Homeschool Creations

Friday, December 30, 2011

Preschool Corner ~ Week After Christmas

So…out of curiousity, did anyone do school this week? We’re all busy playing with the fun new toys and getting ready to start back up again. My schedule says we are starting Monday, but I’m thinking we may see what we can fiddle around with and start a little later.

Ahhh…the beauty of homeschooling. :)

How was your Christmas? I hope you all had an amazing time together with your family and are enjoying a bit of a rest and break!

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! Grab a button below and be sure to take a minute to visit the person who linked up before you. You can read more in the updated guidelines for Preschool Corner.
 
 

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    Wednesday, December 28, 2011

    Weekly Homeschool Planner Sale ~ Get Organized in the New Year!

    3 Day Weekly Homeschool Planner Sale

    Needing some organization in your homeschool day? Looking for a little something to help you put your plans in order?

    To give you a headstart on the 2012 year, the Weekly Homeschool Planner is on sale for $12 {down from the regular price of $20}! Just use the code ORGANIZE12 at checkout. Click the “Add to Cart” button at the end of this post to take advantage of the sale price from December 29th to December 31st.

    Already purchased the Weekly Homeschool Planner? Then become an affiliate so you get a 25% commission using your affiliate link when you share the planner with others!

    Can you help spread the word? Tweet about it, post about it and share it on Facebook with your friends ~ hurry! The sale ends at midnight on Saturday, December 31st!

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    Grab the pdf Weekly Homeschool Planner for $12!

    Add to Cart
     

    * This is an editable pdf file that you can save to your computer and use year after year. To learn more about the Weekly Homeschool Planner, click HERE.


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    Friday, December 23, 2011

    Week Off!! ~ Preschool Corner

     

    We’re building gingerbread houses, having an early Christmas with family, playing with friends and just having fun.

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    The gingerbread houses have been hidden for a bit because a certain 5 year old was literally caught licking the houses the other day.

    Hilarious.

    We’re enjoying our break MUCH ~ what have you all been doing this week?

    More Preschool Links

    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! Grab a button below and be sure to take a minute to visit the person who linked up before you. You can read more in the updated guidelines for Preschool Corner.

     

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    Wednesday, December 21, 2011

    2:1 Conference ~ Ticket Sale!!

    2 1 Conference Button

    Have you heard about the 2:1 Conference? Not sure what it is all about?

    The 2:1 Conference is a conference for bloggers like you - mothers, in the trenches of homeschooling, with hearts for God.  What are your desires for your faith, your homeschool, your blog this year?  Would you like these to grow in His grace? Then join us, make new friends, receive loads of encouragement and learn more about social media ~ all based on Biblical principles. The conference will be held from April 27-29, 2012 in Sterling, VA (Holiday Inn Washington Dulles).

    There is a FABULOUS group of speakers lined up for the long weekend, including Heidi St. John, Rebecca Ingram Powell, and Rachael Carman. Each day there will be breakout sessions focused on different topics: Business Blogging, Organization and Planning, Using Your Blog as a Platform and more. You can view the entire weekend schedule hereCarisa from 1+1+1=1 and I will both be speaking at one of the breakout sessions along with the blogging moms behind Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers, The Happy Housewife, Raising Arrows, and so many more!!

    Only 200 tickets will be available for the conference.  Tickets are normally $259, but you can purchase them for $199 until December 31st when you use the code 2to1Christmas at checkout. The conference tickets include the following:

    • admission to the full conference
    • entry to general and break out sessions as well as group activities
    • all meals (Friday dinner, Saturday breakfast, lunch and dinner and Sunday breakfast and lunch) and snacks

    Hope to see some of you there!!!


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    Tuesday, December 20, 2011

    A Bit Scarce the Next Few Weeks…

    With Christmas coming this week and our family taking a break from school, I’ll be a bit scarce around the blog world. There will be an occasional post, but we’ll be spending time enjoying Christmas together and then gearing up for the next school quarter.

    There is lots of planning, printing and creating to do for the next few months and I need to focus on getting it all together. I also have some books in my stash that I want to focus on reading as we gear up for the rest of the school year.

    I pray you all have a WONDERFUL Christmas with your family and are able to rest and enjoy your time together!!


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    Monday, December 19, 2011

    Books from Sally Clarkson ~ Giveaway

    You all have to know that one of my favorite ladies is Sally Clarkson. I am NOT a huge non-fiction reader {at all}. This year I have managed to finish three of her books alone and have been so amazingly encouraged by her heart and her words.

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    photo courtesy of Darcy @ My3Boybarians

    She has spoken the last two years at the Relevant Conference and this year when she sat next to me during one of the lunches, I was NOT shy and thrilled to have a few minutes to talk with her {I’m the bug-eyed one sitting next to her…not talking at this moment}. A bit later, she sent me home with a few extra books to pass along to one of you!

