Category Archives: Project 365

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Books, Project 365, Works for Me Wednesday

WFMW–Bible Devotional Favorites

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WFMW

Last week I shared a few of my favorite homeschooling books and programs. This Wednesday I thought it might be interesting to begin a discussion on devotional Bible books for children. I am a true bibliophile or bookworm and have an insatiable thirst for new books, novels, textbooks, tomes, and other works of fiction or non-fiction. I’ve never met a book sale or book store that didn’t call my name, usually loudly. Our family is continually on the search for inspiring and character/life changing devotionals. Over the years we have filled our shelves with excellent reading material.

When I showed my tall stack of books for today’s post to Tim, his eyes widened and he suggested, oh so gently, that I cull my list a bit. Gasp! How could I possibly do such a thing. As it is, I’m sure I am going to forget a precious gem, a beloved favorite, a truly powerful and influential devotional. How could I possibly leave one out??

Hearing a comment like that really makes you wonder what kind of person you married. Sigh.

Never fear, instead of scaling the collection of reviews back, I decided to break the blog into pieces. I’d hate to bore anyone to pieces with paragraphs and paragraphs of book discussion any more than I want to ignore a beloved devotional. Come back during the week for additional conversation.

I sincerely hope you find some new treasures in our collection as well as recognize a few old friends. Please, please, please leave a comment with the names of some of your own personal favorites. I still have room on my shelves for more books. :)

Bible Devotionals for Younger Children

David (age 6 1/2), Sarah (age 5), and I are currently working our way through The Children’s Every Day Bible illustrated by Anna C. Leplar. The stories are succinct, colorful and aimed for kindergarten to 4th grade.
bible

After we read our Bible story for the day (or multiple stories, if we are, ahem, behind) we turn to a devotional book. There are several little books we enjoy throughout the week. Right now are just about finished with My ABC Bible Verses – Hiding God’s Word in Little Hearts by Susan Hunt. Each letter of the alphabet has a corresponding verse. The verse is explained in easy to understand language and then followed by a sweet story about siblings, Missy and Bill. The lessons are only two pages, and conclude with questions about the verse, a simple prayer and instructions to repeat the day’s verse and review earlier verses. I love watching David and Sarah absorb scripture and learn more about God’s Word.

some favorites

Kids-Life Devotions is an old and much-loved favorite. Joshua, Rachel and I read these stories when they were toddlers, pulling the little book off the shelf over and over the until the binding and cover were completely worn out. I was thrilled to find a copy of the book in a store here in Washington and snapped it up as fast as I could. The illustrations are creative and varied, each story has its own look and feel.

Jesus - my very best friend

This is one of David’s favorite tales.

There are many amusing children’s books that we have read and re-read over the years that reinforce godly character through their entertaining tales. The Adam Raccoon series by Glen Keane have delighted the children since Joshua was a young boy. Of course, Tim’s mother has written her own raccoon tale so we have a soft spot for raccoons in this family. Or at least books ABOUT raccoons.

The Building Christian Character series by Michael P. Waite are hysterical books, teaching lessons through silly stories and rhyme. Joshua has several lines memorized from these books as he is often called upon to read to the younger children.

silly tales in iambic pentameter

sarah's favorite

Handy-Dandy Helpful Hal, the Pooped-Out Parents’ Perfect Pal.

A recent discovery that has all the kids begging for more, is Gid the Kid and the Black Bean Bandits. I found this wonderful, entertaining treat at last month’s homeschool conference. The authors’ mother was one of the speakers. I immediately fell in love with this brilliant story, placing Gideon (Judges 6-8) in the old west. The authors and illustrators, brothers Christopher and Allan Miller, incorporated 3D computer graphics into their story-telling. The result is a fresh, vivid and appealing book. I promptly bought a copy for our family as well as one for my mother in law. I wish I had been able to afford more as this would make an excellent gift. Gid the Kid is book one in the Heroes of Promise series. We are all eagerly awaiting the next book.

david the kid

At least three of the children picked this book out of my big stack of ‘books to be reviewed’ as their personal favorite.

Stop by again for other devotional favorites and please do share some of your family’s cherished titles.

Kathy
Project 365 – Day 255

Head on over to Rocks in My Dryer for further Works for Me Wednesday links.

