A Was Once An Apple Pie #atozchallenge

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Welcome to the A to Z Challenge for April, 2016! I'd thought I would write a nice introductory post for yesterday, but April snuck up on me and I forgot. I'm working on a series about books, and may have to tweak the titles to get all the letters covered. I may share authors, specific books or series, or themes. You'll just have to come back and find out!

The title of this post is a bit misleading. It's really a sneaky way to get to talk about Edward Lear. I love Edward Lear! He was a British artist, author, illustrator and musician, who lived from 1812-1888. He knew Tennyson, and actually published twelve musical settings of Tennyson's poetry. He was one of twenty-one children. I can't even imagine, can you?

I remember checking out this book from the library when I was in elementary school, and it was an old book back then:

I am a big fan of nonsense. I love to laugh, and I love silly books, so Edward Lear became one of my favorites. I was thrilled to find the book pictured above at a used book store a few years ago. Don't you love it when you meet an old friend?

When I had children of my own, naturally, I started looking for for fun ABC books. I came across "A Was Once An Apple Pie," a lovely little book using one of Lear's nonsense alphabets, with new illustrations. I happen to love Lear's illustrations, but I can see how these new, colorful ones are appealing to young children. Here's the one I found. It's out of print, apparently, but the used prices are reasonable:

The alphabet rhymes are fun to say. "A" in this alphabet says:

The one for "I" is probably my favorite, though:

He also wrote fun limericks:

And I remember LOVING his nonsense botanies. This was one of my favorites:

I would guess that Mr, Lear's most famous poem is "The Owl and the Pussycat." Did you know, though, that he also did some amazing bird illustrations?  Check out this beautiful drawing of a parakeet. I also learned, while poking around for this post, that he did some landscape drawings, as well. Take a look at this one.

If you're interested in getting a book by Edward Lear, I have a few recommendations.

The Book of Nonsense - Free Kindle version, if you just want to see more of what his nonsense was about.

The Complete Nonsense of Edward Lear - This is a nice paperback, not terribly expensive, if you prefer holding a real book (I do).

A Book of Nonsense (Children's Classics) - Nice hardcover, not too expensive, and part of the Everyman's Library children's books, which look really nice on a shelf.

The Owl and the Pussycat - Board book version of this fun poem for very small people

Poetry for Young People: Edward Lear - I love this series of books, and if you're looking for a small selection of his work to share with your children, this is a good choice. We've used several of this series in our homeschool poetry studies.

Edward Lear's Birds - in case you're interested in looking at Lear's beautiful bird drawings

All righty! I know that's a lot of links. I do get excited about books. I'm looking forward to chatting with you about some of my favorites this month!

The Value of a Child

I have the privilege and pleasure of participating in Nancy Kelly's Living Education Lessons. I cannot tell you how much the first two classes blessed me, and I'm looking forward to the rest of the sessions more than I can say. The next one is tonight, in fact! I missed the CMI conference last summer because of our move, and will miss it this year, too, because I waited too long and it's sold out. I needed something to renew my spirit, and these classes with Nancy are just the ticket. Do check them out and see if it's something that might interest you. You won't be disappointed. Her blog, Sage Parnassus, is also a wonderful resource.

The first two weeks we discussed Miss Mason's first principle of education: "Children are born persons." Upon first glance, it seems like an obvious statement in some ways. The longer I've had to ponder it, though, the more I find there is to consider.

It's not simply that children are human, or that they are people. Person almost needs to have a capital "P," because personhood, I believe, is talking about a child's soul, the very thing that makes them who they are in the eyes of God.

This first principle is what first touched my heart and drew me to Charlotte Mason. When I was growing up, personhood was not something that was ever discussed, much less seen as important. Certainly no one had heard of Charlotte Mason. The parenting style was punitive, with little or no regard to circumstances or the heart of a child. When I learned from Miss Mason, and the lovely people God's brought into my life along this journey, how to see my children as Persons, my heart and parenting were forever changed for the better. I'm so grateful!

I made a new connection on Personhood as I was reading our first assignment. Nancy has asked us to keep commonplace entries of our readings, of course, and sometimes I feel as though I should just copy the entire book out by hand. There seems to be more underlined than not! The quote I chose was this one:

If we have not proved that a child is born a person with a mind as complete and as beautiful as his little body, we can at least show that he always has all the mind he requires for his occasions; that is, that his mind is the instrument of his education, but his education does not produce his mind. --Vol. 6, p. 36 

When I read that initially, I felt a huge sense of relief. I was assured that the education I'm giving my girls is not what is making their minds. They already have all the mind they need. It was a breath of reassurance I needed.

Then, though, I looked back over the reading as I prepared to read the next week's assignment, and I came across this quote:

...the beautiful infant frame is but the setting of a jewel of such astonishing worth, that, put the whole world in one scale and this jewel in the other, and the scale which holds the world flies up outbalanced.
--Vol. 6, p. 34

Can you see that vision with me? Can you imagine the soul of a child as a precious jewel whose value outweighs that of the earth itself? That image has captured my imagination, and is again reworking the way I see my children. I know as mothers, as parents, we all see our children as precious. I have no doubt of that. I am beginning to see that they are worth still more than I knew, and they are so incredibly beautiful.

