There's a Rosetta Stone coupon that just came out from Borders. $30 off level 1, $100 off 1,2,3 and $125 off levels 1-5. Good through 12/20.
Sunday, December 13, 2009
If Rosetta Stone is on anyone's Christmas list...
There's a Rosetta Stone coupon that just came out from Borders. $30 off level 1, $100 off 1,2,3 and $125 off levels 1-5. Good through 12/20.
Friday, December 11, 2009
Books about books
Some of my favorite books in the world are books about books. I have stacks and stacks of them. I love to read books, but I do admit that my secret pleasure is reading books about books. Sometimes they're fiction (The Historian comes to mind... and next on my list is The Book Thief) but usually not.
Nancy Pearl, librarian extraordinaire, has published a couple of books on books. Book Lust was the first, followed by Book Crush for kids and More Book Lust. If you ever find yourself in a reading rut, grab one of those books at your local library. You'll have a list a mile long by the time you're half done. Nancy makes me want to read everything.
I also picked up Honey for a Child's Heart recently. Written from a Christian perspective, it's especially good for homeschoolers who have sensitive readers at home. Most of the recommended books are uplifting stories and have subject matters that conservative readers will think are age-appropriate. What I love most about the book, though, is the focus on sharing reading together as a family, and how very nourishing that is to young spirits.
But, I found a new must-have for every homeschool library (it's on my Christmas list!). 1001 Children's Books You Must Read Before You Grow Up is my new fave. Any book that ranks Lemony Snickett right up there with A Chair for My Mother or Goodnight Moon is okay by me.
The book is organized by age group/reading level, from board books up to Young Adult. The selections are listed chronologically, which I haven't seen before, and gives sort of an interesting perspective on the growth and evolution of children's literature. The books are reviewed by a team, giving not just a synopsis of the book but also a brief history of it (if relevant). It's $36.95, which is a big chunk of change for any homeschooling budget, but it's a bit less on Amazon and Borders has it on the BOGO 50% table through the holidays. (A great gift, but at 960 pages I wouldn't recommend hanging it in your stocking.)
Happy reading!
Nancy Pearl, librarian extraordinaire, has published a couple of books on books. Book Lust was the first, followed by Book Crush for kids and More Book Lust. If you ever find yourself in a reading rut, grab one of those books at your local library. You'll have a list a mile long by the time you're half done. Nancy makes me want to read everything.
I also picked up Honey for a Child's Heart recently. Written from a Christian perspective, it's especially good for homeschoolers who have sensitive readers at home. Most of the recommended books are uplifting stories and have subject matters that conservative readers will think are age-appropriate. What I love most about the book, though, is the focus on sharing reading together as a family, and how very nourishing that is to young spirits.
But, I found a new must-have for every homeschool library (it's on my Christmas list!). 1001 Children's Books You Must Read Before You Grow Up is my new fave. Any book that ranks Lemony Snickett right up there with A Chair for My Mother or Goodnight Moon is okay by me.
Happy reading!
Saturday, December 5, 2009
And on the subject of the National Mythology Exam
Odyssey Games
We're getting ready here for the National Mythology Exam in February. Ever since reading the Percy Jackson series by Rick Riordan, J is obsessed with all things Greek and mythological. So when I found out about the NME, she immediately wanted in.
We went to a class at the Walters Art Gallery in Baltimore, where they have an amazing exhibition right now called Heroes: Mortals and Myths in Ancient Greece. While waiting for the kids, I found a couple of awesome games in the gift shop.
First is the Odyssey Memory Game, which includes the 60 most important names from Homer’s famous epic, with names, pronunciations, and definitions printed on each card. It's a classic Memory game, with 2 of each card to match. There are 3 groups of 20 (Classic Characters, Immortals, and Monsters, each group with different back-side pictures), so you can easily break the 60 cards into smaller batches for play.
The Odyssey Definitions Game is basically a set of flash cards. This is the one we bought to study for the exam. You could certainly flip them over and play memory with them as well (or any other pairs game) but we're using them as flash cards. I punched holes in the bottom left corner of each card and put them on a metal ring so they're easy to flip through.
The Odyssey Storytelling game is more of an interactive, role-playing game. It includes 30 Storyteller cards, 30 Divine Assistance cards, 60 Invoke the Muse cards: 120 cards in all. This looked better for a larger group setting.
