31 Days of Thanks Series and Giveaway!

 

**after you read this post be sure to scroll down to enter this weeks 31 days of Thanks giveaway via the rafflecopter form! This week's prizes total almost a $250 retail value! ~~Katie

When I signed up several months ago to be one of the bloggers for the 31 days of Thanks Series organized by the lovely Meg from Homeschooling Mama, I picked today because today is my wedding anniversary and our middle daughter's birthday and mostly, I am so thankful for my family. But this past semester,  because of my current line of study, that has taken on such new meaning.

You see, last year I decided to go back to graduate school to get a second Masters degree in History. I am a full year into and loving it. This semester, I started doing an independent study on the Holocaust, which has become one of my interest areas, if not yet a specialty area.

Within this study, I read alot of books. alot of stories, and see alot of films. They all have something in common; all contain families. Families who for no other reason than their religion were separated from each other; most never to return. I watched a gut wrenching scene in the movie Sarah's Key , (based on the book) where, at a transition camp, the Mothers and their children are separated. Watching that scene made my heart drop into my feet. You know that feeling? Because this didn't happen in Medieval times, or the Middle Ages...this was  a mere 70 years ago. After the Age of Enlightenment. After the Declaration of the Rights of Man. In a "civilized" world. This happened.  Separated. Taken. Broken.

Studying this has changed my life, because it has changed my perspective. It has changed my depth of gratitude I have for small things. Now, when m 2 year old wants me to dance with her the 30 second song of our coo-coo clock (all day long, every day) I am no longer annoyed by this distraction but relish in those moments of holding her while her smile is ear to ear. While I have always loved being able to be home with my kids, I now fully appreciate how special getting to be with them every single day is. The privilege of it.

I thought I appreciated it before, but now in small, quiet moments of our day, my mind will go back to those stories, of those Mothers, crying in anguish, arms lifted up in despair over what is now lost to them forever, and I scoot a little closer, hug a little longer, squeeze a little tighter, appreciate more deeply, promise to not take one moment for granted. A promise to those mothers, under my breath, in my heart, to always be thankful.

You don't have to be a history nerd like me or be studying in depth a tragic era of a shared past to appreciate or to be thankful. But if you ever find yourself feeling stressed, bothered or just genuinely grumpy, take a few minutes to think of those mothers and make a silent promise that "Today, I will be forever thankful for my family".

God bless You.

This week's 31 days of Thanks giveaway is below! The giveaway ends this Thursday night. Be sure to enter and then check Meg's post on  at Homeschoolin Mama on Saturday, or check back here at Brighton Park, to see if you are one of the lucky winners. Here are the prizes this week!

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Waldorf Wednesday: The Pumpkin Patch

This year we decided to drive north and make a day trip out of our annual pumpkin patch trip. We drove 3 1/2 hours to a particular pumpkin patch, stopping to picnic at the Mongollan Rim on the way up, and made it to the pumpkin patch. The day was a comedy of errors...ever have one of those?

Initially we bought tickets online for a different pumpkin patch than the one we went to. As we were leaving town, I suddenly had a panicky intuitive feeling that we needed to double check if that patch was open. So we called them (again) and yep, it wasn't open that day.

On to Plan B.

We decided to go to the patch we went to and we get there and as we pulling in we see the sign "Cash Only". I asked Mr. Darcy "do you have cash?" We had forgotten most patches take cash only. So to our children's bewilderment, we pulled back out of said pumpkin patch and went bank searching.

And hooray, we found one! Then BACK to the pumpkin patch we went!

The patch we went to was great, and a perfect one for the boys as it had wide open spaces, no crowds, and to me and the kids delight it had all these different gourds and pumpkins that we had seen on our favorite Martha Stewart Halloween video so we could start making special creations with our bounty, like turning these gourds into geese!

We hit the jackpot and ended up with a wagon full of gourds and pumpkins. But the fun wasn't over...With a family of 7, and two still using booster seats, and one still in a full car seat we are pretty much stuffed in our vehicle like a Life game pawn piece that has hit "congrats you've had a baby" on each possible space~~ and now we literally had 130 pounds of pumpkins and gourds to get home. Praise the Lord that Mr. Darcy a million years ago, used to work for UPS and is the worlds best packer....ever.

We made it home...with two extremely happy twin boys, two extremely happy little girls and one two year old who usually has serious anger issues but on this day, her terrible twos were kept at bay.....

















Have you ever had a family day that didn't turn out the way you planned, but still turned out great?
Here are a few more pics from our daytrip to the pumpkin patch.

I've linked up to these great linky parties this wk!

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Music Mondays #7: Shake it up with a Shekere

 

Today's Music Mondays Series Post is one again written by our grammy nominated friend Daria! Continue reading to lean what a sheker is, how to make your own, and how to play some fun shekere games in your homeschool this week! ~~Katie

 

 

Making and playing simple musical instrument can be great fun for both children and adults. Think about it! When was the last time you really listened to the beat of a song, danced around to some new music or got your hands messy with a colorful craft? This week, we’re exploring a beautiful percussion instrument from Africa called the shekere and sharing some fun ways for your family to make your own versions and incorporate them into musical play at home. And we encourage the adults or older siblings to join in the fun as well!

What is A Shekere?

