4 hours ago
Note: Affiliate link below.
I picked up Before You Hit Send by Emerson Eggerichs 1) because I think Eggerichs usually has interesting points to make, and 2) couldn't we all use a little more help when it comes to thinking before we comment? In person and online? I think so.
This book wasn't quite what I expected, but I still had plenty to think about while I was reading it.
I would say the title of this book is a little misleading in that it doesn't actually talk specifically about social media. I was all ready to be self-righteous and nod my head as he gave reasons against social media rants, but this book focused more on interactions with people in general. There were no self-righteous head nods as I realized that yes, I do have some of my own problems with each of the points he listed, and it challenged me to think a little more carefully about how I am communicating.
His focus in this book is to remind readers to ask themselves four questions (that you've probably heard) before speaking: Is it true? Is it kind? Is it necessary? Is it clear?
He takes a section for each question and shares different ways in which people may not be true, kind necessary, or clear in their communication. I thought he did a good job of breaking things down and getting you to think about different ways that you may be falling into less-than-helpful communication habits - including some that weren't as obvious. I think we can all think of an interaction where someone else was less than true, kind, necessary, or clear, but Eggerichs made me think about where I need to work on those areas, which made this book really helpful.
My only complaint is that some of his suggestions for what to say to different types of people about their communication didn't necessarily come off as kind to me, but that probably depends on the tone in which it is said (or maybe it's just because my personality is different than Eggerichs).
This book is definitely helpful if you want to become a more constructive communicator, so if it sounds interesting, check it out! (Just don't expect a lot about social media.)
Note: I received a copy of this book for free in exchange for a review. This is my honest opinion.
A little confession: I've struggled for the last several years to really enjoy the Christmas season. Maybe it's the extra pressure that comes from being a mom and having more people to juggle, maybe expectations outside our immediate family have ramped up...I don't know, but no matter how much I prepare, the season still seems to be more stressful than I would like.
(Affiliate link below.)
Knowing this about myself, when I saw Loving My Actual Christmas by Alexandra Kuykendall, I knew I had to grab it. Because I am self-aware enough to realize that I do need to take some pressure off myself and learn to love the actual Christmas I have, even if it doesn't look the way I want.
This book is less a how-to, and more of a personal memoir of how the author herself managed to enjoy her Christmas even amidst all the hustle and bustle. Each chapter is centered around a week of the Christmas season and focuses on a theme - hope, love, joy, and peace. She writes about how her actual Christmas season pans out as she tries to keep her focus on these different themes each week.
It might seem like reading about someone else's Christmas experience wouldn't be overly helpful, but I actually found this whole book really encouraging. Because it wasn't perfect, and she was busy, and she cried a couple times, but in the end she found she enjoyed the season more because amidst the busyness she took time to focus on her themes, and how they relate to the reason we celebrate in the first place!
I loved how she ties it all back around to the nativity, and how God became a man in order to save us. It wasn't preachy, just reflective, and it gave me hope that maybe this Christmas season I can find time to prepare my heart too. That's really what I think I'm personally missing during December, the focus on Jesus's birth. I've usually blamed it on not enough time or space to really reflect, but I have tried preparing early and the busyness still gets to me - I need to find time to focus on Christ in the midst of all the Christmas tasks, and this book encouraged me that it's possible.
(I also just have to say that I LOVE the idea of Christmastide that she includes in this book - i.e.. extending the Christmas celebration and reflection beyond the actual holiday. I think this might provide me some of that space and time that I want so desperately at Christmas.)
The line that really got me was in the last part of this book:
"...I wondered if that's the point of this Christmas. The over and over. The message on repeat. In all circumstances. Whether we acknowledge it or not, this message of "I love you" this love note of a Savior wrapped in swaddling clothes - more importantly, wrapped in skin - is to be the wave over us every year. "I love you." And again, "I love you". And a year later, when we've had a heck of a go at life and things aren't looking as we thought the would or should, "I love you" again." pg. 91
Isn't that a beautiful way to look at the Christmas season? As a yearly reminder, a yearly "I love you" from the Lord. I hope to take that attitude with me this year and leave some of the stress behind.
Overall, I recommend this book if you are consistently finding yourself stressed out every Christmas season - it encouraged me, and I'm hoping to take some of her ideas into the season in a couple months!
Note: I received a copy of this book from the publisher for free in exchange for a review. This is my honest opinion.
Fiction
I've found that I typically can't handle really heavy or depressing fiction since I found out I was pregnant...so I've felt myself drawn to middle-grade fiction lately. I think I've discovered a new favorite genre! Not only can middle-grade fiction be surprisingly deep, but there is no danger of inappropriate language or situations, which I also have little patience for these days.
