Teaching with TLC Blog

Get your homeschooling questions answered!

2012-02-25T13:44:00.004-05:00

If you ever had a question about homeschooling, chances are the answer is listed at Homeschool-How-To. Heidi is a great blogging friend of mine who has a website and blog that are overflowing with homeschooling tips. You'll find lots of questions and answers there. Just hop on over!

Enjoy!

Spelling City Rocks!

2012-02-23T16:37:00.003-05:00

I am have used SpellingCity.com for a couple of years with my own children and I highly recommend it to others. I have spoken with the developer several years ago, and I even wrote about Time4Learning.com in both of my published books so I am very familiar with this company's wonderful educational resources.

SpellingCity.com is a FREE, educational website that enables parents and teachers to enter and save customized vocabulary and spelling lists that students can access from any computer at anytime. How cool is that? Children of all ages and learning abilities can use their own personalized lists in a variety of learning activities. This site also provides printable handwriting worksheets and teaching resources with lists and lesson plans.

My favorite part is how the site uses lots of games to reinforce learning, which makes learning FUN! There are 25 different learning activities, including spelling tests, vocabulary flashcards, unscramble, crossword puzzles, and my kid's favorite game, HangMouse (similar to hangman). You know how I love to make learning FUN so this site simply rocks!

Check out this award-winning site to see all it has to offer!

Transform your Teaching/Parenting with JOY

2012-02-21T09:37:00.010-05:00

Join us in the 7 week challenge to transform your teaching and parenting with the Teaching with the Fruit of the Spirit study. For 7 weeks we are having a mini-study (approx. 10 minutes each week) to motivate, encourage and inspire you to be the BEST teacher and/or parent you are intended to be! {CLICK HERE} to listen to the introduction on TBA Today and get all the details now. You don't want to miss out on this challenge!

Today's show is about JOY and Annie and I are jumping for JOY since we get to share this program with you! Learn how to have J.O.Y. all day, every day, no matter what your present circumstances are. (Just click on play to listen and make sure to open a separate page if you decide to go blog-hopping while listening to the program.)

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)

Here is our theme verse below.

Did you miss last week's program on LOVE? No problem, just {CLICK HERE}.

We hope you'll continue tune in on Tuesdays (anytime) and listen to Time Out Tuesdays on TBA Today, which is located on the right sidebar. We'd love to hear from you!

Annie and Tamara

TBA's Seuss Week is here!

2012-02-20T19:52:00.004-05:00

Make sure to spread the news of this spectacular event!

Click on the button below to join Teaching Blog Addict
and grab some terrific ideas!

FUN President's Day Activities

2012-02-20T17:10:00.007-05:00

I had a great time with my kids as we celebrated President's Day! Here are some of the things we did today:

We made President's Day Cupcakes (red velvet cake mix, cream cheese frosting, and blueberries).

Made completely by my kids. :)

We wrote a letter to the President. I remember doing this with my oldest son years ago, and I'll never forget his expression when the President (really, his staff) actually wrote him back. Click on the image below to see detailed instructions, including the address to send it to.

We watched a short but cute President's Day video.

We played terrific President's Day computer games. Click on the image below to see tons of games.

We learned about money and presidents. Even though we see money daily, do we really pay attention to it? This quiz will reveal how observant and knowledgeable you are with money. Click on the image below to take the quiz.

Enjoy!

The 7 Week Challenge launches today- The Fruit of the Spirit is ♥ LOVE ♥

2012-02-14T10:27:00.020-05:00

Happy Valentine's Day! I can't believe that the Teaching with the Fruit of the Spirit study begins today with Love. That was totally God's timing as Annie and I planned this study months ago and did not even look at a calendar. His timing is always perfect!

If you have no idea what I am rambling on about, please join us in the 7 week challenge to transform your teaching and parenting with the Teaching with the Fruit of the Spirit study. For the next 7 weeks we are having a mini-study (10 minutes each week) to motivate, encourage and inspire you to be the BEST teacher and/or the BEST parent you are intended to be! {CLICK HERE} to listen to the introduction on TBA Today. You don't want to miss out on this challenge!

Now for today's show on Love, click on play below. (Just make sure to open a separate page if you decide to go blog-hopping while listening to the program.)

Love is the foundation for the rest of the radio shows. This week's verse is:

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

We encourage you to download the verse by clicking on the image above and posting it in four different places so you can see it, meditate on it and be encouraged. Mine are going on the car dashboard, the bathroom mirror, my school planner, and refrigerator door. :)

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

It is our hope and desire that you will tune in on Tuesdays (anytime) and listen to the recent broadcast of Time Out Tuesdays 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, which will center around the fruit of the Spirit for each broadcast.

