Cindy Rushton

Tag: Let’s Make a Memory

  • Decorating For Thanksgiving

    Ready for this week? Are you like so many of us and you have been busy today cleaning up and getting ready for the big week? Need some fun and inexpensive ideas for those last touches? Let us help!

    Decorating for Thanksgiving adds an element of warmth and fun to your home. The best thing is you don’t have to go overboard or put a lot of time or effort into this. Use a few of the suggestions below, add some fall colored throw pillows or blankets to your couch, light a pumpkin scented candle and your whole house will have that special Thanksgiving feel to it.

    Yard Display
    Decorate the front yard with a wooden scarecrow, turkey or sign. For a little color, plant a few mums, either in the ground, or in pots and planters.

    Mantle Display
    The mantle over your fire place is the perfect place to decorate for Thanksgiving . For a simple display, arrange some pumpkins or decorative gourds on the mantle along with a few candles. A fall garland or wreath is a nice touch above the mantle.

    Fall Flower Arrangement
    Stop by your local florist for some flowers in yellow or orange. Arrange them in a vase along with some greenery.

    Pumpkins and Corn
    You can make a beautiful fall arrangement by setting out some miniature pumpkins and ears of corn. Look for yellow and purple varieties of corn for an authentic Thanksgiving feel. Scatter them across your dining table, or arrange them in a bowl for a nice centerpiece.

    Thanksgiving Wreath
    Purchase or make a simple grapevine wreath and decorate it with fall leaves and miniature pumpkins. Add a nice bow and hang it on the front door. A Thanksgiving wreath is a great way to welcome your guests in.

    Display Kids Artwork
    Not only will your home be beautifully decorated, but you’ll be building your children’s self-esteem at the same time. Buy a few inexpensive frames and set them out or hang them on the wall. This is of course also a great way to display your child’s artwork year round.

    The First Thanksgiving
    There are quite a few ways to incorporate the first Thanksgiving in your decorations. Create a small scale version of this special occasion by setting out a few figurines of pilgrims and Native Americans. Complete the scene with a small table, some turkeys and miniature trees to show that the first Thanksgiving took place outside.

  • Why Not Make a Memory This Week???

    Why Not Make a Memory This Week???

    Cindy2015Oh! Anybody else in holiday bliss this week?

    We have changed the pace for the week. A nice welcomed break after a very, very productive season. This week, we are cutting back all of our life to just make sweet memories. What about you? Why not make a memory this week? Want to?

    Here are a few ideas of things that might make your Christmas special while you make sweet, sweet memories. Ready? Let’s dig in…

    * Make Christmas gifts and goody baskets… Christmas does not have to break your budget, especially if we will use some of those extra craft supplies around the house to make gifts or goody baskets. A big batch of cookies in a cute basket makes an adorable gift. Give it a try! Great gift…plus you make sweet memories along the way! (more…)

  • It’s Fall! Get Outside! by Cindy Rushton

    Cindy2015It is Fall! Every day, I wake up to something new and different in my yard. I expect that the next few weeks hold many precious touches straight from the hand of the Creator, just for us…AND, you can call it school!

    Yep! Talk about a great way to teach science and nature study to your little ones–just get outside!

    Science is SO easy to bring into our homeschools. The first thing that we implemented toward nature study in a more natural and easy manner was simply getting out of doors each day!  Sound simple?  It is really profound!

    This was a simple idea that I gleaned from Charlotte Mason.  Charlotte Mason, an educator of the late 1800’s, advocated short lessons finished early into the day just so that the children could have plenty of time out-of-doors.  She felt that children needed several hours each and every day just to do the things that simply cannot be done inside—explore, climb trees and mountains, exercise, hike, run, jump rocks, watch clouds, learn about weather, collect nature (rocks, flowers, leaves…), sing, shout, paint, watch animals, hunt tracks, learn natural geography, so on!  Miss Mason won my heart as she shared in her books that every opportunity should be seized to get out of doors, regardless of the time of year or the weather. She even felt that meals and tea should be taken outside as much as possible.  A woman after my heart!

