Luv'N Lambert Life

Mental Health, Homeschooling, Epilepsy and More

Baker Publishing Group: The Adventures of Lily Lapp Series {Crew Review}

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From Baker Publishing Group, written by Mary Ann Kinsinger and Suzanne Woods Fisher comes the story of a kind and mischevious Amish girl you won’t soon forget.  Every day with Lily Lapp is a new adventure.  Life with this little girl is never boring.
Come see what life with Lily and her family is like in The Adventures of Lily Lapp Book One: Life with Lily.  Five year old Lily lives on an Amish farm in upstate New York with her parents and her little brothers.  Lily has a new little brother that she isn’t all that sure about.
Seems life has a lot of change in store for little Miss Lily.  New baby, a new teacher and her eyes are opening to a whole new world around her.  Lily Lapp is growing up Amish.  Come see what Life with Lily is all about!
Book two of The Adventures of Lily Lapp series is A New Home for Lily.  Sweet little Lily is seven now and moving to an entirely new community.  It’s hard being the new girl in town.
See what life is like for Lily now, in a new town where she has to learn to make new friends all while still finding adventures to keep her busy.  Lily meets Aaron Yoder, a boy who drives her crazy and later Lily finds heart to help rescue.  Lily also receives a new gift: another baby brother to love and grow with in her many adventures, though Lily has yet to understand why God doesn’t give her a baby sister.
The Adventures of Lily Lapp is a wonderful series with more books to come.  Each adventure with Lily is better than the last, as readers watch Lily grow up and follow along with her life and her mischief through her story.  Lily’s books will be a wonderful addition to homes every where.
These books are written with children ages 8-12 in mind.  At 272 pages, they are rather good sized chapter books.  Each chapter has a title, allowing young readers to break the stories down into manageable portions.  This also allows educators/parents to assign chapters to read a little easier.
My 10 year old could not wait to read about the life of Lily Lapp and immediately jumped into reading these books.  I allowed her to read them for leisure.  We will definitely be adding more books from the Lily Lapp series into our home in the future as they are released.
You can purchase The Adventures of Lily Lapp books through Baker Publishing Group for $12.99 in either paperback or ebook format.  For this review, we had beautifully printed paperback copies that I suspect will be read again and again in the future.

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Summer Time Ways to Keep Your Cool {Thoughts From Me}

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It’s Summer time in the South and that means it’s HOT.  Temps go up into the 100’s down here and the humidity makes it feel much hotter!  So in order to beat the heat, we must find ways to keep cool in the Summer heat.

Some ways we like to keep cool in the South are:

1. Water sprinkler fun!  Just hook a hose to a water sprinkler or create your own so that the water keeps you cool in that Summer Sun.

2. Take a swim in a river, lake or pond.  Only with adult supervision, of course.  For swimmers that are still learning to swim well, be sure to use a life vest for safety!

3. Popsicles are a great way to keep cool in the summertime.  Make your own by freezer juice, Kool-Aid, pudding, yogurt or another drink of choice in an ice cube tray or a small cup for a cool treat.

4.  Water balloon toss.  Fill them up and toss them to see whose pops first!  It’s a guaranteed way to keep cool while having fun.

5.  Drink lots and lots of water.  This one is the most important.  No matter how you choose to keep cool in the Summer heat, always drink plenty of fresh water.  Room temperature water hydrates your body faster, allowing you to cool down without causing that brain freeze headache that comes from drinking ice cold water when you’re hot.  Stay hydrated and safe through the summer by drinking lots of water while playing, working and living in the Summer months.

Now that I’ve shared these five ways to keep cool, tell me how you and your family beat the Summer heat?

Life with Epilepsy {Epilepsy Awareness}

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I could keep quiet about Epilepsy.  I have for a long time.  I could let it go and move on, keeping all that I feel inside.  But what good would that do?  And who would I be helping by not sharing my thoughts and feelings.

