Sneak Peeks from K.E. Weeks: The Seamstress

This feature is presented by guest blogger, K.E.Weeks.

While the pain of every survivor is individual and personal, many Holocaust memoirs relate similar tales and situations. The Seamstress by Sara Tuvel Bernstein with Louise Loots Thornton and Marlene Bernstein Samuels (Berkley Trade, 1999, $10.88) is different. First, it covers more of the author’s life than most memoirs, including her childhood and adulthood long after surviving World War II. The reader is able to see the contrasts of her life before and after the war, as well as how the war changed the trajectory of her life.

Secondly, Seren Tuvel is a Jewish girl from Romania, a part of Europe that is rarely discussed in Holocaust memoirs, though it was equally touched by the war. Seren, who is a teen when the war begins, uses her talents as a seamstress and her cleverness to stay alive from her time in her home village near the Carpathian Mountains to Bucharest to Budapest and, eventually, to the women’s work camp Ravenbruck in Germany, near Berlin. The book would provide a good starting point for a study of European geography.

Lastly, this story is one of hope and determination. It is inspiring to see how one woman’s sheer willpower kept her and her companions alive despite starvation and deplorable conditions. Berenstein tells her story in a straightforward, practical manner, without hatred or bitterness.
The only criticism I have of the book is that time is not more clearly marked for the reader. It would have been helpful if every chapter would have started with the month and year of that portion of the narrative to give the reader a reference point.

The book includes several black and white photographs, scattered throughout, which is nice. Berenstein’s co-author and the president of the World Jewish Congress provide two introductions and Berenstein’s daughter pens an afterward. These can be confusing and might be better read after completing reading the main narrative. There are two maps included: Europe in 1923 and again in 1942. It is an enlightening comparison!

While the book was voted one of the American Library Association’s “Top Ten Best Books for Young Adults,” this book is not for children. It contains brutal violence, death, and suffering. Although the violent scenes are not described in a vivid manner nor dwelled upon, I would discourage parents from giving it to any child under 14. It is an excellent book, and I highly recommend it for a mature high school student or an adult.

I would include The Seamstress among my all-time favorite books (and I have read a lot, so this is high praise). I give it five stars (out of five). Tuvel teaches by example: “Always be prepared, always plan ahead, anticipate, be ready, don’t depend on anyone but yourself, be inconspicuous, be observant, and always stay alert.” Good advice in a dangerous world.

Disclaimer: The purpose of this review is to guide parents into selecting appropriate, significant, high-quality literature for their teens and tweens. I have no connection with the author or publisher of this book. I am a home educator of two children, 11 and 14, with a keen interest in historical fiction for young adults.

Can You See Your Brain When You Do That?

My daughter started Driver's Ed last week (which has brought up numerous feelings of feeling old, but that is a different blog post...) and has gotten a little taste of your typical high school classroom.  The kids are unengaged, with glazed-over eyes, and really don't want to be there.  I get the impression that the same applies to the teacher as well.  While this is typical (I don't remember having an overly engaging Driver's Ed teacher, do you?), it is a newer experience for her. She doesn't want to be there either and basically has the attitude of putting her time in so she can get that Level 1 license.

While I have heard lots of murmurs of dissatisfaction on the situation from her, the main theme has been comments about homeschooling in the classroom. The very first class the instructor asked who *didn't* attend the local high school just next door.  Only my daughter and one other homeschooler raised their hands.  When he asked where they attended and they replied that they were homeschoolers, he sighed and rolled his eyes.  Nice, eh?  Originally, I gave him the benefit of the doubt since when telling the story, my daughter said she and her friend replied with a "We are both homeschooled," precisely *in unison*, and I thought that prompted the eyeroll.

However, there have been multiple comments since, like the story of how the instructor knew a homeschooled student that was only "homeschooled" so she could babysit her younger siblings, or the homeschooler who worked at Wendy's all day.  Seriously? My daughter exerted great will power and held her tongue, which at times isn't as restrained! On another occasion, even another student got in on the 'tude about homeschoolers and made a comment under her breath.

The most recent comment was on Thursday when the instructor said, "Well, you all enjoy your homework this weekend...except you two.  You don't have homework."  It was about all my daughter could take, and she replied with exasperation,

"Just because we don't go to the same school doesn't mean we don't *do* school!"