When I put those two quotes together, I found an expansion on the idea that children are not blank slates or empty buckets to be filled. No matter what book we assign our children to read, each one will receive it differently. I am continually amazed by the connections my children make in their reading, and it's never the same thing from any of them. We can no more turn a child into a doctor or a lawyer than we could turn them into a squash. They are who they are made to be by the Creator, and He is forming them according to His purposes.

Of course, I still want them to experience truth, beauty and goodness through the books they read, and my goal is still to provide them with the feast of ideas Miss Mason talks about spreading before students, but in the end, the ideas help them find out more about who they already are, rather than making them into something I want.

Never Say Never

I am not missing, but I've been hiding. I keep thinking about the blog, and haven't been sure what to write or how to talk about what's been going on here. It's certainly not a tragic situation, but it's been quite an adjustment for my family. Here's the deal:

My son completes his 8th week of school this week. He's attending the lovely little school at our church.

I still have a hard time believing he's going to school. This is my 11th year homeschooling. I love having my children home with me, and I love being able to give them a living education, so unlike what I experienced in public school.

How did we get to this place?

For the last 3.5 years, since we officially started "school" with him, I've been trying to teach this child. It's been an uphill battle, every single day. And, I do mean battle. He fought me constantly when we'd try to work together. It didn't seem to matter what I did. Believe me, I tried what seemed like everything. I kept thinking he'd grow out of this need to push back against school work, but he just didn't. He took all my time and energy, and I was not able to engage with my high schoolers the way I wanted. I didn't feel I was doing well by anyone. No one was getting what they needed from me.

When we found out we were moving to Colorado, I was thrilled to discover a Charlotte Mason school here. I thought that would be the answer to everything. He would go there, until the girls had graduated high school, and then he would come back home with me. Unfortunately, they are not in need of students his age, so when he didn't test as being ready for their second grade, they weren't willing to work with us. I felt a little desperate at that point, as I really needed some help with him, but I had to believe if he'd needed to go there, God would have worked it out. Isaac really liked that school, and said he wanted to go, so we began to try to get him up to speed with reading, handwriting and math so he could. He didn't seem to understand that he had to do some actual work to get caught up, and he was no more motivated to work with me, even knowing he could have gone to that wonderful school with the playground and the fish pond (the reasons he gave me for wanting to attend there).

He struggled with the upheaval of our move from North Carolina to Colorado, as we all did. There were a lot of good things about our new home for him. We moved into a house that is right next to a park, and with lots of kids there in the summer. He got to play there a lot. There are some boys living in the house behind us, and he quickly made friends with them. We had a couple of months of settling in before we officially started our school year in Colorado, but we fell back into our pattern of discord as soon as I got the school books back out.

We started attending a church here, and our pastor's wife, Sara, turned out to be a tutor (and is becoming a dear friend). She agreed to work with Isaac, which helped somewhat. As I described my struggles in working with him, she encouraged me to talk to the principal at the school there. To my surprise, the principal was willing and eager to work with us. She, Sara, and the second grade teacher (who also happens to be my girls' youth group leader) came up with all kinds of ways to help him, as he's not reading on grade level. God removed all of my objections, one by one, and I knew we'd have to send him.

I've been having a rather schizophrenic conversation with myself.

Homeschooling mom (HSM): "You are the parent. Surely you can figure out how to work with your own son?"

Tired of Fighting mom (TFM): "I agree with you, but it's been 3.5 years and nothing I've tried has worked yet."

HSM: "You're a homeschool fraud and a failure."

TFM: "I am so tired of fighting with this child."

HSM: "Surely there is something we haven't tried yet. Have you considered [insert idea from any of many well-meaning homeschooling friends]?"

TFM: "Yes. Don't you remember when we did that?" or, "No, we didn't try that, but we've tried SO MANY THINGS hoping that it would fix all our problems, and nothing has."

HSM: "It's always better for kids to be at home."

TFM: "I wanted to believe that, too."

HSM: "I miss him when he's not here."

TFM: "I miss him, too."

HSM: "Are you sure you love him enough? Maybe you don't love him enough."

TFM: "The only reason I was able to consider this at all is that I love him so much. I don't want to destroy our relationship or his love of learning. My relationship with my son is more important than my ideals."

This is still going on, but I'm able to ignore them (or at least live with them) most of the time now. I spent a lot of time crying, the first week or two, and I do miss him. I've seen amazing improvement in Isaac already, though. He's taken initiative every day to get himself ready to go to school, and after the first day, told me I could drop him off at the door and pick him up in the carpool line - I was not to come in with him. When it's been snowy, he's packed his own snow pants and boots so he could play in the giant snow pile in the parking lot.

He doesn't seem to mind that he doesn't have nearly as much free time as he did. He gets THREE recesses at school, which he thinks is fantastic. (Never mind that he had hours of free time at home...) He loves being around all the other children. Honestly, he was lonely at home. With my teens' schedules, he wasn't getting much social activity. He's still working with his tutor twice a week after school, and will have to do that through the summer. He has to read to me each night, but he's more willing to do that now than he was when it was only my idea. There have been very few days when he didn't want to go to school. 

