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    What’s in the Box Wednesday ~ Kindergarten

    Hi everyone! I have a new What’s in the Box Wednesday post for you today! What’s a “What’s in the Box Wednesday” post all about? Last year I did a weekly meme just to show what we were putting in our workboxes for the day. You can see all of my previous posts here: What’s in the Box … [Read More...]

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    Teeny Tot Tuesday ~ Letter D

    Greetings readers! I have a Teeny Tot Tuesday post for you today, and we’re working on the Letter D for Dinosaur! Coloring: Even though I absolutely LOVE our school room, it’s kind of nice to get a change every now and then. And since it was so nice out this week, we decided to change it up a … [Read More...]

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    Maestro Classics Story Pack Giveaway!

    Hi everyone, I’m so excited to have the Maestro Classics 4 CD Story Pack to giveaway to you today! The Maestro Classic CDs are wonderful mini-units that help introduce symphony and orchestra to younger students. They’re a fun addition to those of you doing my World’s Greatest Composers … [Read More...]

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    Butterfly DVD & Orb Factory Winners

    Hi everyone! I hope you are all enjoying your Mother’s Day! As promised I have a couple winners to announce today for the Crowe’s nest media Monarch Butterfly DVD and the Orb Factory VeggiTales® First up is the Monarch DVD winner: Congratulations to comment number #35, … [Read More...]

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    GMG Study ~ Proverbs 31 Woman

    Good morning! We had such a great response from the Ephesians Study last session, that I’ve decided to host a group for their next study, The Proverbs 31 Woman! This will be my 3rd online study through Good Morning Girls, and I’m so excited to be going through Courtney’s eBook! I downloaded it … [Read More...]

May
15

What’s in the Box Wednesday ~ Kindergarten

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Hi everyone! I have a new What’s in the Box Wednesday post for you today! What’s a “What’s in the Box Wednesday” post all about? Last year I did a weekly meme just to show what we were putting in our workboxes for the day. You can see all of my previous posts here: What’s in the Box Wednesday?

I’ve had a few emails asking what happened to this series, and so I thought I’d share a sample of a day of work in the Confessions house:

Today I’m sharing Tinker Bell’s workboxes…in case you’ve just found my blog, she’s in Kindergarten this year:

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Drawer 1.

In the top drawer she has a little tray of supplies that include pencils, erasers, a pencil sharpener, a pencil grip, a ruler, and a dry-eraser. Behind that in the black binder is our Grapevine Bible study and a pencil bag full of colored pencils specifically for Bible time.

Drawer 2.

In the next drawer she has her All About Reading workbook, and reader along with our Abeka Basic Phonics Flashcards. I do a lesson from AAS, then we review the special sound cards from Abeka really fast. Then she does her daily reading.

Drawer 3.

In her 3rd drawer is her math, this includes a Kumon Numbers writing book just for some additional work. Cuz’ I’m nice like that ;o)

Drawer 4.

In her fourth drawer is her A Reason for Handwriting, and her Abeka Letters and Sounds K Workbook. I just have her do these to practice what she’s learning in All About Reading & Spelling lessons. They correlate well together, and apparently worksheets make me feel better.

Drawer 5.

In her last drawer, she keeps her Road Trip USA binder. It includes everything she needs for Road Trip for the year. When we get to geography time, she just pulls out her binder and flips to the next state sheet we’re working on.

Not included in her workboxes:

Our World’s Greatest Artist curriculum. I keep that on my “teacher” shelves and we do our art projects in the kitchen, so there’s no need to have anything in our workboxes for those.

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So that’s pretty much what Tinker Bell goes through in one day right now. I quickly refill her boxes for the next day as soon as school is over. It takes me about 2 minutes to pull out a new worksheet for the next day. I don’t mix around my workboxes anymore just because it seemed like a waste of time. And I haven’t added in many extra fun boxes this year just due to time constraints.

Sometimes we’ll add in snacks about half way down, but usually Strawberry Shortcake is in charge of that and as soon as the clock strikes 10:30 a.m. she disappears to the kitchen and returns with a fun snack for everyone. I love that she remembers to do this because just a little trail mix half way through can do wonders for motivation!

