Prayer for a Child Printables

These printables were created to use with the book Prayer for a Child
by Rachel Field.

The Prayer for a Child printable pack includes fun activities to tie in with the story ~ vocabulary words, word tracer cards, a copywork passage from the book, rhyming words, a color-by-number page, memory matching cards and more!

Download the free Prayer for a Child printables pack!!

 

Don’t Miss These Either!

~ Prayer for a Child word cards for the Read! Build! Write! vocabulary mats.

~ More Literature Based Printables

Check out more fun {and free} printables at Printable Power.

 

Visit these great companies!

• Red Wagon Tutorials….Science classes for junior and senior high
• Little Passports ~ This holiday give your child a glimpse of the world!

 

Preschool Corner ~ Thanksgiving Pinterest Ideas

In gearing up for Thanksgiving {well, that just means thinking ahead!!}, I’ve been putting some of the cute ideas that I’ve found on my Pinterest boards. Since we also had much of this week off school because I am at the Relevant conference, I thought this would be a fun time to share a few of those ideas here with you all.

These are just a few of the fun ideas I’ve been gathering. Our house is going to be covered in Thanksgiving paraphernalia if I don’t stop soon!

Handprint Mayflower craft from Almost Unschoolers

 

Handprint turkey from Meet the Dubiens

 

Pilgrim Ships from 4 Crazy Kings

 

Popcorn paper bag turkey via One Charming Party

 

Pinecone and orange turkey leaf craft from Parenting.com

 

Indian Corn Button Napkin Rings via Family Fun {could be a great patterning activity!!}

You can see all of my Thanksgiving ideas on Pinterest here or just have fun browsing through the gazillion ideas there in general!

More Preschool Links

• ABC Printables
• Color and Shape Printables
• Preschool Packs: Policemen, fireman and more!
• Math and Counting Printables
• Phonics and Reading Printables 
• 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.

 

 

 

Visit these great companies!

• All About Learning Press ~ Spelling & reading programs that are easy to teach and easy to learn.
• We Choose Virtues….tools for inspiring character in children!

 

New Vocabulary Cards for Read! Build! Write!

In case you’ve missed them, I’ve slowly {but surely} added more vocabulary cards to the Read! Build! Write! vocabulary mats on my website. Whenever I put together a set of Early Learning Printables, I also put together a coordinating set of vocabulary cards for the mats.

Since I introduced them back in August, here are just a few of the fun themes and books that were added to the page:

• Before Five in a Row books {so far there are 9 sets for this series, including Ask Mr. Bear, We’re Going on a Bear Hunt, Caps for Sale and more…
• Colors, fruits, and vegetables
• Fun themes: apples, fall, a second police set and more!

Check out the Read! Build! Write! webpage to find vocabulary cards to go along with all of the Early Learning Printables that I’ve put together so far, along with some other fun themes and books!

 

Visit these great companies!

• Red Wagon Tutorials….Science classes for junior and senior high
• All About Learning Press ~ Spelling & reading programs that are easy to teach and easy to learn.

 

We Choose Virtues Character Building Tools ~ Review

As moms {and dads} we all realize the magnitude of a job that we have to instill values in our children. I am often overwhelmed thinking of the many things that there are to cover and appreciate the wisdom and insight that parents who have ‘been there and done that’ offer to me.

My biggest struggle? Being positive ~ instead of approaching discipline or other issues from a negative aspect. When we received some of the We Choose Virtues program to use with our kids, I was immediately drawn to the colorful characters and the positive approach to character building that is the core of the program. Not only has it been a great for our kids, it is a constant encouragement and reminder to me as well!

The We Choose Virtues program is a character-based education program that provides you tools to help build Biblical virtues and character traits in your children. It covers the following character traits, all starting with the phrase “I am” ~ …Attentive, Content, Diligent, Forgiving, Gentle, Helpful, Honest, Kind, Obedient, Patient, Perseverant, and Self-Controlled.

My favorite part of the program are the full-color Teacher’s Virtue Cards {$34.99}. There are 12 full-color cards {8 1/2” x 5 1/2”} that feature one of the Virtue Kids along with the virtue/character trait that they represent. Everything your child needs is on the front of the card and everything the teacher needs is on the back of the card.

Each card provides a visual from the story help trigger kid’s memories when they see the characters. On the above card you see Cake Jake ~ he wants MORE choices than the 20 cake flavors in the bakery and needs to get his ‘wanter’ under control!

The front of the card shows the short “I am” catchphrase with the and the go-along antonym {I am NOT}. Along the bottom of the card is a tie-in Scripture verse {NIrV} that you can learn together during the week.  The trigger picture {above you see Cake Jake} also starts with the same letter as the virtue that child represents ~ content/cake.

