Wordless Wednesday: August 9, 2017 (w/linky) : Wedding Day Fun at the Park

Our niece got married this past weekend. It was a lovely, informal ceremony at a State Park (the name of which has flown my head right now). Thought I would share some of our fun pictures, most of which were taken while we were waiting for the ceremony. The kids were glad for both the playground and the creek.

They really enjoyed their time on the tire swing. Thankfully they didn't get hurt. We found out later (when some cousins got stung) that there is a wasp's nest IN that tire. For some reason, their swinging didn't disturb it though.

I almost used this for my photo-a-day prompt the other day. E for Empty benches and Empty park, seeing as when we arrived, hardly anyone was there and we thought we got the wrong place.

I ended up using this for E.

Energy, Energetic, Enthusiastic, and Excited

She was fascinated by this creek.

Daddy was pretending to be the troll who lived on the bridge and wouldn't let him pass.

Something about this picture I really loved.

They found this Fungus which they promptly called a Fairy House. I decided to use it for my next day's photo-a-day prompt for F.

They decided to make a Fairy Camp.

Told you she was fascinated by this creek.

And a Fairy Wing of course.

Watching the wedding ceremony.

This month was in the porta potty. Isn't it cute?

Got a picture of two of the Harolds. Hubby and his daddy. Should have thought of grabbing the third Harold and included him.

Did get a family picture though.

And one with grandpa.

We had a lovely time. I would have shared more pictures of the actual wedding, but I'm not sure how the happy couple would feel about me posting it on my blog.

Looking forward to seeing your Wordless (or not so wordless) Wednesday posts this week.

No button currently, and there won't be one until I can figure it out seeing as Photobucket has changed things. Feel free to still share the picture in place of the button on your Wordless Wednesday post or in a list of Wordless Wednesday linkies. Just link it to my Wordless Wednesday permalink please.

An InLinkz Link-up

A Gradual Introduction to Biblical Greek with Greek 'n' Stuff {A TOS Review}

Years and years ago, I took classical Greek. That was way back when I was in high school. We had to take a classical language and I opted for Greek instead of Latin. I loved that Greek was taught to be able to read, as opposed to speak to others, because, let's be honest, who actually speaks in classical languages anymore. I admit, I also thought it would be fun to be able to learn a different alphabet. I enjoyed the class, though I didn't do the greatest once we got into all the intricate details of the grammar. Ultimately I ended up, thankfully, passing the class, but then I graduated, and years passed, and those details became a mist in that fog of memory. Though, I did still remember most of the alphabet and a word or two. Fast forward 20 some years, and suddenly one of my children is going to have to opportunity to work on Biblical Greek using Hey, Andrew! Teach Me Some Greek! - Level 3 Set from Greek 'n' Stuff. I was so excited for this opportunity to refresh my memory, and to start an introduction to a language that will hopefully, one day, help us be able to get fresh insights into the New Testament. To me, this was perfect timing, as we are going to be studying Greek roots with our core curriculum this year.

We received the Hey, Andrew! Teach Me Some Greek! - Level 3 Set which is composed of a Worktext, a Worktext Answer Key, and a Pronunciation CD. 

The lessons in Hey, Andrew! Teach Me Some Greek! are great for beginners as they start gently, gradually advancing with additional vocabulary and a slow introduction of different grammar concepts. Level 3 is designed to be used for children in grade 4 and up. The books are spiral bound with glossy covers, and the lesson pages are simple black and white text.

The Worktext is 180 pages in length, which does not include the flashcard pages in the back. There are 36 lessons, each of which have between three and eight pages of work. It is designed for students to do one page per day, though more can be completed if desired. This would mean you could complete a lesson in 1-2 weeks, depending upon how many days per week, and pages per day your child works on Greek. The Worktext concludes with several pages of appendices and the flashcards that need to be cut out and glued together.

The Worktext Answer Key explains the schedule of the lessons and gives teacher tips for each of the lessons, explaining the grammar that is taught and sharing derivatives for new vocabulary words. Then there is the answer key portion, which is a copy of the entire student worktext with the answers printed on. It also includes the same appendices.