Once Tinker Bell is done with school for the day, she is free to go play, but she’ll often choose to grab a game or activity and stays in the school room with us until we’re all done.

She’s my cuddly/huggy baby and doesn’t like to veer too far from me…which is just fine with this mama  ;o)

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If you’re wondering why I only have 5 drawers right now its because my kiddos have talked me into letting them use the Ikea drawers instead of my JoAnn’s 10 drawer carts this year. I honestly prefer the JoAnn’s drawers just because with the Ikea ones I have to put two subjects in a couple drawers, but sometimes a little change is good, and it seemed to make them happy. I still have the other carts, and maybe we’ll put them back in action next year for a little update.

Haven’t heard of the workbox system yet?

Make sure to visit my post to see how to make workboxes work for your homeschool.

Have some workboxes to share?

Make sure to link up below and share your ideas!

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May
14

Teeny Tot Tuesday ~ Letter D

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Greetings readers! I have a Teeny Tot Tuesday post for you today, and we’re working on the Letter D for Dinosaur! Coloring: Even though I absolutely LOVE our school room, it’s kind of nice to get a change every now and then. And since it was so nice out this week, we decided to change it up a bit and do a little “trampoline” school…that’s where the kids get to take their work out and lay on the trampoline and do it. It was a little bright out so the Teeny Tot dawned her sporty sunglasses and got down to business coloring her dinosaur.   Counting Skills: I brought out the dinosaur number cards for her to play with today too. I used them with my Learning Resources Math Links, and had the Teeny Tot put on the correct amount of links on each dinosaur. She also color coded them which I thought was nice.   Letter D shapes: Today I pulled out my Large Letter D print outs and had the Teeny Tot make a pattern using Learning Resources Color Cubes. … [Read more...]

May
13

Maestro Classics Story Pack Giveaway!

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Hi everyone, I’m so excited to have the Maestro Classics 4 CD Story Pack to giveaway to you today! The Maestro Classic CDs are wonderful mini-units that help introduce symphony and orchestra to younger students. They’re a fun addition to those of you doing my World’s Greatest Composers curriculum, or even on their own!     What is Maestro Classics? For those of you who haven’t visited Maestro Classics before, they produce “Stories in Music” which are a classical music CD series for children ages 5 to 12, but can be enjoyed by everyone, yes…even adults! Each CD comes with a booklet full of lesson activity ideas and games to play while listening. The CDs also include information on composers and historical facts when appropriate to the musical selections. The stories are engaging keep kids attention while at the same time introducing them to classical symphony and orchestra.   What’s included in this Story Set? Maestro Classics  CD … [Read more...]

May
13

Butterfly DVD & Orb Factory Winners

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Hi everyone! I hope you are all enjoying your Mother’s Day! As promised I have a couple winners to announce today for the Crowe’s nest media Monarch Butterfly DVD and the Orb Factory VeggiTales® First up is the Monarch DVD winner: Congratulations to comment number #35, Leah!         Next up is the Orb Factory VeggiTales® winner: Congratulations goes to comment number #100, Jennifer!   Hope you all have a great rest of the weekend, and see you tomorrow for another fun giveaway! … [Read more...]

May
11

GMG Study ~ Proverbs 31 Woman

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Good morning! We had such a great response from the Ephesians Study last session, that I’ve decided to host a group for their next study, The Proverbs 31 Woman! This will be my 3rd online study through Good Morning Girls, and I’m so excited to be going through Courtney’s eBook! I downloaded it awhile ago, so I’ve had a little time to look through it and I know it will be a blessing to many! Good Morning Girls will be providing SOAP Bible study readings along with videos and challenges to go along with Courtney’s eBook for this study. Who can join in? Anyone! Why do a study online? To help hold each other accountable, and encourage one another to be in God’s Word daily! Also, doing a study from the comforts of your own home can really help those of us who have a hard time committing to things outside our home, while still providing us with the love and support from other women. What are the details? This study will run from May 14th – August 17th. I will be … [Read more...]

May
10

What’s in the Bible Mother’s Day Goodies!

