Authors of the Month for 2014-2015

We had so much fun last year with our authors of the month, I decided to do it again with 9 new authors.  I am looking forward to expanding our authors this year, and hopefully learning about some new titles. 

The intended audience of the books is PK-3rd, but my older kids love to revisit their favorites. I am going to gather the books from my personal collection and ask my local librarian to help me gather more by that author.  I am going to put them in a special tub/bin and keep them available for the month.  My hope is that by having them all gathered, I will be able to grab and read them.  I feel like personally I need to be more intentional about reading good literature to my kids.  When I ask them to grab a book we tend to read some less quality titles.  I am also hoping the older kids will read these to the younger ones as well.  

I will try to post these at the end of the previous month.  Hopefully you can join me on my journey. These are the authors I am planning on for this school year.  But, they are subject to change. I am choosing easy to find authors who have published many books. 

So here is the new list of authors for 2014-2015

September-H. A. Rey
October- Pat Hutchins
November- Cynthia Rylant
December-Chris Van Allsburg
January-Robert Munsch
February-  Kevin Henkes
March- Eve Bunting
April- Mem Fox
May- Leo Lionni

 

The Blessings of Friendship Treasury by Mary Engelbreit

The Blessings of Friendship, created by New York Times bestselling author and artist Mary Engelbreit, is a playful and poignant treasury of poetry, Bible verses, and quotes that celebrate the joy of friendship. Children will learn from timeless sayings and poems what it means to be a friend - helping, encouraging, listening, sharing with, and loving one another. Colorful and whimsical illustrations bring these words to life, as children learn the value of friendship. Verses from the Bible give us instruction on putting others above ourselves, loving each other, and being kind to one another. This book will make you smile with each turn of the page, remembering old friends and new friends alike.



The Blessings of Friendship Treasury is a children's book illustrated by Mary Engelbreit.  The book is filled with bible verses and quotes of friendship by people such as George MacDonald, George Eliot, Edna Buchanan, and Charles Dickens.  The book is appropriate for children over five years old.  I believe little girls might enjoy it more, but there are illustrations of boys included in the book. 
 
I love Mary Engelbreit's illustrations.  The illustrations in this book are whimsical and heartwarming.  My favorite is the one of three girls as friends as children and then later as adults.  The book is filled with so many lovely kinds of people.  It is diverse racially and includes people with disabilities.   
The book is nice mix of bible verses, favorite sayings, quotes and wonderful illustrations.  I found myself going back to the different pages to revisit different quotes and find something new in the illustrations I had missed from the last time. 

I can recommend this book as one that you and a child will enjoy going through together  and sharing memories of the friendships in our life.  It would be a great way to talk about how to be a friend and how to make  lasting friendships.  I smiled as several friends came to mind as I flipped through the pages.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookLook Bloggers <http://booklookbloggers.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Memoria Press Curriculum Packages

In the last three years I have been using Memoria Press's all inclusive grade level programs called Classical Core Curriculum.     I have used this with my daughter for Kindergarten, First Grade, and second grade.  I have been extremely pleased with this program.  My daughter has become an excellent reader and has a great foundation for the rest of her school years.

This year I am using the Kindergarten, Third, most of the  Fifth and most of the Seventh grade programs.  I felt like I needed more of my children's planning taken care of through their lesson plans.  The older kids can use the lesson plans as guides and check in with me. 

Example of First Grade Curriculum.

The program is phonics based with a great deal of practice.  When I talked to their representative at the Homeschool Convention they told me it was the same program that they used in their Highland Latin Schools.  I asked what percentage of children come out reading at the end of the program and they told me all of them.  So if your child is developmentally ready to read this is a good fit.  If they are not ready for Kindergarten they have a Junior Kindergarten program that would work well for a year. I ended up using the Jr. Kindergarten program with my daughter this year.  I loved  it and felt like it bridged the gap for her. 

When I heard the writer of the program speak Cheryl Lowe, she was delightful.  She talked about how this is an outline of suggested activities for 5 days per week.   She said as home educators you should feel free to use it how it works best for your family.  They sell all the parts for this program separately as well. They now sell the lessons plans for separate subjects.  That might be helpful for your family.

