DIY Timeline Cards Game

Posted on January 22, 2020 by treeoflifemama

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Here’s a DIY card game to increase knowledge of historical events/facts. It’s modeled after the Timeline Game. You can make it for any history period.

 

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I made the cards above for my Hero Project which involves the World Wars. For our class, we are reading the following book:

So some of the events come from that book, and the rest of the cards involve more general WW1 and WW2 events. As we read one book a month in the coming semester, we will add more cards and we will play a game each week to increase retention of the facts.

Here’s how to make them:

1. Get index cards or cut heavy paper, like card stock, to similar size
2. Put event, image, and date on one side
3. On other side put just the event, and the image

You can sketch the images, cut from magazines, or get from the Internet.

After you’ve made your cards, here’s how to play the game!

Shuffle your deck of cards to get them out of order. Deal out four cards to each player with the side that shows the date facing down. Emphatically instruct them NOT to turn the cards over. They are not supposed to see the date side. Just have them spread the cards with the date side down, in front of them, so they can see them all at once, with only the name of the event and the image showing.

Place the rest of the cards in the draw pile, with the face of the card that has all three things face down. Turn the top card over and place in the center.

Person whose next birthday is closest goes first. He/she looks at the playing card and picks a card from his/her hand. Have the person read out loud the event. Then that person decides if it goes before or after the playing card, placing it to the left if “before” and to the right if “after.” Then he/she turns over the card from his/her hand, after making the decision. If the person is right, the person doesn’t have to draw another card from the draw pile. If the person is incorrect, the person places the card in the right spot, then draws another card. Play goes clockwise, with play getting increasingly harder as more cards are played and you have to place cards in between other cards. First person to run out of cards wins!

Posted in education, gameschooling, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

#abookandagameaday, Wed. 1/22/20, Day #12, Geography/History Two Truths and a Lie and Scrambled States of America

Posted on January 22, 2020 by treeoflifemama

 

Last Thursday on my thrifting trip, after going to our weekly family liber school, I found the card game that goes with the above book, for 4 bucks at Savers. So we played the game today for my Wednesday Geography/History Day of our Gameschooling. Even though I wasn’t organized enough to have scouted out the companion picture book from the public library, I found that the book is read aloud on YouTube. Hooray! So we listened to and watched the video and then played the game.

 

 

The game was missing the maps and directions. I found the directions online and had my own map of the USA laid out on the table.

The game got loud and raucous with the racing to be the first one to slap the table with the right card to answer the challenge/quiz question. I have a wide range of ages in our gameschool, 9 to 15. The 15 year old won, but he said he didn’t have fun. Go figure! He said it got too loud. That’s interesting, because he is often loud himself. The 9 year old had a hard time keeping up. So everyone but the outliers enjoyed it. I thought it was a fun way for kids to learn states’ locations, capital cities, and nicknames. I love games like this when it’s “All Play” every single round. Nobody has to wait for a turn. The drawback, however, is for the slower processing kids. Sometimes it’s better to strike a balance and have some round be “All Play” and some be just targeted at one person, one by one. Next time we play this I’m going to remember that and alternate between “All Play” and “Single Play,” just so the younger student can have more opportunities to process the challenge without getting beat.

 

 

We also played Two Truths and a Lie, which is the easiest DIY Geography/History game you can do. I passed out my cheery Usborne books. They are so perfect for kids! I love that they show connections between history, fashion, geography, science, and technology in such visually appealing ways. I also love the lift-the-flap books. To play the game, I have my students/kids find three facts in a history or geography book that they find interesting. Then they write them down, and change one of them to a lie. Then after we are all done writing, we take turns sharing our three statements. We then discuss why we think the statement is a fact or lie. Sometimes the decision is based on knowledge of history, sometimes it is based on the reading of body language. We then vote on which statement we think is the lie and which ones are truths. We keep score and whoever has the most points at the end of the allotted time wins!

 

See inside inventions

 

See inside The Second World War

 

Sticker Dressing: Explorers

 

Sticker Dressing Soldiers

 

Picture of Lift-the-Flap Picture Atlas

 

Here is my backstory to gameschooling and tips on building a gameschool collection on a budget. 

