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Extras and Announcements -- July 13, 2007
#1 · July 13, 2007, 10:32 am
Posted by: hopechestnews <hopechestnews@...>
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Hope Chest Home School News
Extras and Announcements
July 13, 2007
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Dear friends,
I hope to send out the next Hope Chest issue in about a week. However, I do have several short extras and announcements to send along right now. Please read all the way through this, because one of the opportunities ends today!
- Family News
- My Books
- My Christian Book Distributor's Affiliate Web Store, Plus a 10% Discount Code
- Total MomSense Video Clip by Anita Renfroe
- Timberdoodle's New Autism Resource Center
- Ways to Help Others and a Great Home School Resource Deal
Family News
My 18 year old daughter Julia is home from her medical mission trip to Bolivia! She arrived Tuesday afternoon, totally exhausted. She had the time of her life! I hope to update the Mission:X Bolivia page (http://www.VirginiaKnowles.com/Bolivia) soon after I load in some of her pictures. I just haven't had time this week! However, my friend Tammy Griffith, whose husband and daughter were on the construction team, already has lots of pictures at her blog site: http://www.tammy-griffith.blogspot.com/
In other news, I got a bit of a delightful surprise yesterday. Several days ago, my 14 year old daughter Joanna informed me that my four year old son Ben had started reading a few words in our Dick and Jane reader that I had picked up from Sam's Club a few years back. I didn't think too much of it at the time. Apparently she has been working with him a little at a time since then, and he's been practicing on his own. Last night, Ben sat down and read several stories to me! He is up to page 90 already! Needless to say, I was in total shock to hear him read sentences like "I can not find the ball. Come, Dick, come. Come and find the ball." Yes, he needed a little help with new words like "find" but I have not given this child any phonics lessons other than teaching him letter sounds and letting him work on educational software like Clifford and Dr. Seuss. Glory be! My school year just got much easier! All children are different! Though some of my children were early readers, two of them couldn't read easy phonics books fluently until they were nearly seven, and one of these had to write the words in order to read them when she was first starting out. We never used anything fancy -- just wooden alphabet puzzles, simple words written on index cards, a few phonics readers and cheap workbooks, library books, and some fun software here and there. Oh, and plenty of time cuddled on the couch to hear Mommy or an older sibling read picture books. That is the key, long before the children start sounding out words by themselves! Moms, read to your children every day!
My Books
First, many of you have told me you are ready to order copies of my three books, The Learner's Journal lesson planner and resource log, The Real Life Home School Mom, and Common Sense Excellence: Faith-Filled Home Education for Preschool to 5th Grade. I am planning to do a new print run of all three titles at the end of this month, to be ready for shipping the first week of August. As always, profits from The Learner's Journals will be sent to Malawi for the ministry of native church planter Pastor Headson Makazinga. I also wanted to let you know that I have done a major rewrite/reorganization/expansion of The Real Life Home School Mom, which was first published in 2000. I will send out an e-mail within the next week letting you know how to order these books. Before that, Thad and I need to make some final publication decisions, redesign the cover for The Real Life Home School Mom and update the web pages for all three books. Thanks for your patience!
My Christian Book Distributor's Affiliate Web Store, Plus a 10% Discount Code
Also, as many of you will remember, I have set up an affiliate web store for Christian Book Distributors. You can enter their site through my site and I will get a commission. This is CBD's policy to make sure I get credit for the sale: "The browsing session will remain active for 4 hours after the last link is clicked on the Christianbook.com website. If the Customer leaves the Christianbook.com website and returns within this 4 hour period, their browsing session will be reset and the Customer will still be deemed a referral of Affiliate. All items placed into the Customer's shopping cart during an active affiliate browsing session will be credited to Affiliate if such items are purchased before the expiration of 30 days from the date an item was placed in the shopping cart. If the Customer leaves the Christianbook.com website and returns to the Christianbook.com website during the active affiliate browsing session through the link of another Christianbook.com Affiliate, Partner, or other referral source tracked by Christianbook.com, the original active affiliate browsing session will end for Affiliate and no further sales will be credited to Affiliate for this Customer." If you have any questions about that, let me know!
Also, CBD periodically advertises a 10% discount on orders of $35 or more. You can enter the coupon code 251437AB before August 10 to get your discount. (Thanks to the many folks who sent me this code!)
Total MomSense Video Clip by Anita Renfroe
Colleen Braden sent this link to a hilarious video clip of a lady named Anita Renfroe : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VlY8STkhopc. This lady is funny! Her own web site is http://www.AnitaRenfroe.com.
Timberdoodle's New Autism Resource Center
Timberdoodle, one of my very favorite home school supply companies for the last 17 years, has ventured into the realm of autism. They have a new web site with autism information and resources, and now carry many educational supplies especially suited for autistic children. http://www.timberdoodleautismcenter.com/ Way to go, Deffinbaugh family!
Speaking of austim and home schooling, my friend Bonnie Carmichael sent along this encouraging YouTube video of a teaching sesssion with her autistic daughter. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-9E8aY1XcA
Ways to Help and a Great Home School Resource Deal
Next, I just got an e-mail from Linda Brodsky at Brodsky Family Ministries (http://www.brodskyministries.com). She says there is a homeschooling family (Jeff and Kate Estes and their seven children) that has extensive medical bills due to their 11 month old son's serious illness. A group of home school businesses have joined together to offer a package of great things for your family with a donation. Click here for more information: http://www.chirotoons.com/benefit/ For $27 you get over 30 resources - but hurry! This special offer ends Friday, July 13th!
Linda also mentioned two other ways to help others. "We have also found another opportunity to find a good home to gently used shoes. Soles 4 Souls is a wonderful way to get rid of unwanted shoes taking up space in your closet. According to Soles 4 Souls, it is estimated that Americans have 1.5 billion pairs of unworn shoes lying in their closets! We can use each and every one of these pairs to make a tangible difference in someone's life! If you do not have shoes to donate, they also accept monetary donations as well as volunteer opportunities. Their web site is: http://www.soles4souls.org/"
The other organization which Linda mentioned is Locks of Love (http://www.locksoflove.org), which uses donated human hair to make wigs for children who have long-term hair loss from causes such as aloepecia areata. In the past I think you had to donate at least 10 inches of hair, but now they will take lengths as short as 6 inches. This shorter hair is not useable for their hair pieces, but they can sell it at fair market value. Some of my girls and I have donated hair to Locks of Love in the past. They have been around for a really long time. Check their web site for details on what to do!
That's about all for now! Let me know which of this stuff is helpful to you!
Blessings,
Virginia Knowles
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