The back of the Teacher’s Virtue Cards go into more detail for teaching. Each card includes:

• teachable moment ideas
• a challenge for the day {or week}
• what would be appropriate to say if you are wrong in the situation
• a short story about the Virtue Kid

The Kids Virtue Poster {$14.99} is a great daily reminder, or a snapshot, of all of the virtues represented in the program. It shows a small picture of the Virtue kid, the catchphrase for the virtue and the antonyms to go along. The poster is 11” x 17” in size and would fit on the front of your refrigerator or in a smaller space. 

In our Schoolroom

Over the last few weeks since receiving the We Choose Virtues Teacher’s Virtue Cards and Kids Virtue Poster, we have been talking about one virtue a week, and adding a new virtue each week as we review the past ones. We’ve incorporated it as part of our morning calendar time.

I cut a page protector in half and added it onto our board so that I can slide in the weekly virtue for the kid’s to see and review. At the beginning of the week we talk in detail about the virtue and throughout the week we do some fun activities to go along with it.

Next to our morning board, I hung the Kids Virtue Poster so that we can review the virtues that we’ve already studied. It is a great way to see all the virtues at a glance.

There are quite a few different package options for purchasing the We Choose Virtues program, including sets for classroom and home use. We are using the Teacher’s Virtue Cards and the Kids Virtue Poster and I’m really happy with them. The only other thing that I might add to it is the pdf Virtue Kids Coloring book, since our kids enjoying coloring and it would be fun to add it to our ‘learning’ time.

The catch phrases are definitely sticking with the kids and I can hear them reminding themselves {and others} of the different virtues we have talked about ~ but in an encouraging and helpful way because of the “I am” starts to all of the traits. This has been a great addition to our day and we are excited to continue using it with our family.

Current Coupon Codes

Love an added bargain? Use the coupon code VIRTUE15 and take 15% off your entire order!! You can also use the code OURHOUSE and save $15 off the family kit during the months of October and November 2011.

 

I received the Teacher’s Virtue Cards and poster to review in exchange for my honest opinion. All thoughts and opinions in this post are mine. I do not have to return the products and was not paid for this post. Also linked to Hip Homeschool Moms giveaway post!

Visit these great companies!

• Red Wagon Tutorials….Science classes for junior and senior high
• All About Learning Press ~ Spelling & reading programs that are easy to teach and easy to learn.

 

Daily Assignment Sheets ~ Free Printables

Our girls have several subjects that they work on independently {math, typing, reading, Spanish, etc….}. At times, it can be a little difficult to track exactly what has been finished when and then get that information transferred into my planner and records. Pieces of notebook paper get lost in the shuffle, so it was time to get a little colorful and laminated.

Enter the Daily Assignment Sheet.

Each of the girls has their own sheet that is laminated. Their page has the subjects that they typically work on independently ~ basically any subject that they need to let me know the information about.

Here is a sample of McKenna’s page where she tracks what she read in her Bible, her math lessons, reading each day, bonus science studies, Spanish lessons, typing lessons and any ‘extras’ {like blogging or letter writing}. There is also a space for her to record goals that she {or I} has set to accomplish.

The girls use a wet erase {Vis-à-vis marker} to write down what they’ve done daily and then turn them into me at the end of the week. I can then transfer over the information. So far, it’s working great!

You can download a copy of Daily Assignment Sheets to use with your kids too ~ click here to download them!

 

Visit these great companies!

• All About Learning Press ~ Spelling & reading programs that are easy to teach and easy to learn.
• We Choose Virtues….tools for inspiring character in children!

 

Police Office PreK and Kindergarten Unit ~ Preschool Corner

This week ended up being more of a ‘spur of the moment’ unit after Kaleb saw some clip art on my computer and ‘helped’ me put together printables for him to use this week. Needless to say he was {mostly} thrilled the entire week {grins}.

This week was made especially wonderful because of the addition of glitter. I’ll let you in on a little secret…I am not a glitter fan or really the fan of anything that has the opportunity to linger for weeks to come. I tend to avoid it like the plague, so there was much excitement {from Kaleb, not me} when I pulled out the container.

Here are some of the books that we used this week:

 

This is how our workboxes looked for the week. The bulk of our printables were from my Police Officer Printables Pack and any other links to printable crafts are linked at the end of this post.  Every day we read a bunch of fun police officer books together and reviewed our vocabulary cards.

Bible

This week we focused on how police officers protect us and keep us safe ~ just like God does too.

Language and Reading

We’re still working on the lowercase letters from our All About Reading Pre1 program and having fun with the crafts and activities in the program. Kaleb is definitely paying more attention now to the words we’re reading.

As we went through our ‘Read the Story’ part of the Police Officer printables, I let Kaleb use Do-A-Dot markers to stamp the words that he found in the story. This made it much more hands-on for him and he was having a great time with it.

