Blog - Meredith Ludwig Curtis

Review of The Hidden Art of Homemaking

9/11/2017

"Hidden Art? What is hidden art?" I wondered as I glanced at the Intervarsity Christian Fellowship Book Table. It was the 1980's and I was a college student, majoring in nursing. I didn't want to get married until I was REALLY old...like 30!

But, this book caught my eye. I had already read a few books by Francis Schaeffer, a Christian philosopher and this was his wife. I was curious to find out what she had to say about homemaking because I grew up wanting to be a homemaker when I finally settled down and got married.

A Book that Changed my Life

The Hidden Art of Homemaking by Edith Schaeffer is a book I have read many times since I first bought it in my college days. When I was single, it helped me to make my dorm room a home. In later years, this book inspired me to create a home for my family.

Over the years, I have read many books on homemaking, but this is my favorite! Edith Schaeffer is my heroine. She devoted her life to creating a home to nurture her husband, children, and all the people they ministered to in their chalet in Switzerland. From freshly baked bread to lovely music playing, Edith decorated her house carefully, filling it with art, laughter, beauty, and good books.

Why do I love this book so much?

Review of Art Masterpieces to Color

6/24/2017

Art Masterpieces to Color: 60 Great Paintings from Botticelli to Picasso from Dover Press is a great coloring book to invest in.

Because the coloring book comes with small postcard size reproductions in the back of the book, you can turn this into an art appreciate class. Have your children or teens color these pages of famous paintings exactly like the original artist did. Believe me, they will be scrutinizing these paintings as they color.

Some of the famous works of art in this coloring book are The Peaceable Kingdom (Edward Hicks), Mona Lisa (Leonardo da Vinci), Girl with a Pearl Earring (Jan Vermeer), and Luncheon of the Boating Party (Pierre-Auguste Renoir). There is a wide variety of artwork from different periods and styles. This is a wonderful and vaied taste of art appreciation.

Review of Understanding the Times & Thinking Like a Christian

6/23/2017

To read Understanding the Times is to take on a mammoth project. The book is over 500 pages long and not light reading.

This book is "must read before you graduate" book and here's why: I want my children to understanding where each of their professors are coming from when they go to college.

The worldview on the typical American college campus (even many Christian campuses) is far different from what the Word of God teaches.

I want my children to be prepared to not only recognize different worldviews, but to defend their faith in Jesus Christ and the Bible.

Here's where Understanding the Times comes in.

Review of Restoring America's Biblical Foundations

5/23/2017

Restoring America's Biblical Foundations by Pilgrim Institute is a DVD course for high school students and adults on a topic that is dear to my heart: Truth.

Over the years, history has been taken out. Godly men are glossed over or their faith is hidden. Many people have only heard revisionist history--they know nothing of the truth of our Christian heritage and biblical foundation.

I applaud the Pilgrim Institute for speaking out!

This course covers the biblical view of government and a Providential view of history. God gives a plan for government in His Word which the founders respected and tried to follow. The Lord intervenes in the affairs of men. Our Founding Fathers believed both.

As Christians, I believe it's time to teach the truth to the next generation, starting in our home schools. Restoring America's Biblical Foundations is a great start!

Let me tell you about the kit.

Review of Human Anatomy Coloring Book

10/14/2014

"Are you serious? You want me to color a coloring book for science class? I'm in high school, Mom."

"I know sweetie, but this coloring book will be such a blessing!"

Aren't teens to old to color?

The Human Anatomy Coloring Book by Margaret Mott is an amazing asset to any course on human anatomy, whether its health or human physiology.

There is nothing that makes memorization of body parts easier than to color them.

Review of Of Plymouth Plantation

11/21/2013

Plimoth Plantation by William Bradford is a history of the local church in Scrooby that fled to Holland and later crossed the Atlantic Ocean to settle at Plymouth Plantation. William Bradford served for many years as governor of the first settlement in New England. Plimoth Plantation is a detailed history of Plymouth Colony from 1621 to 1646. You will learn about key people in the colony too. William is considered the Father of American History.

Similar to other books you will read from the colonial period, William compares the events that occurred in Plymouth with events from the Bible. You will learn about the Mayflower Compact, early colony laws, and treaties with the Indians. I find it interesting that Mr. Bradford very carefully shows you details of the Lord’s blessing and judgment. I learned things in this book that I had never heard before in history class.

Review of Zion Covenant Series

1/3/2013

"Are you going to turn out the light, Honey?" my husband barely murmured, while covering his head with a pillow.

"Just one more paragraph," I replied, not taking my eyes off the page I was reading.

"Honey, this is the third night in a row. Are you ever going to sleep again?"

I did not reply because I was too busy reading book 7 of the Zion Chronicles. I had given up cooking dinner, washing the dishes, and checking my Facebook. I rationalized it by telling myself that I was just giving my daughters the opportunity to learn homemaking skills.

Really, all I wanted to do was read these books.

Review of Tapestry of Grace Year 1 Unit 2

11/30/2012

The Renaissance was a rebirth of Classical Greek and Roman art, literature, and culture that took place mostly in Southern Europe.

The Reformation was a spiritual rebirth that took place in hearts as they rediscovered the Truth found in Scripture: Salvation through Faith alone. The Reformation took place mostly in Northern Europe.

As these earth-shaking movements were happening across Europe, men were bravely sailing to the New World.

What an exciting time to study! How thrilling to see God moving through time and history to glorify Jesus and spread the Gospel to the ends of the earth!

Review of Professor in a Box Financial Accounting

5/3/2012

"I've decided to go ahead and switch my major from Finance to Accounting," Julianna informed her daddy and me one evening. We had been praying with and for her on this decision for several weeks.

