I have a new post up at Southern Grace Notes here. It’s called God’s Provision, Life Lessons, and Love Inside A Grocery Sack.
archived posts:
General
I am so excited to be a part of this month’s Virtual Specialist Tour hosted by the NWFCC. Below is the press release!
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Amy M. O’Quinn’s 6-day Virtual Homeschool Specialist Tour hosted by the NWFCC Fri, Mar 25
Homeschool Specialist Amy M. O’Quinn is being showcased the entire month of March at the National Writing for Children Center. Part of this showcase includes a 6-day virtual specialist tour.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PRLog (Press Release) – Mar 24, 2011 – M E D I A R E L E A S E
CONTACT: Suzanne Lieurance
Email: suzannelieurance@hotmail.com
Website: http://writingforchildrencenter.com
Amy M. O’Quinn’s 6-day Virtual Homeschool Specialist Tour hosted by the National Writing for Children Center kicks off Fri, March 25
Homeschool Specialist Amy M. O’Quinn is being showcased the entire month of March at the National Writing for Children Center. Part of this showcase includes a 6-day virtual specialist tour. Join Suzanne Lieurance, founder and director of the National Writing for Children Center, and the virtual specialist tour hosts as they welcome Amy M. O’Quinn for her exclusive tour that starts Friday, March 25.
Amy M. O’Quinn is a pastor’s wife and former schoolteacher-turned-homeschool mom of six. She is also a freelance writer who enjoys jotting down ideas around the fringes of family life. She specializes in non-fiction, and her work has been published or acquired by various magazines including Jack and Jill, US Kids, Guideposts for Kids, Learning Through History Magazine, Highlights, GEORGIA Magazine, Homeschooling Today, International Gymnast, etc.
Amy is a product/curriculum/book reviewer for The Old Schoolhouse Magazine and a regular columnist for TEACH Magazine. In addition, she has done some educational product/website writing for a major school supply company. She was also the co-founder and president/newsletter editor of her local homeschool support group for seven years.
Intrigued? Want to learn more about O’Quinn? Follow along on her virtual specialist tour. Here’s the schedule:
Friday, March 25
“Meet the Homeschool Specialist”
Host: Irene Roth – http://rothsinspiringbooksandproducts.wordpress.com
Saturday, March 26
“The Homeschool Specialist’s Life”
Host: Donna McDine – http://donna-mcdine.blogspot.com
Sunday, March 27
“Homeschooling Research Tips for Parents”
Host: Nicole Weaver – http://melangeofcultures.wordpress.com
Monday, March 28
“Homeschooling Resources”
Host: Mayra Calvani – http://www.mayrassecretbookcase.blogspot.com
Tuesday, March 29
“On the Go”
Host: Nancy I. Sanders – http://nancyisanders.wordpress.com
Wednesday, March 30
“Become a Facebook Fan”
Host: Terri Forehand – http://terri-forehand.blogspot.com
Thank you for your interest, we look forward to your visit.
Authors interested in being showcased at the National Writing for Children Center can download an application www.writingforchildrencenter.com or email Donna McDine for more information at info@writingforchildrencenter.com.
The Statue of Liberty! One of America’s most well known landmarks, Lady Liberty has stood on her own island in the New York Harbor just southwest of Manhattan Island since 1886, and she has welcomed countless visitors and millions of immigrants to a new life in a new country. She has witnessed changes, joys, and even heartaches—yet she has stood the test of time and continues to be a beacon of hope and a representation for freedom for all Americans.
Did You Know?
Almost everyone knows that the Statue of Liberty was a gift from France to celebrate the friendship between the two countries and their common quests for freedom. But did you know that the French sculptor, Frederic Auguste Bartholdi, originally had the concept of placing the statue of a woman at the opening of the Suez Canal? Did you know that the Statue of Liberty functioned as a lighthouse from 1886 to 1902? Did you know that Lady Liberty’s right arm and torch were on display in Madison Square Park for six years while efforts to raise money to finance the statue and base? Did you know that the statue’s complete name is Liberty Enlightening the World?
