Homeschool Creations

Valentine’s Day Pinterest Ideas ~ Preschool Corner

noreply@blogger.com (Jolanthe Erb) — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 11:00:00 +0000

I know that we still have a few weeks left until Valentine’s Day, but I’m looking around for some fun things to do with all of the kids {especially Kaleb}. I’ve pinned a few fun-looking things onto Pinterest, but I’m always searching for more.

While I don’t think we’re going to take a full week to do Valentine’s Day, we will have a few days to soak in the love. Here are a few things I’m bookmarking to do during that time.

Homemade heart-shaped cinnamon rolls from Poppies at Play

Heart shaped cut-out pancakes from Quaker Oats Company

Heart Shaped hot dogs from Family Fun

Celery stamping from Maureen Cracknell Handmade

Handprint heart tree from Putti Prapancha

Secret message valentines from Better Homes & Gardens

Are you already planning ahead for Valentine’s Day?

More Preschool Links

ABC Printables
Color and Shape Printables
Early Learning Printables: Police Officers, fireman and more!
Math and Counting Printables
Phonics and Reading Printables
Preschool Planning Pages
Preschool Resources Main Page

Ready to Link Up?

Share what you are doing with your kids! Please link your exact blog post to the Mr. Linky below and link back here too! Grab a button for your post below and be sure to take a minute to visit the person who linked up before you. You can read more in the updated guidelines for Preschool Corner.

Be specific in your ‘link title’. Leave either your blog name or theme and provide an age range for your activities. Something a little like this:

Police Officer Theme {ages 4-5}

Our Science Studies

noreply@blogger.com (Jolanthe Erb) — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 11:00:00 +0000

This year we are all working together on Nancy Larson® Science 2 {recommended for ages 7-9} and have been studying a range of topics. At the moment I’m rather anxious to get into the bird section of the program {since we moved our birdfeeder up onto our porch}, but we are definitely having fun and learning a lot this year.

We are a little more than halfway through the Science 2 program and are working through the fourth of the six units. We’ve already covered:

~ The Physical Properties of Matter: solids, liquids, and gases; measuring the mass of a solid; the transparency of matter; exploring magnetic attraction; naming magnetic poles and the states of matter.

Needless to say, the scale has been a big hit. Whenever the science bin is pulled out, I’m sure to hear “Can we play with the scale too?”

~ Observing Rocks and Minerals: classifying rocks by size {sand, pebble, cobble, gravel, and boulders}; comparing the hardness of minerals, and identifying the minerals in granite.

The rock collection that we used to talk about the hardness of minerals has also much fun. We went on several walks during our time learning about rocks and minerals. One of the best parts of those walks was listening to Zachary and McKenna point out the various rock sizes that we saw along the way. :)

~ Investigating Forces and Work: learning about gravity; demonstrating how lubricants affect friction between objects; learning about wheels/axles; observing how rollers make work easier; and inclined planes.

This unit involved several of our small race cars, a lot of our blocks to build inclined ramps and the involvement of all of the kids as we raced cars, used the coveted tape measure to see how far vehicles traveled with/without friction and more.

~ Examining Simple Machines: so far we’ve talked about how inclined planes work make easier; characteristics of wedges; identifying the functions of screws; and the characteristics of wheels and axles.

Our last two units will be exploring light and sound and then investigating birds {just in time for the warm weather!!}. In the meantime I’ve been snapping pictures of the many birds in our area and getting ready for that unit!

The Nancy Larson® Science 2 has been a step up in work level for the kids, but what I really love most is Zachary’s desire to participate in the reading of the text and seeing his study skill improve dramatically with this level. The Science 2 has added bolded words and has children highlight important text ~ and we have a little boy that is giddy to use his highlighter and find the important info in each lesson {and I definitely won’t complain about that!}.

While Laurianna falls on the older end of the age range for the curriculum, she still is learning things that we haven’t covered in the past and enjoying the ‘hands-on’ parts of the program too…and even Kaleb is having fun with those parts {especially the ramps and the racing!}.

Letter Tiles ~ {Reader Ideas}

noreply@blogger.com (Jolanthe Erb) — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 11:00:00 +0000

One of my readers recently linked up this idea that went along with the Read! Build! Write! Mats and I not only loved her pictures, but wanted to share it with you all too. :)

Carissa from Stella’s Apron Strings has quite a collection of letter tiles that she has accumulated from various games. Many of them have been picked up at garage sales, Goodwill or other thrift stores very inexpensively and then Carissa stores the pieces in a jar to use with her kids.