Here are some other gameschooling days we’ve enjoyed.

 

 

 

 

 

Posted in gameschooling, geography, homeschooling, reading aloud, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Out of the Best Books: What We’re Reading for January 2020

Posted on January 21, 2020 by treeoflifemama

 

I’m reading the above for my Hero Project class that I’m mentoring, a repeat of 6 years ago. It’s about Dietrich Bonhoeffer, definitely a hero of mine! Elder Christofferson quoted him in General Conference. 

 

 

Bugsy, age 10, has finished the one above by listening and is one the one below now. These versions aren’t as good as the Cherry Jones’ ones from HarperAudio in Audible, but they’re free.

 

 

My two scholars are reading the above for their Pyramid LEMI math and science class.

I’m reading the one below out loud to them to inspire them in their Georgics LEMI project. I read it years ago to their older siblings. Delightful!

 

When I’m too tired or can’t read aloud, I turn on this one, also when I’m driving:

 

 

It’s great except for the 70 year old plus woman who does Diana’s voice…ugh!

 

Talking to Strangers: What We Should Know about the People We Don't Know

 

I’m listening to the one above and below in Audible.

 

 

As well as finishing up what I started in October, Julie Andrews in Audible:

 

Home Work: A Memoir of My Hollywood Years by [Andrews, Julie]

 

One night I felt like a squirrel who needed something light and new (a shiny object) so I started this one below, it will probably take me months because I often feel more obligated to finish the ones above.

 

 

I’m reading the one below so my younger kids know why we have a Christmas Jar. It’s the best chapter book to share in January. I read it aloud just three years ago but they’ve already forgotten.

 

 

 

Then a bunch of picture books,

first, the best picture book for January to cast a giving vision of the year, along with the Christmas Jars.

then some general classic ones plus the January picture books over here.

 

My little guy teared up over the one above last night. So sweet!

 

 

My 15 year old asked for this one to read on his own:

 

 

All of this in addition to the Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ for Come, Follow Me.

What are you reading?

Posted in books we are reading, christmas, classics, Family life | 2 Comments

Best Picture Book to Read in January!

Posted on January 20, 2020 by treeoflifemama

 

It occurred to me, after reading this book aloud to my children a few weeks ago, why this is the best picture book to read in January. It can inspire you and your family to create your own giving chest. Here’s the full story, narrated by Dick Van Dyke:

 

 

A giving chest, as explained in the back of the book, is a place, whether it’s a box, a poster board, a piece of paper, or a Google Doc, which has your service ideas.  These ideas can be in actual object form, picture form, or just written down, to remind you want to do for service.

So in other words, it’s a service vision board! If you are like me, you see needs for service all around, and you can’t always do something about fulfilling the need right away. But you can write down what you would like to do, and dream about it, and then someday, just by writing it down and dreaming about it, and working hard, you just might attract the time and money to fulfill that need.

You just might be able to, someday, like the bearer of the giving chest in the book, match up just up the right thing with the need.

I’m totally doing this! I’m going to create a Google Doc, share it with my adult children out of the nest, and show it to my children here at home. I’ll copy and paste a few of my own service ideas and ask them to add theirs. We can talk about it often and add to it whenever we want. It will help open our eyes, our “vision” to what we can do to help people. We can use these ideas for the spiritual goals for the new Children and Youth goals program of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Having this family service vision board and reading the Christmas Jar are brightening up my January already. I hope they will for you too!

 

Posted in christmas, classics, family traditions, holiday | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Best Chapter Book to Read and Movie to Watch in January!

Posted on January 20, 2020 by treeoflifemama

I know this is a Christmas book/movie, but it should really be read and watched in January. That way, you won’t forget about it, like you might do if you read the book in December and then the hustle and bustle of Christmas chaos makes you forget about starting a Christmas Jar. Hopefully this story will inspire you to create a family tradition of your own. I love this tradition because it’s something that can be worked on every day, year round, without any stress or much energy. Then giving it away in December is the crowning touch to the tradition. Because you’ve added to it through the year, you don’t have to have stress about putting together some big service or charity project in December in a short amount of time when nerves are already fried. As soon as you give it away you can start a new one. We’ve had a jar the past three years and it’s a lot of fun to watch the money grow and even more fun to to give it away anonymously.

