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Aug. 19, 2009
E-books, copyrights, and two FREE ebooks from TOS Magazine.
I have enjoyed buying e-books and downloading free e-books that are offered throughout the internet over the last few years. I've found some fun activities and some great treasures! I try to pass on these finds to others by sending links for them to download their own free copy, before the offer is gone. Sometimes it's easy to forget that copyright laws apply to those little PDF documents, too ... especially if it was a freebie.
I asked my friend Heidi Strawser, the Special Projects Manager for The Old Schoolhouse Magazine and the leader of our Homeschool Crew to help me introduce the new e-book that The Old Schoolhouse has published on this very topic.
From Heidi:
E-Books and Copyrights
Homeschoolers are a rare breed. We are always trying to help each other and share with each other. I have seen this played out, time and time again, since I began my homeschooling journey about 10 years ago. I’ve had opportunity to both give and receive homeschool curriculum from friends and family – and, either way, it’s always such a blessing (either to receive something that we need, or to be able to bless another family).
With the recent insurgence of E-Books, though, I’d like to caution you ---
Even though E-Books are downloadable and able to be stored on your computer, a disk, or a zip drive, they are still copyright material. What this means is that you cannot resell or even give away an E-Book (once you have opened it and used it). That may seem silly, trivial, or insignificant, but it’s really a big deal. Suppose I would purchase a $12 E-Book from the Schoolhouse Store … maybe I love it so much and I’m sure that my friend April would love it too … so, I make a copy of it on a cd and mail it to her … she loves it, and decides to print out a copy for her neighbor … who turns around and gives that copy to a friend … who passes it on to her cousin … and so on and so on. Pretty soon, that one $12 purchase has passed through so many hands (and the Schoolhouse Store is being ripped off because all those recipients of said E-Book really should have ordered and paid for their own copy).
You’re probably thinking “What’s the big deal? I could pass on a print book after I’ve already used/read it.” This seems like a valid point; however, E-Book copyrights are even stricter than print book copyrights for this very reason. If you don’t understand this, I’d really encourage you to check out the newest E-Book project from The Old Schoolhouse Magazine®, E-Homeschooling: Embracing the E-Book Revolution – because they feel so strongly about the value of E-Books, they are even making this E-Book available for FREE to anyone who wishes to read it. The very last chapter of this book is written by our very own legal counsel, Susan Spann, and it deals with this very subject.
After reading the E-Book, if you still have questions, please feel free to contact me.
-- Heidi Strawser
E-Homeschooling: Embracing the E-Book Revolution addresses more than just the copyright laws of e-books. It also addresses storage, organization, and the benefits of e-books. It's free, so download your copy ... and then tell your friends to come download their own copies. And remember that authors and publishers of e-books have the same rights and protections as those publishing printed books.
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And speaking of FREE e-books, The Old Schoolhouse Magazine has a few other freebies right now. First, their most recent e-book asks Are Public Schools An Option For Christian Kids?, and it can be downloaded at this LINK. (Click near the top where it says "Download HERE FOR FREE" in red.) And if you think this e-book will be beneficial to others you know, send them the link to download it themselves, as well.
You can also download this Homeschool With Confidence Special Report article from The Old Schoolhouse Magazine for FREE. Forward this link to others who need the encouragement, as well!
And TOS has put together two FREE brochures that you can download, print, and hand out to fellow homeschoolers and parents. (I love that word ... FREE. The email I received today invited us to print these two brochures and hand them out. It's permitted to share these two brochures!)
Keep an eye on the FREE section of The Old Schoolhouse Store for more free e-books from TOS Magazine.
I hope you'll find something beneficial in these free e-books, articles, and brochures to help inspire you as you begin your new homeschool year!
Trusting in Him,
April E.
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Aug. 7, 2007
Such a sweet sweet book ...
I checked this book out of our library, because it looked so sweet. And I was pleased to find it's a Christian book. Of course, I had to convince the children I did not check it out because I'm pregnant. Because I'm not. 
