Author Archives: Lisa @ Me & My House

Listen to Thankgiving

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A BIG THANKS to Jim Hodges!! I asked him to consider giving a free segment from Stories of the Pilgrims for Thanksgiving to our customers and he did even better than that! He’s giving The Thanksgiving Story chapter out of that book to EVERYONE! The link is now up. Click on over, download and listen to this chapter from Stories of the Pilgrims. Play it while you and your children are making your preparations today or tomorrow. Then buy the whole book on mp3CD from Jim.

Don’t forget to order your Freedom & Simplicity™ Thanksgiving Study TODAY! I’m still sending orders out today, so you can get started right away! (ebook download) You can even download a FREE Sampler. It will get you started while you wait for your full ebook.

I also have a few Thanksgiving lapbooking ideas in a post from last week.

And many resource suggestions you can read today and tomorrow – many of them available free online.

AND Thankgiving menu, recipes, and Good for You-Naturally!™ ideas on my ‘from me’ blog this week.

LAST of all, don’t forget our Thanksgiving MEGA-Sale for all your Me and My House Exclusive resources and FREE BONUS items too!

For ThanksLIVING!

 

National Bible Week

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National Bible Week ~ Nov. 23-30

Join us this week in studying and celebrating the history of the Bible and its enormous influence on our culture.

Perhaps you’d like to order a historic Bible, like the Geneva Bible, the Bible of the Reformation, that the Pilgrims brought with them to this New World. This was the first study Bible with commentary notes – as well as chapter and verse divisions.

Some of our favorite resources appropriate for getting or giving this week – and using every week! – are:

Geneva Bible 1599 edition – the Bible of the Reformation – also available: 1560 edition

KJV Hebrew-Greek Key Word Study Bible – my favorite study Bible, because it contains a Strong’s concordance of key words and a Lexicon (yet still is not a “hefty” Bible) – new 2008 edition!

Giant Print New King James Bible – for beginning readers (or anyone who has trouble with smaller print.)

Bible on mp3 – KJV narrated by Alexander Scourby

How the Bible Came to Us – short interesting story, with many colorful illustrations and some activities.

The Scripture Guide – Uncle Austin, The Bible Man, teaches his 2 nephews about the Bible over their holiday. Great story.

The Child’s Story Bible – by Catherine Vos. Our favorite family story Bible.

What the Bible is All About – Get a good overview of the big picture of the Bible.

 

Thanksgiving Lapbook

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It’s time to make a Thanksgiving MyMini Book of Remembrance (lapbook). What would you put in it?

  • A Bound Book “Book of ThanksGiving” with Scriptures on Thanksgiving and your thoughts on them.
  • A “Circle of Blessings” Spinner Wheel of things you are Thankful for.
  • A “Thanksgiving Means…” glossary of word meanings on the subject of Thanksgiving in a Strip mini-book.
  • A Mini-Shutter or Mini-Accordion Book to record the chronology of the Pilgrims.
  • A Mayflower pocket to hold a copy of the Mayflower Compact, the list of passengers, and supplies.
  • A Tab Book of short biographical sketches of the Pilgrim/Plymouth Settlement leaders.
  • A Drinking Cup Pocket to hold “5 Kernels of Corn” and a copy of the poem.
  • Bradford’s and Winslow’s descriptions of the first harvest celebration of the Pilgrims in Plymouth, and our Thanksgiving Menu in a cornucopia Tri-fold (or other) Pocket.
  • A Layered Look book of some of the Presidential Proclamations of Thanksgiving.
  • Flap books (and others) of Psalms, Hymns, and poetry of Thanksgiving.
  • and a WHOLE LOT MORE!

Decorate your mini-books with pictures, clip art, and drawings symbolizing Thanksgiving.

See more ideas, actually a jam packed complete study guide, for your Thanksgiving study in:

A Freedom & Simplicity™ Thanksgiving Study

Order and get started on your study TODAY!

Don’t know what a “lapbook” is?

It is a collection of colorful “mini-books” folded in fun, interesting ways, containing information you’ve learned, and glued into a “shutter-folded” file folder, in a nicely laid-out fashion, for a quick and easy, small and convenient journal of your studies. Learn more about “lapbooks” in my 4 part series on MyMini Books of Remembrance on this blog.

Don’t miss our annual Thanksgiving MEGA-Sale for more Me and My House Exclusive resources!