There is a link on the publisher's page to receive 25% off your order if you are a homeschooler (Doh! Wish I had known that at the museum!) with a simple email.
First is the Odyssey Memory Game, which includes the 60 most important names from Homer’s famous epic, with names, pronunciations, and definitions printed on each card. It's a classic Memory game, with 2 of each card to match. There are 3 groups of 20 (Classic Characters, Immortals, and Monsters, each group with different back-side pictures), so you can easily break the 60 cards into smaller batches for play.
The Odyssey Definitions Game is basically a set of flash cards. This is the one we bought to study for the exam. You could certainly flip them over and play memory with them as well (or any other pairs game) but we're using them as flash cards. I punched holes in the bottom left corner of each card and put them on a metal ring so they're easy to flip through.
The Odyssey Storytelling game is more of an interactive, role-playing game. It includes 30 Storyteller cards, 30 Divine Assistance cards, 60 Invoke the Muse cards: 120 cards in all. This looked better for a larger group setting.
I'm back!
Little bit of a break... went on vacation and one thing led to another. I haven't quit thinking of books to share, though!
My latest quest originated from my daughter. She's 8. After a library visit where she checked out (yet another!) Scooby Doo Mystery (blech) she laid it on the line for me. "Mom. I want mystery books. But they have to have pictures. Not picture books, chapter books. With pictures. Mysteries." And so began the search for chapterbooks-withpictures-thataremysteries. Could she stump the Homeschool Librarian?
Not a chance! Here's what I found:
A to Z mysteries. One book for each letter of the alphabet, plus a few bonus books. Books in the series have 80-90 pages, with b & w illustrations on almost every page. This gives just enough of a page break-up for young readers. Main characters are male and female for broad appeal.
Also from this publisher is the Capital Mysteries series. There are 11 books in the series, and each takes place in Washington, D.C. Slightly shorter than the A to Z mysteries, at about 80 pages, Capital Mysteries have slightly fewer pictures (one illustration every 4-6 pages). The publisher's website has activities and coloring pages that correspond to each of the mysteries for both Capital and A to Z mysteries. Both series written by Ron Roy.
Cam Jansen Mysteries. 22 books in the series, each with about 64 pages. Illustrations on every other page. These books have been around for about 25 years. Written by David A. Adler.
From the author:
"The Cams are not simply chapter books with easy reading levels. Children who are just beginning to read on their own, read slowly. They read every word. But they don't think slowly. We can't ask them to speed up their reading, so to keep their attention it's necessary to keep the story moving. The Cams move quickly. Something is always happening. Characters are introduced through dialogue and plot. Scenes are set in just a few words."
Similar to Cam Jansen, Nate the Great mysteries (by Marjorie Weinman Sharmat) have been loved through generations. Nate the Great books are an excellent introduction to chapter books. Each is about 32 pages long, with less text per page than most of the other mystery series. The main character will appeal to boys (although girls will enjoy them, too) and there is a spin-off series with Nate's female cousin, Olivia Sharp.
22 books in the series, and 4 Olivia Sharp books. The recent re-printing of the books contain fun activities at the end such as jokes, recipes and craft ideas that correspond with the stories.
Remember Encyclopedia Brown? He's still around! First published in 1963, Encyclopedia Brown mysteries have been a favorite first chapter book for families everywhere. There are 23 books in the series (I still remember reading The Case of the Disgusting Sneakers) and each is about 100 pages long. Pictures every 4-6 pages. Written by Donald J. Sobol.
This series may appeal to slightly older readers who still want shorter books with some illustrations (Leroy "Encyclopedia" Brown is in 5th grade). Publisher's age recommendation is 9-12.
Another made-over blast from the past is the series Nancy Drew Notebooks. Shorter and simpler than the classic Nancy Drew books, these have 76-80 pages each, with a few illustrations thrown in every 6-8 pages. Recommended age group on these is 5-8, but I think they would appeal up to age 10.
Similar in appeal is the Nancy Drew Clue Crew. 82 pages each, with illustrations on every other page. Text is also slightly larger than the Notebooks series. There are 27 books in the Clue Crew series and 69 books in the Notebooks series.
