Educating Leaders - No Conveyor Belt Education Here! - Homeschool Blogger

Are You Ready for Easter?

Sat, 4 Apr 2009 11:15:00 -0500

Easter is right around the corner. Are you ready?

I’ve got a couple of ideas I’m posting to my blog BUT there is so much more you can do to build anticipation for Easter than I can write on my blog.

`Yesterday I read a book by Nina Cam called “Easter Family Traditions To Honor Christ.” Nina has included so many fantastic ideas to help you elevate your celebration of Christ’s resurrection. I was encouraged how many of Nina’s ideas coincided with our own family values, as well as sooo many cool new ideas we can implement in the coming years.

You can read more about Easter Family Traditions right here:

http://tinyurl.com/eastertraditions

After you grab a copy for yourself, send your email receipt to my assistant (heatheratbeckbiz-AT-gmail-DOT-com) and I’ll give you an EXTRA BONUS!

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Family Fun: Easter Activity Collection - Over 200 Easter recipes, crafts & activities (value $17)
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http://tinyurl.com/eastertraditions

Enjoy the beginning of spring & get ready for Easter!

Blessings,
Kerry Beck

Easter Cards in a snap!

Tue, 31 Mar 2009 15:40:00 -0500

I apologize for sending this late. I�m running behind because we just got back from a long weekend in San Antonio where Steve hosted a workshop on buying & selling domains. The entire family was there and we had a blast. Hunter & Gentry already bought some domains to sell. They hope to have a domain selling business this summer for a part-time job.

That�s not the real reason I wrote, so let me share what�s going on�.

Tomorrow (Wednesday, April 1) I�m hosting a free webinar about Easter Cards. If Easter is the most important holiday of our Christian year, why don�t we send cards to our loved ones? That�s what we do at Christmas, why not Easter too!

http://www.CoupleNextDoorCards.com/soc-april

I�ll show you a really cool Easter card template you can use to send cards to your family & friends. You�ll also see how you can print, stamp & mail your cards in less than 15 minutes for a $1 per card. That even includes the 42 cent stamp.

Here�s what I�ll be revealing�

* How to mail a physical greeting card and do it all online�without leaving your desk!
* How to save time & avoid many hours at Hallmark Cards
* How to make an extra $$$$ each month with greeting cards
* How loved ones feel when they receive your �unexpected card�
* How you can mail a greeting card, FREE of charge!
* How to instantly send a card to a group of 5, 100, 500 or 5000!

Bottom Line �On this 30-minute Webinar, you�ll discover more about how to create your very own Easter Cards, as well as thank you cards, birthday cards or even how to send brownies as a gift. Plus you�ll discover how to develop a business if you need a little extra each month.

It�s happening this Wednesday, April 1 at 4:00PM (Eastern Time) especially for my valued clients and subscribers.

Here�s the full scoop: http://www.CoupleNextDoorCards.com/soc-april

Not only will you be able to hear me talking about the fast and painless way to send your own Easter Cards, but you�ll also get to SEE and WATCH it happening in real time on your computer screen, complete with real examples! Don�t miss out!

Register for the webinar right here�right
now http://www.CoupleNextDoorCards.com/soc-april

Enjoy the beginning of spring & get ready for Easter!

Blessings,
Kerry Beck

P.S. - Some have asked if there will be a replay. Technology being what it is, we can not promise a replay�so my advice is to be on the call live!
http://www.CoupleNextDoorCards.com/soc-april

Art Lesson At Home

Fri, 6 Feb 2009 21:24:00 -0600

One of my very favorite topics to paint, draw or sculpt in art is the deer. Deer give us time to pause and look at the wonder of God. Many times in the Bible we see the deer used for different lessons. Psalm 42:1 is a good example. We also see the deer used in heraldry and literature as a “stag,” as seen in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis. The thing I like about doing a deer is that my favorite season is the winter and putting a deer in the snow is one of the best things you can do to learn techniques in using white and lightening and shading colors on a landscape. When we think of the deer, we think of relatives as the moose. the elk, American bison, reindeer and pronghorn antelope. The smallest kind (spieces) of deer is the pudu, the largest is the elk. A baby deer is called a fawn. When you are ready to do your picture, you want to first draw your deer on the horizon line. Type in “deer in the snow” in the images portion of google and you will get some ideas of how you want your deer to be placed in the landscape. Make sure that your deer is the center of interest in the picture.

