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Do Hard Things
The Harris brothers have written a book that is so necessary for our up and coming teens that I couldn't resist posting about it here. Some of you are just beginning the journey with little ones, but mark my words: They'll be teenagers before you know it!
From Alex and Brett:
We've written a book called Do Hard Things. It's a hardcover, non-fiction book for teens -- a genre that is about as popular with young people as foreign language math textbooks. Conventional wisdom says we'd be lucky if more than a few dozen teens bought it -- let alone read it.
But Do Hard Things is our hearts' cry. It's our humble attempt to put into words the message of a powerful work God is already doing in the hearts of young people around the world. Our prayer is that God would use it as a tool to remind a generation of timeless truth about the teen years -- and life.
You can help catapult Do Hard Things to the top of Amazon's list by pre-ordering a copy today. Click on their logo on the sidebar.
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Hearts and Trees Spring Kits
Related Blogs
I recently noticed that Bloglines has a "related blogs" feature where they recommend blogs to readers based upon their subscriptions. The blogs recommended to readers of Preschoolers and Peace are:
http://rocksinmydryer.typepad.com/shannon/
Encouraging and Equipping Women in their God-given Roles and Confronting the Lies of Modern Feminism
http://www.biblicalwomanhoodonline.com/blog.htm
http://thesparrowsnest.typepad.com/the_sparrows_nest/
Family life commentary by Amy Scott.
http://humblemusings.com
Everyday cooking inspiration! Tammy's Recipes is a Christian website aimed at edifying and assisting chefs with wholesome meal suggestions. Every meal is tested by us and our chefs, rated, and has pictures to help you determine if it is the right meal for you! We hope you enjoy your visit here. Feel free to sign up for our RSS feed, vote in polls, and join our community!
http://www.tammysrecipes.com
evangelical Christian • homeschooling mother of five • gardener • seamstress • lover of all things domestic • and sometime attorney
http://pleasantviewschoolhouse.blogspot.com/
A Collection of thoughts, observations, ideas and memories, designed for women who want to be full time homemakers and do it beautifully.
http://homeliving.blogspot.com/
Good stewardship in action. How do you do it?
http://frugalhacks.com
http://www.moneysavingmom.com/
Sit down, relax, and read... In the left hand column are some articles, my reading list, and some other things you may find of interest. The main column is where you'll see my daily (except for Sundays) updates and posts. Welcome to my home on the net.
http://myblessedhome.blogspot.com/
Montessori megamom serves up smorgasbord of parenting, cultural, political, and spiritual wisdom. Because she can.
http://www.mommylife.net/
A blog for thoughts on family, faith, nature, crafts, poetry, learning and life ...
http://dawnathome.typepad.com/by_sun_and_candlelight/
"Listening to my life for whatever of meaning, of holiness, of God there may be in it to hear." ~Beuchner
http://holyexperience.blogspot.com/
http://lazydranch8.blogspot.com/
the methods and madness of one family of 10
http://inashoe.com
In the end, you'll find the journey was the destination.
http://justenjoythejourney.blogspot.com/
Education in the Heart of My Home
http://ebeth.typepad.com/reallearning/
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Contest for Johanna Stanford's Beautiful Books
Have you discovered Johanna Bluedorn Stanford's lovely paintings? Her illustrations grace several books that will delight homeschooling families, and here's your opportunity to win SIX!
To enter, simply leave a comment with your name and tell us something you love about being a homeschooling mom. Contest ends at midnight, Wednesday, February 27th, 2008. Have fun!
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Read Alouds
We read aloud nearly constantly, and each year we declare favorites. For 2007:
- The Collected Tales of Nurse Matilda- The books upon which the movie Nanny McPhee is based. The book is better
 Appropriate for ages 4 years and up, but the dream sequences at the end of each story can be long and laborious. We skipped them.
- The Wheel on the School- Delightful story about the storks coming to a small Dutch village. Appropriate as a read-aloud for 4 years and up, although my 6-year-old was really more attentive than the 4-year-old. Your mileage may vary.
- Spring With the Moodys- My children have loved all four books in Sarah Maxwell's Moody Family series. I haven't had to edit a thing here-- the children are behaving the way we all would like to see ours behave, which one of my older children thinks is "unrealistic". I remind him that we should pour good things into our heads and hearts if we expect good things to emerge, or as my mom used to say, "Garbage in, garbage out." Appropriate for ages 4 and up.
- Grandpa’s Box- Terrific book for Circle Time or family devotions. "Grandpa" tells the redemption story by revealing items in a box, chapter by chapter. We gleaned a lot from this one. The author is Starr Meade, who also wrote Training Hearts, Teaching Minds. Appropriate for ages 6 and up, although the 8-year-old was more attentive than the 6-year-old.