Some other Duckabush WFMW Posts

Homeschooling Faves
TopBlogSites
Laundry Organizer
Giant Whiteboard
Travel Outfits

Join us for our Tuesday Tips for Parenting

Calling Your Child
Creative Use for the Timer
First Time Obedience
Sermon Notes
Thorough Job
Paper Doll Crafts

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Parenting, Parenting Tips, Project 365

Tuesday Tips for Parenting – Paper Dolls

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I have four parenting tips ready and waiting in the wings. Well, they aren’t actually written yet, but the ideas are all there ready and eager to be shared with the world at large. Tim has even more tips all set to go. Between the two of us, we are definitely full of tips. We’re so bogged down in tips we’re practically tipsy.

I started writing today’s blog at least 4 times. I even got as far as one or two paragraphs. I have some cute pictures that will go perfectly with my little piece of parenting advice (once I can find them in the overwhelming chaos that is my picture file). Unfortunately I was hit with some sort of writer’s block. Parenting Writer’s Block. It’s the worse kind. Usually I plug on, blathering away on the blog, until some sort of inspiration or creativity finally hits me. At that point, I go back, start again and re-write until I get a blog that is publishable.

Rachel works away

We all went outside to bask in the sunshine. I read our school book and the children cut out paper dolls. It was perfect.

Today, however, it was not meant to be. First my sweet friend, Tina, called from Thailand. We Skype (free internet chatting) whenever we can. The headset wasn’t working on my end so I had to frantically type out instant messages to Tina telling her not to hang up but give us time to switch to a different computer. Tim was wonderful and got things working on the laptop.

Next Tim’s old Army roommate called. They haven’t spoken for over five years so there was much catching up to do. Obviously this required me to pay attention and listen. I couldn’t possibly write a blog while Tim had an old friend on the phone.

In the middle of that chat, some friends dropped by for the grand computer switcheroo. They were dropping off their (slightly broken, “please fix me”) computer and picking up an old spare of ours. It was so nice to visit with friends, unexpectedly. Since I was in the middle of my Parenting Writer’s Block, I spent a good portion of the visit bugging Holly for ideas for a quick and concise tip. Between us we have ten children, surely we should be able to come up with some fodder for an easy tip. Holly gave me a great idea and I might just ask her to come and guest write on the blog sometime.

dolls galore

After our company left, my brother Dan called. Dan is a late night telephoner and loves having our 3 hour time difference work in his favor when he’s in the mood for a chat. He can call me at midnight his time and know it’s only 9 pm here. We talked for a LONG time. He also had a good idea for a parenting tip.

Sure, everyone has great ideas but that only goes so far if I can’t ever get to the computer. :)

Now it’s close to midnight and I still haven’t shared a parenting tip. Tim is going to be appalled, “You’ve compromised the integrity of our Tuesday Tips for Parenting,” he’ll say. He’s a big one for integrity and moral high ground, especially since it’s my turn to write the tip and he’s cheerfully off in bed, sound asleep.

Today’s tip centers around an old fashioned form of entertainment – paper dolls. It’s more of a craft idea than an actual tip. My children love Polly Pockets, Littlest Pet Shop, Playmobil and toy soldiers. At the same time, there is something very appealing and satisfying about the simple paper doll. I found a wonderful website, Making Friends, that carries a basic paper doll (in various forms) that you can print (either in color or outline). The dolls are sweet and easy to cut out. After you choose a doll, there are several pages of hair styles available to print, and many outfits (in theme, season, or career).

sarah's collection

The paper dolls kept the children content and busy for a good portion of the afternoon, hours really. They worked on them while we did our Bible lessons, during our reading time and on into the evening. I was pleased to see camaraderie — sharing of dolls and outfits, helpfulness — assistance in cutting out dolls and outfits, and overall politeness in the children. They were well behaved and pleasant during the entire paper doll craft time.

Check out these dolls. I printed them out in fast draft, on cardstock. The color is richer if you print on a darker setting but fast draft conserves ink. The cardstock paper is a definite as the dolls are flimsy otherwise. Get out the scissors and be prepared to do quite a bit of cutting.

cutting away

David and Daniel enjoyed the activity a much as their sisters.

Enjoy and come back for some other deep and insightful tips. I promise the writer’s block will be over by next week.

Kathy
Project 365 – Day 253

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Blogs & Websites, Project 365

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Building the Blogging Community

I recently read an article on 5 Minutes for Moms regarding the difference between writing and blogging. Blogging, according to author Jim Dubin, requires more than good writing to succeed. In order to build a dynamic, growing blog there needs to be a developing sense of community. “Blogging is more than writing. It’s forming friendships, and sharing inspiration, and working with others to build something greater than you are alone,” Dubin writes.

david and sarah

These two definitely share a precious friendship.

Interesting. It has certainly been my experience that as I connect with other bloggers, leaving comments and partaking in an internet conversation, my own blog grows and blossoms in response.