Look at this picture above of the moose in the foreground and the mountains in the background. Do you see where the light is coming from in the picture? It is coming from the upper right hand corner. The bottom of the belly of the moose is darker. Look at the legs. The legs are shaded darker on the left and lighter on the right. What I truly love is the the view of the mountains. Notice how the mountains show depth by the use of shading. Do you see where the light falls? Also notice the green in the foreground is realistic looking and fades as it goes into the background colors. When you draw or paint a picture, first look where the light is coming from. Go to this website to practice shading and to notice where light is coming from: http://www.artyfactory.com/portraits/drawing_techniques/pencil_shading.htm

When you draw a deer, always look for basic shapes. Below you see how to start with basic geometric shapes and then use shading to make it look real. For an excellent lesson to practice on go to: http://www.dragoart.com/tuts/181/1/1/how-to-draw-a-white-tailed-deer.htm

Another excellent website is: http://www.dog-portraits-inpencil.com/howtodrawadeer.html
Nearly everything you draw can be viewed in basic shapes and then using shading, shadow and texture, you can make it look real. Here is an excellent website that shows you how to see basic shapes when you draw:http://www.how-to-draw-and-paint.com/learntodraw.html

Practice below drawing a deer:

In the picture above, you see a Japanese snow picture. Notice the lovely soft wa the mountains are shaded. Look at the color of the sky at the top of the picture. Here is a picture of some ladies in the snow from Japan. They are wearing kimonos.
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kuniyoshi_Utagawa,_Women _30.jpg

I painted the picture above because I wanted to show what it looks like at that special moment when you see a big deer and be looks right in your eyes. I hoped to capture the calm and quiet of the moment. Here is a picture by the great master artist Bierdstadt: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bierstadt_Albert_A_Rocky_Mountain_Sheep_Ovis_Montana.jpg. Although this is a mountain goat, you can still the similarities to the photograph of the moose. The light falls on the top and the belly is darker. What do you notice about the color of the sky?

White is the absence of color in science and a very important addition to color in art as you lighten all the color wheel colors with it. “White … is not a mere absence of colour; it is a shining and affirmative thing, as fierce as red, as definite as black…. God paints in many colours; but He never paints so gorgeously, I had almost said so gaudily, as when He paints in white.”Gilbert Keith Chesterton [British author, 1874–1936] “A Piece of Chalk,” Tremendous Trifles (1909)”

That being said, winter is a time to do art like no other. When we stay indoors, we can refresh our sense of wonder of the beautiful outdoors. Go to these websites for some wonderful painting ideas:

http://icons-pe.wunderground.com/data/wximagenew/t/tj1959/353.jpg
http://www.glaciernationalpark.name/wildlife/cjones/buck_in_snow.jpg
http://www.dutchmastersjoinery.com/images/Notecards/Deer_In_The_Snow.jpg
http://www.fnal.gov/pub/today/images08/FermilabDeerinwinter100b0950.jpg

As you go to the website and look at “Hunters in the Snow,” you will see a picture by a great master artist of the Netherland Renaissance, Pietre Bruegel the Elder. He painted many peasant scenes. The picture above shows depth by showing the peasants in the foreground much larger than those in the background.

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pieter_Bruegel_d._%C3%84._092.jpg
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pieter_Bruegel_d._%C3%84._106.jpg

In the picture above, are the colors darker in the foreground of the picture or the background of the picture? Do you see a slight yellow warmth in color along the horizon line. Look at http://static.panoramio.com/photos/original/4539437.jpg and see if you see how the colors in the foreground are darker. What do you notice about the color of the sky?

Go to this master work of art by Bierdstadt and look how the colors are darker in the foreground and lighter in the background. http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bierstadt_Albert_Canadian_Rockies_Asulkan_Glacier.jpg

Notice the size of the animals in this picture by Bierdstadt: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cathedral_Rock.jpg How would you compare the picture above and this picture?

This article is by Sharon Jeffus of Visual Manna. You can go to visualmanna.com for information on her books and internet workshops. Students learn techniques and how to do art step by step live on the internet. You can email her at visualmanna@gmail.com for information.

Have you sent your Christmas Cards yet?

Tue, 9 Dec 2008 22:35:00 -0600

It’s me again! Hey, I need to ask you about sending out Christmas cards. Have you sent your Christmas cards yet? I’m almost finished and it didn’t take me very long at all. In fact, it will take me longer to write my Christmas letter than to print, address and mail my cards. And I get to do it all from the comfort of my own home…sitting on my couch!

