The Well-Educated Mind: House of Mirth and The Great Gatsby

It's been a few weeks since I've posted an update on my Well-Educated Mind reading journey. In the past few weeks I've finished House of Mirth and started the next book, The Great Gatsby. Both books deal with the upperclass social life of New York city just at slightly different time periods. I find the two books an interesting contrast since House of Mirth was written by a woman (and the central character is female) while The Great Gatsby is from a male point-of-view (and the central character/narrator is male).

By the end of House of Mirth, I felt so much pity for Lily. She made some bad choices but she still had such an inner strength. She knew that she needed to marry money to live the lifestyle she was used to but, when each opportunity arose, she always sabotaged herself, knowing that it really wouldn't make her truly happy. And, I'm especially impressed that, when she could have gotten back at Bertha Dorset - she certainly had the power to ruin her life - she wouldn't take the opportunities to act in the same manner she had been treated. So, while I disagree with many of her choices and decisions, I respect her inner strength. She is certainly a compelling and deeply layered character.

My one remaining question from House of Mirth - what is "the word" that remains unspoken between Selden and Lily? He finally says "the word which made it all clear" to her after she died but Wharton has left us in the dark about what that word is. Any thoughts?

Book Review: When Love Calls

When romance calls, will she choose to answer?

Hannah Gregory is good at many things, but that list does not include following rules. So when she must apply for a job as a switchboard operator to support her two sisters, she knows it won't be easy. Hello Girls must conduct themselves according to strict-and often bewildering-rules, which include absolutely no consorting with gentlemen while in training.

Hannah doubts it will be difficult to keep that rule-until a handsome young lawyer starts getting under her skin.

With historic details that bring to life the exciting first decade of the twentieth century, Lorna Seilstad weaves a charming tale of companionship that blossoms into sweet romance.

About the Author: A history buff, antique collector, and freelance graphic designer, Lorna Seilstad is the author of Making Waves, A Great Catch, and The Ride of Her Life. A former high school English and journalism teacher, she has won several online writing contests and is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers. Lorna lives in Council Bluffs, Iowa, with her husband. Find out more at www.lornaseilstad.com.

My thoughts: The story centers around Hannah and her sisters, who have recently lost their parents, and Hannah must return home from college to take care of her younger sisters. While she would do anything for her family she does regret that she has lost the opportunity of obtaining her law degree. Through an unlikely meeting with a handsome lawyer named Lincoln, a romance blossoms while she struggles to maintain her tenuous position as a Hello Girl, working as a switchboard operator.

I enjoyed this novel and really loved the characters - especially Hannah's youngest sister. The time period also made the novel very interesting - the history of the switchboard operators and the unions of the time. This is the first novel in a new series by Lorna Seilstad - The Gregory Sisters series.

Now for the fine print (disclaimer)… I received this book free of charge in exchange for an honest review. No other compensation was provided.

"Book has been provided courtesy of Baker Publishing Group and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc.

Available at your favourite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group".

Crew Review: Joyce Herzog's Timeless Teaching Tips

Like many homeschooling families, I have a shelf of "teacher training" books and DVDs that I read or watch periodically. Usually, during the summer before we begin another school year, I will peruse my shelf for inspiration, ideas, or just a bit of refreshing. (I also do the same in the winter when that feeling of "I need a break!" comes over me.) Joyce Herzog's books are some that should be on every homeschooling parents shelf for times just like those! She offers a variety of materials for inspiration and ideas as well as programs for reading, writing, math, grammar, and a variety of other topics. The Schoolhouse Review Crew had the opportunity to review a generous variety of her materials and, after some discussion (and a bit of "eeny-meeny-miney-moe" to narrow things down!), I chose Timeless Teaching Tips to review.

Timeless Teaching Tips: How to Think Like a Teacher is one of those books that will fit on every homeschooler's shelf. It isn't geared to a specific type of homeschooler (Classical, Charlotte Mason, Textbook, etc.) but is chock-full of great information and tips to help any homeschool parent. You can see a sample (PDF) that includes the Table of Contents.

The book is divided into sections so it's very easy to find just what you need:

• Principles of Learning
• It's Been Said
• Practical Helps
• Homeschooling Issues
• Gems
• Spiritual Considerations

Each section is full of practical insight and information as well as many, many useful tips for bringing some fun and adventure into your homeschooling journey.

The 'Principles of Learning' chapter is divided into subsections focusing on teaching and learning. The 'It's Been Said' chapter is filled with famous quotes on a variety of topics. The 'Practical Helps' and 'Homeschooling Issues' sections are chock-full of great ideas to add to any existing program or fun ways to step out of the box. 'Gems' is full of short paragraphs, sayings, and poems for encouragement and inspiration. The final section 'Spiritual Considerations', offers ways to bring your children up in the Word.

About the Author: Dr. Joyce Herzog has 25 years of public and private school teaching experience as well as just as much time serving the homeschool community through her materials, products, and speaking engagements. She is the creator of The Scaredy Cat Reading System and author or many books including Timeless Teaching Tips, Learning in Spite of Labels and Choosing & Using Curriculum.

