Week in Review: April 1-5

Grace-Filled Writer
We had school this week, but was an unusual week. My husband’s Gram went to be with her Savior on Saturday, March 30. We loved her dearly and will miss her, but am so glad she is no longer suffering on this earth. So this week was partially school and partially getting ready to leave for Florida for her memorial service. There were many arrangements and things to get done ahead of time, so no school pictures. The girls completed their Heart of Dakota history portions of their guides and math each day to stay on track. 

“A Bible that’s falling apart usually belongs to someone who isn’t.” – Charles Spurgeon
I spent some time getting some pictures ready for the family of Gram. She was such a faithful example of a Christ follower. Her Bible is falling apart to the point we cannot even read some of the passages. She had it since she was in college and has written all in it. Many are notes from sermons and personal times with the Lord, but much is also her own personal journaling with personal notes and memories included. We celebrated her life, cried, laughed, and spent time with family. It was emotionally exhausting, but a time of good memories. 
Here are some pictures from her life. She faithfully raised 5 kids in the Lord and passed on the heritage of faith for generations. 
 

Bringing Comfort, Answering Questions with Adventures in Odyssey Club

Grace-Filled Writer
Life can be hard sometimes. This week we are both sad and full of joy. My husband’s grandmother has gone to be with Jesus. While it is sad to not have her here, she was suffering with dementia for many years and the last several months have been very difficult. And so we rejoice in knowing she has seen her Savior face to face and is having a wonderful reunion with her husband and others who have gone before her. Our last visit with Gram was beautiful and full of sweet memories for all of us, especially the girls. 

June 2016
Still, the concept of heaven and dealing with loss is not always easy for children. One of the blessings of a program like Adventures in Odyssey is they have dealt with a wide range of hard topics including death. While the follow episodes are not ones I would list among my go-to favorites, they are incredibly valuable in facing loss. I’ve also included 2 which deal with mental illness in this list. They have been excellent springboards for conversation with my children about some very hard things. 




Whit creates and Imagination Station adventure about death. The results are unexpected, and everyone has to deal with the unforeseen aftermath.



Karen, a friend of Donna Barclay’s, battles cancer and both Donna and Connie learn how faith makes a difference. 



While Whit and the gang are still trying to keep Novacom at bay, Connie deals with the loss of someone very dear to her. 



Connie’s grandmother, a Christian, dies and her family finds out what it means to deal with death as a Christian. Her father must find a way to cope as a non-Christian. 



The story of how Tom Riley’s son, Timmy, died is recounted by the person whose life he saved in the process. 


A Lesson from Mike

Julie finds herself unexpectedly affected by the sudden and tragic death of a classmate she did not know very well. 




Danny struggles with the idea of death and eternity after his mother has a miscarriage. 



Connie receives devastating news and, with her friend’s support, learns how to trust God in the midst of deep grief. 

Another hard topic Adventures in Odyssey covers is mental illness. This isn’t something we like to talk with our kids about, but it is a reality we must sometimes face. I appreciate the delicate way in which has led to some excellent conversations with our kids about depression and other mental illnesses. 



We learn that Tom Riley’s wife, Agnes, has been struggling with mental illness for several years. 
(I particularly appreciate this episode and the conversation Whit and Eugene have at the end about this very difficult topic.) 



Tom Riley and Mandy try to decipher what is upsetting Agnes, Tom’s wife.

Disclaimer: In exchange for promoting The Adventures in Odyssey Club I receive a membership to The Adventures in Odyssey Club. I am not required to write a positive review. All opinions are my own.

Week in Review: March 25-29 (Off Routine)

Grace-Filled Writer

My kids asked me when our spring break was going to be. I told them I hadn’t really planned one because we typically school for 6 weeks and then take a break. They were super sweet and didn’t ask again, but then I began to wonder if maybe we weren’t due for a break. So I checked the calendar only to realize we had not take a full break except for the week we all had the stomach bug, so I decided Monday morning last minute to hold off on the lesson plans and take a break! 

So this week was a last-minute decision and it was a lovely break. We had a chance to sneak away to Carowinds for an evening which was really fun! Besides that, we didn’t go anywhere else. The girls spent a lot of time outside as it is finally warming up and drying out a bit down south. I, on the other hand, had an allergy explosion! 

I did try a new thing: Hymnal Journaling

It’s kind of like Bible journaling trend, but in a hymnal. Look for a post soon about the book which is inspiring me! It’s a little odd to try at first, but I found it really fun and look forward to creating some more! 

My daughters were also feeling creative with lots of coloring, painting, and drawing. Here are some pieces my 13-year-old completed on slices of a tree trunk! 




