Online Learning

Did you know that the library has access to over 200 free online classes through ed2go?

You can learn more at: www.cobbcat.org/e-library.  One class was spotlighted in their recent enewsletter:

"Featured Online Class: Project Management Fundamentals

"This month's featured class is Project Management Fundamentals; the next class starts on December 12. Find more information about this class and all of our courses online, and be sure to request a passcode to enroll in the classes.

"Information about the Project Management Fundamentals course:

"If you're new to project management, this course will provide you with the essential information you'll need to prepare for and complete your first project. If you're an experienced project manager, this course will make you more valuable to your employer by increasing your skills and competencies. This course will also help you prepare for the internationally recognized Project Management Professional (PMP®) and Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM®) exams offered by the Project Management Institute, PMI®.

"Interested in learning more about ed2go or about the library's other online services? Find more information here: www.cobbcat.org/e-library."

A CHRISTMAS CAROL: LIVE READING & HOLIDAY OPEN HOUSE

A CHRISTMAS CAROL: LIVE READING & HOLIDAY OPEN HOUSE

Thursday, Dec. 13, 2012 at 5:30 p.m.
Athenaeum Gallery | Horace W. Sturgis Library, KENNESAW STATE UNIVERSITY

Join the KSU Bentley Rare Book Gallery for a festive celebration of the 

200th birthday of Charles Dickens!

Mr. Richard Harker will present a live reading of selections from Charles Dickens’ Christmas Stories, including A Christmas Carol. The Bentley Rare Book Gallery will also be open for a special behind-the-scenes tour, complete with the opportunity to view first-edition works by Charles Dickens and important holiday pieces such as Washington Irving’s History of New York and Clement C. Moore’s ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas.

Hot chocolate, cider, and holiday treats will be served. The event is free and open to the public.

Share the Joy of Reading This Christmas

Cuddling up with a good book during the holiday season is an anticipated pleasure. One of our favorites is of course Luke 2 in the New Testament. However, our family has also found pleasure in the Polar Express (combined with Santa’s sleighbell), Twas the Night Before Christmas, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, The Mitten, and The Christmas Carol.  I have gathered some links from the web for some new treasures as well as new versions of the classics with incredible illustrations.  For example, The Night Before Christmas looks beautiful in the first link below.  In the second link the same story is combined with black ink drawings.  Both are gorgeous. If you have a favorite classic, please add comment below.  Merry Christmas!

http://www.countryliving.com/homes/shopping/classic-childrens-christmas-stories#slide-1

Some other versions of the classics are found in the following two links:

http://childrensbooks.about.com/od/holidays/ss/xmasclassics.htm

http://voices.yahoo.com/top-ten-favorite-classic-books-christmas-4666703.html?cat=46

Already Stressed and the Holiday Season is Barely Starting?

As we enter the holiday hustle and bustle, messages that encourage us to simplify and prioritize are timely.  I loved Dieter F. Uchtdorf’s statement in October 2012, in his talk called “Of Regrets and Resolutions”:

 “Isn’t it true that we often get so busy? And, sad to say, we even wear our busyness as a badge of honor, as though being busy, by itself, was an accomplishment or sign of a superior life.”

His talk is worth another read.  You can listen to it as well as read it at the following link:
http://www.lds.org/general-conference/2012/10/of-regrets-and-resolutions?lang=eng&query=regrets

In addition, these “quick read” online articles came across my desk this week. They contain helpful reminders of how to reduce stress, so stress will not take a toll on our health.  I hope you find them beneficial as well.  Please share your insights about stress or resources in the comments below.

Are You Stressed Out?

http://cdn.weightwatchers.com/util/art/index_art.aspx?tabnum=1&art_id=546&sc=3046

7 Ways to Stop Stress Now—One for Each Day of the Week

http://cdn.weightwatchers.com/util/art/index_art.aspx?tabnum=1&art_id=656&sc=3010

“Book” that Trip

Trips can make books and learning come alive.  For our boys we often combined reading and learning with travel.  Here are some examples. 

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain is an 1876 novel about a young boy growing up along the Mississippi River. The story is set in the Town of "St. Petersburg", inspired by Hannibal, Missouri, where Mark Twain lived.  When my sons were small we read a child’s version of the book and then took a trip to Hannibal, Missouri.  There is the Mark Twain Boyhood Home there, a steamboat ride, and caves that inspired events in Twain’s writings.  A good source for children’s versions of the classics is Tom Sawyer (Dover Children's Thrift Classics).  (A trip to Hannibal, Missouri can easily be combined with a trip to Nauvoo, Illinois as well, to learn about the history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.)

