"Heaven is for Real" by Todd Burpo

This book was about a family who face tough health experiences and continue to communicate their fears and share their strengths.  Through all the struggles with his sons health over a few short years, this dad relates what his son learned while very ill and near death. 

I wouldn't have picked this book because it seemed so real to loose a kid. I spend 24/7/365 with my kids as a homeschool parent. I'm glad that each of my kids is learning to know, love and serve a risen Savior.  I don't even watch movies based on real life events, so that's why I would not have regularly chosen this book as these parents watched their son slip in and out of a coma.  These parents work hard and do so much to teach/love their children.

But, it did express an idea of hope, which is all I have to glean from it. I received Heaven is for Real via an account at http://booksneeze.com/ and am glad to see others enjoy the book more than I did. 

Some Words Just Don't Work for ME

Some words are very easy to say. Accidentally, luckily, coincidentally...  Those words are just not that helpful. They don't tell the whole story about the fact that things happen as a logical sequence of events that I've started OR that someone other than myself have started. Doesn't mean I'm a fatalist, it just means that the words accident, lucky and coincidental are used way too much.
Some words are more easily acted out. Entitlement, Deserve.. Really, we all deserve and are entitled to a miserable existence on our own (alone) in this tiny planet with no mercy or hope. Really, all have done hideous things to some extent and are entitled to punishment.  I just do the best with what I've got and am trying each day to be incredibly grateful instead of entitled.
Grace is a better word, and love; humble, generous, polite, providence. So much easier to use those words more readily, or for that fact, just act them out on a regular basis to get the muscles working.  Yep, a grace muscle needs exercise.  These muscles work for me and I do the best with what I have thankfully trying to learn something from it all.

History History Everywhere

Just as the Cat of Bubastes captivated their attention a few months ago while studying ancient Egypt, Jim Weiss's voice reading The Young Carthaginian is brilliant for telling us this story.  We get to follow along on the Kindle and the cloud reader on the computer in order to keep up on this story.

We are using the Harmony Arts Mom plans for Ancient art.
The pages assigned for my 3Gs are easily completed while reading this DK Ancient Rome book.


Find all kinds of teaching wisdom at http://harmonyartmom.blogspot.com/

BTW, this isn't an advert, it's what we used and it worked for us!

My Original Tween

He's standing, because he can't sit still. How did he get along in the classroom for those months of kindergarten and first grade. He's alone in the room talking to himself as he outlines and drafts sentences which give shape to a book report. His first book report is almost drafted.  I can't read his handwriting, but somehow it makes the most sense.  He is communicating the ideas of ancient transportation that interest him.  And, finally, a conclusion sentence that wraps up the most creative ideas of the book. He's still not standing still. He doesn't miss the chairs in this room at all. I'm so glad he's made it to eleven, and I gave up the chairs / desks a long time ago.

More Roman Mysteries Today

I wonder if there will be a similar series that these Gs will devour for Medieval Ages next year?  The seventeen books in the Roman Mysteries series brought up wonderful questions about geography, history, Bible, mythology, early medicine & treatment, culture, agriculture, sociology and family bonds.  


This is series that I wouldn't let my kids read until now. I read them and didn't want to expose the kids to harsh realities that existed in the past and, to some extent, still exist today.  After visiting several locations that are mentioned in the series, I am able to relate various issues and discuss why things happened in the stories.  The kids are able to compare what they saw in Rome and Ephesus to what is explained in the books. They are able to relate to the remnants of the Roman empire in Istanbul, London, Bath and places in Germany even better after reading this series.  


After reading about Greek locations in the books, the kids are able to picture Troy, Athens, Crete and Corinth while reviewing from the Story of the World.  We won't use this grammar stage story book again if we re-visit the Ancients in high school, so the mystery series cementing these stories completes our goal.  

Time to Finish the Roman Mystery Series

We're on a road trip, & we are also almost done with ancient Greece. So, it's time to have each of these Gs complete the series about the four main characters named Flavia, Jonathan, Nubia and Lupus. I wonder if there is a series similar to this that I can read with them for the Medieval Ages stage of the history cycle?

Logic Stage Daily/Weekly Organizer Attempts

There is a form we used to keep track of the work expected, suggested and accomplished each week for the past 18 weeks of school here.  It wasn't working because it was too easy just to mark off things that weren't accomplished (fudge the results a bit and hope that mom didn't pay attention EVERY time).  In order to foster independence in their studies and easy communication about my expectations and their frustrations, I re-designed the weekly checklist to resemble a day/week planner page I saw online the other day.  This attempt to organize them or teach themselves to organize on their own may take a while, but I can try to tweak this even though they like it so far.  The old form is on the left, the history page that hasn't changed is in the middle and the new weekly checklist grouped in subject blocks and order of priority is on the right. For example, at the top of the new page on the right, I list the date, breakfast and Bible.  Then on the next section down, I list math, spelling and grammar. This gives each child a place to right down that they did a math, their daily spelling or a grammar and what number of the lesson they accomplished in the book.

I'm trying to make it clearer what is expected and for them to communicate exactly what they did each week. These pages are front to back (checklist and history page) in the Story of the World chapter from which each week is built.  Maybe in four years, if we look at the ancients again, we'll look back to see what was accomplished first in kindergarten/first grade then in fourth and fifth grade.  So far, it's going better because I can see immediately who needs to do their math or grammar, or who hasn't even looked at history or science for the week!

I haven't heard, "What's next Mom?" And, that is a beautiful thing. They are doing so much work, and I want them to see all this clearly on one page that represents all their work!