Homeschool Creations

Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Fourth of July Resources


Fourth of July sorta snuck up on me. It wasn't until I did this Friend Makin' Monday post that I realized we've done little over the years for the fourth. Since we have no pictures at all to show for any 4th of July activities, I figured this would be a good year to start. I also posted some Fourth of July crafts {a cute hat and 'sparkler'} that we made today over on our family blog, No Ordinary Moments, so stop by and check them out

If I get really ambitious, we might even do a little unit study, but in the meantime {and since one of you asked}, here are some resources for you to use for your own Independence Day study.

Heritage House Press
~ Free Mini Unit {act quick!!} all about the 4th! All you have to do is sign up for their newsletter. The link is on the page.

DLTK Independence Day crafts
~ some coloring pages, printables and great crafts

F is for Flag written by Shannon ~ great mini-unit for preschoolers!

Independence Day unit ~ notes and lesson ideas {grades 2-4}

First School patriotic mini-unit
~ geared toward preschoolers with craft ideas, printables and links to online activities.

Enchanted Learning ~ July 4th activity book

Create your own fireworks ~ link from PBS - need flash to do this one

Lapbook Lessons ~ Free 4th of July lapbook

Family Fun ~ they always have some creative and fun ideas for crafts, food and more!

Perkins Home ~ a little unit all about the 4th!

Crafty Crow ~ there are a TON of 4th crafts, recipes and activities here.

Road to Revolution {PBS} ~ teacher resources, games, and more based on the Liberty series

Tour the house of Betsy Ross
{virtual tour}

Listen to some patriotic songs

Have fun looking through the sites ~ and hope some of them help you out!

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Sunday, June 28, 2009

Tot School ::26::


~ Kaleb is 31 months ~

This last week was pretty laid back again ~ even though I thought for sure I'd have more time since the older kids were in VBS. Instead, we were running errands, playing together and just goofing off in general. :)

At homeschool convention I found a cute little Oreo matching game. I think it's cute. Kaleb is not so impressed. He matched a few cookies and then moved onto other things.



Playdough, however, is always a winner!



I pulled out a Scrabble Junior game that I had picked up at a yard sale, spread out the board and started handing Kaleb letters to try to find on the board. In all honesty, I didn't think that he would be able to do it at all.



He proved me wrong, but after about seven letters got a little bored {even though Mommy wanted him to keep going!}.

He had much fun playing outside this week since the weather was gorgeous!



We've been watching a robin and her babies in the tree above our play area....I found Kaleb on the porch trying to see the babies through the railing.



So cute to see the little mouth up above the top of the nest!



Rick took a day off to work on our porch steps and Kaleb was cracking us all up with his imitation of the saw. It took us a little bit to figure out what he was doing, but we think he does a pretty good imitation {warning: you might want to turn your speakers/volume down, 'cause it really does sound like a saw!}.



Don't forget to visit Carissa at 1+1+1=1 for some more Tot School posts.

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Saturday, June 27, 2009

Terrific Tot Sites ~ PBS Kids Sprout


Although we do have PBS at home, we do not have PBS Kids Sprout as part of our cable package...so truthfully, I can't tell you much about the programing on the channel other than what I've read online. I can tell you about the PBS Kids Sprout website though, since I do have access to that! .... {Read more at the Totally Tots blog}

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Friday, June 26, 2009

Preschool Corner: Three Letter Word Printables

So, how about some more printables? The title of the cards still makes me snicker every time I read it - makes me think of four letter words...and well, then I laugh. Somehow it just makes the printables seem like something they are NOT. They are educational ~ and all words are safe for your children to use. {grins}

I got the idea for these cards last week when visiting Clemencia's site. She posted about a literacy game she had picked up at a thrift store and since I don't have the game, but loved the idea, I put one together last night. The pictures aren't puzzles in mine, but you could easily make them simple four piece puzzles.


Click on the graphic to download and print the document.

The printable has twenty pictures of words that are spelled with three letters. I made letter tiles with both lower and uppercase letters {'cause each child is different}. You can use the picture as a prompt for your child to sound out and spell the word pictured.