 

 

Although rattles are found all around the world, the shekere is a special type of rattle that is made from a dried gourd covered with netting. Attached to the netting are noise-makers such as beads, seeds or shells. Most historians think that the shekere was invented in West Africa but was so well loved that different versions appeared across the continent of Africa with their own variations in sizes, shapes and playing styles. Check out the sizes and different bead work on the shekeres pictured here! How do you play a shekere? It can be held and rattled, shimmied, shaken or tossed gently from hand-to-hand or from one person to another. It’s a truly versatile

instrument!

 

 

Make Your Own Shekere

 

Since making an authentic shekere involves drying a gourd – a process that can take several months to a year, we wanted to share a simpler, recycled version of this craft. Start with a plastic jug from the recycling bin and instead of netting and noise-makers, “bead” by applying stickers, creating any type of pattern that you like. Using round stickers or different colored reinforcements creates the look of actual beads. To make your shekere sound like a rattle, add a small amount of any simple filler such as birdseed, pasta, dried lentils, pebbles or beads. Seal up the top with a sturdy tape and your percussion instrument will sound great when played in your hands or tossed as part of a game.

 

Shekere Games

 

Kids or adults can get used to playing with a shekere by sitting in a circle and tossing it around from person to person. Each person can shake or rattle it while singing or while music is being played seeing if they can keep in time or play along with what they are hearing. Name That Color, Find the Letter or Number Game If you want to turn your new instrument into a learning game, you can try one of these ideas. Use round stickers of various colors as your “beads” and decorate some of them

 

with numbers or the letters from A to Z. When you’ve completed your design, cover the surface of your plastic jug with clear packing tape as it is easy for the stickers to rub off while the instrument is being tossed around and played. Here’s an example of what an alphabet shekere might look like. How does that turn into a game? Check it out!

 

Toss the shekere around and either play music and stop it (like in musical chairs) or sing a simple rhyme such as: Round and round and round it goes Where it stops, nobody knows Find the letter … ___! (Find the number___, Find the color ___). Shake and shake the shekere Here is what I have to say Find the letter … ___! (Find the number___, Find the color ___). The person holding the shekere must locate the number, letter or color requested. Here are some easy variations that can be used, depending on the group or skill level involved.

 

From A – Z The shekere is tossed around until the rhyme or the music stops. The person holding the instrument must find the letter the group or is seeking, from A to Z. The whole group or class wins when they’ve completed the alphabet.

The First Letter of My Name Children can find the first letter of their name and then move out of the circle. If the group or class finishes within a certain time frame, they win!

My Letter, My Call! A teacher or parents starts the game asking for a certain letter. When the player finds that letter, they get to chose the letter that will be found next. And so on.

Play Along With A Song from Africa You can play your shekere along with any type of music, but it will sound especially good with music from the continent of Africa. A while ago, I recorded a version of one of my favorite songs from South Africa. The lyrics are in Zulu and in English. The song is about a special day when the mothers from a village go to town to sell what they have grown. When they return, they are bringing special treats to share with their children. The song shares what the children are seeing as their mothers are coming home. You can see a video of that song here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yz4tUKoZUcA What other ways can you explore your new instrument? Can you come up with your own games or even write a new song to sing and play along with? When it comes to music, the possibilities for both fun and learning are endless!

 

Resources

Hear a shekere sample or shekere song here: http://www.dariamusic.com/shekere.php

Color a shekere online: http://www.dariamusic.com/color_Shekere.php

Check out 8 simple world music instruments – sounds, songs and coloring activities: http://www.dariamusic.com/cajon.php

20 easy world music crafts for kids: http://www.dariamusic.com/crafts.php

 

 

Award-winning children’s performer, DARIA (Daria Marmaluk-Hajioannou) has seven cd’s that have won national honors. She has the most awesome job of traveling the world to sing for kids and peace. Her website; located at dariamusic.com, was given a 2009 Parents Choice Award for its rich variety of music and cultural content.

To check out the music resource that Katie uses with her own kids at the Brighton park homeschool, check out Where is Thumbkin?: 500 Activities to Use with Songs You Already Know . A wonderful resource, divided by month that provides song lists, their lyrics and coordinating supplemental activities that span the curriculum.

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Inspiration and the Anthopologie giftcard winner reveal

I wanted to announce the winner of the Inspiration Friday Anthropologie $25 gift card. But first I wanted to say how much I enjoyed reading all the comments of all the many things that inspire you. I  truly believe in making an effort to find, to intentionally seek out inspiration, especially on days when for whatever reason, I feel overwhelmed (or underwhelmed, whatever the case may be). 

You can live an inspired life anywhere. With means or without. But on the days inspiration's not finding you, you have to find it. I can't really share with you how hard some days are with two children with special needs, who are now as big as me, who are 12 but still working on basic things like potty training. There are days where my inspiration is in short supply.

BUT...

On those days, it is important for me to remember that I have three other children and a husband who deserve for me to, you know, keep it all together and be happy because they deserve to have a happy mother, a happy wife. And that's where grace comes in. Grace that inspires me to see what I do for the boys and my family as a hospitality of service. And on those days, I find my inspiration in the smiles of those I am serving. Great music, great books, trailblazers, survivors, the underdogs, travel, they all inspire me, but Grace is the starting point and Grace, being the always undeserving but always receiving recipient of Grace, is the best inspiration of all.

 Without further adieu, .....rafflecopter picked #598 Saver Sarah.

