Unschool Rules

Starting this blog to document our family’s homeschooling journey was as natural to me as breathing. I’ve blogged since about 2001, and I kept a “computer journal” even before that, back in the mid-1990s. I’ve used more systems than I can name (remember Angelfire? Geocities? Lycos? You know, those things we had before WordPress and Blogger and Tumblr?)… and I’ve worked on sites that didn’t even have a system, just a bunch of pages in Notepad that I’d edit HTML in by hand.

Disclosure: I was not paid as a contributor to iBlog, but I do receive a percentage of the purchase price when anyone buys a copy using my trackable link. I am SUPER proud of the work everyone has done, though, so if you purchase using my link and you aren’t satisfied with iBlog, let me know personally and I’ll be glad to refund your FULL purchase price myself! I’m simply that sure you’ll love it.

The great part about learning over time has been just that – I’ve learned so much! In fact, much of my work is now helped greatly by the fact that I know HTML, CSS and Javascript, which came entirely through trial and error.

Lots of trial. Lots of error.

Lots and lots and LOTS of error.

In the world of blogging, there are now more resources available than ever before. Blogger, WordPress, and dozens of smaller platforms. Sites with legitimate stock image resources beyond that sad guy with the jackhammer that announced “under construction” on every 1990s website.

Then there are Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest… all great promotional tools, but all requiring their own set of best practices.

And don’t get me started on – gasp – making money online!

With all these resources, it’s hard to know where to start – or where to go next.

That’s why I’m super-thrilled to have teamed up with 29 fellow longtime bloggers to create a practical, easy-to-understand way to get started with your blog and/or take it to the next level. It’s all the things I wish I’d known when I started blogging!

iBlog: everything you need to know about blogging from 30 top bloggers

Our team has been hard at work on this guide for the past 3 or 4 months.

Our finished product, “iBlog: everything you need to know about blogging from 30 top bloggers,” is a 391-page, 38-chapter eBook that will walk you through envisioning, creating, growing, marketing and monetizing your blog, step by step.

We just released it for purchase at iBlogTheBook.com, and I’m hoping that you’ll consider $7.99 a more than worthwhile investment for what we’ve done!

What’s included in iBlog

All you need to create a strong vision and mindset

Building a Vision for Your Blog
Finding Your Niche
Using Your Blog as a Ministry

Practical ways to fit your blog into your life

Blog Planning and Organization
Streamlining Your Research
Marriage and Blogging
Balancing Motherhood and Blogging
Balancing Homeschooling and Blogging
Time Saving Blog Tips

Nuts-and-bolts guides anyone can understand

Designing and Starting Your Blog on WordPress
Designing and Starting Your Blog on Blogger
Disclosure and Privacy Policies
Basic SEO

Design and style help

Blog Design 101
Stock Image Tips (that’s my chapter!!)
Blog Photography 101

Best practices for social media

Using Facebook to Grow Your Blog
Facebook Parties
Facebook Hops
Using Twitter to Grow Your Blog
Using Pinterest to Grow Your Blog

Practical ways to grow and market your blog

Writing and Using an Elevator Pitch
Getting Your Blog Off the Ground
Building Your Brand
Building Community Through Your Blog
How to Get Subscribers
Guest Posting
Linkups, Hops, and Other Events
How to Create Your Own Printables
How to Write a Media Kit
Running a Group Blog
The Power of Attending a Blogging Conference

Revenue-producing tips that really work

Selling Your Own Products
Using Affiliate Marketing
How to Write a Product Review
Working as a Virtual Assistant

I admit, I’m pretty proud of this book – and I’ve learned several things myself while reading it! I’d love to know what you most struggle with about blogging in the comments below!

See the full iBlog table of contents and get your copy at iBlogTheBook.com!

Collection of James Bond books and movies Bond. James Bond.
Otto. Ashar Otto.

That’s been our house for the past few months, as Ashar has pursued a new interest in James Bond, as evidenced by the growing collection of books and movies you see here.

