Amy

Fighting the Winter Blahs?

February 26, 2019 by Amy Leave a Comment

Personally, I love winter. I love feeling cozy in my sweaters and boots, I love being snuggled up by the fire, and I love baking cookies and stirring soups and all things manner of tasty things in the kitchen. That’s just not as much fun when the heat of the stove makes you sweat, you know?

I understand that not everyone does, though, and even though I’m a winter-happy person, it has rained a LOT here in North Carolina. So much that rivers are flooding, parking lots are developing craters, and craziness has taken over.

What's on your wish list? — What’s on your wish list?

If you’re needing an out, though, I have good news: TpT is having a sale, and that means it’s a great time to freshen up your lesson plans or breath new life into your classroom with some new, easy-to-use ideas!

I’ve been filling up my wish list with products I’ve been eyeing to make my purchases easier, because the sale offers great deals: up to 25% off participating products with the code TICKTOCK.

What might be new and fun at A Nest in the Rocks?

Challenge your students to escape Mr. Lemoncello's library with this escape room challenge! — Challenge your students to escape Mr. Lemoncello’s library with this escape room challenge!

Engage your students with these STEM challenges and bring Mr. Lemoncello's second game to life. — Engage your students with these STEM challenges and bring Mr. Lemoncello’s second game to life.

You can't go wrong with a Gordon Korman novel, and 'Swindle' is the start of a fantastic series. — You can’t go wrong with a Gordon Korman novel, and ‘Swindle’ is the start of a fantastic series.

Hands-on projects are perfect for book clubs, and that's just what you'll find in this new Book Club Activities packet to accompany Dan Gemeinhart's heartwarming book "The Honest Truth." — Hands-on projects are perfect for book clubs, and that’s just what you’ll find in this new Book Club Activities packet to accompany Dan Gemeinhart’s heartwarming book “The Honest Truth.”

Book Club, Girls’ Edition: “Absolutely Truly” & a Wounded Warrior Project

February 25, 2019 by Amy 2 Comments

This month the girls’ book club read a story I absolutely loved: Absolutely Truly by Heather Vogel Frederick. It’s a sweet story about a girl whose family has been through some really hard things, and the sailing isn’t all smooth yet. The main character, a girl named Truly, remains positive and respectful despite the hard stuff. I really love seeing a middle grade book about someone who doesn’t rebel but works through his/her problems. You can read more about Truly here.

As always, we started out the day by summarizing the story and talking about the choices that Truly makes and the things that happen to her family. There’s lots of meat in this book! We kept moving, though, because we had a big day planned.

Truly’s dad recently lost an arm while serving in the military. He’s struggling with all of the changes in his life, which impacts the entire family – and in real life, the Wounded Warrior Project serves to help families just like Truly’s. We decided to help them by holding our own bake sale, Absolutely Truly style. The girls split into groups to get everything accomplished before it was time to get selling, and then they rotated through the stations so that they could all try each one.

Some of the girls broke out markers and poster board of sizes to advertise the sale. They even thought ahead to make one that we could post on the community bulletin board of our local Sheetz!

This group worked to bake the whoopie pies we planned to sell. One mixed them up, and when more girls were free, they came to help, mixing icing and getting the cookie pieces baked. The girls decided that traditional chocolate whoopie pies might sell better than the pumpkin ones from the book, especially since they’re not usually seen around here, so we went with my great-grandmother’s recipe.

Designing a digital graphic to advertise the bake sale

I love the user-friendly interface of PicMonkey, and I use it often. My kids like to play around with making graphics for school and for fun projects, too, and so this pair made a graphic that I could share on Facebook to spread the word about their bake sale. They did a great job!

The girls bagged their whoopie pies in sandwich bags and ate their lunches. We all had to try a whoopie pie, too – quality control is important, right? Then we headed off to our local Tractor Supply store, where the staff is always super supportive of kids trying to help others.

