Ever since Skyler read Bessie's Pillow she has been interested in learning about other young women in history. When offered the chance to review the book Clara Barton: Courage Under Fire, I was happy to help. This book is one in a set by YWAM Publishing a Christian company called Heroes In History. There are twenty eight books to choose from, so finding an option should not be hard. All the books are beautifully written and are meant to inspire our children showing them that regular normal people can be heroes too! Heroes come in many shapes or sizes and the best ones never thought of themselves as heroes. They were just doing the right thing.
With her book, blanket and best friend Stella she is thrilled to start a new adventure with her book! She couldn't wait to tell me all about the story of "The angel of the battlefield". I just love that she enjoys reading stories of true heroes. These best selling biographies are true stories. In a world full of made up heroes I feel it is extremely important to allow children to realize that a cape or a cool suit is not a hero. I enjoy that my children are learning that a real hero doesn't advertise or expect anything in return. They do the right thing and make the right choices because they genuinely care about people.
Fox is loving his fidget spinner! So now it is a hat every where he goes and a spinner!
Skyler is still working on printed pages. We are getting ready to start lounging off so we are putting off starting her next one.
If you have a crafty artsy kiddo then you are always looking for new stuff to spark the creative juices! When offered the chance to review these Thin Stix 6 pack of Classic Colors I just couldn't resist! These are made by The Pencil Grip, Inc. They have all kinds of nifty little products besides these so check them out for sure!
They have bigger packs available and even different colors of paint. I know Skyler really wants to try the neon pack next and she has already told grandma about the creativity pack. It has glitter so as far as my kiddo is concerned it is already a winner! They even have a pack that includes a paper roll. That would be wonderful for on the go fun. They are also available at Toys R US. Besides the painting products they also have fidget items and cute little pencil grips!
These little guys are a no mess kids art supply! It dries in ninety seconds or less! I know that usually when you think of the fast drying types of paint products you think of younger kids but Skyler is 12 and had a blast with them. It is always nice to give a kid different options no matter how old or young they may be. They are made of tempera paint and of course non-toxic. I also noticed they didn't have a bad odor like many of the quick drying type paints we have used in the past.
She has to take a picture with all her cool stuff!
The Inventors and Inventions Basket! This basket was ideally made with my son in mind because he loves to mess with stuff and build things. All though if my daughter shows any interest in it she is free to use it as well. What I try to do is give Wednesdays and Thursdays for the kiddos to explore their baskets or do any kind of research for things that are of interest to them. The majority of this stuff came from my book shelves!
These kits I did buy. Amazon sells them but I found a seller on EBay that had buy two get the 2nd 25% off and they were cheaper than Amazon to start with and free shipping as well. I like these kits because there are no directions just a box of pieces and ideas. MANY pieces!
As usual it was a full week around here. The kids were busy busy doing school, making projects and driving me crazy! Skyler has finished her All About Animals Journal but she isn't ready to let it go yet. I had to search through and find some pages she didn't finish to copy them and make her enough for the day. This has been her favorite journal so far.
She has finally wrapped up learning about Chicago in her Travel Dreams journal. Next week it is off to Hong Kong.
This is Skyler's fashion basket! Skyler's main interest is animals I know, but sometimes I kind of have to lead her in other directions. Not to control her learning so much as to open her mind to other things. Other things can be fun and interesting as well. The whole idea, in my opinion, of fun schooling is giving your children a broad range of topics to explore. They won't know something is out there if they are never exposed to it.
I am sure by now anyone who actually reads my blog knows I am a HUGE HUGE HUGE fan of The Thinking Tree. I really enjoy the authors ideas on teaching kids, letting them have some say in their learning and just about every other idea she has offered! She has personally answered a ton of e-mail from me answering questions about everything from learning issues to pet care! She knows my kids names and I just cannot begin to tell you how amazing and hands on she is with her customers. Not too mention her kindness!
So when she shared her latest idea all about baskets I jumped on that! The idea is to take a topic or maybe a subject and make a basket out of it. Now everyone does their own thing. Quite a few people have baskets for every subject. I have chosen to make baskets for a few extras. I plan to blog about them all and this one is The Author Basket. It will change every month or so. Basically when I notice my kiddos being bored with it. We started out with the most amazing play write ever! The Bard himself, Shakespeare!
Now I have always loved Shakespeare. I have always loved books. I truly hope to instill that into my kiddos. I also want them to read many different things not just what they see on the TV. So I collected some Shakespeare items and put together a little basket! Now your baskets can be anything. They can be boxes, baskets whatever you choose. I scored this big blue one at Big Lots after Easter with 90% off it was less than a buck! So win win in my eyes!
Another fun week around here was about it for us! Fox had a blast learning all about Morse Code and making a little machine that actually worked. He played with it for hours spelling out different stuff. He started answering us all with it!
For my son writing is actually worse than pulling teeth! I had always heard great things about Institute for Excellence in Writing or IEW, so when offered the chance to review the product High School Essay Intensive I thought it was the perfect chance to try this company out. I am so glad I did too! The author Andrew Pudewa is truly a gifted speaker.
Fox dreads writing, I mean he hates it more than math which says quite a bit! We have tried a few different writing programs before but he was never really able to grasp any of it. To him it was dry, dull and boring. As far as he was concerned he could tell a great story and that was enough. Finding a program to really get him to understand how to put his thoughts in order and on to paper has been a challenge. I think we have finally found the answer!
This is the second edition of High School essay Intensive. It was updated in 2016 for the new requirements on the SAT and ACT tests. I truly appreciate a company willing to go the extra mile in updating products, to me that shows they really care. They want your child to succeed.
Well our week started with me still recovering from the sick! Skyler was lucky enough to go on a field trip to the museum and learn all about butterflies!
She even learned how to mount them and got to bring it home! It was beautiful. We love butterflies around here.
