Dear Ladies,


     "A good book is the most appropriate gift that friendship can make. It never changes; it never grows unfashionable or old. It is soured by no neglect, is jealous of no rival; but always its clean, clear pages are ready to amuse, interest and instruct. The voice that speaks the thought may change or grow still forever, the heart that prompted the kindly and cheering word may grow cold and forgetful; but the page that mirrors it is changeless, faithful, and immortal. The book that records the incarnation of divine love, is God’s best gift to man, and the books which are filled with kindly thought and generous sympathy, are the best gifts of friend to friend. 
       Every family ought to be well supplied with a choice supply of books for reading. This may be seen from the consequences of its neglect and abuse on the one hand, and from its value and importance on the other. Parents should furnish their children the necessary means, opportunities and direction of a Christian education. Give them proper books."

The Golden Treasury of Home Thoughts
1878
                         
The beautiful new sampler of the Girlhood Home Companion is available upon request. Just go to
http://www.giftoffamilywriting.com/girlhoodsampler.htm to receive your free copy.

Blessings,
Jill

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    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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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    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

 

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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.

 Elizabeth's Larkspur  (age 11)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

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     I spent some time sketching milkweed this week and my mind went back to the words and pictures the Lord gave me last year to describe  the beautiful milkweed patch up in our garden. I treasure every minute I get to spend sitting next to my beloved milkweed and marveling at God's awesome Creation.  

 

     I hope to draw more of this glorious plant with the children this week. Hopefully we'll have some group pictures to share with you next week. I think there is real power in trying to draw or paint the same objects. The children seem to really enjoy doing that, and I think it helps them to see how different our styles are. Plus, I'm right there to help them if they get stuck or need encouragement.

     I want to mention a book that I'm enjoying right now. It's called The Painted Garden by Mary Woodin, and it's really worth getting for your art library. If you like watercolor and journaling, you'll love her style. I will be studying her pictures in-depth and trying to paint some more like she does. Her work is beautiful.

    Well, it's supposed to be very hot tomorrow, so we might have to bring some mikweed in and sit at the living room table in the air-conditioning to draw and paint. Sounds like a lovely thing to do for nature journaling and a Monday, doesn't it?

 

Blessings,
Jill 

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     The hollyhocks under my kitchen window finally bloomed this week. The pale green buds and delicate blossoms make them one of my favorite flowers to draw. I've been in love with hollyhocks for a long time, but this is the first time that I’ve grown them myself. After reading about them in author Sharon Lovejoy’s book Hollyhock Days, I realized that I, too, needed the companionship of hollyhocks.   

      I started my hollyhocks from seed last spring and transplanted them to the flower beds around the fourth of July. As with any other biennial, waiting for a plant to produce that you've sowed over a year ago can seem agonizingly slow. But when I heard the children exclaim, "Mom, mom, the hollyhocks have bloomed!" it was ample reward for all of my efforts.

     Typically you see Hollyhocks straddling white picket fences or hugging the sides of barns or garages, but I didn't want my hollyhocks growing down by the grain barn where I wouldn't see them very much. Instead, I planted them under the kitchen and bedroom windows where I can enjoy them daily. Here are a few sketches I’ve made so far this season. For the most part I used a blunt Derwent watercolor pencil dry. The color is Crimson Lake 20 and Olive Green 51. I wrote about planting hollyhocks from seed last year. You can read and see the sketches that Elizabeth and I did there.  

After interviewing nature journalist Richard Bell an English nature journalist, the kids and I are trying to journal more and we're sure enjoying ourselves. You can listen to this inspiring interview online. For ordering information visit our on-line workshops here. And don't miss our next workshop. It's coming up Thursday at 1:00 p.m. central time. Hope to see you and your children there. 