The Pronunciation CD starts with a fun song to help learn the Greek alphabet, then contains short recordings of the correct pronunciation of each word taught. Pronunciations are included for both Level Three and Level Four.

Let's take a look at the lessons:

The first two lessons are an introduction of the Greek alphabet. And the next two lessons introduce six new vocabulary words. For children who have completed Level 2 of Hey Andrew! Teach Me Some Greek!, the first several lessons are a review.  

Each page of the alphabet introduction/review contains three letters.

The student is shown how to form the letter and is taught its name, how to say the name, and how to pronounce the sound it makes. Three lines are provided for practice. The spaces are a bit different than regular lined paper, in that the space beneath the dotted line is bigger than the space above it. 

After all the letters are taught, there are a couple of pages to review what was learned.

Here the child is to write the letters in order and then determine which letter matches the name of the letter correctly in the triangles.

On the second review page the child is to match letter to letter name and circle the correct letter out of a choice of two.

The book then moves into learning new vocabulary, one word at a time. As I mentioned earlier, if a child has already used Level 2, these first couple of vocabulary lessons are a review. 

The Greek word is shown in large, bold font. The meaning is then given, as is the pronunciation. The child is to write the word, and then there are activities. As ἄνθρωπος is the first word learned, the activity was to have the student draw a picture. However, as more words are learned, there are different activities to help reinforce each word, such as matching, circling, and writing the correct words and eventually sentences.

When a new word is taught, the next page is filled with lines on which the child can practice writing the word.

Here is an example of the activity section on the page after βλέπω is introduced. As of this page, four words have been taught, so the child has the opportunity to determine the correct definitions.

And after six words are taught, there are more practice pages, to really help the child master the words.

In lesson 5 the children begin to learn simple grammar concepts. The different endings for words are slowly introduced, endings that change due the different cases and whether they are singular or plural, though children are not expected to understand all the details regarding the grammar, they will learn to recognize the pattern as they see the words written in sentences and write sentences of their own.

Prior to this lesson, all of the nouns learned ended with a sigma (ς). This is the ending for a noun that is the subject of the sentence. This lesson introduces the new form, ending in a nu (ν), which is used when the noun is the object of the sentence. As you can see, the author exposes the child to the new form, hoping they will notice the difference by themselves, but then makes sure they notice it by adding the check boxes. The child doesn't have to understand what objects or subjects (or the nominative or accusative cases) are, they just begin working with them.

During the days that the student will be working in lesson 5, there will be exposure to the differences between object and subject, and singular and plural forms of nouns. So, there is lots of practice for these grammar concepts before moving on to the next one in lesson 6 (where verb tenses begin to be taught). 

Over the course Level 3 of Hey Andrew! Teach Me Some Greek!, the child will learn several new vocabulary words, then learn some new forms of both nouns and verbs, and then get lots of practice with those concepts before learning more vocabulary words and repeating the cycle. All in all, this book teaches 21 new vocabulary words: 12 nouns, 8 verbs, and the word "and." But they are learning way more, as they are learning different cases and tenses. Cases learned are: accusative, genitive, nominative, dative, and vocative. Tenses learned are: present active (first person and third person, singular and plural, then second person, singular and plural).

We have really been enjoying our gradual introduction into Biblical Greek. I started out by teaching the letters a few at a time, as shown in the book. I would write the letter on the whiteboard and Amelia would complete a line or two in the Worktext. I figured that would leave her room to review. 

Each day, before starting the new lesson, she would write one each of the previous letters learned. I also reviewed the letters by writing them on the whiteboard and having the children point to the correct letter or write them for me. Even though the other children aren't officially learning Greek with Amelia as we only have one consumable worktext, they have been able to learn some by sitting in when I write on the board. They have enjoyed this little introduction to the letters. 

As we continued on to the vocabulary section, Amelia began working at a pace of a couple of pages a day, a few days a week. I had her do both pages for each new word in one sitting. She starts out by writing one each of all the letters, and one each of all the previously learned words. Then she writes the new word, does the activities on the page, and then writes several more of the same word on the second page. As we did while learning the alphabet, she leaves room so she can write one of each word each day to help with review.

