Poetry Bee

Rekindle the lost art of recitation in your students by creating your own Poetry Bee. This book contains many different levels of poems that will be enjoyable for all ages to memorize and orally present, from classic authors such as Lewis Carroll, Robert Frost, Christina Rossetti, Alfred Tennyson, Ralph Emerson, to Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

Get this book for only $.99 on Kindle.  Click here to order now.

I run a Poetry Club monthly in our community for our homeschooling families.  It has been such a delight to see the progress in our children's education.  I loved this so much, that I put my ideas down, and wanted to share it with others.  Thus, I made it an e-book for Kindle Books.  Enjoy!

For Love of a Story

When I was thirteen, a friend of mine introduced me to the movie Gone With the Wind. I will never forget how I felt as we came to the end of the movie. I was shocked and devastated, as well as very tired. (I don’t think we even turned on the movie until midnight.) Another friend was also seeing the movie for the first time, and we were both blown away. We stayed up a bit longer to talk about the unfairness of the ending. The next morning, we woke up talking about it. That day, I got the book and started reading. I have read the book over twenty times now.

At the time, I was just a girl who loved a story. I read the book several times. I read about the Civil War. I paid more attention when a book, movie, or lecture was about the Civil War. I learned about the movie, voraciously reading all that I could. I learned about Margaret Mitchell. I learned about film making, casting, and screenwriters because of this book. I was excited about the book Scarlett, which came out that year. I followed the casting of Scarlett and even watched it, wallowing in all its horrible changes from the book.

My love for this one story led to many, many other learning experiences. I remember being amazed that other people didn’t even know the years that the Civil War started and ended. I never worked to memorize those dates, but I knew them because they were part of something I loved.
I attended a public school, and I was doing all this extra learning outside of class time. I was so motivated to learn all I could. When it came time to think about education for my own kids, I thought a lot about my experience with Gone With the Wind. For me, it was such a testament to true learning. I wanted that passion for knowledge for my children. I wanted them to see learning as a natural part of living.

Collecting Our Children

" We can no longer assume, as parents in older days could, that a strong early bond between ourselves and our children will endure for as long as we need it.  No matter how great our love or how well intentioned our parenting, under present circumstances we have less margin for error than parents ever had before.  We face too much competition.  To compensate for the cultural chaos of our times, we need to make a habit of collecting our children daily and repeatedly until they are old enough to function as independent beings......"

"Who is to raise our kids?  The resounding answer, the only answer compatible with nature, it that we - the parents and other adults concerned with the care of children - must be their mentors, their guides, their nurturers, and their models.  We need to hold on to our children until our work is done.  We need to hold on not for selfish purposes but so they can venture forth, not hold them back but so they can fulfill their developmental destinies.  We need to hold on to them until they can hold on to themselves."

Hold On to Your Kids, Why Parents Need to Matter More Than Peers
Gordon Neufeld, PhD.
Gabor Mate, M.D.
2004

How Can I Be

I have two sons. My greatest dream and desire as a mother is to have them grow up and be just like these sweet missionaries.....

Speak With Conviction

Typography from Ronnie Bruce on Vimeo.

Cantus Youth Choirs

Dear music-loving parents and friends,

I just wanted to let you know about a great musical opportunity starting up in the greater Meridian area. Please help me spread the word to any families you know who may be interested. It is a non-profit, community youth choir called Cantus Youth Choirs. There is a lot of information on the website: http://cantusyouthchoirs.com/, including dates for a parent meeting and placement auditions next month.

A few key points to start with:
-youth in 4th-9th grades ('10-'11) are invited
-focused on performing traditional mixed (male/female) choral music
-audition info (for placement in one of three groups; all who audition will be placed): http://cantusyouthchoirs.com/?page_id=137
-rehearsals will be one night/week; time and location TBA
-Cantus Tour: In May 2011, Cantus will go on tour to Anaheim and compete at The Heritage Festival. The awards ceremony will be held in Disneyland (yes, we'll spend some time at the parks).

The "brains" behind this whole business is my good friend Erika McCauley (and her talented husband, Keith.) She is a wonderful musician, gifted director and has an amazing way with young people. (Those of you who have worked with Erika know what I am talking about!) Over the years I have seen and heard of many different youth musical groups, and I am so thrilled to be part of this--I can wholeheartedly, 100% recommend this as an incredible opportunity for anyone who is interested in music and singing.

Our advertising budget is limited as we launch the choir and we know that word of mouth is the best advertisement, anyway, so please help us by sending this on to anyone you know who might be interested.

Thanks, Melody

CANTUS YOUTH CHOIRS
13601 W MCMILLAN RD STE 102-314 | BOISE, ID 83713
CANTUSYOUTHCHOIRS.COM | P: (208) 954-6254 | F: (208) 473-2233

I Never Teach

"I never teach my pupils; I only attempt to provide the conditions in which they can learn."
Albert Einstein

Sign up for a FREE History DVD Set

School principals, register for your school’s free AMERICA The Story of US DVD!* HERE
America The Story of US — premiering on HISTORY™ April 25 at 9pm/8c — is a six week event that provides a fascinating look at the stories of the people, events, and innovations that forged our nation. It will provide you with an unprecedented opportunity to bring our nation’s history to life for your students. This 12-hour series will be supported by educational materials tied to curriculum standards and is copyright cleared for Fair Use in the classroom by instructors or pupils in the course of face-to-face teaching activities.
* HISTORY is offering America The Story of US on DVD to every school in the United States. School must be an accredited public, private or home school, grades K-12 and college. In order to receive your school's DVD, your school principal (grades K-12) or Dean of Students (college) should fill out the request form below. HISTORY strictly limits each school to one request. DVD requests must be made prior to July 1, 2010. DVDs will be mailed around August 2010, and free shipping is included in this offer.