Review: Foundlings by Matthew Christian Harding

Foundlings, Book One of the Peleg Chronicles

Author:  Matthew Christian Harding

Softcover (239 pages)
Price: $11.95
Zoe and Sozo Publishing 2010
Ages: 11 and up 
My Take: Great Christian novel

I received a copy of Foundlings in order to offer my honest opinions in this review. No other compensation has been received.

Do you long for a book that will appeal with a great story line and adventure that can be trusted to refrain from negative things like witchcraft, magic, evolution and more with a medieval theme?  Getting our kids to read is such a hard job, but then finding new fiction written in a God honoring way is perhaps even harder! Foundlings, Book One of the Peleg Chronicles is written with loads of good things within~and is a great book!

You can believe when a kid says a book is good~because they know what kids like!  My daughter (almost 16) is a book-a-holic who loves to read.  She reads voraciously and can't keep enough books, so I offered her the opportunity to read Foundlings.  This is what she said,

"The theme of this book is relying on God, courage and your ability to love and protect others, as well as staying faithful to friends unto death.  The plot begins with Lord McDougal who is cursed as "The Dead Man," and continues with his adventures. (Mom is editing here b/c I don't want to spoil it for you!)  You will meet the main characters, Lord McDougal, Suize, Grimcrack and Fergus Leatherhead in this tale of dragons, swords, knights and monsters.  The entire book is set up after the time of Noah's flood as the Bible describes in Genesis.

Personally, this book didn't really appeal to me. (MOM says, bummer!)  The beginning was slow, and the first chapter is more of a set up for the climax than a grabber for me. I did find that there were parts that had me hanging on the edge of my seat~ The climax featured a lot of fights, swords and medieval themed things like the dragons, knights, monsters, etc...

There is an extensive vocabulary which is used in an entertaining, action-y, vivid-descriptions word play.  The plot is short, to the point and not overly complex.  I liked the last several chapters the best!  My favorite part was when Thiery stumbled across the bridge...(MOM is stopping it again~NO SPOILER!), and my second fave part is when Fergus was backed into a corner and resorted to....(MOM again! LOL)  This part had me laughing!  Fergus and Birdie are my favorite characters, but I liked Theiry too!  Overall it was a worthwhile read."


She recommends that, "I believe this book would most likely appeal to a male audience because of the theme and its style"

MOM:  Included in the appendix is a section called, "The Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ" which has Scripture concerning the plan of salvation.  No doctrine is presented,just Scripture alone from various books of the Bible.

My copy was autographed which I so appreciate from Mr. Harding! When you order from his site, it says you can request this as well.  There are other options for ordering like Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble.  (I like the autographed copy offer, myself!)

Foundlings is the first  of a two book set of the Peleg Chronicles.  The second, Paladins is also available!

Trusting the material our children read is so important, and finding books that interest them is too~
Check out Foundlings HERE!

Check out what The Old Schoolhouse Crew
says about it HERE!

FREE: Drive Thru History on Ancient Rome

Thanks Crewmate H. for this one!! Rightnetwork.com/Rome (Drive Thru History)

NOTE: not for young children: Scenes of violence from Roman times to the Holocaust. Excellent for upper elem through high school. My kiddos enjoyed it, and what a great history lesson~AND just WHY HISTORY is relevant to NOW!

I KNEW IT!

Thanks HomeschoolFreebieoftheDay for sending me this link on  boys reading  and what IS THE WORST thing that deters them...ACK!~I KNEW IT~and we're caught in a trap..but alas...FREEDOM is coming! Pray folks, pray! Thanks ;-))

Wordless Wednesday...My Son

HERE for more Wordless Wed...

Whoohoo! The Homeschool Post's 6th Annual Blog Awards 10/15-11/19

Get ready~Get set~GOOOOOooooo

 Time to pick YOUR fave blogs~and nominate for awards (PRIZES too!) Whoot!

I was nominated last year~Thank You so Much Sheriff Sherri! Whoohoo!

Review: The Way Home DVD ~ Healing via Trials~Rated PG

The Way Home~Based on the Inspirational True Story
Starring: Dean Cain and Lori Beth Edgemon
Release Date:10/26/2010
World Premier Oct 1, 2010 GMC info 8PM EST.
Location:  Various Christian Bookstores
View the trailor and get more info! 
I say: A tear jerker and heart warming!

