Truth in the Tinsel: The BEST Advent Experience for Young Children + Discount Code

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I know Thanksgiving hasn't even arrived yet, but I am so excited to share with you a Christmas experience that my family and I are gearing up for and it starts this Sunday, December 1st! It's called Truth in the Tinsel.



Our family used Truth in the Tinsel for the first time last year, and it was the highlight of the morning for us!
 

1 of the Truth in the Tinsel ornaments we made last year

What is Truth in the Tinsel?  
Truth in the Tinsel is a 24-day Advent celebration aimed to
focus our children's minds on the real reason for Christmas. Through daily Bible readings centered on the story of Jesus' birth and making crafts focused on the main theme of that passage, you provide perfect opportunities for your child to know God more fully and draw closer to Him.

 

How does Truth in the Tinsel work?
1. Beginning December 1, there are 24 days of activities, scripture readings, ornaments, and discussion questions.
2. Read the selected scripture together each day.
3. Make an ornament based on the primary theme. 
4. Dig deeper with discussion prompts.
5. Do additional activities if you want to do them.

To view a sample page of the eBook, click here. 


Who is Truth in the Tinsel for?
Truth in the Tinsel activities are geared for preschool through early elementary-aged children. My oldest daughter, who was 4 last year, loved it. Making ornaments makes her smile. This year our 3-year-old will be joining us in the fun!


What if I'm too busy to make 24 ornaments or my kids are too little? 
You are in luck, my friend! Truth in the Tinsel offers a separate PDF document of 24 downloadable ornaments for only $3.99. Even your toddler can participate! The beauty of the downloadable ornaments is that you can print off as many as you need. Plus, on days when dragging out the craft box is just not happening, your children still have an activity to color, decorate, and adorn the tree with. 

Sample of Ornaments

I bought the ornaments this year for that very reason. Last year we were too busy to get through all of the ornaments, but I really wanted our daughter to have something to reinforce what we read. Now Mama has a back-up plan!

The goal of Truth in the Tinsel is to provide focus to your holiday season, not additional stress. You want your children to understand that Christmas is about Jesus, not Santa and presents. Truth in the Tinsel helps you put Jesus at the center of your holiday, where He belongs.

 

How much does Truth in the Tinsel cost?  
The 49-page e-book -- complete with instructions, craft daily supply lists, 24 devotions & activities, craft templates, and Advent paper chain templates costs only $7.99. {Note: This price does NOT include the downloadable ornaments, which are sold separately.}

Plus, right now, if you use my coupon code GROWING20, you can take 20% off the total price of the e-book. That makes Truth in the Tinsel only $6.40!

For only $3.99, you can get a PDF of all 24 ornaments for simple and convenient craft projects that you can use this year and every year hereafter! {Note: The 20% off code does not apply to the ornaments.}

MORE EXCITING NEWS!! 
Next Tuesday, December 3, I will be giving away 1 COPY of Truth in the Tinsel to one lucky reader! Come back on Tuesday to enter the giveaway, but order Truth in the Tinsel and the ornaments now so you're ready to start with us on Sunday, December 1. {If you purchase Truth in the Tinsel and win the giveaway, you will be reimbursed.} 

Don't forget to use the coupon code GROWING20 for your 20% off discount!

Come back Tuesday, December 3rd, for the giveaway! Plus, I will also be sharing how our family uses Truth in the Tinsel.

Praying God's richest blessings on you this holiday season,
 

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Are You Teaching Your Child Self-Denial?

Recently, the girls and I went shopping for our Operation Christmas Child shoe boxes. Several days prior, I shared with them a new rule.

"Nothing new from now until Christmas." 

From the middle of November until December 25th, we spend money only on essentials. No new toys, clothes, books, or music. Of course there can be exceptions, but the point of the rule is (1) to learn self-denial and (2) to thank God for providing all we need.

