Doreen's Book Shelf

Physics

2009-08-14T13:42:00.000-07:00

title: Physcis, The Foundational Science

by: Ed Rickard
pub: A Beka
date: 1990
price: $25
new: $100

comments: never used this set. Decided to go witha different curriculum. This is upper science.

included are:
Student text

student tests

Answers to tests

exams & Solutions key

Solution key

Teacher guilde

What I'm reading: The Rising Tide

2008-01-11T17:39:00.000-08:00

Jeff Shaar's is the son of one of my favorite war authors, Michael. I fell in love with Killer Angels a few years back and read the other two in the series, which Jeff finished after his father suddenly died.

Just before Christmas I saw The Rising Tide on the book shelf at my local book store and picked it up.

I'll let you know my thoughts when I'm done.

Stephenie Meyer--Twilight

2008-01-11T17:24:00.000-08:00

I just finished Stephenie Meyer's Twilight trilogy. Not sure what to think about the books. She wrote a great page turner and the story line is very unique and different. I would have NEVER read a book about vampires. It really worked, but on the other hand as a mother, I didn't quite like the decisions the main character was making; especially at a high school student. BUT, it was not written for an adult audience, well at first it wasn't.

I do have to had it to Stephenie as she is a very talented writer in that she grabs you and brings you in to her story, so much so that you have to continue reading. You want to believe that what happened could happen and possibly could.

I liked the first of the three books the best, not sure why, but I thought that out of the three it is the most believable.

Gone With the Wind

2007-09-11T12:22:00.000-07:00

by Margaret Mitchell

For the summer our book club picked the very thick classic of "Gone with the Wind"

What a great read. So different from the movie. If you want to chew on something, pick it up and give it a read.

A few things stood out to me. Not sure why I dogged the ears but I did.

"Ellen's life was not easy, nor was it happy, but she did not expect life to be easy, and if it was not happy, that was a women's lot. It was a man's world, adn she accepted it as such. The man owned the property, adn the woman managed it. the man took the credit for the management, and the woman praised his cleverness. The man roared like a bull when a splinter was in his finger, and the woman muffled the moans of childbirth, lest she distrub him. Men were rough of speech and often drunk. Women ignored the lapses of speech adn put hte drunkards to bed without bitter words. Men were rude adn outspoken, women were always kin, gracious and forgiving."

But Scarlett was NOT this type of woman. Her mother was, but not Scarlett! Scarlett scorned all those traits taught to her by her mother and described above.

I'm sure this book has been disected and discussed over and over and over, but it was my first time reading it and it truly is about a young girl who grows up and in a mir 12 years finds out what true love really looks like and how despetive our own version of love can be.

She finds the true love of a sister in Melanie Wilkes. A woman she started out by hating and at the end of the book found out that Melanie loved her for all her faults and shortcomings known and unknown. She finds out that the man of her dreams has never wanted her in the true since of love, only lust. She finds out that the only man who truly loved her, Rhett, has given up on her.

I truly wanted this book to wrap up in a pretty bow with Rhett forgiving Scarlett, but alas Miss Mitchell didn't. OUCH!

There are other great charaters in this book. Mammy is a great charater. She, though freed half way through the book (at the end of the Civil War) still stays with Scarlett becuase of her love and devotion to Ellen and her babies. That truly blew me away. The character of Frank showed great honor to a loveless marriage. He goes out to defend his wife's honor and doesn't come home because a bullet takes his life.

End the end, Scarlett finds out that the strongest person of all, was the one she thought was the weakest: Melanie. "He [Ashley], like Scarlett, was forced to shelter behind Melanie's skirts. While Scarlett realized the necessity for this and knew that the blame for his false position lay mostly at her own door,..."

Scarlett also teachers us the imporatance to act on the implus to repent and ask for forgiveness when first the impression comes. After Bonnie dies she so much wants to go to Rhett and make up but she doesn't. She is waiting for him to come to her. "And apologies, once postponed, became harder and harder to make, and finally impossible."

