The Moffatt Girls

Time Out Tuesday: PATIENCE Teaching with the Fruit of the Spirit

noreply@blogger.com (Annie Moffatt) — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 05:17:00 +0000

Do you need a little extra patience? I do! I think we could all use an extra dose of patience:)

Join me and Tamara for this weeks challenge to teach and parent with Patience. We are continuing our study in the Fruits of the Spirt and hope that you are blessed and encouraged. I was so encouraged with Tamara's words on Patience this week! You don't want to miss this radio show, because it is FILLED with so much application.

Click {HERE} to listen to this weeks radio show or use the Blog Talk Widget on the right sidebar. There are so many other great TBA radio shows as well!

Here is this weeks scripture verse for you to download. We have put four of the same verses on one page so that you can post it ithem in four different spots in your home and work. So simple. So powerful.

Tamara shares this wonderful story on how laying the foundation of patience is so important for the kids in our life. We want to share this video with you and hope that you too will be encouraged!

Be sure to hop on over to Teaching With TLC (Tamara's blog and check out her post as well!

Toddler Tasks Week 5

noreply@blogger.com (Annie Moffatt) — Sun, 04 Mar 2012 07:57:00 +0000

Toddler or preschooler activities are so beneficial and an important part of early childhood development. These activities and tasks can help to increase attention spans, reinforces skills necessary for future tasks, promote social skills, build eye-hand coordination, and so much more!

Here are some of the activities that we did this week...

Fine Motor Skills: Of course there was cutting involved! A lot of cutting!

Listening Skills: I asked her to color one star red, one star green and so forth. She really liked this activity and patiently waited for me to tell her the next task.

Sequencing: We pulled out the ABC dot to dot pages from one of our Kumon books. She enjoyed this activity tremendously! Tip: You can have your local printing store cut the spine off the books. I also had them cut the tops of bottoms off a bit so that I could put the sheets into sheet protectors and then into a binder. This cost me about $2.00, but saved me a bunch of money because I can reuse them again and again!

Tracing: She also wanted to trace the letters on the back side. We haven't worked a lot on letter formation but I let her do it anyways:)

Problem Solving: Simple activities like playing with building blocks also helps with problem-solving skills. They try to figure out how NOT to make the blocks fall down. I did notice that she also worked a little with patterns:)

Fine Motor Skills: Cutting again, this time with play-doh. Snipping away at play-doh or paper really helps strengthen little hands, which will later help with handwriting.

Fine Motor Skills: Sophia is actually helping me peel the little papers off of the magnets:) Hey...I think it helps build up those fine motor skills too!

Letter or Letter Sound Identification and One-to-One Correspondence: We used our ABC Bingo Mats to practice the sounds that the letters make.

You can get this FREE printable {HERE}.
You can also see our other blog post on this printable {HERE}, which can also help with sounding out words.
If you like our FREE printables, we would be so grateful if you add our product or our shop as one of your favorites on Teachers Notebook:)

Like I said before, I am a little obsessed with magnets! I think it just makes learning a little more exciting and FUN:)

Fine Motor Skills: She worked really hard on her coloring this week:) I was so impressed with her attention to details. She did such a great job on the sun! Again, coloring is so good for increasing the muscles in the hand. So simple, so useful.

One-to-One Correspondence: She worked with her shape puzzle, which says the shapes name when you put the puzzle in place, and her ABC puzzle.

Shapes: I really like this Melissa and Doug puzzle! You use shapes to build pictures.

Colors: Sophia LOVES her Hot Dots! I love how Audrey likes to help her too:) She is such a GOOD big sister!!

Numbers/Counting: The Hi-Ho Cherry-O game is great for counting up to 4 and subtracting. Sophia played this game a couple of times with Audrey and Mommy:) This also helps to teach children simple skills like waiting your turn:)

Lacing/Fine Motor Skils: She worked on lacing cherrios onto a string, but she usually ate them right after she laced them:)

More lacing...

And that wraps it up for week 5!

If you missed any of our other Toddler Tasks, you can check out our posts {HERE}.

Hot Dots Review and Giveaway!

noreply@blogger.com (Annie Moffatt) — Sat, 03 Mar 2012 08:51:00 +0000

I cannot even tell you how excited I am for this next giveaway!! I L*O*V*E Educational Insights products and I am thrilled to be able to review and giveaway Hot Dots! This has been a hot commodity in The Moffatt Girls household and both girls come running when I pull out the Hot Dots!

What are Hot Dots?
Hot Dots are a fun way to reinforce and learn basic skills. The Hot Dots activity cards are designed to be used with an interactive pen (sold separately) that responds to a child's correct or incorrect answers. There are 36 double-sided cards in each set, for a total of 72 activities!

Who Can Use Hot Dots?
Educational Insights has created an amazing product that spans so many different levels of learning. Kids as young as 2 (Sophia is 2 1/2) will love playing and learning with Hot Dots! At the same time, all levels/grades of elementary school kids can enjoy this product.

Sophia is using the Hot Dots Jr. card set Colors. You can check out the entire Jr. line {HERE}.

