King Alfred Who?

We got the chance to read/study a skinny little book called King Alfred's English - A History of the Language We Speak....And Why  We Should Be Glad We Do.



One of the reasons that I was looking forward to reading this book was because the author is from a town really near to mine.  She even wrote on the envelope the fact that we are "neighbors" when she sent me the book.

This is a little, skinny book that is bursting at the seams with information.  The back jacket of the book calls it a "light" course in four subject areas.

I respectfully disagree with the "light" portion....and wholeheartedly agree that it covers at least four subject areas.

According to the back it covers History; English Literature; Linguistics; and the English Bible.

See how skinny it is?  Should be a quick and easy read, right?

Well.....sort of.....if you just read it like a regular book and don't end up wanting to know more about the stories that Ms. White sprinkles in to explain how English got to be the way it is today.

Like, if I told you the word bodacious, which means outlandishly bold, comes from a Celtic queen named, Boudicca.....wouldn't you want to know a little bit more about her and how she got a whole word in our language?!?

Or, how about if I told you that the last native speaker of Cornish was Dolly Pentreath and that she died in 1777.  Wouldn't you want to know more about her and how we know this about her?

Or even my personal heritage.  My mom is 100% Norwegian in heritage.  My dad said he was English, Irish, and German.....but didn't think any of his family had lived in Germany.  Which never made sense to any of us.  This book gave me an answer that I wish he were still here, so I could share it with him why he had German in his blood line.

All of those little tidbits were packed into the first two chapters....more precisely, the first 13 pages of the book!

I have to be honest and say that the first two chapters sort of overwhelmed me and I wasn't sure that I was going to be able to follow everything and was feeling kind of dumb.....and was a little afraid I wasn't going to be able to finish the book.


The book is designed for "7-12 grade or curious adults".  I decided that I was going to "take one for the team" and be the curious adult on this....since I had already made my kids do so much school during the summer.

After the first 2 chapters, I was a little afraid that my "take one for the team" mentality was going to turn out to be true. 

Not because it was boring....(there were a few moments) but mostly because there were just so many things that, like I said....you want to dig up more information about....or see how it fits in with other historical events. 

I had to take a break after those first 2 chapters and kind of psych myself back into reading this book. But, I am glad I did...it was totally worth it!

One of the times I slammed my book down, when my head was ready to explode with information, tidbits, and questions that I wanted to know more about, I said:

"This is the most interesting, boring book I have ever read!"

Am I confusing you yet?

Sorry.

Like I said....this skinny, little book packs a punch. 

Did I like this book?

Yes.

Was it informative?

Definitely.

Is its size misleading?

Yup.

In another author's hands, I think this book would have been really boring and dry.  But, I loved the author's tone/style when she writes.  It was very conversational and had a storyteller vibe.  It is a textbook without feeling like a textbook.

She has funny, little real "thinking outloud" kind of moments revealed in her writing.  I love how she refers to the "two different flavors" of Christianity" when she is talking about Roman Catholics and Celtic protestants.  Especially, since we are a "two different flavors" of Christianity household!

She really looks at things that I have never really thought too much about.  From things like the origins of words, like most sk/sc words like scrub and sky are actually from the Old Norse (Danish) language.  Or the fact that our language is constantly changing....and getting more simple.

I am learning so much from this book (and King Alfred doesn't even show up until Chapter 5!) that I have already planned to use it for D-man's upcoming school year. 



She has tons of free stuff at her website. 

The Student Page is titled..... Here Cometh Thy Big Chance for Further Illumination.

They are broken down by chapters and have other books that you can read, websites with more information and even movies that you can watch related to the subject.  She does include a warning, of sorts, that some of the movies you may want to screen first to see if you think they are appropriate for your kids. 

Like the movie Gladiator.....very violent....but it gives glimpses into the "politics" of Rome....or  not really a warning, but interesting fact that the Silver Chalice was Paul Newman's first movie (to quote, Ms. White, "he is more than just a salad dressing!") 

