A fad to inspire a reader

I can't believe that I heard about a set of books, ordered the entire set and then enjoyed them as much as I did.   This was all on faith.  At a party Sugar, who has never enjoyed reading, watched her friends talk non stop about a series of books.  I could not believe all the talk about these books so I asked the mom.  After our conversation I came home and ordered all the books.  At the time only 9 were out with one more prepaid for. 

When I went back to pick up Sugar the next morning I didn't tell her about the books. I was hoping she was interested, but I really wanted them to be her thing.  My hope was that she would be more interested if it was something she shared with her friends and not something that I pushed.  Half way home she looked at me and said, "Hey mom, is there any way you might consider getting me a few of those books that they were talking about? They sound fun!" When the set showed up a week later we were both wanted to read them.

I let her go first.  Well as long as I could hold out.  I was so pleasantly surprised at the stories.  They twist mystery, family intrigue, fortune hunting, in with a little science, history and geography.  The excitement doesn't stop with the books.  The stories spill over into the 39 Clues Website   .  This doesn't even begin to describe the fun in collected the cards.  These cards tie the story, the books and the website together.  The thrill in collecting all the clues is just an added bonus to the stories. 

I have recently learned that the success of these books was better than originally planned.  They have plotted more books.  A slight change at the end of the series allows for a new plot line in the books.  I just recently got The 39 Clues: The Black Book of Buried Secrets.  It was kind of a recap of all the secrets that you learned in the first 10 books.  It wasn't really a story but it did an entertaining job of taking the story to the next level.  I can't wait to get book 11 now and see where the story goes.

 I write about these to offer a recommendation.  If you know a young one between 9 and 12 try giving these books as a present.  Try starting a love of reading.  This series does a wonderful job of combining mediums to draw in all kids of readers.  I also recommend you reading them to.  That way you will have an idea of what your child is so excited about and you will not mind as much going to the movie when it hits the big screen.   (That is still a way off so you have plenty of time to catch up and read all the books, collect all the clues and master all the games on the web.)
Happy ready and clue hunting!

Update: Summer Reading - think outside the box

What a weird school year we had last year.  My Sugar is quick to point out that as odd as it was for us loosing so many friends in a few weeks of each other, just imagine how "weird" it would be to be one of those families!  She is watching her best friend Kat become a perfect daughter in her mother's memory without her guidence but still confidant of her love.  We planned to take a break this summer.  We plan to get back to book work soon.  I was going for July 1st but decided to push most of it off until August.  The month of July is not going unmarritted though. I wanted to push independant reading from the high school crowd.  Those three all struggle with verying degrees of reading issues.  After all the work we accomplished this spring I knew that they were all reading.  The only way to work on getting them to grade level is practice, practice, practice. 

I wanted to push them but not school them.  My goal was for them to realize that reading can be fun and take you places.  I don't love reading but I love learning.  I read a lot in that endeavor.  How can I encourage that in my children?

Goobers is an almost 16 year old girl that enjoys her time with her family.  She is now life guarding and spending time Pooker, Bear and Sugar.  They play so much together.  She was the one I was most worried about because she is out of the house so much for work.  How can I push her over the summer?  Well apparently I don't have to.  Pooker has a stack of books that she is pushing on her.  I drove by the pool a few days back when it was raining and found that she had one of those books and was reading away.  She also was able to download audio versions of a few of the books and put them on her ipod.  This giver her the ability to read and yet not get stumped by words that she is unfamiliar with.  

Bear is 14 (soon to be 15) year old high school sophomore.  He is very close to his sisters.  He loves to be the clown and get the laughs.  He also likes to fiddle with picture taking and electronic film editing.  So this young man that appears to struggle with reading a simple book can spend hours pouring over "how to" manuals to figure things out.  I know he is reading but he needs to practice to get to age level.  I keep buying all kinds of stories that I think might intrigue him.  Often I would stick with a more simple reading level because I just thought that he needed that.  This was embarrassing him, because he knew he needed to be reading better. 

