Printable Mega Wall Maps for Homeschool or Just Plain Fun.

I love this idea!  Click on this link to Your Child Learns website which provides free printable maps of all sizes.  There are so many possibilities here!  Has anyone tried this?  I'd love to know how it worked.
Here's a quote from the website: "By coloring and writing on the map, students make it “their own”. Map work moves from rote to fun. The larger map format not only allows more detail because of its larger scale, it also makes it easy for several student to work together on one map. Students can each have a small map, while the teacher explains material on a larger map at the front. Maps to complement a variety of lessons. Have your students learn WHERE it happened."

How to Make a Home School Wiki

               
(Originally published as "Technology in the Homeschool: Gettin’ Your Wiki On" 9/30/11 on my previous blog.)

                 I spend a good deal of time gleaning the internet for information and resources to enhance our home school.  In my first year of homeschooling, I would find a website that looked promising and I’d write it down on a piece of paper so I could come back to it later if I ever needed it.  Sometimes I’d bookmark it.  Or put  a sticky on my computer.  This system started to deteriorate rapidly as my bookmark bar became overloaded and I could never find that piece of paper with the link to the really cool animation of mitosis.  I needed a solution to help me organize the cool and useful stuff I was finding.  That’s when I learned about wikis. 

             

              If you’re like me the first thing that pops into your head when you hear “wiki” is “not a credible source for research papers.”  Actually, that’s Wikipedia, which is one of about a gazillion wikis out there.   According to Wikipedia (I know, I know), a wiki is a website that allows the creation and editing of any number of interlinked web pages via a web browser using a simplified markup language or a WYSIWIG text editor…etc…  Whatever that is.  Don’t let the HTML talk scare you, it’s easier than it sounds. It’s just a great big organization tool to help you rein in the information dragon.   I attended a full day seminar teaching home schooling parents how to utilize a Wiki in the classroom and it has revolutionized the way we organize and manage the power of the internet for school. 

               The internet fosters collaboration and the sharing of knowledge.  As a result, incredible amounts (I think the technical term is “scads”) of information and data are added to the collective intelligence each day.  For those of us who are still trying to figure out how to play 10 simultaneous games of Words With Friends this can feel very overwhelming.  Suddenly, we not only have to tend to vast amount of laundry, lesson plans and healthful meals (and WWF) but we also have to somehow conquer and harness the internet and bring it under our dominion.  A place for everything and everything in its place.    This can be a fast and steep learning curve.   Sometimes it’s tempting to just pretend it’s not there.  Like that pile of papers we’ve been meaning to go through. 

               I remember when I was in high school one of my classmates at our private school showed up in the parking lot with a new car- that had a phone in it!  A no-kidding full-sized bat phone.  We were all amazed.  This was 1989 and we all thought it was ridiculously decadent and “out there”.  Who in the world talks on the phone while they are driving?  Who would they talk to anyway?  No one has phones in their car. You can always stop at a pay phone if you need to call someone.  Or just wait till you get home, for goodness sake!  Little did we know…20 years later we would be wondering what we did before we carried phones with us everywhere we went.  Technology makes it easy for people to stay connected  in ways we might not have thought possible.  Same with the Internet.  Technology is making it easy to get information.  The problem is what to do with it once you’ve got it.  That’s where it starts to feel daunting.  A wiki can help you organize information, media, resources, discussion threads, lists and collaborate with others.  It’s very versatile.

           Let me give you a more concrete example of one way you could use a wiki.  This year my son is taking Apologia Physics.  I have set up a page on the wiki called Apologia Physics 2011-2012.  Off of that page I have all of the book chapters listed and each one links to a separate page.  So for instance, I have “Chapter 4 Motion in Two Dimensions”.  On this page I have links to the lectures for Chapter 4 from an open source online Apologia Physics Class.  So there is a link for “Lecture 1- Navigation in two dimensions” and “Lecture 2- Range Equation”.  I’ve also linked to several Khan Academy lectures and physics sites in case he needs extra clarification.