However, no matter how many times we discuss this rule, children 5 & under don't always get the message, especially when surrounded by Disney princesses.  

So, when my three-year-old threw a temper tantrum in the Dollar Tree when I would not buy her Sofia the First crayons, I knew it was time to sit down and talk. 

"But, Mama, I need them."

"No, Cora, honey, you don't need Sofia crayons; you want them. Today we are shopping for your friend, not you. Remember our rule: Nothing new until after Christmas."

My child honestly believed she deserved those crayons and that I was being mean for denying them to her. Where would she get such a notion?

Why is a rule like mine necessary? 

This time of year every store is mailing out its Christmas Wish Books in hopes that children like ours will circle everything they want Santa to bring: Legos, Doc McStuffins toys, iPods, and tablets. And the truth of the matter: they will get all or most of them.

Why? 

Because of our disdain for self-denial. 

We don't like to be told no, and we also don't like saying no to our children. When our daughter does poorly on her college exam, what do we do? We call the school and demand answers from the professor (source)!

We are teaching our children that they deserve everything -- new gadgets, good grades, the best jobs: Hard work not required.

But what our children (and many of us, I dare say) haven't grasped is that all the trinkets in the world will never satisfy our desire for more. There will always be something newer, shinier, faster that we need.

Not until we are filled with the Spirit and drink the water of life (John 4:13-15) will we know contentment, gratitude, and peace. Only then will we be able to say no to more and yes to Jesus. 

So what do we do? 

First of all, we teach our children self-denial. Self-denial is one step we can take to help our children cultivate gratitude and contentment.

Denying my girls new things for 6 weeks out of the year is hardly sacrificial, but it's a start. In this "get-what-you-want-when-you-want-it" culture, we parents need to start saying no when our children ask for more. 

I want my daughters to desire Jesus more than Dora, to thirst for the living water more than Sofia, and to hunger for the bread of life more than Doc McStuffins. 

"O God, You are my God, earnestly I seek You; 

my soul thirsts for You,

my body longs for You,

in a dry and weary land

where there is no water."
Psalm 63:1 

How are you teaching your children self-denial today? Are they learning to deny themselves and be content with what they have? Or are you giving them everything (or most of the things) they want?

Do you have a rule like mine, or am I just a meanie?

For other posts on Entitlement.  
Blessings to you, sweet Mama,


 

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Homeschooling Kindergarten: What I'm Learning (Day 35)

Homeschooling kindergarten is an adventure, especially with a toddler and a preschooler under foot. But it's also been a great source of personal growth for me, the teacher. 

 This post contains affiliate links. 

Because it's been a while since my Day 10 post on our homeschooling venture, I wanted to give you a little update and ask for your encouragement, advice, and any other words of wisdom you might be able to share with me.

As someone completely new to homeschooling, I've experienced the gamut of emotions these past 8 weeks:

From excitement in my daughter's reading progress {she's reading a few Level 1 readers on her own} to extreme frustration that she cannot seem to grasp addition to mild anxiety at having her preschool-age sister home full-time now to pure joy at all the new worlds we're exploring together through books.

I mentioned before that keeping my preschooler in Mother's Day Out was one way to preserve my sanity in the beginning stages of homeschooling. Well, God laid on my heart that it was time to bring my daughter home, and I have reluctantly complied. 

So, I want to share my struggles in hopes YOU, homeschool Mama, might have some sage advice for me.

 

My struggles

1. Finding a good math curriculum. When I originally set out to create our kindergarten curriculum, I went frugal. Unfortunately, nothing I'm doing seems to be working, to the point that on Monday, my daughter had a meltdown because she just does not understand addition. Oh, my! How will I ever teach her algebra?!

To fix this problem, I decided (1) to put a hold on our math studies for a little while and focus on other areas and (2) to order all the math curriculum I could find. Well, that's exaggerating a little, but I did break down and buy Saxon K as well as Life of Fred, Volume 1 {Apples}.

