My latest review from CurrClick:

This book consists of 25 blackline maps (each in versions both with and without labels) that cover the period from 1600 - 1850. Of these, twelve deal with the region normally called the New World (i.e. North, Central & South America with surrounding oceans.) Australia, discovered by Europeans in the 17th century and settled as a penal colony in the late 18th century, is represented in one map that simply shows the voyages of James Cook and Abel Tazman in the region. The other half of the book is given over to maps that can be used to situate the events of the New World against the background of world history: the expansion of Russia and of Sweden; Elizabethan London and the Industrial Revolution in England; the United Netherlands which established colonies in the New World; the kingdoms of China & Japan during the period; the exploitation of Africa, etc.

Maps in the book tend to be very simple, often with no scale or key although some do include this. Labelling is clear and easy to read, and I can’t say just how important this is! So many of the maps I have found elsewhere were drawn in the period, and are so crowded with details as to make them pretty much useless. I also appreciate that the book uses the land shapes that we have been taught to recognize, rather than reverting to the shapes drawn by the explorers themselves, which can appear distorted or incomplete.

As the main political divides in North America from the 15th to 17th centuries existed in what lands belonged to the English or French and not at the 49th parallel, I did find the collection lacking in maps dealing with lands now part of Canada. The map of “Native American Tribal Groups 1600 - 1850,” for example, includes only tribes encountered to the south of the current US-Canadian border - a line that only came into existence in 1783. This is a rather arbitrary cut-off considering the time frame and, not to put too fine a point on it, results in the complete omission of peoples representing three entire language families and in the neglect of the greater majority of the Na-Dene and Algic speakers - these families being two of the three largest aboriginal groups in what is now the United States and Canada.

Similarly, the map entitled “Europeans Settle in America 1607 - 1624″ completely misses out Quebec City (founded in 1608) and Montreal (founded in 1611) both of which are still standing today and have had significance from the 17th, right into the 21st century. Canada isn’t even mentioned in the list of geographical regions covered at the beginning of the book - although Tasmania, Estonia and the Sahara Desert get a mention.

For those who need a basic, low-cost package of maps to help with the study of American history during the Age of Exploration, this book is a wonderful buy. Educators need not hunt high and low, or try to draw maps of their own, to find easy outlines that will fulfill their needs. The accompanying “lesson plans” offer a handful of ideas for how to use each map, and there is both a glossary and a list of regions that can be used for vocabulary/spelling lessons. Combined with timelines and narrations from texts read, these maps contribute to the creation of a personal history of which the student can be proud. I am happy to see this perennial favourite available as a quick, low-cost download!

NOTE: Those educators who expect to be using the entire Knowledge Quest Maps collection (5000 BC to present) are advised that a bundle is available on CurrClick, at a significant savings.

Average Rating:   5 / 5

New World Blackline Maps
Knowledge Quest
Supplied by CurrClick; Cost $11.24 US on discount

This work was created by Ruby of Freehold 2, and was originally published at CurrClick. It is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 Canada License.

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I actually like to visit my dentist, which if you knew how terrified I was of all things related to dentistry as a child, is a statement that may well leave you picking your jaw up off the floor.

One of the reasons I like my dentist is that she treats her patients as people & not file numbers. She takes great pleasure in helping people, and she always seems to make a special connection of some sort every time I visit her. The last time I was there she shared with me that she had been reading about the experience of Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor, a neuroanatomist who had a very special experience that gave her special insight into the brain: she had a stroke.

The video below is a presentation given by Dr. Taylor, in which she discusses the left brain and right brain. The talk is very animated, and switches back and forth between the modes of the two hemispheres. For those who have a family member with special needs, this may help to really bring home the unique ways in which that person relates to the world. For all of us, there is a fascinating look at the two hemispheres from the inside out - and a beautiful message of peace.

Dr. Taylor wrote a book about her experience, called My Stroke of Insight (available in French as Voyage au-delà de mon cerveau.) It is available through most book sellers (Canadian, US, UK) and copies are available through several Montreal area libraries.

