All work and no play....

We've been on our "summer break" for 6 weeks now. How the time flies! I've had so much on my to do list that it seems that a year-long summer break wouldn't be time enough to get it all done.

I've been working on my children's year-end evaluations, purchasing books for next year, writing plans for history and filling our science experiment boxes. This is my once-a-year opportunity to clean--I mean really clean. If junk drawers and closets aren't organized now, they probably won't be set right until next summer. Everything must be wrapped up from this year and then prepped for the new year before we start back to school in a few short weeks.

My kids had a different idea about summer break. They came to me the other night, in the tearful realization that our break will soon be over. "Mommy!" they cried. "We haven't done all the things we said we'd do!"

The things they were thinking about were things like geocaching excursions and Wii bowling tournaments. And the reason we haven't done these things is because mommy has been so busy working that she forgot to take time to play. What a dull mommy, indeed!

The very next day all work was set aside. We did our geocaching excursion, and found 3 caches! We were so proud that one was a microcache (very tiny) and one had a trackable device, which means that someone is following its progress as it is moved from cache to cache around the country.

Every cache had little trinkets in it, and the boys had fun choosing items to take and replacing them with things we had brought. I admit that on at least one occasion they took what I had brought instead of getting something from the cache...I guess the stuff I brought was pretty cool! They each came home with baseball cards, flashlights, cross necklaces, rubber bracelets and a marble.

While we were out geocaching we found time and opportunity to take a little train ride! We also got out on the water and did some paddleboating. We finished off the afternoon with a stop at our favorite pizza place. What a refreshing day!

It is easy to get so busy doing things "for our kids" that we forget to take time to do things "with them", especially when our homeschool is not in session. I'm glad I remembered what summer is supposed to be about, before it was too late. This week has been completely different, full of swimming, watching movies, reading The Hobbit together, dominoes, playing "puppies" with my preschooler, and making snowcones.

The work still gets done, albeit at a slower pace. It will always be there tomorrow, you know. But these opportunities to make memories with the children need to be seized now, while the getting is good. Don't let your summer fly by without stopping to enjoy the little things!

Free Tapestry of Grace Webinars

Lampstand Press is holding a "virtual conference" this year, complete with free speakers, free samples, and conference specials. There are workshops in writing instruction (beginner and advanced), personal devotions (including how help kids grow in their own spritual life), and "Teaching with Tapestry of Grace." Click here for info (click the tabs to see all the worskhop topics and specials).

I'm signed up for both of the writing workshops...I think they will be a wonderful encouragement, with practical ideas to help me as I plan writing goals for my kids next year. If you are considering using Tapestry of Grace, or aren't sure whether to get a paper version or the new Digital Edition, there are seminars designed to help with that decision, too!

These webinars are free, but space is limited. Sign up soon!

Beginner's Spanish lessons

This free beginner's Spanish course from the BBC looks wonderful. I haven't previewed all the lessons...just the first one. I love the way it incorporates excellent videography, a great story line, immersion approach to the language, interactive web tools, ways to expand your vocabulary and learn some grammar, printable transcripts of all the material, opportunities for review, a mystery...I could go on and on. Take 30 seconds and view the trailer, then go to Mi Vida Loca and see for yourself.

I had planned for my oldest son to use this course, but I can tell already that I'm going to want to learn Spanish now, too!


Go to the Mi Vida Loca homepage here and watch a few moments of the first lesson to see just how accessible this program is for true beginnners. As with anything, use your judgment. As I said before, I've only seen the first lesson, so I can't vouch for the content of the rest of the program. I did see that this BBC program is getting really excellent reviews, and I'm not surprised. I'll enjoy using this tool.

Easy Record Keeping for the Reluctant Homeschool Mom

It's almost time for the Ultimate Homeschool Expo again! You can log in today to hear my talk on The Homeschooler's Library. I'll be speaking on a topic near and dear to all homeschooler's hearts--BOOKS! Join us online at Mom to Mom Radio today or call in at (347) 215-7321.

Cindy has allowed me to share her article about Easy Record Keeping with you. This topic is on my mind right now as I am trying to remember everything we did last year, getting our portfolios together, writing this year's evaluations and updating our "books read" list this week. I've got a pretty good system going, but her tips will help me be even more organized next year.

If you get a ticket to the UHSE, you'll not only get access to tons of great audio podcasts, you'll also get e-books and bonus gifts in your Mommy Grab bag as well as free stuff in the Virtual Vendor Hall. This is one homeschool conference you won't want to miss!