            You can do this for any course.  Last year, I took the Apologia Exploring Creation with Physical Science curriculum and found links to videos and extra resources for many of the concepts in the chapters.   So for instance, one whole page was dedicated to Chapter 3 and on that page there were links to extra material for the kids to watch.  Yes, it took some time to search and gather information to put on the wiki but it helps to have it all in one place.  Plus, you can use the information year after year because it’s always right where you left it- on the wiki.

            I could walk you through all of the steps to setting up your wiki but someone has already beat me to it.  Thank goodness.  No sense in reinventing the wheel.  Here’s a tutorial called How to Build an Educational Wiki to get you started.  

            Not many things in life are free- but your wiki can be! Sign up for an account at WikiSpaces for Educators to get your free wiki.   Be sure you make it private unless you want to have it viewable and editable by everyone.

             One thing I will mention is to pay attention to whether you are linking to an internal page or an external page.  If you find a web page or video on You Tube you want to link to your wiki you should have it open in a separate external web page opened in a new window (click the box for new window) so it isn’t stored on your wiki.  Likewise, all private pages should be linked internally. 

              I am not terribly techie so if I can do it, you can probably do it even better.  If you are just getting started here’s how I suggest you organize your (very basic) wiki:

1. Click the Edit Navigation link and delete the blue Page List widget. Now you will be able to edit the navigation bar just like you would edit a wiki page to add links and explanatory text.

If you need assistance editing a page you can watch the very helpful Wikispaces video tours.  In fact, you should probably watch it right now before your proceed. All of the “Getting Started” video tutorials are great.  I’ve also had good success with their customer service when I needed to find out the answer to a question I couldn’t ascertain from the website. 

Now that the blue page list widget is gone, type in these words- one per line- and save.

Home

School Members

Classes

Resources

RSS Feeds

Now you should see these pages in a list in your navigation bar, which is probably on your right.

2. In your navigation bar, click on “Home”. This will take you to a page that says it does not exist yet.  Click on “Edit Page” and type an introduction of who you are and the purpose of the wiki.  For instance: “Welcome to the XYZ Home school Wiki!   Here’s where we post assignments, logs, links to websites and resources for our school. “ Save your page.

3. In your navigation bar, click on “School Members”. Click on Edit Page and type the names of your children and yourself.  One name per line.    

Highlight the first name in the list and click on “link” in the toolbar.  A box will open that has two tabs on it on the top.  One is for internal links to pages within your wiki- this is called “Wiki Link” and one to “External Links”. External links are for anything outside your wiki- like a You Tube video or a webpage address.   External links should always be opened in a new window.  Link these to internal pages with the same name as your highlighted text.

These personal pages can be used by each individual as a bulletin board where they can organize resources and fun stuff they find on the web. 

4. In your navigation bar, click on “Classes”.  Off of “Classes” make internal Wiki links to pages for each class you have and include information that will identify the specific student, subject and school year.     

For example: 8^th grade Art History- son#1- 2010-2011.

 Off of “Classes” make links to assignments, external videos, resources, finished work, etc.  (You could also put these class specific pages under each child’s section under “School Members”.)

5. In your navigation bar, make an internal link for “Resources”.  Off of this page make internal links to general subjects and topics.  For instance: Home school links, Co-op Resources, Stuff I want to read sometime, Curriculum, Inspiration, Technology,  Science, Literature, Math, Projects, Sports, Scouting, Music, Blog and Log, Administration, etc. Off of each of these you can create pages where you link to external websites, videos and  RSS Feeds.

5.  You may want to keep up with certain websites that have RSS feeds. In your navigation bar, make an internal link for “RSS feeds”.  Off of this page use the edit button and click on “Widget” to add a widget.  It will open a link where you can paste the RSS HTML  For the feeds you want to watch.

6.  If your family blogs or your have blogs you want to watch, you can make a page that keeps them all in one place.   I also link to internal logging charts I‘ve made using the “Table” button in the toolbar.  We use these to keep up with reading logs, volunteer service logs and physical fitness logs. (More on those later)

            You can use a wiki to collaborate on projects, reports, papers, or classes.  Just invite other people to join you and start working together.             

