Occasionally, friends or readers ask my opinion about various writing programs. I never feel qualified to answer, because I have rarely used writing programs in our homeschool. I’ve mainly taught my girls about writing as we write. Initially, I taught them about things like rough drafts. I wanted them to know that they’re called “rough” for a reason, and that we should let our drafts be messy -- full of cross-outs, scribbles and insertions. The other thing I wanted my children to understand about writing was that there are radically different kinds, suited to different purposes. It’s one thing to write a poem, a short story, or a novel. It’s another matter entirely to write a newspaper article, an essay or a research paper. Not everyone will be drawn to creative writing (which is where I think many writing programs fail) but we all need to acquire the skill of expressing ourselves intelligently on paper. Awhile back, I received a review copy of the Student Writing Intensive, Level B (SWI) from Andrew Pudewa’s Institute for Excellence in Writing (IEW). I tried it out on my kids, and they immediately pronounced it a success. My girls loved Mr. Pudewa, as they affectionately call him, from the start. What we loved: No pencils. IEW stresses, and I strongly agree, a sort of Magic School Bus/Ms. Frizzle approach to writing: Make messes! Take chances! If it’s a rough draft -- let it be rough! Don’t erase or try to make things come out perfectly on your first attempt. Do not worry about your handwriting. Yes! Just get those words out of your head and onto your paper. If we worry about penmanship every time we put pen to paper, we will never learn to write. I think one mistake that schools and/or writing programs sometimes make is trying to teach too many skills at once: neatness and penmanship, critical thinking, choice of topic, organization, self-expression, creativity, forming an opinion, fashioning an argument, and so on. While all of these aspects of writing are vital, they can’t be taught at the same time. Writing needs to be broken down into its essential parts. Foundations must be formed before mansions are built. Pudewa doesn’t make that multitasking mistake. He gets it. Creative Writing is a different kettle of fish Yes! Too many writing programs try to turn every child into a poet. Writing exercises that begin, “Imagine you are a tree branch in autumn,” make me roll my eyes and they make most kids roll their eyes, too. Not all kids will be poets, but everyone can benefit from knowing how organize information and express it coherently. To this end, SWI begins with some simple exercises that can be life changing for a young writer. Students are presented a paragraph of facts. They are shown how to note key words or phrases for each sentence in that paragraph. The keyword list becomes an outline for structuring and retelling information. With this very simple process, students learn how to assimilate and present information in a report or essay form. Beyond that outline, style is then taught through “dress ups” that add interest and depth to the work. Creative writing is handled later in the program, and separately (though using some of the same techniques) and I couldn’t be happier about that. IEW materials teach specific, foundational, seemingly obvious (but clearly not, or we’d have many more “natural” writers in the world) skills that are essential to solid writing. Though I’ve seen only this one IEW product, based on its methods and philosophy, I highly recommend their materials.

Thirteen-year-old Cecelia Morne was staying at Welston Manor for a time (not long after World War II ended) while her parents were out of the country. This family estate in the countryside near Bristol, England, was owned by her uncle, Ambrose Morne. Ambrose had a great-nephew, Richard, who was also staying there. Cecelia ("Cecil") soon become good friends with Rickie and his tutor, Dominic. One day Dominic showed Cecil and Rickie a small room hidden in a wall of the old manor. A little later, the two children entered the room. It had a door on each wall. As a game, Cecil and Rickie spun each other around and opened one of the doors. They were surprised to find themselves in Victorian times - but still in the same house, and dressed appropriately.

During the course of their visit to Welston, the children make frequent visits to the past - each one a little further back in history. Although each visit is rather short, the details of the story are quite interesting - the kinds of names used, the way people speak and dress, and other historical details about specific places and events. On the whole, it is a fun and suspenseful adventure story that whets the appetite for further research into history.

A number of topic threads run through the story (including interesting details of the ups and downs of life around Bristol since Roman times); but the most significant thread is that of the Catholic Church and, more specifically, the Holy Mass. Cecil and Rickie meet priests on the run during Elizabethan times and under the persecution of the Romans and also get a taste of life when the Catholic faith was status quo. The story contains many beautiful explanations of various parts of the Faith in an accessible fashion. During the course of the story, both children come to appreciate and embrace the Catholic faith. The reader is also left with the sense that every age struggles with its particular evils and vices, but good and truth endures by the grace of God and the courage and faith of good people.

The story does contain some criticisms of the Catholic Church - both by a few characters in the story who don't know better and some experiences of the children in their travels. One scene in particular might be a little disturbing: the children come upon a Franciscan friar with a flirtatious girl on his lap (The word they use is "sluttish"- parents today might consider this an inappropriate word, but I think the connotations were slightly different 50 years ago in England. Also, this is an obscure word for children and the concept might go over their heads.). This scene is followed up later in the story by a wonderful explanation of the struggles of the Church and religious orders and how they both tend to be stronger during times of persecution than during "easy times." My daughter, who was reading the book alongside me, didn't notice the particular reference, but did understand the overall concept within the story of the presence of fallen nature within Catholics and non-Catholics alike. Although I do think it very important for children to be exposed to some of the evils that have made their way into the Church over the centuries (I might even call it "inoculation"), I believe this book will be most appropriate for children ages 12 and up for independent reading, but suitable for younger children as a read-aloud. Appropriateness will vary according to the thoughtfulness of the child and how well-read they are on historic matters. It is important to note that this aspect of the book is not a weakness in any sense - just a somewhat mature topic. The story is much more meaningful and the conversions are much more complete and believable because a fuller picture of life, the Church and human nature is presented.

Some of the geographical terms might be a little unfamiliar to American children, but my 11 year old daughter (who was familiar with some terms and places from sources such as Pride and Prejudice and Rick Steve's Travel Shows) really enjoyed reading the book and now considers it one of her favorites.

This kit is one of a number of kits aimed at giving children hands on experiments with electronics. It includes a battery holder, 2 capacitors, 2 resistors, 1 pot, 2 bipolar transistors, 2 LEDs, speaker, mike, motor, a variety of switches, 4 "IC's" and a few other parts.

The unit and connector mechanism is the thing that sets this kit apart from most other kits. The schematic symbol is the predominant feature of most of the elements. This makes the experiment itself look like a schematic diagram. Since I am an electrical engineer this is what convinced me to buy this kit (a little more expensive than its Radio Shack counterparts). The schematic symbols are usually meaningful icons of what the electronics REALLY are and do.

However, while the idea is fetching the implementation is lacking. Immediately out of the box some connections were hard to make and prone to intermittency. Simply put, the first circuit we put together did not work until we substituted some parts!! The connectors are like a specialized snap. But the connections aren't always sound; and this can cause an experiment to fail through no fault of the student. This is a fatal flaw. For this reason I don't recommend this kit.

The documentation comes in two parts. One is just pictures of the circuits (schematics but with keyed colors so they are easier to read for little ones). The other offers explanations. The explanations for this kit are very average. Lastly, it seems that most kits fall short when it comes to their "IC's". This, like most kits, treats them as black boxes with no insight into what is happening within them. It is more like magic than science when building circuits with them.

Note: The product is made in China