Here is Cindy's article:

Easy Record Keeping for the Reluctant Homeschool Mom by Cindy Rushton

Record-keeping! Does your hair stand up when you think of record-keeping? Do you begin to grind your teeth? Did you feel like skipping this article just because it seems impossible for “EASY” and “Record-keeping” to ever go together??

Relax. I know that there is not a “one size fits all.” I know that in spite of how hard we may search, there is not a perfect system for every mom! That is OK! My prayer is that if you are in need of some ideas to make a couple areas a little easier or if you have no idea of where to begin, that you will find a few ideas as you come home with us to see how simple record-keeping CAN be. Ready for some quick tips??? Here we go…

--> Find what is mandatory. Every state and school district has differing requirements. Find other homeschool families in your area and see how each of them manages their homeschool records. Find the easiest way possible to meet the requirements. Make it as DOABLE as possible!

--> Choose what works for YOU. Every mom has her favorite method that works JUST for them whether a planner with reproducible pages… a ready to use planner… a simple spiral notebook… binders… a filing cabinet… computer… etc, etc, etc! Before you consider anything else, look at who you are. What makes you feel more comfortable? What helps you to feel more accomplishment? Whether formal or informal… detailed or not even written down… YOUR way is the best way! Decide what works best for you!

--> Document daily! Don’t let it build up. Jot it down throughout the day. When my children were little, I kept one journal for everything. I kept it out on my desk so I could just jot down what we were doing as we did it. It was amazing how much easier that was than even waiting till the end of the day. As they got older, I transferred this process to them. I had always made it easy. So, transferring it to them did not overwhelm them. I began this process by letting them keep up with their reading log. The rest was easy after that. They now keep their records just like I used to. At the end of the month and again at the end of the semester I go through making sure that everything is on target and also look to see how well they are keeping up with my overall schedule. Without good records, this would be impossible.

--> Keep all of their work in Notebooks. We keep ALL of our written work in a binder of some sort. Then, we take it further… we keep ANYTHING that can be pressed in binders. Anything left?? Yes! Then, we take pictures and keep THEM in the binders! (Hehe!) ANYTHING and EVERYTHING that can be studied can also be kept in Notebooks in some way. We keep anything that would expand a study and build a great collection of information on topics we study… great quotes, definitions about a subject being studied, diagrams, character sketches, pictures, coloring sheets, art prints, poems, Bible verses, narrations, Bible word studies, on and on! Our main reason for Notebooking in this way is that if our children are going to spend their time DOING something, it ought to be worthwhile enough for us to KEEP IT. This teaches them to value their work, do a great job on all they do, and that ALL areas of life are truly educational.

--> Scrapbook events, activities, fun studies, and projects! Scrapbooks/Yearbooks for what are REALLY doing throughout our school year is not only fun, but it helps to preserve the memories of ALL that we are doing in our family. There are just some things that our children are learning that are impossible to document without scrapbooking! Get out of the old “school” box and really document your family’s education. You won’t be sorry!

--> Use planning sheets designed JUST for homeschooling. Don’t let commercial record-keepers keep you from homeschooling with a lifestyle of learning! Look for printable pages that are designed just for the homeschool mom. You can find great options everywhere!

--> Buy resources that are designed just for you. We have an entire line of resources that we now have available through our bookstore. Check out our Make Your Own Brain-in-a-Binder Printables. It is designed specifically for the homeschool mom who wants pages designed for every area that must be balanced in the busy homeschool family. Also, check out other great resources by homeschool writers and even pages that are included in many homeschool books (we always try to include pages that we use in our books). Now, you may be like me. You may prefer to make your own planning pages. That is perfectly fine! You can tailor your pages to fit exactly with your family needs. Just be sure to use what works for you!

--> At the end of the school year, file all records together. This may seem to be a mute point, however this will save your brain! At the end of our school year, I gather everything together and add them into one big binder. I date the binder and store it away for my children’s permanent file. Be sure to pull all of your records together into a set and safe place. When you get discouraged along the way, just look back and see how far you have come—it will be a HUGE blessing!

Ok...So, Are You Ready?

So, what about you? Still scared about Record-keeping? Why not think through YOUR OWN way? Try your spin. Use what is easy, simple, and will give you more time with your little ones while helping to keep things in place for you. Most of all, find a way that can capture all of these precious memories of these days for you so you will have them to look back upon tomorrow! Have fun! EVEN with Record-keeping!

