This Week
One of the things I really appreciate about the Virtual Fridge is that I'm held accountable to do art with Nathaniel. If not it would be one of the things that is lost among the rubble of things I want to do but never seem to get to. Last year we were blessed with a subscription to ArtAchieve.Last week we worked through a Level III lesson: Level III-Art Lesson 7: The Woodcarving from Kenya.
This weeks Feature
This weeks feature is a tutorial from over at Our Unschooling Journey who used the Lighthouse tutorial from over at Art Projects for Kids. Your Turn
I invite you to take some photo's of your children's artistic pursuits
put them in a post and link up with me I would love to come over and see
the wonderful art your children have enjoyed doing.
Blessings
Chareen
Connect with me
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Add YOUR LINKS from your BLOG or INSTAGRAM
Please NOTE by adding your links to the Virtual Fridge link up YOU are giving the hosts of the Virtual Fridge link up permission to use a photograph from your blog to feature
I'm looking forward to next week when I will be joining the Homeschool Review Crew 5 Days of Homeschool ... Blog Hop. There are some really interesting topics to read. I would like to encourage you to set aside some time to meet my fellow home educating families who are sharing their journey's with you and will be sharing the things they have learned along the way.
I will be sharing with you some of the resources I have been finding to help me in pursuing a Charlotte Mason philosophy in our home school.
I do hope you will join me and take a peak at these blogs next week too
In anticipation of great things
Blessings Chareen
Debra - 5 Days of Growing a Heart for your Community
Dawn - 5 Days of Homeschooling Teens
Michele - 5 Days of Keeping your Homeschool Alive
Amanda H - 5 Days of Homeschooling Without Going Insane
Annette - 5 Days of Things We Enjoy in our Homeschool
Ashley N - 5 Days of "Kitchen-Schooling" with preschoolers
Carol - 5 Days of An Honest Look at High School
Cassandra H - 5 Days of Knowing When and What to Change in Your Homeschool
Christina C - 5 Days of Building Positive Thinking
Crystal H - 5 Days of Creating Independence in Your Homeschooling
DaLynn M- 5 Days of Threadbare Homeschooling
Dana L - 5 Days of Homeschooling with Epilepsy and Other Issues
Elyse R - 5 Days of Finding our Homeschool Strengths
Emilee R - 5 Days of Homeschooling as a Single Parent
Erin S - 5 Days of Homeschooling with Living Books
Felicia M - 5 Days of Living the Bible in Your Homeschool
Hillary M - 5 Days of Morning Time for All Ages
Jaime G - 5 Days in the Life of a Stressed Out Homeschool Mom (and how not to be one)
Jacquelin C - 5 Days of Hands-On Learning
Jennifer K - 5 Days of Inspiring Reluctant Learners
Jennifer N - 5 Days of Books To Help Homeschooling Moms
Jodi G - 5 Days of Hiding the Word in Their Hearts.
Julia C - 5 Days of Homeschooling from Scratch
Karen W - 5 Days of 5 Days of International Studies for Young Children
Kelly KL - 5 Days of Homeschooling Children with Special Needs
Kemi - 5 Days of Working Through Math Struggles in Homeschool
Kirsten W - 5 days of Homeschooling Twins
Kristi H - 5 Day of Preschool Math
Kym T - 5 Days of the Rewards of Homeschooling Teens
Linda S - 5 Days of Wit and Wisdom from Veteran Homeschool Moms
Lisa M - 5 Days of Popular Homeschool Teaching Styles
Meghan W- 5 Days of of Literacy in the Home{school}
Melissa B - 5 Days of Extracurriculars to Add to Your Homeschool
Meredith D - 5 Days of Homeschooling a High Achiever.
Missica J - 5 Days of Eclectic Homeschooling with Special Needs
Monique G - 5 Days of Homeschooling the Middle School Years
Rebekah T - 5 days of Simple Homeschooling in a Complicated World
Ritsumei H - 5 Days of Homeschooling Books
Wendy R - 5 days of Homeschooling Kids with a Large Age Gap
Yvie - 5 days of Road-Schooling
One of my greatest challenges and biggest blessing over the last few years has been raising and educating a child who is articulate and has been gifted with Aspergers Syndrome. Having a student who is equipped with an excellent vocabulary but at the same time pedantic in his expression and understanding within conversations has certainly had it's very challenging moments.
What we received
Color My Conversation comes in a sturdy 14" x 16" box which makes storing and keeping the kit easy and neat. The kit box contains:
12 "Conversation Path" Stepping Floor Graphics
100 Topic Prompt Picture/Emotion Cards
50 Game Tokens
50 Dry Erasable Wall Display Cards
2 Dry Erase Pens
Cloth Ribbon (approx. 9.5ft)
Game Board (foldable) with 4 new Activities on the back
CMC Ball
Classroom Poster
Instructional Manual on CD
12 CMC Songs on CD
Additional Reproducible Worksheets & Activities
I am very impressed with the quality of the materials within this kit. All the boards, display cards, prompt cards etc are made from good quality card stock and are coated in plastic to protect and extend their longevity.
Nathaniel loves the feel of the ball which we use during the conversation to demonstrate passing /taking turns in conversations. This ball is often played with throughout the day at home.
Color My Conversation uses a multi-sensory teaching approach to solidify the concepts of the subtleties of conversational structure with students. It's main purpose is to take your student from a basic greeting all the way to a complex conversation that they are capable of having.
Color My Conversation in Action
How we used it
After looking through the box of wonderful resources I took some time to watch the training videos. I was encouraged to remember that I am the leader and the children are following me. I particularly felt empowered by the introduction to:
Be Intentional - observe and take note of individual and group dynamics. Every personality is unique and every learning style matters.
Be of interest - expressive and animated
Be a curious learner - Your enthusiasm about learning is contagious
Be Flexible - expect the unexpected. Conversations are predictably unpredictable
Be Alert - Watch out for teachable moments throughout your day.
The Manual
All the activities and lessons are easily laid out within the PDF manual contained on the CD within the box. The manual has been designed in a linear fashion so that the current concept being taught is building upon the last one learned. The manual contains everything you need to say and do for every single session.
The instruction manual is divided up into
Beginner Level - Age 5 to 12 years (5 weeks to complete)
Intermediate Level - Age 5 to 12 years(6-8 weeks to complete)
Advanced Level - Age 8 to 12 years(3-5 weeks to complete)
Lesson - introduction, basic training, practice, wrap up
Teaching Tools
Hands on suggestions
The program is easily adapted to the specific needs of your child.
Throughout the manual there are note boxes containing specific
instructions on how to set specific and measurable goals for the
students including and specific information for special needs students.
I particularly like how I am reminded to look at my child and take note of his specific design. I was reminded to consider his personality, learning style and what motivates him. I appreciated the list of specific questions aimed at helping me accurately asses and encourage Nathaniel.
Each lesson finishes off with a wrap up in which
the student is encouraged.
Short review of the lesson via two or three questions to prompt them.
Specific Homework Challenge for the week.
The recommended time frame for each lesson is half and hour twice a week or a single forty five minute lesson once a week. We are being flexible as some weeks we have time to do two smaller lessons and other weeks we have time for a longer single lesson.
I like to be flexible in my approach and as such will switch between table work and floor work depending on where Nathaniel is at on the day of our lessons. I have appreciated having the tools which have enabled me to recognise that and enabled me to teach him the skills he needs at the point he is at.
Depending on the lesson and the training module I have at times used the training tutorial module video to start the lesson with Nathaniel. Roasslyn speaks and presents in a clear and concise way which is easy to understand and take on board. At times I have felt her presentation for the lesson is a perfect way to introduce the lesson to Nathaniel. As such I have found the instructional video's indispensable and really have appreciated the time she has taken to put them together.
For the Parent Color My Conversation (CMC) is a dynamic, multi-sensory social skills program developed by Rosslyn Delmonico, MA, RSLP, CCC-SLP, who a Speech-Language Pathologist with over 35 years of experience.
It has been developed to teach the skills of face-to-face conversations and is easily adapted for varying skill levels to help your children navigate the conversation flow, including the greeting, changing topics, WH__ questions, and how to close a conversation.
CMC has been designed to be used over 14-16 weeks. The lessons can be adaptable for any period of time - up to an entire year - as curriculum.
Color My Conversation provide comprehensive training via online video's to equip you the teacher/parent in implementing the program.
Upon purchasing your product you will be sent an email with links to video's on how to implement and comprehensively use Color My Conversation. Currently CMC provide training video's covering the following:
Training Videos:
Introduction & Section 1: Teaching Methods
Section 2: Getting Started
Section 3: Assessment Tools & Data Keeping
Section 4: Lesson Modules
Individual Lesson Training Videos: Beginner Level
Lesson 1: The Yellow Conversation
Lesson 2: The Short Conversation
Lesson 3: The Long Conversation
Beginner Level Wrap-Up
Intermediate Level
Introduction: Take It To The Table
Lesson 4: Who What When Where Why
Lesson 5: Yes! No! Maybe so!
Lesson 6: Making Comments Count
Lesson 7: Topic Changer Pro
Lesson 8: Speaking Loud & Clear!
Lesson 9: Beading
Intermediate Level Wrap-Up
Advanced Level
Advanced Level
Expert Level
Expert Level
I am a visual/auditory learner and found each of these particularly helpful.
Over All I thought ...
I have learned a lot about the nuances of conversations. The purpose of Color My Conversation is:
Color My Conversation was developed to assist children in their social language development. By establishing strong communication skills it leaves kids with self confidence and empowers them to engage in life. - Rosslyn Delmonico
It's good to see Nathaniel beginning to use the skills he is learning to engage more fully in life and understand the finer points of conversations as they happen. I like the way the program purposes to explain fully how conversations work in a step by step method.
Until now I had never thought about what goes into learning how to carry a conversation. Why is it that some people do it so easily and others struggle? I feel that Color My Conversation is a fabulous resource for every single home. It is a program that not only special needs children need. This is a program that all children should have access to.
With this program your children will not be left to themselves to figure out how to converse with others through trial and error. They will understand different types of conversations and exactly what is expected in each one. Children will no longer be left wondering what to say or how to respond after participating in Color My Conversation.
A few years ago I became interested in web page design after attending a Cert III in Computer studies course. I spent a few months learning all kinds of new protocols and then shifted my focus into the blogging world. The HTML coding I had learned along the way certainly helped and made manipulating my blog a little easier.
Nathaniel has been working on his YouTube channel and as a result has been nagging me to learn to do HTML coding as he wants to build a website. I was very pleased when CompuScholar, Inc. gave us one year access to their Web Design course.
What is covered
This course covers fundamental web design skills such as:
Basic web site layout
HTML5 symbols and elements
Text styles
Hyperlinks and navigation bars
CSS effects, spacing and positioning
Graphics and image editing
Tables
Page design principles
Dynamic menus
Embedded audio and video
JavaScript and jQuery
The courses is designed to be used over a 36 week school year. You can view a detailed breakdown of the syllabus by clicking on the link on the Web Design page.
How we used it
One of the things I really like about CompuScholar, Inc. is that you do not need several different log in addresses to do different courses. You can have one account and add in the courses you are enrolled in. After logging in you are taken to the home page where you can choose which of the courses you are working on for the day. Nathaniel is enrolled in two courses with them this year: Digital Savvy and Web Design. Both of these courses follow the same presentation format.
After selecting your course you are taken to the course home page where you are able to access the following:
Student Menu - here you are able to edit the profile, change the password, access a tutorial on how to use CompuScholar, Inc., see your grades and when your class enrollment expires.
The Chapters of your course - including a brief sentence on what to expect. On the right on the bottom you will see how many files, quizzes and assignments there are for that chapter.
Once you select the chapter you are working on you will then be taken to the lessons for that specific chapter. Each lesson is presented in a pop up video, lesson text and quiz.
CompuScholar, Inc. Lesson Text Sample
CompuScholar, Inc. Video lesson sample
After you have completed a chapter there is an exam button. Upon completing exams and quizzes the student is graded. Each quiz is a multiple choice questionnaire and is self graded upon submission. The student immediately knows which questions they got correct and which ones were answered in error. Each quiz allows you a maximum of three attempts. All grades go towards the course total.
The course grade is calculated using:
Quiz Scores - Self Graded
Chapter Exams - Self Graded
Activity Scores - Teacher Graded
For the Parent
Should you require to have a transcript for your student CompuScholar, Inc. have researched which specific standards and titles are covered. You can find this under the State Standards tab on the Web Design page.
Due to the interactive nature of the course your student will need access to any HTML5-compliant web browser and computer running:
Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 10
Mac OS version 10.7 or higher
There is a Teacher Login for you the parent. Once you have logged in you will be given a Course Overview page the same as the Students in your class. Upon selecting the course you want to see you will have access to a Teacher Menu containing:
Grade book
Edit your profile
Change Your Password
Tutorial
Professional Development
Report Issues/Get Help
Server Status
Manage My Logins
Add Siblings
In the Professional Development area you will have access to video training on the administrative features (covering how to give the Quizzes and Tests, How to Grade a Project, How to use the Electronic Grade Book, How to add a Sibling and How to get Help) and the different courses your students are working on.