The assumption that she had no schoolwork over the weekend was entirely laughable.  Her current studies include all honors, AP, and college courses.

My daughter now talks of creating a community awareness program where she goes into the public schools and gives presentations about who homeschoolers really are.  Ok, she's not really serious, but it is a fun fantasy.  Can you tell I have a justice seeker in my house?  If the comments continue, I'm afraid there might be an impromptu presentation right there in Driver's Ed!

It is a shame that homeschoolers have to continuously battle stereotypes wherever they go.  Whether or not a student is homeschooled is entirely irrelevant in Driver's Ed. I'd just like to say to the instructor,  "Can you see your brain when you do that? If so, I suggest you use it!"

Review: A Young Scholar’s Guide to Composers

I sometimes get caught in a rut and focus only on the 3 R’s, neglecting topics that may fall in the fine arts or other area.  Making way in the schedule to study something that doesn’t fall within the basic skill set needed as an adult is sometimes difficult, especially if your student is struggling with things like writing a decent paragraph or other necessary skills.  After all, some may reason that writing skills as an adult are more important than knowing whether Bach was from the Baroque or the Classical period.  If only there were unlimited hours in the day with which to learn! My other obstacle is *my* time.  Not only am I often lacking knowledge in such areas, I don’t have time to put something together. Those homeschool moms that “just put together a study” on whatever subject you’ve always wanted to know more about, happily scouring the internet, creating timelines from scratch, and creating thought-provoking questions and activities always awe me and make me want to send my deprived kids to their house!

I realized I didn’t have to after receiving A Young Scholar’s Guide to the Composers by Bright Ideas Press. This program is a study of music for homeschoolers, regardless of previous knowledge of the subject.  Everything is done for the busy (and intimidated) homeschooling mom.  Furthermore, each lesson is completed over a short days three days a week.

A Young’s Scholar’s Guide to the Composers includes 32 weekly lessons covering 6 periods of music and 26 composer biographies.  The first few lessons cover give an overview of the Ancient through Baroque periods.  Once a broad understanding of the early periods is obtained, focus on particular composers starts with Lesson 4 and the Baroque period. The composer lessons are grouped and studied according to the period. 

This program is intended for grades 4-8, but is very adaptable. In fact, while I used it with my 7th grade son, I already have some materials on my shelves that would be a wonderful supplement to make it a comprehensive high school course for credit for my high school daughter.  The Appendix also makes many suggestions for resources to explore, including books, CDs, DVDs, and websites, as well as gives ideas for games and folderbooks (simplified lapbooks).

The schedule is very easy to follow and not overly involved in preparation. The suggested schedule is:

Day 1: read-aloud, note-taking or student review, listen to music (links provided). The student pages are all provided. The lesson/read-aloud takes about 15 minutes to read. Students can also read this to themselves.

Day 2: timeline, map work, and composer info card, listen to music again.  All of the prep work is done for you.  This is hands-on work and mostly involves highlighting lines, drawing a line from a picture to a map location, and using provided graphics and prompts to complete informational cards.

Day 3: listen to music selections again.

As noted, links to music selections for each lesson are provided, along with questions and things to which particular attention should be paid for each piece.

The music selections, graphics, timeline and map printouts, glossary, answer key, and other supplemental resources are all provided in the Appendix. While I see this is a very organized way to do things (e.g. all composer graphics together), I would have preferred to have some of it right within the lesson.  The lesson portion includes the reading and the student or note-taking pages.  The schedule information and hands-on instructions and printables are located elsewhere.

For the map work, students draw a color-coded line, which correlates to certain periods, from the composer to the country.

 We’ve never done a study like this and I was pleasantly surprised at how much my son seemed to enjoy it.  I had him complete the note-taking pages while I was reading, which helped him maintain focus on the material.  I thought he might not want to listen to the selections, since they are much different from his preferred music, but this was not at all the case.

For the hands-on component, we decided to use a blank spiral book, that will keep all of the composer information, in one place rather than individual folders.  I was shocked at how into the cutting, pasting, and deciding on the design he was.  Truly shocked. I am heavily considering more hands-on work in his studies.