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Need MORE Help?

Check out our Ultimate Homeschool Expo! When you purchase your set you get MORE help with record-keeping--you can immediately download three Bonus Gifts that will help you today:

Let's Get Ready for the New School Year
Easy Record-Keeping
Get Organized

Yep! Complimentary! Get your set here:

If anything is Excellent or Praiseworthy: Books for the Classical History Cycle

I love using the classical cycle of studying history, because I know that my children will encounter each time period in history 3 times throughout their homeschool career. When they study a topic the first time, we can start to build a framework, and they can fill in the details when we hit that subject again. The classical cycle begins with a year of studying the Ancient times, followed by a year devoted to the Middle Ages, Renaissance and Reformation, a year for the 19th century and a year for the 20th century. At the end of that four year period, you go back to the Ancients and begin again, each time using more resources which challenge your children at their current level of understanding.

Many homeschoolers worry about leaving “holes” in their child's education. When I started homeschooling almost 10 years ago this was a concern for me, as well. As I began studying history for the first time with my child, I quickly realized that my own public school education had plenty of holes in it! There were vast time periods of history that I had never studied before!

I realize that I can never teach my kids everything there is to know about history, and that the most important thing is to give them a zeal for learning and teach them where to find answers when they have questions. However, I wanted to give them a more systematic approach than the one I had grown up with.

Throughout this series we have been reflecting on how the principles laid out in Philippians 4:8 relate to what we should be reading. "Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things."

We are told to think on “Whatever is excellent or praiseworthy”. Families today are busy, and most of us probably don't have as much time to read as we'd like. The bulk of our reading is done for school. Therefore, every book we read for school needs to be excellent.

Some homeschool curriculum providers give children snippets of the classics in textbook compilations. I view this approach a little bit like chewing up a child’s food and then giving it to him to swallow. There comes a point when a child needs to learn to chew the food on his own, and digest it himself.

I do use some excellent history texts as a spine, such as Your Story of the World. We listen to a couple of chapters a week from the volume that corresponds with our history study, as a kind of framework. But the bulk of our reading is classic literature, biographies, hero stories and moral stories relating to the time period of our studies.

This framework gives me a basis for choosing books topically. Each summer I get out all the books for the time period we will be studying next. Right now, I am prepping for our study of Middle Ages, Renaissance, Reformation and Revolutionary war.

I look at all the books that I already own for these topics....the biographies, the hero stories, the moral tales, the theological books, art and music books, and the classics. I set aside the ones we didn’t like the last time we went through this cycle, and make a note of which ones were favorites that we mus read again. Which sections of my bookshelf are wanting....do I need more biographies for this time period, or more art books? As I prepare to make purchases for the coming year, I take note of what I still need, and of which books on my shelves can be substituted for the books my curriculum recommends. I see no point in purchasing a new book about Michelangelo when one on my shelf will do just fine.

The Classical cycle has given me some boundaries, to know how long to spend on a given subject and when to move on. If we spend too much time on the Greeks and not quite enough on the Romans, that’s OK. I know we’ll be back to this material again in a few years, and we can make up for it then. I can feel confident as I look back over almost a decade of homeschooling that I have done my best to provide a systematic study of history. I’m trying to do the same thing with science, taking time to study biology, chemistry, physics and geology in a rotating cycle, as well.

Here are a few of the titles that we have enjoyed during our trip through the Classical cycle. I'll build some of the links for you, and others you'll have to google search for yourself!

Ancient Times

G. A. Henty's The Cat of Bubastes

Tirzah by Lucille Travis

The God King by Joanne Williamson

Ancient Egyptians and their Neighbors by Broida and others in this series

Archimedes and the Door of Science

Classical Kids and other books by Laurie Carlson

Daily Life at the Time of Jesus by Vamosh

Peril and Peace by Mindy and Brandon Withrow

Famous Men of Greece and Famous Men of Rome by Haaren

The Story of the Romans by Guerber

Trial and Triumph by Hanula (spans multiple time periods)

The True Story of Noah's Ark

books by Peter Connolly

Black Ships before Troy and The Wanderings of Odysseus by Sutcliff (it is worth it to find the illustrated versions)

Hostage Lands by Douglas Bond

Middle Ages, Renaissance, Reformation

The Great and Terrible Quest has been one of our all-time favorites for this time period

