"The Scriptures are shallow enough for a babe to come and drink without fear of drowning and deep enough for theologians to swim in without ever touching the bottom." - St. Jerome

The enemy would love for moms to believe the lie that they are ill-equipped to teach their children the Word of God. That they should leave such a weighty task to the trained professionals, like pastors or Sunday school teachers. 

But that's not what God says. 

As believers who are armed with the Holy Spirit (our Helper) and God's living and active Word, we are equipped to understand and to tell others the great news of the gospel (2 Peter 1:3)!

If you're new to reading the Bible with your kids, here are a few questions to help guide you as you read. I didn't make these up - there are lots of different versions of these - but this set of four questions is my favorite for getting to the heart of the matter. 

After you read, ask: 

1. What does this passage tell me about God? What does it say about who He is and what He has done?

2. What does this passage teach me about human beings (or myself)? What are we meant to be and what has gone wrong?

3. How does this passage point me to Jesus? How do I see the need for and the coming of a Savior?

4. How should I respond?

Whether you're reading a Psalm, an Old Testament prophecy, or a New Testament account of Christ's birth, these questions are so enlightening!

If you're interested in downloading and printing this free bookmark, just visit my shop. 

Children's Bibles.

Let's talk about children's Bibles. There is such a myriad of choices that I hope it will be helpful to share some of our family's favorites for different age groups. 

Differentiating between "The Bible" and "Children's Bible Storybooks"

First, I know some parents are hesitant to use children's Bibles because it "dumbs down" the stories. But I still believe there's a place for children's Bibles, and I believe we can differentiate between calling these children's Bible storybooks "the Bible." They are two different things. My children have no trouble understanding that these books tell the stories of the Bible, but that we spend time reading and memorizing the "real" Bible as well. 

The important thing is that you're exposing your children to God's Word. Children's Bible storybooks - especially those that are beautifully written and illustrated - have the ability to awaken a child's imagination and understanding about Jesus. They are able to give a zoomed out version of the story so it's easier to understand when reading or listening from an adult translation of the Bible. By reading about the work of Jesus on our behalf in a Bible or a children's Bible storybook, you are following the commands of Deuteronomy 6:4-9: storing up God's Word in your hearts, impressing them upon your children, and talking about them throughout your days. 

Our Favorite Children's Bible Storybooks

The Jesus Storybook Bible by Sally Lloyd-Jones: ages 4 and up

Soon after The Jesus Storybook Bible was published in 2007, I read a copy as a newly married Bible college graduate and it opened my eyes to Biblical theology in a way I'd never seen. The way this storybook Bible connects the dots and points to Jesus throughout the Old Testament is breathtaking. It was such a gift, then, to read this to each of our children until we wore out copy after copy. I can't tell you how many of these we've given as baby shower gifts - partly for the child, but mostly for the parent. If you don't have a copy - no matter how old your children are - buy one. I recommend it wholeheartedly.

The Bible in Pictures for Little Eyes by Kenneth N. Taylor: ages 4 to 7

I actually purchased this for 30 cents at a thrift store and fell in love. I have the original edition, published in 1956, and the illustrations are exquisite. There's also a newer edition. This is a perfect Bible for our younger children (currently ages 3 and 5) who really enjoy the short stories and the questions at the end. It's straightforward but helpful. It also tackles the more obscure stories that the average children's Bible might stay away from.

The Tiny Truths Illustrated Bible by Joanna Rivard & Tim Penner: ages 4 to 8

I originally purchased this Bible because of its representation of diversity. Jesus was not white, and unfortunately is portrayed as white in many children's Bibles. This Bible shows darker skin tones across the board, which I appreciate. This includes 33 stories from the Old and New Testaments in clear language for kids. This is not the first children's Bible I would recommend as the stories are not as comprehensive as I wish they were and do not seem to explain theological concepts as much as other storybooks mentioned. But I still think it's a valuable resource to have in your library.

The Biggest Story by Kevin DeYoung, illustrated by Don Clark: ages 9 to 12

This is definitely more along the lines of a storybook than a Bible, but it's beautifully illustrated and helpful to read with older children in one or two sittings to see the Bible as grand narrative (which is so important!). I do believe it's a little vague for younger children. For example, Jesus is called "The Snake Crusher" throughout the book until page 114 when he is finally called Jesus. That was confusing for my children at first, so I definitely don't think this should replace anything in your library... but would make a good addition. There's also an animated short film by Crossway that accompanies this Bible that you can view for free here.