There are many children’s books on Abraham Lincoln.  Choose one and enjoy talking about Honest Abe as you travel.  We have traveled to all of the following but you can choose one and have fun with just that.  Lincoln sites include: his cabin at the Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historic Park near Elizabethtown, Kentucky; another cabin at Abraham Lincoln Boyhood Home at Knob Creek, Kentucky; the living history farm at the Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial in Lincoln City, Indiana, and the living history town of New Salem State Historic Site in New Salem, Illinois.  Springfield, Illinois is where Lincoln lived and practiced law before he became president.  His home, law office and tomb are located in Springfield.

Do you have a horse lover?  Try combining Misty of Chincoteague by Marguerite Henry with a trip to Chincoteague, Virginia, which is the gateway to the Virginia portion of Assateague Island, home of the famous Chincoteague Wild Ponies. A closer alternative to follow up on this book would be Georgia’s own Cumberland Island which also has wild ponies as well as shells the size of soap dishes and lots of sharks’ teeth.  You travel to Cumberland Island by ferry and can either make it a day trip or camp overnight.  We have great memories of Cumberland.  You are almost alone on the beach at night after the last ferry leaves and the place becomes your own island.  Be aware that you need reservations in advance to get on the ferry.  However, there are often same day cancellations, which is what we did.

I am encouraging you to write about your trips that you combined with books or subjects that you studied with your children.  Please share your ideas as part of this post!

Math is FUN--when you "get it!" Ways to help you and your children understand and thus, ENJOY math!

Think about it.  Math is the subject where it is socially acceptable to fail.  "Oh yea, I wasn't good at math either" is a common comment.  A wise mother wanted to strengthen her own math skills so she did not pass on her "math phobia" to the next generation.  She asked me for resources so she could learn math better for herself, and she asked me for resources for helping her children learn math and have fun with it.   In preparation, I went through all of my links of math resources that I have used in private tutoring all grades of math, as well as for teaching freshman college mathematics.  I located on the web where to buy some of the resources I use.  In addition, if you as an adult want to improve your math skills, I created courses for this literacy post that use an online homework, text, and learning platform called MathXL.  Improve your math literacy!  Here are the resources.

RESOURCES FOR THE KIDS:

http://prekinders.com/links/#prek
It looks like a great resource to teaching ideas for the pre-kindergarten and kindergarten set.

http://www.amazon.com/Family-Math-Jean-Kerr-Stenmark/dp/0912511060/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1330694183&sr=8-1
This book is a classic for Family Math Nights at schools.  It has been around since 1986.  It now sells for $2.42 used at this Amazon site.

http://dodgenms.typepad.com/ms_meagh/popular-links-to-math-web.html
I tutored Richmond Robinson and Ms. Meagh had some great links.

http://www.purposegames.com/
This site has a lot of wonderful games at all levels and for all subjects.  I use the following trigonometry games in my courses and challenge my students to beat my score for extra credit.  There are many other games created for subjects other than math as well.  My favorite trigonometry games are:
http://www.purposegames.com/game/angles-of-the-unit-circle-degrees-quiz/info
http://www.purposegames.com/game/angles-of-the-unit-circle-radians-quiz/info
http://www.purposegames.com/game/unit-circle-exact-values-quiz/info

http://www.math-drills.com/
This site has math fact worksheets that you can use for practicing.  I like making a game of timing how fast the student can complete the sheet.  The next time they try to beat their time.  Or make a game of having them beat you where you can slow down or speed up as you both "get better."

COOKBOOK
Here is the cookbook that I used with my sons to teach sequencing and fractions.  It is from Discovery Toys.
http://www.amazon.com/Kinder-Krunchies-Healthy-snack-recipes-children/dp/B000N8O99W/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1330698539&sr=1-2
It looks like there is a newer version that has cheaper used copies:
http://www.amazon.com/Kinder-Krunchies-Healthy-Recipes-Children/dp/B001BOHGLU/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1330698539&sr=1-1
This is the newest version of the book which looks like it is the best.  However is costs 10 times as much as the last link.
http://www.amazon.com/Krunchies-Healthy-Recipes-Children-Discovery/dp/B000T06KZK/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1330698539&sr=1-3

SCIENCE RESOURCES:
I was looking for the name of a cookbook that taught fractions to young children. As I was looking, I stumbled onto this.  Usually a dislike for math accompanies a dislike for science, so I thought that this was useful.  Instilling that science and math is fun (before your children hear the groans at school) can help math and science to be fun when your children get to school.  Science and physics often involve practical applications of mathematics.  This article has fun science resources including great links at the bottom.
http://www.discoverthis.com/article-kitchen-chemistry.html


RESOURCES FOR YOU:

FREE math lectures can be found online at:
http://www.khanacademy.org/#browse
Their statement is:
With a library of over 3,000 videos covering everything from arithmetic to physics, finance, and history and 311 practice exercises, we're on a mission to help you learn what you want, when you want, at your own pace.