The hardest part has been realizing that this means my homeschooling journey will probably come to an end quite a bit sooner than I thought it would. My girls are in high school, and even if I really stretch things out, I have a maximum of 4 more years (and that is assuming they both take a "gap year"). I don't see bringing Isaac back home. It's not that I don't want to, or that I wouldn't. If that's what needed to be, I would do it in a heartbeat. He enjoys school tremendously, is doing so well, and I know it would be hard for him to be the only child at home. At the end of the day, I'm grateful. I'm grateful we are able to send him to a private, Christian school, at our church, where I know and love the people. I'm grateful he's doing so well, even though I'm having to bite my tongue at some things I just don't agree with about the way things are taught. I'm grateful that my son and I are able to enjoy each other more in this season.

I forgot, somewhere along the way, that this little Person has a mind of his own (does he ever!) and that what I want, for me, is not necessarily what is best for him. This school is what is best for him right now. I'm getting closer to acceptance and peace with it. God's helping me see what was right and what went wrong, and He's made it clear this is where Isaac needs to be for now. 

AFFILIATE – 8 Resources for Learning the Times Tables

Multiplication: it's a math skill we ALL use in daily life. I point this out because there is actually math I do NOT use in my daily life. My teens have just started those word problems that say things like, "Plane A left the airport going this fast, and Plane B left at the same time going this fast. How long will it be before they are x number of miles apart?" Do we actually have to do that, ever? Maybe air traffic controllers need to know that kind of thing...

Anyway - I DO use multiplication! I use it when I'm cooking; I double recipes quite often. I use it when I'm shopping, and for "fast counting" when I have a certain number of people and need supplies, for example.

It's important for children to memorize their multiplication tables. It truly does make math work SO much faster for them! Are you an educator or parent with a frustrated child who is attempting to memorize the multiplication tables? Read on.

Hundreds of kids have learned their times tables in an hour using a very fun & easy to understand animated video. The Times Tales DVD is a two-part video series that uses stories to teach multiplication to kids. The videos use cute, simple stories that provide students with a "memory peg," allowing them to quickly recall otherwise abstract multiplication facts. As students progress through the video, they'll learn multiplication without even knowing it! It's that easy!

About the Times Tales DVD - What is included?

• Animated video comes on a DVD
• CD includes printable worksheets and flashcards

What Educents customers are saying about Times Tales:

"Fun and effective! Did in 2 weeks what other curriculum didn't do in a year!"

"My kids did NOT want to like this when I first opened it up, but they ended up liking it a LOT! They kept trying to "figure it out" so it took a while for my 2nd and 4th grader to just relax and watch the stories. We followed the recommended pace, and in 2 weeks this DVD solidified what other methods could not do for them in a year! Even my 3 yr old shouts out the answers to some of the quiz questions! Of course she doesn't understand what she's learning yet, but when her time comes, learning her multiplication facts will be painless and easy :) Definitely recommend this program to anyone who has stressed over drilling boring multiplication facts into their kids! You WILL Love it! :)" -ML

"I can’t even imagine how many less papers my 5th grade teacher would have had to grade if we had this in my elementary school! We did multiplication drills every single day during our 2nd semester! Using this DVD really beats that." - Celena J.

Times Tales Animated DVD & Printable Worksheets

Times Tales teaches kids the upper times tables without rote memorization. Students can simply follow along with the entertaining story. As they progress, they'll be guided into associating the stories they've learned with real math. You can always find the Times Tales DVD at a discount on Educents.com!

More Activities to Practice Multiplication:

This hands-on activity uses legos to reinforce multiplication facts. 

Source: SchoolTimesSnippet

Early Multiplication: Grouping with Legos by School Time Snippets - Kristina and her son practice multiplications using Legos!

Multiplication Rap DVD - Kids discover what multiplication is all about, learn facts through 12, and practice skip counting.

Superhero Flash Cards - A series of self-checking multiplication and division flash cards with a fun superhero theme.

Visual way to teach multiplication to your student. 

Source: Lemon Lime Adventures

Patterned Multiplication Circles by Lemon Lime Adventures - Dayna and her 7-year old use this visual way to learn multiplication. This math craftivity is fun for all ages!

Musical Math with Sue Dickson’s Songs that Teach - This program makes memorizing the facts easy, sure, and fun with catchy songs that allow students to master the facts in no time!

30 Multiplication Facts Printable Worksheets - This low-cost packet includes 30 printable worksheets, 143 flash cards, six vocabulary word cards, and a multiplication chart.

A+ Math Multiplication Unit - Build a strong foundation in math with A+ Interactive Math’s multiplication unit.

2016 Reading List

Do you make a reading list for yourself at the beginning of the new year? I have seen several people do this, and there are always reading challenges floating around in the blogosphere. Anne over at Modern Mrs. Darcy put up her 2016 Reading Challenge, which involves reading twelve different books in twelve different categories over twelve months. That sounds reasonable, doesn't it?

My issue is this: I have a reading list aversion. If I make a reading list, I no longer want to read the books on it. It's fairly ridiculous, actually. I have no idea why this is.

This year, though. I've done it. I've made a list, and have hopefully left some room on it for books I haven't met yet. In fact, I've already gone on a rabbit trail and checked out five books from the library.