She also has a teacher page that has worksheets, tests and answers to go along with the chapters.  According to Ms. White, "There is enough supplemental material to flesh out a full semester (one half unit) of history, or a 1/4 unit history plus 1/4 unit English."

She also gives you guidance as for minimum requirements.  Including writing a Five Paragraph Essay!

There is a lot of information packed into this book....including fun little facts like, in King James' time, the word "piss" wasn't considered a "bad" word (it most definitely is according to my mother)....and is used in the King James Version of the Bible....twice....with the word "pisseth" used five times!  And, how Shakespeare appears in the book of Psalms!

I sort of feel like I want to stalk the author, Laurie White, because she writes like we could be buddies and she could be my really smart friend.  Everyone needs to have one of those, doesn't she?

But, since you don't all live near her, you can just read her book and absorb her brilliance that way!  Besides, she is my new imaginary best friend....not yours.

You can get King Alfred's English for $14.89 at www.christianbook.com or you can also get it at Amazon. 

See what others on the TOS Review Crew thought of King Alfred!


Disclaimer:  I received a copy of King Alfred's English for free in exchange for an honest review.

House Stuff-Just a Quickie....

Thought I would update on a bit of our house stuff.

We did a fun, quick, little art project.

At the bottom of my steps, there was a big, blank wall and I wanted something big and fun there.

A while back, I had gone to my local Habitat for Humanity Restore and found this white, three paneled thingie for $10.

I am not sure what is used to be....maybe the back mounting for kitchen cabinets???

Anyway, thanks to a great Pinterest post on how to make your own chalkboard paint. I decided to give it a shot!

We had so much fun and it turned out so well that we kept looking around for other stuff to paint with the chalkboard paint!

I guess I am giving you a sneak peak of my dining room too.

Anyway, here is what I learned.  For this project, my cheap America's Finest paint worked waaaaay better than the expensive Valspar paint. 

Isn't it cute? D-man is sort of standing their weird, isn't he?  Probably should have cropped him out.

The view from the top of my stairs...

(Hi, V-girl!)

..it makes me happy just standing there and looking at it.....I can see this from my desk in the basement too....also makes me very happy!

Apparently I didn't get any pictures of it after we actually mounted it on the wall....but, it looks basically the same....just not my children are in much less danger of being crushed by it then when it was just leaning there!

It is chalkboard paint and I can envision writing cute little inspirational words and smiley faces for the kids to see when they come down for school....but for now, I like just seeing it has happy art.

Creating Better Writers

Writing sort of feels like a lost art these days, doesn't it?

One that seems to be drowning fast in a sea of texting and purposely spelling words wrong for the sake of a joke.

I really want my kids to be able to write well.  It seems like one of those things that, if they learn to do it well, they will be head and shoulders over most of their competition for job and things.

Maybe not.  Maybe the CEO will want someone who knows how to text really quickly......

But, I still want them to be good, strong, writers. 

We got a chance to work with Create Better Writers and use three of their downloadable e-books. 

How To Write A Paragraph





and....




....were the first two we tried.
In How to Write a Paragraph, they teach there is one simple trick to it.

Here is a video that reviews the concept.

Seems too basic, doesn't it?

ONE MAIN IDEA!

I can totally relate to his examples of prep work both for writing and for other things, like painting.  As you can see here, I have done a LOT of painting lately....and he is right, the prep work is the most time consuming part.  The actual painting is fun....and quick.

Or, in this case, the actual writing can be fun. 

These e-books are designed for you the parent/teacher and not the student. They teach you how to teach the concepts behind a paragraph and, in turn, an essay

The first assignment we tried was to ask the kids to write a paragraph.

The end result was mixed.  D-man and A-girl did okay.  A-man (who is only in 2nd grade) and L-girl had more trouble.


It was an eye opener.....but, now I had a plan of attack in what and how to teach them.

