While we are not a true unit studies homeschooling family, we do like to supplement from time to time.  One way I like to supplement is with A Journey Through Learning products.  If you remember a few months ago, I told you how I was using their Little House on the Prairie lapbooking binder with my younger children.

Recently, I was introduced to a brand new product from AJTL (who will be at the Teach Diligently Convention, by the way!) called DigiFolios.  These were a brand new concept to me as they might be to you as well, so let me explain…

DigiFolios are a digital lapbook.  They require no special program as they can run on the Paint program that comes with your computer.  (We have used both the Paint program and our Photoshop software to work on these.)

In my opinion, they work best for older children, 4th grade and above, but there are a couple of DigiFolios geared toward younger children too.  If your child has no knowledge of computers, this is a fun way to introduce some computer skills as DigiFolios do require both typing and designing.

Need more info?  Click on the Instruction Sheet below to enlarge:

In the photo at the top of this post, you see my oldest daughter (age 11) with her World Book software open to a photo of Ronald Reagan so that she could read about him and then try to draw him behind the podium of the Presidents DigiFolio.  She did a fantastic job and the photo simply does not do it justice.

Above, is my 7 year old daughter who insisted on trying her hand at Abraham Lincoln.  She did a great job for what little computer skills she has; however, much of the work was simply too difficult for her to do on her own.  Perhaps next time we will try one of the younger ones.

By the way, DigiFolios can be printed out for a hard copy or left on your computer in a file.  I like that!  We can go completely paperless if we wish!

And here’s the best part! I have 5 Digi products to give away here at Raising Arrows! If you win, you will get your choice of a DigiFolio product, so start checking them out to see which one you might want!

If you are reading this post via email, click over to enter to win!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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The moment the hats arrived at our doorstep, they were loved.  Worn everywhere.  Even inside stores where people would come up to us and ask where we had gotten such cute hats.

These hats are just one of the many amazing creations my friend Nichole, owner of Double Stuff Crochet, makes for her own 3 children and countless others across the nation!

Nichole, also a photography buff, started crocheting as a way to save money on photography props.  It soon turned into an obsession and a business!

And today, she shares her talents with us!

Double Stuff Crochet, named in honor of Nichole’s dog Oreo who died during the time she was learning to crochet, is giving away a “Puppy Love” hat to 1 winner!  “Puppy Love” can be done in boy or girl colors for your sweet little one.

And if you would like to see Nichole’s other creations, you can visit her Etsy Shop and her Facebook page AND enjoy 10% off using coupon code:

RaisingArrows

Here’s the entry form and good luck! (If you cannot see the entry form, please click here)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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The winner is: Entry #5 – Nicole at Faith in Small Things
Congratulations!!!
(and don’t give up hope…keep checking #2to1Conf on Twitter for more info!)

Do you blog?

Are you looking to further the reach of your blog?

Have you heard about the Homeschool Blogging Conference in D.C.?

This  April, I’m speaking at the 2:1 Conference – the Premier blogging conference geared toward homeschoolers.  Even if you don’t blog about homeschooling, there is much to be learned here, so CHECK IT OUT!

And perhaps you would like to win a ticket to the conference!

Here’s how:

1.  Blog about why you want to go to 2:1.

2.  Link up your post below.

3.  I’ll choose a random winner from those posts at 11:59 pm CST this Friday night!

Winner will be announced at the top of this post Saturday morning as well as on my facebook and twitter feed.

Click here for the FEBRUARY SUBSCRIBER SPECIAL ~ Homemaking from the Heart Bundle!

We all know about my love of cloth diapers!

And you’ve heard me talk many times about the AMAZING cloth diapering store that has sponsored Raising Arrows for quite some time!

Coleen is a homeschooling mother of many-more-than-me and I am thrilled to be able to promote her business because not only is it a Christian-owned business, but her shop has EVERYTHING you need to get started cloth diapering.