My thoughts: This is one of those books that has found a place on my "teacher-training" bookshelf. It's perfect to pick up and flip through when you need to find some way to inject some fun or change things up a bit. She offers so many tips that you'll be sure to find many useful tidbits to help in your homeschooling journey.  I especially like the section on the "Steps of Good Teaching". Joyce walks you through the nine necessary steps to teaching any subject. It is a great section for any parent or teacher to read and understand for teaching their own children or students. After following these steps your students will really know their stuff!

I would highly recommend this book to any homeschooling parent no matter what program, philosophy, or curriculum they might use. This is certainly one of those timeless books that would fit on any parent/teacher shelf. Timeless Teaching Tips is available for $15. The Schoolhouse Review Crew had the opportunity to review a variety of Joyce Herzog's products. Check out the Crew blog to read those reviews!

Weekly Wrap-up: Week #32

In my life this week… it's good to be back home after a long weekend away. We settled back into our routine this week and we're looking forward to another long weekend again (but this time we're staying home!).

In our homeschool this week… We are in the homestretch for this school year - focusing on finishing up the basics and working with some review items. Here what we accomplished:

Math - 4 lessons working on basic division. TJ had no problem making the leap - RightStart has made the advancement from one math operation to the next.
Language Arts - 2 steps in spelling and 3 grammar lessons.
Other work - a bit of chemistry, some artwork, and a few chapters in Story of the World.

I’m reading… The Great Gatsby (WEM reading) Reading Strands (teacher reading) and When Love Calls (fun reading). TJ read a few books - First Report: Russia, Galileo's Telescope, Why Doesn't the Earth Fall Up?, and some more of The Magician's Nephew. We finished our current read-aloud - The Hobbit and some audiobooks - Black Beauty, The Incredible Journey, and From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler.

I'm linking to:

Crew Review: Spanish for You! Estaciones

Since we live in a country where a foreign language is a necessity (Quebec, where French is the native language) we've always felt the importance of learning a secondary language. Beyond the benefit of being bilingual, it also forces the mind to think in an orderly and logical manner and can aid in expanding vocabulary. French was the obvious choice given that we live in a primarily French province but TJ has always shown an interest in learning Spanish as well, so when the opportunity came for us to try Spanish for You! we were thrilled at the opportunity.

The creator of Spanish for You!, Debbie Annett, has 14 years of experience as a Spanish teacher so she certainly knows her stuff! She created the program by focusing on a variety of themes. We decided to try Estaciones - which focuses on the seasons. The curriculum covers all elements of learning a foreign language - speaking, writing, reading, and grammar. Each of the themed packages is geared to students grades 3-8 and it's perfectly suited to use with multiple students. So for families that have more than one child, you can use the same program with the whole family by adding in the grade-specific lesson guides and worksheets.

What's included:  I received the downloadable version of Estaciones (comes as an email with a link to the files). The program was easy to download (though one audio did take a bit more time than the rest of the materials). The materials included:

• Spanish for You! e-book (also available in soft-cover)
• Audio download (MP3) for the book
• Second audio download (MP3) featuring a native speaker
• 24-30 week lesson guide
• Worksheets
• Flashcard pictures

Once you save your files the first place to start is with the lesson guide. There are three different guides, divided by grade level: 3-4, 5-6, 7-8. Print the necessary lesson guides and you are ready to go. Each page of the lesson guide covers one week of lessons (the 3rd-4th grade lesson guide covers 27 weeks) with four days of activities schedule. Of course, you can spread the activities out even more, if you wish to. Each week the lesson guide will assign various tasks to be done over the course of the week - listening to audios, making flashcards, reading sections of the e-book, playing games, worksheets, writing, etc., with each day taking approximately 10-30 minutes to work through the activities.

The main part of the program is the Spanish for You! book (e-book or soft-cover). This 57-page book covers all the learning material for all grades. It also includes a pronunciation guide, common words, phrases, and commands, flashcard ideas, games and activities. There are five lesson in the book covering the following topics:

• Calendar and Weather
• Fall and School
• Winter
• Spring
• Summer

Each lesson includes, vocabulary words, phrases, and commands followed by verb and grammar sections. Each of these is followed by a "Using your new vocabulary (or verbs or grammar)" section and a "Putting it all Together" section.  You can see a 7-page sample (PDF) of the program as well as many fun Spanish games and activities and some free Mini Lessons and worksheets.

Our thoughts: We focused on the level 3-4 lesson guide during this review. After printing the lesson guide, e-book, and the worksheets for the first six weeks of lessons I put everything in one binder with section dividers to keep it all organized. I saved the audios to a folder on my laptop and we were ready to go. Set-up was very simple with only a few minor snags. One of which was the organization of the program. I found the worksheets a bit difficult to manoeuvre. All of the worksheets are individual files (over 100 just for the 3rd-4th grade level) in one folder with titles in Spanish. Since the program is geared to people who have no previous experience with the Spanish language, I found this confusing. Thankfully, the author of the program is aware of this and has changed the format of a few items. All the worksheets are now in folders according to grade, the audio files are organized according to lesson, and one of the audio files has been divided into two parts to make the downloading faster.