Crown and Covenant series

Michelangelo and Leonardo Da Vinci, both by Diane Stanley

Monks and Mystics: Chronicles of the Medieval Church and Courage and Conviction: Chronicles of the Reformation church by Mindy and Brandon Withrow

The Princess Adelina by Julie Sutter

The Spanish Brothers: A Tale of the 16th Century by Alcock (another memorable favorite)

To Have and to Hold by Johnstone

Beautiful Stories from Shakespeare for Children

Of Plymouth Plantation by William Bradford and other favorite books for Thanksgiving and the Pilgrims

Reformation Heroes

Stories of the Old Dominion

Famous Men of the Middle Ages

The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin

A Child's Story of America by Michael/McHugh

Faith and Freedom series by Douglas Bond

Drums of War series from Peter Reese Doyle

19th Century

Charlotte in Giverny by Knight

The Boy in the Alamo by Margaret Cousins

Jack Archer by G. A. Henty

The Drummer Boys' Battle by Jackson and others in the Trailblazer series

Sarah, Plain and Tall by Machlachlan

Seabird by Holling C. Holling

The Star Spangled Banner by Peter Spier

Modern Times

Twenty and Ten by Du Bois

My Secret Camera

Sergeant York and the Great War by Alvin York and Tom Skeyhill

World War II for Kids

Albert Marrin biographies

The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom

The Story of the Trapp Family Singers by Maria Augusta Trapp

The Lord of the Rings trilogy and The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien

The Homeschooler's Library audio series and Books for Girls

I've been going over my Home Library Builders post series with a fine-tooth comb this week, in preparation for my talk on Tuesday for the Ultimate Home School Expo. I'll be speaking on The Homeschooler's Library, gathering all the information I've sought to share in this series into an audio podcast.

You can log in on Tuesday at 10:00 a.m. CST to listen to this live Preview chat. I'll also be posting this series on the blog soon. I've found a way to record each episode in a brief, 10 minute podcast and load them all onto one widget. You'll be able to click on just those episodes that you want to hear.

In the meantime, it has come to my attention that these posts are very heavily weighted toward books for boys. I reached out to my readers a few days ago, asking for suggestions for books for girls in keeping with the categories in Philippians 4:8. I'm going to compile a list here of suggestions I received.

Heather recommended all the Louisa May Alcott books, such as Little Women, the books in the Anne of Green Gables series, The Little Princess, Heidi, and the Little House books. I didn't really even think of those as books for girls, as we've read most of them and loved them all. These are great suggestions. Heather also mentioned the series FaithGirlz, female missionary biographies (such as those about Annie Armstrong, Lottie Moon, Edna McMillan, etc.) and the Children's Heritage series. She also mentions books in the girls section at Vision Forum, which is a favorite for us, as well. Their link is in the sidebar of the blog.

Teacher/Mom notes that many people have mixed feelings about the American Girls series, but she uses them in her homeschool as a way to bring up "talking points". I have read some of the very large, hardback American girl books with my boys (ssssh!!!) with the title "Welcome to.....[Kit's, Felicity's, etc.} World." Most of these books have very little to do with the featured American Girl and a lot to do with the history of the featured time period. We have, surprisingly, enjoyed these books!

She says that she enjoys sharing many of the older series from her own childhood with her daughters: Betsy series by Carolyn Haywood (as well as other books by this author), Liza, Bill and Jed Mysteries by Peggy Parish, the "Shoes" books by Noel Streatfield, the Betsy and Tacy books by Maude Hart Lovelace, and the original Nancy Drew series.

Michelle reminded me of the book "The Witch of Blackbird Pond", a book about the Salem witch trials which kept me up half the night once when I was a teenage girl.

Stacie recommends the Daughters of the Faith series by Wendy Lawton, which includes books based on the lives of Olive Oatman, Mary Chilton, Harriet Tubman, Pocahontas, Phylis Sweetly, Mary Bunyan and more.

Carissa adds, "my dd has really enjoyed the All of a Kind Family series, which I don't think has been mentioned. All of my children, boys and girls, have enjoyed Summer With the Moody's and the other books in the series, by Sarah Maxwell." We liked Summer with the Moody's, as well...it is hard to find books about homeschooling families, but Sarah Maxwell (a homeschooled child herself, daughter of Terri Maxwell of Managers of Their Homes fame) wrote these books about a family of homeschooled kids.