            I consider our Wiki to be “fair to middlin” as we say in the south. We use it almost daily and it serves us very well.   No doubt there is a ton more I could be doing with it and as soon as I fold this next basket of laundry I’m going to get right on it.  

            While I’m folding, I encourage you to poke around WikiSpaces for Education and give it a try. (You could also try Wet paint.) You’ll probably find ways to use a wiki that I haven’t even thought of.  If so, leave me a comment and do your civic duty of adding to the collective intelligence.  Let me know how you use your wiki in your home school!

Twinkies for Fun and Profit: How to make your own

I've been on a major Twinkie rush the past few weeks.  It's not just the sugar though.  My son, the resident entrepreneur and early riser announced to us early one Friday morning that Hostess was going out of business and that we should drop what we were doing and rush out right that minute to buy some to sell on E-bay.  It's times like these that I remember why I love homeschooling so much.  Flexibility and having the world as your classroom! We skipped breakfast to go in search of our Twinkie fortune.

To be honest, I didn't really think we would succeed in our Twinkie resale enterprise but I wasn't about to step on enthusiasm.  We arrived at the grocery store and lined up behind the retirees to wait for them to open the doors. Each of us was eyeing the old folks hoping none of them was aware of the treasure that was sitting on the shelf on aisle 16.  The automatic doors opened and there was a rush of gray hair- all headed to the produce.  Whew!  We zoomed over to the bread aisle and there they were- Ding Dongs, HoHos, Zingers and Twinkies!  A gloriously full shelf of them!  Another guy was already there sheepishly carrying three boxes back towards the check out line.  He passed us with his Twinkies and then noticed that we were there for the same thing.  As we loaded up our cart he came back down the aisle and said that he would probably get a couple more- just in case Hostess really did go out of business for good.  We agreed with him.  It was a very good idea.   

When we got home we immediately listed them on E-bay.  We decided that a 24 hour auction would be best because Hostess could end up getting bought out and start production again on Monday and then the Twinkies would only be worth face value and we'd have to eat all those sugary snacks by ourselves.  Maybe not the worst fate ever, but still, we've all had that "ate too much" junk food nausea before and were not looking forward to it.  We started the bidding at a penny and pulled out all of our cheesy salesmanship tools. 

Our listing read: "No reserve on this Hostess Jackpot!  Get your Twinkies, Ho Hos, and Ding Dongs before they're gone!   They will probably survive the zombie apocalypse!   Don't be left without them!  In a few years you will be kicking yourself if you don't scoop these up right now before they're gone forever. Coming to you with Aloha from Hawaii. The only reason we're letting these go is because Zombies can't swim so we're safe here!"

Now really, who would fall for this stuff, we chortled to ourselves.  Well, 17 people bid on that listing and we made $99.50 on our Hostess sales.  Not a bad investment. 

We were thrilled to see economics at work.  Scarcity leads to increased prices!   We had just proven it in our Twinkie experiment.  The kids packed them up in boxes and we sent them off to their new owners.  Of course, we've kept a few boxes of Hostess stuff in reserve because truly, they never go bad- and plus, what if we have a Twinkie attack or suddenly someone is willing to pay a million dollars for a box or worse yet, what if zombies invade? 

Since we've got to keep these Twinkies under lock and key until people are really desperate and we can use them to fund the kids college (why did I leave some on the shelf?), we decided that we would try our hand at making some. By now you know that my mantra is "how hard could it be"?  I'm always up for trying stuff.  So we found a recipe online.  They were a fun project and they actually tasted just like the real thing.  Give it a try!