We reduced the size of the timeline and map so they would fit on one page.  Composer cards are kept in a pocket on the opposite page.  Terms, designs, mini-books and more are planned to fill in the pages. At the end of the study, the completed notebook will be a great review and memory of the study.

Overall, I thought A Young Scholar’s Guide to Composers was very nicely done and made this normally stick-to-the-3Rs mom want to branch out a bit.  It just took a snippet of our week and was extremely easy to execute with everything at my finger tips. My son has really enjoyed this study, and I have too.

 A Young Scholar’s Guide to Composers is available from Timberdoodle. Visit their website or request a free homeschool catalog to browse other products.

Disclaimer: As a part of Timberdoodle's Blogger Review Team. I was provided this product free of charge in exchange for my honest review. I have received no other compensation. I strive to give a balanced overview of each product, detailing my opinion of both pros and cons and how the product worked for my family. What works for one family may not work for another. I encourage you to research sufficiently to determine if any product will be a benefit to your homeschool.

The It-Takes-A-Village Carpool

I love carpools. It makes no sense for several busy homeschooling moms to all be driving to the same location if it isn't necessary. My kids are actually able to participate in more activities because of carpool arrangements. Carpools save gas, they save time, and they save sanity.

But it is a sure sign that we moms can overschedule when even the carpools can get a bit crazy. Below is a true happening. Real names are not used in order to protect the insanely self-inflicted over-scheduled innocent.

Mom A,Child A
Mom B, Child B1, Child B2
Mom C, Child C1, Child C2
Mom D, Child D

Mom A is scheduled for a football carpool required to get Child A and Child B1 to practice. However, Mom A would really like to go to a special dinner event, and asks Mom B if she wouldn't mind switching carpool days with her.

Mom B is quite willing to switch, however, Child B2 has a special evening activity and if Mom B drives to football, Child B2 won't have a ride.  So, Mom B asked Mom C, whose Child C2 is attending the same event, if she doesn't mind picking up Child B2 for her event, so she can take Child B1 and Child A to football practice, so Mom A can go to her dinner.

Mom C certainly doesn't mind picking up Child B2.  However, in order to do so and not make both Child B2 and Child C2 late for the event, she needs to make sure that Mom D can drive Child C1, who needs to attend a play rehearsal with Child D.  If Mom D can, Mom C can then pick up Child B2 and take her to her event with Child C2, so Mom B can take Child B1 and Child A to football practice, so Mom A can attend her dinner.

Luckily, Mom D can drive, so Mom A can go to her dinner.  That means that all will go smoothly among the four moms and six children all needing to be at four different events at the same time. Whew. All is well and another evening of carpooling has been accomplished.

Hillary Clinton has it wrong.  I don't need a village to raise them; I just need a village to get them to their activities!

Review and Giveaway: My Memories Suite

Can I just start this review off by saying that I am not a scrapbooker so you know from where I'm coming?  I do like the concept, and have even tried it a time or two. However, there are a few things that get in my way.  The cutting.  The pasting. Actually having printed photographs.

Ever since I went digital with my photographs, I rarely get them printed.  If I do, it is for a particular purpose (e.g. the annual framing of photos for grandparents at Christmas), rather than to put them in some sort of order for viewing.  Instead, they remain on my computer's hard drive with good intentions. I had heard of digital scrapbooking before, but really didn't think I had the level of creativity that would be needed, not to mention the time to get down the learning curve of the software.  So, I left it at something that is a great idea - for other people.

When I was given the opportunity to review some new digital scrapbooking software, My Memories Suite, the wanna-be-scrapbooker in me took over.  I really wanted to give it a try, fully recognizing that I might when all is said and done, I still think it is a great idea for others, but not me. This was new territory with an unknown outcome.

My Memories Suite is a downloaded product, though you can purchase a CD back-up if you'd like.  The download and installation process went smoothly.  When I opened up the program, it was pretty straight-forward and intuitive.  This is a good thing, since I tend to not bother to read instruction manuals.

When creating a new file, users are given the option to select a template or create their own.  I started off with the template option. There are over 30 templates already preloaded.  Some of them have a theme already, others are more customizable with your own selection of background papers and colors.  Of course, text, shapes, and embellishments, and can be added as well.  Even video, music, and narration can be added to the pages for a more interactive scrapbook.  Additional pages, templates, and embellisments can be purchased from My Memories, and there is also a selection of free products to download.

