Tag: homeschooling

IQ Gears a Timberdoodle Review

I love getting my hands on fun and educational games, little ways my children can keep their minds growing while they play. Thus, I was excited to get the opportunity to review Smart Games’ IQ Gears from Timberdoodle.  We had reviewed another game, IQ 6 Pro, from them last year, so I had high expectations.

The IQ Gears was similar to the IQ 6 Pro but with added fun and challenge. It is a puzzle game that can be played independently or together, with players challenging each other to different levels.

What is IQ Gears?

The game consists of a playing board and seven puzzle pieces. Seven pieces may not seem like a lot, but there are so many different combinations and challenge levels that it is great for a variety of ages. The included manual has over one hundred challenges at five different levels, ranging from starter to wizard.

Each of the seven pieces is a different color and shape. They also each have small gears on different parts of the shape. On the outside of the playing board are two larger gears. The goal is to get the puzzle pieces to fit back on the playing board in a way that connects the two outside gears. So you should be able to turn one outside gear and cause the other outside gear to turn.

There are many possible combinations to make this happen, but each challenge has specifics that have to be in place. For example, it might show you the position of several of the pieces, and you have to figure out where the other pieces will fit. Some of the challenges show positions but with the pieces whited out so that you have to figure out which pieces they are using and get them all in the right places. 

The easiest starter puzzles show the shapes of all the pieces on the board but only have a few of them colored in. All of these levels make it easy for people of different ages to enjoy the puzzle together.

How To Use This Game

As a homeschool mom, I loved that this game was working on critical thinking skills and was QUIET. It was very small and self-contained, so it worked well as a game for car rides. A child who needs to keep their hands occupied during read-aloud time could also use it.

 It doesn’t have to be for school; it also makes a delightful family game to play in the evenings. It challenges teenagers and can be a great way to engage them in family time. My daughter was surprised at how challenging it was at first. She assumed that with only sevel pieces it would be too easy.

We enjoyed the game and were glad to add it to our collection. I encourage you to find out more about IQ Gears at Timberdoodle, where it can be purchased independently or as part of the 10th-grade kit.

Book Recommendations: Summer 2024

Reading is something that I enjoy year-round, but our summer schedule often allows more time for reading than other times of the year. While summer is never quite the slow, easy time I have in my dreams, I do take homeschooling off my plate for a few months.

*Some links are affiliate links, see disclosure below*

My children go to camp, do 4-H activities, spend time at the river, and engage in many other activities that keep us on the go, but many of them do not require much of my time. This leaves me with a little more flexibility to read.

This summer, I read several great books, both fiction and nonfiction. For years, I was staunchly on team “real paper books,” and while in many ways that is still my preference, I have found it easier to hold a baby and read on my phone. Going digital also opened up lots of more cost-effective options, like Kindle Unlimited and borrowing ebooks through Hoopla from our library.

Book I Read This Summer

Habits of a Sacred Home by Jennifer Pepito

                Habits of a Sacred Home was a wonderful book to start my summer reading. I found it inspiring, challenging, and yet not so heavy as to be hard to read. It covers “9 practices from history to anchor and restore modern families.”  By reading one chapter a day, I could take the time to focus on and reflect on each habit. I was most inspired and challenged by the chapters on the habits of prayer and simplicity.

Until the Streetlights Come On by Ginny Yurich

                This book has been on my bedside table since shortly after it was published, but life kept getting in the way of me reading it. However, I am so glad that I could take the time to read it this summer. It reaffirmed my desire to give my children more time outside, more time engaged in authentic play, and more time adventuring together as a family. It also brought up some great points about different types of light and some other science behind all of this that I had not known before.  I am excited about growing further in these areas this year.

Once a Queen by Sarah Arthur

                On my own, I would never have picked up Once a Queen, but I am so glad that I did. It is a middle-grade fiction novel with excellent fantasy elements reminiscent of Narnia. Read Aloud Revival was doing it as a book for mama book club, and I decided it would be fun to read it with them and have my teenage daughter read it.  It was the perfect summer reading, light, and fun, with a little mystery and some fun references to Narnia for those who know the series. My only complaint is that the sequel will not be out until next year!