Instead of using letter tiles, the kids have fun using pieces from Boggle, Upwords, Scrabble and other games to build words. Thanks so much for sharing, Carissa! Hope that this helps some of you all as well!

Printables for The Mitten by Jan Brett

noreply@blogger.com (Jolanthe Erb) — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 11:00:00 +0000

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These printables were created to use with The Mitten by Jan Brett. It’s one pack that was a last minute addition to our school time, but one I know we will enjoy!

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The Mitten printables includes fun activities to tie in with the story ~ vocabulary words, word tracer cards, a tracer page, sequencing cards, a fun song, beginning sound cards, counting activities and more!

Download The Mitten printables pack!!

Don’t Miss These Either!

~ The Mitten word cards for the Read! Build! Write! vocabulary mats

~ More Literature Based Printables

~ Story prop printables from 1+1+1=1

~ Lapbook printables from Homeschool Share

~ Activities from Jan Brett

~ Read The Mitten online at We Give Books

Birdwatching ~ Moments to Remember

noreply@blogger.com (Jolanthe Erb) — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 13:34:00 +0000

We have had so much fun every day watching our birdfeeder through the window off our kitchen ~ identifying the different birds {and yelling at the squirrels}. And while this picture may have no kiddos in it, typically you will find one of them sitting on the floor with a chin propped in hands, watching out the window.

__________________________________________________

Ready to link up and share your moment this week?

Link up your moments to remember post below, be sure to provide a link back and be sure to use a permalink to link up your exact Moments to Remember blog post {not your blog home page}. Your post can be as simple as one photo, or as detailed as tons of photos and tons of words! This linky is for homeschoolers, or families who are keeping their kiddos at home during the early years {we consider you homeschoolers too}.

When adding your link, just put your blog name for the title and choose an image from your post for the thumbnail.

Next week, link up with 1+1+1=1!

Jesse Bear Unit ~ Preschool Corner {&5K too!}

noreply@blogger.com (Jolanthe Erb) — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 11:03:00 +0000

Our Jesse Bear unit was put off a little bit and then I forgot to post about it. Somehow I didn’t manage to get as many pictures of the activities that we did to go along with the book…or somehow I’ve managed to lose them in the meantime.

From our Jesse Bear, What Will You Wear? printables we talked about:

~ the foods that Jesse ate in the book {and the ones that we didn’t’ like or did like}

~ counted ducks in the tub and worked on 1:1 counting up to the number 15

~ practiced rhyming words

~ measured vegetables that we saw in the book

In addition to the printables, here’s a little peek at a few of the ‘hands-on’ things we did together {and I managed to get a picture of}.

Bear Pancakes ~ all of the kids enjoyed this part of the Jesse Bear unit! We used chocolate syrup to make the mouth and raisins for the eyes. Definitely a yummy addition.

The Flag ~ We talked about the flag of the US. There is a ball in the book that looks like a flag, so we made our own from construction paper and used silver star stickers for the field of blue. We also worked on the Pledge of Allegiance.

A few more things {not pictured}:

~ Jesse Bear’s drawers were very neat and organized…similar to another little boy’s drawers {and not those of his older brother}.

~ We made paper doll bears and dressed them up.

That’s about it for our week with Jesse Bear ~ how was your week?

More Preschool Links

ABC Printables
Color and Shape Printables
Early Learning Printables: Police Officers, fireman and more!
Math and Counting Printables
Phonics and Reading Printables
Preschool Planning Pages
Preschool Resources Main Page

Ready to Link Up?

Be specific in your ‘link title’. Leave either your blog name or theme and provide an age range for your activities. Something a little like this:

Police Officer Theme {ages 4-5}

The Power of Words

noreply@blogger.com (Jolanthe Erb) — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 11:15:00 +0000

Inspire. Validate. Build.

That seems so simple to do and yet I fail MISERABLY all too often. While this is something to do for a lifetime, I often need the reminder to take things one day at a time ~ truthfully, one minute at a time because things can change so quickly in this house.

Minute by minute. Hour by hour. Day by day. Week by week. Each word that I speak has such power to speak into the lives of my children.

Each day this week I am striving to intentionally encourage my children. One word at a time.

