My Hope is Found
Posted by jlsgrant in Book & Product Reviews on August 8, 2013
I couldn’t have been more excited to be chosen as an “influencer” for the third book in the Cadence of Grace series by Joanne Bischof. It was mostly because I was happy to find out what transpires with Cassie and Gideon. This series has so many interesting twists and turns and “oh no’s!” and “oh my’s”, that I simply had to know where the story was headed!
But… if I have to be honest, I also wanted to have a little inside information ahead of the pack! I love to have a secret, way more than I like to tell a secret. So I’m excited that I know what happens with the story before most other readers! 😮
If you’re a regular follower of Mindful Ramblings, you know that I had the opportunity to read the second book in the series, Though My Heart is Torn, for the publisher’s Blogging for Books program. When I requested the book, I failed to notice that it was the second book in a series. I had not yet read the first! But I trudged ahead anyway, and had no problem connecting with the story. When I finished, I immediately looked online for the 3rd book, and found that it would not be published in October!! What? Don’t you hate waiting to see what’s going to happen with the characters, your new fictional friends, the friends you’ve grown to love? And with this story in particular, there was an emotional cliff hanger at the end of book two. But, I figured, sadly I’d just have to wait. 😦
But while I was waiting, I began to wonder about the difficult start to Lonnie and Gideon’s relationship that was eluded to in the second book, so I decided to go ahead and back up, and read the first book in the series, Be Still My Soul. It added so much depth to the characters and where they came from. And I’ll tell you….WOW! What a journey! What an amazing story of redemption and forgiveness! Now the waiting for book three would be even more difficult.
I decided to find Joanne Bischof’s Facebook page so I could stay in the loop. And in the loop I was!! One day she posted she would be receiving some Advance Reading Copies and would like to distribute copies to few people who could be “influencers” ahead of the October release date. I put my name in the hat…..and here I am! 🙂
So here I sit….having finished the third book in the series, My Hope is Found. Just filled to the brim with secrets about the crazy twists and turns that unfold….and I’ve pledged not to give away any spoilers! So you’ll just have to trust me on this. This story will keep you wondering until the end….Ha! And even at the end, there is a glimmer of something new the may unfold in the future. The door is open, if the author chooses to walk through it. It could be the birth of a whole new series!
So, if you haven’t read Be Still My Soul and Though My Heart is Torn, now is the perfect time! After you’re done, please come back and tell me….Are you Team Gideon or Team Toby?
Enjoy!
P.S. You can get a sneak peek of My Hope is Found over at Joanne’s blog.
Share this post
Homeschool Curriculum Plans 2013 – 2014
Posted by jlsgrant in Curriculum Plans on August 2, 2013
When we began home schooling, we started very much “in-the-box” style learning. Using more traditional textbook/workbook type studies and a traditional school year calendar. After completing our 7th year, we are now very eclectic in our approach. Because we’ve gotten away from a traditional school calendar year, our grade-level lines have turned a bit fuzzy.
The Author, is finishing up her Senior year and should really have all the traditional boxes ticked off by December 2013. Because she is writing a novel and wanted to take a gap-year between high school and college, we have really stretched her “senior” year across September 2012 to December 2013. Instead of a true gap-year, there will be some academic work to be done, and we will undoubtedly do at least a couple of classes at Community College along with an internship or part-time work and volunteering to fill out her schedule in the Winter/Spring terms.
The Astronomer, is entering 9th grade and is pretty much on a traditional schedule with the exception of Math. We decided math is better done without long breaks for summer, and since we finished Pre-Algebra in April, we went ahead and started Algebra 1 in May and have been working through the summer. Additionally, we are starting Astronomy now, since there is a significant portion of the class outdoors in the cool night air…..which will be really lovely in January in Michigan. 😦 We had planned to start the first of July, but the skies have been very overcast and cloudy this summer and it hasn’t worked out as well as we anticipated.
