Showing posts with label Homeschool. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Homeschool. Show all posts

Friday, July 1, 2016

MC (Mother of Ceremonies)

Hello again! Sorry for the hiatus (I had to Google that)--I have a ton on my plate right now. See?



This week I've launched my author blog (so exciting!!), emailed with ten authors who want me to beta read for them, and submitted my next answers for Read-to-Win. It's been pretty crazy. ;) Good crazy.

I want to take a moment to thank God for my mom. She is everyone's editor (and the voice in my head telling me, "Brevity, Kate. Brevity."); teacher (explaining math, facilitating job training, and reading aloud a book on public speaking); chauffeur (shuttling us to the library for a workshop on writing or vegetables of the world); chef; counselor; MC (mother of ceremonies); and everything else imaginable. Thanks, Mom!

Friday, April 1, 2016

Filter It!

You all know just how hard it is to find a movie the whole family can watch. It's a little more complicated for us since we have such a wide age range; but lately we have found a couple of really, really good ones. Masterful stories that don't scare the wits out of everyone. Good acting. Great characters. Only problem is that they aren't always PG. So we use VidAngel! Mom goes through the list of filters and sets what she would like taken out according to our specific concerns. Then we rent the movie for just a dollar! It's really simple, and you can read more about it all on their site. They are better at explaining it than I am. ; ) So, about the movies...


"Academy Award-winner Helen Mirren and Ryan Reynolds star in this remarkable true story of one woman's battle for justice. Sixty years after she fled Vienna during World War II, Maria Altmann (Mirren) seeks to retrieve her family possessions seized by the Nazis, among them Klimt's famous painting Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I. Together with her inexperienced but plucky young lawyer Randy Schoenberg (Reynolds), she embarks upon a journey which takes them all the way to the heart of the Austrian establishment and the U.S. Supreme Court."


This movie was recommended to us by another homeschooling family with the only caution being about language in one scene. My mom was able to skip exactly where that was, but it would have been way easier to use a filter if we had known about it at the time. It was a really great movie! Set in modern times with flashbacks to World War II, we loved the biographical element of this story (especially since it's about one of our favorite people groups and parts of history). It's definitely not a pull-out-all-the-stops action movie, but instead it's a true to life drama based on a real life story. Really helps you to connect with history. ; ) There were a few intense moments, but never anything that was over PG. (Because you cannot filter out worldview, please be aware of some slight feminism.)


"After the death of his father King George V (Michael Gambon of HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF BLOOD PRINCE) and the scandalous abdication of King Edward VIII (Guy Pearce of MOMENTO), Bertie (Academy Award nominee Colin Firth) who has suffered from a debilitating speech impediment all his life, is suddenly crowned King George VI of England. With his country on the brink of war and in desperate need of a leader, his wife, Elizabeth (Golden Globe nominee Helena Bonham Carter), the future Queen Mother, arranges for her husband to see an eccentric speech therapist, Lionel Logue (Academy Award winner Geoffrey Rush). After a rough start, the two delve into an unorthodox course of treatment and eventually form an unbreakable bond. With the support of Logue, his family, his government and Winston Churchill (Timothy Spall of SWEENEY TODD), the King will overcome his stammer and deliver a radio address that inspires his people and unites them in battle. Winner of four Oscars including Best Picture and Best Actor, The King's Speech is based on the true story of King George VI's quest to find his voice."

[Eek! That was a long description!] This movie is another World War II biography, and the first R-rated movie I've ever seen. That's right, it was rated R for a bit of language scattered throughout and especially one particularly shocking scene. The filters took it right out, leaving us a family friendly movie with superb acting (Mr. Darcy and the fairy godmother, anyone?) and a marvelous story! ; ) I personally really enjoyed it. 