Introduction to The Gift of Family Writing by Jill Novak  
Thursday, June 21st 
1:00 p.m. Central time

Blessings,
Jill
   

 

 

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      "This pile of stuff on the floor, is it in memorial to something?" I asked. Eric (age 16) laughed, only I didn't find it funny. I don't know if any of you have the same problem. “We” (I use this word loosely so as not to incriminate the innocent) don't mind sweeping articles of clothing (I hate to get graphic here, but…) stinky socks, underwear, Band-Aid wrappers, miscellaneous toys, household junk, and dirt into piles, leaving them in the middle of the floor and hoping they will kind of disappear (or someone else will clean them up).

      I think in the olden days they used the word "indolence" to describe this kind of behavior (if you don’t know what the word indolence means, have your children look it up), but I'm not so sure that is true in this case. After all, the entire floor was swept without any prompting on my part. Could it be that “we” have gotten into a very bad habit around here without even realizing it?

     I'm not sure when this bizarre behavior began, but lest I be accused of hypocrisy, I now make this confession. I think it all started with me a couple of years ago after I had surgery. It was difficult to bend over, so I began leaving piles of stuff for the kids to clean up after me. James 5:16 says, “Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed.” Hopefully this public confession will bring healing and deliverance (that is if I can get the guilty parties to clean up their acts and the mess at the same time).  

      Just now my husband "Mr. Thorough" bent over to pick up a pair of roller blade knee guards lying in the middle of the pile. "Stop!" I yelled. “Put those down. I’m conducting an experiment. I just want to see how long that pile sits in the middle of the floor before the person who swept it up deals with it an appropriate manner.”

     Oddly enough, before this post was even finished, the pile magically disappeared. Hmmmm, that’s amazing – a terrible habit broken by the power of the written word*

*Writer’s Tip: It always pays to read your entry out loud to the family before posting so you can hopefully catch the mistakes!   

 

 

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    Anna rushed into the house, shouting for joy. She had discovered a nature specimen in the same spot where she found one last week. It was under a large coil of plastic drainage pipe lying near the garage. The older kids and I hurried outside to observe her treasure. Resting in the cool shadow of the pipe was an American toad. I gingerly picked up the little guy with two fingers and carried him into the house.     
    Anna’s enthusiasm prompted the older kids and I to gather around the living room table to draw. I got out a new set of Derwent watercolor pencils that I had recently purchased off EBay (Anna misplaced most of my other set). We had all the right colors: olive green, golden brown, brown ochre, copper beech, and terracotta. Derwent watercolor pencils are very soft to work with and we often use them dry. I held the toad extended in the middle of the table, and we began sketching. For the most part it stayed still enough for us to try some decent quick sketches, although Eric kept getting the rear view. When Anna came into the living room and saw what we were doing, she exclaimed, "Oh, you're drawing the toad." Promptly, she pulled up a chair to join us and the comments began to fly.

   Anna's Toad,  age 8

     "I think I'm drawing a fish," Anna said.
     "I can't get the shape right," Elizabeth said.
     "There is no shape, it's a blob," Eric replied.   
     "I like bulgy toads," Anna said. "It's greenish, brownish, and bumpish." I chuckled to myself. Only an eight-year-old would think of saying something like that.   

 

 

Elizabeth's Toad, age 12

     We traded holding the toad and drawing it for a while, but everyone was struggling with its shape. I suggested that we try doing some blind contour drawing. Blind contour drawing is an exercise where you look only at your subject instead of your paper, while drawing a continuous line without lifting your pencil. This exercise trains your eyes to follow the contour or line of an object so that you can really see what you are attempting to draw. Children usually enjoy this exercise after they get used to it and helps them to process drawing in a different way. Except for a few distinctive characteristics, the finished drawing often looks nothing like the object they are trying to re-create–and that’s okay. The purpose of this exercise is to train your eye to see what is really there instead of what you think is there.

 

Elizabeth's Blind Contour Drawing   

 

Jill's Toad

      I started the blind contour drawing, but my paper kept slipping because I was trying to draw and hold the toad at the same time. Elizabeth reached behind her and picked some packing tape from the shelf. She tore some pieces off the roll and taped my card stock right to the table. Everyone else taped their paper down except Eric who was using a clipboard.  

