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Tot School

Oct. 29, 2009 • 10:52 PM

Here are a few of our recent activities within our Tot School!

My youngest children enjoyed matching numbers using this Scarecrow File Folder activity.

We read Goodnight Moon with our FIAR Club. Here is a paper we did with that.

It was a coloring picture. They colored in the items in the room in crayons then to make the room green. They used green watercolor paints. (They love painting!)

We also did a few fun Tot Tray activities. I was organizing the Tot activity cabinet and these activites my youngest wanted to work on.

This one is just placing marbles on the suction cups of a patterned bath mat piece. I found some fish shaped ones. This is a fine motor skills activity.

This one is a color sorting activity. The ice cream bowls and scoops I found inexpensively. I put those three colors (blue, green, & Yellow) of pompoms in a container. They had to take the color ice cream scoop they wanted and use it to sort those colored pompom balls into the matching bowl.

The picture below shows two other things (characters) my little Tot is currently enjoying:

If you want to see what others are doing in their Tot Schools, check out 1+1+1=1 blog.

Itty-Bitty Bookworm: I like Me

Oct. 16, 2009 • 11:07 PM

We recently had some fun with the book entitled I Like Me.

I teach a class of 2-5 year olds in our homeschool co-op. It is a Little Literature class. This month we did a book within the Itty-Bitty Bookworm's Bo curriculum. The book was I Like Me by Nancy Carlson.

In this story, the pig appreciates and takes care of herself. I was able to incorporate a reminder from the Bible, too. I told the children how each of them was a special creation, made by God. How each one is unique.

We did the coloring picture included in the curriculum:

We also made the booklets from the curriculum. I had each child work on the same page at the same time. They colored each page according to their hair color, eye color. I wrote the word on the line since most of the children in this age group can not yet write. For the favorite foods page, I had food pictures already cut out of a magazine. They choose pictures of their favorite foods and glued them onto their "I like to eat____" page. The books really turned out cute:

For a take-home project, I gave them a sheet with an outline of a child. They were told do a self-portrait by making the person look like themselves. They brought them back to me to see at our next co-op. A self-portrait is a nice additional project for this book.

If you are interested in learning more about the Itty-Bitty Curriculum, check out their website. They have literature-based curriculums. The Bailey curriculum is for 18-36 month olds. The Bo curriculum is geared toward 3-5 year olds.

Keeping up.

Oct. 16, 2009 • 8:40 AM

It's been hard keeping up lately. I know all of you homeschooling moms understand the schedule that comes with homeschooling 5 children. All of my children seem to have their own individual curriculums this year. Occasionally we will do a project like a lapbook together but mostly everything is separate... and that is a lot of subjects. My two youngest children do some activities together as well as some apart. We do Tot Trays this year. These activities are usually a hit with them.

I am telling you all this so you know why I haven't been blogging. I enjoy blogging and love the friends I made/make as well as the ideas and projects I find on other blogs. I just haven't had the time to sit down for myself and blog here. I do have some things ready to go though and will hopefully soon start blogging a little more often.

I might even keep my blogs more visual and write less words for the time being. You know... ease back in slowly, building up to when I can more easily post more. I am a very visual person anyway. I go to blogs more often that have a lot of photos and show crafts, etc. with photo steps/instructions so it will be more my style anyway! :)

Apron Giveaway!

Sep. 23, 2009 • 8:21 AM

Over the past year or so I have developed a real liking for aprons. I think they are fun, helpful and also a reminiscent item.

The apron is certainly helpful in saving your clothing while cooking as well as with other domestic activities. I can always picture a women walking to her garden and gathering up her harvest into her apron to carry inside. The aprons of the past, worn almost everyday, certainly would have some wonderful stories to tell if they could. Even to the child running to their mama crying, head hitting the apron as they hug and the child's tears filling the mother's apron. Aprons are mother's helpers and a reminder to me of simple and wonderful things!

I have a small collection now and it is a fun collection to have. The aprons will hold special memories to me as I am teaching my older girls now how to cook. Someday I will look at the aprons we're wearing now and the memories will flood into my mind.  I have picked up a few cute aprons at thrift stores and one new, one was a gift (a pattern to be sewn) and my older daughters have each sewn me aprons at their sewing classes. I've never won an apron yet so hopefully I will possibly win this one!!!

Here is the giveaway for a nice Edwardian giveaway! Check it out and enter if you'd like!

Back to HOME School: Workboxes

Sep. 4, 2009 • 10:58 AM

September is zooming by. The start back up to our Home school year for 2009-2010 is underway and going well! How is your year going? Are you into the swing of things yet? I think we were all ready in our household to get back into a regular schedule even though summer seemed to go by too quickly.