    This time out of doors was not limited to the children, though.  Charlotte recommended that the parents and teachers take a blanket outside along with a project to do (needlework, books, writing, and sketchbooks…) while the children explored around them.  She wanted for this time of the day to be a leisurely time for children and adults.  This time was not meant for lectures or lessons per say—the glorious answer for those of us with limited knowledge and understanding!  Rather, this time was meant for the children to have access to mom as they leisurely brought back their finds or described the intricate details of what they saw outside.  The focus was to be simple recognition of nature all throughout the year in all different seasons, to learn the life cycle of plants and animals informally as they go along, and to grow in appreciation and attentiveness to the tiny details of God’s creation.  These ideas slowly began to teach me a different way to teach my children about nature and science.  They also encouraged me to become a “student” again!

    Weekly Nature Walk…

    One of the first things that intrigued me was Miss Mason’s idea of having a weekly nature walk.  In the PNEU (Parent’s National Education Union) schools set up by Charlotte Mason, the students were taken each week on a nature walk.  I have to be honest here as I share with you that while this idea intrigued me, it also intimidated me!  We have always been intensely busy people.  I could not figure any way to take more time for one more thing…well, until…

    I ran across a book by Anna Comstock.  She writes in her book Handbook of Nature Study about what she called a field excursion (try that one for your record keeping!),

    “It is a mistake to think that a half day is necessary for a field lesson, since a very efficient field trip may be made during the ten or fifteen minutes at recess.”

    This was the key!  There was an answer to major hindrance!  In the busyness of our daily lives, I was the very one to put off nature walks and hikes because I simply did not always have a whole afternoon to devote to nature study each week.  Not to mention, we live in the Southern United States where HEAT and HUMIDITY can stifle out any hope of a nature walk if you are as wimpy as I am!  But, comfort of all comfort—nature walks can be just as simple or just as complex as we have time and energy for!  They can take place at any time of the day and they do not have to take all day to instill the lessons that they provide.  Yes, even I could do this!

    The nature walk is meant to be leisurely.  Again, it is not a time for lectures or lessons by the parent.  Rather, it is a time for parents and children to break away from the “old-grind” to get out in God’s beautiful world.  Want a peek into how this looked in our home? On a typical nature walk, we only took 20 minutes to walk down the road and collect some thing—one day we found Queen Anne’s Lace and Poison Hemlock.  We brought them back home, discussing and comparing them all the way home.  At home, I brought out my Handbook of Nature Studies while they were looking at the two flowers.  I simply asked them to notice more carefully the differences such as the leaves on the stems…what made them look like lace from afar…the roots…and the tiny flowers, which make up the entire cluster.  We read about this gorgeous “weed” and were thankful that it was brought to America from Europe!

    Although this particular nature walk resulted in a lesson, lessons are not necessary.  In fact, ours only resulted from our quest for more knowledge.  I know I shared above about my complete ignorance in the area of nature.  This is actually all for the best.  It limits my lectures and my explanations while teaching the children how mom finds out what she wants to know—I look it up!  You know it is really much, much better since my lack of knowledge forces me to disciple my children in how to learn as we go along!

    See how easy a nature walk can be? Just get outside. Take a walk. Watch how much they learn. Well, watch how much YOU learn as well. Easy. Effective!

    Nature Notebooks!

    Inevitably, someone is thinking, “But, Cindy, this is a great idea, but how do we know that they are learning?” “How do we document their learning?”

    What a perfect time of the year to take school outside. That is obvious. However, this is also the perfect time to begin Nature Notebooks! Not only will you have an abundance of treasures awaiting your exploration, but these are perfect days to try something fresh. Ready? Let me help…

    Chances are you already have many things that could be included in a Science Notebook around your home. Look for those “goodies” that do not have their own special place and add them to your Science Notebooks. This is the perfect opportunity to develop “a place” for those “goodies” while developing a nice product for displaying all the growing knowledge of nature all while your children are keeping special memorabilia! One of the things that I like about using supplies intended for scrapbooking is that there are so many products that enable us to keep bulky materials safely inside of our notebooks. Not to mention, scrapbooking makes EVERY notebook so much cuter!  And…to imagine that we call this “school!”

    Want some ideas of things to include in your notebooks???

    · Sketches…Don’t forget to include date, time, place, Latin name, and common name. Oh! Don’t forget to document where you found it.

