Sep
29

Road Trip USA: Maine

By | Geography, Homeschool

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Welcome to our 3rd stop on our Road Trip USA! This week we're trekking through Maine! We started off by adding the Maine flag to our Travel Journal.   We started off by reviewing the states and capitals we’ve learned so far, then located Maine and Augusta on our Wall Map.   Some of the things we learned about this week: Located Augusta, ME on our Wall Map Read National Geographic US Atlas and located Augusta, ME using the mapping grid Learned about the state flag State Bird: Black Capped Chickadee State Flower: The White Pine Cone and Tassel We continued reading If You Were There When They Signed the Constitution We reviewed the first two verses of the next verse to our 50 States and Capitals Song State Animal: The Moose State Berry: The Blueberry Famous Landmarks: Portland Head Light Classified our Maine state animal symbols and added them to our wall State food: Maine Lobster, and blueberries. Had blueberry muffins for … [Read more...]

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Sep
28

Magnetic Color Cubes: Color By Number

By | Homeschool

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I bought this set of Magnetic Mosaics by Orb Factory last year and it’s remained to be a favorite in our house. I love this game because for one it’s re-usable, unlike the sticky mosaics. Two, it’s great for number and color recognition, dexterity, and one-to-one correspondence. And three, its just plain fun!   There are several different themes you can choose from and each set comes with a magnetic board, a stand, colored magnetic cubes, and several different pattern cards to guide your design. Since I have 4 kiddos here, I had to come up with a couple other magnetic surfaces for them to work on.   My only complaint is how thin the pattern cards are, it’s a very thin paper material that can rip easily. I would love to take it and get them laminated, but the magnets aren’t very strong, so I’m not sure if that would work or not. So for now, my kids are just instructed to be careful with the patterns.   This game is similar to the wooden Magnetic … [Read more...]

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Sep
27

Keeping Your Toddler Occupied During School Time

By | Homeschool

25 Comments

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I know most of you have already met The Teeny Tot, but for those of you who haven’t, she’s a 2.5 year old relatively active toddler. Since we homeschool, I need something to keep her occupied while we’re working. If I don’t have activities for her, then she’s more than happy to find things to keep herself occupied…for example last year, she painted my carpet with fingernail polish. I’ve really found that the best way to keep your toddler’s busy isn’t to put them off to the side, or try to keep them out of your school stuff, but instead to just include them in the work. With that concept in mind, I set up The Teeny Tot with her own workbox drawers and desk space. (Click here if you don’t know what workboxes are.) She has her own pencils, markers, and crayons just like the big kids. And in her drawers are fun activities for her to pick from while we’re doing school. She sits right at the table with us and does her work. When I tell my big kids to pull out … [Read more...]

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Sep
26

Getting Started Homeschooling

By | Homeschool, Mom Stuff

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I get numerous questions from new homeschooling families asking how to get started homeschooling. I know it can be VERY overwhelming with all of the curriculum choices out there, state laws, and just good ole’ fear of the unknown. With that said, I’ve done several posts that relate to this topic, so I thought it would be nice to have them all consolidated for you in one spot. While there’s no tried and true way to get started, I find the best tactic is to jump in feet first and just go with it. Doubting yourself in the process will only lead to frustration. I wrote a 10 Day Series on Homeschooling Enrichment awhile back, and I think it will be helpful to you getting started on this journey. The posts cover everything from getting a vision to setting up your schedule. 10 Days of Homeschooling Encouragement (You can also find links to these under “Mom Stuff” and then “10 Days”) Day 1: Get a Vision! Day 2: Homeschooling is YOUR Ministry! Are you a … [Read more...]

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Sep
25

AHH! Bean Bag Review

By | Mom Stuff

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Today we received a box. A very large box. It was stuffed full with a HUGE fluffy AHH Bean Bag! The kids absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE their new bean bag chairs! I think someone’s been sitting in it since it got here, so I feel safe saying it’s passed the “Confessions” stress test!     Being the smart homeschooling mom that I am, I quickly labeled our AHH Bean Bag as the official “Reading Chair” for school time. WOW! What a difference this has made! Now they can’t wait for reading time, before it was kind of an “ugh, I have to read?” attitude. I know, all homeschoolers are supposed to love reading…apparently no one told that to my children!   I love that the bags are super comfy, easy to move around, and nice and soft! Plus I like that ours is a Hypoallergenic-Organic Bag, we received the 37 inch Lime Organic Cotton. I think they’re a great size for kids and they don’t take up a huge amount of room. I also had to mention the box. That very … [Read more...]