We started using Workboxes. I am sure you have probably heard about these. This idea seems to be sweeping through the homeschool arena and I can see why. It is such a simple set-up but so wonderful in how it works. It really keeps the child working more independantly and is a visual and self-motivated approach to scheduling a student's school work for the day. I was never one that liked to print out daily schedules for my children (of reading age.) Each day confirming what the next pages to do took time out of the day and seemed to break the momentum. Our new workbox system has solved these problems. Also, I often had little projects like art projects or small kits that never seemsed to work their way into our school time. Now these things can simply be placed in a box and they get used, after all that is why I bought them! This workbox idea is from a book called Sue Patrick's Workbox System. 

Here is what one of our workbox system's looks like. This is my oldest daughters set-up:

I had a wooden shelf that had been given to us many years ago that never felt I used well. It sort of caught our overflow, etc. I decided that was what I wanted to use but I still wanted to find the right bins/boxes for that shelf. It took some looking but I found them (and inexpensively, too! WhooHoo!) I especially like these bins because they fit most school books in them flat.

You can adjust this system to fit your needs. For one of my children I will probably be using the stackable drawer system. The rubbermaid product that has clear drawers that pull out. This will fit right on top of the desk.

To number our bins, I used a bulletin board strip that had numbers on it. I got a whole package of them (14 strips) in a pack from the Dollar store. I cut them apart and laminated them. I just attached a twisty-tie to the back and once dry, twisted them onto the bins.

Here is a wonderful website. It should answer all your worbox system questions. It shows pictures of other homeschoolers' systems, each being a little different. This site hosts many great links to printables  well as ideas for items to add to younger children's workbox trays.

If you have questions, leave them in the comments. I will try to answer them. If you have a workbox system post at your blog, let me know. I'd love to stop by and see your system!

  Happy Homeschooling & Have a great year!  

Preschool Curriculum

Jul. 14, 2009 • 1:37 PM

I am happy to announce I know what curriculum I am using next school year with these two...

We will be enjoying the Itty Bitty Bookworm's Bo curriculum!

The Itty Bitty Bookworm is a literature based program. They have two different curriculums available. Bo curriculum is for your little learners that are 3-5 years old. The Bailey Curriculum are for 18-36 month olds. The Bo curriculum has unit that enhance a particular storybook each week. With the Bailey curriculum, the units change every two weeks so the toddler has a longer period of time on each story.

We are using the Bo curriculum in our homeschool next year with Peanut (41/2 years) and Precious (3 years old).

I will post about some of our book units when we do them. So.. if you are looking at programs because you are planning to start homeschooling little ones, you might want to check back from time to time!

From looking over it, I think this curriculum will be a great fit for us. We love children's literature but also like themes and/or unit that revolve around the stories. This is what this curriculum does. But, what is different from FIAR or some other literature-based programs is that Itty Bitty includes activities and printable worksheets on their CDs. You can read more about them Here at their website. Look for more to come once our schoolyear starts, too!

Indescribable

Jul. 8, 2009 • 12:10 AM

Just wanted to share this song....

Hip Hip Hooray... It's Independence Day!

Jul. 3, 2009 • 9:05 AM

Hip Hip Hooray...It's Independence Day!

Here is a really FUN red, white, and blue drink we made last year! You might want to try it for your family or for your celebration of this important holiday.

Putting FUN into lunch!

Jun. 26, 2009 • 9:59 AM

Here is a simple way to add some FUN to lunch!

My kids really liked these FUN FRANKS! I think they'd be good with melted cheese or spaghetti sauce but this first time they were plain.... and my kids still really enjoyed them!

Looking for something fun for lunch? Try this! All you need is hot dogs and spaghetti noodles.!

Just slice your hot dogs into chuncks. Then stick the dry spaghetti noodles through the hot dogs so that the noodles are on both sides of the hot dog piece.

All that's left to do is boil them in a large pot....

then just drain and serve!

Enjoy ... and Have fun!

Encourage One Another

Jun. 11, 2009 • 8:15 PM

Review: ARTistic Pursuits

May. 26, 2009 • 3:07 PM

ARTistic Pursuits: THE Curriculum for Creativity

ARTistic Pursuits is the curriculum for well-taught art methods, elements, and techniques. The book is very appealing to look at. The lessons include color and black & white sketches as well as pieces of artwork as examples that go along with what is being taught.  It is also written in a way that is easy-to-read and interesting.

So... here is a very good instructional lesson book that is pleasantly appealing to the eye. Have I gotten your attention yet? Well, here is more about Artistic Pursuits….

Review: Tapestry of Grace

May. 19, 2009 • 9:05 AM

Tapestry of Grace is an award-winning homeschool curriculum put out by Lampstand Press.