Speaking out lets others know they are not alone.  There are many Mother’s out there who go through the same things I do daily.  Many who deal with a lot more than I have ever had to with my children.  I speak out so they know they are not alone.

Over the years, people have commented how I should work.  How can I work and leave my daughters who could drop into a seizure at any minute?  This disorder doesn’t work on a schedule.  You can’t see it.  You don’t know when it will strike your child down.

And I’m sorry but bosses don’t understand when your child simply isn’t feeling well.  They don’t understand when you call 10 minutes before work to say “My child just suffered a Grand Mal seizure and I can’t make it into work today”.  Or for a few days for that matter.

People also tell me “oh you need to put your kids into school”.  That’s always easiest to think.  But in reality, if I’m dealing with my one sick child, I can’t make it to school to deal with my well child.  I can’t make it to the bus stop to see they are dropped off or picked up.  I can’t deal with a school system who’s focus is on attendance, not the fact that my child or his/her sibling was sick so we just couldn’t make it in.

Then there is the stress that school in a classroom with 30 other students brings my child.  I know what it was like to be in Public School and have Epilepsy.  It was not fun and my teachers were rarely understanding even when they tried to be.

I did enroll Emmalee in public school briefly.  Every day she came home tired and frustrated.  She began having migraines because of the long hours, lack of structure and lack of relaxation time after school was done.  Her seizure activity spiked and I quickly took her back out.

I know everyone can’t live life like we do.  I strive to be there for my girls, for all my kids, but that’s not possible for every family.  Neither is homeschooling.  I am thankful I can do these things and be with them.  I am thankful I don’t have to leave them alone.  I never try to begrudge those Momma’s who have to do otherwise and I support everyone no matter.

These are simply the reasons that I do the things I choose.  It’s worked out well for me.  Josh works hard so that I can be here for the kids, so I can be here when Laycie has a seizure.

Until you have a child with a medical issue, it is hard to comprehend what life is like for a Momma who does have one.  You can’t walk in shoes that your feet have never fit into.  It’s my hope with my blog and my Epilepsy posts that I am helping others to not feel alone and I’m helping others understand what we as Special Needs Momma’s go through every day.

If I can encourage one Momma to not feel alone.  If I can help one Momma find her voice in this fight.  If I can help one Momma feel blessed even in the light of darkness than I have met my goal.

Ideas for Homeschooling Your Preschooler {Homeschooling}

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Homeschooling your preschooler should not be a hard thing to do.  Providing fun experiences, playing games and simply being together is often all that is needed to educate a child at this age.  The following is a list of ideas to do with your preschooler:

1. Take a walk together.  Experiences like these allow your child to view nature up close and absorb the details of the world around them.

2. Play games together.  This builds self-confidence and promotes relationship skills.  Games can also be used for learning ABC’s, counting and much more.

3. Fix lunch together.  Choose safe foods that a child can help you make.  My children like to spread pb&j onto bread for our sandwhiches or lay ham and cheese on crackers for us to enjoy.  This promotes life skills along with self-confidence and also relationship skills.

4. Create cards to send to loved ones.  Young children are often not ready to write and draw but with an adults help they can manage to create something unforgettable to share with Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles, siblings, cousins, and other loved ones that live far away.  This teaches a child to give back to their community.  It also helps them to learn writing skills and social skills such as the almost lost art of writing a letter.

5.  Bake and ice a cake to take to a neighbor together.  This is another way to give back to those in the community teaching children important socialization skills, as well as cooking skills they will need someday in the future.

6.  Read books together.  Learning to read is an important skill and children learn faster when they are read to.  This promotes family bonding and also begins a love of reading in a child.  Another bonus is that children can learn about other cultures, animals and skills through books chosen to read together.

7.  Take a field trip to a museum or other place of interest.  Exhibits, nature walks, state parks, and so many other places provide hands on learning experiences that children will absorb and learn with better than any textbook could provide.