While I did have a few organizational difficulties at the beginning, we do enjoy using this program. The activities are fun, the work is incremental enough that we really get a good grasp of the vocabulary, verbs, and grammar before moving on, and the worksheets are a very good reinforcement tool.  I especially love that Spanish for You! focuses on really learning to speak the language - something that is very important to us. Many of the activities are easily transferable to any language and I look forward to incorporating many of her language ideas into all of our foreign language studies.

Spanish for You! Estaciones full (grades 3-8) curriculum package is $64.95 with options to purchase by grade level as well.  My Crew Mates had the opportunity to review Estaciones as well as Fiestas. If you'd like to read more reviews about these products be sure to check out the Crew blog!

Book Review: Revealing Jesus

Powerful Encounters With the Heart of Our Savior For Every Day

Do you long for more of God's presence? Do you ache to see Him at work in your life? Do you desire His peace and rest? Renowned worship leader Darlene Zschech invites you to gather with her around the Word of God. Born out of her own yearnings that she poured onto the pages of journals, these meditations and Scriptures reveal Jesus and speak of His finished work--how He tenderly cares for you and wants you to know Him.

Honest, raw, and beautifully written, these devotions will inspire your journey and encourage you in every season. Come, sit at the feet of our Lord, be strengthened in your weakness, embrace His love for you, and breathe in His peace.

About the Author: Darlene Zschech is acclaimed worldwide as a singer, songwriter, worship leader, and speaker--most notably for her involvement in the music from Hillsong Church over many years. Although she has achieved numerous gold albums and her songs are sung in many nations, her success stands as a testimony to her life's passion to serve God and people with all her heart.

Mark and Darlene's life commitment to do whatever they can to bring answers and relief to human suffering prompted the birth of HOPE: Rwanda to bring hope and healing to that nation seemingly forgotten since the genocide of 1994. As this HOPE has spread into Cambodia, Vanuatu, India, Uganda, and beyond, their work through HOPE: Global continues to gather momentum. They also actively work with Compassion International serving the world's poorest children.

In 2011, Mark and Darlene became senior pastors of Hope Unlimited Church on the beautiful Central Coast of New South Wales, where they now live with their family. While they travel extensively and have the honor of ministering around the globe, Darlene says, "First and foremost I am a woman who simply and wholeheartedly loves Christ, and serves Him through loving my family, serving the church, and speaking up for those who cannot speak for themselves."

For more information, visit darlenezschech.com and hopeunlimitedchurch.com.

My thoughts: I remember the first time I heard Darlene Zschech's signature song, Shout to the Lord. It moved me so much as have many of her touching, heartfelt songs. She has a God-given talent that she has used in a mighty way to touch many hearts and bring them closer to Heaven's throne through an act of worship. So when I heard that she had written a devotional I knew that it had to be just as inspired. And this devotional doesn't disappoint. Organized by month and day (it is, after all, a 365 day devotional), each month focuses on a different aspect of Jesus, his life, and his ministry for us: Shield, Savior, Redeemer, Peace, Friends of Sinners, and Messiah (to name a few of the wonderful attributes of Jesus). Each day offers a Scripture, a short reading, and a prayer to focus our thoughts and attention, not on ourselves and our problems, but on the One who provides the answer. It's definitely a great addition to a daily quiet time with God.

Now for the fine print (disclaimer)… I received this book free of charge in exchange for an honest review. No other compensation was provided.

"Book has been provided courtesy of Baker Publishing Group and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc.

Available at your favourite bookseller from Bethany House, a division of Baker Publishing Group".

(Late!) Weekly Wrap-up #31

In our homeschool LAST week… it's a week off for us this week but I thought I better at least get my weekly wrap-up post done for last week's work!

Math - 5 math lessons (more practice with multi-digit multiplication and beginning division) along with some morning drill time with Horizons math

Language Arts - After counting up the remaining lessons, we're almost finished with grammar so we're down to 2 lessons a week, we're moving right along through spelling, finishing steps 18 & 19 this week. We also worked on a bit of writing from a key-word outline.

Foreign Languages - our fourth week of Spanish and we finished the last review lesson and test in Prima Latina so we are done that subject for the rest of this school year.

Other work - TJ and Nick worked on chemistry - chapter 3 of The Elements. We also worked on our Composers lapbook and a chapter in Story of the World.

Places we’re going and people we’re seeing…busy weekend for us - friends over on Saturday and went to another friend's for dinner on Sunday. This week we are taking a mini-vacation! So excited, getting packed and organized so we'll be ready to go in a few days!

Things I’m working on… fourth grade stuff!

I’m reading… House of Mirth (to myself) and The Hobbit (read aloud). TJ is reading The Magician's Nephew (The Chronicles of Narnia) and also read a few history/assigned reading books: Seven at one Blow, Marguerite Bourgeoys and the First Canadian Sisters, and a book about the Iroquois.