Hot Dots are one of Sophia's favorite educational activities right now! She loves to play "Hot Dogs" as she calls them:) In fact, there has been a LOT of fighting over the Hot Dots:( I think Audrey needs her own set!

There are so many different activity card sets available! Here are some of my favorites:

*Vowels

*Money

The best part: You get to pick your own set, depending on your child's/students' needs!!

How to win your own set:

(Leave a separate comment for each entry to increase your chances of winning and a way for me to contact you if you win!)

1. Simply leave a comment telling me you would like to win.

2. "Like" Educational Insights on Facebook {HERE}.

3. "Like" The Moffatt Girls on Facebook {HERE}.

4. Follow Educational Insights on Twitter {HERE}.

5. Subscribe to The Moffatt Girls daily e-mail {HERE}.

The Details: This giveaway is open to U.S. and Canada only. Giveaway ends on March 9th @ 9PM EST. You must be 18 years or older to enter. The winner will have 48 hours to confirm or another winner will be chosen. This giveaway is in no way sponsored, endorsed, administered by or associated with Facebook or Twitter.

Disclosure: Educational Insights provided me with for free in exchange for an honest review on my blog. The opinions expressed in this post are my own and may differ from others. I was not influenced by the company or the free product provided.

Reading Eggs Review

noreply@blogger.com (Annie Moffatt) — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 07:18:00 +0000

There are many online educational programs for kids, and I have discovered that Reading Eggs is an excellent way to review and reinforce reading concepts. Although I had never tried Reading Eggs before becoming a part of the TOS Homeschool Crew, I find this to be an excellent way to self-motivate students, learn new concepts and increase learning.

What is Reading Eggs?
Reading Eggs is an online reading program for students between the ages of 4-7 and has been developed by educators and educational writers. The program uses both phonics and sight words to teach and reinforce what is taught in school or at home. Reading Eggs focuses on a core reading curriculum of skills that aim at improving a child's reading with 120 lessons. Reading Eggs is currently in the process of building new lesson for older readers as well (Reading Eggspress), depending on their reading level. Overall, Reading Eggs attempts to target students between the ages of 7-13 years old.

How Does it Work?
When students first log into Reading Eggs, they can take an assessment test to see exactly what level they need to begin working at. Once the child misses three questions the test is over and they can begin working with the level that best matches their needs.

There are 3 Level in this Reading Program:
Level 1- Lessons 1-40 (Beginning Readers)
Level 2- Lessons 41-80 (Emerging Readers)
Level 3- Lessons 81-120 (Building Confidence for Early Readers)

Storyland opens after lesson 60 and focus on comprehension skills and building vocabulary. Each time a child finishes a lesson, they are give a 10 question quiz, which assesses their reading comprehension skills. They are then rewarded with golden eggs and special items for their house and avatar.

Here is an example of one of the components of his lesson. After the students learn the sight words and phonics they apply to the lessons. In this interactive activity, students hear the sentence and then drag the correct words into the boxes.

How Much Does it Cost?

There are 3 different subscriptions you can choose from:

* Monthly Subscription- $9.95

* 6 Month Subscription- $49.95 ($8.33 a month)

* 12 Month Subscription- $75.00 ($6.25 a month)

**Parents can try a 14 day FREE trial of Reading Eggs {HERE}.

**Teachers can try a 4-week FREE trail of Reading Eggs by clicking {HERE}.

What do we think?

Every day Audrey asks to play Reading Eggs. She LOVES this program! Although I wouldn't use it as my core reading program, I like the review that Audrey gets from using the interactive lessons. I find that Reading Eggs is an excellent way to reward her with 15-20 minutes of computer time, and review what she has already learned.

I would encourage you to check out what my other TOS Crew Members thought of this product as well, by clicking {HERE}.

Disclaimer: I received this product free of charge in exchange for a review on my blog. The opinions expressed in this post have not been influenced by the product or the company. My opinions may differ from others.

Who Wants FREE Apps?

noreply@blogger.com (Annie Moffatt) — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 06:40:00 +0000

Do you want FREE apps for your iPhone or iPad? I will admit it, we are a bit of a Mac junkie here at The Moffatt Girls house! I keep telling the girls, "You need to share....that IS Mommy's iPhone! My turn, please."

Needless to say, we also love our apps! No, I don't let the girls spend hours on our iPads or iPhones, but an educational app is ALWAYS a FUN way to reinforce or teach specific skills.

On to the FREE app.... It was one of those days....I REALLY needed a caffeine fix, so I headed to Starbucks. I rarely go there, so it is always a special treat:) The girls get an apple juice and I get my Carmel Frappuccino..mmm!! So I am waiting for my Carmel Frappuccino at the counter where you pick up your drink. I look down at a stack of business cards that say, "Pick of the Week."

Well, upon further investigation and a little inquiry from the kind lady making my drink, I learn that Starbucks gives away paid apps for FREE every Tuesday! WOW! Sometimes they are music, books, KIDS APPS!! I totally scored this week with our NEW Dora's Skywriting ABC's!!

We downloaded this one on our iPad...

Sophia L*O*V*E*S her new app!! She is learning how to trace her letters in such a FUN way and I have a good reason to go to Starbucks every week;)

This app is $3.99 in the App Store and completely worth the money!!

