100 Books to Read in Kindergarten from Woodbridge Public Library – It might actually only be something like 80 or 90 books for a homeschooled kindergartener to read since some of them are about going to kindergarten in a brick-and-mortar school, but some of my favorite, don’t-miss books are on this list. Check it out to find some new favorites for you and your child to enjoy together.

This Is What Hope Looks Like from We Are THAT Family – I’ve followed Kristin’s blog (We Are THAT Family) since the pre-Mercy House days. It’s been such a blessing to me to watch Mercy House develop and to see how it’s changing lives. This post about hope brings into sharp clarity the beautiful changes that can take place when we follow God’s leading.

Memoirs of a Bullied Kid from Single Dad Laughing – I was blown away by this powerful post from the perspective of a kid (now an adult) who was tormented by bullies from the time he was in 5th grade. Every parent, every person who works with kids, and every kid who’s ever bullied, been bullied, or witnessed bullying needs to read this post. It has the power to change lives.

The Half-Way Point: Evaluating Our Progress from Simple Homeschool – With many of us at, near, or maybe only slightly past the half-way point in our school year, this post comes at a great time for us to evaluate where we are in our home schools and to gauge if we’re on track for where we want to be at the end of the year or if it’s time to make some adjustments.

The Word of the Year from Best Body Fitness – Did you make any New Year’s resolutions? Have you broken them all yet? I love Tina’s idea for focusing on a theme for each year…and I love her theme for 2012. It’s not too late to develop your own theme for the upcoming year.

The Hidden Dangers of the Myth of Perfection from The Homeschool Classroom – Buying into the myth of perfection can be dangerous – for our homes, our marriages, our families, and our homeschools. Samantha outlines some of the dangers this myth can present to your homeschool.

Learning Life Skills in a Safe Environment – Have a Family Talent Show! About One – Dana, from A Slob Comes Clean (http://www.aslobcomesclean.com/about-me/), shares some of the benefits of hosting a family talent show and gives some examples of talents her family members have performed. What a great idea for a cold winter night or a family get together!

Measurement Conversion Chart from Infarrantly Creative – What a fun, creative, space-saving idea for storing measuring cups and spoons! Adding the easily-accessible, hard-to-lose conversion chart is brilliant.

How to Remove a Hard Drive from About One – In the age of rampant identity theft, knowing how to protect your information when it’s time to recycle an old computer is a must. This easy-to-understand article provides information that would allow even a non-techy person to successfully remove an old computer hard drive.

Amazingly Simple {Homemade} Salsa from Organizing Homelife – I love me some good, fresh salsa. This simple, mostly homemade, recipe is on my can’t-wait-to-try list (minus the yucky cilantro!).

Kris Bales has been married to her incredible husband for 20 years. Together, they’re raising their three Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers, who range in age from 10 to 16. Kris is Christian, Southern, and sweet-tea-addicted. She enjoys reading, writing and photography. In addition to blogging about life as a homeschool mom, you can find her at Eclipsed where she chronicles her transformation from a morbidly obese couch potato to a runner in training for her first half-marathon.

We are currently looking for hands-on projects, how-to’s, and learning support on the following topics for our Spring Edition digital magazine scheduled to publish in April. If you would like to contribute an article for consideration simply send your article to submissions@heartofthematteronline.com by January 14th. Any articles submitted after the deadline may be considered for future featured articles on our blog site, but will not be accepted for the digital magazine.

Heart of the Matter is looking for submissions on the following topics:

• Homeschool Organization
• Arts and Crafts
• Spring/Summer Projects
• Field Trips
• Recipes
• Book Reviews
• Subject Tips and Ideas: Math, Science, Language Arts, Reading, History, etc.!
• Special Needs and Struggling Learners in Homeschooling
• Techniques That Can Help Others
• Homeschool Methods
  

Please see our Submissions Guidelines before submitting any article to be reviewed.

My beloved friend Marsha Drews is expecting a little boy on February 22nd and we are throwing a cyber party to welcome Ian Kenneth into the Drews family.

There will be GAMES, PRIZES and lots of GIGGLES! Invite everyone you know! Even if you don’t currently know Marsha, I know you’ll fall in love with her once you get to know this super sweet and silly mom…and we know everyone loves babies – so please join in the fun on January 9th.

Marsha and her family are currently living on the island of Guam. Shipping to Guam is the same as shipping within the states, however it does take a bit longer for packages to arrive. Please email me at amy@milkandcookiesblog.com for Marsha’s address if you have a gift to
send her.

My co-host for the party is the lovely Darcy.  Games and giveaways will be open all day to give everyone a chance to participate and Marsha will be available off and on all day to check in to answer questions and get to know everyone. Be sure to visit the Facebook party page and sign up to received a reminder and updates.