But of even more interest to me (because, you know, I’m a words person) is the life of Bond’s creator, Ian Fleming, whose birthday would have been this month. I’m joining some of the other iHomeschool Network bloggers for a celebration of some noted May birthdays, and Fleming was my top pick!

Unit study for homeschoolers about Ian Fleming, creator of James Bond and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

All about Ian Fleming

If you ask Ashar about Ian Fleming, he can tell you what she considers the coolest fact about him: His middle name is Lancaster.

Disclosure: This post has some affiliate links. I only link to things we legitimately use and recommend, so if you see such a link, it's because we really do believe in the book or item!

That’s probably only going to make sense to you when you realize that our neighboring county to the east is… Lancaster County. We’d not to this point known anyone with that as a first or middle name, though, so that’s what stood out!

Fleming was born May 28, 1908, in London, England, and died Aug. 12, 1964. He was as much a renaissance man as his famous character, dabbling in all SORTS of things.

In college, Fleming was an excellent track-and-field athlete.
After quitting school while pursuing higher education, Fleming became a journalist for the Reuters news service.
He was known to be good at languages, including Russian.
He dabbled in banking and stockbrokering at the insistence of his family.
Fleming served in the British Naval Intelligence during World War II.
He worked for the London Times newspaper for many years.
And, like his character, Fleming was known as quite a ladies’ man (and a rather heavy drinker and smoker).

Another interesting tidbit: Fleming’s vacation home in Jamaica, where he wrote many of the the Bond novels? He had named it Goldeneye, which although iconic in the Bond film collection, was not ever a Bond book title!

All about James Bond

Fleming’s first Bond novel, Casino Royale, was completed in 1952 and published the next year. Between that time and Fleming’s death in 1964, he wrote 14 James Bond books, two of which were published posthumously.

So, why Bond? This video shows Ian Fleming on camera, talking about how the name for his hero came to be.

When Fleming died, he was only 56 years old and had only been able to see a handful of the movies made from his character and his stories. In fact, the latest James Bond actor, Daniel Craig, wasn’t even born until 1968!

Beyond Bond

I certainly didn’t know that Ian Fleming had done much of lingering renown beyond the James Bond series. Even my movie- and book-loving husband couldn’t come up with anything else.

But guess what I found out?

Fleming was also the creator of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, which he wrote as a children’s story for his son, Casper, shortly before his death! You can read more about that story on the official Ian Fleming website here.

Ideas for discussion

If you think your kids would probably love the action of James Bond but you’re concerned about the more adult themes, like violence, sex and drinking, definitely consider pre-screening the movies (and the books!) in advance.

But don’t write them off – there are a ton of great topics for discussion from both Ian Fleming’s novels and the Bond movies.

We’ve had great conversations on many of the following:

Geographic locations. James Bond is a world traveler! With either the books or the movies or both, keeping a travel log and finding the places he visits on a globe or map, then learning more about them, is a great way to explore the world.
Time-period culture. Ashar has watched both some of the oldest Bond films, like Goldfinger, as well as the newest, Skyfall, and it’s fascinating to see how some things have become more acceptable, but others less. (And the clothes, cars and furniture make for interesting side conversations, too!)
Moral issues. Ashar gets that “real-life” good guys don’t go around doing certain things with a girl in every town. He’s also bright enough to pick up on the plot device that the girls provide – and we’ve even talked about the evolution of women in film! We’ve also talked about Bond’s drinking, and again, how that becomes a plot point in the stories.
Governmental regulation. In Skyfall especially, but as we’ve dug deeper, we’ve seen this in other movies and books too – the question of “What is the government’s role in our lives?” We’ve also been watching the Mission Impossible franchise, and the same question arises: Do we want the government to keep us safe? What is it OK – and not OK – for them to do? These have been some fascinating conversations!

Join the birthday party

If you’re interested, there are many more cool “May birthday” lessons from my fellow iHomeschool Network bloggers. Click the image below to check them out!