How to Turn Your Guest Room into a Haven, Part 2

Last week I shared some tips to help make your guest room a little more comfortable to the weary traveler.  I have a few extra suggestions that may help you make your guest feel right at home!  These are all little things, but they can be easy to overlook.  Yet when you have taken the time to think through and prepare these things ahead of time, your guest will feel especially blessed to rest in your home!

–Power Strips.  These days, with so much technology, everything needs plugged in at night.  My husband and I each use our phones as alarm clocks, and we each travel with a tablet or laptop.  When you use those items all day in the car, you need to plug in at night.  Make sure the outlet(s) are uncovered and easily accessible, and even add a power strip so there is plenty of room for extra plugs.

–Iron and Ironing Board.  Check with your guest to see if they need access to the iron.

–Laundry Facilities.  Offer the use of your washing machine (if you have one – I don’t!), and try to have it empty or cleared off so the guest has room to wash and fold their laundry.

–Night Stand.  I always appreciate it when there is a table near the bed for my phone and eyeglasses to set on, along with a glass of water.  That way I know right where things are at in the night!

–Empty Drawers.  If your guest will be staying for more than a night, it’s so nice to leave an empty drawer or two so they can unpack their suitcase.  My husband despises living out of a suitcase, so he always unpacks, even for just one night.  But –this is hard to do unless you have a dedicated guest room!

–Wi-fi Password.  Most homes have a wireless network these days.  And if they are careful, the network is password protected.  A guest might feel awkward asking you to share the password.  But at the same time, when you have to pay for the data on your phone plan, being able to connect to a network is money-saving and helpful.  My husband makes a lot of phone calls in the van, and then needs to follow them up with an email when we arrive at our destination.  Its always so nice when the hostess has laid out the wireless password for us in the room, so that we know we are welcome on their network.

–Ask About Allergies.  If you are hosting your guests for a meal, inquire about any allergies or preferences.  We have been blessed to have no allergies and enjoy pretty much any food.  But sometimes when you travel you get the same meal quite a bit (usually it's spaghetti or lasagna).  We haven’t had that happen on this trip!  It just shows thoughtfulness if you ask your guest if they have eaten something quite a lot, or if they have preferences.  Right now with my pregnancy meals heavy on the tomatoes are not a good choice.  But I am not going to tell a hostess that, unless she asks me.

How about you?  Are you a frequent traveler?  What do you love to find in a guest room?  What have you done to your guest room to make it more special for traveling guests?  I'd love to hear your tips, suggestions, and experiences, too!

How to Turn Your Guest Room into a Haven (Tips from an Experienced Traveler)

How to turn your guest room into a haven – guest post by Andrea Hamilton

My family has just completed a three-month road trip.  We are missionaries on deputation to start a church in New York City.  All of this traveling means we have stayed in a lot of hotels, guest rooms, and “Prophet’s Chambers” (guest housing at the church).  The Lord has been truly good to us and we haven’t stayed in any bad or yucky places, but we HAVE learned a few things about what makes an exceptional guest room.

Romans 12:13 tells us to we are to distribute to the necessity of saints, and be given to hospitality.  1 Peter 4:9 says, “Use hospitality one to another without grudging.”  And Hebrews 13:2 reminds us to “Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.”

I am so thankful for God’s people all across this country who have lived these verses to my family.  They opened their homes in gracious hospitality, and welcomed us even though we were strangers to them.  They have shown us what a comfortable guest room looks like, and I can’t wait to get settled into our field (New York City) and hopefully have my own guest room to share with others!

Would you like to turn your guest room into a haven for weary travelers?  Here are some tips that come from my experience of living on the road.  A few simple things can really make your guest room stand out and show your guests an extra welcome – like family!

1. Invest in a good mattress. Don’t just throw a really old mattress into the guest room.  When someone has been traveling all day (or all week, or all month), their body is road weary.  Nothing feels better than a really comfortable night's sleep, and nothing is worse than lying there all night trying to get comfortable.  One less expensive way to give an old mattress a boost is to use a memory foam topper.

2. If possible, give the guests their own designated bathroom. If you have to share, make it clear when your family members normally bathe so there’s no conflict.  Let them know where extra towels are located.  Make a space in the tub for the guest’s toiletries so they don’t feel like they are invading.  (It also keeps guest children from using the wrong product by accident).