I want to add this book to our home library. The Room In My Heart by Beverly Evans talks about how Moms have room for each new child in their heart, and how the new baby will not displace the older child. I love how it's worded, and it has the sweetest illustrations, too.
Blessings,
April
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Feb. 18, 2007
Reading Suggestions for Mom ...
I love fiction! I especially love mysteries. I have to control my reading, because I can easily lose myself in books, especially a series, and not emerge for days or weeks. For the sake of my family, I can't allow myself to do that too often. So, I try not to read too much fiction during the school year. I spread it out, keep it light, and indulge a bit more during the summer months.
But I have found a new series I've started and I thought it would be fun to list some of the authors I've discovered in the past couple years.
I really enjoy Agatha Christie's books. But I've read them all, so a friend suggested I read the Mrs. Pollifax mysteries by Dorothy Gilman (hi, OreoSouza). I loved these books. I quickly read the whole series and enjoyed them greatly! This is a secular series, with some mild language at times, and some occasionally weird philosophies. But as far as secular reading goes, it was delightfully clean overall.
OreoSouza also recommended I try "The Cat Who ... " series by Lillian Jackson Braun. As with the previous series, these have some odd beliefs that come out from time to time and some mild language, but still clean. No raunchiness to worry about. I'm slowly reading these, a bit here and there. I found a list online of their order and am trying to read them in order, since they make more sense to me. When you read one book and the character lives in one place, and pick up a different one and he lives somewhere else it can be confusing. It helps to go in order.
A non-blogging friend suggested I try the Flower Shop Mysteries by Kate Collins. (Thank you, Julie!) They are also secular, but mostly clean. There are more romantic encounters in these and I have had to skip a couple paragraphs from time to time. So far, the series is sticking with kissing, but I'd still rather not read about it in detail. These are funny mysteries, though, and I am reading them as they become available. I'm waiting for her next one to come out.
That same non-blogging friend suggested I try the Tea Shop Mysteries by Laura Childs. (Thank you, thank you, thank you, Julie!!) I really am enjoying these. Mild language, cleaner than the flower shop mysteries. The setting is the south, and a social realm I'm unfamiliar with ... garden parties and such ... but I enjoy the books very much. I'm waiting for the next one to be published.
I tried Laura Childs' Scrapbook Mysteries, but they have more of an "edge" to them than her Tea Shop Mysteries. They are coarser, angrier, and they have more bad language, more drinking, and a bitterness regarding men. I've been reading them, but I don't recommend them as readily as the Tea Shop Mysteries.
Mindy Starns Clark is a Christian author that Brenda from Greystone Academy blog recommended to me. She has two series that I enjoyed. The Million Dollar Mysteries and the Jo Tulip Smart Chick series. I've read the entire Million Dollar Mystery series and enjoyed how the books build on each other. I enjoyed the last book the most since it tied up some loose ends and brought many things together from previous books. The Jo Tulip series is just beginning. I've read the first two, and am waiting for the third one to be published. Steve actually read the second one last summer, also. That surprised me, because these are more "chick books" than some of the other series I've read.
An author I think men might enjoy as much as women is Dee Henderson. She is a Christian author who writes about many different areas of law enforcement and the military. My mother-in-law recommended these to me several years ago. I found her O'Malley series riveting when I was reading them. I've actually read them twice, and am pondering reading them again this Spring. Since I've read them before, I shouldn't get sucked into them too much. She has another two which aren't titled as a series, but are somewhat related. I read them this winter ... The Witness and Before I Wake. I am getting accustomed to her style, so they aren't as riveting as the O'Malley series first was to me, but Steve was commenting last week that Before I Wake must be a very good book since I had tuned everyone out ... repeatedly. It was. I told him it was CSI-ish and that intrigued him. He enjoys the CSI television shows, although we only get to watch the reruns that come on late at night on the weekends, since we won't watch them in front of the children. She has another series that has more of a military focus, which I intend to read ... I believe they are called the Uncommon Heroes series. Four books that begin with True in the title. I am planning to get him to read a Dee Henderson book one of these days ... I know he will enjoy them, when he has time.
