Jan
31

Teeny Tot School Workboxes

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Hi everyone! I’m back this week with my new Teeny Tot Tuesday post! Okay, I know it’s officially Wednesday, but I was so excited about my World’s Greatest Composers study that I couldn’t wait to release it!     Here are some of the games she did this week: Pom-pom transferring activity Melissa & Doug See & Spell Wooden Fish Puzzle (I couldn’t find the exact one, but this is close) Color disks and clothes-pin matching game 3x5 colored index cards with plastic paper clips   Each week I've been trying to give her some new fun activities to not only keep her busy, but also let her work on some skills in the process! One of her favorite activities is cutting. Since I was in a hurry to fill her boxes, I just stuck some paper strips in the box with a pair of scissors. She’s perfectly happy to sit and cut little squares over and over!   I wanted to find something new to work on for fine-motor skills. The other … [Read more...]

Jan
30

Maestro Classics Review & Giveaway

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  Hi everyone! I am excited to review the Maestro Classics Peter and the Wolf CD for you today!     What is Maestro Classics? Maestro Classics is a classical music CD series for children ages 5 to 12. Each CD includes a series of works with narration and musical selections to help introduce classical music to children in a child-friendly manner. They have fun-filled stories, activities, and musical explanations. They also feature teacher lesson plans and homeschool curriculum guides to help give you ideas on how to integrate Maestro Classics CDs into your homeschool. They have ideas for History, Science, Geography, Language Arts, Art, Music, and Math for each CD! Want more information? Maestro Classics Website Mestro Classics Blog Maestro Classics on Twitter Maestro Classics on Facebook iTunes: Maestro Classics is now on iTunes! (Just search “Maestro Classics” to find their selection.)   Maestro Classics puts out a wide variety of … [Read more...]

Jan
29

World’s Greatest Composers Vol. 1

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Welcome to the World's Greatest Composers Study Volume 1! Get the World’s Greatest Composers Study for just $5.50!   What’s it all about? In this series of studies, we will be taking a look at 8 of the world’s greatest composers through a study designed for elementary aged students. The goal behind the World’s Greatest Composers curriculum is to immerse students in the work of each composer so that they are well familiar with their style, methods and music. Much of your time studying will be through open discussion with students and listening to compositions. Upon completion of this curriculum, your student should be able to easily recognize the pieces from each composer studied. They will also have learned several different styles of music, vocabulary, as well as have gained an appreciation for music in general. Like the World’s Greatest Artists study, the composers study uses the World’s Greatest Composer Series by Mike … [Read more...]

Jan
28

Great Homeschool Convention Winners

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Hi everyone! I hope you are all having a great weekend. As promised, I have 2 winners to announce today!   The Great Homeschool Convention offered 2 free family registrations to their upcoming homeschool conference!   My first winner is commenter $257: Vanessa!   And my second set of tickets goes to commenter 161: Sarah! Congratulations Vanessa and Sarah, I hope you enjoy the conference! Thanks so much everyone for reading my blog, and taking the time to enter. Didn’t win? Check out the below links for questions and to get your tickets! www.greathomeschoolconventions.com email: greathomeschoolconventions@gmail.com … [Read more...]

Jan
27

Ephesians 1:15-23 ~ Week 2

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This week we began our study reading Ephesian’s 1:17: ...that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him. This is Paul's prayer for the people of Ephesus and my prayer for all of you! One thing I think is so interesting is that wisdom is always referred to as something we must put on, be given, or seek out. Here are some of my favorite verses regarding wisdom: Proverbs 2:6  ~ For the LORD gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding. Proverbs 1:7  ~ The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, But fools despise wisdom and instruction. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 ~ All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. Colossians 3:16  ~ Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another … [Read more...]