Needless to say, I think I will be visiting Starbucks every weeks...but only once a week, of course:) I think I just bought into the whole Starbucks + FREE app marketing ploy:)

All About Reading Level 1 Review

noreply@blogger.com (Annie Moffatt) — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 07:50:00 +0000

As part of the TOS Homeschool Review Team, I was very excited to be able to review All About Reading Level 1 Program. This is a very popular reading program and I was eager to see it and use it firsthand.

What is All About Reading?

All About Reading is reading program that covers 5 key components:

*Phonological Awareness

*Phonics and Decoding

*Fluency

*Vocabulary

*Comprehension

How Does it Work?

The 49 lessons are scripted and ready to go with no prep needed, which can be very beneficial for busy educators. This program is a multisensory reading program that can be used by parents, teachers, tutors and anyone else who wants to teach reading in a comprehensive method. As a former teacher, I can see how parents can feel both comfortable and confident teaching with this curriculum.

The program provides color coded letter tiles that are excellent for hands-on learning. Students use the tiles to read new words as they manipulate/slide the tiles.

The Decodable books are beautifully illustrated! Audrey LOVED these books and I caught her reading them throughout the week.

The activities in the program are both fun and engaging. First, Audrey colored her little "creature" and cut out all of the words.

After reading the words, she fed the bones (the words) into the creatures mouth. How cute is that?

This was a great review activity for us...

What I really like about this program is that they offer you 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. That means you have a FULL year to try their program. If the program does not fit your students needs, you can return it for a full refund, no questions asked! In my opinion, that is an amazing return policy!!

How Much Does it Cost?
The Level 1 Reading Kit cost $99.95 and includes:
*Level 1 Teachers Manuel (non-consumable)
*Student Packet (consumable)
*3 Hardback Decodable Readers

The Program also offers a Pre-Reading Program and a Level 2 program which will be released this year.

In addition to the Level 1 Reading Kit, you will also need to purchase either the Basic or Deluxe Reading Interactive Kit.
*Basic Kit cost $28.95 or
*The Deluxe Reading Interactive Kits cost $48.95

I really like the Phonogram CD-ROM, which is included in both kits. This helpful CD contains all of the basic phonogram pronunciations. This is especially helpful for parents who may be unsure as to correct pronunciations. The resources in the program are very user friendly, which makes the learning process accessible to everyone, struggling readers and new readers.

Extras:
How do you know if your child is ready to read? You can read the Checklist {HERE}.
There are many FREE samples available to download and see if this program is right for you.

My Thoughts
I think that this is an excellent reading program. Since we are currently using our own reading program, this level proved to be too easy. However, I also felt as though this was an excellent way to review what we have already learned. Audrey enjoyed the hands-on activities, which made the experience a joy.

I will say that I am strongly considering using their All About Spelling Program this coming Fall. In fact, I have pretty much made up my mind to use their spelling program in conjunction with our own reading program. If you choose to use All About Reading and All About Spelling simultaneously, the letter tiles need only be purchased once, since they work for both programs.

You can also read what my other fellow TOS Crew members thought of this product by clicking {HERE}.

Disclaimer: I received this product free of charge in exchange for a review on my blog. The opinions expressed in this post are my own and have not been influenced by the free product or the company.

Time Out Tuesdays: PEACE Teaching with the Fruit of the Spirit

noreply@blogger.com (Annie Moffatt) — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 07:25:00 +0000

We are well into our 7 Week Challenge to Transform our Teaching and Parenting! Both Tamara and I hope that you have been encouraged these last couple of weeks! It is our desire to see you flourish and become the BEST teachers and the BEST moms you have been designed to be! We hope that though this mini radio program you will walk away with your spirits lifted and rejuvenated for this weeks challenges.

This week we will be talking about PEACE. Peace in the midst of the storm. A Peace that passes understanding. A Peace that calms the stormy seas of life. When we have THAT kind of peace, despite our trying circumstances, what an example to the children in our life! Little eyes are watching and sometimes our actions, or our reactions, can speak louder than our words.

I have to be honest, I was a little unsure as to IF I should share one of my stories on this radio show. However, I really feel that there is someone out there that will be encouraged and lifted up in the midst of a current storm! It is my earnest desire that YOU too will experience God's Peace!

Listen to the Program {HERE} or

use the widget on the side bar

Click on the picture to download this weeks scripture...

Be sure to visit Tamara's blog to read her post too!

Tamara and Annie

Ready2Read Level 2 Unit 9 Released

noreply@blogger.com (Annie Moffatt) — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 09:23:00 +0000

I finally released Unit 9 of our Ready2Read Program. Although this unit will not be shown "in action" until next week, I wanted to make it available since I had some requests.

If you are new to the Ready2Read Program, you can visit our information page {HERE}. I will be releasing Level 3 this summer.

Click on the picture to download...

Toddler Tasks Week #4

noreply@blogger.com (Annie Moffatt) — Sun, 26 Feb 2012 09:25:00 +0000

Sophia LOVES to "do school" and I love to do it with her. Although she had a slight cold this week, she was still a happy little learner:) I am preparing this little honey for our Ready2Read Program, but she doesn't even know it:) I think all kids want to learn...especially when it is FUN!!