"Geoffrey Rush and Emily Watson star in this inspiring film based on the bestseller about Liesel, (Sophie Nlisse), a girl adopted by a German couple (Rush and Watson) who hide a Jew (Ben Schnetzer) from Hitler's army. Soon Liesel discovers that words and imagination provide an escape from the events unfolding around her family in this extraordinary film directed by Brian Percival (Downton Abbey)."

This movie, filtered of course, is another really amazing World War II story!!! (I'm seeing a theme here!) The worldview (especially the narrator) is a bit odd, so we kept this one just to the older kids. It's a really amazing biographical story that felt so real we had a hard time believing it was a fictional story.
I'm not biased or anything, but I'm gonna spend a little more time on this movie than the others. Maybe because the theme is about books. Maybe because I loved the characters so much. Maybe because Geoffrey Rush is so awesome (and he's been in two of these movies I've mentioned). Or maybe because there are so many good quotes. ; )


I loved the father/daughter relationship between these two! It was so amazing and sweet. ; )


Two main characters...an awesome way of putting their different personalities. Max was such a good older brother to Liesel, and his inspiration helped her very much through hard times.



So, there you are... just a couple of movies that we have all enjoyed recently. I hope you watch them (on filters) and enjoy them just as much a we did! ; )


Just a couple of cautions about using VidAngel: They don't filter the previews or the movie covers, so be careful in that area. Also, the filter descriptions are very explicit, so it's usually best to have an adult set them. We have noticed that a couple of times the filters are off and a few things have come through that we didn't want, so watch at your own risk! (We have watched both The King's Speech and The Book Thief on VidAngel, and the filters were just perfect.)

Monday, February 8, 2016

Just Another Gift

“God who is the Creator of the world is also the source of knowledge for the Bible. God does not lie or contradict Himself. True science is a search for the truth of God’s world. The Bible is truth. By the very nature of the two, they will not disagree.”

~ My science textbook “Investigating God’s Orderly World”


Today I am thanking God for the privilege to be schooled and discipled at home where my book lessons never contradict my Bible ones! ; ) 

I also wanted to thank you for bearing with my short, infrequent posts this month. ; ) We've been really busy with everyday life, ministry stuff, and our church's conference; but I hope to be back soon to update you on these adventures or move on to telling you about new ones. ; ) Thanks for reading!

Friday, January 8, 2016

King Tut, Chicken Feed, and Editing

A lot of cool things have happened this year. (This year as in the last week, because that’s all there has been.) I mean, there’s been cheesecake, funny moments, new schedules, etc. What’s not awesome about that? ; )

I’m grateful for…
Cheesecake. I made my very first cheesecake ever, and it was so much fun! I got to smash graham crackers, get my hands all yummy messy pressing them into the world’s coolest pan, snitch a little occasionally, taste my cream cheese mixture to see if it was just right, and peak at the gorgeous creation (well, it didn’t turn out perfect looking, but I could see deeper) sitting in our refrigerator. And then we ate it. So yummy. So yummy. So yu---you get the point. But you still need a picture...


And also I thought it was really cool how the graham crackers in the pan looked like a bucket of chicken feed. Don’t you think so?


Our new Bible reading plan. It’s a chronological approach to reading the Bible through in a year; and it’s only five days a week, so if we get behind there are a couple days to catch up. It’s been really great how our family has been all on the same page, so to speak, so we can discuss our reading together. I haven’t read the book of Mark very well since I tend to prefer Matthew and John, but our schedule has opened my eyes to some of the treasures in there. For example, when the demon possessed man whom Jesus had healed wanted to come with Him, Jesus wouldn’t let him and said this instead, “Go home to your friends, and tell them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how He has had compassion on you.” (Mark 5:19b) Words to me too!

School. I finished up all my textbooks last year, but I have a bit of science and history to do now that our school year has started again. It’s been really fun to study alongside my siblings especially when my brother says “scientific attitude” in the Lobster Bisque voice during our discussion group or we research extra information on King Tut (because our books are over twenty years old, and we wanted to know the current research) or the Foucault pendulum. There are some pretty fascinating things to know out there! I also love how God-honoring our science textbook is. No evolutionary fairy tales to deal with there!