There are many themes in this master piece and I have totally made a mockery of them in this little review, but I truly fell in love with this book and hope to spend another day reading it again as I always find great nuggest of truth and thouht when I reread a great book.

By the way, the movie misses so much of the little bits and pieces that really round this book out. Read then watch!

Norm Abram's New House

2007-04-14T13:01:00.000-07:00

Two years ago when we moved into our humble new home, we were going to remodel a few rooms but the cash ran low and we had other pressing needs that had to come first (like a new deck). But that didn't stop me from grabbing "dream" books off the library shelf. One such book was titled Norm Abram's New House.

I love Norm and his New Yankee Workshop shows so I picked it up. I didn't have the intention of reading it cover to cover, just the parts I wanted to and that were interesting to me, but I found I read the whole thing! The story he laid out was full of humor, human trails, and was very interesting.

This book won't be for most of you, but I found it very interesting and I'm glad I read the book.

Math: Facing an American Phobia by Marilyn Burns

2007-01-05T08:46:00.000-08:00

Seldom is there a book on math that I would pick up, but on the suggestion of another homeschooling mother, I picked up Marilyn Burns, "Math Facing an American Phobia" and read it cover to cover.

It wasn't a page turner, but I really enjoyed it. I'm not sure I agree with all of her points, but for the most part she had some great points.

Here are a few quotes I marked:
“Its said that you know something best when you teach it. That’s because teaching requires figuring out why something makes since and then thinking about how to present the idea so that someone else can make sense of it, too. Making sense is the very act of learning, and the source for that understanding is inside your head.”
“Learning means to understand, not to recite back what has been said to you.”
“We are all natural born learners and unless we have some mental handicap, all of us are curious and capable of learning may things. I agree that people have different natural talents, that some children are athletically more gifted than others, some are artistically more inclined, some possess mechanical abilities and like to take things apart and put things together. Children are not all the same.”
“Attitude is a big part of learning, coupled with lots of experience.”

It was a good book and I would recommend it for anyone who either hates math, has trouble with math, teacher, homeschooler or parent.

British Royalty

2007-01-04T20:38:00.000-08:00

I have been teaching a class twice a week to a bunch of young children ages 5-9. We are traveling the world and learning about the different counties and cultures that dot the world. We have visited some very interesting places. We started off in Japan and just before the Christmas break we were in the United Kingdom.

Now before I started teaching the class I knew very little about the counties of the world. Yes, I could find just about anything on a map as I love to pour over maps. But knowing the country, the culture the history of these places was a big unknown. I have to say I organized this class as a way to force me to learn just a little bit more about our world and I so glad I did. I have completely had a blast learning!

As I go to the local library to pick up a half dozen books on each country my eyes also fall upon books that are next to the books I'm looking for. Most of the books I pull off are geared toward the early elementary age, but every now and then I pick up a book that is geared to an older audience. I did just that this past month. I picked up The Complete Idiot's Guide to British Royalty. At first I thought I would just look over the charts and pictures and call it a good read, but then I got sick.

I spent a good five days lying in bed coughing up a lung. I decided that my brain couldn’t handle a book that was heavy and would cause my brain to think. I also didn't want to get sucked into a book that would cause me to miss sleep and become a page turner, after all I was sick and needed my sleep. Little did I know that this book would keep me up at night!

It was such a great read! I think I totally sucked into the history of the British Royalty and the history of Great Britain. I have always been so confused about who was king, why they were king and how they became king. I love to read historical fiction and watch movies based on Britain and every time I did I couldn't make heads or tails of what was going on. I loved the stories, but the people, names, places and the rest just got so mixed up in my mind that I was lost! Not every again! I finally have a grasp of the history of the Island that once ruled the world.