Thanks so much to Joy from Grace Full Mama for reminding me of this quote! Please read the rest of the article she wrote about Encouraging Words along with her challenge too!

Corduroy Bear Printables

noreply@blogger.com (Jolanthe Erb) — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 11:00:00 +0000

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These printables were created to use with the book Corduroy by Don Freeman. Printables in this pack can be used for preschool as well as kindergarten aged children.

Here’s a peek inside the Corduroy printables:

Pin It

The Corduroy printables include fun activities to tie in with the story ~ vocabulary words, word tracer cards, coin counting, lacing/sewing cards, button shapes, counting activities and more!

Download the Corduroy printables pack!!

Don’t Miss These Either!

~ Corduroy word cards for the Read! Build! Write! vocabulary mats

~ More Literature Based Printables

Check out more fun {and free} printables at Printable Power.

Doodling ~ Moments to Remember

noreply@blogger.com (Jolanthe Erb) — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 10:37:00 +0000

What’s so special about the above picture? During one of our Mystery of History lessons I looked over to see Zachary had rather…ummm…embellished his drawing with stick figures galore.

There’s even a crocodile in there up at the top. And nerf guns. It’s a odd mix between our Grapevine stick figures meeting a Trojan horse all in an effort to win Helen back.

And it just makes me smile. Because this is truly one of those lessons that he remembers…and didn’t get in trouble for because I was just laughing so hard at his creativity.

Want to join in and share a fun moment? Link up your Moments to Remember at 1+1+1=1 this week!! This linky is for homeschoolers, or families who are keeping their kiddos at home during the early years {we consider you homeschoolers too}.

The Snowy Day ~ Preschool Corner

noreply@blogger.com (Jolanthe Erb) — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 11:02:00 +0000

The week we planned to work on The Snowy Day unit and turned out to be rather a good week to do so! Kaleb and I sat down to read the book together and just as we finished the book, he looked up and out the window and it was snowing!

Needless to say, there was much excitement about that!

And my big ‘duh’ moment of the week? I was so cold, we were having fun inside with things, and it NEVER crossed my mind to go out and catch the snow and look at the flakes…and we rarely get snow around here, people! Nevermind right in the middle of a unit on snow. Yep. My brain is right on top of things. :)

Aside from the things that are included in the The Snowy Day printables, here’s a little peek at the more ‘hands-on’ things we did together.

Making ‘Tracks’ ~ In the The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats, Peter makes different kinds of tracks in the snow with his feet and also using a stick. Kaleb walked around the house trying to make 'tracks’ the way Peter’s feet would have been.

Crystal Snowflakes

I found a tutorial for these Borax crystal snowflakes via Pinterest and they were a HUGE hit. I’m especially fond of them because it only took a day for them to form.

Kaleb had fun measuring {1/3 cup Borax mixed with almost a pint of hot water}. We shaped a snowflake out of a pipecleaner, hung it on a piece of yarn and let it sit overnight.

It’s here that I’ll insert my piece of advice {ahem}. Either make your snowflake much smaller than the mouth of your jar or use a WIDE mouth canning jar. When the crystals form on the pipe cleaner {and they do it rather quickly}…you won’t be able to get it out of the jar if it is wider than the mouth of the jar {who knew?}.

Cotton Ball Snowman

The first day we were reading the book, Kaleb wanted to know where the cotton balls were and when he could make a snowman, so I printed off a template and he had fun gluing and practically went through half a bag of cotton balls in his zeal to glue any and all cotton balls down.

We also made some {soon to be} glue snowmen, similar to this idea, but I got a little carried away with the glue and after 6 hours it still wasn’t remotely dry enough to even move…so it will have to wait.

After Kaleb traced the names of the shapes from The Snowy Day printables, I cut them out and we put them all on popsicle sticks. As we read the story, we matched the shapes on the sticks to the different shapes in the book by ‘smacking’ them down {oh yes, he loved that!}.

We also did a little art to imitate a scene in the book. We used construction paper to make the snow banks and cut out some little boys to play in the snow. I had a snowflake stamp set too, so Kaleb stamped different colored snowflakes over the picture.

That’s pretty much our week summed up. How was your week?

Other helpful Snowy Day Links:

~ The Snowy Day printables

~ Homeschool Share resources {great sequencing
cards!!}

~ Snowy Day fun from Delightful Learning
~ Snowy Day lesson plans
~ Winter Theme from PreKinders
~ Snowy Day read-aloud on YouTube
~ Snowy Day in sign language

Ready to Link Up?