OreoSouza also recommended I try the Miss Seeton mysteries by Hamilton Crane. I've been trying, but the libraries I have access to don't carry many of them. I'm still looking for more of these to read. I have enjoyed the two or three I've found so far, though. This is another English series, somewhat similar to Agatha Christie's Miss Marple books. But Miss Seeton solves mysteries less by a keen understanding of human nature, and more by accident. She just seems to be an unwitting catalyst.
Another set of books I have enjoyed are the Mrs. 'Arris books by Paul Gallico. These aren't mysteries, but they are funny adventures involving a London Charwoman named Mrs. 'Arris. I discovered these accidentally when I somehow acquired a paper back copy of Mrs. 'Arris Goes To Paris. It sat unread for a long time, but when I finally read it, I had to read the other Mrs. 'Arris books, as well.
My most recent discovery , and the one that prompted this blog post, came from another non-blogging friend. She told me her daughter enjoyed reading the Jane Austen Mysteries by Stephanie Barron. I found one at my library and enjoyed it very much. It places Jane Austen, the authoress, as the heroine -- borrowing events and descriptions from her own letters and journals, and then mixing in some fiction. It can be confusing at times to know where fact leaves off and fiction takes over, but they are very enjoyable. Clean, delightful, and not as difficult as reading Jane Austen's actual works. They are more easily and quickly read than Pride and Prejudice would be, for instance. I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the series this summer.
So, now you know what I'm reading when I'm not reading about homeschooling, homesteading, gardening, herbal medicine, pregnancy, mothering, or frugal living. I have been trying to re-read some of my favorite classic authors from earlier in my life. Jane Austen, Louisa May Alcott, and Frances Hodgson Burnett were always some of my favorite authors. I've been re-reading Pride and Prejudice and An Old-fashioned Girl for nearly a year now. It's difficult to focus on them with 6 children all around me, and Steve wanting to talk to me from time to time. They take more concentration and energy than the mysteries I've been reading, so I don't always reach for them when I sit down to read, and sometimes I have to back track and re-read what I'd read before. I need to keep exercising my mind by reading the more challenging books, though. And I want to set a good example for my children.
I have also been seeking out Christian biographies to read. I read Gracia Burnham's In the Presence of My Enemies last year, as well as an older book about Gladys Aylward called The Small Woman by Alan Burgess. Last year, I also read Beloved Bride: The Letters of Stonewall Jackson to His Wife by William Potter. My mother loaned me another Alan Burgess book, Daylight Must Come, about Helen Roseveare and other missionaries in the Congo at Thanksgiving. Steve and I read it at New Years. We kept stealing it from each other. I like the way Alan Burgess writes his biographies, but Daylight Must Come is a very graphic book, and not for everyone. More recently, I read Steve Saint's book, The End of the Spear. I want to find a book about Amy Carmichael soon. I'm trying to keep my reading diverse, just as I encourage my girls to do.
I hope something I recommended will interest you and send you off to the library. If it does, let me know what you think after you read the books.
Blessings,
April
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Oct. 16, 2006
Three wonderful Children's books!
I love children's books! Especially picture books. I just enjoy reading a wonderfully written and illustrated children's book so much. My children all agree with me, and the 9 and 11 yo girls can still be found reading picture books from time to time.
We checked out three wonderful children's non-fiction books last week. I wanted to recommend them for others. These were well written, excellently illustrated, and engaging.
Autumn Leaves![""]("http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=elcloudhomesc-20&l=ur2&o=1") by Ken Robbins. This book had beautiful color photographs of trees and their leaves, in Autumn. The leaf pictures are large, and would make an excellent resource for labelling a leaf collection. The children and I all enjoyed this book.