- The Bird’s Christmas Carol- One of the few collections I own is Christmas books, and I found this gem in a used bookstore in Portland. I won't give away the ending, but I will tell you that the story will help children to see the beauty and blessing in giving rather than receiving. Don't let the cover on the book sold by Amazon fool you-- I don't believe Santa is even mentioned (but Christ is liberally reverenced) so I'm not sure what the thinking was in choosing the cover art.
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Book Review- Sacred Influence
Much of my time spent away from the blog was joyfully spent in reading books that have gathered in my bedside basket. One of the best was Gary Thomas' Sacred Influence. Written for wives on topics that may not be so comfortable, Sacred Influence preserves the Biblical dignity given to women in Scripture and by Christ when he was on earth, but at the same time it does not allow for a post-modern view of marriage or the abdication of our God-given calling as wives.
Like Mr. Thomas' book entitled Sacred Marriage, Sacred Influence reminds its reader that marriage does not exist to make us happy. Marriage exists to make us holy. Thomas begins with me, the wife, and what God may be trying to teach me through my husband and marriage. He encourages wives to be contrite, honest, and introspective before turning an eye toward our husband's faults. But he does so in a way that my friend Heather describes as "smooth chocolate". Who can resist a book like that?
From Sacred Influence:
"The good news is that you and God are in this together. He knew, even before he created you, whom you'd marry. And he will continue to give you the tools you need to become the person he's called you to be and to do the work he's created you to do within your current relationship. God would never leave you alone in any situation: "He will never leave you nor forsake you" (Deut 31:6). Even if you married a non-Christian, God's grace is sufficient for you. You cannot dig a hole so deep that it cuts you off from God's provision, care, and life-giving strength.... "
I have yet to figure out how to link to Amazon from my blog entries in such a way that it affects my affiliate status. If you're interested in reading more about Sacred Influence on the Amazon page, click through on any of the Amazon links on my sidebar and you can search from there. Just one of those annoying little things that should be gone when we make our move!
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Sewing School Mini Kits for Beginners
I've become a kit girl, motivated by the fact that I have limited time to browse craft, fabric, and yarn stores.
Oooh, I love these! A very talented young homeschooler named Amanda has put together some really great little beginning sewing kits at a terrific price. Check out Hearts and Trees to see the kits and make a purchase for your little seamstress.
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Creativity Express
As I wrote before, I am not an artist. I can do plenty of other things, but art-- oy! I really stink! Once I drew a picture of a monkey on our white board and it sent my kids into such a fit of giggles we had to stop school. To this day they jokingly remind me of the funny "blob with a tail" I drew.
So as I was thinking through the 2007/2008 school year last summer, I was a little stumped in the art department. Timberdoodle, one of my favorite homeschooling resource providers, recommended a computer-based art program called Gee Art, and after viewing the sample on their website, I took the plunge and ordered it.
Super. Really, really super! I learned so much just sitting by the kids as they explored its many levels with all kinds of art history facts, artist profiles, masterpieces, and even hands-on projects that allow the student to explore concepts of color, spacial relationships, and other art concepts that are a bit beyond me to pull off. The animation is excellent, done by former Disney animators.
Just one problem: Gee Art was a subscription-based, online program that required internet access to use it. Since our schoolroom computers don't have internet access, that meant the kids were always needing to use my laptop in order to utilize Gee Art. No problem unless I also needed to be using my computer, too. But guess what? The creators of Gee Art have now redesigned the program to be accessed on a CD, at a very reasonable price. They also renamed it "Creativity Express".
Creativity Express includes a year's worth of art instruction that meets National and State Standards for Art Education established by the Consortium of National Arts Education Associations, and also meets the guidelines outlined in the National Technology Plan. |
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Art With a Purpose
I've seen a lot of curriculum come on the market in the past eleven years of homeschooling. One of the first things I purchased was Art With a Purpose, and it has served us well with each child. I didn't realize until I was looking for the above link that the individual Art Pacs were so reasonably priced. Here I've been using the same one for every child, but at $8 per pac, each child really could have their own.
I'm not an artist and I struggle to come up with projects for the little ones. Art With a Purpose Art Pacs have given me projects that are quick to pull together and not a big deal to produce. Certainly there are flashier art products on the market, but for the price and the simplicity, Art With a Purpose is a good bet.
Yesterday our six-year-old spent a happy 15 minutes waiting for everyone else to be done with their school work. Here's what she accomplished:
Happy girl, happy mom, cute Mrs. Snowman.
Next time I'll write about a fabulous art program we've loved that is geared more toward the 6 and up crowd.
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Book Review- The Busy Mom's Guide to Bible Study
Bible study-- true, deep, uninterrupted time in Scripture-- is hard to come by here. While I spend time in the Word with the children in the morning and time in the Word as a family during our evening worship time, I have long struggled to glean any really deep insights into Scripture when I have my time in the Word before I am off to bed. Often I have been left feeling like I read some wonderful words but haven't applied them well to my life.
