Focus on High School: Submissions Desired
March 5, 2010 by AmyS
Although our Focus on Reading magazine edition just hit the (online word for newsstands?), we are already gearing up for our next issue — Focus on High School.
Do you have an article that you’d like to submit?
If you do, please email your article to submissions@heartofthemattermagazine.com by Monday, March 22nd. Below are some suggestions and ideas to help you brainstorm…
- Online schools
- Entrepreneurship
- Co-ops
- College prep courses
- Extra curriculars
- Apprenticeships
- Economics
- Record keeping
- Creating a portfolio and transcript
- Standardized tests: ACT, SAT, GED, etc
- Graduation requirements
- College admissions requirements
- College searches
- Homeschool friendly colleges
- Financial aid, scholarships
- Returning to public or private high school
- Challenging teenagers
- Books for teenagers
- Social lives: friends, dating, peer pressure
- Successful relationships between the parent and teen
- General encouragement
- Teenage point of view
- How to teach high school: tips and advice
- Unschooling high school
- Junior high typical course of study
- High school typical course of study
- Websites for teenagers
- Leadership training
- Life skills
- Military
- Missions
- Straight into the workforce after high school graduation
Submission guidelines can be found here. Please include a short byline and vertical headshot with your submission.
March 2010 Edition: Focus on Reading
February 28, 2010 by The Amies
Photo Credit: Heidi, Mt Hope Academy
You can view our magazine in 3 ways:
- Click here to be taken to the flipbook version, where you can click and turn the pages as you would a print magazine. Be sure to turn your sound on.
- Click here to download the magazine in pdf format.
- Click here and scroll down to view the articles in blog format.
A Few Words from Janet:
Even before I had kids, I was scared of two important parenting tasks: potty training and teaching my children to read. As confident as I was in other areas, these two important milestones in a child’s life seemed out of the realm of something that I could teach. I often wondered what would happen if my fears came true and my kids never learned to do either. Now the rational side of me told me not to worry, but my rational side doesn’t hang around our house much.
And now here I am…seven years and four kids later. All four of my children are potty trained. My seven year old reads with ease and I am in the process of teaching my five year old to read. Each day I am amazed that the gift of reading truly is something I can pass on to my children.
As I have spent hours putting this magazine together I have had the privilege of reading the articles written by parents whose expertise and experience in reading far exceeds mine. It has been encouraging to read about different methods for teaching, encouraging, and helping readers of all levels. There is one common theme woven throughout these articles: the written word is a gift to all of us and it is our joy as homeschooling parents to hold our child’s hand and heart as we share the love of reading. I hope that all of you are as inspired as I have been.
In This Issue:
Reviews by Karin: Wordly Wise 3000 by Karin Katherine
How to Painlessly Add More Books to Your Reading Schedule by Jimmie
Look First, Learn First by Patty
5 Fun Early Learning Reading Games by Amy Stults
Vocabulary in Your Read Aloud Books by Jimmie
Homeschool Reading Is Superior by Dr. Ruth Beechick and Debbie Strayer
Lost and Found in Phonics Paradise by Cassie Simpson
For Moms: Reading the Classics by Ruthanne Genco
The Tools to Teaching Reading by Heather Laurie
Reading Aloud to Boys by Debra Anderson
Help for Struggling, Reluctant Readers by Max Anderson
Reading Recommendations from a Disgruntled 14 Year old Boy by Amy Fleeker
Cultivating Readers by Stacey Chik
Great Homeschools have Socratic Dialogue…or Maybe Not by Lee Binz
Getting Your Reluctant Reader to Love Reading by Leslie Valeska
Encouraging the Love of Literature by Yvonne Ferlita
Top 10 Sites to Download Free Children’s Books by Amy Stults
How We Teach Reading by the Heart of the Matter team
Random Tidbits – my oh my
This weekend over on our Facebook page, we asked our friends to share some completely weird and random tidbits about themselves.
My oh my, are y’all some weird bunch of homeschoolers!! And I mean that in the most loving way.
Head on over to our page and find out who:
- is completely addicted to Farmville
- crosses each day off on the calendar at exactly 5 p.m. each day
- can NOT put her hands in dirty dish water
- reads magazines from back to front
- used to be a “storm chaser”
- has three sea urchin spines in her leg
- cannot for the life of her touch a peach
- loves french fries dipped in a chocolate shake
- COMPLETELY tunes out her children while she is on Facebook
So how weird are YOU? Come and share some of your quirkiness on HOTM Facebook.
Join us for a Lapbooking Workshop with Katie Kubesh
Have you ever wondered about what a lapbook really is? Or maybe you have heard of it but the mere thought of unit studies and hands-on activities makes you want to crawl back into bed and pull the covers over your head.