Amelia has now moved on to lesson 5 where we are starting to learn the accusative case. Up until now, she has been able to work quite independently while learning her new vocabulary. While it is possible she would still be able to do the lessons herself, I am going to be working with her for a couple of reasons. Number one, I want to learn alongside her so I can. . . well. . . learn Greek too, and number two, I want to ensure that she is actually understanding the new concepts she is learning.

One thing we have not been able to do is the Bible Copy Work. This part of the program is mentioned in the Dear Parent/Teacher letter at the beginning of the book, and there are instructions in the Appendix. Sadly, this needs a Greek Interlinear version of the New Testament which I do not have and could not justify purchasing at the moment. Though I can see the benefits of writing out Scripture directly from the Greek and then writing the translation, I will say, you can still do this program without that element.

Hey, Andrew! Teach Me Some Greek! Level 3 really is a great introduction to Biblical Greek. I appreciate the way several new words are learned and then they practice with all the words learned up to that point. As I look ahead in the book, I do believe I may be able to learn right along with Amelia, and not get confused by the grammar as it is introduced slowly with lots of opportunity for practice. It seems I definitely picked the right level for our homeschool.

You can find Greek 'n' Stuff on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram. There is also a Facebook Group for Hey Andrew! Teach Me Some Greek!.

In addition to Hey Andrew! Teach Me Some Greek! Level 3, the Homeschool Review Crew has been reviewing other products. Some reviewed Level 2 and others reviewed different Bible Studies. Just click on the banner below to read all the reviews.

Littles Learning Link Up: August 8, 2017

 Each month you will find:

• A seasonal round-up (usually toward the beginning of the month)
• Posts where I share what I have been up to with my preschoolers and/or early elementary children (including occasional highlight posts where I share how we used ideas that have been linked up here on Littles Learning Link Up).

Each week, I will host a link up, where you can share either what you have been up to recently, or old posts that may go with the theme.  Feel free to link up more than one post.

Each week I will continue to feature a couple of posts from those that have been linked up. 

I hope you will continue to share your wonderful posts, and I hope you will find something new to try with your child(ren).

It would be great for everyone to stop by and visit the other linked-up posts as well. Check them out, leave some comments, pin those that interest you. Let's make this a real party and socialize with each other.

What have we been up to?

Well, our summer reading programs are starting to wind down. Last week, at the one library, they helped contribute to an art mural on Tuesday and then we attended the end-of-program party on Thursday. We also went to Lego Club on Wednesday, which they are still going to keep running even though Summer Reading Program is over. We may still go over there for that as the children seem to have fun. We'll see. Here are the robots they made:

At the other library the children were read a book about senses (from my understanding) and participated in crafts/activities that had to do with senses. I didn't hang around the entire time to take pictures, but I know they made cup telephones, sand art, 3D hands, and had a taste testing activity for sweet, sour, bitter, and salty. 

I still didn't get as much school work done as I would have liked. I had two more back to back reviews that needed posted. We did read some more books about Australia. In fact, I shared about them in my first Picture Book Saturday post, though it didn't go live til Monday. 

I guess whatever we get done this week will be what gets done. And then we are finished with ECC. Next week will be a break for me as we have VBS plus I will be posting in the Homeschool Review Crew's 5 Day Back to Homeschool Blog Hop (which starts Monday the 14th). So, stay tuned for those fun posts. After that, I need to go into full planning/organizing/cleaning mode for our upcoming school year. 

Let's take a look at that review schedule:

Last week I posted my reviews for English on a Roll and Heirloom Audio Productions' In the Reign of Terror. The review for Hey Andrew! Teach Me Some Greek! from Greek 'n' Stuff will be posting today or tomorrow. Later this month I will post my review of The Everyday Family Chore System from Everyday Homemaking. In September I will be posting reviews of the Charlotte's Web E-Guide from Progeny Press, four books by Carole P. Roman, and a book from Barbour Publishing called Imagine. . . The Great Flood by Matt Koceich.

Some things I would like to share with you:

I recently started a new weekly feature called Fun Fiction Friday, where I share the books the older girls and I are reading, sharing their thoughts on the books, and possibly even a review of a Juvenile book I am reading. 

