New Releases: Literary Terms and Elements

I've just released two new titles I hope will be helpful to your homeschool.

Literary Elements Minibooks - $2.00

This lapbook book can be used in a couple different ways.  You could study literary elements and complete the lapbook as it is laid out or add some or all of the minibooks to your literature study.  This is a double lapbook which includes 15 minibook activities.

Here's what included:

• Activity Directions
• Title Page
• Elements of Plot
• Major Characters
• Minor Characters
• Point of View
• Conflict
• Internal/External Conflict
• Irony
• Tone/Mode
• Symbolism
• Theme
• Imagery
• Figurative Language
• Genre
• Type of Literary Genre
• Story Map 
• Suggested Layout 

Literary Terms Flashcards - $1.00

Knowing literary terms will help your child with both understanding a a piece of literature and with their writing.  Learning a term or two a week will be a great benefit to your child in these areas.

Included in this set:

• Definitions of terms
• 40 Flashcards with lines
• 40 Flashcards without lines
• Additional blank cards to add terms not included in this set
• Definition cards that can be added to flashcards
• Pocket that could be added to a lapbook or notebook to store flashcards

Enjoy your Literature!  

Teaching Problem Solving Using SODAS

I want my kids to be able to solve problems on their own and I'm sure you want the same for your kids.  But this isn't something they learn by watching their parents problem solve necessarily, I believe it must be taught.  I've been listening to a wonderful seminar by Nicholeen Peck about teaching self-government to your children.  I've been learning many great things from this seminar and I'm working on implementing much of what I'm learning in our home.

One thing Nicholeen uses with her children is something called SODAS, which teaches problem solving and stands for: situation, options, disadvantages, advantages, and solution.  SODAS have been around for years and I wish I'd heard of them sooner!  SODAS are similar to looking at pros and cons, but they go much deeper than that. If I see a behavior I know isn't good for my child's character or will harm them or someone else, I would come up with a situation for them to consider.  However, I also feel that this can be used for the kids to make decisions with something they'd like to do. This will allow them to have considered everything first, then come to us and we will better understand what they'd like to do and if it's something that will benefit them.  There are a couple examples of this further down in this post.

Here's how a SODAS looks....

S: Define the problem Situation
O: Examine the Options (at least three but more is fine)
D: Determine the Disadvantages of each option (have them try to come up with at least three)
A: Determine the Advantage (same thing, at least three)
S: Decide on the best Solution and work to implement it

I will probably have my kids explain how they plan to implement the solution as well.  I will have this be a written activity for my kids because they are older.   However, if they were younger I'd talk them though it.  I know there will be many times we discuss them as well and we have done something similar to this with our kids over the years anyway, but this gives more of a framework to work with.  They will be putting their SODAS in just a spiral notebook.

To introduce SODAS to my kids, I came up with "easy" situations that I know they have been thinking a lot about lately.  My 14 year old daughter takes voice lessons and her teacher wants her to join a choir so she has experience singing in a group.  She already sings in our church choir, but they 'just' sing, there really isn't any teaching involved.  By the way, she also takes violin and piano lessons, takes a class at the college 2 nights a week, works about 10-15 hours a week at my husbands office and has a church activity one night a week, so she's a bit overwhelmed with everything she has going on.  So, here's her SODAS...

S: Mrs. W wants me to join a choir.  Would it be a benefit to me with everything I have going on?


O: 1.  I could join the high school choir.
     2.  I could join the community women's choir
     3.  I could stick with the church choir only.
     4.  I could not join a choir at all.


D:  1a: If I join the high school choir it's during our school day and might cause stress in our homeschool.
      1b: It's 15 minutes away and M-F and this could create extra stress for mom driving me back and forth.
      1c: I might be exposed to bad language and bad behavior.
      1d: Having to be there everyday may be too much for me to handle with everything else going on.
    
      2a: It might be only older ladies
      2b: I think it's the same night as another activity
      2c: I don't know anyone
  
      3a: They don't teach you how to sing, you just go there to sing.
      3b: You have to stay longer at church and wait to eat lunch and I'm always hungry after church.
      3c: The choir isn't very big and not very good.


      4a: I won't learn how to sing properly in groups.
      4b: I won't be able to make new friends.
      4c: none


A:  1a: I could learn how to sing in a musical group.
      1b: I could make new friends.
      1c:  It will help me to learn not to be nervous singing in front of other people.