Sarah, please email me your full name and mailing address to homeschoolfam@gmail.com by 10/24/12. Your gift card will be on its way within two weeks! Enjoy!

To not miss any of the informative posts, inspiration or giveaways we have coming up:
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Natural Fall decor: Turning gourds into a flock of birds

Last week, my family and I made a day trip to a fabulous pumpkin patch that was 3 1/2 hours drive from our home up in Northern Arizona. I will post about our pumpkin patch trip on another day, but today I wanted to share with you this super easy, super fun, and sure to impress your neighbors natural home decor idea...Turning gourds into birds.

My kids love watching Martha Stewart videos. My twin sons with special needs may be cognitively impaired but I swear they could pick Martha out of a group of 100 other gray haired same aged women. This time of year we always watch her Halloween and Thanksgiving ideas videos. This idea came from the Thanksgiving Ideas video series. She used a different type gourd, no eyes, tied ribbons around their necks, and used them as an indoor entryway table decoration. I decided to use hers as a jumping off point for my own version and have my little flock be on the front porch, ready to greet all guests, ghouls, and goblins.

Do you see the green gourd?

Well, when I saw it, I didn't see a green gourd, I saw a goose, waiting in the wings! I picked three of these green gourds, testing them first to see if they would stand upright before bringing them home (being able to stand upright is important~~ if the neck is too long/big they will tip over).

I brought them home, added eyes from Michaels that I applied with a basic craft glue and sat them around a small dish I filled with blue floral pebbles (also from Michaels). The result...my own little flock of birds drinking water on my front porch:

And since I already had the eyes, dish and beads, this whole porch display cost me the cost of my gourds, which was $3 each, or $9. The best part, these should last a long while in temperate conditions and will still be appropriate to stay on the porch after I switch my Halloween decor out for my Thanksgiving/autumn decor.

Seriously, don't you just love my newest little flock?  Seriously cute and seriously easy.

I have linked this post up to the following awesome linky parties and blog hops.

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Easy Caramel Apples Recipe

I grew up in a small town in Southern Illinois where town festivals are still a tradition, with many happening this time of year. The town where I went to high school always had, and still does hold "Fall Festival" complete with a parade, carnival rides and lots of small town hospitality.

When I went to college, I added another "festival" to my annual fall schedule, a local town's "Apple Festival". I enjoyed taking my new "big town" friends to this festival the first year I was at the University and I remember on a few occasions driving the 13 miles by myself to just have a few hours of mental respite from college life and stress.

Apple festival was just that. Apples baked, cooked and presented every which way, but my favorite was always getting either a caramel apple or the apple slices with caramel topping. For me it is a flavor of the season, a reminder of my college days,  and of Southern Illinois fall.

This is the recipe my kids and I make each year. It is easy breezy. Make a batch up today.

Ingredients:

8 small apples (I like to use small apples as opposed to big as it makes it a more treat-friendly size for my kids

1 bag kraft caramel apples. (Ok, i usually buy 2 bags. one i make these apples with and the other I hide in the pantry, a few caramels at a time, and eat)

1 cup heavy cream

1 1/2 tsps vanilla extract

 

Prep:

Place wax paper on a plate, platter or serving tree.

Place sticks in your apples

 

Directions:

Unwrap all caramels (this is a great fine motor task for your kids to do for you) and place whole bag of caramels, cream and vanilla extract in saucepan over low, slow heat.

The trick is heat this slowly and stir often.

Once fully melted and stirred, remove from heat. dip your apples in the caramel, using a spoon to help you fully cover the apple. shake gently or twist to stop dripping and place on wax paper to cool.

Repeat until all apples are done.

Caution: Melted caramel is hot. An adult should be doing the covering of the apples. Watch that little fingers dont try to steal a  taste before apples are cool.

Variations:

 

1. Use twigs instead of craft sticks. Twigs, cleaned from your yard make a lovely earthy, woodsy presentation).
2. once caramel covered apples are cooled, drizzle with thin lines of white or dark chocolate.
3. dip a still warm caramel covered apple in finely crushed nuts, choc. chips, crushed oreo cookies or candy corns, or  for a special treat, dip them in coconut and make my Snowed in Covered Apples.

Enjoy making these traditional treats of the season and see how fast they disappear! Please see this page to see where I'm linking up this week!

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Music Mondays #6: 5 Musical activities to add to your homeschool today

(It's Music Monday! Or should I call this one the "getting it in under the wire just barely Music Monday because it is almost Tuesday post"...so sorry for the delay! But I promise this is a good one!) Today's Music Monday post is written by me and I'm sharing some practical ways you can add music into your homeschool.

There are so many ways to infuse your homeschool with a little music that can benefit and teach your child numerous things in numerous ways. Along our Music Mondays series journey I will share posts that give you more ideas to use music to teach, to entertain and to encourage and elicit better speech/language skills.

Today, I wanted to share 5:

1. Start the day with a song...

In a typical Waldorf homeschool, each morning is started with circle/song time. Our homeschool here is Waldorf-inspired; meaning we continue to add elements of a Waldorf school into our curriculum and school day on a continuing basis. This year we added circle/song time to our mornings. You don't have to be a Waldorf homeschooler to do this or to benefit from it. Having a short circle time is a great way to help kids transition from a morning work or free time to their school time and is a great way to tie in themes, unit studies, and holidays into the day. For example, if you are doing a theme unit on farming/farms, why not start the day with singing Old MacDonald, or The Farmer in the Dell.  If you are a Waldorf homeschooler or interested in Waldorf songs, check out this you tube channel with Waldorf songs.