I was having a hard time deciding if I wanted to focus on C.S. Lewis or Shakespeare. Someone shared a challenge on Facebook to read all of Shakespeare's works in a year. I was tempted; I've been enjoying Shakespeare with my girls, but I haven't read lots of what he wrote. However - that's a LOT of Shakespeare. I'm not sure I'd have time to read much else. Honestly, I know myself. There is no way I would read only Shakespeare for an entire year.

I'm part of a Facebook group of passionate book people, and they have reading events all the time. This year, I signed up for four year-long events in which we will explore different authors, genres, or concepts.

The first group is a C.S. Lewis group. C.S. Lewis wrote so many more books than I ever knew! He wrote fantasy, science fiction, Christian books, scholarly books, poetry... it boggles the mind. In my group we are planning to read the following:

• Surprised By Joy
• Mere Christianity
• The Four Loves
• The Abolition of Man
• The Weight of Glory
• Poems

I'm also planning to re-read the Chronicles of Narnia, because it's been a while, and I love them.

The second group is a Shakespeare group. We will read the following:

• Julius Caesar
• The Taming of the Shrew
• Henry V

As it turns out, I haven't read any of those yet. I'm excited to explore some new-to-me Shakespeare and not feel overwhelmed by the selections.

The third group is a survey of American Character. We were originally going to start with a biography of Abigail Adams (wife of John Adams, 2nd U.S. President), but it seems the group didn't like some of the assumptions made by the author. Instead, they decided to read John Adams by David McCullough. 

Have you seen that book? It is 752 pages long.

SEVEN HUNDRED FIFTY TWO PAGES.

Do you know what my response has been to this book, every single time I've considered reading it? "Why? Why would someone write a book that long? And why would anyone want to read it?" Don't I sound scholarly and well-read? Ha.

It's actually on the Ambleside Online list for the year my girls are in, but I didn't assign it. They wouldn't have had time for much else, even had I broken it out over the whole year. It's supposed to be an excellent book. Here's hoping it is, because I will never finish it if it isn't a rip-roaring good read. 

Thanks for letting me get that out. 

The list of books for the American Character group is:

• John Adams, by David McCullough
• The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin (my girls ARE reading this one)
• Marmee and Louisa by Eve LaPlante
• The Wright Brothers by David McCullough (this one isn't nearly as long, and I'm grateful)

The last group is a Science Fiction/Fantasy group, and I'm most excited about this one. Fantasy is my favorite genre. I'm learning, thanks to Charlotte Mason, how important it is to read other things, but if I had my druthers, I'd read fantasy all the time. In this group, I'm only re-reading one book, which is pretty exciting to me. Here's our list:

• A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L'Engle OR Dragonflight by Anne McCaffrey
• A Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood OR Foundation by Isaac Asimov
• The Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams OR The Princess Bride by William Goldman
• Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card OR Alas Babylon by Pat Frank

I'm hoping to read both selections each time, since I haven't read any of them before (except A Wrinkle in Time).  Although I've read it more than once, it feels like a new experience in many ways, even as it feels like returning to an old friend.

I confess, I'm feeling a bit trepidatious about this reading list thing. I'm excited, though, because I'm reading most of the books on my list with other people. I love to talk to other people who love books like I do!

In addition to the books for the events in my Facebook group, I have been eyeballing books on the lists of last year's reading from a couple of my favorite people: Liz Cottrill at Living Books Library, and Nancy Kelly at Sage Parnassus. If you're looking for possible reading selections, check out their lists. 

Winter Nature Study: Conifers

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"Conifers" by They Might Be Giants

When we lived in North Carolina, my friend Sara led us through a nature study lesson on conifers (cone-bearing trees). To be honest, I thought of them all as "pine trees." Before I moved to the South, I called them evergreens, too. They are evergreens, but so are magnolias! I knew there were different kinds, of course; there were blue spruce trees, for example, because we had them as Christmas trees sometimes when I was growing up. I knew the Michigan state tree was the Eastern white pine, and that the loblolly pine is the state tree of North Carolina. I hadn't put much thought into the differences between different kinds of conifers, though. Between studying with Sara, and researching on my own, I learned a lot!

Because many of the conifers in North Carolina were the same ones I'd seen growing up in Michigan, I was familiar with them already and it wasn't too hard to determine their species. In Colorado, though, the trees are very different, and I'm still learning the specific kinds. As I was preparing for this post, I learned that there are TONS of kinds used in landscaping that aren't found in the wild, which means I won't necessarily be able to identify them with my tree books. Alas!

If you haven't done a general study of trees before, you might want to look into that a little bit as you begin looking at conifers. The Handbook of Nature Study has a great lesson on trees. I also have posts on the Year Round Homeschooling blog, about starting a tree study and studying trees in the winter time.

When we studied conifers specifically, we learned how to tell the difference between pine, spruce, and fir trees.

Pine trees are pretty simple: if the needles come off the branches in groups of 2 (red pines), 3 (yellow pines) or 5 (white pines), it is a pine tree. Spruce and fir trees have single needles that come directly off their branches.

 Pine trees tend to lose their lower branches, where firs and spruces keep them (unless they are pruned). When you look at a pine cone, its scales are tough and woody.

