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Viking quest series - fabulous Christian fiction!

I'm hooked on these at the moment. I've been reading ahead for Vikings this spring and Read 'Raiders from the Sea' by Lois Walfrid Johnson... and now I've just finished the third book of 5 (at least, I hope it's only 5...).

The books have got good things going for them:-
- Great Christian content. Children pray, witness to others and mature as Christians.
- Great models of family life, especially father role model.
- Good on Viking detail
These would be most suited to 8/9 through to 14, at a guess, but I know my 6yo will like no 1 at least. Nice to have something apart from Patricia St John to recommend!

10/10

cd-rom reviews

I like having educational cd-roms around for a bit of light entertainment; much better than pure games. Here are some of the best I have for KS1 or KS2 - please let me know of any more good ones!

Jump Ahead French. Excellent product for 4-8s. Played enough, a child will learn their basic French numbers, colours, clothes, food, rooms of the house etc etc. Can't say enough good things.

History Explorer (DK). Gobbets of history in a game format. Played enough, the child will pick up quite a lot of useful info. Graphics good.

World Explorer (DK). One of my faves. It has a 'look-up' facility, but mostly it's a game. This game alone has made LL geographically literate. Played enough, the child will know all major continents, seas, countries, monuments and animals etc. Highly recommend.

British Isles Explorer (DK). Similar to World Explorer, but a stripped-down version. Not as interesting, but obviously the interest lies in it being about UK stuff.

Amazing Animals (DK). Lovely way of learning about animals; there are even video clips of some. Quizzes, games etc. Very good.

Children's Music Journey. This was a lot of money, and on the whole I think it's not brilliant VALUE. And yet it's an excellent product for the young child who just wouldn't have the patience for a more comprehensive program. It helped L an enormous amount to get into the whole music thing - composers, rhythm, notation etc. This would be perfect if your laptop is permanently plumbed in over your keyboard AND if you can buy all three cd-roms at a realy good price.

Play and learn science experiments. Just got into this one today. Simply virtual experiments. Fantastic - realistic, educational and... EXPERIMENTAL; L just fiddled around without reading the instructions, then went back to them when things didn't turn out as she expected. Great, particularly if you can get it cheap.

Become a science explorer. Great 'click around' type game. The bit I like is that science stems from pictures of a campsite or a collection of objects on a desk, with links to the 'science book' section, plus quizzes etc.

These are ones I'm neutral about:-

Human Body Explorer. Good educational content, but the option to just play games is there.

Brain Buster Quiz (DK). Too anarchic for me. Like a game show on TV and no context to the facts.

And here are the bottom of the pile:-

I love Spelling. Boring graphics IMO. Very limited games. Testing without understanding.

Castle Explorer (DK). Should be so good, but I couldn't get it to work.

Full Marks SATS (Idigicon) - facts in no context (ie SATs....) plus games that are impossible to navigate. Don't buy this - it was a freebie.

As I said, do let me know of any good resources!

Free mini Christmas lapbook

A week later and still the children are sick. So this morning we did a mini Christmas lapbook to get us back into the swing of things - fun and instructive.

Here are the links - all you need for a young one.

Nativity scene and mini books:-
http://www.scribd.com/doc/524998/Nativity-Lapbook

Christian minibooks with questions for writing in them:-
http://www.box.net/shared/65pega3pv6

Enjoy! Photos to follow...

Ten things for a tough homeschooling day

1. Prayer for patience. I go back to John Abbott's 'The Mother at Home': the godly, patient mother he depicts is often very far from where I'm at.

2. Telling myself: 'We are going to learn one thing today and that is...' It's amazing how much you can learn that way.

3. Getting the books out the night before; having the paperwork and marking up to date; pencils pre-sharpened. So obvious, and yet...

4. Something for the toddler at the table. Current faves are:
Playdough (but 10 minute limit until he eats it)
Cars/lego/happyland on the table.
Puzzles
Fuzzyfelt
Stuff he shouldn't have

5. Knowing what time in the day is set aside for the toddler. Otherwise: guilty mummy, screaming toddler.

6. Great books to refresh us all. I get quite fixated on our next/current history project, when there are so many wonderful stories out there. See my booklists. No wonder Sonlighters look happy!

7. Kitchen timer. On slow days, this is invaluable! Time is taken off fun stuff later if the task in hand isn't done by the bleeps.

8. Some mummy time to look forward to. When will my quiet time be? Even the evening online Tesco order is relaxing in comparison with the occasional 5pm-7pm 'arsenic hours'.

9. Some social contact for children and/or me.

10. Quality time with dh, not just talking school.

'Caddie Woodlawn' - the verdict is...

... a bit dull. It's hard to pin down why, but L and I have been manfully reading through it now for weeks, never quite finding the time for it, which certainly can't be said for the Little House books.

There are huge similarities with LHITBW; Caddie Woodlawn grows up in Wisconsin in the 1860s; Laura Ingalls Wilder in Wisconsin in the 1880s.

There are two things that really make this a 'won't bother again' book. Firstly, there's not the struggle against harsh conditions that makes LHITBW so riveting; the Woodlawns have done well for themselves, so the things that happen to them are somehow less exciting; maybe as well I didn't like Caddie as much as Laura. The book is also less spiritually uplifting. Although the Little House books I've read aren't particularly explicit about religion, the family acts in a 'Christian' way. This book just doesn't have that spiritual warmth, and it's therefore a less appealing book.

6/10 - OK

Cartoon Narnia - surprisingly good

My ill children watched this again this afternoon. It is pretty much their favourite 'special' DVD and I thought it deserved a mention.

This is a British animated production of 'the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe', running to about 1hr 40m. It's much better IMO than the film - very true to the book and a lot punchier. Wonderful British actors (though the child actors vary in quality). Slightly poor quality sound and visual due to the age of the original, but well worth the £2.98 on Amazon.