8.  Simply go to the store together.  Children can learn lots of things in a store.  Counting, adding, subtracting, following a list, search and find needed supplies and so much more.  The store is full of educational experiences for a child.

9.  Play at the park.  Sometimes it’s just good to take a break and simply spend a little time at the park.  Playing is a huge part of learning for a child.  Parks allow the child socialization experiences, physical activity, balancing skills, following direction and so much more.  Park days are some of our favorite days in homeschooling.

10.  Build a Lego village.  Doing simple things like building houses with blocks, roleplaying with dolls, pretend cooking and more allows a child to develop necessary skills for life.  Play should be fun and unique and allow a child to use their imagination.  Play is an important part of individual development for any child.

These are only a few ideas to use in your home preschool.  The important thing is to get your child thinking and moving.  Paper lessons are great sometimes but they should not be the bulk of your preschool homeschool.  Allow your child activities that make them think, react, socialize and get involved.  Those skills and experiences will build a lifetime love of learning.

The Darkness That Lurks {Epilepsy Awareness}

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How do you do it?
How do you tell your baby, one of the prettiest, sweetest girls you know, the child whose older sister proclaimed as our angel the day she was born, that she won’t die?  How do you even deal when those words come from the mouth of your beautiful 5 year old daughter?
My Momma heart breaks for her.  My Momma heart wants to scoop her up and hold her tight and keep her safe forever.
I want to SCREAM.  I want to SCREAM to God, “WHY?!  Why my daughter?  Why my precious baby?  Why does she have to suffer with this?  Why does anyone suffer?”
I can’t reassure her that she will wake up from the next seizure.  I can’t reassure her that there won’t be another one.  I can only tell her about Heaven and all the great things that await her there.  Even when I don’t want to because I pray deeply and hard that she will not know for a long, long time.
“Momma, who turned out the lights?”, she asked me. “Was it you?” “No, baby.”  “Was it Daddy?  Why would Daddy cut the lights out on me?” “Daddy didn’t, angel.”  “Oh, Grandma did it then!”
All this past week she has been terrified of the dark.  It didn’t take me long to figure out what she meant.  Her whole little safe world went dark last Tuesday morning.   She couldn’t see for almost an hour.  Her eyes dilated so much that she wasn’t able to see anything but a black abyss.
And it hits me: just how terrified she was.  That this seizure affected her sight so badly.  That the next one could honestly leave her blinded for good.  That I’m thankful this seizure didn’t leave her blinded for life.
It hits me that she could have died last Tuesday.  That she stopped breathing on me.  That there was nothing I could do and no amount of CPR could stop her brain from overloading and her body from seizing.  It had completely taken control.
All I could do was watch and pray.  All I can do now is wait and pray.  I do daily and she has prayed too, wholeheartedly.  We all have.
Tomorrow morning, or rather in a few short hours this morning, at 7:30 am, it will be one week from her worst Grand Mal since she was 4 1/2 months old.  One week has passed.  Multiple conversations to make her forget and feel more at ease have happened.
Every day we have the same talk.  “Momma, it was dark.” “I”m so sorry, Laycie.”  “But you didn’t turn out the lights on me?” “No, baby.” “You will keep on a lamp for me.” “Always, if it makes you feel better.”
And I do.  She sleeps in the bed with us for now, until we know this monster called Epilepsy is controlled again.  I leave the light on for her and for me.  It helps me see if she’s breathing.  It helps me see if she’s a little too still.  And it puts her little mind to ease.
I don’t know what the future holds.  I don’t know how to calm her fears other than talk with her, listen to her, be with her, every waking and sleeping minute.  And pray, for her and with her every time she needs to do that and even when she isn’t even aware I am.
I’m thankful that God has blessed us with more time.  I’m well aware of the Mothers that weren’t given that chance.  My heart aches for them and for all the Momma’s who must watch their babies suffer so much.
For now she sleeps, though it’s still very much restless and we wait patiently to see if this monster is lurking or controlled for now.  Only time will tell.

