free Jesse Tree Advent Devotional

Ann Voskamp has rewritten her Jesse Tree Advent devotional, The Glorious Coming, and you can download A Jesus Advent Celebration free at her site! Just go to this page and follow the instructions in the blue box at the bottom of the page to access the free download.

on questions and unexpected answers

Asking questions can be a tool for determining a child’s comprehension. But how the person being asked a question answers it depends on how she perceives the question. The question I think I’m asking isn’t necessarily the question my daughter hears.

While talking to my daughter about her school’s combined kindergarten Thanksgiving feast the other day, I asked her who the Pilgrims were. Her reply: “the other class.”

I hope you’re having a wonderful Thanksgiving!

free Squanto audiobook

Christianbook.com is offering a free audio book of Squanto: An Unknown Hero Who Changed the Course of American History for a limited time. Visit the link above, then click the Add to Cart button under “Buy M4B Audio.” (The price should be listed as $0.00 on the next page.)

combining handicraft with math

I’m in awe of the impressive Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef project, “a woolly celebration of the intersection of higher geometry and feminine handicraft, and a testimony to the disappearing wonders of the marine world.” You can see a TED talk with Margaret Wertheim, the founder of the project, below.

The reef is currently on exhibit at the Natural History Museum.

c-a-t

 

Plimoth Plantation virtual field trip

Scholastic has some good Thanksgiving lessons and activities for different grade levels on its First Thanksgiving site, including a virtual field trip of the Plimoth Plantation, which you can see here.

House of Dark Shadows—free Kindle edition

If you have young adult readers at home or enjoy reading YA fiction yourself (if you think you’re too old, you’re missing out!), check out Robert Liparulo’s action-packed Dreamhouse Kings series, a modern-day fantasy adventure with so much spooky suspense you might not want to read it at night (maybe that’s just me!). The Kindle version of House of Dark Shadows is available at Amazon for free the week of November 15 only (if the price at the link above is not $0, you missed the deal). I previously reviewed it and the second book in the series, Watcher in the Woods, here. Whenever anyone asks me to recommend books for teen boys, it’s the first one I mention.

I Love to Write Day

November 15 is I Love to Write Day. Schools, libraries, bookstores, and other community centers all over the country will be participating in the annual event with students of all ages. The goal is simple: Spend time writing today—whether it’s a short story, poem, essay, letter to the editor, love letter, or anything else!

Naked Eggs and Flying Potatoes

We’re big fans of Steve Spangler Science at our house. He’s the king of making science fun, and his website is a treasure trove of experiments, activities, science projects, and videos. We occasionally caught his segments on the Denver NBC … Continue reading →

Nature Rocks Calendar for 2011

Nature Rocks is now offering a free nature calendar for 2011. To download your PDF copy, go to NatureRocks.org and click the 2011 Calendar button (shown above) in the sidebar. A Winter Activity Guide is also available, and the site has some good ideas for exploring nature with kids as a family.