Apologia Science!!

May. 15, 2009 • 9:06 PM

Are you looking for a wonderful Christ-centered Science curriculum? If you haven’t already tried Apologia, you may want to give it a try! My review is following but (as you’ll read) I truly think this is one of the BEST Science curriculums on the market right now!

“Apologia provides fun and challenging K-12 creation-based science curriculum specifically designed for the home school.” This Science curriculum is such a breath of fresh air to me as a Christian homeschooling mother that isn’t too “into” Science. I do however LOVE the world that God has created and I am thankful to have found a curriculum that teaches from this same perspective. Apologia products are written by a former university professor and homeschool parent. Each book provides college-preparatory science in a way that is both clear and challenging. The texts are readable, easy to understand. When I started reading, I was really impressed at how it really drew us in and kept our attention. The curriculum also has many engaging experiments that can be performed at home with simple materials. I like too that there are photo, graphs, and drawings included all throughout the books.

Apologia publishes a full-range of science texts for the Christian homeschool. They began with high school science texts which have been very popular with homeschoolers for many years. More recently, Apologia began publishing elementary texts. Currently, the elementary science series includes five titles: Astronomy, Botany, Flying Creatures, Swimming Creatures, and Land Creatures.

In each unit, they have included notebook assignments, experiments and other projects. In the experiments, the scientific method is emphasized including discussions of variables, controls, hypotheses, data collection, and drawing conclusions.

Here is a free sample! It is Module one from Flying Creatures of the Fifth Day! The lesson of called “What is Zoology?” Read it and see how interesting this curriculum is!

Tot School: new activities

May. 8, 2009 • 9:24 PM

 We had some fun new activities with TOT School recently!

This was a fun project I got from my blogging friend Angels of Heart!

This activity is simply to count the number of chicks on the given card and then place that many chicks with the card. I helped her with this and she counted with me. She should be able to do this one on her own next Spring.

We did a color match activity that is also great for fine motor skills. This wonderful idea came from the TOTally Tots site. I love this colored paper clips idea. We keep it in a ziplock bag and I often grab it for our Bible bag and the "littles" quietly work on it while sitting in the church pew.

She did a picture match-up using the My First Lotto game.

My toddler, "Precious" and her brother, "Peanut" each colored a new juice cup! Then used them for lunch. They thought they were neat. They were purchased at OrientalTrading.com.

They also had fun outside a day with a friend, while the older siblings worked on their Old Testament Lapbooks.

And... we did another new color-matching activity that is a favorite with my kids. Everytime I put it away (It is still in reach) they get it out again to do! This great idea came from Montessori Journey.

All the supplies were bought at the Dollar General Store for $1 each. (Total for everything together was $3) I might go back for more flower cubes to have more for the children to count out.

I thank all the wonderful blogs I mentioned for these great ideas! You'll find many more ideas for fun activities to do with toddlers when you check out the other TOT SCHOOL particiapants!

Homeschool Share's Blast!

May. 8, 2009 • 8:17 AM

There is a really great contest going on over at my favorite website: Homeschool Share! Check it out!

If you like to lapbook and enjoy creating your own school units, you might want to sign up to create a unit for them! The prizes are so wonderful! I am really excited to see all the new projects that will get created and shared on Homeschool Share, too! What a Blast that will be!

Find out all the details here at Homeschool Share's Contest page!

The contest ends June 20th! So don't delay!

If you've never seen all the wonderful resources over at Homeschool Share.com, you really must check it out now! You will be thrilled to have found such a wonderful resource for free educational and FUN projects that are also FREE!

Homeschool in the Woods

May. 8, 2009 • 6:55 AM

As part of the TOS Homeschool Crew, I received the New Testament Activity-Pak from Homeschool in the Woods. I was thrilled about this because my children were already making their Old Testament Lapbooks with the activity-pak we previously purchased from Homeschool in the Woods.

The creator of Homeschool in the Woods products is Amy Pak, a homeschooling mom of four. She has great artistic and creative talent. These educational unit studies and lapbook kits not only become works of art but also excellent learning and teaching tools.

My family loves making lapbooks, myself included. I wish there would have been such a thing when I was in school. I would have made a lapbook for everything I studied (if allowed!)

Here is a wonderful quote from their website: "It is our heartfelt prayer that children develop a love of learning that will not end when they are finished with "school." We at Home School in the Woods have a passion for supporting the education of our children, specifically in understanding God's providence through history."

My older children were already working on the Old Testament Lapbook from Homeschool in the Woods when I heard we’d be getting the New Testament Activity Pack from Homeschool in the Woods! We are making these with another homeschooling family from our church, adding some Bible Study lessons as we go.