Math

Counting Fingerprints ~ Pulling the ink pads out was a fun {but messy} part of the week. Kaleb read along with the mini book and then added in the correct number of fingerprints to the pages. This was great to really track how he was counting 1:1 {and hilarious since he kept trying to count the fingerprints and making more fingerprints when he touched the paper}.

Number Words ~ We used the police badges and lined them up in numerical order and then Kaleb tried to find the correct number word to match the numbers. He would start with the ones he could figure out easily with the beginning letter sound and work his way through them.

Science

After we traced Kaleb’s hands and added each of his fingerprints we looked at them close up through our magnifying glass and talked about how we all have unique fingerprints ~ God created us special and there are no two fingerprints alike! We also talked about how police officers use fingerprints to find the ‘bad guys’. :)

Personal Safety

We continued to work on Kaleb knowing his FULL name and other important information {his birthday, phone number and address}. We pretended that I was a police officer {Mommy put on his hat and badge} and we acted like he was lost and I was trying to help him find his home and family.

Cooking and Crafts

Cooking and glitter in one week ~ especially since the cooking involved food coloring and all four children. Not sure what happened to me over the weekend {grins}.

Stoplight Crackers - Super easy snack for the kids {and lots of sugary fun too}. We colored cream cheese frosting the three colors of a stoplight. The kids spread the frosting onto three vanilla wafer cookies and used a dab of frosting to stick them to a graham cracker.

Badge and Hat ~ We used the hat and badge printable from First School and added a construction paper band to make the hat. Just for fun, we filled the ‘P’ on the badge in with glue and sprinkled blue glitter on it.

Stoplight Craft ~ Rather than putting the red, yellow and green circles on a toilet paper tube {from the Police Officer Printables} we put them on our leftover black construction paper so Kaleb could hang it over his desk.

That was just a quick look at our week and the many things we talked about and did together. Here’s a peek inside the new Police Printable Pack!

The Police Learning Printables include two separate downloads, one geared toward Preschoolers and another for Kindergarten.

Links We Used

Police Officer Hat and Badge crafts

My Community Helpers Pinterest board

Games and other ideas

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.

 

Visit these great companies!

• Red Wagon Tutorials….Science classes for junior and senior high
• All About Learning Press ~ Spelling & reading programs that are easy to teach and easy to learn.

 

Using 2 Part Cards from the Printable Packs {Reader Questions}

I was just wondering how to use some pages on your preschool packs. I think generally they are pages 3 and 4, they look like flashcards, but one page has a line separating the word from the picture.  I haven't know how to use these pages, so I've just been letting my 3 year old practice her cutting skills :) But I'd love to know what their actual intention is.

Each of the printable packs that I’ve put together typically has 2 different vocabulary pages that look similar to the above pages. One of the pages shows an image with the word underneath it and the other page shows a line dividing the image from the word.

Here’s a look at how we do the 2-part vocabulary cards in the packs. The first few days we review the words and their beginning letter sounds and have Kaleb point to the word as we say it. On the third day, I cut apart the 2-part cards and slide the words into our table top pocket chart {I love that we can prop it right up on the table next to us and work together}. Kaleb then picks up the pictures and slides them behind the right picture {usually based on looking at the beginning letter sound}.

 

Basically, this is just an added ‘boost’ to help children understand that there is a relationship between pictures and words and that letters make sounds.

If your child isn’t quite ready for this step, you can also play a matching game. Lay out the vocabulary cards that are not separated with a line and have your child match picture-to-picture and then see if s/he can match the words together as well.

Hope that helps!!

 

Visit these great companies!

• Red Wagon Tutorials….Science classes for junior and senior high
• All About Learning Press ~ Spelling & reading programs that are easy to teach and easy to learn.

 

Your Kids are Normal {and Mine Are Too}

Just to keep it a little ‘light’ around here and so you all don’t think that our days all fly by in perfect order with all the correct answers and such, I grabbed a quick video clip of Kaleb in ‘whiney’ mode. The day before this he went flying through all of his workboxes and finished his work in 20 minutes.

This day…not so much.

Not because he couldn’t do it, but because he got in a funk. He saw a workbook on the shelf that he wanted to do, but one that generates MAJOR whining on his part, so it’s a ‘no go’ {says Mommy}. Sometimes I try to get him to move onto a different box or do something else {something FUN}, but he is a boy of ORDER and gets stuck, stuck, stuck.

Email subscribers click here to watch the video clip.

But, I post this to let you know that life isn’t all happiness and sunshine…we are actually rather normal. Sometimes over-achievers in the normal department {grins}. Do you hear another sibling even chiming in with the whining at the end?

 

Visit these great companies!

• Red Wagon Tutorials….Science classes for junior and senior high
• All About Learning Press ~ Spelling & reading programs that are easy to teach and easy to learn.