Of course, many of the faithful Duckabush readers are family members and friends scattered around the states. They aren’t particularly interested in engaging in a global, blogosphere dialogue, but come to the blog to catch the latest family news and enjoy pictures of the kiddos. As Tim would say, the blog is not lacking in the photo department. Hardly a post is published that doesn’t have at least 3 pictures.

boring!

Without pictures I am going to fall asleep, Mom.

The one time I posted a blog without pictures I received no end of fussing from family and friends. I’ve surely learned my lesson, even if it means handing the camera to a random child to ensure Project 365 integrity.

In an attempt to “have my cake and eat it too” I thought I would introduce some fellow bloggers while being careful to scatter about a few family pictures.

princess Sarah

Token picture of a cute five year old.

  • If you haven’t already discovered 5 Minutes for Moms, I recommend stopping by for a visit. This blog, run by sisters, strives to connect moms and establish a community for mothers on the web. They continually present giveaways and product referals, everything from preschool books to vacuum cleaners and clothing gift certificates. There is an extensive blogging directory and Susan and Janice regularly feature “mom-owned stores.”

  • Every Day Mommy has a beautiful website and offers affordable blog and graphic design. Look over some of her sample designs and see if you aren’t as impressed as I was. As Tim and I work on our own blog and additional projects for church, we are reminded over and over that graphic design is not one of our gifts. In fact, we seem to be anti-gifted in this area. Thankfully there are creative people like Jules to come alongside and help those of us who are artistically challenged.

  • I stumbled upon a wonderful collection of game reviews when I was wandering through a trail of blogs one day. Katrina, at Callapidder Days has done a marvelous job of reviewing board games. Her posts are colorful, well organized and thorough. Many of the games are geared toward younger children but we saw several favorites among her reviews and others I am eager to try.

  • Another helpful blog, this one with a focus on personal blog consulting, is Mama Blogga. Jordan hosts regular Group Writing Contests and encourages “mommy bloggers” to develop and refine their blogs. Her post on Guest Blogging was particularly intriguing. Since then I’ve been thinking about several friends who would make excellent guest writers.

favorite book

Super Blogger!! David loves this book.

It was difficult selecting just a few blogs among the amazing collection I have discovered in the past year. This is definitely only a very small sampling. I use RSS Reader to manage my blogs. Google also offers a Reader for RSS feeds. The readers make keeping track and organizing blogs very efficient and nearly effortless. The program is structured like an e-mail program (Outlook Express) with a preview pane for reading posts and numbers indicating unread blogs. I can quickly identify who has written something new and move among the blogs with ease.

In April I tagged several blogs with the Thinking Award. These are blogs that I continue to enjoy and read regularly.

Hope you enjoy this assortment of blogs. Leave a comment and share other favorite blogs.

Doing my part to build up the blogging community. :)

Kathy
Project 365 – Day 250

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Homeschooling, Project 365

Trying to Start School

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“I hear you started school Full Blast today.”

Hmmmm. Since she was sitting at the airport in Chicago, I had to wonder where my mother got that little school update. Surely CNN isn’t running stats on local homeschoolers. I can almost picture it:

“This just in, summer is now officially over as Washington homeschooling family of five begins school, full blast.”

I don’t know. Full blast sounds more like something relating to fire hydrants and stereo systems, not homeschooling. We do have our share of fights over music during the day –

“Mom! He changed my song.” “He’s heard this one 20 million, zillion times, it’s my turn to pick the play list.”

– but that happens all year round, not just during school time. And, of course, doing dishes always brings the temptation to squirt a sibling with the new faucet. Again, this is completely unrelated to homeschooling.

what grade am I?

Our First Day of School signs definitely count as art and computer graphics studies.

It turns out there is a Full Blast Family Entertainment Center in Battle Creek, Michigan. 85000 square feet of swimming, computer games, and dancing. Impressive. There’s also a Full Blast Fitness Club in downtown Toronto.

Neither of these things sound particularly academic but then, despite reports to the contrary, we didn’t get a huge amount of schooling done ourselves. It was more like Half Blast, at which point we ended the day with a full regimen of entertainment.

Joshua picked up a friend and went to a beach outing with middle school, promising to bring a group of guys home with him (he’s considerate that way). Rachel scooted off to spend the night with the girls (anything to avoid Joshua’s sleepover). Sarah snagged the little sister of Rachel’s friends and brought her home for a visit. Daniel called up a neighbor boy and asked him over to play.

It’s obviously very important to balance a hard day of school with plenty of fun and games.

joshua is in what grade???