We finally broke down and got dad his Kindle for his birthday.  This was something that surprised Jason and I.  Bear picked up his Kindle and continued to play with it.  New technology has always been fun for Bear so he was enjoying playing with this new gadget.  Then Bear asked his dad if there might be any books out there for him available on the Kindle.  Bear and his dad spent a few hours looking.  They agreed on one and dad downloaded his book, then dad made an offer.  "If you finish this book within a week, I will consider getting you your own Kindle."  Talk about motivation. 

This is what is working for Bear.
  #1  No one can tell what age lever he is reading.  He feels cool because he is using a knew device which takes away that barrier he was creating in himself. 
#2   The version we have includes an audio chip.  If you are struggling with a work it will read it too you.  (I don't mind this because it is still very computer sounding so it isn't like you want it to read the entire story for you.) 
#3  Bear is one that loved holding things over his sisters.  I guess he is a typical boy in that respect.  He is so motivated because he has permission to use dad's cool new toy and no one else does. 
Goobers pointed out that she was able to use a Kindle Ap for her ipod touch.

Sugar.  She is my precious 13 year old.  She will be starting high school this year.  She is smart but sometimes slow or lazy in doing her work.  Other times she is s speed demon and doesn't spend time getting the details.  Her reading issues were solved by a friend's birthday party.  Two of the girls at this party were talking about a set of books.  The mom spend some of the party time talking with me about how cool this serious of books are for her daughter.  This friend of Sugars is a great reader so I was worried that she would not be able to read them no matter how great they appeared to be.  She got one of the books and showed me.  It didn't look too hard plus it has other aspects that draw the child in.  Sugar loves on line games and this serious of books were connected to an online game.  Perfect.

I went straight home, signed into our Amazon account and ordered all of the 39 Clues books.  This needs its own post.  Here I can say that I am very happy at how Sugar is reading.  This series is doing the trick at inspiring interest.  Yeah!  3 highschool aged kiddos struggling with reading now showing signs of success.  I pray that each of you with learning issue children find what works.  No matter what it is do what works.  Don't beat yourself up over the latest "program" no working.

 I got these three started in reading by giving them phones for texting.  I know it sounds silly and we set many rules.  (No texting at the table and complete words must be used.)  It got them started and now we are moving forward.  It might seem like small steps to those with children without reading issues but to those with children with reading issues you will share in my joy of this post and hopefully you will be inspired to not lose hope.   Keep the strength and encouragement to try anything that you child is interested in to inspire a reader.  Don't be afraid to resort to the latest technology to inspire your little ones to succeed.  I don't encourage using everything out there just what works.  Always keep them safe by using rules and constant supervision.

Science Text for Elementary/Middle School

Great choices for Elementary Science Books. I have mentioned the Highschool books before. I consider these for middle school as well. These are authored by someone else, Jeannie Fulbright. Here is a quote from the apologia website: "Well, it has finally happened! After years of searching for an elementary science curriculum that is truly God honoring, user friendly, and scientifically sound, we were introduced to two books by Jeannie Fulbright. It’s no wonder that we want to publish her books. As one of the parents who has already used Mrs. Fulbright’s astronomy book says, "It reminds me of Dr. Jay Wile's Apologia Science, only yours is on an elementary level while his is written for high school age." We couldn’t have said it better ourselves."



I really do love the way in which these books are set up in a Charlotte Mason fashion. They are organized in a way that I can use them. I don't have the kids do them on their own, there is just too much work in them. I think they might be overwhelming to a young child to be handed the text and told to complete. Depending on your family situation and your child you can be very specific as to what needs to be accomplished and give in small doses.


That isn't how I use the books. I love them because I can use them to lecture from. I have the younger kiddos right now working on the Flying Creatures. I read it out loud, we discuss the pictures and notes in the book, they copy notes into their notebooks. Then they are given assignments based on their ages. Each one completing a notebook in the end. We are not on a set school year with this. We will just continue until we finish.



My family loved the astronomy. Botany was a tad to much for my little one and my older ones at the time found it boring. The older ones were probably ready for General Science but I hadn't moved them on yet.



Some love that these are one topic books that last the entire school year others do not like it. I find that children learn more when they can dive into one topic and cover it fully as opposed to touching on a million different topics each year. I love these books and was so happy to have found them.

