A Handy Handbook . . . for Using Ebooks!

   
     Are you thinking about getting an ebook reader?  Or just wanting more info about ebooks in general-- how to use them and organize them?  Did you know there is a free software that will help you convert files to different formats (that may be needed for different e-reader devices) as well as easily catalog the ebooks (even if you don't use a device).

     What are the advantages of ebooks for home education?  Lisa Hodgen, of Me and My House Ministries, says, "Ebooks can save you space and money, two things home educators tend to be short on."

     I learned some interesting things from her short ebook, Putting the 'E' in Home Education, and now I can clearly see the pros and cons of e-readers vs reading on computer or tablet.

     We haven't used ebooks for reading long chapter books, but Lisa's handbook explains how this can have advantages.  How would you like to carry a library of a thousand or so books in your purse?  As a book-lover, this sounds great to me.

     Of course, e-readers aren't needed for ebooks that are meant to have pages printed out (worksheets, materials to self-construct)-- as all of our Gentle Shepherd ebooks are at this point.

     But I found Lisa's book very interesting and just maybe we'll be entering the rest of the 21st century and doing some of our reading on an ebook device sometime soon!

     You can find Lisa's ebook handbook (only $3 as a special introductory sale), Putting the "E" in Home Education, Freedom and & Simplicity Guide, at http://frommeandmyhouse.com/led-fsebooks.htm

Sidetracked Sarah

On Friday, I had the opportunity to make a guest post on the homeschooling blog, Sidetracked Sarah.  There are several pictures, and the post tells about a hobby I like to do-- hand-sewing with felt.  Here is a link: http://www.sidetrackedsarah.com/2012/04/hand-sewing-with-felt/

Real Science! Really New E-books, too!

There are three new e-books on our Gentle Shepherd website!  These are review activities to accompany Gravitas Publications' Real Science-4-Kids level I science textbooks.  You can see sample pages for all three e-books (Chemistry, Physics, Biology) at http://tinyurl.com/8ynakws.

Princess and Dragon

Here's a photo of some new felt pieces:  a castle tower with princess in it, and a knight fighting a dragon.  Eventually would like to make patterns for these available on our website.  They make nice toys, and would be an exciting addition to the felt family pieces that we already have.

Da Vinci Novel

We recently finished reading a book about Leonardo Da Vinci for a read-aloud.  It is called, Leonardo: Masterpieces in Milan, by Catherine Jaime.  This is the type of book that gets you right into the historic setting, so you can feel like you are experiencing what things were like at that time.  We learned some things about Leonardo's life story-- but mostly this book was focused on the time he spent in Milan working on assignments for Duke Lodovico-- which included various paintings, a huge horse sculpture, being a wedding planner/coordinator for three weddings of nobility, and painting the wall mural, "The Last Supper" in a large room of a local monastery.  The author has woven an interesting story-- including some hints of intrigue and suspense about the political events occurring at the time of Leonardo's work in Milan.

We took a look at pictures of  "The Last Supper" right after finishing the book-- we just had to see it, after hearing its story.  We also learned some interesting things about this painting on the internet, like how the door-- that is currently intruding the bottom center part of the painting-- was not there at the time the mural was painted.  Also, this work of art was nearly destroyed in WWII-- if it hadn't been especially protected with sandbags, it might have been lost when allied planes bombed this monastery in Italy in an air raid.

This is only one book in a series of three about Da Vinci by this author. She has written a historic novel about Leonardo's earlier years in Florence, Italy, and also a book that describes his entire life.  After reading this one, I'd like to read some of her other books-- she has MANY books about various people and places in history.  Her website is www.catherinejaime.com/home.html

Africa Wall Poster

Here's a picture of our Africa map in its current state-- only need to add in a few countries.  We've been learning about each country using Expedition Earth-- My passport to the World, by Cindy Horton (published by Bramley Books/Knowledge Quest.  This book tells about every country in the world!  We won't get through the whole world this year; we've decided to concentrate on Africa and Asia.  We're also using some internet video clips/photos and misc. other info to learn more about the countries.  

It's been fun putting on the colored paper cut-outs of country shapes on this large wall poster-- it is actually made from four pieces of white posterboard joined together.  The freehand drawing of countries that I did didn't exactly turn out exact . . . so some countries are a little wider than normal or otherwise unusual looking-- but it is close enough to get the idea of where things are and their general proportions.

Chemistry Games . . . and more!

I just have to share the link to this fantastic website:  Ellen McHenry's Basement Workshop:

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http://www.ellenjmchenry.com

I learned about this on a homeschool forum. This site is like a treasure trove for those who are looking for interesting ways to study science and history.  Especially science; Ellen has written several science courses for children, available for sale on her site.  We have not used any of these yet, as we already have chemistry course materials for this year, but have really enjoyed using the free board and card games she has-- these are PDF downloads; it's easy to print them out and make the games.  

James and I have played "The Periodic Table Game" several times-- this game board is printed onto 4 pieces of card stock, and forms the entire Periodic Table.  To play the game you start on the element with atomic number 1, and go in numeric order across the elements, rolling a die to make moves.  At each stop, you acquire a certain number of pennies-- depending on the element, you may gain pennies or have to give some back.  Also, certain elements get bonus pennies or an extra roll if you identify them as being named after a person or place, or having certain characteristics.

"Quick Six" is a card game-- these cards are very interesting to read; there is a card for each element, and they have information about how the elements are used, with some simple artwork.  You read through a list of "clues," and see if any of the five cards you have been dealt match with each given clue.  You set aside the card, if it does.  The goal is to be the first to have six cards in a set aside pile.  A new card is drawn each time a match is made.  Chemistry info is both learned and reviewed by doing this game, and we have enjoyed playing it.

There are some other chemistry games, too-- we haven't tried them all yet.  

The games are all free downloads; we've found them well worth the effort to print out and prepare (very minimal work is needed, but cutting out cards can take a little while).