Homeschool Closet Giveaway

Welcome to my Homeschool Closet Giveaway--

Acts 20:35b
— “[T]he Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’
”
Valerie at Little Blots had this great idea for Homeschool Closet Giveaway (click the graphic to the right for her link) and I just LOVE It! What a generous and amazing idea!!

I realize we are about a week behind the other giveaways- but think of it as a "2nd chance to win." :) :)

Listed below are the "shelves" I have to giveaway. Simply leave a comment on my blog with which shelves you are interested in and I will draw a winner this Friday, September 19th.

While you're here, check out some of my free schedules, forms, ideas and other homeschooling "helps." As well as our nature studies which really are the heart of my blog! :)

Shelf 1: Gently used set of Bob Jones Kindergarten "Beginnings" paper books. These were given to me by a dear friend that uses the BJU program. We school based on the Charlotte Mason method so we do not use BJU - however - they are still cute little readers for your younger student. My girls enjoyed "practicing" with the readers even though we do not use the program. As I said, they are gently used, some have the child's name written on the back in the certificate spot but otherwise GREAT condition ;).



This set includes 32 full-color readers which correlate with K5 Beginnings.
In all of the twelve page readers, you'll find one selection each of Bible
accounts, family stories, information books, and literature selections. The
"Reading Guide" in each reader gives parents advice on how to help beginning readers.


Shelf 2: Another BJU set that was passed along to me. The BJU 1st grade readers set. These are in GREAT, gently used condition. These are nice readers as well, even if you do not use the BJU program.


The six Student Texts contain a variety of colorfully illustrated stories, poems, plays, and articles.
A - Colors Glowing
B - Feathers, Fins, and Fur
C - Helping Hands
D - A Day to Remember
E - Hear the Music
F - Treasures to Keep

Shelf 3: Gently used (no marks or any bends) - "The Mudpies Activity Book- Recipes for Invention" by Nancy Blakey. Kids age 2-12.

Shelf 4: Set of 3 science readers. This shelf includes a prior library book, "Experiments with Animal Behavior" by Ovid K Wong; Scholastic "Butterflies" book (very simple, easy book- great for prek - k); Hello Reader! Level 4, "Armies of Ants" by Walter Retan. I will mention on the "Armies of Ants" book- there are mentions of "hundreds of thousands of years ago". Just a warning. You can easily skip over this part but I wanted to ensure it was pointed out.

So those are my 4 shelves for this week. I think this is such an amazing idea that we may continue it once a week or so. We have so many books laying around and its wonderful to be able to pass them along when we're finished! I think this is such a blessing!

Please comment before midnight on 9/19/08 and I will email the winners letting them know they've won. My son has a sparring tournament on Saturday so please bear with me as I get the emails out this weekend. :) Good luck!

In His Name,

Tiffany

Romans 12:13 — “Share with God’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.”

Poetry - FREE schedule, copywork, etc -Christina Rossetti

I started this blog in order to complete Barb's wonderful "Outdoor Hour Challenges". I fell in love with blogging and all of the other wonderful homeschooling families who enjoy Nature Study as much as we do! I have also found an AMAZING bond with other families who use the Charlotte Mason style of education in their homes.

With that - I have decided to combine my website and 2 blogs into one. I wanted to share more of our homeschool, Charlotte Mason "ish" ideas and plans, my faith in the Lord, and in general, the lifestyle that comes along with all of it. I also wanted to make things easier on myself ;) so I'm going to have it all here on one blog. I didn't want to change the name of the blog entirely and get lost by those families we enjoy so much so I'm just adding, "...and more..." to the title and off we go with it. :)

The first new things I'm adding/transferring over are forms, schedules, ideas, and curriculum/literature we are using in our homeschool. I wanted to start with poetry since this is a piece I was working on last week. I hope you find the poetry schedule and forms helpful! :)

Here please find a guideline idea sheet/ 5 day plan for poetry that we use.

Here I have placed our schedule for poets and poems - Term 1 & 2 are complete.

"It is good to store a child’s memory with a good deal of poetry
learnt without labour." Charlotte Mason

During our first term we are going to study Christina Rossetti. My children love her poetry about nature and I love how her faith in the Lord is apparent. Please feel to use my free Christina Rossetti notebook page -find it here.

Here is a photographic version of Rossetti's, "The Rose"

Copywork for, "The Caterpillar" is found here. I tried to leave enough room in between each line/stanza for the student to copy the line above. I hope you enjoy it.

For younger students- you may want to try this copywork form of, "The Caterpillar". It has the hollow style font which allows them to trace within the words rather than copying on their own. I am breaking this down for my kiddos by a few lines a day. Simply give them a few lines or delete the rest of the poem or copy and paste into different word documents to provide the appropriate amount of work for that day.

Biographical Information on Rosetti is here.

Here is a portrait of Rossetti by her brother Dante Gabriel Rossetti.

