Happy 15th Birthday Marie!
Wow, where has the time gone?
So glad that we are lucky enough to be your parents.
Happy Birthday and many more!
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
Happy Spring
Madison is becoming quite the little photographer these days. This is her photo that she submitted for a blooming assignment. The world is waking up and things are starting to bloom, which is all very lovely and refreshing. Unless of course you suffer from allergies.
Happy Spring!
Monday, March 19, 2012
TOS Review ~ Progeny Press Literature Guides
Our family has a fond affection towards good books and let me tell you literature guides make reading even more enjoyable! Have you ever checked out the literature guides from Progeny Press? Progeny Press has been a family owned and operated company since 1992. They produce high quality literature guides from a Christian worldview ranging from lower elementary years through high school. They literally have 100+ guides and add 3-6 new titles each year ranging from lower elementary, upper elementary, middle school, and high school. They have got you covered!
At Progeny Press we are committed to teaching good cultural literature, examined from a Christian perspective. We believe in the equation "Biblical Truth + Cultural Relevancy = Effective Christians." Take away biblical truth and Christians become no more than a religious subculture-- salt without saltiness. Take away cultural relevancy and Christians become isolationists with no impact on the world-- lights hidden under bushels. We believe in looking at the world clearly and openly with the Bible firmly in hand.
Our purpose is not to bring you only "safe" fiction, but to teach literature that is well-written and that will help students develop and refine how they deal with man's philosophies in relation to God's word. Progeny Press examines literary terminology and technique in good, cultural literature to equip students for understanding the craft of writing and to enhance their joy of reading. With these things in mind, we promise to bring you good literature, provide good literary analysis, and measure it by the light of scripture. ~ from the website
We received a downloadable interactive PDF copy of the study guides for the novels Across Five Aprils and The Screwtape Letters. The suggested length of time for finishing a study guide is 8-10 weeks, however you can adjust this on your reading voracity. The first week is used to read the book and then each study guide takes the reader through two chapters of the novel at a time and focuses on several different literary concepts. Vocabulary is addressed in many ways to make sure the reader has a full grasp. First students are required to define several words, determine word meaning from its context and then double check their guesses in a dictionary. Vocabulary words and definitions are also presented to be matched and there is a vocabulary activity in multiple choice format. Using a thesaurus to study definitions is also taught.
Also included are several comprehension questions which ask the student to recall events from the book and analyze them. Literary devices such as similes, synonyms, foreshadowing, hyperboles, juxtaposition,metaphor, personification, and idioms are reviewed and how they are presented and used in the text are studied. Character studies include studying personalities, reactions to events, and events in general in light of Scripture passages relevant to the storyline. I love that each guide takes care to draw the student back to the Bible.
As you can see each guide includes a variety of elements, depending on the level of the study. Check out the sample of the types of questions and information contained in the guides at the website. To make navigation on the website easier, literature guides are categorized by both genre and grade-level. The guides are extremely user-friendly and are currently available as a print version, CD in PDF format, and email as a PDF attachment. The new interactive format allows the student to type in the answers directly on their computer screen which is awesome! I also love that there is no limit on copying pages for use within our home/school. Progeny Press Guides are economically priced from $10.99 to $27.99. Check out the online catalog for individual pricing on all the available guides.
We enjoyed our literature guides and will be purchasing more in the next few months for summer reading and next school year. Check out what my Crewmates thought by clicking, HERE.
Progeny Press would like to thank our active military by offering 15% off all orders for active military personel.
Company ~ Progeny Press
Product ~ Across Five Aprils, The Screwtape Letters
Price ~ $10.99- $27.99
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I received two interactive PDF downloads from Progeny Press, in exchange for a thorough and honest review. Though I am compensated with free products, I am not compensated in the form of cash for my reviews. The opinions I have given are mine and may differ from others but are not influenced by the company or the free product provided.
