BooksApp2-Organize your home or class library

 

Today I discovered a cell phone Application that I am really excited about!

The APP is called BooksApp2. 

As many of you know, I am a Homeschooling Parent, but this App would be good for Homeschoolers, Book Lovers, Parents of small children, or for those Organizational Gurus that like to organize their lives wherever possible!

I cannot count the number of times that I've either:

• Forgotten who I've lent my books to and never gotten them back.

• Wondered if I had a book already (or an extra one to give away...because I do that.)   You know, that moment when you are at the store, looking at a book, and wondering if you've bought it already.

• Can't remember if I've read a book.  Oh, you know how it goes....you buy lots of books thinking you'll read them all right away.  Some of them you do, and some of them....well.....they may sit a while.  Especially if I really like a particular Author, I sometimes get confused regarding which books I've read and which I bought but haven't read yet.
  
  

The good news is that this App can fix all these issues for me!  

Here is the Description from Google Play's website regarding this App:

Description

BooksApp helps you organize your home library effortlessly. Scan the barcode of a book and all its information is downloaded from the web and saved to your phone automatically¹. You can then easily keep track of your books.
To lend a book to someone, scan it (or open it from the list), press "Lend book" and select your friend. When a month has passed, you will get a notification to remind you where the book is. If you have a book you want to recommend to a friend, you can do that over SMS, e-mail or Facebook etc.

You can organize your books into collections, e.g. "Favorites", "Reading now" or whatever tickles your fancy.

Finding more books is trivial. You can search for books by the same author or publisher, or books dealing with the same subject, all without typing a single character. Saving any of the matches to your phone is just one tap away.

You can export books in two ways, either as a spreadsheet—which you can send to anyone—or to Google Docs². The spreadsheet is a CSV (Comma-separated values) file that you can open in any spreadsheet program. You can also send the file to other BooksApp users, both Android and iPhone users.

Importing books is done by opening a CSV file from an e-mail or from the file manager.
BooksApp exists for iPhone as well, see www.books-app.com for more information.
Happy book organization! :-)

BooksApp is open source and released under the Apache 2.0 License https://github.com/jonasb/BooksApp

¹) Should the book not exist amongst Google Books vast amounts of books, you can always enter it manually.

²) Google Docs export requires Android 2.1 or later.

Here are 2 links to the FREE App:

For Android Phones (FREE)
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.wigwamlabs.booksapp&hl=en

For iPhone (FREE)
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/booksapp-2/id369366304?mt=8

I hope that this is as exciting to you as it was to me.  If you have kids that are old enough that you trust them with your smart phone, I bet you can recruit them to scan your books!  It is sort of fun and they can play 'Book Store'. 

Here are some Screen Shots (copied from the Google Play webpage)

*POSSIBLE ISSUE & WORK AROUND*

I use AT&T as my cell phone provider and today when I went on my phone to 'Google Play' and searched BooksApp2, nothing came up.  My work around was to go to Google Play on my home computer, plug my cell phone into my computer via the USB plug, and I downloaded it from the computer directly to the cell phone.  It took just a couple minutes and works perfect!

No Stress Curriculum

Today I was thinking about how our year has been going so far, as we are in our first year of High School and 3rd year of homeschool.  I thought about  our specific curriculum and how I tend to spend much of the end of summer/beginning of each new school year worrying over which curriculum to choose and wondering what will be best for us.  I tend to want a No-Stress Curriculum. I was reminded today that much of my worry is in vain.

I recalled how things have worked out in each area of study.  Some areas we had extremely organized curriculum and in some areas we started with a much more open style of learning, pulling resources from the library, internet, or local bookstore.  I'm trying to remember that some of the more flexible times of learning really work better and stick longer in my son's mind than an old style rigid schedule of reading-quiz-reading-test.....

Life itself offers so many (almost endless) opportunities for teaching our children, IF we are paying attention and take advantage of the teachable moments!  

I love the way we teach and learn even in 'non-school' hours as we see something on a movie, or hear something on the radio that prompts conversation or questions.  And even more, as my son is getting older, he will hear adult conversations about life events and culture and join in or ask questions later....eager to have a deeper understanding.  

In our current day, there are SO many resources for learning that are absolutely free!  Libraries, the Internet, and just people that we know who have real and interesting life experiences.

