Iris Reading

Two years ago when only Emma, Gray and Jay were in school, Iris would come into the school room every day and want to do school.  So I would give her a letter page to color or a preschool page to work on.

I knew last year when I started Charlie in kindergarten, she would really want to be in there.  So I decided that I would just school her with Charlie.  They would both start kindergarten together.  She was 4 1/2 but I said if it got to be too much for her, too frustrating, etc. I would just back off and give her something else to do.  There were frustrations but not because it was too tough for her, just because there are frustrations in homeschooling.

She actually did really well and learned to read with Charlie.  So this year, even though Iris is technically in kindergarten for the state's records, they are both doing 1st grade work.

Well her big sister is a voracious reader.  I can't keep up with the books she's read and how many times she's read them. 

One day Iris came downstairs and plopped herself on the couch with this book.

Another day she went out on the porch...

 ...to read with the chicken...

...like her big sister.

Voices from the Past

Oh my word!!! I'm so excited about this new audio book series by Victoria Botkin!

This year as I've been reading historical fiction to the kids, I've also been researching the facts.  And I've been very disappointed with the conflicting information that is available.  I've also been disappointed with my recollection of History.

For instance, I thought we celebrated Columbus Day because Columbus was the first explorer to discover America - North America, that is.

Ohhh, noooo!  He never stepped foot on North American soil.  He landed on the islands south of Florida.  A guy named Leif Ericson actually landed in North America (Newfoundland) about 500 years before Columbus!

And then we discoverd that Columbus and his men captured some of the natives from the islands and took them back to Spain to sell as slaves.

Why in the world are we celebrating this guy?

I also thought the Pilgrims were all Puritans seeking religious freedom and were the first people to colonize in America.  Ohhh, nooooo!  The Pilgrims were made up of Puritans and Strangers or Adventurers.  The Adventurers were in it for the adventure and possible fortune they may gain.  And King James, eager to be rich like Spain and France, sent a group over about 14 years before the Pilgrims.  By the time the Pilgrims got here Jamestown was an established colony going strong.

Anyway...I started thinking, I just want to read actual letters and memoirs of people who were alive during these times. I want actual accounts.

The Botkin Family has compiled letters and eye-witness accounts of people in History and are offering this information in the form of audio books read by Mrs. Botkin titled:

Abigail Adams: Her Letters

The Letterbook of Eliza Lucas Pinckney

An English Family in the American Wilderness

A Bride Goes West

They are offering them in a bundle at an introductory price that is 30% off or individually at 20% off.  You can go here to find out more or here to order.

Radical

One morning after discussing what Emma had read for her Bible-time, I told her, "If we really understood how awesome heaven is, we would sell everything we have and live in our car just so we could spend all our time telling others about Jesus."

She said, "Why don't we then?"

There are approximately 6.8 billion people in this world.

At least 4.5 billion don't know Jesus!

26,000 children will die today from starvation or preventable diseases.

David Platt shared these statistics at our church this morning.  He also talked about the radical changes made in their church after studying the book of James. 

Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this:

to visit orphans and widows in their affliction,

and to keep oneself unstained from the world.

James 1:27

He said after going over this verse, he called their county's family services department and found out that if 150 families adopted or fostered 1 child, they would take care of all the children in their system.  His church held an informational meeting and 160 families showed up.

Then they went through chapter 2 of James and covered these verses:

If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, "Go in peace, be warmed and filled," without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that?"

James 2:15-16

So what did his church do next?  Cut the budget.  Some areas as much as 80%.  And are using that money to reach the billions who don't know Jesus.

He shared the story of the man in Matthew 13 who stumbled across a treasure in a field.  He hid the treasure and then "in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field."  The treasure in that field is the Kingdom of Heaven.  And we should be willing  joyfulling willing to sell all that we have for that Kingdom.

We bought his book, Radical, and plan to read it as a family this week.  Pick yourself up a copy at your local Christian bookstore or here.

Used Curriculum Sale ~ Like Heaven on Earth

Every year a local homeschool school (I know that doesn't sound right but anyway) puts on a used curriculum sale.  I believe it's got to be the biggest in the state.  They require 125 workers to sign up before they will commit to having it.

The last two years, I was able to work it which means I got to shop Friday afternoon before the mad crowd on Saturday morning.  Then when sellers don't come back for their items Saturday afternoon, we get to go through all of that and take what we want for FREE!

This is what I brought home this year...

These piles...FREEEEEEE!!!

These I paid $68 dollars for. 