Here are the ingredients: 

Non-stick spray

4 egg whites

One 16-ounce box golden pound cake mix (We tried both pound cake and Butter  Golden cake. Butter Golden Golden cake had a better Twinkie texture while pound cake was more firm.  Pictures below)

2/3 cup water

Filling

2 teaspoons very hot water

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 cups marshmallow creme (one 7-ounce jar)

1/2 cup shortening

1/3 cup powdered sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Here's how you make them:

Preparation

You will need a spice bottle, approximately the size of a Twinkie, ten 12 x 14 -inch pieces of aluminum foil, a cake decorator or pastry bag, and a chopstick.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Fold each piece of aluminum foil in half twice. Wrap the folded foil around the spice bottle to create a mold. Leave the top of the mold open for pouring in the batter. Make 10 of these molds and arrange them on a cookie sheet or in a shallow pan. Grease the inside of each mold with a light coating of non-stick spray.

Disregard the directions on the box of cake mix. Instead, beat the egg whites until stiff. In a separate bowl combine cake mix with water and beat until thoroughly blended (about 2 minutes). Fold egg whites into the cake batter and slowly combine until completely mixed.

Pour the batter into the molds, filling each one about 3/4 of an inch. Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes, or until the cake is golden brown and a toothpick stuck in the center comes out clean.

For the filling, combine salt with the hot water in a small bowl and stir until salt is dissolved. Let this mixture cool.

Combine the marshmallow creme, shortening, powdered sugar and vanilla in a medium bowl and mix well with an electric mixer on high speed until fluffy.

Add the salt solution to the filling mixture and combine.

When the cakes are done and cooled, use a skewer or chopstick to make three holes in the bottom of each one. Move the stick around inside of each cake to create space for the filling.

Using a cake decorator or pastry bag, inject each cake with filling through all three holes.

Serving Size

Serves 10

Review: Veritas Press Pages of History Volume 1: Secrets of the Ancients

Veritas Press has produced an excellent history textbook for logic stage students who are studying the Ancients.  I recently received a preview copy of Pages of History Volume 1: Stories of the Ancients which unfolds the tales of history like a fast-paced  novel.   History is, after all, a retelling of true stories from the past.  The antithesis of a dry textbook, authors Bruce Etter and Alexia Detweiler have given home schooling parents and students an engaging history lesson in the form of a thorough yet accessible book.

Veritas Press publishes unashamedly Christian material. This book starts with Creation and weaves the events from the Bible into the stories of history.  Best friends James and Lance find themselves transported to the Garden of Eden where they learn that even though people were created in the image of God (Imago Dei), mankind is now separated from God because of Adam's sin.  All of history is a stage on which God's redemptive plan for man is being carried out. Etter and Detweiler artfully chronicle the boy's adventures as they explore history from this vantage point.

Time periods, subjects, definitions and concepts are all introduced through the characters in the story through the narrative so kids hardly even feel like they are"doing history".  To me, this is one of the the best ways to learn.  It's much more appealing to find out what happens next in your history novel than to read the next chapter of a history book!  If you have a reluctant historian in your family Pages of History might be just what they need to bring history to life.

The book explores all of the major topics of ancient history that you would expect in a good textbook for this age group and it provides many opportunities to stop and have important discussions. For instance, Chapter 5 has an excellent segment concerning laws and codes (Hammurabi and the Ten Commandments) which leads to the concepts of fairness, natural law, the purpose of law and restitution versus detention.  (Good family dinner table discussions ahead!)

Children who read Pages will have a good understanding not only of world history but also of church history, a subject that is often left untaught or taught later in a student's studies. Additionally, it will be clear to them that the events of the Bible happened in history!  This seems like an obvious concept but sometimes children don't put the events of the Bible into historical context.  They don't realize that Abraham lived during the time of the Mesopotamians and that while the Greeks were developing their ideas of democracy, Israel was a divided kingdom to whom God was sending prophets like Amos, Isaiah and Habakkuk.

This book could be assigned for individual history reading but I think it would be even better if read aloud as a family.   The target audience is students ages 11-13 but it is appropriate for multi-age teaching. Younger children will enjoy listening to the story and I believe the adventure plot coupled with the history and Bible will lend itself to questions and dialogue.  To me, 9-11 (approximate grades 4-6) is the perfect age for this book.  It would be a good history supplement for logic stage students ages 12-13 (Grades 7-8) because it does raise more of the "why?" questions students of this age are dealing with.

