Category Archives: Upcoming Events & Current Free or Special Offers

Things have changed a LOT since we began home educating in 1987. There were basically a small handful of “biggie” Christian curriculum suppliers who had just recently began allowing home educators to purchase their resources, if they requested to do so on school letterhead. Non-traditional (read that, non- textbook/workbook) type resources were just beginning to break forth on the scene, and a SMALL market was just beginning to develop specifically for home educators. Our challenge was finding any resources to match our philosophy of education.

Today you have a different challenge. Businesses and ministries targeted to home educators have EXPLODED. Your challenge today is to wade through the thousands of choices available to you. But, aside from trial and error, how are you really going to know which ones really line up with what you are looking for?

Another thing began to grow quickly in the home education community, when we were early on our journey, the homeschool convention. There you could listen to encouragement, training, and the hearts of those that were further on the journey and those producing the resources. You could also see and touch, look through and ask questions of those who were selling the resources – and many times those who had written them.

Me and My House was there. We began presenting non-traditional resources we’d found, at home education conventions in the early 90’s. Here in the midwest, things were still in the “biggie” traditional resources mode, and we wanted to bring the newer non-traditional resources in for people to get aquainted with. As the resource business grew, so did the conventions.

And then another thing changed the face of home education, the boom of the internet. Now there were literally thousands of resources available to home educators without even walking out their doors. This changed the face of Me and My House also. It was no longer feasible for us to continue presenting at the conventions, and carrying inventory in a small rural area was not cost effective. We too turned to the internet for the bulk of our “face” to the world.

Although the internet has made getting home educating resources more convenient in many ways. It sure hasn’t solved that problem of making the right choice amongst the plethora of resources there are out there.

This week you have a unique opportunity to hear the heart of MANY home education resource producers. You have the opportunity to listen to encouragement and training. You have the opportunity to see samples of many resources, recieve articles, catalogs, and audio workshops from many companies. You have the opportunity to ask questions of many “faces” in the home education community. This week you have the opportunity to do this without leaving your home – whatever time of night or day, or whatever day this week or in the future, is convenient for YOU.

This week – and on indefinately – you have the opportunity to join the Ultimate Homeschool Expo, a HUGE online homeschool convention. Registration for the UHSE costs no more than registration for a live convention, and there are no added costs for travel, motels, meals, child care and such. AND you will receive FAR MORE than you’d get at a live convention.

You get to hear ALL the speakers and vendors, not just choose which ones you can listen to live, because you get FREE recordings of EVERY SESSION! – that you can download at YOUR convenience. You don’t get that at live conventions! You also can spend as much time at each vendor’s booth as you choose. No rush to try to get it all in, because even after the Expo is over, it really isn’t OVER! You can revisit the vendor’s booths and download all their FREE gifts and samples and audios and articles, and all the sessions ANY TIME!

It starts RIGHT NOW – so go get your ticket – $40.

I’m not having a boatload of fun this weekend. The ballgames were cold and windy, and Sat. night, very WET. AND very little time to spend with our daughter and her husband, and our grandgirls. But I’m home now – dry and warm – and finishing my preparations for my Seminar Session at the Ultimate Homeschool Expo, the HUGE online homeschool convention that starts tomorrow morning.

As I promised yesterday, I’m sharing another of Cindy Rushton’s articles with you today. Cindy is the hostess for the Ultimate Homeschool Expo, She’s given me permission to share these articles with you. Today’s article will give you ideas for a Nature Notebook. All these ideas will work well with Lifestyle Education through Discipleship™.

So read today and tomorrow and be ready to listen, whenever you’re able beginning tomorrow.

Don’t forget to tune in on Friday, May 2 at 3 p.m. CT to listen to Me speak on Finding Freedom & Simplicity™ while Seeking Biblical Excellence (Wisdom).

And, of course, you’ll need to get your ticket to the Expo first.

It is Spring! Why Not Begin a Science Notebook?
by Cindy Rushton

Today being inside just tortures me! It is STUNNING outside! Even the little birds are begging us to go outside.

Are you like me, dying from “cabin fever” and ready for spring? This is the perfect time to begin Nature Notebooks! Not only will you have an abundance of treasures awaiting your exploration, but these are perfect days to try something fresh. Ready? Let me help…

Chances are you already have many things that could be included in a Science Notebook around your home. Look for those “goodies” that do not have their own special place and add them to your Science Notebooks. This is the perfect opportunity to develop “a place” for those “goodies” while developing a nice product for displaying all the growing knowledge of nature all while your children are keeping special memorabilia! One of the things that I like about using supplies intended for scrapbooking is that there are so many products that enable us to keep bulky materials safely inside of our notebooks. Not to mention, scrapbooking makes EVERY notebook so much cuter! J And…to imagine that we call this “school!”

Want some ideas of things to include in your notebooks???

· Sketches…Don’t forget to include date, time, place, Latin name, and common name. Oh! Don’t forget to document where you found it.

· Snapshots…Don’t forget to journal about your snapshot!

· Pressed flowers, leaves, feathers, butterflies, etc.