She worked on her Leapfrog Frig Phonics and had so much fun. We worked a little on the -at family. Since she hears Audrey read all of the time, she is so eager to learn. She is not really ready to sound out words, but we work at it a little...

Here she is pointing to the letters and making their sounds. It was neat to see her sound out each individual letter, but no blending involved yet.

I turned around to grab my camera and she spelled the word fox. I know it was a totally accident, but it made me smile:) And of course I praised her like crazy for doing such a good job:)

We played a little with her Alphabet Bug Mats. I really like these because they have both upper and lowercase letters. When Sophia first started playing with these, I would just give her the 5 letters on the mat. Now she is able to pick the correct letters. However, I did separate the upper and lowercase letters.

I play a game with her to see who finds the letter first and she just LOVES this!! I think it is because she always wins;) Sometimes she holds my hand back so she can't get it...little stinker:)

Alphabet Memory is another game that helps children match upper and lowercase. She really enjoyed playing with Audrey and I was surprised at how well she did with this memory game.

We also worked on saying the phonics sounds when finding the matching letters. This is a super easy task for kids to pick up, especially after watching Leapfrog's Letter Factory! LOVE, LOVE, LOVE that video!

We made some more Play-Doh this week. It is so easy to make and you can add your own scents to make it smell nice! {HERE} is a basic recipe that I absolutely LOVE!
I used 3 drops of BLUE food coloring to get this color.

She is so focused when it comes to cutting her Play-Doh! Cutting, rolling and manipulating Play-Doh is such a good fine motor skill that will later help with handwriting.

I spelled out her name and sang this song to the tune of BINGO...

There was a little girl I loved so much

and Sophia was her name-O

S-O-P-H-I-A, S-O-P-H-I-A, S-O-P-H-I-A

and Sophia was her name-O!

Needless to say, she LOVED this! She decided to sing with me and touch the letters as she sang. Most kids are hands-on learners and this is such a great way to learn!

Here is another version of our ABC caterpillar puzzle. This version incorporates many different skills:

*color identification

*lowercase letter identification

*shapes

*patterns

*and ABC order

of course I had to put magnets on the back because it makes everything that much more FUN!

I started by grouping all of the shapes...

DOWNLOAD {HERE}
You can also get our uppercase version {HERE}

If you like our FREE printables, we would love it if you added our shop or this product as one of your favorites:)

Sophia asked to play this "game" a lot this week. She was a little thrown off by the lowercase letter a, because she is used to seeing the other style. However, this is good for different letter font recognition.

She ended the week doing one of her ABC puzzles in jammies before bed:)

I really think she is obsessed with the ABC's right now!!

I hope that you all have a GREAT and FUN week of learning!!

Winner for Grandma's Trunk!

noreply@blogger.com (Annie Moffatt) — Sat, 25 Feb 2012 08:02:00 +0000

Thank you to all who entered our recent giveaway for Grandma's Trunk!!
Congratulations to...

Color by Sight Word FREEBIE

noreply@blogger.com (Annie Moffatt) — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 08:50:00 +0000

I LOVE creating these printables because they are a super FUN component in our Ready2Read Curriculum! This time I have combined sight words and simple CVC words that make a sentence that students can read.

Sight Words + Reading + Coloring = FUN learning!

*If you like our FREEBIES, we would be so grateful if you added us as one of your favorite shops on Teachers Notebook:) Thank you so much!

Click the picture to get your FREEBIE!!

Time Out Tuesdays: The Fruit of the Spirit~JOY!

noreply@blogger.com (Annie Moffatt) — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 07:55:00 +0000

We are well into our 7 Week Challenge to Transform Your Teaching and Parenting with the Fruit of the Spirit!! This week Tamara did a wonderful job talking about J.O.Y! What do we mean by J.O.Y? Well you have to listen to the program to find out:) Tamara talks about three key components that, if applied, will radically transform who you are as a teacher...who you are as a mother! Wow! Don't miss this!

Don't worry if you were unable to listen to the first two radio shows...you are never too late because TBA's radio show is available for YOUR listening convenience! Just use the widget on the sidebar (or below) to listen to the 7 Week Challenge. You will find this program under Time Out Tuesdays.

Each week we are focusing on one new scripture. This week our scripture verse is,
"For the LORD your God will bless you in all your harvest and in all the work of your hands, and your joy will be complete." ~Deuteronomy 16:15b

Click on the picture to download your scripture...

(We put 4 on a page so that you can post them in four different places)

Graph the Math-Addition

noreply@blogger.com (Annie Moffatt) — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 09:57:00 +0000

I am super excited about my newest product...

Graph the Math-Additon!

I am always looking for ways to make learning FUN, while incorporating Common Core Standards. This new Math the Graph-Addition Pack has 26 pages of math graphing equations for numbers up to 20. It also has cute addition counters for students to use to solve the equations.

Students will enjoy solving the equations and then graphing or coloring them in the graph below. Here is the printable in action at The Moffatt Girls house:)

Begin by choosing the Graphing Sheet for the sums that you want to work on. Here we are working on solving equations with the sums of 2 and 4. Therefore, we needed a total of 4 counters to solve the problems...