Resources for Birding with Children

We enjoy all kinds of nature study, but we have a real love of birds. Two of my children are featured on Cornell Ornithology's Celebrate Urban Birds website, and you can find out more about some of the things we have done in teaching these avid and accomplished birders in my post How we got started in Youth Birding.

It has been very fun to take an element of nature study and run with it to the point that I trust it will be a lifelong passion for my boys. I'm excited to share with you some of the resources we have found helpful for this kind of focused nature study on birds.



We first became interested in birds when reading Jeannie Fulbright's Young Explorers Apologia Science Volume 1: Flying Creatures of the Fifth Day. This is the first book in an excellent science series for children. We've used several books in this series and the children have loved every one of them. There are many colorful pictures, informative text, a Christian creationist worldview, simple experiments with available household items, opportunities for keeping a nature journal, and narration prompts to help children tell what they've learned. I cannot recommend this series highly enough for the Kindergarten-6th grade homeschool science class. Even our preschoolers have enjoyed listening to these books.

These videos, designed to help kids get started with the basics of birdwatching, are excellent.   Kids will learn things like how to identify birds through field marks, size, shape, color, and other cues. 

In past years we have kept a generalized Nature Notebook. On walks outside, we might find a flower to press or a bug to study and write about. This year, though, my two elementary-aged boys have kept a Nature Notebook specifically about birds. In it, they draw birds that they've seen at the feeder, along with making some notes about what they saw and when. They also include drawings of birds they would like to see...most birders keep a life list, but my boys also keep a "wish list".
We have really enjoyed the North American Birds set from Notebooking Pages to help us in this endeavor. The best thing about this set is that it provides coloring pages for many common birds, along with space to record their English and Latin names, lines for jotting notes about the bird, and blank range maps that allow my kids to research and then record each bird's winter and summer range.

Les Beletsky has three books that include bird song recordings from Cornell Ornithology's extensive recording library. His book Bird Songs: 250 North American Birds in Song was our first introduction to learning bird songs, and it has added such joy to our birding! Each bird in the book is numbered, and you can select that bird's number on a small digital player that is attached to the book to hear its call. Now we often hear a bird and instantly know what is singing in our trees, even if we can't see it.

My children enjoyed listening to bird songs so much that I got them a set of Birding by Ear tapes, and eventually we also purchased its sequel More Birding By Ear. In these CDs, a narrator introduces the listener to different birds, playing their call and teaching a mnemonic device to help with remembering the call. This is not a set for the typical child. A child who really likes birds may enjoy this, but it is made for adults. My children found the narrator's voice very soothing, and they listened to these CDs while falling asleep every night for about a year!


We've made great use of a handheld device called The Identiflier, which you can load with a card featuring 10 bird calls. My kids have used this device and its cards to learn over 100 bird calls. The Identiflier is now available in an even more convenient form. You can purchase it as a small book and laser pen set. The laser pen reads a barcode in the book and plays the bird's song, eliminating the need to carry dozens of song cards in the field.

The most useful tool I've found for my youngest children are the Audubon Plush birds.
My children have been collecting these little stuffed birds, which play authentic bird calls, for several years. I recently tested my 6 year old to see which birds he could name by sight or call. He recognized dozens of birds by both sight and call, and they are all birds that he has learned to recognize through playing with their Audubon plush birds. Even my four year old knows several unusual birds by sounds and sight because of his play with the Audubon plushies.



My children did a science fair project two years ago in which they proved that people can remember bird calls more easily if they learn a mnemonic device (memory aid) to go along with the call. A fun book for learning some of the mnemonic devices is Bird Talk by Ann Jonas.

We have used a lot of bird guides over the years, but our favorite (especially for children) is
Kaufman Field Guide to the Birds of North America by Kenn Kaufman.



This bird guide is more intuitive than other popular bird guides. The birds are not grouped by taxonomy, for a scientist. They are grouped by similar characteristics, for a novice. Thus "chicken-like birds" are grouped together, as are "medium sized land birds". Each category is color-coded and keyed to a simple, one page color-coded index at the back. The table of contents shows each color-coded section as a long bar, with photos of the types of birds found in that section along the bar. When my children began birding they were too young to read, and they found this guide very usable when others weren't. I like it for myself, as well! I can find birds much more quickly in this guide than in any other.

I also recommendThe Young Birder's Guide to the Birds of Eastern North America for children interested in learning more about birds. This guide is specifically geared toward helping the next generation get started with this fun hobby.

