Mood:  happy

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Tonight I want to thank God for our international children:

Marcelo from Bolivia

Feyber from Colombia

Somi from Indonesia

Emmanuel from Tanzania

Ismael from Nicaragua

Yvone from Rwanda

These are all of our Compassion children in the order in which they were adopted into our family. Marcelo we have supported for almost two and a half years now and Yvone for just nine months. Marcelo we support financially and the rest we are correspondence supporters for. But, we love them all the same. They are all special to us. From Marcelo - who wants us to pray for his parents to go to church with him - to Feyber - who, after some encouragement from me - is beginning to read his Bible more - to Somi - who is fascinated with every snow picture that I send to him because he's never seen snow - to Emmanuel - our oldest child for whom I am praying for a Godly wife - to Ismael - our youngest child who has to have his teacher write letters for him but draws wonderful pictures for us - to Yvone - our only daughter - who calls us her Mother and Father - we love them all dearly and we pray for them all affectionately.

Thank you, Lord, for our wonderful Compassion children. Please bless them all right now whether they are sleeping or awake. Thank you for Compassion International who is rescuing children from poverty one child at a time. Please raise up more supporters for children who are still waiting for the love of a sponsor. Amen

If you would like to share the joy and love we have for our Compassion children, please click here to get to the Compassion International website.

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A couple of days ago I talked about thankful I was for the salvation that God provided through Jesus' blood (see here). I found this short video today that explains salvation in an easy way. Please watch it and, if you aren't sure that you would go to Heaven when you die, please consider God's free gift.

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Mood:  a-ok

Tonight I'm thankful for my beautiful wife and my three handsome sons.

I love you my Princess and my three Princes.

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Mood:  a-ok

A friend of mine from the TOS Homeschool Crew has hosted the Gratitude Challenge during the month of November the past couple of years. The challenge is for folks to think about all of the ways God has blessed them in their lives. If your a blogger, the challenge is for you to blog as much as you can about the things you are thankful for and then link it to the Gratitude Challenge homepage where others can click on your link to see what you are grateful for. I decided to participate this year. It's always good to remember God's blessings.

The first thing that I am grateful for is the sacrifice that Jesus made on the cross. He died so that we could live for him. All we have to do is believe that we need a Savior - we can't do it on our own. In fact, we can't do anything on our own to gain entrance to Heaven. We just need to trust that Jesus died for us and accept His free gift of salvation. I am forever thankful for God's gift of eternal life. Without Him, I would be nothing. Thank you Lord.

If you would like to participate in the Gratitude Challenge, or if you want to read what others are thankful for, just click on the banner above. And, all year long, but especially at this time of year, don't forget to have "An Attitude of Gratitude".

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Mood:  a-ok

You all know that we are big readers around our house. We read all of the time, and we read almost anything. Thankfully, because of the curriculum we use, John Allen reads a lot of living books. Living books are the books that are usually rich in morals and rich in history. Unfortunately we have not delved into many classics. Last year I had to review a book that suggested a lot of children's classics to read, and that helped a lot. I even began to read some of the great authors myself. Still, with all that we have to do with our regular studies, it's been hard to find time to read some of the classical literature that we should be reading.

Until, this year when we were chosen  to review Janice Campbell's Excellence in Literature English One: Introduction to Literature. Excellence in Literature is a fantastic program where you not only read the classics, but you learn HOW to read the classics. You also learn a better understanding of the classics by writing approach papers, literature summaries, author summaries, and other essays.

We received Excellence in Literature (EIL), English 1: Introduction to Literature and I have many likes and some dislikes regarding EIL. Let me take them one by one beginning with the likes:

#1 

I really like how this course is laid out. It is very easy to follow. Really, it's made for a student to do on his own. I haven't been brave enough to do this with John Allen yet, but soon I'll let him loose and just check up on his work as he completes assignments.

Each unit takes about a month (four weeks) do complete. What needs to be accomplished is laid out week by week, but it doesn't say what is to be done each day. This makes the student learn time management. He knows what must be accomplished during that week, so he must divide it into reasonable amounts to do each day. Of course, this is meant to be a high school course. If you chose to do this with an advanced middle school student, he may need some help with managing his time.

#2

I really like the literature that John Allen is going to read this year. Unit One is all short stories including:

"A White Heron" by Sarah Orne Jewett

“The Diamond Necklace” by Guy de Maupassant

“The Ransom of Red Chief” by O’Henry

“The Purloined Letter” by Edgar Allen Poe

“A Worn Path” by Eudora Welty

“The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” by James Thurber

The student is also required to read a short online biography of Sarah Orne Jewett. John Allen's favorites were "The White Heron" and "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty". Such good literature!

For each unit there is also an honors option. For unit one the honors student was required to read short online biographies of each author as well as a second short story, of the student's choice, from each writer.

After unit one, things really get hopping! The students are then required to read good classical novels from great authors. Here's John Allen's list for English One:Introduction to Literature.

I read Jane Eyre a few years ago and, of course, I read Animal Farm. I just got done reading Treasure Island and I'm now reading Around the World in Eighty Days. I can't wait to discuss them with John Allen!

#3

I really like the writing element that this course has. It's only going to make John Allen a better writer. He's already a good writer. More than once I've scolded him because I thought he had copied book reviews from the back of books, only to find out later that he had, indeed, written them himself.

The first approach paper that he wrote for Excellence in Literature English One: Introduction to Literature was no different. I thought he had copied it from someplace. I really need to learn! Of course he hadn't. In EIL the approach papers, summaries, comparisons, etc. will only make him even better. The author makes it so easy with plenty of examples in the back of the book, and recommendations on where a student can find even more help.

I'm not sure that he is looking forward to it, but I'm looking forward to what he is going to produce. He is already working on another writing course, and these compliment each other! It's going to be a lot of fun.

Un -

There are several things that I didn't like about this course. For instance...no, that was that math program last year...Oh! I know...no, that was that history book that I didn't like...Hmmm...I got it!...I knew there was somthing...I didn't like that...no, that was that bologna sandwich that gave me heartburn last night!

You know what? I can't think of anything! There is nothing I can find that I disliked. Nothing! Excellence in Literature English 1 is really an excellent course.

If you think that your student is more advanced then there are four other courses that you can choose from. Here's a complete list of all of the levels complete with links to the Excellence in Literature page for each.

Not only is it an excellent course, but it sells for an excellent price. Each level is only $29 + $4.95 shipping for the physical book, or $27 for the downloadable ebook that you can print out and put in a three ring binder. OR...you can purchase the entire five volume curriculum for $139 + shipping for a bound copy or $135 for the ebook version. For more information on Excellence in Literature just click here or on any one of the hi-lighted links above. Other TOS Homeschool Crew members tried other levels and you can find out what they had to say by clicking here.

As a member of the TOS Homeschool Crew I was given a free downloadable ebook version of Excellence in Literature's English One: Introduction to Literature to try out and give my honest review on this blog.

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