Please join us in this journey of learning together and make sure to visit Teaching with TLC and Annie's blog below each week to get your scriptures and to share your thoughts....

The Story of St. Valentine

2012-02-13T12:54:00.005-05:00

Did you know that Valentine's Day is more than chocolates, cards, and candy hearts? I read The Story of St. Valentine to my kids today and we learned why we celebrate St. Valentine's life on February 14th (the actual date Valentine was persecuted in the year 269). It's a day we can remember St. Valentine and how he told told the emperor and others about Jesus, how he married couples with secret ceremonies in the woods, and how he loved no other god but God alone while refusing to worship Roman gods. Learning about his courageous life makes celebrating Valentine's Day much more meaningful this year.

Happy Valentine's Day!

♥Homemade Magic Shell♥

2012-02-11T21:40:00.004-05:00

Since chocolate and Valentine's Day go hand-in-hand, this quick and easy recipe is perfect for a Valentine's Day treat! This is so yummy. My family loves it!

(1) Melt 1/2 cup coconut oil over low heat.

(2) Stir in 12 oz. of chocolate morsels (or 1 1/2 cups) until completely melted.

(3) Allow to cool to room temperature.

Pour over your favorite ice cream and enjoy!

Valentine's Tic-Tac-Toe Games

2012-02-09T18:06:00.003-05:00

Play the classic Tic-Tac-Toe game for Valentine's Day since X's and O's represent hugs and kisses. To play, draw the number symbol #. The first person chooses to use either X's or O's, which will be placed on number symbol. The players take turns until a player has 3 of their symbols in a row, whether it is horizontally, vertically, or diagonally. You can use blank paper to play or CLICK HERE for a printable.

Children can also play Tic-Tac-Toe on-line HERE and they can practice math facts using this Tic-Tac-Toe game HERE.

Have fun!

Take the 7 Week Challenge!

2012-02-07T12:15:00.027-05:00

I am so excited to present to you..........

Feb. 14- LOVE

{CLICK HERE} to listen now.

Feb. 21- JOY

{CLICK HERE} to listen now.

I am filled with such joy that I can hardly calm down to write this post! Annie Moffatt from The Moffatt Girls and I have talked about this idea for months and now we are finally able to launch it on TBA Today! Woo hoo! We want to challenge YOU (and us) to Transform our Teaching and Parenting in 7 Weeks!

What is it?
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 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 Spirit for each broadcast.

It is our hope and desire that you will join us on TBA Today as we launch this new program! Our first broadcast is less than 6 minutes and you can still surf the Internet as you listen. (Just make sure to open a separate page while you surf around.)

Click the play icon on the radio widget below:

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 school planner, and my refrigerator door.

Click on the scripture to download...

Please join us in this journey of learning together and make sure to visit Teaching with TLC and Annie's blog each week to get your scriptures and to share your thoughts....

Feb. 14- LOVE

{CLICK HERE} to listen now.

Feb. 21- JOY

{CLICK HERE} to listen now.

Heart Art

2012-02-06T14:05:00.000-05:00

This is one of my favorite Valentine's art projects because it allows children to be creative with hearts, and you'll never see two projects that are exactly the same.

Give your child several sheets of construction paper in red, black, & white.
Have your child cut different size hearts from the different colors.
Be sure to show him how to fold the paper in half for symmetrical hearts.
He can glue the hearts on pink construction paper to create an animal, a special scene, or anything else he desires.

Cheryl shared below that you can read the book, My Heart is Like a Zoo, to compliment this art project. What a great idea Cheryl!

Below is the book trailer to watch.

Enjoy!

Being prideful or humble- it's your choice

2012-02-04T18:20:00.002-05:00

Pride comes before a fall.

Proverbs 16:18

I love God's word because it never fails to pierce my heart and teach me how to be more Christ-like. I must admit it is not an easy task as I am filled with imperfections but I do try my best to please God and live by His truths.

This verse is a clear reminder that the higher you build yourself up, the higher your fall will one day be. Some translations use the word "destruction" instead of "fall." This verse is something you want to get right the first time because no one likes destruction or even falling down. And the higher you are, the more that fall is going to hurt you. Trust me. I have learned this scripture from experience.

When you are prideful and put others down publicly or even to yourself and you begin to believe you are better than them, a fall is sure to happen. If you ever feel you are too important or over qualified to do a job that you believe is beneath you, a fall is sure to happen. If you publicly flaunt your success and earnings, a fall is sure to happen.

Pride is a sneaky sin and the enemy will constantly tempt us with it. Do you know that every sin comes from pride? That is powerful stuff. We must constantly be on our guard because it can slip into our lives without us even realizing it. You start to believe you "earned" something but in fact, it is by God's grace that you have anything. I have learned the harsh reality of this by experience, too.

