Company of Friends | Heart of the Matter

September 3, 2010 By Karen Leave a Comment

Another year of homeschooling is upon us!

This time of year finds us all eagerly anticipating what lies ahead. It’s a fun and fresh start, and we all are excited. I have come to realize that in a few months, like anything, the excitement starts to fade and things become routine. But for now, while it is all new and exciting for a bit, I will enjoy it!

What are you looking forward to most this year in your homeschool?

New curriculum? New organizing methods? A new approach to learning?

I am looking forward to our science curriculum. It looks fantastic! I am also looking forward to seeing my kindergartner learn to read. It will be my third child that I have taught to read! I also look forward to all of the “little” things along the way…seeing each child grow and mature each year and becoming the person God created them to be.

So what are you looking forward to most this year? Share with us! Let’s chat about the upcoming year!

Karen is married to the love of her life, Steve, and a homeschooling mom of 4 children ages 9,7,5, and 1. She was called to homeschool when her oldest was kindergarten age after thinking, “I could never do THAT!” Now she is passionate about encouraging others on their homeschool journey, as well as learning all she can along the way. She sees her kids as her mission field and loves the verse in Romans 10:15 that says, “How beautiful are the feet of those who carry the good news.” Follow her blog at Beautiful Feet Bring Good News.

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September 2, 2010 By Marsha 4 Comments

Here in the world of cyberspace, people often delineate friendships that are IRL (in real life) and friendships that are formed online (y’know, internet friends).

In Jan 2008, two internet friends that had never even met IRL launched an online ministry to serve an ever growing group that was close to their hearts– the homeschooling community. Amy Stults and Amy Bayliss (aka The Amies) have prayed and worked diligently to make Heart of the Matter {online} what it is today, a thriving site that offers support, encouragement and resources to over 10,000 homeschoolers a day.

HOTM is their baby. And like any baby, you are so proud when they start crawling… then walking… then running!

Babies grow and change. Just as there are seasons in a baby’s life, there are seasons in ministry. These seasons are necessary for growth, health, rejuvenation and staying in the race for the long haul. We here at HOTM are embarking on a new season of change. Don’t fret, this new season will be just as beautiful as the last one and we’ll still be the same homeschooling friend you can turn to and learn alongside. The difference will be Heart of the Matter will now be under the leadership and guidance of their dear friend Angela DeRossett.

Both Amy’s have very inspiring new projects in the works so you’ll definitely be seeing them around the Internet. Amy Stults is involved in an exciting new venture with Leah Nieman, the co-founder of CurrClick (more details coming soon) as well as taking time to concentrate on her love of genealogy. Amy Bayliss will be focusing on cultivating A Woman Inspired and will be offering more conferences than ever. We hate to keep you waiting but Amy B. also has a huge surprise project in the works…one that you all will LOVE! Lord willing, you will hear all about Amy and Amy’s new projects in October.

Heart of the Matter’s new owner, Angela, is a fun-loving, married to the military, homeschooling mother of four. She has four cats and a great big dog and loves her very full house. She is currently pursuing a Master’s in Christian Education and holds a Bachelor’s of Arts and Science in Christian Ministries. Angela is a coffee and theology junkie and is passionate about Autism advocacy and disability rights. You can find her blogging at Memoirs of a Chaotic Mommy and Homeschooling the Chaotic Family.

A Word from Angela…

I have been granted the blessing of stepping up to continue Heart of the Matter’s ministry as the new owner. The ‘Amies’ have set the bar awfully high in the way they have grown this ministry and all they have accomplished throughout the past three years. I am honored to have the opportunity to be a part of Heart of the Matter’s ongoing growth. Having seen their work, firsthand, I can say that their heart and souls will always be in this ministry and intertwined in its legacy. Thank you for the opportunity to serve all of you in the same way they have served me and thousands of others.

Change can be bittersweet, especially if your name is Amy. Not to worry though! They will still be around, looking after their precious baby from a distance.
…

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August 26, 2010 By LisaV 38 Comments

You know you’re addicted to blogging when:

You take pictures for the sole purpose of uploading them to your blog.

You give up email in favor of blogging.

You give up scrapbooking in favor of blogging.

When you first start blogging, you fear that anyone and everyone can read your blog.

After a while, you’re concerned that no one is reading your blog.

You comment on stranger’s blogs.

Strangers comment on your blog.

Pretty soon, these strangers become like family in your blog community.

You ignore the kids (momentarily) to blog about them.

Your kids wonder why you laugh out loud while seated at the computer.