This work was created by Ruby of Freehold 2, and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 Canada License.

Excerpts copyright quoted authors. Please visit their sites to read more, and respect the terms of their copyrights. Thanks!

I was fiddling around on Wikipedia, checking for a recommended reading sequence for the Anne of Green Gables books, when I spotted an entry I hadn’t noticed before. The book, The Blythes Are Quoted, is a collection of short stories, poems and vignettes to be published by Penguin in October 2009. Some content was published serially while LM Montgomery was still alive, and parts of the collection were published in one volume during the 1970’s, but considerably abridged.

Adultery, illegitimacy, misogyny, revenge, murder, despair, bitterness, hatred, and death—usually not the first terms associated with L.M. Montgomery. But in The Blythes Are Quoted, completed shortly before her death and never before published in its entirety, Montgomery brought these topics to the forefront in what she intended to be the ninth volume in her bestselling series featuring her beloved heroine Anne. Divided into two sections, one set before and one after the Great War of 1914-1918, The Blythes Are Quoted contains fifteen episodes that include an adult Anne and her family. Binding these short stories, Montgomery inserted sketches featuring Anne and Gilbert Blythe discussing poems by Anne and their middle son, Walter, who dies as a soldier in the war. By blending poetry, prose, and dialogue, Montgomery was experimenting with storytelling methods in ways she had never before attempted. The Blythes Are Quoted marks the final word of a writer whose work that continues to fascinate readers all over the world.

Editor Benjamin Lefebvre, in a post on his blog

The book can be pre-ordered now through Amazon, or watch for it on the shelves of your local library or bookstore!

(Another interesting upcoming title from Penguin popped up while I was at their web site: The Homeschool Liberation League. Looks like it might end up on some folks’ twaddle lists, but I was pleased to see that homeschooling is making it into the popular literature for teens & tweens!)

This work was created by Ruby of Freehold 2, and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 Canada License.

Excerpts copyright quoted authors. Please visit their sites to read more, and respect the terms of their copyrights. Thanks!

A high school student was denied his high school diploma earlier this month, for behaviour the characterized as “fooling around” during his graduation ceremony - something that was not permitted by the terms of a conduct contract the students were obliged to sign before they could get tickets to the event.

Bonny Eagle High School’s handbook “recognizes the right of every student or employee to attend/work at school in an environment free of intimidation, ridicule, hostility, and offensiveness.” At the same time it also allows for students to be subjected to suspensions of at least 10 days and even referred for expulsion for what it calls “insubordination or disrespect” - no definition given of what acts constitute these infractions - and it gives school staff the right to search or question a student without informing the student’s parents.

Justin Denney is waiting to receive his diploma by mail. His family members are asking for a public apology, and that the superintendent of schools step down. They have consulted a lawyer and are considering legal action as a result of the incident.

From what I could glean about the whole affair, there was a tremendous disruption of the graduation that included one other student being escorted out of the ceremony by a deputy sheriff, under threat of being handcuffed. As a result Taylor Lamy, whom other students claim is innocent of any wrongdoing, was also deprived of his diploma.

Parents also say Lukas refused to hand two students diplomas right way because they were not properly holding their roses. One had the rose tucked under his hat and the other gripped it between his teeth.

While the superintendent apparently relaxed her standards after being booed by the audience as she denied young Denney his diploma, it would seem that a total of four students in all may have left the ceremony without diplomas.

School and school board officials have been very tight-lipped about the incident. Although the one comment made has been that there was a great deal of parent support for the officials cracking down on the student behaviour, there are also a number of students and their families who believe that the rowdiness was very poorly handled by Superintendent Suzanne Lukas, in particular. An emergency meeting of the school district was called earlier this week to look into the superintendent’s handling of the situation.

Looking back on the events that transpired, several parents say the administration’s reaction likely caused the situation to escalate to the point where parents were yelling and heckling the superintendent from the audience.