This week I started Picture Book Saturday (though it posted on Monday). These posts feature the picture books we read during the week, with the children each sharing which one was their favorite. This week I shared the books we have read so far about Australia and Coral Reefs.

Hoping to make both of these consistent, weekly features here on Tots and Me...Growing Up Together. 

Littles Learning Link Up : Back to Homeschool Blog Hop Day 2 - Back to School Round Up

Now onto:

Littles Learning Link Up Features

On my last Littles Learning Link Up post, there were 12 wonderful posts linked up. I will be picking one randomly selected post to share, plus the top clicked-on post.  

Please, don't forget to stop by other posts that are linked up. See what catches your eye, stop by, pin the post to a relevant board, and perhaps leave a comment to let the author of the blog know you have been by for a visit. I know I appreciate others commenting and letting me know they have read my posts, so I am sure others do too.

This week's randomly selected post is:

Lisa from Syncopated Mama shared 5 After 5: Best Open-Ended Toys.

And here are this week's top clicked on posts.

Mommies Reviews shared Welcome Back Bookmarks (a free printable)

Mommies Review also shared Memory Verses for August 1, 2017 (a free printable)

Join the Party!

I would love to have you join in this week! What sort of activities do you do with your young children? Do you have some favorite activities you would like to share? I invite you to link up below. I will be pinning posts on one of my relevant boards, and I would love to feature some of the activities each week from what is linked up.

Please know I may share a picture from your post and link back to it, along with sharing how we used your idea in our school time. By linking up you are giving me permission to use a picture from your post. I will ALWAYS give credit and link back. Additionally, if you choose to try out any of the ideas with your child, please make sure you give credit where credit is due.

Linky will be open through Monday night, to give me time to check out all the posts and get the Features organized. Please take the time to visit some of the other wonderful posts linked up.

No button currently, and there won't be one until I can figure it out seeing as Photobucket has changed things. Feel free to still share the picture in place of the button. Just link it to my Littles Learning Link Up permalink please.

An InLinkz Link-up

Tuesday's Giveaway Link Up- August 8, 2017

Welcome to Tuesday's Giveaway Link Up with your hosts Karen @ Tots and Me, Emily @ Emily Reviews, Shelly @ The Attic Girl, and Rena @ An Ordinary Housewife.

So glad you could join us as we share our giveaways on  Tuesday's Giveaway Link Ups. 

This link up will be posted Monday at 7 PM est. and run all week long! Make sure you stop in as often as you can to list your latest giveaways.

Here is how to use the Giveaway Link Up

1. Post your reviews and/or giveaways, as many as you have, be sure to add the end date (family friendly please)

2. Help spread the word about the giveaway link up by grabbing our button, Tweeting or posting on Facebook. (Not mandatory- but it helps get more exposure to your giveaways as well!)

3. Take a moment to enter any giveaway that strikes an interest to you!

If you would  like to follow the  hostesses, we will gladly follow you back! Simply leave us a message to do so.

Featured Reviews

Thrilling Audio Adventure with In the Reign of Terror from Heirloom Audio Productions{A TOS Review} 

Hands-On Grammar With English on a Roll {A TOS Review}

Thank you for linking up with Karen @ Tots and Me, Emily @ Emily Reviews, Shelly @ The Attic Girl, and Rena @ An Ordinary Housewife.

An InLinkz Link-up

Picture Book Saturday (on a Monday)

Picture Book Saturday Monday

Well, I've been mentioning for the past several weeks that I was going to start posting Picture Book Saturday. Unfortunately, it just hasn't been happening. Then I was all ready to do so this past Saturday, and we had to get going to a wedding and didn't get home til late. The plan is for this to become a weekly feature, where I share the picture books we have been reading as a family, focusing specifically on the books we are using for homeschooling, though sometimes I may add in some of the other fun books, especially if there is one that we really enjoyed. The chapter books the older girls and I are enjoying are shared about in my Fun Fiction Friday posts. 

We are finishing up our Exploring Countries and Cultures curriculum from My Father's World during our summer homeschool session. During this time we have been reading books featuring Australia and coral reefs. 

Ernie Dances to the Didgeridoo by Alison Lester was about Ernie going to Australia and writing letters to his friends about what it is like in Australia. Then at the end of the book they all send a letter back.