Don’t let your lack of understanding scare you away from this great way of enhancing your child’s curriculum! In fact, you can bring your questions to a bonafide lapbooking expert… LIVE, y’all!
Heart of the Matter is pleased as punch to introduce the co-founder of In the Hands of a Child, Katie Kubesh! Katie will be presenting a workshop on Beginning Lapbooking that will show you how to utilize this awesome teaching tool and answer questions such as:
1. What is a lapbook?
2. How are lapbooks made?
3. What supplies are needed to lapbook?
4. I have all the supplies, now what?
5. How do I find information and activities to complete lapbook?
6. How does my student complete a lapbook?
7. How do you fold the file folder to make a lapbook?
8. How do I incorporate lapbooking into my existing curriculum?
9. What are the benefits of lapbooking?
Katie will be speaking LIVE and will host a question n’ answer session Tuesday, February 23rd at 8:00am PST/9:00am MST/10:00am CST/11:00am EST
In the Hands of a Child
Recognizing that hands-on projects are essential to the learning experience, In the Hands of a Child has created Project Packs that go beyond the hands-on aspect. They have taken the preparation time out of the parent/teacher job description with Complete Ready to Assemble Lapbook-style units that are available in Ebook, Printed Book, and CD formats. We offer a fun, easy to use product that helps parents and educators bring laughter and learning together In the Hands of a Child!
Winner of the Excellence in Education Award for Best Unit Study by The Old Schoolhouse, Project Packs from In the Hands of a Child make unit studies a hands-on experience for all age levels. Students complete a unit study simply by recording what they have learned about a particular topic into reproducible graphics that are then stored in an instant portfolio- a lapbook!
In the Hands of a Child has over 300 titles to choose from in subject areas that include Bible, Economics, Geography, History, Math, Science, Social Studies, and more! Bring laughter and learning together In the Hands of Your Child today…please visit their website at www.handsofachild.com.
I’ve labeled his learning style, now what?!
So often, learning style materials pour all their time and energy into finding the right label for your child’s learning style.
(Yes, we now know he’s a right brained, global, sub-dominant, argyle-wearing, rational wombat…but how do I teach him to spell!?)
And while there are many different tools for assessment, too often these same materials are light on just what you should do after the label.
How do you teach history so it sticks?
What if she can’t understand fractions?
What if he loves language but hates to write?
We at Heart of the Matter are very excited to present Carol Barnier’s workshop “What Are You Thinking? Learning Styles and Beyond.”
This talk is BIG on the beyond and will be all about “What do we do now?” You will come away with lots of ideas you can use come Monday morning.
Carol will be speaking LIVE and will host a question n’ answer session Monday, February 22nd at 12:00 PST/1:00 MST/2:00 CST/3:00 EST
Carol Barnier is a fresh, fun and popular conference speaker unlike any you’ve heard before. Her objective is to have the wit of Erma Bombeck crossed wih the depth of C.S. Lewis, but admits that most days, she only achieves a solid Lucy Ricardo with a bit of Bob the Tomato. She is a frequent guest commentator on Focus on the Family’s Weekend Magazine broadcast, where she’s spoken on a variety of humorous topics ranging from not being ready to be a Titus woman to why angels need a new public relations manager. She has been a guest on many radio programs and is a speaker to conferences nationwide.
While her humor will have you leaning sideways, her faith is solid stuff. Whether speaking about her first born son’s 13 surgeries, her homeschooling challenges, her family’s many ADHD challenges, or her own walk from being a God-denying atheist to the most grateful recipient of God’s amazing grace, this woman speaks from the heart. She knows why she knows what she knows.
She’s the author of three books about dealing with (or possessing) a non-linear mind in a linear world. Her first book, How to Get Your Child Off the Refrigerator and On To Learning, gives the reader understanding into the mind of the highly distractible child. It answers the imponderable question, “Why does this child constantly fall out of his chair?” (hear the kathunk) It also provides idea after idea on how to teach a child who simply can’t sit still.
Carol’s second book, If I’m Diapering a Watermelon, Then Where’d I Leave the Baby?, was born of the realization that her highly distractible son had not fallen very far from the tree. (hear the next kathunk) This book celebrates women who are non-linear thinkers, women who are the Mary’s in this very Martha world. It also provides strategies on how to keep the distractible mind on track while taking advantage of the gifts that come with being gloriously unregimented.
Her third book, The Big WHAT NOW Book of Learning Styles, takes all the mystery and complexity OUT of learning styles. This book keeps it simple, and puts its emphasis on the “What do we do now?” It takes each academic subject and then provides dozens of ideas on how to teach it from a variety of angles to a variety of learning styles. It makes teaching the atypical learner not only easy, but fun. No really, it does.