Your Teenager Isn’t Crazy by Jeramy and Jershua Clark

                Your Teenager Isn’t Crazy: Understanding Your Teen’s Brain Can Make You a Better Parent is an engaging book that offers lots of scientific information and practical application. I have not quite finished reading it, but I have loved what I have read so far. It really helped me better understand my teenagers and gave me ideas for how to respond to them and help them through the emotions and reactions of the teenage brain. (As a bonus, this is available on Kindle Unlimited!)

Chasing Slow by Erin Loechner

                Chasing Slow: Courage to Journey Off the Beaten Path is the story of how Erin Loechner, a TV show star and viral blogger, took control of her life and slowed down. It is less practical self-help strategies and more autobiographical, but inspirational ideas are intertwined into the story.  It was a good, easy read, but I wish there were more practical tips. I felt like it did a great job showing the benefits of Chasing Slow, but I would have liked a little more help with the application side of the equation. (This title was also a Kindle Unlimited read.)

My Current and Upcoming Books

Michael’s Gentle Wife by Karen Andreola

I had a gift card for Amazon last month, and I knew just what I would buy. Michael’s Gentle Wife by Karen Andreola was at the top of my wish list. I had already read the two books before this one, Pocketful of Pinecones and Lessons at Blackberry Inn. So, I knew that I wanted to get my hands on this latest book. I am only a few chapters into it, but I love it so far. It is an easy-to-read story full of ideals and slower living. Set in the 1930s, things are different than today, and while it is written a bit more idyllic than real life, I also find it to be encouraging as we seek to slow down and enjoy our homeschool day.

The Opt-Out Family by Erin Loechner

Within about a month, I saw several references to The Opt Out Family by Erin Loechner in books I read. I also had several friends mention it. I want to take a second look when something keeps appearing like that. I found this one as a digital loan in our library app and have just started it as well.

I am looking forward to reading it and hopefully gaining encouragement and practical strategies for further reducing our family’s dependence on screens while balancing our desire to stay connected.

 Well Lived by Sally Clarkson

Finally, Sally Clarkson is one of my favorite authors who has encouraged and inspired me along my homeschool journey. She writes about the ideals that we try to impart to our children and share in our home. She has encouraged me to continue living out those ideals over the years, even when things are imperfect, which has paid off in many ways. I have had the privilege of reading the first chapter of her new book, Well Lived: Shaping a Legacy of Gratitude and Grace, and I look forward to reading the rest of it when it comes out next month.

In addition to all of these wonderful books, I have been indulging in some fun Christian fiction through my Kindle Unlimited subscription. A chapter or two at night before bed is a great way for my mind to unwind and relax. My son has been reading some books on his Kindle, and my daughter has as well, so we find it to be a great deal, and we save money each month over what we would have spent to buy the individual books.

I am always adding books to my pile, and I would love to hear your recommendations as well.

Deals and Freebies

If you have not tried SchoolhouseTeachers.com, you don’t want to miss this sale!

Tuttle Twins is having a Back to School Sale! Great deals on books and their new Academy.

New subscribers can get 3 months of World Watch for FREE! This is a great deal.

Morning Time Plans 2024

Over the years, we have changed many things in our homeschool, but through it all, we have tried to maintain some form of “morning time.” There have been years when morning time more typically happened in the evening (we could rename it family time), but we have tried to keep that learning time together.

We have incorporated a variety of subjects, and it looks a little different each year, but two things have remained the same: we learn together as a family, and we incorporate some type of Bible study.

*Some of the links in my posts may be affiliate links. See below for more information. *

This year will be the first year with one of my children, out of the nest, so to speak. My oldest is headed off to college this year. I also have a young baby that will add a bit of noise and chaos to our mornings. In order to be realistic with the baby, I am trying to keep mornings simple this year.

Every Day Morning Time Choices

Our two main morning priorities will be our daily family Bible reading and World Watch. Over the years, we have used a wide variety of Bible curriculum and enjoyed many of them, but I often found it hard to be consistent when using curriculum and trying to make it work for all ages. However, several years ago, I read Help Your Kids Learn and Love the Bible and realized I was over complicating things.