· Glossary of terms studied…

· Artwork… (Nature art, original drawings, coloring pages…)

· Diagrams…

· Poetry…

· Information about discoveries…

· Lists of new findings…

· Handouts from trips…

· Narrations from trips, outings, hikes, nature walks, books read about nature or scientists/naturalists…

· Timeline…Mark your excursions, inventions, famous men and women, so on!

· Instruction Sheets on “How to Care for…” or “How to Collect…” etc.

· Booklets…

· Project data…

· Bible verses…

· Journal entries…

· Details from outings…

· Favorite quotes about nature…

· Reading list…

· Research…

· Reports…

· Essays…

· Science experiment logs…

· Notes from any Science study…

You can add a lot of life to your Science Notebooks with special supplies you find along the way! I have found that the little touches have made our notebooks so much more fun and in the process hooked my children.

Encourage your children to use die-cuts, frames, stencils, shapes, and edgings galore to make their notebooks fun and beautiful! My children now beg each weekend to work on our binders/scrapbooks. We have taken these simple skills into other projects for our Science studies such as creating books or booklets…making cards with pressed flowers, sketches, poetry and Scripture verses…and displaying our collections. The key is to just have fun and enjoy making your notebooks all yours!

Happy Notebooking!

Cindy

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About Cindy Rushton…

Cindy Rushton is the hostess of the Ultimate Homeschool Expo, a HUGE online homeschool convention.This year’s Ultimate Homeschool Expo is April 28-May 3, 2008–BUT! IT NEVER ENDS because it is an ONLINE Convention! Get your ticket NOW!

I’m out of town this weekend, with virtually no internet hook up, so I’m just going to share a couple more of Cindy Rushton’s articles with you.

Cindy is the hostess for the Ultimate Homeschool Expo, a HUGE online homeschool convention that begins Monday. She’s given me permission to share these good articles with you. Today’s article will help you add some fun quick projects to your history lessons.

So read today and tomorrow and be ready to listen, whenever you’re able beginning Monday.

Don’t forget to tune in on Friday, May 2 at 3 p.m. CT to listen to Me speak on Finding Freedom & Simplicity™ while Seeking Biblical Excellence (Wisdom).

And, of course, you’ll need to get your ticket to the Expo first.

Quick Ideas for Making History Fun!
by Cindy Rushton

Want to make the new school year better than ever? Want studies
that are interesting for the whole family? I think I can help you!
How about some quick tips for making your history studies fun? I
think you will find these to make lessons fun and easy. Let’s dig
in…

* Get Out to See History as Much as Possible… Hunt up any
Living History Days scheduled in your area. Get out to all
historical sites and museums…even hands-on children’s museums.
Don’t miss any historical reenactments and plays within driving
distance! These all give wonderful opportunities to get your
children in touch with those that love History and know it best.

* Begin a History Notebook… This is the cure to dull, lifeless
texts. Let your children create their own notebooks of study!
Include anything from great quotes to poetry to pictures to
sketches to newspaper clippings to photographs to mementos from
history sites, reenactments and postcards from friends to
narrations from books read. These personalized curricula will
bring life into all areas of study.

* Tap Into Grandparents, Elderly, Family, and Friends… Our
family and friends have been a key source of finding out neat
stories that are not recorded in the history books. Sitting at
their feet, we have learned many details from history that would be
long lost without the gift of story telling. The key to making this
come alive is to listen and record their stories for your History
Notebooks. Keep this part of history alive for you and for
generations to come!

* Find Treasures at Antique Stores… One of our favorite
past-times is “junking” at antique stores, junk shops and flea
markets. Take your time to find wonderful treasures from the past,
which will breathe life into your History studies. You can find
journals, uniforms, books, dress up clothes, and even play gadgets
to make history come alive for your little ones!

* Let the Little Ones Make Up Their Own Costumes… I have always
enjoyed researching and creating authentic costumes from other time
periods. I used to have more time and energy to create costumes
for every time period we studied. Now, my children are using their
extra time and endless supply of energy to create their own
costumes. I love to see them as they pull together little things
from around the house to create their own costumes!

* Let Them Make Doll Clothes… This tangent began for us when my
daughter got her first American Girl doll. We combined my love of
creating authentic doll clothes with my deep passion for making
doll clothes. Each year for the past five years, I have spent time
each December creating matching outfits for Elisabeth and her
dolls. This is easy to do with today’s patterns. Just take basic
designs and create your own “historical” costumes for the dolls.
If you have a beginning seamstress interested in some quick
projects, this would be a wonderful way to learn the basics of
sewing while learning History!

* Make a Timeline…Timelines are priceless! We have had two
different kinds of timelines for our studies in History. We had a
huge one that took up an entire wall in our old home. It was
fascinating to watch the little ones as they would “review” and
“test” each other on history as they went by! When we built our
home, my husband would not allow that one back on the wall, so we
made our own Book of Centuries on our computer, which includes all
of our history facts. We simply developed a notebook with the dates
marked. We record key events, people we study and the key events
of their life, our family’s key events, illustrations which remind
the children of those historical figures and events, pictures that
the children have collected from books and trips that we have
taken, information from our Computer Encyclopedias and Internet
Sites, and even charts we have collected or made ourselves. These
are another “text” that we create about our studies. How priceless!