A Bit of Fun ... 11 & 11 & 11 & 11

I've been "tagged" by Jennifer over at Little Homeschool on the Prairie and I thought this looked like fun! Be sure to pop on over to her space.  Jennifer has a published book and shares some great practical homeschool craft ideas.
The Rules:

1. Post these rules.
2. Post a photo of yourself and 11 random facts about you.
3. Answer the questions given to you in the tagger’s post.
4. Create 11 new questions and tag new people to answer them.
5. Go to their blog/twitter and let them know they have been tagged.

A Photo ...

11 Random Facts about Me

1. I'm six foot tall.
2. I was blessed with two big babies [One was 4.185 kg (9 lb 2 oz) and the other was 4.42 kg (9 Lb 74 oz)]
3. I don't wear makeup.
4. I am not a shoe person.  I like my sneakers in winter and my Piper Sandals for summer.
5. I have worn the same style sandal for 27 years. I bought my last pair from Piper Sandals and will never use a different brand.  The quality is the best I have ever found.
6. I love the smell of percolated coffee but can't stand the taste!
7. I have more than 4 000 books on my shelves.  (No you don't need a personal library to homeschool that is my personal pet collect.)
8. I got engaged at 18 I was married at 19
9. My first born was born on my 21st birthday.  Yes you read that right.  We share a birthday and I'm still trying to convince him that it's mine because I got there first ;o)
10. I am a South African, Kiwi import to Australia....  I was born in South Africa, migrated and naturalised to become a New Zealand citizen in 2001, and now I live in Australia.
11. I like to watch rugby and enjoy the Tri-Nations even more because it doesn't matter who wins I am behind the winning team.   (see point ten above).

 Jennifer's Questions / My Answers

1. What’s your favorite verse or quote?
   I have a few.  Trust in the Lord with all of your heart and lean not on your own understanding. This is the one that is currently the edge of my learning curve.
2. What’s your favorite family activity?
   Reading a good book out loud.
3. Favorite book?
   Oh my this is a hard one I have a few. Homeschooling - A Charlotte Mason Companion,  Christian novel - Mark of the Lion Trilogy 
4. Favorite room in the house? My office, I'm really enjoying blogging and learning the skills needed for this.
5. If you could visit any place, where would you go and why?
   I need to break the rules on this one and give two: I would love to go to Israel, and see the places that Jesus ministered. I would also love to go to Yellowstone National Park in the US. I did a project on the park in high school and ever since then I've wanted to see it in person.
6. When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?
   A pilot. I would still love to get my Private Pilots Licence. Anyone out there willing to sponsor me ?
7. Who or what inspires you?
   I have a few authors who inspire me such as Karen Andreola, Sally Clarkson and Diana Waring. I am inspired and encouraged by many of my blog friends.
8. How would you describe yourself in five words or less?
   Homeschool Mom, Curious, Book-holic, Information Junky,
9. Why did you start blogging?
   To share resources with the wider homeschool community. I missed my friend in New Zealand who used to share all her treasures with me.
10. How would you describe your style of homeschooling?
    Eclectic Sonlighter. I love Sonlight but over time I have found a couple of other things I prefer using so for my spine I use Sonlight and then eclecticly fill in the rest.
11. What’s one of the most important lessons you’ve ever learned?
    Not to have concrete result expectations. To be patient and give it time.

My Questions

1. What are you reading at the moment ?
2. What blogging advice would you give a new blogger ? (two tips)
3. What is your idea of a perfect day ?
4. Do you use a curriculum and if so which one ?
5. How do you do it all and find time to blog ?
6. What are your top three traits in a friend ?
7. Do you use Pinterest ?(Please share your link)
8. What are the top three home school blogs you visit ? (please link to them)
9. Do you join in link up parties ?  If so which ones ?
10. Do you use Notebook pages ?  If so where do you access yours from ?
11. Do you do Nature Journaling ? If so have you blogged about your methods ?

