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I have always been an avid reader, and my Dad was quite a history lover who taught me a lot about history. As a result, I was thrilled to be chosen as one of the lucky reviewers to receive a copy of Bessie’s Pillow, a book written about a very brave eighteen year old young woman who emigrated to the United States in 1906.
Linda Bress Silbert and her husband Al are the owners of Strong Learning, Inc. which is a well known tutoring company in the New York area. They have authored a number of educational games and books. Bessie’s Pillow though, is Linda Bress Silbert’s first novel.
Written by Linda Bress Silbert, Bessie’s granddaughter, this book is a fascinating read, particularly during this present time in our history when there are so many divisions around the topic of immigration.
While Bessie’s Pillow IS a novel, it is based upon the true life of Linda Bress Silbert’s grandmother Bessie, who started out as Boshka Markman. It is also written in the first person, from Bessie’s point of view and in her voice, which made it that much more real to me. Like so very many who emigrated here during that time, officials changed her name to Elizabeth. She chooses to go by Bessie, as it sounds more Jewish.
Bessie is an Orthodox Jew from Lithuania, and her parents send her off to America to escape the pograms and murder where they live. It was very brave of her, as she would never see them again.
Bessie was fortunate that her parents were able to sacrifice and send her first class on the ship. They were very afraid of having her go in steerage, and given her descriptions of what she saw, I feel that she might have never made it otherwise, regardless of the fact that she was a very strong young woman.
When Bessie is leaving on the train to go to the ship, she is given a special pillow by a lady and asked to please bring it to the lady’s son, already in America, if Bessie can find him. The pillow does play a big part in Bessie’s story, even during the time before she goes looking for it’s owner. It becomes a source of comfort for her, I think.
Reading this account of Bessie’s life, you will learn so much about the history of the time, about the differences in immigration procedures (for example, before even getting on the ship, Bessie had to be physically examined for illness, etc, and the immigrants had to be stripped, totally cleaned, clothing cleaned, etc.) Then, as mentioned above, if one’s name was too foreign sounding, then the officials on Ellis Island changed their names!
Once she arrives here, Bessie’s story chronicles her life through 1936, as she begins to find her footing, is rejected by those she thought would be there for her, goes out on her own to make her way. She finds work, good work, eventually, and goes on to be the strong woman we could see that she would be. We see her build her life and family for many years, and helping others in many ways.
There are numerous online resources which will aid you in making this book into an actual unit study. Here, there are a number of links to things such as:
There is also a pdf Teachers guide to help you.
This is a greatly enjoyable book, even more so because it is a true story!
To read what other crew members think, please click the banner below!
As always, I would just love it if you would join me in all of “My Journeys Through Life.” Just go to the subscription box at the top of the blog and enter your email information. After that, you will always know when there is something new happening. I hope to see you here very soon! -)
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As always, I would just love it if you would join me in all of “My Journeys Through Life.” Just go to the subscription box at the top of the blog and enter your email information. After that, you will always know when there is something new happening. I hope to see you here very soon! -)
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We have been checking out the preview version of a brand new unit study from Home School Adventure Co.
I am proud to have reviewd products from this company before: Philippians in 28 Weeks and Mere Christianity Critical Analysis Journal, both of which were also authored by Stacy Farrell.
It was difficult for me to choose which of the Home School Adventure Co. products I wanted my family to review, but in the end, after switching back and forth a number of times, I went with Walking With The Waodani, written by Stacy Farrell. I chose it in part because we very much enjoy the unit study format as one that we can generally all do together, even though my kids are at different levels of ability. It was also a topic I was interested in, having read materials before written by Elisabeth Elliot. She was married to Jim Elliot, one of the missionaries killed by the tribe written about in this study. You can read more about Elisabeth Elliot here.
Walking with the Waodani is a geographical unit study that features homeschool graduate Russell Winter’s 7-week-long adventure in Ecuador. We received this in digital format for the purpose of this review.
One thing I love about the unit study format is that you cover a lot more than one subject within any unit study. In Walking With The Waodani, you will learn about history and geography. You will have creative writing and world view studies. And your children (especially if you have boys, like I do) will enjoy hitting topics like anacondas, grubs, and piranha (all things *I* could go my entire life without hearing anything about, lol!)
This study came about after the author’s teen sons asked to go to an airsoft tournament hosted by a young man named Russell Winter, a meeting which led to the creation of the unit study Walking With The Waodani. You may read all about that meeting, and where it led, here.