Have you thought of taking a school trip into Narnia?

I hope that you will consider a family trip to Narnia. It is so worth the investment. The power that you leave with knowing that once a king or queen in Narnia, always a king or queen in Narnia. (That picture is taken from a great website with all kids of interesting ideas. Visit them at The LionsCall.com)

I want to share with you how wonderful a family read aloud can be and how we have turned some simple books into a rich experience for all members of the family. Some books are just too great to hand to your child and say read this we will talk about it later. Unfortunately that is how I handled most of the great works of literature that I required our oldest child to read. Looking back I am sad that I let those moments that we could have shared slip away. Pooker now sees how excited we are getting into our daily adventures in the Chronicles of Narnia and feels a little left out. Sorry Pooker.

Our adventures in these books started with our last minute choice for a New Years Eve movie. As a family we always watch a series of movies together. This year it happened to be The Lion The Witch and the Wardrobe with Prince Caspian to follow. I refer to how great that has been for the family here in a post from our family blog. That all being said we dove into this series and have loved every day. On the weekend the little ones ask why I am not reading. That is a true sign that they are enjoying the books. Not many of us want to do school work on the weekends.


A few ideas on how we have added to our read alouds. It is hard to entertain the mind of the older children and those of the younger children at the same time. I decided to notebook our adventures, having each child create a "notebook" about this time we are spending on this book. We are including all kinds of wonderful tidbits. Copy work, coloring pages, word games, narrations in pictures or words depending on age, and then a completed book report at the end.







Each book of the Narnia series is separated by a page that we create. After a Google search of the book title I then save the pictures of the various covers that have been used over the years in the different publications of the books. You might be surprised how many different cover pages will apply to just one book. After printing several small copies of each cover and cutting them out evenly I pass them out. I give each child their choice of the cover copies and a piece of card stock paper. They create a college of the various covers. That is placed in a protective sheet. This makes a perfect divider in the notebooks. We have been using the cheap paper 3 ring folders for now but will move those into a more permanent plastic folder as soon as we are finished. We plan to make elaborate covers for our notebooks soon as well.

Coloring Sheet links:
The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe (there are more sites but they all seam to offer the same pictures.)

Prince Caspian (This is a french site, the pictures are great. Click on "fermer" to close.)

Unfortunately these are not easy always to find. For the other books I google anything that I have taken from the books to create coloring sheets. The mythical character of a faun will produce many possible coloring sheets. Often this means that I need to do some reading ahead to find something for them to work on. When nothing is found a blank piece of paper with a handful of coloring pencils give an opportunity for a simple narration of what is being read.

Word searches for each book.

Activities for all the books are linked here.



This is such a wonderful set of books in so many ways. The literature is so good. I love to hear the children quoting the books. I have found inspiration and growth in our faith in these delightful tails. I did break down and purchase a book to help with all those connections. This was a book that I stumbled upon but often the references are easily found in general searches of the title on the Internet. We are using the book "Believing in Narnia, A kid's guide to Unlocking Secret Symbols of Faith in C. S. Lewis's The Chronicles of Narnia" by Natalie Gillespie. This is a simple little book that lays out the symbolism. It is a reference to me and to the children guiding some of our discussions. I have found that once one child makes one little connection on their own it takes off from there. We don't really need this book but I like referring to it when the conversation is dying.



I am not a good cook so this did not appeal to us, but if you like to dive into a book through cooking you will enjoy this link. We don't try to cook we shop instead. I did buy some Turkish Delight Candy while reading the Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe. It was OK.



Another thing to remember is that these books bring alive the imagination. They are great books for boys and for girls. Everyone has a beautiful place in Narnia. Each child will pick out their own favorite character. They will all want to dress in nice flowing clothes, borrow a sword and defend their great kingdom. They will love Aslan, and hopefully make the connection to Christ, so much that they will do their other homeschool work "For Aslan". If you let yourself go along for the ride you will begin to see some wonderful things as well. Another family post describing just that.