Be specific in your ‘link title’. Leave either your blog name or theme and provide an age range for your activities. Something a little like this:

Police Officer Theme {ages 4-5}

The Comparison Trap

noreply@blogger.com (Jolanthe Erb) — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 11:00:00 +0000

I have a confession to make.

{You’ll have to excuse my thoughts if they are disjointed and random, but the thoughts have been on my heart a lot lately…and I’m never near a pen/paper when they all come rushing in on each other. So for now I’ll just type and hope that my thoughts come through clearly and you hear my heart.}

Over the last few months I’ve really, really struggled with the whole comparison issue. Truthfully, issue isn’t the right word. Trap is a much better one.

Because you can get stuck in the depths of comparison and run things around and around in your mind and never emerge. It’s a really dangerous place to be.

Comparing my children to others ~ because her children are so much more well mannered than mine. Comparing this or that or ANYTHING, fixating on that issue and letting it fester and destroy the joy of what I have been given.

In October I was hit smack in the face with the issue when I was at the Relevant Conference. Thankfully, I was surrounded by some amazing women that I am blessed to call friends and who encouraged me. I cried {the ugly cry} and just let God cover me with His grace and mercy ~ and reminders that He created me to be ME.

Not her. Not you. Not anyone else. I am uniquely me for a reason. And if I am walking in what He has called me to do and who He has called me to be ~ that is enough.

Since that time I’ve had to stop doing some things that may cause me to compare {maybe reading a certain blog or watching a certain show…}. Instead, surrounding myself with encouragement from the most important One of all and others who speak His truth.

God has gifted each of us with abilities that are unique to each one of us. Traits that are special and give us a special role. We are fearfully and wonderfully made {Psalm 139:14}.

Can I just encourage you today? Be the woman that God created you to be!! Know who you are in Christ and cling to THAT truth! Be yourself ~ because you are the only person who can be uniquely you.

The Money Saving Mom’s Budget ~ Review & Giveaway

noreply@blogger.com (Jolanthe Erb) — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 11:00:00 +0000

Not sure where to start when it comes to budgeting? Need help squeezing more dollars from your limited budget? Looking for practical ideas for setting personal and financial goals that are both manageable and doable? The Money Saving Mom's Budget will definitely be a help to you!

The Money Saving Mom's Budget is written by Crystal Paine, a name you may recognize as the blogger behind the MoneySavingMom.com website. Crystal is also a homeschool graduate, currently a homeschool mom and is now sharing her knowledge of ways to radically change your budget for the better.

What’s Inside?

The The Money Saving Mom's Budget is an easy read, full of practical and ready to implement ideas that will get you motivated to change your finances. Inside you will find:

Although we have been using a cash budget for the last seven years now, this book gave us some gentle ‘nudging’ and we are re-prioritizing a few things thanks to the suggestions in the book from Crystal. I sat down to read the book and quickly found myself more than halfway through the book ~ it reads as if you are having a personal conversation with Crystal. She shares her personal story and the wisdom that she has gleaned over the years. I LOVE that about the book. :)

One thing that I find absolutely amazing and something that reveals Crystal’s true heart ~ ALL of the profits from The Money Saving Mom's Budget are going to Compassion International, an organization that helps to feed and clothe needy children around the globe. That alone speaks volumes to me!

Purchase Your Copy Today!

The Money Saving Mom's Budget is available to order online from Amazon.com, via download for your Kindle, or through BarnesandNoble.com. You can also pick up a copy at your local bookstore.

A Giveaway Too!!

I completely recommend that you buy The Money Saving Mom's Budget ~ and then enter below to win a copy to give away to a friend or family member. It’s a book that you will be able to refer to for years to come.

Follow the directions in the widget below to enter to win! RSS and email readers, please visit my blog to enter.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I was provided a copy of this book from MoneySavingMom.com in exchange for my honest review and opinion. All opinions expressed in this review are solely my own. I do not have to return my review copy ~ thank goodness.

2012 Curriculum Changes

noreply@blogger.com (Jolanthe Erb) — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 11:13:00 +0000

Officially we’re halfway through our school year and we’ve had a bit of rearranging going on ~ some over the last 8 weeks and a few new pieces added to start this semester. You can see our full 2011-2012 homeschool curriculum list in the post I wrote earlier this past fall. Here’s a look at the areas we made changes.