Jesus was never prideful even though he was the King of Kings. He made his life about serving others and not promoting Himself. He even washed the feet of others. He taught us about true humility.

I choose to follow Jesus' example. I want to wash the feet of others and encourage and build them up. I'll take the road less traveled if it means I help the most. May God continue to use me to serve Him so He and only He can get the glory.

In honor of Pam, The Vintage Teacher

2012-02-02T23:26:00.006-05:00

Today teachers everywhere will be dedicating Freebie Friday to an amazing TBA author that has gone to be with the Lord, Pamela Woods of The Vintage Teacher.
If you did not know Pam, she was one of the first intermediate bloggers and she has laid a strong foundation for many to follow. She was always willing to help out new bloggers get started and was very encouraging to any that knew her. She made history and an impact that will live on and continue to bless others.

All of my products are already free in my Teachers Notebook store but Pam had a favorite of mine that she featured on her blog-

Colors send signals to the brain without us even thinking about it. Some colors help us focus and some are just plain distracting. Ever wonder why a child may be bouncing off the wall while in a reading center or an area of your home or why a child keeps getting distracted while completing an assignment? It may very well be the colors you have placed in your learning environment that is keeping a child from focusing. As an educator, it's important to know how color influences learning and what colors are best for specific learning environments.

Click on the image below to learn more in this FREE download.

Love you Pam,

Tons of Valentine's Day Ideas!

2012-01-29T22:03:00.004-05:00

Click on the image above to find several posts on Valentine's Day ideas
and then keep scrolling down.

Enjoy!

Are you a trader?

2012-01-28T21:16:00.000-05:00

I'm a trader and proud of it. :o)
Happy Sunday!

Dolphin Tale- a must see!

2012-01-27T13:05:00.004-05:00

If you haven't read or seen Dolphin Tale yet, I highly recommend watching the movie and/or having your children read the book. It's a wonderful true story about hope and it's very kid-friendly.

Meet Winter, the star of the show

My family and I (along with my best friends' families) recently visited the rehabilitation center in Clearwater, FL where Winter (the dolphin) resides. I was very surprised to see thousands of people there visiting Winter, as just a couple of years ago the center could not attract visitors and was closing its doors until a few children and a special dolphin made a big difference.

My boys loved meeting the superstar in person

What a beautiful story that teaches tomorrow is always full of possibilities even though it may look hopeless today.

Enjoy!

Turn dinnertime into fun family time!

2012-01-25T17:22:00.003-05:00

Did you know that family dinners have decreased by 33% over the past 20 years?

We are all challenged by after-school activities, sports, homework, and church functions. And eating on the run is understandable sometimes, but when we regularly eat dinner apart or sit in front of the television to eat, we are missing valuable family time, learning opportunities, and character building moments.

Try playing “Highs and Lows” at the dinner table and everyone takes turns telling about their day’s high (their favorite part) and their low (their least favorite part).

Another great idea is to adapt the journal jar to spark great conversations. A jar is filled with simple, kid-friendly questions. CLICK HERE to print off the colorful prompts then cut, fold, and place them in a jar. Have your child pick a topic each night and go around the table discussing it (or even try to guess each other's answers to make it even more exciting).

This photograph and activity is provided by Organized Christmas.

Have fun spending quality time with your family,

My son caught the blogging bug!

2012-01-24T21:44:00.006-05:00

My teenage son never understood my addiction to blogging UNTIL he created his own blog a few weeks ago and now he is hooked. If you or any of your friends and family love movies, cars, and/or guitars, please lead them my son's way by clicking on the blog button above. As of right now, I am his only follower. Let's show him some support :)

(Warning: there is music playing on his blog so you may want to turn down your speakers before you hop on over- he is a teenage boy after all)

Thank you for supporting for a recent blogging addict. (Oh no, maybe it is hereditary!)

FUN ways to celebrate the 100th Day of School

2012-01-23T20:00:00.008-05:00

TBA authors and readers have collaborated to provide you with plenty of FUN ways to celebrate the 100th day of school. Have fun blog-hopping gathering awesome ideas!

Enjoy!

Honor America's Greatest Teachers

2012-01-23T19:54:00.002-05:00

If you think you know the Best Teacher in America, please make sure to nominate them for Worth Ave Group’s “Greatest Teacher” Technology in Education Give-away. This grant will give away $150,000 in grants and prizes to the teachers and their schools who get the most votes for the "Greatest Teacher in America," including a $25,000 education technology grant for schools, iPads for teachers, and much more.

Voting started December 1, 2011 and runs through March 1st, 2012. More information can be found on their website

The winning teacher will receive an iPad2 16GB as well as 30 Ipod Touches for their classroom. Voters can vote daily until March 31st. There are also random prizes for winners, including iPads and iPods, so make sure to get those votes in often.