This study is meant to cover one lesson per week, but really, if you want to be more in depth like we do, you can stretch that out just as you can with any unit study. Another positive of using this format! 🙂
Here are the things which are covered in each lesson of Walking With The Waodani:
Each lesson also includes what Stacy Farrell calls the Travel Journal components:
We are really enjoying Walking With The Waodani, and i think you will, as well! As I said, we are working with a preview version. The entire unit study has not yet been released, but if you go to this page and sign up, you will be notified when the full version is released. I personally can barely wait for it!
To read 99 other fair and honest reviews of this and three other products from Home School Adventure Co., please click on the banner below.
As always, I would just love it if you would join me in all of “My Journeys Through Life.” Just go to the subscription box at the top of the blog and enter your email information. After that, you will always know when there is something new happening. I hope to see you here very soon! -)
We have lately been working with a Language Arts program from the company Eclectic Foundations.
We were given Eclectic Foundations Language Arts Level B for the purpose of this review.
My son’s “Mr. Loquacious” and “The Puzzler” are currently using this program, but since I received the digital format, I will be able to use it with my other boys as well. I like that, because none of them have really been formally exposed to grammar, we have mostly done grammar through everyday speech and correction when necessary.
What we received in our digital download:
I received this in one large download of 518 pages.
The only other book needed is McGuffy’s Eclectic First Reader. The Electic Foundations Level B has a link where you may download it for free, or you may as I chose to do, order a physical copy which cost me very little.
The author of this program, Elizabeth Ratliff has used additional sources to base this program on. The phonics lessons are based on Word Mastery written by Florence Akin, whereas Grammar lessons are based on First Lessons in English written by Thomas Harvey. The majority of the poems and copy work come from Poems by Grades written by Van Stone Harris and Charles B. Gilbert. While all of these books are available at no cost online, you will not need to seek them out and print them, as the author has included them right within the program, except for the McGuffy’s First Eclectic Reader. She has also modified some of the content of the books to accommodate the language of today.
One thing that always concerns me is, how much am I going to have to spend for extra supplies to work through a program. You’ll be pleased to know that with Eclectic Foundations Level B (and I imagine it is the same for the other levels), there is not much to purchase. This is the list of what I needed, and where I got it very inexpensively:
So the author is quite correct to say that not much extra needs to be purchased! With the digital format of course, you do need printer paper and ink. I also purchased notebooks cheaply at the dollar store, and page protectors for the phonics practice sheets (I do not have a laminator yet, hint hint!)
While reading the overview at the beginning of the Teacher’s Guide, I found the instructions telling me what to print out and how many of each thing. I have opted NOT to print the Teacher’s Guide. I’m instead reading it from the pdf. For each student, I needed to print the student pages, the phonics practice sheets, and the McGuffy’s Word Cards (the cards are to be printed onto white card stock). Along with reading the Teacher’s Guide from the pdf, I have chosen to print the student pages no more that one or two lessons at a time so that it isn’t overwhelming.
This program has 36 four-day weeks, which should carry through an entire school year. We educate through the year though, so I may slow it down a bit, both to accommodate our year and to accommodate the slower learning pace we have here.
Here are “Mr. Loquacious” and “The Puzzler” working through a lesson:
We decided it was easier to do the pages on the table and THEN place them into the notebooks.
Neither of the boys are complaining about doing this (a refreshing change!), and agreed with me that the lessons are not overly long. This is very “Charlotte Mason” friendly, including picture study and poetry right along with the grammar and phonics.
There was a time when I much preferred physical products, but I have gradually come around when it comes to downloadable versions. I have four children of varying disabilities and levels, so having the digital version is such a great help!
If you like a program that is very easy to use whether it’s the physical or digital version, I recommend Eclectic Foundations Language Arts. If you are not sure, you can easily check it out for free. Download the Scope and Sequence here, a 58 page preview of the first four weeks here, and the Phonics Sheets and Word Cards here. Doing this aided me both in deciding that I really wanted to try this program with my kids, and in choosing which level to ask for to review.
The digital format is $30.00, an extremely good price even if you have only one child. I have four!
You can find Eclectic Foundations on Facebook
To read 79 other fair and honest crew reviews of this and two other levels of Eclectic Foundations Language Arts, please click on the banner below:
As always, I would just love it if you would join me in all of “My Journeys Through Life.” Just go to the subscription box at the top of the blog and enter your email information. After that, you will always know when there is something new happening. I hope to see you here very soon! -)
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Our dog Shiloh, who is actually “The Batman’s” therapy dog (in training to be a full service dog) has developed quite a limp in his front right leg. It comes and goes, depending on if he’s just gotten up, or has been very active. We were concerned about whether or not he had been injured, and were hoping it would just be something like arthritis. I thought he was way too young for it to be arthritis, but my husband pointed out that if he had a previous injury from before we adopted him, that could cause it to develop. so, off to the Pet Hospital we went yesterday.