Now, as a family, we read one chapter a day from the Bible, going through an entire book. This keeps it simple and easy to maintain, even during busy seasons. We read (or listen to it on my phone app) the chapter and then discuss it. My husband bought me a wonderful set of commentaries that we pull out if we have questions or want to dig deeper into a verse.  We have found this to be hugely impactful and easy to maintain.

After the Bible, World Watch is our second priority. We even kept these two components when we were traveling last spring. If you are not familiar, World Watch is a news program with a Christian perspective designed for students. It is ten minutes a day and covers a variety of major news topics and fun interest stories.

 I find that it has opened the door for many conversations, helped my teens better understand what is happening in the world, and given us all more perspective.  We have found that watching and discussing works well for our family, but I did want to mention that they now also have downloadable worksheets that you could add to your World Watch time if you felt your student needed that or to help you use it for high school credit.

Morning Time Rotations

In addition to our two main components, we will try to incorporate one additional subject each day. Those will include fine arts, hymn study, logic, poetry, books of the Bible, and any other topics that I want to fit in as a family. Sometimes, we may do the same subject each day for several weeks; other times, we may rotate daily depending on our needs. This allows us to cover various topics without adding too many different things in one day (which would make it unmanageable).

For those rotations, we will be using the following resources:

Fine Arts: We will be using the Fine Arts program from You Are An Artist. They have a variety of fine arts courses that focus on different eras and topics.

Hymn Study: For the hymn study, we will use the studies I have already written and some new ones I will add throughout the year.

Logic: We use the book The Fallacy Detective to study logic and logical fallacies. While I don’t particularly care if my children can remember a fallacy’s exact name, I appreciate how it helps them identify fallacies in different arguments. (And they have come to love calling them out by name.)

Poetry: For poetry, we love the Poetry for Young People series. It is a great way to learn more about a poet and their poetry through read-aloud.

Books of the Bible: I realized that while we were covering a lot of Bible in our home, my younger boys had not memorized the books of the Bible, so we decided to grab the Books of the Bible set from Danika Cooley to work through this year and help them not only memorize the books but also understand a little more about them.

I am looking forward to our morning time together this year. We plan to do it right after breakfast to start our day together, but when that doesn’t work, we can be flexible and do it any time. I would love to hear what you are using for your morning studies this year.

Resource Library and Affiliate Disclosure

When you sign up for the Schoolin’ Swag free resource library, you will get a link and password to the library. We add new items to the library each month. You will also get a bi-weekly newsletter email to keep you updated on what we have going on.

Resource Library 

This post may contain affiliate or referral links, including Amazon affiliate links. As always, I will never recommend a product that I don’t believe in, and you will never be charged more for purchasing through our links. However, it does help pay for the costs associated with the blog.

Deals and Freebies

Schoolhouse Teachers is also offering a BOGO great sale! They are a great place for a one-stop shop curriculum or for having many options to fill in different electives and courses into what you have already chosen.

Don’t miss this FREE Shipping deal from All About Learning Press! We utilize both All About Spelling and All About Reading in our homeschool.

Tuttle Twins has some great new books available, as well as their new Academy on pre-order!

The Bible Memory App Review

Disclosure: I received this complimentary product through the Homeschool Review Crew

Introduction

I might lose some of you, but I have never been a fan of doing lots of random memorization. While I want my children to understand history, science, etc., we do not spend much time memorizing dates and random facts.

The big exception to that in our home is scripture because I believe that memorizing scripture is hugely beneficial to all of us. When my children were younger, we sang songs and did memory verse games.

My fifteen-year-old understands the importance of Bible memorization but is no longer enjoying the songs and activities. Thus I was very excited to try out The Bible Memory App – Bible Memory PRO from BibleMemory.com.

Bible Memory App for Homeschoolers

What is The Bible Memory App?

The Bible Memory App – Bible Memory PRO is a program that works on a computer, phone, or other mobile devices to assist with Bible memory. The membership includes up to four family accounts.

When you log into your plan, you can choose which verses and which version of the Bible you would like to work on memorizing.

There are three steps for each verse in the memory app. First, you are given each word and type either the whole word or the first letter of each word (depending on how you have your settings).

Next, you are given every other word, and you have to fill in the blanks. Finally, you have a blank screen, and you have to type the complete verse (or the first letters of each word).

You can work through those as many times as you need, and you can work on as many different verses as desired.