Roanoke: The Lost Colony by Jane Yolen. She is also the author of the Five In A Row book, Owl Moon. This book is interesting because it tells the history of Roanoke, clues to its disappearance, and then lays out the theories. It asks questions about each theory to get the child thinking. And then it asks what the child thinks happened. I enjoyed it and so did 11 yo A. Roanoke always fascinated me in school, although Steve didn't remember it. The book has beautiful illustrations, too. Jane Yolen has written several Unsolved Mystery in History books. I hope to read more of them.
Ghost Towns of the American West by Raymond Bial. This book told the history of the old west and the wild west. It talked about how towns rose up along the cattle trails, railway lines, and gold mines ... and then emptied out. It delved into Westward Expansion. Lots of photographs -- past and present!! 11 yo A and I both enjoyed it. However, I do have a warning about this book. It did try to capitalize on the "ghost town" term and make eery comments about what ghosts might walk in the old ghost towns. Not an issue for A or myself (we just roll our eyes at it), but it might bother some children and families.
Enjoy!!
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May. 25, 2006
My favorite homeschool books
Yesterday's conversation with my sister-in-law also started me thinking about some of my favorite homeschool books ... the ones that most affected me in my homeschooling journey. I thought I'd share them here.
Diana Waring's books have blessed me so much. When I began homeschooling, I was very high-strung, to put it nicely. I was stressed. I pushed the children and myself. I had unrealistic expectations. I was just one "freakout moment" after another. I think reading her books Beyond Survival and Things We Wish We'd Known really helped me overcome this way of thinking. They taught me to relax and enjoy the homeschool journey. They also freed me from the traditional school box I was still clinging to.
A Charlotte Mason Companion by Karen Andreola gave me a style of education to try to fashion our homeschool after. A goal to reach for. I have never fully reached a true Charlotte Mason homeschool, because I haven't followed all her methods. But it's still the style I strive for. I want to teach my children using Living Books instead of text books, as much as possible.
For the Children's Sake by Susan Schaeffer Macaulay was another book that I read in my early homeschool years and found direction in. It further cemented in my mind, my desire to use living books and life learning to teach my children. It instilled in me the desire to teach my children from a Christian worldview and reminded me that relationships were first and foremost.
A Pocketful of Pinecones by Karen Andreola is an annual favorite of mine. I read it at least once each year. It's written in a fictional way, the story of a new homeschool Mom and her family over the course of their first homeschool year. It's set in the 1930s and is very engaging. I love reading about how she overcomes her fears and gains confidence as she learns to follow Charlotte Mason's homeschool methods. It also gives me an encouraging glimpse at how these methods look in real life. And I love reading about how the family adapts their homeschool as they deal with several different crises that arise in their family. It's a book of encouragement and refocus to me, and it's so enjoyable to read.
Carol Barnier's books (How to Get Your Child Off the Refrigerator and Onto Learning, and If I'm Diapering a Watermelon, Then Where Did I Leave the Baby?) both came at a time of great discouragement to me. They have allowed me to embrace the differences in my children and myself. We will never be able to be a "school in a box" family. Their temperaments and learning styles, and my own, will not allow it. We will never look like Sister Susie Homeschool Mom's perfect homeschool. And more importantly, she gave me hope and ideas on ways to deal with our learning issues and my organizational challenges. She gave us hope and direction. Her Refrigerator book is full of games I can use to teach my very active 7 yo to read and other subjects. Her Watermelon book gives me wonderful creative ideas on organizing our home and homsechool in a way that works for us. Mostly she tells me "You can do it!! And your children CAN learn!!"