Memoria Press: Geography I {Crew Review}

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Memoria Press has been creating Classical Christian Educational materials for Western Civilization since 1994.  Their products focus upon simplicity, affordability and quality and are designed with flexibility in mind for homeschooling families who know little about the subjects they are learning about.  Memoria Press products provide high academic standards for learning.
For this review, The Old Schoolhouse Review Crew was offered a choice between Memoria Press’ Prima Latina and Geography I.  I chose Geography I for us because it was more fitting to the ages of my children.  It is also a current interest in our home education.
Geography I arrived boxed nicely together in a few weeks.  Our box contained a teacher’s guide, student text and student workbook for Geography I and a Teacher’s Key and Student Workbook for the United States.  The set is soft-covered with crisp white pages inside.  Most of the print is black line master.
Geography I’s teacher guide contains the answers to all of the questions through the Geography I Student Workbook.  In the back of this book are quiz and tests for review of the lessons learned.  There is no other lesson information in this guide aside from the answers to the questions and the quiz and tests provided in the back.  
Geography I’s student text covers The Middle East, North Africa and Europe.  The student text breaks each of these continents down into countries.  As you work through the text, the student learns a little about each continent.  They learn first the Story of the Land which tells the history of the land.  Then they learn the Land of the Story which tells specifically about the land itself.  Each section also includes Fast Facts to tell you quick facts about the area.
Each of the continents is broken into countries.  Each countries page tells the student about the history of that country and then tells what the country is like today.  There are also Fast Facts included for each of these countries, as well as a picture of the area, a flag to color in and a map on the opposite page showing the country and area covered.  This repeats for every country and continent shared in this text.  
At the end of the Student Text is a colorized section of country flags for review and also to help the student know what color to color the flag for the country they are currently learning about.  Lessons are approximately two pages long, though they are thorough on information provided about each continent and country.  
The Student Workbook is where the work is at.  In the workbook, students must identify and label the countries on the continent maps.  They must break each country down, sharing capitals and facts.  This is repeated for each continent and country covered through Geography I.
The United States set is a review for students learning in Geography I.  Just like the Geography I teacher’s guide, the United States teacher’s guide provides the answers to the student workbook and also quiz and tests through the back of the book.  There is no lesson guide provided in either of these teacher guides.  Lessons are provided through the accompanying workbooks and student texts.
The United States Student Workbook is a States and Capitals Review text.  In this workbook, students will review the states and capitals of all of the United States.  These are broken down into regions to make the review easier for the student.  There is a United States map as a whole included in the front of the workbook.
These books work together to provide a full curriculum for Geography I.  Depending upon the teacher and student, this curriculum could be covered in a matter of weeks to a year.  The lessons are not long and can be completed quickly and easily.  Review expectations were for us to use this curriculum 3-4 times a week through the review, which allowed us to cover much of the curriculum before the review period ended.
Geography I is for students in grades 4-8.  My students that used this curriculum were ages 10 and 12.  I also did work with my 5 year old, allowing her to listen while we read through the country and continent information and providing her maps to color as we learned about each country.
We enjoyed using Memoria Press’ Geography I in our lessons because the lessons themselves were not long and the information we learned was just the right amount as to not be overwhelming each day we worked on them.  Our lesson week began with discussion of the continent and completing the workbook pages to go with it.  Then we worked through countries, taking our time to learn more by looking them up online and checking the news to see if they were mentioned recently.  After doing this research, the kids were left to complete their worksheets for lesson.  I placed the worksheet into dry erase covers so they could both complete the necessary worksheets for this curriculum.
Memoria Press offers Geography I as a part of their 4th Grade Curriculum.  It can be purchased as the 4th Grade Geography set for $48.00 plus shipping.  This set includes the Geography I teachers guide, student text, and student workbook, along with the United States States and Capitals Review teacher’s guide and student workbook.  Geography I covers The Middle East, North Africa and Europe in the text.  To view more curriculum from Memoria Press, please visit their website!

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