Selling whoopie pies for the Wounded Warrior Project

They set up their table outside the door and under the roof, which was great as the forecast was a little sketchy and it was pretty cold. Their digital advertising worked really well, though – one older man was there waiting for whoopie pies when we got there! He wasn’t sure what a whoopie pie was, but he wanted to help our Wounded Warriors – and we were excited to provide the opportunity.

The girls giggled and asked everyone who passed by if they wanted to support Wounded Warriors with whoopie pies, and people were really generous. They sold every single whoopie pie within an hour and had to turn people away. It was a wonderful afternoon!

Ready to hold your own Wounded Warrior fundraiser? Pin this image to share with your friends and get them on board!

By the end of the sale, the girls had raised more than $130 to send to the Wounded Warrior Project. Not bad for a day’s work in middle school, right?

We had a blast with Absolutely Truly, and I wanted to be able to share the fun with you! I’ve created a book club project back to accompany this book. In it, you’ll find ideas for holding your own Wounded Warrior Fundraiser, as well as club shirt ideas, birding ideas, recipes, and much more. If that’s not your thing, there are other ways to bring it to life with your students here.

Book club projects to accompany 'Absolutely Truly' — Book club projects to accompany ‘Absolutely Truly’

Save time and energy with these discussion questions and creative prompts

These printable posters featuring quotes from 'Absolutely Truly' are absolutely FREE! — These printable posters featuring quotes from ‘Absolutely Truly’ are absolutely FREE!

What are your kids reading right now?

Encouraging Hearts & Blog Hop – February 20, 2019

February 20, 2019 by Amy Leave a Comment

Welcome to Encouraging

Hearts & Home!

The Encouraging Hearts & Home Bloggers

Join your Encouraging Hearts & Home Co-Hosts each week for encouragement and support for your heart & your home. We hope to provide a space that builds each other up and lends a helping hand along the way. With all the negativity in the world, let’s shine a positive light!

***Each week, our co-hosts will each choose our favorite links, along with the most clicked link, and pin them to our Encouraging Hearts & Home Pinterest board.

The most clicked post from last week’s Blog Hop:

“For the Temple” Heirloom Audio Productions Review.

How to Link Up

Use the form below to share your posts this week, and maybe you’ll discover some new ideas from all the fabulous links!
Please share only your family friendly posts with us!
Please only link up images that you have the rights to use.
By linking up, you agree that if your blog post is selected to be featured on any of our hosts’ blogs, we can use an image from your post with a link back to your post.

Other nice things you can do

Follow and/or subscribe to your host’s blog.
Visit a few other bloggers and show them your support. We all love getting comments, and who knows what inspiration you may find? Be sure to share the love–that’s what a blog hop is all about!
If you are interested in co-hosting, contact anne@mylearningtable.com

An InLinkz Link-up

“For the Temple” Heirloom Audio Review

February 13, 2019 by Amy Leave a Comment

Heirloom Audio is known for their high-quality audio dramas, and My Little Man loves listening to the Extraordinary Adventures of G.A. Henty. That’s why we are super excited to be able to review their latest production For the Temple.

For the Temple is about the response of the Jews to the coming destruction of the Temple. It’s a really amazing story. I always knew that the Temple had fallen, of course, because it isn’t there anymore; but I never really thought about what it must have been like to see that beautiful, God-instructed building destroyed. What must the people who worshipped there thought? Felt? What did it sound like? What events surrounded this massive act? How exactly does one destroy a building made of enormous blocks of stone, anyway?

This audio drama answers most of those questions. It really walks you though the events leading up to the Temple’s destruction and what was going on in the hearts and minds of the people. That was my favorite aspect of the whole thing, except that …

Like My Little Man, I couldn’t help but love the sound quality. It’s not just the sound effects, though there are many of those; it’s the whole thing altogether. The best way I can describe it is that it’s like listening to a movie. There isn’t a picture, but there’s much more than just voices, and the quality is much higher than even the best-ever voice artist reading an audio book. The voices are done by major actors, and that experience is evident in the quality of this work.