By the way, if you really think that the royal family has made some ridiculous headlines in the past 20 years, you should read this book and think of the heyday the presses would have if only they could report on the behind closed doors and in front of the public. King's murdering wives, mistresses, wars, taxes, executions and that is the first drop in the Olympic sized pool.

Long live the Queen!

What is she reading?

2007-01-04T20:05:00.000-08:00

Long time no post! But that doesn't mean I haven't been reading. OH NO! I have been reading more books in a week than there are days. But, the books I have been reading aren't really books I would list here. See, I'm a homeschooling mom and I am reading books for knowledge that I will then teach my children from. For the past six months I have been reading books on the Civil War, Oregon Trail, Cowboys, The Gold Rush, Santa Fe Trail, California Trail, Mormon Trail, The Land Rush of the 1860's and personal family history. (My family came across the plains from starting from 1840's and they wrote of their experience.)

I have to say it has been fascinating to real all this and not very many books have stood out to report about. If you really want to know all the books I've been reading then visit my website and take a look http://www.waldsfe.org/UnitStudies/WestwardMovement.htm

I also have been teaching a small class twice a week at my house. We are visiting different countries around the world. That has been another fascinating journey. I have learned about China, Japan, Australia, India, Spain, Russia, Germany, Norway and so many more! Just before the Christmas break we were in the United Kingdom and I can honestly say, I think I have figured out the United Kingdom! I finally understand what makes up the UK and what the difference is between the UK, Great Britain and England. WOW! and it only took until I was…well….let's just say I'm not a spring chicken. But during my adventure around the world I did find a book that I want to report about (but that is another post).

I have so much fun learning. It is a total blast. I can not begin to tell you home much I have learned because I teach my kids at home. There is truth to the statement that the teacher learns more than the student. Notice it didn't say "knows" but "learns." I truly have learned so much about the history of our country these past few years and especially as we have studied the Western Expansion.

As an added bonus I have also learned quite a bit about my family. I really didn't know many of the wonderful stories that my ancestors left for me to find and read. About ten years ago my mother sat down and wrote her history in a unique way. Instead of being a dry boring textbook style book, she wrote it in story form. I can't tell you how enjoyable it was to read about her family. By the time I was born, her parents had passed one and we had moved far from her family. Finances and emotions have kept us apart my entire life, except for one family. Needless to say I have no memory or history with this family. This book made it possible for me to get closer to them.

About two year ago a half-cousin (I think that is what she is), decided to follow in my mother's footsteps and she took all the stories of our ancestors and put them in a similar book with a similar story form. My mom's book just concentrated on her father and mother with a bit about her early childhood. My half-cousin's book takes us back as far as we have records. It has been such a great read!

During the month of December the Northwest had a huge wind storm that came and blew trees on our power lines and we lost power for 144 hours (that's six days)! During that time we cuddled under blankets in front of the fire place and we read from this book. Yes, it is part of school in that we will learn about our family coming across the plains, but it sure was fun reading the stories. I truly can't wait until I meet these members of my family in the next life! I can't wait to put my arms around them and say "Thank you for your sacrifice."

So you see, I have been reading, just nothing that you can either find on the book shelf or something that you would want to pick up--that is unless you homeschool your children and are learning about the Westward Movement.

The Ladies Auxiliary

2006-07-18T16:31:00.000-07:00

By Tova Mirvis

The Ladies Auxiliary is one of those books I want to pick up and read again but just haven't found the time. Not sure if it is because I don't want to ruin the magic of it when I first read it in June of 2003.

The book is about a young mother who converts to Judaism when she married a young man. When we first meet her in the book we aren't quite sure what the whole story is but we do know that she isn't that "traditional" Jewish ladies that make up the town's "ladies auxiliary." We know that Batsheva makes things happen or rock and roll and we aren't really sure if it for the better or not.

As you read this book you gain an insight to your own "ladies auxiliaries" you might belong to. Are you so set in your ways that including a new tradition or a new way of doing your tradition is an insult to your senses? Are you so set in your ways that you can not accept someone for who they are instead of trying to force them into a mold you have set out.