As can be seen from the video, there was a certain feeling that school officials were taking the event too seriously, and lacked judgement when they failed to redirect attention to the positive aspects of the ceremony. Administration reactions instead resulted in the humiliation of students, heckling from parents in the audience, and a general escalation of events. There were no arrests, but just to be saying that a boy was led away from his graduation by police because of a couple of beach balls has me shaking my head.

“It turned into something where I cringed every time a kid deviated from simply walking across the stage,” [parent Meg] Hastings said.

Mary Weyer of Hollis attended the ceremony to watch her daughter, Madeline, graduate. She arrived expecting to have a good time and left sick to her stomach about what happened, she said.

“All of it, it felt like it was not a celebration of these kids’ accomplishment,” she said. “It felt more like a last-ditch effort for the administration to show their might.”

Hastings and Weyer said they both feel the administration overreacted to the beach balls and should have let them fall to the floor to avoid further distractions.

“It took a lot away from their accomplishments,” Hastings said. “All I can think of is what a bad taste was in my mouth when I left. I couldn’t wait to get out of there.”

Dr. Todd Bernston, who writes a relationships column, commented on the degree of hostility displayed by Lukas towards the students who did not perfectly conform to her expectations:

On the surface, this just seems like an absurd situation: A kid being denied his diploma for simply blowing a kiss to his mother. But what is particularly disturbing about this case is the willful humiliation of him in front of the entire community . . .

That the superintendent displayed a profound degree of insensitivity and hostility toward this kid is beyond question. Even more disturbing is that she felt fully justified in behaving this way . . .

As I see it, this is just one example in a growing movement of dehumanization in our country where any behavior that deviates from a militaristic mechanized efficiency is somehow seen as a threat to our social fabric. Expressions of enthusiasm and fun, while they can make graduation ceremonies more chaotic, should be accepted as part of the excitement of making the transition from childhood to adulthood. After all, graduation ceremonies are for the kids, not the superintendent. It is their day and they have earned the right to blow a kiss to their mother if they choose.

This work was created by Ruby of Freehold 2, and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 Canada License.

Excerpts copyright quoted authors. Please visit their sites to read more, and respect the terms of their copyrights. Thanks!

A quick little hello, just to let everyone know that I am still alive. This year has been a rather trying one, and we’re still working on all the things that need our attention.

Our son was sent home from school a few months ago because he was having such a hard time being in class that nobody could calm him down. He was a whole month at home before the school was able to formulate a plan, and is still only going half days since April. Life is upside down!

We’ve had him integrated into a regular classroom in our local school for six years now, but we’re finally feeling that it’s time to place him in a special needs school. Now comes the work of finding out what our options are, examining them, and then making applications…..

As if that wasn’t enough to be dealing with, we’ve also discovered that our two older daughters are both likely ADHD and possibly dealing with learning disabilities, as well. So, a battery of other tests and a formal diagnosis process lie ahead, and then adaptations once we have a better idea of where the specific issues lie. Thankfully, our psychologist is very supportive of homeschooling for special needs kids!

I’ve been spending my days learning more about the issues we think are going to come up, scouting out homeschool curricula that are designed for special needs kids or that work with a very multi-sensory approach, and trying to help the girls sort out all the new information they are getting about themselves. At the end of every day I am so tired, it seems it’s the kids who need to tuck Mama into bed. (Luckily, Daddy has always been good about tucking the kids in!)

There’s a lot going around in my head: connections between autism and ADHD; visuo-spatial learners, and their link to ADHD/LD/autism; links of any/all of these to giftedness (sometimes called being “twice exceptional”) ….

At the same time I’m also considering adopting some parts of the Montessori method - something I never expected to be doing, for a number of reasons. I’ve discovered that the manipulatives commonly used in Montessori settings might just be useful for my girls - a revelation that occurred as a result of us throwing a few handmade copies together to do the ShillerMath placement tests.

An online math learning program called DreamBox uses some fun manipulatives, too. I think they’re probably a little closer to RightStart Math, which seems to rely heavily on a specially designed abacus. It’s only been two days, but the kids are beginning to “get” the concepts, which are built in large part upon the skill of quickly recognizing groups of objects (”subsitizing,” for those who want to look into it.) I have got all four of my kids doing a two-week trial of the program, intended for kids in K-2, but entertaining/educational even for my 11 year old. I promise to write more about it in a couple weeks’ time, when we’ve had a better look at what it gives….

