Linda's Thoughts

These words need to be read and reread. They bring comfort, peace and hope and are from
God:

Psalm 91
14Because he hath set his love upon me,
therefore will I deliver him:
I will set him on high,
because he hath known my name.
15He shall call upon me,
and I will answer him:
I will be with him in trouble;
I will deliver him,
and honour him.
16With long life will I satisfy him,
and shew him my salvation.

Jeremiah 29
11For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD,
thoughts of peace,
and not of evil,
to give you an expected end.

Grace is Given by Charles Haddon Spurgeon from Back to the Bible

My second son has just begun reading Johnny Tremain. I found a website with added details to learn more things to do at a Language Arts website.
Vocabulary From Johnny Tremain

This list is taken from Vocabulary Classic Texts. This list is an important first step in becoming a well-read individual. They, of course, will be sorted through with discretion:

'And only Heaven is better than to walk with Christ at midnight,
over moonless seas.
' I couldn't feel frightened then.
Praise Him for the moonless seas--
all the better the opportunity for proving Him to be indeed the El Shaddai,
'the God who is Enough."'
--Amy Carmicheal/Elizabeth Elliot

Missionary Amy Carmicheal was a Christian mentor to Elizabeth Elliot. Here is a devotion Mrs. Elliot wrote inspired by her:

I found a website that provides tons of information about English from the United Kingdom. Just a sample of topics:

dictation
basic english
English customs
British authors

This site is a site to help deaf people but it has many links to language arts and related sites. I love their name Learning Consortium.

Here is a website that tells of the most common vocabulary words that are found on the SAT and ACT tests. Scroll down to middle of page to see activities to help you learn them.

You can buy the book, Common Errors in English Usage, or use this website to speak correctly. The book is written by Paul Brians, a professor of English at Washington State University.

Here is a website that gives simple explanations of questions you may have about grammar.

"And after the earthquake a fire; and after the fire a sound of gentle stillness" (1 Kings 19:12)

Ahab and Jezebel were a king and queen who did evil in the sight of God. Jezebel wanted to kill Elijah, God's prophet. But God kept Him safe and took care of Him. When God spoke to Elijah in verse 12 of 1 Kings 19 He spoke to Him in a still small voice. Most often that is how God speaks to people today. Here are a few quotes from a devotion by Mrs. Charles Cowman:

A still voice can hardly be heard.
It must be felt.
A steady, gentle pressure upon the heart and mind
like the touch of a morning zephyr to your face.
A small voice, quietly, almost timidly spoken in your heart,
but if heeded growing noiselessly clearer to your inner ear.
His voice is for the ear of love,
and love is intent upon hearing even faintest whispers.
There comes a time also when love ceases to speak if not responded to, or believed in.
He is love,
and if you would know Him and His voice,
give constant ear to His gentle touches.
In conversation, when about to utter some word,
give heed to that gentle voice,
mind the check and refrain from speech.

I stumbled across a website my kids will love,Comics.com. There are many popular comic strips there.

I found a website that has a nice set up to help students quickly learn grammar. It is called Daily Grammar. If you like they will email you a quick lesson five days of the week and then a quiz at the end of the week! They also have a workbook available for more practice. You can also get each short lesson right off their website.

Many helpful sites about grammar are found here. An interesting one that caught my eye was Grammar and Style.

"Grant, O Lord my God,
that I may never fall away in success or in failure;
that I may not be prideful in prosperity nor dejected in adversity.
Let me rejoice only in what unites us
and sorrow only in what separates us.
May I strive to please no one or fear to displease anyone except Yourself.
May I seek always the things that are eternal
and never those that are only temporal.
May I shun any joy that is without You
and never seek any that is beside You.
O Lord, may I delight in any work I do for You
and tire of any rest that is apart from You.
My God, let me direct my heart towards You,
and in my failings, always repent with a purpose of amendment."