I would love to hear from these ladies

1. Vicky over at Creating with Wisdom
2. Erin over at Seven Little Australians.
3. Sarah over at Amongst Lovely Things
4. Catherine over at Serenades and Solace.
5. Deborah over at The Paper Maid.
6. Chelle over at Last in Line.
7. Rebecca over at Moms Mustard Seeds.
8. Becca over at  One Homeschool Journey.
9. Lisa over at Home to 4 Kiddos
10. Jenni over at Our Journey.
11. Alyson over at Family Style School.

Please, consider yourselves "tagged", even if I don't stop by your blog to leave official word. If you decide to play along and have some fun, I'd love to read your posts :) If any other readers want to play along as well, feel free! Leave me a comment with a link to your post and I'll make sure to visit and I will add you to the list!

So far I have enjoyed reading posts from Susan and Jennifer.

Blessings
Chareen

TT - The Phantom Tollbooth

 Welcome to Tuesdays Treasures.  I started these posts as a way of sharing great books in honour of my friend in New Zealand who would arrive with the treasures she had unearthed at her weekly trip to the library!

There are so many wonderful books out there hiding on shelves so I invite you to blog about a book on your shelf, one you're reading or one you found at the library and add your post to Learning All the Time Favourite Resource Link Up. 



This week ...

The Phantom Tollbooth

by Norton Juster

This book is amazing !  If you love reading then this is a must for your shelf.  It is so much fun.  I enjoyed the play on words and the literal use of words. This was one of those I can't put it down I need to find out what happens next.

On the back cover: For Milo, everything's a bore. When a tollbooth mysteriously appears in his room, he drives through only because he's got nothing better to do.  But on the other side, things seem different. Milo visits the island of conclusions (you get there by jumping), learns about time from a ticking watchdog named Tock, and even embarks on a quest to rescu Rhyme and Reason! Somewhere along the way, Milo realizes something astonishing. Life is far from dull. In fact, it's exciting beyond his wildest dreams ...

 I agree with what Maurice Sendak said: " - the same excitement and sheer delight in glorious lunatic linguistic acrobatics."

• Format: Paperback
• Number of Pages: 256 Pages
• Vendor:  Random House Books for Young Readers.
• Publication Date: 
• ISBN: 0394820371
• Author Norton Juster
• Illustrator: Jules Feiffer

Over at the Book Depository "Illustrated in black-and-white. This ingenious fantasy centers around Milo, a bored ten-year-old who comes home to find a large toy tollbooth sitting in his room. Joining forces with a watchdog named Tock, Milo drives through the tollbooth's gates and begins a memorable journey. He meets such characters as the foolish, yet lovable Humbug, the Mathemagician, and the not-so-wicked "Which," Faintly Macabre, who gives Milo the "impossible" mission of returning two princesses to the Kingdom of Wisdom"

Blessings

A review - Grammarly

Are you looking for an automated proof reader and grammar checker ?  Grammarly may be your answer.

I have spent the last week experimenting with this site and researching reviews of the product.

Did you know that you can have documents checked for grammar,  spelling and plagiarism via an automated system?

How does it work ?
It's as simple as one, two, three

1. Write your  text. 
2. Copy 
3. Paste it into the text editor.  
4. Press "Check Text," 

Once the process has completed you will be issued with an immediate report.

The free report highlights issues detected and supplies you with a full review list covering: plagiarism, Contextual Spelling Check, Grammar, Punctuation, Style and Word Choice. You have the option of viewing a Full Report.  When you click on this button a pop up window opens with a full list of areas checked with a green check or red cross highlighting the issues reviewed.

Next to the generated report you are then given the option to create an account to access the advanced editing features which contain explanations and solutions to the errors noted in your text.

What does it cost ?
My only gripe about the site is that you can't find an answer straight away.  You need to sign up to Grammarly to find the pricing structure or do a search through their Support Desk area.

Grammarly is a monthly subscription service available for use via the Internet.  You may however check your text and receive an instant FREE report without registration.

You will need to register to receive a detailed description of issues detected along with recommended changes and explanations of the issues highlighted. To register for Grammarly you need to enter your name, e-mail and password as well as select what you will use Grammarly mostly for (Academic, Professional & Personal).