I do love the fact that we have the flexibility to tweak things in our schedule that are {or are not} working for us so that our family gets the most out of what we are doing. Sometimes it’s a bit frustrating, but when something ‘clicks’ ~ that is just a wonderful feeling!

History

The biggest switch has been with our history. At the beginning of November we began using Mystery of History Vol. 1 from Bright Ideas Press. We have several of the go-along digital pieces {reproducible tests/quizzes, folderbook, notebooking pages, and coloring pages} and are slowly working in some other things such as the Read Aloud Guides and Family Study Guides that are a part of Illuminations. Can I just tell you how much we are all enjoying history?? Very much! :)

Language/Grammar

The girls both switched over to Easy Grammar in early December and that change too has been such a great switch. It came highly recommended to me from Kris at Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers.

Our prior program just was causing more frustration and tears than learning, and Easy Grammar has made a world of difference. We are also using Daily Grams to go along with the Easy Grammar and the girls {and I} like the layout of the program. We also now have separate levels for the girls {we are using levels 4 and 5}.

Writing

Zachary is moving into Write Shop Primary B and the girls are starting Write Shop Junior Book D that just released at the end of 2011.

Math

Laurianna wrapped up Teaching Textbooks Level 5 and has now started Teaching Textbooks 6. We’ve also added in Life of Fred: Fractions for her to work on on Tuesdays/Thursday in addition to her TT lesson. She loves the simple format and giggles through many of the questions. :)

Reading

Kaleb has finished up All About Reading Level Pre-1 and is now working through All About Reading Level 1 and we are having much fun. He asks to work on it every day {even days we don’t have school}. You have to love that enthusiasm!

McKenna will also be working on her reading comprehension using Beyond the Code 4.

That’s it on this end. Have you made any recent tweaks or changes to your curriculum?

Moments to Remember ~ School at Breakfast

noreply@blogger.com (Jolanthe Erb) — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 11:02:00 +0000

What’s so special about the above picture? It just made me smile since it was our second day back to school after break and Laurianna was so excited about her new math book. Enough so that she started her work early that morning and was reading it out loud and laughing with McKenna about it during breakfast.

The fact that we can sit, eat breakfast, and do school in our pajamas just makes me happy. :)

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Ready to link up and share your moment this week?

When adding your link, just put your blog name for the title and choose an image from your post for the thumbnail.

Next week, link up with 1+1+1=1!

Reading!! ~ Preschool Corner

noreply@blogger.com (Jolanthe Erb) — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 10:55:00 +0000

We’re still working on getting back into our groove after a lovely break. I forgot that my hubby had Monday off, so our week was pushed around a little bit and we’ll end up doing school on Friday this week too.

For the most part, we’ve been doing a bit of review, working on a few things that needed to be finished up {random worksheets and activities that somehow managed to be put aside in the last bit of December}, and {this is where I get really excited, but also a bit sad} ~ READING!!

We’ve been using All About Reading Level 1 with Kaleb {we finished up the Level Pre-1 and this week we pulled out the book Run, Bug, Run! as part of our lesson. And a certain little 5 year old read two stories from the book ~ slowly but surely. I’m excited but sad all rolled into one ~ this is my baby…and it’s one of those last ‘first time’ things {please tell me I’m not the only one who feels this way?}.

Kaleb has had a lot of fun ‘teaching’ Zachary. They played letter sound bingo together several times and Kaleb would tell Zachary the sounds and have him cover up the letters. :)

We’ve also spent SO much time looking out the window at the many different birds that are visiting our feeder. We just moved it up onto our deck and have seen cardinals, woodpeckers, and so many other birds {and now can’t find our bird book because someone wandered off with it ~ ahem}.

One of Kaleb’s favorite things this week is a new app that we ALL are in love with ~ The ABC’s of God from Read the Word. It’s been part of our ‘review’ week and he has enjoyed ‘unlocking’ all the special ABC words that describe God. Every time he opens a new word he runs over to me and has me read the verse that goes along with the trait of God.

I love the fun games that it includes too ~ letter tracing, an uppercase/lowercase letter match {that looks like fridge phonics}, find the letter in the phrase, and so many other activities. Seriously…I think this video explains it much better than I can. :)

Next week, I have crafts, books and printables lined up to work on with Kaleb ~ and a more structured week in place, but this week has been a great ‘slide’ back into things.