9th Grade English
Literature & Reading:
Out of the Silent Planet, C.S. Lewis
MacBeth, William Shakespeare
Treasure Island, Robert Louis Stevenson
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain
The Old Man and the Sea, Earnest Hemingway
The Call of the Wild, Jack London
The Hiding Place, Corrie Ten Boom
Johnny Tremain, Esther Forbes
The Lord of the Flies, William Golding
Hound of the Baskervilles, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
The Importance of Being Earnest, Oscar Wilde
For reference: Teaching the Classics and Reading Roadmaps, The Center for Literary Education. This will be The Astronomer’s first stab at literary analysis, so this list is in no particular order and we will start with simplest books first. I may add more, once we get into it. In addition, he will continue reading contemporary fiction on his own time. Read…Read…Read…
Vocabulary: Wordly Wise 3000, Online
Writing/Grammar: Cover Story, new by the publishers of One Year Adventure Novel. This is set to be shipped by the end of August so I haven’t seen it yet. But it looks awesome and we love One Year Adventure Novel, so we’re going to give it a try. In addition, he will write short author biographies and context paragraphs for the novels on his reading list.
Critical Thinking: Building Thinking Skills, by The Critical Thinking Company
12th Grade: Dual Enrollment
The Author has plenty of English credits to cover core “requirements” and a few electives. So she will be dual-enrolling for college English Composition and Literature classes.
Senior Project: Finish, edit and revise novel and submit to publishers/agents. This is our first priority for The Author!
Various writing/publishing seminars online. (If you have a writer, consider subscription to Writers’ Digest magazine for lots of helpful resources.)
9th Grade
Algebra 1, Teaching Textbooks (started in May and will proceed through summer, with a few breaks) and then proceed on to Algebra 2
12th Grade
Finish Geometry, using ALEKS, and then move on to a Dual-Enrollment class in January
9th Grade (and possibly 12th Grade, for an additional science credit)
Classical Astronomy with Lab – Because we want warm nights, we are starting this now. Primary Source: Signs & Seasons: Understanding the Elements of Classical Astronomy with Field Journal. Supplement with biographies and other astronomy and space books from library.
Field Trips to various local planetariums and observatories. Also visiting, weather permitting, Dark Skies locations in Scotland in September.
9th and 12th Grade
U.S. Government – The 5000 Year Leap: Principles of Freedom 101 by the National Center for Constitutional Studies. Supplemental reading, Democracy in America by Alexis de Tocqueville and possibly some historical fiction, as needed.
Before beginning the U.S. Government course, we will do a brief survey of other forms of government around the world.
Economics – Blue Stocking Guide to Economics by Jane A. Williams and Whatever Happened to Penny Candy? by Richard J. Maybury
Also looking at resources from Stossel In the Classroom to supplement here if needed. (Strong opinion and great discussion questions.)
Foreign Language:
12th Grade: Japanese 2 with tutor or dual-enrollment. Haven’t decided which direction yet. The Author really wants a native Japanese instructor.
9th Grade: Survey of three foreign languages. We will start by using Russian in 10 Minutes a Day by Bilingual Books. Then we will probably proceed to French and Spanish. Once we make a final decision, we will switch to Rosetta Stone and/or a language tutor. The Astronomer really wants to learn Russian; I’m not sure why, but I suspect it has something to do with working on the International Space Station someday 🙂
P.E: Archery, Junior Olympic Archery Development program at local Archery Club. We may also throw in a little martial arts or tennis.
Computer/Technology: The Astronomer is helping me review TeenCoder by Homeschool Programming. If all goes well, we will continue this throughout the school year. The first semester is Windows Programming with C#, the second semester is on Game Programming. (Note: This review is due the between August 30th and September 5th. Please keep an eye on Mindful Ramblings, if you’re curious about this product.)
Life Skills/Practical Arts: This is a fuzzy, catch-all class to include credit for anything related to life skills. This class includes, but is not limited to: Bible Study/Devotions, Culinary Arts, Personal Finance, Driver Education, Organizational Skills, First Aid, Cleaning, Yard Maintenance, etc. Thinking about using The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens by Sean Covey and What Color is Your Parachute? For Teens by Carol Christen and Richard N. Bolles as part of this course. Since we will be traveling, God willing, to Alaska in September, I may include some travel planning as part of this course 🙂
So, I think that’s about it for us. What about you?
Disclaimer: While this post includes mention of many specific products and links for more information, no compensation of any kind has been received for promoting these products.
Share this post
One Word
Mindful Ramblings 