See You Next Week!

Things will be quiet here at Home With Purpose as I take a week off from everything! I will be back next week with plenty to update on home and kitchen projects, a couple of reviews, and more.

See you then!

 

The Art of Argument: An Introduction to the Informal Fallacies (Review Crew)

Can your teens identify an ad hominem argument? How about a red herring? A straw man or bifurcation? We're constantly bombarded on all sides with messages presenting certain slants on all kinds of things: from politics and the news media to advertisements for the latest food fads and technogadgets. One of my goals for our homeschool is to train my kids to think logically and critically so they can sort through this barrage of conflicting messages and recognize faulty reasoning and arguments when they see them.

Enter The Art of Argument: An Introduction to the Informal Fallacies, published by Classical Academic Press. Here's part of the publisher's description:

Junior high aged students will argue (and sometimes quarrel), but they won't argue well without good training. Young teens are also targeted by advertisers with a vengeance. From billboards to commercials to a walk down the mall, fallacious arguments are everywhere you look. The Art of Argument was designed to teach the argumentative adolescent how to reason with clarity, relevance and purpose at a time when he has a penchant for the "why" and "how". It is designed to equip and sharpen young minds as they live, play, and grow in this highly commercial culture. This course teaches students to recognize and identify twenty-eight informal fallacies, and the eye-catching text includes over sixty slick and clever, “phony advertisements” for items from blue jeans to pick-up trucks, which apply the fallacies to a myriad of real life situations.

I confess, I'd been eyeing The Art of Argument in the CAP catalog for a couple of years but hadn't yet taken the plunge to purchase it. So I was excited to receive the workbook, teacher's guide, and first DVD to review!

The Dancer (13) has been working her way through it for the last several weeks.  So far it's been eye-opening for her, to say the least! She's already been able to peg several arguments she's heard and label them as one of the fallacies she's learned. She is thoroughly enjoying the lessons and hasn't minded the extra bit of time added to her schedule to work through them at all. She thinks this stuff is fascinating. Karate Kid (11) has looked at the workbook and caught a glimpse of the DVD and he is chomping at the bit to try it out as soon as he's old enough!

I'm very pleased with both the layout and content of The Art of Argument. It's the perfect blend of explanation and practical application. The lessons are clearly organized, with the 28 fallacies broken into six different groups:

• Ad Fontem Arguments
• Appeals to Emotion
• Red Herrings
• Fallacies of Presupposition
• Fallacies of Induction
• Fallacies of Clarity

 Each lesson is well-written and engaging, with a variety of dialogues, real world application, phony advertisements, and discussion questions. The phony advertisements are downright fun, and they do a fantastic job of illustrating each fallacy! Socrates' ongoing dialogue with a group of students throughout the text does a great job of reinforcing the concepts.

The DVD, which shows a group of kids interacting about each fallacy, is nice, especially for those who are working through the book alone. If there are other siblings (or parents!) working through it also, there will be opportunity for in-person lively interaction and discussion of each fallacy, making the DVD less essential. The additional tests and quizzes in the teacher's edition are nice to have, but the program can be done without it if necessary. I would put the age range at upper middle school through high school, as I'm not sure younger middle school students are quite ready for some of the content.

I've been impressed with the quality of the other Classical Academic Press products we've used, and The Art of Argument is no exception. We will definitely continue using it, and will move on to The Discovery of Deduction and The Argument Builder when we're done.

You can download samples of the text here and teacher's guide here. The text, teacher's guide, and DVDs can be purchased in a bundle for $88.95 or individually.

Also be sure to check the crew blog to see what others though of The Art of Argument.



Disclosure: I received this curriculum free of charge in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are solely my own.

The ESV Grow! Bible: Great For "Tweens" (Family Bookshelf)

Most of you know that I'm a big fan of quality children's bibles. Not gimmicky or dumbed down, but solid, accurate, age appropriate versions. For younger kids, my favorite hands-down is The Jesus Storybook Bible, followed closely by The Big Picture Story Bible. Once they're ready to graduate from the story bible format, I really appreciate the ESV Seek and Find Bible, a full-fledged ESV version with age-appropriate notes and study helps for elementary-age children.