--St. Thomas Aquinas

30 Ways to Study Spelling was taken from this Miss Gibson's Fourth Grade Class website in Carrollton, Texas.
1. Write words in shaving cream

2. Make words with dried macaroni

3. Draw a picture of each word

4. Alphabetize the words

5. Create a word find

I just finished reading The Legend of Sleepy Hollow to my children. I loved it. It's a classic that needs to be revisited a few times within a short time in order to get more of the rich details. It was perfect for reading in the "autumnal" (Irving's word) time of the year.

Now I'm looking for more. I need the very best to read each week. Classics that will have themes similar to the season and upcoming holidays. I have found a few sites. I'm also looking for audio versions on the net.

Classic Short Stories
Christmas Short Stories
Bellaonline (Two Thanksgiving Day Gentlemen)

If we could only know the blessings that lie hidden in our trials
we would say like David, when Shimei cursed him (I Samuel 16),
"Let him curse; . . . it may be . . . that the Lord will requite me good for his cursing this day."

--Streams in the Desert, Mrs. Charles Cowman, Back to the Bible website

WE cannot be useless while we are doing and suffering God's will,
whatever it may be found to be.
And we can always do that.

This is what everybody establishes in their mind, "Someone like a little elderly woman can no longer make an impact on the world." This is not true in God's eyes. If she is a dedicated praying Saint, God knows her heart and remembers well and ponders her requests to give reply.

Mother Teresa was like that. Please enjoy reading this story:

"When once a chairman of a multinational company came to see me, to offer me a property in Bombay, he first asked: ‘Mother, how do you manage your budget?" I asked him who had sent him here. He replied: ‘I felt an urge inside me.’ I said: other people like you come to see me and say the same. It was clear God sent you, Mr. A, as He sends Mr. X, Mrs. Y, Miss Z, and they provide the material means we need for our work. The grace of God is what moved you. You are my budget. God sees to our needs, as Jesus promised. I accepted the property he gave and named it Asha Dan (Gift of Hope).

You probably need this. Here's some more advice:

2 tablespoons cream of tartar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 tablespoon baking soda

Combine and store in an airtight container. Use in place of store bought baking powder.
Makes 1/4 cup

Holiday cooking season will be arriving soon. I used to go and buy among several other cooking items, baking powder. And then I would not use but one or two tablespoons of it. And then whenThanksgiving would come around again, I would check the sparsely used product hoping it was not outdated.

This year I've decided to cook more from scratch. I want to make some homemade cornbread and biscuits. It requires baking powder. I found this simple recipe on the internet. It is healthy (contain no aluminum powder) and will only make a small amount.

Have you ever heard of a double negative in grammar? My mother used to get on to me if I spoke a double negative in a sentence. (I think one of my mother's secret passions has to do with a love for the English Language and I inherited a love for words from her. My grandmother loved words too!)

Here's a site that discusses it called LEO: Literacy Education Online

Here's an example of wrong usage. See if you can fix it:

The pilot could not find nowhere to land.

Here is a site called Ask Oxford where there are many word games that can benefit anyone wanting to learn more about words.

Here is a webpage from the AskOxford.com that discusses the history of our English Language.

Here is a site that gives notes to several famous writings. It is called enotes. If you use it as a reference the site shows specifically how to site it's reference on your research paper. Here's another exciting feature, it provides quizzes specific to the book! There are 3500 guides you can look through.

Here is a site listing short stories and describe the elements that make a good story. It is called the Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute. The lesson plans are intended for upper grades (7-12).

Here is a list of the stories (most if not all can be found online):

Last week I gave my children a vocabulary word,

abstract.

I was trying to describe its meaning outside what the dictionary said. I contrasted it with the word concrete and then told of the difference between a concrete and an abstract noun. I gave them the example that freedom is an abstract noun.