The Gospel Story Bible by Marty Machowski: ages 8 to 12

This is the children's Bible I chose to use with my Morning Time plans. We use it much like a commentary. It summarizes the stories then sheds light on the gospel application. It also contains the Bible references at the top of each story, so you can read the stories from the Bible before reading in this book. Many mornings, we'll read from the real Bible, then just read the last paragraph or two from The Gospel Story Bible as it helps us process what we just read. It also has optional comprehension questions at the end of each story. This is a wonderful option for elementary ages.

As you can see, there is no perfect children's story Bible. All have something beautiful and rich to offer, but none are the infallible Word of God.

Our Favorite Children's Bibles

The Big Picture Interactive Bible (CSB) by Holman: ages 8 to 12

This is an actual Bible in the CSB version with illustrations and other features added to enhance children's understanding. This is the Bible we've purchased for our two oldest children when they first began reading. It includes easy-to-understand introductions for each book of the Bible, full-color maps, memory verse suggestions, and the "Christ Connection" feature that shows how Bible stories point to Christ. I really love how this is the unabridged Bible, and also keeps my children engaged.

The ESV Children's Bible by Crossway: ages 8 to 12

Similar to the previous Bible I mentioned, this is a complete Bible (ESV version) that contains added features: full-color illustrations, child-friendly maps, a dictionary, and Old and New Testament timelines. I believe the ESV is a little more difficult to understand than the CSB, but my son has this Bible and enjoys bringing it to church to be able to follow along with the sermon.

Bible Storybooks We Didn't Love

The Beginner's Bible - While readable by very early readers (there are only a few words on each page), the cheesy illustrations and dumbed down storylines were enough to choose something else.

Egermeier's Bible Story Book - This is a popular choice among homeschoolers, but one we really struggled through our first year of homeschooling. It wasn't all that different from reading directly from the Bible as it is very comprehensive, but I could feel my children losing interest quickly and knew we needed to shelve it for a later time.

A Note about Charlotte Mason

Finally, a note to the Charlotte Mason homeschoolers who may be reading this. Many adherents to Charlotte Mason's philosophy do not buy into the idea of a children's Bible, since Charlotte Mason herself said it was important to expose children to the beautiful language of the King James Version of the Bible from an early age. 

However, as I dug a little deeper, I found that Charlotte Mason also wrote about the impediment that archaic language can be to young children. This quote from Volume 2 is lengthy, but worth the read: 

"But the little English child is thrust out in the cold by an archaic mode of address, reverent in the ears of us older people, but forbidding, we may be sure, to the child. Then, for the Lord's Prayer, what a boon would be a truly reverent translation of it into the English of to-day! To us, who have learned to spell it out, the present form is dear, almost sacred; but we must not forget that it is after all only a translation, and is, perhaps, the most archaic piece of English in modern use: 'which art,' commonly rendered 'chart,' means nothing for a child. 'Hallowed' is the speech of a strange tongue to him - not much more to us; 'trespasses' is a semi-legal term, never likely to come into his every-day talk; and no explanation will make 'Thy' have the same force for him as 'your.' To make a child utter his prayers in a strange speech is to put up a barrier between him and his 'Almighty Lover.' Again, might we not venture to teach our children to say 'Dear God'? A parent, surely, can believe that no austerely reverential style can be so sweet in the Divine Father's ears as the appeal to 'dear God' for sympathy in joy and help in trouble, which flows naturally from the little child who is 'used to God.' Let children grow up aware of the constant, immediate, joy-giving, joy-taking Presence in the midst of them, and you may laugh at all assaults of 'infidelity,' which is foolishness to him who knows his God as - only far better than - he knows his father or mother, wife or child" (Vol. 2, pp. 56, 57). 

Wow. Those words speak so loudly. For me, it's hard to imagine that our only exposure to the Bible in the KJV would develop a deep love for God's Word in our children - though that is what some ardent followers of Charlotte Mason espouse. I want to present to my children the living, breathing, relevant, powerful Word of God in words that can be readily understood.

That said, I am not making the jump that Charlotte Mason would have loved children's Bibles. But I do think this gives us the freedom as Charlotte Mason educators to employ a translation that makes sense for our families. That may not be KJV. In our home, we read regularly from the NIV or the ESV and memorize from both. The NIV tends to be easier to understand, but the ESV is what our church uses. Then usually before bedtime, we'll read a story or two from a children's Bible storybook.

What version of the Bible do you read with your children? What children's Bible is your favorite? 