So if you are looking at March, April and May at the end of your school year and wanting something different, something fun , something that might just reunite and excite the mind; then allow me to suggest planning a family trip to Narnia. For your family it might be a second or third visit but it doesn't matter. Let the imagination run with this. Let your children enjoy this read aloud. Let yourself cry every time to meet Aslan in the book. Let the family laugh together when Edmund leaves his new torch in Narnia. Let your children believe that they themselves are called to greatness. Let your children remember that they are to someday share in His Kingdom, making them true Kings and Queens in the eyes of their creator.

Accountablity

The new anti-homeschooling buzz word! The old one was socialization. Home schoolers around the world have proven that our children are better socialized than those in school. Now the "fear" that outsiders have to homeschool is the accountability of the parents. That "fear" seams to mirror the latest arguments from the teachers unions, which I am not a fan of either.

As this argument was being presented to me the other day I couldn't help but wonder about society as a whole. We are so motivated by what others think, say, and how they judge us. What methods are used for judging. We might be judged by appearance of weight, clothes choice, hair color, hair cut, and now piercings and tattoos. The next level of judgment goes to income, how much do you make. Another level is your education level, and while in school your grade point average. I have spent years trying to avoid that sort of training for my children.

The states have very different rules and regulations on homeschooling all across our country. The entire world is so divided over parents rights vs. the governments involvement. It is a scary line in some cases. Yes there are parents out there that do a bad job of parenting. Yes there are parents our there that abuse their children. I must tell you though that I am fed up with being compared to that type of parent. The numbers are so small in comparison to the number of wonderful, engaging parents and yet we are now given all kinds of laws because of the few bad parents.

To the point that homeschool parents are not being held accountable I must respond.
To whom should homeschooling parents be held accountable to?

"You should have to answer at least to the school district." I was told. I have to laugh. We, most homeschoolers, find that the local school is inadequate for the education of our child. It isn't a matter of money but motivation. No problem goes away with more money. In the world of learning issues it takes very hard work and motivation from the student. This is best inspired by the family. The family, the mom and dad, have the most at stake here, not a paid employee of the school. I am not saying the the resource teachers do not care. They must to do the work that they do. BUT the parent cares much more about the outcome than that teacher. I know that my child will need to succeed in life. I can't just pass them off to another teacher or another program, I must get the child to succeed.

"Your kids need a report card to prove that they are learning." I can make a report card if you really want one. We have made several. In fact most homeschoolers do. We keep records of what we have done for the year and how each child has progressed. Now many of these records are the bare minimum to full fill the legal requirements of the state. Some require so many hours per subject, some require so many days in the classroom, and some states ask for the results of yearly testing. sometimes the children like to see their own progression, which is the biggest motivator to many parents. If your child wants to see a record then you as the parent provide it.

"I have not seen any testing done on your children." Yeah, so. Even when I was in school those tests and their results were a private matter between the child and the parent. I love using those test when the time has come to see where we are. I have used the California Aptitude tests in the pasts. I have purchased them from Seton Home Study. I like using them because they are a little cheaper and I can administer them myself. As the children get older I have uses the SAT tests when administered to the local homeschool group. These results have always been for my benefit. They tell me where my child's strengths are and where their weaknesses are. This is not a something that is used by my husband to "fire" me as the child's teacher. The benefit is that I don't teach the test.


If given the time and an open mind listening I would have taken the time to explain. I am very accountable. I answer to the highest of authorities and through that to my own children. When my children were baptised I promised God that I would all that I could to teach my children about Him and lead them on the path to heaven. I can't force my children to behave but I can teach them the consequences if they do not. I must show them right from wrong and in that provide for their development and education. I vowed to GOD here people. I don't take that lightly. During my confessions I reveal how accountable I am to my Lord.

Let me point out how important I take my children's education. They must succeed in life. If they do not then I am stuck with them into adulthood. I love my children but I do not want to keep them around in a perpetual immature state. Why would I ever want that. I need them to mature and grow up. Now if an accident or event were to alter that and they were incapable of independence then I would deal with that but I assure you that is not our goal.

I owe it to the 9 beautiful faces that look to me for guidance to teach them their boundaries so that they can leave the home and become productive members of society. When I have a bad day or fail to do some parenting I let them down. I love them too much to continue to let them down and not expect the best from them. I push them harder than any teacher and with more vested in the outcome than anyone else.