I haven't uploaded the pictures of Zachary playing yet, but he is having too much fun trying to spell and read right now, so this is a perfect time for this game for him! Hope you all will enjoy it too!

About the Preschool Corner:

The Preschool Corner is a place for us to share the ideas we are using during our "preschool time" with our kids. You can join in the fun and record what you are doing in your house. Please link your exact blog post to the Mr. Linky below (if you have questions feel free to ask). Be sure to link back to this blog post so that your readers can find some other great ideas too!

The guidelines can be found here if you need them.

Share what you've been doing in your house this week!


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Thursday, June 25, 2009

Friday's Gracious Giveaways

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There's a new blog carnival starting up tomorrow hosted by Susana called Friday's Gracious Giveaways. Did you hear the word 'giveaways'?? Want to know a little more??

Friday's Gracious Giveaways is a weekly blog carnival that will be hosted each Friday starting tomorrow {June 26th}. There are so many great giveaways around in the bloggy world, but many are missed because the blogs hosting them might not have a lot of traffic, or be able to get the word out effectively. This carnival will be a central place to link all of the great giveaways {and find some fun stuff too!}.

Be sure to bookmark her page to check out each week for fun stuff to win!


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Super Chameleon

This is so amazingly cool!! My kids watch this {over and over and over again!}.





Science lesson is done for the day!

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Wednesday, June 24, 2009

School's Out Summer Challenge {girly-style}


A few days ago I shared Zachary's School's Out! Challenge, but wanted to also share what we're doing with the girls. They've been working like mad to earn some of the treats on their list and have already listened to three different audio books in the Narnia series and completed NUMEROUS other feats to earn those precious points.

Note: ** I am not the one who came up with the idea ~ I based ours from Carissa's Summer Plans at 1+1+1=1. Be sure to head over and see what she's doing too!**


The girls earn points based on a list that I pulled together of school-type things or helping out around the house. There are different levels of points that they can cash in for a prize...or show a little restraint to save up for a big prize. Once a prize has been earned it is crossed off the list and they can start on another one. I happen to have some things that I found at yard sales for **cheap, cheap, cheap** to use as bribery bait incentive.

25 points: Trip to Target dollar section; trip to Dollar Tree; book from Gift & Thrift

50 points: Outfit for Our Generation doll or Frosty from Wendy's

75 points: Ice cream for dinner or a little sister for Only Hearts Club doll



The points page is hanging nearby to remind me of how many points then can earn for different things {the areas are similar to Zachary's, but stepped up a notch}:

~ Reading/Listening: Audio books {in the van} or reading independently

~ Writing - a complete story {illustrated earns bonus points}

~ Bible - daily Bible reading together {without fighting}

~ Spanish - Using a cd-rom we have and knowing the words Mommy asks

~ Lapbook review - going over the lapbooks we've done this past year

~ Letter writing - choose someone on our list to write to {practicing addressing and proper letter etiquette} - grandparents, cousins, uncles/aunts, Compassion child

~ Chores & Extra: Cleaning up without being asked, going all day without tv, etc....

If you are interested in doing something similar with your kids, I uploaded a blank set of Summer Challenge sheets for boys and girls to Scribd. Just follow the link and you can download your own set to print off. If it doesn't work for you, let me know and I can email you the pdf file.

Just wanted to pass along a little something that is Working for Me!


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Monday, June 22, 2009

Vote and Help Me Out!



Voting is now open for favorite Company Girl photos ~ and mine is one of the pictures!!! I'm a little partial to the picture {and I'm shameless enough to beg for your help!}.

What's in it for me? The winner of the most votes will get a guaranteed spot in the Company Girl book and the winning photo will be professionally mounted on canvas for me to enjoy for years to come!


{Photo #62}

I also entered this picture of McKenna with one of our friend's daughters - they had so much fun playing together that night!


{Photo #61}

Cast your vote by clicking on the little star under the picture - it's that simple!

Each person is allowed to cast three votes, so you can vote for my two and have fun looking around for another. Voting is open until Sunday, June 28th. So please ~ vote, vote, vote! :) You can click on either of the pictures to take you directly to that voting page.

Thanks so much for your help!