Eric's Toad Parts, age 16

      By this time there was a lot of lively banter going on around the table (a little too much for my taste). I really like to draw in a relaxed atmosphere, and let me tell you, this wasn't it. By this time Eric had finished drawing and commented, "Anyone got a toad lollipop?”
     Anna replied, "Eric, touch only with your eyes."

Anna's Christmas Tree  

Suddenly, Anna began to draw a Christmas tree and we all cracked up. “It’s just like you said on your nature journaling interview with Richard Bell,  Mom.” Eric said. He was referring to the example I always use about how children in the symbolic stage of art (generally ages 5-8) usually draw a green triangle to represent Christmas tree, and how completely happy they are doing that. Anna’s spiky triangular tree was somewhere between the symbolic and realistic stages (9-12), but it definitely wasn’t a toad.

     "Nice toad," Eric said.
     "Everyone's complimenting me," Anna said.   
      Then Eric said, "We should make a DVD called "How to Kick Start Your Toad Drawing."

      “Mmmmm, not a bad idea,” I said.   

       Now lest you think our attempts at drawing the toad were all in vain, they weren’t. Quick sketching a live specimen can be very difficult, but it can also be a lot of fun for kids. Remind them that the goal is not to have a perfect drawing, but to enjoy the process of sketching. This can be very frustrating for more detailed-oriented children and adults, as well, but it’s important to try all kinds of drawing – all different ways – because in doing so you train your eye to see. Whether the end result looks exactly like your specimen is not important, especially if it hops away...  

After the kids finished drawing I took pictures of the toad, and downloaded them to the computer, and then I let him go. A few minutes later my sister called and said that she needed a break and was coming over for a while. I told her to tell my niece Rachel (a talented nature artist) that I had a great amphibian specimen over here for her to draw. When she arrived, I let her choose a picture and she got right to work. As my sister and I chatted, Rachel rendered a highly colorful and stylized picture of the toad from the computer screen. Joan and I were amazed when we saw it. One thing I know is that the toad never looked this good in real life. I’m really glad we took the time yesterday to sketch from life. Not only did we experience many different ways to observe a toad, but we made lots of family memories, too, by drawing  Anna’s amazing “discovery.”        

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Jill painting at the age of seven

   It's been a long time since I've blogged and it's so good to be back. Our family has been busy with the production of our first color edition of The Girlhood Home Companion, and the learning curve and time invested was huge.
     Not only did we have the Girlhood to contend with, but I had three new speeches to pull together for the Peoria homeschool convention (along with Eric on blogging). What a blessing it was for our whole family to attend. Robert took such good care of us.

     I taught on: Writing for the Real World, The Gift of Family Writing, Preserving Your Spiritual Heritage, and Keeping Sketchbook Journals. I came home so full that I felt like I was going to bust (it was way too short). I don’t understand why I wasn’t exhausted, except that God strengthened me for the task and gave me so much joy (thank you for those of you who knew about the need and prayed). I think journaling, writing, and creative expression are the means of touching the very heart of God and learning to discern His voice. I will be posting about this in the future.

     I want to tell you about the interview that Nancy Baetz and I did together on nature journaling a few weeks ago. You can listen to it at Cindy Rushton's Ultiamte Home Expo here http://www.ultimatehomeschoolexpo.com/. It’s in two parts and a wonderful session that you can listen to together with your children. The Expo is only $35.00 for the week. I will be speaking about The Gift of Family Writing the first week of May.  I can’t wait. I hope you can join us there.       

Many blessings,

Jill     

 

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TOS offers many wonderful free resources for homeschoolers – monthly newsletters, a Yahoo group for support group leaders, HomeschoolBlogger.com – a safe online blogging community, HomeschoolBuy.com - the premiere homeschool auction site, The Schoolhouse Store, and The Homeschool Minute, an encouraging weekly newsletter.

 

At The Old Schoolhouse Magazine, we're homeschool moms just like you. Come visit us at www.TheHomeschoolMagazine.com for more information.

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