    · Snapshots…Don’t forget to journal about your snapshot!

    · Pressed flowers, leaves, feathers, butterflies, etc.

    · Glossary of terms studied…

    · Artwork… (Nature art, original drawings, coloring pages…)

    · Diagrams…

    · Poetry…

    · Information about discoveries…

    · Lists of new findings…

    · Handouts from trips…

    · Narrations from trips, outings, hikes, nature walks, books read about nature or scientists/naturalists…

    · Timeline…Mark your excursions, inventions, famous men and women, so on!

    · Instruction Sheets on “How to Care for…” or “How to Collect…” etc.

    · Booklets…

    · Project data…

    · Bible verses…

    · Journal entries…

    · Details from outings…

    · Favorite quotes about nature…

    · Reading list…

    · Research…

    · Reports…

    · Essays…

    · Science experiment logs…

    · Notes from any Science study…

    You can add a lot of life to your Science Notebooks with special supplies you find along the way! I have found that the little touches have made our notebooks so much more fun and in the process hooked my children.

    Encourage your children to use die-cuts, frames, stencils, shapes, and edgings galore to make their notebooks fun and beautiful! My children now beg each weekend to work on our binders/scrapbooks. We have taken these simple skills into other projects for our Science studies such as creating books or booklets…making cards with pressed flowers, sketches, poetry and Scripture verses…and displaying our collections. The key is to just have fun and enjoy making your notebooks all yours! There is not a “right” way or a “wrong” way to notebook. You can enjoy! AND…what a super time to get started.

    Well, what do you think?

    Got “fall fever?” Ready to get outside to soak up the beauty and fresh air? This is the perfect time to make up any excuse to get outside. But, what better excuse than getting outside for a “school lesson” as we enjoy this gorgeous fall? The perfect excuse! J

    Get outside! It is Fall!

    Happy Homeschooling

    Cindy2015Need more help? Don’t miss Cindy’s book, Nature Study the Easy Way! In Nature Study the Easy Way, Cindy takes you by the hand and teaches everything that we need to teach science the easy way. Best news!  Nature Study the Easy Way is half off! Use our Coupon Code “CELEBRATE” to save 50% off of your purchase of our book! PLUS! Stock up on anything else you would like in our eStore as well!! Grab your copy at this link: CLICK HERE!

  • Teaching Your Kids to be Thankful

    Thanksgiving is the perfect time to teach your kids about being thankful. Here are some ideas to teach your children how to appreciate the blessings in their lives.

    Giving Thanks Placemats
    The goal of this craft is to create a collage filled with drawings and pictures of all the things your children are thankful for. Cut photos from magazines, or print some photos from your computer. Older children can write captions under the photos or draw their own. Be sure to put the child’s name and the year on it.

    If you make this collage from two standard letter size pieces of construction paper taped side-by-side, you can take the completed collage to a copy shop when you’re done and have it laminated. It then becomes a placemat that you can use every Thanksgiving for years to come.

    Thankful Paper Chain
    Another way to remind your children of their blessings is to create a paper chain. This is similar to a regular paper chain – where you cut strips of paper and connect them together as loops, but there’s one difference. You write on the strips of paper before you connect them. Write the things you are thankful for with your children. For instance, “Grandma plays games with me” or “My teacher is nice.” The fun part of this activity is to make the chain as long as possible – showing all your blessings. If you’d like to keep this up during Christmas, just use green and white paper.

    Thanksgiving Tree
    This is another take on the idea above and works really well if you have several kids in the family. Get each child to trace their hand on yellow, red, or brown construction paper. Cut out the hand shapes and write (or have the child write) what they are thankful for on the hand shape. Cut a tree trunk shape out of brown construction paper. Glue it on a large piece of poster board. Let the kids add their hand shapes as leaves above the tree trunk, turning it into a beautiful fall colored tree.

    Thankful Book
    This idea is similar to the others, except it’s more of a keepsake. Purchase a photo album or scrapbook kit and make a “blessings” theme. Add photos of loved ones, including stories about why they are special to you. Also, include pages of your favorite foods, favorite stories, favorite movies and all the other things that make you happy. Any time your kids feel down, you can open your blessing book to see all the reasons you have to be happy – and thankful for the blessings in your life.