I think the last thing I LOVE about Memoria is how fabulous they are to work with as a company.  For instance, my lovely lovely children broke our Prima Latina DVD number two.   You know that moment when you are biting your tongue and trying to smile.  Well, I called Memoria to see what I could do, hoping they would let me buy one at a reduced price.  They said no big deal, and for $3 shipping I would be sent a new one.  I was thrilled and so were my children.  They are always gracious and willing to help.

~Becky

Book Give-Away and Why Can’t My Child Learn Multiplication? by JK Mergens

The winner has been chosen.  Congrats to Kim M.  Thank you to everyone who entered.  I appreciate it greatly.

I am thrilled with today's guest post and give-away.  Today's guest post is from JK Mergens  the author of the Learn Math Fast System.  At the end of the post JK is giving away one of her books and there is also a code at the end to get $5 off. 

You’ve tried oodles of books, stacks of CD’s, decks of flashcards, and still your child struggles to answer 6 x 4 correctly.  Your older child got it and the younger one is catching on, so why is it that some children just can’t seem to remember basic multiplication facts?  The answer is simple; they can’t add.  That’s right!  Children who struggle to learn multiplication facts actually have difficulties with addition.  I didn’t think this was true at first, but after homeschooling my son through high school, tutoring several other children, and developing my own math curriculum, I know this is true. 

I’ll never forget the day I asked my son, “How much is 4 x 3?”  And he just stared at me.  I said, “You know that 4 + 4 is 8, so how much is 8 + 4 more?”  He continued to stare at me; he had no idea!  I couldn’t believe it.  After two years of using a well-known textbook, he couldn’t add 8 + 4 in his mind.  How could I expect him to multiply numbers when he couldn’t even add them?  After all, multiplying is a form of adding multiple numbers.  I knew I had to do something, so I put that textbook away and I created my own method to teach him how to add numbers in his mind.  Soon after, my son started to excel in math.  He advanced so quickly, by age 16 he had finished high school math, enrolled in college, and taught himself Calculus II.  Today he is a successful engineer.

While my son was in college, I had the opportunity to tutor some other children.  Two of them were 7^th graders; one boy and one girl.  Both of them were trying to learn multiplication for years, but just couldn’t seem to memorize those facts.   As I worked with them, I noticed that they both had difficulties adding.  It would take them several minutes just to add the columns of numbers below the multiplication problem.  For a moment, I flash-backed to when my son was younger and had difficulties adding.  So I asked each of them separately, “How much is 8 + 7?”  One tried counting on his fingers; the other one thought for a while and then she said, “14!”  I knew what I had to do; I had to show them the method I used to teach my son how to add and subtract numbers in his mind.  When I told the students and their parents that I wanted to go back to addition, they didn’t really understand.  But I knew that these kids would never be able to advance until they learned how to add and subtract small numbers in their minds. 

Addition is so important in math that even during calculus you will often be required to solve simple addition.  Have you ever heard of The 9’s Trick?  It’s a quick way to recall all the answers to 9 times any single digit number.  If you aren’t familiar with it, watch the 2 minute video below.  It’s a fantastic trick, but if you can’t quickly solve problems such as 6 + 3, even a trick as effective as this one won’t work.

In 2010, I published the method I used to teach my son math and it is being used by homeschooling families across the globe.  Many of them have sent emails telling me how only a year ago their child was struggling to multiply and now, after using my program, their student is not only enjoying math, but they are excelling in it.

The next time you meet someone who struggles to memorize basic multiplication facts ask him/her to add 8 + 7 in their mind.  If you don’t hear “15” within two seconds, you will know it’s time to start over.  But the good news is that it doesn’t take long with the Learn Math Fast System.

I have very exciting news!!  JK has offered to give-away one of her books shown above!  Fill out the rafflecopter below to enter.  She will ship you the book of your choice if you win.  Good luck!! 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

JK Mergens is the author of the Learn Math Fast System, a series of six books that teach 1^st - 11^th grade math using the unique methods she created to teach her son.  JK has been married to Mick, her high school sweetheart, for almost thirty years.  Together they homeschooled their only son in the beautiful state of Washington.  Her articles have been published in The Old Schoolhouse Magazine, Red Deer’s Child Magazine, Edmonton’s Child Magazine, and in the June 2014 issue of the Washington State Homeschool Organization’s (WHO) Newsletter.  Her seventh book, High School Geometry, will be released later this year.  Please visit her website www.LearnMathFastBooks.com
The opinions she has expressed are entirely her own.