But, like Mr. Dye says,

Following these easy steps, your students will achieve

mastery of the five-paragraph essay and be prepared for ANY

timed test you, your district, your state, or college throws at them.

Yes, please!
If you follow his teaching, the "magic words" are no longer please and thank you.....but....."you are about to write a paragraph".

It was amazing to me how in depth, yet easy, the idea is behind teaching the kids to write a great paragraph.

Paragraphs are nice, little, bite sized, non-intimidating writing exercises. 


But, paragraphs are powerful little nuggets.  With a great one, you can build up to writing great essays, stories and research papers.....or even concise, clear e-mails to your boss. 


I am planning to fully put this into use this coming year, with all of my students, except S-girl (we will let her learn how to actually read first  ;) ). A-man is only in 2nd grade, but I think he is ready to start thinking about these concepts.


My bigger kids, A-girl and D-man, already had a pretty good grip on what makes a good paragraph, but they are learning to fine tune their writing skills will this program. 


A-girl and D-man will move onto the next step, the Five Paragraph Essay, as soon as they create the "perfect" paragraph.  It was sort of shocking to hear the word "perfect" in the book.....because, these days, unless you are talking plastic surgery to get the "perfect" body....nobody seems to strive for perfection. 

This is Step 11 in the How To Write a Paragraph portion.  I love, love, love that it addresses that fact that students have a tendency to get lazy.  Mr. Dye recommends that for any mistake that they make (spelling, grammar, etc.) that they have to rewrite the whole thing.  Yep.  The whole thing.  Sounds kind of mean....but I gotta tell you, my little homeschool students definitely get lazy and will turn in "good enough" work if I let them. 

We didn't dig into the Five Paragraph Essay much because of vacations and my computer crashing....

......but, here is what I have gathered from my reading/preparation, so far:

It covers the basics of writing a great paragraph and how that can be adapted to all domans of writing.

I liked that it reminded me, that my goal, as teacher to my kids (and their mom), is to help them achieve mastery in everything.  They should not have to rely on me to walk them through every process....in writing....or in math....or in doing the laundry, for that matter.


This book includes a pacing chart and detailed lesson plans.  I find this super helpful, because, really, the less I have to think about what to include and cover in my lesson plan the better.  Much easier just to have it already in front of me, isn't it?

Another feature that I liked was the helpful "Notes" he included throughout the book, that would warn you of things your students will probably try or ask as you are teaching this.  He not only gives you a heads up of things, but  gives you ideas on ways ways to teach so things are done the right way. 

Mr. Dye is also a big proponent of timed writing assignments all along the way.  I am becoming a much bigger fan of timed anything for school.  I have a few in my household who are big time wasters and dilly dally through their stuff, or think of really interesting stories to tell me while they are working  (A-man....I am talking about you!). 

The funny thing is, when I would get fed up and, for example, set the timer for him to complete his math.....he did better when he was under the pressure than when I would just let him take however long it took.

This is the same concept....if they have really mastered the steps for creating a perfect paragraph, that will translate to them mastering the essay....or research paper....or persuasive paper....and time will not be an issue....because they have mastered it.

These books definitely have a tone that speaks more to a classroom teacher than a homeschool teacher, but that doesn't bother me at all.  I can adapt most of the things for my individual students.

We also received a copy of The Homeschool Writing Action Plan, which breaks down the program into Steps, Pacing and the Road Map and shows how the other books fit into the plan in your homeschool. 



We are definitely going to keep moving through the Create Better Writers curriculum this year.  I am sure we will all be better writers by year's end.

How To Write a Paragraph comes free ($10 value) when you purchase The Five Paragraph Essay for $17.95. 

Create Better Writers has a  Complete Writing Program available, as well as standards based grammar for grades 3rd through 8th designed especially for homeschoolers. 

Check out what other members of the Review Crew though about Create Better Writers.


Disclaimer:  I received free e-books of How to Write a Paragraph, The Home School Writing  Action Plan, and Five Paragraph Essays in exchange for an honest review.