Telling the difference between spruces and firs takes a little more work. Here's a little cheat sheet: 

Firs:

• Needles are flat. If you pull one off and try to roll it between your fingers, it won't be easy to do. 
• Fir needles grow directly onto the branch, so when they fall off, the branch is smooth.

Spruces:

• Needles are four-sided, and will roll easily between your fingers.  
• Needles are attached to small, woody projections on their branches, so the branches are bumpy. 

Spruce and fir cones have scales that are thin, almost papery.

Here are some pictures, so you can compare the branches:

I am not sure what kinds of pine trees I have there, but I believe the fir is a White Fir, because of the fissures left in the branch from the pitch pockets. The spruce branch is from a Colorado Blue Spruce that grows in my yard.

Look around and see what kinds of conifer trees you have nearby! Is there one you can study outside? If not, do you have a "real" Christmas tree in your house? If you do, it's probably a spruce or a fir tree. Can you tell which one it is? And, don't forget, you can easily make pine cone bird feeders to help out your feathered friends this winter!

The Handbook of Nature Study, my very favorite resource for nature study, has sections on the pine (recommending studying a white pine if possible), the Norway spruce, and the hemlock tree.

Resources:

• Website: Tree Leaf Key: Spruce, Fir or Hemlock
• Website: The Native Trees of Colorado (Do a web search on conifers in your state. Many states have information pages.)
• Post from Elemental Science: Inside The Cone 
• Video: How to Identify Pine Trees
• Video: How to Identify Spruce Trees
• Book: Handbook of Nature Study (Paperback or Kindle)
• Book: Trees, Leaves & Bark (Take Along Guides) (There are several of these Take-Along Guides, and they're worth getting, especially for young children!)
• The two nature guides I have are Trees of Colorado and the Peterson Field Guide to Western Trees (here's a link to the Eastern version).

Over at Year Round Homeschooling today, I have a post about Christmas trees - a little history, some science ideas, and some craft ideas. Head over there and check it out! And, as my gift to you, please enjoy this free Conifer Copywork ebook. Put some of the quotes in your nature journal if you like.

Also, my friend Jennifer has a wonderful website called Advent Idea Box, with great information and resources for the Advent season.

Fall Nature Crafts and a Tutorial

Today over at Year Round Homeschooling, I've shared a roundup of some terribly cute crafts I found while searching the internet for what on earth to do with my son's immense collection of pinecones. We also can't seem to help picking up pretty fall leaves, and of course, I love finding different types of acorns. We end up with piles of each, which drives my poor husband a bit batty, and they tend to get pitched out into the yard. That's fine, but I was hoping to find something we could do with some of them, at least. My son LOVES to do crafts!

When you read my post over at YRH, you will see that one of the crafts involves making snowy owls from pine cones. I got the idea from this post at Open-Ended Art For Children, but she didn't give a lot of detail - the words "self-explanatory" are involved. I...don't really do self-explanatory. Heh. I also found these instructions, which are better, but not what I did (of course). When I started making them, I decided to share my own little tutorial, just in case you are craft-challenged like I am. If you're not, carry on! Nothing to see here!

These things are blessedly simple to make, really. You need a few basic things:

• Pine cones (If you really want to make these and somehow don't have pine cones, you can find them at any craft store)
• Cotton balls, shredded into bits of fluff (kids love to do this)
• Pipe cleaners or felt
• Googly eyes
• Glue (regular white glue is fine)

For the beak and wings, I used pipe cleaners, so I'm sharing instructions for that. 

Wrap a half a brown pipe cleaner around your pine cone so that the extra ends are in front. (I cut my pipe cleaner with craft scissors. Any scissors will work, just don't use your fabric scissors.)

Twist the pipe cleaner together once so it will stay in place, and fold the ends in so they form the beak.

Next, wrap a full white pipe cleaner around the middle of the pine cone, starting at the front and going all the way around the back, so that the white ends stick out at the side. 

Fold the ends in to look like wings. The pine cone I used was a larger than I thought, so this owl's wings are a bit short. We will call him an owlet.

Now, add your fluff. It didn't take me very long to decide I wanted to use a pencil to push the fluff into the spaces. Pine cones are prickly. Make sure you put lots of cotton in the places where you'd like your eyes to go. That will give you a somewhat solid surface to glue them.

Once your owl is fluffed add the eyes. I put the glue directly onto the owl rather than trying to put it on the back of the little googly eyes.

Once your eyes are on, you're finished!

You can make your owls look however you like. We chose some different colors and styles of googly eyes, for example. Did you know that a group of owls is called a parliament? 

REVIEW: Popular Purple Pencil Sharpener

Don't you just love alliteration? I do. It's such fun. It has nothing to do with anything about this pencil sharpener, but I do love the name: Popular Purple.

I was recently sent one of these lovely things from Classroom Friendly Supplies, so that I could review it and share my honest opinion with you. I reviewed a similar, but red pencil sharpener last year. The red one works very well, but it is not my favorite color. The purple one works just as well, and has the added bonus of being PURPLE, which is one of my favorite colors. It has won a special place in my heart.