I found a quote that gives several examples of the abstract and it also sends a good message. It is by a former president, Calvin Coolidge. I found it on Mrs. Happy Housewife:

We do not need more material development,
we need more spiritual development.
We do not need more intellectual power,
we need more moral power.
We do not need more knowledge,
we need more character.
We do not need more government,
we need more culture.
We do not need more law,
we need more religion.
We do not need more of the things that are seen,
we need more of the things that are unseen.”
-Calvin Coolidge

My sister is teaching English as a Second Language in another country. She said her classes really like American idioms. I want to teach my children the most creative and best idioms to make their speech more colorful also. Here are some website I found:

Clichesite.com
Dave's ESL Cafe
The Idiom Connection
Self-study Idiom Quizzes
EnglishZone.com
Teaching Idioms
Fun Brain: Paint by Idioms

I just gotta add this site to my list of educational sites. It contains easy to understand writings of history. Mrs. Happy Housewife uses it in teaching her children. Here are a couple of good books found on this site, God's Troubadour, The Story of St. Francis and American History Stories, Volume I. It's called the Baldwin Project.

The English Zone (Verbs)-- scroll down and choose sites that have sunglasses by them. Examples: Lie or Lay, Be Verb Present Tense, There Is There Are, Be Verb Present Tense, Be Verb Past Tense

Grammar Blast Verbs

verb tenses exercises--This site has exercises for each form of the verb within the verb tense
Other Verbs (infinitives, gerunds, etc.)

Irregular Verbs

Main Page for Grammar Sites

Learn the Literary. Here's a site called Today in Literature that gives bios of famous authors and highlights each day an interesting article relating to literature. They also send out email newsletters.

I have taken on a new hobby at my older age. I want to learn the literary as I teach it to my children and instill in them a taste for the finer things in life and a passion and excitement for knowledge of all the best and most interesting kinds! I want them to know the aesthetic beauty of the finer things in life.

Synonyms, antonyms and homonyms, do you know the difference? Here's a fun game that keeps your attention that will concrete into your brain what a synonym is and also increase your vocabulary.

Syn City game from the Merriam-Webster Online dictionary site.

DAILY GRAMMAR - - - - by Mr. Johanson
Lessons 1-5

Lesson 1
Parts of Speech - Verbs
Verbs are the most important words in a sentence. Verbs are the first of the eight parts of speech that we will be studying. Most verbs are action words, but a few verbs indicate state of being or existence. The first lessons will be about verbs, and how they are recognized and used.

Find the verbs in the following sentences. They are action verbs.

The wolf ran across the sand.

Sit down.

The dog barked at the man.

Lesson 2
Parts of Speech - Verbs
Find the verbs in these sentences. These verbs will be state of being verbs.

My uncle is a pilot.

The pie looks good.

You seem upset.

Lesson 3
Parts of Speech - Verbs

Pick out the verbs in these sentences and tell whether they are action verbs or linking verbs.

Suddenly someone sneezed loudly.

There are holes in my shirt.

He appears happy.

The image appeared in the mirror.

Lesson 4
Parts of Speech - Verbs

Sometimes a verb can be more than one word. When a verb is more than one word, it is called a verb phrase. Verb phrases can be two, three, or four words. Verb phrases are made by using auxiliary or helping verbs. What are the verb phrases in these sentences?

You are going to Seattle.

You have been resting too much.

We must be early.

I will be finished shortly.

Lesson 5
Parts of Speech - Verbs

Some of the helping verbs can be used alone as the main verb. Is, am, are, was, and were can be used alone as linking or state of being verbs. Has, have, had, do, does, and did always show action when used alone. Be, being, and been can be used with other verbs either to show action or state of being. The other helping verbs cannot be used alone but only as helping verbs.

Find the verb or verb phrases in these sentences.

She has too many friends.

You do beautiful work.

I was in Canada last week.

You are being very stubborn.

Quiz for Lessons 1-5
List the verbs or verb phrases in the sentences, and tell whether they are action verbs or state of being verbs. For extra credit, find the helping verbs.

1. Jim plays basketball.

2. They will return on the airplane.

3. Badger is a funny dog.

4. I have been here a long time.

5. I should have been playing the drum.

6. Go home.

Copyright 2006 Word Place Inc - - All Rights Reserved.