Next, solve all of the equations in the graphing cloud...

After solving the equations, you can choose two markers/crayons to highlight the two different sums. Audrey used blue for the equations that had the sum of 3 and red for the equations that had the sum of 5.

You can also color them in with crayons...

Students can have the option to rewrite the equation in the graphs below...

or you can color in the graph according to how many equations have that particular sum.

Click on the picture to purchase...

By clicking on the picture above, you can also see how this product is meeting Common Core Math Standards!

Toddler Tasks Week 3

noreply@blogger.com (Annie Moffatt) — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 07:24:00 +0000

Sophia is currently 2 years old and 5 months. She is so independent and eager to do "school." She wakes up in the morning and says, "Mommy, let's do school!" However, she still struggles with the concept of weekends...you know, those days where you take a break:) I love her eagerness!

Here is a look at Week 3 under our Toddler Tasks Tab...

She started off by playing with her Hot Dots Jr. ....she LOVES to play "hot dogs," as she calls them:) This set works with colors and pattern identification...

Here she is laughing at because her Hot Dot Pen starting blinking and buzzing after she got the correct answer:)

This was a very simple task but great for fine motor skills. I drew a star on a piece of paper and gave her star sticker to put on the lines. Peeling off those stickers and placing them in just the right spot was a required a lot of concentration:)

Cutting...the kid LOVES to cut things! She has moved on from straight line cutting to curvy cutting. I pulled out her Kumon cutting book and she kept asking to cut another page and another page...

Honestly, I think she would have cut the entire book if I let her:)

She colored some of our paper dolls, which you can see {HERE}.

I can really see her coloring and fine motor skills improving as she attempts to color in those little dots...

I pulled out her Melissa and Doug puzzle and she really enjoyed this activity. I only put out the CVC (Consonant Vowel Consonant) ones since she is so eager to try to sound out the words. You can see her little finger pointing at the letter c, and she is trying to sound out the letters C-A-T.

Audrey joined in the fun and Sophia really loved that...

Audrey worked with long vowel puzzles...

She is looking for the letter g. Notice the Hello Kitty Band-Aid on her forehead. She is a little obsessed with Band-Aids right now, and every little bump and scratch requires a kiss from Mommy and an over priced Band-Aid:) I LOVE it!!

She actually pulled this puzzle out herself and started to play with it. I tried to show her how the middle pieces went together, but she wanted NO help from Mommy! "No, Mommy! I do it!" This seems to be her favorite phrase lately.

She has become very interested in tracing letters, so I pulled out this dry erase alphabet book that I picked up at Lakeshore.
Notice the iPhone on her left...She LOVES our phones, but I have to constantly remind her that she needs to share with Mommy!

She was very happy to play her new game, Grandma's Trunk from Educational Insights. We all just love this game!

Be sure to visit our other Toddler Tasks, and have a wonderful week of fun learning. It goes by way too fast!

Grandma's Trunk Alphabet Review and Giveaway!

noreply@blogger.com (Annie Moffatt) — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 06:57:00 +0000

I absolutely LOVE Educational Insights products because they are fun AND educational! We recently had the opportunity to review Grandma's Trunk, which is a great way to practice and review early phonics and alphabet skills.

Thanks to Educational Insights, one lucky winner will win this game!

What is Grandma's Trunk?
Grandma's Trunk has 5 games in 1 and covers many skills, which include:
*What Comes Next- alphabetic order
*Memory Time- sequencing and memory
*Grandma's Riddles- matching letter cards to the riddles
*Letter Sequence Memory- memory and alphabetic order
*Grandma's Adventures- Create a cooperative story

Who would benefit?
This game is recommended for Grades K+, but children of various ages will enjoy and benefit from this product!

Audrey (4 1/2) LOVES the riddles and story telling. This was the first time that I actually introduced Audrey to riddles, and she was hooked! Now she walks around the house trying to think of riddles for me:) Another reason I love this game:)

Sophia (2 1/2) has played the alphabetic order game at least a dozen times. We really enjoy games at The Moffatt Girls house, so this game is just perfect for some fun learning!

Sophia was always happy to find her piece so quickly! I just love how excited she gets when she plays:)

What I like about this product:
*I love that there are a variety of game to play with just one product. I really feel like you are getting a lot for your money.
*I like the fact that both my 4 1/2 year old and 2 1/2 love playing the games!
*The quality of the product is outstanding and it comes in this adorable trunk:)

How to WIN:

(Leave a separate comment for each entry to increase your chances of winning.)

1. Simply leave a comment telling me you would like to win.

2. "Like Educational Insights on Facebook {HERE}.

3. "Like" The Moffatt Girls on Facebook {HERE}.

4. Follow Educational Insights on Twitter {HERE}.

5. Subscribe to The Moffatt Girls daily e-mail {HERE}.
6. Follow The Moffatt Girls publically via Google Friend Connect (sidebar).

The Details: This giveaway is open to U.S and Canada only. Giveaway end on Feb. 22nd @ 9pm EST. You must be 18 years or older to enter. The winner will have 48 hours to confirm or another winner will be chosen. This giveaway is in no way sponsored, endorsed, administered by or associated with Facebook or Twitter.