3. Use nightlights liberally. If nightlights are in place, the guest can always unplug them if they want more darkness.  But if there is no nightlight ready to go (in the bedroom, hallway, and bathroom), the guest has to search around for the outlet.  Even if they find an outlet, it only works if they have their own nightlight along!  This is particularly helpful if there are children in your guest party.  It really makes them feel more comfortable in a strange place!

4. Make sure there is plenty of bedding – blankets and pillows. Sometimes we come in as a family of six, and there are only pillows for four of us.  Sometimes I’m feeling congested and wish I could grab another pillow to prop up.  Sometimes I just get a little cold and want to throw another layer on the bed.  It’s always a blessing when the hostess has placed extra pillows and blankets in the closet, or has shown us where to find them.

5. Make space in the closet. I know that if you have a spare bedroom with an entire empty closet, you want to use it for storage.  And that’s great – but leave a space for the guest to hang their clothes.  If there is no closet available in your guest room, consider placing a hook over the door.  We travel with a clothes bar in the van, so all of our clothing is on hangers, but sometimes its hard to find a place to hang them inside the guest room.

To be continued next week…

Have you ever stayed overnight somewhere that was extremely comfortable?  What were some of the things that made it that way for you?

6 Ways Homeschooling Benefits Christian Families

I wanted to spend the month of June offering some practical advice and encouragement from homeschooling moms. I asked some ladies I knew if they would be willing to share some thoughts from their perspective.  This is the first of several that I will be sharing here.

As I read Michelle's words, there were several distinct benefits of homeschooling that stood out to me.  I will let you read Michelle's thoughts in her own words, then I will list the benefits of homeschooling for Christian families at the bottom of this post.

I have moved all of my homeschooling posts to christianhomeschoolfamily.com. You can go here to read this post at the new site.

Why I’m Teaching Creative Writing to My First Grader

Teaching creative writing as part of a first grade curriculum is not something I would have considered.  It's not really talked about much, and if it's taught at all it just a small integrated part of a language arts curriculum.

I have moved all of my homeschooling posts to christianhomeschoolfamily.com.

You can go here to read this post at the new site.

Don’t Judge a Book By Its Cover (My Thoughts on The Books I Purchased From the Bundle Sale)

The Build Your Bundle homeschool sale has ended; however, you can still purchase these products individually through their respective publisher's websites.

I got all of my products downloaded from the Build Your Own Bundle sale and took a look through them.

Let me just say – you can't judge a book by its cover!  Just to be helpful, I thought I'd go through what I bought and tell you what I thought in case it will help you make your final purchase decisions.  Obviously I didn't buy one of everything, but I'll tell you about all 30 of the items I got.

1. Frank Webster audio collection/Petticoat Warriors/Little Pioneers

I know my kids are going to like these.  I've just got to figure out some way to get them off the computer because my kids will not want to sit in front of the computer to listen.  Probably the best way to do that will be just to burn them to a CD

Found in: Boy's Bundle (Frank Webster collection), Girl's Bundle (Petticoat Warriors), 1st-3rd bundle #2 (Little Pioneers)

2. Considering God's Creation – Science curriculum

Love!  This is written out purposely for use with multiple ages, which is exactly what I was hoping to do this year (combine the kids into one class.) The lessons are laid out for the teacher to know exactly what to say (which is great since I never was the best at science.)  They are based on Scripture, which means there is a Scripture reading each day and a discussion of what the scripture says about the particular topics.  There are the basic lessons, along with student activities, plus a number of suggestions each day for “digging deeper” – like videos to watch, books to read, or experiments to perform.  Lots of learning styles are incorporated – hands-on, auditory, visual – with suggestions for activities to do that will involve all of the different learning methods.  I'm VERY happy with this purchase.

Found in: Charlotte Mason Bundle

3. Growing in Wisdom and Proverbs People

I loved these so much I did an entire post about them.  Read it here.  In short: they're going to be just the thing my young readers need for doing their daily devotions.  They make it easy for children to understand and apply the Scriptures without being watered down.

