10. We finally took the plunge and bought a Nikon D60 last weekend. For the first 24 hours we just stared at it. And the user manuals. It’s been at least as distracting as a new puppy.

9. With our newfound equipment, we decided to enter the professional arena. We signed up for an account on Shutterstock. Then we snapped the required ten pictures and sent them off, confident in our photographic prowess.  48 hours later all ten pictures were rejected. Not one, not five, but all ten. Perhaps we’ll keep our pictures within the confines of Bona Vita where we can rest comfortably, self-deceived about our abilities.

8. Elliot returned from college and then turned around and left on a mission trip to Nicaragua. The resulting laundry/unpacking/laundry/packing flurry was almost as distracting as the camera.

7. Memorial Day Weekend. Not as much  a celebratory barbecue as a frantic pre-vacation three-day spring-cleaning plant-the-garden-in-an-afternoon event.

6. It’s the last week of school. Need I say more?

5. Mom’s slightly obsessive tendencies result in a desperate need to force her children to finish every single last page of every single textbook.  The last week of school is both eventful and emotional as a result.

4. Seven National Piano Guild auditions, one SAT subject test in Latin, one freshman pre-registration, one senior piano recital, and standardized achievement testing all fell into the same fourteen-day period.

3. The family van is dying. After 220,000 miles, it’s making strange noises. Groaning, grunting, grinding. It doesn’t accelerate like it used to. It has also been attacked by rust, that malicious culprit that seems to take joy in destroying cars, especially those originating in Michigan. However, Mom and the mechanic are conspiring together to force one more year of miles out of the van.

2. Our first set of guests. We’ve been preparing our Michigan home for our first set of vacation renters.

1. Frantic planning and packing for summer vacation that solidified not a moment too soon. More on that coming soon.

So what are your excuses? Why does preparing for a relaxing summer take so much energy?

The American Revolution (1775-1783)

Franco-American Naval War (1798-1800)

The First Barbary War (1801-1805)

The War of 1812 (1812-1815)

The Mexican-American War (1846-1848)

The Civil War (1861-1865)

The Spanish-American War (April 25 – August 12, 1898)

World War I (1914-1918)

World War II (1941-1945)

Korean War (1950-1953)

Vietnam War (1959-1975)

Gulf War (1990-1991)

Battle of Mogadishu (1993)

Afghanistan War (2001- )

Iraq War (2003- )

We must never forget.

“Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” – John 15:13

High scores on standardized tests can make students eligible for scholarships covering tuition and even room and board at a variety of public and private colleges.

But high scores aren’t just the result of luck. Students who score well on the SAT see the fruit of long hours of strenuous study.Often satisfactory scores are achieved only after the third, fourth, or fifth round of testing.

There are some wonderful prep programs out there. On the other hand, there are plenty of courses available that cost almost as much as a college education. Private test prep courses can easily cost thousands of dollars. So what constitutes both effective and reasonably priced test prep?

Over the years, we’ve tried dozens of different prep programs. Books and software from College Board, Princeton Review, Kaplan, and others have graced our desks.

Our favorite, by far though, has been Kaplan’s books. Twelve Practice Tests for the SAT, the SAT Verbal Workbook, and the SAT Math Workbook are all reasonably priced (and available through Amazon, Borders, or Barnes & Noble) and lay a great foundation for the SAT. For high-scoring students trying to add a few more points to their tests, the SAT 2400 book is wonderful.

Recently, through the Homeschool Co-op, we discovered another great resource, Kaplan’s SAT Online test prep program.

Kaplan’s tests are consistently reflective of actual SAT tests. Their helpful scoring charts help students accurately project test scores. However, we have consistently seen higher scores on the real tests than on the Kaplan prep tests.

Additionally, the real tests always seem easier than the Kaplan practice tests. In other words, Kaplan prepares students by making the tests seem harder than they will actually be.

Do your high-school students a favor this summer and help them spend some time on SAT prep. Whether they are just beginning to think about standardized tests or are taking the SAT for the last time, a little preparation will be well worth the effort.

In the past, we’ve ordered graduation announcements from specialty stores. This year, we decided to try to print our own. First, we ordered blank two-fold graduation announcements. When they arrived, we admired the blank two-fold.

Then we drafted and scribbled and drafted and scribbled some more. Finally, the wording was just right. Our end result looked like this:

Then, it was time to format. I measured the card. I adjusted the size in Microsoft Word.