Your family has your blog bookmarked as their home page.

You lay awake at night thinking about your next blog topic.

You need to express your 30,000 words a day, and the best way is by blogging!

I used to be addicted to blogging, until I was invited to join Facebook. When that happened, this is what I found:

You give up blogging in favor of Facebook, which is essentially fast blogging.

You upload pictures to Facebook right away, and then select a few to post to your neglected blog(s).

You hope your friends don’t hate you for posting and tagging their photos on Facebook.

When you first start to Facebook, you’re careful who you add as a friend.

After a while, you add everyone to your friend list.

Your blogging friends become your Facebook friends. They leave the best comments!

You ignore your kids (momentarily) to Facebook about them.

You lay awake at night thinking about your next status update.

You consider joining Twitter, but realize that with email, blogging, and Facebook, you would spend 24/7 on the computer for the rest of your life!

Can you think of more? Want to share your Facebook and/or Blog to make some new friends and show off your family?

To share your Facebook go here: http://heartofthematteronline.com/facebook-hop
To share your Blog go here: http://heartofthematteronline.com/blog-hop

Lisa Van Dong has been teaching her two sons since 2004 and attempts to incorporate study, work, service, and play into their homeschooling days. She takes an eclectic approach to homeschooling and enjoys reading, writing, editing, and essential oils. Lisa blogs publicly at Pockets of Time and privately at Scooter and B.

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August 26, 2010 By admin 6 Comments

Read Lisa’s post about Facebook Addiction and share your Facebook Profile Link below.

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August 26, 2010 By admin 10 Comments

Read Lisa’s post about Blog Addiction and share your Blog Link below.

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August 25, 2010 By admin Leave a Comment

Heart of the Matter is in need of help in a couple of areas. If you can help in any of the following ways or if you have a talent and would like to help in a way not mentioned, simply email us and let us know you’d like to help!

newsletter writer: A sample monthly newsletter can be seen here. The newsletter will revolve around one theme, such as a major holiday. No software or html knowledge is needed, you will just be responsible for locating the content, such as activities, printables, crafts, unit studies, etc.

e-product reviewers: Heart of the Matter is given dozens of opportunities per month to review homeschooling e-books. If you are a technical writer who enjoys trying out new curriculum, and can be detailed and honest, join us as a reviewer. With your reply, please include links to 2 reviews that you have written in the past.

photo submissions: Heart of the Matter uses quality stock photographs for all of our articles, however we are interested in using YOUR photos. If you have a love of photography and are often complimented on your pictures, please let us know if we may have permission to use your photos. Email us a link to your Flickr, Picasa, Photobucket or other photo hosting account. Full credit and a link back to your site will be given.

Please note that all positions are on a volunteer basis. If you are interested, please email us at: inquiry@heartofthematteronline.com

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August 22, 2010 By Darcy 19 Comments

not back to school

This week is Day in the Life!

Show us, tell us – video, photograph or narrate – a day in your homeschool. This is our chance to see your little class’s personality.

Just a few very important notes about the blog hop:

To add your link, click the small blue button that says “Add your link” at the very bottom of the post. Please do not leave your link in the comment section of this post.

Do not create an empty “placeholder” post to save your link high up in the blog hop list. If there is no substance or school room information in your post, it will be removed.

You must link to your blog post permalink, not your plain blog URL. If you do not link to your POST, your link will be removed and you’ll have to come back and re-add it. Unfortunately last week we had to remove approximately 70 links. Keep in mind that readers will still be visiting this blog hop months from now and if they click your link and end up on your blog homepage, they won’t be able to find your Day in the Life post. To find your post’s permalink: After you publish your post, go back to your blog and click on the post’s title. Copy everything in the top browser bar. Please see my post on how to find your permalink for more details. For example:
…
- WRONG: http://www.my3boybarians.com
- RIGHT: http://www.my3boybarians.com/2009/08/not-back-to-school-blog-hop-day-in-the-life-week

…
Darcy is the mom to three boys ages 8, 7, and 5 and blogs over at Life with My 3 Boybarians. She is the owner of a blog design business at www.graphicallydesigning.com. She and Handy Man live in Iowa…nowhere near a Starbucks.

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August 17, 2010 By admin 5 Comments

Congratulations to the following conference attendees who were chosen as winners of the more than $2000 in door prizes…

How winners are chosen:

The entry form is converted into a spreadsheet and sorted one-at-a-time by prize. The total number of entries for a particular prize is submitted into the random number generator at www.random.org.
The number(s) generated are matched up to the alphabetical order list of attendees.
Heart of the Matter writers, conference speakers and conference sponsors were all eligible to win. Only those who were directly involved in the conference planning aspect were not eligible to win prizes.