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ItzaBitza Review & Giveaway



I'm hosting a giveaway for two full downloads of ItzaBitza, a fun computer game, over at No Ordinary Moments. Head on over to check it out!

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2009 Schoolhouse Planner Review

Just when I though the Schoolhouse Planner couldn't get any better {or bigger} it did. And if I thought last year's planner had it all, I was WRONG!

The cover isn't the only thing that has changed in the The 2009 Schooolhouse Planner. It is bigger and better than it's predecessor. Bigger by more than 100 pages and bursting with over 100 form {40 brand-new ones!} to help you organize your home and school life. If there is a form you are needing, or didn't even know you needed, you will likely find it in the planner.

The Schoolhouse Planner is a 375 page pdf download {$39.99} that is available from the Schoolhouse Store. It is an interactive pdf file ~ that means you are able to type in the pdf file and save data in the various forms or print them off with your information already entered.

The 2009 Planner contains articles on a variety of topics: the thirteen colonies, weather, lap books, letter writing, homeschooling around the world, learning to spot planets and more. It also provides resources to have at your fingertips including US states and capitals, invention timeline, US presidents, famous composers, 7 wonders of the world, and the periodic table. It also has monthly recipes {even one from yours-truly!}, green cleaning recipes, resource lists, and alphabet copywork charts.



And to give you a little 'peek' into the planner, here are a few of the forms you'll find inside.

Homeschool Forms
include:
  • Annual plans
  • Course of study
  • Yearly goals
  • Curriculum planning
  • Preschool planning
  • Education objectives
  • Yearly grades
  • Progress reports
  • Weekly schedules
  • Weekly planning
  • Field Trip planning
  • Audio/Video log
  • Science lab sheets and more
Household Forms include:
  • Weekly schedule
  • Home repair projects
  • Grocery list
  • Menu planning
  • Budget sheet
  • Prayer journal
  • Garden plans
  • Pet health
  • Website login/password information and more?
The best features? Being able to type in your own information before printing it off and only print off what is needed {or wanted}. If you get halfway through your year and realize a different form would work better, you can switch easily. Storing your homeschool and household information in a binder allows you have everything conveniently in one place.

While it might seem that I am always on top of things, I can honestly say that having a great planner helps me immensely. I'm the type of person that needs lists to visualize what is coming up. During our school year there is a huge difference in our productivity when I have taken the time to sit down and plan out our week vs. hoping for the best. The price of this planner might seem a little steep at first, but keep in mind that this is a planner you will be able to use for years to come! Since the forms are all blank, you'll be able to save the pdf file on your hard drive and get a jump on future planning too.

Be sure to visit The Schoolhouse Store and see more that the 2009 Schoolhouse Planner offers. As an added bonus, if you order between June 11, 2009 and July 12, 2009 you will receive the 2008 Planner Excerpts FREE.


Click on the Homeschool Crew banner to read other reviews about this product.
As a member of the Homeschool Crew, I was given this product to review,
and I do not have to return the product to the vendor. I was not paid for this post.
All opinions expressed in this post are mine.

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Sunday, June 21, 2009

Tot School ::25::


~ Kaleb is 30 months ~

Really, truly, there is not much to post this week in the way of Tot School. Mommy has been on a bit of a hiatus from school work and school time. We're still playing and learning...it's just not all documented.

Kaleb has been talking up a storm. Going from short phrases to full, complete sentences in just a matter of days. Amazing us with some of the things that he comes up with ~ and rather proud of himself to boot.



Kaleb had fun sorting and lining up his counting bears. This wasn't how the activity was supposed to be...but since he was happy and it works - well, then it was Tot School!



The paint chip matching game was fun to match and play with too!



We sorted shapes and named both colors and shapes together.



Kaleb found a guitar and has been walking around the house playing it like a rockstar. It's been a riot to watch and we're not sure where he picked up the whole rockstar thing {unless it's from Sid the Science Kid}.



Kaleb kept trying to get into the silverware drawer this week and although this lock on the handle didn't actually do anything {McKenna put it there}, he cried and cried thinking the drawer was locked. It was hysterical ~ although his frustration only lasted 5 minutes before he figured out it wasn't locked.



