Learning Through Literature about Flowers

A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants. Flowers may be conspicuous or inconspicuous by virtue of their size, form, color, or clustering. A flower is a highly modified shoot, the major part of which the perianth, androecium, and gynoecium are arranged closely along a floral axis or receptacle. My Happy Homeschool recommends learning through literature with the following books –

 

The Reason for a Flower by Ruth Heller is a book about flowers, pollen, and seed. The reason for a flower is to manufacture seeds, but Ruth Heller shares a lot more about parts of plants and their functions in her trademark rhythmic style.

 

The Tiny Seed by Eric Carle is a classic story of the life cycle of a flower, told through the adventures of a tiny seed. Everyone will cheer for the seed’s progress as it floats across the sky, nestles in the ground, and finally grows into the giant flower it was always meant to be.

 

AHS Encyclopedia of Plants & Flowers by Christopher Brickwell is packed with 8,000 plants for every climate – inside and out – from trees, shrubs, perennials, annuals, biennials, bulbs, water plants, and cacti. The updated version features a bright, clear design with improved navigation – cataloging plants by color, season, and size – which makes the book more intuitive for the reader. A must-have reference for all gardeners!

Happy Homeschooling!

Famous Homeschoolers

Whom do your homeschool students wish to emulate – famous homeschoolers? Using God’s Word, historical biographies, scientists and explorers, we can fill our student’s minds and hearts with godly inspiration.

Throughout the years, many famous people were self-educated, privately tutored, or schooled at home. When we look at their lives, it should encourage us as home educators to stay the course and remind our students that with God all things are possible. You may be homeschooling –

A U.S. President, like Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, and Thomas Jefferson.

A military leader, like Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson, and Douglas MacArthur.

A scientist, like Albert Einstein, George Washington Carver, and Booker T. Washington.

An inventor, like Alexander Graham Bell, Thomas Edison, and the Wright Brothers.

A composer, like Felix Mendelson and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

A writer, like C.S. Lewis, Samuel Clemens, and Charles Dickens.

An athlete, like Tim Tebow and Serena Williams.

An artist, like Leonardo da Vinci and Claude Monet.

A photographer, like Ansel Adams.

A nurse, like Florence Nightingale.

This list is by no means complete. So many famous homeschoolers have shown us the way and their lives are a testimony to home education and great role models for our homeschool students.

Happy Homeschooling!

Summer Summit

You are invited to attend the Summer Summit on July 6, 2018 at Basics Co-op Community Room, 1711 Lodge Drive, Janesville, WI 53545. The four sessions of the Summer Summit are food, faith, friendships, and fun. These four f's are the ingredients for a happy homeschool mom.

FOOD - There's something about a get-together with food that nourishes a mother's heart as well as her body. A light dinner will be served with a turkey and cheddar sandwich on a telera roll, chips, chocolate chip cookie, and iced tea.

FAITH - A short time of reviewing what God has to say about issues closest to a mother's heart can do wonders to fill up an exhausted mom. Susan Reed, a homeschool mother of three, shares how you can have joy in the journey with your priorities in place.

FRIENDSHIPS - Friendships strengthen us to be better wives and mothers. As any mom can attest, we tend to get so focused on others that we neglect ourselves; and that's not good for anyone. We need to be with other homeschool moms - for that occasional grown-up conversation. A time to encourage one another and learn from each other's challenges. During this session, conversation prompts will set in motion the "gift of gab".

FUN - Fun is the final, and in my opinion the most important session. Proverbs 17:22 says, "a merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones." The Bible seems to suggest that laughter is a good antidote for the blues. That's why I take fun so seriously. Therefore, a good game is a critical component for a successful Summer Summit.

DOOR PRIZES – Our door prize table is always a hit and huge blessing! If you have a business and would like to donate a door prize for FREE advertisement in the program, please contact Susan Reed.

4:30 Check-In
5:00 FOOD
5:30 FAITH
6:30 FRIENDSHIPS
7:00 FUN
7:30 Door Prizes - you must be present to win!

REGISTER by June 22, 2018 to attend the Summer Summit and join moms like you to celebrate the homeschool journey together! We do not offer refunds, just as you had purchased a ticket for a concert or sporting event. However, you may transfer your registration to one other person. If you wish to transfer your registration to another person, please contact Susan Reed with the transferee name and contact information.

Ben Carson: A Chance at Life - Crew Review

Who could have guessed that a poor boy from a single-parent home, would become a brain surgeon? The book Ben Carson: A Chance at Life from the Heroes of History series by YWAM Publishing tells of a man who changed the course of history.

Under the firm guidance of his mother, Ben had managed to negotiate his way to a future that was more enjoyable and more rewarding than anything he could think of. After working in rich folk’s houses every day, his mother noticed they were not wasting their days looking at a television – they were busy reading books. So, Ben’s mother told her boys, instead of watching television after school, they would visit the library and check out at least two books a week, and at the end of the week they had to give her a report on what they had read. Ben quickly learned that reading would help him be successful in life.

In 1969, Ben was accepted for the fall at Yale. He spent most days studying and attending lectures. Then he met “Candy”. Even though he had not been looking, he’d found someone he wanted to spend the rest of his life with. July 6, 1975 was one of the happiest days of Ben’s life – it was his wedding day.

Ben soon was accepted to Michigan’s Medical School in Ann Arbor. He did well in his studies. He found that he liked to learn by intense textbook study and his grades soared. In his third year of medical school, one of his first rotations was in neurosurgery. Ben had made up his mind, he would be a neurosurgeon. In the fall of 1977, he was accepted as a resident into the neurosurgery program at Johns Hopkins. April 1981, Ben was a senior resident at Baltimore City Hospital, he couldn’t find the neurosurgeon and they were losing a patient, so with the help of a physician’s assistant, he proceeded the surgery. Without Ben’s courageous action, the man would have died. Ben won Resident of the Year for his work, and his findings were written up in medical journals.  Word around the hospital quickly spread, Dr. Ben Carson could perform complex and risky surgeries. He soon became chief of pediatrics neurosurgery. It was here, he became the first surgeon to successfully separate twins joined at the head. Every step of the surgery had been planned out and every contingency accounted for. Every step in the process was precise and the hours began to tick as each step was carried out – he was in the operating room for 22 hours.  The twins had a 50 percent chance. At the end of 10 days, the boys were slowly brought out of their comas, while Ben watched the boys come back to life, he was hailed as a “miracle worker”.

Young people asked him for his secret to how he had risen from poverty in a single-parent home to such a prominent position and his response was “THINK BIG” – each letter stood for something Ben knew was critical to his success – talent, hope, insight, knowledge, books, in-depth learning, and God. His life continues to be a model of what it means to care deeply, serve brilliantly, and lead courageously.

The Ben Carson: A Unit Study Curriculum Guide is designed to accompany the book. It provides the homeschool parent with ways to use the book as a vehicle for teaching or reinforcing various curriculum areas, including the following – history, geography, writing, reading comprehension, public speaking, and art. The activities recommended in this unit study are reflective of a wide range of learning styles, designed for both group and individual study, and suitable for a range of grade levels and abilities.

Visit the Crew Blog to read what the Homeschool Review Crew has to say about this book, as well as other products from YWAM Publishing.