I don’t know if you remember, but a couple of weeks ago I invited you to a workshop to show you how I’m sending my Christmas cards so quickly. That workshop ended up being more about a business opportunity than how to send your cards. I’m sorry about that!

So, I decided to do my own workshop for you and actually show you online how to send your own cards, quickly & easily. I’m sorry for the late notice, but it’s tomorrow afternoon (Wednesday, December 10th) at 3pm Eastern.
http://www.CoupleNextDoorCards.com/ChristmasCards

Here’s what I’ll be showing you in our 30 minute workshop.

* How to send a card and do it all online...without leaving your desk!

* How to make a personalized photo card with captions & voice bubbles

* How to send a card to a group of 5, 100, 500 or 5000!

* How you can send a card online, FREE of charge!

* How you can send a Christmas letter with your family’s photo to your entire Christmas list, at the push of a button

When I finish showing you all of those cool tricks, I’ll give you a place online where you can try it out yourself and send a card for FREE.

Here’s the site to register for the online workshop.
http://www.CoupleNextDoorCards.com/ChristmasCards

After I finish all of that, I’ll stick around on the webinar and discuss with anyone who is interested how I’m using this for business relationships. I want to wait until after I’ve shown you how to use this system for personal reasons (family, friends and neighbors) before I show you the business side of it. If you aren’t interested in the business side of the card system, you can leave the workshop. NO Pressure!

Blessings,
Kerry Beck

ps. I can’t wait to show you what I found because it is so cool. I hope you think it’s cool, too!

pps. I hope to record the workshop, but I can’t promise with all the technical problems we’ve had this last week. I strongly hope you can be on the live workshop - Wed, Dec 10.

http://www.CoupleNextDoorCards.com/ChristmasCards

Only a FEW spaces remaining

Thu, 4 Dec 2008 11:04:00 -0600

—————–
Final Notice
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It’s your last opportunity!

As of this morning, only a few spaces remain for tonight’s FREE
“5 Secrets to Rekindling the Spirit of Christmas” online workshop
where I’ll be sharing how to overcome the commercialism in America’s
Christmas

In case my last messages to you didn’t make it, I’m sending this
final reminder about tonight’s one-time-only webinar.

You can get the full story here:
http://tinyurl.com/blogadvent

Remember, I’ll be revealing…

- 4 tips of reaching outside your family during the Christmas season.

- 3 steps to putting Christ and “His Story” back into your Christmas celebration!

- the dangers of America’s Christmas celebration

- Christmas around the world activities & ideas

- Super-Easy Christmas craft idea, even for the craft-challenged mom!

- and as many other ideas as I can squeeze into 60 minutes.

http://tinyurl.com/blogadvent

In fact, tonight’s 70-minute webinar will have a massive impact
on your celebration of Christmas (& Advent) with your family!

We will have special content that ONLY the LIVE ATTENDEES will
see. Special content that will NOT be on the replay. Make sure
you are there LIVE!

Visit this page to register now:
http://tinyurl.com/blogadvent

See you tonight,

Kerry Beck

P.S. We’ve had a lot of people wondering about a replay of the
webinar. We may be releasing one but the first people who get it
are those who are registered at the link above.

Also we will have special content that ONLY the LIVE ATTENDEES
will see. Special content that will NOT be on the replay. Make
sure you are there LIVE!

Here’s the special registration link again:
http://tinyurl.com/blogadventt

Christmas Activities That Everyone Can Enjoy

Tue, 2 Dec 2008 19:47:00 -0600

Christmas is a holiday that is celebrated and enjoyed by people of all ages. When planning a great itinerary of Christmas activities it is important that you consider all age groups that will be involved.

Kids love Christmas time and there are plenty of activities you can plan and engage them with. For younger children, many of them look forward to writing a letter to Santa Claus. Due to advances in technology you can now have Santa actually provide a response to your child’s letter.

One way to have Santa craft a response to your child’s letter is to visit certain web sites where this feature is available. These web sites allow you to choose a letter template. After selecting the template, you answer a few questions about your child and a customized letter is prepared for you.

Another popular activity for kids is coloring. There are many themed coloring books that are catered around Christmas activities, holiday activities and other themed events. These coloring books and resources can be purchased or printed out for free on certain web sites online.

If you have a group of older kids that you are looking to entertain with Christmas activities one option is Christmas word games. Not only are these games fun but they are educational as well. You can engage them in crossword puzzles as well as word search games that all have Christmas related themes.