This book raises many questions that I'm not sure I like the honest answers. I'm sure I will pick this book up again.

These Is My Words and Sarah's Quilt

2006-07-18T16:23:00.000-07:00

By Nancy Turner

In June of 2003 I had the opportunity to read These Is My Words by Nancy Turner for my book club. I wish I could have written this book as it is a story I wish my heart could have written. Knowing that it was loosely based on the author's ancestors makes it even more intriguing. I picked up the book again this spring and read it before I read the sequel, Sarah's Quilt.

Mrs. Turner's first book, These Is My Words in a word is a love story in disguise as an adventure story. It actually puts Holly would to shame for not thinking of it before (but Hollywood would ruin it). Sarah, the main character, goes through so much in her life it is hard to contemplate that all that could happen to one person. She survives Indian attacks, natural disasters, a horrible marriage, and is surrounded by death. The one thing that keeps her going is her quest to better herself and those around her.

In the sequel, Mrs. Turner continues Sarah's story and add more to the adventure part. Like most sequels, the first book is the better book and the second could stand alone, but you get a better picture if you read the first one.

Another author I look forward to reading again and again.

Pride and Prejudice

2006-07-18T16:12:00.000-07:00

By Jane Austen

Not a year has gone by since I was in high school that I don't pick up a copy of my favorite author and read my favorite novel by her, Pride and Prejudice. Of course I have to also spend one weekend a year watching the A&E production of it as well.

Austen has a way of making the characters in her books speak to my heart through the use of such beautiful language. I also love how her heroines and heroes all have faults that they need to overcome. Not a one is a perfect person and therefore I can relate to all of her characters to some degree. Even her bumbling, stumbling characters have some redeeming quality about them. For instance, Mr. Collins tries to do the right thing by asking Elizabeth to marry her so that the family can continue living in the family home. Elizabeth has to decline because her heart does not love him and she will not marry for anything less than love.

What makes Pride and Prejudice my favorite has more to do with me seeing myself as an Elizabeth. I am the second sister, not the beautiful sister and I do not come from a family of means. I often saw myself as an old maid waiting for my true love, as I too wouldn't marry for anything less than love.

When love came to me I didn't want it nor did I expect it, but I couldn't deny it and married a man above my means, just as Elizabeth does. I still see myself in Elizabeth and will continue to pick up my well worn copy of Pride and Prejudice once a year and have a good read and a good cry.

The Twentieth Wife and The Feast of Roses

2006-07-18T15:32:00.000-07:00

By Indu Sundaresan

This book was picked for my book club back in August of 2003 and it still occupies a part of my mind as does her sequel which she just published and I read this past winter.

These books take place in India during the late 1500 and early 1600. It is the story of a young girl who leaves her mark on Indian history that is even felt to this day. The story, although fiction, is based on facts of the time. The author did her research and captivates you with her delicious language and beautiful pictures she paints with carefully chosen words. It is hard to believe that The Twentieth Wife is her first novel.

The story is about a young girl who grows up to be Prince Salim's 20th wife and how she got there. It is a love story but with twist and turns that leads one to understand the politics of the Indian culture.

The story is continued in The Feast of Roses and again you are drawn in by the author's use of words and language. I didn't like this book as much as the first, but that doesn't mean I would not recommend this book, just the opposite. I highly recommend both books, but read The Twentieth Wife first so you will understand The Feast of Roses. There are a few characters I wish she would have made more complete so we can understand their motives, much like she did in The Twentieth Wife, but I will forgive her as the story is so compelling and keep me up late many nights.

Oh, and don't forget your box of tissues, you will need them.

My Books

2006-06-21T18:51:00.000-07:00

I love to read. I read so much that I often have four books going at the same time. Once I even had 10 books all with book marks in them saving my place.

This is where I will be sharing my love of reading with you.

Hope you enjoy,
Doreen