keep the game short, and stop whilst the children are still having a GREAT time. Hey, this sounds familiar! Its a bit like reading only one chapter at a time, and resist the temptation to continue, even when the children are begging for more!
I have found this 'keep it short, keep it fun' method invaluable in the last few weeks in particular.
And from the depths of my memory, I hear my cousin, a wonderful infants and primary school teacher, saying always stop the game while they are having fun.
I find I can't wait for the next chapter of a book, using this method. It works for me. It works for the children, too!
PS I must remember to give the children a five minute warning as to when the game will end, to ease any frustration. It wouldn't be right to finish up without sufficient warning. I suppose it's to prepare them emotionally that the end is near! (Thanks Growing Kids God's Way!)
She teaches children to read using the original Spalding method. This was introduced by Romalda Bishop Spalding, whose book The Writing Road to Reading I have on my shelf. I remember my mum looking into it when I was little. She completed a Spalding course, but I'm not sure what became of it. It was to help some of us with our reading, I know that much.
Anyway FoF was saying some of the elite schools in Sydney where she used to work would only allow those who utilised the Spalding method were admitted to teach little ones to read. She is so passionate about the phonics system, and sees its benefits over and above the sight word method for both spelling and reading. She has been asked to do remedial work in the school to help those who are struggling with the sight word method.
I use LEM phonics to teach reading, which is based on the Spalding system.
To try to memorise these phonograms, FoF recommended a number of games, one of them being Whack the Phonogram.
Today I stuck the latest four or five phonograms on the wall. Then I grabbed a new, clean fly swot, called out the phonogram, and Possum whacked the correct phonograms.
We love it! What we love, we learn, really well!
Other games she uses are:
Brain Beans (jelly beans for great work)
Tongue Twisting Words
Snakes and Ladders (with phonograms)
The key is to keep the game short, and stop whilst the children are still having a GREAT time. Hey, this sounds familiar! Its a bit like reading only one chapter at a time, and resist the temptation to continue, even when the children are begging for more!
I have found this 'keep it short, keep it fun' method invaluable in the last few weeks in particular.
And from the depths of my memory, I hear my cousin, a wonderful infants and primary school teacher, saying always stop the game while they are having fun.
I find I can't wait for the next chapter of a book, using this method. It works for me. It works for the children, too!
PS I must remember to give the children a five minute warning as to when the game will end, to ease any frustration. It wouldn't be right to finish up without sufficient warning. I suppose it's to prepare them emotionally that the end is near! (Thanks Growing Kids God's Way!)
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
15 Books That Stuck
Hey Oh Peaceful Day! I like your idea, and I've posted mine here:
Fifteen books I've read that will always stick with me. First fifteen I can recall in no more than 15 minutes.
Can you do it too??? Post your books here under comments, if you like!
The Bible
True History of the Kelly Gang by Peter Carey
The Drover's Wife by Henry Lawson (Selected Verse book)
The Decisive Moment by Henri Cartier-Bresson
Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi
A Charlotte Mason Companion by Karen Andreola
Return to Gone Away by Elizabeth Enright
The Lion, the Witch and Wardrobe by CS Lewis
Farmer Boy by LI Wilder
Wild Swans by Jung Chang
Anne of Green Gables LM Montgomery
My Place by Sally Morgan
Mister God, This is Anna by Fynn
Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson
Outback Women by Melissa McCord
Fifteen books I've read that will always stick with me. First fifteen I can recall in no more than 15 minutes.
Can you do it too??? Post your books here under comments, if you like!
The Bible
True History of the Kelly Gang by Peter Carey
The Drover's Wife by Henry Lawson (Selected Verse book)
The Decisive Moment by Henri Cartier-Bresson
Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi
A Charlotte Mason Companion by Karen Andreola
Return to Gone Away by Elizabeth Enright
The Lion, the Witch and Wardrobe by CS Lewis
Farmer Boy by LI Wilder
Wild Swans by Jung Chang
Anne of Green Gables LM Montgomery
My Place by Sally Morgan
Mister God, This is Anna by Fynn
Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson
Outback Women by Melissa McCord
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)