I love that you can go to Sweet Little Blessings, order all from one site, pay FREE SHIPPING on all orders over $40 (every single day!) and feel good about doing so!

And now through the end of the month,

you can get 10% off any sized order
using this exclusive code for Raising Arrows readers only:

FALL

And how about a little icing on that cake?

You can win a

$25 Gift Certificate to Sweet Little Blessings!!!

Here’s how…

Click here for the FEBRUARY SUBSCRIBER SPECIAL ~ Homemaking from the Heart Bundle!

I am a self-proclaimed Lapbooking Dummy.

I’ve stared at them longingly. I’ve thumbed through them jealously. I even have an entire stash of file folders begging to be turned into lapbooks, but alas, I just can’t seem to do it.  Every time we have tried, we have failed…miserably.

Perhaps it was how much time it took to do them because I was the only one doing all the work.  Or perhaps it was the fact that I am a no-nonsense no-busy-work kind of person and I was pretty sure lapbooks fit into the “Busy Work” category.  Whatever my subconscious reasoning was, just the thought of file folders made my knees weak.  It even became a running joke between myself and all my lapbooking friends…

poor Amy with lapbookaphobia.

Then, a couple of months ago, my lapbooking friend Betty at Peace Creek on the Prairie introduced me to A Journey Through Learning.  I noticed this company had a product called a Binder-Builder for a curriculum I was already using – The Prairie Primer. {Read more about how I am using The Prairie Primer with only my younger children.}

A Journey Through Learning graciously let me – yes, poor lapbookaphobic that I am – test out a copy.

It was a large download, covering 3 of the Little House books, so my husband printed it off for me and I put it into a large binder.  Then, I purchased a smaller binder for the children to use as their Prairie Primer Binder.

Instead of a file folder, each piece of the binder-builder is either a sheet you 3-hole punch and put in your binder or a piece you cut out and add to a larger paper with several lapbooking components on it. (and yes, I am making copies – doesn’t every good homeschooling mother of more than one do this?!)

I was thrilled that A Journey Through Learning included directions and a diagram of where to place every single piece…a lapbooking dummy’s dream!

My little ones loved putting the binder together.  They ask every single day about it and they are so proud to show it off to grandparents.  Finally, I understand the WHY behind lapbooking!  While it could be considered “busy work,” it is the kind of busy work that solidifies what they are learning, creates a wonderful memory, and gives the children something they can thumb through for years to come.  This goes way beyond that silly worksheet you are just going to throw away tomorrow!

In fact, doing this binder taught me something else about lapbooking.  You do not have to do every single piece of the lapbook to get the benefit of it!  I thought every lapbook had to be perfect with every single piece in place or you would lose the overall effect, while in reality, you can pick and choose and only do what you want to do and still reap the rewards of a memorable piece of school work!

A Journey Through Learning gives away free lapbooks on their site from time to time, so I have been grabbing those up and using them in the same way as the Prairie Primer Binder-Builder.  This is so much more my style.

They also have lapbooks for some of the best curriculum out there from TruthQuest to Apologia as well as stand alone lapbooks like My State Lapbook and their current Newsletter Freebie Special – Overview of the 17th Century (click over and sign up for their newsletter to get it!)

And on November 8th at 7pm CST, you’ll want to mark your calendars for their ABSOLUTELY HUGE FACEBOOK PARTY!  I am so excited about all the products they will be giving away from their own site and others.  You will not want to miss this!  {more info here!}

But, guess what you can do right this very second?!

You can win an AJTL Lapbook product of your choice!

Right here on Raising Arrows
{aka No More a Lapbooking Dummy Blog}!

Here’s how to enter…

Click here for the FEBRUARY SUBSCRIBER SPECIAL ~ Homemaking from the Heart Bundle!

Where are the men who open doors?

Where are the boys who play hard and get dirty?

Where are the dads who teach their boys what it means to be men?