How was YOUR week?

Ready to Link Up?

All About Reading Level 1 Review

noreply@blogger.com (Jolanthe Erb) — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 21:08:00 +0000

You all ~ the wait for All About Reading Level 1 program has been so amazingly worth it. We loved the All About Reading Level Pre-1 program and this is a wonderful next step in the reading process with Kaleb!

Program Basics

All About Reading Level 1 is a program for beginning readers. It picks up where the Pre-1 reading program ends ~ when children know their uppercase and lowercase letters as well as letter sounds and are ready to put the sounds together to make words. If you aren’t sure where to start your child, you can use the Reading Readiness Checklist to help you decide.

All About Reading focuses on phonological awareness, decoding skills, fluency, comprehension, vocabulary and lots and lots of reading practice. Similar to the other programs from All About Learning Press, the Teacher’s Manual includes step-by-step directions, so there is no guesswork in what you need for each lesson or how to teach the concepts covered.

Each of the 49 lessons include hands-on practice using letter tiles, word cards, fun games, and activity sheets to go along with the day’s lesson. Lessons can be tailored to meet the needs of your child ~ review concepts as often as you need to in order to know that they are being retained.

{playing letter sound bingo}

Each lesson takes about 20 minutes to work through and then another 20 minutes of reading to your child is recommended. We usually divide up our time and read at different points during the day, instead of doing it all in one block of time.

Sight words are incorporated in to the program {so far Kaleb has learned ‘the’ and ‘a’}. They are treated as ‘Rule Breakers’ and given special treatment. :) Kaleb has loved this part of the program, to the point that he came running into my bedroom early one morning and woke me up when he found ‘the’ on something that he was playing with ~ ‘It’s a rule breaker!!!’

And the moment you want to do a happy dance {and actually do??}. When your child picks up a book, sits down with you and reads a real, honest-to-goodness story to you for the very first time. It just makes a mommy’s heart happy and there is much rejoicing to do!

I have also been using the program with Zachary {2nd grade} to help increase his reading fluency. Reading has never been a favorite part of his day, but his fluency has already greatly improved in the weeks that we’ve used it and it’s also built up his confidence in his reading abilities. He’s on the ‘fast track’ through the program, but part of his motivation has been seeing his younger brother start doing things that he was more recently complaining about {grins}.

Quick tip: Not sure if you should start out with All About Reading or All About Spelling? While the two programs go hand-in-hand, children generally move ahead more quickly in reading, so I recommend starting with All About Reading first.

The All About Reading Level 1 Kit comes with the following items: {Regularly $107.70, currently on sale now for $99.95}

Teacher’s Manual
Student Packet {includes word cards and an Activity Book}
Run, Bug, Run! reader
The Runt Pig reader
Cobweb the Cat reader

You will also need a Reading Interactive Kit to complete the program. Choose between the Deluxe Reading Interactive Kit {$48.95} or the Basic Reading Interactive Kit {$28.95} ~ or buy the pieces individually. The reading kits are a one-time purchase and will be used in all levels of the program.

Quick Tip: If you currently use any of the All About Spelling programs, the letter tiles are the same, so you may only need a few additional components to complete the kit.

A Few More Thoughts…

One thing that we all look at is the initial price of the program, and while it is a bit more, it truly is worth it. Here are a few of my thoughts on it:

The bulk of the components are non-consumable {only the Activity Book and the smiling star stickers cannot be used again}. This means that you can use the program with children coming up through the ranks or eventually re-sell it to another mom.
The program is completely laid out and lessons are scripted, so you can just relax and not worry about planning!
Minimal prep-work. The word cards are perforated, but need to be torn apart and the letter tiles need to be assembled with magnets. Once that is done, you can grab your manual and go.
The ‘Go Ahead and Use It One-Year Guarantee’. You and your child have a full year to try out the program! If you find that the curriculum does not meet your needs, simply return the materials at any time within one year of purchase for a full refund of your purchase price.

I can honestly tell you all that we have all of the products from All About Reading and All About Spelling, use them daily, and love them tremendously. Their curriculum is one of the first that really got me excited about teaching and I KNOW that they are getting solid teaching using the programs!

Disclosure ~ I received parts of the program for review in exchange for my honest review. I already owned several of the components and have been using products from this company and love using them with my family. I was not paid for this review.

