Archive for the 'Family and Parenting' Category

Citizen-Science Project: The Great Backyard Bird Count

Thursday, February 11th, 2010

The Great Backyard Bird Count 2010

GBBC-button_bluebird

The Great Backyard Bird Count is an annual “citizen-science” project that the whole family can participate in. This year’s bird count begins tomorrow, February 12th and runs through Monday, February 15th.

What is The Great Backyard Bird Count?

“The Great Backyard Bird Count is an annual four-day event that engages bird watchers of all ages in counting birds to create a real-time snapshot of where the birds are across the continent. Anyone can participate, from beginning bird watchers to experts. It takes as little as 15 minutes on one day, or you can count for as long as you like each day of the event. It’s free, fun, and easy—and it helps the birds.”

The GBBC website contains a printable poster, tally sheet and regional bird checklists; a PowerPoint slideshow about the GBBC (or you can watch a video); a kids page with fun activities, games and coloring pages; an educators page with ideas and activities to involve children in the GBBC plus a photo contest to enter!

Have fun –I know we will! :)

 

Blessings,

Denese

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More Free Thanksgiving Audio

Wednesday, November 25th, 2009

littlepilgrimsepia Thanksgiving Poems, Music and Stories

“Poems of Thanksgiving” and “Land of the Pilgrims Pride” are this week’s programs from Homeschool Radio Shows.

Music For Thanksgiving is a nice little collection of hymns and classic folk songs in midi format.

More Thanksgiving music can be found at The Holiday Spot’s Free Thanksgiving Music page (these are also midi files).

At The Story Home, you can download an audio of Thanksgiving On Grandfather’s Farm –a short story by Maud Lindsay from “More Mother Stories”.  (I haven’t listened to this one yet.)

Some Thanksgiving History

Listen to America’s Thanksgiving Proclamations of the past and be thankful!

Go to FreeAudio.org’s Thanksgiving page, download the free mp3s and listen to “Governor William Bradford’s Thanksgiving Proclamation of 1623”, “President George Washington’s Thanksgiving Proclamation of 1789” and “President Abraham Lincoln’s Thanksgiving Proclamation of 1863”.

One last thing…

If you haven’t downloaded them already, Homeschool Freebie of the Day has left several of their Thanksgiving resources up this week including Let’s Sing About Thanksgiving + More!

 

Blessings,

Denese

 

If you have slow internet service, a download manager is very helpful. I use the free Orbit Downloader to schedule large and multiple files for downloading overnight.

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Free Thanksgiving Notebooking Pages

Tuesday, November 17th, 2009

I’ve uploaded my “Thanksgiving Memories” notebooking pages that I made last year and posted at my old site. You can find them here:

Free Printables|Pawpaw Holler Home

File is 2 pages with places to record the date, place, guests, menu and notes.

Stay tuned…I’ll be adding more free printables in the coming weeks!

 

Blessings and enjoy,

Denese

 

For even more free educational resources, please check my education freebies tag archive and my Free Homeschooling Page.

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Free Thanksgiving EBooks: Planners And Recipes

Monday, November 16th, 2009

Home_To_Thanksgiving_Currier_and_Ives2

Thanksgiving Planners For Everyone

Holiday Planning Book  –Make your own holiday planner with a little help from Ocean Spray –just choose the sections and topics that you want to include in your ebook and click “create”.

YumSugar Thanksgiving Planner  –Basic 1-page planner.

Free Thanksgiving Menu And Planner  –Thanksgiving shopping list and recipes from Leanne Ely, 7pages.

    –Includes 3 different menus, tips and activities for younger and older children. Compliments of  www.MenuPlanningCentral.com

Free Thanksgiving Planner –Nice little 8 page planner in notebook format. Ebook includes blank calendar; pages for the menu, guest list, seating arrangement, notes and ideas; recipe cards and shopping list. Some of the pages can be used as Thanksgiving notebooking pages.

How To Dance Through Thanksgiving  –This extensive, 27-page report from Common Sense Living contains: tips for starting early, a housekeeping plan, shopping lists, menu planning, checklists, recipes and more.

Thrifty Thanksgiving Ebook  –Tips and ideas from Money Management International for a frugal Thanksgiving; including planning, decorating, traveling, stretching your Thanksgiving dinner, leftovers, traditions and much more.

Thanksgiving E-Cookbooks

Martha Stewart Thanksgiving Hotline Recipes Cookbook  -Collection of 30 recipes from Martha Stewart, Emeril Lagasse, Nigella Lawson, Jean-George Vongerichten, Mario Batali and many more. Download the full ebook or individual chapters.

Thanksgiving With Diabetes Cookbook –17 delicious low-carbohydrate Thanksgiving recipes from DiabetesDaily.com. You must create an account (free) to download ebook.

Healthy Thanksgiving Recipe Ebook –Sign up with Quality Health and download this little ebook of 21 healthy variations of Thanksgiving recipes.

Taste Of Home Thanksgiving Cookbook –Free digital edition of Taste Of Home’s October/November 2009 Complete Thanksgiving Cookbook edition. Very large file –44.4MB. More past issues available.

Blessings,

Denese

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This Week At Homeschool Freebie Of The Day: Holiday Helpers, Cookies, Gingerbread And Thanksgiving Songs

Monday, November 16th, 2009

Homeschool Freebie of the Day has a great line-up of holiday freebies this week.


Monday, November 16: The Christmas Cookie Plates Project (pdf ebook) – This excellent ebook by Sheri Graham contains complete instructions on how to make over 30 cookie plates PLUS recipes, shopping lists, planning forms, and more! The "Cookie Plates Project" begins right after Thanksgiving, so you will want to make sure to save it, then print it out so you are ready to start!