I will add more Rossetti copywork and links as we come to them in our studies. I hope these help you in your own homeschool! :)

Interview with Rick Warren- Worth Sharing

Interview with Rick WarrenQuote from above article:

Life is a series of problems: Either you are in one now, you're just coming out of one or you're getting ready to go into another one. The reason for this is that God is more interested in your character than your comfort. God is more interested in making your life holy than He is in making your life happy. We can be reasonably happy here on earth, but that's not the goal of life: The goal is to grow in character, In Christ-likeness.This past year has been the greatest year of my life but also the toughest, with my wife,Kay, getting cancer. I used to think that life was hills and valleys - you go through a dark time, then you got to the mountaintop, back and forth. I don't believe that anymore. Rather than life being hills and valleys, I believ'e that it's kind of like two rails on a railroad track, and at all times you have something good and something bad in your life. No matter how good things are inyour life, there is always something bad that needs to be worked on.And no matter how bad things are in your life, there is always something good you can thank God for. You can focus on your purposes, or you can focus on your problems. If you focus on your problems, you're going into self-centeredness, "which is my problem, my issues, my pain." But one of the easiest ways to get rid of pain is to get your focus off yourself and onto God and others.

Scripture Du Jour- "I'm Afraid of the Dark"

Considering the present health concerns and fears going on in my own family- as usual Mrs. Terri Ferrell's "Scripture Du Jour" this morning spoke to my heart. It never seems to fail that no matter what joy or sorrow or good times or difficult times are going on in my life - Terri's emails "hit the spot"! I thank God for Terri and her wonderful daily emails. If you are interested in recieving her emails for yourself, simply email her at midwsunbeam@afo.net

"I’M AFRAID OF THE DARK"
To Read: Proverbs 12:1-8

We continue thinking about the fact that, as soon as the psalmist considered the end of the ungodly, everything dropped into focus. Their true position became so clear to him that his language in the rest of the psalm indicates that he not only ceased to be envious of the ungodly, but began to be sorry for them. Indeed, the same thing will happen to us too – the more we focus on the ultimate end of the unconverted, the more compassion we will feel for them.

How grim and cheerless is the non-Christian view of life, especially as it relates to the end. Dr. Marrett, a rationalist and head of one of the colleges in Oxford, wrote, as he neared the end of his life: "I have nothing to look forward to but chill autumn and still chillier winter and yet I must somehow try not to lose heart." H.G. Wells, who ridiculed and scoffed at Christianity with its doctrine of sin and salvation, said at the end of his life that he was utterly baffled and bewildered. The title of his last book summed up his view of things: A Mind at the End of its Tether. A noted atheist, when he was dying, asked one of his relatives for a lighted candle to be placed in his hand. "Why a lighted candle?" asked the concerned relative. "Because I am afraid to go out into the dark," was the reply.

How foolish to look enviously at the lifestyle of the ungodly, focusing only on their present successes and the marvelous time they seem to be having, without considering their end. We should never forget that no matter how glittering their lifestyle, the death of the ungodly is a terrible thing.

Prayer
O Father, let this sobering thought not only free me from envy but stimulate within me a deep concern for those who do not know You. May I be used in someway to halt the progress of someone on the road to a lost eternity. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

Further Study
1 Timothy 6:1-10; Psalm 49:10; Proverbs 23:5; 27:24

What truth did Paul reflect to Timothy?
How does the same truth affect the way we live our lives?

Dear Sisters and Brothers,
"Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him; do not fret because of him who prospers in his way, because of the man who brings wicked schemes to pass. Case from anger, and forsake wrath; do not fret - it only causes harm. For evildoers shall be cut off; but those who wait on the Lord, they shall inherit the earth. For yet a little while and the wicked shall be no more; indeed, you will look carefully for his place, but it shall b e no more. But the meek shall inherit the earth, and delight themselves in the abundance of peace" (Psalm 37:7-11).

This Scripture text was so good I could not just put down a small part of it. Note the advice given to the godly "do not fret…cease from anger, and forsake wrath; do not fret – it only causes harm". Why should we worry and stew and steam over what appears to be unjust and unfair? Is not our God reigning right now? Is He not in control? What should we worry? Better to be concerned for the unsaved in the world. How can you reach out to them?

As for fearing death and the beyond, I can speak to that from personal experience. Before I was saved by and for the Lord, I used to fear most everything. When my husband went on work trips, I would lie awake at nights wincing at every creak the house made and almost jumping out of my skin when our cat leaped on the bed to spend the night with me. I could almost hear the footsteps of an intruder and kept my security alarm on the bedside table. Fear was my constant companion in the dark. Now I can sleep with confidence and security, because "God is my refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore [I] will not fear" (Psalm 46:1-2).

Blessed be the Name of the Lord!

In the precious Name of Jesus,
Terri

"Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve...but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." Joshua 24: 15