Waltzing Matilda by A.B. Paterson shares the lyrics to the popular song "Waltzing Matilda" and helps to demonstrate what those foreign words mean. 

Are We There Yet? by Alison Lester is about an Australian family that takes a trip all the way around Australia, sharing details about the various places they stop. 

Lizzie Nonsense: A Story of Pioneer Day by Jan Ormerod is about a girl names Lizzie who lives during the pioneer days in Australia. Everything Lizzie talks about, her mother says is nonsense as Lizzie uses her imagination quite a bit. 

The Emu That Laid the Golden Egg by Yvonne Morrison is about an Emu named Emma whose eggs resemble the things that she eats. If she eats gold, she lays a golden egg, if she eats cotton she lays a pillow egg. She was birdnapped by some critters who wanted her to lay golden eggs, not realizing she had to have gold to actually lay the golden egg.

Living in . . . Australia by Chloe Perkins is a book that shares simple information about Australia.

The Rescuers Down Under is the book adaptation of the movie of the same name. The mice from the original The Rescuers story are back. This time they need to save a young boy from a poacher who is after a golden eagle and her eggs. 

Big Rain Coming by Katrina Germein is about a man who knew there was a big rain coming, but on each page it wasn't there yet. Finally it arrived. 

Wombat Goes Walkabout by Michael Morpurgo is about a wombat who is looking for his mother and meets up with a lot of other Australian creatures. All of the different animals bragged about the different talents they had, making it appear that poor little wombat's skill of digging wasn't important, that is until he helped save them from a fire by digging a hole for them to stay safe. 

In One Tidepool: Crabs, Snails and Salty Tails by Anthony D. Fredericks is about a girl finding a tide pool and discovering all the creatures that live there. 

Coral Reefs by Jason Chin shares about coral reefs in a fun way. As a girl reads a book from the library about coral reefs, the world around her turns into a coral reef.

A Coral Reef Tale: Old Shell, New Shell by Helen Ward is about a hermit crab in a coral reef who is looking for just the right new shell. 

In my Picture Book Saturday posts, there will also be a section where I share the children's favorite books from the past week(s).

Tabitha really enjoyed The Emu That Laid the Golden Egg and Wombat Goes Walkabout.

Amelia loved Lizzie Nonsense and The Emu That Laid the Golden Egg.

Hannah says she liked The Emu That Laid the Golden Egg and Are We There Yet?.

Harold's favorite books were Wombat Goes Walkabout and The Rescuers Down Under.

Thanks for stopping by. I hope you can come back for a visit again soon. 

Fun Fiction Friday - August 4, 2017

Fun Fiction Friday
August 4th, 2017

Welcome back to Fun Fiction Friday.

In my Fun Fiction Friday I share the books the older girls and I are reading, and a short review of a Young Adult or Juvenile book I have finished, if applicable. I will also ask the girls to tell me something they would like to share about at least one of the books they are currently reading. As I am also reading books for adults, I have started my book blog up again. A few weeks ago I shared my Friday Finds, Book Beginnings on Friday, and The Friday 56 in my Friday Fun post. I haven't had a chance to post one since, but hope to do so today. I will also be sharing my reviews of any adult books over there. If I do, I will share links to those reviews in my Fun Fiction Friday post. 

I am currently finishing up one of the books I mentioned last week. Honestly, I should have been finished by now, but I've been so busy. Definitely NOT going to get to all the books I took out to read this summer. I am going to have to return the other book I mentioned last week, Unhooked by Lisa Maxwell, and put it back on hold because it is past due.

The one I am finishing is The Castle in the Mist by Amy Ephron. I was so excited to see I had a message on my Tots and Me Facebook page by the author. That was just so exciting. Anyhow. I will be sharing my review of The Castle in the Mist next week. I'm sure I will have it finished in the next couple of days. I am also going to start reading the next book in the The Land of Stories series. I put it on hold as soon as I was done with the first book and I was conveniently at the library when it arrived the other day. 