    Clarkson books

    Educating the WholeHearted Child by Clay and Sally Clarskson gives Christian parents who desire to homeschool a detailed and trustworthy map that will enable them to confidently and joyfully follow the path of biblical home education from beginning to end.

    Read for the Heart by Sarah Clarkson is a handbook of the best of children's literature and whole books for family reading.

    You can visit Sally’s blog, I Take Joy, anytime ~ and I HIGHLY recommend her many books!! I have two more of them on my nightstand now and cannot tell you enough what a huge encouragement her writing has been to me.

    If you’d like to win the set of books, all you have to do is click ‘I Did It’ on the Rafflecopter widget below ~ it’s that simple!

    a Rafflecopter giveaway

     

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    Saturday, December 17, 2011

    Moments to Remember ~ Dogsitting

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    Moments to Remember was developed as a simple way to look back on our week as homeschoolers and find photos that encompass the memories we want to remember. 

    The week may have been tough, there may have been more bumps than smiles, but in the end these are the moments that keep us going, the ones we need to remember.

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    A dog. How exactly does that tie in with homeschooling? Well, the arrival of a dog into our household {for dog-sitting the next 2 weeks} officially marks the end of the first half of our year.

    And this picture just makes me smile, because even though one would expect chaos when a dog entered the house, it actually has brought a calm to a few children as they sit, pet and read to the dog. I wasn’t able to snap a picture of our three youngest all surrounding the dog on her big ol’ pillow and reading story after story…but it was so cute and you’ll just have to take my word on it. :)

    Don’t think that there aren’t 4 children in high hopes that we will be introducing a dog into our household in the near future…and I’ll be the first to admit that I’m warming up to the idea…shhhhh!

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    Ready to link up and share your moment this week?

    Link up your moments to remember post below, be sure to provide a link back and be sure to use a permalink to link up your exact Moments to Remember blog post {not your blog home page}. Your post can be as simple as one photo, or as detailed as tons of photos and tons of words!  This linky is for homeschoolers, or families who are keeping their kiddos at home during the early years {we consider you homeschoolers too}.

    When adding your link, just put your blog name for the title and choose an image from your post for the thumbnail.

    Next week, link up with 1+1+1=1!


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    Friday, December 16, 2011

    Halfway Through ~ Preschool Corner

    Tomorrow marks the halfway point of our school year ~ woo hoo!! This week we spent a bit more time focusing on things together as a group to wrap things up and didn’t do as much as I had planned with Mr. Willowby’s Christmas Tree…or get all the gingerbread things done either.

    Next week, we don’t have many plans in place {yet} because Daddy is supposed to be home and we also have family coming this weekend too. In the back of my mind we will be doing LOTS of fun and crafty things ~ baking, reading, games and more and just spending time together as a family.

    No pictures, but here’s a quick rundown of what we did this week:

    • History {using Mystery of History}
    • Bible {using Truth in the Tinsel and other Advent stories}
    • Science {learning about wheels and axles}
    • Puzzles
    • Games
    • Handwriting without Tears
    • Abeka K math
    • Reading ~ the new All About Reading Level 1

    The best part of this week for us? Every single morning Kaleb came up to me before we were ready to start school asking if he could do more All About Reading and get another star sticker on his reading chart. We’ve completed five lessons now and I have to tell you that AAR 1 literally made me cry one morning.

    A good cry, that is.

    Two days ago we worked on the lesson that introduced the 'rule breaker' word 'the'. We went over it and over it. On Thursday morning, Kaleb and McKenna were putting a puzzle together that has itty bitty writing on it and you need to use a magnifying glass to read the special clues on it.

    Kaleb came running downstairs to me with a piece of the puzzle and the magnifying glass in his hand, handed them both to me and said, "Mom! I found a rule breaker! Look! There is a t, an h, and an e." I looked at the puzzle piece and there was, so I asked him what it said and he yelled out 'THE!'

    I seriously cried. He was so excited and the look on his little face was just so priceless. Probably one of the best moments of this week overall because I could visibly SEE learning happening and ‘clicking’ in his little mind.

    Note ~ I will be hosting Preschool Corner over the next two weeks even though we don’t have any specific plans for school at this point ~ BUT I do want you all to still be able to share what you are doing {grins}.

    More Preschool Links

    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! Grab a button below and be sure to take a minute to visit the person who linked up before you. You can read more in the updated guidelines for Preschool Corner.
     
     


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    Thursday, December 15, 2011

    All About Reading Pre1 Progress Chart

    All About Reading progress chart

    If you are using the All About Reading Pre1 program with your kids, be sure to download the progress chart to go along with it! Our kids absolutely love being able to track their progress on things ~ and the stickers that go along with it!