Monthly Menu Planner ~ editable calendar

noreply@blogger.com (Jolanthe Erb) — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 21:22:00 +0000

Keeping my meals, recipes and grocery plan on track is something that I rather enjoy doing, but every now and then I need a little encouragement or ‘push’ to get me excited about it. Just so I don’t get stuck in a rut and all.

A little while back I shared the Main Dish Menu Planner that I put together and use to keep track of our favorite meals and how it’s helped me out tremendously. Today I shared an editable Monthly Menu Planner on my other blog, No Ordinary Moments. Both are editable pdf files and you all are more than welcome to click over and download some copies to use yourself!

Enjoy!

The Snowy Day Printables

noreply@blogger.com (Jolanthe Erb) — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 10:48:00 +0000

Pin It

These printables were created to use with The Snowy Day by Ezra Keats. Printables in this pack can be used for preschool as well as kindergarten aged children.

Here’s a peek inside The Snowy Day printables:

The Snowy Day printable pack includes fun activities to tie in with the book ~ vocabulary words, word tracer cards, a coloring/tracer page, cutting pages, sorting activities, and more!

Download The Snowy Day printables pack!!

Don’t Miss These Either!

~ The Snowy Day word cards for the Read! Build! Write! vocabulary mats

~ More Literature Based Printables

Check out more fun {and free} printables at Printable Power.

Coming Up in January 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Jolanthe Erb) — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 11:33:00 +0000

I’m finding it really hard to believe that it’s already 2012!! Somehow 2011 seems to have flown by. We’ve managed to buy a house, sell a house, move…and have had so many projects going that I’m guessing that has been a big factor in life flying by.

I’d like to take a few minutes to say a BIG ‘thank you’ to our sponsors for this month.

If you’ve been wondering how you were going to teach science to your 7th – 12th grade children, Red Wagon Tutorials may be the answer for you! They offer online live-feed, online recorded, DVD and flash drive science classes. Visit the Red Wagon Tutorials website for more information.

We’ve been using Grapevine Studies to stick-figure our way through the Bible and it has been MUCH fun for our family. Grapevine Studies provides effective, easy-to-teach Bible curriculum to disciple students ages five to adult. Download free sample lessons from their website too!

Maestro Classics produces a classical music CD series for children ages 5 to 12 {and their parents too!}. They introduce great music and classics stories to children, providing the opportunity to develop important listening skills.

If you are looking for a information packed, affordable homeschool convention with a list of amazing speakers and huge exhibit halls ~ search no more! Great Homeschool Conventions has FIVE fabulous conventions starting in March of 2012. Be sure to see if there will be a convention near you!

Time 4 Learning is a convenient, online homeschool curriculum that combines education with interactive fun for grades PreK-8th. Time4Learning offers each child their own learning path, with animated lessons, unit assessments, and integrated printable worksheets for reinforcement.

Coming Up…

I have a few giveaways planned for you all this month and I’ve been working hard on more printable packs too ~ so stay tuned for those. I’m still enjoying the lull after Christmas and gearing up for to re-start our school year.

Hope you all had a wonderful time with your families over the holidays and were able to rest and relax some! Thank you all SO much for being an amazing {and encouraging} bunch of readers. :)

Preschool Corner ~ Week After Christmas

noreply@blogger.com (Jolanthe Erb) — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 11:29:00 +0000

So…out of curiousity, did anyone do school this week? We’re all busy playing with the fun new toys and getting ready to start back up again. My schedule says we are starting Monday, but I’m thinking we may see what we can fiddle around with and start a little later.

Ahhh…the beauty of homeschooling. :)

How was your Christmas? I hope you all had an amazing time together with your family and are enjoying a bit of a rest and break!

Ready to Link Up?

Share what you are doing with your kids! Please link your exact blog post to the Mr. Linky below and link back here too! Grab a button below and be sure to take a minute to visit the person who linked up before you. You can read more in the updated guidelines for Preschool Corner.

Weekly Homeschool Planner Sale ~ Get Organized in the New Year!

noreply@blogger.com (Jolanthe Erb) — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 15:00:00 +0000

Needing some organization in your homeschool day? Looking for a little something to help you put your plans in order?

