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Showing posts from March, 2013

SWR Asof April 2012

We are using Spell to Write and Read. (This is our first year of "real" homeschooling. Our oldest is in first grade.) SWR has its roots in The Writing Road to Reading, which my parents chose to teach me back in the 80's. It is a phonics program with spelling lists that go through the first year of college. The lists are arranged by frequency of use. The first six lists (of twenty words each) include more than 40% of all we read and write. Add seven more lists and you have over 60%. Curt Bumcrott of Basic Skills Assessment and Educational Services told me that Spell to Write and Read is the Cadillac of phonics programs. Sounds expensive. I don't know how it compares price-wise to other programs because I knew that this was the one I wanted to use. Hansome consented, so I did not do any shopping around. What I can tell you about the price is that once you have paid for the curriculum (and the highly recommended training), there is one notebook to purchase per student

How I explained Interment to Our Four Year Old

(I can only humbly thank God for the wisdom He granted to me to explain this to Butterfly. I don't know that I would have chosen to explain this to any of our children yet, but it became necessary last Saturday to explain what it means to bury someone. She got it and was satisfied.) What does Genesis 1:1 say? "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." Do you remember what He said after He made everything? He said it was very good. Everything we can see, God made. He made everything for us to enjoy, to use, and to take care of, and that includes our bodies. When we go to heaven, we cannot take any of it with us. When we die, the part of us that thinks, and has ideas, and imagines is the part that goes to heaven. Whatever new body God gives us will be far better than our bodies here. They won't hurt, or get sick, or be hungry. You know all the itchies you have? In heaven, bodies don't itch either. Just like Great-Grandma gave you and your siste

Leftover Oatmeal Quickbread

I'm tired of throwing away leftover oatmeal. I've been tired of throwing it away for a long time. Especially when there are still blueberries in the pot. I know it's cheap. I still don't like to throw it away. (Don't get me wrong, I would rather have leftover oatmeal than children asking for more breakfast.) I've been known to put it in a bowl in the refrigerator and, if I remember, mix it in with the next day's breakfast. I've been known to feed it to the chickens. I think I'm better known for leaving it in a bowl on the counter and waiting for just the right moment to take it out to the chickens. You know, that moment when it's not raining, the rest of the dishes are done, school is over for the day, the laundry is folded, and no children are waiting for a glue stick. And it's not just oatmeal. We add frozen blueberries, cinnamon, vanilla extract or lemon extract, almond butter, etc. I like my oatmeal to taste like an oatmeal cookie or m