The Learner's Journal and other books from Virginia Knowles

#1 · July 9, 2005, 10:27 am

Quote from Forum Archives on July 9, 2005, 10:27 am
Posted by: homenews <homenews@...>

Dear Hope Chest friends,

Are you looking for a way for you or your child to keep school records in an attractive, orderly and durable way? Please consider The Learner's Journal lesson planner and resource log! The Learner's Journal is flexible in format, and can be used for all kinds of different educational -- traditional textbook, unit studies, Charlotte Mason, unschooling, or whatever. (We use a mix of all of the above!) Even if you don't plan lessons ahead of time, you can record what you did after the fact.   You will need one for each child.

[May I interject, before I get into the details,

that the time to order is NOW, due to our upcoming birth!

See more details on this below!

All profits from the Learner's Journal will be sent to

Pastor Headson Makazinga in Malawi for use in Bible distribution,

orphan care and outreach conferences.]

OK, back to the details!

The Learner's Journal covers are durable wipe-clean plastic over cardstock, and come in six eye-catching colors:

Rocket Red

Solar Yellow

Pulsar Pink

Terra Green

Lunar Blue

Ivory

The books are spiral bound and lay flat for easy writing. The front cover is attractive and uncluttered so you and your children won't get tired of looking at it all year. It has an oval surrounding the The Learner's Journal title in very large print, and Name: and Year: in smaller print. The font is the very sophisticated Tempus Sans ITC, suitable for both boys and girls. The back cover has nine quotes about books to inspire readers young and old.

Inside, you will find introductory pages for:

How to Use the Learner's Journal

Major Resources Used This Year (a place to record text books and work books with abbreviations)

Most Important Literature (2 pages for a quick summary of the best stuff you read!)

Special Accomplishments & Projects (summarize your most noteworthy achievements)

Field Trip Summary (list date, location and description)

Progress Samples (show beginning and progress samples)

After that, you will find 50 weeks worth of lesson plan sheets and resource pages.

On the left hand side of each double page spread you will find the lesson plan sheets. At the top there is a spot for noting the week. Then there are nine large blocks. Six of them are labeled as follows:

Bible & Character

Language Arts (literature, creative writing, spelling, grammar, handwriting, etc.)

Math

Social Studies (history, geography, sociology, etc.)

Science and Health

Arts (music, art, crafts, drama, and more.)

The bottom three blocks are unlabeled.

For those who like to give daily assignments, the blocks are marked off with horizontal lines into five sections each. Even those who give weekly assignments will appreciate these lines for writing different
assignments. For example, for Language Arts, you could use these lined sections for literature, spelling, handwriting, grammar and creative writing.

Across the bottom of this left hand page, there are five smaller schedule blocks for Monday through Friday. Here you can note any appointments, out-of-the-home lessons, deadlines, field trips, etc. This helps you and your child prepare for and plan around what's coming up. Now you're less likely to be scrambling to finish up that science fair project that everyone could have forgotten about!

On the right hand side is the Resource Log which has columns for Date, Title, Author, and Format & Topic. Use this last column to specify whether the resource is a book, tape, video, kit or something else, and what it is about, which is not always apparent from the title! For example, Beyond the Next Mountain is a video about missionaries in India, while Cell Wars is a book about the immune system. This will make your portfolio much more meaningful when it is evaluated.

People who have used the Learner's Journal over the past four or five years have appreciated the format and the durability! I think you will, too.

Click on the Hope Chest Resources page (http://www.thehopechest.net/resources.html) for more information on ordering the Learner's Journal or my other books. You can click on any of the links there to see information on the individual books. The Learner's Journal page has examples of the page formats and colors.

Learner's Journals are $10 each, but there is a $1 discount per copy if you order 3 or more at the same time. Shipping is 10%, with a minimum fee of $2.50. Florida residents need to add 7% tax to this total.   If you wish, you can also order my books The Real Life Home School Mom (www.thehopechest.net/RealLife.html) and Common Sense Excellence: Faith-Filled Home Education for Preschool to 5th Grade (www.thehopechest.net/CSE.html) at the same time for the $1
quantity discount!

My address for mailing checks is: Virginia Knowles / 1925 Blossom Lane / Maitland, FL 32751
You can also order by PayPal -- my payment address is [email protected]

Whether you order by check or PayPal, please e-mail me your color choices as soon as possible. Due to our upcoming birth, I need to have all colors specified by Wednesday, July 14, in time to tell my print company what I need and get them back in time to ship.