  • Setting the Table for Thanksgiving

    When hosting Thanksgiving dinner for friends and family, the food is of utmost importance. However, if you serve the most decadent meal on paper plates –your delicious meal will taste less than spectacular.

    It works both ways. If you invest some time and effort into decorating your Thanksgiving table –your overcooked turkey and undercooked beans will be less noticeable as well.

    Tablecloth
    Bring out the good linens for your guests. If you don’t have a Thanksgiving tablecloth, you can use some Thanksgiving or fall themed fabric. There are even some very nice looking fall and Thanksgiving themed disposable table cloths available.

    The Dishes
    The type of dishes you use is up to you. If you are mostly entertaining adults and this is a fairly small get together, it may be a good idea to use your fine china.

    On the other hand, if you are entertaining a large crowd and have lots of kids in the mix, opt for disposable dishes, cups and cutlery. Clean up will be much easier and you don’t have to worry about dishes breaking.

    Buy some orange, brown, deep red or green cloth napkins. You can find these reasonably-priced at most discount stores. They will add a nice “holiday” touch to any table.

    Thanksgiving Themed Centerpiece
    If you don’t plan on putting all the food on the table, and you have the room, create a Thanksgiving themed centerpiece. This can be something as simple as a bowl of miniature pumpkins, gourds and native corn, or a fall flower arrangement. If you have a cornucopia, fill it and lay it on the table, allowing some of the corn and pumpkins to roll out of it.

    Little touches make a big difference. You could scoop out a pumpkin and serve dip in it. Use mini pumpkins with names written on them as place cards.

    Turn an apple, some toothpicks and a few miniature marshmallows into a turkey

    Start by setting the apple on a flat surface. Insert a toothpick with a large marshmallow on one side. Add some raisins as eyes. For the turkey’s tail, add four toothpicks with a miniature marshmallow on each end to the other side of the apple. Voila – a turkey for each guest that also makes for a fun and healthy snack.

    Set the table the night before to free up time during the big day.
    If you set a nice table, arrange for most of the food to be set out on a separate table, buffet-style. Consider getting hotplates, crock pots etc to keep food warm while it is sitting out.

  • Planning the Perfect Thanksgiving Party

    Ready for Thanksgiving? Got a big week ahead? Wondering what to do TODAY to get ready and make things as easy as possible? Well, let me help. Let’s plan the perfect Thanksgiving fellowship. Ready? Let’s dig in…

    Start Planning Early
    Nothing can spoil a Thanksgiving party more than a burned-out hostess. So, be sure to start planning your party well in advance, make a master list of what needs to be done and when, and start cleaning and preparing ahead of time. Purchase non-perishable items the week before your event. Don’t forget to buy the turkey early as well. It will take several days to thaw in the fridge. If you have room in your freezer, you can purchase the turkey and other frozen items weeks ahead of time.

    Delegate the Turkey
    A great way to entertain the men is to put them in charge of the turkey. This may be untraditional to some, but in many areas of the country, the men are in charge of deep-frying the turkey. There’s nothing quite as entertaining as watching a group of men standing around a vat of boiling peanut oil, discussing the turkey. Plus, it gives you more freedom to enjoy the party.

    Plan activities
    Board games are always fun for kids and adults. Get everyone laughing with the newest game. Or buy a DVD-style game like Scene-It and gather around the TV for some trivia. Of course old family favorites would be a bit hit as well. Dust off that old edition of Trivial Pursuit or Monopoly and get everyone playing.

    Just for the Kids
    Set up a craft table for the kids. Set out coloring pages (if you can get some Thanksgiving ones, that would be great). You can find lots of coloring pages online. Just print a few of them for each child.  That should keep them busy while you prepare the rest of the food.

    Lay out pieces of orange, brown, and yellow construction paper and show the kids how to make a turkey. Or have the kids make pilgrim hats out of black and white construction paper.

    For the Adults
    One of the staples of Thanksgiving is football. Oftentimes the men gather in the living room to watch the game. One way to keep the party lively is to give them a football and send them outside to toss it around during commercial breaks. This can really get the men talking and having a great time. And, ladies – don’t be shy. Jump right in there with them.

