Coming Up in May 2011 {and my goal for the month}

 

Don’t forget ~ The Weekly Homeschool Planner is on sale for $15 until April 30th {use coupon code 5OFF during checkout}. Starting May 1st it will be $20. Each of the pdf pages can be typed in, edited, and saved to your own computer every time you use it.

A big thank you to EACH of our sponsors this month!!

 

Apologia has teamed with Summit Ministries to bring you the "What We Believe" Series, an outstanding way to teach your child the essential beliefs of the Christian faith, but it’s so much more!

 

My Grafico has become my ‘go-to’ site to find clip art for my recent Preschool Packs. Their graphics and clip art packs are unique AND affordable ~ a great combination!

 

 

Alpha Omega offers affordable homeschool curriculum for grades PreK-12. During the month of May you can take an additional 15% everything on the Alpha Omega site!

 

Time 4 Learning is a convenient, online homeschool curriculum that combines education with interactive fun for grades PreK-8th. Time4Learning offers each child their own learning path, with animated lessons, unit assessments, and integrated printable worksheets for reinforcement.

 

Kelly Kits are designed to encourage creativity & teach art. Each kit has ten unique activities that cover the five art disciplines: painting, drawing, sculpting, printmaking, & collage.

 

Speekee is designed so that children can learn Spanish in their own time and at their own pace. Best of all, your first two weeks are FREE!l

My Goal for the month of May…

We’re pretty well back into our full routine and swing of things ~ and that includes me too! My personal schedule has been tweaked a little {and truthfully could be tweaked a bit more too}, but I’ve been doing well sticking to what I have on paper right now. :)

For our school time, we’re finishing up several parts of our curriculum {math, science and language} and also picking up a few new things ~ which I’ll be sharing with you all soon! The kids are really excited about one of the changes, which in turn makes ME really excited about them! We are also working on our standardized testing this month {woo hoo!!!}.

This month {on the homefront} I’m itching to finish up planting in our garden beds and planters outdoors. I’ll also be participating in the 31 Days to Clean challenge at Joyful Mothering {you can join in too!}.

What’s one thing that you really want to do this month?

Bird Preschool Unit ~ Preschool Corner

This week we finished up a few of the odds and ends that we didn’t get to do last week with our birds unit and it went MUCH more smoothly than last week {phew}. Here is how I broke things up over the course of the week. All printables are from my Bird Preschool Pack or Carisa’s Bird Pack unless otherwise noted.

There were a few things that we DID do every day:

• read the book In the Nest by Anna Milbourne
• sang our Bird song {in Carisa’s Bird pack}

Language/Reading

• Vocabulary words including wing, bird, worm, nest, feeder, hatch, etc…
• Tell what happened in the story and favorite part of the story
• Beginning sounds cards {both find the beginning letter and write/trace the beginning letter} ~ slid this sheet into a plastic protector this week and used a dry erase marker to circle letters

Math

• Counted the leaves on the branch {in pack}
• 1:1 counted plastci eggs and put them in our birds nest {used COH nest numbers}
• put together the 1-10 bird puzzle

Fine Motor/Writing

• letter tracing sheet B is for Bird
• playdough sheets {B is for Bird from Carisa’s pack}
• bird to the birdhouse tracing sheets {from Carisa’s pack}

Science

• talked about cool/warm colors {Carisa’s pack
• took a nature walk and looked for birds in our own yard {see below}

 

Crafts & Hands-on Learning

• a Yarn Bird’s Nest on a balloon using glue and water…that turned out, ummm….somewhat useful and SUPER pitiful looking
• a Bird Sensory Tub thanks to Along the Way! {I put the bin on a a plastic tablecloth to help with cleanup!}
• Sorted birds/birdhouses {Carisa’s Bird Pack}
• our own chickens! The boys are having much fun playing with our chickens and we even had a LOVELY opportunity to chase one of them around the yard for over half an hour {not by choice}

Stories & Books We Used

Additional Bird Resources

~ Bird Preschool Pack and Printables from Carisa @ 1+1+1=1

~ F is for Feather from Spell Outloud

~ N is for Nest from Confessions of a Homeschooler

~ Totally Tots Bird Theme Posts

~ Bird Sensory Tub @ Totally Tots

~ Edible Bird’s Nest

~ Yarn Bird’s Nest {via Adventures of Bear}

 

More Preschool Links:

• ABC Printables
• Color and Shape Printables
• Preschool Packs: Knights, Birds, Gardening and More!
• Learning Songs
• Math and Counting Printables
• Phonics and Reading Printables
• Science Printables
• Preschool Corner Guidelines
• Preschool Planning Pages
• Preschool Resources Main Page

Ready to Link Up?