I have to believe every person knows the value of having a good pencil sharpener. I didn't give it nearly as much thought until I started homeschooling, though. It is not easy to find a good pencil sharpener these days. There are entire threads on homeschool message boards about which pencil sharpeners are best. I'm here to tell you, the ones from Classroom Friendly Supplies are what you've been seeking, even if you didn't know you needed one!

My kids love these sharpeners. They create what they call "pencils of death." What that means is, one gets an exceptionally sharpened pencil, which is a lovely way to start your math problems. It's almost as if you have a weapon in hand to conquer those algebra equations.

I do have one of the old-fashioned pencil sharpeners - the kind we used to have in school classrooms, with all the different-sized holes on a little disk you could spin around. The issue with that one is that it really needs to be screwed into a wall, and I never could decide where I wanted it to go. We managed to use it, but it could be frustrating. The Classroom Friendly pencil sharpener comes with a clamp, allowing you to attach it to a table or desk, but you can also just use it on its own. Once you have the pencil inserted for sharpening, there is no need to hold onto it, because the mechanism of the sharpener moves the pencil ahead for you. Once the pencil is perfectly sharpened, it stops sharpening. (If you happen to have a good place to affix your Popular Purple Pencil Sharpener, you can purchase a permanent mounting plate and put it there!)

I would like to note here that with my ebony pencil, which did fit into the sharpener but is a little bit thicker than a standard pencil, it kept on sharpening until I pulled it out. Also, we have some fun pencils with brightly colored cores that seem to be just a hint thicker than standard, probably because of the coating on the outside, and they didn't stop quite as well as plain ol' yellow pencils.

My only issue with this sharpener remains that it only works for standard-sized pencils. I have a little guy, and he enjoys using those fat pencils for little kids, you know? You can't sharpen those with the fabulous purple pencil sharpener. They do, however, have the amazing Large Hole Sharpener, which works on large AND standard size pencils.

Each pencil sharpener from Classroom Friendly Supplies is $24.99, unless you get some friends together and order 3 or more, at which point you can receive quantity discounts. You can order replacement blades for them, too, as well as replacement shavings trays, in case yours gets broken or misplaced. The exception is the Car Pencil Sharpener, which is $19.99, and does not have replaceable blades.

I do love my CFS pencil sharpeners, and I hope you will check them out!

Connect with Classroom Friendly Supplies:

• Facebook
• YouTube
• Pinterest

I received one purple pencil sharpener for the purpose of my review, and received no other compensation. All opinions are entirely my own.

Don Henley In Denver

Tuesday night, my husband and I went to see Don Henley at the Bellco Theater in Denver, CO. It was a bit of a fluke, actually. My daughter was looking at the paper last Friday, and saw a little ad for the concert. She looked up the ticketing site. I was on my way to the dentist, so I asked my husband to get the tickets, but he had some trouble with their system. I ended up booking them on my phone while my very patient dental assistant waited for me to complete the transaction. I did apologize to her for my rudeness, but she did understand when I told her the show was Tuesday.

In case you don't recognize the name, Don Henley of the founding members of the Eagles. He's the lead singer on songs like "Best of My Love," "Hotel California," and "Desperado." He's one of my all-time favorite singers, and when we discovered last week he was coming to Denver, I was so excited! We got the tickets and I downloaded Henley's new album, just released September 25th, Cass County. {aff link}

When Mr. Henley came out on stage, he said, "I'm in the Mile High City, and feeling every inch." I laughed in complete sympathy! Its a killer when you're not used to it. He commented a couple of times throughout the evening that he was struggling with the altitude, but it didn't affect his performance. He never sat down, even though the last time we saw the Eagles they sat for an acoustic set during the concert. His voice was top-notch - he hasn't lowered the keys of any of his tunes (trust me, I sing along with them all the time; I would have noticed), and he sounds as fabulous as ever.

Here's the playlist:

• Seven Bridges Road (This was the only Eagles song. His entire band can SING, and they did a beautiful job.)
• No, Thank You (this one makes me laugh, and I love it)
• Heart of the Matter (probably my favorite song, ever)
• Praying for Rain
• That Old Flame
• The End of the Innocence (written with Bruce Hornsby, which I didn't know until last night, but seems so obvious now that I do)

He said these next four were in honor of Halloween coming up at the end of the month:

• She Sang Hymns Out of Tune
• I Put A Spell On You (Originally by Jay Hawkins)
• Burn Down the Cornfield (can't say as I'm glad to be acquainted with this song - it's creepy)
• New York Minute

And then back to our regularly scheduled program:

• Dirty Laundry (this was the favorite song of the woman sitting next to me, and it was her birthday)
• Take A Picture of This (He said this is about the phases a marriage goes through, and it doesn't have a happy ending)
• Words Can Break Your Heart
• Last Worthless Evening
• When I Stop Dreaming
• The Cost of Living
• Bramble Rose
• It Don't Matter to the Sun
• Too Much Pride
• Everybody Wants to Rule the World (never thought I'd hear him sing a Tears for Fears song, of all things, but he rocked it)
• Train in the Distance
• All She Wants to Do Is Dance

It was a fantastic evening. I thought I did a pretty good job of writing down the list of songs in the dark. I like to do that so I can put the songs into a playlist for my girls. They like Don Henley, too. 