You can connect with Carol at her main website, CarolBarnier.com, SizzleBop.com, Facebook (seach for “Carol Barnier”), and Twitter @Carol_Barnier. You can listen to four audio clips done by Carol at Mid Atlantic Christian Artists.
Newsletter
February 4, 2010 by admin
We have an exciting NEW announcement for newsletter subscribers! Heart of the Matter has partnered with In the Hands of a Child to provide you with a FREE lapbook just for subscribing to our newsletter!
To receive your FREE copy of A Peek at Poetry, simply enter your name and email address into the form on the top of our sidebar or into the form at the bottom of this page, confirm your subscription, and then you’ll automatically receive your lapbook within a day or two. If you have already subscribed to our newsletter, you will receive your free e-book sometime between February 8-10.
Poetry is a feeling or story told in rhythmic verse and a good poet uses words to remind us of similar events or feelings in our own lives. A Peek into Poetry and Poets Project Pack from In the Hands of a Child gives students the tools to complete a lapbook about poetry and the poets who write it.
This 53-page pack includes an 11-page Research Guide and 15 hands-on activities plus 1 bonus activity to help your student complete a poetry and poets lapbook. This pack gives students a peek at poetry structure, forms of poetry, famous poets, and how to get started writing poetry.
Please spread the word to all your friends!
Heart of the Matter’s newsletter features the week in review, current news, contest winners, and links to freebies! Sign up now and have your first newsletter delivered on Monday!
Win a Rosetta Stone Product of Your Choice!
January 22, 2010 by admin
Yesterday we announced our partnership with Rosetta Stone and the new Homeschool Language Trip. Now we would like to give you the opportunity to win a Rosetta Stone language software of your choice!
To enter, you need to have a blog or website to which you can post the following promotional piece. Copy and paste the text below (please include the links as well) into a post on your blog and then return to this post and leave a comment letting us know that you would like to be entered. You must leave a link to your post in your comment. Please do not link to your blog in general, link directly to your post. You have until February 1, 2010 at 10:00pm EST to submit your entry.
Surround your family with language. By taking them there!
Travel to Paris, Madrid and Barcelona with Homeschoolers from all over the United States. Join Rosetta Stone Homeschool, Heart of the Matter and Fusefly on the inaugural Homeschool Language Learning and Networking Trip August 2-11, 2010. Become immersed in new lands, explore history, culture, art and community. And truly speak to the world. For more details visit www.RosettaStone.com/Homeschool/LanguageLearningTrip.
Hurry, registration for the trip ends February 15, 2010.
For your chance to win a Rosetta Stone language product, please visit Heart of the Matter. Entries are being accepted until February 1st.
Feel free to use the images in this post in your own post if you would like.
Rosetta Stone Rewards Homeschoolers
Heart of the Matter is thrilled to partner with Rosetta Stone for the 1st Annual European Language Trip! Please read the official press release below and check back tomorrow for an opportunity to WIN a free Rosetta Stone software package of your choice!
Rosetta Stone Rewards Homeschoolers with First Annual 10-Day European Language Learning and Networking Trip
Homeschoolers and their Families Connect Learning with Life through Visits to Paris, Madrid and Barcelona in Summer 2010
ARLINGTON, VA (January 7, 2010) — Rosetta Stone Inc. (NYSE:RST), a leading provider of technology-based language-learning solutions, announced today that the company will sponsor their first Homeschool Language Learning and Networking Trip for homeschoolers and their families to travel to France and Spain this summer. Homeschoolers will be able to put their French and Spanish language skills to use and experience all of the benefits of immersion the moment they arrive abroad. The Rosetta Stone Homeschool Language Learning and Networking Trip kicks off on August 2, 2010 in Paris, France and concludes in Madrid, Spain on August 11, 2010.
The 10-day long trip is co-sponsored by FuseFly, a social network connecting homeschoolers around the world, and Heart of the Matter Online, a home education website dedicated to bridging the gap between parents and children. Organized by ACIS, the premier educational travel company sponsoring student trips worldwide, the trip includes visits to famous European sites such as the Louvre, Arc de Triomphe, Notre Dame, Palace of Versailles, Gaudi’s Sagrada Familia and the Prado Museum. The first-annual trip will allow homeschoolers to fully experience all of the benefits of their language curriculum while learning about history firsthand.