Lady In Green
Here’s another neat fact. The Statue of Liberty is actually made of copper, but over the years hydrogen, oxygen, and carbon atoms from various substances in the air have combined with the copper atoms in the statue to make copper hydroxycarbonate (From Exploring Creation With Physical Science by Jay Wile). In other words, the copper has oxidized, and this chemical reaction has created a nice patina—or a green coating on the statue.
Changes
Trivia about the history of this famous landmark and statue statistics of the Lady are vast. Surprisingly, I experienced firsthand one of the changes the Statue of Liberty underwent back in 1984. When my high school classmates and I went to Washington and New York for our Junior-Senior trip, we were unable to disembark from our ferry onto Liberty Island and visit the statue because she was closed for repair and renovations. All of our photos showed the Lady from afar, encased in scaffolding. And although we were disappointed, we knew we were also witnessing a piece of history we would never forget! The Statue of Liberty National Monument reopened in 1986.
The Statue of Liberty was also closed after the 9/11 attacks in 2001. The monument reopened in 2004, and the crown and interior finally reopened last year (2009) on July 4th.
Resources About the Statue of Liberty
For a family activity, study the history and significance of the Statue of Liberty and the importance of her role in American culture. Below are some website/book suggestions:
Statue of Liberty National Monument website
Essential Big Apple: Statue of Liberty
The Statue of Liberty (Step Into Reading series) by Lucille Recht Penner
Lady Liberty: A Biography by Doreen Rappaport
The Story of the Statue of Liberty by Betsy Maestro
Building Liberty: A Statue Is Born by Serge Hochain
Naming Liberty by Jane Yolen
Written by Amy M. O’Quinn/Originally posted on the National Writing for Children website
I received the following press release from Caroline Harris, publicist for Sylvan Dell, and wanted to share! To celebrate TV Turnoff Week and Earth Day, Sylvan Dell is giving schools, libraries and families free access to their 50 eBooks for the week of April 19-25.
What a great opporunity…so check it out and spread the word!
Lose that Remote and Seize the Day!
TV Turnoff Week Overlaps with Earth Day this Year
Mount Pleasant, SC (April 13, 2010) – Join Sylvan Dell in celebrating national TV Turnoff Week April 19-25 and Earth Day, April 22. Every year this week challenges families to turn off their television sets and find an alternate form of entertainment. Earth Day, celebrating its 40th year, happens to fall right in the middle of TV Turnoff Week this year and provides a perfect excuse to turn off the television and learn about the earth.
So, instead of channel surfing, do something good for the Earth. Here are some suggestions:
- Visit an animal rehabilitation center near you. Ask what types of animals do they help? Are any of these animals endangered or threatened? What can you do to help?
- Take a trip to the zoo or your local aquarium. Turn it into a learning activity. Draw or make a list of the ways the animals are alike or different.
- Go hiking in a nature reserve. Collect leaves, shells and flower petals. Draw a tree or make a nature journal.
- Visit a nature museum. Quiz yourself after, what do you remember? Write down what you learned.
- Read a book like “Where Should Turtle Be?” or “What’s New At the Zoo?” Sylvan Dell books are great educational resources that promote awareness and appreciation for animals and the environment.
Sylvan Dell is participating by giving schools, libraries and families free access to their 50 eBooks for the week of April 19-25. More than 40 of these eBooks explore Earth Day related themes including marine animals, habitats, wildlife, zoo animals, earth and physical science, birds, and astronomy. So, before deciding to turn on the TV, read an eBook and learn about the wonders of the Earth!