Adults too love to have a good time when it comes down to Christmas and the holiday season. If you are entertaining adults, make sure you have plenty of food to eat. Besides Christmas dinner food, holiday desserts are always a big hit. You can prepare using Christmas cookie recipes as well as other holiday recipes.

During the holiday season, many Christmas parties will take place as well. Corporations and companies love to throw annual Christmas parties for their employees. In addition, you may want to have a party for your friends and family as well to celebrate and bring in the holiday season.

Food of course is a priority when it comes down to throwing a good Christmas party. However, some people overemphasis its importance to the neglect of other elements that are just as important. If you want to have a good Christmas party, make sure you also have a variety of games and great Christmas music to complement the food.

One of the highlights of the Christmas season for adults, as well as many older kids, like teenager age is Christmas shopping. Many retailers report as much as 30% of their annual revenues are earned during the Christmas shopping season. Besides the shopping experience there are many activities at the malls and shopping centers to keep holiday shoppers entertained.

For the entire family, some holiday activities that you can experience together include attending Christmas shows and looking at Christmas decorations. In particular, if you live in a big city like New York City, there are some great shows like the Radio City Christmas show you can attend. Christmas decorations in all parts of the world can be very elaborate and entertaining as well. You have plenty of options for Christmas activities to choose from for you and your family to enjoy.

Kerry Beck wants to give you her free advent calendars with daily Christmas activities to prepare you for Christmas. You'll learn more about Christmas around the world with some of the daily activities. You can receive her free Advent Countdown here: http://www.ChristmasCelebrationIdeas.com

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(c) Kerry Beck, 2008
You have permission to reprint this article, as long as you don’t make any changes and include the bio below. Links in resource box must be clickable to reprint this article. If you can't click the link, please ask permission to reprint.

about Kerry Beck
Kerry Beck offers free advent calendars with daily Christmas activities to prepare you for Christmas. You'll learn more about Christmas around the world with some of the daily activities. You can receive her free Advent Countdown here: http://www.ChristmasCelebrationIdeas.com

Family Holiday Traditions

Sun, 30 Nov 2008 23:29:00 -0600

http://www.ChristmasCelebrationIdeas.com

Holiday Traditions for you family are seen in this short video cool holiday traditions some of our families have at Christmas. These Christmas activities are great to integrate with advent or an advent calendar.

Holiday Traditions-Our Turkey Cookies

Tue, 25 Nov 2008 23:19:00 -0600

http://www.ChristmasCelebrationIdeas.com offers Free Advent Calendar & holiday traditions for your family to enjoy. Turkey cookies from Oreos is one of our holiday traditions the past 15 years.

Celebrating the Twelve Days of Christmas

Sun, 30 Nov 2008 22:13:00 -0600

The Twelve Days of Christmas is actually one of the most incorrectly identified holiday traditions and time periods on the calendar today. Most people assume that the 12 days of Christmas, like the advent calendar comes before and leads up to Christmas day. However, it actually begins on or after Christmas.

The 12 days of Christmas is also known as the period of Christmastide. During Christmastide, the way people celebrate the holiday season varies slightly. For instance, there are different beliefs as to when the holiday should be celebrated. These beliefs are typically influenced by the culture that you live in as well as the religious denomination that you practice.

Some denominations celebrate the twelve days of Christmas starting on December 25th and continue until January 5th. Others believe it starts on Christmas evening, which means that it continues until January 6th.

What is the significance of the Christmas history behind the 12 days? This time period represents the time that Jesus was born up until the time that the 3 Kings arrived to see Jesus. The 3 kings were a group of eastern kings that heard about the birth of Christ and wanted to honor him by bringing him gifts. They traveled to go see him, legend has it by following a star that lead them to the birthplace of Christ. When they arrived, they gave him gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.

When it comes down to the giving of gifts there are several different philosophies behind when gifts should be given during this time period. Some people believe that gifts should be given on Christmas day. Others believe that you should give gifts only on the 12th day of Christmas. Still others believe that you should give gifts on each of the 12 days of Christmas.

This holiday period has a number of different ways that you can celebrate it. Many people celebrate it by lighting candles for the 12 days. For example, on each day of the 12 days, they light a candle to represent the progression of the Christmastide season.

Another tradition that you can use to celebrate is Christmas dinner. Like gift giving, Christmas dinner is handled differently as well. It can be done on Christmas day. It can be done on the 12th day of Christmas. It can even be done every day of the 12 days.