While browsing the Bible study section at our local Christian bookstore before Christmas, I noticed a book by homeschooling mom, pastor's wife, and former child actress Lisa Welchel entitled The Busy Mom's Guide to Bible Study: A 15-Minute Daily Plan (see sidebar for link). 15 minutes? Really? Exactly how deep could one get in a mere 15 minutes?
As I flipped through the book there in the bookstore, I realized that what Lisa had done was given us distracted, busy, struck by the tyranny-of-the-urgent moms tool after tool after tool for reading, memorizing, meditating upon, gleaning, and yes-- even delving deeply into-- the Word of God daily. In 15 minutes. Really.
But then after having possessed and utilized the book for several weeks, I also saw that what was typically around 15 minutes was also often more because there I sat awestruck by some new insight or nugget in the day's passage. Reading what Lisa wrote and then reading the Scripture may have taken 15 minutes, but replaying the passage over again in my mind throughout the day, or meditating upon it again at lunchtime, or reading it from the index card stuffed into my pocket meant that the Word was really, truly sinking in.
Even better? I am applying the many tools for studying Scripture with my children as we study together during Circle Time. The desire, of course, is to give them a variety of tools with which to learn to love Scripture themselves. If they grow up to love and serve God, to walk with Him, there is nothing more I could ask for.
And I cannot give them what I do not possess myself.
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Brand New Motivated Moms! And another contest...
I have written several times about the organizational system I use from Motivated Moms. Well, 2008 is ready to download but the author has made it even better!
They now have SIX versions of the planner, the full and half sized with and without Bible readings scheduled and then two new versions - the Page Per Day with the scheduled Bible readings and the same size without the Bible reading. This is a full-sized planner (8.5"x11") which has a separate page for each day of the year with an Appointments section, Notes section and a small box for writing in the menu plan for the day. All six versions now have a cover page and at the back a page for two-week menu planning that can be copied by the buyer to use throughout the year.
The Page Per Day is 368 pages and that much printing might not appeal to some buyers but many will love being able to have one notebook and have a section for their appointments and notes on each day with their chore list. You can see a sample page of the newest version of the planner here.
You can order a Motivated Moms planner by clicking the link on the sidebar. They are an economical $8. But you can also post a comment and you'll be entered in a drawing to win a Motivated Moms planner! I'll close the comments and contest this Saturday, the 3rd of November, at midnight. |
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Leap Frog Heads-Up!!
Adventures in Christian Parenting
I know I've mentioned the Arndts before, and how much the TLC show featuring them has impacted me. I have just finished listening to their 12-session series entitled Adventures in Christian Parenting and I have to reiterate what a delight this was to me. Rick and Cathy chat about their parenting, their family, and their joy in raising fourteen children for the glory of God. I loved every minute.
Joy, mamas, joy. It comes from Christ alone. |
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Copperswife
Craft Deficient?
Abondante Living
I love it when Christians create God-honoring businesses and do it well. Abondante Living is a new business with a heart to promote a return to Sabbath suppers and feasting. What a delight!
Recently I ordered a gift for a friend- just look at the beautiful packaging. The top is three lovely kitchen towels and the bottom is a cookbook, wrapped so nicely. I didn’t even wrap the box when I gave it to my friend- it was already perfect for gift giving.
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Easy Classical
Daisy Fields
Have I told you about Daisy Fields Basket Company? Heather puts together the most amazing gift baskets. She has a fabulous and creative eye, plus her baskets are FULL. Don’t you hate it when you receive a gift basket only to find that 2/3 of it is really shredded paper? Heather’s baskets don’t lie. They look fantastic and they have stuff you’d actually want to give someone (no summer sausages ;D).
The above basket is a baby gift— if I were a new mama (oh wait! I am!), I’d love to receive this.
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More Resources
Lisa gave our three-year-old some very useful DVDs for her birthday this year. Leap Frog Talking Letters and Words Factory have taught her, effortlessly, her basic letter sounds and complete alphabet recognition. Resources like these are a boon to the homeschooling mom of many. But if you are a mom of little guys and gals, these DVDs will give your students a leg up before you even begin to teach them to read.
If you’ve read the Preschoolers and Peace site or blog for any length of time, you know what a fan of Lauri Puzzles I am. The alphabet puzzle is a great tool to reinforce what has been learned on the Letter and Words Factory DVDs. I was recently caught with little three-year-old (in princess attire, no less) as we played through the alphabet puzzle and sang the little ditty reciting each letter’s principle sound. It’s fun and games to her, and little does she know she’s mastered her pre-reading skills.
See the sidebar for all three resources.
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Wedgits
Have you discovered Wedgits? I recently ordered a set for my preschooler and kindergartener to use during their table time. What I didn’t expect was that their older siblings would not be able to keep their hands off of them, either.
They love to build with them, I love that they are large and easy to find and store in a Rubbermaid box. No little itsy bitsy pieces we’re stepping on in the middle of the night. They don't break and you can toss them into the dishwasher if they get grimy. It’s a win-win toy!
Click through the link on the right to see them at Amazon.
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