Now, Crossway has followed the Seek and Find with the ESV Grow! Bible. The Grow! Bible is designed for children ages 8-12, those who are just a little older (or slightly more advanced readers) than those using the Seek and Find. The articles and additional content look to me like a great fit for preteens.

This content consists of things like:

• "Who, What, Where, When, Why and How" boxes to learn about real people, places, and life in Bible times.
• "4U" boxes to help the reader understand what certain passages mean "FOR YOU" personally.
• "Cross Connections" to connect passages throughout the bible back to the cross
• Articles and Charts
• Section and Book Introductions
• Glossary
• Timelines and Maps

On top of all that, the illustrations are gorgeous and realistic. The articles and section and book introductions are very well-written and age-appropriate.

My favorite feature is the "Cross Connections". An article at the beginning explains the story of redemption (Creation, Fall, Redemption, Restoration) in simple terms by answering the questions,  "What's this whole book about? What connects it all together? How's it connected to me?"; then explains that certain passages have been marked to remind readers that everything ties back to the cross:

When you read about God saving his people from enemies, it's because of the cross. When you see God giving the Israelites food or water or a new home, it's because of the cross. When God give you good gifts like these, it's because of Jesus' cross. (p. xiii)

To give you a feel for this, there are "Cross Connections" boxes explaining key passages like Genesis 3:15; Exodus 12: 1-13; Psalm 22: 1-5; Isaiah 40: 1-2; John 10: 11-18; and Revelation 7: 9-17, among others.   You know that I believe the "big picture" of how every story and event in the bible relates to the plan of redemption is absolutely essential to teach our kids right from the get-go, so I really appreciate this tool!

Just as with the Seek and Find, I wish the hardcover wasn't so big and bulky. But, it seems to be unavoidable with a full-text, full-featured bible to avoid making the paper too thin and fragile and the text too small. Again, there's a Tru-Tone version available that may be slightly less cumbersome, although I've had at least one person tell me there's not a huge amount of difference. One mom said that her kids use these as their "at-home" bibles and carry a smaller, more compact one to church since they don't really need all the extra study notes then. That seems like a good plan to me.

I'm excited about the ESV Grow! Bible. The ESV is a good, solid, readable translation. The tools and study aids are really well done and emphasize the idea of one big storyline from Genesis to Revelation at a level perfect for kids to grasp. It seems like a great fit for preteens who have outgrown story and children's bibles but aren't quite ready for a full-fledged study bible.

Thanks so much to Crossway for providing a copy for my review!

(All opinions are solely mine)

In My Kitchen: Further Adventures With Sourdough & Water Kefir, Primal Diets for Dogs, and Baby Chicks!

It's been a few weeks since I've updated on the latest happenings in my kitchen. The last few weeks we've been busy with other home projects and I've mainly just continued to experiment with my sourdough and water kefir, but there've been a few other things worthy of reporting. Here's a short list:

• My grain order finally came in! In the nearly 8 years that I've been ordering whole grains in bulk, I've never let my supply get as low as it did this time! What a relief to have full buckets again!

Bags of grain to fill my empty buckets!

• As I mentioned yesterday, my new dishwasher arrived and is installed! It's pretty funny how exciting it is to me to open it up after a load to dishes that are actually sparkling clean! Plus, I can't get over how quiet it is! My old dishwasher, in contrast, didn't do much more than sterilize already washed dishes...put in anything with any food residue whatsoever and expect to rewash...and was so loud it could be heard from every room in the house when it was running! I always ran it late at night. I ran the new one during the middle of the day yesterday while I was working in the kitchen and the small sound it makes switching from one stage to the next startled me because I had completely forgotten it was running! Another plus: I love that the top rack is positioned to handle my half-gallon mason jars! So handy.

• I also finally purchased a food processor! I'd been debating for months on whether to get the attachment or get a free standing one. I shared with you yesterday how it is the catalyst for this week's major project: rearranging more cabinets! I'm also excited to use it...it's going to really simplify several recipes for me!

• Okay, so this next one isn't exactly in my kitchen YET, but it will be affecting it in the not too distant future! We've finally gotten a batch of baby chicks to raise to eventually be garden helpers and egg producers! I've been researching how to feed them soy-free, in addition to the grass, bugs, and kitchen scraps they'll consume, of course! The whole family is excited about this new adventure! Are there any other urban or suburban chicken keepers out there with tips to share? 

Our new babies!