That's 78 items including two books that were $5 each.  Most of the rest were $.50 or $1.  Crazy, I know!  Now I just need to figure out where I'm going to put it all.  I'm running out of places for shelves!

Old Books!

You know I'm a book hoarder. I especially love old books! Well just look at what Meme brought back from Roddy's grandmother's house...

I could hardly wait to go through them!

The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin...

I can't find copywrite or print dates in all of them so I'm going to do some research online. But I know they are at least 50 years old.

This one much older...

Look at the phone number on this homemade cover...

The ones I'm super excited about are Eight Cousins by Louisa May Alcott...

Christmas Stories by Charles Dickens...

which includes A Christmas Carol...

And these...Travels of Marco Polo, A Tale of Two Cities, Shakespeare's Masterpieces, and others...

And isn't this one interesting?

Love the layout and detail of this one...

THANKS, MEME!!! I'm going to find a special place to keep them!

Book and On-Line Mentoring Recommendations

Have you ever heard the expression:  It's like drinking from a fire hydrant?

That's how I feel about this book...

I have taken a really long time to read it because I have to keep stopping to process what I've just read!

I have highlighted so much of the book that Roddy said I should just highlight the stuff I don't want to remember because that might be easier.

If you have come to a point in your life where you no longer want to follow the culture and you want to know how the ways of the world have subtly crept into your mindset, I encourage you to read this book.  It will challenge your thinking greatly!

Here's an example:

...until we understand the relationship between mankind and womankind as God created them, and the way we can together reflect the image and glory of God, we can't fully understand what it really means to be women or how we can best serve God as women.

Another:

Women have really only two ways of relating to men: helping them lead poorly, for Satan's glory, or helping them lead well, for God's glory.

Just one more:

Throughout history, men have had to bear only the curse God gave directly to them.  They work hard to provide for and protect their families.  They don't bear children. In our society, women are freely embracing a double curse--the curse of the man (difficulty in providing) in addition to the curse of the woman (pain in childbirth).

Okay, last one:

The first ridiculers of homemaking were not ordinary women who had found a better, more fulfilling path.  The ridiculers were the same Marxists...who knew there would be no cultural transformation if mothers continued to strengthen Christian civilization from their strong positions of influence in the home.  They didn't want wives helping their husbands.  They didn't want mothers training their children.  They didn't want mothers teaching their children anything.

The mother of the girls who wrote this book is hosting an on-line mentoring series starting Monday evening, March 1, called "Evenings with Victoria Botkin." 

It sounds pricey but divided up comes to a little more than $5a week.  If you're interested, go here or here, to find out more. 

Twilight

For me the choice is simple. But for others the lines have been blurred. Here is an excellent reason not to partake in the Twilight madness! Read The Visionary Daughters review.

Here's an excerpt...

For this discussion, we would like to set aside the dark paranormal element of Twilight, though that is a concern on its own. We believe what ultimately draws women into this series and other romance novels in millions-strong droves is the same thing that lures men into an estimated $3-4 billion-a-year pornography industry.

WARNING!

DO NOT LET YOUR CHILDREN READ THIS BOOK!!!!

This is the old and new cover. Title: Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret. by Judy Blume

A family member bought some books from the thrift store and brought them over for the kids one day. This book caught my attention and I set it aside on the kitchen counter to preview before putting into the Wagner Library. It was the day of Iris' birthday so I didn't have time to look at it right then.

Without realizing it, Emma picked up the book and read it and then put it on the bookshelf. She didn't know I had set it aside. She just saw it in the kitchen and picked it up.

Saturday night everyone was in our room reading books and hanging out and Emma brought this book in. I said, "I was wondering where that book was. I need to read through it first." This is when I found out she had already read through it.

I was horrified at what I saw when I skimmed through this awful excuse for a reader! The things my 9 year old was exposed to in less than one day sickened me with anger!

Here's a quick list of some of those things:

Playboy

Making out

Spin the Bottle

2 Minutes in a Closet

Sneaking anatomy books

Terrible attitudes and disrespect

Obsession with boys

Teachers and boys gawking at a girl wearing a fitting sweater

And ridiculous ideas about religion.

Here's a quote from page 11 "Because he's fourteen. All boys of fourteen are disgusting. They're only interested in two things -- Pictures of naked girls and dirty books!"

Thankfully we had a great discussion with Emma about how the devil sneaks this kind of stuff into our lives, making it exciting and interesting, and how we have to be so careful not to expose ourselves to it and become jaded to the fact that God hates it.