(Some affiliate links below...to help support my reading habits, you know!)
(Some affiliate links below...to help support my reading habits, you know!)
Flipped (5 stars) - If you've never seen this movie, GO RENT IT FROM THE LIBRARY RIGHT NOW! It's an adorable coming of age/ middle school crush plot. And I think I've mentioned before how I'm a sucker for coming of age stories. The book is basically the movie in written form - they stuck really close to the book with the movie, so you could really read the book or see the movie and not miss much. Needless to say, I loved every minute of it.
Wonder (4 stars) - This is coming out as a movie soon, so there's been some buzz around the book...and the audio was only $4, so I decided to try it. I really enjoyed this story, about a boy with a facial deformity, and how he copes with it as he starts at a new school. I totally fell in love with the characters in this book, and I thought it struck a nice balance between addressing more serious topics (like bullying) while still being fun to read (listen to), and not too painful for my pregnant sensibilities. I took off one star because of some references to reincarnation, which I thought parents should be aware of should their kids read this book.
Austenland/Midnight In Austenland (4 stars) - Total fluff. I know it's total fluff. But I loved every minute of these books too! The plots of these books are based around a secretive vacation spot where women can go live for two weeks completely immersed in a Jane-Austen-era experience - included actors who romance them, so they can be just like an Austen heroine. Some sexual innuendos in these books, but generally pretty mild compared to most secular fiction. The plots were just too fun, I laughed out loud several times, and the endings were cute. I liked the second one even better than the first, but start with the first.
The Ark Plan/Code Name Flood (4 stars) - These novels are set in the future, after biologists bring back the dinosaurs, and the dinosaurs take over the world, forcing mankind underground. If that plot synopsis doesn't suck you in, I can't do anything for you. Nothing too meaningful in these books, and some evolutionary references, but I could hardly put them down.
The Secret Keeper (5 stars) - I read grown-up fiction too, really! This was my first Kate Morton book, and I'm kind of scared to fully dive into another one now, because I loved this book so much. I'm not sure any of her other novels will compare. The thing that really drove this up on my list of favorites this year was the way the book ended. There was a twist, and I loved the way it all turned out. I don't do sad endings. See Goodreads review for full content disclaimers, but I really liked it.
The Husband's Secret (1.5 stars) - I keep trying Moriarty books because I liked What Alice Forgot so much, but I've generally been disappointed. Nothing can measure up to Alice. I really didn't like this one. A lot more inappropriate content than some of her books, and I didn't like all the cheating. It left me regretting the time I spent reading it. Bleh.
Non-Fiction
I've read some pretty stellar non-fiction this year, and several of those books already received their own review on the blog, so please check them out here! Here are a few more though.
Teaching From Rest: A Homeschooler's Guide To Unshakeable Peace (5 stars) - I listened to the audio of this, and I thought there was a lot of encouragement and practical advice for homeschool moms here. I'll probably re-read this one again, to catch some of the stuff I missed on audio, but I found it really helpful to gear me up for starting homeschooling this fall.
Boundaries (4 stars) - This is practically a classic, but I've never read it before a couple months ago. I picked it up because I've recognized that I am one of those people that often has trouble saying no, and I've been trying to get better at it this last year. This book is about setting boundaries in your various relationships, and also with yourself. I didn't agree with everything in it, but it was still an interesting read! If you're into psychology at all, you'd also probably find this one interesting.
Escape (4 stars) - Prepare to be disturbed if you pick this one up! Carolyn Jessop tells her story of escaping the fundamentalist Mormon church. I found a lot of the (pretty graphically described) abuse in this book disturbing, but it was also hard to put down because I wanted to see how she finally escaped. It ended on a bit of a hopeless note though, which didn't help with my general level of disturbedness (that's a word, right?) - but I did learn a lot about Mormonism, and it made me add Jessop to my prayer list.
Why Men Hate Going To Church (3.5 stars) - I've heard this author speak on a couple of my podcasts, so when the audio of this book went on sale, I grabbed it. He brings up a lot of interesting points about why church (as in church services on Sunday) is not appealing to a lot of men. The thing that bugged me about this book was that a lot of his points were supported by personal anecdotes...I thought the book would have been a lot stronger if he could have provided some research to back up his thoughts. However, it did get me thinking about how churches are generally more geared toward women (which is pretty undeniable), and what to look for in a church if you want your man and/or sons to feel at home. It came in pretty handy since we've been in a position of looking for a new church recently.
