Stephanie Laurens Printable Book List

[Ceola Roefaro]

First and foremost, every good study begins with books! I gathered the books from this list and put them in a basket in our living room for the children to read independently throughout the week. We grabbed a few to read together at Morning Time and I would ask the children to orally narrate what I read. We also used these books during our apple tea party and throughout the week as a reference when questions came up about apples and for art inspiration.

We focused on the poem After Apple Picking by Robert Frost. I pulled the poetry printable from Stephanie Hathaways Apple Unit Study and put it in our Morning Time Menu. We read the poem each morning and discussed unfamiliar words, the meaning of the poem, and how different aspects of it made us imagine and feel.

One morning I set up an Apple Tea Time with a spread of apple slices, cookies, cheese, crackers, and almonds. We had cinnamon tea, read books from our book basket, and watched a few apple videos that were shared in the Apple Unit.

After a few days of my children soaking in all the information, I asked them to give me a few sentences of what they have learned. I wrote what they said in their nature notebooks and they drew/painted a picture to illustrate it.

We cut open a few varieties of apples and using the Anatomy of an Apple printable from the Apple Unit, we separated the pieces into piles. Then we ate them and talked about how the different varieties tasted.

What would an apple study be without some baking? This week we made apple crisp and apple pie. Children love being in the kitchen. They are gaining so much while peeling, cutting, measuring, following directions, setting the timer, and most of all, being together in a shared experience.

If you enjoyed this Apple Study, you'll love my full Autumn nature curriculum, Treehouse Nature Study: Autumn. This 13-week seasonal nature study includes all of the essential elements of a Charlotte Mason curriculum. It is a gentle guide meant to invite various ages to connect with each other and the world around them through living books, nature notebooking, hands-on projects, and beauty subjects such as poetry, picture study, and folk songs.

If you are working with us on the 40 Bags in 40 Days challenge, you might be looking for suggestions of places in your home to clean. I've compiled this list of 79 areas and will add to it as we think of more. Think of it as your go-to checklist when working on your 40 Bags (or more or less). If you can think of more ideas, list them in the comments!

Whether you have a big or small kitchen, I think it is a good idea to break up this area into sections. Ditch things that are expired, have missing pieces, or are broken but also things that you have too many of, even if you like them. You don't need 10 different travel coffee mugs (even if you got them for free!), you probably only need one or two. You don't need 8 different styles of drinking glasses, pick one or two and go with it. Here are some examples of places to clean out:

In a perfect world, my foyer would always be clean. In real life, it is so hard to keep clean! Sort through the things you have stored here, look for duplicates, things you don't wear, or sizes you don't need. Take out of season items and put them in a "summer" or "winter" bin. Keep one or two pairs of shoes and a coat or two out but put the rest in a larger closet.

Many people use their bedroom as a shove-all place (raises hand, guilty). But your bedroom should be the place where you go to relax. Clothes seem to take over. Just remember, if you don't wear it, get rid of it.

You may have collections of glasses or china or linens. Try to keep these at a minimum if possible and only keep what you use. If you have something nice, you should use and enjoy it instead of keeping it in storage your whole life.

They are also notorious for storing stuff out of sight that you will never use again. If you don't use it, you probably don't need it. If you might use it, take note and think about it, and if you still aren't using it a year later, consider donating it. Remember you are not a store and things can be replaced. If you are hanging onto it because you just might maybe need it some day, it isn't worth the space it is taking up.

Looking for a list of items that you can't see but are taking over your life? Here are some "non-stuff" areas to declutter. Want to join us on a challenge to decrapify your home and simplify? Join our 40 BAGS IN 40 DAYS challenge.

Please help. I have.3 in college. I have collected 10 large bins, 10 moving boxes of all their artcwork, school work, etc. How do I even begin? How do I decide what to keep and what is best way to store. So overwhelming.

great ideas, as I talked to friends about the site we decided you need to add a room: the office -- our suggestions are
top of desk, top of tables, and drawers
bookcases
top of file cabinets and labels on drawers (get rid of all those magnets)
file drawers one at a time -- toss all that paper you don't need
piles of junk on the floor

This is a great project for this terrible weather. Since my trash is not being picked up due to the weather and I cannot get out due to my unplowed road,the stuff may stack up for a few days. I need to convince my husband that 95% of the garage clutter is his!