The stage show was kept pretty simple: no pyrotechnics or crazy lights. There were several old radios hanging down from the ceiling, and before the show opened, a light would shine on one of them and a snippet of an old song would play. It was a snapshot of (popular) music history. It was fun to hear the crowd singing along with some of them when the music changed. The volume was at at a great level, too–loud enough so you couldn't hear anyone else singing, but not so loud that I couldn't hear when the show was over. I know, I know, "if it's too loud, I'm too old," but after years of sitting next to the drum line in my college marching band, and some rock concerts without ear plugs, I appreciate the hearing I have left, thanks.

There were three lovely young women singing backup, and they each performed one of the duets with him from the new album. They were amazing. I wish I could remember their names, because I'd tell you to listen for them on the music scene. I have to believe they have long careers ahead of them.

If anyone had asked my opinion before the concert began, I would have suggested they play more of his older stuff.  I'd have loved another Eagles song or two. However, he did sing "Heart of the Matter," which was really my only requirement (and it was all about ME - ha). Don showed, again, what a talented and versatile musician he is. He can do it all - country, rock, folk, blues, you name it.

A brief review of the album: this is a country record. It's much different than any of his previous solo work, but if you know much of the Eagles' music, there is a country feel to many of their songs. Don Henley grew up in Texas, and wanted to explore the musical history and culture there. There are many guest appearances, including Miranda Lambert, Mick Jagger (yes, you read that right), Merle Haggard, and others. I wasn't sure I liked the album at first, but it's growing on me. It helps that we saw the show, because now I have memories associated with most of the songs.

I'm so glad we got to go! I considered not posting this, because I thought, "this has nothing to do with homeschooling!" It does, though, because it reminds me that I have a life, and things I enjoy outside of my children. It's an important part of keeping myself sane. I do love to go to concerts. Do you? What's been your favorite show?

Reviewsio: Great Opportunity for Bloggers!

I love Amazon. I love my Prime membership, and *love* that I can get most books I need in 2 days with that fabulous free shipping. As a homeschooler, that's been a lifesaver more than once. Also, as we live far away from family, it's the easiest way to send gifts. I am frequently surprised by what one can purchase from Amazon.

Now, they are launching a new review program: Reviewsio! Here's how it works: sellers know their business improves with positive reviews, their business improves. You browse the products available for review, and once you're approved for the review, you will receive a code that allows you to order the product from Amazon for a discount or FREE. In exchange for your review, you receive points which you can then redeem for Amazon gift cards.

I love writing reviews, and I love free stuff, so this sounds like a win-win to me. If you have a blog, I encourage you to check it out!

The link above is my affiliate link. I will receive Reviewsio points if you sign up through my link, but no other compensation. 

New Adventures

My family and I recently moved from North Carolina to Colorado. Lots of big changes! One of the things I'm most excited about is all the new nature study opportunities we have here. We've already seen some things that are brand new to us!

Today on the Year Round Homeschooling blog, check out my post on our very first new discoveries in Colorado.

Got Nature Study?

You know, sometimes homeschool moms need a little help getting started with new things. Nature study can seem a little intimidating at first - I know it did to me! Or, maybe you're in need of a more structured plan to keep things going when life gets busy.

Today over at Year Round Homeschooling, my post is a Nature Study Curriculum Roundup. I've collected a list of things you might find helpful, so do go over and check it out!

Guest Post at In All You Do

Today over at In All You Do, please check out my post that discusses how we use the Moravian Daily Texts in our homeschool for Bible study. It's part of the 30 Days of Bible series, and I encourage you to read along with us this month!

REVIEW: Motivate Your Child Action Plan

A while back, I reviewed Motivate Your Child, an amazing book by Dr. Scott Turansky and Joanne Miller. I am thrilled to be a part of the launch team for their latest book, Motivate Your Child Action Plan!  The Action Plan stands alone as a great tool for parents, and of course, goes perfectly with what they share in Motivate Your Child.

The books published by the National Center for Biblical Parenting, including the Motivate Your Child Action Plan, advocate heart parenting. Parents are encouraged to address the heart of a child, rather than only their behavior, and to be proactive in helping them become the person God created them to be. This approach is necessarily unique to each child, because each child is so different.

Motivate Your Child Action Plan is designed to help parents find the steps to help their child work through things they need to change. This book is set up like a workbook, and helps you figure out exactly what you need to do to address an issue with a child. There isn't a lot of writing - there are places for you to write, if you'd like. I have more than one child and more than one issue to address, so I do any writing in a separate notebook. In fact, writing things down has been key for me, because I tend to forget easily what has been discussed, and if we are going to have a plan and I am going to be consistent with helping them work through the plan, I'm going to need a written record of it. I'd never thought about writing things like this down before, and it's been very helpful.

There are twelve chapters in the book, and they average approximately 10 pages each. Additionally, there are 12 audio recordings,  one to accompany each chapter - the download instructions are in the book. You will learn how to identify specific areas in your child's character that need to be addressed, and work with them to strategize ways they can make changes. I love that the focus is on having the parent and child work as a team. We're also encouraged to pray for and with our children, and meet with them throughout the process. It's so important to maintain that connection. Also, parents are encouraged to review how things are going as they work with their children, and make any adjustments to what they're doing as needed.