My latest quest originated from my daughter. She's 8. After a library visit where she checked out (yet another!) Scooby Doo Mystery (blech) she laid it on the line for me. "Mom. I want mystery books. But they have to have pictures. Not picture books, chapter books. With pictures. Mysteries." And so began the search for chapterbooks-withpictures-thataremysteries. Could she stump the Homeschool Librarian?
Not a chance! Here's what I found:
Also from this publisher is the Capital Mysteries series. There are 11 books in the series, and each takes place in Washington, D.C. Slightly shorter than the A to Z mysteries, at about 80 pages, Capital Mysteries have slightly fewer pictures (one illustration every 4-6 pages). The publisher's website has activities and coloring pages that correspond to each of the mysteries for both Capital and A to Z mysteries. Both series written by Ron Roy.
From the author:
"The Cams are not simply chapter books with easy reading levels. Children who are just beginning to read on their own, read slowly. They read every word. But they don't think slowly. We can't ask them to speed up their reading, so to keep their attention it's necessary to keep the story moving. The Cams move quickly. Something is always happening. Characters are introduced through dialogue and plot. Scenes are set in just a few words."
22 books in the series, and 4 Olivia Sharp books. The recent re-printing of the books contain fun activities at the end such as jokes, recipes and craft ideas that correspond with the stories.
This series may appeal to slightly older readers who still want shorter books with some illustrations (Leroy "Encyclopedia" Brown is in 5th grade). Publisher's age recommendation is 9-12.
Similar in appeal is the Nancy Drew Clue Crew. 82 pages each, with illustrations on every other page. Text is also slightly larger than the Notebooks series. There are 27 books in the Clue Crew series and 69 books in the Notebooks series.
Saturday, October 10, 2009
How many versions of the Odyssey could there be?
And which is the "right" one for me?
We've gone through about 7 versions so far! Not all from start to finish, of course... lots of hopping around as library books are due, one wants to read ahead, etc. Here are a couple of reviews:
The Children's Homer by Padraic Colum is a good, solid retelling of both the Illiad (the Trojan War) and the Odyssey (wanderings of Odysseus). Publisher says it's for ages 9-12, but I think most 9 year-olds would stumble over the King James style English. But, it's pretty thorough, doesn't leave out any of the adventures, and has a handful of black and white illustrations throughout. Good for middle grades to read independently.
I find Mary Pope Osborne's (of Magic Tree House fame) version, Tales from the Odyssey, the most... interesting. Broken into three volumes, the books are highly readable by the younger set - probably those that are used to reading her Magic Tree House series. However, just because the language is relaxed and there are fewer words per page does not change the content. The cyclops Polyphemus still bashes the brains out of the skulls of Odysseus' men, etc. So while you may be able to hand these books over to your second grader, you may not want to. The Odyssey has some scary stuff in it. I like it better as a read-aloud, and I find these books on the "light" side for our read-aloud tastes. I would recommend it for older elementary students that are still having reading difficulty.
So far my favorite version has been right in the middle. The Adventures of Odysseus by Hugh Lupton, Daniel Morden and Christina Balit is an excellent picture book version that still has a complete text.
This book is just under 100 pages, and is broken into 16 stories including a prologue (Trojan War story) and epilogue. Each page of text is surrounded by gorgeous watercolor, gouache and gold ink illustrations that really bring the story to life. I find the narration to be beautifully lyrical (and this story was a poem, right?), neither too antiquated nor simplistic.
"The next morning, when dawn took her golden throne, we said our last farewells to Circe. She gave us a wind to fill our sail. When the wind failed us, when the sail sagged, we knew we were approaching the enchanted regions of the Sirens."
I've renewed this book from the library twice already! Almost time to turn it in for good, so I think this weekend we will read the last few stories and put Odysseus to rest for a bit. But if we ever get the hankering again, this book is available in full text, for free, on Google Books.
Highly recommended as read aloud for all ages, and independent reader for ages 9 & up.
We've gone through about 7 versions so far! Not all from start to finish, of course... lots of hopping around as library books are due, one wants to read ahead, etc. Here are a couple of reviews:
The Children's Homer by Padraic Colum is a good, solid retelling of both the Illiad (the Trojan War) and the Odyssey (wanderings of Odysseus). Publisher says it's for ages 9-12, but I think most 9 year-olds would stumble over the King James style English. But, it's pretty thorough, doesn't leave out any of the adventures, and has a handful of black and white illustrations throughout. Good for middle grades to read independently.