They also worked on puzzles and played games…oh and watched TONS of basketball! Our team was knocked out today, but it’s been so fun watching all of the close games of the NCAA tournament! 

What was your week like? 

Week in Review: March 18-22

Grace-Filled Writer

Spring has arrived…more or less…in the South! There is a ton of pollen running rampant at the moment. I use a variety of things to help (various medications and essential oils), but I still have to limit my time outside or I have a major reaction. My girls were sweet enough to work for me in our raised beds at the end of the week! I was pleasantly surprised to find my herb garden has revived after what felt like incessant rain over the winter. 

Rose (8th grade) – Missions to Modern Marvels Unit 11
Rose is always studious and has learned to be even more so this fall and spring with a more competitive basketball team. Now that basketball is over, she’s continuing to keep this mindset and gets done with work very quickly. She’s become an avid reader in her time off from school.

Algebra is going incredibly well. I just want to encourage anyone who is struggling in any area of school alongside their children, just be steady. Speed doesn’t matter. I’ve always felt that way, but actually seeing the results of this mindset has been a blessing! 

 

Beth (6th grade) – Resurrection to Reformation Unit 13
Beth has settled well into this guide. CTC was a little challenging as she transitioned to more independent work. Now it is a piece of cake. Transition is always hard, but it is worth the struggle! She particularly is growing in her artistic skills while using Draw and Write through History in her notebook pages. 
Beth is also doing really well with Pre-Algebra. I wasn’t intending for her to move into this math yet, but we thought we should give it a try, and she was clearly ready. She’s also becoming a fan of logic puzzles which is a great tool for increasing thoughtful problem solving! 



Grace (3rd) – Preparing Hearts for His Glory Unit 14

Grace has become increasingly independent in her schoolwork. I wasn’t expecting this at 3rd grade, but she’s excelling. She is definitely on the young-end for grade with this guide, but age-wise she is right in the center at 9. She has an October birthday, so we placed her at grade-level as she would be in a traditional school, but in reality she is working a full grade-level above this without any trouble.

She is still using Math Mammoth, but we have switched from the longer lessons from the light-blue series to the yellow series. My husband or I give the instruction and she completes 1 page a day. This has been much better for her because she doesn’t need quite as much practice as is given in the light blue series. Math was lasting a good 45 minutes a day for her and she had no trouble with the concepts. It just took that long for her to get through all the pages because it was spread out and she felt a little overwhelmed by it I think. She almost always has perfect math papers each day! 

Friday Learning
Each Friday the girls choose something to work on that is learning related. They have full freedom to choose anything as long as it involves engaging their minds. They are required to spend about an hour on this. They love this freedom. Here are today’s choices:

Beth – Logic Puzzles
Rose – Coding and Logic Puzzles 
Grace – Doctor Academy

So that was our week. Things are different this year for me as they become more and more independent. It’s good, but an adjustment for certain from the early days. I was always led to believe that these years would be harder for schooling. The reality is they infinitely easier as I never could have imagined. 

Dancing in His Arms: Review

Grace-Filled Writer
We are a very musical family. My girls are all learning piano, Rose plays the ukulele and Grace is exploring rhythm and beat with bongos. She’ll start drum lessons online very soon. Beth sings beautifully! Whenever there is opportunity I encourage the girls to participate in leading worship. They sing, play instruments, and find unique ways to serve the Lord. 

When I met Becky Lou Eller at a homeschool conference I was immediately drawn to her joy for life and love of music! She has such a passion to share Jesus with children and to pass along the wisdom of God’s Word. Her CD, Dancing in His Arms, is a beautiful compilation of Scripture put to music. 


These songs are absolutely charming! They are word-for-word verses set to delightful music of a variety of styles. Pslam 71:3, Lord, You’re a Rock to Me! is set to a bluegrass style and that is my particular favorite. I find myself singing this one to myself quite often! Each tune is quite catchy and very singable. There is also one for the books of the Bible which is always a handy way to teach kids how to locate Scripture. I still find myself singing through the version I learned as a child, especially for the Old Testament.

My girls really enjoyed listening to this CD at night for bedtime as well. They are all sung by the sweet voices of children. While the songs vary in style from lively and upbeat to calming, it was a good fit because nothing is too over the top. It’s also wonderful to be lulled to sleep by the Word of God! 



In addition to the songs, there is a wonderful , 5-part Bible lesson with activities and wonderful discussion questions. I’ve been teaching Bible with kids since I was in middle school helping with VBS at the church I attended then. These lessons are simple and easy to follow no matter your experience. I appreciate this so much in Bible teaching plans because sometimes the assumption is the person has taught before and will just know what to do. Other times the activities are complex or structured in a way that doesn’t always make sense. This can leave a new teacher confused and ready to quit! Not so with these lessons. They are simple, but still deep enough for excellent discussion. 