For more information about Earth Day, visit http://www.earthday.net/earthday2010
For more information about “TV Turnoff Week,” visit: http://tvturnoff.org/
For more information about Sylvan Dell Publishing, visit: http://SylvanDellPublishing.com
eBook access instructions are located on the Sylvan Dell website at: http://www.sylvandellpublishing.com/TVTurnOffWeek.htm
About Sylvan Dell Publishing
Sylvan Dell Publishing’s mission is to excite children’s imaginations with artistically spectacular science, math and nature themed stories. Founded in November of 2004, Sylvan Dell has grown to include more than 75 authors and illustrators, in the U.S. and Canada, and 50 titles – honored as finalists or winners of more than 70 book awards. Our Science and Math Through Literature Program integrates reading, science, math, geography, character skills, and language learning through fun, cross-curricular activities. Sylvan Dell provides more online educator resources than any other publisher in the U.S. We offer schools, homeschooling families and public libraries a free one-year access to our ebook site license featuring the most technologically advanced eBooks each with Auto-Flip, Auto-Read, 3D page curling, and selectable English and Spanish text and audio through our School Resource Grant program. For more information, visit http://www.sylvandellpublishing.com.
I’ve had so many spam comments that I finally just did a bulk action delete. Then I realized that I had also deleted the legitimate and sweet comments I had as well. Uh oh.
I’ve activated a plug-in that hopefully will take care of the spam issue…I think. I have been getting at least 10 or more spam comments a day.
Live and learn. Live and learn!
I hope to be more ‘present’ with this site soon.
Below is a list of all the articles I’ve had published on the National Writing for Children website. Some are for the Parenting/Teaching Tips column and some are about writing:
Our Awesome America: Historic Symbols
Nature At Night: Learning After Dark
Kids in the Kitchen: Fun AND Learning
Creating Learning Guides and Instructional Activities for Trade Books
Teaching Character Point of View: The Big Bad Wolf versus The Three Little Pigs
Picture Book Pleasures: Delicious Picks for Fall
Celebrating Through The Year: Seasonal Tableaus and Displays
Making Family History Come Alive
Newspapers in Education: Not Just for News
Helping With Your Child’s Homework May Boost Your Writing Career
Autumn Fun: Learning With Leaves
Family Night: Make It A Tradition
Family Mealtimes Are Important
Teaching Personification With Picture Books
Welcome to my new blog. I’m still in the process of setting everything up and making changes to personalize my space here. Look around and come back soon. Hopefully, I will have everything functional shortly!
Children’s picture books are a staple in the homes of most families. They have long been the first choice for bedtime stories or just for when someone needs a cuddle on the couch. Well-loved stories have stood the test of time and bring back good memories from our childhoods, and we all need that special reminder from time to time—no matter how old we are. Moreover, we are always discovering new favorites as we share them with our children, ever adding to the cherished cache.
Picture books can also help us celebrate the changing seasons as we read beloved classics concentrating on winter, spring, summer, or, as we are enjoying now, autumn. In fact, this delightful segment of the year brings us colorful falling leaves, cooler days, cozy quilts, and comforting smells of good things baking in the oven. Autumn also means pumpkins and APPLES and the many delicious possibilities they contain. Below are a few book suggestions and several ideas for using these stories as a ‘jumping off’ point for some yummy autumn fun for everyone!
How To Make An Apple Pie and See the World by Marjorie Priceman is a wonderful story about what happens when it’s time to bake an apple pie, but the market is closed. Of course, this situation requires you to take a trip around the world to gather all the fresh ingredients, right at their sources. For example, you’ll need semolina wheat from Italy, a French chicken to lay a fresh egg, an English cow to give the richest milk, the bark of a kurundu tree from Sri Lanka that will be ground into cinnamon, seawater to evaporate for salt, and rosy apples from Vermont. No problem, right?
This delicious tale by Ms. Priceman is perfect for fall! There is a recipe for apple pie at the end of the book which would make a perfect finish! While eating a slice of your pie and a drinking a glass of milk, you might even want to explore a globe or map to locate the places mentioned in the story—a great geography lesson to go along with a delectable culinary creation!
The Apple Pie Tree by Zoe Hall is another great ‘pick’! Two young sisters follow the cycle of an apple tree and how the apples are formed—from the bud to the fruit. The story includes the role of weather and bees in the production of the fruit, as well as a little side story about the robins who build their nest in the tree. The tale concludes with the apple harvest, and of course another recipe for apple pie is included.
In addition to a pie baking activity, this book lends itself very well to the whole scientific aspect of fruit production, pollination, weather patterns, and life cycles in general. Visiting an apple orchard or U-Pick facility would make a great field trip to go along with any of these books.