2. Use songs to teach concepts, such as the Days of the Week and the Months of the Year.

This is a great way to learn these two series concepts; especially if your homeschool is less structured, does not have a calendar area, or start with calendar time. We talk about what the date and day of the week is each morning. To help the little ones learn the order of DOW we do a days of the week song.  There are a couple you can do; the generic (Sunday Monday (pause) Tuesday Wednesday (pause) etc ...the one everyone knows and then there is this cute one...

Sung to the Tune - For He's a Jolly Good Fellow

There are 7 days in a week,
7 days in a week,
7 days in a week,
And I can name them all!
Sunday, Monday, Tuesday,
Wednesday, Thursday, Friday,
Saturday is the last day,
And I can name them all!
 

 Now, I am sure there are lots of songs to learn the months of the year, but the one my kids LOVED and we loved singing together (and we still do) was "The Last Month of the Year" by Chris Isaak...
(One of my favorite homeschool memories is listening to my kids sing this song, cause they sang it with enthusiasm)...the fact that I am a huge Chris Isaak fan is just a bonus:

You can find the lyrics to Last Month of the year HERE.

3. Sing with your child, at least monthly, The Star Spangled Banner and America the Beautiful.

Most of the time, homeschool moms get so busy teaching curriculum, teaching math and reading and spelling and history and science, and (you get the idea) that sometimes the obvious slip by. I learned the lyrics to these two songs, in music class, when I was in the 2nd or 3rd grade. If you homeschool, you ARE the music class. Make sure your child knows the words to our National Anthem and America the Beautiful.

4. Play background music to fit the task.

There are two schools of thought on this. The first school is to not play music during school/study time so as to not interrupt concentration, the learning process or be distracting. The other school is play music. I fall somewhere in between the two.

Music is a BIG part of our homeschool. We start our day with a morning work time after breakfast where I play something motivating, something cheery. This year, as I said above, we started having a morning circle/song time to start our actual school time. I do not play music while teaching new concepts, during tasks where I or the kids are required to talk, explain or answer aloud. I do play music during some of our break/free play times. I like to play classical softly while the kids are doing independent math work.There is a debate regarding what is called The Mozart Effect. and the ability for listening to Mozart to improve tests of spatial reasoning and activities that are mathematical, but I find the kids enjoy it, it seems to aid concentration not hinder it and if nothing else will expose them to classical music and hopefully, give them an appreciation for it.

5. Invest in a resource that you can use year round, with all age groups.

It's so great that we don't have to reinvent the wheel. A couple of years ago,  I was wanting a resource of common and some not so common songs and fingerplays that I could incorporate into my homeschool days and lessons and also help me remember long forgotten lyrics of songs and carols of my childhood that I could share with my kids now. And then I found this... "Where is Thumbkin? 500 activities to use with songs you already know". JACKPOT.

 It's categorized by month and includes song lyrics for all the songs included, and there are many that are holiday/theme related. I really can't share with you how many times a month I pull this off the shelf to use it in our homeschool. Alot. It is one of the best $16 investments I've made. Did I mention it gives Curriculum extension activities, per song, for areas such as math, dramatic arts, fine motor and more? Well it does.  And, as a speech language pathologist, I love that the extension activities also serve to promote and encourage speech-language and play skills.

As you can see, these activities to add to your homeschool aren't special or fancy, but as we all know a good education doesn't have to be special or fancy, to be top notch. I encourage you to pick 1 or 2 of these activities to add into your homeschool this week

 

Other website articles that might be of interest:

Internet Music Resources

Background Music and Cognitive Performance

Music Education beyond the Mozart Effect

The Musical Brain

 

Music Mondays is a weekly series that started September 2012, to read the previous 5 posts in this series, click here to go to our HOMESCHOOLING page where all homeschool, music Monday and speech/language posts are indexed.

 

Check out other items we use in our homeschool each week by checking out the homeschooling page in our NEW SHOP!

 

Check out this list of linky parties and blog hops to see where I am linked up to this week.

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Wishing you a magical, musical, fall....

 

 

Inspiration Friday: Anthropologie Giveaway

I have such a lovely giveaway for you today, but first I would like to announce and congratulate the winner of our most recent Music Monday giveaway which was for a $65 music curriculum supplied by our lovely sponsor Home Music Making.....

 

Congratulations...

Carol Alexander

 

Rafflecopter picked you as the winner!

 

Today's post and giveaway is about inspiration.

 

We all need some.

 

A favorite store of mine to browse more than shop is Anthropologie. I love their books. Cookbooks, Design Books, Travel Books, Lead an inspired kind of life books... I love their artsy selections.  (Homeschoolers, they have some darling kids books too!).

I love their displays, the candles burning in the store and the wonderful lack of loud blaring music like so many stores have now a days. It's a little oasis of artsy, quiet, woodsy, sophisticated inspiration. It's a favorite for books and window shopping and the occasional dress when I want to treat myself (and Mr. Darcy) to something extra special. If you don't have one near you, they are online. My favorite for books, enchantment and 20 minutes of alone, never over-rated "me-time".

 

And I want to share it with you.