We’ve experienced several Heirloom Audio productions now, and another great aspect are the lessons that they build into each one. I feel that there’s always one big one and lots of other potentials, but I especially appreciated this one. The main character comments throughout the drama about how he’s been taught to defend the Temple. He talks about the great lengths he’ll go to do this, and it’s obvious throughout the story that this is something that he takes very seriously. I think that this is great food for thought: how far are we going to defend our own faith? Our Bibles? Our sanctuaries? What kind of defense is needed today, in the United States? In other places around the world? You could take this one theme in myriads of directions.

With For the Temple we experienced something new to us in connection to Heirloom Audio, though – a study guide. This 51-page, full-color document is exceptionally detailed. I love the organization and structure to it, especially because as much as I love these dramas, they are detailed and complex. It can be easy to get a bit off-track or confused, and this study guide will guarantee that you’ve nailed every detail before moving on.

The study guide would make a great discussion guide. It could also be used for written or research assignments for older kids. It’s broken down into three parts by scene: Listening Well, Thinking Further, and Defining Words.

The Listening Well section are questions to test basic comprehension and recall. If an answer is unknown, repeating that short section of the audio should provide the answer. Thinking Further takes the information in the drama a step further, to apply it to real life. It asks your student to look up locations on maps or do other simple research to connect to the setting and events of the story. Finally, the Defining Words section is simply a list of vocabulary words.

There is one other part, though, that while rare, is my favorite. There are inset blocks scattered throughout the study guide with in-depth information about specific people and places from the drama. I love the detail and pictures included here. This really helps bring the whole thing to life.

The study guide provides a great way to go really deep with this drama. My family would enjoy using parts of it as discussion guides or as a way to find more information. It’s a bit too extensive for my kids to enjoy using every part of it, however, because they don’t like to interrupt reading or listening opportunities to do writing assignments. If that’s your thing, though, this is the study guide for you.

This latest production of Heirloom Audio is definitely worth a listen. It would be wonderful for families, co-ops, car trips, or even youth groups or history classes. If you’ve never listened to an audio drama, give this one a try!

Want to check out our other Heirloom Audio reviews? You can read my full review of Wulf the Saxon and St. Bartholomew’s Eve here.

Encouraging Hearts & Home Blog Hop – February 13, 2019

February 13, 2019 by Amy Leave a Comment

Welcome to Encouraging

Hearts & Home!

The Encouraging Hearts & Home Bloggers

***Each week, our co-hosts will each choose our favorite links, along with the most clicked link, and pin them to our Encouraging Hearts & Home Pinterest board.

The most clicked post from last week’s Blog Hop:

How to Link Up

Use the form below to share your posts this week, and maybe you’ll discover some new ideas from all the fabulous links!
Please share only your family friendly posts with us!
Please only link up images that you have the rights to use.
By linking up, you agree that if your blog post is selected to be featured on any of our hosts’ blogs, we can use an image from your post with a link back to your post.

Other nice things you can do

Follow and/or subscribe to your host’s blog.
Visit a few other bloggers and show them your support. We all love getting comments, and who knows what inspiration you may find? Be sure to share the love–that’s what a blog hop is all about!
If you are interested in co-hosting, contact anne@mylearningtable.com

An InLinkz Link-up

Encouraging Hearts & Home Blog Hop – February 6, 2019

February 6, 2019 by Amy Leave a Comment

Welcome to Encouraging

Hearts & Home!

The Encouraging Hearts & Home Bloggers

***Each week, our co-hosts will each choose our favorite links, along with the most clicked link, and pin them to our Encouraging Hearts & Home Pinterest board.

The most clicked post from last week’s Blog Hop:

10 Books I Recommend + Video – January 2019

How to Link Up

Use the form below to share your posts this week, and maybe you’ll discover some new ideas from all the fabulous links!
Please share only your family friendly posts with us!
Please only link up images that you have the rights to use.
By linking up, you agree that if your blog post is selected to be featured on any of our hosts’ blogs, we can use an image from your post with a link back to your post.

