So You Want to Build A Library is a children’s book written by Lindsay Leslie.
Summary: What could be better than building a library? Nothing! Making it the best library ever? Well, that’s the challenge…..and it’s going to be fun!
My Thoughts: I am a sucker for books about books and libraries (two of my favorite things), so this story already started off on a good note for me. The book is fun, clever, imaginative, and I literally chuckled out loud a few times.
The only thing I didn’t care for was the color palette. There is lots of yellow, paired with peach, paired with teal-it’s kind of strange.
Otherwise though, I did truly enjoy this book and would buy it. It would also make a great gift for any book-loving/library-loving kid!
I would like to thank Capstone for providing me with a free digital copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. Thank you!
Young Scientist Earth & Space Science is designed for fourth through seventh grade students. It contains thirteen video lessons, a PDF class study guide, and covers the following topics:
*Maps *Soil *Rocks *Time zones *Latitude and Longitude *Population *Bodies of water *Islands *Volcanoes *Weather *Climate *Minerals *Atmosphere *And more!
My seven year old son is a HUGE science buff, so he was very excited to dig into this course!
What We Liked: 1. Prayer was included in each lesson. 2. Personal stories were included that helped to make the topics more interesting. 3. There were plenty of visual aids on the screen-you aren’t just watching someone teach. 4. There is a PDF with extension activities included to increase learning potential. 5. Professor Landry does a good job of explaining higher-level concepts in an easy-to-understand and engaging way. You can tell he is very passionate about his subject, and this is readily communicated to the students.
I would say though, the material in this course is better suited for middle school students (6th-9th.) My son is very intelligent and devours science. He has completed many science courses already, so I would say he is easily at a 4th-5th grade level in science.
He was able to follow the material with just a few questions (I did watch lesson one without him as he is just starting 3rd grade and not really at the note-taking stage yet.)
Even so, he struggled in some areas due to the more advanced math discussed in various lessons (negative numbers, multiplying decimals, etc.) As he is in fourth grade math, these were confusing for him, and difficult for me to explain as math is a skill which builds upon itself.
That, combined with the fact that while some lessons were 20-30 minutes, a few were much longer at 40 minutes to an hour, make this class better for older students with longer attention spans and higher math skills.
While the topics in the first six lessons were interesting, we both wished less time would have been spent on the metric system, time zones, latitude/longitude, and population. It seemed excessive to spend almost half the course on these subjects.
Overall, I have to say we were a bit disappointed. My son chose not to continue watching after lesson five (I continued on without him)-partly because of the math, and partly because we still hadn’t gotten to rocks, fossils, islands, earthquakes, volcanoes, etc.-the things he really wanted to learn about.
For me, I think I was expecting more topics related directly to the earth and space, so that could have been part of why this course didn’t really work for us.
I will say though, when I found a problem with one of the videos and emailed Professor Landry, he got back to me in less than an hour, which is extremely responsive!
If you would like to check out this Young Scientist Earth & Space Science class, or any of the many classes available, check out Greg Landry’s Homeschool Science for yourself!
I used dairy-free chocolate chips, so The Boy was able to have these too.
Do keep in mind that if you have an allergy to gluten, oats are notorious for having wheat particles mixed in. These particular ones did not bother The Boy (I used the Safeway store brand quick oats), but it is something to be aware of.
These are delicious, super simple to make, and are a favorite around here. Everybody loves them, and I have made them several times now.
I did want to try them with other add-ins too, so I used the “plain” version of the recipe:
I added chopped almonds and cranberries to this one.
And…..I learned a valuable lesson. The taste? FANTASTIC. But, they didn’t stay together because I mixed the nuts and berries in to the mixture.
The key really is to just press your toppings into the top of the bars. This way they still stay together, and you can experiment with flavors.
I really liked the almond and cranberry ones. And next time I make them, hopefully they stay together. 🙂
Next on my list to try is a s’mores version. I am going to chop up marshmallows and press those and chocolate chips into the top. Sounds yummy!
*One note: I have forgotten to add the vanilla multiple times now because of where it is added in the recipe, and I have to say, I don’t think it makes a real flavor difference. You can definitely skip that ingredient if you want.
Slow Down, Enjoy, and Create 