Written in a compellingly simple style, Growing Up True evokes the struggles of a boy stretching for manhood in rural Colorado during and after World War II. But the lessons and demands of real life always nipped at the edges of his fantastic dreams.

Guess what? You had nothing to do in the matter as to where you were born and raised, whether rural, urban, or in some other country. Your life began the moment you were conceived, and your journey on earth continues until your last breath. Life is a journey. Growing Up Rural is the journey of a young man who learned important life lessons in his early years that have carried over into adulthood. Lessons learned through both good choices and not so good of choices. Whether self-imposed or imposed by others and mixed in the middle are the everyday circumstances of life. Within those life lessons comes the reality of the God who is at work in the forefront as well as behind the scenes. He is there to guide and direct as well as to miraculously deliver from certain life-threatening situations by His wonderful grace. With that in mind, the conclusion is reached: my life is not my own. You are invited to come along on this journey and plug yourself in at a moment’s notice. That’s me! I understand! I get it!

Updated and revised, this 10th Anniversary Edition sequel to the blockbuster hit, Have You Filled a Bucket Today? A Guide to Daily Happiness for Kids, advances the bucketfilling concept for pre-teens, teens, and adults. Growing Up breaks new ground through expanded language as it teaches the value of kindness, self-control, resilience, and forgiveness in a world that is not always kind. Readers gain a better understanding of all the ways they can fill and dip into buckets and how to use their lid to keep their own bucket full. Easy-to-read chapters, poignant illustrations, and daily self-reflection questions encourage readers to use their individual power of choice to be daily bucket fillers. Join the thousands of people of all ages and occupations who have read this book, taken the pledge, and practiced the daily skills to happier living.

Introduce the effective power of the mini-lesson format into your classroom and discover the skills you need to teach your young writers. With fifty-nine mini-lessons organized by the function they serve in the kindergarten classroom, and calendars that outline skills expectations for your students' first year of writing instruction, this resource helps you customize the power of Writers' Workshop so you can meet the needs of your emergent writers.

You're in at 7am, there until 7pm and marking into the late hours. You've got one student who's a full time carer, another who's pregnant, and a third who's just joined a gang. You haven't got enough textbooks to go around, and one of the parents just called you an 'extremist'. You've just gone through a devastating heartbreak and you have to teach Romeo and Juliet to 30 hormonal 14 year olds. Welcome to life as a teacher. This is a world that all of us know, but most of us have completely forgotten. It's a world where you're working 50 hour weeks, but you're still just a part-time teacher because the rest of the time you're a security guard, a nurse, a counsellor, or a friend. It's also a world where you spend all day with some of the most interesting people you know. And even when the lesson plan has been abandoned, you're still learning. Mehreen started teaching at 21, and by the time she left 10 years later she'd learnt a bit about teenagers and a lot about life. This is her story.

" ... 100 short, practical tips to help understand the autistic person in your life, told through insightful personal experiences by someone who has grown up autistic" --P. 3.

God wants us to live in joy. We can be sure of that, because He tells us so, often! If we follow Jesus, we should have joy. But that doesn't mean it's easy. Most of us experience fleeting moments of happiness. Maybe sometimes, amazingly, even days, weeks, or months of it. But we're not in the habit of joy. Inevitably, something will happen to knock us out of our joy.One of the reasons the book and film of Pollyanna is so beloved is the emphasis on gladness. Pollyanna faced many external difficulties with faith and a joyous determination to see the best in everything. Dig deeper into the spiritual truths about living a joyful life contained in the story with this journaling devotional. There's a devotional for each chapter of the original story, with a quote from the book, my personal response to the issue the chapter raised, questions to think about, and relevant Bible verses. Take the time to ponder and journal your answers, and feel your joy grow!This book provides space to write your own notes, prayers, and responses, but doesn't include the text of the original story.

“[Not] the typical celebrity memoir . . . as much an account of her decades-long spiritual journey as it is a look back at her TV and movie career.” —Spiritual Pop Culture “Mary is a whole lot more than Erin on The Waltons. This book shows how she’s handled all the highs and lows with grace.” —George Clooney For nine seasons, Mary McDonough was part of one of the most beloved families in television history. Just ten years old when she was cast as the pretty, wholesome middle child Erin, Mary grew up on the set of The Waltons, alternately embracing and rebelling against her good-girl onscreen persona. Now, as the first cast member to write about her experiences on the classic series, she candidly recounts the joys and challenges of growing up Walton—from her overnight transformation from a normal kid in a working class, Irish Catholic family, to a Hollywood child star, to the personal challenges that led her to take on a new role as an activist for women’s body image issues. Touching, funny, sometimes heartbreaking, and always illuminating, Lessons from the Mountain is the story of everything Mary McDonough learned on her journey over—and beyond—that famous mountain. Includes Never Before Published Bonus Chapter! “A fascinating look at what it’s like to grow up in front of and beyond the cameras.” —Eve Plumb “For someone who started out as a sweet little girl afraid to speak up, it certainly is a pleasure to hear her shout from the top of the mountain now!” —Alison Arngrim, New York Times bestselling author “[A] poignant memoir . . . the actress shares intimate, behind-the-scenes memories.” —Smashing Interviews Magazine

The author, a computer science professor diagnosed with terminal cancer, explores his life, the lessons that he has learned, how he has worked to achieve his childhood dreams, and the effect of his diagnosis on him and his family.