• This one counts because it involves kitchen work for me: We've been researching a raw diet for our dogs. Our 5 year old lab has always had bad allergies and chronic ear issues, and he's recently had several seizures. We've been following a traditional foods diet to varying degrees since before he even came along, so I'm kicking myself for not realizing sooner that his issues are most likely diet-related as well! Dogs are not designed to consume most of the junk in commercial dog food! We've always tried to be picky about choosing dog food with recognizable ingredients and less filler, but after looking into it further, I think Sam probably needs grains totally eliminated, and even some of the better quality brands still contain them. We're looking at using a grain-free "primal" type dog kibble in conjunction with some raw meat and selected table scraps.  The amount of information out there on the web is just overwhelming but after a lot of reading I think I know what direction to go. I found this article at the Weston Price website very informative. I'm determined to figure out how to fit this into the budget because I'm convinced it will really help him and be beneficial for our other two dogs also! If anyone else has experience in this area, I'd love to hear how you're doing things and how it's working for you!

Sam the allergy-prone lab.

• I had my first water kefir explosion! We've had them fizz up and make a mess on the counter, but a few days ago I had a bottle literally explode all over the kitchen and dining room! I opened it in the sink, but it blew the lid assembly completely off! The lid hit the ceiling (as well as quite a bit of kefir!)! And, even though I immediately got a ladder and cleaned the splatter on the ceiling, it left a nice stain.

• I made my first batch of sourdough cookies and they were delicious! A double batch only lasted about a day and a half! My family is requesting that I figure out how to add oats and nuts, like I generally use in my chocolate chip cookies, so I'm going to have to experiment in the near future. This is one of those recipes that my new food processor will come in handy for...it was a simple recipe, but would have been much easier with the processor!

Yummy sourdough cookies!

• And lastly, I made my most successful batch of sourdough bread loaves to date! I'm very excited that I'm finally getting down the timing to get a nice rise instead of producing bricks, lol! We're still loving the English muffins and my kids would be glad to use them exclusively, but I've found it difficult to make enough to keep up with the demand: a quadruple batch is only lasting 3 or 4 days around here, and that's with me rationing them out! So, I'm planning to do a combination: a couple of loaves of bread plus a big batch of English muffins each week. My loaves rose beautifully this time, but I got them in to bake just slightly too late and they had begun to deflate just a bit. They were still delicious and fluffy, just a little sunk in on top. 

Delicious, healthy sourdough!

Whew! That turned into quite a list. I'll be revisiting all these topics in future weeks I'm sure. For the upcoming couple of weeks, I'm working on ideas to eat healthy while not at home. How do those following a traditional foods diet make it work when they go on vacation or out of town and have no access to a kitchen? I'm looking into that issue right now and will share what I come up with in the near future!

What's going on in your kitchen this week?

Linked with Real Food Wednesday.

 

Weekly Focus 3/12: Desk Day & School Area Update/This Week: Kitchen & Dining

So my focus this past week was the computer desk and school area. My goals were pretty simple:

• Catch up the budget.
• Get the desk put back together...most of it's contents are still in boxes in the garage from when we redid the floors!
• Spend some time on school planning...how we're going to finish this year and thinking about next year.

I got exactly NONE of this done! Didn't touch any of them. I know, I know. That's two weeks in a row! Still, I had a very busy, productive week! Here's a little of what went on around here:

• My new dishwasher and vacuum cleaner came in! We had a couple of snags while installing the dishwasher, resulting in almost a whole day without the use of my kitchen sink. That was interesting, especially since I had a counter full of dirty dishes, but we made it work. And now we're enjoying the new washer! It's funny how exciting it is to actually open up the dishwasher to clean, shiny dishes instead of having to inspect and rewash half of them...;-) I also keep going to check that it's running since you can't hear it from all ends of the house. 

• For the floors, we went with the Dyson DC35 Digitial Slim. With all hard floors now, we need to pick up grit quickly a couple of times a day and didn't want to lug out the big vacuum every time. A broom and dust pan get old fast in larger rooms. I love my Dyson, and after reading all the reviews on the Digital Slim, I decided it was what we needed. So far we're loving it!

• My grain order came in and, with the help of my wonderful husband, I got everything in the appropriate buckets and arranged in the pantry.