Anyway, when math goes from being a struggle to kids asking if they can please do some more math you know something is going right!

I have begun to look into Montessori. Baby steps, for now. I’m getting familiar with some of the manipulatives used for math, and beginning to grasp how the grammar ones work (very cool!) I’ve been talking with another homeschool mom who combines Charlotte Mason & Montessori, and it appears it is possible despite some fundamental differences in the two great ladies’ philosophies!

I’ve scouted out some books on Montessori, including one written by Maria Montessori & another intended for home use. They are now at the top of my list of books to check out (of course, I have about ten others “on the go” at the moment, but we’ll get there!)

As a comfort, I decided to revisit Anne of Green Gables, which I have much loved watching in my adulthood, but haven’t read in many a year. My old paperbacks have twice since fallen apart, so I got a sturdy copy from the library - bless the library - and I’m ever so much in love with that quirky little girl and her adoptive family, all over again! (Mom, please tell Auntie Ina I’m so happy she sent me those books as a kid! It’s one of the best gifts I’ve ever had )

We’ve also taken to watching Canada: A People’s History with the girls. I had seen many of the episodes when it originally aired on TV, but never got to see them in order. I’m finding I like the series a whole lot better this way! Dojogirl (11) understands most of it, especially when I take the time to preview an episode and then pause the action for discussion as necessary to emphasize a point that is being made, or to draw a connection to what we’ve learned in our readings. The girls both enjoy the re-enactments, especially the monologues read by actors in period costumes.

Dojogirl has discovered Samuel de Champlain, and much enjoyed the episodes about the founding of the Habitation at Quebec City. We read a fabulous book borrowed on a whim, Les aventures de Samuel de Champlain by Francine Legaré (Planète rebelle, 2008.) It comes with a CD of songs about Champlain’s life. The last one on the disc talks about the multicultural nature of Quebec today, and how Champlain would be surprised to see how his “little corner of France” in the New World now is full of people from all the four corners of the world. I looked to see if the library had the sequel, which they don’t. But they do have 41 entries by the publisher, many of which are books with CD. I believe we’ll be browsing through them over the summer…..

The girls are coming along absolutely swimmingly in French at the moment, and we are all reading like crazy! Have I mentioned that I’ve become a HUGE fan of the local library?

Dojogirl has read three novels in as many days (she loved the Jungle Book you sent, Mom!) and is just soaking up all of the historical books I had her check out of the library. A lot of them are from Donna Ward’s Courage and Conquest History Bundle #2, and seem to appeal to kids who like a sort of bits ‘n’ bites kind of approach - sort of like a Guinness World Book or something similar.

The Banana is finally reading chapter books without having to be cajoled into it. She can read from The Spiderwick Chronicles with adult help, and today picked up Little House in the Big Woods, which she seems to be managing with a minimum of assistance.

I have a stack of book reports on my desk to look through!!

OK, so I’m rambling now, and it’s time to get the Bug to bed. The girls are at Ju-Jutsu for what is expected to be a longer class than normal. One of the newer students is taking his yellow belt exam! Shihan says the jump from white belt to yellow is just about the hardest one, until the much more advanced grades. It’s a celebration! Dojogirl baked cookies especially for the occasion

It’s good to be back, dear readers. I hope I’ll be finding more time to share with you again soon, but please do be patient. As Sonya says, I’ll probably be writing in fits & starts. Lots of things to share with you, but so much more going on in the background! In the meantime, your thoughts and prayers are much appreciated. It’s been a long road so far, this year, and we’ve got much uncharted territory to navigate, still.

Solstice is this weekend, so happy summer to you all!
Ruby

This work was created by Ruby of Freehold 2, and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 Canada License.

Excerpts copyright quoted authors. Please visit their sites to read more, and respect the terms of their copyrights. Thanks!