If you have a specialty birding store near you, I'd recommend going in to find some childrens binoculars. Most kids binoculars are so poor that they actually discourage kids from birding, yet the price point for anything remotely decent is usually about $65. I would rather see a child with no binoculars at all, than one who has poor binoculars which cause headaches and which obscure, rather than enhance, your view. Many specialty birding stores sell an intermediate binocular, however, that is about $10. These plastic binoculars actually give a decent amount of magnification and field of view for a young beginner, and the price point is so low that you won't care if they get lost or aren't used as much as you'd hope. This will give you a good idea of your child's interest level and whether it is worth it to purchase something more expensive in the future.

Help wanted from mothers of girls!!

Help, ladies! I'm writing my new podcast on Choosing the Best Books for School: Building your home library. This podcast is a compilation of thoughts from my Home Library Builders series, with some additional material thrown in. I'll be giving this talk on Tuesday for Cindy Rushton's Ultimate Homeschool Expo.

Here's where I need help. As I look through my recommendations, I see that it is heavily weighted on the "books for boys" side. I don't have any girls, so I don't really know of that many excellent books for girls.

Do you have any recommendations for me relating to books that would be good for girls to read? In my talk, I mention hero stories, non-fiction books that build character, moral stories, and biographies, among other topics. I'm afraid my knowledge of what is wholesome for Christian girls to read is limited to Elsie Dinsmore. If you have ideas, send me an email or post a comment, please! I'd be very grateful.

You can join me for this live message on Tuesday, May 26th, at 10 a.m. CST.

You can log in online to listen from your computer, or you can phone in to listen to the messages. We'll be recording on blog talk radio.

Here are the details:
Call-in (Call in on your phone, cell-phone, or SKYPE):
(347) 205-9175

Or log in on your computer.

Nathan Clark George DVD Give-away!!!

This week I am thrilled to be giving away a copy of Nathan Clark George's new DVD, Pull up a Chair. The DVD is so excellent...I know you'll be blessed by it! There are two main parts to the DVD: a live concert and a documentary about Nathan's homeschooling family.

I was really encouraged by the 35-minute documentary. Nathan and his wife Patsy wanted to minister through Nathan's music without sacrificing family time, so four years ago they packed up their life and took it on the road. Homeschooling with babies and toddlers underfoot is a challenge, but what if you were doing it in a motor home while traveling the country? They call their RV an "incubator for sanctification", and they share honestly about the joys and struggles of living in such close proximity.

What touched me so much by this DVD is the way the Lord is giving grace in the midst of stress to this beautiful family. Several times I was moved to tears as I saw the real struggles they are enduring for the sake of the Gospel, and the Lord's abundant grace in their lives. Our whole family was blessed by this glimpse into another Christian homeschooling family's life.

As if that weren't enough, this DVD also includes a live concert. Most of the songs from Pull up a Chair (the CD) are on this DVD by the same name, along with some bonus tracks you won't find on the CD. This music is excellent and we'll definitely watch the concert again and again. You can listen to samples of all the tracks at this link. You can also listen to a few samples of his music in the sidebar of this blog...I hope you love it as much as I do!

I recently reviewed this CD and DVD for another give-away on Mentoring Moments, so please allow me to share a portion of that review here...details on what you need to do to win are at the bottom of this post.

My Review from Mentoring Moments
I discovered Nathan's music about a year and a half ago, and he immediately became one of my favorite artists.
The Lord has used Nathan's scriptural music again and again to refresh my spirit and draw me to worship. This is my favorite music to listen to when I am writing articles and teaching podcasts. Many nights, struggling with writer's block, I've turned off the lights, put on one of Nathan's CD's and sat on the couch in the dark, worshiping and reflecting about the Lord's goodness.

Nathan was named Acoustic Artist of the Year recently, and his Pull Up a Chair CD won the Momentum Award Album of the Year at Indie Heaven.

Nathan's musical style is influenced by both classical and folk music, and the melodic tunes are a perfect match to the rich lyrics. Pull Up a Chair was recorded live in October 2008, and features 12 live tracks and 3 bonus studio tracks, including several new songs, as well as a few of Nathan's best songs from his other CD's.

The first two songs, Psalm 111 and Psalm 24, are two of my old favorites. Both tracks are Scripture set to music, and I find myself singing the words throughout the day. When I'm alone in my car, I crank these tracks as loud as I can and sing at the top of my lungs!