New: Morning Time Plans.

Over the past couple months, I've been spending every free moment I have on this project: 

This is a 36-week curriculum plan and each day is scheduled in an open-and-go format so you can feast on the Word of God and the finest of literature, music, and art alongside your children. These take 30 minutes (without the read-aloud portion) to an hour a day and can be done as an entire family.

This idea was born out of a gap I noticed in homeschooling curricula. While there might be a short Bible reading to begin the day, it had no connecting point with anything else we were learning. I wanted more out of our mornings: to dive deeper into God's Word and the rich truths of our faith, incorporating a Charlotte Mason-style approach of a "feast" of all things good, true, and beautiful. 

I'd love for you to visit Brighter Day Press to download the plans or try the first week for free!

DIY with kids: Collage beetles!

Today, we're joining up with KidLab's "Beetle Week" to share a DIY project that's perfect for kids of all ages as we head into summer. We're creating beetles in the whimsical collage style of Eric Carle. This is a project that could stretch over a few days as you wait for paint and glue to dry, but only requires short bursts of concentration for younger children. And it yields SUCH fun results! We're basing our designs on Eric Carle's book, The Very Clumsy Click Beetle. 

Liam's first grade year & A Gentle Feast review.

This past year of homeschool has been *quite* the adventure! Moving across the country (and spending over a month in the process) threw us a curveball, but I'm more grateful than ever to be homeschooling. Instead of it feeling like a major disruption, we were able to plod along and keep making progress as we homeschooled on the road and in our new Texas home. What a gift! 

I wanted to write an update to review our curriculum choices from last year before posting about what we'll be doing for next year. 

You can find all our 1st grade curriculum choices here.

We have truly enjoyed A Gentle Feast. Julie Ross has done a phenomenal job boiling down the best parts of Charlotte Mason's philosophy into a curriculum and presenting it in an easy-to-digest format. We have especially loved the history book choices, the hymns, and the read-alouds. If you're brand new to Charlotte Mason-style learning, this is a perfect first step. A Gentle Feast guides you along with clarity and intention.

If there have been any cons for us, it's been a few of the book choices. Some are simply so "classic" (literally reprints from the 1800s) that they've been hard for us to connect with. For example, The Burgess Animal Book and The Little Flower Book - used for natural history - have been two of them. I definitely see the reason for her choices as they are consistent with Charlotte Mason ideals. But when I gave Liam the option of putting them down and using something else for natural history, he was more than eager to put them aside. If you've followed Ambleside Online, I'm sure you have encountered this style of book as the lists are very similar. I'm just finding that while we can stretch our tastes in some areas to include classic selections, Liam and Lanie do prefer a few things to be more up to date, colorful, and engaging than these classic texts.

One thing I really loved by A Gentle Feast was this book: Cycle 1 Language Arts. It includes copywork, dictation, grammar, spelling, free drawing - basically all aspects of what you would consider language arts - and was the perfect level for our first grader. I recommend it, even if you aren't using the entire curriculum.

If you're on the fence about using A Gentle Feast, my best recommendation is to choose which cycle you're interested in and download the booklist. It's $5 well spent to get a feel for which books you'll be using and if you think they'll be a good fit for your family.

Perhaps you're similar, but the longer we homeschool, the more I find it's hard to put Liam firmly in "a grade" that makes sense for him. He is right at grade level in some areas and above grade level in others, so I want to custom fit his education for how he will learn best. Overall, I think I'm needing a little more leeway to make my own choices for next year instead of an "open and go" curriculum, even though I did love many aspects of A Gentle Feast.

Next year (which will begin as soon as June if we're still in quarantine!), Liam will be in 2nd grade and Lanie will be in Kindergarten. Charlotte Mason does not encourage formal schooling for Kindergarten age, but Lanie is chomping at the bit to get started and is so eager to read, so we will do a little with her. I'm also blending some Classical education elements as I'm finding that's another philosophy I lean toward. More on that later. :)

Reading aloud has quickly become our favorite part of homeschool - and our favorite part of most days. Here are a few favorite books we've read aloud this year (among dozens!):
Poppy by Avi
The Mercy Watson series by Kate DiCamillo (loved by the whole family!)
The Sign of the Beaver by Elizabeth George Speare
The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo

Currently, Liam's favorite series to read on his own are:
Imagination Station by Adventures in Odyssey
The Secret of the Hidden Scrolls by M. J. Thomas
Magic Tree House by Mary Pope Osborne (which he is now reading to Lanie during rest time each day)

I hope that helps! Please let me know if you have specific questions in the comments section, or by emailing me at whitney@elmstreetlife. I'm more than happy to help if I can! I'll be sharing our curriculum choices for next year in the coming days.

DIY: Stained glass.

Today I'm sharing a simple DIY project that my kids had so much fun with. This would make a perfect homeschool mini unit study on the history of stained glass or a lesson for a co-op! 

During the Gothic period and the Renaissance (1100s - 1500s), stained glass was one of the foremost painting techniques practiced in Europe. The process of coloring glass was probably invented in ancient Egypt, but it was during the Middle Ages that stained glass windows developed as a major art form. Stained glass windows were an important feature of Gothic-style churches, which first arose in the mid-1100's. The windows filled the interiors of the churches with light and color. They also served an educational purpose. During the Middle Ages, the church was the center of learning. There were few books, and only a few people could read. The designs in the first stained glass windows usually depicted stories or scenes from the Bible. Such scenes were important tools in teaching Christian beliefs to people who visited the churches.

The term "stained glass" derives from the silver stain that was often applied to the side of the window that would face the outside of the building. When the glass was fired, the silver stain turned a yellow color. Artisans of the Middle Ages perfected techniques for making stained-glass windows, many of which are still used today. On a large board, the artisan drew a picture the same size at the window. He numbered each section of the picture according to color. Over the drawing he placed pieces of glass that had already been colored while the glass was being made. Then, following the outline of the drawing, he cut out the shapes with a hot iron. Finally, the artisan cut strips of lead to fit between the pieces of glass. The lead did more than hold the pieces together; it became part of the design. Large windows were given a framework of iron bars for added strength.  

New methods have since changed the appearance of stained glass. But one thing has never changed: the magic effect of sunlight pouring through colored glass. 

Supplies: 

Plastic box frame or frame glass (for older kids)

Black puffy paint with a fine tip

Glass paints (I found these at Hobby Lobby)

Small paint brush

Stained glass window template (find some here to print)

Tape

Steps:

1. Place template behind glass or plastic frame and tape into place. 

2. Using puffy paint, trace the lines of the template onto the glass (may need mom or dad's help with this part). Hold the tip to the surface of the glass and squeeze gently.

3. Allow to dry completely, at least 3 hours lying flat.

4. Once dry, use a small brush and glass paints to fill in your design. Let dry overnight.

5. Enjoy your beautiful stained glass design near a window to allow the light to shine through the brilliant colors.

DIY: Viking Runic Stones.

Today I'm sharing a fun Viking-themed DIY project that's rooted in history. This could be used in a homeschool co-op setting or even as a mini unit study on Vikings. 

The Vikings, who came from what is now northern Europe (Denmark, Norway, and Sweden), used letters called runes and carved their writing and designs into stones or wood. The first runic carvings date back to 200 AD and runes were used to write up until the Middle Ages. 

The Viking alphabet, called the Futhark, is composed of 24 sound syllables or runes. Each rune is composed of combinations of mostly straight lines that made them relatively easy to carve. Bills, stories, and even love messages were written in runes on sticks. Vikings also celebrated men who died heroically in battle with memorial stones. These stones were carved with pictures and runes and were placed in public places for people to admire. 

Today, you will be using "Elder Futhark," the oldest version of the Runic alphabet, to compose a Viking message on a clay stone. 

Supplies: 

Oven bake clay

Toothpicks for carving

Copy of the Viking Futhark alphabet

Aluminum foil

Oven

(Optional) 1 tsp. white flour

Steps:

1. Roll your piece of clay into a smooth ball in your hands, then flatten the ball to form a flat oval-shaped stone. (Variation: Divide your piece of clay into four equal sections, then roll each one into a ball and flatten it into a stone.)

2. Using your toothpick and the Futhark alphabet as your guide, carve a message or story into your stones. Perhaps you can carve your name? Or maybe you could compose a simple story using the words listed under the alphabet? The possibilities are endless! 

3. With a parent's help, place stone(s) onto an aluminum foil sheet and bake in the oven at 275 degrees Fahrenheit for 20 minutes (or according to package instructions). 

4. Let cool completely. 

5. (Optional) Once cool, add one teaspoon of white flour and rub into the crevices to create a more realistic stone.

6. Once finished, use your runic carving to display your Viking name or tell a Viking tale!

Our 1st grade curriculum choices (and... who is Charlotte Mason?).