Other nice things you can do

Follow and/or subscribe to your host’s blog.
Visit a few other bloggers and show them your support. We all love getting comments, and who knows what inspiration you may find? Be sure to share the love–that’s what a blog hop is all about!
If you are interested in co-hosting, contact anne@mylearningtable.com

An InLinkz Link-up

Encouraging Hearts & Home Blog Hop – January 30, 2019

January 30, 2019 by Amy Leave a Comment

Welcome to Encouraging

Hearts & Home!

The Encouraging Hearts & Home Bloggers

***Each week, our co-hosts will each choose our favorite links, along with the most clicked link, and pin them to our Encouraging Hearts & Home Pinterest board.

The most clicked post from last week’s Blog Hop:

Motivational Quotes for Children.

How to Link Up

Use the form below to share your posts this week, and maybe you’ll discover some new ideas from all the fabulous links!
Please share only your family friendly posts with us!
Please only link up images that you have the rights to use.
By linking up, you agree that if your blog post is selected to be featured on any of our hosts’ blogs, we can use an image from your post with a link back to your post.

Other nice things you can do

Follow and/or subscribe to your host’s blog.
Visit a few other bloggers and show them your support. We all love getting comments, and who knows what inspiration you may find? Be sure to share the love–that’s what a blog hop is all about!
If you are interested in co-hosting, contact anne@mylearningtable.com

An InLinkz Link-up

Kids Create: Making a Historical Documentary

January 30, 2019 by Amy 2 Comments

As a kid, I always wanted to be a teacher; as an adult, that hasn’t changed. I was worried about that when we decided to homeschool, but I find myself still teaching – just in a wider variety of roles than ever!

Sometimes, what needs to be taught is pushing my boundaries of knowledge, however. Earlier in the year, when one of my history club kids wanted to make a documentary, I went looking for resources, since that’s not anything that I’ve done in this decade. It took a bit of doing, but I found a way.

Our library is fantastic, and you can reserve a librarian – how cool is that? You simply book a time, and they help you with what you need. I love that! Fortunately, our librarian has a great tech guy, and he agreed to teach us how to use iMovie and to help the group complete a documentary. (That may not seem like much to you Mac users, but since none of us have Macs, it was a big deal!)

When one heard about the documentary workshop, more jumped on board – and then they decided that if they were going to need video to edit, they might as well make something real out of it. They chose to examine the controversy surrounding Dolley Madison’s birthplace, part of our local lore that is really popular here.

We began our research by collecting information locally, online and from local historians. Then we headed to Chapel Hill, where we spent a good part of the day culling through books and online journals, looking for information. We found more than we expected!

Following all that hard research, we went out for lunch on Franklin Street, the main thoroughfare in Chapel Hill. Restaurants line the side opposite the University of North Carolina, where we conducted our research, and so we ate with the big college kids. Big stuff!

Back home, we continued working. The kids wrote a script and traveled to the important places mentioned in their research, filming and taking pictures that they could use as the visual elements to their documentary. They chose not to be onscreen themselves, so they needed a lot of visuals.

That amazing librarian spent several hours over the course of two weeks teaching them the finer points of iMovie. He made himself available to answer questions when they got stuck, and after about 20 hours, they completed their documentary!

They’ve chosen to enter it into a statewide competition coming up this spring. In the meantime, however, if you’d like to know more about the controversy surrounding Dolley Madison’s birth, check out their documentary below.

Maybe it will give your kids some ideas…

because while I never expected my middle school kids to be out making movies, they did a great job – and they can’t wait to do more.

Kids can do big things.

What big things are your kids up to lately?

“Secrets at Cedar Cabin” by Colleen Coble

January 23, 2019 by Amy 2 Comments

Her mother lied about her identity and her husband wasn’t who she thought he was—can Bailey even trust herself anymore?

Running for her life in the wake of her mother’s murder, Bailey Fleming escapes to the only place she can think of—a remote, dilapidated cabin in Lavender Tides. Intending to finally get to the truth behind the lies of her past, Bailey only finds more questions when bodies are discovered near her cabin hideout along with traces of a dangerous human trafficking ring. In an unlikely partnership with FBI agent Lance Phoenix, Bailey races to understand the mystery surrounding her life and circumstances before the murderer tracks her down.