  • Thanksgiving Centerpiece – Create Something Unique

    Your centerpiece is the main decoration on your Thanksgiving table. Make it special with these ideas. Of course these decorations will also look stunning if you set them on a counter or the mantle over the fire place.

    Fall Vegetables
    Begin with a pumpkin and gourds. Loosely arrange them on the table or mantle.  Set a natural-color candle on each side of your display. Finish your free form art center piece by sprinkling colorful fall leaves all over and around your center pieces. Make sure they are not too close to the candles, of course.

    Fall Leaves
    Simply find a large glass bowl and fill it with beautiful fall leaves. Set a candle on each side of the bowl to showcase the leaves. Then, cut leaf shapes out of construction paper and use them as place cards. Of course you could also press small leaves, and glue them to a plain white place card.

    Floral Display of Abundance
    Make a dried floral arrangement from fall flowers. Gather some of the plastic sticks that the florists use to hold notecards. Stick them into the floral display, but put photos of the things you are thankful for in them, instead. Or, if you don’t have photos, just write words on notecards and display them in the floral arrangement. Some words you may start with are “family”, “friends”, “food”, “laughter”.

    Carve A Pumpkin
    Yes, you heard right, carve a pumpkin. Of course you don’t want to go with the traditional jack-o-lantern design here. Instead carve some geometrical designs, or some flowers, leaf-shapes etc. on your hollowed out pumpkin. Add a candle inside the carved pumpkin and light it just before your guests arrive.

    Pumpkin Candle Holders
    Get some small pumpkins and hollow out enough room on the top of the pumpkin to stick a candle in it. Group of few of these candle holders together for a festive center piece. Finish your candle arrangement with a few pieces of native corn placed around your pumpkin candle holders. Give the arrangement more dimension by using different size pumpkins and candles. Use some scented candles to give your room that Holiday smell.

    Are you feeling inspired yet by all these ideas? Dig through your Thanksgiving supplies or take a stroll through your local craft store and you will come up with your own versions of these suggestions, or even a creation all of your own.

  • Thanksgiving Crafts to Do With Kids

    Spending time creating Thanksgiving crafts with your kids can turn a holiday that isn’t quite as exciting as getting Halloween candy or Christmas gifts into a fun kid’s day!

    Turkey Apple
    Turkey apples are a fun craft to make with the kids as well as a healthy snack. You will need an apple, 6 toothpicks, 1 large and 5 miniature marshmallows as well as some raisins and one piece of candy corn for each turkey.

    Set the apple stem up on a flat surface. Stick a toothpick in the top part of one side of the apple. Add the large marshmallow to the top of the toothpick. Decorate the face of the turkey with two raisins as eyes and stick the candy corn in upside down into the marshmallow to make the beak.

    Thread each of the remaining toothpicks with 3 raisins, and then top it off with one of the miniature marshmallows. These will be the tail feathers of your turkey. Stick the 4 toothpicks evenly spaced on the opposite side of the top of the apple.

    Corn Collage
    Cut a basic corn shape out of yellow construction paper. Tear little pieces of yellow and purple tissue paper and crumble them into little balls. Glue them on the corn shape to represent kernels of corn. Cut leaf shapes out of green construction paper and glue them behind your ear of corn.

    Pilgrim Hat
    You need a large paper grocery bag and some construction paper in black and yellow for each child. Fold the rim of the bag over to make a brim for the hat. Then cut a large strip of black construction paper and tape or glue it around the hat. Cut a belt buckle shape out of the yellow construction paper and glue it to the belt in the front of the hat.

    Turkey Handprint Crafts
    This craft is a family tradition in many homes. First, outline your child’s foot once on a piece of brown construction paper. Then, outline her hands twice on red or yellow construction paper. Cut a beak out of orange construction paper.

    Of course, if you visit craft stores like Michaels or online craft supply stores, like Oriental Trading, you’ll find thousands of craft ideas for your kids. Oriental Trading offers foam leaves, felt Pilgrim hats, quilts in fall colors, foam turkeys, stickers, craft kits and more.

  • Avoiding Thanksgiving Stress

    Are you getting stressed just thinking about the Holiday season approaching? There are quite a few reasons why Thanksgiving may give us the jitters. From the stress caused by having to plan a 3-course meal for 20+ people to being questioned again by your aunt when you will start having kids or why you’ve gained 10 lbs. Fortunately, there are a lot of things you can do to reduce this kind of holiday stress.