Disclosure: Educational Insights provided me with this product for free in exchange for a review on my blog. The opinions expressed in this post are my own and may differ from others. However, I was not influenced by the company or the free product provided.

Ready2Read Level 2 Units 7 and 8 Bundled!

noreply@blogger.com (Annie Moffatt) — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 16:48:00 +0000

I just bundled Units 7 & 8 of Ready2Read Level 2 for a better savings! There will be a total of 10 units in this Level. If you are new to the Ready2Read Program, be sure to check out the information pages for:

Level 1

Level 2
See the Ready2Read Contents {HERE}

Download the Bundle {HERE}

Click {HERE} to see Unit 7 in action

Click {HERE} to see Unit 8 in action

Learning with Paper Dolls!

noreply@blogger.com (Annie Moffatt) — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 06:30:00 +0000

I am so excited to share this post with you because it is just so much FUN! The other day we received a bio from the 4 year old little girl that we sponsor through World Vision. I was reading to Audrey about our our little girl from Honduras and how she likes the color pink and loves dolls. Of course Audrey wanted to send her a pink doll, but I explained that we could only send gifts that would fit into a regular sized envelope. Surely that limits our gifts tremendously.

About 5 minutes later, Audrey shouts out, "Let's make her some paper dolls!" That was a brilliant idea! Thus, I was sent on a cyber search for some paper dolls and this is the result of what we found...

We printed the patterns and decorated the dolls and all their adorable dresses. We had so much fun coloring these dresses! After coloring them, we laminated so they will last longer, and then we cut them out.
You can get the printables that we used {HERE}

What little girl wouldn't love something like this? I know my girls loved them and this is why we have already started our own set!

I attached some velcro to the dress and to the doll so that will stick together.

I was so excited because they actually fit into a regular sized envelope! Yay!!

So where is the learning?

1. You can use the dolls to retell stories.

2. Dramatic play is such an important part of a child's learning experiences.

3. You can makes these as gifts and learn that giving is SO much better than receiving:)

Ready2Read Level 2 Unit 8

noreply@blogger.com (Annie Moffatt) — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 08:57:00 +0000

We have officially completed Ready2Ready Level 2 Unit 8! I can't believe we are already this far into our reading program. Audrey continues to do so well with her units and I am glad that she loves our reading program.

If you are new to the Ready2Read Program, you can read the information page for Level 1 {HERE}.

You can also see the information page for Level 2 {HERE}.

Level 1 prepares a child to advance to Level 2.

Level 2 Theme: Word Family Fair

Unit 8 Sight Words: was, at, now, did, are

Unit 8 Word Families: -ink and -ove

Unit 8 continues to work with the long vowel, silent e combo with the -ove word family. This particular word family has several words that do not follow this rule such as: dove and love. The exception to the rules are not addressed in this unit, however it would still be a good opportunity to cover this rule on the side.

Download Unit 8 {HERE}.

Color by Number Sight Words

We now have 42 words in our pocket chart but we ran out of room so I put the extra ones on a hook in the upper left hand corner. We still have access to them so Audrey can reread them and practice them.

Sight Word Song

Kids just love to sing and when you can combine singing with learning...it just clicks. Even little Sophia is eager to join in with our sight words song to the tune of B-I-N-G-O!

Sight Word Circles (Balloons)

After tracing the sight words, coloring in the sight words and laminating them, we added 5 more balloons to our Ready2Read wall. This activity is a fun way for Audrey to take ownership of own learning. Wow! Look how many balloons we have!!

Sight Word Decorating (Cherrio Mats)

It has been a long time since we actually used Cherrios to decorate our sight words. Audrey really likes to use the cake decorations, but I know it is because she likes to eat them:) We have so much FUN with this activity!!

Color by Word Family

This week we had this cute moose who is fishing. I really think my girls are coloraholics, so this is a perfect addition to our Ready2Read units:)

Color by Sight Word

Audrey colored her box of pens and pencils this week according to her sight words. This activity is such a great way to reinforce and practice sight words!

Read it, Trace it, Paste it Pages

This time Audrey used markers for this activity, but you can use crayons, water colors, or nothing at all. Audrey likes to match the colored boxes with the words, which is an excellent way to practice tracing and identifying the sight word.

Break the Sight Word Code

Audrey always wonders what this sentence is going to say. She is so eager to decode her sight word/phonics sentences!

Mini-Mini Books

Since first starting the Ready2Read Program, Audrey's decoding skill have grown tremendously. Therefore, these mini-mini books are easy to read, but such a good way to practice fluency.

Word Family Word Sort

The Word Sorts are such a FUN way to sort our two word families. Audrey really liked sorting these hens and eggs into the correct groups:) We had to count the eggs to see which hen laid the most. The -ink word family won by far!

Play Dough Mats

When you actually "work" to create words, it really makes it stick! After Audrey wrote her word families, she then made the words with play dough. It is always fun for her to see how she can turn one letter into the next letter and make a new word.

Word Slides

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE our new words slides...and so did Audrey! These little letters are just too cute! It was fun to slide our words and see what they would look like:) These words slides are my favorite so far!!