We used them for a Bible time together in the mornings. We usually have our family devotion and prayer in the evening, so it was nice to add something together in the morning as well. The girls enjoyed it and we had good discussions! Many times the concepts were ones that we have talked about before, but there were new verses to look up and it is necessary to be reminded of all truth about God over and over, lest we forget. 

Our next step will be to purchase the music! I really want the girls to sing a few of these songs in our church service. 

I highly recommend this CD and the corresponding Bible lessons for your homeschool or any other group you will incorporate Bible into. It’s a lovely way to memorize Scripture and will be a great encouragement to you!
Disclaimer: I received this product from the author in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review. All opinions are my own. 

Wanted: A Superhero to Save the World: A Bryan Davis Novel Review

Grace-Filled Writer

Last spring we attended our state’s homeschool convention and I met some wonderful publishers and authors! One of those authors was Bryan Davis. I was already familiar with Davis’ writing because he hosted a writers conference for homeschoolers at our church several years back. My kids were pretty young then and I don’t think they were even school age yet, but this author who took the time to teach and mentor young aspiring authors was suddenly on my radar! He is already well known for his fantasy series including Dragons in our Midst, Oracles of Fire and many others.


In Wanted: A Superhero to Save the World the reader is transported into the mind of Eddie Hertz, a 12-year-old inventor. Eddie may not be very big, but he is brilliant and has created a wide range of gadgets to help him fight against evil in his city. The city may already have a hero, but he is certain there is enough evil for him to join in the fight! Eddie’s younger sister also joins his team and helps him along the way in this fun, edge-of-your-seat novel.

My daughter, Rose, is 13 and devoured this book! She is an avid reader anyway, but has very discerning taste when it comes to fiction. She asked me if there were more novels by the author she could read, a sure sign it is a winner!

Personally, I love several things about this artfully crafted novel. The idea that kids can be used in a mighty way is very biblical. The Scriptures are full of young boys and girls who did great things. We teach our children truth from Scripture, but I want their entertainment to reflect these truths as well. This novel in particular values heroic attributes which are echos of Scripture.

In addition to reminding kids they can do great things, there are also themes of forgiveness, hope, family togetherness, and good vs. evil. Super heroes and villains are very popular right now in our culture. I’m beyond thrilled to give my girls the chance to read a story that is just as wholesome as it is inspiring. I highly recommend this to your entire family!

Disclaimer: I was given this book by the author, Bryan Davis, in exchange for an honest review. I was not required to write a positive review. All thoughts are my own. 

Overdue Update: February 11-March 8

Grace-Filled Writer
No photo description available.
(I had a birthday…sort of!)

Sometimes we have to set aside things we love doing when real life pops up. I had every intention of writing my updates these last few weeks but then…


First…. a stomach virus hit the whole household. I seriously think it was worse because we haven’t had a stomach virus at all since Christmas 2014! That is really an incredible streak. I have a few tricks up my sleeve that help keep us all healthy, but we still fall prey sometimes.

Then… We got word that my husband’s Gram is in her last days here on earth. We are praying the Lord would take her soon. She’s suffered with Alzheimer’s Disease for a number of years. My in-laws take care of her full-time now. This photo is from 3 years ago. 
Image may contain: 4 people, people smiling, child

Both of these things just sort of put quite a few things on hold and pushed me to take care of some other stuff that needed to get done first. Priorities. 

We’ve had school going on in the background of all this as normal, but pictures just haven’t happened. Hoping for this week! 

We are over the stomach virus and we are still diligently praying for Gram. I also had a birthday thrown into the mix. It came and went oh so quietly, which is fine by me! My family celebrated me well and next year will be a big deal when this Leap Year kid gets a special day! 

Image result for leap year 2020

Celebrate Valentines Day with Adventures in Odyssey!

Grace-Filled Writer
I love it when we have opportunity to share our joy of Adventures in Odyssey with our friends! Valentines Day is tomorrow and a great opportunity to share some sweet Valentines with others and even a free episode available for them to enjoy. 

These beautiful Valentines feature a variety of characters and fun sentiments which would be typical to each character. The girls had a great time preparing these cards for their friends from their Wednesday Science class. Beth and Grace each prepared 12 cards and were so very excited to take them to class this morning! 



These are a great addition to any Valentines celebration and you can get yours for free! Just click the picture below! 


Don’t forget to enjoy any episode anytime you wish through the Adventures in Odyssey Club! 