I received The Way Home from Book Sneeze in exchange for my honest opinions and no monetary compensation.  My opinions are my own.

What is NOT to love about an adorable little brown eyed baby boy and a story of healing in the face of trial for his family?  Little Joe Simpkins goes missing while his Daddy was supposed to be watching~All the emotions imaginable crash down on this young couple as the community comes together to search...and it doesn't look good...will he be found?   Search and rescue through community both public, private and religious come together to help...but ONLY God can heal...AND there is healing despite... (I'm not sharing!  Girls, you will want to see this film;  it's definitely a chic flick!   I am not sure that some men will like it as it's not fraught with loads of action, but it is very inspiring and aimed showing a man's call to become a better husband and father, so wives will WANT our husbands to see it, for sure!)  There are some special characters in this story~I found the Deputy Bert to lend a slight chuckle... I don't want to spoil it for you!! ~and Ed found a warm place in my heart...

I'm a GA girl~so the sights and sounds are a WONDERFUL surprise to this homesick gal~I recognized the terrain and culture portrayed...VERY believable story ~excellent performances by all involved!   

Dean Cain and Lori Beth Edgemon bring the story to life! 

You won't be disappointed in The Way Home~it's inspirational and will make everyone who sees it THINK about the IMPORTANT things in life~

Blog Cruise: SisterT's Talking About Nature Studies!

How do you do nature studies 
where YOU live?
Both kiddos are high schoolers this year so we don't formally study "nature" like we once did using the Apologia Jeanne Fulbright courses and Considering God's Creation.  We still look up into the heavens and at the seasons and nature~ha!  It's not a formal course per se but how could we not notice what goes on around us?

When they were littles, my daughter and her friend had an adventure~a SCIENCE adventure~

"The Gator in KY"

It really started out as an easy day .  My daughter’s best friend and her mom were coming over for a visit that afternoon, and as we were studying archeology and the Ancient World, these two girls decided to go on a "dig" in our backyard.  I should tell you that we were living in Western KY at the time, and it was a gorgeous sunny warm day in the early fall of the year.  As my friend, Best Friend’s Mother and I were settling down for some relaxation with our favorite HGTV…IN SHOT ONE GIRL, THEN THE NEXT from the outside yelling, "We dug up an allegator!" which both girls repeated as they jumped up and down something like kangaroos or jack rabbits in their excitement.  Their eyes were wild with the wonder of WHAT they had found…the deceased body, the carcass of a baby…well, I won’t say it again, but you know!  AND of course their hands were dirty with the remainder of the soil from which they had dug and had fallen off in their haste to get to us to share their good fortune…they WERE fortune hunting that day…Imagining everything from gold to all manner of artifacts from some ancient PAST civilization.  Questions had loomed in their minds about just what lie under the layers of earth RIGHT in OUR OWN BACK YARD…they  had seen video of digs where groups had found fossils, pieces of pottery, clues to history, and THESE two girls wanted in on the action.  NOW they had found something…I got nervous.  We did live near a freshwater lake not in the so far distance that when the trees were bare of leaves, one could see the sun glistening on the water dancing.  WAS it possible for such a creature to survive in this climate?  Surely it’s species could NOT survive the cold of the snow and ice that we had experienced that winter past.  But because of their excitement, and my fear that there just might be a whole FAMILY of those ferocious animals just near our back yard, I cautioned the girls NOT to actually touch it, but gave them both a set of rubber gloves from my cleaning stash, a paper plate and words of instruction to bring it to me…I had to see it for myself.  NOW I was not then, nor am I now an expert on reptiles, but I’ve seen a few having grown up in south GA.  It wasn’t uncommon for an allegator to wander into ponds, rivers, ditches; we lived near the marsh which is a natural habitat for the creatures.  There is even the famed Okeefanokee Swamp in the area where there are many many who thrive…I was taking no chances; I needed to see this thing for myself.  Since this became a natural homeschooling venture really, I pulled from our bookcase the Smithsonian Animal guide for the girls to research their find…what kind, how old…was it indigenous to the area or had it merely found its way to KY from a sunnier climate such as FL?  Folks in KY LOVE FL! This wasn’t a big stretch that one of these reptiles could have lost his owner and ended up…in MY yard.  With resource book out on the table, the girls sat down with their "treasure" to research him thoroughly.  They looked up his species, his age as noted by the spiney prominences on his back…I began to really think about this…NOW I HAVE TO CONFESS that my friend, who is a native of the area was not one moment convinced that this animal could be in a natural habitat in our lake behind the house because of climate, but she wasn’t sure it had not perhaps gotten away from it’s owner and ended up there…after all, it was now fall…and summer travels could have brought him to our yard from the many miles of his home in a warmer deeper south.  AND I also have to tell you that she wouldn’t look at the find  either…it was UP TO ME…Curiosity what it is…and the girls had worked really hard determining what sort he was, I decided to check him out myself…no smell, no… well…I won’t go here, but something dead and in the dirt…YOU can IMAGINE for yourself…and why they and I wore gloves…but as I examined him, I began to feel of his body…spongy, intact all but the lower jaw…I looked and looked…WHEN IT occurred to me…he was a plastic gator that a child obviously before we had moved into our home…well, he was a lost pet, never an actual live one…My friend, girls and I found this so funny…except that the girls were a bit disappointed.  Their treasure was a toy…But WHAT A DAY where home schooling worked beautifully and so naturally.  When you see the picture, you will note the cat who is standing watch as the girls work…THIS IS HOME SCHOOLING when it works BEST!  AND BTW, gators don’t survive in KY…THANK GOD!