Audio Classics for Children

Here's one for Ginny
The Light Princess

Today I read a short story by Morley Callaghan. Its called All the Days of Her Life. It was basically about a son who caused his mother hardship because he was always getting in trouble.

I also found some interesting details about the authors life.

And oh! above all, when thy God hides His face, say not that He hath forgotten thee.
He is but tarrying a little while to make thee love Him better;
and when He cometh, thou shalt have joy in the Lord, and shalt rejoice with joy unspeakable. Waiting exercises our grace;
waiting tries our faith;
therefore, wait on in hope;
for though the promise tarry, it can never come too late.
~C. H. Spurgeon**

A cup brimful of sweetness cannot spill even one drop of bitter water, no matter how suddenly jarred.
~Amy Carmichael*

You can be thankful for everything, when you don't have anything.

Those words were spoken in Sunday School last Sunday morning by a father of eight. In September, their family was in their pasture having a picnic when suddenly a shocking event occurred. Their house blew up and then burned to the ground.

The Math is Fun website has printable worksheets on basic math topics for elementary grades.

Math-Drills.com

Here's a fun game I found with dots in which you play against a computer.

SchoolExpress~ This website offers many worksheets to provide lots of practice in identifying verbs.
Another helpful site: ABC Teach

When my husband was young he knew a family that was a singing group. They travelled alot. If someone got a sore throat they would give them a home remedy.

This morning Samuel and Jonathan awoke with sore throats. So we made them some:

1 cup of hot water
1 Tbsp of apple cider vinegar
3 Tbsps of honey

This website has some good info about Language Arts from a teacher. I liked the info I found there about verbs.

This website is a college website, Sinclair Community College, that offers handouts for review and worksheets for grammar practice.

This site, from the University of Ottowa in Canada, has a good online quiz and review section for linking verbs :)

Do you know the difference between linking verbs and helping verbs? Here is a list of each taken from Sinclair Community College in Dayton, Ohio.

I found this answer, linking verbs are used by themselves, in contrast to helping verbs, which come before another verb: was running.

There is no security on this earth, there is only opportunity.
~MacArthur, Douglas
US general & war hero in World War II & Korean War; superintendent of US Military Academy 1919-1922; army chief of staff 1930-1935; commanded US occupation of Japan 1945-1951; recalled by Harry Truman 1951

Associate yourself with men of good quality if you esteem your own reputation, for 'tis better to be alone than in bad company.
~George Washington
US general & politician; led Continental army in American Revolution 1775-1783; First president of US 1789-1797

Chuck Swindoll once gave advice in how to live a life of character as a Christian. He used the act of being accountable through meeting with a trusted individual and asking 7 questions:

"Being creatures with blind spots and tendencies toward rationalization, we must also be in close touch with a few trust worthy individuals with whom we meet on a regular basis.

I found a healthy simple chilli seasoning recipe on CDKitchen.com I'm going to fix it for lunch today:

3 tablespoons paprika
1 tablespoon ground cumin
2 tablespoons oregano
1 teaspoon cayenne -- or to taste
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

Directions:

Mix well. Place in an airtight container. Adjust red pepper to taste for a hot or mild blend.

print recipe or shopping list

Makes .33 cups

On the yourdictionary.com site there is a list of a 100 most often misspelled words. The site lists the words and then gives you clues to help you spell them correctly without a dictionary.

I also found another interesting list. It is a list of a hundred most common mispronounced words and phrases. I can take this list and help my children become aware of words and phrases that are mispronounced so much. You should read through it. It'll make you laugh and surprise you about our English Language.

I discovered a good way to cement into your children their spelling words on the website Homeschooling 101.

I thought of a poem I used to read many times over because of its convenience. My Mom had a plaque by the kitchen sink that thanked God for dirty dishes. When I was a teenager I was always the one to wash dishes. Here's it is:

Thanks

Thank God for dirty dishes.
They have a tale to tell.

