Soul Carving

       I'm currently enrolled in an online history class. Right now I'm studying the ancient Tang Dynasty of the 6th century AD, and there's a few paragraphs devoted to early Korea. Today, if you tune into any news station, you'll see reports about the ongoing Winter Olympic games in Korea. This sets the stage perfectly for a homeschool unit study on Korea! First stop, the local library.        I actually searched their catalog online first and found some real gems that way. I put them on hold so we could pick them up on our next visit. (This makes a trip to the library with 7 children much more productive!)        The above illustration is from The Korean Cinderella by Shirley Climo and Ruth Heller. It's a feast for the eyes, filled with bold colors and intricate details. In it you'll find examples of traditional clothing and foods, as well as animals and mythical characters. The story introduces some Korean vocabu...

Shh! We Have a Plan by Chris Haughton        Public Libraries are a Homeschooling mother's best friend. We visit our library at least every other week. My six-year-old was excited last year to join the ranks of proud library card-holders, receiving his own library bag and card for his birthday. I thought I'd share some of our old (and new) favorites with you.                 A book with bold and unique artwork that makes the kids giggle becomes a quick classic! Very simple, repetitive text, yet full of charm. The youngest ones especially appreciate the repetition, and enjoy "reading" the book to each other.       I appreciated the subtle moral of the story: What so called, grown-ups can learn (or perhaps, fail to learn!) from the innocence of a child.         But - to quote Lavar Burton - you don't have to take my  word for it...

       I saw the first flyer for it about a month and a half ago and ever since, I have been looking forward to the local Library Book Sale! I was literally dancing with excitement the night before. I told Richard I'd be going to the sale in the morning and I started singing this little ditty .        By some miracle, I was able to get all the kiddos into the car and we arrived half an hour before the library even opened. We played at the river bank while we waited. Five minutes before opening, there was a line of about a dozen people waiting to get into the library. I looked around at the cheerful faces and thought to myself, "This is probably the closest I will ever get to Black Friday."       Thrifting is an art, my friends. It can be a hit-and-miss business, but with experience you learn a few things that increase your chances of success. Keeping your ear to the ground, as they say, gives you a bit of an advantage. Noti...

    Have you ever seen the "I Spy" book series by Jean Marzollo and Walter Wick? We're big fans. I know several look-and-find type books are out there, but for me the I Spy series remains the best. Each picture is a true work of art - no cartoons of people exhibiting crude behavior, as in the "Where's Waldo?" books. And no need to strain your eyes to see an image that's not there! (I could never get the hang of those "Magic Eye" things). Over the years we've accumulated a good sized I Spy library from the thrift store and other book sales. They run about a buck-fifty each. My kids never tire of them. Sometimes they'll even ask to borrow the camera to take a snapshot of an I Spy scene they've created themselves.      In addition to the books, we've acquired quite a variety of I Spy paraphernalia. Let me share with you some of my favorite finds:       A while back I began collecting foam f...

     I'm a pretty frugal gal - don't like to spend too much if I can help it. Never cared much for name-brands anyway. The vast majority of my possessions come from local thrift stores and garage sales. But for me, it's about more than merely wanting to save a couple bucks. I love to buy something with a story behind it. The term "second-hand" rings like music in my ears. Anyone who has had as much thrifting experience as I do well tell you, after a while there's a kind of energy you build up around you that starts attracting the items you're looking for, no matter how unlikely you are too find them. I'll go into this idea in a bit more detail in later posts, but for now, let me just say that I've developed quite the knack for finding unique and personally meaningful items at some jaw-dropping prices. So, taking the advice of an admired friend, I've decided to dedicate a weekly post to my thrifting adventures. Today, let me show off a few smal...