 

Thanksgiving Announcement

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Whoo-hoo! We’ve been working around the clock on this JUST FOR YOU –
JUST IN TIME for your Thanksgiving Studies!

Announcing the release of

A Freedom & Simplicity™ Thanksgiving Study!

No time to get a webpage for it up right now, but here’s what you get:

a biblically principled study guide of Thanksgiving – both the attitude of gratitude and the holiday. This e-resource covers:

  • HisStory: His Word on Thankfulness
  • HisStory: The Pilgrims
  • HisStory: Thanksgiving Day
  • HisStory: In Your Life

It is jam packed full of ideas of what to study (in reliable primary source documents and living books) and how to study it (by R Road to Biblical Wisdom) and how to document your study (into a Book of Remembrance Journal or MyMini Book of Remembrance lapbook.)

Leading questions will guide you as you reason through your study. Also included are lists and links for highly recommended resources for your studies – both physical books and audios to order and free online resources, and activities for you to complete.

You choose the resources and activities that suit your family and the amount of time and money you want to invest in the study. Reuse it year after year as you expand your wisdom, understanding and knowledge of Thankfulness to God and of the Pilgrims, using different resources and activities. This can be a one day study, a one week study, or longer up to a month to 6 weeks.

Well, more later. I’ve got to get to bed.

Get started your Thanksgiving Study TODAY – Nov.  20, 2008. Introductory Price is $10.

You can also get a free Sampler of it (for a limited time).

Don’t forget to check out our Thanksgiving MEGA-Sale!

Thanksgiving Stories

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While I’m completing the final preparations for our Thanksgiving MEGA-Sale (watch for the details to be posted by Monday,) I wanted to send you some ideas for great books to be reading  for Thanksgiving Day. Order now to get them in time to read.

The first four are great stories to read-aloud as a family or for individual reading. They are listed in order of difficulty.

Of Plymouth Plantation – a firsthand account of the Plymouth settlement, written by one of their own. The best source for the true story, but a little higher reading level.

The Mayflower Pilgrims – an easier (and shorter) read, and great as a family read-aloud (or for older children) to find out who the Pilgrims were and their story.

The Mayflower Secret – another fictionalized story, probably just a bit higher reading level than Stories of the Pilgrims.

Stories of the Pilgrims – a simple fictionalized story based on the true story. This one can be read alone by children.

Other great resources on the Pilgrims and Plymouth:

Pilgrims vs. Indians –  What was their relationship really like? – audio CD from the Christian Controversies series.

Plymouth in the Words of her Founders – Guided tour of Plymouth’s sites and monuments with quotes in the words of the Pilgrims.

Landmarks & Liberty – An audio tour of the landmarks of the Pilgrims, Puritans, and Patriots – stories recorded on location. – audio CD set  (8 CD’s) from the 2003 Faith and Freedom Tour.

See more of our Early American HisStory Resources and Recommendations, including overview resources that have great stories of the Pilgrims also, here.

Want to get started reading before your order comes? You can start with these free online books. Both Stories of the Pilgrims and The Mayflower Pilgrims were written long enough ago that they are in the Public Domain and can be found online to download, as well as  Bradford’s History of the Plymouth Settlement, (Of Plymouth Plantation,) by William Bradford and Mourt’s Relation, another firsthand account.

 

Announcing: Growing in Christ’s Image

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We are excited to announce our latest release, just in time for Thanksgiving and a study in Gratefulness –

Growing in Christ’s Image
A Character Book of Remembrance

Add to your faith virtue, … 2 Peter 1:5

gcicover.jpgCharacter is the second most important thing we disciple our children in. It is something we both teach and train in – day in and day out. It isn’t the easiest thing we can teach our children. Math, Reading, HisStory are all so much easier. But after the knowledge of God and Salvation by Jesus the Christ alone, Character is the most important thing we can train our children in. We must have the Character ourselves to be consistent and diligent in teaching them. We must realize that the trials we face, even in this, are for our own maturing and growth in the image of Christ.

These Journaling forms will assist you in recording the information, illustrations, and applications you learn, into a Book of Remembrance, as you study the Character Qualities necessary for self-government and growth in Christ.

Read more about it, download a sample, and order here.

Leave me a comment for a chance to WIN Growing in Christ’s Image!  I will draw a winner next weekend and announce them on this blog. (Comments must be left by Friday midnight, Central time. Be sure to leave your name and contact info.)

Don’t forget! Our Bounty of L.E.D. Thanksgiving SUPER Sale  starts Saturday!