Finally, there is the 12 days of Christmas song that is immensely popular all throughout the world. This song highlights different gifts received by the singer of the song from someone referred to as "my true love." There are two major schools of thought as to the meaning of this song. Some simply say it is just a regular Christmas song with no hidden meaning. Others however hold to a belief that the song actually has hidden Christian connotations. For instance, the "true love" actually refers to Jesus Christ and each of the 12 gifts refers to different tenants of the Christian faith.

The twelve days of Christmas is a joyous time period regardless of how you choose to celebrate it. There are many ways it is celebrated. However you choose to celebrate it is completely up to you.

Kerry Beck offers free advent calendars with daily Christmas activities to prepare your family for Christmas. Your family will discover more about holiday traditions with some of the daily activities. You can get her FREE Advent Calendar Countdown at http://www.ChristmasCelebrationIdeas.com

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(c) Kerry Beck, 2008
You have permission to reprint this article, as long as you don’t make any changes and include the bio above. Links in resource box must be clickable to reprint this article. If you can’t click the link, please ask permission to reprint.

Christmas Around The World & The Different Holiday Traditions

Wed, 26 Nov 2008 16:41:00 -0600

Christmas is an international holiday that is celebrated around the world in a variety of different ways and fashions. Depending on where you are at in the world at the time, you will see a number of different Christmas activities, stories and symbols.

In the United States, the melting pot of cultures results in a variety of different fashions, Christmas symbols and holiday traditions that are celebrated in the USA. For example, the European based tradition of the Christmas stories of Santa Claus is heavily celebrated.

The United States Post Office actually takes all of the letters that are mailed each year by children to Santa Claus and delivers them to Santa Claus, Indiana where a group of volunteers that call themselves "Santa's Elves" actually writes the kids back.

The citizens of Australia get to celebrate Christmas in the summertime. Instead of visions of snowy days and cold wintery nights, their Christmas days are filled with fun in the sun, picnics in the park and even swimming and playing on the beach.

Australians also have a huge population of traditional Roman-Catholic and Protestant worshipers. Many people attend Mass at midnight on Christmas day. When mass is completed, everyone goes home, gets some sleep and wakes up in the morning to open Christmas presents.

On the other hand, in Japan Christmas is not a religious holiday at all. Remember, the large majority of the Japanese population are not Christians. Despite this, the Christmas holiday is still celebrated, more for its commercial aspects than its religious aspects.

Although people still have to work on Christmas day, the Japanese still find time to celebrate the holiday anyway. One of the most unique experiences of the Japanese approach to Christmas is their Christmas dinner activities. Most places of the world have a large, home-cooked dinner in the home. In Japan, it is common for people to order a special Christmas Chicken dinner from Kentucky Friend Chicken, or KFC.

China also celebrates Christmas more for its commercial aspects as opposed to its religious aspects. In China, the Chinese word for Santa literally means "Christmas Old Man" in English. The Chinese do a lot of shopping and other Christmas activities as well.

Christmas is more of a prelude to the Chinese New Year, which is the major holiday in China. However, you can most certainly see celebrations in China for Christmas. Many of the commercial aspects like decorations, bright lights and greeting cards are celebrated and participated in by the Chinese people.

Christmas in France is similar to some of the other countries that we talked about but it has its differences as well. For instance, the Christmas tree is not very popular in France. Very few families spend time decorating and putting up Christmas trees.

One holiday tradition that is very popular in France is the placing of Christmas scenes outside of the home. These scenes offer an illustration of Christmas stories. In particular, the French populate their scenes with little "santons" or "saints". Besides the typical Christmas characters that you see in outdoor scenes, it is not uncommon to see figures of local French leaders and personalities as well.

As you can see, holiday traditions and Christmas around the world is as diverse as many of the Christmas activities and traditions of the various nations of the world. Despite the differences, one theme that remains consistent is the value of family and the joy of the holiday season.

Kerry Beck offers free advent calendars with daily Christmas activities to prepare your family for Christmas. Your family will discover more about Christmas history with some of the daily activities.

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© Kerry Beck, 2008
You may reprint the above article as long as you don’t make any changes and you include the following bio with the article.

Kerry Beck offers free advent calendars with daily Christmas activities to prepare your family for Christmas. Your family will discover more about Christmas history with some of the daily activities. You can get her FREE Advent Calendar Countdown at http://www.ChristmasCelebrationIdeas.com