      2a: It's only once a week.
      2b: A greater range of people (age wise) and they might have more to teach me.
      2c: Good place to share the gospel with others. (note: she loves to share the gospel :)


     3a: It's only on Sundays
     3b: It's already at the church, so nobody has to take me and I can get a ride home.
     3c: I know everyone there.
     3d: I could bring a snack for after church.


     4a: not needing to practice one more thing
     4b: not needing to go to another lesson
     4c: not needing to travel around too much


S:  Before I decide, I need to find out which day the women's choir meets.  This is my first choice.  My second choice would be the high school choir.  I know I need to join a choir so I go further with my singing.

We are having a difficult time finding out more about the women's choir in our area.  I think she is making the right choice.  I honestly hope it's on a night we can make it work for her.

Christian (11) also did a SODAS yesterday.  He usually fights me when it comes to anything that involves writing, but he actually enjoyed this a lot.  He has always enjoyed problem solving so for him this was fun.  Plus the situation I gave him was something he is somewhat excited about.  Here's his (which by the way took him over an hour without one complaint)...

S: Should I buy a small animal and if so, where will it live?


O: 1. It could live in my room.
     2. It could live in the garage.
     3. I could not purchase an animal at all.


D:  1a: It might make my room smell bad.
      1b: It might escape and run around the house which would freak out mom (his words ;)
      1c: none


      2a: I might forget to feed and play with it.
      2b: If it got out, it would run away or the dogs would get it and eat it!
      2c: It's cold in the garage and it might not survive.


      3a: I wouldn't have a cute little pet.
      3b: I wouldn't learn the responsibility of taking care of a small animal.
      3c: I'd be sad if I didn't have a small animal to play with.


A:  1a: I'd remember to feed and play with it everyday.
      1b: I could use air freshener in my room to make it small really good.
      1c: If it did escape, I'd notice sooner and probably be able to find it.


      2a: My room wouldn't smell bad.
      2b: It would be quiet at night if it was playing and I was trying to sleep.
      2c: none


      3a: I wouldn't have to take care of another animal.
      3b: I wouldn't have to spend money on the animal.
      3c: none


S: I will buy an animal and have it live in my room.  But, if it starts to smell too bad, I will move it to the garage.

My husband and I agreed to allow this and he bought two dwarf hamsters last night.  One of which has escaped twice since then and we just now found again :)  Oh, the joys of parenthood!

The point is is that they both thought through all their options and looked at all the advantages and disadvantages before coming up with a solution.  I told them that when they come up with their solution, if it involves someone else, they should work to make it a win-win.  I know by what they chose for their solutions, they were trying to make it work for us as well as them.

I can see that this will be a very useful tool for our children and I hope some of you will find it useful as well.  Please check out Nicholeen's seminars and/or books if you'd like to try some of her other wonderful ideas.  They are very principled-based and so far have been very valuable in our home!

Note: I'm not at all affiliated with Nicholeen Peck, I am just enjoying her seminar and wanted to share :)

Freebies - John Trumbull Notebooking Pages

John Trumbull was a famous American Revolutionary artist. My daughter Ali choose him as the artist for the art study portion of her free American Revolutionary unit study.   I had forgotten to add these to my blog when she put out her unit.  It was put into two separate files because of their size.

Download file 1
Download file 2

Freebies - Martin Luther King, Jr. Notebooking Pages

Here are some Martin Luther King, Jr. freebies for you.  Included is a fact sheet, several notebooking pages to choose from and 2 minibooks.

Download Martin Luther King, Jr. Notebooking Pages and Minibooks

ProClick Binding Machine

One of the most used tools in our homeschool would have to be my ProClick Binding Machine.  It has been invaluable to me over the years!  I've bound nearly every notebook we've ever created with this.  We have also used binders quite a bit, so I can't say that we've used it with all our notebooks.  Many times, instead of placing our lapbooking elements into a folder, I will bind a book and place them in that instead.  I usually only do this if our study became very extensive and it would require so many folders it becomes too much.  

So, I thought I'd add my pros and cons about my experience with my Proclick.

Pros

• The spines can open and close so you can continue to add to your project.  It comes with a handy little tool to help you reopen the spines.
• The spines come in a variety of sizes... up to 110 pages!
• The spines can be easily cut down so you can use them for smaller projects or smaller paper
• Pages lay flat, which allows you to put your book together and continue to work on it.  
• The ProClick is small and easy to store
• Very easy to use, even a child could use it

Cons

• I can only punch about 6-7 pages at at time and only 2 pieces of card stock
• I can't bind large papers, such as 12x12 scrapbook sheets.

Honestly, neither of the cons have ever been an issue for me.  But, I thought I'd add them in case it might be an issue for you.  

I'm completely thrilled with my Proclick and I highly recommend this for both the notebooking and lapbooking homeschooler!

December in Review

Not much school took place in December... for obvious reasons.  We did finish Johnny Tremain.  I also had Melanie read Carry on Mr. Bowditch and Chris read The Sign of the Beaver.  They will be completing literature guides from Progeny Press over the next few weeks.  Other than that, we just spent time together as a family.

Cassie was able to come home a little early from SUU because all her finals were just essays she had to submit and the only test she had in class was also done early.  Ali came home about a week later.  It was great having my girls home for an entire month! We had a great time with them.  They just left to go back to school today :(  But, they'll be back in a couple weeks for Cassie's 19th birthday.

Jonathan finished his two months at the Mission Training Center (MTC) on December 16 and was able to call during his layovers.  We loved talking to him!  They had problems with their plane in Atlanta and he was able to talk to us while there for over an hour.  Obviously he arrived late to Belgium, but he was excited to finally get there and meet his Mission President, President Brubaker.  Jon said both President and Sister Brubaker are awesome and super cool.  He said he knows he will be learning a lot from them and is excited to have such great people to assist and mentor him.

Jonathan with President and Sister Brubaker the night he arrived in Belgium.

Besides when they travel to their mission, LDS missionaries are only allowed to call home on Christmas and Mother's Day and talk for about 40 minutes... so we were able to talk to Jonathan again on Christmas.  He also calls his mother in Austria, so we only spoke to him for about 20 minutes.  He is currently serving in Zwolle, Nederland and struggling a bit with the language, but loving every minute of his time there.  We receive an email from him each Monday and get to hear all about his awesome experiences.

Christmas was great!  We had our traditional Christmas Eve dinner with our kids and invited some of my in-laws, as well.  My husband's brother, Alex, who just returned from Afghanistan and Allen's other brother Phil, his wife and two little boys.  Santa brought everyone new PJ's and an ornament and then we read the Christmas story in Luke.  We also read Santa Claus is Coming to Town to the little boys.






Christmas day, after we open up our gifts, we travel to Las Vegas and spend it with members of my family.  This year was really special because it was my parents 50th wedding anniversary.  All 8 of my siblings and their children came to celebrate both events.  The only members of the family that weren't there were Jon and another nephew who is serving a mission in Hartford, Connecticut.

Here we are all on Christmas day!  We had 3 new babies girls all born within a few weeks of each other.  The youngest grand baby in this photo is only 6 days old!  It was wonderful having everyone there!  My parents were so excited.  We hadn't all been together in about 7 years.


Here's my little family with my parents...


All my sibs and my parents...


Christmas night we spent at my parents.  We had a nice dinner and exchanged gifts.  My parents wanted a photo of them with all 9 kids and this was their favorite... it was a good time!  I'm dead center in the photo... sixth from the top and bottom.



On December 28, things weren't so good.  Our youngest, Christian, was attacked by one of our rottweilers.  He had to have about 25 stitches in his arm, back, and hip.  He's recovering well and the stitches will be coming out tomorrow.  It was a scary thing for him, but he said he isn't afraid of the dogs. We did get rid of the dog that attacked him though.  We sold him to another breeder who knows what happened and was fine with it.  I won't be showing photos... let's just say it wasn't pretty.  He was very brave and will no doubt be a stronger and more compassionate person because of it.

New Year's Eve we had our traditional party.  We had about 30 people attend and about half of them stayed the entire weekend.  It was nice, but I have to admit, I was ready for everyone to go home by the end of the weekend.  It had been quite an exhausting week with Christmas and Christian's injuries.

I'm excited for this new year.  My husband and I are committed to exercising more and eating better.  We have both already lost 6 pounds each.  Not bad!  My personal goal is to run a couple 5k's by the end of the year.

We will also have another missionary leaving sometime this year.  Our oldest daughter, Ali, has decided to serve a mission and will be starting her mission papers this month.  We are so humbled by her choice to serve to Lord.  Young women in our church are not obligated to serve, but she feels strongly that this is what the Lord wants her to do.  We are very proud of her!