Read the book aloud first to your family. We’ve been doing a chapter a day. They are short and sweet.

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Then go watch the movie here, for free, on byutv.org.

And start your own Christmas Jar! Teach your children to put 10% of what they earn in the jar, after their tithing, add your portion, and your spare change every time you come home from shopping. Then give it away and feel the joy of giving!

The movie is different from the book, but they are both great!

I’m excited to read the sequel!

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Posted in christmas, Family life, family traditions, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Jesus Meets Us in our Lowest Places and Touches Us With the Master’s Hand

Posted on January 20, 2020 by treeoflifemama

 

Did you guys see this? This week’s “Don’t Miss This” episode about the Book of Mormon, 1 Nephi 11-15, features Lindsey Stirling! I listened to this on the way home from the temple today. Lindsay’s music at the end is such a treat!

It really got me thinking:

-When I have felt Jesus meeting me? When have you felt Jesus meeting you?

-When have you felt broken, like an old violin, but with the touch of the Master’s hand, you were able to play beautiful music?

As a bonus, here’s a great article about Lindsey that BYU Magazine did. I love that she attributes her mother for sacrificing so that Lindsey could have a violin and lessons. Would Lindsey be who she is without that?

 

 

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Come Get More Usborne Books this Thursday Jan. 23 in a Facebook Live Party!

Posted on January 18, 2020 by treeoflifemama

 

If you have children in your life, or even just to delight your inner child, you’ve got to get your hands on these books!

 

I discovered Usborne books over 20 years ago and love them! These books are great for:

-inspiring a love of learning

-talking about how to deal with emotions

 

 

-teaching manners and social skills

-learning about different hobbies

 

 

-clearly understanding history, geography, science, and math because of the beautiful diagrams and pictures

 

 

-keeping small kiddos quiet in church with interactive, touchy-feely books, and amazing vehicle books that have tracks embedded in them

 

 

-giving children something to keep hands busy while you read aloud

 

-bestowing a love of classics and fairy tales. I have the Shakespeare one!

 

 

-building phonics decoding skills

-enjoying long car rides

-having fun!

 

 

I already have a grand collection of these great books from when I sold them years ago but I decided I wanted the art cards

 

and all the World War books since I’m teaching a class about them this semester. Perhaps you could use these books in your homeschool with the different topics you want to share about this semester too?

Image result for usborne books world war 1 see inside

Let me know if you want an invite by sending me an email to info (at) treeoflifemothering (dot) com.  Then I will send you the link to the Facebook Live Party on Thursday Jan. 23 at 8:30 PM Mountain Time. Happy reading and playing!

 

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More on the New Digital Cash Envelope System called Qube!

Posted on January 18, 2020 by treeoflifemama

Hey, so it’s not too late to buy lifetime access to Qube, the new digital cash envelope app, and get a discount! The opportunity to get lifetime access to Qube for a flat fee paid up front ends March 31st! Note: Because of COVID-19, development of Qube has been delayed. It will be launched this summer, and lifetime membership is on sale through that time. 

For now…after Jan. 31, the price goes up like this:

Here’s how pricing will be different in February:

  • January’s Premium Price goes up from $192 to $216
  • January’s Family price of $274 to $324

Pay for two years of the monthly subscription upfront and you’ll get lifetime access to the Qube Money app! After the launch, lifetime memberships are going away and the monthly subscription will be $8/month and $15/month.

After that, you will have to pay a monthly subscription fee. Imagine if you could have bought Amazon Prime for life or Netflix. This is the same kind of opportunity!

I’m so excited for this app to be released! It helps people to get out of debt, save for, and buy the things that really matter, ALL with the convenience of a debit card, with no chance of overspending.

Having spent  3 1/2 of the last four years getting out of debt, using cash to pay for everything at the grocery store, I am drooling at this system for you people who still have the journey of paying off debt. This system makes it easier!