Here are some reviews of The Learner's Journal and Common Sense Excellence from The Old Schoolhouse Magazine.  Note: The reviews were written a couple of years ago! (http://www.thehomeschoolmagazine.com/reviews/reviews.php?rid=373)

The Learners Journal Review

The Learners Journal by Virginia Knowles is a really useful organizational tool. In fact, it is so nifty that I am going to tell you all about it! The Learners Journal is for planning lessons and recording accomplishments for one student. If you have five students you will need five Learners Journals. It can be used for a variety of teaching/learning styles and is extremely user friendly. The journal is divided into sections to record major resources used this year, important literature read, special accomplishments, projects, field trips, and work samples. There are 50 undated weekly lesson plans. Each week is on a two-page spread and includes a schedule of events, a resource log, notes, and the lesson plan. Mrs. Knowles has included several pages of tips for parents that include samples of how to customize The Learners Journal. The Learners Journal features a heavy-duty clear plastic front and back cover (great for wiping off sticky fingerprints and protecting important information) over colored cardstockand can be purchased in a number of vibrant colors. I really appreciated the sturdiness of the cover and the lay flat, toddler-proof comb binding. I have four kids, so durability is essential.

-- Product Review by: Tina Rice, The Old Schoolhouse Magazine

Common Sense Excellence Review

Common Sense Excellence: Faith-Filled Home Education for Preschool to 5th Grade by Virginia Knowles is one of two books I believe every Christian home educator should read. It is a comprehensive guide to home educating your child in a variety of subjects (such as Bible, math, reading, language arts, art, and health). Mrs. Knowles is the mother of eight children (tot to teen) and has been home schooling for over a decade. Add this experience to a huge amount of research and you have an incredible resource person for your home school (24/7 with her book). Common Sense Excellence is divided into three sections. Part 1 is titled Common Sense Excellence, Part two is titled Academic Subjects, and Part three is titled Practical Matters. Chapter titles included in part one are: What is Common Sense Excellence, Faith Filled Education, Through the Years, and Choosing your Approach to Education. Part two covers all academic subjects plus Bible and life skills. Part three was my favorite and deals with organization, problem solving, education away from home, and planning a unit study. Also included in Common Sense Excellence are a list of home schooling suppliers and a bibliography of resource books.

Each chapter in Common Sense Excellence includes related Scripture. If you skim books, dont skip over the Bible verses. They are uplifting and fit in very well with the material presented. At the end of each chapter you will find a quote (Mrs. Knowles calls these vintage quotes) relating to the chapter and a box of 1-2-3 Ideas to Remember that sum up the chapter.

Common Sense Excellence is well laid out and easy to navigate. The clear, waterproof cover is easily cleaned (a must have with toddlers). Common Sense Excellence is comb bound [now spiral] which allows it to open flat. All of these features, on top of fabulous material, make this a must-have book (in my humble opinion). If you have limited finances and can only purchase two books on home education, make this one of them!

-- Product Review by: Tina Rice, Senior Research, The Old Schoolhouse Magazine

Blessings,
Virginia Knowles
www.thehopechest.net

Posted by: homenews <homenews@...>

Dear Hope Chest friends,

Are you looking for a way for you or your child to keep school records in an attractive, orderly and durable way? Please consider The Learner's Journal lesson planner and resource log! The Learner's Journal is flexible in format, and can be used for all kinds of different educational -- traditional textbook, unit studies, Charlotte Mason, unschooling, or whatever. (We use a mix of all of the above!) Even if you don't plan lessons ahead of time, you can record what you did after the fact. You will need one for each child.

[May I interject, before I get into the details,

that the time to order is NOW, due to our upcoming birth!

See more details on this below!

All profits from the Learner's Journal will be sent to

Pastor Headson Makazinga in Malawi for use in Bible distribution,

orphan care and outreach conferences.]

OK, back to the details!

The Learner's Journal covers are durable wipe-clean plastic over cardstock, and come in six eye-catching colors:

Rocket Red
Solar Yellow
Pulsar Pink
Terra Green
Lunar Blue
Ivory

The books are spiral bound and lay flat for easy writing. The front cover is attractive and uncluttered so you and your children won't get tired of looking at it all year. It has an oval surrounding the The Learner's Journal title in very large print, and Name: and Year: in smaller print. The font is the very sophisticated Tempus Sans ITC, suitable for both boys and girls. The back cover has nine quotes about books to inspire readers young and old.

Inside, you will find introductory pages for:

How to Use the Learner's Journal
Major Resources Used This Year (a place to record text books and work books with abbreviations)
Most Important Literature (2 pages for a quick summary of the best stuff you read!)
Special Accomplishments & Projects (summarize your most noteworthy achievements)
Field Trip Summary (list date, location and description)
Progress Samples (show beginning and progress samples)

After that, you will find 50 weeks worth of lesson plan sheets and resource pages.

On the left hand side of each double page spread you will find the lesson plan sheets. At the top there is a spot for noting the week. Then there are nine large blocks. Six of them are labeled as follows:

Bible & Character
Language Arts (literature, creative writing, spelling, grammar, handwriting, etc.)
Math
Social Studies (history, geography, sociology, etc.)
Science and Health
Arts (music, art, crafts, drama, and more.)

The bottom three blocks are unlabeled.

For those who like to give daily assignments, the blocks are marked off with horizontal lines into five sections each. Even those who give weekly assignments will appreciate these lines for writing different
assignments. For example, for Language Arts, you could use these lined sections for literature, spelling, handwriting, grammar and creative writing.