If you are looking for a traditional history textbook with reading plans, project ideas, assignments, discussion questions, headings, timelines, charts, dates, terms, maps, quizzes and tests, this may not be the book for you. update see note** It wasn't designed to be that sort of history book.  This is a conversational book that is easy to read and that engages the reader or listener through the dialogue and plot.

** 11/19/2012 Since I originally posted I have new information. As you'll notice from the comments there IS a workbook that is going to be published to go with the book!  This will be a great help to families who would like to use the material as their main textbook.  Look for it plus Volume 2 and the audio book for Vol 1 in May of 2013.  

I would have enjoyed seeing more maps in the book since history always happens in a place.  Additionally, there are not very many pictures and the illustrations of the boys in the story are line drawings which are fairly simple.  I am a visual learner so visual appeal is high on my list but it may not be a problem for other people.  Overall, the content greatly overrides these minor negatives.

 At 445 pages, you can read about three pages a day and finish it in approximately 160 school days.  I don't think your kids will let you get away with just reading three pages a day though- it's just too much fun!

The book ends with a cliff hanger and a note:

"...to be continued."

Students and parents alike will be waiting on the edge of their seats for the next book, which I assume will start where this one leaves off after John Knox at the Reformation.

Pages of History: Volume 1 Stories of the Ancients will be released on Friday, November 22, but you can pre-order your copy today.  Go to this link.  (I will not benefit from your purchase.)

Nota Bene: You don't have to be a home schooler to enjoy this book. It would be an excellent Christmas or birthday gift for a grandchild, niece or nephew!

Got Adolescents?  If you've got children who are ages 10-15 you should check out my review of Focus on the Family's Passport2Purity- another fabulous resource.

I'd love to hear your thoughts and comments!

How to Make the Mother of All Home School History Timelines

The New and Improved MOAHHT Timeline is 37.3 feet long.

            We are in our third year studying World History.  Two years ago we started with creation, traipsed through Ancient Mesopotamia, Assyria, Greece and Rome.  The next year we moved on to the Middle Ages, Renaissance and Reformation.  And now we have finally landed at the age of Revolutions, Enlightenment, World Wars and Post Modernism.  I have to admit that I have never had so much fun learning about history.  Everyone says that you learn exponentially more when you have to teach a subject and that is definitely true.  I’m pretty sure I was paying about as much attention as anyone else in high school and college when I took world history but somehow I had some gaping holes in my over-all big picture.  I’ve been gradually patching those up as I prepare for our history lessons.  There is nothing like taking your time and really getting into it to help put everything into perspective. 

            When I started homeschooling, I read that lots of home school families make a history timeline and add to it over the years.  I thought that it was a brilliant idea and decided to make my own.  We happened to have a huge cardboard box left over from something so I cut it up  and made a 22 foot long timeline which we have been using faithfully to record the Trojan war, Francis Bacon, the Roman Empire, Bach et. all.    I can’t tell you how helpful it has been to have a visual reminder of when things happened to help keep it straight in my mind.  I know the kids are enjoying it too.  They’re making lots of connections and having those “Aha!” moments that are so exciting when you home school. When you see that 2012 is 20 feet away from Ancient Egypt you get an idea of how long people have been around- and how short American History is compared to World History.  

The other day I looked at our timeline and started thinking that although it was loved- a la Linus blanket,  it was really a bit junior varsity.  It’s made of plain old brown cardboard and every two weeks we  fold it  up and stick in the closet.  It's looking a big raggedy.     Plus, I am a selectively organized person (only a few choice areas of my life are organized) and it was bugging me that the timeline was hard to read and not categorized. Charles Wesley, The Rococo Period in Art and The Seven Years war were all in there together.    

Humble and Jumbled.

Ye Olde Timeline coming in at 22 feet.