Joshua made an awesome sign, as did the rest of the crew. Sarah wants me to take a picture of her and then print it out. A print of a printed page. Cool.

Of course, even amidst a busy school day, you never know when some celebrities will drop by for a visit.

david, tarah and sarah out on the town

Autographs anyone?

Tomorrow, after we return all the children to their proper homes, we will attempt to get back to school.

Full Blast!!

Kathy
Project 365 – Day 248

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Project 365, Works for Me Wednesday

WFMW–Homeschool Faves

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WFMW School is back in session so what better topic for this week’s Works for Me Wednesday than a collection of a few of our favorite homeschooling books, programs, and curricula.

Homeschooling Tried and True Favorites

Horizons Math — this is a math that we have loved and used it for years with all of the children. It’s colorful, advanced paced, and published by a Christian company.

Start Write — this is a great handwriting computer program that lets you create custom handwriting sheets using a wide variety of styles including cursive, manuscript, Italic, D’Nealian, Handwriting Without Tears, Palmer, New South Wales (NSW), Queensland (QLD), and Victorian (VIC). I use this for thank you notes, letters, general practice sheets, and more.

dear daddy...

A six year old’s letter is more colorful than your average note.

Sonlight — Sonlight has been the core of our homeschooling curriculum for seven years. It is a literature based program that brings history to life and makes learning a true adventure. Sonlight’s packages include all the books needed for a year’s worth of history, Bible and literature, as well as detailed instruction guides. We are very loyal Sonlight fans.

CQLA — Character Quality Language Arts is a relatively new homeschooling discovery. We have used many different language arts programs over the years. This is the first one that we have found that integrates copying, vocabulary, spelling, grammar, composition, creative writing, poetry, and dictation all in one consumable workbook. I love the way each week’s study centers around a godly character trait.

art time

Art AND letter recognition!

Rainbow Science — this is a serious, two-year, total science curriculum for junior high students. Joshua loves the conversational tone and humor that are interspersed among the science lessons. As he said to me today, “It’s not every science book that opens up with the word ‘Yowie!’” The first year covers physics and chemistry, and the second year covers biology and applications of science. The curriculum and the Home Laboratories are completely self-contained. It has been an excellent fit for Joshua.

Math U See — I have found, over the years, that there occasionally comes a time in children’s education when they need a different approach in their math studies. Perhaps they are stuck on a difficult concept or frustrated and bored with the current curriculum. At that point it has been tremendously helpful to take a break from Horizons math and try something new. Most often this has meant spending some time using Math U See. This hands on, manipulative based curriculum, complete with DVD teaching, is wonderful. The three older children have all worked through various Math U See levels, brushing up on old concepts, polishing existing skills and learning new strategies for understanding math concepts.. Even Sarah and David enjoy playing with the manipulatives (we don’t tell them they’re doing school). :)

Teaching Textbooks — Horizons math is an elementary program (meaning it ends after the 6th grade – sniff, sniff) so at that point it’s necessary we select another math curriculum. I have decided on Teaching Textbooks for the more advanced math levels. Joshua worked his way rapidly through pre-Algebra and is now part-way through Algebra 1. The lectures are featured in the textbook as well as on DVD. The wonderful part about Teaching Textbooks is that every single problem is worked out on DVD (step by step).

school cubbies

These school cubbies hold some of our current workbooks. It’s taking me a while to finish kindergarten but I hope to be done soon.:)

Explode the Code — these are HUGE favorites in our family. They are simple phonics workbooks containing exercises on reading, writing, matching and copying. My children love them and are always sad when they come to the end of the series.

This is by no means an exhaustive list of our homeschooling favorites. I didn’t see the note about this week’s Works for Me Wednesday theme being “Brand Loyalty” until 9 pm this evening. Up until that point I was working on a great WFMW blog on marriage and some specific ways to show respect to your husband. You’ll have to come back next week for that helpful post. :)

Hopefully I will have time to write further about the different Bible study and devotional books we have devoured over the years as well as reading programs, geography studies, art and more that have been family treasures.

Please leave a comment and share your favorite homeschooling programs or books. I LOVE hearing what other families are using and enjoying.

Thanks!
Kathy
Project 365 – Day 247

Head on over to Rocks in My Dryer for further Works for Me Wednesday links.

Some other Duckabush WFMW Posts

TopBlogSites
Laundry Organizer
Giant Whiteboard
Travel Outfits

Join us for our Tuesday Tips for Parenting

Calling Your Child
Creative Use for the Timer
First Time Obedience
Sermon Notes
Thorough Job

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