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A Fresh Gust of Winter Wind in August [Thanks to The Wind in the Willows]
When the temperature reaches 80 degrees in the Midwest and the humidity levels spike into the 60-70% range, I start to daydream about drifts of freshly-fallen snow sparkling like diamonds in the pale winter sun. The bitingly cold wind tosses the snow into shimmering sheets and icicles grace the roofs of neighborhood homes with chimneys puffing little clouds of smoke, the delightful glow of a crackling fire not far below. The kids and I trudge through the snow clad in our winter hats, coats, mittens, snow pants, and boots, hoping to find the perfect hill on which to sled. Oh winter, you can’t come soon enough! Right now, Samuel and…
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How to Use Nature to Help Manage Anxiety and Depression
I believe that the use of medicine for anxiety and depression is absolutely okay. If you need to take medicine for the long-term, how wonderful that you found something that helps relieve your symptoms and will work for you for years to come. If you only need to take medicine in the short-term, that’s great news, too! God gave us medicine to help correct this biological, spiritual, and situational, complex health issue, and we must not ignore the hope medicine can provide for those in need. I fall more into the short-term category than the long-term category. On and off since Ruthie was born, I’ve taken medication mostly for anxiety,…
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My First Ever Article Roundup: Social Distancing, Education, Finding Home
I’ve never posted a roundup of articles from around the internet, but I recently read so many that have to do with topics I wrote about or have been thinking about that I thought I’d share. I’ll link to my writing (if applicable) and the article I found online so you can read them together if you find that helpful! Sorry for the Rest of You for Whom This Is Nothing but Difficult, Maybe This Is Here Just for Me?: This article is from Stephen Kneale, a pastor over in England. I found his website through Challies.com and usually like what he writes about. I liked this article in particular…
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Good Things Grow Little by Little in “Gracie’s Garden”
Gracie’s Garden, written by Lara Casey of Cultivate What Matters, opens with a sweet picture of siblings Gracie, Joshua, and Sarah enjoying a couple of the delightful things about growing a garden: carrots and dirt! Gracie, with the help of Nutty the squirrel, explains to Joshua and Sarah how tomato seeds grow little by little, from “teeny tiny specks” (pg. 10) to “tomatoes for you to eat” (pg.23). Gracie, Joshua, and Sarah learn how to wait patiently for their plants to grow and finally celebrate their full-grown tomatoes at the end with “the happiest tomato dance you ever did see” (pg.32). My children thoroughly enjoy Gracie’s Garden. Since I received…
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How To Combine Charlotte Mason’s Reading Principles with “Spell to Write and Read”
A few weeks ago, I reviewed Wanda Sanseri’s reading curriculum Spell to Write and Read (SWR). I shared what I liked and disliked about the curriculum and gave some background information about our reading experiences thus far. (Here’s a link to the post just in case you missed it.) In this post, I’ll share how we combine Charlotte Mason’s reading principles outlined in the “A Delectable Education” podcast (ADE for short) with Sanseri’s methods and resources from Spell to Write and Read. In Spell to Write and Read, Sanseri recommends beginning by teaching your student all 70 phonograms. Students don’t need to memorize all 70 before they can move on,…