Tuesday, November 17: How to Avoid the "Embarrassed Parent" Syndrome this Holiday Season (mp3 audio) -In this concise audio seminar, Cindy Carrier shares some practical training strategies and tips that can help make your holiday season more peaceful as you deal with parties, over-indulgence, selfishness, and more. Great tips and training suggestions!

Wednesday, November 18: Joyful Momma’s Guide to Christmas Gingerbread & Other Holiday Treats (pdf ebook) -This little ebook is all about Gingerbread and other Christmas treats, including instructions and patterns for making a gingerbread house, some great recipes for Gingerbread, Venetians, Turkish Delight and some favorite hot beverages your family will enjoy around the holidays.

Thursday, November 19: Let’s Sing About Thanksgiving (mps audio & pdf lesson guide) -A vintage Thanksgiving-themed music lesson from back in the day when rural schools got their music lessons over the radio. Learn some simple songs about Thanksgiving, and hear a short story about the Pilgrims. PLUS: An extra classic Thanksgiving Audio program for your listening pleasure!

Friday, November 20: Making the Holidays Family Friendly (pdf ebook) -Penny Raine brings us this excellent guide to planning holiday times for your family so they are nurturing, memorable celebrations instead of unrealistic, high-stress occasions. Don’t miss this!


 

Blessings,

Denese

 

For even more free educational resources, please check my educational freebies tag archive and my Free Homeschooling Page.

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Free Online Magazine For Mommas

Friday, August 21st, 2009

The Mother’s Heart Magazine is dedicated to serving and encouraging mothers in the many facets of staying at home and raising a family. It deals with practical and heart issues of moms – and dads. There are columns on child raising, husband and wife relationships, herbal healthcare, and adoption. Regular features include crafts, educational helps, trusting God for family planning, infertility and scheduling. Plus Kym shares many of her household forms created to make life easier: children’s measurement forms, library form, chore charts, homeschooling and more.”

The Mother’s Heart online magazine is published 6 times a year by Mark and Kym Wright; subscriptions are free.

 

Related posts you may be interested in:

Free Online Magazine For The Ladies

 

Blessings,

Denese

 

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Free EBook: Are Public Schools an Option for Christian Kids?

Thursday, August 20th, 2009

Should Christians send their children to public schools?

“Learn about how the public school system began, and by whom. What was the original intent of this system? As a Christian parent, can you confidently make the decision to place your child in the public school environment day after day, year after year?
What is being taught there?
What is the national drop-out rate?
Is God being honored . . . respected . . . lifted up?

Become informed, forearmed, and forewarned about placing your child in the public school system when you read . . .
Are Public Schools an Option for Christian Kids? By d’Escoto, Harper, Marcum, and Suarez”

This ebook is free from The Old Schoolhouse Magazine but I don’t know how long it will be available, so download it while you can.

 

Additional reading:

Underground History of American Educationwritten by John Taylor Gatto, a former New York State Teacher Of The Year. Read free online.

Deliberate Dumbing Down of America (free pdf) –by Charlotte Thomson Iserbyt, former Senior Policy Advisor in the U.S. Dept. of Education.

Legally Stupid: Thousands are functionally illiterate 

The Blumenfeld Education Letter –the basis of Samuel L. Blumenfeld’s book “The Whole Language/OBE Fraud”.

NEA General Counsel: It is not because we care about children

NEA strays from education agenda

14 Percent of U.S. Adults Can’t Read

 

Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.

Proverbs 22:6

Blessings,

Denese

 

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Townsend TN: Preschool And Afterschool Programs At The Library Today

Tuesday, August 18th, 2009

Are you in the Townsend, TN area? Do you have little ones?

Every other Tuesday through May, the Mary E Tippitt Memorial Library in Townsend holds preschool and afterschool children’s programs.

Today’s preschool program is from 10:15am to 11:30am and is about shapes, colors and numbers.

The afterschool program, from 3:15pm to 4:15pm, is about  transportation and people you respect.

Programs include storytime, craft projects and fun!

Craft at library program

The library is located at:

120 Tiger Drive
Townsend, TN 37882
Phone: (865) 448-1441

There is no charge to attend the library programs, you don’t have to be a Townsend resident to attend and if you live or own property within a 45 min. drive of the METM Library, you can apply for a free library card.

For more information:

Mary E Tippitt Memorial Library Children’s Programs

 

Blessings,

Denese

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More Free Online Children’s Gardening Resources

Tuesday, May 26th, 2009

Green Thumb Family -Family and children’s gardening ideas, videos and projects.

Grow a Vegetable in a Bottle

The Great Plant Escape –interactive, unlock the amazing mysteries of plant life with Detective LePlant and his partners, Bud and Sprout.

The Adventures of Herman –the autobiography of Squirmin’ Herman the worm.

Composting with Willie the Worm

Start a pond or bog garden –create mini-ponds and a mini-bog garden. Teachers notes, curriculum and activity sheets.

The Butterfly Website: Butterfly Gardening

 

Related Posts:

Happy gardening,

Denese

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Free Resources For Teaching Gratitude

Thursday, April 30th, 2009

Gratitude Notebooking Pages – set of 27 notebooking pages, each page includes a scripture relating to gratitude. Free this week from CurrClick.

The Attitude of Gratitude Lapbook – from Homeschool Helper, for grades 1-6.

Gratitude Journals – “Instead of having kids write "about" their day or weekend, have them write 5 things that they were grateful for during that time.” From Teachers.Net, lower grades.

How to Teach Small Children Gratitude with Art – make a a “gratitude” art display.

Teaching Children to be Grateful – a good article for parents with ideas on teaching your children gratitude.

Blessings,

Denese

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