While others may go hungry,
We're eating very well.

With health and home and happiness
We shouldn't want to fuss.

For by the stack of evidence
God's been very good to us.

I found it on a website, Out of the Nest and Beyond
that also offered interesting tidbits and advice on a page called In the Kitchen about cooking and around the house details.

Several years ago I lived in a part of Tulsa called Brookside. I used to shop at a Homeland nearby. One night right after Halloween I drove by. There right behind the store was the dumpster filled with all their unsold pumpkins. I could see them piled high. That image will never leave my mind. Every year I say to myself when Halloween is over I want to buy some pumpkins that are greatly discounted and cook them and then freeze them. Today I found a bunch of easy recipes that you could make with pumpkin.

Pumpkin popovers
Healthy Pumpkin Soup
Pumpkin Flan
Healthy Pumpkin Cookies
Baked Miniature Pumpkins
Baked Pumpkin Puree Recipe
Cream Cheese and Pumpkin Muffins
Creamy Pumpkin Polenta
Spiced Pumpkin Butter
Pumpkin Squares Recipe
Pumpkin Sauce over Pasta
Pumpkin Pie Bars
Pumpkin Nutmeg Dinner Rolls
Pumpkin Apricot Muffins
See Below

I found an excellent website called LitQuotes.com

'It was, as I have said, a fine autumnal day; the sky was clear and serene, and nature wore that rich and golden livery which we always associate with the idea of abundance. The forests had put on their sober brown and yellow, while some trees of the tenderer kind had been nipped by the frosts into brilliant dyes of orange, purple, and scarlet."
~Washington Irving
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

LitQuotes is part of a greater website with tons of informational links that will help people to do better in grammar and writing. It is called WebGrammar.com

I think all thrift stores should only play old songs over their radio. I was at one today and I heard a favorite song from the '80's. It's called Crazy Love by Poco. I love the harmony and the acoustic guitar.

Live Version

Original radio version

O. Henry is one of the most famous short story writers. His real name is William Sidney Porter. (1862-1910). He is considered a master of the surprise ending. After working as a bankteller for a time in his life, he was convicted of embezzlement and sent to prison for three years! There he wrote many short stories.

Last night I read the (short) short story After Twenty Years. Its about two friends meeting together 20 years after the night they parted to "seek their fortunes".

Here's a quote from the story:

Today at the Back to the Bible website, I read a devotion by Elizabeth Elliot in which she discusses a Christian's attitude toward fear. Here is a few quotes:

Courage is not the absence of fear but the willingness to do the thing we fear. ~Elizabeth Elliot

Fear is faithlessness.... A perfect faith would lift us absolutely above fear. It is in the cracks, crannies, and gulfy faults of our belief, the gaps that are not faith, that the snow of apprehension settles and the ice of unkindness forms." ~George McDonald from his book, Sir Gibbie.

Joshua 1:9~
9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go." (NIV)

Do you know on which day of the week you were born? I found a site called 10,000 year calendar that will tell you. You can also learn about all the many occurences that occurred on your birthday on the encyclopedia page.

Here is a reading site for children that gives important biographical information about the composer Mozart. I found it on a storytelling link site on Webgrammar.com.

I like the innocence of Becky who has an unselfish and not jealous attitude toward her fellow competitors at her piano recital

At Becky's Piano Recital
~Carl Dennis
New and Selected Poems 1974–2004. ©
Penguin Poets, 2004 from The Writer's Almanac

She screws her face up as she nears the hard parts,
Then beams with relief as she makes it through,
Just as she did listening on the edge of her chair
To the children who played before her,
Wincing and smiling for them
As if she doesn't regard them as competitors
And is free of the need to be first
That vexes many all their lives.
I hope she stays like this,

The bold face of the sun was turned away today but his presence was still known because the morning day brightened as it always does.

The weather forecast is stormy. I can't wait. I like stormy days. It adds excitement and I like to hear the bold thunder rumblings and then listen as the rain, at any unexpected moment, will begin to pour itself out of the sky.

