Kap & Pen

Ever wonder how people come up with driving treasure hunts for a church activity? Here’s all the details to have a fantastic treasure hunt, complete with rhyming clues, ideas for treasures, rules sheet, extra credit sheet, tips, and layout pattern for creating your master list. This ebook will take hours out of trying to figure it all out on your own. Treasure hunts are a great team game and can be used for teens and couples of all ages.

A new way to teach spelling in the first three grades. Excellent reading practice for new readers, too! The theme of this 154-page ebook is one syllable spelling words. It starts out with two and three-letter words for beginning readers/spellers. There are a total of 290+ lists of word families, containing over 6,000 one syllable words. The lists are broken down into short, easy to use groups. Some brief definitions are included for less common words.

The whole idea is to break spelling down to its simplest part and take away the “scariness” of spelling. If children can learn to spell all the words in this book by the time they are in third grade, spelling should be much easier for them as they progress to more difficult words. The parent is encouraged to use the lists for reading practice and to give oral spelling tests from the List Families.

After the List Families, there is a section of spelling tests. Every 6-8 List Families, the words are mixed up, forming spelling tests. This ensures the student is actually learning to spell the words and not just remembering how to spell them based on other words in the list. Continual reinforcement occurs because the child is learning the family the words belong to, they are doing oral spelling tests based on the individual List Families, and then they are taking a written mixed Family test every 6-8 List Families. This sounds time-consuming but it isn’t. My 8-year old can do 3-4 lists a day somedays, in less than half an hour.

I have also included some bonus sections. First, 355 common compound words, made from two one-syllable words. The idea here is that the student learns to make long words out of two short ones for which they already learned the spellings. Second, 501 common homonyms and brief definitions, followed by 14 homonym tests. Finally, there are 17 color pages with lines for the students to print out and use for their written spelling tests. These can easily be three-hole punched and kept in a three-ring binder for the student’s yearly portfolio.

Here’s a great unit study to complement any home economics course! This study covers over 300 kitchen and cooking terms that one might come across in preparing a recipe. Here’s a brief sample: al dente, anchovies, aspic, au jus, baste, béchamel, bisque, borscht, braise, brine, butterfly, cheesecloth, compote, condiment, couscous, crackling, crimp, desiccation, dice, dot, double boiler, dredge, éclair, emulsify, escalope, ferment, flan, flute, foie gras, fondue, garnish, gazpacho, giblets, glaze, gluten, gnocchi, grenadins, grissini, gruel, gumbo, haggis, herring, hips, infuse, jardinière, junket, kasha, kefir, kosher, marinate, meringue, mincemeat, nougat, omelet, panocha, pan-broil, pesto, pilaf, pipe, poach, pressure cooker, reconstitute, roast, roux, sauté, scallop, sear, shirr, skim, spatula, stir-fry, sweat, tapioca, temper, terrine, truss, wok, zest. Do you know what all those words mean?

Plus, there are several activities to reinforce the definitions. Each page is a spelling list. There are geography projects, a research report, an etymology project, some shopping exercises, a few science experiments, and nine recipes incorporating many of the terms learned in the study.

This unit study consists almost entirely of homonyms – 525 groups of them, to be exact! They have brief definitions next to each word and a few helpful notes for some of the more confusing sets.  At the end, there are several interesting activities, including one designed to help the speller remember correct spellings and definitions. 36 pages total.

This unit study is in 5 sections. The first section is an overview of grains in general and discusses the importance of grains in our diets as well as planting, harvesting, and milling processes. Section two covers rice and gives a brief history of rice in various countries, as well as growing and 46 varieties. Section three develops the relationship between wheat, rye, Kamut, triticales and spelt. Section four describes barley, oats, buckwheat, and flax. The final section is about corn, amaranth, quinoa, millet, and teff. Each section ends with spelling lists, projects for cooking, science, history, writing, and more. 42 pages, spiral bound. 8.5×11.

This is the first book in the new William series. William is 16 and has his first job in Chicago. As his German immigrant family prepares for Father’s 40th birthday, William tells the children about chess and the amazing Automaton of 1769. Father and William make plans to hear D. L. Moody at Farwell Hall. When the cousins come for dinner, William recalls the great raising of Chicago on thousands of huge screws. Suddenly, the fire bells begin to ring, and William and Uncle John set out to assess the danger for the family. After the ashes settle, William learns of the great fires that swept Peshtigo, WI, and the state of Michigan during the same time. The rebuilding of Chicago begins. Pen & ink illustrations. 73 pages.

Want to save money feeding your family without sacrificing variety and quality? These quick and easy recipes are a big hit with teens and adults as well as children. Ingredients are simple and able to be purchased at most leading grocery stores, as well as discount grocery and scratch and dent stores. Meal ideas which include chicken, beef, pork, fish, eggs, and vegetables are given for breakfast, lunch, and dinner (along with an approximate cost per person, usually well under $1.00). This book is a great encouragement if you are trying to cut back on your food budget during these tough economic times.