Ironically, I can't listen to the track You Make Me Smile (written for his wife) without crying. This touching love song makes me think of my husband, who always makes me smile. Little Trees is a father's reflection on Psalm 1, giving voice to a daddy's hope and commitment to help his sons plant their roots deeply in streams of living water.

Nathan is also a hymn singer, and he includes a beautiful rendition of Alas, and Did my Savior Bleed on this CD. As he says in the liner notes, it is both "amazing and ludicrous to think that the Mighty maker of men would die for the created." The first radio release from this album, What if I were in the Garden, reminds me that I am a sinner just like Peter was...I would have denied Him, too. Yet in His grace, He saved me! Hallelujah!

The Devil Ain't Lazy actually made me laugh out loud, and my children love it. It's a good reminder that our enemy prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour, so we need to be watchful. One of my new favorites, Whatever it Takes, reminds me that by serving my family I am also serving Christ. Several additional tracks round out this excellent CD.

Above all, I love Nathan's transparency. He sings honestly about sin and repentance, and he always points me back to the hope I have in Christ.

You can order the DVD, CD, or listen to samples of the music from Pull up a Chair here.




How to enter:
In honor of the launch of my new blog, My Audio School, , I'll be giving away a copy of Nathan's Pull up a Chair DVD this week. To enter, head over to My Audio School and look at just one link...any link you choose! Then come back here and tell me the name of one of the books on My Audio School that looks interesting to you. That's it! Your comment here on Counter-cultural School about a post on My Audio School gains you an entry to this contest.

If you want to be entered more than once, you can post the URL to this contest on your Facebook page, Twitter page and on your blog. For the additional chances to win, just leave me an additional comment (one comment per entry, for a total of 4 chances per person, please). Leave a link to your blog post or your Facebook/Twitter user name in the comment.

Be sure to include a link to this post's URL in your blog post, tweets and Facebook entries. There is a maximum of four entries per person. Deadline to enter is this Saturday, May 23rd at 10 pm EST. The winner will be chosen by Random.org and announced by Monday the 25th.

My New "Baby"

I hope you'll check out my new "baby"....My Audio School. This site has truly been a labor of love, and the response to it has been overwhelming. Yesterday I wrote a few posts on my yahoo groups and officially "launched" the new blog.

The Old Schoolhouse tweeted about it today on Twitter and put it on their Facebook Fan site! Their endorsement brought over 800 visitors to My Audio School today. I'm in shock!

The vision behind My Audio School is to provide a site where audio books from the public domain can be downloaded in one easy-to-navigate spot. A young child or a dyslexic student would have a very hard time getting content for himself from Librivox or other public domain sites. I wanted to do the legwork so my sons could easily find all their audio content, but the site turned out too good to keep to myself.

Much of the content my children need next year for history and literature can now be easily streamed, chapter by chapter, from My Audio School. This will enable even my emerging readers to take more ownership over their schoolwork, as they can now sit down with their history and pick up easily where they left off.

The beautiful pictures and wonderful, classic book titles give me the feeling that I just upgraded my library...yet it is all free, in the public domain.

We'll be leaving Ancient Times and moving on to the Middle Ages, Renaissance, Reformation and Revolutionary War in a few weeks....so the current content on My Audio School reflects that. I have more projects in the works for other time periods, but for now, please hop over to My Audio School and think about how you might be able to use it!

Ultime Homeschool Expo

The Ultimate Homeschool Expo is starts June 1st. We are already recording preview chats!

If you aren't familiar with UHSE, you'll love it. You can buy a ticket to this virtual conference and listen to dozens of audio recordings with leaders in the homeschool community, shop at the virtual vendor hall, get some goodies in your mommy grab bag and enjoy fellowship with other homeschoolers in the conference room....all from the comfort of your own home! You don't even have to get out of your pajamas if you don't want to.

I'll be speaking twice this year, and you can tune in live for free to my preview talks--or to any of the other preview talks. Or, you can grab a ticket and get access to everything the UHSE has to offer.

I've prepared two new talks for this expo. Tomorrow (Tuesday, May 19th) I'll be speaking at 1 p.m. CST on the topic Temptation and the Married Woman.

Then next Tuesday, May 26th, I'll be speaking at 10 a.m. CST on Choosing the Best Books: Building Your Home Library. I'd love to have you join me!

You can log in online to listen from your computer, or you can phone in to listen to the messages. We'll be recording on blog talk radio.

Here are the details:
Call-in (Call in on your phone, cell-phone, or SKYPE):
(347) 205-9175

Or log in on your computer.