The Castle in the Mist is another book I found on display in the library. It is a juvenile fiction book written by Amy Ephron, her first book for young people. In this story Tess and Max are sent to their aunt's English countryside village. There isn't a lot to do until Tess finds a key that unlocks a magical gate into a mysterious land where things that are wished for seem to come true, though at first they aren't even aware why strange things are happening.

The Land of Stories: The Enchantress Returns by Chris Colfer is the second book in the The Land of Stories series. Young Alex and Conner Bailey are back to help save the day in this sequel to The Land of Stories: The Wishing Spell. The Eastern Kingdom, once called The Sleeping Kingdom, had finally began to really recover from the original sleeping curse. At the time of the first book, the Sleeping Kingdom was still half asleep and unproductive (both the land and the people), though Queen Sleeping Beauty's actual curse had been broken before the book began. Now the evil Enchantress (the one who originally cursed her) is back and her evil had reached into the real world. Friends and acquaintances from the first story join forces to help Alex and Conner rescue their mother and save the fairy-tale world.

Moving on to the girls' books:

Amelia is still reading The Prisoner of Azkaban, a chapter book for Australia called Flat Stanley's Worldwide Adventures: The Australian Boomerang Bonanza, and recently started Charlotte's Web because we are reviewing the study guide from Progeny Press. She took Hamster Princess: Giant Trouble out of the library and hopes to be able to get to it soon.

Tabitha is really enjoying the History Mysteries from American Girl. She recently finished Watcher in the Piney Woods by Elizabeth McDavid Jones and is currently reading Ghost Light on Graveyard Shoal by the same author. She also chose to read Hamster Princess: Giant Trouble, zinging through it quite quickly. She is also reading Charlotte's Web, for the same reason Amelia is. 

Fun Fiction Friday

Book Review

The Land of Stories: The Wishing Spell by Chris Colfer is a juvenile book that I (yep, you guessed it) found on display in the children's room at the library. I actually took it out a while ago, didn't have time to read it, returned it, put it back on hold, and finally decided I needed to get it read. I'm sorry I didn't get to it sooner. It is a wonderfully imaginative tale that takes place mostly inside the fairy tale world. Twins Alex and Conner Bailey are grieving the loss of their father, and having some troubles in school, Conner worse than Alex. They remember how their father was always telling them tales to help them overcome difficulties. They also fondly remember being told fairy tales by their grandmother when they went to visit her. 

For their birthday, their grandmother visits and gives them the Land of Stories book they so fondly remember. Days later, they are suddenly transported into the book, into the fairytale world, where they find that all the stories they have been told really took place. However, they are now stuck in a strange, magical, and dangerous land. They make friends with a large talking frog, who had been magically transformed into this form. He sets them on a quest to find out about The Wishing Spell, a spell that can grant a person one wish, no matter what it is. They figure this is their only way to make it back to the real world. 

After they discover a journal written by a man who wanted to cast the spell some years prior, they set out to gather the same ingredients. They are helped by clues in the journal. However, someone else is also after the ingredients for the spell, and once it is cast it won't be able to be cast again. The objects they are after are all related to different fairy tales they know, such as Sleeping Beauty's spindle, and Cinderella's glass slipper. So, the twins have to trek across the land, making their way from kingdom to kingdom, facing dangers they could never have imagined, before the other person gets to them first. 

I love stories that bring "real" world characters into "fairy tale" lands (or vice versa), tales that make it appear as if fairy tales are real. In this story, the different fairy tale characters all live in their respective kingdoms (there's even a map of the land). Alex and Conner make new friends, and some new foes, helping people/creatures along the way, while graciously accepting the help of others. Though, there are some instances where they end up having to steal, one such time was from the goblin and troll kingdom, because well, there was no way those creatures were going to help them, as they had just captured the twins as slaves. 

I will say, there are times when it seemed a bit too convenient that they were able to get the needed object. Times when I feel there should have been a bit more of an obstacle in their way. That said, I still enjoyed the book immensely (obviously, seeing as I quickly put the next book on hold). There were quite a few startling revelations along the way, and the twist at the ending was something I could sort of see coming, but played out in a surprising way. 

All in all, I have to say, I love The Land of Stories: The Wishing Spell and am looking forward to reading the sequels. One of these days, the girls may find time to read them as well. I think they would really enjoy them.