When I first considered homeschooling our kids, I had no clue how many methodologies and curricula there were to choose from. So the summer before starting kindergarten with Liam, I did a little research but mostly relied on the recommendations of several moms I trusted and went with Sonlight. I loved that it all came in one box: instructor's guide plus all the books and materials you'd need for the entire year.

You can read more about our experience with Sonlight here.

For new homeschool families, I still highly recommend the "open and go" approach. It certainly helped me get my feet on the ground, and as a new mom to 3 kids, it's what I needed. I didn't have the time, energy, or knowledge to spend hours planning.

Fast forward several months. As we wrapped up our first official homeschool year, I have realized that my personal bent is definitely toward the Charlotte Mason philosophy. If you're wondering who Charlotte Mason is, here's a very basic overview:

Charlotte Mason was a British educator who lived in the late 1800s/early 1900s who was well ahead of her time. She encouraged lots of outdoor time, immersing children in nature and handling and observing natural objects. Instead of formal science lessons in these younger years, she used nature observation as the primary means of early science teaching. She espoused the use of manipulatives and real-life application to understand math rather than rote memorization. She believed that children are "born persons" and therefore worthy of respect, rather than "blank slates." She taught that it's better to feed a child's growing mind with living literature than with dry facts from a textbook that have been pre-digested by the teacher. She wanted even young children to be exposed to great and noble ideas that arouse their curiosity through reflecting on great art, music, and poetry. Her idea is that schooling should be teacher-directed, not child-led, but school time should have short enough lessons that students have the free time to play and pursue their own interests. She was also a Christian and her ideas are Biblically rooted.

After learning more about Charlotte Mason, I felt so drawn to her methodology. Still, I felt torn because I really do love Sonlight - especially their emphasis on missions and how easy it was to just "open and go." I already had the books and Instructor's Guides for the next 2 years of Sonlight, so I decided to try to adapt what I had to fit a Charlotte Mason style. I could add on a Morning Time routine with hymn study, composer study, and picture study in a loop. I could have Liam narrate books back to me. We could add in dictation, nature study, and tea time. But the thought of that overwhelmed me. I've only been formally homeschooling for one year and didn't feel I had the expertise to write my own lesson plans from scratch, especially using a philosophy about which I have so much more to learn.

Enter A Gentle Feast. It's a new curriculum deeply rooted in the tried and true principles of Charlotte Mason. It's structured, but still allows flexibility if you want to switch out books here and there. It's affordable, even giving tips on where to find some of the books for free online. Amazingly, I had several of the books already and was able to find others at thrift stores for $1 or less.

The name "A Gentle Feast" alludes to the feast of ideas that we are to spread before our children. Morning time, the "appetizer," begins each day. Language Arts is the Soup and Salad. The Academic Block (which includes natural history, geography, history, math, foreign language, and singing) is the main course. And dessert includes handicrafts, poetry tea time, drawing, read aloud, and nature study.

A Gentle Feast is about as "open and go" as it gets with Charlotte Mason. Julie Ross, the creator of this curriculum, has chosen rich, living books and created a complete curriculum, minus math. We'll be doing Right Start Math level B this year with Liam. I've felt so excited as I've flipped through the curriculum and started planning. We'll begin each day with Scripture as a family. We'll study hymns. We'll study composers (right up Liam's alley!) and great artists. We'll recite poetry, learn about the natural world around us, and read picture books to understand American history.

One thing I did when I was first researching A Gentle Feast was download their booklist. It's $5 and it gave me a glimpse at what types of books would be assigned in the curriculum. As soon as I did, I was sold. There are lots of classics and some I'd never heard of, but it feels cohesive and beautifully curated.

The bottom line is this: I'm more excited than ever to teach this year because of this curriculum. It seems to fit our family's desires and natural bent, and it's much more gentle for this season of our lives. We'll be doing Cycle 1, Form 1. 

I am proud to be an Influencer with A Gentle Feast, which means if you choose to click through this link and purchase the curriculum for yourself, I'll receive a small percentage of that purchase. But mostly, I'm interested that you choose a curriculum that fits your family and your spiritual convictions. This is just one curriculum option of so many you have to choose from, and if you've already found one that you love, go for it!! 

For the next year, I'll pop in from time to time to update on how it's going, highlight favorite books and activities, and give my honest review. In the next few weeks, I'll show how we're organizing our days. Thanks for reading!

Homeschool recap 2018-2019.