Of course, I could buy a timeline ready to go off the internet but that would just be too easy.  I really wanted it to correspond with what we are learning.   Plus, I wanted to have the visual impact of seeing how far away those ancient dates really are and I didn't want to have to squint too much.    

So, I did what I tend to do and set out to improve the timeline.  Everything can be improved.  :) What I’ve got now is the Mother of All History Timelines and although still probably not considered pro, I think it is at least more varsity than my old one.  Certainly more organized and easy to read.  I have found it very helpful to be able to look at one thread of Science history and another one of Music and Art, Religion, etc. We are already having blast adding stuff to it.  It is 37 feet long and made of 16 pieces of poster board.  I know, where in the world do we keep it?  Well, we’re pulling it out when we work on it every couple of weeks and I keep it in a  cardboard folder that easily hides behind one of our doors.  This was actually the packaging I bought the poster board in.

Storing the timeline- notice the gecko (school mascot).

I’ve separated each sheet into 6 sections: Religion and Philosophy, Literature/ Theater, History and Politics, Science, Music and Art, Eras and Epochs.  Not all of the sheets have the same increments of time but it gives a general idea.  If you gave even weight to all the dates you'd have a timeline that wraps around the block.  

So, how can you make one of these nifty timelines for your very own?  It’s your lucky day!  You don’t have to reinvent the wheel.  I just happen to have written down the instructions.

5,000 years of World History in 37.3 feet

You will need:

16 sheets of poster board 22”x 28”

A pencil

A yardstick

Markers: black, blue, red, purple

This is a bit time consuming but you can take a few days and work on it or have your kids help you. 

1. On each sheet: Number in the right hand corner 1-16.

2.  On 15 sheets: Draw a horizontal line (divide the sheet in half) with black marker at 11” to form the timeline.  Then divide those halves into thirds by drawing horizontal lines with pencil at 3 ½” , 7 ½ “, 15” and 18 1/2”.   This isn’t exactly even but it is easy to measure and it’s close enough for me.  You will have 6 sections.

Dividing your sheets into 6 sections.

3.     Here’s an overview of what you will be doing:  These will be the headings for your sheets.  You can either hand write them or type them up and print them.  Cut them out and glue them to the tops of the sheets  in order ( See picture). 

a.     Sheet #1 AD 3000-AD 2500 (500 years) 2 ½”=50 years

b.      Sheet #2 AD 2500-AD 1800 (500 years) 2 ½”=50 years

c.       Sheet #3 AD 1100-AD 400 (500 years) 2 ½”=50 years

d.      Sheet #4 AD 400- 300 BC (700 years) 1”= 25 years

e.      Sheet #5 300 BC-1000 BC (700 years) 1”= 25 years

f.       Sheet #6 1000 BC -1300 BC (300 years) 2 3/8 “= 25 years

g.      Sheet #7 1300’s (100 years) 1”= 25 years

h.      Sheet #8 1400’s(100 years) 1”= 25 years

i.        Sheet #9 1500’s (100 years) 1”= 25 years

j.        Sheet #10 1600’s(100 years) 1”= 25 years

k.      Sheet #11 1700’s(100 years) 1”= 25 years

l.        Sheet #12 1800-1850 (50 years) 2 ¾”= 5 years

m.    Sheet #13 1850-1900 (50 years) 2 ¾”= 5 years

n.      Sheet #14 1900-1950 (50 years) 2 ¾”= 5 years

o.      Sheet #15 1950-2020 (70 years) 2”= 5 years

Add Titles to Your Sheets

3.   For all sheets:

a.     Mark 100’s in red.

b.     Mark 50’s in purple.

c.      Mark 10’s in blue.

d.     Mark 5’s in black.

4.  On the sheet you have left over (this is sheet #1) draw a vertical line at 7" to start recording history around 3000 BC.  I put a little jagged green line to note the fact that there’s some undetermined amount of time between when we start recording history with Adam and Eve and the year 3000.  At 7 ½” mark the year 3,000 in red marker (you might want to do all of this in pencil first and then go back over with a marker in case you make mistakes.) Then mark every 2 ½ inches.  (2 ½ “=50 years on this sheet.) Remember to count “backwards” since you are working in BC.