I think I fared pretty well.  The only real problem I had was finding some of the items I downloaded from the site.  They landed in areas and files of the program I didn't expect, and it took a bit of hunting around at first.  I didn't make a full scrapbook, but I did make some single pages.  I have to admit, it was much easier than I anticipated.  I've tried creating similar items in graphics programs in the past and more often than not ended up frustrated.

My first attempt was a page that showed off the various birthday cake creations of my husband's mom. This took no time at all.  I simply pulled the pictures into the template, selected a festive background, and added a bit of text that matched the colors of the background.

After seeing how the basics worked, I decided to play around a bit more and opted to create my own page, rather than use a template.  This time I created a display page for some of the lapbooking products available from our family business.  Sizing, moving, rotating, and framing the pictures was a breeze. After a textured background, some flower embellishments, and text, I was done. When this is an 8 1/2 x 11 as intended, the text is more readable.

One thing I've attempted before on a graphics program is a simple photo composite.  I've needed to do these in the past for my daughter for theater opportunities.  Though I've managed, it has never been as easy as the one below.  This one was a template. I just selected three photos and a background. I did adjust the size of two of the photo areas so it didn't crop as much from the original.

My last project was more like a traditional scrapbook page and documented my son's last birthday celebration.  I got "fancy" on this one by adding and positioning/rotating some embellishments.

I imagine there is a lot more that can be done with this program, but I didn't think the above was too bad for a first try.  Check out the Page Gallery on the My Memories website for better ideas of what can be done. Wow! There are some great pages to see there. I'm looking forward to playing around some more, especially with the interactive features, like adding video and audio to the pages, or creating a complete themed scrapbook.

There are a variety of ways to share your creation, including exporting it as a jpeg file, getting it printed as an album, printing on your own printer, or burning to a DVD. You can easily share with friends and family or make a special scrapbook as a gift.

Overall, I liked My Memories Suite quite a bit and can now see a place for digital scrapbooking, even for me. The program was fairly intuitive, and I liked that the products that you can download (either purchased or free) can also be used in other graphics programs.  Of course, as I mentioned earlier, finding some of those products was a challenge at first, but I figured it out soon enough.  Also, I couldn't find a way to make the pages a size that wasn't standard (e.g. 8 1/2 x 11, 12 x 12, or 8 x 8).  There may be a way to do this, but it wasn't obvious. Regardless, I can do this type of scrapbooking.  No cutting, no pasting, and no printed photographs required! 
 
Now, I have two bonuses for all of my readers. I have a coupon code that will give you a $10 discount off the purchase of the My Memories Suite Scrapbook software and a $10 coupon for the MyMemories.com store - $20 value!). Please enter code STMMMS53515 to get your discount.

Secondly, I have a giveaway for one lucky winner who will receive a code to download the My Memories Suite Scrapbook software, a $39.97 value, for FREE!

Giveaway Closed!  Congrats to  the winner, Sarah, comment #8.

There are numerous ways to enter.  Be sure to leave a way to contact you should you be the lucky winner!

Mandatory entry:

• Visit www.MyMemories.com and click "free kits" in the navigation bar.  Leave me a comment letting me know your favorite.

For additional entries (leave a comment for each):

• Follow My Memories via their blog, Facebook, or Twitter.  One entry for each.
• Follow my blog via Google Friend Connect.
• Subscribe to this blog (rss or email)
• Like Chatter, Clatter, and Things That Matter on Facebook (this is a brand new page and needs a little love!)
• Follow Chatter and Clatter on Twitter
• Post about this giveaway on your own blog, Facebook, Twitter, or others (please specify in your comment).  This will count for two entries for each! Make sure you leave two comments.

The giveaway will end on October 21st at 6 p.m. EST and the winner will be chosen by a random number generator. 


Disclaimer:  I was provided the product free of charge in exchange for my honest review. I have received no other compensation, though the given coupon code is part of an affiliation program. I strive to give a balanced overview of each product, detailing my opinion of both pros and cons and how the product worked for my family. What works for one family may not work for another. I encourage you to research sufficiently to determine if any product will be a benefit to your homeschool.