 

 Today's Inspiration Friday giveaway is for a $25 Anthropologie gift card. And the only thing you have to do to enter is, via rafflecopter below, let me know you have become a follower or a subscriber to the blog.  If you want an extra entry, leave me a comment and share what inspires you! $25 there isn't enough for a dress, but it can go towards a great new little kitchen something or a new book :-) ~~if the rafflecopter box is not showing, refresh your screen :-)

Giveaway rules: you must live in the US and not have won a giveaway here on BP in the last three months. Giveaway ends next Thursday night, my time (AZ) at 11:59 pm. Not associated with facebook or twitter in any way. Winner will be picked randomly via rafflecopter and gift card will be sent out within two weeks of contest close. Entries will be verified. You must be a follower of the blog or an email subscriber to win.

 

Have a great weekend, friends.~~Katie

 

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Ten Tips to Maximizing your Time each Day

I recently read a really good blog post by The Blog Maven about the importance of cleaning up your sidebar. I admit, that is one area on my blog I find difficult to ruthlessly edit. Her article mentioned that a person can only concentrate on one thing at a time and to be wary of taking your readers attention away from your writing with unnecessary distraction over there.

Funny how life works the same way.

The sidebar of my life right now is monumentally busy. So, I continue to try and edit and make it less distracting so that my attention can be on what it really needs to be on. Which as a wife and mother is my husband and our 5 children. But one can only edit obligations so much.

The sidebar of my life currently has:

• homeschooling
• homesteading (animals require daily care)
• Graduate school (I'm working on a new Master's in History)
• Yoga Teacher Training Certification
• the obvious: cooking, cleaning, laundry, chauffeuring children to activities, grocery shopping, and any other errand that cannot be left "undone".

And if you are a SAHM with a family, outside obligations, etc or a working Mom who is out of the house 20-40 hours a week in addition to parenting, then you feel my pain.

So what do I/you do? I can't ruthlessly edit the above or anything to do with parenting, and I don't want to. So I looked at the stuff lower down in the sidebar to see what could go.

Here is what currently is NOT in the sidebar of my life..

• TV (trust me, you won't miss it)
• telephone conversations that take longer than 5-10 minutes (those people who used to call and talk on and on and on about their dramas, kids, pets, whatever? Sorry, I love you but I don't have time to hear every minute detail of your week; I'm still trying to survive MY week)
• Pinterest (I have an account, I occasionally pin, but I no longer troll boards over there sucked into a vortex of time wasting/craft WISHING that I could be using Craft MAKING).
• Facebook: I'm still on it and still post to my personal and blog pages, BUT like the phone calls, I'm on and back off in five minutes or less. Ruthless editing, folks.I'm not the most social person in my fb groups, but I have alot more interesting things to write about now because I am spending time doing more interesting things than scanning FB.
• I say "No" or "not at this time alot more...to volunteer opportunities or anything else not family related. And though nice, I am unapologetic about it.
• I gave up a group activity this past year that I was involved in, that I was leading, that took two Saturdays a month not counting planning time. I released it to the universe and am letting someone else shoulder than responsibility. Ahhh, freedom.

My sidebar on my blog will continue to be edited, but my life sidebar is kind of in one of those "it is what it is" patterns. So, let me share ten tips that I use to maximize my day. After all 1 husband, 5 kids, 40 animals, homeschool, my school and certification classes don't just seamlessly come together. Some of these are similar or even the same to ones I gave in this post, but worth repeating along with some new. But if you've ever wondered how I do it , or others, this is how...

Ten Ways to Maximize your Day:

1. Get up early. The bottom line is, if I get up early enough to have some time to organize and have a little Mom-time before my kids get up, the day goes great. When I don't, it doesn't. I get up early. Even when I have went to bed late. I treat Motherhood as a profession and I want to show up on time and NOT in my pajamas.

2. Daily Priority List. Each morning. A list with NO MORE than three things on it. Those are the things I know I have to get done. Serious...no more than three things.

3. Motherboard. In our house, its the kitchen calendar. Everything is on there so I can see the month at a glance. If there is a day or two together where there is white space, I guard it with my life. White space is good.

4. Fuel. I eat really healthy because I want/need lots of energy. I don't eat, I fuel my body. When put in those terms I don't want to put junk in my body. This is not a discount body and I don't want to put discount food in it. I need to keep up with the world's busiest two year old every day and her 4 siblings. When I changed my diet for the better, it was like getting an extra hour or two built into each day. How's that for diet modification motivation?

5. Sleep. I know my body. I will never be one of those get 5 hours of sleep a night and everything will still be awesome type of people. I need 7-8. This is an unmovable, fixed number in the grand scheme of how do I want to spend my 24 hour day. I can tell you; I'm spending close to 8 of it sleeping.

6. No little trips. I go grocery shopping once each week.  Little trips suck away gas, money, time and energy. Little trips are bad for the environment and bad for productivity.  I meal plan and do one trip. Then I don't have to think about what is for dinner or grocery shopping for another 6-7 days.

7. Delegate. Even small children can have chores and will (hang with me here) enjoy them. Kids like to feel they are a part of something bigger than themselves; we all do. Everyone likes to feel needed. I give big verbal praise and let my children know how valuable (and it IS ) their contribution is when we do our "morning work" time. I don't give them alot cause they are all still young (all 5 are under 12), but what they do do (put their own laundry away, take their own dirty clothes to the laundry room, pick up their own toys~~see the pattern) is time I don't have to spend doing it for them.