Share what you are doing with your kids! Please link your exact blog post to the Mr. Linky below and link back here too! The updated guidelines can be found here if you need them.

April Garden Update ~ HSV Garden Challege

Although we don’t have anything planted in the garden yet, we have made progress!! The window boxes have all been hung up on our deck {thanks to my wonderful hubby} and thanks to one of my lovely readers, we’re planning on doing Square Foot Gardening this year!

They look so small and pitiful in that part of the yard, but I can see them from our bathroom window…which will in turn remind me to water the garden every day.

Once I got the bug to do it, I had my hubby pick up the lumber and Laurianna and I worked on building the boxes for the two 4x4 garden beds that we’ll be planting in. We covered the bottom with the anti-weed covering and also chicken wire to keep out any pesky diggers coming up from underneath.

The hardest thing to find was the vermiculite for the soil mix. When we went to Lowes to pick up some bags, they suggested that we check with our local pool company since they often use vermiculite in their mix for pool bottoms.

So I did. Want to hear something funny?

I brought home the bags and we were going to mix it with the other parts of the recommended soil mix and my hubby realized that the bags I had purchased had CONCRETE IN THEM! It’s a good thing that he reads the labels…and double checks what I do.

That would have been GREAT in the garden, no? I’m sure I would have had much progress to report next month after the first watering. :)

Our window boxes need to have the soil replaced in them also, since what is popping up now has nothing to do with the plants that I would like to have in there, and everything to do with weeds.

Still to do this month:

~ plant seeds and pick up other plants from nursery for window boxes, front porch planters and garden beds.

~ put 'fencing’ of some sort around the garden beds to keep out all of the pesky critters that want to make my food their own personal buffet.

~ build up one extra bed for herbs at the side of our house.

~ start plotting some other beds either for this year or next year {depending on my ambitions}

Be sure to stop by The Homeschool Village and see the progress other  participants have made in their gardens along with the Garden Challenge!

Knight Preschool Pack ~ Preschool Printables

At the beginning of the year I found a wonderful book by Anna Milbourne called In the Castle. Kaleb has been fascinated by the book ever since and I’ve been wanting to put together a preschool pack for it for some time, but I’ve had a hard time finding clip art that I really liked…until just recently! I am SO excited to use this with him soon!

The Knight Preschool Pack includes vocabulary cards {1 and 2 part}, beginning sound cards, a color-by-number page, tracing strips, letter C and K tracing pages, rhyming word cards, a ‘find-the-word’ story sheet, a Knight’s Quest game board, a story summary sheet, ‘find the difference page, a 1:1 counting page and more.

Carisa has also been working on a Princess Preschool Pack and it would be a GREAT go-along with the Knight Preschool Pack.  You can find the download links for all of the pdf files on my Knight Preschool Pack page. Be sure to download BOTH of the pdf files. I split it into two so that it would be easier to download! 

Books and Go-alongs

If you’re looking for more Preschool Packs, be sure to check out the growing collection on my website!

Clip art from this preschool pack came from Cocoa Mint, Tainted Sweets, &  JD Digi Designs.

Spring 2011 Curriculum Clean Out Begins!

It’s Time to Link Up!

 

If you would like to join in on the Curriculum Clean-Out! and have fun giving away the excess on your shelves, now is the time! Once your post is ready, leave your link below using the MckLinky. Be sure that your post follows the 'rules' of the Clean-Out! ~ and please be sure to link your post back to this giveaway page and that you are using the permalink for your post.

If you have any questions, I would be happy to help you out. There are several different ways you can enter your link. It would be helpful for readers to know what you are giving away to. For example:

Jolanthe {A Beka K Phonics Guide} or

A Beka K Phonics Guide {US shipping}

Giveaways will be added daily, so be sure to check back so that you don't miss any of the great giveaways! Spread the word, make some new friends and have fun!! The big thing to remember - grab the code below, put it somewhere in your post, link back here, and start giving!!

Note: If you do not have a blog and would like to participate in giving something away, feel free to start a discussion in my Blog Frog community forum and link to it there! Be sure to start your own discussion!