Applesauce by Shirley Kurtz takes the ‘apple’ idea one step further. This book focuses on a family’s quest to gather enough apples to make enough applesauce to last through the winter. The pictures in the book are very helpful for understanding the process of making applesauce, and easy directions are included. Jars of homemade applesauce would make thoughtful gifts for children to give to family and friends.
Johnny Appleseed by Reeve Lindburgh would make a wonderful wrap-up after baking up so many apple goodies in the kitchen. This poem about John Chapman (Johnny Appleseed) tells the story of one man’s crusade to spread apple seeds from Massachusetts to the Midwest. Can you think up other recipes that use apples as the main ingredient? Search your cookbooks and see what yummy things you can discover. Create your own autumn recipe idea notebook.
There are also quite a few picture books about pumpkins too, and many can be used as a starting point for enjoyable kitchen activities as well. Perhaps a side trip to the pumpkin patch is in order before coming home to bake up some down home goodness. Some suggestions are:
-The Pumpkin Patch by Elizabeth King
-Seed, Sprout, Pumpkin, Pie by Jill Esbaum
-Too Many Pumpkins by Linda White
-Biscuit Visits the Pumpkin Patch by Alyssa Satin Capucilli
Need more ideas? Here’s an excellent bonus recipe for Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread.
Ingredients:
· 3 cups white sugar
· 1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin
· 1 cup vegetable oil
· 2/3 cup water
· 4 eggs
· 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
· 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
· 1 tablespoon ground nutmeg
· 2 teaspoons baking soda
· 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
· 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
· 1/2 cup chopped pecans
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour three loaf pans. In a large bowl, combine sugar, pumpkin, oil, water, and eggs. Beat until smooth. Blend in flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, and salt. Fold in chocolate chips and nuts. Fill pans 1/2 to 3/4 full. Bake for 1 hour, or until a knife comes out clean. Cool on wire racks before removing from pans.
So scan your library bookshelves, ‘pick’ a few great books to share, and pre-heat the oven. Don an apron, bake up some autumn goodness, and enjoy the ‘fruits’ of your labor!
Welcome to your new Blog.
If you’re reading this, you’ve got a brand new blog that’s all your own. Here’s what to do next…
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http://twitterwebs.com/affiliate-program/
2. Update your affiliate links by editing your .htaccess file.
Find and open your .htaccess file. (Either via FTP or through your Cpanel File Manager)
(There’s a video here if you need some extra direction.)
You’ll see lines like this:
Redirect /sweatreview http://justaddsweat.com/go.php?offer=zzzzz&pid=5
Each line is a redirect for a specific product promoted in the articles on this blog. In all of the links that contain a zzzzz you’ll replace that with your affiliate ID from the appropriate program.
(Until you make this change – the links will not work!)
3. Where it says
*Redirect /shelancers http://www.shelancers.com
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*Redirect /twitterwebs http://www.twitterwebs.com
simply replace each link with your link for that program.
Please note that you’ll ONLY change the URL, not the part that says “Redirect /easy” or “Redirect /she” as that’s telling the hosting to redirect all links on your new blog that end with those letters to the appropriate sites THROUGH the link that you’re entering into this file.
4. Update your Button Ads
The four button ads shown on the sidebar can be edited through the ‘sidebar.php’ file. (If you have updated all of the redirect links in your .htaccess file you don’t have to make any changes.)
5. Optional but highly recommended – Get Custom Graphics!
There are four graphics being displayed in the header. You can create your own graphics of the same size and upload them into the ‘img’ folder of the ‘strides’ theme. Then go into the ‘header.php’ file and change the file names. This will update your site. The wide top graphic is 900 x 75 and the three smaller graphics are 300 x 175.
If you need help and want to outsource, Girly Blog Designz and FreshNets have offered a special $50 customization deal to our loaded blog customers. Just submit a request through their contact form to initiate an order.
6. Read this free report about how to get started: Making Money with your New Blog
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Be sure to check back soon!
