In His Image: available at last!

It's here , making its debut at IHM-National ... and looks wonderful .... and some of the folks who have perused it are very pleased! Let me know what you think!

[BTW, if you pre-ordered from Margot, she'll be shipping them out on Monday when she gets back from IHM.]

In His Image: it's almost here!

Margot emailed to let me know she'll be picking up the first run of In His Image! She'll be debuting them at IHM on Friday ... and I just can't wait!

Thanks to all for the good words ... I so want this to be for the greater glory of God ... let me know what you think!

Resources: Catholic and Homeschooling combined

Please, click here to subscribe now!

Do you want a recommendation for one of the best homeschool resources? Do you want to imbue your homeschool with Catholicity and love of learning? Have I got a recommendation for you!

Have you seen the only Catholic, homeschooling quarterly available? mater et magistra (a quarterly for which I'm proud to write the handcrafts column) is an amazing publication! The name says it all: Mother and Teacher which is what the Church is for us all; but in lower case letters it's what each one of us is in the hearts of our homes: mother and teacher!

Each issue has a theme which means these are definite keepers for future projects. The volunteer contributors are experienced homeschoolers with lots of great information for incorporating the arts, sciences, books and crafts into our learning adventures. Margot works hard to give the magazine a sophisticated feel with lots of depth to the articles.

If you haven't seen this magazine ... ask around or better yet, go to one of the many regional homeschool conferences (for instance, Margot will be at IHM this next weekend) and look for the m-et-m table! I really do thing you'll like what you see and want to subscribe to the only Catholic homeschool magazine out there. And at $20 for 4 issues, it's a great price too!

WooHoo: Elizabeth's Foreword

Here's a link to a beautiful foreword from a beautiful friend ... thanks Elizabeth!

WooHoo: it's out!

Please celebrate with me .... Margot, my publisher at Hillside Education, just posted that my book, In His Image: Nurturing Creativity in the Heart of Your Home is available for pre-order (with a shipping date of June 15th). If you get a chance to read a copy, please let me know what you think. And my good friend over at 4real, Elizabeth Foss, kindly wrote the foreword for me!

Enjoy!

Conferences: How cool is this?

How can you hear GREAT speakers on all kinds of different subjects and never leave the comfort of your home, even if you're in your pajamas?

Check out Homeschool Connections for the latest in technology: webinars!

I want to sign-up to listen to Maureen Wittmann talk about How to Teach Art and Music Appreciation with Real Books. I'm so excited as this is just how I love to teach -- using real (that is, NOT twaddle) -- to pass on information to my lovely children. The live broadcast is scheduled for March 4th and only costs $10 for 90 minutes of Maureen! How cool is THAT?

To sweeten the deal a bit, Margot Davidson, the publisher of mater et magistra Catholic homeschool magazine, will be giving away TWO free subscriptions during the webinar.

So what are you waiting for? Join me at home -- pajamas are allowed!

Check out the Homeschool Connections website for other webinars -- live or recorded, free or minimal cost -- and enjoy hearing wonderful Catholic homeschool speakers in the comfort of your own home.

Creativity Book ...

is a book that, God willing, will be published this Spring!

In His Name: Nurturing Creativity in the Home will come out this Spring ... but needs a cover. Rather than using Michelangelo's original "Creation of Man" from the Sistine Chapel, we are calling for all those under the age of 18 to submit their interpretation as the potential cover.

Margot Davidson at Hillside Education has consented to publish this book I've written.

We'd like to use Michelangelo's Creation of Man image as the cover, but not the original. Would you ask your children under the age of 18, to do a sketch, drawing or painting of the Creation of Man? Ted Schluenderfritz, who will do the layout of the cover, will choose the winner for the cover of the book. The winner will receive a free copy of the book and credit for being the artist.

We'd like the submissions by February 15th.

Here are the guidelines:

• anyone under the age of 18 can compete -- public, private, parochial or home-educated


• only hand-done work will be reviewed (no computer graphics allowed)


• the image should be scanned in at high res and sent to Margot at Hillside -- or you can send the original to Margot (Hillside Education, 475 Bidwell Hill Road, Lake Ariel, PA 18436) for her to scan


• the artist can draw all of the picture, or only God and Adam, or just the fingers touching ... whatever they'd like as long as it is clearly a representation of Michelangelo's original


• any 2-d media may be used for this project -- collage, paint, pen-and-ink, colored pencil, whatever.

Any questions .... please email me or Margot!

Thanks so much and please keep this project in your prayers as I really think it is important to encourage creativity but only the good, the true and the beautiful -- there is plenty of bad, false and ugly out there already!

Christmas Shopping Op while Helping Others

See that little button on my side-bar? Well, here's the story behind it:

I have a wonderful cyber-friend who I've only met once in real life, yet know quite well as I've "chatted" with her for more than five years (and finally met when we were both in Colorado a couple of years ago). She is a Catholic home-educating mom of 10 children.

Michele's 8 yod was diagnosed with type-1 diabetes this summer; this Fall, her 4 yos was also diagnosed. The whole family will now need to be tested to determine if there are antibodies present that could be responsible; in addition, the 8yod may have celiac disease.