Thank you to my son's partner, Lexie, for showing me this challenge. I have loads of clutter and I am downsizing in the next 3 moths, so this has come at exactly the right time for me. Some days I won't be able to do anything because I have moderate M.E./depression/a life, lol but I'll do the best that I can. hugs

I downsized after ending a 3 year relationship in April 2014. Separating the household goods with the ex. Inspired me to live minimally. I donated quite a few of my household items, furniture, inherited items from my grandmother and anything typically that would have a better purpose in another person's home. I am now in a studio participating in Lent, 40 bags 40 Days event and purging from this suggested list of 79 hot spots. I'm am blessed to have found your blog. Good luck to everyone.namaste!

YaY! This post came just the right time, I'll go ahead and start here at work, I have plenty of multiple copies of "stuff" and will be more than happy to recycle it. I did this 40 days 40 bags in my home, actually I had more than 40 bags and I dont even have kids, just me and my hubby, we are hoarders, well, getting good at getting rid of stuff though every year. Thank you for the motivation and Good Luck to all of us!

I started this today since winter is getting to me and the thought of having to do spring cleaning when spring starts did not settle with me, So I figure I can get this done and then I get to focus on the entire outside when the snow is finally gone.
I think this is such a terrific idea and it really feels great getting something accomplished and knowing you are donating stuff (today I did my front foyer, and I got 1 1/2 black garbage bags to donate). My husband is also on board with this and I printed him off the printable as well so he can break his garage in 40 sections, honestly I think he will need 80 lol
Thanks again for posting this, it is going to be awesome when I get to the final day ?

Thank you, I AM going to do this this year! I so much need it! We moved to a slightly bigger house 3,5 years ago, and there are still cardboxes unopen! In the meantime the rooms of the children got so full of toys they can hardly play there... My bedroom is a disaster! Aaaarrrgghh! I am doing it!

I read at Carrots for Michaelmass I nice tip a couple of years ago: do one wall of the house per day. So, all that is on that one wall and the wall itself will be cleant that day. I think I will use that strategy. I'll keep you posted!

I too am grateful to have learned of this site. I started de-cluttering two weeks ago and love how it feels. I'm not counting bags very well, but my recycling bins are filling faster, and I have quite a lot going to Goodwill. I have found a college-bound son of a coworker to receive the dorm sheets we no longer need. I've liberated shelf space! My family is 100% behind me in this effort, and have pitched in too!

I started this late but still determined to get in my 40 bags by Easter. Spent the last week THINKING about how to get started. YIKES!! Started yesterday and wrapped up 10 bags. Could barely sleep last night for planning to do at least that many again today. Got up early, and have started already. My biggest hindrance was jut throwing good to new things away that I know that people can use and would want. I found a site that will come and pick these things up and put them to good use. That was so liberating I can't stop thinking, planning and doing.
Off to do more - just had my coffee break!!

I love that you are doing this! I started purging my house in mid-December and I'm still at it. I don't do it every day but I make up for it on purge days. I fill at least two bags every time and I visit Good Will to drop off donations weekly.I had no idea I had so much unnecessary stuff.

I am always discovering an under-used cabinet full of stuff (empty glass jars), clothing the kids don't like or have outgrown and areas that are problems but I've gotten used to them so I have "blind spots" (front closet).

I started -- even if you get busy and can't do it one day, it's helpful to have the mindset. Know what I decluttered? A "technology drawer" full of old chargers and cables that are worthless now. Gone!! Also, I decluttered a pile of old boxes that contained my boyfriend's Marine Corps photos and such; they were just sitting there gathering dust, and now I'm working on a great project for him for Veteran's Day. Wouldn't have found it without the declutter challenge!

This is such a fabulous idea! I have cleaned three spaces thus far, and keep going back to look at them since they look so AMAZINGLY CLEAN AND TIDY. So encouraging to continue the journey. ? Taking things little by little is doable. Thanks!!

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