Salt Lake City, UT (Vocus/PRWEB ) May 1, 2008 — Rachel Coleman, host of Signing Time, has been nominated for the ‘’Outstanding Performer in a Children’s Series,'’ as part of the 35th Annual Daytime Entertainment Emmy® Awards.

“When I first heard the news, I asked someone to double-check … and then I called my mom! I am honored, excited and so happy about this opportunity,” said Coleman. “Being nominated for an Emmy Award is a great acknowledgement for all the good work that our little company does and provides great recognition that our series makes a real difference for so many families.”

Coleman co-created Signing Time as a means to teach children to communicate using American Sign Language (ASL). As the mother of a daughter who is deaf, and another daughter with both cerebral palsy and spina bifida, sign language has played a central role in their family. Coleman has spent the last seven years making sign language fun and accessible for all children through the Signing Time series, which includes award-winning DVDs, music CDs, books, flashcards and a public television show. Coleman, who is also a singer and songwriter, has written all the original songs featured in the entire series.

This year’s ceremony will be broadcast live on ABC on Friday, June 20th, from Hollywood’s Kodak Theatre (8:00 p.m. ET – West coast tape delay).

Signing Time has become the largest library of entertaining signing videos of its kind and offers an unparalleled multi-sensory approach to teaching children ASL. Signing Time reaches children with diverse learning styles and encourages interaction through signing, singing, speaking and moving.

ABOUT TWO LITTLE HANDS PRODUCTIONS

Two Little Hands Productions produces and distributes Signing Time, a captivating and entertaining DVD series and public television program. Signing Time was created to make American Sign Language fun and easy for children of all ages and abilities. Two Little Hands Productions also produces the popular Baby Signing Time DVDs and CDs that have played a prominent role in the recent “baby signing” trend.

Two Little Hands Productions is located in Salt Lake City, Utah. For more information, please visit www.signingtime.com.

If you haven’t seen or used these videos, take a look below. Well done, Rachel - and good luck at the Emmy Awards!

So make some tea and poached eggs on toast with your children, and read some rhymes! Check out this site for free copies of Mother Goose’s Rhymes complete with beautiful illustrations, and also visit the Mother Goose Society online.

In addition to the legendary Mothers Goose listed on the Society’s site, our family found out that one of my ancestors, Joanna Blessing Towne, was know in the Boston area as “Mother Goose” to the locals. In fact, it was her sister who was married to a Goose. Very confusing… Tragically, Joanna’s daughters were caught up in the Witch Trials in Salem years afterward. Rebecca and Mary were hanged, Sarah’s life was spared after nine months confinement in deplorable conditions.

The Catholic Home Education Fair will be postponed for one week because we’re all under the weather here. That gives you one more week to get your entries in!

In this episode, I sit down to chat with my good friend, Jennifer Sinclair. Jennifer is a designer and owner of Miracoli Beads. Her husband, John, has just returned from his second tour in Iraq, and together they have three sons. We talk about raising saints and the importance of creating a strong foundation in faith.



Links for this episode:

Miracoli Beads
Mater Amabilis
Catholic Heritage Curricula
Donna Young
4 Real Forums
Magnum Opus (email support list for Catholic moms of four and more)
Homeschool Legal Defense Association (HSLDA)
Catholic Art Works (click on “homeschool” in the paintbox for a 50% discount)
EWTN

and the Sony ICD-SX25 Digital Voice Recorder, which is just the kind of recorder Jennifer was wishing for!
*Renaissance Radio Episodes are available for free on the The Renaissance Academy website for one month from publication date. If you have missed an episode, or if you would like a copy of any episode for your audio library, you may purchase a CD on our website.

You can support this ministry by visiting our sponsors:

NAVIGO Magazine
Simple Gifts Magazine
Blessed Bears ™

or by purchasing Nissa’s Book, The Simple Gifts Home Management Book.

In this episode, I speak with Marianne Burnham, mother of five from Vermont. Her sons make up the “Burnham Brothers Band”, which takes the family back and forth to New York. We talk about their unique lifestyle and how homeschooling fits in.