Head on over to ck out the crew on nature studies~

HERE!

Ed u ma ca shun~COULD WE Do It Today? Ha!

8th Grade Final Exam:
Salina , KS - 1895

Grammar (Time, one hour)
1. Give nine rules for the use of capital letters.
2. Name the parts of speech and define those that have no modifications
3. Define verse, stanza and paragraph.
4. What are the principal parts of a verb? Give principal parts of 'lie,' 'play,' and 'run'.
5. Define case; illustrate each case.
6. What is punctuation? Give rules for principal marks of punctuation.
7 - 10. Write a composition of about 150 words and show therein that you understand the practical use of the rules of grammar.
Arithmetic (Time,1 hour 15 minutes)
1. Name and define the Fundamental Rules of Arithmetic.
2. A wagon box is 2 ft. Deep, 10 feet Long, and 3 ft. Wide. How many bushels of wheat will it hold?
3. If a load of wheat weighs 3,942 lbs, what is it worth at 50cts/bushel, deducting 1,050 lbs for tare?
4. District No 33 has a valuation of $35,000. What is the necessary levy to carry on a school seven months at $50 per month, and have $104 for incidentals?
5. Find the cost of 6,720 lbs. Coal at $6.00 per ton.
6. Find the interest of $512.60 for 8 months and 18 days at 7percent per annum.
7. What is the cost of 40 boards 12 inches wide and 16 ft long at $20 per metre?
8. Find bank discount on $300 for 90 days (no grace) at 10 percent.
9. What is the cost of a square farm at $15 per acre, the distance of which is 640 rods?
10. Write a Bank Check, a Promissory Note, and a Receipt.
U.S. History (Time, 45 minutes)
1. Give the epochs into which U.S. History is divided
2. Give an account of the discovery of America by Columbus .
3. Relate the causes and results of the Revolutionary War.
4. Show the territorial growth of the Unit ed States .
5. Tell what you can of the history of Kansas .
6. Describe three of the most prominent battles of the Rebellion.
7. Who were the following: Morse, Whitney, Fulton, Bell, Lincoln, Penn, and Howe?
8. Name events connect ed with the following dates: 1607, 1620, 1800, 1849, 1865.

Orthography (Time, one hour)
[Do we even know what this is??]
1. What is meant by the following: alphabet, phonetic, orthography, etymology, syllabication?
2. Wha t are elementary sounds? How classified ?
3. What are the following, and give examples of each: trigraph, subvocals, diphthong, cognate letters, linguals?
4. Give four substitutes for caret 'u'.
5. Give two rules for spelling words with final 'e.' Name two exceptions under each rule.
6. Give two uses of silent letters in spelling. Illustrate each.
7. Define the following prefixes and use in connection with a word: bi, dis, pre, semi, post, non, inter, mono, sup.
8. Mark diacritically and divide into syllables the following, and name the sign that indicates the sound: card, ball, mercy, sir, odd, cell, rise, blood, fare, last.
9. Use the following correctly in sentences: cite, site, sight, fane, fain, feign, vane, vain, vein, raze, raise, rays.
10. Write 10 words frequently mispronounced and indicate pronunciation by use of diacritical marks and by syllabication.