Want a sneak peek at just some of the goodies you can win… 

• Five attendees will win a package of beauty care products from Mac Cosmetics worth $100 each! 
• One winner will receive a jar of TARTE D’AMANDE Soufflé Riche Pour Le Corps: ALMOND PIE Rich Soufflé Lotion for the Body 
• One winner will receive a $30 gift card to Chocolate.com

Heart of the Matter could not be what it is without the support of our wonderful sponsors. Please join us in thanking them for producing such amazing products and services to benefit the homeschooling community.

Welcome to My Child’s Bookshelf

We are a family owned business that offers new and used children’s books at reasonable prices. We believe there are few things more important than investing in your child’s future through books. That’s why getting our books in to the hands of children is our primary goal. The best way for us to achieve that goal is to provide you with great customer service. Every time we serve a customer well, a child is given the gift of books.

My Child’s Bookshelf offers free priority shipping on orders of $50 or more, a nice selection of books $1.00 or less, and $1.50 to $3.00.

Simple. Convenient. Easy…Thank You In a Box

Thank You In a Box makes it convenient and simple to send a note of appreciation by providing everything you need in one simple box………hence our ‘Thank You Boxes!

Our ‘Thank You’ Boxes includes:

• 20 Personalized Cards & Envelopes (w/ return address)
• 20 Forever Postage Stamps ($8.80 value)
• 2 Keeping Track Record Sheets
• 1 Black Ink Pen

These boxes make the perfect gifts because they make writing a note so simple! Instead of spending energy worrying if the stamps you have are the current first class rate, you will find yourself giddy anticipating the joy your note recipient will have as they find a personal note in their mailbox from YOU!

Our boxes have come to the aid of brides, grooms, graduates, new mommies, new daddies, children, and every other kind of thoughtful note writers.

Welcome to Maestro Classics

Maestro Classics produces Stories in Music™, a classical music CD series for children ages 5 to 12 and their parents. Entertaining and educational, these CDs have won over 45 national awards.

Our Mission: To cultivate a love of music through education and joyful performances.

Stories in Music™ is the award-winning audio CD series for family listening. These recordings for narrator and symphony orchestra introduce great music and classics stories and provide the opportunity to develop important listening skills.

Three Major Benefits:

• Expand listening horizons.
• Develop listening skills and accumulate musical memories.
• Encourage adults and children to listen to music together.

Domino Christmas Ornaments – The Homeschool Classroom – If you’re looking for fun, simple Christmas projects for your kids, this post from The Homeschool Classroom, part of a series of posts, will get you started. These ornaments are so cute and will make the perfect addition to your tree or a simple homemade gift project for the kids to give to their grandparents, aunts, and uncles.

In Praise of Free Play – Blogging ‘Bout Boys – In a day and age where the expectation is that kids will be involved in organized, structured activities nearly every minute of every day, this post on Blogging ‘Bout Boys points out the benefits of unstructured free time.

Powerful Words – Raising Homemakers – This post by Jamie (See Jamie Blog) brought tears to my eyes. It’s an intensely powerful reminder of the weight of our words – whether positive or negative. Perhaps more often than we realize, those around us need to hear how much they mean to us.

Toni’s Biggest Homeschooling Mistake: Doubt – Simple Homeschool. It’s an ugly word that clouds every homeschooling parents’ thoughts from time to time. In this encouraging post, Toni cautions us not to doubt our abilities without first making an attempt at those things that strike fear in our hearts.

What Kneeling on a Department Store Floor Taught Me about Gratitude – Conversion Diary – I really appreciated this insightful (and, as usual, amusing) post that points out that gratitude isn’t exactly what we often assume it is.

Training Children to Overlook an Offense – The Better Mom – I only wish I’d read this article a few years ago. One of the scripture references (Proverbs 12:6) has already made its way into our scripture box for memorization.

Five Everyday Items for Toddler Learning – In a Nutshell – With supply costs ranging from free to really cheap, you’ll love these simple, but engaging activity ideas that will keep your toddlers productively occupied while you school your older children – or join your little one for some fun one-on-one time.

10 Days of Language Arts – Jimmie’s Collage – In case you missed it, Jimmie offered ten incredible language arts posts in the recent “10 Days” series. She has provided enough information to effectively design your own personalized language arts curriculum. Don’t miss this series!

50 Rules for Dads of Daughters – From Dates to Diapers – A must-read for dads of daughters.

30 Truths about Homeschooling – The Homeschool Classroom – This post, by yours truly, shares several truths that I’ve learned during my nine years of homeschooling. I hope you’ll be encouraged.