Bugs and the great outdoors have been the biggest thrill in our backyard. Birds, squirrels, ants, and especially ladybugs are everywhere. Zachary keeps bagging various insects and then he and Kaleb sit and examine them together - too sweet.

That's about it for Tot School this week. Hopefully this next week will mean a little more time for Kaleb and me since the bigger kids will be in VBS all week!

Don't forget to visit Carissa at 1+1+1=1 for some more Tot School posts.

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Friday, June 19, 2009

Paintbrush Set Giveaway

Susana is hosting a giveaway for a super-cute Funky Artist paintbrush set over at Our Homeschool Fun.

Be sure to stop by and tell her I sent you over! Unless of course you'd like to increase my chances by not entering...{grins}

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Preschool Corner: Summer Challenge



A quick note about Summer Preschool Corner: Summer will be a little more laid back, so feel free to share a fun craft or other fun idea that you are doing at home ~ you don't have to have an elaborate week's worth of plans to participate. I won't! :)

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With summer in full swing around our house we've had very little "school time" as it generally is. What we have had a lot of is playing outside, sprinkler running, pool time and craziness. Somehow I have a feeling the majority of our summer is going to be like this! :) {and really...that's ok!}.

So while I don't have a day-by-day account of what we've done, I will share something with you that we have implemented for the summer called "School's Out Reading Challenge!" We're doing this with our oldest three, but made it a little easier for Zachary. I am not the one who came up with the idea ~ I based ours from Carissa's Summer Plans at 1+1+1=1. Be sure to head over and see what she's doing too!



Each day Zachary can earn points based on a list that I pulled together of school-type things or helping out around the house. When he earns a certain level of points he can cash them in for a prize or hold out for a big prize. At the rate we're going right now, I might have to offer several prizes throughout the summer, but you might notice my prize list is a little {ahem} cheap. :) Here are the prizes he can earn {and little does he know I have some of the things already stashed away in my closet!}:

15 points: Trip to Target dollar section; trip to Dollar Tree; book from the Thrift Store

30 points: Frosty from Wendy's or a Hot Wheels car

45 points: Ice cream for dinner or a new dinosaur



The points page is hanging nearby to remind me of how many points Zachary earns for different things:

~ Reading/Listening: Audio books {in the van} or reading a book to Mommy

~ Writing - completing a writing worksheet

~ Bible - Mommy sits to read a Bible story from our 'special Bible'

~ Spanish - Using a cd-rom we have and knowing the words Mommy asks

~ Lapbook review - going over the lapbooks we've done this past year

~ Letter writing - {Mommy will help with this}

~ Chores & Extra: Cleaning up without being asked, going all day without tv, etc....

If you are interested in doing something similar with your kids, I uploaded a blank set of Summer Challenge sheets for boys and girls to my site. Just follow the link and you can download your own set to print off. If it doesn't work for you, let me know and I can email you the pdf file.

About the Preschool Corner:

The Preschool Corner is a place for us to share the ideas we are using during our "preschool time" with our kids. You can join in the fun and record what you are doing in your house. Please link your exact blog post to the Mr. Linky below (if you have questions feel free to ask). Be sure to link back to this blog post so that your readers can find some other great ideas too!

The guidelines can be found here if you need them.

Share what you've been doing in your house this week!


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Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Our Homeschool Curriculum 2009-2010

I mentioned a few days ago that some of our curriculum choices changed after I attended our homeschool convention this past weekend.

By 'our curriculum choices' I mean the phone conversation between my husband and I went something like, "You trust me in choosing the curriculum we'll be using with the kids, right?"

{crickets chirping}

"Oh. Yeah."

So, after hours of wandering around the vendor hall I made a few last minute switches. Keeping in mind that our school year will already have some interruptions with reviewing for the Homeschool Crew, I think that the changes will work out very well for the groove that we are getting into as a family.

Here's the planned lineup for our upcoming year. And 'planned' is such a loose word, really. More like 'in an ideal world we would complete and finish all on our list':

Bible ~ Discovering Jesus in Genesis by Susan Hunt. We've done more structured curriculum in the past, but this book offers 36 devotion-style book that focuses on covenant promises throughout the Bible.