You earn points and badges as you practice and work through the verses. While that part was not a big deal to me, it can be very motivational for many students. You could even have it be a competition between family members.

Memorize Bible Verses with BibleMemory.com

How We Used Bible Memory

When we received  The Bible Memory App – Bible Memory PRO, I set up accounts for myself and my two teenagers.

We were getting ready to start memorizing a selection of verses from Ephesians about the armor of God. So, I set up those verses to learn first. Once they were set up, my teenagers could practice at whatever time was convenient.

It is important to note that each family member could work on different verses.

I was able to put the app on my phone and have access to it on the computer. The program saved my work from each platform, so I had no problem using both interchangeably.

What We Thought About Bible Memory

We enjoyed the program. I thought it was a quick and easy way to work on scripture memory. I also really appreciated that it was also good typing practice.

My daughter chose to do extra verses on her account to help memorize verses she was doing with her American Heritage Girls troop. While she is pretty good at scripture memory on her own, she enjoyed the program and thought it made the memory work faster and more fun.

The one thing I would change is that I wish you could see progress on the other accounts from the parent’s account. In order to see progress for my children, I had to log out as me and log in as them. This was not a huge problem, but something I hope they consider later.

The price of this program is very affordable, at only $9.99 for the license.

Conclusions

We enjoyed BibleMemory.com. It is a great way to help older children, teens, and adults memorize scripture. It is affordable and easy to use, and we will continue to use it as a family to aid our scripture memorization.

Be sure to click on the graphic below to see how other reviewers used BibleMemory.com.

Memorize Bible Verses in Your Homeschool with BibleMemory.com

Picking the Twaddle Out of Your Noodles

roastnoodlesYesterday was a bit frustrating for our oldest. He had a couple of quizzes, and one of them was the sort that required psychic ability in order to answer some the questions. The interpretation of truth was a bit subjective, and if answers were not given according to the thinking of the assessment writer, well, they were wrong. It reminded me of this humorous portion of an “I Love Lucy” episode:

  • Mr. Mooney: I’ve been trying to find Mr. Burns’ file. It is not under the B’s.
  • Lucy: Oh, I must have put it under the X’s.
  • Mr. Mooney: Why would you put the B file under the X’s?
  • Lucy: That poor little file never has anything in it!
  • Mr. Mooney: Well, where is it??
  • Lucy: Well, wait a minute. Oh, I bet I know what I did…you see, Mr. Burns, I always have trouble remembering names, so I took a course in word association. Now, “burns” reminds me of fire.
  • Mr. Mooney: So you filed it under the F’s?
  • Lucy: No. “Fire” reminds me of “stove”.
  • George Burns: So you put my file under the S’s?
  • Lucy: No…”stove” reminds me of pot roast.
  • Burns (to Mr. Mooney): It’s your turn.
  • Mr. Mooney: You filed it under the P’s?
  • Lucy: No, pot roast reminds me of noodles.
  • Mr. Mooney: Mrs. Carmichael…you’re making me angry…
  • Burns: She’s making me hungry!
  • Lucy: And noodles reminds me of my mother!
  • Mr. Mooney (to Burns): Your turn.
  • Burns: “Noodles” reminds you of your mother?
  • Lucy: Yeah, she made the best noodles! And I’ll be that’s where I put your file.
  • Burns: Under “noodles”.
  • Lucy: No, under “gravy”.

This is one of the reasons I love having a front row seat for educating our kids. I was able to come in the back door on that quiz, see the way some the questions were phrased rather ambiguously, and make a judgement call.

Yes, I have eliminated quiz questions. Sometimes I’ve tossed out entire assessments because there was a better way to see if my child had assimilated knowledge. I don’t think questions which ask for ridiculously detailed information are necessarily profitable. What was the name of a certain prominent person’s second cousin’s husband’s pet? Nope.

I also know our kids, and I have watched them shaping into who God intends for them to be. Because of that, I can decide if certain questions, projects, even subjects should carry more weight with regard to time and focus. Yes, we fulfill what the state requirements mandate; but we do it our own way, and reasonably. 😉

Some material is simply twaddle. I really dislike busy work immensely. Things which occupy time, but don’t serve to build or teach much of anything (except perhaps patience) are subject to educational extinction in our house.