Kris Bales has been married to her incredible husband for 20 years. Together, they’re raising their three Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers, who range in age from 10 to 16. Kris is Christian, Southern, and sweet-tea-addicted. She enjoys reading, writing and photography. In addition to blogging about life as a homeschool mom, you can find her at Eclipsed where she chronicles her transformation from a morbidly obese couch potato to a runner in training for her first half-marathon.

We are currently looking for hands-on projects, how-to’s, and learning support on the following topics for our Spring Edition digital magazine scheduled to publish in April. If you would like to contribute an article for consideration simply send your article to submissions@heartofthematteronline.com by January 14th. Any articles submitted after the deadline may be considered for future featured articles on our blog site, but will not be accepted for the digital magazine.

Heart of the Matter is looking for submissions on the following topics:

• Homeschool Organization
• Arts and Crafts
• Spring/Summer Projects
• Field Trips
• Recipes
• Book Reviews
• Subject Tips and Ideas: Math, Science, Language Arts, Reading, History, etc.!
• Special Needs and Struggling Learners in Homeschooling
• Techniques That Can Help Others
• Homeschool Methods
  

Please see our Submissions Guidelines before submitting any article to be reviewed.

Through all that, I have to say that THIS announcement is by far the most prayerfully considered, yet most exciting, that I’ve ever had to write. If I wasn’t 100% led by the Lord that this is His will, this notice would be a very difficult, bittersweet thing to write, however as I type, I am giddy inside. Heart of the Matter will forever be “my baby” however God has spoken to my heart and the time has come for her to be gently placed in new hands…permanently.

Those new hands belong to Mrs. Lori Lane and her family. I couldn’t hope for a more devoted and inspirational family to take over my baby and I know you are going to love them as much as I have grown to love them. The Lane family will be officially taking over in mid-January and they have great things in store for HOTM! Very little will change here at HOTM as they have expressed wishes for things to remain very much the same. The magazine will resume with the April edition and the next conference date will be determined soon. However, be sure to mark your calendars for August and visit me at my personal blog Milk and Cookies for the 4th Annual Not Back to School Blog Hop.

Now I wish to officially introduce the beloved Lane family…please give them a very warm welcome to HOTM.

The Lane family has a deep passion and commitment to family, discipleship, and Biblical living. These passions resonate with the mission of Heart of the Matter and they look forward to a seamless transition of leadership and a continuation and deepening of that mission as they expand their ministry to include Heart of the Matter.

 

John and Lori have been married for 28 years and live on a ranch in the central Rockies of Colorado about an hour southwest of Denver. They have been home educating their four boys since the fall of 1993 and three of their four boys have been home education graduates. They have worked with hundreds of families and their children through church, scouting, theater productions, and home education programs relating to academics and the arts.

 

John has a lifelong passion for the discipleship of young men and fathers in their role as leaders of their homes and community. Through 18 years of involvement with the Boy Scouts of America, outdoor education and his role in home education both within the home and in outside programs, he has had the privilege to work with dozens of young men. Most importantly, his leadership within his home and with his four sons is evident in the lives of his sons.

 

Lori is involved heavily with art and education and has taught and directed choirs and theater productions in SC, GA and now, CO. In 1999 she founded Artios Academies, an arts education program designed specifically for homeschoolers which has expanded to include an accredited academic program which Lori designed based on her experience as an educator and home school mom. She has been a speaker at various home education conferences and events and is the author of the book, Beginning With the End in Mind.

 

John Michael (26) is the eldest of the Lane boys and he and his wife Windy live in Atlanta, GA where they work and teach at Artios Academies of Gwinnett and Johns Creek. John Michael is passionate about his role in teaching Biblical Worldview classes as well as mentoring other young men and women throughout their formative years. He teaches classes in theater, economics and worldview as well as serving as the Director of Development for Artios Academies. His wife Windy teaches dance and works as a choreographer for the various theater production put on by the Atlanta area Artios Academies. John Michael will take an active role in the future development of HOTM.

 

Jeremy (24) and his wife Jessica, along with the Lane’s first grandchild, Emma, live in Santa Clarita, CA where Jeremy works with FinalWeb and SCVDATA in programming, tech support, web design and IT consulting. He and Jessica are active in Grace Community Church where John MacArthur is pastor and lead a Bible study group with college age young people. Jeremy continues to pursue a ministry through independent film in the Los Angeles area. Jeremy also works with computer programming needs of Artios Academies.

 

Jordan (18) desires to go into ranch and equine management and after spending a “gap” year in California being involved at Grace Community Church and working, he will begin college in Kansas working towards a degree in ranch management. Jordan graduated in May of 2011 and spent his summer working as a wrangler at a ranch in Kremmling, CO. He along with his two older brothers are Eagle Scouts.