Links for this episode:

Marianne’s Personal Blog
Marianne’s Homeschooling Blog
Burnham Bros. Band
Phillip Burnham Design
4 Real Learning Message Boards

And check out this video of the boys rehearsing “Skipping Stones”

*Renaissance Radio Episodes are available for free on the The Renaissance Academy website for one month from publication date. If you have missed an episode, or if you would like a copy of any episode for your audio library, you may purchase a CD on our website.

You can support this ministry by visiting our sponsors:

NAVIGO Magazine
Simple Gifts Magazine
Blessed Bears ™

or by purchasing Nissa’s Book, The Simple Gifts Home Management Book.

Dear Alice, at Cottage Blessings, has written “A Haystack Full of Needles: A Catholic Home Educator’s Guide to Socialization”. It’s due out this spring from Hillside Education.

I wish that I’d had this book when we made the decision to keep our children at home eleven years ago. I can’t wait ’til spring!

Instructions posted at These Forty Days

Welcome to the first edition of Renaissance Fair!

Lent has begun, turning our hearts and minds to ways in which we can improve our lives, making us better disciples of Our Lord, better examples of Christian living to our children. In our home, we traditionally eschew fancy menus in favour of plain food. On Wednesdays, following a habit that began for me at my Catholic high school, we eat soup and bread for our main meal. Fridays are days of fast throughout Lent for the adults, and for our older children, if they wish.

These are outward signs of compassion for our brothers and sisters in this country, and in other parts of the world, who have little to eat every day of the year. We also try to incorporate ethnic dishes to deepen that compassion with the poor and hungry throughout the world. For instance, we may eat red beans and rice to remember our universal family in Central and South America, or Vegetarian Bobotie for the people of Central Africa, or Fried Rice and Egg with Nuoc Cham for our brothers and sisters in VietNam.

This opens the door to a host of studies including those of the culture, dress, and history of each region. It also provides an opportunity to talk about the Church in those countries - its growth, what daily practice looks like in a given cultural context, and the dangers that some face as a result of practicing their Faith.

Lent is also a time when many of us feel called to organise our lives, so that we can focus more clearly on living a life centered in Christ. This is especially true of our home schools. Teaching children of different ages can be challenging, and organisation is key. When we have teens in the mix, that challenge can amplify as we try to help them set goals, and keep careful records for their transcripts. Elena of My Domestic Church has some excellent resources to share. She has created a simple system for herself and her son Sam to track of his progress. You can also find some excellent reproducible homeschool help in this book.

Lent can also be a time for focusing our home schools on subjects that will intesify their uniquely Catholic characters. This might mean adding special devotional or prayer times throughout your day, integrating the Liturgical calendar more fully into your plans, or placing greater importance on learning the universal language of our church. Michelle Grunkemeyer has an incredible list of Latin resources on her website in this post entitled “Latin in Our Homeschools“.

For more Lenten inspiration, please visit These Forty Days. You’ll find articles on spiritual growth and practical strategies for simplifying your life, as well as resources to help your children grow in faith. There is an original fictional series which looks at Lent through Our Blessed Mother’s eyes. You’ll also find recipes for Wednesdays and Fridays throughout the season, and audio talks with women who will share their thoughts on and experiences of re-dedicating themselves to their married vocations, and how we can use Lent to that purpose.

I hope you’ll join us right back here next month for the next issue of Renaissance Fair, when we will focus on the coming of spring to our home schools, and a host of wonderful feasts, including the Resurrection of Our Lord.

If you would like to submit an article for next month’s fair, please click here.

A week or so ago, I asked what happened to the “Catholic Homeschooling Carnival”. I posted the question at 4Real Boards because there are so many Catholic home-educating moms with a lot more on the ball than I have. I wasn’t disappointed. It seems that the Catholic Homeschooling Carnival sort of faded away.

I’m still wondering why, at the same time that I feel a need for a Home Education Fair that is specifically Catholic. So, I have gone ahead and created a new carnival for Catholic home education. I sincerely hope that it will be well received and well attended. There is so much to be gained by learning from each other about home education that is steeped in the rich traditions of our Faith. There is such depth to Catholic tradition, that it is virtually inexhaustable, making the journey ever-fresh.

Please join the Renaissance Fair - Carnival of Catholic Homeschooling by placing the graphic above in your sidebar and linking it to this page. I warmly welcome your submissions for the first edition, which will appear on Thursday 7 February, right here on Renaissance Academy.

What say you?

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