• We finally got pineapple guavas to plant along our back fence! We'd seen these at a local nursery several years ago and after researching them online decided they would be perfect for a hedge along the back fence...but then couldn't find them again! A local nursery was kind enough to call us this last week when they received a shipment and we went down and got some right away! I'm looking forward to seeing them bloom and hoping we get some fruit from them, and they're just beautiful. 

• We've toyed with the idea of raising a handful of chickens for eggs and as garden helpers, for several years, and we finally took the plunge! Our city allows a limited number of hens as long as they are contained away from neighbors homes. We decided to go with a variety of Bantams, thinking their smaller size and friendly personalities would be good for starting out. So, after some rearranging, we have eight baby chicks in a big dog crate taking up a big chunk of my laundry room! We're hoping to get 4 or 5 hens out of the bunch. We'll have to give away any that end up being roosters. They're so funny and entertaining to watch! They all already have such distinct personalities. 

All this, plus staying busy with new projects in the kitchen (watch for more on that tomorrow), kept me super busy all week! So, even though my zone was neglected, I'm pleased with what we accomplished. That's the beauty of the zone method...the structure is there when you need it, but when other projects come up it's flexible enough to accommodate that.

Now for this week...

Week One: Kitchen/Dining

Week Two: Living Room/Hallway

Week Three: Laundry room, closets, front porch

Week Four: Master bdrm/bthrm & kids' bthrm & bdrms

Week Five: Desk Day/School area

This week we come all the way back to the kitchen and dining room. I have one big task I'd like to get done:

• I finally decided on and purchased a food processor. I've needed one for a long time but waffled on which one to get. There's an attachment for my Bosch mixer, and also multiple stand alone options. After many hours of debating my options, I narrowed it down and snagged a Cuisinart Pro Classic with a Bed Bath and Beyond 15% off coupon! But...now I have to find a place to store it! You may remember that last month I rearranged some of my cabinets and put all my small appliances in a new cabinet. Well, try as I might I can't create enough room for the processor there. I've decided I need to tackle the last cabinet, the one I didn't get to last month, that holds all my servingware, and switch it out with my appliances (I know, I know, I just moved them, but stay with me...). It's a little bit larger cabinet and has wider doors, so I should be able to make room for the food processor and it will also be easier to get my big crockpots and grain mill in and out. 

• Beginning at the end of the week, my husband is taking vacation time, so we have several projects in the yard planned: finishing the patio, laying some sod, working on a chicken coop, painting, and more. Plus, we're taking a much-needed getaway while Grandma and Grandpa stay with the kids! So, I want to get organized for our trip and cook some easy meals ahead for the kids to eat.

There's plenty to keep me busy for the week! I'll try to have an update ready before we leave to let you know what we got done, and hopefully share some pictures of any progress we made.

What are your plans this week?

GIVEAWAY WINNER: The Doctor's Lady by Jody Hedlund

Congratulations to Vickie from comment #9! She's the winner of a brand-new copy of The Doctor's Lady by Jody Hedlund! Check your email, Vickie. :-) Thanks to everyone who participated.

Weekly Focus 3/5: Bedrooms & Bathrooms Update/This Week: Desk Day & School Area

Last week's focus was the bedrooms and bathrooms. I kept it simple, my goal was to clean out the cabinets in the master bathroom. Well, I have to admit, I didn't accomplish my goal this week! Didn't even touch them. I underestimated how busy my week would be with Karate Kid's birthday. So...this goal will just carry forward and be waiting for me next time around!

The birthday boy

The birthday cake (one of two I made)

Now for this week...

Week One: Kitchen/Dining

Week Two: Living Room/Hallway

Week Three: Laundry room, closets, front porch

Week Four: Master bdrm/bthrm & kids' bthrm & bdrms

Week Five: Desk Day/School area

This week's focus is on the desk/computer armoire and school area. Once again, we have a lot going on and I hesitate to be too ambitious. I'll be happy if I can accomplish any of this:

• I need to catch up the budget.
• I'd also like to get the desk put back together...most of it's contents are still in boxes in the garage from when we redid the floors!
• I need to spend some time on school planning...how we're going to finish this year and thinking about next year.

We also have plans to work in the yard later this week, and I have a new dishwasher waiting to be installed, both of those will take up some of my time also.

What are you hoping to accomplish around the house this week?