Now, I am a Managers of their Homes dropout. I have never successfully implemented a schedule. Our family seems to prefer a less structured lifestyle. But, I have found Terri Maxwell's book Homeschooling with a Meek and Quiet Spirit to be tremendously helpful. It helped me overcome the worries that I let overwhelm me and steal my joy in homeschooling. It helped me learn how to overcome the anger that I let boil up at my children. It helped me identify the sources of the fear and anger, and pointed me to the Bible and God for ways of overcoming it. I am NOT perfect and I admit I still am working on these issues, but I did want to mention this small book as one that has affected me in my homeschooling.
Seasons of a Mother's Heart by Sally Clarkson (as well as her other books on mothering) is another one that truly touched my heart. It has shaped my mothering and my homeschooling. It encouraged me to put my relationship with God and my relationship with my children above the nitty gritty details of homeschooling and housework. It was a blessing to me, and reminded me that it's "People first!" Not stuff, not lessons, not chores. People.
A later find in my homeschooling journey, but one I was also greatly encouraged and blessed by is Clay and Sally Clarkson's book, Educating the Whole Hearted Child. It gave more advice on how to use real books and real life to teach your children, and how to do it in a Christ-centered way. I wish I had read this book much earlier.
And I also wanted to mention that Elizabeth Elliott's books and teachings on submission and mothering have been very helpful. Other books that have truly blessed me in the area of being a wife are: Nancy Wilson's The Fruit of Her Hands and Praise Her In The Gates, Elizabeth George's A Woman After God's Own Heart, as well as the book, Me? Obey Him? by Elizabeth Rice Handford, and Debi Pearl's book Created to be His Help Meet.
Why do I mention these in homeschool books? Because homeschooling isn't just about me. My husband and I are in this together and we have to make decisions together. Sometimes, I don't like his decisions. Sometimes he doesn't like my way of discussing things with him. And sometimes I've acted without his permission or against his wishes. Our homeschooling has improved as I've learned to submit and communicate respectfully with my husband. Believe it or not, your husband's not a stupid jerk who doesn't value the education of your children as much as you do and doesn't understand how vitally important this particular book or idea is when he says no. Satan wants us to believe that and will encourage us to have a pity party like that, along with the "he doesn't appreciate all I do" pity party, too. But it isn't true ... at least I assume not in most Christian marriages.
I've found that my husband sees things differently than I do. For one thing, he's not emotionally caught up in the moment or the struggle with a certain student. He's not caught up in the frenzy for a new curriculum. He's much more calm, rational, and sees the truth when I do not. He has kept me from wasting money needlessly curriculum hopping, and he has held me back so I can be sure a curriculum change is really what I want to do before I act rashly. And I've come to value that, although I admit there were times I saw it as him holding me back and being an uncaring tightwad. So, that is why I mention books on marriage and submission as part of my favorite homeschool books.
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May. 2, 2006
ADHD books for guidance and encouragement
My children are what I call "borderline ADHD". There are some people who would think they are obviously more than borderline, and there are others who would think I'm being silly to try to put a label on my active, creative, strong-willed children. There are many parents of ADD and ADHD children in my church. There are even adults with ADD and ADHD in my church. Most of them classify at least two of my daughters as ADD and ADHD, although those two are not the ones that first sent me diving into the books looking for help. But we have not sought out an official diagnosis for any of them. We just try to use the "label" as a means of understanding them and being able to better parent and teach them.
My oldest daughter (A.10) could fall into the ADD category, but I didn't realize that for quite awhile. I was so wrapped up in trying to parent my challenging second daughter (R.9) that I overlooked A's attention issues. (A is also my non-stop talker who paces while she talks.) R had me on my knees in prayer and locked in my bathroom in tears more often than not. It took me several years to realize that she also had a cyclical nature to her behavior problems ... allergies! She is always strong-willed, but her seasonal allergies push her negative behavior up to a new level during Spring and Fall. This season has been a struggle for our family since R was 2 and 3.