8. Find hidden time. Hidden time is any time that you can multitask. My main ones are (yours may be different):

• I utilize the time  when I am waiting for my kids to get done with their activities. Before grad school, I visited with the other Moms when I was stuck in waiting rooms, you know, waiting. Now I use that 1-2 hours to study, meal plan, make my daily priority lists and write blog posts. 
• I return calls, (when I return calls), while I am folding clothes or some other rote activity. I do not return them in the car while driving. I used to, but I realized my attention needed to my on the road and there are always amazing little people in the backseat I can spend that time talking to, visiting with, and learning more about what's in their mind and on their hearts.
• I am never without a book or my Nook so that I can either study myself or help the kids study or read to them if we are caught with unexpected wait time.

9. I Chunk my time. Homeschool time is homeschool time. Laundry time is laundry time. Blogging time is blogging time, etc. This way I don't feel guilty that I'm not folding laundry while homeschooling and not feeling guilty that I'm not homeschooling while cleaning, etc. I have given myself the freedom to delegate time to specific tasks. My attention is not divided between multiple things at once, I became a better teacher and my house got cleaner. Just by allotting time to each activity on its own.

10.  Organize. Everything. Not in a total OCD kind of way, but really, how many days in a row do you want to give time to activities like finding your keys, finding your kids soccer shoes, looking for...whatever?  If you aren't an organized person, make small steps toward this. Hang a key holder by the door, clean out one drawer or shelf a day. When you know what you have and where it is, you save time and money.

Time is the Currency of your life and no one gets younger as they go through life. I am the author of the life I live and I want that book to be full of memories, goals achieved, trips taken, and more so I guard my time, my life's currency, as the valuable commodity it is.

 Do you have other tips you could share in the comments?

This post is partying with: Little Natural Cottage, Farm Girl Friday Blog Fest, Farm Girl Fridays, Finding Joy, Sun Scholars, Sharing Saturdays, Raising Homemakers,  The Better Mom, 
Raising Arrows,   Growing Home,   No Ordinary Bloghop, and Time Warp Wife, Homemaker By Choice,
Whole Hearted Home,   Shoe Lace Link Up,  Courtship Connection,  Simply Helping Him, Lessons from Ivy.
Serving Joyfully,   Our Simple Country Life,   The Purposeful Mom and last but not least...
Feminine Adventures,
Beautiful Thursdays,
Women Living Well
A Wise Woman Builds her home
The Humbled Homemaker
Far Above Rubies
Deep Roots at Home and Thankful Homemaker

Music Mondays #5: How A Box Can Become a Drum and the Story of the Peruvian Cajon

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Welcome back to Music Mondays!  The winner of last week's $65 musical curriuclum will be announced on that post's rafflecopter widget soon, so stay tuned! That generous giveaway was sponsored by our October featured sponsor, Home Music Making. If you are interested in being November's featured sponsor, check out our new ADVERTISE page above in the menu bar.

Today's guest post is again written by Grammy nominated artist Daria, and is a great tutorial on how to make your own Peruvian Cahon drum from materials you already have around your house! ~~Katie

Oct 8st How A Box Can Become A First Drum: The Story of The Peruvian Cajon

 

 

In the coast of Peru and in several other Latin American countries you'll find a drum that is square. Originally made out of dresser drawers or crates used in shipping, this instrument has an amazing sound all it's own. Played like any other drum, you can strike it with your hands, palm, fingers and create wonderful rhythms.

Creating your own cajón from a sturdy cardboard box is a fun way of learning about Afro-Peruvian culture and exploring the basics of drumming and simple percussion together with your child.

The Story Of the Cajón

Although most folks know that enslaved people were brought to America from Africa, this practice also occurred throughout the Caribbean and Latin America countries as well. In Peru, the slave owners were particularly cruel and forbid the use of traditional African drums. Instead of giving up the memories or music from their homeland, these enslaved people started to drum in private. They used whatever they could find such as simple wooden boxes and turned then into creative, inventive great-sounding drums. As Afro-Peruvian culture evolved, the cajón became the centerpiece of many of it’s unique and beautiful rhythms, dances and styles of music.

Make Your Own Cajón

 

A cajón is basically a box with a round-shaped sound hole. So, a simple project would begin with a cardboard box of any size - even a shoe box will do. For a sturdier project, you can buy a wooden box at a craft store or look for one at a produce store. An adult that does basic wood crafting can also help you to assemble a wooden box to begin your project. Next, you'll need a sound hole--the place where the sound will escape. Draw and cut a circle from your cardboard boxes or have an adult help with the preparation for the heavier wooden boxes. Although most sound holes are round, you could experiment with other sizes and shapes and see what happens!

Decorate Your Cajón

If your cajón is made of paper or cardboard, use anything you like to decorate it. Paper, paint, ribbons, stickers, photos, drawings, sharpie pens or rubber stamps. If you are working with wood, you can also use paint and pens and you may wish to add a coat of lacquer afterward to keep your designs from fading.

Time To Play!