A different site that I like offers purchased lectures for precalculus and calculus.  These can be found at:
http://www.thinkwell.com/student/product/precalculus
I love this guy's calculus lectures.  They are very user-friendly and intuitive.  I would think that his college algebra lectures would be great too but I have not watched them.

HOMEWORK PROGRAMS FOR YOU:
https://register.pearsoncmg.com/reg/buy/buy1.jsp?productID=5080
This is a cheap subscription $50 for one year and $82 for two years.  After you complete one course, you may switch to another as long as you are still within the time frame that you purchased.  The program has "Help me solve this" and "View an Example" and "Textbook" links.  Through the textbook link you have access to the complete textbook that Kennesaw State University uses for the course. The best part though is that when you get an answer correct, it says "Great Job!"  and “Fantastic!" My mothers of teenagers like this feature of the program especially, because it is rare to hear those words.  :)
The course ID for elementary algebra (9th grade high school algebra) is XL0X-R1B1-501Y-6VH2

The course ID for the college algebra is XL0X-R17S-401Y-2HO2

The course ID for trigonometry is XL0X-R17U-401Y-4HO2.  

The course ID for the calculus with applications is: XL0X-R17V-701Z-1A62.

Try working math problems to stretch your brain.  Just playing Sudoku won’t give you the same positive affirmations!

ENJOY LEARNING!  

Model your enthusiasm for learning for your children!

PS Whenever a mother and child take one of my college courses, the mother outscores the child.  Moms, never be afraid to go back to school!  An added benefit of having your children see you study for school is that, when you are studying hard, your child sees that you only expect of them the same work ethic that you expect of yourself.  Go back to school when you can.  It is a great example to your children and grandchildren.

MY STUDY NOTEBOOK: A True Gospel Learning Resource

Would you like to remember every insight you have ever had about the Gospel of Jesus Christ?

            There is a wonderful free resource for members and nonmembers of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints alike.  It is called My Study Notebook.  You sign up for your online account at www.lds.org.  On the home page look for the heading called Tools.  Under the drop down menu under Tools you will see My Study Notebook. Click on My Study Notebook, then Register for an Account.  Members can enter all of their church record information. Nonmembers of the church can click the link called, “if you are not a member of the LDS Church please click here to skip this page,” to create an account.

            The best way to learn about My Study Notebook is to experiment.  My Study Notebook allows you to highlight and create a note about anything you learn in the scriptures, church study manuals, and church magazine articles.  You can even create journal entries independent of any source at all.  You can create different journals for different topics, or what I prefer is to have the journals by source: Manuals, Scriptures, Ensign, etc. and then within each journal, you can arrange your highlighted quotes by topics called Tags.  My Tags are the topics: faith, adversity, getting revelation, etc.  You can tag each quote under more than one tag/topic. 

            Through recording what you are learning in this manner, you can create your own topical guide and locate everything you have ever learned.  Besides being able to access your insights for talks, lessons and future mission service, the act of getting your knowledge stored into a database like this will help you to function longer if your memory ever deteriorates.  That is an added benefit!

            Through the phone applications for the scriptures on your phone you can even access your notes away from your computer, on the road or at church, from your phone or ipad.  You can also print by journal or by tag if you want a hard copy of your insights.  Whether you access this information away from your computer or not, it is a wonderful resource. Try it out!  Tell your nonmember friends too, who use the King James Version of the Bible!

PS  Another benefit of reading your scriptures online is that you can easily increase the font size—no Large Print Bible needed.  J  You can also turn off distracting footnotes to just read the scriptures like a story, or turn the footnotes back on to do research! So many wonderful resources are available to increase your understanding of the gospel!

The following comment about this book from my friend Shanna intrigued me to check out this book by Stephanie Nielson about her life.

I can't put this book down. I love it so much. If you wanna read something worthwhile and makes you ever so grateful to be a woman I would get yourself a copy today:)

The comment also led me to find Stephanie Nielson's blog, http://nieniedialogues.com/

Stephanie's attitude is inspiring. I enjoyed her writing as well.  Check it out and see what you think. Her family was spotlighted in the April 6, 2012 Parade Magazine below.

HAPPY READING!