Michele's husband's company doesn't have insurance for the family and through a snafu, their public insurance was cancelled. Insulin and incidentals for diabetes runs over $500 per month PER CHILD.

Margot over at Hillside and some others have gotten together a "Helping Those in Need" page for those who need a helping hand. From now until the end of December, ALL proceeds from the sale of the items on that page will be sent to the Michele. More items will be added over the next days. Margot, bless her heart, will make this "Need" page a permanent part of Hillside Education!

So go do some Christmas shopping and help out a wonderful family. And please spread the word.

News: A Catholic homeschooling magazine is announced!

Margot Davidson, the publisher of my book, Great Yarns, has taken over the ownership of Heart and Mind magazine. She has renamed it, " index.php?main_page=" cpath=" store hillsideeducation.com http: mater et magistra" and it promises to be an excellent endeavor! I'll be doing some writing and other odd jobs and hope you enjoy the product.

Here's an excerpt from the website:

Our new name is taken from the papal encyclical Mater et Magistra, which
explains the Church’s role as our mother and teacher. In our homes—our
domestic churches—we, too, are “mother and teacher” to the children in our care,
a special blending of the God-given duty to educate our children.

We have made our title in lower case letters in deference to the “big” Mater et
Magistra, the Church, and we take as our model the most beautiful mother and
teacher ever created, Mary, the Mother of God.

So please, check it out and see what you think!

Read-alouds and knitting -- what could be better?

Margot Davidson at Hillside Education has just announced a brand new book:

Yep, that would be MY BOOK! The long-awaited, long-hinted-at book will finally be coming out. Pre-orders are available from Margot's web-site (and you'll get a pair of hand-made Birch knitting needles to-boot!) until March 8th with the books shipping by around March 12!

How exciting is that??????

Just to give you an idea, we read-aloud a dozen great family read-alouds and then I designed projects for each book. Here are the books we chose and the designs included in this book:

1. Adventures of Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi
a. Pinocchio Doll and Clothes
2. Canadian Summer by Hilda vanStockum
a. Mr. Magic’s Gnome Hat
b. Arthur Purcell’s “Gay” Sweater
3. The Hobbit or There and Back Again by J.R.R. Tolkein
a. Bilbo’s Backpack
b. Bilbo’s Traveling Jacket
4. Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder *
a. Ma’s Boot Socks
b. Pa’s Red-White Checked Mittens
5. Little House in the Highlands by Melissa Wiley *
a. Mittens for Laird Alroch & Auld Mary
b. Tullie Greyshanks Doll and Clothes
6. The Lost Island by Eilis Dillon
a. Fisherman’s Jersey
b. Wool Socks for the Journey
7. Mary Poppins by P.L. Travers
a. Mary Poppins’ Carpetbag
b. Mary Poppins’ Fur-trimmed Gloves
8. Mr. Popper’s Penguins by Richard and Florence Atwater
a. Captain Cook (penguin doll)
b. Mr. Popper’s Cozy Scarf
9. Otto of the Silver Hand by Howard Pyle
a. Otto’s Chain Mail
b. Otto’s Scabbard and Belt
10. Redwall by Brian Jacques
a. Matthias’ Over-sized Habit
b. Asmodeus the Snake
11. The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
a. Colin’s Rug and Cushion
b. Mrs. Sowerby’s Cloak
12. The Wheel on the School by Meindert deJong
a. Lina’s Stocking Cap
b. Thick Wools Socks for Linda & Jan

These are all fun projects -- I had fun creating them and I think you'll have fun making them too! We've also included some basic knitting helps and a fully annotated bibliography of great knitting books.

The book-links are to the versions we used ... many are hard-cover as we want to keep these classics. The two that are *'ed, Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder and Little House in the Highlands by Melissa Wiley, are quickly going the way of the Albatross -- the publishers are changing the editions to give them a more updated appeal. Try to find these editions linked here -- the text is complete and the pictures are wonderful!

Please let me know what you think about this book -- I'd love to do a sequel, especially when I saw UK's List of Best Children's Books and saw many on that list that I'd love to read-aloud to my kids and create more designs!

I was SOOOOO Excited ....

... when I checked Margot's blog and found that not only is the long-awaited Father Brown Reader (compiled by Nancy Carpentier Brown) coming out, but so is Cay Gibson's sequel, Christmas Mosaic! Not only do I "know" (in the "online, chat all the time, really respect these ladies" way of knowing someone) these two authors, but the subject content is wonderful!

The Father Brown stories (which are wonderfully illustrated by homeschool dad, Ted Schluenderfritz) are ably re-written for a younger audience -- a great idea as early Chesterton readers grow up to devour his books! Nancy does a great job of rewriting the text without losing the flavor of Chesterton's original. Bravo!

Cay's first book, Catholic Mosaic, was so well-received that she decided to do an Advent/Christmas book. This new book promises to keep you and your kids reading throughout Advent and Christmas, with 30 picture books suggested with full study guides (including recipes!), and an annotated list of 200+ picture books with the Advent/Christmas theme. I can't wait to get a copy!

As Margot mentions, it's quite fitting both of these should be available in the Harvest season .... and just in time to put on your Christmas list for dh, in-laws or someone else to buy for your home learning environment!