When you are done posting your giveaway, grab the html at the top . It should look a little something like this:

http://theblogfrog.com/293470/forum/44313/where-are-you-in-your-planning.html

And the code for the Curriculum Clean-Out button:

<center><a href="http://homeschoolcreations.blogspot.com/search/label/Curriculum%20Clean-Out" target="_blank"><img border="0" alt="Photobucket" src="http://i678.photobucket.com/albums/vv146/homeschoolcreations/CurriculumCleanOutButton.jpg"/></a></center>

Discovering Jesus Book Set Giveaway

 

This giveaway set for the Curriculum Clean Out includes two books in the Discovering Jesus series by Susan Hunt:

• Discovering Jesus in Genesis
• Discovering Jesus in Exodus

Enter to win by simply leaving a comment. Giveaway will close on May 1st at 8pm and winner will be chosen using random.org. This giveaway is open to US residents {or those with a US mailing address} only {sorry!!}.

Be sure to visit the main Curriculum Clean-Out post starting April 25th for many more great giveaways. They will be added all week, so be sure to bookmark the page!

Preschool Games Giveaway

 

This giveaway set for the Curriculum Clean Out includes some fun preschool games and activities for your little ones!

The winner will receive a box with five fun things:

• Active Minds Big Book of Bingo!
• Active Minds Big Book of Listen-and-Learn
• Totline’s Songs and Games for Threes
• Leapfrog’s Math Whiz Learning Bus Puzzles
• I Can Spell Words with Four Letters

Enter to win by simply leaving a comment. Giveaway will close on May 1st at 8pm and winner will be chosen using random.org. This giveaway is open to US residents {or those with a US mailing address} only {sorry!!}.

Be sure to visit the main Curriculum Clean-Out post starting April 25th for many more great giveaways. They will be added all week, so be sure to bookmark the page!

Birds and Perfectionism

This week started off great as far as my planning and Kaleb participating and then veered wildly off course. My plans were to do our bird unit this week, and we did start it, but I’m thinking that we’ll be working on it much more next week too.

Monday and Tuesday went pretty much according to schedule and Kaleb was moving along great. Wednesday though was a completely different matter.

There are days when we deal with whining a bit, but Kaleb took whining to an entirely different level that day and mixed it in with a WHOLE heap of perfectionism. Our of all of our kiddos, he is the most particular about how things are done {and the proper order, etc…}, but it just got ridiculous that day.

I seriously didn’t know whether to laugh or cry at times.

He wanted to do his ‘work’ but yet couldn’t do his work the way he thought was the ‘right’ way. He kept erasing things and redoing them and when I would tell him he didn’t have to do it, he would cry and say he did. If I tried to take the work away, he wanted it back.

Exhausting.

Thursday we went on a field trip with some family that is visiting, so next week we’re going to try pacing things a little differently and continue on with what we started.

BUT….how was YOUR week?

Preschool Links:

• ABC Printables
• Color and Shape Printables
• Preschool Packs: Birds, Gardening, Robots and more!
• Learning Songs
• Math and Counting Printables
• Phonics and Reading Printables
• Science Printables
• Preschool Corner Guidelines
• Preschool Planning Pages
• Preschool Resources Main Page

Ready to Link Up?

Share what you are doing with your kids! Please link your exact blog post to the Mr. Linky below and link back here too! The updated guidelines can be found here if you need them.

Preschool Packs ~ Free Preschool Printables

Many of you may see the Preschool Packs that I post on my blog, but based on some of the comments that I get at times {or that Carisa from 1+1+1=1 receives}, you may have missed some of the packs that Carisa and I have put together and shared over the past year and more.

While many of the Preschool Packs have been put together by either one of us, Carisa and I are beginning to create some that will go-along with each other’s, similar to the Bird Preschool Pack we recently both worked on. I am truly beyond blessed to have Carisa not only as an online friend, but as a real-life, love-her-to-death friend. Neither us of ever imagined that a few comments back and forth blogging would produce such a deep and continually growing friendship.

On my Preschool Pack webpage I have buttons for the packs that I’ve created, as well as Carisa’s…not to confuse you all, but so you all can easily find a theme that you may be looking for without having to search too far!! Anything that makes life easier works for me!

AND, so you all can see what we already have shared and some of the fun packs coming up, here’s a look at all of the packs {in ABC order} in one place. :) You can always look on my main Preschool Pack webpage or Carisa’s main Preschool Pack webpage for updates too!

Click on any of the buttons below to go to that Preschool Pack page.

   

    

     

     

     

   

 

Coming Soon!!!

These are packs that we have in the works and hope to share with you soon!

   

       

And don’t forget to check out these three sites too ~ they all offer some fun preschool packs too!

  

Hope that helps you all out some…and if there is something that you are REALLY wanting to see in a Preschool Pack, leave a comment and let us know!