How to claim your prize:

Please email us at conference@heartofthematteronline.com before 10:00pm eastern standard time on Tuesday, August 24th confirming your contact information. Please include:

full name
mailing address
email address
the prize you were selected for

Those winners who do not reply within 7 days shall forfeit their prize and a new name will be selected.

A Journey Through Learning lapbook

Debra Anderson
Audrey Bjur
Lora Lease
Karen Gebbie
Shawntele Berting

A Woman Inspired – A Woman Inspired Conference ticket

Claudine Arce
Stacey Marsengill
Marti Wolek

Albert Whitman Publishers – The Way I Feel series

Amber Leman

Amazon $50 gift card

Jenn Norris

Apples of Gold Online Academy – $15 gift card

Katherine Rhodes
Pamela Holloway

Baker Book House – Little Boys Bible Storybook for Fathers and Sons

Lori Oetjen

Bright Ideas Press – The Mystery of History, Volume 1

Jessica Stemmerding

Bright Ring Publishing – Discovering Great Artists

Anessa Costlow

Candle Books – Bible Animal Board Books

Amy Mills

Codex Publishing – The Tutor, Volume 1

Laurin Cooke

Confessions of a Homeschooler – Letter of the Week Curriculum

Kim Wright

Cumberland House – Why a Daughter Needs a Dad

Melissa Juvinall

CurrClick – $50 gift card and t-shirt

Barbara Nation
Lisa Kerner

Dayspring – folder sets

Stephanie Taraszewski

Egghead Academics – Creepy Crawly Fun

Crista Murphy

Egghead Academics – Liberty: The Founding of a Country

Renae Deckard

Egghead Academics – Magnificent Marine Life

Loretta Rhodes

Epi Kardia – Unit Study Curriculum

Sarah Morgan

Fun with Felt – felt pattern

Amy Kim

Guideposts Books | Max Elliot Anderson – Lost Island Smugglers

Julie Fogg

Hearts at Home – Growing Grateful Kids

Renee Terry

Hearts at Home – Living with Less so your Family has More

Chloe Hebert

Hearts at Home – Real Moms, Real Jesus

Melissa Ransom

Home School Enrichment – magazine subscription

Ronda Glasgow
Rebecca Edgeworth Cox
Lisa Bertolini
Cori Adams
Karen DeBeus

Homeschool Boutique – family t-shirt package

Rochelle Keogh

Homeschooling Downunder – Our Sunburnt Country

Sarah Bradshaw

HSLDA – @home e-vents

Rebecca Verkerk

JumpStart – Escape from Adventure Island

Lindsey Carter

Klutz – How to Build Castles building cards

Brooke Rhodes

Learning Resources – Learning Clock

Paula Winget

Lisa Whelchel – Friendship for Grown-Ups

Leslie Thompson
Kela Nellums

Macmillan Publishing – Win the The Great Art Scandal

Roxanna Eaton

Math Mammoth – Blue Series on CD

Emma Tullier

Pix-O-Sphere – Advanced Membership

Stefanie Mayer
Barbara Nation
Karen Gebes

Planner Perfect

Shelly Humble

Rainbow Resource – $25 gift certificate

Christi Harris

Rosetta Stone

Kim Garcia

Scholastic – 2 Scholastic Civil War-era history books

Celeste Brown

Scholastic – 3 Scholastic math books

Jennifer Smeltser

Scholastic – Awesome Art Activities Around the Year

Carrie DeKalb

Scripture Adventures – Journey Through God’s Word

Honey Brown
Nancy Sherlock
Tracy Berta
Lora Farrell
Susanna Haynes

Seeds Family Worship – five cd set

Missie Deshane

Sheila Walsh – Beautiful Things Happen When a Woman Trusts God

Christi Evangelo
Christina Hess

The Classical Scholar – Trivium Mastery

Helen Waters
Angie Parrett
Rachel Addison
Cassandra Simpson
Angela Parsley

The Greenwich Workshop Press – Son of Man: King of Kings

Jessica Potter

The HomeScholar – Setting the Records Straight

Lorraine Yuriar

The Old Schoolhouse – One-year Subscription

Pamela Swearingen
Tommie Rodgers

The Young Scientists Club – The Young Scientist Series Set 1

Sarah Talley

TRISMS – Discovering the Ancient World

Nancy Deater

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August 15, 2010 By Darcy 11 Comments

not back to school

You all are so much fun! I have loved seeing your school rooms and non-rooms, learned so much from you all in your curriculum posts. Now we want to see the real stars of the shows – the students. This time I am inviting both parents and students to post their blog links.