Our first year I did not buy 1 subject of organized curriculum, by year 2 I thought that was a crazy idea (because it was a lot of work!) and we schooled off a 100% pre-organized and very scheduled curriculum.  This year we have the organized curriculum but I am tweaking it a bit so that we have more flexibility to experience some of those more free flowing times of learning...a little 'out of the box' so to speak.

I had previously thought that the more flexible learning style approach seemed to me to be much easier with younger children, and with the pressure of the ever looming 'High School Transcript' I was feeling pressured to revert to a public school style of learning....(to meet those college requirements) then I realized what I was doing. I remembered that I originally decided to homeschool for a purpose and that God has equipped me for every good work, of which I believe this to be (Ephesians 2:10).  Just like Moses, I'm trusting God to put words into my mouth when I don't know what to say, because I trust that I'm doing just what I was called to do...in freedom from the bondage of a strict curriculum.  And guess what....I'm still meeting those college requirements!
  

Doesn't freedom feel so sweet?!?  Why yes, yes it does!

Please don't get me wrong....I do truly adore our curriculum, it has made my life much easier....and yet I enjoy having a good balance.  And with the balance I am finding greater joy for both myself and my son.

If you are a homeschooling family, or just a parent with kids (since parents are teachers whether their kids are formally 'schooled' in the home or out of the home) ... be encouraged to think out of the box the next time their is a learning opportunity.

Also, if you are a parent who has fun or good stories about ways in which you have taught your children, I would love to hear them in the comment section!

Happy Parenting,

~ Jessica ~ 

Thursday's With Maddie

Maddie is the beautiful daughter of my wonderful friend Emily.  For the last several months I have been SO blessed to have Maddie over at my house each Thursday afternoon for a couple hours of uninterrupted crafting.  Yesterday, April 7th, was officially my last 'craft day' with Maddie as I am going to have to focus on getting our home packed for our move next month.

We have done some really fun projects including; making paper puppets, creating 3D art, painting signs and canvases using different painting techniques, wood burning, making mosaic boxes, and sewing...just to name a few.  It has been a fun time for me to do 'girlie' crafts, since my teenage son is just not up for that.  *wink*

I will miss our Thursday afternoons greatly, but have high hopes of long distance crafting via video chats.  (Thanks to Skype)

Miss Madison made a SUPER CUTE bag as our last project together yesterday and it turned out so good that I wanted to show you a photo of her with her creation.

It is hard to see in this photo, but her bag has a blue lining, flowered outer shell, and brown straps.  Her little bag turned out so cute that I'm going to make one for me too.  

God is good to me for bringing such a sweet little girl into my life.  We've had fun and made some really fun things along the way.

THANKS MADDIE FOR BEING

MY CRAFTING BUDDY!

 

Changes

So many changes have occurred since my last post.  Since then, I have gotten married, witnessed miracles, began my second year of homeschooling, and have become a part of a spectacular homeschool co-op group.

I am experiencing the wonderful gift of marriage and am just beginning to learn all that this means to our family.  It is no longer just my son and I but we now have a wonderful man who not only loves and adores us, but who has made a commitment before us, God, and our closest friends and family to love us, protect us, and lead us as we endeavor to be a family that seeks to be more like Jesus.  Our many years as a family incomplete have finally been made whole.  The reality of this life is that our circumstances can even be difficult in the best of families, but a whole family (as I am experiencing) has so much more strength in which to stand in the midst of the storms of life.  I am thankful for the way God can renew us.

In the past months I have witnessed so many amazing and miraculous things.  I have been humbled to watch lives changing, that would appear in the natural world to have previously been hopeless, and yet they are not just changing to be 'acceptable' but above and beyond what I could have imagined!  I've have also watched the miraculous pregnancy of one of my dearest friends.  As I think of it now I am brought to tears over the overwhelming miracle of this life to a family who has suffered loss but is now blessed with a healthy pregnancy. I've witnessed the amazing selfless act of another sweet friend who became a surrogate for another couple who had been through unimaginable pain and suffering.  She recently gave the gift of not just one child to this couple (that they wouldn't have been able to have otherwise) but she gave them TWO beautiful babies...a boy AND a girl!  AMAZING!  I loved watching how God brought this all together and blessed each person involved to the point of overflow...they never could have imagined in the beginning the love that would come out of this surrogacy.  This act reminded me that there are still people out there who are willing to sacrifice for themselves and their families to help and bless another in need.  We don't hear enough of these stories in our day to day life, but they are out there!