Meanwhile, Lance is determined to rescue his sister, Ava, who was abducted after running away from home as a teenager. An unexpected lead brings him to the remote cabin, and he wonders if Bailey—with her suspicious past and strange connections to his sister’s case—is really who she claims to be and if she can somehow lead him to Ava.

Coble has ended her Lavender Tides series with a bang with Secrets at Cedar Cove! It’s like reading an episode of NCIS (which is a very good thing – that’s my most favorite TV show) with high action, murder, kidnapping, and all sorts of other fast-paced and nefarious action.

Lest that make it sound too dark, however, there are bright white knights that keep the spotlight shining on fighting back against the evil they encounter. If you’ve read the other books in the series, then you’ve met FBI agent Lance before, but he’s a leading man in this book. He’s still hunting his trafficked sister Ava, and his crusade against the people who took her is stronger than ever. With clues finally surfacing, he’s determined to get her back – but he’s as kind and caring as ever to those around him. He’s a perfect hero figure – smart, strong, and a defender of those in need.

Bailey Fleming is another. She doesn’t have a specific target in mind – but she knows that someone killed her mother and is coming after her. She tries to figure out her own murky past while standing up for truth and kindness. I really enjoyed reading about her. She was stronger than she first appeared, and she kept me guessing throughout the book.

Human trafficking was a theme throughout the Lavender Tides series. Having a single kind of crime in a series like this doesn’t happen in all of her books, but she incorporates it here really well. Rather than relying on the setting and a few characters to tie the series together, there’s a common enemy and crime. There is resolution for the main characters in each book, but the ultimate conflict doesn’t see an end until this story, and I love the way that Coble keeps you turning pages until the very last one. She brings this issue to life in a way that really makes it real. It’s one thing to hear some stats in the news and quite another to read about a normal family who is devastated by human trafficking, and I think that’s what Coble does for this issue: she puts a face to the problem and makes it real.

I’ve been thinking about Bailey, Lance, and Ava for several weeks now, ever since I first read this book. Each time that human trafficking has crossed my radar, as it has many times, it has rocketed Secrets at Cedar Cabin to mind. I can’t stop thinking about it, and I think that’s what Coble wants – for this problem to stay in our consciousness so that we are both aware of it and willing to take action against it.

Without both awareness and people on guard, the industry will continue to grow.

That doesn’t mean that it’s a preachy book, though – it’s anything but. The book is full of action, adventure, and romance, and nobody’s sitting around waxing eloquent about it – they’re too busy fighting evil to talk about it.

I love the pace of the action, the character of the characters, and the fitting conclusion that Coble created to her Lavender Tides series. This is definitely another win for Coble – and for the readers. I can’t wait to see what she writes next!

I received a copy of this book from the author. All opinions are my own.

Encouraging Hearts & Home Blog Hop – January 23, 2019

January 23, 2019 by Amy Leave a Comment

Welcome to Encouraging

Hearts & Home!

The Encouraging Hearts & Home Bloggers

***Each week, our co-hosts will each choose our favorite links, along with the most clicked link, and pin them to our Encouraging Hearts & Home Pinterest board.

The most clicked post from last week’s Blog Hop:

Large Family Meal Planning Week 255.

How to Link Up

Use the form below to share your posts this week, and maybe you’ll discover some new ideas from all the fabulous links!
Please share only your family friendly posts with us!
Please only link up images that you have the rights to use.
By linking up, you agree that if your blog post is selected to be featured on any of our hosts’ blogs, we can use an image from your post with a link back to your post.

Other nice things you can do

Follow and/or subscribe to your host’s blog.
Visit a few other bloggers and show them your support. We all love getting comments, and who knows what inspiration you may find? Be sure to share the love–that’s what a blog hop is all about!
If you are interested in co-hosting, contact anne@mylearningtable.com

An InLinkz Link-up