Weekend Giveaway: Peace Hill Press

by on February 19, 2011
in giveaways ·

This giveaway has ended. Thanks for entering!

Today I have another Peace Hill Press giveaway heading your direction–this time for 4th grade!

Learn more about Peace Hill Press:

“Most educational presses are run by large, international companies. Not us. We’re a small company; we want to stay that way. When you call our office, you don’t get a phone tree; you get to talk to us directly.

Our books aren’t written by committee; they’re produced by a small group of dedicated, skilled writers who have training, experience, and (in most cases) multiple graduate degrees.

Our materials provide parents with a rare combination of academic rigor and ease of use. We are proud to say that our materials are the best books available for teaching history and language arts that we have seen. We’re also proud that as we come out with more and more products, they keep getting better and better.”

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Q&A Friday: How do you break out of a rut?

by on February 18, 2011
in family time · 24 Comments

Written by Jamie Martin, editor of Simple Homeschool and founder of Steady Mom

How are the days rolling along in your home?

We’ve been unraveling what appears to be a long string of…blah.

Nothing really bad, you know–but nothing really good either.

Just kind of chugging along because that’s what we have to do to make life work…chug along.

When I consider my family’s purposeful words, surprisingly “chug along” doesn’t make it to the top of the list. And yet occasionally each of us find ourselves stuck in a rut.
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8 Ways Having a Rhythm Helps a Mom’s Day

by on February 16, 2011
in a mom's education · 32 Comments

The following is a guest post written by Kara Anderson of The Very Next Thing.

It was a few days after Christmas, and our house was a mess. The pantry was empty and there was a house-wide sock shortage.

It was at that point, I realized, that we had definitely lost our rhythm.

I first came across the idea of rhythm when reading about Waldorf education methods a few years ago. It appealed to me as a way to help my children know what to expect in the course of a day, week or even season.

Only later did I realize how rhythm brings me a personal inner-peace, and how that positively impacts our days.

It often takes a busy time (like the holidays or vacation) to realize the many ways that having a rhythm helps me as a mother.
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The Evolution of an Educational Philosophy: My Journey of Baby Steps

by on February 14, 2011
in methods & philosophies · 23 Comments

Written by Jamie Martin, editor of Simple Homeschool and founder of Steady Mom

I wished I hadn’t shown up that day. But God knew better.

The late summer sun spun rainbows through the window of my minivan, as I sat in the parking lot of a church–journal and pen in hand. I had just attended my second homeschooling conference, and was completely freaked out.

Without knowing it, I had registered for a conference on unschooling–a term I had never heard before that day.

I wasn’t sure I ever wanted to hear it again.

What do you mean, children don’t need to be taught? How will they learn otherwise?

So before heading home, I took deep breaths and tried to make sense of this new information. Tried to rationalize it away with ink and words on paper.

If only I could go back and tell myself what I know now.
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Weekend Links

by on February 13, 2011
in links · 4 Comments

“Love is a canvas furnished by Nature and embroidered by imagination.” ~ Voltaire

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