A Delightful and Profitable Way to Pass a Dreary Winter’s Day

Dear Ladies,

6:46 PM - Feb. 12, 2008 - comments {7} - post comment

Rewarding Those Who Labor

     I love Christmas. I told a friend of mine the other day that we're a Christmas company and she said, “Do you really think so?” I said, “Yes, we’re often told that our books are on somebody's wish list.”  It's not that our products don't sell at other times of  the year – they do – but there’s a quality about them that makes them perfect for gift giving at Christmas.  
    As I look across the room from me right now, the loveseat that once held packages of The Gift of Family Writing, The Girlhood Home Companion, and The Pebbly Brook Farm Stories is now empty. It’s a wonderful feeling to know that the last of the orders are speeding across the country to bring joy to families everywhere (if you wonder where your order is, it’s on its way).
    The sacredness of this season always causes me to reflect upon the people who mean so much to me. And just as the lyrics of the song Silver Bells say, “Christmas makes me feel emotional,” so I have the perfect excuse to wax sentimental and thank one of the most important  people who makes Remembrance Press a possibility.
    I've written about our son Eric(16) before, but in case you didn’t know, he is the technical mind behind everything we do here at Remembrance Press. From recording and duplicating CD’s, to maintaining computers and designing website templates and printed material. Eric is the true “brains” behind all that we produce as a family. And not only is he a blessing to our publishing company, but many others as well. It isn’t unusual for me tell my publishing friends, “Just a minute, I’ll ask Eric. He’ll tell you what to do.”  Eric has a true servant’s heart and he loves helping others find solutions to their technical problems. 
    But the thing I love most about Eric is that he is a gifted writer. He blogs almost every day and feels that writing about his faith is his most sacred calling. I remember when he was 11 and we had just discovered the joy of journaling together. He had to dictate his journal entries to me because he could tell his story much faster then he could write it down. Slowly over the years, however, my role as a writing coach has diminished as he continues to grow and become a skilled communicator of his faith. He feels empty inside if he doesn’t get to write about something almost everyday. But it can’t be fluff. It has to count. Is Eric driven? Definitely – but not just to tell about what happened that day, but to find the right words to give away as gifts to his audience. That’s Eric, a gift-giving blogger with a mission to draw people closer to Christ.    
    So I just want to thank Eric for all that he has done for the homeschool community. I don't think he will ever truly know how many ways he has touched the lives of homeschoolers worldwide by helping me to understand how to use the technology from recording our stories, to giving workshops in cyberspace conference rooms. He will never know how many he has influenced to continue blogging. Recently, one of his best friends was just about to quit, and Eric had just written a post encouraging his friends to continue blogging about their faith. His friend said, “Wow, your post was just what I needed to hear. I was blogging for all the wrong reasons.” We can forever be grateful for Eric’s servant heart and his willingness to be an encourager.
     So I humbly come before you as Eric’s mom and friend to ask you to vote for his blog in the homeschool blog awards (if you already have, thank you). If you have at all been encouraged by this ministry or Eric’s blog, please take a moment to thank him by giving him your vote a confidence for the next generation of Christian writers. Let’s show others what these blog awards are all about – rewarding those who labor to make a difference in the lives of others – one post at a time.  http://homeschoolblogawards.com/index.php/best-teen-guy-blog-2007/      