Already Gone: Why Your Kids Will Quit Church And What You Can Do To Stop It (5 stars) - I read this book for free online, and you can too! Or you can buy the Kindle version for only $3 right now. We are young earth creationists and Ken Ham fans in this house - if you aren't, your toes may be stepped on with this book, I'm not going to lie. Ham argues that a big reason many young people have left church is because they do not take a strong view on the authority of Scripture (including Genesis) - and he presents evidence that they are picking this up because of a weakened view of Scripture in our churches (and homes). Unlike the book above, this one was really well supported by a survey study, and Ham breaks down the results and gives his opinion on where we are going wrong. I found it really fascinating, and once again, the points he made were good to think about as we were picking a new church.
Currently, I am reading World Religions And Cults: Volume One by Bodie Hodge (really interesting and informative so far), Loving My Actual Christmas by Alexandra KuyKendall (I need as much help as I can get in this area), and More Than Just Making It by Erin Odom (financial stuff, which I could also use help with since our budget is a lot more restricted this year). I've also abandoned many books that just weren't doing it for me this summer (maybe those deserve an extra post).
Have you read any of these? What have you been reading lately?
I’ve been gearing up for this year of homeschooling for months now, and I’m happy to report that I finally have all my curriculum choices ironed out!
I wrote last year about different homeschooling styles, and if you are familiar with homeschooling philosophies you’ll probably guess that my style (so far anyway) is an eclectic Charlotte Mason. I like learning through real books, but I do use some workbooks and texts too, which is where the eclectic side of it comes in.
Without further ado, here are my choices for the first grade! I have high hopes for this school year and am curious to see how all these choices work out for us!
(Note: Some of the links below are affiliate links.)
Science
For science this year we are working through Apologia Zoology 1: Flying Creatures Of The Fifth Day. I did Apologia science in high school when I was homeschooled and I LOVED it. I read through my science book just for fun sometimes - it was that good. I was really excited to see that Apologia had a science curriculum for elementary school as well! I love how it not only teaches solid science, but is written from a biblical worldview. It points out where science and the Bible intersect, and I love that! Wyatt is also very interested in “flying things”, particularly birds, so I think he’ll soak this science book up.
Some of the assignments/concepts are probably a bit much for a first grader, so we are just going to work through as much of it as we can, and I plan on keeping the book to repeat in a few years. This science curriculum is really rich, so I think he’ll get a ton out of it even if we do it in a future year.
Since we will be doing a lighter version of Apologia to fit our level, I am also planning on alternating and incorporating some lessons from Building Foundations Of Scientific Understanding. I’d say this book is more of a guide for teaching science, but I really like how the lessons are laid out to build on each concept and teach the scientific method. I think this will be a great guide to use especially in the middle of the winter when birds and insects become a little more scarce.
Math
For math, I decided to go with Rightstart this year. Over the last year I’ve started to figure out Wyatt’s learning style a bit, and I think he will do well with the manipulative and games that are used in the Rightstart curriculum. A lot of friends use Math-U-See because of the manipulatives, and I was considering that one because I really like Steve Demme - but I’ll be honest, sometimes the way he visualizes the math in that curriculum confuses ME (and I already know how to multiply/divide, etc). I went with Rightstart because it looked a little more doable for ME as the teacher, and because I think Wyatt will really enjoy the games that reinforce the concepts. I also like that Rightstart is a bit of a “spiral” math curriculum (as opposed to a “linear” curriculum like Math-U-See) in that it circles back to concepts, because I think we will all need the review to really tie everything together.
If you know anything about Rightstart though, you know that it is NOT cheap. I would have paid the full price because I am really thinking this will work for Wyatt, but I was so blessed to find it used at a used curriculum sale for about a quarter of the price!
I also got a math workbook, called Math Lessons For A Living Education, because I think in those couple months after the baby comes this will be a great fill-in. It’s a book that introduces math concepts through stories, and will be an easy thing to do with Wyatt sitting next to me on the couch while nursing Baby or whatever. I wanted to get this just to make things a little simpler on myself until I can get back into a regular routine again after the baby. This book can be a full curriculum itself, but I think we’ll be using it as a fill-in/review this year since it’s an odd school year for our family - and I’ll hang on to it for Gwen, because she is definitely a workbook girl!
History
I am probably most excited about teaching history to Wyatt this year, because I decided to go with Beautiful Feet Books! I got a big box of beautiful REAL books to read to the kids, with all kinds of wonderful stories about people and events from history. Beautiful Feet Books sends all the books I need along with a study guide with a schedule, questions and assignments for the students, etc. This curriculum can be done in one year or two, and we will definitely be stretching it out for two years. We’re doing the Early American History 1 course, and I’ll do another vlog soon to show you all the books.