Thursday, March 15, 2012
TOS Review ~ The Art of Argument
Have I mentioned before that we are Classical Homeschoolers? Well now you know and knowing is half the battle :-) Currently we have students in all three levels of the Trivium: Grammar, Logic, and Rhetoric. Recently we were offered to review the Art of Argument from Classical Academic Press. We were sent the student and teacher books as well as the DVD disk containing fallacy discussions of the first 7-8 fallacies ($88.95).
“Logic is a fascinating subject for students in middle school or high school. As a fundamental part of the trivium, logic study will impart to students the skills needed to craft accurate statements and identify the flawed arguments found so frequently in editorials, commercials, newspapers, journals and every other media. We regard the mastery of logic as a “paradigm” subject by which we evaluate, assess and learn other subjects–it is a sharp knife with which we can carve and shape all manner of wood. Mastery of logic is a requisite skill for mastering other subjects.” ~ From Classical Academic Press
Thoughts from Marie:
I liked the examples of the different types of arguments and thought the examples were funny. Overall it was easy to learn and fun at the same time.
According to the Classical Academic Press website the Art of Argument text contains the following in order to teach the 28 fallacies:
- Dialogues
- Worksheets
- Real-World Applications
- Phony Advertisements
- Dialectic Discussion Questions
- Tests
- Fun extras such as a humorous skit for students to perform, and the famous short story, Love is a Fallacy by Max Shulman
The Art of Argument has been revised to include:
- Improved chapter and unit organization for greater ease of use
- Fallacy explanations rewritten for clarity
- Many added and updated examples
- Ten new and revised advertisement illustrations
I used this study of Logic with Marie and it was fantastic! We were able to complete about two fallacies a week and she seemed to enjoy it which is always a plus! We will continue to use this book until the end of our school year and hopefully continue on with the next book. We would recommend this program to anyone looking for a fun way to learn logic! Check out what my Crewmates thought by clicking, HERE.
Company ~ Classical Academic Press
Product ~ The Art of Argument, basic bundle
Price ~bundled price $88.95
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I received the Art of Argument basic bundle, in exchange for a thorough and honest review. Though I am compensated with free products, I am not compensated in the form of cash for my reviews. The opinions I have given are mine and may differ from others but are not influenced by the company or the free product provided.
Saturday, March 3, 2012
Weekly Wrap Up ~ Wk 22: 3/5 girls sick
Thankful that my girls are now on the mend. Thankful that the 103.9 fevers have left their bodies.
Just.plain.thankful.
School went on as usual on Monday only. Above is one of Madison’s vocabulary cards/words for this week. I love how she puts so much detail into her work. Montana struggled to finish her lessons that morning but when we went out to recess with our neighbors look what she did!
She wrote her math double facts 0-5 and wrote 3 sentences.
The cat ran.
Montana had dog Mason.
Montana has a dog Mason.
I think we need to take advantage of the weather and use the driveway as our chalkboard for learning.
Tuesday evening
Friday afternoon
The rest of the week was spent just nursing the girls back to health. As I write this on Saturday evening, Mikayla’s fever has come back so she will be getting another dose of Motrin soon. McKenzie is feeling better too and she has been her normal 2 year old self while Madison seems to be on the mend. Everybody is eating again which is really good. They are all very lean as it is they don’t have much body fat to lose.
The girls friends and coaches from our homeschool group and gymnastics are great! Several have called or messaged me to check on them and see how they are doing and if we need anything. I got a personal message from the head coach on Friday afternoon and it warmed my heart with the kind words she has about my girls.
That is how our week went, how was yours? Consider linking up at Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers and see how other’s weeks went as well.
P.S. Montana wants me to let you know that at gymnastics today Coach Scott said she was the “Beam Queen”, she is over the moon on cloud 9!
Friday, March 2, 2012
March 3in30 Goals
February flew by and I missed linking up my goals…but now that March is upon us I am ready to get back at it.
1. Finalize curriculum plans for 2012 ~ 2013:
2. Link up TOS Reviews sooner:
3. Menu/shopping:
Grocery shopping is not at the top of my list of favorite nor fun things to do, by far. Currently I go to the grocery store weekly 
Do you have any goals you need to accomplish? Consider linking up with the 3in30 and get them done!
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