Right now the price for the Lifetime Premium plan is $192 and will go up to $216 on Feb. 1.

Through the month of Feb. the price is $216, until March 1, when the price goes up to $240.

At the end of March, Lifetime access ends and the app will only be available for a monthly subscription fee.  The prices mentioned below apply through the summer of 2020. 

You can get either the Lifetime Premium plan, which allows the app to be shared between two people in the same household, or the Lifetime Family plan, which involves everything in the premium plan, plus debit cards for up to 10 kids and in-app chore tracking.

The Lifetime Premium Plan is on sale for $216.

The Lifetime Family Plan is on sale for $324. See all the details here.

After the launch, the app will be available only by a subscription:

Premium: $8 a month/ or $96 a year

Family: $15 a month/ or $180 a year

You can read my full description about Qube here, and watch the videos above and below. Then go here to buy and use the discount code CELESTIA25.

Qube has a blog here with some great tips on budgeting. Yeah, I know budgeting isn’t a fun word, but it does allow for a lot of fun things plus peace of mind. In the end, that is the best fun!

 

 

The app used to be called ProActive. It had a few problems so those are being fixed and the new version will be released this spring with the new name of Qube.  here’s a video with the founder, Ryan, showing how it works.

 

 

As he says, Qube will require you to think before you spend, but give you the convenience of using a debit card. You can’t overspend with the system, and transactions are faster with a card. The best of both worlds! You can see your whole budget on your phone, spend with a card, and have the app keep track of it all, ultimately buying what matters most.

 

 

 

 

Posted in Family life, money, money in marriage, money management | 2 Comments

My Sister Has a Blog! Here are Some of Her Favorite Picture Books

Posted on January 18, 2020 by treeoflifemama

 

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Note: I started this blog post last September and stuck it in my drafts folder. I’m finally publishing it in January. Such is my life these days!

The past month (September 2019) has been a bit hectic what with our homeschool fall rhythm starting up again. What did that all entail? Let’s see…coming up with a new presentation for a homeschool moms’ retreat, after I planned a different one, mentoring a weekly class for young scholars at my commonwealth school (LEMI’s Sword Project), meetings for my church position, and driving to football practice and seminary, twice every day, 20 minutes one way, every weekday. Also martial arts lessons for one child three times a week. All of that on top of homeschooling and keeping some semblance of homemaking, and an exercise and self-care routine. The casualties? I spaced a dental appointment for one child, a funeral/life celebration for a friend’s mother, and I haven’t been able to blog much. Sob!

Can we just go back to summer? Sigh.

 

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My heart just yearns to share everything I’m seeing and enjoying and loving, right on this blog. Alas, time just doesn’t permit me to do that. (I made some yummy peach ice cream, celebrated my 28th wedding anniversary, cured myself with homeopathy, found a local homeschooling friend to do Julie Bogert’s Poetry Teatime with (herbal tea, of course. See video below on how to do it)

 

 

and created a fantastic sugar-free gluten-free carrot cake I hope to share soon. So much delight! )

 

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One thing I’ve been really aching to blog about is picture books for hanging onto summer, #notbacktoschool, especially ones about the ocean. Especially since school for us started in August (!) when sane people outside of Arizona are still having summer vacations, which I want to be doing too. While on vacation in Utah in July, I listened to this podcast episode by Sarah Mackenzie. Maine features prominently in it.

 

 

So that made me think of my little sister, Emily, and her lovely artistic life in Maine with her husband and six children. She came to our parents’ cabin where I was staying in July the very next day after I listened to the podcast. So of course I told her about it. (I blogged about her moving to Maine here.) It turns out, one of the books Sarah mentioned in the podcast, about Maine, Hello Lighthouse, was there in the cabin during my stay. Turns out it is one of my sister’s favorite picture books! The copy she gave to my mom for mom’s birthday was there among my mom’s book collection at the cabin.

 

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These pics in this blog post are ones that Emily snapped of my daughter’s trip to the beach three years ago, before said daughter got married. They are from a time when my daughter visited her aunt, uncle and cousins in Maine. It all looks so dreamy doesn’t it?