We've officially finished our first full year of homeschooling, Liam's kindergarten year! I wanted to share a few things I learned, mostly to record it for myself, but also in case someone reading may be interested in exploring homeschool and this could be an encouragement. I was

Here's what we chose for our Kindergarten curriculum: Our Homeschool Adventure
And to see how it was going a few months in: Homeschool/Sonlight So Far
Here's what we did for preschool: Homeschool Preschool

It would take pages to fully capture all that we've learned and how we've grown this year. But here's a start.

+ I learned that homeschool doesn't have to look like school at home. In fact, it shouldn't. I'd heard this premise before, but really had to live it to understand it fully. Initially, my pre-conceived ideas of school (having never been homeschooled myself) bled into the way I planned our homeschool days. For example, as much as I loved setting up our classroom space downstairs, we hardly even used it. It turned out there were better places inside and outside our home to accomplish our homeschool goals, though I did appreciate having an organized space to house our books and supplies. We listened to audiobooks in the car, spent mornings at the museum, enjoyed countless hours on our deck and exploring in the backyard or at the nature preserve. With active bodies and active minds, we rarely sat at desks or even at the table. One of the reasons we chose to homeschool in the first place was so that Liam wouldn't have to sit at a desk for hours a day, so replicating that at home made no sense.

+ I learned that you don't have to check every box. As a (recovering) perfectionist, this was a hard pill to swallow. I was so afraid I'd mess things up that I followed Sonlight's lesson plans to a tee, even when a couple of the assigned books were losing my children's interest. We plowed through them anyway, but looking back, I wish I could have replaced those choices with something that fit the kids' interests more. Using our Sonlight Instructors' Guides as a map rather than a task master was a lesson I learned the hard way. Some days, I needed to remind myself, "This is kindergarten" to ease up a bit on what I felt were requirements. Liam was reading well, doing math, and learning so many life lessons being at home with us each day. If the boxes weren't all checked, it was going to be ok.

+ I learned that you have the freedom to make it your own (and you should!). Next year, we are moving in a different direction, which I will detail in another post. I've learned through the year that our family leans toward more of a Charlotte Mason-style education. So this coming year, I'm excited to incorporate more hymn study, Scripture memory, habit training, and afternoon tea time with poetry. I learned that there's truly no one-size-fits-all homeschool curriculum, and your curriculum choices should reflect the interests of your family. While I believe using an "open and go" boxed curriculum for our first year was a good choice to help us ease into homeschooling, I'm now excited to make next year fit our family's style even more.

+ I learned that homeschool is simply an extension of home life. We are not only learning math, we are learning good habits. We are learning kindness toward one another, how to make our beds, how to cook grilled cheese. We're always learning, always growing, even if we aren't checking boxes on our curriculum guides. Sometimes it's hard to change the mindset that all things should be quantifiable. But I see such growth in all areas and in every person from last year to this year, even though we don't have report cards or test scores to prove it.

+ Finally, I learned that self care = family care. I think the term "self care" gets a bad wrap in the Christian community. But truly, creating a positive home atmosphere begins with me, the mom. So if I am not taking the time to care for my soul by reading my Bible and communing with the Lord... if I'm not caring for my body by exercising and eating well... it all bleeds into my family life quicker than I'd like to admit. So any investment in caring for myself is a direct investment into the lives of those in my home.

Overall, I feel so much gratitude for this year together. I had no idea I'd enjoy it as much as I did, and we all can't wait for next year!

Scribd.

 Have you heard of the Scribd app? 

It's like Netflix for books and it's changing my life! For $8.99/month, you have unlimited access to audiobooks, E-books, and even sheet music (hear that, Liam?). No expensive purchasing of books (like Audible) and there are thousands and thousands of titles. I've been listening to Rosaria Butterfield's The Gospel Comes with a House Key and my kids love listening to The Magic Tree House series while Liam reads along. Scribd also has lots of the books - in E-book and audiobook form - that we'll be reading with Liam and Lanie's homeschool curriculum for next year.

If you download the app using this link, you'll get your first two months FREE and I'll get one month. Score. Give it a try! You can cancel anytime.

Tea time.

In the past few weeks, we've begun incorporating afternoon tea time into our daily routine. We'd practiced it on occasion through the past year of homeschool, but never made it a habit. This upcoming school year, we'll be using a Charlotte Mason-inspired curriculum that sets aside time for tea and reading together each afternoon. But whether or not you use Charlotte Mason or even homeschool, this would be a sweet practice to incorporate into your day - especially during the summer when kids are home.