I'll keep you posted on our progress or lack thereof. Advice?? What's your favorite math curriculum? How have you taught addition?

2. As I mentioned above, we've brought my ants-in-her-pants three-year-old home full-time. That means I need something(s) to keep her engaged while we do school. Cora is VERY sharp and also eager to learn, but she's also a typical preschooler and only wants to do fun stuff like her do-a-dot paints. She wants me to teach her, but since Kate is still so dependent on me in her learning, I really don't know how or when to work with just Cora. 

Advice?? What have you found works for you? What do you do with your preschoolers? 

My Discoveries 

1. I LOVE lesson planning. However, finding adequate time to plan and prepare each week's lesson is a challenge. Right now, I plan on Sundays during nap time and that's working. I love finding books, pictures, Youtube videos, and library resources to supplement learning. I love watching my girls devour all of it. 

Yesterday, we watched several scenes from Babes in Toyland and The Nutcracker Suite on Youtube to talk about how music affects our mood and makes us want to move. My girls pirouetted and twirled all over the living room, trying to imitate the ballerinas. It was simply precious. 

2. My preschooler is learning alongside her kindergarten sister. We do most of our lessons together {calendar work, Bible, some phonics, science, geography, history, music, and art}, and while Cora is up and moving most of the time, I never sense she's learning anything, but she's picking up letter sounds and talking about Aborigines and it's amazing!

3. Don't force what's not working. Initially I was very discouraged when Kate gave up on math. I tried lots of different approaches to teaching her but none worked. She was frustrated, and I was frustrated. So, instead of forcing her to keep doing something that was causing her great distress, I have decided to take a break from math for awhile. That's the beauty of homeschooling: I can stop and move on to something else until she's ready to come back to it.

Homeschooling our girls is hard work. I'm learning so much each day, mostly that I need the Lord to help me through it. But also that there are so many experienced and wise homeschooling veterans out there who freely offer encouragement and advice. If you have any for me, I'm listening :)


What advice on math & homeschooling preschoolers do you have for me? 

How is YOUR school year going?

Blessings to you,

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A Birthday Party for Bookworms {for Children}

 
On Saturday we celebrated our older two daughters' birthdays with a Book Birthday Party. I really wasn't sure how this theme would come together because I am NOT creative or arts & crafty, but I was determined to give it a go because (1) my girls LOVE books and (2) I was hoping for fewer toys.  

I think it went rather well. Here are a few pictures from our day:

The Decorations

Basically, I stacked books, tied a bow around them, and added a balloon on top. Then, I set some pictures of the birthday girls together against the stacks, surrounding the books with rice krispie treat "book worms."


The Cake

This is just one of the TWO cakes my parents made, the other being a pretty cool castle complete with all the princesses. We were going for an open book here in case you couldn't tell :)

Party Fun!

The girls wanted their friends to come dressed as their favorite book characters. Here's our Cora dressed as Angelina Ballerina. Too bad her eyes were closed & you can't see her cute tail :)  

Our nieces Lacey and Ellie dressed up as American Girls, and our Kate was Fancy Nancy. We also had a Tinker Bell (Peter Pan), Joshua & Caleb (the Bible), and Dorothy (The Wizard of Oz).

 

Games

In addition to the pinata, which we have every year because they're just so much fun, I wanted to play a game in keeping with the book theme. I present the Book Scavenger Hunt. 

Basically, I created cards with a clue on one side and a picture of the book on the other. The clues were lines from famous children's books. As the children figured out the book, they had to find it (we hid the clues in a circle around the house since my clues didn't give a hint as to the next clue's location). 

I think the scavenger hunt was a hit! The children were able to figure out all of the books, and they enjoyed searching for the next clue.

 

 

Party Favors

Since it was a "book" party, I wanted everyone to leave with a book. I scoured Goodwill's bookshelves for weeks looking for good condition Little Golden Books for each child to take home. 

