Get This Book!!

Wow! Am I happy about this book!!! For a couple of years now we have been enjoying the use of Wilderness Awareness School's Kamana program. We did Kamana I together and Hope is finishing up Kamana II. I have been telling others about it but those courses are expensive and not many people are willing to invest that kind of money in a nature study course. Now there is this book which sells for about $25 and it is perfect for a homeschooling family. It's one of those resources that I wish I could buy for everyone. I'm going to be using it extensively in our nature study class this year.

The first half of the book is the Mentor's Manual and you will find information about thirteen methods of connecting with nature. They call them the Core Routines of Nature Connection. And the Book of Nature chapter has information about the eight sections of study which are in the Kamana II program. The second half is an activity guide with all kinds of games and activities. I can't even believe they were able to put all of this great stuff in one book!!

Richard Louv, author of Last Child in the Woods, which I am also reading, writes the forward to this book. If you read Louv's book you will understand the importance of reclaiming the days when kids played outside and Coyote's Guide will be an invaluable resource to get kids interesting in the outdoors.

So check it out. Get the kids off the computer and away from the tv and video games! You may even be inspired to start your own little nature study club!

You can buy it here on amazon or here from Wilderness Awareness School, where you can see 14 pages from the book including the table of contents.

Going Through the Fire

Ok, so I'm giving up on pictures. Every time over the last month or so when I have tried to load a picture for a post, it won't work. So I will have to go picture-less for the time being and just use words. That might be hard work because my heart has been so full lately and I have not been able to form all of it into words very easily.


One major event in our lives has been the burning down of our business while we were on vacation last Friday. We were just finishing up a trip to Colorado, stopping in Springfield, MO to visit some friends when we got a call from the local sheriff telling us our building was on fire. We left and drove home immediately. The fire had started in the stovepipe of one of the woodstoves. It was 4:00 and two guys were at work, my brother-in-law and my son-in-law. They were using the stove to heat a room in order to dry some letters for a sign. By the time they realized there was a problem one whole room was on fire and it spread unbelieveably fast. Within minutes smoke was coming out of the far end of the building. They were able to save a large piece of equipment and the computers from the office. The shop was a total loss but thankfully the office was spared and only had smoke damage so all of our paperwork and records are safe. It was a metal building. We had no idea it could burn like that. We were told there were 14 fire trucks on the scene and that the firefighters were saying it was the hottest fire they had ever seen.


The good news is we had insurance and the check for the building is already on the way. Enough of the contents were covered so we should be able to replace enough to get up and running again. Even payroll is covered for a while. So hopefully it will all be taken care of. Ford has done amazingly well through it all. Almost immediately after the phone call he kept saying that God can turn it into a blessing. I was just glad that everyone was ok.


A couple of days into our vacation, I had received a call from a friend who found out her breast cancer is back, this time in her sternum. So with that weighing on my heart, loosing STUFF seemed to pale in comparison. They are going through a much greater fire than we are.


A make-shift shop has been set up in my sister's carport, which was quickly closed in by the guys. The office is in one of her bedrooms. Even Grandma and Grandpa have been working their tails off helping with painting, pressure washing and whatever needed to be done. Tonight was the first night since Saturday that we didn't all eat dinner together. It's a good thing we all like to be together! That was one thing I kept thinking on the drive home: we are all in this together. I'm just glad we still have each other to be in it with.


The funny thing is, the friend who I just mentioned, her husband runs a construction company and they build the metal buildings like ours. And they have been slow on work. So hopefully we can get him to rebuild our shop and bless them too.

Kids In Church

Shadybrook Acres readers and most who know me will not be surprised as I step onto this soap box once again. Today I received this book from Paperback Swap. I ordered it hoping it would be something I could hand to parents instead of subjecting them to another one of my usual rants. I read it today at lunch and posted a recommendation in my facebook status. Then as I checked my blogline account, I saw a great blogpost by Granny on the same topic. You can read it here.

The book arrived after just yesterday when Annalise looked around church and then whispered to me, "Mom, there is only one other kid in church today besides us." Of course, she has grown up hearing us talk about this issue, but she seems genuinely amazed that other children don't enjoy the adult service. As we walked into the bathroom after the meeting, she said, "Wow! Has it been an hour already? I can't believe it's over!" I told her it had been more than an hour and that if it went fast for her it must mean she enjoyed and understood it. After all, our pastor is working his way through Genesis, which I think is one of the best books to start kids on experiencing the Bible for themselves.

Something I hope others will consider....

Enjoying the Little Girl Years Again

Annalise's main pastime is still books. Every night we still have to clean off loads of books and little stuffed animals off her bed so she can go to sleep. Having had four girls who great enjoyed books and then two boys who would rather be playing outside and now even working than reading books, it is nice to have the comfort of having one last little girl who loves books.

