Ocean's World by Carlos and Alexa Penavega Pictures by Kiersten Eagan

An Island Tale of Discovery and Adventure Ocean’s World by Carlos and Alexa Penavega pictures by Kiersten Eagan is a gorgeous book. This sweet story follows Kingston and Ocean as they look for a sunrise shell on the beach in Maui, Hawaii.

This is a great story that is an adventure while it gently teaches us about the ocean animals, the ocean and the landscape of Hawaii. I was as enchanted as my son when we read it together. Each page has gorgeous illustrations and “Fun Facts” about what the boys are seeing. We loved learning and the story kept us engaged.

It is wonderful to read a children’s story about the ocean that had both a good story and shared information. I am excited to reread this with my son and give a copy to my niece! I highly recommend it. I would recommend as a read-aloud for ages 6-9. Good readers ages 8-11 would be able to read and comprehend on their own. .

I was given a copy by the publisher and not required to write a positive review.  

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Alexa "Vega" PenaVega is best known for her role as Carmen Cortez in the hit film series Spy Kids, and then reappeared as a grown-up Carmen in the fourth film, Spy Kids 4: All the Time in the World. She has performed on Broadway in Hairspray, played Ruby Gallagher on the ABC Family television sitcom Ruby & the Rockits, and has held roles in several other films. Most recently, she starred in a series of Hallmark made-for-television films. When she and Carlos Pena married in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, the couple combined their last names to form PenaVega and are now the proud parents of two sons, Ocean and Kingston, and one baby girl, Rio.

Drawing Outside the Lines by Susan J. Austin

Drawing Outside the Lines by Susan J. Austin is a fictional account of Julia Morgan’s early life. She was one of the first women architects to obtain an architecture license in California. The author does a wonderful job using information from historical letters, interviews with Julia’s friends, and expanding on history to write this delightful story. Little is known of Julia’s early years making this a treasure.

I was so drawn into this fascinating story. The author did a great job drawing on the known parts of Julia’s early life and using her imagination to create the story of Julia’s education through college. I very much appreciated those who paved the way for women in science, math, and engineering programs in the late 1800’s. It was hard to hear of the discimination faced by women in the sciences during this time. I found this account of Julia’s life very interesting and I kept reading to find out what had happened.

Drawing Outside the Lines is a great book that looks at the early years of Julia Morgan’s life, and is appropriate for ages 10 and up. As an adult I found it captivating and would highly recommend it.


I was given a copy by the publisher and not required to write a positive review.

I live in Northern California with my biggest fan, my hubby whom I have known since the age of fifteen. We reside in a cozy 1924 bungalow with a garden populated by lemon, lime and orange trees, fussy but elegant rose bushes, and birds of every variety. While I spend considerable time in my writing studio, if you happen to walk by our house on a nice day, you may see me writing from the comfort of my front porch, a mug of coffee by my side.

Did I mention how much I love libraries and bookstores? Collecting books? Talking about books? Being inspired by books?

 

Repost: Work Samples for Your Student's Portfolio.

This is a great time of year to set aside your students' work samples.  I often get questions on how to organize student work samples.  Any work you do now pays great dividends later.  

The simplest thing to do is to either make a copy or put the original of a writing sample,  math sample, or other student work sample in a file folder and put it somewhere safe where you can find it later.  (I added the safe place as a reminder to myself. )  I would also grab a piece of paper to begin to write down books your student has read for a booklist.   You continue to do this a couple more times and your portfolio is ready to share with me in 2023. Many families mail the finished portfolio to me, they scan their documents to me, or they upload to the Ohio Homeschool online system.  

There is also the digital option.  You can take a picture of your student's work using your phone, or scan it with your computer scanner.  Make sure they are relatively high resolution so I can read them. Another key piece  is how you store the files.  You probably want to store them off your phone or computer.   A phone or computer crash would destroy all of your work samples.  You could upload to Google Drive, Google Photos; some type of cloud storage; iCloud; an external drive or thumb drive.  Later you can upload those files to my online portfolio system or email them to me.  

You can also put an app on your phone to scan items to PDF.  Here is an example for Android.  Here is another list that shares some Android apps.   Here are some tips from Apple support, and an app to scan.  

You also may want to take  pictures throughout the year of projects or field trips.  You can store those in some type of cloud storage as well.   The other option is to open up a separate Instagram account.  You can add your pictures all year.  You are able to keep the account private and just share with me if you would like.  Here is more information on setting up a second Instagram account just for your  student's portfolio.

Hopefully this is helpful to get you started.  If you have any other ideas please put them in the comments.  We are all in this together.  

Homer's Odyssey adapted by B. B. Gallagher illustrated by Charles Arbat

My son added the appropriate Lego figures for the book. 

I was thrilled to get a copy of Homer's Odyssey adapted by BB. Gallagher and illustrated by Charles Arbat.  It  is a wonderful adaptation of Homer’s Odyssey! This is a beautiful book with stunning illustrations. It includes a glossary that is informative, the author explains the cast of characters wonderfully, and the themes listed are helpful for understanding the st

I was so impressed with this version and have enjoyed reading it myself and to my children! I highly recommend this book.

I was given a copy by the publisher and not required to write a positive review.