There is a great deal of wisdom throughout this entire book, but my favorite quote is this:

Don't confuse firmness with harshness. Firmness draws a line that says, "This is not optional." Harshness adds emotional intensity to show that you mean business. Harshness damages the relationship and isn't necessary. (64; ch. 5). 

That one section speaks directly to my heart. I have a hard time keeping harshness out of my tone. It's something I've worked hard on over the years, and the only way I made any progress was to turn it over to the Lord and let the Holy Spirit work in my heart. I see the same thing now in one of my children. We are talking about it, working on it together. In fact, I showed them that quote, and pointed out that they tend toward harshness, particularly in dealing with another sibling. They are learning to turn to God, too, and listen to the prompting of the Holy Spirit.

As wonderful as my children are, I can see in each of them issues we need to address. I haven't been sure how to go about that. I am pretty good at seeing the big picture: I can generally see what needs to change. I'm often stymied, though, when it comes to figuring out exactly how to accomplish those changes. As they say, the devil is in the details, and I am not always good with the details. That's where this book comes in: it helps me think through each part of the process, and remember that change isn't going to happen overnight. I'm learning more about how to be the mother my children need. Thank you, Dr. Turansky and Mrs. Miller, for sharing your work.

Purchasing options: 

If you order the Motivate Your Child Action Plan book through the National Center for Biblical Parenting before May 31, 2015, you can get it for $29.95 - 25% off the regular price of the book.

If you don't have the Motivate Your Child book, yet, and you'd like to get it along with the MYC Action Plan, you can order them together for $36.99 and save 35%!

You can also purchase the ebook version of MYC Action Plan for $9.99 for Kindle, Nook and iBooks.

Motivate Your Child Action Plan GIVEAWAY!

I am thrilled to be part of the launch team for the Motivate Your Child Action Plan book release! I recently reviewed the book Motivate Your Child by Scott Turansky and Joanne Miller, which I loved, and this book is the companion volume, and is intended to walk parents through laying out a plan to work through issues with their children. My review is coming soon! In the meantime, be sure to enter the:

 

To celebrate the release of Motivate Your Child Action Plan, we are joining other members of the Launch Team in a wonderful giveaway filled with an iPod Touch, $50 iTunes Gift Card and several biblical parenting products! A value of nearly $350! Here's what you could win: 

Apple iPod touch 16GB Black/Silver  ($195 value)  

• In the Box - iPod Touch, Apple EarPods, Lightning to USB cable, QuickStart guide
• Brilliant 4 Retina display with Multi-Touch IPS technology
• Front-Facing FaceTime camera with 1.2MP photos & 720p HD video recording.  
• iOS 6 features - Siri, Apple Designed Maps, Integrated Facebook, Shared Photo Streams, Passbook & more

iTunes Gift Card ($50 value)

 Because you'll need apps and music for that iPod Touch!

The Christian Parenting Handbook and Companion Guide ($56.95 value) 

The Christian Parenting Handbook contains nuggets of parenting wisdom condensed into 50 short chapters, each one biblical, practical, and relevant for parents of children ages 2-18. Learn appropriate ways to correct, instruct, and set limits. Glean wisdom for dealing with emotions, conflict, and developing closeness in your family… and much more. These 50 strategies provide you with hands-on tools for parenting children of any age.  The Companion Guide is a workbook of 50 lessons along with 50 audio tips to take you through The Christian Parenting Handbook step by step. Each lesson contains advice from Dr Scott Turansky and Joanne Miller in a 5 minute audio tip and then offers teaching, an assignment, a Bible verse, and a prayer to help you apply each idea or strategy in your family. The tips are available to you as MP3 downloads and access to them comes in the workbook.

Family Time Activities Book Bundle ($45 value)

Your kids will have fun learning about God's Word and how it applies to their lives. Science experiments, art activities, and games are all designed to reinforce spiritual truth. Each lesson is clear and simple, yet profound even for parents! You'll teach kids how exciting it is to learn about God and his ways. Your kids will love these books, but more importantly you'll build spiritual memories of Family Time in your home. Titles in this giveaway include: 

•   Seeing Is Believing  
•   Playing for Keeps  
•   Running the Race 

Enter the Giveaway using the Rafflecopter below! This giveaway is open INTERNATIONALLY to those 18 years of age or older. Void where prohibited by law.

a Rafflecopter giveaway 

Join us for the Action Plan Facebook Party on Wednesday, May 20 at 9:00PM ET. There will be even more prizes and giveaways there and the authors of Action Plan will be present to answer your questions! The winner of this giveaway will be announced at the Facebook party!

RSVP here for the Party! 

Hearts for Home Blog Hop - March 5

It's time for the Hearts for Home Blog Hop!

The most clicked post from last week was My Little Pony Trays from Montessori Madness.

Some others you might enjoy:

• 10 Ways to Learn (Without a Textbook) from A Nest in the Rocks
• Baby Squirrel Out of the Nest from Gentle Joy Photography - great for nature study!
• 5 Tips for Pencil Grasp Development from Learning2Walk

An InLinkz Link-up