I went and looked outside. There are big clouds completely filling the distant sky and thin see-through clouds hang low and more near. The dark cloud-filled sky makes me imagine there's a big bucket, heavy and full of water and about ready to spill out over the earth.

Last night the weatherman said there would be storms in the morning. So it'll probably rain in a few hours and then be cloudy with no rain for the rest of the day.

Yesterday two storms finally came through later in the day.

In the afternoon I made some homemade wheat rolls. I've made this recipe for about 10 years. When I have made them for holiday get-togethers people comment how they like them. I make them as healthy as I can. I make them with honey instead of sugar and use unbleached flour, butter and the wheat bran. (I would like to figure out how to make them with whole wheat.) They taste great right out of the oven with honey and a dab of butter!

Since I started cooking more, my children whine how I cook (healthier than what they used to have) a lot. Yesterday I got the biggest compliment over my rolls. My 15 year old mentioned a couple of times about how much he liked them and then my family ate the whole batch. They filled themselves with the rolls more than our main supper dish:)

Theodore Roosevelt spoke of the important job of a dedicated mother:

“The woman’s task is not easy—
no task worth doing is easy—
but in doing it, and when she has done it,
there shall come to her the highest and holiest joy known to mankind;
and having done it,
she shall have the reward prophesied in Scripture;
for her husband and her children,
yes, and all people who realize that her work lies at the foundation of all national happiness and greatness,
shall rise up and call her blessed.”

Yesterday I heard a sermon by Chuck Swindoll based on a Bible verse in the OT book of Micah. It basically says,

What does God require of you?
But to do justly,
To love mercy,
and to walk humbly with your God.

If people intentionally focused on making these three things important in their lives, people would awaken to who God is and that He is holy, the creator of life and hates sin.

Swindoll also referred to another passage. It is from Proverbs 6:16-19. It tells of things God hates very much. The verses say this list of seven is an abomination to God. Have you done any of these? on a regular basis? without shame? From time to time I will go through the list:

These six things doth the LORD hate:
yea, seven are an abomination unto him:

1. A proud look,
2. A lying tongue,
3. Hands that shed innocent blood,
4. An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations,
5. Feet that be swift in running to mischief,
6. False witness that speaketh lies,
7. He that soweth discord among brethren.

~King James Version

Then Dr. Swindoll spoke of one more verse. I can use these verses as I pray for a Great Awakening to come to America and the World. He said we should follow the words of Phillippians 4:8:

Finally Brethren,
whatsoever things are true,
whatsoever things are honest,
whatsoever things are just,
whatsoever things are pure,
whatsoever things are lovely,
whatsoever things are of a good report,
if there be any virtue,
and if there be any praise,
think on these things.

Homemade Beauty Products

@ 5am this morning the sky was dark and no clouds were noticeable in the sky. The wind blew roughly through our window all through the night and was still blowing. I love to pray in the darkness, before the signs of a new day appear.

Here are some websites that give you information and practice about prime factorization:
AAA Math~Definition
AAA Math~Practice
Dr. Math Eratosthenes' sieve~Definition
ScienceWorld~Who was Eratosthenes?
Brain Pop~Factorization Tree video
BrainPop~Quiz

Homeschool Math~Description
Teaching Tools

Lesson 1 Parts of Speech - Verbs

Verbs are the most important words in a sentence. Verbs are the first of the eight parts of speech that we will be studying. Most verbs are action words, but a few verbs indicate state of being or existence. The first lessons will be about verbs, and how they are recognized and used.

Find the verbs in the following sentences. They are action verbs.
The wolf ran across the sand.
Sit down.
The dog barked at the man.

Answers:

The verbs in the sentences are ran, sit, and barked. All three verbs are action verbs since they show action. Action verbs are the most common verbs.

Copyright 2006 Word Place Inc - - All Rights Reserved.

Action Verb worksheet from the Teacher's Lounge

Check this site out~Teacher's Lounge