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Happy Mother’s Day to all of you wonderfully talented and awesome moms out there! I wanted to remind you if no one’s told you lately, that your kiddos are so blessed to have a mom as patient and loving as you are! And yes, I’m talking to all of you! The task of homeschooling is no easy feat, and we all have our weaknesses. But we also have a heart to touch the hearts of our children and that’s the stuff that counts! In celebration of all things mom, I have a special Mother’s Day treat for you today! Our good friends at What’s in the Bible are offering a printable Mother’s Day Card along with a $5 off coupon for you all.  Use Coupon Code: MOM5 to get your discount!   They created this cute printable card you can print out and let your kiddos fill out, maybe even with the help of Dad! --> Click here to download the Mother’s Day Printable <--   Who can find a virtuous woman? She is far more precious than jewels... Strength and … [Read more...]

May
09

Road Trip USA ~ Iowa

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Welcome to our Road Trip USA week on Iowa. Iowa was named the 29th state on December 28, 1846. It is nicknamed “The Hawkeye State” supposedly after the scout, Hawkeye, in James Fenimore Cooper’s “The Last of the Mohicans” published in 1826. It is the only state in the United States whose east and west borders are almost entirely formed by water; the Mississippi River runs along the east border and the Missouri River along the west border. Iowa is one of our largest producers of corn and soybeans.   Here are a few things we learned about Iowa: Located Iowa on our wall map Read our National Geographic Atlas and located Des Moines, Iowa using the map coordinates. Worked on our 50 States and Capitals song Learned about the state and it’s flag State Bird: The American Goldfinch State Flower: The Wild Prairie Rose State Rock: The Geode Famous People: Buffalo Bill Famous Landmarks: The George M. Verity US President: Herbert Hoover Food: Hogs and corn … [Read more...]

May
08

World’s Greatest Artists: Michelangelo Unit Study

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Welcome to our World’s Greatest Artist study on Michelangelo! Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni was born in 1475 in in Rome, Italy. He was an Italian Renaissance painter, sculptor, and architect, and poet. His two best known works are Pieta and David were completed before he was 30 years old. He also created two of the most influential works in fresco in the history of Western art. The scenes from Genesis on the ceiling and The Last Judgment on the alter wall of the Sistine Chapel in Rome. His impassioned and highly personal style resulted in Mannerism, the next major movement in Western art after the High Renaissance. Mannerism is noted for its intellectual sophistication as well as its artificial (i.e.: highly stylized poses) qualities.   We took a few lessons to read through the Michelangelo World’s Greatest Artist series by Mike Venezia.   As we learn how to critically assess a piece of artwork, here are some of the things we discussed … [Read more...]

May
07

Teeny Tot Tuesday ~ Letter C Printables

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Hello all you awesome homeschool moms! I hope you’re having a great year, and for a lot of you I know it’s nearing the end of this year already! Wow, where did the time go? Well, the Teeny Tot has reached age 3.5 and that’s about when I start with my Letter of the Week activities, so I’ve slowly started introducing them to her as some of her “New big girl school” activities. The title helps. Really. So…onto the post at hand…This week our Teeny Tot worked on Letter C for Caterpillar games. Large Floor Numbers: Here she is doing one of her favorite games, the large floor letter numbers. We lay them out, right now I am putting them in order to make it easier since she really doesn’t know her numbers yet. I call out a number and if she has trouble finding it I help her out a little by giving her the color.   Lacing Game: Strawberry Shortcake helped her with her lacing project. She likes to skip holes, so we’re trying to get her to go into each … [Read more...]

May
06

Backyard Butterfly DVD

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Is it just me, or has anyone else noticed the large amount of butterflies in the Road Trip USA curriculum? It seems like a LOT of states have listed a state butterfly, and since my kids absolutely love butterflies, I thought it would be fun to see the new DVD from Your Backyard: The Life and Journey of the Amazing Monarch Butterfly! What did we think? I was right! Just like their original Your Backyard Feeder Bird DVD, the Monarch DVD is just as fun. I think my kids like it so much because the video is narrated by children their ages. They also love the colorful vivid up-close images that allow them to see something they wouldn’t normally get to witness right up close! I like it because it’s full of fun information and shows the wondrous 30-day transformation from egg to butterfly. You get to watch a Monarch caterpillar eat its way out of its egg to the completion of metamorphosis. And one of my favorite parts about the Your Backyard team is that they’re a … [Read more...]