This was a Pinterest find: Bags of gummy worms labeled "Book Worms."

Plus, the pinata was full of candy and treats that the kids bagged up and took home. 

All in all, the Book Birthday Party was a hit in my book! The beauty was that the girls received only BOOKS -- aside from a few fun toys from sweet grandparents.

Still, we had a fun day with family & friends, sharing our love of books. I hope this post inspires you to consider hosting a Book Birthday Party, too!

Have you ever found a party theme that really worked for your kids? What was it?

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5 Fun Fall Activities for Preschoolers

One of "My Most Popular Posts" right now is "10 Fun Fall Crafts for Toddlers." That seems appropriate, yet all of images from that 2011 post have disappeared due to Pinterest's changes. Here's a 2013 update!

These activities are all FRUGAL, FUN, & KID-FRIENDLY. I hope you'll try a few out with your kiddos!



1. Fall Nature Canvas

We actually made this one in September, but we keep replenishing our leaves as the old ones shrivel up. You need a foam board, straight pins, a shirt or paint to cover your board, and leaves. The girls painted the board yellow (washable paint). Then, we went on a Nature Walk and gathered pretty leaves that they stuck on the board with pins. 

This craft is super simple but really adds a touch of Fall to the house! Plus, we used it as a learning opportunity and looked up our leaves in the tree guide. Now the girls know what trees are around our house.

2. Easy Popcorn Balls

I can't remember what prompted us to make popcorn balls (a book??), but when I found this super EASY recipe, we had to do it. The girls enjoyed melting the butter and marshmallow, and they REALLY loved adding sprinkles at the end. Our Fall popcorn balls look more like Christmas ones since they used green and red sprinkles, but they were FUN and DELICIOUS.

3. Crunchy Fall Leaf Pictures

Photo Credit

We haven't done this one since 2011 :) so I think we'll revisit it next week since the leaves here are getting pretty crunchy. These pictures also make lovely Fall decorations for your home. Plus, the girls love to see their handiwork on display. A word of advice: If you do this activity inside, put a baking sheet underneath the paper to catch all that leaf confetti. It makes a MESS! But the finished products are beautiful.

4. A Thankful Tree

Photo Credit

We have made a Thankful Tree for the past two years. Unfortunately, I can't find my pictures to share ours with you, but both most closely resembled Emily Rose's (pictured above). We gathered sticks and tree limbs from the yard and fit them into a 1/2 gallon glass milk jug. Then, I cut out paper leaves {here's a template} which we placed beside the Thankful Tree. 

During our morning devotionals, we would each share a blessing, and I would write it on a leaf {one per person} with the date and each girls' name on the back. The girls string the leaves with yarn, and I tie them to the tree. I keep the leaves so each year for beautiful memories. The girls look forward to adding leaves and it's a perfect opportunity to praise God for all His sweet gifts!

5. Finger-Painted Pumpkins

Photo Credit

Our girls are still too young to cut out pumpkins, but I really want them to participate in the decorating. My mom blessed us with three pumpkins -- one for each girl -- so we're going to have a go at this idea {thanks, Pinterest!}. 

Basically, you apply painter's tape to your pumpkin and use an X-acto knife to cut out the image you want. Then, your child finger paints to her hearts' content over the painter's tape (and anywhere else). Once the paint dries, you remove the tape to reveal your picture! I think the girls will love making their own pictures and getting to paint their pumpkins.

Those are just 5 simple Fall activities you can do with your little ones (and even your big kids). For more fun Fall ideas, check out my Fall Recipes, Fall Decor, & Fall Crafts for Kids boards on Pinterest.

Happy Fall, ya'll!

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Creating a Library for Children: 75+ Classic Books Your Young Child Will Love

 

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We're building a library of good children's books. So far we have...