All drumming is played by creating a series of patterns. Strike your box and get to know its different sounds. Then mix them and match the sounds to make beats, or discover how your beats can accompany any of your favorite songs. If you want to begin playing in a more serious manner, you can start by learning two basic sounds on your cajón. You can create a louder sound (sometimes called a “dum”) by striking the center of the box with the palm of your hand. You can make the quieter sound (sometimes called a “bek”) by tapping the sides of the box with the inside of your fingers. Once you master these two songs, you can easily mix and match them to create either simple o or wonderfully complex rhythms.

Find a Local Drum Circle!

If you want to explore your drum with other people, you can often find drum circles at local schools, community centers or even churches and houses of worship. Most drum circles pride themselves on being good places for people of all ages and all skill levels to explore playing music as a group and to learn more about their instruments.

Play Along With Favorite Latin American Folksongs!

Your cajón will sound especially good when played with Latin American songs. If you like, you can play along to songs like La Cucaracha and La Bamba or a song called Ese Pollito that tells the story of a little chick that peeps too much. You can find animations of these songs in the video links below. If you encourage your children to listen to the beat of the song once or twice, they can often begin playing along right away and matching the beat or adding sounds that work well with what they hear in the song.

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Play Along With Your Child!

Although crafting an instrument and learning a new skill can be a lot of fun, it can also be frustrating at times. Why not make a box drum for yourself and learn to play along with your child. Mix and match beats with them. Create songs you can play together. You can show them how learning to listen and practicing any skill are wonderful tools to sharpen no matter what activity you are involved in!

Have Fun! 

  Most of all, enjoy yourself. Express yourself in the artwork and design of your simple drum and let your spirit soar while playing. Play fast or slow, loud or softly. Invent a song or a beat all your own. You’ll be making some great family memories and also some beautiful music!

Helpful Links

Hear a cajón and simple cajón song here: http://www.dariamusic.com/cajon.php Color a cajón (online and as a pdf print-out) http://www.dariamusic.com/cajon.php

Play Along With These Videos La Cucaracha La Bamba Ese Pollito http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vx_3qj5KvnA DARIA (Daria Marmaluk-Hajioannou): Called “an ambassador of song”, by US newspapers, Daria, a Grammy-nominated artist, has traveled around the world to create music that uplifts and empowers. A 2008 and 2007 “Parent’s Choice“ winner, all of Daria’s CD’s are currently being played around the globe from Australia, to South Africa, to Europe and South America as well as across the US in homes, preschools, schools and on several Native American Reservations.  Daria has recorded and released four children’s music CD’s – Grandchildren's Delight, Beautiful Rainbow World, I Have A Dream and Jadda, Jadda, Jing, Jing Jing!. Daria holds a degree in ethnomusicology and is active in Education, Special Education, Native American, Peace and Children’s issues. Daria lives with her family on a farm outside of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.
Music To Inspire All The World's Children
www.dariamusic.com Check out the Making Multicultural Music Blog
http://makingmulticulturalmusic.wordpress.com     I hope you are enjoying our Music Mondays Series! This post is linked up to: Repurpose My Life, Mad in Crafts, ABC and 123, TipJunkie, Growing Home, Artsy Play Wednesday,  Free Pretty Things for You, Not Just a Housewife, Kids Play Thursdays, Link it up Thursdays. And also Friday Faves party , The Magic Onions,  and For the Kids Friday . And Sharing Saturdays. And Sunday Playdate.


 

Music Mondays #4: 6 Tips to Teach Music in a Natural and Artistic Way & a Giveaway

Welcome back to Music Mondays! Today's guest post is written by music teacher, composer, and artist, Jodie Mesler of Home Music Making!  At the end of the post, be sure to enter the giveaway to win one of Jodie's $65 music kits for your home/homeschool! ~~Katie

 

SIX TIPS ON HOW TO TEACH MUSIC IN A NATURAL AND ARTISTIC WAY by Jodie Mesler

Music is a joyful and living experience that comes from the human heart and soul. Music lives in all of us especially children. It is our pleasure as parents and home educators to provide a music
foundation for our young children. We can teach it to our children in a natural and artistic way. Here are a few tips on how to get started even if you have little or no musical training

1. SING TO YOUR CHILD


- Sing every night. Pick a favorite lullaby to sing every night.

- Sing a wake up song that greets your child

- Sing as you transition from one activity to the other throughout your day. I have had amazing results with my young children. Often it is hard to get a child out of one activity to the next, but the child
will become one with the song and move right into the next activity.

This is a song I wrote to help mothers understand how important it is to sing to her children. This song is based on Rudolf Steiner’s lecture of “Mood of the Fifth.”

A mother’s singing voice is very unique,
Her singing voice follows the rhythm of speech;
Enfolding the child in stillness and peace,
Creating a mood that connects with heaven.
A glimpse of heaven is the secret key
For the mood of stillness is in this melody.
Although the child keeps moving along,
He will always find stillness and peace in her song.

2. LISTEN TO LIVE ACOUSTIC MUSIC

- Develop children’s listening skills by going to live acoustic musical performances (no loud electronic amplification, speakers, microphones, etc.)

- This will also develop your children’s love for music appreciation

- Develop a deep connection to our culture - music brings people
together as one body

There are many places to find live acoustic music, many of which are free:
- folk festivals, holiday festivals
- What’s in your community? We have a local 4th of July festival with
great live music from early America
- local high school marching bands and parades
- local high school chorus concerts
- local high school band concerts and festivals
- piano, guitar, flute, violin, etc. recitals
- local college recitals and concerts
- local churches
- at friend's houses


3. LIMIT MEDIA AND RECORDED MUSIC FROM YOUNG CHILDREN
- instead of fancy recordings and media, human voices and acoustic instruments strictly give young children all they need.