Found in: Character Bundle

4. American Wars Volume I

My kids are not old enough for it yet, but there is a WAR GAME in this package!  How fun is that?!

“You are the leader of a four-member reconnaissance team. You receive your orders at headquarters at the beginning of the game. The orders—make your way to the destination and collect all intel on enemy troop positions and troop movements that you can—then make it back to headquarters with that intel.”

 

Found in: Boy's Bundle

5. Delightful Planning – A Unit Study planner

I actually probably won't use the planning pages from this because I work best with my own (mad scientist type) methods.  But, the first half of the book is a great resource for learning about delight-directed learning, how to make it work, how to make sure you include everything you need for a well-rounded education, etc.  It's a good resource in that regard.

Found in: Unit Studies Bundle

6. Elementary Foundations – Parenting Wisdom for Ages 5-8
Home Improvement: The Parenting Book You Can Read to Your Kids

Since these are parenting books (which means lots of words and no quick skimming 🙂 ) I haven't looked at these in great detail.  I really felt I didn't need to because they are from the National Center for Biblical Parenting.  I've read their Motivate Your Child (review here) and Motivate Your Child Action Plan books and found them both to be top-notch.  I'm not expecting anything less from these books.

Found in: 1st-3rd Bundle #2

7. Human Body Detectives

I chose the “immunity” one, but I'm considering going back for another purchase.  These just look cool.  The .zip file was LOADED with files when I opened it up.  Enough to keep us busy for quite a while.  (And I don't really know when we'll even get to it since I'm planning on the other science curriculum for the school year – this would make a fun summer study maybe.)

Found in: 1st – 3rd #1

8. Character Collection

I'm really excited about getting ALL these good books for my kids to read.  My only problem is figuring out how to get them into a format where they can read them. I don't really want them sitting at the computer to read (and I doubt they want to either.)  I've gotta get a little techy and figure out how to send them to some kind of cloud so I can at least put them on the Kindle or iPad.

Found in: 1st -3rd #1 and Character Bundle

9. My Journey With Jesus Christ

This is a nice little book that teaches kids about God and their relationship with Him.  It helps them understand concepts like prayer, God's promises, and learning to let God speak to them through His word.  I would not use this for personal devotions, but I would not mind my kids going through it to grasp these concepts.  I think the strongest takeaway from the book is teaching how to pray by confessing sin, praising God for his blessings, and bringing their petitions to God.  I also wish they had a King James version of this since that is what our family uses.

Found in: Character Bundle

10. Warfare by Duct Tape – beginner

I want to love this, and I know there are tons of other people out there who do love it and their boys use it regulary — but I just have to be honest with myself.  As “cute” as it is (if I can use that term about little boys doing battle with swords and shields), I know that in our family we will probably never get around to getting the materials needed (PVC pipe and PVC foam — along with cardboard and duct tape of course!)  I think when my boys are older and able to take their own initiative to find what they need to craft their weapons they will love it, but right now I just know I will probably never help them with this (brutal honesty here!  Hey a mom can't do everything!)

Found in: Boy's Bundle and Secular Bundle

11. 28 Days to Timeliness

I actually got this because I needed a couple extra products to finish building my bundle.  It looks like a great book; I'm just not sure I will have time to read it (ha!)

Found in: Mom Bundle #1

12. Creation vs. Evoluation: Learning How Science Supports the Bible

This wasn't as in-depth as I was expecting.  It is scripture-based, which is good, but I was hoping for more detail than it included.

Found in: Middle School Bundle

13. Family Bible Bites

This contains a lot of fun hands-on activities to help make your family Bible time and scripture memorization more…well…memorable.  I'm not sure we'll use it as we already have a good system in place, but it has lots of good ideas.

Found in : Character Bundle

14. Princess Training

There are parts I like and parts I could easily skip.  If you are a mom in need of some direction with training your daughter to be a godly young lady, this could be a good resource.  I don't think I will personally end up using it, but it does have some creative ideas for moms of girls.

Found in: Girls' Bundle

15. Elementary Spelling Fun: 1-3

I couldn't believe this is 3 YEARS worth of spelling!  That's a great deal!