My third daughter (C.6) is Tigger! She is so classically ADHD that everyone comments on it. Even my Dad who has long been a skeptic of ADHD diagnoses thinks C is ADHD. And this year it is her year to have me on my knees and feeling beaten down and overwhelmed. She also has allergies, and the past few weeks have been a real struggle with her. She's normally one to tune her parents out and try to do her own thing in her own little world, but now there's an increased level of hyper-activity and willfulness that makes life a constant battle -- either between her and her just younger brother, or between her and us.
And then there is our fourth child, our first son (J.5). He does have allergies that are also exaggerating his faults as well. He's picking on his sisters more, being more aggressive and short-tempered, more active, and also more impulsive. With him, I'm less likely to try to put on an ADD or ADHD level because he's still young and he's a boy. I am not entirely sure what level of activity and distraction is normal for a 5 yo boy. I do know that if you want J to obey you, you HAVE to get him to look you in the eye before you speak to him and then have him repeat it back to you.
And then the second son (M.2) is in the stage where he must be watched at all times and the front door locked very carefully. He just takes off whenever he feels like it. And he doesn't tolerate No very well at the moment, so we are also dealing with his tantrums. Although, as tantrums go, they wear on the ear more than anything.
And well, baby L is only 6 weeks old, and thankfully she's getting less fussy all the time. Although, she was colicky again on Sunday morning and afternoon, unfortunately. We shall see more of her personality as she grows.
Steve and I have always tried to find the humor in our children's faults and foibles. We've laughed as we told a child for the 5th time to BRUSH their TEETH because they keep getting distracted from the task at hand. We've laughed quietly together about our children's apparent inability to sit through a meal without falling out of a chair or getting up from the table. We've chuckled (ruefully) over C's Tigger-like behavior as we've told her for the 3rd time in a row to stop jumping on the couch and sit on the floor instead. We've smiled over the impulsive mouth of R trying to be humorous who too often crosses the lines into sassiness. And we've tried hard to distinguish between childishness and actual defiance when deciding whether or not to discipline.
But it isn't always funny. Even the childishness, the distractions, the ceaseless activity and talking wears at a parent. Then add in the willfulness, fighting between siblings, bickering, and actual disobedience ... and it gets very discouraging.
My first homeschool conference was 4 years ago and I was so beaten down and discouraged that May. It was such an encouragement to hear Carol Barnier speak at that conference about finding the gift in your child. It was what my hurting, weary Mama's heart needed to hear. I was not alone. And there was still hope for my child. I've since read both her books and have been so encouraged by them. I've been thinking this week that it's time to read them again. I need the ideas and the encouragement again.
Carol's website where you can read summaries of her top ten teaching tips for highly distractible or active children. You can also find links for buying her two books at this website. They are: How to Get Your Child Off the Refrigerator and On To Learning: Homeschooling Highly Distractible, ADHD, or Just Plain Fidgety Kids and If I'm Diapering a Watermelon, Then Where'd I Leave the Baby?: Help for the Highly Distractible Mom.
You can read Carol's essay on finding the gift in your child and also join her Sizzle Bop email list for ideas and encouragement at her SizzleBop website.
I just discovered that we can hear an interview with Carol Barnier on Homeschool Talk Radio.
Two other books I have found really helpful and am wanting to read again is Dr. William Sear's The ADD Book and The Discipline Book. I found really helpful and practical suggestions on how to discipline a child who does not respond well to traditional discipline methods in these books. And whenever I find myself in a discipline rut or find my methods are not working, I pull these books out for new ideas and to sharpen up my parenting skills.
But mostly, I find myself on my knees praying for wisdom, patience, and strength to endure. And I read the Psalms and Proverbs for the balm I need when I'm in this fight. Because it is a fight. A fight to persevere, a fight to help the children do what is right even when they don't want to, a fight for their souls and their futures.
And my verses for this season are always:
Galatians 6:9-10 "Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers."
2 Timothy 4:2 " Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction."
But I am weary. It's hard to be patient as I correct, rebuke, and carefully instruct these children. I just have to keep believing that we will reap the harvest in these precious blessing's lives if we just keep persevering.
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