6:53 PM - Dec. 13, 2007 - comments {11} - post comment

A New Tradition - Over the River and Through the Wood to Sarah's

  
    Every year for Thanksgiving or Christmas, we make an extra batch of potato rolls to share with our landlady. It's a tradition. Our rolls are so light and fluffy and delectable that she nicknamed them "Those Heavenly Rolls." But this year, the routine of just running them up to her house has been sadly disrupted. Sarah, 91, fell down in the spring and broke her hip. She’s been convalescing at an assisted care facility in a neighboring town ever since, and even though she isn’t very far away, we miss her dearly.
     Missing Sarah reminds me of a line from the movie Little Women, where Meg, the oldest March sister says," It doesn't seem like Christmas this year without presents." Without Sarah's "grandmotherly presence," the farm is a little less festive. I know I will miss seeing her Christmas tree twinkling a warm welcome through the upstairs landing window. I will miss seeing the pine wreath with the bright red bow hanging cheerfully on her front door. I will miss telling the little girls, “Run up to Mrs. Kraft’s, now,” after filling their arms with cookies or other treats we’ve baked.
     Last year, the girls and I helped Sarah fetch a few holiday decorations stored away in the attic above her garage. We carried the boxes of tissue-wrapped ornaments out of the frosty coldness, into the  warm bedroom and set them on her bed. We carefully unwrapped each treasure, and while the girls were depositing them all over the house, Sarah gave me a pair of old miniature sleigh bells with a tinkle so sweet and pure–“They’re old,” she said, “just like everything else in my house.” No, it just doesn't seem like Christmas this year without Sarah on the farm.
    Even our potato rolls were heavier then usual. Our recipe calls for 6 cups of flour; the first four beat with a mixer, the last two added slowly by hand. For some reason, I forgot to keep the dough light and elastic as Elizabeth and I kept adding flour until we used up every last bit.
     That’s when the kneading war ensued. Elizabeth kneaded first, then I took a turn, then she took a turn, and back and forth we went. It felt so good to push and pull and pat, that we both got carried away. We took more turns, kneading over and over again, and it didn't occur to me at that time that we were making a big mistake. When I felt the dough stiffening, I should have realized we were adding way too much flour, but we were having so much fun – we didn’t care!
   About an hour later, when I peeked at the dough rising in the big enamel bread bowl, I noticed it was taking longer then usual. That’s when I realized that we had overdone the kneading process. I placed   the dough in the refrigerator to rise, and the next morning Elizabeth and Anna vigorously punched it down. And sure enough, after the rolls finally came out of the oven, they weren't as light and fluffy as usual.
     Sarah and her children celebrate Thanksgiving on a relative's farm in Wisconsin, so I asked them to stop by our house and pick up their rolls on the way out of town. I warned Sarah, these rolls are not as “heavenly” as usual. "Well, maybe we shouldn't eat them," she quipped. But she was only teasing. She wouldn't pass up a chance to taste her potato rolls, even if they were a little more “down to earth!” 
      I filled a basket for Sarah with a few holiday goodies: a box of English tea, a bottle of honey, and some foil-wrapped truffles. But the best gifts I included are the things that money can't buy – an envelope with pictures of the farm in the autumn and the girls playing with their pet goat Bullseye out in the leaves – precious once in a life-time experiences caught through the eye of a truly grateful beholder. I also included a copy of the poem Over the River and Through the Wood for Sarah to read to her children on her way up in the car.
      When I talked with Sarah after Thanksgiving, she thanked me for “those heavenly rolls.” She also told me that she had become a little mixed up and thought my children had written the poem. Her daughter-in-law explained that it wasn’t written by us, but it tickles me that Sarah would think my children were so clever with words. Our Thanksgiving experience hardly compares with the words penned 150 years ago by Lydia Maria Child. Even when Sarah was a girl (she was born in 1916), sleigh rides to grandmother’s house were certainly in order, but I’m afraid for most of us, they’ve gone out of style now.
     In my heart of hearts, the poem Over the River and Through the Wood has become more real than ever because I am living out some of those delightful verses on the farm that belongs to a gracious woman named Sarah – a dear lady we have come to love as our own. Even though grandma isn’t living with us on the farm this Christmas, we will bring similar verses to her through the words and pictures we preserve – images savored and cherished from the sights and smells of the season – the scenes that make up the moments of our lives.
     In a few weeks we will go visiting–announcing glad tidings and bearing gifts as we traverse afar, piling ourselves (and our presents) into the car to journey over the river and through the wood to bring some Christmas cheer to Sarah, the kindest and sweetest grandmother we know.  

 
Good Old-Fashioned Potato Rolls

12:08 PM - Nov. 29, 2007 - comments {8} - post comment

The Challenges and Disadvantages of Homeschooling

    When Eric (I am his mom) told me that he was hosting the carnival, I immediately thought about the following subject. It always saddens me when I hear about parents giving up on home education because they're afraid that their children aren’t learning enough or aren’t at the right grade level. I hope this post will be an encouragement for those of you who struggle with fear of what the future holds for your less-than-perfect student.   

    In the 21 years that I have been homeschooling (yes, I started homeschooling the minute the doctor thrust Claire into my arms), I've been amazed at how the children get everything they need to be “educated.” To me, learning is not as hard as the educational establishment makes it. What sometimes takes a year to accomplish in a classroom setting can be done in a month’s time at home. A child who is far behind suddenly leaps ahead (sometimes a whole grade level). A creative home environment – free from the public school’s standards – allows them to follow their bents and interests, virtually unhindered by outside distractions, and because of that, I feel that home education is a priceless gift for today's generation of children.  