Roll-A-Word Family

This game is so much FUN! We upleveled the game this time by making up a sentence with the word instead of just reading the word. It is always good to change things around a bit so that learning always feels fresh.

Sight Word Graphing

This skill incorporates both math and literacy, which is such a great way practice sight words. I have used a variety of fonts so that children can identify words no matter what literacy environment they come across. These can also be purchased on my Teachers Notebook Shop in a variety of levels, ranging from Pre-Primer to 2nd Grade.

Tic-Tac-Toe Word Families (-ink and -ove)

We love playing games at the Moffatt Girls household, so this is such a perfect way to practice word families! I put them in sheet protectors since Audrey usually wants to play a few times.

Blends and Digraphs Sheet

This week we decided to make our worksheet into a mini-book to reread and practice our blends and digraphs.

Sentence Strips

This game is meant to review Pre-Primer sight words. I am such a strong believer in reinforcing material that has been previously taught because it helps to build and maintain reading fluency and confidence. Audrey really likes this "game", but there are so many different ways that you can use these sentence strips.

We play a game to see who can find the word first. Guess who won??

Lemonade Blend and Digraphs

It is so neat to see all of the cute lemonade cups with their new blends/digraphs. By combining blends/digraphs and word families, it is such a great way to see how words are broken down. Students are more confident in decoding the words because they understand how words are put together.

Word Family Fair Wall

I just love our newest addition to our Word Family Fair Wall... The Word Family Popcorn Maker:) It is popping up new word family words all the time!

OVERVIEW

With only 2 more units to add to our Word Wall, it is amazing how it has all come together! Everywhere you look on this Word Wall you see so many new words...sight words...word families (phonics)! I LOVE it and so does Audrey! Learning should be FUN and interactive!

This is the reason I created the Ready2Read Program! I just could sit my daughter down to a bunch of black and white BORING workbook pages!

Word Family Graphing

**This activity is NOT in the unit, but Word Family Graphing-LEVEL 2 can be purchased separately to work in conjunction with Level 2 of our Ready2Read Curriculum. We also have Word Family Graphing Level 1, which works seamlessly with Ready2Read Level 1.
Many of the products shown in this post can also be purchased individually on my Teachers Notebook Shop!

Download Unit 8 {HERE}

Time Out Tuesdays: The Fruit of the Spirit~LOVE!

noreply@blogger.com (Annie Moffatt) — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 07:39:00 +0000

Happy Valentines Day! Last week Tamara and I launched the 7 Week Challenge to Transform Your Teaching and Parenting with the Fruit of the Spirit! This week we are thrilled to be able to talk about LOVE! How appropriate:)

You can use the widget below or on the sidebar to listen to the radio show.

Love is the foundation for the rest of the radio shows. This weeks focal verse is:

"And now these three remain, faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love."

Click on the picture to download:

We encourage you to download the verse and post it in for different places so you can see it, meditate on it and be encouraged.

You can also get last weeks verse for Galatians 5:22 by clicking on the picture below:

Happy Valentine's Day!

Toddler Tasks Week 2

noreply@blogger.com (Annie Moffatt) — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 08:52:00 +0000

Keeping a toddler/preschooler engaged in activities for short periods of time now, helps to maintain their attention for longer periods of time in the future. Here are some activities that we did this week....

We started off with a little bit of cutting, because she LOVES to cut things!! I am just hoping she doesn't cut things she is not supposed to cut...like hair!

I did help her hold the paper at times, while trying to show her how NOT to cut her fingers:)

She loves to say, "No, Mommy! I do it!" Very independent little honey:)

She wasn't really interested in lacing until she recently saw Audrey sewing her Valentine Tic-Tac-Toe. Sophia felt like such a big girl.

Sewing sisters...

Play-doh is such an fun and educational learning exercise. Sophia likes to do what her big sister does, so I try to include her in the activities. Here she is actually playing with the play-doh from Audrey's Ready2Read activities.
Play-Doh is super easy to make! Get the recipe {HERE}.

Something as simple as cutting bits of play-doh can be fun for little ones. It is also helpful for building up those fine motor skills needed for writing.

Painting...I think both of my girls would paint all day long if I would let them. I usually just print a coloring page from the internet and let them paint it. Today it was Jessie from Toy Story.

This is a super easy, inexpensive, fun activity.

Since she likes to cut, I drew a circle around the picture and asked her to cut on the lines. I can really see her cutting skills improving.

So proud...

She worked on some simple CVC puzzles. She really wants to read the words, so we worked on sounding out each letter and then started blending them together.

She also wanted to trace the letters with her fingers...

These were the 3 letter puzzles that Sophia worked on the other day. However, I didn't want to overwhelm her so I put the 3 pieces for each matching puzzle on top of each other and then she assembled them. I want her to feel successful and build her confidence.

Next, we worked on our color matching puzzles, which Audrey had colored awhile back. I am a little obsessed with magnets, so we added magnets and used them to sort by color on our oil pan.

You can get these for FREE {HERE}.

This was an easy task, but she really enjoyed it...

We also worked on patterns, which proved to be a little more challenging for her, but super fun!

