Tag Archives: Kindle

Celebrate Easter with a Free eBook

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When I first read The 40 Days, I was struck by this charming, peaceful story of how Jesus might have spent the 40 days after He was resurrected and before He ascended into heaven. The fact that one of the main characters has developmental disabilities is a bonus, as is the fact that Jesus’ words in the story are supported by nearly 500 Bible verses.

In celebration of Easter, you can get this eBook free at Amazon for the Kindle and for only 99 cents at Barnes & Noble for the Nook. Don’t miss out! This offer is only good tomorrow (Easter Sunday) and April 1 and 2, 2013.

Stages of Homeschooling: Beginnings

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Hot off the press, it’s Stages of Homeschooling: Beginnings, almost  200-pages’ worth of my best homeschooling articles and essays collected especially for new homeschoolers as well as those who are thinking about joining the rapidly growing ranks of homeschooling parents.

This is the first of four eBooks in the Stages of Homeschooling series. The rest are:

Stages of Homeschooling: Enjoying the Journey (Book 2)

Stages of Homeschooling: Letting Go (Book 3)

Stages of Homeschooling: The Empty Nest (Book 4)

Stages of Homeschooling: Beginnings is available only through Amazon as a Kindle book. It’s $4.99, or free if you’re an Amazon Prime member.

Don’t have a Kindle? No worries: just download “Kindle for Your PC” (it’s free; step-by-step instructions are right here.)

Want more info? Here you go:

Are you thinking about homeschooling your child, or have you just recently begun homeschooling?

Are you looking for practical information from someone who’s lived the homeschooling life?

Do you need evidence (for yourself or for relatives and friends) of why you shouldn’t send your child to public school?

Are you looking for homeschool encouragement?

If you answered “yes” to even one of those questions, then Stages of Homeschooling: Beginnings is for you. Having spent 25 years homeschooling her four children (including one with special needs), writer Barbara Frank wants to encourage and inform those who are just beginning the homeschool journey.

This book is divided into seven sections:

  •  “Why Choose Homeschooling?” (Great reasons to homeschool your children)
  • “What’s Wrong with Public Schools?” (Why today’s public schools make homeschooling more attractive than ever)
  • “Advice for New Homeschoolers” (Homeschool how-to’s and suggestions)
  • “Surviving the Early Years” (Teaching your preschoolers)
  •  “Becoming a Homeschooling Parent” (Taking on your new role)
  • “Handling Doubts, Fears and Hurdles” (Because the prospect of homeschooling can be daunting, especially at the beginning)
  • “Nobody Told Me” (Barbara shares some unexpected benefits of homeschooling)

This book will show you that homeschooling is a great choice for your family.

E-Books and the Loss of “Deep Reading” Ability

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Over at the Homeschool Lounge, we’ve been having a discussion about eBooks and whether they’re popular with homeschooling parents and kids. I’m learning from other parents that many of them love eBooks, and that there are an increasing number of devices you can use to read them. It remains to be seen which eReaders will survive and which will wither on the vine.

The competition among eReaders is certainly heating up. Just today, BN.com dropped the price on its Nook (now $149-199) and Amazon responded by immediately cutting the price of its Kindle from $259 to $189. Now that the price wars have begun, more people will use eReaders, I’m sure.

I do wonder, though, if it’s good for us to be reading so many things on computers. This writer believes that we are losing the ability to “deep read.” He says we’re so used to being distracted by other things on the screen (hyperlinks, ads, etc.) when we read that we no longer become immersed in one piece of writing. Instead, we flit from topic to topic.

I’ve noticed this myself. Just yesterday I was reading an interesting biography of Katharine Hepburn. She had a 25-year-long affair with actor Spencer Tracy, who apparently cheated on Hepburn just as he cheated on his wife with Hepburn. Had I been reading an eBook or online article, there probably would have been a hyperlink to more information about the many women in Spencer Tracy’s life, and I probably would have clicked on it and gone off on yet another Internet bunny trail. But since I was reading an actual hardback book, I just thought, “I might look that up online sometime,” and continued reading the book. Score one for deep reading.

Right now, reading on the Kindle is not so different from reading a hardback book. I had the opportunity to play with a Kindle recently, and I can see why people like it. It’s very much like a print book in shape and usage. But while it’s similar in size, it holds many books, and you can easily buy more on impulse.

But according to Amazon, before long eBooks on the Kindle will have hyperlinks. Some believe there will also be ads. Then it will become just another way to read online, and the war on “deep reading” will continue.