Beginning my second year of homeschooling may have been more of an adventure than the firs.  We began a whole new style of teaching and a brand new curriculum which is very structured and works much differently than last year.  Our days are laid out in detail for us and the planning and organization has already been taken care of.  This piece is definitely exciting for me since I spent so much time doing these things last year that I felt as though I was planning and organizing class more than I was teaching and enjoying the learning process. This has been very good for us as both myself and Regan are very 'Type A' so the added structure brings us joy.  It is a LOT of work and takes us around 1 1/2 to 2 hours longer each day to finish than last year, but both Regan and I feel good about how it is progressing.  I love to watch my boy growing into a young man, he is maturing and often amazes me with the depth he shows as he understands and comments on mature topics.  And most of all I cherish this time with him, I can't believe that his 14th Birthday is just 3 months away!  I see him growing in academic knowledge and in maturity and responsibility, what more could a Mom ask for?

One of the most exciting things about homeschooling this year is the fact that about 8 Mom's have gotten together and started a homeschool co-op.  We gather our kids, which make a group of around 19 kiddos if everyone attends.  Each week we meet to learn about a topic that has been pre-planned by the Mom's.  We have most recently been doing a unit study on Food.  It started off with a bang as one adventurous Mother of 3 taught about the digestive system.  She not only demonstrated the flow of food using a cut up pair on nylons and a large ball of oatmeal (I don't have time to describe how awesome this was to illustrate the digestive tract and to gross the kids out)....but she and her son also picked up SHEEP GUTS from a local butcher and had them laid out for all the kids to see and touch!  (with gloves on of course!)  How do you follow that class?  Each additional class has gone beautifully, with classes on a biblical perspective on food, budgeting for meals, nutrition, hospitality, and food preparation just to name a few.  The study will end in December with the kids inviting family members to their 'restaurant' in which they will have assisted in preparing the food, setting up the tables and decorations, taking orders, serving food, and entertaining and blessing their loved ones.  We are all excited as this process is progressing.  The kids have picked out the 5 courses of food to be served and have been involved as each step occurs.  Even more wonderful is the fact that the ages of all these kids range in this group from pre-school to High School.  I'm so proud of our kids!

Recently I met with a friend who has been with me through the past several years of my life, she has laughed with me, prayed with me, wiped my tears, and rejoiced and praised God with me....and she said to me "Isn't it amazing Jessica how you are doing so many of the things now that you were wanting so badly to do not that long ago!".  And the answer is YES, it is amazing and wonderful to see how God is not just bringing good things into my life but He is faithful to support the details of life, especially when our motive and goal is to live a life of love and service to God, family, and others.  Lord help me to never take for granted all the ways I am blessed every day!  And these blessings come right in the middle of life circumstances that can look less than desirable in the moment...but great things are happening all around if we open our eyes to notice them!

Thank you to all my SPECTACULAR friends who make my life so full and remind me to keep my eyes focused on the things the truly matter the most.  I could honestly not ask for better friends.  I am rich beyond measure in this area!  A day never passes where I wonder if I am loved, what a miracle that is!

End of the year....

I can't believe it's been a month since I've posted anything to this blog.

With this being my first year as a homeschooling Momma, I have been working to wrap up our year and decide what we will do over the summer.  Last week was officially our last week of school, however, we have decided to continue on with reading, and some light History and Science over the summer.  The goal is to make it a fun time by incorporating learning opportunities into our family trips and vacation time over the next couple of months. 

As the year is coming to an end I have been so pleased as I look back through our schedule and I see all the things that Regan and I both learned!  I'm a very proud Mom!  Of course for our family it was important to make sure his learning came from a Biblical base and as a part of that, he had Bible class every school day.  This year Regan likely learned more about the Bible than I had by the end of High School, and he's just finished the 7th grade.  I watched him grow not only as a student but also as a young man.

We ended our year with a Park Day with several of our close homeschooling friends and family and the kids had a blast playing at the water park, on the playground, and just running around having fun.  We've been so blessed with a strong group of local homeschooling families and it was a beautiful site to see us all together as we finished out the year.

I haven't planned out the our schedule and curriculum for next year yet, but I'm looking forward to seeing what God has in store for us. 


Lord, let me have the patience and the faith to wait on You and rest in Your perfect timing for the answers!