In the Teacher Support overview of the course you will find video's and downloads available for you as the teacher. The video's are a quick overview of what your students are learning in that particular section of their course.
All of the tests and quizzes are self graded by the system. On occasion the students are given an activity to demonstrate their knowledge. These are submitted to you the teacher.
Marking them is very easy. After you open the activity submission and click yes or no. The system automatically adds in the points and auto-adds up the score. Upon saving the score is then automatically added to the students work.
Cost of Web Design
There are two pricing options available. You can choose between a monthly or a one year subscription.
Recommended Age Range
This course is recommended for students in the grades 6-12 range.
Over All I thought ...
I am very impressed with CompuScholar, Inc. I have learned a few things I didn't know and will be able to use here on my blog. I am looking forward to pursuing my own personal understanding of Java Programming and Digital Savvy.
I really like that CompuScholar, Inc. show the lessons on both the Windows and Apple platforms as now I will be able to use either computer to do what I need to. If you or your students are technologically challenged I highly recommend you adding in Computer Sills class - Digital Savvy to your day as well as Web Design. You will learn to understand the basics of designing your own websites and build up a personal knowledge of current HTML 5.
I've been a Christian since I was around seven years old. Until the new millennium I had never read my bible cover to cover. During the year 2000 I joined our church family in reading my bible chronologically. It was the most awe inspiring year of my faith. Learning all about the story of my heritage as it happened, from before creation all the way to Revelations.
Title: Shepherd, Potter, Spy--and the Star Namer Author: Peggy Miracle Consolver ISBN: 978-1-942587-09-5 Published:2015 Publisher: Carpenter's Son Publishing Pages: 375 Cover: Paperback
About the Book
This is the story of Keshub, a thirteen year old Gibeonite shepherd. Between defending his sheep from predators, finding wondering sheep, making a new friend who would need his help and dealing with a bully his life is far from boring or monotonous. He is the youngest of his brothers and the story follows his daily life and struggles as a young man growing up in the hills as the son of a potter.
His life consists of the realities of looking after the family's sheep, learning the skills of a warrior and dealing with the daily harassment of a bully. Emotionally he is learning about the safety of submitting to the absolute authority and care of his father. He gradually grows in understanding and insight through the wise words of his all seeing and knowing father.
Keshub is on the cusp of manhood and the life lessons he is learning are deep. His understanding of adult matters is growing and he soon is faced with a life choice: Who is more dangerous? The Hebrews in the valley or the despicable evil King their neighbour? Who is this God the Israelite's worship? Could this be the same God, the God of his ancestors? The Israelite's go everywhere in victory. How can his people survive the destruction which is coming their way and at what price?
Ultimately this is the story of the Israelite's and Joshua from the perspective of the Gibeonites who made a treaty with him and the consequences of their deception.
The book has some wonderful extra's at the end. Peggy encourages thoughtful discussion through the questions she has supplied at the back of the book. The questions aim to personalise the story by asking questions such as: "What events in your own family history proved to be life changing?" or "Have you ever been the target of a bully? How did you react? Was the situation resolved? How?"
Peggy Consolver loves a good story. She grew up in southwest Oklahoma where she raised her two daughters and loves teaching Sunday school and women's Bible Studies where she emphasizes digging much deeper into the stories of the Word.
As she visited and explored many of the places where biblical events unfolded it changed her internal picture of the events to a solid reality which begged to be shared. Peggy wrote Shepherd, Potter, Spy--and the Star Namer so others would know that the bible is not just a book of theology but a living history book.
The experience so deeply touched Peggy she is bringing her whole family back to dig there later this year for her 50th wedding anniversary!
Over All I thought ...
I loved reading and growing with the main character Keshub and seeing Israel as a land and a nation through his eyes. This is a beautiful book, the author has done an excellent job of describing the details of daily living during this time period in history. She has brought to life two chapters in Joshua with vivid accuracy and insight.
I am looking forward to giving to Nathaniel to read when he is a little older as I want him to experience the full blessing of the insights which Keshub gains through life's experiences. I appreciate how Keshub deals with his daily struggles. It is a wonderful addition to your library and will enhance your historical and religious education.