Editing. Since I don’t have that much school to do and since I counted and I have five to seven works I want to publish and since I’m a flake about editing and jump to the creative writing first, I’ve been editing. I don’t really set New Year’s goals or resolutions, but if I did that would probably be one—discipline yourself, Katie, and edit. I’ve started a sort of rewards system for myself. If I edit for half an hour, I am entitled to up to one free hour of creative writing. ; ) I’ve only done this four times this week, but I’ve seen the results and love it! The creative writing doesn’t always go for very long (depends a lot on when dinner happens), but I’m happy to get some editing done. ; )

Our littlest student. She can read almost perfectly, and she’s not even the age I started learning at! When we read the Bible aloud during family devotions, she amazes us all. ; ) She’s still learning the spelling side of things, but I thought I’d share this picture of her adorable school sheet.


A short story. I was on Amazon (I do that often) looking through Rebekah Morris’ sale on her books when I saw her short story “At the Christmas Lodge”. Oh, nice, something new to read. Only a buck. Kindle. It’ll be here in two minutes. I’ll buy it. It was awesome! Very cute and Christmas-y. I highly suggest you go check it out if you’re looking for a nice, quick read. ; )

FroYo and FroCo. Yeah, I’m a nerd. Those stand for frozen yogurt and frozen coconut in case you were wondering. (I think I made the second one up, so you were most definitely wondering.) We’ve been trying to go low-carb, gluten-free, almost Paleo just because it’s better for my sister’s T1D and everyone else in the family’s possibility of getting it. We haven’t been doing the best at eating this way, but when we do her glucose numbers are awesomely regular. I’m the breakfast cook in the family, and it’s been interesting to try to switch my brain over from the sugar-y wheat bombs to something actually nutritious that still tastes pleasing. There are only so many options for breakfast food, so we’ve been trying to think creatively. (Sweet potatoes for breakfast, anyone?) Hence my frozen stuff. We have smoothies planned for this week and since we’re trying to stay away from milk and bananas (my usual staples in the smoothie world) I’ve decided to experiment with yogurt cubes and coconut milk cubes. They are just the coolest frozen! I’ll let you all know how they taste in blueberry smoothies and chocolate peanut butter smoothies. ; )

Nephews. Even though we haven’t gotten to see them in a little while, it’s been awesome to hear stories about them. The other day, for instance, Chap walks up to his mom and says, “Kungun needs chlokit.” (Kungun is how he says his name.) Isn’t that so funny?!! We love our “happy boys” as Aimee calls them. ; )

So that’s what my week has been like. How about you?

And I can’t get over that “chicken feed bucket”. ; )

Tuesday, March 18, 2014

The Shortest Highschooler Strikes Again

So today Betsy Bea sat in on my algebra lecture. It's hard to believe,
but she was able to answer a yes or no question right! She had to leave
during the exercises, but I wonder (if she had been able to tear her mind
from the hint buddy) if she could've answered some more. : )

Monday, March 17, 2014

The Shortest High School Student

Homeschooling is so fun. The other day I was reading the driver's manual
aloud to my youngest sister and explaining things to her. She seemed to
pick up the idea that driving is a really big responsibility. When I was
explaining fines to her, I said something like, "There are all these
things you are supposed to do and if you don't do one of them you get
a--" "A punishment?" she interrupted.

Today, she mixed Mesopotamian history with Mother Goose. "Shar-kali,
Shar-kali, where have you been? I've been to London to see the queen.
Shar-kali, Shar-kali, what did you there? I frightened a little mouse
under her chair."

She and all the other little buddies get to pick up knowledge they would
never have if we had been in different classes. Plus they keep things
amusing. : ) I think I'll let her help me with algebra sometime.
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