I like that the spelling words are based on scripture, and that it also contains handwriting practice with Scripture copywork. (Great for memorization too!)  The daily activities for practicing the spelling words are switched up every day to keep things exciting.  The only thing I'm not sure about is how well the spelling words are going to match up to the kids' phonics lessons.  I like to teach things “in order” (even though I know that's not always necessary or the best way, but it drives my brain crazy to skip around.)  If you're not terribly picky about the spelling words perfectly matching up with your phonics lessons, I think this is a great deal and a good curriculum.

Found in: 1st – 3rd Bundle #2

16. Your Business Math Pet Store

My kids aren't old enough for this yet, but this is going to be SO FUN!  Why settle for boring exercises to learn business math, when it can be so fun?!  It will probably help the kids solidify the concepts even better anyway since they are actually learning how to keep a start-up business afloat through a simulated pet store ownership.

Found in: Charlotte Mason Bundle

17. Lads and Ladies of Wisdom

This is a really good character training curriculum. It's better than I thought it would be, to be honest.  I think we'll get some good use out of it.

Found in: Character Bundle

18. Teaching Science and Having Fun

This one blew my expectations out of the water.  I almost didn't buy it, but I'm so glad I did!  It is so much more in-depth than I expected it to be.

It gives tons of suggestions for teaching based on what style best fits your family and helps you know what you should be teaching to what age chidlren.  If you like a unit study approach it gives suggestions for teaching phonics, grammar, spelling, etc. along with what you're currently studying in science.  So helpful!

Found in: Mom Bundle #1

19. People of the Bible Volume 1 and 2

I could live easily without this one.  If you've never done any sort of notebooking before and need some guidance, this could be helpful, but I didn't really find it necessary for us.

Found in: Notebooking Bundle and Character Bundle

20. WriteShop

This is another product that I feel like I got a really good value from! I never dreamed I could teach my 1st and 2nd grader creative writing!  I also love how this is going to integrate language arts as well as penmanship.  They're learning what I consider the absolute essentials (language and penmanship) as well as getting some great practice on the “extras” (creative writing.)  I plan to use this curriculum this coming school year.

Found in: 1st-3rd Bundle #2

Time is running out to make your final decisions!  I hope my thoughts on what I bought will help you out a little bit!

Purchase a Pre-made bundle here.

OR

Mix and Match to Build Your Own Bundle here.

Helping Young Children Develop Their Own Relationship with God

It has been the desire of my husband and I to instill a habit in our children of spending time in the Word of God and prayer daily.

I want them to grow in their knowledge of and trust in God, and I want them to get to know him in a personal way.

Before they could read, I would invite them to join me as I spent my own time studying the scriptures and I would read aloud to them.

Now that the older two can read, I want them to start spending personal time alone with God.

But the question I had was how to help young children understand what they were reading!

I started out by jotting down questions from the day's passage for them to answer.  Then I found that I needed to explain certain words for them.  Trying to get all this written down ahead of time for them was becoming time-consuming and I often didn't have it ready for them when a new day began and they were ready to start on their Bible reading.

I found a couple different options that I recommend for parents who are trying to help their children develop their own quiet times with God.

Option one:

Exploring the Bible: A Bible reading plan for kids

I didn't want a children's devotional that was basically a cutesy story with a Bible verse to go with it.  I wanted something that would actually help my children understand how to study the Bible for themselves, and this book fits the bill really well.

Exploring the Bible takes children on a tour through the Bible, laying a foundation for their knowledge of God and the gospel.

It contains:

• Daily Bible readings
• Prayer points
• Memory verse
• Discussion questions
• Space for sermon notes and reflections

This particular book says it's for ages 6-12.  My children started using it when they were about 8 years old, and it was a tiny bit challenging for them even at that age.

Option 2:

Once children are a little older, they can start studying out a passage for themselves without specific prompts.

This Quiet Time Journal helps kids learn how to ask themselves questions as they read.

This journal is not a Bible reading plan – it is meant to be used with whatever passage of scripture your child chooses to study. This is a great option for older kids or teens who are becoming more and more independent.

I love to see my kids pick up on the blessing of having access to scripture and getting to know God better from it! I hope these tools will help your kids do the same!

There is no reason to wait to get started teaching your children to spend time developing their own relationship with God!