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    We have loved the All About Reading Level Pre-1 program and recently started working on the All About Reading Level 1 program with Kaleb. You can read my full review of the review of All About Reading Pre1 program here.

    If you are interested in a peek at the program, download the FREE Activity Book from All About Reading by clicking on the banner below!

     
     

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    Molly Green EVERYTHING Bundle Sale

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    A reader passed along this deal from Molly Green and I thought you all might be interested as well. The Old Schoolhouse Store is offering the ENTIRE Molly Green library for $49 and allowing you to share it with a friend ~ that means you can split the cost between friends or give a copy as a gift. This is normally almost $240 in product, so it’s a huge savings!

    This is all that is included in the Molly Green Collection:

    • 36 Molly's Money Saving Digests E-Books ($178.20 value)
    • E-Book: In the Kitchen With Molly ($7.95 value)
    • E-Book: Molly Goes Camping ($8.95 value)
    • E-Book: Molly Makes $5 Dinners and $3 Desserts ($7.95 value)
    • E-Book: Molly Makes $7 Slow Cooker Suppers ($7.95 value)
    • E-Book: Organize with Molly ($7.95 value)
    • Company’s Coming!-Molly Green MP3 ($4.95 value)
    • A Minute with Molly - Living Better on Less Set of 5 MP3s. ($4.95 value)

    You can use it as curriculum or a reference library for your entire family. For the next few days, it's only $49 and you can give a whole copy of ALL of it to your mom for Christmas (or any ONE friend you want). You both get it. Once you download the files, save them to a disc, and wrap as a gift or print them and make a special gift for one friend.

    I’m not sure the exact end date on this deal, but do know that it only had a one week ‘life’. Just wanted to pass it along to you all! :)


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    Wednesday, December 14, 2011

    15% off Little Passports Sale til 12/15

     

    Looking for a fun way to include world geography in your day? Little Passports is a company that takes your children on a global adventure ~ starting right at your own mailbox {you can read my review of Little Passports here}. Each month a new country is introduced to your children through a fun interactive kit they receive in the mail. 

    Today is the last day to take 15% off your order when you use the code FINAL15. All you have to do is visit the Little Passports site and use the code during checkout!!


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    Chickens, Goats, and More for Christmas

    Over the last few days I’ve been browsing through the World Vision Gift Catalog and have been truly overwhelmed. The thought that a seemingly small gift on my part could have such an impact on a family half a world a way is pretty amazing.

    Fruit trees. Seeds. Medicine. Clean Water. Things that we so often take for granted, but things that can make a huge difference in the life of another person and family.

    And the video below just makes me smile.

    {Blog feed readers, click here to see the video clip}

    Chickens. Goats. Sheep. Rabbits. Pigs….and so much more.

    World Vision Gift Catalog Animal

     

    Because we’ve had such fun with our own chickens this year, we’re going to give chickens {and hope that other kids enjoy them as much as ours have!}.

    Browse through the World Vision Gift Catalog here


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    Monday, December 12, 2011

    20% Off Truth in the Tinsel ~ 12/12/11 only!!

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    Truth in the Tinsel is 20% off today ONLY {12/12/11}. Use the code 12DAYS to take advantage of the sale. 

    Even though there are 24 days of activities that include Bible reading, ornament crafts, you can still take advantage of this fun ebook using an alternate schedule that Amanda provides for 12 days ~ and then use the full version next year.  One of the best things? It includes all of the templates and printables you will need to go along with the activities!!

    If you are looking for a fun way to include more of Jesus in the holiday season, be sure to check out Truth in the Tinsel! We’ve been using it this month and it is much fun {and I’m surviving the crafts!!}.

    Even if you miss the sale today, the Truth in the Tinsel will only be $4.99 ~ well worth it EITHER way {and you can bless another amazing mom and all of her hard work putting it together!}.


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    Sunday, December 11, 2011

    Mr. Willowby’s Christmas Tree Printable Pack

    Mr. Willowby's Christmas Tree

    These printables were created to use with the book Mr. Willowby’s Christmas Tree by Robert Barry. A reader emailed me a few weeks ago and said it was her husband’s favorite book growing up. I’d never heard of it, but ordered it and fell in love. It will be one book that will stay in our Christmas book basket for years to come!

    Mr Willowby's collage

    The printables for Mr. Willowby’s Christmas Tree include fun activities to tie in with the book ~ vocabulary words, word tracer cards, puzzles, tree size sequencing cards, a story sight word chart, recycling items, counting activities and more! Be sure to download BOTH sets of the printables since they go together and build on the skills your child will use.

    Download the free Mr. Willowby’s Christmas Tree printable pack!!

     

    Don’t Miss These Either!

    ~ Mr. Willowby’s Christmas Tree Read! Build! Write Cards

    ~ More Literature Based Printables

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

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