To give you a headstart on the 2012 year, the Weekly Homeschool Planner is on sale for $12 {down from the regular price of $20}! Just use the code ORGANIZE12 at checkout. Click the “Add to Cart” button at the end of this post to take advantage of the sale price from December 29th to December 31st.

Already purchased the Weekly Homeschool Planner? Then become an affiliate so you get a 25% commission using your affiliate link when you share the planner with others!

Can you help spread the word? Tweet about it, post about it and share it on Facebook with your friends ~ hurry! The sale ends at midnight on Saturday, December 31st!

Grab the pdf Weekly Homeschool Planner for $12!

* This is an editable pdf file that you can save to your computer and use year after year. To learn more about the Weekly Homeschool Planner, click HERE.

Week Off!! ~ Preschool Corner

noreply@blogger.com (Jolanthe Erb) — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 10:43:00 +0000

We’re building gingerbread houses, having an early Christmas with family, playing with friends and just having fun.

The gingerbread houses have been hidden for a bit because a certain 5 year old was literally caught licking the houses the other day.

Hilarious.

We’re enjoying our break MUCH ~ what have you all been doing this week?

More Preschool Links

ABC Printables
Color and Shape Printables
Early Learning Printables: Police Officers, fireman and more!
Math and Counting Printables
Phonics and Reading Printables
Preschool Planning Pages
Preschool Resources Main Page

Ready to Link Up?

2:1 Conference ~ Ticket Sale!!

noreply@blogger.com (Jolanthe Erb) — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 13:10:00 +0000

Have you heard about the 2:1 Conference? Not sure what it is all about?

The 2:1 Conference is a conference for bloggers like you - mothers, in the trenches of homeschooling, with hearts for God. What are your desires for your faith, your homeschool, your blog this year? Would you like these to grow in His grace? Then join us, make new friends, receive loads of encouragement and learn more about social media ~ all based on Biblical principles. The conference will be held from April 27-29, 2012 in Sterling, VA (Holiday Inn Washington Dulles).

There is a FABULOUS group of speakers lined up for the long weekend, including Heidi St. John, Rebecca Ingram Powell, and Rachael Carman. Each day there will be breakout sessions focused on different topics: Business Blogging, Organization and Planning, Using Your Blog as a Platform and more. You can view the entire weekend schedule here. Carisa from 1+1+1=1 and I will both be speaking at one of the breakout sessions along with the blogging moms behind Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers, The Happy Housewife, Raising Arrows, and so many more!!

Only 200 tickets will be available for the conference. Tickets are normally $259, but you can purchase them for $199 until December 31st when you use the code 2to1Christmas at checkout. The conference tickets include the following:

admission to the full conference
entry to general and break out sessions as well as group activities
all meals (Friday dinner, Saturday breakfast, lunch and dinner and Sunday breakfast and lunch) and snacks

Hope to see some of you there!!!

A Bit Scarce the Next Few Weeks…

noreply@blogger.com (Jolanthe Erb) — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 15:29:00 +0000

With Christmas coming this week and our family taking a break from school, I’ll be a bit scarce around the blog world. There will be an occasional post, but we’ll be spending time enjoying Christmas together and then gearing up for the next school quarter.

There is lots of planning, printing and creating to do for the next few months and I need to focus on getting it all together. I also have some books in my stash that I want to focus on reading as we gear up for the rest of the school year.

I pray you all have a WONDERFUL Christmas with your family and are able to rest and enjoy your time together!!

Books from Sally Clarkson ~ Giveaway

noreply@blogger.com (Jolanthe Erb) — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 13:05:00 +0000

You all have to know that one of my favorite ladies is Sally Clarkson. I am NOT a huge non-fiction reader {at all}. This year I have managed to finish three of her books alone and have been so amazingly encouraged by her heart and her words.

photo courtesy of Darcy @ My3Boybarians

She has spoken the last two years at the Relevant Conference and this year when she sat next to me during one of the lunches, I was NOT shy and thrilled to have a few minutes to talk with her {I’m the bug-eyed one sitting next to her…not talking at this moment}. A bit later, she sent me home with a few extra books to pass along to one of you!

You can visit Sally’s blog, I Take Joy, anytime ~ and I HIGHLY recommend her many books!! I have two more of them on my nightstand now and cannot tell you enough what a huge encouragement her writing has been to me.

If you’d like to win the set of books, all you have to do is click ‘I Did It’ on the Rafflecopter widget below ~ it’s that simple!

a Rafflecopter giveaway