HSMJ - Gifts to give to YOU !

In my life this week…

I am so excited! It's my blogs birthday and I have some gifts to give You! So pop over to the post leave a comment, follow me or blog about it.  Then don't forget to add your entry to the rafflecopter to go in the draw.

The giveaway is open world wide.

I have really enjoyed my home school days with Sir N this week.  Something seems to have clicked and the two of us have been working well together.

In our homeschool this week…

• We have continued learning about plants and their anatomy.
• Finished reading Dr Doolittle.
• We started with South Africa in our Expedition Earth studies.  We coloured in the flag and started reading Letters from around the world: South Africa and the abridged version of Long Walk to Freedom by Nelson Mandela.
• In light of the fact that next month marks the begining of the 30th modern Olympics I managed to get some books from the library which we started reading.  So far I have been impressed with The Story of the Olympics  (Serries Usborne Young Reading) by Minna Lacey.

Helpful homeschooling tips or advice to share…

• Over at The Quotidian Reader I read Thoughts on "Less is More" Homeschooling.  I feel refreshed and encouraged and equiped to reevaluate our homeschool choices.
• I found this post after reading the above one:  Ten ways to simplify homeschooling.  Love reading this list but will say on the outset I do not entirely agree with every point.  I am listing it here because there are some excellent gems among it.
• 2nd Grade Homeschool for FREE (or nearly Free) over at Teaching My 3.  Great list of resources.
• 1st Grade Homeschool for FREE over at Teaching my 3. This page contains loads of links for teaching first grade.
• Life Skills Ages 2-18 over at Busy Kids = Happy Mom
• Encourage a Beginner Reader - Sight Word Chart for the Home over at Busy Kids = Happy Mom

I am inspired by…

• All the wonderful mom's who share and encourage one another in the blog world.

Places we’re going and people we’re seeing…

• This week we have tried to stay home and not flit about the country side as much.  I must say I am feeling more rested and so is Sir N.
• We visited Mrs T and had loads of encouragement.  She shared a new book on Character with me which I am keen to purchase and use.  It's called:  Get Wisdom!
• We went to Werribee Open Range Zoo one evening to watch the staff prepare for the upcoming Wild Nights which starts on June 30th.  We even partook in a news paper photo shoot.  So we are waiting to see if Sir N will feature in the news paper on Sunday. We went last year and had a blast so we are looking forward to going again this year.  I highly recommend it.
• Today we went to see Ice Age 4.  Was not overly impressed with it but Sir N enjoyed it emensly.

My favorite thing this week was…

• Having a cup of tea with a friend.  We have been trying to catch up for the last six months but something always seems to happen and put a spanner in the works. 

What’s working/not working for us…

• Finally getting to the library and taking out some books to help us learn about South Africa and the up comming Olympics.

Questions/thoughts I have…

• What are you using to study the Olympics with your children ?
• Can you recommend any notebooking resources ?
• Which books have you enjoyed ?  I am looking for books for a seven year old.

Things I’m working on…

• A unit study on the modern Olympics
• A unit study on South Africa

I’m reading…

• Why you should not put an SD card in your Canon 5D Mark III (if you shoot to both CF and SD and care about speed) by Jeff Cable.  He is a photographer who will be working at the Olympics this summer in England.
• The Consequence Planner - The Danger of Raising Nice Kids by Timothy Smith over at Busy Kids = Happy Mom.
• Countdown to Independence for Kids over at Busy Kids = Happy Mom.
• Kiwi Crate Blog having a look at their Two Ingredient Tuesdays posts.  Great idea to use two items to have some fun with your children. 
• Birthday Traditions Roud-up over at Kiwi Crate Blog.

I’m cooking…

•  Babootie a traditional South African dish.

On Pinterest I found...

• I have been looking for things to study Character with Sir N. 
• 15+ Pinterest Boards Teachers Should Be Following This is a blog post listing 15 great pinners to be following.
• B. Barrett her boards are comprehensive and easy to look through.

I’m grateful for…

•  The homeschool mums who have donated electronic product for my blog birthday give away.

A photo, video, link, or quote to share…

Source:  Facebook: AussieHomeschool

Blessings

This post is linking to:
Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers
The Homeschool Chick

The Home school Mother’s Journal began as a single post on a Friday morning over at The Homeschool Chick, and turned into a link-up for homeschool mothers across the blog-O-sphere to share a piece of their journey with one another each week.

The link party has moved and is now hosted over at iHomeschool Network and is open from Friday to Monday so join me in The Homeschool  Mothers Journal and lets encourage one another on our homeschool journey.

First Birthday Give Away

It's my blog's FIRST birthday  and I am inviting YOU to come and help me celebrate.

In response to my HSMJ two weeks ago, some wonderful ladies in bloggy land have generously donated products for a Birthday Giveaway. These are all digital (Just Plain Nora is avalable in paperback or ebook your choice) and you can enter from anywhere in the world!

There are a few options of how to enter via the Raffelocopter at the bottom of this post and a few prizes up for grabs. Please make sure to read the Terms and conditions before entering.



Some ways to enter are:

• Leave a comment on THIS post, 
• Follow Every Bed of Roses,  
• Like Every Bed of Roses on Facebook or 
• blog about this giveaway and invite those visiting your blog to pop on over it's up to you !

 Gifts in the raffle:

Thank you to Jenn from Little Homeschool on the Prairie who has donated your choice of a Kindle edition of Just Plain Nora or a signed paperback by the author.