 

Interesting Question About Reading

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Today as I and our 4 yos were lying in bed and I was reading to myself, he asked —

“Why can’t I hear you reading?”

Interesting coming up with an explanation a 4 yo can understand. He saw me turning pages; knew that I was reading. But words weren’t coming out like in our family read aloud times, or when I read individually to him. He sees his brothers and sisters and me reading to ourselves all the time. I wonder if he’s been thinking on this for a long time, or it just occurred to him this time, that I was reading, but he couldn’t hear anything.

His conclusion was that he can read in his head too. To which I replied, “You have to understand what the words on the page mean.”

“Oh!”

He’s already trying to keep up with learning everything his 6 yob is learning. Perhaps he’ll be an earlier reader.

But I think I’ll make sure he does a lot of oral reading to me (as I do with all our children until they are fluent readers,) to make sure he knows what those words on the page are and mean.

 

Teaching Math

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Some good advice for teaching beginning arithmetic, from the original Teaching Manual for Ray’s Arithmetic (and other common books at the time).

In the first class, besides those who have never studied Arithmetic, put all who have been poorly trained in the elementary processes. It will be economy of time and labor to do this, even if you have to include the entire school in this division for a time; for, in arithmetic, above all other studies of the common school course, it is of the utmost importance that one step shall be thoroughly understood before the next is attempted. [Good advice even in the home. Lay those foundations solid. -lh] The first two years’ training is of more importance than all the rest the child receives.

Do not attempt to have the children use a book in the primary class. —A book should not be used, because no book contains, and no book can be made to contain, the kind of instruction necessary the first year.

Do not teach the figures in the first lessons, and do not allow the children to do any written work ; but teach orally, illustrating every operation, at first, by means of various objects. —The instruction should be entirely oral, and
should deal altogether at first with concrete numbers. The little child can not grasp abstract ideas. It is true you can teach him to repeat, "2 and 2 are 4;’ "2 from 4 leave 2;" "2 times 2 are 4;’ and "4 divided by 2 equal 2." But, without the proper preliminary work, these words can not possibly convey any clear meaning to his mind. This kind of instruction in a primary class is simply machine drilling on abstract numbers and words which convey no ideas, or at best a mere jumble of ideas to the child’s mind. It is one of the worst, and at the same time one of the most common, faults in the teaching- of arithmetic, and it is one which is very apt to disgust pupils with the subject from the outset.

On the other hand, if the proper method of teaching is pursued, which may properly be called the object method, the children are taught to think; they will be interested at the very beginning, and they will be kept interested by this method until they are successfully carried to the point where the object method is no longer necessary, and their minds are ready to grasp the abstract, through careful preliminary drill on the concrete.

Begin the teaching of arithmetic, then, with objects, — blocks, balls, marbles, sticks, books, kernels of corn, apples, shells, pebbles, etc., etc. The more varied your assortment of objects the better. The numeral frame and other mechanical devices are useful, but should not be used exclusively, or the work will become monotonous and tiresome.

Eclectic Manual of Methods – 1885

For Biblical Reasoning

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Give a man a fish, feed him for a day.
Teach a man to fish, feed him for  a lifetime.

Why does Lifestyle Education through Discipleship™ use the methods we do for home education? Most importantly because I believe the Word of God, and that we should do all things to the glory of God. But this old adage is in line with that.

I believe the most important thing we can teach our children is to fear the Lord, and to seek His Wisdom. This means we teach him how to learn, to discern truth, and to walk in it. We teach him to “fish” for himself.

What we teach our children is important; to teach them Truth is highly important. But knowledge is ever increasing, and there is no way were are ever going to teach them every “thing” they need to know. We don’t know what the future holds for them in this way. But Truth never changes. We must teach our children everlasting Truth, and how to learn knowledge and discern Truth.

So, more important is how we teach them, that we teach them to learn. L.E.D.™ is a Biblical Christian approach to home education that teaches for Biblical reasoning. One of our highest aims in education is excellence in learning. That is, that the child learns to reason Biblically for himself and apply what he learns. It is learning for not just knowledge, especially temporary knowledge to pass a test. It is learning for Wisdom, Understanding, and Knowledge. It is learning to reason through the topic to find God’s perspective, and understand the topic in context, and apply what he learns in his own life.

When a person knows how to learn, and has become a lifelong learner and lover of learning, he is able to learn anything he needs to know for himself when he needs to know it.