Where are all the cowboys?

You know, the manly men?

The guys who do heroic things by day and tell their children heroic stories by night.

I’ve met moms who’s husbands are too busy to be cowboys.  I’ve met dads who don’t know how to be cowboys.  And I’ve met single moms who want their sons to be cowboys, but can’t find any decent role models.

My answer?

Don’t despair!

There are still manly influences available to those who are searching, those who want to learn, and those who haven’t any men leading their household.

Where are these influences?

1.  The Bible. God’s Word is full of manly men.  No, they weren’t perfect, but they were heroic!  Read these stories.  Encourage your husbands.  Relate them to your sons and their every day lives.
Here’s a list to get you started:
Adam (Genesis 3)
Noah (Genesis 6)
Abraham (Genesis 12)
Isaac (Genesis 22)
Jacob (Genesis 32)
Joseph (Genesis 39)
Moses (Exodus 3)
Joshua (Joshua 1)
Gideon (Judges 7)
Samson (Judges 16)
Samuel (1 Samuel 3)
Jonathan (1 Samuel 14)
David (2 Samuel 11)
Solomon (1 Kings 3)
Elijah (1 Kings 19)
Josiah (2 Chronicles 34)
Nehemiah (Nehemiah 4)
Job (Job 1)
Daniel (Daniel 6)
Joseph (Matthew 1)
John the Baptist (Matthew 3)
The Centurion (Matthew 8 )
The Samaritan (Luke 10)
Nicodemus (John 3)
Saul/Paul (Acts 9)
Silas (Acts 16)
Timothy (1 Timothy 6)
Hall of Faith (Hebrews 11)

2.  Books for boys and men. I love Vision Forum for this very reason!  Here are just a few books that encourage men to be men and boys to be men.

More Boyhood Adventure Books!

3.  Video and Audio for manly men. Again, my vote is for Vision Forum.  Here are a few, but peruse their site for even more!

4.  Online resources and sermons. I thoroughly enjoy sermons from men like Voddie Baucham.  Often you can find great sermons on SermonAudio.com.

What I hope you come away from this post understanding is that you can find godly, manly influences in places like books and videos and the like.  Introduce your sons to the men of the Bible.  Introduce them to godly men who preach and write.  Introduce them to historical and fictional godly men.

And then let them be men.

For us mamas, it is sometimes difficult to let our menfolk be manly because it often runs totally contrary to our personalities.  There is a buffalo on my wall.  There is war memorabilia all over my house.  My boys play rough and rowdy.  And I have learned to accept it.

Now to help you in your quest for raising men (or whatever else you might like to do with the money!)…

Here’s a chance to win a $25 Gift Certificate from Vision Forum!

{RSS & Email subscribers, click here to enter!}

Click here for the FEBRUARY SUBSCRIBER SPECIAL ~ Homemaking from the Heart Bundle!

Are you married?

Would you like to be someday?

Then this conference is for you!

Ladies, every marriage has its ups and downs.  No matter where you are – up or down – right now you can benefit from the Replenish Your Soul Conference.

It is a 3 day online marriage conference {November 1-3} featuring yours truly and many other favorite speakers from around the blogosphere.  Women like Connie from Smockity Frocks, Darlene from Time-Warp Wife, and Rachel from Finding Joy.

Even if you cannot attend all 3 days, you will still get a recording of every session with your ticket along with a swag bag of free goodies and any session notes and giveaways.

And exclusively for Raising Arrows readers,
you can buy your ticket for $2 off the listed price of $10.

Click here to get your ticket for just $8!

So, buy your ticket now and enjoy this exclusive discount for all my lovely readers!

Plus if you “like” the Replenish facebook page, you will get a FREE Daily Marriage Checklist I put together for the conference!

And, on Monday, October 24 (yes, this coming Monday), you can join in an awesome Twitter Party using the hashtag #Replenish11 {use TweetDeck or TweetChat to follow the conversation – they go FAST!}

I can’t wait to see you there!

