12 Tips for Teaching Boys

This article by Michael Thompson has 12 great tips for teaching boys. He is mainly talking to school teachers I think, but much of it can be applied to anyone trying to teach boys anything at all. Even bible study with the family in the evening could be better if you knew how your boys learn. Thanks to Hal and Melanie Young over at Raising Real Men for linking to this!

*BONUS* I just read another great one posted over at Raising Real Men called Boys Need Heroes. Spot on!

Morning Bars

I made these for breakfast yesterday and they were SO DELICIOUS! Thanks Tricia for posting the recipe and photos!

Morning Bars

3/4 cup butter, softened

1 cup brown sugar

1 1/3 cups flour

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/2 cup rolled oats

10 oz jelly (black raspberry jam is best!)* (I used Seedless Blackberry)


1. Cream butter and sugar.

2. Add all other ingredients.

3. Do not grease the pan prior to baking (8x8 or 9x9).

4. Press out half of mixture into bottom of pan.

5. Cover with black raspberry preserves.

6. Cover top with remainder of oatmeal mixture (you can sort of press out large pieces and drop it on top).

7. Bake at 400 for 25 minutes.

8. Cut into squares (about 1 in) immediately after taking it out of the oven. Let cool (can eat them still warm)

You can also double the recipe. The bars freeze nicely - then can be warmed in the microwave.

*the jam can be hard to find at Walmart. Publix and Kroger usually have it.

I love it.

You may have tangible wealth untold;
Caskets of jewels and coffers of gold.
Richer than I you can never be-
I had a mother who read to me.

Originally posted here.

Overwhelmed?

Can't seem to get it all done? Committed to activities that keep you from getting things done at home? Kendra says one of the best pieces of advice she received was "Just stay home."

Now, we can take this too far of course and be so centered on our family that we never think to go out and serve others. Or, we can shelter our kids so much that they don't know how to interact with people that don't think like their family. But, there is a real temptation these days to "run, run, run." Sometimes you just need to hear that it is ok to stay home and train your kids. Love on them. Have time to read books. Teach them to help with household tasks. Keep your home running smoothly (or as smoothly as it can with little ones about :0).

Can't Stop Reading

Take a look at Preschoolers and Peace. A friend mentioned it to me recently and it has so many terrific ideas and suggestions. The site has specifics about homeschooling, but it would be helpful to anyone that has a preschooler in the house.

Raising Real Men

I am crazy about this book. Raising Real Men is an excellent resource for anyone with sons. It is endorsed by:
Dr. Tedd Tripp (We loved Shepherding a Child's Heart!)
Dr. R. C. Sproul, Jr.
Chris Klicka
Douglas Wilson (We loved Future Men!)
J. Micheal Smith Esq.
Kevin Swanson

There are more great reviews over here and a helpful summary here.

Understood Betsy

We just finished Understood Betsy tonight! I loved it! I was reading it to Aiden and Alex as part of their Sonlight Read Aloud books. The boys are 5 and 7 right now and some of the language was bit tough and the sentences were sometimes long, and yet I think they really liked it! It was probably the toughest book that I have read to them so far. I read to them at many levels, but sometimes I like to read one that stretches them a bit. This was a great story for that. Read a few of the Amazon reviews. They summarize it much better than I can in the few minutes I have to post!