• Established criteria for selecting books: What does & does not belong in your library
• Identified frugal sources for good books &
• Presented fun ideas for a book-themed birthday party, another frugal way to build a library

Today, I want to share a few of our favorite children's books. These books are primarily geared toward babies, toddlers, & preschoolers because that's what I've got right now :) I hope that you will find some books on my list that pique your interest as you create, add to, and expand your own library.

**At the end of the post, there's a link to a handy-dandy PDF list of all these books for you to print & keep.**

75+ Classic Books

for

Young Children

 

Aesop's Fables retold/illustrated by Jerry Pinkney
Amelia Bedelia by Herman Parrish
Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
Are You My Mother? & Go, Dog. Go! by P.D. Eastman
Beatrix Potter The Complete Tales (Peter Rabbit)

Blueberries for Sal & other Robert McCloskey classics like Make Way for Ducklings & One Morning in Maine

Bread & Jam for Frances by Russell Hoban 

Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? & other Bill Martin Jr. classics including Chicka Chicka Boom Boom & Barn Dance!



Caps for Sale by Esphyr Slobodkina
The Carrot Seed by Ruth Krauss
The Cat in the Hat & other Dr. Seuss classics like Green Eggs & Ham 
One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish
Dr. Seuss's ABC

Charlie & the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl
Charlotte's Web & Stuart Little by E.B. White

A Child's Garden of Verses by Robert Louis Stevenson

The Chronicles of Narnia Series by C.S. Lewis


 

The Complete Tales & Poems of Winnie-the-Pooh (includes Winnie-the-Pooh, The House at Pooh Corner, When We Were Very Young, & Now We Are Six by A.A. Milne
Corduroy by Don Freeman
Curious George & Curious George Takes a Job by Margaret & H.A. Rey 

 

Frog & Toad Series by Arnold Lobel 
George & Martha by James Marshall 
The Giving Tree & Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein
 

Goldilocks & the Three Bears
Goodnight Moon, Big Red Barn, & The Runaway Bunny by Margaret Wise Brown

Growing Vegetable Soup, Eating the Alphabet, & Planting a Rainbow by Lois Ehlert
Harry the Dirty Dog by Gene Zion

 

Katy No-Pocket by Emmy Payne
Little Bear Series by Elsie Minarik
The Little Engine That Could by Watty Piper
The Little House on the Prairie Series by Laura Ingalls Wilder

 

The Little House by Virginia Burton

The Little Red Hen retold by Paul Galdone

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
Madeline by Ludwig Bemelmans 
Mary Poppins by P.L. Travers 
The Mitten & The Hat by Jan Brett

Ox-Cart Man by Donald Hall
Paddington by Michael Bond
Poems & Prayers for the Very Young by Martha Alexander
The Secret Garden & A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett

The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats 

The Story About Ping by Marjorie Flack
The Story of Babar by Jean De Brunhoff 
Story of Ferdinand by Munro Leaf
Story Time with the Millers by Mildred A. Martin

 
 

The Classic Treasury of Hans Christian Andersen (The Ugly Duckling) 

Tales of Mother Goose
The Three Little Pigs retold by Paul Galdone
The Very Hungry Caterpillar & The Mixed-Up Chameleon & other Eric Carle classics

 

When I Was Young in the Mountains

& other classics by Cynthia Rylant like Poppleton & The Cobble Street Cousins Series

The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum

You are Wonderful by Max Lucado 

 Click for the PDF of this book list.

To get Adobe Reader, go here.

These books all hold a special place in my heart. As I share them with my children, I hope they will enjoy the characters, illustrations, and stories as much as I have and pass them on to their own children. 

My hope is that you will find books that your children will cherish, too.

What is YOUR favorite children's book? 

Blessings to you,

Other related posts:

Creating a Library of Good Children's Books: #1 Establish Criteria

Creating a Library of Good Children's Books: #2 Find Them Frugally 

Creating a Library of Good Children's Books: #3 Host a Book Birthday Party

 

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