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Sep
25

Beautiful Girlhood Winner

By | Give Aways

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Thank you to everyone who entered to win the Beautiful Girlhood by Karen Andreola giveaway! As promised, we have a winner! Congratulations to comment #42: Carrie Engberg! I’ll be emailing you shortly to get your info for your prize!     If you didn’t win, but are still interested in purchasing the books visit Beautiful Girlhood for more information! … [Read more...]

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Sep
22

Grilled Chicken Salad Recipe for Mom!

By | Recipes

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With all of the Mac-n-Cheese and chicken nugget requests around here, I really needed a lunch idea that I could throw together easily for me! Now, I know you all don’t need me to tell you how to make a scrumptious salad for yourselves, but maybe just a little inspiration to remind you how easy it can be! So for those of you out there yearning for something other than kid food for lunch, here we go! Introducing the Grilled Chicken Salad! I know, it’s a totally new concept… ;o) bear with me here… My husband started eating healthier and grilled up a bunch of chicken breasts to take for his lunches. When I went searching for lunch one day I spotted them! I think this is a key part to this recipe, because if I can find something healthy and ready to go in my fridge then I’m all over it! I mean, when you’ve got about 30 seconds between subjects for lunch…I’m just sayin’ So praying he wouldn’t notice or care that I’ve swiped some of his lunch sustenance, I quietly … [Read more...]

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Sep
21

Delaware Memorial Bridge Kids Craft

By | Art, Geography, Homeschool

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We’ve finally begun our Road Trip USA curriculum this past week, and Delaware was one of our first stops. Aside from a trip to Joe’s Crab Shack for some crab legs, the Delaware memorial Bridge craft was one of our favorite activities!     The Delaware Memorial Bridge is the longest twin span suspension bridge in the world. It opened in 1951 and stretches 13,200 feet to connect Delaware and New Jersey. Due to the high traffic volume a nearly identical second span was completed in 1968 which parallels the original bridge making eight lanes of roadway. Over 80,000 cars drive over the bridge daily! So of course we made our own model of the bridge. Except out of popsicle sticks. And ours was definitely a little shakier than the real thing. Not exactly worthy of driving on. But still it was fun to build! And good thing I took pictures right away…it wasn’t quite the same after my Kindergartner got done “playing” with it. Intrigued? Wanna make your own? … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Art, Geography, Homeschool Tagged With: ,
Sep
20

Road Trip USA: Delaware

By | Geography, Homeschool

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Hello and welcome to Delaware! It’s the 2nd stop in our Road Trip USA curriculum, the kids loved this state!   Of course we started off by finding Delaware and Dover on our Wall Map.   Some of the things we learned about this week: Located Dover, DE on our Wall Map Read National Geographic US Atlas and locate Dover, DE using the mapping grid Learned about the state flag State Fish: Weakfish State Bird: Blue Hen Chicken State Flower: The Peach Blossom Continued reading If You Were There When They Signed the Constitution Added on the next verse to our 50 States and Capitals Song State Marine Animal: The Horseshoe Crab State Wildlife Animal: The Grey Fox Learned about the Delaware Amish Community in Dover, DE Checked out The Old Statehouse online to see where they ratified the Constitution. Checked out Dover Air Force Base  Learned about the Delaware Memorial Bridge then built our own replica! Classified our Delaware … [Read more...]

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Sep
19

Greatest Artist Vol. 1: Picasso Study

By | Art, Homeschool

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Welcome to our World’s Greatest Artist study on Picasso!   Pablo Picasso was born in Spain on October 25, 1881. He is one of the world’s best known painters and helped to create a new style of art known as cubism. His father was also a painter as well as an art professor. When Pablo was only 13 years old his father convinced the School of Fine Arts to let Pablo take an entrance exam. He did very well and was soon admitted into the school. During his career he became an important influence on the world of art. His artwork can be found in museums all over the world. The Picasso Museum in Barcelona Spain claims to have the largest collection of his art. This year for art, we are going to study 8 different world famous artists. We have chosen to do art twice a week, and we’ll cover one artist each month. We’re using my World’s Greatest Artists Vol. 1 curriculum, which you can download FREE, just click on the image below!   We took a few lessons to … [Read more...]

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