Sneak Peeks with K.E. Weeks: Among the Hidden and the Shadow Children Series

This feature is presented by guest blogger, K.E.Weeks.

Can you imagine what life would be like if you had to hide your whole life in one room? What if you could never go outside, never see the sun? What if your family couldn’t even mention your existence outside of your home? Luke Garner lives such a life. He is an illegal “third child.” Among the Hidden by Margaret Peterson Haddix (Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2000; $6.99) explores the idea of life after droughts and famines when, to ensure there is enough food for all, the Government outlaws anyone from having a third child.

The novel’s premise is not so far-fetched, as adults will recognize China’s “one child” policy in the pages. This provides plenty of discussion fodder for parents and students. Who has the “right” to live? Does the Government have the “right” to dictate such intimate choices to families? How would you ration food if it were scarce?

Among the Hidden is a compelling, page-turning science fiction novel about twelve-year-old Luke’s experiences on his family farm when the Government forces the family to sell their woods and the Government builds fancy houses for the rich, called Barons. But everything changes for Luke when he spies another illegal third child in the new Baron house next door.

Among the Hidden is well-suited to 4^th – 7^th graders, though older reluctant readers would like it, too. The language and story are easy-to-follow. I would give the book four stars (out of five). The book reminds me of The Giver by Lois Lowry and the series that followed. Among the Hidden is not quite as good as Lowry’s book, but if your child liked The Giver, he will like this as well.
The series continues in the following titles. Like most sequels, though, the serial books are not as good as the first title. However, for Shadow Children series fans, they do hold readers’ interest. Overall, they are unpredictable and action-packed.

Among the Imposters – The series continues with Luke’s story as he goes to Hendrick’s boarding school, which has strange happenings and no windows. In the woods, Luke discovers other illegal third children. Four stars.

Among the Betrayed – The point-of-view in the series shifts now to Nina, an illegal third child introduced in the previous book. This takes the reader to Population Police Headquarters and introduces three new characters: Alia, Percy, and Matthias, who are in jail on suspicion of being illegal third children. This is the weakest book of the series, as the danger is only perceived as being real by the protagonist, not by the reader, who knows the villain in this book is really a good guy. Two stars.

Among the Barons – The series shifts back to Luke, who has taken on the identity of Lee Grant, a Baron child who was killed in a suspicious skiing accident. Luke lives among the Grants and their servants, trying to determine who is friend and who is foe. While this book will be well-received by those who like the Shadow Children series, it isn’t the best one in the bunch. Three stars.

Among the Brave – The point-of-view in the series shifts again to Trey, Luke’s close friend from Hendricks, who is thrust into the role of an unlikely hero. It also brings Luke’s brother Mark in as a more major character. It is set in the new Population Police headquarters and surrounding work camps. Even though the adults come off as inept and cowardly, this is one of the best books because Trey is likeable and grows as a person throughout the book. Four stars.

Among the Enemy – Matthias, one of the characters from the third book, takes over the narrative here. After the coup in the last book, Matthias ends up at the Population Police’s new headquarters in the Grants’ old house. He saves a Population Police officer’s life, and ends up as a favored “son” of the commander. Although the ending is a bit far-fetched, as is the fact that every crucial character lives within walking distance, it’s intriguing overall. It is a grittier book, with more death and danger, as Matthias’ life has been a hard one. It is a book about questioning one’s values and loyalties, with a lot of references to God. It’s another strong addition to the series. Four stars.

Among the Free – The series concludes by returning to Luke’s point-of-view. However, Luke appears to have changed a lot in the interim. He is less confident, more defeated, and running scared. The book confronts a lot of interesting concepts about freedom and choices. What does it mean to be free? How can freedom with its wealth of choices be scary? It also confronts the possibility of trading one totalitarian regime for another. The concluding book wraps up loose ends well, though, in the case of Nina, Matthias, Trey, and the rebel adults, a little too neatly. It foreshadows the characters’ futures and is a satisfactory ending. Four stars.

Disclaimer: The purpose of this review is to guide parents into selecting appropriate, significant, high-quality literature for their teens and tweens. I have no connection with the author or publisher of this book. I am a home educator of two children, 11 and 14, with a keen interest in historical fiction for young adults.