Well, Shiloh right off the bat HATED when his temperature was taken! And because he was less than compliant, it was necessary to put him out for his x-rays, so we needed to leave him there until he was done and came out of the anesthesia, etc. Here is what was discovered, poor baby:
At some point before we adopted him, Shiloh was shot with a pellet gun. The pellet shows up on the x-rays. The Dr. showed me where is had hit the shoulder bone, which caused scar tissue and then arthritis, then it ended up deep in the muscle as well. She feels that it would cause way more harm than good to go trying to dig it out at this point, so he came home with anti-inflamatory chewables for one week, then she’ll see him on an outpatient basis to check on how he’s doing with the med before prescribing it long-term. Then, he’ll have to have blood work every six months to check liver and kidney function.They also drew blood to check for heart worm, and once it came back negative he received a shot to prevent it which is good for six months. None of his other shots are due quite yet. Here’s a picture of our poor little guy when we got home:
The green bandage is where the blood draw was done. we were able to remove it shortly after this picture was taken. So Shiloh didn’t have much fun yesterday, but he’s pretty much back to normal now.
As always, I’d love it if you join me on all of “My Journeys Through Life!” Just enter your email into the subscription box at the top of the blog and you’ll hear about it whenever there is a new post. Hope to see you here soon!
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Just one, maybe two. I’ve been sick, lying on the couch lately. And then broke my toe, so have been on the couch icing it. I got up for a couple of minutes, and came back to this:
Some family members seem to think they are entitled!
I’d love to have you join me on all of “My Journeys Through Life!” Just go to the subscription box at the top of the blog, enter your email, and you’ll be notified whenever there is anything new. Hope to see you here soon! 🙂
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As always, I’d love to have you join me on all of my “Journeys Through Life!” Just go to the subscription box at the top of the blog, enter your email, and you’ll always know when there is something new.
We also have a Facebook page, and would just love to have you visit and give us a “like!”
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First, My wonderful stylist Jody Muniz at 89 Hair Design in Albuquerque took care of me . . .
Before:
And, After!
Then, a trip to Happy Nails in Albuquerque!
The light color is what it looks like if my hands are warm, and the dark is when my hands are cold. Neat, huh?
As always, I’d love to have you join me on all of my “Journeys Through Life!” Just go to the subscription box at the top of the blog, enter your email, and you’ll always know when there is something new.
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I give my kids fake names on this blog having to do with their interests or personalities. Recently, we had a little party for “The Batman’s” 24th birthday. Now, as long as I can remember, ever since he discovered Batman as a very little boy, He’s been Batman crazy. He even carries around little Batman figures for different things . . . one for reading, one for watching TV, one for sleeping, and one to just carry in his pocket wherever he goes. 🙂 Well, a new friend of ours who happens to be a member of Heroes Alliance NM, and who portrays Batman as a member of this group, had planned to come for Alex’s party as a favor. Unfortunately, at the last minute he ended up stuck going to work at his “secret identity” job because a lot of people called off that day. 😦 However, being the great guy he is, he sent some replacement heroes, who were kind enough to come!
So, the birthday party!
Eating pizza with Tony Stark and Wonder Woman . . .
And with Hal Jordan and his lady friend Tasha . . .
After pizza, Hal Jordan had to leave, but look! The Green Lantern showed up!
We’ve decided that Wonder Woman truly is a brave woman. When all the boys asked if she would have a mock battle with them, she agreed! They gave her a sword, and she let them shoot her with Nerf guns!
Here is the birthday cake . . .
And our Batman, blowing out the candles!
One good pic of all the kids with our special heroes . . .
Now, the really cool thing in addition to this is that Batman came by about a week later, in his “secret identity” to bring our Batman an autographed photo.
He accidentally left his sunglasses behind, so when he came back for them the next day, he brought a Batman book for our Batman. What a guy! 🙂
Please visit and “like” the Heroes Alliance NM Facebook page!
As always, I’d love to have you join me on all of my “Journeys Through Life!” Just go to the subscription box at the top of the blog, enter your email, and you’ll always know when there is something new.
We also have a Facebook page, and would just love to have you visit and give us a “like!”
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My Journeys Through Life . . . Herding Cats In New Mexico! 