Eastern Colorado, 1881: Nora Smith is growing up as a middle child in a frontier family. She struggles with feeling insignificant and just plain ordinary . If only she can win the Mountain Springs spelling bee, her problems will disappear! Nora prepares for her moment to shine as champion of the bee. However, other circumstances prevail, proving to Nora the importance of just being herself. Just Plain Nora is recommended for children, age eight to twelve.

Interrested in a sneak peak of the story? Pop on over to Amazon.

Deborah has recently rejoined the blogging community over at The Paper Maid and has some great free notebook pages as well as some for purchase over at TpT.  She has donated one product of your choice from her Teahers pay Teachers store.

Jimmie from Jimmie's Collage and The Notebooking Fairy has donated a TWO sets of her eBooks books for two participants to win.

Have you wanted to implement Notebooking into your home school ?  Jimmie has created an excellent eBook that will help you not only implement notebooking but answer these questions:
Am I using notebooking to its fullest potential ?
How do I know if my children are really learning ?
How do I use notebooking to help my children learn and to remember what they learn ?
What should I expect from different ages ?

This book is not a workbook or a set of lesson plans nor is it a curriculum.  It is a how to manual that teaches the teacher the ins and outs of notebooking.
Notebooking Success is available to purchase for the Summer Special of $5.50 over at The Notebooking Fairy.  **

Jimmie recently took part in a 10 Days of Language Arts blog hop from which Designing Your Language Arts Curriculum was birthed.

The guidelines and advice in Designing Your Language Arts Curriculum will help you navigate the complicated waters of teaching such a broad field as language arts.
What is essential?
What is optional?
What are some effective methods for teaching?
The ten topics covered are: grammar, spelling, vocabulary, poetry, reading, literature, building a library, writing, Shakespeare, and public speaking.

The eBook is in PDF format and can be purchased at Jimmies Collage for $3-00.**

 **If you purchase these books from Jimmie and win the give away, Jimmie will fully refund your purchase price.

I look forward to meeting new friends and chatting to the ones who are here all ready !

Blessings
Chareen

The give away will commence at 12:01 AM EST / 2PM Australia NSW time on Wednesday 27th June

a Rafflecopter giveaway


Giveaway Terms and Conditions:

• The give away will commence at 12:01 AM EST / 2PM Australia NSW time on Wednesday 27th June and be open until midnight EST /  Wednesday July 4th, 2012. Winner will be announced by Sunday July 8, 2012.
• No purchase necessary to win.
• Giveaways are held with Rafflecopter; commenting will not enter you.
• Winners are chosen by Random.org through Rafflecopter
• Must be 18 years of age or older at time of entry.
• If prize winner forfeits or does not claim the prize, prize will be re-awarded at my sole discretion. Void where prohibited by law. 
• Make sure to leave a separate comment for each entry, winner will be chosen at random! 
• Please leave a way for me to contact you in your entry otherwise another winner will be chosen. 
•  NOTE: This giveaway is offered worldwide, to anyone with internet access. 
• This promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Facebook. 
• Odds of winning based on number of entries. In order to enter the contest you must leave a comment on THIS post. To leave a comment scroll to the bottom of the post and click “Post a comment” (Facebook comments will not count, if you are reading this via RSS, you will need to visit my actual blog to post a comment.) 
• By entering this contest, you agree to release Every Bed of Roses and all associated parties/sponsors of any liability.
• Winners will be announced in a Giveaway Post 
• The cost of the eBooks are correct at time of giveaway.  It is your responsibility to check the current price of any items before purchasing. 
• Non of the links in this post are affiliate links.
• Disclosure: I was provided with a free copy of Designing Your Language Arts from Jimmie.  

The Witch of Blackbird Pond

 Welcome to Tuesdays Treasures.  I started these posts as a way of sharing great books in honour of my friend in New Zealand who would arrive with the treasures she had unearthed at her weekly trip to the library!

There are so many wonderful books out there hiding on shelves so I invite you to blog about a book on your shelf, one you're reading or one you found at the library and add your post to Learning All the Time Favourite Resource Link Up. 



This week ...

The Witch of Blackbird Pond

Reading level: Ages 12 and up
Mass Market Paperback: 256 pages
Publisher: Laurel Leaf (May 15, 1978)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0440995779
ISBN-13: 978-0440995777
Sonlight: Core D

I kind of raised my eyebrows at this book when we first received it from Sonlight.  The word forbids us to have anything to do with witchcraft and here they send me a book with this title.  I felt a little bent out of shape over the title and after a little hesitation I choose to trust their choice and read the book outloud.  I am so pleased that I did as this book brings back many happy memories of reading out loud with my teens.  It's a sit on the edge of your seat in anticipation book, full of great illustrations of wrong perceptions and commited friendships.

Follow Kit Tyler, orphaned and on her way to live with her Aunt in Connecticut.  Kit's journey goes ary from day one when she dives over board to rescue a childs toy and rumours of her in the community begin. Feeling deeply out of place in the Puritan household of her Aunt she soon befriends another outcast who is considered a witch by most. Whereupon innocent acts soon find her on trial for witchcraft.

Many of the places in the novel are actual places in Old Wehtersfield, Connecticut.

Reviews:

• "The book has a lively plot and excellent characterizations. The background has every dimension of reality." The New York Times 
• "Rarely has a book taken us back into seventeenth-century life as this does." The New York Herald-Tribune
• "Strong plot, fully realized characters, and convincing atmosphere distinguish this historical narrative." Booklist, ALA 

Mc Graw Hill Education has an excellent site with a 22 page Study Guide (FREE) in PDF format for you to download.  Simply choose your state (there is an international option) choose to use as a student/parent and search other books.  Excellent site worth bookmarking.

This book is available from:  Book Depository UK, Book Depository COM, Amazon, Fishpond.

Blessings