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review – Sarah’s Wish

October 19, 2009 By: amyswanderingcomment

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I curled up with the free copy of Sarah’s Wish that we received and had a hard time putting it down! Jim Baumgardner, the author of the Sarah Book Series, wrote this book for his nine grandkids. He describes it as Young Adult fiction written by a Christian author. He makes history come alive for his young readers.

Sarah is a twelve year old girl living in 1858. She helps her mom hide runaway slaves as part of the Underground Railroad. Her mom tragically dies in an accident and now Sarah must be brave, keep her secret, and help deliver the “packages”. (My daughter & I are both a little bummed that a parent always seems to die in stories these days.)

Mr. Baumgardner has done such a good job of creating interesting characters that pull you right into the story. He comes across as quite a likeable character himself in his emails! Our book included a link to an audio download that our whole family will listen to as soon as I can figure it out 😉 We are studying American History this year and we are eager to read the entire series.

The Nitty Gritty: free s&h and books come autographed

  • Sarah’s Wish  $9.99       (126 pgs.)
  • Sarah’s Promise $13.50 (248 pgs.)
  • Sarah’s Escape  $17.50 (304 pgs.)

Things I Like:

  • There is a glossary at the beginning of the book.
  • We would much rather learn history through a living book than a dry textbook.
  • The book includes a link to a free audio download.
  • Our book was autographed and included a beautiful butterfly sticker.
  • The author is a hoot! He has a wonderful monthly newsletter full of info about the olden days. (See top right corner to sign up.)

Value: I think you get your money’s worth on this one. Your purchase includes a personalized autographed book, an audio version, and a monthly history lesson delivered to your inbox. This is a put it on the shelf & keep it book. This would make a great gift.

See what my TOS Crew Mates have to say about Sarah’s Wish!

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a is for apple

September 14, 2009 By: amyswanderingcomment

appleone

A is for Apple in our little schoolhouse this week.

Activities

Apple Accordion Doll

Cut & Glue Letter A

Apple Number Match

Apple Lacing Card

Apple Tree Math

Apples & Bananas Song

Johhny Appleseed Craft

or Johnny Appleseed Art

Johnny Appleseed Day Research Activity

and Crossword Puzzle for the older girls

I think we will finish up the week by making these Harvest Apple Squares

More Apple Resources

The Virtual Vine

Pratt’s Educational Resources

Kinder Printables

Books We Are Reading

apples1
How Do Apples Grow?

apple2
The Apple Pie That Papa Baked
apples3
Johnny Appleseed

apples4
The True Tale of Johnny Appleseed

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review – Hank the Cowdog

September 3, 2009 By: amyswandering1 Comment

Hank

“Stricken with Sneezaroma Because She Whacked Me on the Nose with a Wooden Spoon” is one of the chapter titles from The Case of the One-Eyed Killer Stud Horse, our first experience with Hank the Cowdog.

We LOVED it!!

Hank is the Head of Ranch Security and Drover is his trusty sidekick. They spend their day getting in and out of hilarious predicaments around the ranch. My husband read 2-3 chapters each night before bed in his best Texas twang. This book had us clutching our sides – my husband even had trouble reading some of it because we were all laughing so hard.

Tales and Tunes of Hank the Cowdog has excerpts and songs from ten of Hank’s books. It was amusing to listen to the song that we had just read in the story, but overall my kids were not crazy about this. It’s only $3 though, so worth the price I think.

tornadoCoverThe Tornado Game got a much warmer reception. If you are familiar with the game of Sorry, then you will know how to play Tornado. I really like how all the pieces are stored inside the folding plastic gameboard. This would be a cute gift for the little Hank fan.

A Word of Caution: The Hank series uses some words that may not be allowed in your family. Examples: dadgum, stupid cat, boy calls his mom dummy (and is then disciplined). It would be very easy to edit these books if you read them out loud. [Our kids are not allowed to say some of these, but we live in Texas and they grew up hearing others speak “Cowboy”. LOL]

The Nitty Gritty:

  • Paperback book  $4.24
  • Tales & Tunes CD $3.00
  • Tornado game  $12.99

Things I Like:

  • our whole family looked forward to storytime every night because we knew this book would have us in stitches
  • they want to read the whole 54 book series!
  • the Tornado game was fun for all ages and folds & locks for easy storage

Value: I think you get a lot of bang for your buck.

See what my TOS Crew Mates have to say about Hank the Cowdog!


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our first day

August 26, 2009 By: amyswanderingcomment

b2s

We had a lovely first day of school today!

We did some group activities and focused on getting notebooks organized – the real academics start on Monday!

We have a new student this year. My niece (11) is joining us each morning and we are enjoying her lovely spirit. Her bloggy nickname will be Niecey. (What can I say? I’ve used up all my creative brain cells planning our school.)

Here’s a look at what we did:

~ Sticks & Stones– We each got a body cutout with our name on it. We passed them around the circle, making sure to add a wrinkle or tear to each one as we passed it. They were a wrangled mess by the end. We then talked about how using our words as weapons does the same kind of damage to each other. “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.” Ephesians 4:29

~ We made get-well cards for my grandparents who are both in the hospital.

~ The 3 older girls filled out a Learning Style Questionnaire and How Many Ways Are You Smart?

~ The 2 younger colored & cut out a dog mask to go along with our Hank the Cowdog bedtime story.

~ We read the first lesson out of Over Our Heads In Wonder and then headed outside with this cloud paper to record our sky views.

~ Creating a September Nature Calendar was last on the list.

Tomorrow we will add journal writing and math to the mix. It’s going to be a great year!

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hands-on math

June 24, 2009 By: amyswandering1 Comment

math

I have some great Math links that I’m sharing with my friend, so I thought I would post them here for everyone to enjoy. I bookmarked them to go with our Charlotte Mason education, but they would also be great summer fun when it’s just too hot to go out!

Living Math! don’t miss the literature list

Living Math Forum yahoo group

Math Benchmarks a useful guide

Let’s Play Math! blog full of lots of great ideas

K-12 Math Resources love this! I will be printing some of these to use in our workboxes. (I’ll be posting lots more on workboxes in the coming weeks!)

Figure This! math challenges for Families

Hands-on Fractions

Fun Mathematics Lessons

Hands-on Math

Living Math – Squidoo

Our Journey Westward blog with lots of ideas

Dr. Mike’s Math Games for Kids

Math Their Way

Helping Your Child Learn Math click arrow at bottom – math at home, at the grocery store, on the go

Khan Academy video library

The School Bell fantastic site put together by a retired teacher. You could put together an entire curriculum for younger kids just using this site!

Math Cats math crafts and a great idea bank

Family Math Bookstore we had the Family Math book & I highly recommend it – wish I had kept it!! I got mine off of PaperBackSwap. I think I’ll go there now & add all of them to my wish list!

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