So far my favorite version has been right in the middle. The Adventures of Odysseus by Hugh Lupton, Daniel Morden and Christina Balit is an excellent picture book version that still has a complete text.
"The next morning, when dawn took her golden throne, we said our last farewells to Circe. She gave us a wind to fill our sail. When the wind failed us, when the sail sagged, we knew we were approaching the enchanted regions of the Sirens."
I've renewed this book from the library twice already! Almost time to turn it in for good, so I think this weekend we will read the last few stories and put Odysseus to rest for a bit. But if we ever get the hankering again, this book is available in full text, for free, on Google Books.
Highly recommended as read aloud for all ages, and independent reader for ages 9 & up.
Life of Fred
I've been hearing about this one for a while, but since you have to buy it from the publisher I've never been able to get my hands on a copy... until now! There are 8 books in the series, and I only happen to have the first two... but I love these books!
Dr. Stanley Schmidt has found a narrative way to teach math in Life of Fred. They're engaging, they're funny, and they really, really explain math concepts in a real-life way. The stories are about a boy named Fred (who also happens to be a math professor) and all his daily adventures. It's very hard to describe without making it sound ridiculous, so please look at the samples here.
What I love most about these books is that the lessons are really short. Dr. Schmidt has done a wonderful job of breaking the concepts down into bite-sized pieces, and breaking up the text with illustrations without making the pages too busy. After every five chapters there is a Bridge, which is a set of 10 review questions. You must get 9 out of the 10 questions correct before moving on to the next chapter. The nice thing is, though, that there are 5 sets of bridge questions, so if the students botches the first set, they can go back, correct their work, and begin again on the second set. So they have 5 tries at getting over the bridge!
There are 8 books in the series, ranging from pre-algebra to calculus. The first two books in the series are Fractions then Decimals & Percents. The subsequent books also have a teaching guide (Fred's Home Companion) to go along with them which includes a daily lesson schedule, all the solutions, plus more practice problems. My understanding is that you probably wouldn't need to have Fred's Home Companion for the advanced books in order to gain understanding of the concepts, but if you choose Life of Fred as your main math program and need to show substantial amounts of scheduled work for high school credit, you might want the extra problems and schedules.
Life of Fred would also make a very, very good review program for test prep and college placement. I wish I had had it before taking the math placement exam when I returned to college after an 18-year absence! Here's a word problem to illustrate:
Dr. Stanley Schmidt has found a narrative way to teach math in Life of Fred. They're engaging, they're funny, and they really, really explain math concepts in a real-life way. The stories are about a boy named Fred (who also happens to be a math professor) and all his daily adventures. It's very hard to describe without making it sound ridiculous, so please look at the samples here.
What I love most about these books is that the lessons are really short. Dr. Schmidt has done a wonderful job of breaking the concepts down into bite-sized pieces, and breaking up the text with illustrations without making the pages too busy. After every five chapters there is a Bridge, which is a set of 10 review questions. You must get 9 out of the 10 questions correct before moving on to the next chapter. The nice thing is, though, that there are 5 sets of bridge questions, so if the students botches the first set, they can go back, correct their work, and begin again on the second set. So they have 5 tries at getting over the bridge!
There are 8 books in the series, ranging from pre-algebra to calculus. The first two books in the series are Fractions then Decimals & Percents. The subsequent books also have a teaching guide (Fred's Home Companion) to go along with them which includes a daily lesson schedule, all the solutions, plus more practice problems. My understanding is that you probably wouldn't need to have Fred's Home Companion for the advanced books in order to gain understanding of the concepts, but if you choose Life of Fred as your main math program and need to show substantial amounts of scheduled work for high school credit, you might want the extra problems and schedules.
Life of Fred would also make a very, very good review program for test prep and college placement. I wish I had had it before taking the math placement exam when I returned to college after an 18-year absence! Here's a word problem to illustrate:
Susan forgot all her higher math skills! When she decided to go back to school she had to take a math placement test. Because she did poorly (she hadn't taken math in almost 20 years!) she had to take a college review math class that cost $450 and did not even give her a math credit! The entire Life of Fred series (with Fred's Home Companion for 6 of the 8 books - 14 books in all) costs $302 (free shipping!). Which is the better value?
Answer: $302 < $450 (and much more fun)
Highly recommended for 6th grade and up.
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