Disclaimer: In exchange for promoting The Adventures in Odyssey Club I receive a membership to The Adventures in Odyssey Club. I am not required to write a positive review. All opinions are my own.

Peek at our Week: February 4-8

Grace-Filled Writer
 Sometimes we get a chance to do something out of the ordinary and fun! My mom found this cool rock growing science kit for us to try! I was more excited than the girls at first I think. 
Image result for magic rock growing set

Our days here in the south have been really warm…sorry Northerners! So we stepped outside for this one. The girls stirred but I did most of the chemical work since we weren’t exactly equipped for safety and the directions sounded a bit scary to this non-chemist. So Grace took over the camera and snapped some shots of me trying to figure out what I was supposed to do! 


Here I am trying to figure out if I’m doing this right! The way these directions read I felt like I might seriously maim somebody if I missed a step! 

Since I’m not really up on my chemicals and their side effects I did most of the handling and pouring. The girls stirred and placed the rocks. We “planted” the second batch and are waiting for them to grow overnight.

In other news, we changed up math significantly this week. Rose and Beth are using Math Essentials Algebra and Pre-Algebra programs. They are thriving with this program even after just a week! Grace is continuing on with Math Mammoth, but we are option for the Gold series which is a bit more concise each day. She loves the change as well. 

So why did we change?

For the last two years my daughters have tested using the Woodcock Johnson assessment test. I had been under the impression this was mostly used for kids who couldn’t handle sitting through a bubble test. My very dear friend and fellow homeschool mom became a test administrator last year so we gave it a try. WOW! I was so impressed with the amount of useful data I obtained and wished we had been doing this for years. The information is significantly more helpful than any bubble test and my daughters thoroughly enjoyed the testing process.

Through this test we were able to determine that all three girls needed a bit of a change for mathematics. Rose especially made enormous strides over this previous year and was absolutely ready for Algebra I which completely surprised me. In all our years of math struggle something has finally clicked and she’s doing great! Beth was a bit “behind” because of a difficult illness last year. Behind just meant she hadn’t finished her 5th grade curriculum, but through this testing we determined she was also ready to move on to something more challenging. Grace as well scored well above grade-level and we realized we were keeping her from thriving because of the sheer amount of work each day in math. The change is good and we are ALL happy! 



Everything else is as it has been. Heart of Dakota continues to challenge and engage my girls in all ares of their learning. Basketball season is coming to a close for Rose and Grace has just a handful of games left. Clogging starts back up in about a week so we will continue to stay busy, but not as much as we have been. I’m so glad for these opportunities, but I’m not exactly sad that the basketball season is coming to an end!

I forgot to take any pictures the last two week of schooling so I will try to keep my camera out this week on my desk. We are in a groove at the moment which is wonderful because most of the past winters this is about the time we start getting the blahs. Getting several sunny days where we could work on school outside certainly helped! It was so very sunny the girls were more comfortable with sun glasses on while sketching on the front porch.

Vitamin D for the win! 

Adventures in Odyssey Club: Celebrating a New Year and a New Album!

Grace-Filled Writer

There is a thrill that abounds in our home when a new album is coming to Adventures in Odyssey! We couldn’t wait for this album, Trial by Fire, knowing there would be answers to much of Buck Oliver’s mysterious past! 


We weren’t disappointed, especially with the 3-part ending to the Mr. Skint and Buck Oliver story arch! If you haven’t heard how this all plays out, you need to go back to their introduction to the town of Odyssey. That would be one of our other favorite albums, The Green Ring Conspiracy. 

Next you will want to listen to The Ties that Bind. This brings Buck Oliver back to Odyssey and into the lives of Eugene and Katrina Meltzner in an unexpected way! 


Buck is in several more episodes which are a lot of fun, but the most important to this particular story arc is Out of the Picture from Under the Surface. 


This will catch you up so you have a better background for what happens in The Long End Parts 1-3. This deals a lot with family history and heritage. It also deals with the idea of choosing right from wrong and can lead to some great conversations with your kids. Be aware that there are some subjects which may be a little harder for some kids such as the death of a parent, adoption, and kidnapping. 

We had fun listening to each episode around our kitchen table during the lunch hour. We often do this when new episodes pop into the Adventures in Odyssey Club app, which is the first of ever month for the Adventure Club episodes and several weeks in a row twice a year for the albums. It’s so fun to have early access to these shows! 

You can to by joining the club! It is a wonderful addition to your family entertainment for both kids and adults! 

Disclaimer: In exchange for promoting The Adventures in Odyssey Club I receive a membership to The Adventures in Odyssey Club. I am not required to write a positive review. All opinions are my own