July 30, 2009
Time to "hit the books" again?
Welcome...to Sparks for the Flame!
Ah, summer..swimming, fireworks, cookouts, vacation. The smell of Coppertone instantly brings me to summer - no matter what time of the year it is! Hope you're enjoying the warm weather, too, even as you're starting to plan for the coming year. Did you manage to find opportunities to learn and grow this past summer? Don't forget, tho, that every experience can provide an opportunity to learn something... and the best way our kids will catch the fire for learning is if they see the flame in our own lives. Never stop learning! Never stop growing..."even" during the summer!
This month's contents at a glance...
1. Survey Says!
2. Online Safety for your kids...
6. Learning and Earning at Home
7. Book Review: Abigal Adams - Witness to a Revolution
Survey Says!
Thanks to all of you who participated in our recent survey! You made one thing perfectly clear: you want more variety! So... we're adding a few new sections! From now on, we'll have relevant and useful news, tips, tools and other resources for you work-at-home entrepreneur types - and even if you don't have a home business, do take a look. You're sure to find something to help you with time-management or working more efficiently ;-)! We're also taking the time to share a laugh with you, via our "Homeschool Humor" section. And because we love hearing from YOU...soon we'll be adding a short survey on a relevant or just-plain-interesting issue; we're looking forward to see just what you think! And as always, please take the time to keep in touch if you want to see an article or link to an interest of yours - or just want to say "Hi!"
Online Safety for your kids...
There's so much to do online! Lots of good resources and sites to give you ideas...and the data base of information is growing incrementally each day. Of course, the flip side is - that also goes for the unnecessary and/or just-plain-bad stuff! If you're going to do any amount of schooling or surfing on-line, computer safety is vitally important for your family. This article gives lots of snippets to use, such as a guide to setting parental controls on Internet Explorer, and ways to protect your child when using a cellphone (yup, ya gotta watch that one nowadays,too). Read more on protecting your kids online here.
And do check out this family-friendly site. Barbara Feldman provides oodles of super resources for kids and parents alike. She has a vision for "what's wonderful educational on the web for kids", and it shows! Surfing the Net with Kids also has a weekly newsletter where she highlights sites for upcoming holidays and other events, so you can plug into some online activities or resources that will fit in with what you're teaching.
Free gifts for you!
The Old Schoolhouse Magazine is currently offering 19 free gifts to the first 5,000 subscribers to their magazine during this promotion. PLUS, if you use the code below to renew or purchase a new 2-year subscription, you automatically get $5 off the price! You can use the code either online or by calling their toll-free number (1-888-718-HOME). Take a minute to peek at the gifts, and then use this code at checkout: PFSGL5OFF.
Some of the gifts include:
# $10 gift card for Apologia books
# A Cooking with Children CD from SueGreggCookbooks
# An online filmmaking course given by Advent Film Group (approximately $49 value)
# I Can Write - free 1-year writing program
# A 10 x 13 portrait photo free from Sears to YOU (with no sitting fee!)
# and more...
Mom, you're always looking out for others...be kind to yourself today and go get some freebies! And do it today, 'cause..."when they're gone, they're gone!"
Homeschool Humor
This month, a bunch of one-liners - the kids'll love 'em! (groan...)
*What would you get if you crossed vegetables with a necklace?
A food chain.
*What do you call angry bacteria?
A cross culture.
*Why was the month so worried?
Its days were numbered.
*What do you call a blue white metal?
Zinc about it.
*What does a skeleton use for skating?
Its shoulder blades.
*Where do you buy used arms for robots?
At a second hand store.
*How did the computer programmer get out of prison?
He used the escape key!
from:www.teacher-appreciation-kit.com
New unit study by "yours truly"!
We had a wonderful summer; once again we were fortunate enough to spend time at the beach. It motivated me to package what we've been doing for years as "beach school" as a unit study just for you! Check it out and feel free to use it for yourself. If you're new to unit studies, use it as a spring board for "something different". If you've done unit studies in the past, tweak and adjust as you see fit! Find "beach school" here.
Learning and Earning at Home
"To blog or to build (a website)...that is the question!" I recently came across an article in the NY Times that rained a little on my parade! I've become a firm believer in blogging for beginners to the internet. They're cheap (or free) to set up, easy to learn and - when combined with "add-ons" like Adsense and affiliate products - a simple way to start making money from home...but there's always the traffic issue. Bottom line: there's no money to be made with an audience of one!
Continuing on with the "blog or build" question, I found this article describing the cons (of blogs) and pros (of websites)among some materials published by the company I used to start building my own site.
It's a pretty thorough article, tho, so pour yourself a cuppa before you get started! The part I thought really interesting was the comparison between Wordpress (a very popular free blogging format these days) and SBI. It was a really good example of "you get what you pay for"!
So if you've ever been interested in building a website and develop it into a home biz, start your research with this article. And, as always, let me know what you think! If I get enough comments, I'll post a summary of the article - along with your comments - on this site!
Pat's Book-of-the-Month...
Book Review: Abigail Adams - Witness to a Revolution
Natalie Bober wrote this book because she believes that "great people inspire others to find the greatness within themselves." For some reason, I've had the desire to read about the life of Abigail Adams for years, and just never got around to it. Well, the kids "just happened" to be studying early American History this year...so I had the perfect chance!
If you read one book this year, please read this one! Mrs. Adams' life and thoughts were absolutely inspiring and motivating! I really couldn't put this one down - ask my kids or my husband ;-)! She lived during a time when women had no legal rights and were limited in their educational opportunities. Yet her attitudes and actions made her shine and accomplish things that didn't seem possible.
Separated from her husband while John was working on building the foundations of a new nation, and then later representing that fledgling country overseas, she managed to run the household and the family farm(s), raise and educate 4 children, become involved in trade and commerce locally, care for the needs of extended family and numerous friends, literally witness the beginnings of a war, befriend numerous founding fathers (she counted Jefferson and Washington as personal friends), and encouraged her husband to take care to ensure that "the Ladies" were protected and represented by the developing laws of the nation... while at the same time remaining loyal and encouraging and submissive (yes, hard to believe but you have to read this to understand...) to her husband.
You know, most of the time in this space, I like to pass on something you can use from whatever book is featured. Today, I have to encourage you to read this for yourself!!
Here's an excerpt from one of her letters to her husband:
"That your Sex are Naturally Tyrannical is a Truth so thoroughly established as to admit of no dispute, but such of you as wish to be happy willingly give up the harsh title of Master for the more tender and endearing one of Friend...Regard us then as Beings placed by providence under your protection and in immitation(sic) of the Supreem(sic) Being make use of that power only for our happiness." (p.73)
This from a woman who could hold her own in any setting!
After 54 years of marriage - much of it spent apart while John was in service to our new country - her son John Quincy had this to say of her relationship to her husband:
she had been "the delight of [his] heart, the sweetener of all his toils, the comforter of all his sorrow, the sharer and heightener of all his joys...In all his struggles and in all his sorrow, [her] affectionate participation and cheering encouragement...had been his never failing support."
Oh that my husband should say the same of me!
Read more about Abigail Adams: Witness to a Revolution
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Missed Anything?
If you're interested in looking through our back issues, you can check them out here. Take a look - there's lots of goodies in there!
Well, that's all I have for this edition! Hope you enjoyed our time together, and that you'll find these resources inspiring and helpful to your educational efforts.
In the meantime, enjoy learning...and stay tuned next month, when I pass along some home organization tips and a *new* report I'm working on - for subscribers only! Hint: it'll give you a whole new perspective on one of those "social sites"!
Pat
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