     One challenge I faced early in my journey of discovering what it meant to be a home educator was learning to be patient and allowing each one of my children to develop at their own pace. I’ll use reading as an example. I’ve taught all of my children to read. My first child learned to read at the age of five and just took off. My second child learned to read at the age of nine and began reading fairly easily out of the Bible (The Bible has some big words). My third child was the slowest and struggled well past the age of ten. We plodded along through 100 Easy Lessons until it finally clicked. I thought she would never get it and there were times I had to bite my tongue, but we took our time because we had time – a precious commodity nowadays. After all, who and what was I measuring her against? The public school system? Her age level? Or an artificial grade level? She never felt bad about not being able to keep up with someone else. She developed at her own pace and with a terrific self image. Instead of dreading reading, she couldn’t wait to read the “big” books all by herself. At the age of eight, my little one is coming along beautifully. She is just about ready to take off. Every child is different and uniquely gifted, so it doesn’t pay to compare them with their siblings or anyone else for that matter.

    Still, another challenge I’ve faced is how to understand my children’s individual learning styles. Eric is an auditory/ kinesthetic learner. He loves making noise and moving things around in his hands while he’s thinking, so it can be really challenging when I’m reading to the younger ones and he walks through the room talking to himself or making what we call “NBNs” – necessary boy noises. Knowing that he's an auditory learner has helped him to understand himself and curb his behavior without making him feel that he’s weird or different. He'll probably make a living with his voice.
      My little one is kinesthetic, too, so giving her things to manipulate with her hands and making sure that she gets to move around during the day is very important. Two of my girls are visual learners, and they’re very content to sit still for hours, working on projects, reading, or writing. Understanding learning styles and finding out which ones your children are dominate in can be challenging, but over time (usually around 9 or 10) it becomes apparent what their strengths and weaknesses are, and everyone in the family can accommodate the way each child learns.

    The only drawback to home education that I can see is that you have to become a student again. What do I mean? Well, you have to study your children daily. You have to figure out what makes them tick. You have to discover the unique giftings that the Lord has planted within each one of them, and make sure that you’re faithful to provide the fertile soil needed for growth. You have to relearn some of the things you forgot since you attended school, and now you even understand them! You have to get organized and disciplined and practice what you preach. And anything you call your children to do, you have to model yourself or else its just hypocrisy and you'll lose their hearts. In other words, you’ve got to change! The hardest thing for me has been to change. But I can honestly say that the changes that have occurred in my life have been by God’s grace and mercy, mostly as a result of trials – not instantly acquired, but slowly over the years. "He gently leads those that have young." Isaiah 40:11 

    Finally, you’ve got to analyze what your definition of real education is because the choices you make today will determine the paths your children take tomorrow. Most assuredly, the journey down the road of public education will produce the expected results: children who are politically correct and can’t think for themselves. Is that what you really want?
   To me, home education is a walk of faith in the school of life. I don't know what tomorrow, next week, or even next year will bring. Maybe there will be new opportunities, and God will do something really spectacular and open up a whole new area of learning for one of my kids. I love it when He does that! If you had told me a few years ago that my oldest daughter Claire, age 21, would be a certified therapeutic riding instructor or hired as a full-time journalist (without a college education), I would have been at a loss to tell you how that could happen. If you had told me that Eric, age 16, would love graphic design and writing about his faith as much as I do, I would have said, “Really? I didn’t see that happening.” If you had told me that Elizabeth, age 12, would be able to bead, crochet, and cross stitch better than I can, I wouldn’t have believed it. And if you had told me that Anna, 8, would willingly pick up after herself and love to clean the bathroom, I definitely wouldn’t have believed that at all!      

     It keeps us in a state of awe, when despite our fears and doubts about our children’s ability to learn, God causes them to walk in the good works He has prepared ahead of time. It keeps us walking by faith to home educate one year, one month, and even one day at a time. It keeps us humble when we are brought to our knees because we just can’t do this “homeschool thing” one more minute. That’s when God shows us what real education is – total dependence in Him.

     In my opinion, the biggest challenge for homeschoolers will always be to listen to God’s voice above the world’s and being faithful to work alongside Him to fulfill His perfect will for each of our children’s lives. It is our biggest challenge, and our greatest reward.

Blessings to you and your family,
Jill

7:02 PM - Sep. 24, 2007 - comments {32} - post comment

God’s Creation and The Tools of the Trade

Elizabeth's Painted Lady (age 8)

Anna's Painted Lady (age4)

Elizabeth's Milkweed (age 9)

Elizabeth's Insects (age 8)

I would like to share with you the way I learned to draw in art school. We weren't taught to look for shapes in an object so that we could draw it from our memories. We were taught to draw real objects – from life or photographs. Sure we roughed-in the basic shape with a quick outline, but then we drew and looked – looked and drew. This kind of drawing has a sketchy quality or looseness about it – an expressive style that’s freeing for both the artist and the observer. The lines that are lightly drawn can be gone over later as the drawing is tightened-up (a great resource for a four-step style that produces finshed drawings this way  is Gene Frank's The Art of Pencil Drawing).