Click here for the FEBRUARY SUBSCRIBER SPECIAL ~ Homemaking from the Heart Bundle!

Don’t forget!
The FREE Raising Leaders Webinar is
tomorrow at
8pm CST.

If you haven’t signed up yet, you can do so here:

Raising Leaders Webinar

At the end of the webinar you will have the opportunity to purchase many of the Raising-Leaders.com products, but today, you have the opportunity to WIN Raising-Leaders.com products!

That’s right, enter the giveaway below to win the
Raising Leaders, Not Followers ebook and audio package!

Here is what is included:

Raising Leaders, Not Followers (Ebook & MP3)

Teach Your Children “How to Think“ With Mentoring (Ebook & MP3)

Hop Off the Conveyor Belt – Tips and Stories (Ebook)

This package is wonderful!  I own all three ebooks and the audios as well.  They have proven to be a tremendous resource of high quality!

I hope you will join me Tuesday evening for this free webinar!

And here’s the giveaway!

Click here for the FEBRUARY SUBSCRIBER SPECIAL ~ Homemaking from the Heart Bundle!

The dishes were stacked by the sink with care…

and no messy water spills were to be found there.

Thanks to my new dish mat!

Our current home (we are still searching for a new rental...) has a dishwasher, but I’ve learned it just doesn’t make sense for a large family to do every single dish in the dishwasher, so we hold out the large bowls and casserole pans and of course, my beloved knives (and whatever else doesn’t fit). However, because I detest dish drainers (bulky mold catchers that they are), we were resorting to using a kitchen towel.

Now, I know my mom would probably chide me for not just drying the dishes as soon as they are washed and rinsed, but I actually like air-dried dishes (and I like the fact I don’t have to expend any energy to dry them!)

What I don’t like are the sopping wet kitchen towels that end up leaking onto my floor because let’s face it, when your main washing crew is a 14 year old boy and a 10 year old girl, you learn to expect this. However, take a look at this…

The entire counter is dry! The floor is dry! My dishes will soon be dry. And a short time after those dishes are put away, my dish mat will be dry and I can fold it up and slip it into my towel drawer for the next go round!

And I cannot wait to use it for canning next season!  Until then, It’s a great place to put my produce after I’ve washed it!

So, now that I’ve convinced you of your need for one of these nifty dish mats, let me tell you something wonderful…

You can win one!

That’s right. Raising Arrows has collaborated with a team of bloggers and Schroeder & Tremayne, Inc. (the dish mat company) to give away 33 of their 16×18″ dish mats!
{they also have an XL dish drying mat you can buy!}

Each blogger listed at the bottom of this post is featuring a certain color to giveaway,
so be sure to find your favorites and sign up on each blog to win!
{and by the way, these make WONDERFUL gifts!}

Raising Arrows is giving away RED!
Here’s how you sign up…

And here are the other blogs participating (enter all of them if you like!)…
A Slob Comes Clean –Coastal Blue

Spell Outloud — Coastal Blue

Many Little Blessings –Sage Green

Finding Joy — Sage Green

Jimmie’s Collage — Gray

Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers — Gray

Crispy Not Crunchy — Black

Feels Like Home –Red

An Oregon Cottage — Cream

Mama’s Learning Corner — Black

Good luck everyone!

Click here for the FEBRUARY SUBSCRIBER SPECIAL ~ Homemaking from the Heart Bundle!

The winner is of the True Christian Motherhood Giveaway is:

Heather Griffis

Congratulations!

But you can still purchase your own copy of True Christian Motherhood by clicking on the ebook icon below!

And in even greater news…

Baby Garin is now officially 1 year old!

He’s walking…

He’s talking (sort of)…

And he’s super cute!

and well loved!

Click here for the FEBRUARY SUBSCRIBER SPECIAL ~ Homemaking from the Heart Bundle!