5 Lessons from the Orchard

orchard
  Going to the apple orchard is a yearly pilgrimage in our household. It just doesn’t feel like fall without that first bite of golden sweetness. But going to the orchard can become a drudgery if plans are loosely made. Before you know it, you’ve spent the entire week’s grocery budget on apples and another
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Technology (or Not!) and Interest-Based Learning

interest-based learning
  iPads, laptops, and the dawn of YouTube… let’s face it: our kids are bombarded with technology today. Many of us are guilty of the same technologically-driven pleasures of screen time and visual input. Whether it’s the ding! of a new email or the clang! of the alarm app, our lives are permeated with the need to connect
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Hey Mama Monday: Mama, Should You Be a Referee or a Trainer?

hey mama
  Do your kids squabble? Does it drive you bananas when they fight, non-stop? When they were babies, I just couldn’t wait for them to be big enough to interact and play with their older siblings. It would be so cute! They’d be best friends, and love each other, get along famously, and the older
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It’s Been a Week!

bad week
  It’s been a hard week at my house. As I sit here at my computer to write some encouraging words, my mind is blank. The truth is, I even opened a browser and got sucked into social media for a while. Parenting is not always easy. Although our children are a blessing, their need
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How to Make Pumpkin Pie Play Dough

  This summer, while I was filing away schoolwork that we completed last year, I came across a cherished recipe that I’d been searching for. I discovered this recipe for pumpkin pie play dough several years ago when my son was in kindergarten. It was the first time that I tried making homemade play dough,
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Do Not Bother to Homeschool If You Intend to Squander Its Benefits

homeschool
  From the TeachingtheWord Bible Knowledgebase Part three of a series. Read part 2.   Christian homeschooling involves not merely a curriculum, but an entire way of life for both parents and their children. Some readers will immediately question the title of this article, so let me begin with an explanation. It is fine to think that you
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Raising Heroes for Jesus

heroes
  Everyone in our culture seems to be obsessed with superheroes. Everyone talks about the movies and when the next one is coming out. I hear teens and children talk about superheroes as if they are real people. I have watched one or two superhero movies, and I walk away so disturbed by the character
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Hey Mama Monday: Do You Have Joy, Mama?

hey mama
  Have you considered what the “joy of the Bible” really is? Some might say that it means you are happy. Or, that it’s the “absence of sadness.” Sometimes you have joy, other times you don’t. If it’s a lucky or good day, you might. But God’s Word speaks of joy very differently. For the
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