I’m sorry – I just cant help myself. If you’re addicted to dock-jumping photos too, get your fix here and here.

For More Wordless Wednesday, please go here or here.

If you’ve been reading my blog for a while, you know about the neighborhood book club my daughter initiated last year. She recruited friends to help and it turned into a very successful and appreciated service, despite my minimal involvement. A regional newspaper even did a feature story on her project.

In March, I nominated her for the Kohl’s Kids Who Care Scholarship Program, which recognizes and rewards young volunteers (ages 6-18) who help make their communities a better place. By the end of May, we were informed that she was named a store winner. And last month she was notified she was selected one of the regional scholarship winners. She’s with excellent company. Check out the national winners. Pretty inspirational volunteers.

Our community newspaper interviewed Darla and the two friends she recruited to help with BookWorm Wednesday, and published a front-page story to recognize their service. We’re so proud of her accomplishment, and impressed that organizations and communities are recognizing young people for their contributions to society.

It just gives a glimmer of hope in the world.

Other torch-passers:
Where’s the Sun – Is it all too much?
Strengths Movement – Future is in the Voices of Our World’s Youth
Smart Girls Know – Smart Girls Know Affirmation
Pensieve – Time: Another Four-Letter Word

What does passing the torch mean to you? Is it teaching? Passing traditions? Or good news about youth? Join us each week for Pass the Torch Tuesday.Former PTT posts.

BookWorm Wednesday Series:

A Teacher in the Making
A BookWorm Wednesday Halloween
BookWorm Wednesday Potion Recipe
Buy with Amazon and Donate to BookWorm Wednesday
BookWorm Wednesday Gets Some Press
BookWorm Wednesday Featured

Congratulations to our winners! And please consider asking your local library to carry these fantastic resources. Librarians are often looking for recommendations from their patrons.

The winner of Great Colonial Projects You Can Build Yourself is Comment #187 – Tamara Bennington

And the winner of Tools of the Ancient Greeks is Comment # 3 – Cindi

Thanks everyone for playing!

I have two outstanding Kris Bordessa books to give away this week. These are excellent resources for anyone wanting to boost kids’ interest in history. Both books are project-oriented and make learning fun. Kris writes in an easy-to-understand and interesting way, sharing little-known facts about each historical era. Illustrations make the projects straight-forward – most needing very few materials to complete.

I’ve written about the colonial decoding project Darla made with Pringle’s cans. This project was one of dozens of hands-on activities in Great Colonial Projects You Can Build Yourself. Did you know that spies were crucial to the colonists, and a large part of the reason we won the American Revolution? We also made a secret mask for messages and had fun giving each other notes to decode.

My son’s favorite project was creating and using an abacus. He learned how to do this by reading one of the 15 activities in Tools of the Ancient Greeks: A Kid’s Guide to the History & Science of Life in Ancient Greece. It was eye-opening to read about the incredible contributions the ancient Greeks made to science and technology.

Lucky for you, I’m giving away one copy of each of these books (two winners.) They’re recommended for ages nine and up. Our kids are 9 and 11, and both books were a perfect fit for reading level and interest.

To be considered for the contest, please leave a explaining which book you would like the most, and how you would use it. You can participate even if you don’t have a blog. Just make sure you leave a working email when you leave your comment. I’ll choose the winner at random after 5 p.m. CST on Friday, August 1. US addresses only. Thanks for stopping by!

We host regular giveaways for parents and educators. Please consider signing up for updates by email or feed. We will never spam you or give out your address.

Be sure to check out all the giveaways this week a the Bloggy Giveaways Carnival! This post is a part of this week’s Carnival of Homeschoolers, as well as the Carnival of Cool Homeschoolers. Both offer a wealth of information. Be sure to check them out!

One!

Two!

Three!

Jump!

Weee!

Splash!

Gotta love dock-jumping.  And the husband that has so much fun with his kids.
Each weekend I share ways I’m enjoying life and appreciating small gifts. This post is also a part of Fussy’s Happiness Project every Thursday.

When I was contacted to review Kris Bordessa’s excellent hands-on history books, I was thrilled. The timing was perfect, as we’d planned to do some light homeschooling throughout the summer months.

Earlier this week, I wrote about the decoding project we did from Great Colonial Projects You Can Build Yourself. But my son’s favorite project was this abacus he learned how to make and calculate with from Tools of the Ancient Greeks: A Kid’s Guide to the History & Science of Life in Ancient Greece.

My nine-year-old easily read the interesting Greek history behind the abacus, as well as the directions for gathering the materials and making one. It took us a little while to figure out how to calculate, but that was half the fun. And showing adults how he can use it is one of his greatest pleasures.

Fun project and awesome book! (Watch for giveaways for both of these books in the next week!)