All of the activitiy paks that Amy Pak has created are so full of great detail. She really worked hard on the pieces included in each activitiy pak. The composition of the lapbook is also very creative with flaps, pockets and many great interactive pieces throughout. Here are some of the completed pieces from our OLD Testament activity pack that are ready to go into the lapbook!:

Like I said, I was fortunate to receive The New Testament Activity-Pak. This pack is designed for grades 3-8 to use independently but I think it appeals to all ages. ( I know I love it myself but I won’t reveal my age!  )

Now that we have completed our Old Testament lapbook from Homeschool in The Woods' Old Testament Activity-Pak, we are anxious to begin with the New Testament one.

The New Testament Activity-Pak contains 15 mini-book projects to create and then put together into a finished lapbook. Once completed, the lapbook is so appealing, everyone will enjoy looking at it over and over again. It takes you through the history of the New Testament beginning with the Birth of Christ and ending with Paul’s Missionary journeys.

The following activities are included in the lapbook:

• Books of the New Testament,
• Prophecies fulfilled by Jesus
• Jesus' lineage
• The birth of Jesus
• The Beatitudes
• First 12 Disciples
• Parables of Jesus
• Miracles of Jesus
• The Last Supper
• Crucifixion, resurrection, ascension and Pentecost
• Christ's resurrection
• Fruit of the Spirit
• Paul's missionary journeys
• Paul's letters

In addition to the lapbook, The New Testament Activity-Pak contains directions to create “The New Testament News” and an “Armor of God” poster.

She includes clear directions on how to assemble the pieces with photos of the completed pieces which are very helpful.

This is an activity Pack created as a “go-along” project with your study of the Bible’s New Testament! The New Testament Activity-Pak New Testament Activity-Pak sells for $18.95 as a download product or $19.95 plus shipping on CD.

Homeschool in the Woods has many other great products as well. We have many of them and have loved each one we have used so far! We have done the Homeschool in the Woods Colonial study that is part of their Time Travelers series. We also plan to do the American Revolution one next school year. I am also really thinking about purchasing the Artists Activity-pak  once we've completed those we already own. (The Civil War study looks great though too!) I can easily give Homeschool in the Woods 2 thumbs up!  

Review : Spell Quizzer

Apr. 23, 2009 • 12:33 PM

Spell Quizzer is a fun learning tool to help your student with their spelling practice.  The program is designed for Windows, and it downloads right to your computer. It is basic and is very easy to use. 

Dan Hite created this software to help children learn their spelling words in a fun and easy way.

It’s a simple program yet good.

It is very easy to create your spelling list(s). Just type in a word and then record the sentence or phrase that you want your child to hear. Click to add that word to the list and continue this process until you have all the desired words for that list entered. If you don't want to make up your own spelling lists, the SpellQuizzer site is in the process of adding downloadable spelling lists that can be imported into the program.

TOT School: Easter Week

Apr. 16, 2009 • 11:15 AM

This week, we read these stories...

We also read this great Book entitled "Benjamin's Box." It tells the story of the Resurrection eggs. We've done the Resurrection eggs every year since we've had them but it was especially nice with this book to go with it.

We had a LOT of fun painting eggs. They wanted more and more to paint so I boiled all the eggs I had except for the 3 set aside for my son's birthday cake!

Precious really did a great job painting her eggs!

Here she is helping me make that birthday cake I mentioned. Besides being the week of Easter, it was also my oldest son's birthday! Precious loves to add ingredients, stir and of course, lick the beaters.

For my son's birthday we went bowling...

"Precious" really enjoyed her first time bowling...

She did a great job, too!

Then we also had an Easter egg hunt with cousins at our family Easter celebration.

They're off....

If you'd like to see other TOT SCHOOL participants, click here!

Have a great week!

Happy Resurrestion Day!

Apr. 10, 2009 • 8:22 AM

Happy Easter!

Happy Resurrection Day!

Review: Bonnie Terry Learning

Apr. 9, 2009 • 11:16 AM

Fact: Up to 87% of students do NOT learn from hearing alone. Most of us homeschooling moms know this and that is why we teach our child to their learning styles.

Bonnie Terry also knows this fact and has produced products to help students practice their reading and study skills.

Bonnie Terry is an Educational Therapist who specializes in learning disabilities.  Bonnie has over 30 years of experience working with students. Her products were created to help ALL students improve their reading fluency as well as retain what they read.

I received two of her products through the TOS Homeschool Crew. I got Five Minutes to Better Reading Skills and Ten Minutes to Better Study Skills! Whoo-Hoo! This sounds great to me and five or ten minutes a day is something that won’t even uproot our already busy schedule.

Five Minutes to Better Reading Skills