    Plan as much ahead of time as you can.
    From getting an early head count to planning the menu well in advance, you’ll feel much better knowing that you have at least one part of the day under control.

    Lists are your best bet to avoid getting stressed out. Keep a master list of everything you need to do, along with smaller daily to-do lists and of course grocery lists. And then of course there’s the “Honey Do” list, which brings us to…

    Ask for help.
    Get your family to help clean and get ready for the big day. They can run errands for you, help set the table, decorate and cook along side with you.

    Ask every guest to bring a single dish. With everyone chipping in it will quickly add up. Ask those family members and friends who are “culinary challenged”, to bring some chips, drinks, or even napkins and paper plates.

    And, get them to help clean up afterwards.
    No one expects you to handle everything on your own. If you try and feel frazzled, they’ll feel uncomfortable and won’t enjoy the day as much.

    Are you worried about getting drilled about the same questions?
    Practice in advance how you’ll answer those questions. If you know you’ll get questions about weight gain or your husband’s lost job, prepare yourself in advance with answers.

    Practice your answers to some of the questions you’ll be getting. If you can repeat the answers out loud enough before the event, you’ll feel more confident answering them when the time comes.

    If you still feel uneasy about the event, tackle it with a friend or hang out with a like-minded family member. Or have a secret signal with your husband for “help” so he knows to come rescue you.

  • Planning the Family Thanksgiving Meal the EASY WAY!

    The family unanimously decided that you are in charge of the Thanksgiving meal this year. Can you pull it off? Yes, with a little bit of planning ahead of time, you can throw a great family Thanksgiving get together without stressing or staying busy for weeks. The key is advanced planning

    Step 1: Make A Guest List.
    It’s next to impossible to determine how much food to buy and cook without knowing how many mouths you will be feeding. Contact friends and family early and request they RSVP by a certain date. Follow up with them in the weeks before Thanksgiving to make sure you know who is and isn’t coming. Plan for at least 2 extra guests – more if you are entertaining a larger crowd.

    Step 2: Plan the Meal
    Once you know how many guests you’ll have, then the fun begins. You get to dream about food. Of course, there are the old standbys like ham and turkey that you will probably be preparing, but there’s so much more to a wonderful Thanksgiving meal.

    First, contact family members to find out what they can each bring. That will help you to adjust your menu plan accordingly. Take note of everyone willing to bring a dish – even if they aren’t sure yet what to bring.

    Make a list of Appetizers, Main Dishes, Side Dishes, Breads, Salads, Soups, and Desserts. What would be your favorite Thanksgiving meal of all time?

    Do you have anyone with special dietary requirements? Perhaps your Uncle Stan is diabetic or Aunt Sally is allergic to peanuts. Be sure to keep their needs in mind while you’re planning. Try to offer some lighter, lower calorie alternatives to balance out some of the “heavier” traditional dishes.

    Step 3: The Master Plan

    Once you determine what you’ll be serving, it’s time to break it down into manageable tasks.

    Contact the people who didn’t know what they wanted to bring and assign them a dish. If you’re short on desserts, ask them to bring one. If you dread making mashed potatoes, see if they wouldn’t mind bringing them. Anything you can’t delegate will be up to you to make of course.

    Now, you know what everyone else is bringing, you can make a grocery list and a timeline of the items you’ll be cooking.

    Take a little time and sit down to make your grocery list. Keep recipes handy so you know exactly what you need. Don’t forget some of the spices you only use a few times a year (like sage). What tools (like a disposable roasting pan) are you going to need to prepare the meal? Don’t forget to stock up on extra napkins and paper towels. If you are planning on using disposable table clothes, plates etc. make a list of those items as well.

    Get as much done as early as possible.
    Did you know you could even freeze some mashed potato recipes weeks in advance? It’s true! Get started early on the shopping of non-perishable items for the party. Cross items off of your master shopping list as you get them.

     

     

    Need more encouragement? Need some practical how-to’s? Grab Cindy’s books and audios for HALF OFF! Just use the coupon code: ALLTHINGSNEW