     This week as I was looking for some resources to help people in this area, I came across a video clip by a Larry Gluck http://thegluckmethod.com/html/freelesson/realplayer/lesson4.html (I can’t recommend the teen and adults series because I haven’t seen it, and I didn’t like the preveiw of the kids series - it looked a bit dumbed-down), but this little video segment explains exactly what I am talking about verses let’s say a Jan Brett approach http://www.janbrett.com/video/how_to_draw_a_chick.htm
. Comparing these two videos will hopefully show you the difference between the directed or guided approach that a lot of children are being taught, and the drawing from life approach that the Masters were taught.
    I’m not sure when the directed drawing approach to art became a science or so  widely accepted, but I think it is a disservice to many of our children. Little children are far more likely to develope a true artist's eye by drawing and sketching from life. If you have used a directed appraoch don't feel bad. Many children like this approach when they're younger because they are in the symbolic stage of art(4-8), but when they reach the realistic stage (around 9 or 10) they will desire to draw objects the way they really look. Yet, even very young children, as seen in the art above, will develop an artist's eye earlier by sketching from life.

     It is common practice for English children to begin nature journaling at the age of five and six. Your children can also! Would you like to really inspire your children? Listen with your kids to my interview with nature journalist Richard Bell from England. http://www.giftoffamilywriting.com/onlineworkshops.htm. I also have a wonderful workshop CD entitled Becoming God’s Naturalist with a characterization of Beatrix Potter. You can read about that CD here. http://www.giftoffamilywriting.com/Drawingfromlife!.htm.  Also Email me for our current newsletter with a wonderful article by Nancy Baetz on How I Teach My Children Art.

   We are going to try and get some video clips up this week to help you see the sketching I am talking about. I’m sorry that I don’t have that ready, but they will be coming soon. 

In the meantime here are some supplies we use for nature journaling.  

Our Basic Supply List for Nature Journaling

 
Paper – For finished drawings we use individual pieces of 110 lb. cover stock fastened to clipboards. The completed drawing or painting is stored in a binder inside plastic sleeves. With the pages protected, you don’t have to worry about ruining previous drawings.

Sketchbooks – Buy a couple of different sizes. Just about any brand will do. Notice that sketchbooks are made out of different kinds of textured papers—smooth or rough. After experimenting, use the kind that you like best.

Watercolor paper – You don’t have to use watercolor paper when you first start journaling, but if you decide to, buy a watercolor block. The paper will already be stretched so you don’t have to worry about buckling. I like to work on Strathmore Watercolor paper cold press. It is available in different sizes (9X12 is nice). We also paint on the 110 lb. cover stock. It holds up pretty well as long as your brush isn’t excessively wet. If you are going to do spot illustration you don’t have to worry about stretching your paper.

Pencils – Our favorite all purpose pencil is the Mirado Black Warrior or Ticonderoga No. 2 pencil which can be purchased by the package from Wal-Mart. They’re as good as any art pencil of the same number. Buy soft art pencils B, 2B, 4B, 6B and aqua or water soluble art pencils from an art or craft store. Experiment and see which ones you feel comfortable using.

Watercolor pencils – Derwent watercolor pencils are available at Michaels and Hobby Lobby. Experiment with water and a brush and see if you like them. I will often draw with these pencils dry. They are a little pricy, so buy some warm and cool colors and add to them as you go.

Erasers – Use plastic erasers by Staedtler which are available from Wal-Mart in packages of three. Plastic erasers remove pencil marks without hurting the paper. Kneaded erasers work well for picking up tone.

Paints – I like Prang 12 count paints for children ( little children can use Crayola). They offer a wide palette to mix from and are relatively inexpensive. I also purchased a set of Grumbacher watercolors for myself. These are not necessary if you are just starting out, but you can get them on sale at Michaels for $2.00 a tube or buy them on EBay.

Brushes – Purchase fine quality brushes of different widths and shapes for watercolor. Inferior brushes will ruin your efforts to control the paint. If you’re watching your budget, purchase a couple of sets of packaged brushes from Wal-Mart. They may have to be replaced periodically but they are much better than the brushes that come in the paint sets.

     Just as every child can write from what he knows, every child can draw from what he sees. Children who rarely pick up a pencil on their own can learn to express themselves creatively if they are exposed to the right environment – one that’s filled with the beauty of God’s Creation, the work of inspired artists, and the tools of the trade.

 

 

 

 Elizabeth's Larkspur  (age 11)

2:58 PM - Jul. 2, 2007 - comments {21} - post comment

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