“We are thrilled to sponsor the inaugural Rosetta Stone Homeschool Language Learning and Networking Trip,” said Eric Duehring, Rosetta Stone general manager and vice president of consumer marketing and sales. “The trip provides families that are dedicated to the education of their child with the chance to immerse themselves in another culture and truly experience the power of learning a new language. For the homeschoolers themselves, this is a unique learning opportunity that will have lasting impact on their future personal, educational and professional development.”
Rosetta Stone® Homeschool curriculum provides students with a rich, interactive and engaging language-learning experience. The scalability and flexibility of the solution allows parents to assign lessons based on students’ individual needs, allowing students at all levels to learn a language. Rosetta Stone Homeschool Version 3 helps learners develop speaking, listening, reading and writing skills easily and systematically from the very beginning.
Homeschool families as well as homeschoolers over the age of 16 are encouraged to register now to receive preferred pricing. The deadline to register is February 15, 2010. A Rosetta Stone purchase is not required to participate. For more information or questions pertaining to Rosetta Stone Homeschool or the Rosetta Stone Homeschool Language Learning and Networking Trip, contact homeschool@rosettastone.com or visit http://www.rosettastone.com/homeschool/languagelearningtrip.
For more information please visit http://pr.rosettastone.com.
About Rosetta Stone Homeschool
Rosetta Stone Homeschool is a powerful learning tool that provides students with an immersive, interactive and engaging language-learning experience while also giving parents the tools and resources needed to track and manage student progress. Utilizing a variety of immersion techniques and administrative features, the software accelerates language learning and provides quantifiable measurements of success. Rosetta Stone Manager is a built in management tool that delivers real-time reporting capabilities, details on student progress and user-friendly administrative functionalities. Rosetta Stone Homeschool is available in more than 30 different languages.
About Rosetta Stone
Rosetta Stone Inc. is changing the way the world learns languages. Rosetta Stone provides interactive solutions that are acclaimed for the speed and power to unlock the natural language-learning ability in everyone. Available in more than 30 languages, Rosetta Stone language-learning solutions are used by schools, organizations and millions of individuals in over 150 countries throughout the world. The company was founded in 1992 on the core beliefs that learning a language should be natural and instinctive and that interactive technology can replicate and activate the immersion method powerfully for learners of any age. The company is based in Arlington, Va. For more information, visit RosettaStone.com.
Media Contact:
Megan Richter
mrichter@rosettastone.com
703.522.9953
Investor Contact:
Christopher Martin
cmartin@rosettastone.com
703.387.5927
“Rosetta Stone” is a registered trademark of Rosetta Stone Ltd.
Focus on Reading: Submissions Desired
Although our Focus on Special Needs magazine edition just hit the (online word for newsstands?), we are already gearing up for our next issue — Focus on Reading.
Do you have an article that you’d like to submit?
If you do, please email your article to the.amies@heartofthemattermagazine.com by Monday, December 28th. Below are some suggestions and ideas to help you brainstorm…
- tips and tricks
- bribery and home reward programs
- teaching the alphabet
- what works for me
- teaching sounds/phonics
- best books (by age/level)
- reluctant readers
- books for boys
- books for girls
- dyslexia and other special needs
- reward programs like PizzaHut
- online book sites
- using the library
- choosing to read on their own
- reading games
- how to know if your child is ready to learn
- online tests for reading ability
- kid friendly websites like starfall.com
- audio books
- books for high schoolers
- reading comprehension
- curriculum reviews
- homeschooling through literature
- keeping up with the accelerated reader
- finding used books
Submission guidelines can be found here. Please include a short byline and vertical headshot with your submission. If your article is accepted, you will be notified no later than January 11th.
Did you sign up?
October 27, 2009 by The Amies
For our newsletter, that is. It is an early Christmas here at Heart of the Matter…so go sign up for our newsletter (to the right, at the top of our sidebar) and receive your FREE human body lapbook from the extraordinary A Journey Through Learning.
If you would like to see what our weekly newsletter has to offer, you can view last week’s issue here and yesterday’s issue here. I am very excited to also announce that this week we welcomed a new Newsletter Editor, Brenna…
Joining you from the rainy Pacific Northwest, Brenna is a Jesus-loving homeschooling mom to one adorable girly girl and wife to her beloved techie man. After earning a Bachelor of Arts in English and Literature, she worked as a technical writer and editor in the high-tech field. Once she defected from the corporate rat race and dedicated her life to being a SAHM, she began a freelance writing and editing career. Then she became a mommy, and everything changed. When she’s not busy as the keeper of her home, you can find her reading, snuggling with her Maltese, Ellie, knitting, reading, sipping tea, trying new recipes and reading. You can visit Brenna at her blog, Gracefull Girl, where she chronicles her daily challenges, joys and struggles as a girl saved by grace.