Today, I punted a quiz. I saw my child struggling to decipher it, and making several attempts to answer the way the program wanted him to answer. He kept his cool. He did not get angry and storm off. He did not declare he hated the subject, hated the program, or hated school. He handled the whole thing maturely. So we went question by question verbally, and I tweaked the phrasing so he could comprehend more fully what he was being asked. His understanding was more complete after that than it would have been if he had guessed his way through, absently clicking buttons. He passed just fine, mom style. I commended him for his attitude and perseverance. I told him that was of more value than A’s to me.

Give yourself the freedom to do this.

For the love of learning,
Diane 🙂

When Failing is a Good Thing

failure2We have taken a new direction in our education, and it is more demanding with many more assessments and evaluations (read: quizzes and tests) than what our kids had been accustomed to. To them, it can seem tedious…but it helps me to ensure they know what they are doing before coming to that realization on a big exam.

I’ve often told our kids that failures can be a stumbling block or a stepping stone…the choice is ours. Today, one of the kids had an assessment on a math lesson and failed badly. We were about to see how that plays out in real life.

In going over the answers, I saw that at least half of the errors were simple things like not paying attention to the wording or the symbols in equations. This was not an official quiz, so I cleared all the work, had my student come by me, and we went through the assessment, question by question. We reviewed concepts. We looked up definitions. We worked things out on the Boogie Board. We even borrowed the brains of Sal Khan for one particular question. The result? When the assessment was retaken, the result was well above average. But that is not the best thing.

I didn’t look for perfection. I looked for education. Real learning. Not just the “I think I have an idea, and so I will color in this bubble” facsimile of going-through-the-motions education.

Coming out of this experience, I know my student has a solid grasp on where the weaknesses were in understanding and comprehension. Exactly. My finger is right on that pulse. When we were done with our session, we both knew the material (I’d forgotten all about “multiplicative inverses”…so, thanks Sal!) solidly. That’s important. It’s supremely key if we are going to call what we are doing e-d-u-c-a-t-i-o-n. In the words of a family friend, “Do you understand what you know about that?” 

Getting A’s is all well and good, but if the grade is achieved by skillful guessing, or merely a rudimentary understanding (the “I’ll learn this for a test, but I plan to let it vaporize post haste!” kind), then we need to look more closely at how we are educating and less at the alphabet. Quizzes, tests, and exams are not the end. They can be used as a means to achieve learning, if we choose to grade smarter instead of harder. Grading, if you choose to do it, should be a used as a barometer. It should tell you if the synapses are connecting. It should never be interpreted as a reflection of who your child is. Let’s all remember that.

twainquote

“I Love Language” Event at Schoolin’ Swag! (UPDATED!)

languagesComing up on February 15th, we’ll be having a new event at Schoolin’ Swag, featuring products centered around language…foreign languages, Latin, as well as American Sign Language.

Here are the companies/publishers which will be featured:

Don’t miss it!  Prizes will post beginning 9am on 2/15. We’ll allow a full 24 hours for posts to remain up (to cover our friends in all time zones), and winners will be drawn at 9am on 2/16.

Being okay with being the “mean mom”

 

mooseow
A moose gets struck by lightening during math. 🙂

In the middle of Katie’s video math lesson…

Katie: I know this. I don’t need to see this.
Me: (pretty sure she doesn’t) Okay, you think you can answer your review questions then, without any help?
Katie: Yes. (if a voice could swagger, hers did)

We open up her quiz. I watch her punch in the first answer, knowing it is wrong. She presses “Enter”.

Big, bad, red “x”.

She loves (I mean LOVES) maintaining a Platinum level (100%…missing no questions), so her disappointment was…profound (if you know Katie, you know what this means).

Me: So…ya think you should go back and finish the lesson now?
Katie: (huge sigh) Yes.

She can’t regain Platinum level for this unit. She will have a tangible reminder of this for the week. Sometimes we need to let ’em crash and burn (when the collateral damage of the lesson won’t be too high). Hard to do, but hopefully memorable.

How many times has God done this with me? Too many to count.

 

Keep pluggin’, homeschool mama! Persevere! And don’t miss the lessons for yourself along the way.

Homeschooling for Newbies

newteacherFirst–you can DO this!

What is available online these days for homeschoolers is SO much more than I had starting out. I remember feeling rather lost and overwhelmed, even with the few options that were offered at the time!  Here are my suggestions for getting yourself off the launch pad:

  1. Decide why you wish to homeschool. Write those reasons down and put them somewhere that is easily accessible. This will be your version of a “mission statement”. The days will come when you question yourself, and you need to have these for reference! Trust me on this.
  2. Check with the Home School Legal Defense Association site, so that you know what the requirements are for your state.
  3. Get yourself a supportive network. You need this. Of course, I’ll recommend my group, Schoolin’ Swag, on Facebook! You need a place to talk with veteran homeschoolers. A place where you will feel safe to ask any question, and voice your concerns.
  4. Do a learning style evaluation for your child(ren). I wish I had done this at the start. It would have saved me some frustration and also some cash! Find out how your child learns best, so that the purchases you make will be investments and not wasted money. I also suggest that you do this evaluation for yourself, because your learning style affects your teaching style. You may very well have to think outside your own box to most effectively teach your kids.
  5. Get shopping! 🙂 This is the fun part. I love free resources, because if I find along the way that something is not a good fit, I’ve not lost anything except a little time in trying it out. There is SO much available now online that is free and also good quality. I will be posting many items here as I have time.  For now, scoot over to Schoolin’ Swag. Every day we post freebies and blog posts that are guaranteed to bless your socks off. We have many knowledgeable people there, including my three Admins, to help you sort things out. Click on the Files tab, because there are lots of wonderful things there…and you can also use the search option at upper right (use it just like Google) to look for topics of interest.

There you go! You are already off to a great start! Stay tuned for more great encouragement!

September 11th—What Am I Doing About It?

World-Trade-Center-Cross-620x410Doing a lot of thinking, this September 11th. I could reminisce about what I recall from that morning, but it doesn’t really matter.  There are bigger things to discuss.

I wonder if it has occurred to many of us that our “Christian” nation has become a vast mission field. I wonder if it has occurred to those of us who are Christian parents that our children will very likely be called upon to stand and look such atrocities square in the eye. I wonder if I am doing my best to build the kind of character in our children that will enable them to do it.

American culture teaches our kids to aspire to fame and riches. I’m not a “Doomsday Prepper”, but I completely believe there will come a day when fame and possessions won’t matter to anyone any more. When life is reduced to the questions of survival and faith, there are precious few possessions that seem important. There will be no status symbols…the only status differentiation will be “Are you a Christian?” or “Are you not?” And the cost faith will once again be high. Paul the apostle, who stood for his faith many times, wrote:

“And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets— who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. Women received back their dead by resurrection. Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life. Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated— of whom the world was not worthy—wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.

And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised, since God had provided something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect.”

So I ask myself today, how will I teach our children to stand? How will I instill courage? How will I inspire them not to cower, but to endure…not to be paralyzed by fear when hateful, horrible, unjust and unspeakable things happen? They have to have their anchor planted in something bigger than politics and military might. I have to point them to something much bigger…a firm foundation, the only solid Rock, the Mighty Fortress.

“Remembering” is only the first step. Being mindful of the past needs to change the future. It must be a catalyst, or all it accomplishes is to make us remorseful. I may never have political influence, beyond my votes in elections; but I have a daunting responsibility to the children in our home, to teach them what patriotism is (and what it isn’t), what it looks like to stand faithful for right and truth, and to remind them that above all principalities and powers, our hope is Jesus.

Before I focus on the sacrifices made by prominent patriots for our independence and freedom, I plan to teach more about the heroes of the faith. I want to grab all the missionary biographies I can, so these humble, courageous giants of the gospel can inspire our homeschool (using this free resource to create a missionary biography notebook) and show them what it looks like to be unflinchingly, unshakably committed, and to grasp truth tightly, while also extending a loving hand in decided confidence to others.

We need this next generation to be resolute…a word which has come to be very weak in meaning today.

It starts today. We have stood upon the shoulders of great ones who have gone before. Now it is time for us to provide a firm footing for our children.

“It is wonderful what great strides can be made, when there is a resolute purpose behind them.” ~Winston Churchill