I buckle my children in the car when we drive around town. There are laws that state when I should buckle them in, how I should buckle them, and in some cases at what ages. I know the laws exist but that isn't why I buckle. If we were to be in an accident it isn't a ticket I fear. I am accountable to my children. I owe it to them to use every means necessary to keep them safe while on the road. I know that their are some individuals that see no purpose in seat belts and probably strap in just because they are accountable to the law. NOT US. We really feel that we are accountable to the children.

When you are asked about accountablity just smile and remember that you answer to God and to your children. Here in the United States we are not forced into false accountabilty to the government or a state run organization. Thank God!

Now I really must get back to work so I don't let Him down, or my children.

Phonics Practice

I got something the other day that was cheap but very helpful. I purchased some inexpensive write on/wipe off boards. Individual boards for each child. New concept for us but very old school when you think about it. Schools of early America had personal slates for the students to write on. I can't believe that this old idea added our "classroom" so much. I write this post to encourage you to find the cheap, simple solutions to every day problems. With our big family it is hard to allow every body board time yet practicing writing on a board can be very helpful. It is also a fast way to test phonic comprehension, site word study, and spelling words. We even played hangman tonight. Pickle tried to stump me with his site words. He is really learning here with such a simple cheap tool. When your kiddos need something more or you need to change the school room, don't panic. Take your time to evaluate what you really need. It might be a much cheaper and more simple answer than you might think. I spent $4 per board with the knowledge that we will need more pens soon. The expense was minimal compared to the exciting results.

High School Science

Often I am asked how I handle it when the topics get difficult.   Often I have found that it depends on the resources you pick.   I am not gifted with an understanding of science (or math).  Science needs to be taught and taught well for the high schooler for them to succeed in college.   This was the field that often caused me the most concern.   That was until I ran into Apologia Science.  The science resources I found from this group were wonderful.   I have yet to be disappointed.  

I found a group of text books produced by Apologia written by Dr. Jay Wile.   Each are titled with Exploring Creation through . . .  Dr. Wile is a Nuclear Physicist and author of 10 text books.   He is a creationist and advocate for homeschooling.   Visit the Homeschool Speaker and Vendors Association page on Dr. Wile to learn more about him and about his various thoughts on homeschooling, and even creation.   All of his papers are very interesting.

As Catholics we are not exclusively creationist and these books are written from a Protestant slant but they are the best books I have found.   I have looked for years.   The Catholic books are either too light in science or too light in faith.   These books are heavy in faith and very challenging in Science.   What I like most is that they are taught (worded) in a way that is designed for the homeschooler.   They are challenging for the young scientist and heavy in the scientific method and yet worded to be understood by the student.   I have made sure that my 1000 Years of Catholic Scientists  resource is close at hand.   If something is mentioned I try to back it up with this resource giving a full Catholic understanding to this Christian presentation.  

We do not use the schedule that Dr. Wile proposes for these books.   My children are not gifted in science.   We wait to use the Dr. Wile books until the highschool years.   But we do follow his recommended progression through the books.  

1) Exploring Creation with General Science is recommend as the resource for 7th graders.   We use it for the first semester of Freshman year.  I was also able to locate an audio recording of the books that have helped me with my dyslexic children.  They can listen and read along.  So this keeps them on track when I am not able to read out loud with them.            

2) Then his 8th grade book that we use for second half of Freshman year is Exploring Creation with Physical Science. 

3)  They then move onto Biology as a Freshman and we use it for Sophomore year.  It is more challenging than the first two but still worded in a way that takes this difficult teaching topics and presents them in an easy to understand manner.  Exploring Creation with Biology.

4)  Then we try to get through Chemistry for our Junior year.  Exploring Creation with Chemistry. 

5)  Then the company offers Physics, Advanced Biology, Marine Biology, Advanced Chemistry, and Advanced Physics.   All great selections .  We didn't use them except for the Advanced Biology.  You see we also ordered the disection kit. Pooker fell in love with this and wanted to pursue biology.  We got her the Advanced Biology which is called  The Human Body:  Fearfully and Wonderfully Made.  This led Pooker to an interest in nursing.  She is curently pursuing this possible career in her college courses.  This is something that I owe to these specific sets of books.  I could have never presented this material in such a loving and respectful manner.  These books give the glory to our creator while challenging the student to learn. 