Moms/Dads, don’t let the opportunity slip by. Don’t keep putting it off – capture your precious little ones (or not-so-little ones) during this fleeting age and stage.

Students – you can take self portraits or some fun ones of you and your siblings mom hasn’t taken.

Let the fun begin! I can’t wait to “meet” your students!

Just a few very important notes about the blog hop:

To add your link, click the small blue button that says “Add your link” at the very bottom of the post. Please do not leave your link in the comment section of this post.

Do not create an empty “placeholder” post to save your link high up in the blog hop list. If there is no substance or school room information in your post, it will be removed.

You must link to your blog post permalink, not your plain blog URL. If you do not link to your POST, your link will be removed and you’ll have to come back and re-add it. Unfortunately last week we had to remove approximately 70 links. Keep in mind that readers will still be visiting this blog hop months from now and if they click your link and end up on your blog homepage, they won’t be able to find your School Room post. To find your post’s permalink: After you publish your post, go back to your blog and click on the post’s title. Copy everything in the top browser bar. Please see my post on how to find your permalink for more details. For example:
…
- WRONG: http://www.my3boybarians.com
- RIGHT: http://www.my3boybarians.com/2009/08/not-back-to-school-blog-hop-school-room-week/

…
Come back often to visit new additions all week this week, and next Monday is Day-in-the-life week, so you’ll get to show off your typical day! Grab a button so your bloggy friends can share their posts, too.

Darcy is the mom to three boys ages 8, 7, and 5 and blogs over at Life with My 3 Boybarians. She is the owner of a blog design business at www.graphicallydesigning.com. She and Handy Man live in Iowa…nowhere near a Starbucks.

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August 11, 2010 By AmyF Leave a Comment

I am actually writing this on the eve before the Heart of the Matter Conference. If you are like me, I am so excited about the week’s event. The Beginning of the School year is creeping up on us in this household and this conference will give me the inspiration to start the school year off with a bang.

It seems anytime that I attend a conference I feel refreshed and ready to get going! The words that the speakers have spoken have related to some situation that I have dealt with now or in the past. And they always seem to have these great ideas for our family to incorporate into our daily task to make it a easier day. When the conference is over, I also have made great friends along the way. As you can tell, I am so pro- conference and the words on this page can’t express how grateful I am to each and one of the people that make it possible for this to happen. I know there are a lot of behind-the–scene people who do so much work and go without thanks. So, here is my humble thanks to all of you- you do make a difference.

Did you know there is a place to come and fellowship with all the new friends that you made at the HOTM conference? That’s right; this time together does not have to come to end. You can come and Join us at the HOTM Forum. If you are interesting in joining, the first step is to come to the Index page and click on the word register. Fill out the necessary information and wait for a conformation email from forum@heartofthemattermagazine.com.

Being a member does have a few perks including social networking, blog addresses and more about other members. We also have had a few giveaways that only members of the forum can enter. We currently have 315 members that have posted in 575 topics with a total of 2,163 posts.

To give you a little glimpse into the forum, here are a few areas that may interest you:

Parenting: Categories included in this area include Adoption, Discipline, Health and Nutrition, Pre-conception, Pregnancy, Infant/Toddler, Preadolescence, Adolescence/Puberty, Special Needs and Single Parenting.
Marriage: Blended Families, Date Night Ideas, Fire Proof Your Marriage, Improving Communication, Intimacy and Spiritual Connections.
Homemaking: Budgeting/Finances, Cooking/Recipes, Housework, Yard work and Work at Home Mome
Taking Care of You: Bible Study, Craft and Hobbies, Fashion and Beauty, Health and Wellness, and Special Needs and Chronic Illnesses.

I realize these are not homeschooling topics but these are the foundations that you and your family have laid down for you to be able to teach your children. Sometimes there are things in our life that we need advice and have nowhere to go to get it. This is where the Forum fits into your life. Don’t miss out on the opportunity to connect with others. Come join today!

Amy Fleeker is a part of a great family that includes a husband of 12 years, 3 children, a dog and a cat. Her homeschooling style is eclectic with a emphasis on classical teaching. When with her family, you can find her watching movies, playing board games, and living life with a great sense of humor and knowing that God is all around. In her spare time she enjoys scrapbooking, tatting, crocheting and doing a little family history. You can visit Amy at her blog, Counting Change Again.

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