Sheet #1 is a little different.

6.  Make your Categories.  Copy these into a Word Document, use a bold font that is about 1/4 of and inch tall.  Make 16 copies of this list.  Cut them out and paste them onto each sheet (on the left hand side) in this order:  

Religion and Philosophy 

Literature and Theater 

History and Politics 

Science 

Music and Art 

Eras and Epochs

From Sheet #1

7.  Now you are ready to mark each sheet in pencil according to the measurements in # 3.  Put the dates below the lines (in pencil) making them about 1/4 of an inch tall.  Each sheet starts with the same number with which the last left off.  Go back over the numbers in marker following the color scheme in #4. Remember that on Sheet #5 which is AD 400-300 BC you will reverse the direction you are counting.  (See picture).  You can make a year 0 even though there is no such thing- or you can put

AD 1 and 1 BC on the same line.  There are actually 9 years between AD 5 and 5 BC.

Sheet #5 The birth of Jesus.

Start where the last sheet left off.

The 1700's

8.  Now, for the fun part.  Decide what you want to put on your timeline.  Just start wherever you are in your studies at the moment and don't worry about filling in the rest of the stuff.  This is a timeline you can work on for years.  

Make a list of all of the people, events and eras you want on the timeline for each chapter of your book.  Start a powerpoint file and add each of these items on your list to the presentation.  Then find pictures to go with the captions.  The pictures and captions should be small- maybe 1" wide by 1 1/2 " high.  You could add text to a document and have your kids search for appropriate pictures.

Be sure to include the date on each picture so you will now where to put it on the timeline.  For people, we usually try to pinpoint a special event in their lives like when they wrote a certain piece of literature or when they invented something and pin them to their claim to fame.  For other people who have too many claims to count, we just  pin them to the time period in their life when we feel they were most influential.  This is usually toward the second half of their life.   You are the boss of your timeline. 

9.  The Eras and Epochs section is used for any long period of time you would like to note during history that doesn't fit into your other categories or that would make things messier if you added it to a certain category.  For instance, there are many artists and musicians you could add to the mid 1700's so that section will probably be filled with pictures.  Use Eras and Epochs at the bottom of your sheet to denote the Baroque period in art and music.

Adding Eras and Epocs

10.  Don't forget to add yourself!  Add everyone in your family and other important ancestors or family events.

11.  Have fun and let me know how your timeline works out!

Keeping a Home School Gradebook

For me, the two most time consuming aspects of homeschooling are preparation and gradekeeping.  For younger students it is a little easier to keep track of grades but Middle and High School start to get complicated.

I've recently started using the free version of  Jupiter grades which has been a huge help in keeping track of everything and making sure there are no mistakes.  Jupiter used to be called Snap Grades and is used widely by public and private schools.  It is very secure and is completely online based. You can set up weighted grades and print report cards directly from the site.   Here are some pointers about setting up a gradebook with Jupiter.

1.  The first thing you need to do is set up an account on Jupiter Grades.

2. Next, you will set up a separate class for each student.  There will obviously only be one student per class unless you have twins or children who are in the same class.  I named all of my clases with the grade first and the name of the class second.  For instance, 9th Physics.  That way, I can easily see which class goes with each student.  So, at the top of my page I have 14 classes showing because each student has 7 classes.

3. Next, go to to Set Up> Grading Options and set up your grading periods, grade scale and how all of the grades should be weighted.  For example, Tests 50%, Quizzes 25% and Reports 25%.  You will probably have a different set up for each class.  Some classes might have a participation or assignment grade (daily work).

4  You might want to set up a time every week or two to log grades into Jupiter Grades so you aren't left during the last week of the grading period scurrying around trying to get it all done.  I have my kids record their grades every day in every subject next to their assignments for that day so all of the grades are in one place for each child.