Our pattern: Frog, cat, teddy bear

Like I said, she insists on do some of Audrey's Ready2Read work. Here she is tracing the letters on a Read it, Trace it, Paste it page.

I love her intensity...

Our ABC Caterpillar Printables was a blast for Sophia!! Again, we printed them, laminated them and used magnets to make it FUN!

You can get your FREE printable {HERE}.
If you like our FREEBIES, we would be so grateful if you added us as one of your favorite shops on Teachers Notebook:)

Audrey really wanted to help her and it was so much fun to watch! They would sing the ABC song and then look for the next letter. Audrey would say, "Where is the D, Sophia? It is green. Do you see the D?"

Such a good helper:)

Then Sophia said, "No, Audrey...I do it!"

After she finished the puzzle she was jumping up and down with joy because she put them all in order:)

Again, so proud of her accomplishments...

Then she ended the day/week, by reading books in her book basket:)

That's where everyone reads, right?

Ready2Read Level 2: Unit 8

noreply@blogger.com (Annie Moffatt) — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 08:36:00 +0000

I just released Ready2Read Level 2 Unit 8. Although you will not see it in action today, you can purchase this unit on our Teachers Notebook Shop {HERE}.

The Word Families for this unit: -ink and -ove

Sight Words for this unit: are, was, did, at, now

If you are new to the Ready2Read Program, be sure to visit our information page for each level:

Level 1 Information Page

Level 2 Information Page

Create Your Own Puzzle!

noreply@blogger.com (Annie Moffatt) — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 16:06:00 +0000

Daddy brought the girls home some blank puzzles the other day. They had so much FUN making their very OWN puzzles!! The puzzles look so much better if you start by outlining them in black and then coloring them in with markers. The puzzle came with a set of crayons, but they were poor quality and we just used makers instead.

I really like creating your own puzzle because you can extend this activity to any grade level and make it educational. For example, you could draw the water cycle on it and I think it would really make a FUN way to reinforce concepts:)

This is a picture of our family:) They say you can tell a lot by a child's drawing....hmmm. I am just wondering why I look so BIG?? And in case you are wondering, those two little creatures are our dogs. I just LOVE this puzzle. You can find them online {HERE}, and there are a few to choose from.

Valentine Tic-Tac-Toe Felt Game!

noreply@blogger.com (Annie Moffatt) — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 17:01:00 +0000

I am SO excited to share our Tic-Tac-Toe Felt Game with you because we had SEW much FUN making it:) I can't take credit for this cute idea, because I found different versions of it on Pinterest! Oh how I LOVE interest:)

This was super easy and cost only $1 to make!

1) We used 4 pieces of felt at 25 cents each: 1 purple, 2 light pink and 1 red.

2) We used a small heart cookie cutter to cut out the hearts and then Audrey sewed them together. It was a great lesson in patience and she did such a great job! At the end of sewing 9 hearts ( I helped a little), she really felt proud of her accomplishment!

I cheated a little and used a hot glue gun to attach the pink strips...

It's portable, homemade, inexpensive and educational!!

We totally LOVE our new Valentine Tic-Tac-Toe Board!!

The My Memories Giveaway Winner!

noreply@blogger.com (Annie Moffatt) — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 16:44:00 +0000

Thank you to all who entered the My Memories Digital Scrapbooking Giveaway! If you did not win, you can still save $10 at checkout by using the code: STMMM2507. You will also receive a $10 coupon for the My Memories Store!

Now onto the WINNER:

Yay! A BIG Congratulations to Gracie Girl!!

Transform Your Teaching and Parenting in 7 weeks!

noreply@blogger.com (Annie Moffatt) — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 16:00:00 +0000

Whoo-Hooo! Time Out Tuesday and Blog Talk Radio are back! I am so excited to share with you the newest program on TBA Today!

What is it?
Tamara from Teaching with TLC and I have teamed up on Blog Talk Radio to challenge YOU (and us) to Transform our Teaching and Parenting in 7 Weeks! For the next 7 weeks we are launching a mini-study (10 minutes each) to motivate, encourage and inspire you to be the BEST teacher you are intended to be and/or the BEST parent you are intended to be!

Our Inspiration?
Coming to straight from Galatians 5:22, we will focus on the following key verse:
"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control." We hope to share our personal experiences and hearts with you each week as we seek to build each other up.

As both teachers and parents, we can get tired and feel as though we have nothing left to offer. Perhaps our patience has run dry, our joy is missing, and self-control is a distant friend. This simple, yet powerful verse can transform you mind, heart and ability to be all that God has intended you to be.

How does it work?
Tune in each Tuesday (anytime) and listen to the recent broadcast on TBA Today, which is located on the right sidebar. We will also be posting a new scripture each week for you to download and memorize. The scriptures will center around the fruit of the Spirt for each broadcast.

Click {HERE} to listen to the program or use the widget:

Here is our first scripture! Why is the scripture repeated four times on the same page? Well, we are planning to print it and tape it up where we can see it...in 4 different places! Mine are going on the car dashboard, the bathroom mirror, my computer and above my kitchen sink:)

Click on the scripture to download...

It is our hope and desire that you will join us on TBA Today as we launch this new program! Our first broadcast in less than 6 minutes and you can still surf the internet as you listen:)