- Instead of observing music from a machine, the child observes the human making the music, thus they gain a natural connection to being human.

- In art we look at a painting and see beauty; in music we become beauty, we observe natural music coming directly from the heart and soul of the performer and as the child observes this, it penetrates
his inner heart and soul.

4. LEARN THE IMPORTANCE OF PENTATONIC SONGS

- A great way for children to begin making music is by starting on pentatonic notes in songs that consist of five certain tones. As there are no wrong sounding notes, every note works nicely. We can
start and end on any note because every note is pleasing.

- When making music using pentatonic notes, we create a soothing, pleasing, and nourishing mood for our children.

- There are many pentatonic instruments to explore such as the pentatonic lyre, pentatonic recorder, pentatonic xylophone, the harmonica, the black keys on the piano.

- You can start with these pentatonic notes D, E, G, A, B on any instrument to get started. And Db, Eb, Gb, Ab, Bb are the notes on piano.

- In Waldorf School and Waldorf homeschool, we begin children in grade1 on pentatonic songs as Rudolf Steiner suggests, founder, of Waldorf Schools.

- For more understanding, read an entire article on “THE PENTATONIC SCALE, How to Use in Waldorf Homeschool. http://homemusicmaking.blogspot.com/p/the-pentatonic-scale.html


5. TEACH YOURSELF A WIND INSTRUMENT NOW

- “As early as possible the children should come to feel what it means for their own musical being to flow over into the objective instrument...if you can you should choose a wind instrument, as the
children will learn most from this and will thereby gradually come to understand music...” - Rudolf Steiner

- If you have very young children, take the time now to learn a wind instrument and it will be easy to teach it to your child when he reaches six-years-old.

- You will be setting a great example of continuing education, as the child sees you continuing to learn new things.

- As you practice the songs, your young child will internalize the songs that you learn, and when he is older, he will already know the songs from hearing them in his younger years.

- I use the traditional American recorder called the penny whistle because of its ease, and the connection to early American history. Other beginning instruments are the recorder, the pentatonic recorder, and the flute.

- The joys of playing the flute: a recent mother told me that she took her penny whistle out to the apple orchard to practice while her children played around her and she is so grateful for her new talent she has acquired.

6. TEACH YOUR CHILD PENNY WHISTLE IN THIS NATURAL AND ARTISTIC WAY

- Get started right away with this step by step music kit called Living Music From the Heart: Music Curriculum Volume 1 which is an easy and creative approach for the parent to teach the child when he turns six. A parent can begin to teach him through his world of play using the penny whistle, singing, and movement along with the aid of the DVD tutorials and lesson book. Two penny whistles come with the kit. Enter the Giveaway below for your chance to win a free package.

- It is a natural and artistic approach based on imitation. Learn to use creative ways in discovering sound and learn how easy the penny whistle is to play.

- Song selections are based on well known rhymes and folk songs so you can get a feel of the rhythm of speech.

- This natural method is based on how we learn language; first by hearing, then by imitating, next by learning a word, then phrases. There will be no reading music at this stage because that comes much
later, just as we learn to read and write much later, there will be no reading music at this beginning stage.

- The lesson plans have ideas on how to integrate singing, rhythms, verses, games, and songs in a fun and playful way.

Jodie Mesler is the founder of Home Music Making, since 2007, where
she is able to distribute her musical publications internationally.
Recently, she has completed the Logic Pro 101 course in recording,
mixing, and mastering. In 2011, she wrote an entire years worth of
songs for Little Acorn Learning Monthly Enrichment Guides and released
Christmas Festival Songs. As a music teacher, she continues to teach
private piano lessons and presents Waldorf music seminars. As a
performer, she is the auxiliary musician on keyboard, bass, acoustic
guitar as well as flute for Harvest Point Church.

NOW ITS TIME FOR THE GIVEAWAY!

LIVING MUSIC FROM THE HEART: MUSIC CURRICULUM VOLUME 1 BY JODIE
MESLER, a $65 Value

You could win:

LIVING MUSIC FROM THE HEART: MUSIC CURRICULUM VOLUME 1
Music kit includes:
2 Penny Whistles
1 Lesson Book
2 DVD tutorials

What’s in the Lesson book?
* 5 Articles
“Your Singing Voice”
“Understanding the Lesson Format for the Six-Year-Old Child”
“Before Beginning Lessons with Your Child”
“Understanding the Importance of the Pentatonic Scale”
“The Penny Whistle”
7 Teacher Lessons
20 Lessons to Teach Your Child

What’s on the DVD tutorials?
* 7 Teacher Lessons
* 20 Lessons to teach your child - enough lessons to last one year
* Games, live in action on the DVD
* Watch step by step instructions of the many hand clap rhythms such
as “Miss Mary Mack”
* Instructed by Jodie Mesler, private music teacher of 20 years

 

Follow the instructions via the rafflecopter prompts below for your entries! If the rafflecopter box is not showing up, please refresh your screen or click below if you see a link prompt that reads "read more"....  GOOD LUCK! **Giveaway is open to US residents only and ends 11:59 10/8.

 

 

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