 

Jared (13) is the last one at home and seems to enjoy his new found independence. He is currently in eighth grade where his favorites subjects are not math and English but are History and music. He spends his free time outside on his horse Tokie or working with his other animals on the ranch. He continues to work toward his rank of Eagle in BSA.

 

The Lane family believes in the mission and ministry of Heart of the Matter and have followed its progress for years. Lori was one of the speakers on the first HOTM online conference several years ago and was impressed by the organization and content of HOTM. HOTM and the Lane family share the same mission of assisting parents in raising children who are grounded in a Biblical worldview and can be future servant leaders of God’s kingdom. They, along with their staff, will be working to insure that shared vision through a seamless transition of leadership and a continued commitment to the mission of HOTM, its writers and readers. HOTM will be owned by True North, LLC and will be run by John, Lori, and John Michael Lane along with a talented editorial and marketing staff.

Lots of Love,
Amy

Amy is a devoted wife to her husband of 13 years, a Classical homeschooling mom to an nine-year-old Superhero and the co-founder of Heart of the Matter. She has a passion for genealogy and is aspiring to be a Proverbs 31 lady. Be sure to visit her blog at Milk and Cookies.

via www.jimmiescollage.com

Thirteen Ways to Reuse a Page A Day Art Calendar by Jimmie’s Collage – I keep intending to order one of those Metropolitan page-a-day art calendars that Jimmie has recommended so highly. Now, I have 13 more reasons to quite procrastinating.

Cinnamon Roll Bread by Money Saving Mom – I have a friend who makes the most incredible cinnamon rolls. I’ve tried her recipe and mine never turn out as good as hers, plus, they’re a lot of trouble. I’m thinking I might be able to handle this cinnamon roll bread, though. I bet I’ve got some willing taste-testers.

12 Ways of Christmas: Greeting Cards! by See Jamie Blog – Need some ideas for unique Christmas cards to send out this year? Jamie’s got ‘em! From fun, simple cards the whole family can help with to elegant cards that will bring out the artist in you, these greeting card ideas will get your creative juices flowing.

Get Ready! What “What to Expect” Doesn’t Tell You about Preparing for Birth by The Mommy Memos – I wish I’d read these 7 practical tips before my three births. Numbers 2 and 5 would top my list these days.

Making Books in Your Homeschool by The Homeschool Classroom – Simple tips for five different types of books you and your kids can enjoy making together.

Life’s Not Fair by Blogging ‘Bout Boys – A mom’s reflection on her role in helping her boys navigate a world that isn’t always perfectly proportioned slices of pie for everyone.

Raising Strong Kids by We Are That Family – Reading this touching account of Kristen’s son grappling with his “weirdness”, I couldn’t help but think of Isaiah 11:6, “…and a little child will lead them.”

5 Things Homeschooling Has Taught Me by The Homeschool Classroom – Homeschooling is about more than academics and oftentimes it’s Mom who learns as much as the kids.

Do This Today and Change Everything by Steady Mom – Do you have problems with peace in your home or is it just me? Jamie shares a simple, but profound truth about peace vs. productivity.

Strawberry Baked Oatmeal by Smockity Frocks – We love baked oatmeal! I don’t make it very often anymore since it’s not the most calorie-friendly breakfast choice and my kids don’t like it when I mess with the basic recipe, but I’m going to have to make this strawberry version soon. Yum!

Kris Bales has been married to her incredible husband for 20 years. Together, they’re raising their three Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers, who range in age from 10 to 16. Kris is Christian, Southern, and sweet-tea-addicted. She enjoys reading, writing and photography. In addition to blogging about life as a homeschool mom, you can find her at Eclipsed where she chronicles her transformation from a morbidly obese couch potato to a runner in training for her first half-marathon.

Christmas: a special time of rejoicing as we celebrate the birth of the Son of God, the Messiah. Learn what the world was like at the time of Christ’s birth. Use this study to help your children understand the significance that the coming Savior had for so many people. Read about the prophecies that were fulfilled by His birth, and begin to clearly see God’s hand in history since the very beginning of time.

When so many material desires threaten to obscure the true meaning of Christmas, this study will help bring back into focus how the birth of a tiny baby changed the whole world!

Take a peek at some of what you’ll experience in Christmas.

The Christmas unit is in electronic format, meaning your children can work through the study interactively, clicking on the links in each lesson to further their own investigation. Each day’s lesson plan has been written in two levels: Lower Level (elementary grades) and Upper Level (junior/senior high grades), enabling the whole family to learn together! Includes Christmas Notebooking Pages. Christmas uses the Bible as its primary resource.

Take a peek inside this unit.

“The tradition of working on a jigsaw puzzle over special holidays has emerged as a favorite pastime for my family, allowing for plenty of sharing, learning, and memory making.”  —Amanda B.