"Well, if you think that's God's will,..." I began.

My husband shot me a look. The look warned me to not share my personal feelings about accounting.

I had mentored a younger Christian girl in college who had majored in accounting. She hated it and I hated it for her. She worked faithfully as an accountant for ten years, married to a college professor, eventually pursuing another field. Her experience put a bad taste in my mouth. Not wanting to see my little girl suffer, I had my hesitations. I have since had to adjust my thinking on accounting. While not all people will enjoy accounting, it is not the boring task I once envisioned.

How thankful I am for people who crunch numbers and are good at crunching numbers. Since starting my own business, I see how important accounting is--how it can even make or break a business. My personal philosophy of educating my children includes training them to start and run their own business. So, when Professor in a Box sent me their Financial Accounting Class, I was excited to check it out. However, after looking it over, I decided to take the class myself so that I can grow in the area of managing my own business. Interested? Let's take a look at this "course in a box."

What's Inside the Package?

Michael P. Licata, Ph.D. is the creator of this accounting course, Professor in a Box: Financial Accounting, for homeschooled high school students. He is an accounting professor at Villanova University in Villanova, Pennsylvania. My guess is that he is a popular professor because of his practical teaching style. Everything he taught had practical application with companies that young people can relate to.

Accounting, the language of business, is introduced to the high school student through lectures, homework problems with solutions available, and exams. Taught from a non-traditional approach, there is not a big fat accounting textbook to read. Instead, 12 chapters are divided into 2 or 3 flash lecture slides each. The flash lecture slides include a description of each key concept with discussions of all the important concepts and sample problems with step by step illustrations of how to work them out. The slides are bright and cheerful, easy on the eyes, but very informative and easy to understand. I learned a lot by reading them for this review. They were very impressive.

Investigating the Class

Review of Keyboarding for Christian Schools

4/19/2012

Keyboarding for the Christian School by Leanne Beitel is a back-to-basics curriculum. Nothing fancy. No bells and whistles. I like it!

This 107 page E-book contains 42 lessons taking you from the basics to formatting, footnotes, and addressing envelopes. The first 20 lessons help the student learn the location of the letters. Then the students become proficient at typing numbers. Here is a list of all the lessons.

Lesson 1-20: Alphabet keys
Lesson 21-25: Numbers and Symbols keys
Lesson 26-29: Number Pad
Lesson 30: Centering
Lesson 31: Enumerated Lists
Lesson 32: Tab Key
Lesson 33: MLA Report
Lesson 34: APA Reports
Lesson 35: Cover Page
Lesson 36: Works Cited
Lesson 37: Bibliography
Lesson 38: Personal Business Letters
Lesson 39: Business Letters
Lesson 40: Envelopes
Lesson 41: Proofreader's Marks
Lesson 42: Timed Writing & Timing Scale
Lesson 43: Tables

The lessons are easy to understand with clear directions that are easy to follow. A Christian company, the lessons include Scripture passages to type. One of the assignments is to copy the Gospel message in a nutshell entitled How to Become a Christian. All examples will encourage children in their faith.

When directions are given, many pictures are used to make the child's application of lesson clear. They show pictures of windows, computer screens, software, and more.

I remember typing class in seventh grade. We had a big picture of the keyboard in the front of the room, but all the keys on our typewriters were blackened out. This forced us to look up while we typed, a habit that I appreciate today because it allows me to type more quickly and efficiently.

How on earth do you learn to type on a computer keyboard I have often wondered. Should I blacken the keys on my keyboard and put a big poster on the wall. My husband's disapproval has prevented me from trying this method of teaching my children.

Review of Nutrition 101: Choose Life!

3/15/2012

"I'm fasting all healthy food," I declared to my family as I popped a bad cholesterol-building cookie in my mouth. "Can someone pick me up some hot chocolate?"

I know, I know, at my age, 49, healthy food choices are important. Oh, how I wish I had been a healthier eater when I was younger. I knew something about nutrition, but obviously not enough because my heart leans to white chocolate Resee Cups, M & Ms, Moose Tracks Ice Cream, and Whoppers.

Maybe this review isn't about sharing information with you, but learning and cleaning up my own nutritional life.

Nutrition 101: Choose Life A Family Nutrition and Health Program by Debra Raybern, Sera Johnson, Laura Hopkins, and Karen Hopkins is a 448 page E-book published by Growing Healthy Homes. This book is based on the premise that the "cures" to most of the dreaded diseases (cancer, heart disease, and diabetes) is changing the way we eat. Surely, eating healthy will go a long way in preventing these diseases.

This book is meant to be worked through together as a family. Neat! The idea of the book is to learn together and CHANGE together! The goal is to become healthy eaters in 448 pages. The authors recommend that the family using this curriculum together...

Get rid of junk food
Make a list of healthy food each family member likes
Each family member eats the healthy foods they do like
Thank the Lord for each food and involve His help in changing
Try at least one new thing at each meal
Find healthy alternatives to those old favorites

The book is divided into 6 units, each unit containing 4 chapters. Every chapter has discussion questions, activities, additional resources, and recipes. One of my favorite things is all the "Fun Facts" scattered throughout each chapter. Here are the units:

The Brain and Nervous System
Digestion and Elimination
Respiratory and Olfactory
Muscular and Skeletal Systems
Cardiovascular and Immune Systems
Endocrine System and Emotions

The best thing about Nutrition 101: Choose Life! is that it is Christ-centered. Scripture is woven into every chapter with application to the subject at hand. I love that! You may want to read Fearfully and Wonderfully Made and In His Image by Dr. Paul Brand and Philip Yancey.