Across the bottom of this left hand page, there are five smaller schedule blocks for Monday through Friday. Here you can note any appointments, out-of-the-home lessons, deadlines, field trips, etc. This helps you and your child prepare for and plan around what's coming up. Now you're less likely to be scrambling to finish up that science fair project that everyone could have forgotten about!

On the right hand side is the Resource Log which has columns for Date, Title, Author, and Format & Topic. Use this last column to specify whether the resource is a book, tape, video, kit or something else, and what it is about, which is not always apparent from the title! For example, Beyond the Next Mountain is a video about missionaries in India, while Cell Wars is a book about the immune system. This will make your portfolio much more meaningful when it is evaluated.

People who have used the Learner's Journal over the past four or five years have appreciated the format and the durability! I think you will, too.

Click on the Hope Chest Resources page (http://www.thehopechest.net/resources.html) for more information on ordering the Learner's Journal or my other books. You can click on any of the links there to see information on the individual books. The Learner's Journal page has examples of the page formats and colors.

Learner's Journals are $10 each, but there is a $1 discount per copy if you order 3 or more at the same time. Shipping is 10%, with a minimum fee of $2.50. Florida residents need to add 7% tax to this total. If you wish, you can also order my books The Real Life Home School Mom (http://www.thehopechest.net/RealLife.html) and Common Sense Excellence: Faith-Filled Home Education for Preschool to 5th Grade (http://www.thehopechest.net/CSE.html) at the same time for the $1
quantity discount!

My address for mailing checks is: Virginia Knowles / 1925 Blossom Lane / Maitland, FL 32751
You can also order by PayPal -- my payment address is [email protected]

Whether you order by check or PayPal, please e-mail me your color choices as soon as possible. Due to our upcoming birth, I need to have all colors specified by Wednesday, July 14, in time to tell my print company what I need and get them back in time to ship.

Here are some reviews of The Learner's Journal and Common Sense Excellence from The Old Schoolhouse Magazine. Note: The reviews were written a couple of years ago! (http://www.thehomeschoolmagazine.com/reviews/reviews.php?rid=373)

The Learners Journal Review

The Learners Journal by Virginia Knowles is a really useful organizational tool. In fact, it is so nifty that I am going to tell you all about it! The Learners Journal is for planning lessons and recording accomplishments for one student. If you have five students you will need five Learners Journals. It can be used for a variety of teaching/learning styles and is extremely user friendly. The journal is divided into sections to record major resources used this year, important literature read, special accomplishments, projects, field trips, and work samples. There are 50 undated weekly lesson plans. Each week is on a two-page spread and includes a schedule of events, a resource log, notes, and the lesson plan. Mrs. Knowles has included several pages of tips for parents that include samples of how to customize The Learners Journal. The Learners Journal features a heavy-duty clear plastic front and back cover (great for wiping off sticky fingerprints and protecting important information) over colored cardstockand can be purchased in a number of vibrant colors. I really appreciated the sturdiness of the cover and the lay flat, toddler-proof comb binding. I have four kids, so durability is essential.

-- Product Review by: Tina Rice, The Old Schoolhouse Magazine

Common Sense Excellence Review

Common Sense Excellence: Faith-Filled Home Education for Preschool to 5th Grade by Virginia Knowles is one of two books I believe every Christian home educator should read. It is a comprehensive guide to home educating your child in a variety of subjects (such as Bible, math, reading, language arts, art, and health). Mrs. Knowles is the mother of eight children (tot to teen) and has been home schooling for over a decade. Add this experience to a huge amount of research and you have an incredible resource person for your home school (24/7 with her book). Common Sense Excellence is divided into three sections. Part 1 is titled Common Sense Excellence, Part two is titled Academic Subjects, and Part three is titled Practical Matters. Chapter titles included in part one are: What is Common Sense Excellence, Faith Filled Education, Through the Years, and Choosing your Approach to Education. Part two covers all academic subjects plus Bible and life skills. Part three was my favorite and deals with organization, problem solving, education away from home, and planning a unit study. Also included in Common Sense Excellence are a list of home schooling suppliers and a bibliography of resource books.

Each chapter in Common Sense Excellence includes related Scripture. If you skim books, dont skip over the Bible verses. They are uplifting and fit in very well with the material presented. At the end of each chapter you will find a quote (Mrs. Knowles calls these vintage quotes) relating to the chapter and a box of 1-2-3 Ideas to Remember that sum up the chapter.

Common Sense Excellence is well laid out and easy to navigate. The clear, waterproof cover is easily cleaned (a must have with toddlers). Common Sense Excellence is comb bound [now spiral] which allows it to open flat. All of these features, on top of fabulous material, make this a must-have book (in my humble opinion). If you have limited finances and can only purchase two books on home education, make this one of them!

-- Product Review by: Tina Rice, Senior Research, The Old Schoolhouse Magazine

Blessings,
Virginia Knowles
http://www.thehopechest.net