Reading/Writing
For reading and writing we are continuing on with Teach Your Child To Read In 100 Easy Lessons until we finish it - though we’ll see how it goes. I loved the first part of this book, but I find myself getting annoyed the further into it we get, because a lot of it is really repetitive, and my Type-A side is irritated that we’re already moving on to two-syllable words and consonant blends before we even cover all the basic consonant sounds. It makes it tricky to incorporate most early reader books using this curriculum because a lot of basic sounds/rules aren’t covered until later. I’m adding in phonics rules and sounds as I deem appropriate. We are also working in some Bob Books for days when Wyatt (and I) get sick of using the same old reading book.
Either way, we will finish this book before the end of this semester, so we’ll roll into Rod and Staff’s first grade reading curriculum after that. Rod and Staff incorporates workbooks and readers, but what I really love about Rod and Staff is how Bible-focused the curriculum is. Wyatt has also enjoyed their preschool and kindergarten workbooks in the past year, so I think he’ll like that aspect.
For writing practice I ordered Teach Your Child To Read, Write, And Spell 100 Easy Bible Verses to use as a companion to the Teach Your Child To Read Book, because I love how the whole point of it is to get your kids memorizing and writing Bible verses.
Language Arts
I wasn’t sure what I really wanted to do for Language Arts, because a lot of grammar can’t really be covered until a kid can, you know, READ (and write). However, I found First Language Lessons For The Well-Trained Mind at the homeschool conference with basic language arts concepts that I can start to introduce now, even before the kids are independently reading and writing. These lessons are simple and quick, and I think it looks really doable.
Bible
I agonized a bit over what to do for Bible this year, because in a way Bible is incorporated into every subject. Everything can be related back to Scripture and our faith in Jesus, and I intend to teach that way. However, I did want something more specific particularly for myself, to make sure I won’t start to neglect spiritual instruction in the midst of the busyness of all the day-to-day subjects.
I went to Cathy Duffy’s site and started looking through Bible curricula, and I landed was interested in Bible Treasures, which covers Genesis to Ruth in the first grade year, but after ordering it and looking through it, I decided against it. I didn’t like how it explained salvation (it almost made it sound works-based). I could have worked with it and explained things better to the kids as we worked through it, but I have a tendency to get irritated when books geared toward children don’t explain these concepts well. So I sent it back and now I have no Bible curriculum to work with after all.
We are currently reading through some of our Bible storybooks, reading from scripture, and learning catechism questions, which is great, but not exactly the well-organized plan I was hoping for. If anyone has any suggestions for a Bible curriculum, I’m all ears!
Extras
I'm planning our Fridays to be the day for extras - including poetry, cooking lessons (with Usborne's Start To Cook), crafts and art lessons, and maybe some music/composer exposure (using Spotify and My First Classical Music Book). I'm planning to loop schedule all these different things, so we won't be doing each thing every week.
So there you go! Our curriculum list. you may have noticed that for several of the subjects I bought two resources instead of just picking one - which, I’m going to be honest, may be a mistake. I’ve heard it said that you should specifically NOT buy extras, because it is likely that you will never use them. However, for the subjects that I bought two curricula it was either because one of the curricula will only take us through half the year, or because I needed something less fussy to use in the couple months after the baby is born. The exception is science, but we’re just going to play that one by ear and see which curricula sticks (if our jump-start this summer is any indication, it will be Apologia). I do think that between this year and next year we will end up using all this curricula though, and I’m excited about our choices!
Homeschool moms - what curriculum are you using this year?
(Affiliate link below.)
I am preparing a post for next week about homeschooling and all our curriculum choices - it's exciting having older kids and introducing them to some of the books I loved as a kid! I am loving that we get to dip our toes into chapter books, and when my kids recognize a literary character my heart is just so happy.
However, one thing I am trying to be cognizant of is that while I am a mom to an elementary school kid now...I am also still a mom to toddlers and preschoolers. And they need some books geared toward them too. I'm trying to make sure I make time to read books that are on their level during our homeschool day too!
Tommy Nelson has so many adorable books for younger kiddos, and my recent favorite is Night Night, Train by Amy Parker. This book goes through different night-time routines as the characters prepare to board the train to "Sleeptown". All in rhyme! (I am particularly fond of books that rhyme.) If that doesn't give you an idea of how cute this book is, let's look at some pictures, shall we?
Not only are the illustrations adorable, but this book is about trains! Trains are Clyde's current favorite subject, and one of the transportation words that Clarice has latched onto, so this book is perfect for our family right now. We'll definitely be incorporating it into our nighttime routine!
Note: I received a copy of this book for free from Tommy Nelson in exchange for a review. This is my honest opinion.
Note: I received a copy of this book for free from Tommy Nelson in exchange for a review. This is my honest opinion.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