 

Now, instead of sharing books about hanging onto summer, I can blog about my sister’s announcement that she is launching her own blog!

 

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Back in the days when I used a NoJo padded sling. My husband was a great sport in using it too! I loved wearing a denim nursing dress from Motherwear, with different vests i bought at thrift stores.

 

You can visit it here! She is an amazing artist and illustrator with several professional works to her credit, including a book about Isaac Newton published by CarolRhoda Books. She graduated from BYU with a bachelor of fine arts degree in illustration. The picture above is of my husband, my parents and baby with her at her BYU graduation. Now that baby is 21, so this must have happened 20 years ago!

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Over 14 years ago she started her break from illustrating in favor of full-time mothering of her six babies. Now that the youngest is 6, she is getting back to her art. She has a few blog posts so far. One is about picture books related to Maine, and the other is about the power of books and stories in her life, called Choose Your Weapons, I Choose Picture Books! So cute! The post includes a bunch of pictures I had never seen before, like the one where she is zonked out on a chair in our early 80s-decorated family room after a tiring round of reading and creating her own books. I also love the post she did for January of books and movies for goal-setters.  Enjoy!

Posted in classics, emilyreynoldsart, Family life, Maine, summer | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

New Insights from Lehi’s Tree of Life Vision

Posted on January 13, 2020 by treeoflifemama

 

Wow, if you think you know everything there is to know about Lehi’s vision of the Tree of Life you have got to watch the above video! I love the insights I got from watching it. The vision is depicted in the video below.

 

 

My whole blog here is named after Lehi’s vision so of course I am emotionally attached to it.

This vision means so much to me. I love it!

I also love that after all these times I’ve read it, I can still find new meaning in it. I hope you all watch the two videos above and read the passage (1 Nephi 8) and find your own new meanings.

One super fascinating thing, which caused me to write my book,  is that the tree of life motif reappears all through sacred literature, such as:

-Lehi’s Vision, as a symbol of Jesus Christ

-Alma’s tree of testimony in Alma 32

-family trees

-the Bible (such in Genesis, Psalms, and Revelations)

-Joseph Smith in Doctrine and Covenants 135

and in many more places! I’m sure you can think of more. If you can’t, you can read my book here to find all the places I’ve found.

Since I wrote the book, I’ve found even more places where the tree motif shows up.

When I studied Revelations last month for Come, Follow Me, I looked up the word for “tree” in the Hebrew language as I studied John the Revelator’s vision in Revelations, which involves a tree. Guess what I found? The Hebrew word for tree is “עץ” which is pronounced “ets.”

That word involves the Hebrew letters “ayin” and “tzaddik.” Those letters symbolize the “eye/vision” (ayin) and “trail/guide/ or righteous one” (tzaddik).

So a tree involves having an eye/vision and being a righteous guide. In other words, a tree is involved with vision, righteousness, and guiding.  Isn’t that interesting?

Why is that so?

The tree symbol is truly something sacred, something that is repeated over and over in the Creator’s plans, in His visions for us, and in His creations, to teach us of His ways.

I also love that Emily Freeman and David Butler, featured in the video at the very top, have new conversation cards to expand you and your family’s study from the Come, Follow Me Study Guide.

You can get them here from their newsletter archive of “Don’t Miss This.” Scroll down the page and click on “Download Take 5.”

They call them “Take 5” cards because they involve 5 things:

  • 5 minutes with your family gathered around, ideally at a mealtime
  • Read a verse
  • Ask a question
  • Have a discussion
  • Give a challenge

I love it!

Use them at dinner time or anytime you can catch your family together. The thought of printing, cutting out, and storing cards makes me cringe right now with so much on my plate. So I will be downloading these into my Google drive to find on my phone. Then I will ask the questions and write down my family’s answers in my family notebook dedicated to our answers for Come, Follow Me Discussions.

 

Posted in Family life, Hebrew, jesus-christ, the book of mormon, the church of jesus christ of latter day saints | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment