The Testament by John Grisham

I recently read The Testament by John Grisham.  I always enjoy his books but this one was different.

There was the usual law story --

A rich, angry man with three ex-wives and several spoiled, greedy children writes yet another new will that contains a huge surprise for everyone.  After the gentleman's death multiple lawyers are hired to contest the will, question his senility and sue everyone.  Of course, his own attorneys work diligently to protect their client's last wishes.

However, to me, the "rest of the story" was the best part.  

The old man's law office needed to send someone to Brazil to fulfill part of the will.  No one wanted to go.  There was, however, one of their own that was an embarrassment to the firm.  One who was headed for his own legal problems.  He was a drunk who couldn't remain sober for very long after each of his rehab stays.  Yes, he was the one they would send to the jungles of Brazil.

So, this man who couldn't stay on the straight and narrow, not that he really wanted to, flies to Brazil.  He doesn't know exactly where he's going or what he'll find there.  He's used to wealth and extravagance, not the rigors of life in the jungle.  He traveled by private jet and yacht, not puddle-jumpers and fishing boats.  But there he was, with a mission to fulfill.

He faced terrifying, life-threatening situations, visited remote Indian villages and met a missionary.  An amazing woman who dedicated her life to the Indians in the jungle.

The trip changed his life in so many ways.  So many unexpected ways.  

I highly recommend this book.  As I mentioned before, all of Mr. Grisham's books that I've read are great.  This one is just a bit extra special.  I hope you'll read it to see how this one man's life was changed.

Looking for The Fault in Our Paper Towns

Although I know many will laugh at me, a 23 year old teacher who graduated with a literature degree, who has read books longer than all of John Green’s books combined, when I say that I spent the summer reading and loving all of his works.  I could not stop myself and could not sleep before finishing each one.  They were all beautiful in their sophistication, each in its own way.  Green knows how to make you feel the pain of others (“Pain demands to be felt” -The Fault in Our Stars) without losing the piercing beauty of humor and human personalities.  Each character has a specific story with a specific pain and the reader cannot escape living their story with them while reading each book.

These books make you seek inside yourself for a sense of adventure because that is what you need to journey with the characters through Green’s brilliant worlds he creates.  Only through such a lens can you understand the true meaning behind his complex creations.  In Looking for Alaska, Pudge, The Colonel, Takumi, and Alaska show us how to see the world as a “Great Perhaps”, a labyrinth full of pain and possibilities that we can only face with the hope that it is better than no labyrinth at all.  Deep, right?  I thought so too.  The Fault in Our Stars makes pain and love seem co-dependant, because without pain, there can be compassion, but pain and life are always present so let this infinity be the best we can make it.  That one only makes sense if you read the book, so you should go do that.  Right now.

My very favorite story he created is Paper Towns, a story about love, but more so a story about firsts and the superficial nature of our world.  One person teaches another that truth is deeper than the “paper towns” that surround us and the paper people and the paper emotions and everything.  “I’m in love with cities I’ve never been too and people I’ve never met” and “What is the point of being alive if you don’t at least try doing something remarkable?” show her zeal for digging deeper, for seeking out the mysteries underneath the fake exterior of everyone, including herself.  I felt the need to go do something, anything, to find out more about myself and those that I love and to push us all to do more, to try harder, to think deeper, to do, to be, to hope in something.  I cannot even begin to describe the freedom that comes when you let go of all structure and just try to make something happen.  There is true creativity.

John Green understands being young, or even just young in spirit, and tells the truth in such a fun, stunning way that it is impossible to look away.  I encourage everyone to take the time to travel to some paper towns, to look for someone like Alaska, to feel pain like it should be felt, and to make sure that you write about it.  Truth remains even if it is not remembered, but memory is a powerful thing and we are alive, so we should do something remarkable.

(Thanks to Jessica Shultz, http://shultzadventureblog.weebly.com/blog/archives/09-2015)

The Daniel Plan

The Daniel Plan:  40 Days to a Healthier Life by Rick Warren, DMin, Daniel Amen, MD and Mark Hyman, MD is more than a diet plan.  It is about achieving a healthy lifestyle by focusing on five essentials:

Faith -- Trust God to help you get healthy, not your willpower.

Food -- Eat a variety of real whole foods.

Fitness -- Make fitness doable.

Focus -- Loss of focus leads to failure.

Friends -- Be engaged with others.

 At the end of the book you will find:

• The Daniel Plan 10-Day Detox Plan
• The 40-Day Core Meal Plan
• Shopping Lists
• Recipes 

 Some of our favorite recipes:

• Chicken Primavera Bowl
• Crockpot Beef and Veggie Stew
• Dr. Hyman’s Black Bean Soup
• Dr. Hyman’s Whole Food Protein Shake

There is a huge amount of information and 

encouragement in this book.  

Something that I didn’t know and sounded crazy to me was, “If you don’t eat sugar, you won’t crave sugar.”  Totally didn’t believe it until I tried it.  It’s TRUE!

The Elegant Essay Writing Lessons

Building Blocks for Analytical Writing

My high schooler is a great, but lazy, writer.  In previous years when he had writing assignments he did as little as possible.  He would increase the font size to try to fill the page.  

My d-i-l, a high school English/Literature teacher, recommended The Elegant Essay Writing Lessons curriculum so we used it this past year.  It was fantastic!

The set consists of a student book and a teacher book.

The lessons start out teaching students writing components, such as, form, content, style, mechanics and voice.  Then it goes on to teach thesis statements, introduction, transitions and conclusions.  Not only do students learn to write properly, they learn to write outlines, descriptive essays and persuasive essays.

The teacher's book contains recommendations for scheduling and structure of "class."  It also contains examples, teaching hints, models, and addresses lesson-specific issues.

I highly recommend this set!

Easy Grammar

A friend who has home schooled many more years than I have, recommended this curriculum.  We have used it for two years now.

The high school books consist of 180 lessons designed to take only about 10 minutes each day.  Not only do they teach students new grammar concepts, those concepts are repeated throughout the year so students get to really learn them.

There are also reviews and tests so you can be sure your student is mastering important skills.  

Here are several of the ideas presented in the 9th grade workbook:

• Capitalization
• Punctuation
• Sentence Combining
• Phrases/Clauses
• Prefixes, Roots and Suffixes
• Sentences/Fragments/Run-ons
• Conjunctions
• Prepositions
• Analogies
• Complex Sentences
• Dictionary Skills

Teaching Textbooks

The Teaching Textbook math curriculum series is a fantastic source for homeschooling families.  They have curriculum from 3rd grade up through Pre-Calculus.  For parents, like me, who it has been a lo-o-o-o-ng time since high school math these are a life saver!  

We have used the high school algebra and geometry sets with great success.  The kits contain a CD bundle and textbook.  Each lesson is taught via CD with easy-to-understand explanations and examples, practice problems and assignments.  And it can be used for more than one student.

The structure of this curriculum does not require parents/teachers to be right with the student while they do math.  And the best part?  It grades the work automatically!  What a great time saver.  I highly recommend this!