HSMJ - New TOS member

In my life this week…

I was invited to join The Old Schoolhouse review crew for 2013.   

We also found out that my sister in law from South Africa and her husband are coming for a flying visit next week. I'm so excited as this is the first time in 16 years they have been able to come!
I spent a good deal of time deleting 90 spam comments!  So annoying.
Sadly my documents drive on my pc died yesterday.  An even sadder fact is that I have not backed it up for the last six months so might have lost all my photo's for that time period.  Please pray that we are able to rescue my pictures.

 In our homeschool this week…

• I have been reading Jotham's Journey to Sir N and he is really enjoying it. We are reading a couple of extra chapters each week because don't have a full five weeks to read.
• Looking for Advent printables among my Pinterest pins.
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Helpful homeschooling tips or advice to share…

• There are two great resources currently being offered for free. The Greenleaf Guide to Old Testament History and Adventures in Art.  See my post on Saturday for details on obtaining these two books.

I am inspired by…

• How much support and encouragement we receive being on the TOS crew.  I am amazed at just how much work the crew leaders put into each day.

Places we’re going and people we’re seeing…

• On Monday we caught up with the T Family
• Tuesday we visited Granny J and went to Kelly Sports
• Wednesday we joined the family in helping Granny put up Christmas.
• Thursday C came for a play date, and the W Family came over to make a 21st birthday cake.
• Today we are going to the Victoria State Rose garden for a picnic and tonight we are hosting an annual homeschool family pot luck dinner, carol singing Christmas light looking (or as Sir N puts it hunting for Christmas lights) evening.

My favorite thing this week was…

• Receiving an invitation from Kate to join The Old Schoolhouse Review crew for 2013. Super excited to be on crew with Deborah from The Paper Maid and Renata from Sunnside Farm Fun

What’s working/not working for us…

• The fact that my pc died yesterday.  I am amazed at how much I use it !

Questions/thoughts I have…

• Are any of you on TOS crew ?  Or have any of you ever been on crew in the past ?

Things I’m working on…

• My very first The Old School House Review.

On My Bedside Table ...

•  Teaching the Trivium.  Really enjoying this but I do confess I am chewing my way through it  it is not an easy read at all.

In Bloggy world I’m reading…

• The grateful Christmas Project over at A Holy Experience.
• Homeschooling What does it look like ? (A photo story) over at Little Men in My Library.
• High School Maths over at Fisher Academy International.  This is part of a Homeschool High School Carnival. 
• Gross Out your Kids over at Always Learning.

I’m cooking…

•  Nothing too exciting as we are still on holiday recovery mode and I have not done the shopping yet.

On Pinterest I found...

• This week not very many new pins.  I have not managed to get onto my boards much. Hoping to remedy that tomorrow.

I’m grateful for…

•  My brother who is able to help me with any technical difficulties with my PC

A photo, video, link, or quote to share…
"A house without books is like a room without windows. No man has a right to bring up his children without surrounding them with books, if he has the means to buy them. It is a wrong to his family. Children learn to read by being in the presence of books. The love of knowledge comes with reading and grows upon it. And the love of knowledge, in a young mind, is almost a warrant against the inferior excitement of passions and vices." ~Horace Mann

Blessings

This post is linking to:

Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers - Weekly Wrap Up
iHomeschool - Homeschool Mothers Journal
Hammock Tracks - It's a Wrap

Schoolhouse Review Crew Member

In October I shared with you that applications were open for the Schoolhouse Review Crew for 2013.

Over the weekend I received an invitation to be a part of the crew!  My first review is due next week so keep watching this space :)

For the 2013 year there are 250 of us on crew so there will be plenty of reviews and encouragement to go around.

Blessings


PS So far I have found out that there are three of us from Australia on Crew for the 2013 cruise.

Currently for FREE {download}

Thank you to Betty at Peace Creek on the Prairie and Chelle from Last in Line ... for the heads up on these two great offers.

These books are for FREE at time of publishing this blog post.  Prices are subject to change without notice so please check the price and or code validity before purchasing/downloading your product.

The Greenleaf Guide to Old Testament History
By: Cyndy Shearer

From Lulu website: This book outlines a reading program which will take you through the history of Israel by reading through the historical books from Genesis to Nehemiah chronologically. Old Testament history is divided into 196 Bible readings (approximately 1 chapter each) along with some suggestions of how to cover the material and keep it interesting. For each reading there is a series of questions to help you focus on the significant details. There are also a number of background notes and some suggestions for further study. This book won’t answer all your questions, but it will give you a well thought out program of reading and studying the ancient history of Israel. This is intended as a first history course for the early elementary grades (though many parents are using it with high school students)Suggestions are given for supplemental materials for varying grade levels ...

Adventures in Artby David Quine

From the Cornerstone Curriculum site: an eCurriculum that accesses hundreds of the world's most important paintings by the most significant painters of Western Civilization. 
Adventures in Art is an Internet based curriculum and is not intended to be printed. Adventures in Art contains three galleries. The images from each gallery are viewed on the Internet from various web sites. Each gallery contains carefully chosen images highlighting the major periods of art. This cross-sectional study focuses upon the differences between periods, because it is these differences that show shifts in ideas. Even your children can see these differences. 
The primary purpose of Adventures In Art is to help your children see the shifts in style from period to period — to see art in the flow of history. Beginning with paintings from the Early Christian period, your children will move quickly through each major period of history. It is believed that these shifts in style as seen in art reflect corresponding changes in thought. Because Adventures In Art is seeking to show the effect of world-views on culture, it is a cross-sectional study. That is to say, instead of an in-depth study of each period of history where all major artists from each style are studied prior to moving to the next period, each Gallery of Adventures In Art includes one significant painter from each period. In order to see the unfolding of Western culture, the paintings are set in a chronological sequence. Your children will begin to recognize the characteristic style of each period as well as to contrast styles from previous periods. This cross-sectional approach allows your children to see very quickly the changes in art that indicate changes in worldview.

Be sure to follow Betty's step by step guide to obtain your free e-Copy.

BlessingsChareen