Creation DVD Give-away

Vision Forum has their new Reclaiming the Culture DVD collection on sale this week, through May 13th. I'm giving away one DVD from the collection. The DVD I'll be giving away is a video lecture by Answers in Genesis president Ken Ham, titled Top Ten Questions about Genesis and Creation.

Last year we started subscribing to the Answers in Genesis magazine, and I've found it to be very informative. I haven't seen this DVD, but I have heard Ken Ham speak in person, and I believe this DVD will be very helpful for Christian parents seeking to teach on this crucial topic. One point that impressed me when I heard Mr. Ham was his commitment to the Bible, and his concern over Christian parents who do not teach Genesis literally.

I have listened to two of the programs in this collection on audio, and they were excellent. My boys and I enjoyed You May Not Take Our Guns. This is an issue we have never really thought about or discussed, but it was interesting to look at it from a legal perspective. The DVD The State of Parental Rights in America addresses the "Biblical and Constitutional issues that American parents need to understand today in light of the perilous state of parental rights in our time." I did not feel this message was appropriate for children (though it says "ages 8 and up") but I thought it was a very eye-opening message for parents to listen to.

Leave a comment on this post to enter the Give-away if you would like a chance to win the DVD Top Ten Questions about Genesis and Creation. Post a link to this contest on your blog for a second entry (be sure to leave me a separate comment with the link, please!) Contest ends at 10:00 p.m. EST on Wednesday, May 13th, and the winner will be announced May 14th.

Geocaching Birthday Party

We recently had a birthday party for two of our boys. They wanted to do a geocaching theme. If you missed my post a few weeks ago about Geocaching and Letterboxing, you can read it here. Geocaching (pronounced "Geo-cash-ing") is a form of treasure hunting which relies on a hand-held GPS unit for finding treasure locations.

For the party, I hid favors in plastic boxes with lids. I bought the boxes, as well as most of the favors, at the Dollar store. Some boxes held candy, such as Pez or lollipops, other boxes had toys and trinkets. One box had goggles and splash balls and another had an assortment of treasures to choose from, such as fishing lures, pocket flashlights, baseball cards and $1 hand-held games. We hid 7 caches for this party.



Before the party, my oldest son and I hid the boxes in various places around our neighborhood. We have a lot of woodsy areas in our neighborhood, but I still made sure to mark each cache with a clearly marked sign, reading "Official Birthday Party Geocache", in case a neighbor found it before the kids. If you were holding a party like this one in a public park this would be even more important, as some official geocache boxes have been mistaken for bombs in the past!

We took care to spread out the hiding places so the kids would have to work to find the treasure. After hiding the box, you stand over the location with the GPS unit and mark the location. Be sure to title it so you can find it later. We just titled each location BP 1 (Birthday party 1), BP 2, and so on.

Continue hiding all the boxes and marking all the locations. By putting all the "way points" into the GPS unit, the kids can just select each way point in order and move independently from one cache to the next. We only have one GPS unit, so the birthday boys took turns looking up the next way point and leading the group to the next cache location.


The children were given a page with encrypted clues, one for each location. Many geocaches have clue sheets like this, so we enjoyed adding that authentic touch. Some of the kids loved hiking around looking for the caches, while others enjoyed pausing to try and solve the puzzles. The clues all had something to do with the hiding place, such as "It will take a miracle to find this one!" for a cache hidden near a bag of Miracle Grow potting soil. My son encrypted the clues, and included this decryption key at the bottom of the clue sheet:

Decryption Key
A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I|J|K|L|M
-------------------------
N|O|P|Q|R|S|T|U|V|W|X|Y|Z
(letter above equals below,
and vice versa)


The GPS unit is accurate to within 50 feet, so there is still some hunting involved even when you get to the location. We hid some of the boxes pretty well, and others were easier to find. The kids had fun looking for the caches, and some of the clues came in handy when a cache could not be immediately spotted.


Everyone was eager to see what was hidden in each cache! The kids each took a paper lunch sack along on their hunt to carry all their treasures in. I put drink boxes in the fourth cache, as I knew they would be getting thirsty by that point. Remind the kids to bring the empty cache boxes back so that you won't have to retrieve them at the end of the party!


The clue for the last cache said "Cake and Ice Cream" when it was decrypted. We marked our kitchen for that way point, and the GPS led the kids back to the house for the rest of the party.


I'm not very crafty, but I tried to make the cake look like our hand-held GPS unit.

Fun was had by all!