Geography (Time, one hour)
1 What is climate? Upon what does climate depend?
2. How do you account for the extremes of climate in Kansas ?
3. Of what use are rivers? Of what use is the ocean?
4. Describe the mountains of North America .
5. Name and describe the following: Monrovia, Odessa, Denver, Manitoba, Hecla, Yukon, St. Helena, Juan Fernandez, Aspinwall and Orinoco .
6. Name and locate the principal trade centers of the U.S. Name all the republics of Europe and give the capital of each.
8. Why is the Atlantic Coast colder than the Pacific in the same latitude?
9. Describe the process by which the water of the ocean returns to the sources of rivers.
10. Describe the movements of the earth. Give the inclination of the earth.

 

Notice that the exam took FIVE HOURS to complete.

Gives the saying 'he only had an 8th grade education' a whole new meaning, doesn't it?!

Also shows you how poor our education system has become and,
NO, I don't have the answers!

 Hub sent this to me as an email. I am not the author, but it's well worth repeating!

REVIEW: Entrusted With Arrows (Christian documentary by MovieMakers)

Entrusted With Arrows:

Entrepreneurial Homeschool Fathers
MovieMakers DVD
AGE: Adults

Price: $19.99   HERE
I say: This is first rate! 

I received a free preview of Entrusted With Arrows and no other compensation for my review. My opinions are my own.

In the End...What's It Gonna Be?

Do you ever wonder what's going to happen to your kids when they grow up?  Do you think about life choices and how it's going to be~in their future?

Entrusted With Arrows showcases some Dads who have made an incredible choice~come home and ACTIVELY participate with the rearing of their children.  Wow~what a concept for a loving Christian Dad to show his children the ways of the Lord, first hand!

There's some pretty strong evidence shown from the Southern Baptist Convention, which I happen to be familiar with regarding the stats of what happens when kids grow up~it's alarming actually!  Kids are leaving the church, folks! If you haven't left yourself, you already know this...if you work with young people in the church or with children in the church, you know this as well~kids are getting harder and harder to reach for Christ~to teach about God and how to live in a Biblical way~sooo while it might not be for everyone, WHY NOT?  Why wouldn't Christian parents want their children to fully understand, love and serve God?  Is there too great a sacrifice to be made?

For some, homeschooling just might seem like a drudgery and burden~oh yes, it can be~no doubt on a bad day, and don't we all have those?  But, is it not the role of the Father to teach his children through his own efforts and role?  Coming home to work from home is a unique position these Dads have been called and allowed.  God has blessed them.

I think this is a wonderful resource for families~It's a call to becoming the Father and spiritual leader God has called men to become.  Every home and church family needs to see this!

In the end, end of homeschooling or other schooling, what is it going to be for your child? Will YOU become your their greatest influence? God help us all to be the Moms and Dads that will please Him~and help us raise our children for Him!



Check out Entrusted With Arrows!  It's a current semi-finalist at San Antonio Christian Film Festival!

Friday Farmgirls at Heart~Living the Dream!

Amber waves of grain...
Autumn...Fall...Harvest.  This is my favorite time of year when all the world is washed in the golden-orange-browns and greens of the season! I really can't decide if it's my ALL TIME fave or if like spring I am just so glad for the beauty and changes that it's so welcomed in my soul...but I do enjoy riding the roads looking at the scenery, picking up leaves, nuts and branches~and I love pumpkins.  I remember in college, a small christian Bible school nestled in the busy metropolis where we attended church in the countryside riding through to see my favorite house~a yellow, lapboard with a country porch...autumn had come with leaves on the ground and some pumpkins out front~the idea at the time was surreal~I was a single with no husband or children~this little home, a HOME was part of the dream life, for me...today I live in a yellow (ONE OF the many colors LOL) house that has lapboard siding and a porch...the family inside is the one of my longings~but hey, where are my pumpkins this year? I'm stopping at the pumpkin patch on Sat and picking up a few~for fun and for family~a reminder that DREAMS DO COME TRUE~sometimes!