Thank you to Worth Ave Group for their work putting this grant together to support technology advancement in education and good luck to all of the participants. To vote for your favorite teacher, please click here

Disclosure: Worth Ave Group is a sponsor of Teaching with TLC

Ringing in the New Year- Chinese Style!

2012-01-17T13:22:00.007-05:00

Here are some kid-friendly recipes that my family has used to celebrate Chinese New Year:

Chinese New Year Treats

1 bag semi-sweet chocolate morsels (16 oz.)
1 bag butterscotch morsels (16 oz.)
1 jar or can of salted peanuts
2 large bags of chow mein noodles

(1) Pour all morsels into a microwave-safe bowl and melt.
(2) Add peanuts and noodles into a large bowl. Stir in chocolate until peanuts and noodles are coated.
(3) Drop by teaspoons onto sheets of aluminum foil.
(4) Let them sit a few minutes to harden.

This recipe is enough for approximately 25 children. You can divide the recipe for a family. These are super yummy!

Good Fortune Dragon Tea

7 cups water
2 tsps. lemon flavored instant tea mix
1 can frozen lemonade
4 cups cranberry juice
2 cups apple juice
1 cup orange juice

Heat water and tea. Cool. Add all other ingredients. Chill and serve. Since red is a symbol of luck, this red fruity tea has much good luck for the new year.

My family eats Chinese food with chopsticks for dinner with dragon tea and the Chinese treats and fortune cookies for dessert. I also pass out small red envelopes filled with quarters. My little ones make dragons and Chinese lanterns to decorate, and we play Chinese Checkers together.

This family celebration can lead to many lessons with your children, such as showing younger children where China is located on a map or globe and having older children write a paragraph about the Yin Yang symbol. We make designs with tangrams for math activities. I also like to read my kids the book, The Empty Pot by Demi, which is a beautiful story about always being honest. Here is a cute writing activity called "fortune sticks" from Ana at www.Ingles360.blogspot.com. Click on the image to learn about this fun activity. I can't wait to try it out this year!

Enjoy sharing different cultures with your children all year long.

Watch out Ace of Cakes...

2012-01-14T19:13:00.002-05:00

You have some serious competition.

My kids love the television program Ace of Cakes so when they had the opportunity to take a cake decorating class today, they jumped on it.

And I was quite surprised to see the entire class was boys. :)

Just in case you didn't know, Joanns and Michaels offer arts and crafts classes for children.

Some tips: Joanns discounts the classes at 50% off once a month and that is how I registered my boys.

I found that items on the supply list were usually cheaper at Wal-Mart if you do not have a coupon to use.

Joanns has a Teacher Rewards Program that offers additional discounts, too.

Gotta go now to taste test our cakes!

Preschool lesson plans for the entire year!

2012-01-11T22:44:00.002-05:00

I'm so glad I recently stumbled across www.daybydaysc.org. It has simple lesson plans for preschool teachers and parents for every day of the year. I also think this site would be perfect to share with those preschool parents who ask what they can be doing at home with their children. The lesson plans include songs, videos, e-books, science projects, unit studies, and much more. Check it out!

Enjoy!

Book Review Site

2012-01-09T22:08:00.007-05:00

As a home educator, I am VERY careful about what my children read (even my 18 year old). There are many educators that proclaim that as long as children are reading, it doesn't matter what they are reading. I am not one of those educators. Whatever fills the minds of our students and children will eventually permeate their hearts. I firmly believe that educators and parents should take complete responsibility and guard the hearts of the precious children that have been entrusted to us.

But it is quite a challenge to actually do this when your children and students are older and they are reading chapter books very quickly. When my kids were younger, I would pre-read any literature that they read independently but then I could hardly keep up with my son when he entered middle and then high school and could read just as fast as I could. I would comb through on-line reading lists but was quite surprised to see A LOT of innapropriate content and offensive language in several books that were "highly recommended." Really??? Forget the highly acclaimed literary merit when the book is tainted.

But my girlfriend has come to save the day (really my nights of pre-reading)! She recently introduced me to a site that I know I will use for many years. Thanks Traci! :)

It is www.thrivingfamily.com run by Focus on the Family. This site provides reviews on popular chapter books. I LOVE IT! Now I can quickly see the positive and negative elements of a book and then form my own opinion on if I would like my older children to read that particular book. That's so cool! I just get super excited about time-savers!

Proverbs 4:23

"Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life. "

Super Spelling Ideas

2012-01-07T16:47:00.000-05:00

The TBA authors and members have collaborated together to create this Super Spelling Ideas Workshop. Just click on an image or topic below that you would like to explore.