They are so well written that they are very easily self taught.  A student can be given the task of pursuing a chapter/module on their own.  I require that my students keep a list of all bold face words and write out their definition, and answer all questions in a notebook.  I let the test be open book as long as they can do it in a short amount of time and get it correct.  We talk about the chapters at great length to make sure they understand what they are learning.  My goal is to inspire the mind more than tax it with tests.  That being said this series of books can not be beat for that purpose. 

New School Motto

It is so important to plant an idea in your head of what your goals for your children will be. Years ago we decided that the family motto was: "Heaven is our goal, everything else is just gravy!" Having those words in the back of our minds has helped us through many difficult situations. When a decision needs to be made we resort back to the family motto. I know it isn't pretty and we always planned to reword it but for now it is what it is. The kids all know that Heaven is the goal!


One Sunday during Mass sometime in December of 2008 I was inspired to write something down. I don't know where it came from but the words formed in my mind as I grabbed a pen and scripted it onto some scrap paper in the pew. I don't recall why I wrote it or even doing it. So flash forward an entire year and a month and as I was cleaning off my desk tonight I ran into that little piece of paper. I recognized my handwriting and vaguely remembering writing it down. (So glad I did.) I now know what it is and I like it. Our school motto is a little more formal now. I can’t wait to add it onto Diplomas and transcripts. I love it, it fits us. I think it was a gift from Heaven itself.

Pray about this and pick one for your family and a different one for your home school. It is very good to have a motto or slogan that can rally the troops. So what do you think? I love this one, it really does fit our home school.

Our Home School Motto

T-Academy:

Where the path to Heaven

meets Scholastic Excellence,

all mixed together with Love of Family.

Getting Started Again

It can be very hard to get back on track when life takes you away from the books. If you read my family blog you know that we had several people were close to pass away in October last year. These were close friends of me and then one of my teenagers. Sometimes God sends us lessons that are harder than we could come up with on our own. There were days that I just didn’t pull out books because we wanted to visit with one of these people or because we were pouring our hearts into a project for one of these people. Some days we were just heart broken and other days we spend comforting someone else that was heart broken.




The experience was wonderful. I could never have taught my children those lessons of caring for your neighbor, the value of suffering, or the joy of heaven without the examples of these dear individuals. We learned how quickly life can change, how short life can be, how age and illness shouldn’t effect how kind a gracious one is. We learned that being Christ-like is often harder that we might think but require nothing more than an ear to listen and a heart to love.



Where to begin after all that I recommend a good read aloud for the family. Wait a little while. Do some school work through out but unite the group with a good story. I allow coloring of related sheets that I would have already printed to help ease the body and soul back into the work. We have been reading the Chronicles of Narnia and I must admit that it was chosen by someone other than me but it is the perfect choice. The series of books were at hand when the idea of a read a loud hit. For other reasons it was the perfect choice, I will post more on those in particular later.



We have used this method before and it always seams to work. It inspired more learning because stories always do. It helps us to turn the TV and computers off to refocus on school. It gives the little ones something to be a part of making them less distracting when the highschoolers sit to do the tougher subject. There is a huge benefit to a family read a loud. Often it unites the family as they journey through the book together. It gives everyone a theme to interact with. Often the stories inspire other stories and other questions. To follow those Rabbit Trails will lead to the child’s true interest.



If you have had tragedy or even the joy of the birth of a child that has cause you get off track. If you yourself need to be re-inspired to get tough again but don’t want to the very first day try this plan. Start with a week of guided read a loud. I find that I need to read the stories to offer the correct inflections. You must look ahead in the book and find characters or images that you can find coloring sheets for. The older ones need the peaceful action of coloring sometimes to calm their minds from all the craziness that happens in the teen years, especially if you have also recently had a major change in life.



Good luck getting back on track. Don’t be grudge what took you off, God sent them for your growth. Now pick up a good book, cuddle with your kiddos and find your new beginning.