This week I turned her on to the Your Story Hour tape series that the girls loved so much. I can't tell you how many times over the years as I have read aloud some history book or biography the girls have said, "Oh, I know about him/her/that from the Story Hour tapes!" We've had a pretty rainy week and Annalise has been glued to her tape player listening to these. She likes to come find me and tell me all about each one.


Then we remembered we also had this book on audio tape. I was in the middle of reading it to her at bedtime, but she quickly grabbed up our copy along with the tapes and was happily listening and following along in the book.


This is the book she is currently reading to herself. She loves this series which she calls The Bonnie Books. Priscilla has already read the four books in this series to her but now she is working through them on her own. She has a cute little framed picture of Bonnie on her nightstand that Priscilla drew for her when she first read them to her a couple of years ago.


This is the series that Priscilla is currently working through with her now. She saves this for times when Priscilla comes home. She has even taken it with her when we have gone up to see Priscilla at school. Pris will find a quiet corner at the college and the two of them with cozy up together for one chapter. Last night Pris came home and Annalise was downstairs. I had Pris sneak into Annalise's bedroom and get settled in Annalise's bed with a book. Then I called Annalise up and told her that she needed to leave the boys alone and go spend some time in her own room. She moaned that there was nothing to do in there. I said, "I'm sure you'll find something." Then she opened the door and saw Pris in there! It was so cute!
She knows how to cash in on the big sisters. This book is the one Hope is currently reading to her though not nearly as diligently as Priscilla read to her when she was home. Annalise usually is sure to rope one of us into bedtime reading no matter how late it is.

All these do not include the books she is reading for 'school', which currently include a Childhood of Famous Americans biography, James Baldwin's 50 Famous Stories and Among the Night People. Nor do they include the books I am reading aloud to everyone for Morning Read Alouds and History. You would imagine that having so many books/stories going on at once would be confusing, but she doesn't have any trouble with that. In fact, she probably has more going than even listed here. These are just the ones I know about.

Isn't life with books grand!

A Wrinkle In Time

The kids just watched A Wrinkle in Time and now I'm reading the book to Luke, Abel and Annalise. When Mrs. Whatsit is flying the children over a group of creatures singing a song that the children can not understand, Charles and Mrs. Whatsit work at translating for them. In the movie Charles replies, "It's about joy." That is it. Joy.

In chapter four in the book, the song is extensively quoted. "Throughout her entire body Meg felt a pulse of joy such as she had never known before." Disney fails to mention the source of the joy. The song's words? Isaiah 42:10-12.

Quoted directly from the book:

"Sing unto the Lord a new song, and his praise from the end of the earth, ye that go down to the sea, and all that is therein; the isles, and the inhabitants thereof. Let the wilderness and the cities thereof lift their voice; let the inhabitants of the rock sing, let them shout from the top of the mountains. Let them give glory unto the Lord!"

Interesting that Madeleine L'Engle used those words, which express giving glory to the Lord, as the source of unspeakable joy. I think I'm going to really enjoy this series.

My Last Words

If I was on my death bed and was able to speak one last thing to my children, it would be this. I pray that it resounds in their heads forever. Take an hour to listen.

Shocking Message from Paul Washer

It's really sad when the gospel is considered shocking.

Sarcasm

One of my friends sent me a button on facebook that said this:

Sarcasm - the body's natural defense against stupid.

I thought of this button while reading Wendell Berry this week. He was writing about political packages "that are almost irresistible-expensive, of course, but rare." Package #2 is Preservation of Human Resources.

"Despite world-record advances in automation, robotification, and other 'labor saving' technologies, it is assumed that almost every human being may, at least in the Future, turn out to be useful for something, just like the members of other endangered species. Sometimes, after all, the Economy still requires a 'human component'. At such times, human resources are called 'human components' and are highly esteemed in that capacity as long as their usefulness lasts. Therefore, don't quit taking care of human resources yet. See that the schools are run as ideal orphanages or as ideal jails. Provide preschool and pre-preschool. Also postschool. Keep the children in institutions and away from home as much as possible (my note - and when they must be at home keep them loaded with "homework") - remember that their parents wanted children only because other people have them, and are much too busy to raise them. Only the government cares. Move the children around a lot while they're young, for this provides many opportunities for socialization. Show them a lot of TV, for TV is educational. Teach them about computers, for computers still require a 'human component.' Teach them the three S's: Sex can be Scientific and Safe. When the children grow up, try to keep them busy. Try to see that they become addicted only to legal substances. That's about it."

You see my friend sent me that button because she knows me. And anyone who knows me and knows Wendell Berry's writings would know to recommend them to me because we are kindred spirits.