Adventures in Mama-Land

Luckily, their online offerings are still available, so I’m taking this opportunity to recharge the Kobo and download five exciting books free – well, I don’t know if they’re all exciting, but one is sure to be a winner.  Here’s what’s going on the Kobo tonight: Two books by my high school classmate, Cory Doctorow, one fiction, one non-fiction: Context and The Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow   Plus three food books: Love in a Dish ...and Other Culinary Delights A collection of classic food writing from MFK Fisher, the classic food writer herself, a foodie before there ever was such a thing, from the 1930s to the 1990s.  I have trouble reading “old writing”… the formal tone, the belaboured descriptions.  It all just FEELS dusty.  But I’m definitely going to give this a real try, because everybody who is anybody in food writing references her as an influence somewhere along the line.   Heirloom: Notes from an Accidental Tomato Farmer By Tim ...

$100 birthday gift card that I can ONLY spend on books for my Kobo (plus assorted coupon codes here and here that get me 25-30% off – oh, I just noticed they have one right on the front page, too).  What a challenge!  If it was a real bookstore card, I might waste it on Melissa & Doug stuff, like the time I bought the magnetic skeleton play set – which wasn’t exactly a waste because they still love it…).  This also comes at a good time, because I’m not really loving the Kobo, and I suspect that getting a few new books for it may be just the ticket, as they say. Warning:  Some of the choices here are religious-freaky-weirdo stuff, because the library doesn’t carry those.  It’s kind of funny; I don’t believe in conspiracies, but if it’s a book about atheism or science or psychology or being gay or trans or polyamourous or anything of a liberalish non-traditional kind of nature, they have it in spades.  But if it’s about God, faith or the Bible (or – ...

Just came across this site, and I thought I’d share it:  Primarily Reading , by retired teacher Gloria Lapin. As a FREE alternative to Bob Books and other primary readers, I like the fact that the site offers both phonics-based and (Dolch) sight word-based easy readers available for download in both PDF and my new favourite, ePub format for your eReader!!!  (like my Kobo) No waiting for books to arrive, just download and go…. and it’s FREE.  There are a few super-cheap ebooks for sale on the site as well, as well as links to other items for sale. These look like a perfect easy read for Naomi Rivka – as well, possibly, as a decent beginning-read for Gavriel Zev.  The site also has games, activities and suggestions for beginning readers. If you’re looking for something a little more comprehensive (beginner to advanced), and still free, you could also try Progressive Phonics – but those materials aren’t available in ePub yet; only PDF for the time being. ...

In honour of Parshas Balak – a parsha story kids can read for themselves! It’s a printable PDF easy reader mini-book, this time for a bit more of an advancing reader.  Naomi (aged almost 6.5) was able to get through this bookie cover to cover in about ten minutes without much difficulty. I’m making it available in two formats – I printed it, then decided I wanted it on my Kobo (ideally, I would have figured this out FIRST, to save paper), so I reformatted the text into the weency 9cm x 12.5cm page size the Kobo demands (because scrolling around a larger PDF page is a big pain; ditto tilting the page to make the view wider). Download this and many other mini-books and parsha/holiday resources from my Limudei Kodesh (Jewish Studies) page, here .  (scroll down or search the page for “Balak”) For general-studies downloads and printables, including bilingual Hebrew-English science resources, click here .

I guess I’m feeling week with this week’s minor infusion of cash, because I gave in to yet another impulse and invested in an eBook reader (obnoxiously called an ereader for short). It’s a Kobo Touch, and it’s purple… most stores are sold out of the good colours, but I think purple is perfect.  And it’s quilted. What’s on it, so far? Library Freebies (expire in 3 weeks): Moonlight on the Magic Flute (Magic Tree House book) Beverly Cleary – A Girl from Yamhill (her memoir) Helena Andrews – Bitch is the New Black Jen Calonita – Secrets of my Hollywood Life (now you know my secret – when I’m super-tired, I love reading “Young Adult” fiction… aren’t we ALL young adults, at heart???) Freebies : John Holt – Common Objections to Homeschooling ( this page , converted to a PDF) McGuffey’s First Eclectic Reader (Naomi Rivka’s current reading book) Practical Lessons in the Use of English for Grammar Schools, by Mary F. Hyde The Seven Little Sis...

Welcome to my Limudei Kodesh / Jewish Studies copywork and activity printables page.  As of June 2013, I am slowly but surely moving all my printables over to 4shared because Google Docs / Drive is just too flaky for me. What you’ll find here: Weekly Parsha Copywork More Parsha Activities More Chumash / Tanach Activities Yom Tov Copywork & Activities Tefillah Copywork Pirkei Avos / Pirkei Avot Jewish Preschool Resources Other printables! For General Studies printables and activities, including Hebrew-English science resources and more, click here . For Miscellaneous homeschool helps and printables, click here . If you use any of my worksheets, activities or printables, please leave a comment or email me at Jay3fer “at” gmail “dot” com, to link to your blog, to tell me what you’re doing with it, or just to say hi!  If you want to use them in a school, camp or co-op setting, please email me (remove the X’s) for rates. If you just want to say Thank You,...