Spelling ~ All About Spelling {no changes here}. Love the program and we are still working on it through the summer also.

Math - A Beka math based on the kids grade levels. I wavered between this and Saxon, but stuck with what was familiar to me at this point since the girls are doing well with it. We are going to add in some various math activities/manipulatives this year as well as some fun books I found called Daily Mental Math {again, based on the girls grade levels}. The Daily Mental Math books have a few small exercises for the girls to do just as 'sharpening' skills for their workboxes {purchased through Rainbow Resource}.

Language ~ This was the big switch for us this year! I sat in on a seminar by Jessie Wise and picked up the book First Language Lessons for the Well-Trained Mind. We're going to start on some of it this summer and work through it a bit and see where Laurianna is overall. The main book is primarily for grades 1-2 and there are additional books for grades 3-4. Something just 'clicked' with me when listening to Jessie Wise and thumbing through the books.

Writing ~ We'll be using the book The Complete Writer: Writing with Ease by Susan Wise Bauer {daughter of Jessie Wise}. Again, the convention was the trigger for this switch over too.

Handwriting ~ I switched our books in this area too! I picked up all of the levels in A Reason for Handwriting. The workbooks are based on Scripture verses and have the kids practice words and letters from the verse of the week. {manuscript or cursive depending on their grade level}

Science ~ Overall, we will be using Apologia. Right now we're working our way through Flying Creatures of the Fifth Day. During the school year, both girls independently work on science reading using A Beka science that goes along with their grade levels.

Geography ~ Our primary focus for the year will be continuing our studies of world cultures and geography. This next year we will keep up with Galloping the Globe and finish our tour with Africa, Australia, South America, and Canada.
History ~ Even though we will be focused on geography overall, the girls will again be reading independently through their grade level books from A Beka in this subject.

Art ~ This is one area that I really feel a need to improve my follow-through {ahem}. The girls are begging to do more here and really want to learn. After using ARTistic Pursuits last year, we're going to use that as our primary focus this year.

After listing it all out, it seems a little overwhelming in ways, but this summer my focus is working out a schedule to fit things in once a week (like art, Bible, etc...) and go from there. I'm also planning on using Sue Patrick's Workbox system {most likely with some tweaking for our family} to help with the thought of having 3 kiddos officially in 'school' this year. Some of the things I'll be doing with Zachary are a little different, but he'll be doing handwriting along with us, math, reading, language, spelling, and geography as it all applies to him. :)

So...off to work on my planner, my plans...or maybe I'll just kick back and rest for a little bit. I'm wiped just typing that all out!



Be sure to stop by and visit Kris @ Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers and see some of the other curriculum line-ups for this year! Darcy @ My 3 Boybarians is also hosting a "Not-Back-to-School" blog hop and the topic is curriculum.


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Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Preschool Corner Questions

I've had quite a few of you email me asking if I will continue hosting the Preschool Corner over the summer.

YES!! :)

It might not be the all~out version that the school year entails, but I would like to keep up with everyone over the summer and see the fun ideas that you are doing too. My goal is to post at least a few things we did during the week {theme related or not} ~ just FUN learning ideas to share with you all.

If you would like to participate, let it be as unstructured or structured as you'd like. Just have fun and show us what neat things are happening in your house!

My question to you is - what day works best for you all to have the Preschool Corner hosted? Are Fridays still good for you? {grins} I'd love to hear from you!

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Sunday, June 14, 2009

The Joys of Homeschool Convention

I love homeschool convention time.

Love it.

Wandering around the huge vendor hall. Finding great deals in the used curriculum sale. Refueling by listening to some amazing speakers.

Going into convention I had all my curriculum choices lined up {in a nice little row thank.you.very.much} ~ so certain of what I needed to buy. Wanted to do. Planned to follow.

Here I am on the other side of convention having ditched one of my curriculums {language} and will now be spending the next few weeks furiously reviewing a new language curriculum for our upcoming year.

If you are at all familiar with my personality, this is really stretching me. Putting me out of my comfort zone. But I am very excited about our upcoming year and getting planning underway.

I'll be sharing the different areas we'll be studying next year and also our plans for the summer in the next little bit, so stay tuned. {And feel free to ask any questions!!}

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