Jan
26

Keepers at Home Group Startup

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Hi everyone! I’ve had several questions from readers on how to set up a Keepers at Home group, so I wanted to share a little bit of that today. I’ll try to blog when we do activities as well so I can continue to share ideas with you!   So first off, what is Keepers at Home? Keepers clubs are a "hands-on" type program that you, as a parent, can use to teach your child those practical skills not normally learned as academic endeavors. Designed for use in the privacy of your own home, your own group or association, or a church fellowship, these programs for boys and girls incorporate Christian principles as an integral part of the learning process. These programs are Bible-based and Christ-centered. When you use them you, the parents and leaders, are in control. You join no organizations. You, as parents or leaders, are free to decide exactly how you will use the program to help your children. Visit Keepers at Home for more information, supplies, and … [Read more...]

Jan
25

Road Trip USA: Arkansas

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Hi and welcome to our week on Arkansas! We’re well into our Road Trip USA curriculum, and the kids are having a blast!   Here are some of the things we learned about this week: Located Arkansas and Little Rock on our wall map Read our National Geographic Atlas and located Little Rock, AL using the map coordinates. Worked on our 50 States and Capitals song Learned about the state bird: Mockingbird Learned about the state gem: The Diamond Learned about the state insect: The Honeybee State Flower: Apple Blossom Famous people: General Douglas MacArthur U.S. President: Bill Clinton Classified the animals of Arkansas Famous Landmarks: Fort Smith Food: Catfish, and fried green tomatoes! Read: If You Traveled on the Underground Railroad by Ellen Levine   I started putting up a white board each week just to help us review the facts quickly.   One of our favorite parts is adding in the Road Trip USA Animals to our wall. … [Read more...]

Jan
24

2012 Mid-Year Curriculum Changes

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Hi everyone! I’ve had several questions from readers asking how our 2012 curriculum choices are going. I think one of the things I like most about homeschooling is the ability to be flexible and note when something is working well and when something isn’t working! That said in order to maintain my own sanity, and thus the sanity of those around me, I’ve decided to change the things that weren’t working. And while I hate to waste money, sanity is priceless, no?     Change Number 1: Saxon –> to Math U See I said at the start of the school year that we were trying out Saxon for the first time. Well, I have to say that Saxon just wasn’t a right fit for us!  Partly because I had a hard time adjusting to teaching it, and partly because my kids just weren’t getting how they explained certain things. I found myself pulling out our Math U See blocks and trying to re-word it for them so it made sense. The other reason I switched to Saxon was because … [Read more...]

Jan
23

Teeny Tot Tuesday: Magnets and Games

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Welcome to Teeny Tot Tuesday and my first Link Up! That’s right I wanted you all to be able to have a chance to link up your Tot ideas as well, so I finally signed up for Linky Tools so you can all share ideas for Teeny Tot Tuesday as well! I’ve been having so much fun with the Teeny Tot lately! She’s really into doing her own school. My only issue now is she wants new things all the time and I’m running out of ideas! So I’ve started adding in some games for her. She doesn’t always know how to play them by the rules, but I’ve found that they’re great for things like sorting letters, colors, logical thinking, and fine-motor skill practice!   The Magnetic Match Rings is a really fun game, and she does know how to play this one. It’s fairly simple, it comes with double sided picture cards that she has to re-create using the actual magnets. The trick is to place the magnets in the proper direction so they “float” above one another.   This game is … [Read more...]

Jan
22

2012 Great Homeschool Convention Giveaway!

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Don’t Miss the 2012 Great Homeschool Conventions! That’s right everyone, it’s time again for homeschool conventions! Why choose the Great Homeschool Convention? How about HUNDREDS of encouraging and information packed workshops! AmaZING Group of Featured Speakers! Choose from FIVE locations: (Greenville, SC, Memphis, TN, Cincinnati, OH, Long Beach, CA, and Hartford, CT) Want more info? www.greathomeschoolconventions.com email: greathomeschoolconventions@gmail.com Interested in winning some tickets? I’m giving away two family registrations for FREE! Mandatory Entry: Simply leave a comment below letting me know why you’d like to win a free registration for your family! Additional Optional Entries: (not required to win, come back and leave a separate comment on this post for each additional action taken.) Follow GHC on Twitter Like GHC on Facebook Subscribe via email to Confessions of a Homeschooler or Subscribe via RSS Tweet about … [Read more...]