You will then be redirected to a screen to choose your method of payment. (Paypal or Credit Card)

• Monthly Subscription - $29.95/month
• Quarterly Subscription - $19-95/month*
(* billed as one payment of $59-95)
• Annual Subscription - $11-66/month**
(** billed as one payment of $139-95)

These prices are current as of June 2012 and can change at anytime. Current Pricing Plans can be found under the Frequently Asked Questions / Licensing and Pricing via the Support Desk.
 
The subscription screen is simple and clear. You are given seven days to a FREE trial of Grammarly and the option of downloading a version to use in Microsoft Word. Beware that you make a note of when your seven days are up so that you can cancel your free trial before you are automatically charged your first month's subscription.

Once you have signed up you will be taken to the subscribers are and prompted to copy and paste your text.


What are the differences between the free report and subscription version ?

Free Report

Free Report Area

• In the Free reporting area you do not have the option to choose the style of writing you are submitting.
• Simple list of issues detected with a pop up window containing a list of areas reviewed with a green check or red cross highlighting the issues needing to be reviewed

Grammarly Subscription Area

Subscription Area

• When you hover over the "Start Review" button you will be prompted to select the style of writing submitted (General, Business, Academic, Technical, Creative or Casual).
• Detailed list of areas found.  It highlights the grammatical error in red. When you click on the error a drop down box appears naming the error highlighted and supplies a description of the error along with suggested corrections for you to choose from.   I found them interesting to read and at times a little too wordy for me. 
• There is an option to ignore the issue highlighted. 
• If you do not understand the issue highlighted there is a link to Have your question answered by the community.
• To the right there is a column for you to choose which areas of the review you would like to work on. EG other, Passive voice, Writing Style.
• Synonym button to help you find replacement words as you work on your document.
• An option to save your report as a PDF document for reference. This report is clear and concise.  It gives you a summary of the issues detected along with the date that the report has been generated. Next it pastes your original text highlighting the error in yellow with superscript numbers for each issue. It has a box below the sentence with a mini report of the issue highlighted.
• If plagiarism is detected Grammarly recommends proper annotation of your source and supplies hyperlinks showing you the source of the information on the web.

Summary
I found Grammarly to be quick and easy to use.  I was impressed with the issues that Grammarly did detect.  In my initial test I was a little in awe of the suggestions and overwhelmed with some of the technical information.  Upon re-reading the paragraph along with it's issues about 30% were contextual and irrelevant.

As a blogger I am very concerned about plagiarism and Grammarly correctly detected two areas but a third was incorrect.  I liked the fact that Grammarly gave me live links to see what it had detected.

I was pleased with the suggested synonyms for commonly used words and the improvement to my writing that applying these suggestions brought about.

Personally I would like to improve my writing structure and style, but price performance wise it is out of my current budget being as it is a subscription based product.   I would however consider saving up and using it if I was in university or in my final year of high school.

Does Grammarly have any extra's ?

• Ask Grammarly experts any question about English grammar, style or vocabulary use.
• Are you struggling with grammar mistakes or don't understand a particular rule ? Head on over to the Grammarly Handbook where you will find an excellent site filled with divided into Grammar, Punctuation, Mechanics, Sentence Style and clarity and a  Imporove Your Writing,
• Looking for synonyms ? Have you tried Grammarly Words ?

What about you ?  What do you use to check your grammar ?

Blessings
Chareen

What others are saying on the web

• TopTen Reviews has an excellent overview on this product along with detailed explanations of Grammarly's specification performance.  They also have a first class side by side comparison chart comparing Grammarly to other products currently on the market.
• Improve Your Writing with Grammarly a review by a college professor.
• I was impressed with their business ethic when I read a four part blog review on Street Smart Language Learning detailing Grammarly's response to complaints. 
• I did discover that if you are majoring in English and want to use Grammarly to check your work it is not the right product for you. Most of the issues that Grammarist.com high light are way beyond me and I can't put my finger on the issues they are picking up on.

Disclosure.

• I was given a three month subscription to the value of $60 to review this product. 
• All opinions expressed here are solely my own, and I only suggest products or services that I believe will be helpful to my readers. 
• There are NO affiliate links in this post or on my blog in relation to Grammarly.