Review: Visual Latin

Latin is a subject that I always felt was beneficial to learn because it is not only the gateway to other foreign languages, but to English as well. However, I've always been intimidated by teaching it. Thankfully, there are many programs out there with plenty of teacher support and DVD lessons, even for the completely Latin-challenged homeschool mom. I've reviewed some of these in the past, and while many of them were decent programs, I haven't found one that was a fit for my youngest *right now* for a variety of reasons. The end result is that I have several programs on my shelves waiting for a potential fit in the future, with a lack of Latin studies in the present.

When I had the opportunity from Timberdoodle, a provider of homeschool curriculum, to review Visual Latin, my first thought was that the readiness for Latin in my student simply wasn't there and perhaps I should pass it up.  However, Visual Latin is a new program and the sample videos looked very interesting.  Furthermore, this one for sure wouldn't end up taking space on my shelves because it is a download (DVD versions are also available).

Visual Latin is taught by Dwane Thomas, who has been teaching Latin for 15 years.  I'll share more on the instructor later.  Two levels, Latin 1 and Latin 2, are available. For this review, I received Lessons 1-10 of Latin 1 in the download format. Visual Latin is a self-paced course and can be adaptable for a variety of ages and learning pace.  The recommended age is 9 and up, and is designed for a pace of 20 lessons per semester, or 2 lessons per week.  No additional texts are needed, though there are recommendations and suggestions of texts to use with the program to count it as 2 high school credits.  By itself, Latin 1 could be counted for 1/2 high school credit, and Latin 2 for another 1/2 credit.

The structure of the program is very simple.  Each level has 30 lessons, purchased either 10 at a time or as a complete set at once.  Each lesson is broken down into three parts - Grammar, Sentences, and Reading - with a separate video for each.  There is one worksheet to complete after each lesson part.

Below is an introductory video by the instructor that explains the approach of Visual Latin and also gives you a feel for the instructor's style.



Much to my surprise, my reluctant student did not balk when it came time for Latin studies.  In fact, I actually heard him refer to various things from his lessons outside of the time spent on it.  He started in with an attitude of "Latin is hard", yet gained confidence the more he was in the program.  I believe there are several contributing factors to this for our particular student.

• The lessons are presented in small bites.  The video for each part is anywhere from 3 to 8 minutes, perfect for those that tend to have limited attention spans.

• Similarly, the worksheets are one page for each part.  I had my son complete the worksheet immediately after watching the video while the content of the lesson was still fresh in his mind. He wasn't overwhelmed by the writing requirements or length of the worksheets.Furthermore, clear answer sheets are provided for mom.

• Dwane Thomas has a quirky sense of humor and lots of energy.  He is definitely not a stuffy Latin teacher. Stuffy Latin teachers wouldn't dare comment on being a Ninja or use a Snuffleupagus as part of the lesson! 

• Similarly, Dwane Thomas does not present himself as the perfect teacher.  He makes mistakes and casually corrects them, sometimes poking fun of himself.  This is great if you have a perfectionist at home.

• Students start reading Latin very early and there are no dreaded charts to memorize.  This gives a sense of early success in the program.

• The video sessions alleviate the requirement of teaching for intimidated moms. In the case of the downloads, they are also extremely portable for watching at home or away.

My son preferred to watch on his iPod, even at home.

The worksheets aren't lengthy and reference charts are provided in the working space.

 In the words of my son, "He was really funny, which is why I liked it so much."  This program has a ton of wiggly boy appeal.  It's efficient.  It's funny.  It's portable.

You can purchase Visual Latin DVDs from Timberdoodle.  At the moment, they don't carry the download version, but if you can't wait to get this program, you can purchase the instant Visual Latin download version directly from Visual Latin.

6 FREE Visual Latin Lessons!

Disclaimer: As a part of Timberdoodle's Blogger Review Team. I was provided this product free of charge in exchange for my honest review. I have received no other compensation. I strive to give a balanced overview of each product, detailing my opinion of both pros and cons and how the product worked for my family. What works for one family may not work for another. I encourage you to research sufficiently to determine if any product will be a benefit to your homeschool. This review contains affiliate links.