5. To print Grades, go to Print > Report Cards.  You can choose to print just that quarter or the whole semester, or the whole year.  You can also decide whether you want number grades to show or just letter grades.  For high school, it would be better to have number grades listed with letter grades.  You can also have it calculate a GPA.

6. Watch the tutorials for other tips.

How do you keep grades for your home schooled students?  I'd love to hear your ideas.

You Have Made Us For Yourself

The Heavens Declare the Glory of God...Ps 19:1

        The kids and I finished an 8 part DVD series by John Piper called "The Blazing Center" for part of our Bible curriculum this year.  Great stuff. Tons to think about and jumpstart discussions concerning the sovereignty of God.   I recommend it for high schoolers and mature middle schoolers. The sessions were recorded during a youth retreat at his church and they have a very powerful message for teenagers:

God is really serious about His glory.

He lives to be glorified.  He will not NOT be glorified. 
In fact, he created the entire universe to bring Himself glory. 

Consider these passages:

Exodus 14:4 And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and he will pursue them. But I will gain glory for myself through Pharaoh and all his army, and the Egyptians will know that I am the LORD.” So the Israelites did this.

Isaiah 48:11 For my own sake, for my own sake, I do this. (Refined you and tested you) How can I let myself be defamed? I will not yield my glory to another.

Psalm 19:1The heavens declare the glory of God, the skies proclaim the work of his hands

        God is radically God-centered.  He is passionate about his own glory and He wants us to share that passion. In fact, the only way we can glorify Him is to treasure Him above all other things and find our complete satisfaction in Him.  He wants the chief desire and longing of our hearts to be Him. Only Him.

        This brings  up a good question.   Does God's pursuit of His own glory in all things make Him vain?   If we use the same measuring stick to measure God as we do people, it might seem so. That's because we perceive things differently than He does.  His thoughts and ways are not ours. (Isaiah 55:8)  Good thing. 

        If a person made these kinds of self exalting statements we would consider them to be arrogant at least and possibly even delusional because it is painfully obvious that no one is worthy of this kind of exultation. People shouldn't be worshipped. They shouldn't put themselves before everything else. This concept may be somewhat lost these days but for the most part we understand that it isn't "right" to seek our own glory.

        Nevertheless,  our culture is big on self aggrandizing affirmations.  It's not likely that many professional coaches are telling their teams that they should think of themselves with humility.  A parade of musicians, sports figures, polititians, advertisers and others are constantly proclaiming that they are the "best" and that no one even comes close to them.  Most of us read this stuff and wonder just who they think they are?  A gift to humankind?  God? 

        Yeah, that 's just it.  We recognize that people don't deserve to be glorified.  Even nice people.  Heck, even "good" people who do "worthwhile" things with their lives.  Even saints.  We're all flawed and we know it.

        People and things don't make us happy or satisfied.  A perfect God is the only one who is worthy of our complete satisfaction and worship.  After a life of looking for love in all the wrong places, Saint Augustine beautifully declared, " You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you."

         People spend their lives searching for the thing that will fill up the empty places in their souls-  that will lead to satisfaction and peace.   We all want to be happy.  We all want to have joy.  We all want to be satisfied. We look for it in power, money, relationships, work, substances and self gratification but those things never completely satiate our longing to be happy.  If God is truly a good and loving God, wouldn't he give His people what they want the most?  Wouldn't he want them to pursue happiness and have joy?

        The answer is yes.  God does want people to pursue happiness and have joy.  And the truth is, that happiness and joy can only be found in desiring Him.  God is the only Being whose best gift is Himself.    God's self-exultation is actually the greatest act of His love.  When He says "glorify Me", focus on me, worship me, pursue me- above all else- He is causing us to hold up the only standard, the only One who is worthy of honor and glory- Himself.  He is not being vain.  He is being the only thing He can be- love.  To tell us to pursue anyone or anything else but Him would be to substitute something imperfect for something perfect.  Nothing else will ever satisfy all of our longings like He will.   So, our pursuit of our own joy and happiness, is not in opposition to His pursuit of His Glory,  They are the same when we are completely satisfied in Him.