I'm a city girl in a rural place living a farm girl's dream...if you'd like to join the other farmgirls at heart head overHERE!

NOPE, we didn't grow the pumpkins~wish we had, tho ;-))

FREE: Online College Entrance Help for HS (Students With Disabilities)

I am just  beginning to explore the college realm for us, and found this great overview~is geared toward disabilities, but I think  this could be helpful otherwise~Going to College

HELPING My Struggler~Interventions

It's just not worth melt downs and anger is it?  Some days we really struggle to put the pen to paper and get the work done.  I have two very different learners and this can be so challenging. While I combine as much as I can, the way they learn, rate and abilities really varies a bunch! So with all said, we have to juggle and THINK on our feet a good bit.  The other day, as I was "grilling and killing" my 9th grader who is delayed and struggling at times, I found that I was also really holding up my more advanced student...by teaching note taking using a dictation method.  Ha~sooo when you find something NOT working, you know you gotta change, right? Sooo once the mayhem was all over, I began to consider WHAT I could do to teach good classroom skills to a kid who can't keep up with written notes.  I KNOW it sounds really disparaging to say this, but it's true that note taking is a challenge for some.  There are adults who can't do it~sooo WHAT do do~how to help...

I got it in my head that in college while I'm not right now in our homeschooling purchasing an individual (in some cases) text for each child, in college most likely they will have their own and can HIGHLIGHT the text as the professor lectures~~OH yes!!!!!!! Like I've forgotten this little fact, right? NO! I do it, and I take notes in the margins! Actually I only do that IF the professor is lecturing straight from the text, which honestly~sometimes they are and sometimes they aren't~but...it's a credible skill to follow and focus on how to get the notes this way...so I began a system of study that included copying the text and giving my kid a highlighter.  I have one with this way and the other who is note taking! Oh boy, we were able to move! We actually CAUGHT UP with our work and have successfully completed the material to have a study guide written (typed) and ready to go...TEST is tomorrow!!

I know these pics aren't the best, but I want you to see what we did with the study guide questions at the end of the science unit.  My learner typed his answers on a separate sheet of paper and I went over them orally~it was too much for him to rewrite correct answers when he had something wrong or incomplete...and then I cut a part the questions and made flaps so he could quiz himself.  He liked it! If he likes, he will use it! This is the whole idea, right?

I hope if you have a child who is challenging that you can be encouraged to KEEP trying~I NEED this myself~it's hard..I KNOW..but in the end...when we've mastered a skill or gotten it down~wow!  Here's hoping!!

FREE: Writing: Essays, Book Reports and MORE!

Info Please covers most of the topics for writing~essays, book reports(elem & upper), grammar and mechanics.  There are other subjects too~check this out!

FREE: Museum Day 2010

September 25,2010
Don't forget!! ;-))

FREE: Mind Building Games (Math and Language)

Homeschool For Free You won't be disappointed to check out this entire site which is well organized by subject.  Thank Crewmate for this wonderful resource!! ;-))

GiveAway: $55 to CSN Stores

Families Again  is hosting. (ENDS 10/1)

Wordless Wednesday...Harvest Still...

We're so blessed~it's still coming!

BLT anyone?

Join Wordless Wed @5min for Moms
HERE!

TOS Planner~Helps!

The 2010 Schoolhouse Planner helps me stay organized, organized and productive.  I know it sounds silly how a planner could do this, but all the resources in it and it's easy use make my days BETTER~whoot! Don't you want to try it out?  Head on over to the schoolhouse store and get your copy today! It definitely HELPS make my day better~
About the planner! 

 Did you know that the same organizational skills and resources can be learned for our kiddos with the TOS Student's Planners? Check those out too! whoot!

FREE: Bloom Magazine for Teen Girls (Digital)

Bloom Magazine 9/2010 Issue
Thank you, Penny! ;-))

FREE: Civil War Unit Study (Uncle Tom's Cabin)

This is amazing~Cyndi Kinney of Knowledge Box Central has a free pdf download with the study, additional resources AND a download of Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe.  AWESOME!
Knowledge Box Central  for signing up to her eNewsletter. I get this and enjoy her offerings!

She's having a 50% off sale too~wow!