We decided navy lettering was better than black.

Then I pressed “Print”.

Then “Properties”.

Under the “Features” tab, I selected “Custom Size”. I renamed it and plugged in the dimensions. Then I clicked “Ok”.

Back on the “Features” tab, I selected my newly named size under “Scale to Paper Size”. I selected “Ok” again. On the main print page, I selected “Scale to paper size” and selected my newly named size again.

Then I clicked “Ok”. The end result was quite successful.

- George Eliot, Middlemarch

Mexican Rice

2 cups white rice

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

8 chicken bouillon cubes

4 cups liquid – (2 cups chicken broth, 1/2 cup Chardonnay or equivalent white wine, 1 1/2 cup water)

1/2-1 Cup finely chopped onion

1   tbl  garlic powder

5      Tablespoons thyme and oregano

1      Tablespoon fresh ground pepper

1 cup tomato sauce

Juice of 1/2 lemon

1 – 3 tsp of chile power (optional)

In a 2-3 quart pan with a well-fitting lid, brown the onion and rice in the olive oil for about 4 minutes or until it becomes transparent.    Meanwhile, prepare the chicken broth, dissolving 8 bouillon cubes into 2 cups of water. Add the chicken broth to the rice. Add the water and Chardonnay.

You can adjust the proportions of broth, wine, and water to suit your taste as long as the total amount of liquid is 4 cups. Slowly add the liquid to the rice.  For a spicier rice, add the chile power. Add tomato sauce, herbs, pepper, and lemon juice and gently mix.  Cover the rice and cook over medium heat until the liquid is absorbed.  This takes about 20 minutes.

Happy Mother’s Day!

For some children, this works successfully. However, for Franky, it was a frustrating and fruitless process. After many long therapy sessions, he could still only elicit minimal sounds and had almost no comprehension.

We found a new therapist. She tried the same methods, still with few results. And so, one day, she suggested that we consider Cued Speech.

Cued Speech is a series of a hand shapes and placements that indicate phonemes, or sounds. Cued Speech, unlike American Sign Language, is not a language at all. Theoretically, the same hand shapes could be used for a variety of different languages.

Cued Speech is used in conjunction with language to help listeners comprehend language. Cued Speech provides listeners with verbal cues, helping them distinguish between phonemes.

Cued Speech has been successfully used with profoundly deaf children, as well as children with autism or other disabilities. Through Cued Speech, children without hearing have learned to speak and understand English and have been successfully mainstreamed. The same system is also used to help the speech of children using hearing aids or cochlear implants.

Although Franky already had hearing, his ability to distinguish between different sounds was not well-developed. Cued Speech would provide him with clear signals, helping him to distinguish between phonemes.

And so, we began our journey with Cued Speech. Franky’s speech therapist taught Mom how to correctly use the hand signals. She began to use it with Franky during his speech therapy sessions. Meanwhile, we began to use it at home.

Franky began to progress slowly, but steadily. Franky had a wonderful affinity for lip-reading; Cued Speech allowed him to use it. Slowly, Franky began to learn to speak and comprehend.

When a job change forced us to move a state away, we once again began the search for a speech therapist. We found one who was willing to support our use of Cued Speech, although she was not personally familiar with the system. Franky’s speech and comprehension continued to improve.

Because Cued Speech is based on phonemes, Mom was able to teach him phonics, alongside of other elementary subjects. Soon, his reading ability surpassed his speech, and he began to use his reading ability as an aid to his speech comprehension.

Now, six years after he was implanted, Franky is rapidly acquiring language and comprehension. The journey is not over. Franky’s progress can still be frustrating and daunting. However, the child we live with today is far far different than the Franky of two or four or six years ago. When we look back, it is encouraging to see how far Franky has come. We can’t wait to see what is in store for him, thanks to the miracles of cochlear implants and Cued Speech.

My high-school literature class is reading An Experiment in Criticism by C. S. Lewis this semester. As I was preparing my lecture notes yesterday, I came across a quote that explained, in a nutshell, why people love to blog:

“Being the sort of people we are, we ant not only to have but also to analyse, understand, and express, our experiences. And being people at all — being human, that is social, animals — we want to ‘compare notes’, not only as regards literature, but as regards food, landscape, a game, or an admired common acquaintance. We love to hear exactly how others enjoy what we enjoy ourselves.”

Why do you enjoy blogging and reading others’ blogs?